Baking for Daddy

Morgan saw me put my apron on and decided she needed to get hers, too, and help me bake. We made Daddy's favorite dessert for his homecoming tomorrow night! We're so excited!

After she dumped the marshmallows in, she started picking them out one by one to eat them. I reassured her that I had plenty and she could have her own cup, but that I needed those marshmallows in the bowl!

I was busy layering the filling and when I turned around this is what I found! I wish I'd kept the camera rolling to catch the whole thing...little sneak!

Laughter

The boys have found that it's the little things that make Morgan happy - and they love making her laugh. They're playing with a toy from Morgan's Chick-Fil-A meal...that she didn't eat.

New Pics of Jamie

Tag

Morgan has a way of conning people into playing...here she's got Kaden giving her a ride as a kitty and then playing tag.

Playing tag...Morgan's "IT" trying to tag Kaden.

Bows

For those of you who have little girls (or know someone who has them), who doesn't love hair bows? I wish I'd found this site when Morgan was first sprouting hair! I saw a little girl with the cutest bows last summer and the mother told me about The Bow Lady. So I went on and had to have some, I even ordered two of the bow holders. After ordering the first one and filling it up with bows and barrettes, I realized I needed a second one! I think they're reasonably priced and they always come wrapped in tissue paper with a personal note. I'm not a fan of the HUGE bows, Morgan's head just isn't all that large. But I think they look cute on other little girls. I will probably be ordering some new bows for fall soon, or at least hope to, and I urge you other girl-mommies to buy some too!

Craft Day

I was organizing the hall closet two weekends ago and came across a bag of foam fall/autumn craft activities that my sister had given me about 3 years ago! Oops! So I decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to start a tradition with Morgan and the neighbor girls. Lexie is 3 and Blakely and Morgan are both 2. We tried our first craft day last Thursday, and Gretchen and I ended up making cornucopias by ourselves...we knew their attention spans would be low, but we thought they'd at least make it 5-10 minutes. We were wrong! I thought I'd have some photo ops, but it was hairy getting started and then with me crafting the pics were on the back burner. Today we tried making wreaths, and they sat there and made them from start to finish with no one wanting to get up! YAY! Morgan and Blakely were so proud of themselves, they kept saying, "LOOK!" or "I DID IT!" I was really impressed with their work, Morgan really did this by herself. I assisted by putting sticky dots in places, but she put the googly eyes really close to where eyes go and spread things out on the wreath really well!!

Here they are getting started.

Blakely is showing me her work...so proud!

Working hard

Morgan's "I did it!"

Only Morgan and Blakely would pose with their finished wreaths...but aren't they cute - both the girls and wreaths!

More uses for everyday items

Who knew a simple laundry basket would double as a chair to rock a baby doll?


And a pilates roll can be used as a supported pedestal seat thanks to Bubby!


This affection was not coached, I simply wanted to video and see what would happen...isn't she sweet?

Hiding from Bubby

Kolton had been playing with and chasing Morgan and every time she'd see him she'd yell, "HIDE!" and take cover! So this was Kolton's attempt to film it, and as usual...she didn't comply!

It's all about the praise.

Morgan is testing the waters in potty training. She might go potty, she might not. She might go potty several times a day, or not for several days. It's all on her timing. I'm really not in a hurry. I refuse to push, and I know when she's ready it'll happen. For now I really am quite happy with diapers and pull-ups. When the boys potty trained we had a potty treat jar. They would get 1 potty treat if they pee-pee'd and 2 if they pooped...we had several family members who visited that also loved our rewards system. The boys thrived on food bribery. Morgan is a different story...all she needs is praise. She gets so excited about us jumping up and down, clapping, and making a bid deal for her. I introduced the sticker rewards, thinking it might nudge her a little. The first day she sat on the toilet 5 times in about as many minutes just to get those stickers. Then she slacked off. I try to get her to witness Mommy going potty as much as I can, in order to peak her interest. So yesterday after her swimming lessons I had to go pretty bad - something about water - and I had her just sit on the bench outside the stall, because I was in a hurry. As soon as I started going, Morgan started in, "YAY, MOMMY!! GOOD GIRL!" I just laughed, it was so funny! There weren't many women in there, but even if there were I'm sure they've all been through this or will one day. Then last night during Morgan's bathtime she told me she had to go potty, so I swooped her out of the tub and sat her on the toilet. Not only did she go potty - she pooped for the first time in the toilet!! She was so proud of herself, "BIG poopie in the toilet!" She got back in the bath and then said she had to go potty again - and she pooped again! After her bath she got to pick out her 2 stickers and put them on her poster. I know this may not happen again for a long time and I'm okay with that, but it DID happen and I'm SO excited!! The boys are the greatest cheering support for her - we will all gather and jump up and down together. No wonder she responds to this act, wouldn't we all enjoy a crowd cheering for us when we've accomplished our tasks?

Yoga Baby