{shabbat shalom}

I'm happy to report that we're all healthy! YAY!!! We even had Shabbat dinner tonight and I made the most delicious challah <---CLICK THERE FOR THE RECIPE (although I made a few changes). For those of you back home, I'd have to say it's the best we've tried since Wolter's. Boy do I miss Wolter's challah....



Anyway, Morgan has been getting better at sitting up by herself (not sitting by herself, but getting up to a sitting position from laying down.) She starts by laying on her tummy, then pushes herself backwards while nearly doing a split. Then, much to her surprise at first, she's sitting! It's so cute how she looks around at us for approval and then claps for herself when she sees that we're excited. I need to get the video camera out for that!

Other than that, I don't really have anything new to report. Here are a few pictures of them yesterday morning right after everyone woke up. They're in Gerard's bed:

{getting healthy}

Sick, sick, sick.... I feel like that's all I've been writing about! Big Gerard worked from home today because he wasn't feeling well. I think he should be better tomorrow and Morgan's cold/cough/croup/whatever-it-was is finally getting better. I'm hoping my next post won't have anything to do with illness!!!

In other news.... Morgan sat up by herself today. I mean she was laying down and then sat right up! Nobody actually saw her do it -- we were playing a game and then looked over and there she was, sitting! It was too cute.

She's getting at least one new tooth, too, which I'm sure is adding to her discomfort lately. Oh well, she's got a whole mouthful yet to go -- she had better get used to it!

Also, after talking about it with Aldine, I think we're going to try to make more of an effort to do Shabbat dinners on Friday nights. Gerard has enjoyed learning about Shabbat and is most excited about lighting candles every week. I found a challah recipe for the bread machine and all we'll have to do is braid it, which he's also looking forward to. We made a Tzedakah box today and talked about charity. Gerard was pretty excited about that until he realized that he'd be taking money out of his bank to put in the Tzedakah box. I offered him the opportunity to give away some old toys to needy kids instead, but in the end he decided that one coin a week wasn't all that bad. It's hard trying to explain charity to a 4-year-old, who thinks he NEEDS everything. One day I'm sure he'll get it...

I've also had some time to work on some more scrapbook pages. I'd really like to finish Gerard's 2007 album so I can put some more effort into Morgan's first album. I am making progress -- I'm already up to October! Here are the latest:

(EDITED TO ADD: I know there's a typo on the above page -- don't worry, I'll fix it!)

{slowly returning to normal}

We're slowly getting back to normal around here... Gerard is finally better and he's excited about going to school tomorrow. I feel much better, too. Now if only Morgan could get her act in gear we'd be all set. She's still got a cough and a cold and it's preventing her from eating and sleeping very well. I do think she's on the mend though. Keep your fingers crossed!

Gerard had been cooped up in this house for so long that I think we were ALL going to lose our minds, so big Gerard took him outside to play this afternoon. After several warm days (which of course we spent inside, sick) it finally snowed. They built a snowman, fully equipped with carrot nose and cranberry eyes and mouth. They played some serious tackle football, built a fort and threw snowballs. He had a ball, and really tired himself out. He's sleeping soundly now.








Since I didn't have my video camera handy, here are two little animated slideshows of them playing football:

{our house, the petri dish}

Hi all. Just a quick post to let you know that I haven't posted in a while because we've all been sick (except big Gerard). Gerard ended up with walking pneumonia but he seems to be doing much better. Morgan has a nasty cough and cold and we hope it doesn't develop into anything worse. I had some nasty 24-hour stomach bug yesterday but I feel better today. I spent the better part of this afternoon washing linens, scrubbing bathrooms, spraying Lysol and cleaning toys in bleach water. Hopefully the house is free of germs and we can get on to enjoying 2008!

{so sick}

Well, it's been a not-so-great start to 2008 here. Poor little Gerard is so sick. He's miserable. So far, his fever has topped off at 102.5. He's coughing like a 60-year-old smoker and his nose is running so much that I actually watched it drip onto his pants. Gross, I know. Sorry for the graphic details.

He basically sat on the couch all morning and either watched TV or stared at the wall. He took a break to eat a little lunch and to play a few games of Memory and Trouble. Then he took a nap, and he's been sleeping now for almost 2 1/2 hours. Maybe he'll wake up feeling a little better.

I took some pictures of his poor, sad face while he was on the couch. Check out the glassy eyes and red under the nose. Poor baby...






And here are some pictures of Morgan. Check out her one little tooth....

{happy new year!}

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve and I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2008!

I've been busy these last few nights trying to catch up on some scrapbooking. I'm not usually one to fall behind, but it's been a little busy here since April.... I'm working on Gerard's 2007 album and I'm finally up to September! YAY! Here are the latest, for those of you who are interested. (You'll have to use your imagination on the journaling -- I used a lot of last names and places, so I covered them up.)

















And here are some from Morgan's album. Some of them have been done for a while, but I don't think I posted them. I'm also not necessarily doing these chronologically, so you'll notice some are pretty recent while others are from back in April. I will go back and finish her album, I assure you!


these next two go together: