Bath time bubbles

We had some fun with the bubbles in the bath. Lots of "Santa beards" and some mustaches were made.

Many more giggles and fun memories are remembered.

Santa Tagen

Santa Olivia

Two adorable girlies...

Tagen tried tasting the bubbles... this is what she thought of them.

I laughed so hard, and still do when I see this picture!

Olivia's eyes just light up when she laughs. I love it!

Tagen's party....

Due to having a new baby, being exhausted, and a few of us having colds, we kept Tagen's birthday party to just our little family. We had a great time with balloons, cake, noise makers and party hats all picked out by Olivia. Tagen was able to go with her dad to the store to pick out a cake. She chose wisely... chocolate with raspberry filling! Yummy. Here's a picture story line of our party....

This party is for me? Really?

That's fantastic!

Party on!

She has such focus!

Enjoying the family singing to her...

Blowing out the candles....

Success!

Olivia picked out this Jack-in-the-box (which is really a dragon) for Tagen.

She wasn't sure what to think of it initially as you can see by her expression.

She quickly learned to love it though

Overall, I think she had a great time, loved her presents and really enjoyed her day.

I know the rest of us did. Happy Birthday Mater! We Love You!

Tagen turns TWO!!!

Today is Tagen's birthday! We are so grateful to have this little munchkin as part of our family. She is a true joy and a blessing.

I'm amazed looking at her photos on how much she has changed over the past two years.

February 10, 2009

October 2009

November 2010

November 2010

Some little Tagen Tidbits that I love about her and want to remember...

Tagen has such a great sense of humor and comedic timing. She has always been a little mischievious and has always seemed to understand the funny moments life brings. But lately, we've really been able to see her personality shine in those moments. She does have a very tender side also. She loves to give out kisses... especially to her new little sister which is followed by a tilt of the head and an explanation of "CUTE!" from her.

She LOVES going to nursery on Sundays and is often found carrying around a baby doll whenever we go to pick her up.

She loves to draw and color and paint. Whenever she gets out the water color paints, she ends up "painting her nails" with them... which is usually the pads of her fingers that get painted.

She is proving to us daily that although she doesn't have much to say, she understands EVERYTHING that goes on around her. She will ask for cereal for breakfast by pointing to it, saying, "ce-al? PINK!" Which, once interpreted means she would like the pink cereal (mini-spooners) for breakfast. We hadn't really taught her colors, but she must have picked up on them while talking about them with Olivia.

She counted to 8 with Brad just yesterday... another trick we didn't know she had learned.

But I think my favorite thing is to hear her playing by herself and realize she is humming the song, "I Am A Child of God."

She also likes to hum "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" while playing.

She loves to have her nails painted, have "pretties" put in her hair, LOVES to pick out shoes,

carry around her baby dolls, and the girl lives to shop!

I'm so grateful to have Tagen as a part of our lives. She adds joy and happiness to our family.

Happy Happy Birthday Tagen!

We Love You!

Introducing Gracie Pearl Morris

She's finally here! Gracie was born Wednesday morning at 8:01 A.M., weighed 7 lbs 2 oz, and was 20" long (same stats as Olivia). She is an absolute joy, and we can feel a strong sense from her that she is very happy and content to be here. She never cried, winced, or even made a peep when her sisters mugged her. She acted like she'd been waiting months for that moment, and was content as you can only imagine. She's a perfect baby with an easy going temperament and hardly makes a sound. She's a great sleeper and eater so far and we LOVE LOVE LOVE having her our family.

Me, Gracie and Olivia

Gracie yawning. I LOVE this face!

Tagen and Gracie.

Tagen LOVES her baby sister and can't get enough of her.

The Big Sisters relishing the moment

Me and Gracie. I can't get enough of her!

Slightly cross-eyed, but still cute!

In pictures, she looks so much like Olivia it's crazy. In person, she can look a lot like Tagen at times. Either way, she's beautiful and healthy, and that's all that matters. We both get to go home on Saturday.

The C-Section was okay. I have a history of my blood pressure dropping LOW while on the table and I warned my doctor about it before we started. The anesthesiologist earned his money during my surgery. My pressure did drop again and he had to use a lot of medications to keep me conscious, but he did a great job. I did have one grapefruit size circle on my stomach that never quite numbed up and unfortunately I felt a lot of the procedure, but... after lots of Morphine and Fentanyl, I just didn't care anymore. Recovery has been harder than my other two C-Sections, but I'm getting around a lot better now. I think it's been harder because I'm getting OLDER... (Shudder.)

Overall... Things are truly great. We are so blessed to have little Gracie in our lives and a part of our family. She has brought such a sweet spirit with her. I love just holding her, cuddling her and soaking up her sweetness. She's completely beautiful!

Happy Birthday Rockstar!!

Today is a day worthy of BIG celebrations! 37 years ago, the world was blessed with the birth of a wonderful human being....

My Best Friend, Brad! Happy Birthday Babe!

Brad shares his birthday with his mom. His Facebook status made me

cry this morning, but I think it says it all...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. Sure do miss you and wish you were here to blow out candles together again.

You will be missed and loved and thought of all day, just like every other day. Love you Mom."

She is missed terribly and thought of always. Happy Birthday to Elizabeth also!

I hope they throw a big party for you in heaven!

Brad and his mom on his 1st Birthday

Brad in Kindergarten - what an adorable kid!

Brad in a sword shop in Toledo, Spain on his mission.

Yes, he did bring a sword home from his mission. Very cool.

Brad the ROCKSTAR!

I Love You Brad!

I'm so glad you were born!

You are my life, my love, my everything.

Olivia-isms

Olivia: "Mom, I'm going to move to another house. I'm going to get in my car and drive next door. You can come visit me there."

Me: "Why are you moving, Olivia?"

Olivia: "Because you're being silly Mom and I don't like silly nilly."

"Mom, I decided we need to go bowling today. So, if you decide you want to, the bowling store is by the french fry playing store.... otay?"

Recently while playing "Duck, Duck, Goose" for FHE, Olivia was exasperated with only the four of us playing. She turned to Brad and I and said, "We need more duckers!"

Olivia told me there are different kinds of birds. I asked what kinds there were and she told me... "There are wire birds, tree birds, ground birds, flying birds and big birds." I guess it all depends on where they are when she sees them.

"Dad, I'm going to the Hundred Naked Wood to make new friends with Winnie the Pooh."

Brad: "Olivia, what do you think we should name this baby girl?"

Olivia: "I think we should name her Chloe.... or Taylor Swift."

Olivia told Brad a story one night, then asked him what he thought of it. "Great story," he told her. "Well, it was a boring one because I know you only like boring stories, Daddy." I guess Brad has hit the BORING old fuddy duddy stage already.

One morning, I let the girls sleep in until 9:30. When Olivia finally made her way upstairs, she was pretty upset with me. She said, "Mom! You let me sleep WAY TOO LONG! I got TOO MUCH SLEEP! Why didn't you come wake me up?" Somehow, I don't think she'll have this same reaction as a teenager......

We recently sold Brad's Jeep that he has owned for almost 12 years. It was Olivia's favorite thing to ride in. The day after he sold it, she asked where it was. He explained that someone else owns it now. She said, "Well, maybe we can go to their house and they will let us borrow it and then we can go for a drive in it again." I think they are both going to miss it equally.

One night while taking Olivia to the bathroom (at midnight) she was sitting on the toilet and asked me, "Mom, would it be crazy if someone fell asleep on the toilet?" I told her, "yes, it would be crazy." She smiled and said, "Ya, I thought so too." Then she finished her business and went back to bed. I'm not sure she was really awake during the whole process.

A couple of my Christmas Projects

This year for Christmas I had the idea to sew each of my daughters a blanket. I would say it was a bright idea.... but I'm not really a seamstress or domesticated enough to do it on my own. I took the girls to Sew and Save in Clearfield in the early summer and let them pick out what colors they wanted for their blankets. I was hoping if I did it early enough, they would forget about them by the time Christmas came around. Then I called my mom and begged her to teach me how to make them. My mom is an expert seamstress/quilter/quilt maker. She can make anything out of a bolt of material. She's amazing. So, she came down and helped me cut out the pieces and showed me how to sew them together. I got both tops done in a day and a half. Then I once again asked her for help. She tied them and bound them for me so I could give a finished product to Olivia and Tagen. Here they are....

Tagen's Blanket

Olivia's Blanket

Side by Side...

They are basically crib size... a little bit bigger actually. They are a great size for each girl to carry around and they cover them nicely. They are really warm and soft and fuzzy and nice to cuddle up with. I'm really grateful to my mom for her help and for her patience in teaching me how to sew them together. A sewer I am not, but I'm trying to convince myself to become one.

(When we found out we were having another girl, I stopped and bought more material to make a blanket in the same pattern for Gracie. I haven't started on that one yet, and it might be a while before I get to it, but it is in the works for all three girls to have matching blankets. But, I do think I'll have to call mom again and beg her to come help me cut out the pieces again.)