Pajama Gram

Morgan and I got a little surprise yesterday. There was a box on the front porch and when I opened it, it was a pajama gram from Clint. It was matching pajamas for Morgan and me and a little stuffed animal puppy for Morgan. SO CUTE! There was a little note in there from Clint too. I thought it was a fun surprise and so sweet of him to think of it. Morgan absolutely loves her new puppy! Thanks babe! We love and miss you too!

Beautiful Butterfly

I know Morgan isn't really old enough to go trick-or-treating, and I won't be taking her. But I found this super cute costume used on ksl.com. I couldn't resist. I just thought it was too cute. After a fiasco at Target (long story), I decided to have my AWESOME friend, Erin, take Morgan's pictures. I thought she did a great job. Way better than the photographer at Target. Thanks Erin! I owe you big time! Pictures taken October 22, 2008.

Untitled

As requested by my mother, here is a new picture of Morgan and a video. I bought the cute winter hat for Morgan the other day and I think it looks adorable on her!
Morgan has learned how to get from her stomach into a sitting position. Of course, she won't do it when she know the camera is on her, so I didn't catch all of it. But she just gets up on her hands and knees and crawls/scoots backward until she gets onto her butt. Ignore the Christmas music and the mess in the background. We were burning children's Christmas CD's, baking, and putting together birthday presents.

Quote

" Oh, that every girl and woman would have a testimony of her potential for eternal motherhood...Female roles did not begin on earth, and they do not end here. A woman who treasures motherhood on earth will treasure motherhood in the world to come, and where her treasure is, there will her heart be also. [ Matthew 6:21 ] By developing a mother heart, each girl and woman prepares for her divine, eternal mission of motherhood."

-Sister Julie B. Beck

I found this quote on my friend's blog (thanks Monique). I just thought it was really great because, (don't think I'm horrible), sometimes I forget why being a mom seemed so appealing to me. I know that sounds awful, but sadly its true. I sometimes, especially in my abnormal circumstance, forget the amazing opportunity and responsibility that Heavenly Father has given to me. This quote reminds me that my 24/7 'job' is a divine one and it is exactly what I am supposed to be doing right now. It is something I should treasure more than I do.

It seems like some women were born to raise children. And they were born good at it. Its 2nd nature to them to be a good mother and to be so kind and loving to their children all the time. I feel like I'm not one of those women. I don't think kindness is 2nd nature to me (I know you're laughing Clint!). Its something I have to consciously work at every day. Even with my own family. Even with my own daughter who is more perfect than I realize. So anyway, I'll be reading this quote often to remind me of the divine nature of my role as a mother and wife.

Confession of an Obsession

That's right, I have an obsession. I can't help it. Its an addiction and I don't know how to get rid of it. And to be quite honest, I don't WANT to get rid of it. Are you ready for it...my obsession is with books. That's right, books. I know, lame huh? But its SO true! Not just books for ME to read, but books for Morgan too.

First of all, I have to own every book that I read and like. I'll usually borrow it from someone and read it before purchasing, but once I like a book, I have to own it. 99% of the time, these books that I HAVE to have, are a series of books, ie Harry Potter, Twilight, Children of the Promise, Hearts of the Children, oh I could go on forever! Its such a silly obsession because I have never read a book twice. Except One Tattered Angel by Blaine Yorgason, which is very short and easy to read.

Okay, now here is the 2nd part of my obsession (yes there is a 2nd and 3rd part to this), if a book is available in hardcover, I absolutely have to have the hardcover. No if's about it. (Unless its a gift of course). I have dreams about having a library in my house someday of thousands of hardback books.

Now for the 3rd part of this obsession that has just recently surfaced...books for Morgan. I know this is rediculous, but Morgan owns A LOT of books. I sent about 6 or 7 books to Korea with our household goods, and she has 13 books here that I can think of off the top of my head. And yes, she already owns almost the entire collection of Bearnstein Bears and Dr. Seuss books (from when I was a kid). Today, I've discovered another series of books that I want her to have SO SO bad. They are by Leslie Patricelli. And of course they are all board books.

This is just one in the series of books that compares opposites.

How To Entertain a 10 Month Old

Morgan is a funny kid. Night time is by far her fussiest time of the day. Quite often, when I've tried everything I can think of to make her unfussy with no success and am at my last wits end, I will put her in her crib with her pacifier and she will lay in there for a good hour just playing and talking to herself. I guess she just needs her space sometimes. Her 'alone' time. Which is fine with me! Anyway, last night was one of those nights. I gave her the 'alone' time she needed. When she had been in her crib for about 45 minutes I went into the bedroom to put some clean laundry away. I peeked at her over the crib and she laughed. So I sat her up and rolled up the cover on the side of the pack-n-play so she could watch me put laundry away. Now that I've written a novel, here are pictures of how she kept herself entertained for another 15 minutes. I was laughing SO hard! I know they aren't the best pictures, but you get the point right?

Body Worlds

Yesterday afternoon my brother and I went to Body Worlds in Salt Lake. It was pretty neat. The bodies didn't look as real as I thought they would. But it was pretty amazing what they can do with them. There were displays of entire bodies, including one with skin still on some of it. There were also displays of organs, capalaries, the central nervous system, and even cross sections of a camel. They also had embryos in jars and fetuses that never made it to birth, which was absolutely amazing to me. The smallest embryo they had was about 6 weeks gestation. You could hardly see it. But within a few weeks you could see a little alien baby with fingers and toes. I wish I could have taken pictures inside. Another thing I loved was the comparison of smoker's lung to a healthy lung.

It was really neat to see these things in real life. I've seen plenty in medical text books and encyclopedias. I highly recommend going if you ever have the chance. They move around from city to city. If you do go, don't take your kids. It took us 3 hours to get through it. And there were so many people fighting with kids (including me) and trying to keep them entertained without letting them touch the displays. You can really learn a lot from it if you take your time going through.

I kept sitting Morgan up, but she would go right back to this position, I guess it was the most comfortable.

Our Future Daughter?

My friend Mindy had one of these on her blog so I thought I would try it out. I did it for a boy first and he was so hideously ugly I couldn't bare putting him on my blog! I was laughing so hard at how funny looking he was. So I tried a girl and she was cuter. The pictures of us are from my mom's computer and are over 2 years old. Its funny that she turned out blong. Clint and both his sisters were really blond when they were little.

What do you think? Check it out, its kind of fun!