I LOVE CAKE!

Happy birthday to me....happy birthday to me...happy birthday to meeee....happy birthday to ME!

That's right I am officially one year old! This past Sunday I celebrated my birthday in style with Mommy, daddy and Morgan. No truth be told- I have no idea what a birthday it, but I realized that you get to eat cake, you officially get to eat regular people food, and you get presents! You can't beat that.

Mommy and daddy invited some friends over to help me celebrate my birthday, so their little boy Miles was here to help me celebrate. It's always nice to have a friend over. Daddy grilled hamburgers and Mommy made green beans. I got to eat both things! Granted the pieces were much smaller and I didn't get that much- but hey it's people food! After dinner we had cake. Mommy made me a vanilla cake with pretty icing. It was yellow with orange and blue polka dots. Isn't the cake pretty?

Morgan even helped with the icing!

Mommy had the job of cutting the cake. By this point I was getting slightly impatient. I wanted my cake!

Once Mommy gave me the cake I immediately dove in.

I quickly learned that I LOVE CAKE! Apparently I got a little messy. So after I was done with my cake Mommy gave me a bath. She didn't want me to look like a smurf anymore.

After my bath I got to open my presents. Well I got to watch Morgan and Miles open my presents. I wasn't too interested. Thankfully my sister was and made sure all my presents were opened.

I got some really cute outfits, a wind up boat for the bathtub, an alphabet pal and a Cabbage Patch Doll. I like my new toys- especially when I get to play with them. So far Morgan has been showing me how to play with them. She does get in trouble though and she is reminded that they are MY TOYS! Lucky for Morgan I am a nice sister and I will share with her. Hopefully one day she will return the favor.

Brown County Weekend!

This past weekend Mommy and Daddy took us to Brown County for a couple of days. Thanks to Daddy's Aunt Kathy we were able to get a weekend reservation at the Abe Martin Lodge in the heart of the park. Daddy used to stay here when he was a kid! We headed out on Sunday and made the hour long drive to the cabin. Elizabeth and I fell asleep and woke up in the lodge parking lot so we didn't mind the drive too much. Mommy forgot to take a picture of the cabin so we found this on on the Internet!

The cabin was really nice. It was tucked back into the woods and had a big front and back porch. The inside even had a wooden stove- but Mommy and Daddy would only make a fire after we had gone to bed, because we liked to touch it a lot. The cabin had so much room that we got to bring our friend Noah and his mommy and daddy along.

While we were in Brown County I got to ride a pony! Once I heard ponies were in the park I kept asking Mommy and Daddy if I could ride one, and finally Daddy took me. It was so much fun!

I also got to play in the indoor water park at the lodge. They had a regular pool, a kiddie pool with spray jets, a small lazy river and a water slide! I got brave and went down the water slide with Mommy. The first time I got really scared when I hit the water, but I went another 5 or 6 times before we left. It was so much fun! Noah and I had the whole pool ourselves. Elizabeth missed all of this because she was taking a nap. Good thing I don't take naps!

Daddy and Elizabeth did go on a hike while I was playing though. Kate and Seth (Noah's Mommy and Daddy) brought this really neat backpack for kids. Daddy loaded Elizabeth in it and went hiking. Elizabeth looked a little worried, but must have liked it because by the time they got back to the cabin she was asleep.

We had a really great time and hopefully we will make it a yearly tradition. There are more pictures to come, because Elizabeth and I got our pictures taken a lot- but there were too many to post at once.

You should have seen the other guy....

Well it finally happened....I got the call from daycare that every parent never wants to get. Miss Julie at daycare called me at work the other day to tell me that Morgan fell. Apparently all of the kids were being normal 3 and 4 year olds and were running around. While they were supposed to be picking up their chairs to get ready for nap time, they decided to run around them and be crazy. Miss Julie told the kids to stop running or someone was going to fall and get hurt. Immediately Miss Morgan turned to her and said "No we won't!" So what happened not more then five minutes later.....you guessed it! Morgan tripped and fell. The chair broke her fall and gave her a wonderful black eye!

She ended up visiting the doctor's office that day to make sure no damage was done. And left the office with some ointment for a cut (from the fall). She and daddy then went to the mall for some ice cream.


She was quite the talk at daycare the next day. When I dropped her off all the little kids came up to me to tell me that Morgan fell and hit the chair. They were glad to see her, and Morgan didn't seem to mind her temporary look. The downside of all of this (besides poor Morgan getting a huge black-eye) was that I was just getting ready to get new pictures taken.

On a side note- Miss Julie at daycare said that Morgan was really mad at the chair. I would be too!

Morgan and the back pack- part 2

I finally got some pictures of Morgan with her new back pack. She loves it. When Greg bought it he filled it with all sorts of goodies: paper, crayons and markers! She would take this thing with her everywhere she went if we let her.

The two sisters

Some have been asking how Morgan and Elizabeth get a long with each other. Does Morgan like her sister? Does Elizabeth get picked on? Well I figured I would devote a whole post to the sisterly love the two of them have.

Since Greg and I are both only children, I don't think either one of us knew what to expect when it came to the sibling relationship. I am incredibly fascinated with the way they act towards one another. It's pretty fun to watch. The short answer to the question above, is that they get a long great. But I will expand on the answer a little.

Morgan really loves her sister. She has been known to tell me that Elizabeth is her best friend. Every morning I tend to wake Morgan up first and she immediately wants to wake up her sister. So we go in Elizabeth's room, and Morgan wakes her up with a quiet "Elizabeth....wake up Elizabeth."

Once they are both up, they tend to do their own thing, with Morgan eating her breakfast, and Elizabeth trying to get into everything. But Morgan is always keeping a close eye on her sister. How do I know this- well Morgan rats her sister out when she is doing things she shouldn't be doing. It's pretty common to hear "Mommy, Bizzy touch the DVD..." or "Mommy, Bizzy splash Belle's water...". I guess it's good that I have another set of eyes.

I think one of their favorite things is taking their bath together. Morgan shares her toys (most of the time) with Elizabeth and they play and splash each other the entire time. Lately some jealousy has developed though. Recently Greg went through the toys in the living room and took some of the older toys downstairs, and brought up some of Morgan's old toys for Elizabeth. At first Morgan was excited by this and said she would share with Elizabeth. Well that idea was good in theory. The minute Elizabeth grabbed a toy to play with, Morgan would rip it away and say "MY TOY!" WE have had to explain to her that Elizabeth needs to play with it, and that she has other toys.

So far so good having sisters. It really is fun to watch them- especially Elizabeth. Elizabeth really watches Morgan to see what she is doing. I'm sure her little brain is trying to process the information and figure out to do what her sister is doing. Which I am sure will translate into more work for me!

Morgan is a human sponge with a backpack!

For those reading this before the pictures get added, I apologize. The home computer has been on the fritz lately, and I haven't been able to post pictures. But I figured I would post some stories in the meantime.

I figured I would update everyone on Morgan's progress at preschool. So far it's been amazing! She has finally adjusted to her "new school", and doesn't cry when I drop her off. For the first few weeks it was hard dropping her off, because she had to make new friends, was dealing with a whole new routine during the day and had to leave her sister. I was told by her teacher that the crying didn't last for more then a few minutes- but it was still so sad to leave her like that. Well these days, she runs from the car to the door, opens the door herself, and immediately begins playing with the games that Miss Julie has put out for the kids. There are always three choices in the morning, and the kids can pick what they want to do while everyone gets there.

A few weeks ago I had to go to "Back to School Night" where Miss Julie explained the curriculum for the year. I was blown away by the syllabus (yes that's what they called it!) planned for these 3-4 year olds. Each month has a theme, and then each week they learn a new letter of the alphabet and a number. So far Morgan has 'A', 'B' and 'C' down pat!

Miss Julie teaches them a song a week, and Morgan has started coming home and singing the songs to us. At first we weren't sure what she was doing, but after asking her teachers, we realized that she was singing the song. One of the more amazing things to me (and this proves that she is a human sponge) is the fact that she is learning her state capitals. Now, Miss Julie told me they would learn these throughout the year, but I somewhat blew it off thinking "She's only 3. I'm 29 and I'm not sure I know them all." Well I am happy to say I was wrong. Morgan knows the capital of Indiana (Indianapolis), Alaska (Jeuno), Arkansas (Little Rock), Alabama (Montgomery) and Arizona (Phoenix). Pretty amazing, huh.

One of the highlights of school is the prized backpack. When I went to back to school night, Miss Julie showed us these learning backpacks that the kids would get to take home throughout the year. Each backpack has a theme and there are books, and games to play based on the theme. This month was the Alphabet. Well last night was Morgan's turn with the backpack. She was so excited! She played with it last night, this morning, and even in the car on the way to school.

I'm sure there will be more updates about school and what Morgan is learning. Just remember, she is a sponge an will repeat nearly anything you say or do- be warned.

Our weekend with Mimi....Elizbeth's version

As you heard from Morgan- Mimi came to visit! I thought I would tell my version of events because I have stories too. While we did go to the museum I didn't have nearly as much fun. While Morgan was showing Mimi Science Works, I was sitting in my stroller.

But then we finally made it to Playscape. Mommy was exited, because this was going to be my first trip to the museum where I could actually do things besides sit in my stroller. First Mommy put me in the maze. The whole thing is padded and perfect for people crawling and learning to walk. In the last couple of weeks I've learned to stand, so I had a lot of fun practicing my new skill.

Then Mimi found me a rocking horse to play on. This is pretty neat. I did really well until I fell off.

Pretty soon, Mommy said we had to go. I said "No! One more minute.....please???"

Once we got home, we went outside to play. I sat on the deck with Mimi. She kept trying to keep me from eating leaves. It worked for awhile. See I'm sitting nicely with her.

Then I saw my chance to break away. Mimi is memorized by my ability to crawl. It's a good cover.

Then, before I know it I'm sitting by myself.....is anyone looking.....

Then I ate the leaf! VICTORY!