Santa visits Bella via the Web

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/b77242fca72bf343f0b0bf7da4266935
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Sick - Sick - Sick

All the girls in our house are sick! YUCK!! I took Bella and Olivia to see Dr. Mel today. Bella has a sinus infection and an ear infection and Olivia has a sinus infection. All of this equals a crabby house of girls! To top it all off, Adam is traveling this week! This time of year is no fun for anyone! We did all get antibiotics and I am praying we are on the road to a speedy recovery!!

On a lighter note, we had a terrific weekend together as a family and I consider the first Thanksgiving at our house a success. Lots of food and great company! We truly have oh so very much to be thankful for. I really think every day how lucky we are to have a beautiful and usually healthy family, wonderful friends and all the other countless blessings in our life...so Happy (late) Thanksgiving to everyone! We love you all!

Where or Where Does the Time Go???

I really feel like my life is always in Fast Forward Mode, never quite eneough hours in the day to completely accomplish all of my to do's...this always seems to get put on the back burner. Well alot has happened since I last blogged, so here is a recap:)

Bella celebrated her 2nd Birthday! WOW...two years old already (like I said earlier, our life is on Fast Forward)! Bella and Brody celebrated their 2nd Birthday at World Class Gym, it was super fun. Bella just loved it. She was having sooo much fun, she only stopped to open 3 gifts (and she had about 20 more that she left untouched). She was jumping, dancing and have a good ole time:) She did go to the doctor for her 2 year check up and here is how she is measuring up: 28.2 lbs (75%) 35.5 in (95%) and head size 19.75 (97% - I am guessing that is because she is so smart). Seriously though, she truly amazes me every day. She really is such a big girl. We are nearly potty trained, minus nap time and night time and she is talking so much - sentences even (occassionally the words get a little mixed up, but she can certainly get her point across).

Here are her 2 year pictures...

and Miss Olivia Reese could not be a happier, more smiley baby...I just can't get eneough of her. It is so hard to believe that she will be 6 months old on 12.06.09...AHHH!!! Where did my baby go??? I do understand why people have lots of kids, who can resist babies??? Lots and lots going on with her too. She now has two teeth (the bottom two) and we are working on eating vegetables, with LOTS of resistance. She really isn't a fan of baby food. So far we have tried peas, green beans and baby cereal and she could really leave them all. She makes faces that are so funny when you force it in her mouth. What can I say...she knows what she wants! Liv did not go to the doctor this month, so my unofficial at home weight is 17.8 lbs (pretty sure she is topping the charts too, especially in the weight category). AND the most exciting news is that she has slept through the night TWO times so far, I know 2 times doesn't seem like a big deal, but after almost 6 months, those uninterrupted nights of sleep have truly been a blessing from God! So if everyone would keep their fingers crossed that this trend continues, I would be forever grateful!!!

As for us, Adam continues to be gone A LOT, way more than I care for and I am only working 4 days a week, being off Friday, Saturday and Sunday sure is super fun with the girls. Sorry this post is so incredibly long, I will try to do more frequent shorter posts. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Pumpkin Carving

Last night we got the pumpkins out to carve - Adam really really gets into this - we were hoping Bella would enjoy it more this year...absolutely NO interest!!! She wouldn't even feel the goo inside of the pumpkins, "ucky" she said. So the night was really the girls and I playing while Adam carved - I must say the pumpkin did turn out very cute!!



(sorry if you are reading this and wonder why my header is all messed up? i am trying to be crafty, but for some reason i just can't get the size to work)

Zing Zang Zoom! Circus

On Sunday, Adam and I took Bella to the Zing Zang Zoom Circus

at the Scott Trade Center for part of her birthday present. It was AWESOME!! I am pretty sure that I liked it more than Bella - she did enjoy it though:) Adam got us super seats. We were in the first row - right on the floor! For part of the show we actually got to sit on the floor - clowns came and sat by us - it was super fun! Bella was really hoping to see Monkey's, unfortunately there weren't any monkies but we did see zebras, elephants, tigers, birds, dogs and lots and lots of CLOWNS! A very very fun day!

Happy 4 Month Birthday Liv Liv!

Happy 4 Month Birthday Liv Liv! WOW!!!

These four months have flown by!! I feel like Olivia has been with us forever. She is the happiest, smiliest little girl - we just can't get eneough of her!! She is a little snuggle bunny and a bit of a stinker when it comes to sleep. She does sleep best when she is cuddled up next to me - in our bed of course:) Sometimes we are lucky eneough to get her to sleep in her crib, I must say that I do enjoy the snuggle time though. Olivia is a chunka chunka just like Belle was at this age. She weighs 16 lbs 8 oz with about 4 rolls per leg...it is WAY too cute! pictures to come!!!!!

Proud of My BIG Gril!

Over the weekend we began potty training Isabella and she is doing FANTASTIC!!! Since Saturday at around noon, we have only had 3 accidents. She tells us potty (and we ask ALOT)! I need to give a special thanks to my mom who has been a HUGE help with potty training. We went shopping Saturday and bought Belle Big Girl underwear which she loves: Dora, Elmo and Disney Princesses...doesn't get much better than that. We have a potty chair for her that "sings" when she goes potty, as if that is not exciting eneough - she then gets M & M's (M's and Bella refers to them) as a reward.

Just a Fluke...or the Real Thing

Tonight Olivia rolled from her belly to her back twice!! Of course we had to put her up on her arms, but she did the rest all by herself. I wasn't in the room for the first roll and of course by the time I got the video camera she was so done with tummy time. I'm hoping it wasn't just a fluke and that she continues to do it...guess this just means more and more tummy time for Liv!

Yesterday, mom and I took olivia to Portrait Innovations to get her 3 month pictures taken. Every time I go there I vow that I will NEVER go there again and somehow, I never remember that when picture time comes. Liv wasn't in a smiley mood and refused to be on her belly, but we were able to capture some cute shots despite all the obstacles!

Happy 3 Month Birthday Liv

Today we celebrated Olivia's 3 month birthday.

She is getting so big and is really beginning to develop a personality. She is laughing and cooing more and more each day. Her smile is completely irresistable!

In celebration of Liv's 3 months with us and a very nice day, we went to Eckert's to go apple picking and play!

Isabella was less interested in picking apples to bring home with us, she was more like quality control. She felt the need to taste every apple she picked, some she ate pretty much of and others went right to the ground after the first bit, I guess they just weren't ripe yet!! A fun day with the fam:)

Happy Baptism Olivia

Today, Olivia Reese was baptized at St. Joseph's Church in Freeburg by our preist, Father Mark. The day was beautiful and so was the ceremony. Olivia was on her best behavior as usual - she is such a WONDERFUL little girl! Uncle Andy and one of my best friends, Kate, were her Godparents. We would like to thank them for agreeing to do this for us, we are very grateful to have such wonderful people in our life. After the church service we had a celebratory luncheon at our house - yummy food and great company - a great day all in all! Olivia was showered in lots of gifts from family and friends, what a lucky little gal she is. Thank you to everyone that came to celebrate this very special day with our family! We love you all. (will post pics soon)

Back to Work

This is my first week back, I must say the girls are adjusting just fine, better than me! We have a new baby-siter that watches the girl 2 days a week and the girls really seem to like her - we do too!!

We took the girls to the Freeburg Homecoming this weekend, watched the parade and Bella rode some rides - the carousel and cars were her favs!

I bought Bella a pair of flip flops a while back, but this weekend was the first time she wore them, after she had them on she told me, "more shoes!"...oh boy are we going to be in trouble!!

Happy Two Month Birthday Pookie!

Olivia is 2 months old already. She is getting to be so much fun. She is smiling and laughing more and more - it really melts my heart!

She is a wonderful baby, so very content. A little update on her: she is eating (4 oz) every 3-4 hours, we alternate with bottles and breastfeeding and it seems to be going really well. We typically lay her down for the night somewhere between 9-10:30 then she wakes up between 1-4:30 then every 3 hours from that point. I am pleased (well as pleased as one can be for interrupted sleep)! She is getting very strong, she can hold her head up very well. Besides all of that, still a lot of sleeping!

Today, in celebration of Olivia's 2 month birthday and as a last hurrah (I go back to work Monday), mom and I took the girls to the Magic House. Of course Olivia could care less, but Bella had a wonderful time!

Surviving:(

Adam left Monday morning to go to Canada for the week. I really really HATE this part of his job!! I am trying to keep myself and the girls busy so we don't think about him not being here, but it is tough! Last night we talked to Adam via Skype and Bella held her arms to the computer monitor and said, "hold you" to Adam (that means she wants Adam to hold her). It broke my heart to hear her mutter those words and now I cry again just thinking about it. We are surviving though. Tonight friends are coming over for a play date and we are taking Bella to the Magic House tomorrow. I hate to wish the week away becuase I have to return to work next week, but I can't wait for Adam to be home with us:)

Olivia's Newborn Pictures

When Olivia was two weeks old, we got some pictures taken of her at Stepping Stones Photography (http://www.ssphotogallery.com/). She does great work; we had Bella's one year pics taken there! Here are the pictures!

What a Week!

Congratulations to Andy and Alicia - they were married on Saturday, July 18th and Adam, Bella and myself were all lucky eneough to be in the wedding and help them celebrate their BIG day. Isabella and Maya were the flower girls and I must say I have never seen two cuter flower girls in my life...they were perfect and even walked down the aisle (which I believed would never happen in a million years!):)


Adam's Uncle Mel and Aunt Yami also came up for the wedding from Costa Rica, it had been 6 years since we had seen them, the visit was nice - but not long eneough. Adam and I hope to make it to Costa Rica sometime (hopefully sooner than later) to visit!

On Wednesday mom and I took the girls to Longacre park to play - that park is really nice - lots for the kids to do. Isabella enjoyed herself and it was Olivia's first of many park trips!

Today, mom and I packed the kids up and went to the zoo, Alexis joined us too! The weather was perfect. We saw the bears, monkeys, elephants, hippos and rhino plus visited the Children's Zoo, road the carousel and the train - what a fun packed day!


It has been so nice to have mom off during my maternity leave, we have gotten to do several fun things with the girls that I know I would never have been brave eneough to do on my own with two little ones:)

Happy ONE Month Birthday Olivia

Today, Olivia is ONE Month old!!! WOW is that hard to believe? I seriously feel like I just had her, my time off is going far too quick! She is absolutely beautiful, happy and healthy. We couldn't ask for anything more! We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family! We LOVE you Olivia and hope you enjoyed your first month with us!!

Our Beautiful Girls

I am really enjoying my time off with our girls! Olivia is getting chunky and staying up longer during the days & Isabella is learning more and more with each passing day! Her vocabulary has noticeably increased and she is now interested in counting (or trying to)!

Isabella continues to do great with Olivia and tries to be helpful although it usually isn't that much help. As a special treat for Belle we enrolled her in gymnastics which she loves and does quite well at. Here are some pics of our girlies:)

Newborn Pictures

It is hard to believe that Olivia is already 2 weeks old...where does the time go? I feel like I just went to the hospital to have her. She continues to be a great baby and Isabella is doing so great! Bella is really not all that interested in her, will kiss her occassionally, but seems to enjoy playing with her baby dollies and the diaper bag more and more each day.

Last week, my friend Kim, took some pictures of Olivia at a park near our house - the pictures turned out great - thanks Kim!! Here are a couple of my favorites.


Beautiful Bella


So Peaceful


Why are baby feet so darn cute?!?!


Best Friends


Our sweet baby girl

Olivia Reese Morgan

Adam and I are excited to announce the arrival of our healthy, beautiful daughter, Olivia Reese Morgan. Olivia was born on Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 7:38 am. She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz and was 18 inches long. She is absolutely perfect. We spent two nights in the hospital before coming home. It is soo nice to be home. Isabella is doing great, I was really concerned how she would react, her first encounter with Olivia at the hospital made me even more nervous, but once we got home everything just sort of fell in place. Olivia is eating and sleeping great. I typically get up twice in the middle of the night to feed her, which I think is pretty good:) At this point, the only problem is she will only sleep in her car seat with the lights on - but at least she (and Adam and I) is sleeping. Here are some pictures...Enjoy and if you would like to visit, we would love for you to meet our new addition!

Olivia's Room is FINALLY finished

Thank goodness...the upstairs got finished just in the nick of time. We only have a couple of days before Olivia joins are family and her room is complete! It turned out absolutely beautiful...just the way I imagined it - now all we need is for her to get here. Here are a couple of different views of her room. Only 4 more days until we get to meet her!

We are wrapping things up with our upstairs project...just in the nick of time. Mom is getting close to being done with painting olivia's room and I think Chris plans to lay carept this weekend...it turned out very good. (I will post pictures once it is completed).

Isabella is doing grreat. She continues to love the trampoline and has started using her potty chair a little bit. It sings when she goes potty and she thinks that is VERY exciting. I hope she remains interested. She is far from telling us when she has to go, but will attempt if we sit her on it. I guess we will see.

Olivia Update: I went to the doctor yesterday. 1 cm dialted, 25 percent effaced, head down, dropped slightly. She said a lot of times they won't check women who are a scheduled c-section, but I have been having some contractions so they wanted to see where I was. Everything looks good, just waitiing for next Saturday to get here!

Hope everyone is doing great and has a great weekend!

Two Weeks from Today

Two weeks from today, we will finally get to meet Olivia!! I am now seeing my doctor every week and anxiously awaiting her arrival. I just can't wait to meet her. I feel really good overall...tired, feet a little puffy and not sleeping the best, but overall good.

The upstairs is coming along nicely. I think it will be done just in time for Olivia. Adam plans to begin painting today. I think the next steps are bathroom flooring, bathroom fixtures, finishing up electricity, carpet and closet organization. Think we can get all that done?!? I am trying to be optimistic.

We will keep you posted as things progress - both with Olivia and the upstairs.

Happy Memorial Day!!

Sunday Fun-Day

Sunday Fun-Day took on a whole new meaning once we had Isabella. Pre-kids it was about enjoying the day with friends and having a few cocktails...now it is all about finding fun things do with Bella! This Sunday we had a jam packed day. We went to Eckert's to enjoy pony rides, airplane rides and riding the big camel for the first time. We weren't there long, but had a fun time. Bella really wanted to go on the big swings, but I didn't think that would be a good option considering I would have to ride it with her, probably not advisable by my doctor. Later in the day we went to a bridal shower, played at uncle Chris's new house and then we put together a trampoline. WOW...did she have fun. She really enjoyed playing ring around the rosey on it. Falling down is pretty fun on a trampoline. Dad even took a break from the upstairs to hang out for a bit.

Daddy's Pride & Joy

Not only does Isabella look JUST like Adam, she enjoys doing the same things as him too! Tonight Adam rotated the tires on his car and Bella was right beside him to give him a helping hand. She did very well at putting the lug nuts on the wheels so Adam could tighten them...what a good little helper!!!

Zoo Fun

Yesterday, Adam, mom and I took Bella to the zoo - what a great way to celebrate a beautiful March day! It was packed, I guess alot of people had the same idea:) We made it to most of the animals that we talk about all the time and she loved them all except the Gorillas, she was terrified!! Screaming, tears...we had it all over those gorillas! Adam is now gone for the week so we are trying to stay busy and not think about him being gone! Hope everyone has a great week too!

June 5th is the Date

I went for my 28 week check up yesterday - regular appointment, but I did get to schedule my C-Section. We will finally get to meet Olivia Reese on June 5th, assuming she doesn't come early! It's kind of nice to have a date, but 11 weeks still seems sooo far away!!!

I Like Chucky Cheese!

Last night was our first adventure to Chucky Cheese with Isabella. We also took Joey and I do believe he would live there if allowed, he really just can't get enough of the chaos. She was pretty indifferent to the whole deal. She did not care much about riding the rides, but thoroughly enjoyed being able to freely run around. Right before we left Chucky came out to greet the kids and we were able to grab a picture with him, Bella clung on so tightly to me while Joe gave high five after high five. A fun (but tiring) night!

An Unscheduled Trip to My OB

Last Thursday I woke up at 4 am with severe pains in my lower stomach. The pains persisted, through late morning so I called my doctor. They told me to come in. They checked me out and did an ultrasound. They couldn't say for sure what was causing the pain, but they said that Olivia was pushed up against that part of my stomach and that was most likely the cause. I felt better after hearing that. I thought with the 2nd baby, I wouldn't get as nervous over everything, but you forget what things feel like...at least I do. I did however get a pretty darn cute picture of her face. She sure does like to have her hands up by her face, so it took a couple of tries. The other good part, is that the ultrasound tech confirmed once again that Olivia is in fact a girl! 13 more weeks and we get to meet her:)

I LOVE to Swim

We signed Bella up for swimming lessons again at the YMCA. Her first lesson was last Saturday, and boy does she LOVE it!! She never stopped smiling the entire time we were in the water. Her friend Brody and his mom are doing it with us, so we are having lots of fun:).
After swimming we decided to take the kids to the Magic House. I haven't been since I was a kid. It was CRAZY!!! There were kids and parents everywhere, but Bella & Brody didn't mind a bit! Bella's favorite part I think was the water tables, the kitchen area was a close second. My plan is to try it during a week day next time, hopefully a little less chaotic!
(Will post pictures soon!)

It's A GIRL!!!!

Last night I had my 20 week ultrasound and the baby looks perfect. In 19 weeks or so we will welcome Olivia Reese! She is developing wonderfully and they were able to tell us that we are in fact having another girl. She had her arms close to her face during the entire ultrasound, but was not shy about showing us her sex:) Adam and I both couldn't be happier, a healthy baby girl! I think Adam might be a little concerned about 2 weddings and all the estrogen in the house...it sure willl be an adjustment with another baby, but we CAN'T wait! Here are a couple pictures of our sweet baby. Enjoy!

Can't Wait...

The arrival of the second baby is feeling more and more real as my belly continues to grow and the due date gets closer! I am already 1/2 way done, I must say it is going MUCH faster the second time around! Next Thursday, Adam and I get to find out if our baby is a little girl or boy...I can't wait to know!!! We have an ultrasound picture of the baby hanging on the refrigerator along with lots of Bella pictures and all of our other friends and family. When I ask Belle about the ultrasound picture she says Baby and points to my belly (sometimes) when we ask her where mommy's baby is. I know this is going to really rock her world, hope it goes ok!

Adam has been gone a lot lately doing some side jobs, but we stole him from work last night and had a nice night. Bella continues to love bath time and just being naked in general. I do believe that is when she is the happiest! Here's a bath time picture...enjoy!

One Year Pictures

We took Isabella to Stepping Stones (www.ssphotogallery.com) to have her one year pictures taken. We took them all outside, it was very fun. Here are a few of my favorites...