Proud Mama!

It's Saturday night, Morgan is sleeping, and the hubs still isn't back from hunting.  Perfect opportunity to update.  And boy do I have some updates!  This is one proud Momma typing over here.  So, let's get started...

Morgan will be 8 months old tomorrow.  It's starting to really scare me how fast time is going.  I know I say this in every post, but it's an overwhelming, powerless feeling to see your child growing and changing right before your eyes.  Of course, I feel incredibly blessed to have such a healthy, beautiful baby and I am so glad she is growing like she is supposed to.  We have several new developments since my last post.  Maybe the most noticeable is the crawling.  She has been "army crawling" (on her tummy), for several weeks now, but this past week she started crawling up on all fours.  She is quick too!  I can't turn my head for a second without her darting across the room.  Next on the list is pulling up.  That started this week as well.  We call her our little monkey because she will pull up on EVERYTHING she can get her hands on.  Today she was successful at completely pulling herself up to standing without any help.  Brad and I still have not baby proofed the house (I know, I know) so it looks like we better hop to it.  If you are a Facebook friend, I am sure you have already witnessed the third development.  We have a talker on our hands!  Morgan can now say "Momma" and "Bye Bye".  She waves Bye Bye too.  For some reason I thought this was crazy, super advanced for an 8 month old, but after doing some research I found that these are typical behaviors of 8 and 9 month olds.  Oh well.  I am still very impressed!  Lastly is the arrival of Morgan's first tooth.  The bottom front tooth popped through about a week ago.  The week prior to that was rough on her.  She was pretty cranky and wasn't very interested in eating.  Baby Orajel and some Advil here and there got her through it and she is doing much better.  I hope we get a little break before the next tooth arrives.

As far as sleeping goes, Morgan has really settled in to an excellent schedule.  She goes down every night between 7:00 and 7:30pm.  I know this seems early but that is when she gets tired, so I am not going to force her to stay up.  She usually sleeps until about 4 or 5am, but this morning she didn't get up until 6:45am!  Woohoo!  She gets 2 naps and plenty of playtime everyday.  One of my good friends recommended the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and I highly recommend it as well.  It's advice that allows for flexibility, and explains the importance of sleep for children.  A great and easy read!

Well thanks to everyone who made it through this shameless brag session about my child.  Now time to put my feet up and relax for the night.  Monday morning will be here too soon!!!

Beautiful Baptism, Horrible Hostess

Thought I would go ahead and update while I wait patiently (NOT!) for my pictures to upload to Shutterfly.  I have been totally negligent with updating my albums and have not had any printed since June.  That amounts to 860 pictures.  Clearly I haven't been negligent with TAKING pictures.

So with moving into a new house and getting things decorated inevitably amounts to having family and friends over to visit.  My Grandma and Nanny had not yet seen the house, and Morgan was scheduled to be baptized, so I figured, what a great opportunity to throw a party! Her baptism was yesterday at Hopewell UMC, and it was a beautiful ceremony.  Morgan was such a good sport.  As we stood at the front of the church, the entire congregation smiled and laughed at her cuteness (she hiccupped the whole time, which echoed loudly!).  I am pretty sure our family alone increased their congregation by 20%.  I wish I could say that the after-party was as successful as the ceremony.  To preface this story, I must tell you that I am very new at being a hostess.  Our old house was terrible for entertaining, so we never had people over.  As soon as we found out we would be moving, I was thrilled to finally be able to host a party.  Okay, so back to the story.  I planned to have a simple lunch after the ceremony.  Deli trays, rolls, pimento cheese, buffalo chicken dip, potato chips, fruit, veggies, and cake were on the menu.  I estimated about 18 people would come over, and the trays claimed to serve 10-12, so I bought two.  My lack of experience caused me to seriously underestimate how hungry people are after church.  In no time, we were out of rolls, chips, lunch meat, and lemonade.  CRISIS.  I was totally panicked and embarassed.  I cried in Morgan's room briefly, before pulling myself together and asking Brad to run up to the store.  He then informs me that his car is blocked in by about 4 other vehicles.  DOUBLE CRISIS.  He could tell I was losing my mind, so I think he asked his uncle if he could borrow his car so I wouldn't have a nervous breakdown.  Such a good husband.  He returned about 20 minutes later with the goodies and the party was salvaged.  WHEW.  I have definitely learned that it is ALWAYS better to have too much food than too little.  The Boy Scouts are right....BE PREPARED.

Here are a couple shots from the day...

 

In my last post I promised a few house pictures to show the new paint, so here you go!

 

 

 

Master Bath

 

Master Bedroom

 

Dining Room

 

Half Bath

 

Kitchen

 

Not crazy about the lighting in any of these pictures, but you get the idea.  The Kitchen is not as lime green as this picture shows.  Well, it's not lime green at all.  Clearly, we still need window treatments in every room, and furniture in the dining room and formal living room (not pictured).  The card table with the table cloth did the trick for the party Sunday, but we would eventually like a table that hasn't been used for poker and beer pong.

 

Super quick Morgan update:  She is 7 months old now, and is sitting up with no problems, rolling from one end of the room to the other, rocking back and forth on her knees, and lunging and scooting towards toys.  She has "crawled" a couple of times, but she doesn't have it totally figured out yet.  She isn't showing any interest in pulling up yet.  She is eating great and growing so fast (18 lbs 9 oz!).  She is always happy to see her reflection, and loves when Mommy sings, patty cakes, and reads to her.  Okay that was quick, right?

 

Until next time!!