When you think your toddler is napping....

There are some upsides:

1. Kate would be totally en vogue in Amsterdam, or if she were in a punk rock band.
2. It's a classic funny story to add to our family tale-book.
3. Scissors only go on top of the refrigerator now.
4. She didn't cut her ear off.
5. Ryan and I laughed the hardest we have since we got married, and still continue to chuckle when we look at her hair.

All the single ladies

Kate loves this song. Okay, really I love this song and Kate jumped on the bandwagon. She can almost articulate all those lyrics. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I have my 2 year old dancing and singing to beyonce.


Sorry it's sideways.

You're a dead ringer for Chuck E. Cheese!

Yeah, it happened. There were about 10 people in a silent restaurant last Friday night, and our family comprised half that population. We were cleaning up to leave when a woman entered. She had big, gray hair, a fairly large nose, and a red shirt. Kate spotted this woman and her face light up like up like Christmas morning, she pointed, and exclaimed, "Mom! She looks like Chuck E. Cheese!" Everyone heard it. Ryan and I looked around searching for that darn kid's parents. Then we attempted to look extremely preoccupied and deaf to the uttered comment. Neither attempt to shift blame worked, so we hi-tailed it out of there. Here's the lemon juice in the open wound, the lady was blind, with a guide-dog and everything.

Tondu

In my first glimpse at Kate I wondered and hoped at all the potentials housed in that tiny little person. I daydreamed about the wide variety of experiences she would have and, hopefully, the contributions she would make.

One specific fantasy included a bubbly, bouncing girl releve-ing, and tondu-ing around a dance floor. And here she is, living out that dream. Long new-born nights seemed endless and made two-year-old days like these seem barely visible on the horizon, but they have come into plain view so rapidly.

I know someday I will feel similarly when an awkward kid knocks on our door to pick up Kate for her first date or when boxes full of her stuff leave with her for college. It is hardly within my comprehension that this little baby of mine will grow up to be a woman; probably marry, have kids, grandkids, and live a long life. I have realized that time marches on without my permission, and these potentials will become realities in the blink of an eye. I survived those new-born nights on the sustenance of the hope that they would end, the sooner, the better. Now, I find my joy and sustenance comes in the hope that they won't.

PS I think I found the secret to happiness... watching a two year old ballet class ensures happiness for the viewer for at least a week. Every time I envision those little girls doing their best to follow "teacher Katie", I smile. Or when I think of Kate watching herself in the big mirrors more than the teacher. So cute.

Garden Variety

We visited the garden this year for Halloween.....




If you're unsure about Robby, he is a chili pepper. If you're unsure about Kate, well, you're on your own, that one is pretty obvious.

What Robby lacked in spiciness (nursed and slept through the whole thing), Kate made up for in vivacity. She ate up, literally and figuratively, Halloween. (I guess Robby did too, just not in candy form.) Although after knocking or ringing Kate did show some reticence and paced 4 or 5 steps backward before the homeowner answered. But no hesitation was present when the candy appeared, those backward paces were re-traced and candy was accepted. Kate loved it. I did too, Halloween is great for stocking up on incentives (bribes?) for the 2 year old.

These holidays just get better and better as our little girl grows up. Can't wait for Christmas!!




Yes the second to last shot is candid. Boundaries were a little loose on Halloween night, unfinished suckers stuck to your child's bum is a pretty clear indicator. But we did enjoy ourselves immensely.

pure and simple

Take a look at these sweet shots done by my friend, photographer, and fellow mom Meg when we were still in the hospital. I am so happy with the images she captured from this time, we are so lucky. When I look at these images and whenever I look at the new little one in our family I am struck by his purity and innocence. I am sure all newborns render similar feelings, how special those new little ones are.

You can see some more at her blog. Thanks again Meg, you're fantastic!

Robby (Robert Alexander Morgan)

He came! 12:23 pm, September 24th, 7 lbs 13 oz. Perfect. My labor with Robby pretty much represents Robby's perfect little demeanor. I went into labor at 9:30. Hit a 10 at 12:19, pushed 3 times, he was born 4 min later. In fact, pushing was so short and easy when he was was all the way out I had to look to make sure. It was a dream labor with a dream baby as the prize.

These pics are out of order, but there are some technical difficulties I am not willing to wrestle with right now. But you get to see the baby first this way!


I love this picture. Kate is doing her best to "smile". I don't think there are more precious moments I can recall than we all got to be together for the first time in the hospital room. Kate was enamored with this baby and full of one million questions. I love our new little family.

There we go!

This moment is soo exciting as the mom. I love that we got a good shot of it this time. Sorry to ruin the myth that babies come pink, dry, and perfectly shaped, this picture may be a little to realistic for some. I love it!

Note: smiles. Note: great nurse, the best ever, and fantastic dr. They were just about to break my water, I was ready and very excited.

Ryan bought these shoes for me when I had Kate. (What better way to celebrate a new life than with new shoes?) Here they are revisited with the new baby.

Baby Shower

I am so lucky and got to have a baby shower hosted by my Oregon friends and family. A group of my favorite people pulled together to throw a sweet shower for this new baby boy. Thanks to all those who contributed their time and efforts, especially to those who have so many other commitments in their life. Oh wait, I think that definitely applies to all of them!

Cute attendees, of course they put me on the end of the picture. So there I am, 9 months pregnant. But feeling pretty darn good nonetheless.

MMM, these were good and everyone got one. Plus, they were cute. Thanks to Meg for her talents.


Yahoo! 2 or 3 more days and we get to see the real live baby boy Morgan!

Sisters

Ryan's been having the time of his life working outside of Portland for the past 3 weeks. But there is a silver lining, since he takes the car and I'm minutes away from going into labor, we invited Audrey to come live with us for about three weeks just in case this baby makes his arrival while Ryan's out on his pleasure cruise.

Needless to say, Audrey has been the buoy to a sinking ship. If there were a way to imitate the last two weeks of pregnancy, it would be a great torture device for those really bad people at Guantanamo Bay, not that I am a proponent of torturing people. "Anything, I'll do anything, just get it over with!" Okay, it's really not that bad, but to have Audrey here truly has been a pleasure cruise for me. Four words are all I need to say for you to understand the magnitude of her help: she vacuums my stairs.

Not only is she a great help, but a great friend. The bargain-finding, treat -making, people-watching duo of the good ole days has returned and I am quite enjoying it and Kate has only good things to say as well (I want my Audgie). Thanks audge, love you!

Just can't get enough

I was so lucky to travel to Montana, again. Got to see my parents, again. Got to enjoy unbeatable weather, company, scenery, etc, again.

Everyday Heroes

While at BYU I TA'd for a professor who was blind. Brother Cowan. Although his sight was gone, you would never consider the absence to be a hinderance to his abilities. His bookshelves housed scores of titles filling floor to ceiling, wall to wall. When he asked me to retrieve books from these shelves, someone with 20/20 vision, he often gave up in his descriptions and just got the book himself. He could describe the width, texture, heighth, etc with perfect accuracy. He could identify students from up to 5 years past with the sound of one sentence uttered. In short, he was amazing. Not only were his physical abilities so commendable, but he still tops my list of compassionate and kind people.

He was an everyday hero. An inspiration to me to buoy my strengths and strengthen my weaknesses. If I were in Utah, I would love to nominate him for this great project my friend Alli is doing called Everyday Heroes. Alli is amazing and would love to photograph your everyday hero in order to raise money for a great cause! Plus, it's a great deal for you! Alli is an accomplished photographer, she can even make our family look good, amazing.

Happy Day

Make a Smilebox photobook

Ryan is in Brazil (brasil?). I'm in Montana. We miss each other. Happy 3rd anniversary to you Ryan!

Utah is raising it's (mishapen) head all over the country! Read on!

Trying to give your hair the defying gravity look? Don't have the Southern Idaho/Rural Utah 'extra lobe' gene? Watch this demo! Just don't tell anyone hailing from cities south of Provo UT, they just might go nuts trying to fill the 30 min they spend trying to create their bump every morning.

This is real, Ryan saw it on tv pulling an all-nighter for work while he was in LA.

Say yes to the dress

Guess what this used to be? It used to be one of those articles of clothing that inhabits the back of the closet for way too long. One of Ryan's old dress shirts. Then I made it into a dress. I even had to make my own pattern. I am pretty proud of my sewing prowess on this one.

Next project - recovering the chair Kate's sitting on.

insert red-neck joke here

Go ahead and laugh, but I did take out 4 targets with 7 shots.

Kate was impressed.

Our Little Lady Turned 2

In June I asked Kate what kind of birthday party she wanted. She said "caterpillars and ladybugs." I had a little internal celebration that Ariel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and the rest of the gang would not be the starring roles at this two year old party. Kate was all smiles when she saw her lady-bug lollipops and realized this was the party she had been waiting for - you can see a little glimpse of these guys in the corner of the first pic above. (I made little lady-bug pops in lieu of cake, I have no idea how to decorate cakes and didn't really want to tackle that task this year.)

When I watched Kate eat up every second of this party, literally and figuratively, I realized that this is her mantra. She's a mover and a shaker, a "carpe diem" driven soul. I know she will inspire me in the years to come with her tenacity and spit-fire ways. I have been caught by this little girl, hook, line, and sinker. Happy birthday to my favorite two-year-old.


What good is a lady-bug themed party without real, live lady bugs? Grandma Morgan tracked down a box of 1500 live ladybugs from a garden store, thank you! The kids loved letting these little buggers go while simultaneously attracting as many as they could. (I hope we didn't off set the natural balance of lady bugs at the un-named park where we held the party. On second thought, I know a good number of them didn't make it much longer than 2 or 3 minutes out of the box. Anxious and vigorous 2-8 year olds = squashed bugs.)

The Fourth

Our fourth of July weekend started Friday morning when we drove out to Seaside to join Ryan's family at a beach house they rented for a week. We stayed for three days in the house. It was HUGE, right on the beach, complete with an ocean mural in the kitchen, marble showers, hundreds of dvds, pool table, poker table (unused this trip), telescope, full size barbecue, and plenty of room for all of us.



This swing set was about 200 yards from our door, and right on the beach. I don't think we could have come up with a better combo for Kate: water, sand, and a swing set all in one place. She was in heaven. It was so nice to walk out the back door and right on to the beach, we didn't haul anything back and forth besides a little sand, I loved it.
Here Kate is wearing the Fourth of July oufit that Grandma sewed and I embellished. I thought it turned out pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.

Kate squeezed every last moment of swimming and wading into those three days as she could. Ryan loved playing in the water with her, how convenient because I thought it was pretty chilly. We had to force Kate out of the ocean periodically so she didn't over-chill.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa-Grandpa for a great trip, wished we could have stayed longer!

Where skies are always blue...

Since I'm pretty sure my family are the only people who understood what this post title was referencing, this is a post about my trip to Montana with Kate. If I could sum it up in one word, I'd say "decompressing." I love my home. Stress recedes just to imagine warm nights on the hammock, every star visible, the lake shimmering in the moonlight, frogs croaking, and no other people within eye or ear-shot. That sort of living is healthy and I miss it. Our visit filled a void and I feel rejuvenated.

Saw lots of "deeries."

Even saw a buffalo. Kate asked if we could kiss it, I'm not sure that's a desire anyone in all of history has had.

Went on walks with grandma. They talked all about the people who lived in the houses below, the tractors doing the work, the horses in the fields, the dogs in the yards, the grass growing so tall, the mailman delivering the mail, the best kind of stuff to talk about in the world if you're little.

I wish I had more pictures of the swimming. Kate had the time of her life and nearly learned to swim on her own in the pool of my youth at my parents condo on Flathead Lake.

When I watched Kate, I reminisced my trips to the condo as a little girl. The 25 min drive included Audrey and I doing our best to fill every bit of silence by belting the words to Whitney Houstons singles tape playing in the minivan while my dad drove. We also swam to exhaustion. But we almost always got to stop by the little grocery store and enjoy fudgesicles for the drive home. You cannot know, until you are a parent, what sort of commitment and work those things require. Thanks dad for spending the 3 hours periodically to take the little girls of the family for these outings, they are some of my favorite times.

Thanks mom and dad for choosing to raise me in the most beautiful and simple place on earth and thanks for letting me return.

Cruisin

Gabe and Dave provided a fabulous date night for the family when they took us on a ride down the Willamette River. But I wished my Dad could have been there, it was a trip just up his alley.

For non-portlanders, the Willamette runs right through downtown portland, so we got to see the city from a totally different perspective and as we traveled out of city limits our dream house observing appetites were certainly filled by taking in all the gorgeous houses on the river. It was one of the best nights we've had in a long time, so relaxing, beautiful, and very romantic. Not to mention we got to see a fisherman pull an eight-foot sturgeon out of the river, that was nuts. Mid trip, we docked our boat right on this restaurant's dock, stepped out of the boat, and sat down to a great seafood meal.
I satisfied my pregnancy induced desire for all things chocolate with a mini chocolate pudding dessert. No ordinary chocolate pudding though, I'll tell you that much. I savored every bite.