Morgan's Birthday

I can't believe this much time has gotten by me again since my last post. I guess with Tim's deer hunting, Morgan's birthday, Thanksgiving, Addyson's Breakfast with Santa party and Christmas shopping, I have been just a little bit busy. I'll try to start from where I left off....we went to Peoria for 4 days when Tim was deer hunting with his dad. Addyson and Morgan got to visit Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Kenny at their house. It had been since summer when we were last there. Since summer, they got another kitten. He is a cutie and named Maddux after Greg Maddux, one of my dad's favorite ex-Cubs. He let Addyson carry him all over and she even strapped him in Morgan's carseat as you can see in this picture. Addyson and Morgan would also hover over the laundry basket that Addyson would put him in...he just didn't care. He acted as though he missed Addyson once she was gone, according to my mom. I also got to see Erikka a couple of times and the kids got to see her awesome gift shop. Addyson did some rearranging for her....I am sure that gave Erikka some extra unwanted work that afternoon. haha! Overall, we had a wonderful trip with Tim shooting a buck the first day with his bow.

During all this, we officially received our first snowfall! BLAH! Why do I live in the Northern Midwest? I hate snow!

Wednesday, November 26th was Morgan's first birthday! I cannot believe that she is one already! She loved her first cupcake...stuffing the entire thing in her mouth while flinging the blue frosting everywhere! That crazy kid....I even found frosting on the blinds across the room. We had a birthday party for her on the Saturday after Thanksgiving on order to get the family together since we don't all spend the holiday at one house. She had no clue what was going on, but this time when we sang happy birthday to her, she wasn't reaching for the cake but instead crying! I think it had a lot to do with her cousin Kaylee crying since she was so upset because she had to wait for cake. That was pretty funny. Morgan did great when I opened her gifts...no gift was left untouched by her, she hugged the dog given to her by the Garthwaites, drummed the drum from the Thompsons, played the two computers she received, and even went through the pile of clothes she received from everyone. All she cared about was that she was getting her "own" stuff. No more sharing with Addyson. :O) It was a fun birthday for Tim and I since we got to spend time with family and friends. Unfortunately, the next morning, she was sick with a stomach flu which we all got last week at some point. At least, it only lasted about 12 hours for each of us.

Thanksgiving was a good one this year as we went to Tim's parents for the day. We spent the night and Tim and Pat went pheasant hunting in the morning, while Rose and I took the girls to Gurnee Mills for the Black Friday deals. Oh boy! I didn't know if I was going to make it past the first store! What a mess! And it didn't help that Addyson wouldn't listen and kept trying to hide in the rounders and Morgan was already bored and throwing everything we gave her....oh, and they both were screaming....luckily I had Rose with me, or else I would have walked right back out of that door and went home. It is amazing how hard it is to shop with two little ones.....Addyson is usually okay but when you add in a one year old, all hell breaks loose! The mall had a lot of fun things for Addyson like an elf that made her a balloon animal and a Frosty that took her to get her face painted....she also saw Rudolph and Mrs. Claus so I think that helped keep her in line. Her Aunt Amy came around lunch time and kept Addyson with her so that was a huge help as well. It turned out to be a better shopping day than I first expected and it helped get me started on the forever process of finding gifts for all my loved ones. Somehow I always get it all done but that first weekend always stresses me out and I feel like it is a daunting task to finish in time!

Addyson's preschool had their Breakfast with Santa fundraiser Saturday morning...and even though it snowed again for about the fifth time already this season, they had a wonderful turnout. There was a raffle, a silent auction, breakfast, and the kids got to see Santa. At the end of the event, Santa gave each student a present and the kids just waited patiently for their name to be called. It was sweet to see Addyson have so much fun with Lucie, Sam and Christa.

Finally, another post....

Morgan putting her own hat on....nice, isn't it?
Morgan not looking very happy!

Addyson and Kaylee trick or treating!

Morgan does her own hair! Anyone need a new stylist? Her secret is mac and cheese instead of gel...shhhh, don't tell!

Morgan and the cowboy hat....yee-haw!

So, I just realized that once again I haven't updated this awhile. I need to get back on my weekly schedule. The girls got to trick or treat at their Aunt Diana's on Halloween night since our town's trick or treating was the weekend before and they had so much fun. They love going to their Aunt Diana's and Uncle Bob's. It is so wonderful that Diana and I get to watch each other's children grow up together. They will probably be a bunch of banshees within the next year or so, once Morgan and Ashlyn are running around. It might get a little chaotic, I am guessing but it should make for a lot of humor or it could put all of us in the loony bin!

Last week was a sad week for the Davis family. Tim's grandmother, Phyllis, passed away at the age of 87. She was an amazing and caring woman who raised 5 kids, all of whom are wonderful people. She raised her kids on a farm and it made her one tough intelligent lady. Phyllis was the type of person that if you met her once, you would never forget her. She was thoughtful, friendly, smart, and always happy. Tim said that he has never known her to frown or get upset. I had never seen that either, but after some of the stories that his dad and siblings tell me about the ornery things they did as kids, I have a hard time believing that they never got in trouble. haha! Anyway, she had such a great place in my heart and I loved to listen to her tell stories at the assisted living home she lived in about some of the other residents. (Who knew that others' grandparents could be so cheeky! hehe!) She will be greatly missed but always remembered. We love you Grandma Phyllis!

The past week was eventful for the great USA! The people spoke and decided that they were ready for a change. I was completely thrilled and in awe of Barack Obama when he came out to make his speech after winning the presidency. We broke the glass ceiling for minorities and anyone who thought they could not become what they always dreamed to be. This is an amazing time for the US and I hope we can take charge and take advantage of this moment to turn things around and get families on the right track again. It won't be easy but if everyone rallies together and supports each other, I believe that we can do greater things and get back to what we were 5-10 years ago.

Morgan turns one on November 26th, which completely astounds me since it feels like yesterday that she was born. She has a third tooth coming in, and it is the only one on top and it looks hilarious....can you say snaggletooth? :O) But I am sure the rest are soon to follow. She hates riding in the car these days and pretty much screams the entire time, but she is so small still that she will just have to get used to it again, because I doubt she will get turned around anytime soon because of her weight. She is starting to get more balance and learning to stand on her own but I am guessing that walking isn't going to be anytime soon. She refuses to cruise and will just stand there and point instead of going to get whatever it is she wants. She does eat well and is pretty much eating whatever we eat now, and she is doing well with not getting the bottle. That should make it very easy when it comes time to remove the "before bed" bottle. Addyson still gives Morgan a hard time, and still pulls her legs out from underneath her when she is crawling or knocks her down when she is standing, but I hope that will only make Morgan stronger in the end. Don't get me wrong, Addyson gets in trouble for doing it, but she is pretty sneaky and does it when I turn away for a second. Then I hear the crying and you can tell by Addyson's look that she did it again!!! Addyson is growing up fast as well. Yesterday, we took her to her 2nd dentist appointment already. Her teeth look great and although she would not let them clean her bottom teeth with the "spinning" toothbrush (she jumped out of the chair and wanted to go home at that point), she did let the hygienist give her a fluoride treatment....it was banana flavored and all that Addyson talked about the rest of the day. To see my little girl in that big chair brought back a lot of memories of my dentist as a kid! Man, did I hate the dentist! Addyson is still loving preschool and still takes gymnastics with Maggie. She also still has her cooking class on Friday but did say that she wants to take something else next time. We may try a Spanish class...maybe before we go to Mexico this winter.

My Baby is 11 Months Old!

I can't believe that Morgan is 11 months old today. Where has the last year gone? She is such a sweet little baby and in a month will be my one year old! She is crawling like crazy and pulling herself up when she can get good footing, which is so hard for her on the hardwood floors, but I think she will get it soon. Just this morning she was cruising slowly around the playhouse we have in the basement, so I am sure she will be doing it freely in no time. She loves to point at everything and when she wants something she will let you know about it. She is getting an attitude especially when it comes to Addyson taking something from her. She won't give in to her big sister anymore and will fight until the end. We love to watch her interact with other babies as she did at the ONS Halloween party that we took her to Friday night. She played with Henry and Sydney on the floor and kept taking the Halloween pinwheels from them and then handing them back...she even added a few swats of her pinwheel on poor Henry but I am thinking she was just flirting (isn't that how little kids flirt...haha).

Addyson has had a few fun weekends lately. A few weeks ago we took her and Morgan to Ebert's Pumpkin Farm and she got to play in the bounce house, take a hayride to the corn maze, go through the corn maze, play in a pumpkin patch, play games, listen to a story in the story time theatre, and eat a taffy apple. The storyteller at the theatre did a great job of telling the story of a dog who loses his tennis ball into the prairie dogs' hole....the ball causes all kinds of havoc in the prairie dogs' tunnels and after the story, we got to walk through the "tunnels" and relive the story she just told. I had never seen anything like it, and it was really neat. Addyson really enjoyed all the scarecrows at the farm and loved getting her picture taken with them. She got her face painted and got to see a few animals at the petting zoo. Overall, it was a great time and this is one reason why Fall is so much fun.

Friday night, Addyson's school had its Halloween party, so we took Addyson and Morgan to it. It was a really cool party with a haunted tunnel, bounce house, and games. The parents pitched in and brought food and drinks. It was really fun for the 4 and under crowd. Addyson's buddies, Lucie and Sam, were there, and she had a ball! She loves those two and misses them so much. Since she is in school on Monday and Wednesday, we don't see them nearly enough anymore. The three of them were inseparable and really liked the tunnels. At one point, Addyson and Sam came out crying and told us that a big boy was pushing them....but later on the story came out as a big boy pushed Sam and Addyson and Lucie hit the big bully with her magic wand! Now that is what I call a good friend! She was sticking up for her buddies. I would have loved to have seen that....that kind of stuff is priceless. :O) Tim's cousin said that Lucie is a woman you don't wanna mess with. The party also had make your own caramel apples, tattoos and face painting, and two really cute crafts to make. It was a really good setup, that school really is amazing.

Last night was trick or treating in Oconomowoc. We skipped the parade due to the cold and Morgan not being old enough (in my mind) to sit in a wagon the whole time with the wind blowing in her face. Addyson would tell me if she was cold, but Morgan really can't do that yet, so I made the decision to skip it this year, but we will definitely do it next year. Kaylee and Aunt Diana came with us to trick or treat and Kaylee was the braver of the two. She would walk up to anyone and say, "Please?" whereas Addyson was a little more intimidated if the house had anything scary in front of it. They did a great job with not whining about the cold weather and really enjoyed themselves. We get to do it all over again on Friday at Kaylee's since Waukesha has their Halloween festivities on the actual night. Since it is supposed to be warmer, I think Morgan will get to go out with us as well. She needs to see what all this is about!

I Blame Facebook

I feel as though I have been really neglecting this blog. I told myself that I needed to try and post at least once a week and that is not happening! At first it was because of no sleep, but now I am getting that since Morgan sleeps through the night, then it was too many other blogs I was finding to read, well, I have gotten over that addiction...but my latest time waster and sickening addiction: FACEBOOK! Aghhh! I cannot live without looking at it periodically ALL DAY LONG! How nuts am I? I know that I am not the only one with an addiction. I see it all the time on my friends' walls warning the newbies to beware, that it can be highly addictive with nowhere to turn. Is there such a thing as Facebook rehab? I truly think I may need it. If it is as beautiful as Lindsay Lohan's rehab center, Cirque Lodge, it might be a nice vacation. I am not trying to make light of addictions and rehab but someone should have warned me about the sick obsession of always wanting to see what old friends may sign up and how many kids they may now have. Gees! Although as fun as it may be reconnecting with all those from good old EIU, my housework and blog are suffering big time! So if you really want to find out what is going on with me on any given day, and the blog is 3 weeks old, just sign up on FB, become my friend and check out my status, it will tell you all! HAHA!

Morgan finally crawls!

She finally crawls!
Morgan trying to keep up with Addyson
Addyson eating her cider donut at Elegant Farmer! Yum! She loved picking her own apples!
Addyson and Kaylee hitching a ride to the apple trees.
Morgan even tried to pick an apple.
Can you spot Uncle Bob in this picture?
Tim and Addyson climb up high to get the best apples.
Here is one for you, Mommy!

Well, it never fails, but as soon as I wrote about Morgan not crawling yet, she figured it out. She figured out how to crawl backwards earlier last week, but when she was at Aunt Diana's Thursday night, she mastered it. I don't know if it was the access to a lot more carpet or what, but the next morning, Diana informed me that Morgan was officially crawling! Now she is all over the place and if I leave the room for a second, I never know where I am going to find her when I come back. I have already had to put a gate up on the top of the stairs because she beelined for them yesterday when I was cleaning up there! I had forgotten how crazy crawling babies can be. She has also decided that pureed baby food is no longer cool, and refuses all of it...she will only eat what she can pick up herself. If you try to spoon feed her, she puts her face into the highchair so you can't get to her mouth. She is a smart little one. She is only 6 weeks away from her first birthday which blows my mind because it still feels like yesterday when we were making plans for the induction and to think I was huge just a short year ago and wishing away the weeks before her birth so I could see her and get out of the maternity clothes...gosh did I hate those!

We went to the Cubs game last Thursday (which is why Morgan was at Aunt Diana's overnight) and what a pathetic showing of baseball! After game 1, I was so disappointed in them knowing how good they played all season but as always went into the game with a positive attitude. I thought they would overcome the bad game and snap out of that funk! We were with Steve and Laura and Steve made a joke before the game saying..."what if they are down 5-0 in the 2nd inning, what will we do?" Of course, pessimist Tim says, "we will leave." I laughed it off thinking, "no way!" Steve must be psychic, because that was the horrendous inning with 3 errors from the infield and just like that they were down 5-0 in the 2nd inning. We didn't leave, of course, but there were a lot of bitter Cubs fans.....at least one fan in our section was happy. He was the lone Dodgers fan. blah! Laura and I enjoyed watching one couple two rows ahead of us bicker for 3 innings, and then in the 8th, there were two old men in the front that got into a fight, so that was entertaining. Other than that, what a dull and depressing event to watch. Well, since then, with all the bad publicity the Cubs have gotten, it has only made me love them more. I feel sorry for them and can only imagine how much pressure is put on the Cubs team because of the 100 year drought of a championship. I think one day it will occur...when? Who knows, but until then, I will be hoping every year is the year. Because I still believe, and I know it is gonna happen. Go Cubs! This fan will never give up on you.

Last Saturday, we went with the Antholines to Elegant Farmer Apple Orchard. Addyson loved picking apples last year so we will probably make this place our annual event. It was really crowded but we were directed to an area with less picked apple trees so we ended up getting enough apples for both families. Addyson had so much fun again especially when she could reach the apples herself. Morgan even tried eating an apple....but with only two bottom teeth, she really only could dig them into the apple and suck out the juice. It kept her occupied for most of the time we were out there. Kaylee chowed down on a couple of apples and really surprised her parents with how well she ate them. Afterwards, we went to the barn to eat lunch and sat on haystacks with the rest of the crowd. The food was good and Addyson got to drink apple cider for the first time. She had so much fun and I love seeing her enjoy these things with her cousins. They are so close in age and it would be great for them to grow up together.

The Last Week in September

We are ready for the game to start.
Morgan and Daddy
Mommy and Addyson having fun at the game
Morgan watching the game from her standing position behind the seat
Addyson getting down to Morgan's level.

Addyson after eating a purple cupcake from Will's birthday party and after getting her chin glued back together! At least she is happy. :O)
Morgan thinks she can climb the stairs....although to me it looks pretty daunting when you are that little.
Morgan looks back to make sure someone is still watching her.
Morgan longing to be picked up by Grandpa.
Grandma Debbie reading to Morgan, Addyson and Ashlyn. (Wake Up Ashlyn!)

I really cannot believe that today is the last day in September. Today is Tim and my 8th wedding anniversary...that is crazy. We have been married for 8 years and been together for 10, but first met in August of 1992, where has the time gone? I think back to all those years at EIU, then the 3 years I lived in Chicago, and then the move to Algonquin, it really seems like yesterday. Now Tim and I are in WI with two little girls....one in preschool and one about to turn 1. It all seems so surreal sometimes .


So last Thursday started as any normal day with me taking Addyson to gymnastics. When we got home, I decided to wash Morgan's carseat because she spilled her bottle all over the inside of it, so with the cushioning in the washer, Addyson decided to wash her hands in the bathroom sink (as she always does). Well, I guess she didn't judge the distance between her chin and the sink when she was getting down because she bonked it on the sink and started screaming! It split open the underside of her chin but really didn't bleed too badly, but after two cuts on her forehead, I knew if it was gaping, she was probably going to need more stitches.....and guess what? Every time she moved her mouth, it would gape. So I called the nurse at her pediatrician's office and she recommended we go to Urgent Care right away to get it looked at. Knowing that sometimes time is a factor in these cases, I turned off Addyson's mac and cheese on the stove and went to grab Morgan for her carseat, only to remember that her cushion is in the midst of a spin cycle in the washer! ugghhhh! Why is it always that way when you are in a hurry? Murphy's Law, I guess....so we had to wait for it to finish and then the poor thing had to sit on a towel in her seat to keep her from getting soaked! I am sure that wasn't comfortable! Luckily the Urgent Care wasn't busy and they got us right in. The doctor decided to glue it instead of stitches since she has already gone through the stitches trauma twice in her short lifetime. It already looks like it is healing up nicely but that makes 3 scars on her face. I think she has gotten more scars on her face in 3 years than most people do in a lifetime....I hope things start getting better for my clumsy little girl. I don't know if I can handle another accident. :O)


Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Kenny came up for the Cubs-Brewers game at Miller Park on Saturday. We had a great time and the girls did great again. Addyson slept a little bit at the game and on the way home, but Morgan, being stubborn, refused to take a nap but still seemed to smile through all of it and had fun just holding onto the seat in front of her so she could stand. The Cubs won and forced the Brewers to wait one more day before they clinched the Wild Card and kept our (Tim and mine) win streak intact at Miller Park. Hopefully, if they meet in the NLCS, the Cubs can keep up their good luck at Miller Park, but we shall see. The Cubs season has been so much fun these past two years so whatever happens in the postseason shouldn't take away from the baseball that was played in the last 6 months, although I know it will disappoint the many Cubs fans who have been patiently waiting for it to finally happen.


On to other things......Morgan is 10 months old now and still not crawling, but she is already onto better things like pulling herself up and standing while holding on to stuff. She tries so hard to crawl but with the hardwood floors, she slips constantly. I think she is a little discouraged by that and has given up on it....she scoots herself over to the couch and then pulls herself up and then bounces while smiling, so proud of her accomplishment. I don't expect her to walk anytime soon, but the goal is to have her walking before our February trip to Mexico. Luckily I still have 4 months. Morgan finally has two teeth that are about all the way in. I was beginning to wonder if the poor child was ever going to get teeth. She was great about them coming in with no signs of it at all. Lately she has been a little stinker when it comes time for napping because she likes to sit up on her own, so when you put her in the crib she sits herself up, and she cannot get back down so she cries forever until you go in and lay her down. Today it took three times of me doing that until she finally gave up and stayed down and fell asleep. Plus it has gotten harder to take her places in the morning because she really needs that nap. I think I have to give up my exercise class during her morning naptime because otherwise she is really cranky and hard to handle until her afternoon nap. I know that kids generally give up the morning nap after they are one, so for the next few months, I think I can be a little more accommodating for her since she was so accommodating for me for the last 10 months!