{lazy days}

We're alive!!! Yes, we're still here, even though I haven't posted in FOREVER. We've just been busy and I've been tired. I have barely taken any pictures either, which is so unlike me!

Here's what's been going on....

*** Gerard had a Valentine's Day party at school and enjoyed getting all his Valentines.


As part of the Valentine's Day party-planning committee, I made these cute little gifts for the kids which included Hershey bars that I made custom wrappers for like last year. Of course I forgot to take a picture of the candy bars.



*** Gerard had his first "drop-off" playdate, which meant that I just dropped him off at his friends' Emma and Andrew's house and picked him up a few hours later. It was nice to have some time alone with Morgan and Gerard loved playing at their house without me there. I highly recommend this for all moms!


*** We read Patricia Polacco's Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare and went to see our symphony orchestra perform it along with a small little ballet company. The orchestra put on an "instrument petting zoo" where the kids could play all the instruments. Gerard had a ball playing ALL the instruments. Darci and Luke came too, which made it even more exciting for Gerard.


*** We went back to Buffalo to see my parents' house one last time before they move. It was funny to think that that would be my last time sleeping in my bedroom! Weird...

We celebrated my birthday and Grandpa's birthday while we were there. Morgan had her first taste of birthday cake. Not surprisingly, she liked it!




We also had to give Morgan some of the same opportunities that Gerard had in that house: playing "rollie-ball", playing with the gigantic crayon pillows, etc. Here's a sampling:









And just as a comparison, here are some old scrapbook pages of Gerard when he was just a little older than Morgan is now:




And here we are, one last time in the (in)famous yellow-and-green kitchen:




*** Just a few days before we went to Buffalo, Morgan gave us a little scare when she swallowed one of her barrettes. It went down with little trouble and then I spent the next 5 days rummaging through poopy diapers. Ah, motherhood. Well, I never did find that barrette. When we got back from Buffalo I had to take Morgan to the doctor for a lead test and an x-ray. Not that we'd expect there to be lead in a child's barrette, but you never know these days. We haven't gotten those results back yet (it takes a few weeks). We saw the x-rays immediately, and NO BARRETTE. So, either I missed it coming out, or it never actually went in. I guess we'll never really know for sure.


*** Morgan is a real dare-devil these days. She pulls herself up on everything and is getting pretty close to walking. She's even stood a few times without holding on to anything. She also does the hand motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider". It's particularly cute when Gerard sings and she does the motions. I'll try to get it on video one of these days.


*** I'm almost embarrassed to admit that this year I've become an American Idol fan and I have a definite favorite (even though he's a bit goofy). I particularly like his rendition of Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah:

I can't put Jeff Buckley's version on my blog, but check it out HERE. It's beautiful.

*** And finally, we found a babysitter!!! Stephanie came HIGHLY recommended from a neighbor and she babysatlast night. Both kids were great and Stephanie is very sweet. We were worried about how Morgan would do with a stranger, and although she wouldn't take her bottle she went to sleep without a problem. Hallelujah! Gerard and I are SO excited to be able to get out every now and then!


Well, I think that wraps it up for now. Now that I'm all caught up, you can expect more regular posting once again. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

{wow}

Wow... I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted! We've just been very busy. After a miserable January (we were all sick) we had a lot of catching up to do during February. Now that it's March, I expect to be back to normal soon. We're actually in Buffalo right now while Gerard is away for work. My parents have sold their house and I thought it would be nice to come home to see it one last time. Plus, Debbie came for the weekend too. I'll post more, with pictures, when we get back.

{taking a break}

Just taking a quick break from the Superbowl and I thought I'd share a new artist (new to me, anyway) who I just love. I heard this song and really liked it and then saw an Apple commercial (can't remember which one) that featured this song. What do you think?

Yael Naim -- New Soul

{two weeks in review}

Lots of stuff going on in the last two weeks. Sorry I haven't really posted....

** We took Gerard bowling for the first time and he loved it! By his third game he even bowled a 90!








** Big Gerard was in Memphis for a week for work. We managed without him here... We had a playdate here on MLK Day with some friends from school. And then on Thursday we went to Darci's. Gerard and Luke had fun -- it's great now that we can just let them go off and play by themselves. Morgan even napped in Levi's crib!

** Morgan has started taking baths with Gerard in the big tub. They both love it -- Morgan thinks Gerard is hysterical! I'm happy to be done with the little baby tub and to be able to get two baths out of the way at the same time. Here's a picture I took with my cell phone:


** Morgan has started eating better. She's all about feeding herself -- she loves chicken, carrots, parsnips, apples, Cheerios, baby puffs and bread. You can enjoy lunchtime with us here:

** One day, Big Gerard was talking about Dean Pees, the defensive coordinator for the NE Patriots (or something like that). Then, several days later, little Gerard said to me "Remember that football guy, Chris Poops?" I could barely contain myself!

** Morgan has gotten much better at sitting up. She no longer needs to do a split to get up, and she's really on the verge of crawling. We'll be putting the gate at the bottom of the stairs in no time!

** Gerard has new favorite books. He loves The Magic Tree House series. I think we've read the first 8 ten-chapter books in this last week alone. We took them out of the library, but I found them on e-bay and I think I might buy the entire set. I have a feeling he'll love reading these books by himself one day.

** Gerard got to take the class mascot, Curious George, home this week. He is the last student in class to get George and he is so excited! The kids take him home Monday through Friday and write a story about what George did while he was at their house. School was canceled on Wednesday AND on Friday because of the weather, but Gerard didn't mind too much -- it means George gets to stay with us for the weekend! Here's the story Gerard dictated to me (of course we'll have to change it since George got to stay longer):


** Wednesday was supposed to be "Pajama Day" at school, complete with a pancake breakfast. Unfortunately, Old Man Winter had other plans for us, so we just had pajama day at home. Gerard didn't seem to mind too much!

** Morgan's 9 month doctor appointment was on Tuesday. She's doing great and the doctor said she doesn't need to wake up in the middle of the night to eat anymore. So, we were prepared to let her cry it out. Of course I couldn't let her cry on Tuesday because she had just gotten her shots so we tried it Wednesday night. It didn't go so well and then she woke up with a fever on Thursday. I can't believe she's sick again. It's been a miserable January....

** Morgan has new teeth! Her two bottom teeth are in, and her two upper CANINES have just broken through. She's going to look like a vampire if her upper incisors don't get moving!

** We lowered Morgan's crib to it's lowest setting today and took out her bumper pads. She looks so weird all the way at the bottom like that, but she's sitting up now and pulling on her mobile. She can't reach it now that she's lower, but as soon as she can stand up the mobile will have to go, too.

I think that's everything. Here's hoping for a much healthier February!!!!

{quick video}

I know it's been more than a week since I've posted, and I do have some stuff to report, but I only have a minute right now. I thought I'd post this little video of Morgan sitting. She was a little cranky at the time, but it was too funny not to post. (If I had to do a full split every time I sat up, I'd be crying too!)

{good morning}

Good morning everyone! Last night I started going through some videos from the last few weeks and I thought I'd upload a few clips. Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The first is Morgan rolling around. Who needs to crawl when you can move around so well this way? Actually, since I shot this video, she's started getting up on her knees more and rocking back and forth like she's really trying to take off. I'm sure she'll be crawling in no time!

This video is from when Morgan was sick. Listen for Gerard in the background trying to teach her how to clap and interpreting for her. (Try to ignore my annoying high-pitched "THANK YOU" at the beginning!)

This last video is of Gerard "dancing". It's more about watching his reflection in the TV than performing!

{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: