Little Monkey!!!

Today I was cleaning (ok...trying to) the kitchen and Neal was in the living room. Last I knew Morgan was with him. Boomer was standing by the top of the stairs and was acting weird and then I heard a noise. I went to the living room and realized that Morgan wasn't with Neal. I turned and this is what I saw!!!!!
Morgan has now figured out how to crawl down the stairs! We knew she could crawl up them but we didn't know she knew how to crawl down them. I just stood there laughing...Neal didn't think it was very funny. All Neal could say was "Don't make a habit of this, hun!"

Play Date with Lena

Saturday night we had Doug, Laura & Lena come over (Doug is Neal's cousin) to watch the Lion's win again! Lena & Morgan are about 10 months apart and it is so much fun to watch them interact with each other. We hope that they become good friends once they get older! It was fun to hang out with them all again too!

Laura brought over oreos for dessert!!!! Good thing she was just in her diaper because it got worse after this picture was taken! What fun!

How cute are they!!! They love playing with each other!!! We also can't believe how much they look alike!!! How fun!!!

Beach Day

On Saturday, Neal got an idea to go to the beach. Since this was our last weekend before everything starts we decided it would be fun. We headed out to Riley Beach! The waves were pretty big so I was a little hesitant to let Morgan go in it. At first she didn't want to be in it and she didn't want to play in the dirt. She wanted to crawl all over me (makes for a great tan!) Morgan did eventually enjoy the dirt and even walked into the water. It was fun day (until we had to walk back to the car! You don't realize how hard it is to walk up the dune carrying an extra 30 pounds!)

Morgan enjoyed clapping and yelling at the boats!

Yummy Treat

Morgan loves eating Mr. Freeze (not sure what they are called!) I'm sure they probably aren't the best thing for her but she loves them. She hasn't been feeling the greatest (either teething or she has a cold) so getting her to eat lately has been a challenge. I figure if she enjoys these I might as well let her eat them!

Football

This is making Neal (and Grandpa B.) so proud!!!! :) Touch Down!!!!

The beginning of football is now upon us. Official practice starts next week Monday when I become a single mother until November. Last night they had a combine event with little kids (I don't know what grade up to 12th!) It was pretty cool to see all of these boys wanting to play football! Last year at this event Morgan was almost a month old and the picture was easy...this year we had to be quick!!!

Morgan enjoyed running on the field and on the track. Barefoot on both of course! Do I see a future track runner????

Swimming

Yesterday, Morgan and I went to my friend Sandra's house and went swimming. It was a beautiful day! Morgan actually enjoyed it and we were there for about two hours! She even got to play with Bella the puppy. However, Morgan wasn't so sure of how she felt about her standing on her back! Thanks Sandra for having us over. Hopefully we can do it again!

Morgan enjoyed playing with Bella until she started jumping on her back. At one point she was standing on top of Morgan's back! Bella also went swimming with us!!!

Rough Night?

13 Months

Where is the time going?

It is amazing for me to think of how big she is getting. I see other tiny little babies and remember when Morgan was that tiny. Last night my dad went through my camera with all of the pictures from birth to now (I know I need to get them off of there!) and it is so crazy to think that Morgan is 13 months already!! Neal & I feel so blessed to have her apart of our life. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't just smile and laugh at her because she is such a ham! We thank God each day for this beautiful gift that He has given us and can't imagine life without her. She is starting to say more words and if she wants something she kind of grunts and points (kind of annoying...but she gets her point across!) We continue to work on using "more" and "all done" instead of the grunting. She also has such a personality and will laugh everytime you laugh which makes us laugh more! The biggest development is she is on her feet more than she is crawling!!!! She has been taking little steps for about 2 months now but within the past few days she has really started moving and moving with more confidence! She still falls every once in awhile but not as much and I think she cries just to get attention! Morgan is definitely keeping us on our toes now! I have a video of her walking but my batteries are dead (I know get rid of the pictures!!!) so when they are charged I'll put it on here!!!!

Chubby Bunny??

Chubby Bunny Champ!!! Morgan wanted a marshmallow this morning so I was letting her bite it however she decided she wanted to be in control of it so she took it. At one point she had the whole thing in her mouth! What can I say?

Camping Again!

This week/weekend my parents are staying out at Gun Lake. So I decided that Morgan and I would go out yesterday and spend the night. So we got there yesterday and then went and played on the boat. The water was so flat and there was barely anyone out there! It was great! I even dropped a ski...I was so proud!!! Morgan played on the beach and in the water and actually like both!

After playing for a while we decided to head up and make dinner. Morgan had only taken a 1/2 hour nap on the way down there so she was getting tired by the time supper came.

Everyone was getting tired...except Morgan that is! Maybe it was the smore or the late nap (which usually doesn't affect her!) So we all went to bed around 10 and Morgan was still full of it...a bottle and she finally gave in!

This morning we were going to take the boat out again. The water was flat so I was going to go skiing and we were going to give Morgan a tube ride again. However, something is wrong with the boat (not going to explain...I don't get boat parts! but it is in the shop now). It wouldn't start. So we waited a little bit but then Dad decided to start pulling it to the launch and we would meet him there with the trailer. Thank goodness some nice people helped tow it back to the launch and we got it back on the trailer. We were a little bummed that we didn't get to go out again today so hopefully sometime before the end of summer we will go again!

Thanks Dad & Mom for letting Morgan and I stay with you!

Big Girl Bed???

Lately Morgan thinks that she needs to sleep with Neal & I. About 5 am she wakes up and we try to make her stay in her own bed but we also want to sleep for a few more hours. So this morning she ended up in our bed after crying for a 1/2 hour (I'm not the greatest mother! I like my sleep!) Anyway, I woke up about 7:45 and thought if she is going to keep sleeping I'm going to let her. So I blocked off the bed and left. About 9ish I heard a crash & tears!!! She rolled right out and I think she was still sleeping because I usually hear her moving. So about the big girl bed...probably not yet!!!! :)

Happy 30th Birthday Daddy!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy! We hope you had a great day!!!

We love you!

Weekend of Firsts

This weekend my parents and extended family were camping at Tri-Ponds (towards Allegan). We decided to stay with my parents in their camper on Friday night. I wasn't sure how Morgan was going to do since this was her first overnight experience in the camper. I slept with Morgan and Neal slept in the other bed...lets just say none of us slept well and were very happy to sleep in our own beds Saturday night!!!!

Friday night we had our family potluck (yummy!!) and played a game. Morgan was included to play too! She found some candy and $1.50 for her piggy bank!! She fell asleep watching the campfire!

waiting for breakfast!!!!

Saturday, we took the boat out to Dumont. We were out there about 10:45...we didn't realize we couldn't start until 11 so we putted to the beach area. Once we got there it was time. My brother wakeboarded for a while and Morgan fell asleep!!! Neal & I both got to ski, which was probably the first time in about 2 years!! (For the record, I got up right away...Neal needed a couple practices!!!) My cousin Jordan tubed and then we decided to take Morgan on a little tube ride! She did so well!!! She actually fell asleep again!!! (she didn't sleep long the first time-she did wake up after it was done) We left the lake and headed back to the campground. Morgan fell asleep on the way back and this time stayed asleep for about 2 hours!!! We also went to the pool at the campground. It was cold and she wasn't too sure of it but then she actually got use to it and enjoyed herself.
Morgan heading back from the boat to the beach

Morgan loved my cousin Jordan. She would sit on top of him, crawl all over him and give him kisses!!!!

video taken by Uncle Travis

After supper we went on a hayride with all of my cousins (and my aunt too!) I wasn't sure how she was going to like it but she loved it and was waving to everyone!

swinging with Ben waiting for the hayride

On the hayride...sitting next to Allison

About 8:30 we headed for home and Morgan was sleeping by the time we got to Hamilton!
Thanks Mom & Dad for letting us stay with you!!!

Beach Playdate

Yesterday Morgan and I met Keelie & Caedmon at the beach in Grand Haven. Keelie & I use to work together and it was fun to catch up with Keelie & see Caedmon again. Morgan was a tad bit on the tired side and really just wanted to be by me. We hope to get together again in the next week or two and hopefully Morgan and Caedmon will play together more!!!

The most interaction they had. Caedmon was way more interested in Morgan's sand toys

Morgan was pointing at the seagulls (Good thing Great Grandma L. wasn't around...she would have thrown food at them!)

A nice lady offered to take our picture! 3 out of 4 looking...not bad!! :)

Thanks Keelie & Caedmon for a great time!!! Can't wait to do it again!

Coast Guard Festival!

Saturday we went to Grand Haven for the Coast Guard Festival. The Callaghan's (friends of ours) had their boat down there. After driving around for a hour we finally found a parking spot. Then we had to walk about a mile to get to the water! What an adventure! Sean picked us up on the dingy and brought us out to the boat! Sean & Neal decided to go on a dingy ride and ran into Neal's old roommate. So Neal thought we should go visit them and thought he knew how to drive. Let's just say I'm thankful to be alive! It was very scary!!!!

The fireworks were beautiful!! Morgan enjoyed them for a few minutes before she fell asleep!! After the fireworks were done we waited a little and then headed back to shore. We gathered all of our stuff and headed back on our mile walk! It took us about an hour to get home because traffic was so bad!!

Thanks Callaghan's for inviting us out!

100 Posts

I just realize that I have posted our 100th post!!! Crazy how when I started this I didn't think I would be able to keep it going! I know many people read this but not everyone leaves a comment!!!! I'm going to turn the comments on so everyone can comment even though you don't have an account BUT I want you to sign your name! So Start commenting!!

1 year Pictures

Two weeks ago, Neal & I took Morgan to get her pictures taken. This was not a good experience for us!!! Thank you to Sears Photo (Highly recommend them!) Morgan ended up with about a two hour session because we couldn't get her to sit still, smile or look! (She is practicing for her senior pictures!) It was awful! However, after a lot of tries and pictures we were able to get a "few" that we liked!!!

This was the first picture we took...it is hard to tell but she was crying

Neal got to pick an outfit...go figure!!!

Now what?

Thanks for the prayers but I didn't get the job at OAC. Keep praying that something happens! Thanks again!