Happy Holidays

A star is born

Our faithful readers (all 3 of you) may have noticed by now that Morgan is quite photogenic. Of course that's not all that hard to believe considering how freakishly cute she is. Well luckily it's not just us who have noticed. Yes, that's right, Morgan has made the cover of a regionally renowned publication which reaches out to about 50 people not counting reprints. I'm speaking of course of my company newsletter which recently requested holiday photos featuring employee kids. Naturally Morgan's photo was submitted and naturally, out of dozens of entries, she was just too irresistible to keep off of the cover. In fact, not only did Morgan make the cover, she was also featured in an inside spread. So there, Baby Gap.

The Big Man

Morgan is just sailing through her first holiday season. She mastered Thanksgiving like a pro and survived her first turkey (naturally she preferred mommy's turkey and mashed potatoes to Grandma's and Curt's). And now we are breezing on into Christmas. Morgan has been accompanying both mommy and daddy on secret shopping missions. And of course she's been learning all about Santa. So when we learned that Santa was making an early stop to Ellicott City to have breakfast naturally she wanted to go. Colby warned her ahead of time as he has vivid memories still of seeing Santa when he was a puppy (he was a little scared so mommy had to sit with him during his picture). But of course Morgan is a lot braver than Colby so we were sure she would be just fine. She enjoyed eating pancakes with Curt, Kerry, and Brooks. She checked out the holiday trains. And then it was time for the big moment. Morgan walked into Santa's shop, sat down on his lap, and this was her reaction...


I think somebody is getting lots of presents this year.

Paging Dr. Crentist, the dentist

It's hard to believe but Morgan has managed to put up with us now for 6 whole months. She did a couple of things to celebrate. First, she went to the doctors to get more shots. And yes, she continues to be tall. Second, we went to the beach which was fun despite a heater malfunction. Morgan will be reaching out to the landlord to request an additional weekend at the beach in order to compensate for her pain and suffering (and my cold). Luckily it was in the 70s on Saturday so Morgan was able to soak up plenty of sun. And third, Morgan decided now was the time to start growing some teeth. At the moment she's got one little jagged (and sharp) nubbin thing right smack in the middle on the bottom. And she's got more little white bumps just waiting to sprout on up. Luckily it doesn't seem to be bothering her too much. She doesn't seem to be too embarrassed by all of her excess drooling (we've tried not to point it out too much to her). She enjoys running her tongue over it and chomping down on anything she can fit in her mouth. Right now her favorite objects are fingers (ours and hers), toes (mainly hers), some plastic keys we got for like $0.99 (best investment ever), and air (also a good purchase). She also practices her chompies during meal time. Morgan is working on carrots now and will next be moving on to peas, green beans, and pears. She's hoping she can work up to turkey by Thanksgiving.

Banana who?

I'm sure the 6 people who participated in our poll are anxiously awaiting to hear what Morgan's winning Halloween costume was. Morgan reviewed the results and ultimately decided to go in another direction. Here she is modeling her official costume with Grandpa -



Yes, that's right... for her first Halloween Morgan wanted to dress up as a banana. And quite a convincing banana I might add (though for some reason we had to explain to both sets of grandparents exactly what she was... apparently they have never seen a banana wearing a yellow sack before). She did great for her first attempt at trick-or-treating and was quite the good sport even when her aunt paraded her around the neighborhood. And of all the costumes we did not see a single costume come close to the amazing cuteness of the yellow sack banana - though I think Patrick was partial to the kid dressed as the Mystery Machine. Next year, Morgan... next year.

Great pumpkin

Judging by the amount of votes we've gotten on our Halloween poll I can see this blog is incredibly popular. So here's a special shout out to all of our 4 faithful readers.

Morgan has been busy this month. Yesterday she enjoyed a day out with both sets of grandparents to the Enchanted Forest. She walked around and checked out all of the attractions although I probably enjoyed it more than she did. Morgan did pick out a pretty awesome pumpkin though which was really quite something considering she was sound asleep. Today she decided to try out some cereal. Solid food must agree with her because by the end of the day she was already hanging out at Qdobas.

I can't even begin to document everything else Morgan is doing but let's just say every day it's something new with her. Today, in addition to cereal, she also decided that her thumb just wasn't doing it for her anymore so she decided to start sucking her toe instead. The other morning she woke up a little earlier than usual. When I went in to get her I discovered that she had rolled over onto her tummy and was a tad confused as to how she got there. And of course she has been going crazy jumping in her jumperoo as you can see here -



Which it turn leads to this -



Yeah, it's rough but somebody's got to do it.

Keep those votes for Morgan's first Halloween costume coming. Only 17 more days until the winning costume is revealed!

It's a rainforest out there

With two dogs, and at one point a cat, it can certainly seem at times like our house is turning into a zoo. Now that Morgan has joined us I can officially announce our house is quickly becoming more like a rainforest instead. Morgan seems to have just about every Fisher Price Rainforest product on the market. Packed in our house is the swing, pack-and-play, various rattles, and now a jumperoo. And naturally they all make some sort of noise. For the past week now, about the same time we acquired said jumperoo, the house has been filled with sounds of elephants, wild birds, and other assorted rainforest animals. Coincedently, Morgan has decided that now is also the perfect time for her to really start making herself heard. So she has taken to making her own rainforest sounds which is quite entertaining. We're not always quite sure if she is fussy or she just likes hearing the sound of her voice but it definitely makes us laugh. Although Pat has mentioned an increase in headaches lately... not sure if that's Morgan or the elephants.

Wiggle worm

Well we must be doing something right because we've made it to 4 months. Yes, Morgan is officially 4 months old and to celebrate we went to the doctors and made her get more shots (which she handled better than daddy). Here's some stats for everyone keeping track: 

Height: 25 3/4"

Weight: 14lbs 3ozs

Head circ: 42 cm

Morgan was 7lbs 14oz when she was born and 21" long so she's just about doubled in weight and has grown 4 inches. And as for her big head - well it's holding her big brain of course.

To make things more interesting around the house Morgan has officially started rolling over. She's very good going from her tummy to her back as she flops right on over. She is also grabbing toys, blankets, hair, noses, puppy tails, etc. So that's fun for everyone. Colby and Chance still seem to like her though now they have to be on their guard for falling rattles.

Somehow in between wiggles and smiles we're also finding time to do more stuff around the house. We now have new flooring on our 1st floor and we're just about done painting and installing new molding. Of course this just means we'll have more space for toys.

New pictures are now in the gallery and new video clips are coming soon.

A fencing volleyballing swimming gymnist...

Based on the Olympic sports Morgan has enjoyed watching these past few days I think we can safely assume Michael Phelps will very soon lose his title of most gold medals awarded. Plus, as you can see, Morgan will be participating in much more events than just swimming. I should also add that this only includes the summer games. Let's not forget about those winter sports in a couple of years.

At the moment Morgan is concetrating her training on the rings as she has suddently started grabbing and holding onto objects. We've also been working on her dolphin kick - I'm thinking she'll be specializing in the freestyle swim. Either that or doggy paddle.

3 months old and walking and talking and...

Post #2 - I'm on quite a roll!

This is incredibly hard to believe but Morgan is now 3 months old (or 12 weeks if you count 3 months on August 10). And I don't know what this kid is eating but she is getting heavy! She went in for her 2 month checkup last week and tipped the scales at 11lbs 13 oz. We'll also be on the phone soon with basketball scouts since she has grown 2 inches and is now a neck cringing 2 feet tall. She is doing excellent with lifting her head and sitting up. We've been working on leg exercises... she also helps Mommy with her sit ups and crunches. I don't know if I mentioned this last time but Morgan has discovered her hands and more specifically, her thumb. And when she's not sucking on her thumb she is now grabbing hair so don't say I didn't warn you!

Yes, so she has quite the technique for thumb sucking. As Pat likes to describe it, she has more of a claw thing going on than the traditional thumb sucking pose. I'm sure we have some pictures of it. I know what we do have pictures of though - smile time! Morgan has become quite photogenic and loves showing off her smile which is nice because she has Daddy's dimples and very pinch worthy cheeks.

As we spend most of her days sitting and staring at her we started to notice that Morgan seems to have red eyebrows. And sure enough in several pictures, and in the right light, Morgan has some very definite red hair going on. Of course this just means that as of now she will never be allowed out in the sun ever again as she will burn like crazy just like her Mom and Dad.

In addition to eating, smiling, and thumb sucking, Morgan has been making the rounds about town. Yesterday she enjoyed her first trip to the fair with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. She had a fun Saturday evening family date to the Super Walmart and has been enjoying her daily stroller rides up to the Ritas for some italian ice. And of course she loves reading stories... Gangy's travelogues are great for bedtime reading as they put Morgan right to sleep!

Pat has been settling into his new stay-at-home dad role. He and Morgan are enjoying their daddy-daughter days while I get in some bonding time in the evenings. I'm able to work from home two days a week which is helping Pat find the time to work on house projects (come over and check out our new basement floor!).

If you haven't done so recently check out photos and videos. Morgan is really racking up those views on You Tube!

Introducing Morgan!

Hello friends and family!

Before you start thinking that your memory is going, yes, I tried doing this blogging thing once before. I managed a whopping 2 entries before I threw in the towel. I guess I just had more interesting things to do then sitting in front of a computer typing out our most recent high-flying adventures. But of course, since so many of you complained that you were missing reading about our zany tales (thanks Mom), I thought it best to start this thing up again before the protests really got out of hand.

As you can see we have been slightly busy this past year. But it was all good and I'm very happy to introduce our beautiful daughter, Morgan Claire, who was born May 10th... one day after her grandmother's birthday, one day before Mother's Day, and 9 days before Pat's birthday. It must have been pretty boring for her on the inside as she was one week early. Either that or she just wanted to arrive on a nice round number... nobody should forget 5/10!

Morgan is fitting right into the family already. She came out with a good amount of hair both on her head and on her ears which I think Colby must have had something to do with. Speaking of Colby and Chance, they are doing great as big brothers. Colby is already very protective of Morgan and loves giving her kisses which Morgan loves receiving. She also loves her cousins and has demonstrated that love by spitting up on each of them, which they have also enjoyed. And naturally her grandparents have already managed to sneak her into the motor home... luckily it was still parked in the driveway at the time although I could have sworn I saw Gangy sneak Pop Pop the keys and tell him to start the motor ASAP.

On Friday Morgan turned 8 weeks old which she celebrated while on her first trip to Rehoboth. She even enjoyed about 5 minutes of the fireworks before having enough of the noise and rain. Morgan would like to say a special thank you to her aunt, uncle, and cousins for playing with her and also to apologize for the aforementioned spitting up.

So I will certainly do my best to keep up with all the latest news and happenings with us and Morgan, although future entries might not be nearly as long as this one. Since we have received many requests and inquiries for photos (again, thanks Mom) we now have an online photo gallery featuring Morgan and also a movie library featuring various clips staring Morgan. Our photos are arranged by specific event with more general photos falling under the respective month they were taken in. I'll try to keep these areas up to date as well.

Hope everyone is doing well!