{a quick post}

Just a quick post to say hello. We're having fun with Aunt Debbie and she's helping out a lot. Gerard barely lets her sit down before asking her to play something else with him. It's so cute. Tomorrow she's going to watch both kids while I get my hair cut in the morning. Good luck, Aunt Debbie!

Anyway, here are some pictures....

Some outtakes from our holiday card photo shoot:


Morgan sleeping on her tummy for the first time last night:


Another quick living room photo shoot:

That's about it for now. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

{life goes on}

Thanksgiving is coming up and despite Grandpa's death, we still have much to be thankful for....

I made the turkey and Gerard did the feathers. All of a sudden he said to me, "I want to use lowercase letters." And he did! And only the "a" in Morgan was backwards (that's the brown feather on the right that you can't really see in the picture). I was shocked! He must really be learning at preschool, because I haven't practiced any lowercase letters with him.


Speaking of school, here are some of Gerard's latest masterpieces:

This Indian corn was made by tracing his hand. Isn't it cute?

Morgan is eating better. She's polishing off her mushed up carrots like a pro, and is only slightly less enthusiastic about mushed up peas. I'm actually enjoying making her baby food instead of buying Gerber. It's fun and not really much work at all. And since she seems to be so picky, I can adjust the texture and consistency to just how she likes it.

She's also sleeping a little better. We've got to work on getting her to soothe herself back to sleep when she wakes up, but other than that she seems to be getting the hang of it. I went in to check on her yesterday during a long nap, and she had her little foot propped up on the rails of her crib:




And Big Gerard discovered the greatest Hanukkah book! It's Lemony Snicket's The Latke Who Wouldn't Stop Screaming; a Christmas Story.

It's actually quite funny and very appropriate since the story starts at the only house "...not decorated with flashing colored lights at this time of year." That's us!!!


Gerard is becoming quite the little artist. Here is a self-portrait. That large "thing" under his face is his chin and that little "thing" on his chin is his "bump". He has a little birthmark that he calls "his bump". Sometimes he seems really aware that it's there and picks at it, and other times he'll forget all about it. It must've been on his mind when he made this picture of himself. (And just as a reference point, here's a picture of "his bump".)




Darci found a really cute idea for Thanksgiving cookies so Gerard and I tried them out yesterday. We used Pillsbury Ready-to-bake sugar cookies and store bought frosting so these were really fun and easy. Gerard is going to make them for Thanksgiving dinner.





And finally, Aunt Debbie is coming today for a whole week!!! YAY!!! We're all very excited.

In case I don't have time to post again while Debbie is here, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

{thank you}

Thank you to everyone for all the kind words. Grandpa would have been 92 on Friday. I imagine he's somewhere taking long walks and speaking in long fluent sentences. He hasn't been able to do either of those things in quite a while and I know he missed them both....

{a tribute}

{rome wasn't built in a day}

...and it is taking just as long for Morgan to learn how to eat solid foods, but she IS making progress. The other day I cooked up some carrots and mashed them up with a potato masher. She seemed to want the carrots since she willingly opened her mouth for more, but I thought most (or all) of it ended up dribbled down her chin. Well wasn't I pleasantly surprised the next day to see carrots in her poop! (I know, it's not often you hear of someone excited about the contents of someone else's poop, but this was exciting!) So, since she obviously ate at least some of the carrots, I gave it a try again. And again she seemed to like them. So today I cooked up some peas and mashed those. She seems to like food with a bit of texture. My guess is that we skipped over the pureed stage and moved right on over to the finger food stage. I'm not complaining! I'll let you all know if I see peas in her diaper tomorrow!!!

I also took a few random pictures of the kids today. Morgan wore her "pants with attached socks", better known as tights, again today. Doesn't she look like a little princess?

{the portrait series}

Here's some of Gerard's latest artwork. I like to call it his portrait series:



I'm not quite sure why I have such mean-looking teeth, but I figure it can't be that bad since he gave himself the same smile. And that is an accurate representation of my hair lately. So unfortunate....


And at the risk of being too excited too soon, guess what Morgan ate today? My little girl who refuses to eat baby food ate APPLE. Not baby food. Not applesauce. Pieces of an apple. Little Gerard and I were sharing one after dinner and she was really eyeing it, so I put it up to her mouth and she actually tasted it. She tried to eat it, so I broke off a tiny piece, put it on my finger, and she opened her mouth, moved toward it, and ate it. Chewed it and everything. Swallowed, even. She had several pieces! Then she wanted to hold the apple. That made me nervous since larger pieces could break off, but I let her do it for a while. YAY, MORGAN!!!!!







And finally, big Gerard saw the surgeon today who said that everything looks good. His wounds are healing nicely and he can go back to work (light duty only) next week. Little Gerard was really hoping that he'd be able to wrestle with Daddy starting tomorrow, but I guess that will have to wait. According to the doctor that might have to wait another 4 weeks. Yikes. I'm going to have to start wrestling with him!

Well that about wraps things up here. Keep your fingers crossed that the apple thing wasn't just a fluke. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

{stuff}

Obviously things have been a little crazy around here. Gerard has been home from work, but he's still been working from home. That's fun for all of us. He was working on the computer today, sitting at the kitchen table, and asked Gerard to pretend he was at work. Here's the abbreviated version of that conversation:

Daddy: "Gerard, I have some work to do. Do you think you could pretend that I'm at the mill?"
Gerard: "No. You're not at the mill. You're in the kitchen."
Daddy: "Pretend I'm at work. When I'm done working, I'll pretend to drive home so we can play."
Gerard: "You can't drive in the kitchen! Mommy will get mad!"

He's too funny. He totally knew what Gerard was asking him to do, he was just messing with him. It's great to see his sense of humor really come out.

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Here's some other stuff that's been going on:

I forgot to post pictures of Gerard's jack-o-lanterns. He designed them himself and actually did much of the carving. The only thing he wouldn't do was stick his hand inside to pull out the "guts". Big Gerard didn't get to carve his cool pumpkins this year. Oh well. There's always next year. I think the ones that little Gerard and I did were pretty cool in their own right.

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We also made our Mr. Potatohead pumpkin. When he was finished putting him together Gerard said "That looks like Grandpa Ian!" I'm assuming it's because of the mustache. Or maybe it could be the big nose? Perhaps his svelte shape? Or the hoop earrings?

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And here's a little pumpkin they decorated at preschool:

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Morgan is still not eating as well as we had hoped. We've tried a few different foods (including peas, see below!) but we decided we're going to stick to very watered down cereal until she gets the hang of that. We also tried putting fruit in one of those mesh baggie things, but she enjoyed chewing on the handle more than the fruit itself. If she's still not eating by 7 months I think I'll call our pediatrician.

* * * * * * * * * * *

If only Morgan was as good an eater as Gerard. Here's his lunch from yesterday -- PB&J sandwich, an apple (minus a piece for Morgan to try), milk, and a salad. Sure, the salad could have been healthier had he not dumped so much dressing on it, but I'm just happy he likes his veggies!

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And still on the subject of food, I made a new recipe for dinner last night. Not the healthiest meal, but it was a nice treat. It would make a cute appetizer too, if you used a smaller biscuit cutter (or glass). It was chicken empanadas from Paula Deen.

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The other day Morgan wore a dress with tights for the first time. (Yes, I forgot to take a picture.) When Gerard saw her, he said "Hey, what are those pants? They have socks attached to them!" Oh, just wait until Morgan is wearing make-up and jewelry. Gerard isn't going to know what to do!

* * * * * * * * * * *

It snowed today. Just a little, but it snowed. When Gerard saw the forecast yesterday, he happily squealed "I'm gonna make a snowman tomorrow!" Poor kid. I don't think a single snowflake lasted once it hit the ground. Oh, we'll be building snowmen soon enough....

* * * * * * * * * * *

And last but not least, big Gerard has his appointment with the surgeon tomorrow. Hopefully he'll get a good report! I'll be sure to post an update.

Goodnight!

{so much to report}

BEWARE, THIS IS A LONG POST. I HAVE A LOT OF CATCHING UP TO DO!

For those of you who haven't heard, big Gerard had an appendectomy on Sunday night. He didn't feel well on Saturday and basically stayed in bed all day. (I was pissed.) On Sunday he called the doctor who told him to go to the ER. (I was pissed -- who goes to the ER for a tummy ache?) I made him call my dad, who promptly agreed with the on-call nurse. It was probably appendicitis. (I was really pissed.)

So, we all headed to the emergency room. (Still pissed.) Eventually Gerard had a CT scan which confirmed everyone's suspicions -- it was appendicitis. (I was sorry!) So, I took the kids home and made arrangements for Gerard before Morgan and I headed back to the hospital for his 7PM surgery.

Gerard got to spend the evening at Maddie's house, and they both had their first sleep-over. Shauna got out a sleeping bag for Gerard which Maddie promptly wanted to share. Of course Gerard was more than happy to share it with her. (I'm not sure how long Chris is going to agree to that!) When I got back at around 11:00 they looked so cute bundled up together I almost didn't want to wake him to carry him home. But I knew it would be best since he had school in the morning, so Chris helped me and Gerard fell right back to sleep in his own bed.

All went well for big Gerard, the surgeon was able to do the appendectomy laparoscopically, and he is recovering nicely. (Nothing a little vicodin can't help.) Little Gerard is a bit bummed that Daddy is home but he's not allowed to wrestle with him, but I think his first sleep-over at Maddie's has made up for it.

Life still goes on, despite surgery, so I have a lot of random stuff to report....

Gerard is still working on patterns at preschool. He's a pro.



Gerard and I wove some Indian corn while Gerard was sick on Saturday. We got the idea from this month's issue of My Big Backyard that Mima and Grandpa G got for Gerard.



Thanks to everyone who sent Halloween cards. I feel like Halloween snuck up on us since we were away for half of October. Gerard and Morgan both enjoyed their cards. Lynn, Gerard particularly had fun with yours!




Morgan had her 6 month check-up last week. She's growing perfectly -- 50th percentile for both height and weight and 60th for head circumference. Now if she would only learn to eat solid foods and sleep through the night she'd be perfect! Oh, and she's been drooling like crazy... I think she must be getting some teeth!



I had my first paying order for birth announcements thanks to Ami G!!! Remember, if you know anyone who is in need of a custom birth announcement, have them e-mail me and I'll send them samples of my work. I also do holiday cards and virtually anything else you can think of! Here's the latest (although you'll have to use your imagination because I blurred out or covered up any identifying information):



Silpada orders are due next week, so if you'd like to support our preschool, take a look at the catalogue and let me know if you want to order anything!


Speaking of fundraisers, we also do gift card orders through preschool to raise money. If you'd like to order any gift cards, check out this site and let me know. They're perfect for holiday gifts!


Monday was Gerard's school Halloween party. He was Lightning McQueen's pit crew. It was cold, of course, so you can't really see his costume.



I took the kids trick-or-treating last night while Gerard sat on the front porch and handed out candy. Gerard and Morgan looked so cute, and even though it was cool and rainy I think they both had fun riding in the wagon (which I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of!) Here they are before we went out:








And last but not least, the doctor had suggested giving Morgan a teething cookie just to get her used to a taste other than formula. The hope is that maybe she'd swallow some of it and want to try some new things. I was reluctant to try it, but we gave it a go tonight. She seemed to like it, but I'm not sure how much ended up in her stomach. She made such a mess!

















Needless to say, she got a bath tonight!

Well, that about wraps it up. I hope everyone is doing well and had a happy halloween! Here's to a less eventful November!!!!!