Carol Of The Bells

I forgot to post about going to the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert!!!

On November 9th I came home from work to find Matt already home grabbing a bite to eat. This is odd, as Matt is typically never home before I am on a week night. He was still dressed in his work clothes, but I knew he had an afternoon appointment, so I assumed it just ran a bit late.

I had just gotten Morgan her dinner and was washing some dishes when the doorbell rang. Matt looked genuinely surprised and said "Who is that?" I said that I wasn't expecting anyone either and headed over to see who it was. Much to my surprise it was my great friend, Jen!! As I let her in, she said she was actually here to see Matt. Again, this did not surprise me, as Matt has done financial planning for some of our other friends and I knew he and Jen had talked about the subject before.

Jen came into the kitchen to say hello to Morgan and Matt. After a few minutes of silence, Jen looked at Matt and said "I don't think she gets it." Matt smiled and said "Nope, she definitely didn't figure it out yet." At this point I was very confused. Then Matt handed me an envelope and I pulled out 2 tickets to the Trans Siberian Orchestra for that night.

I was so surprised!!! I have always wanted to see TSO in concert, as I played the violin for many years, but I never mentioned it to Matt because I knew tickets were often expensive and hard to get. The Trans Siberian Orchestra was only here in Madison for that one day this year, so Matt got the tickets way back in October, arranged for a babysitter, and kept it a secret for all that time!!

The show was AMAZING!! It was so much more than I thought it would be; almost like a combination of a full instrumental orchestra, a rock band, and a light show. Matt and I both had a great time, and I really appreciate all the thoughtfulness that went into it!!

Scrumptious Silverware

Morgan has been practicing using her eating utensils. She is getting very good!!

Spoon with applesauce:

Fork with shells and cheese:

Mmmmm mmmmm good!!

16 Months Old

Morgan turned 16 months old last week. Along with another month of age, have come many more developmental milestones!!

• Morgan stopped crawling up the stairs and now (with assistance of course) walks up the staircase like a big girl (sometimes she even alternates feet, doing one step at a time!!)


• The 8th tooth is all the way in and she is now working on the next round.
  
• Morgan has started using sign language. She can do the sign for "potty," "more," and "hungry." We are currently working on "please."


• She learned the word "hot" and uses it in correct applications (pointing at the fireplace, when she sees a candle, or when she sees steam from the stove top).


• Morgan is working hard on learning to dress herself. She can put on socks and shoes, she can put on a hat by herself, and she is working on putting on jackets/sweatshirts.


• Morgan now eats regularly with silverware and is getting more and more proficient at getting the food from the tray, to the fork/spoon, and into her mouth.

I am sure there are things I am forgetting, but these are some of the big changes I can think of in the last month.

With the warmer weather we have had since Halloween, we have been busy trying to get out and enjoy it. It is so nice to be able to walk the dog most evenings (even though it is dark so early!!), and get to the park on weekends. It hardly feels like Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away when there is such an "Indian Summer" feel to the days.

Below are a few recent pictures. Enjoy!!!

I forgot to mention... with a little work, Morgan can get on and off most of the furniture on her own now as well. Here she is in action. :)

My little Strawberry Shortcake on the prowl for a good toy to play with.

Morgan Jade - 16 Months Old.

Working on those teeth with a cold ring.

Morgan loves taking Jax for a walk. She knows right where his leash is and how to put it on him.

Furniture is not the only thing she climbs on!! Here she is being sassy and sitting on her table!!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!!

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday. I saw lots of cute pictures of our friend's kids and some of the neighborhood kiddos (and some of our old neighborhood's kiddos too!!) and they all looked adorable!!

Matt, Morgan, Jax, and I had a wonderful holiday. To keep the trend of her bedroom and her first birthday party going, Morgan decided to dress up as a lady bug this year. She was as cute as always and actually tolerated the costume pretty well for only being 15 months old (thanks Mom for help finding the cosume!!)

I tried to get some good pictures of Morgan in the backyard on Friday night when there was some sun, but it was cold and windy and Morgan didn't really want to sit still... so they didn't turn out the best.

We did some "Trick or Treating" last night for about a half hour. It was Morgan's first time going, as she was only 3 months old last year and just handed out candy with me instead. She did very well and Matt and I had fun watching her eyes light up each time she got a new piece of candy. She made out with a ton of candy from the few houses we went to, and got lots of compliments about how cute she was. :) Matt and I took the opportunity to meet some people in our new neighborhood, which was wonderful as well.

All in all, it was a very successful Halloween. Now counting down to Thanksgiving. :)

A not-so-happy girl amongst the pumpkins... still looking pretty cute!!!

These pumpkins are pretty fun!!

Morgan with her very own pumpkin.

Where did the stem go? (She broke it off trying to carry it up the steps!!)
"Moooooooom... don't make me sit here anymore."

My little Morgan bug. :)

"Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Do Your Share..."

I think it's official. Morgan got the gene. She has been showing signs of being a neat and tidy little girl for quite some time; wiping off her own tray after meal times, "cleaning" the tables with napkins at restaurants, and even using my dish towel to scrub our floor. But after this week... I think I have to admit that she might end up being as over zealous about things being clean as her mother is!!

I was cleaning up the kitchen on Monday while Morgan ate her dinner. After she was finished, I decided to Swiffer the area under her high chair. Why do I need to Swiffer when I have a dog like Jax, might you ask? Put quite simply, Morgan has been eating table food for some time now, thus the excitement has started to wear off of our Jaxson, and he has become more selective about the table scraps he will consume (i.e. he won't eat the vegetables anymore!!)

I got Morgan cleaned off and sent her off to her toys while I Swiffered away. She wandered up to see what I was doing and decided to take a try at Swiffering too.

Looks like a top-selling Swiffer commercial to me. :)

Pretty Packer Princess

Matt is a big football fan, so we watch a lot of football in our house. This is especially true on Sundays. Truthfully, for me, most Sundays I can take football or leave it. Unless of course, it is the Packers playing!! :)

Morgan has also grown to love our tradition of Sunday football on Packer game days. She loves to toddle around in her adorable Packer gear and practice her own cheers. She gets especially riled up when Matt gets into the game; she will stomp her feet and "yell" right along with him. It is adorable.

Go Pack Go!!

Mini Mommy Morgan

Morgan is practicing being a mommy!

It seems our little pumpkin has quite the maternal insticts. The last few weeks she has been carrying around her babies and her Elmo nonstop. She rocks them, pats their backs, and even plays with her other toys while carrying them on her hip. It is absolutely adorable.

Morgan's daycare provider (Miss Tami) also mentioned that Morgan has taken a special interest in the infants lately. She wants to "help" Tami take care of them, and when I arrived to get her this week, she even was trying to pick one of the babies up by herself!!! We sat with the little guy on our laps and she kept hugging and kissing him. It was too cute.

Here are some pictures of my mini mommy:

Making sure Elmo is nice and comfortable...

Wiping away Elmo's tears.

Time to take baby shopping at Grandma Turner's house.

Elmo might need a diaper change...
Teaching baby a thing or two on the piano.
Bedtime for Elmo AND Morgan.
AHHHHH. :)