Help please....

Any of you intelligent, experienced and expert moms out there have any advice on how to wean a child who won't take a bottle, and just plays with a sippy cup like it's her new favorite toy? I really need to be done breast feeding SOON. I need help.

How do I get her to #1 - realize she can drink out of the sippy cup and #2 - realize she doesn't need to nurse any longer?

Olivia was such a breeze... I just decided to stop one day and she did great.

Of course, Olivia didn't mind drinking from the bottle from day one, either. Tagen... not so much.

Merry Christmas!

We had the opportunity to go see the lights at the Salt Lake temple last night.

We really enjoyed our experience. Olivia was in heaven as she got to see all the "Ho Ho lights" and play with her cousins.

Poor Tagen promptly filled her diaper when we arrived (of course I didn't have an extra one with us.)

She did marvelously well and quickly fell asleep as we were walking around. Overall, it was a fantastic night!

Merry Christmas!

Too Funny...

Too funny to not share with everyone.

Thank you to the MotherBoard for sharing this!

Merry Christmas!

From our home to yours...

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

(We hope you enjoy this little song from

our Olivia. This is currently her

favorite Christmas song and she loves to

sing it. I love watching her facial expressions as she sings.)

May the Spirit of Christ fill your home and

hearts during this special season.

Love,

The Morris's

She reminded me about......

© 2009 Carrie Morris

The REAL reason for this holiday season.......

Tagen Kissing

Tagen has learned how to kiss. It has got to be the most adorable thing

I've seen in a really LONG time. We finally got it on film. Enjoy!

Remember...

Heavenly Father see ALL our efforts...

even if nobody else does.

Tagen Tidbits..

When Tagen calls for Olivia, she starts grunting and saying "Ooohhh!" She will point

one little finger in whatever direction Olivia is and keep calling her until she sees her again.

She has such a sense of humor. I was getting after Olivia one day for disobeying. I was shaking my finger at her (I know... Mother of the year award is futile.) I looked down at her side and there was Tagen, grunting, pointing her finger at me and smiling. When she caught my eye, she winked at me and started laughing. It was so funny, I couldn't even be upset with Olivia any longer.

She has started panting like a dog when she's tired or when she's trying to be funny.

It sounds like she's trying to blow her nose and it's really funny.

She has a favorite pose. She gets up on her hands and feet in an A shape. Then she'll put her head on the ground and look around the room through her legs. It's pretty comical. You'd think she'd get a blood rush, but it doesn't seem to affect her.

I love how when she gets tired she will start rubbing her nose. When she was a baby she used to rub her nose on our shoulders while we were burping her. Now that she's figured out how to get her hands to her face, she can effectively rub her own nose. It's really cute.

She is such a musical baby. She can hear a rhythm in anything and will dance to it. Whether it's music, the water running, the mixing bowl, hairdryer, vacuum, or even the blinker in the car... if it has any sort of beat, Tagen will start rocking back and forth to it.

We' have had a problem for about 3 months getting Tagen to sleep through the night again. She had a cold in August and hasn't really slept through the night since. She is usually up until about midnight and it's been frustrating. After talking to her doctor, getting her a blessing, and uttering many prayers we've put her on Melatonin. It has worked to GET her to sleep, but she isn't STAYING asleep through the night. The pharmacist suggested Benadryl and Melatonin together. We'll see how it goes.

Our little Tagen is a tease and a true joy.

Tagen's 9 month Checkup

© 2009 Carrie Morris

We took Tagen in last week on the tenth for her nine month well child visit. She is doing fantastic! The nurse that measured her stats left, but quickly came back in to measure her length again. He was surprised at the jump she took in her length. The doctor was very pleased with her progression and said she's healthy. Here are her stats.

Weight: 21 lbs 7 oz (91%) Length: 29 7/8" (>95%) Head Circumference: 18" (90%)

"Our door is open..."

© 2009 Carrie Morris

I have a new "open door policy" again on my blog. I've decided to not remain private and to open my blog back up to the public. I went private because of "unwanted eyes" looking at my blog, but I've decided to not let one person dictate how I live my life. I have to live my life how I want to... not in fear, but in freedom. So, we're back to being a public blog... Open door policy. Come one, come all!

Olivia-isms

Olivia had been playing in her room when I noticed it was suddenly too quiet. I asked her from the couch where I was feeding Tagen, what she was doing... No answer. I heard some weird knocking noise coming from that direction. Brad headed towards the room to investigate. When he got around the corner, he started laughing. I walked over to see the above picture. Olivia had turned her toy box upside down and was "hiding" in it. I love that her hair gave her away. She had purposefully made the noises so we'd come see what she was up to. Love this girl!

When I told Olivia to fix her underwear because she had a turkey...

I said, "Olivia, is there a turkey in your bum?" She answered, "No, just my underwear."

After driving back into the Salt Lake valley from the south, Olivia's Aunt Carol

pointed out that there were two temples she could see right away.

Olivia proclaimed, "It's the Promised Land!"

While driving home from Cache Valley, we were playing I Spy with Olivia.

When it came to her turn she said, "I spy my wittle eye, TOO... A great big yawn in my mouth."

Which she promptly followed with the said yawn.

While playing with Brad, she got out her toy stethescope and listened to his heartbeat... This was her diagnosis.."Dada, I'm gonna be the Doctor. I can hear your heartbeat! Is it a good one? No dad. It's a not good one. it's a scary one!" She fixed it then. She gave him a brand new heart and "you're all better now dada. And here's a hat for you too."

When her and Brad were home together for the night she told him, "Daddy! We need have a party!

We can turn on the tv and watch baby Einsteins and have some popcorn! It will be so much fun!"

Olivia told me the other day, "Mom, I remember when I was older and I went to school... I loved it. It was so far away. It was just last night mom, remember?" Guess we either need to teach her past, present and future tenses or we have a time traveler on our hands.

Modesty and Modeling...

At our Achievement Days activity this past week, we talked about modesty. We taught the girls that they should be modest in their dress and in their behavior. Then we split them into groups and challenged them each to design modest articles of clothes out of newspaper. Here are their results. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did.

Avery Hansen with a dress and hat.

Olivia Campbell with skirt and fancy sleeves.

I loved this picture of Clara, so I had to share both...

Clara Campbell and skirt.

Shelby Moyes with a handbag and scarf.

Shayla LeMay with shoes. Very creative.

Maddie Jenkins with skirt and purse.

Rachel Hall with belt and hat.

Sadie Hansen with long v shaped skirt.

Amanda Whitehead with shirt turned cape.

Abbie Anderson with cape/shawl.

So... if you're ever in need of some new clothing and want it to be modest, contact any of the Achievement Day girls in our ward. They'll be more than happy to help you out.

Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween!

Our little "punkins" before trick or treating.

They have cute little matching shirts.

Olivia doing her "pumpkin dance" as she called it...

Tagen getting one of the treats from the night.

I thought this was harmless in giving to her... Turns out, if you let a baby suck on it long enough, some of her spit will get

down in the packaging and she gets a mild sugar high from the juice off the sucker. :)

Olivia scored in the treat department! Thank fully, she hasn't asked for ANY of her candy today.

Maybe that's because she's eaten two of the many cinnamon rolls I made yesterday.... ha ha!

Mr. Jack O'Lantern

We've never carved pumpkins with Olivia before. We thought this was a good year to start.

Last night while the candy corn cookies were baking, Brad helped Olivia carve her

first Jack-o-lantern. She couldn't figure out why were cutting her

"favorite punkin" until we put the candles inside and lit him up for her.

Making the first incision....

Greasy grimy pumpkin guts....

Olivia wasn't sure what to make of the insides...

Almost finished....

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween Cookies

My sister forwarded me the address of THIS blog and told me about some adorable candy corn

cookies on the blog that I had to check out. They looked great and SIMPLE so I decided to

make some for FHE last night. Olivia had a great time helping cut the triangles and putting them on the pan. Check them out...

Use this cookie mix, unless you have a recipe you really like...

put in the fridge for about 1 1-2 hours

cut into 1/4" slices and make triangles...

Cook at 375 degrees for 7 - 9 minutes

Enjoy! They are really yummy.

Candy Corn Cookies

2 Betty Crocker Sugar cookie mixes

2 eggs

2/3 cups butter

Food coloring

Mix the cookie mixes, eggs and softened butter.

Divide into thirds and add food coloring.

Put into a loaf pan in layers and refrigerate for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Cut into 1/4" slices and make triangles.

Cook at 375 degrees for 7 - 9 minutes.

Blowing Wishes in the Wind...

I took the girls on a walk today. It was perfect weather... and I was perfectly entertained by Olivia. We used to call this

"Blowing our wishes in the wind..." Makes me wonder what she was wishing for...

I asked Olivia what she was doing and she told me she was "blowing out the flowers."

I guess whatever you call it, it's still fun to do. Go make some of your own wishes while they are still "in season."

Two Teeth!

Tagen's second tooth came it this past week. Just a week and a half after her first one. I thought I'd try to hold her and get a picture of her two teeth at the same time. Let's just say I got a lot of good laughs out of the experience... and some priceless shots.

My very first shot. Such a serious face.

Success! The two teeth are photographed!

Only to be followed by a mocking from Tagen.

I LOVE the look on her face in this picture!

She's one of my very favorite people on this whole earth!

Owl Cookies

Last night we had my sister's and brother's families over for dinner and a family tradition of making owl cookies for FHE.

My family has been making these cookies for as long as I can remember. It's fun to pass the tradition onto our kids.

Olivia letting me admire her masterpieces.

Isn't he cute? Looks just like an owl.

Tagen had fun watching and wishing she could eat one too...

My newest nephew Clayton and his mom, Jenn. Cute, right?

Sugar high kicking in for Olivia and Cooper.

Amanie and Harlie making their cookies.

We had a really great time! Thanks for coming down guys! Can't wait for next year.