The Morgans

2 months

2012-01-19T23:30:00.000-06:00

Axton was 2 months old on Tuesday & had his doctor appointment today. We were so excited to see how much he has grown since leaving the hospital.

Here he is....sleepin' on his birthday. :)

A few pics at the doctor. He did great & only cried about 5 secs when he got his two shots.
2 month stats (12 days past due date):
Weight-8# 15oz (1%) - Length-21 in (1%) - Head-14.5 in (3%)

Crazy that he's just now the size of a regular newborn @ 2 months old and that's why the percentages are so low...but preemies usually catch up in the first 2 years. Dr Yap said he looks perfect & healthy! We're so blessed. :)

New Year

2012-01-18T00:15:00.000-06:00

It's 2012....which just sounds crazy....and the beginning of a wonderful, new year. We still shouldn't take Axton out in public, so there's been a lot of fun times at home....or little outings here & there for a couple of us at a time. :) It's totally worth keeping him healthy & safe....and we will have plenty of time to go places once he's a little older. It finally hit me that I'm really a stay-at-home mom and not just on maternity leave. I'm not going to lie....there have been some rough days when I'm here by myself with both kids all day & my patience starts to run thin. I'm so incredibly lucky & blessed to get to stay home....and I've dreamed of doing it.....but it is seriously the hardest job I've ever had. It's a struggle sometimes to balance everything....being a mommy, wife, housekeeper, etc. We're slowly trying to get into more of a routine with the baby....so hopefully things will get easier. Chris has been the greatest hubby & daddy....working, helping feed & get up with the baby, letting me sleep in sometimes & watching both kiddos sometimes to let me have some "girl time" or ME time. :) Having a newborn is always a challenge and definitely gets better as they get older....but I still try to cherish this precious time with Axton (& Meritt too) while he's so tiny & relying on me for all of his needs. I'll never get this time back with my children & I want to enjoy every minute!!

Mommy & Meritt taking pics of ourselves

Play time on the floor

I love his sweet face....& his eyes are a dark blue right now, but who knows what color they will actually be. :)

Meritt wants to touch him constantly!! Right after Christmas she got sick & it was so sad because we had to keep her away from him. The risks if he got RSV are very scary & serious, so we wouldn't let her get near him hardly. :( As soon as she was better, she couldn't wait to get to kiss him & play with him.

Look at that tiny, little hand!

He's got a little smirk going on here. :)

Meritt & I went to Kohls one day and she got silly. We have fun & she likes to "go to sto an run 'roun" (go to the store & run around) as she would say. :)

7 weeks old & changing so much....not only size & looks, but clothes too! We change his clothes at least once a day....because this boy spits up constantly.

Took a few pics with my babies since I actually "got ready" because I had my 6 week post natal doc appointment. Everything was good & I'm pretty much all healed.

I have her so well-trained. :) She will pose & say cheese anytime she sees a camera around.

The 2 greatest things I've ever done!

This boy loves to sleep on his Daddy

Daddy & son

Axton started fussing a little bit, so Chris thought it would be funny to make the same face as him....looking like they're yelling at each other. Ha!

Meritt was sitting with me on the couch one day & I was in awe with how beautiful she is. The light was so pretty & I had my camera right next to me. I love profiles...and she has a perfect one. :)

Little bro & big sis

Meritt thinks it's funny when she gets totally naked before her bath....& she will run around the house while we yell "naked jaybird"!! She also loves to look at herself in the mirror....but that's nothing new.
She's shaking her booty here.

I was putting some new pictures in frames in the house & I looked at all of the pics behind them. I couldn't believe it....the first one is of Ella when she was younger than Meritt, then Meritt 1 week old, 6 weeks old, 8 months, 11 months...and then 2 years old. So crazy, beautiful & sad at the same time.

Snoozin' in Mommy's lap

First time to paint Meritt's fingernails & she was so proud. I know it might sound crazy to a lot of moms with girls....but Meritt can hardly sit still, so I've never even tried. She saw me paint my nails & really wanted hers done. I've done her toes before, but fingers were a little more tricky. By the next day half of them had chipped off....even like in a whole piece....so I think it's because her nails are so pure & the polish just didn't stick good.

Big girl trying to brush her own teeth.

Watching cartoons - Meritt likes to lay in the floor for some reason & I put Axton down there while he was awake to look at the colors & lights. He seemed to like it.

She had to get closer to him.

Another day...she loves to be close to him. I love it & hopes that they will grow up being super close.

Meritt giving Axton "noses" (eskimo kisses). He also coo-ed for the first time this night, on his 2 month birthday. I love the sounds they make & it just made us excited for the more fun things he will start doing soon.

This happens a lot....Daddy holding Axton & Meritt laying in his lap while watching cartoons. :)

Since we've started putting Axton on his playmat, Meritt likes the baby toys & wants to look in the mirror, too.

That's about all for now. I'm pretty caught up.....but man, it took a long time to catch up on 2 months worth of crazy stuff!! :)

Morgan family of FOUR

2012-01-05T15:29:00.000-06:00

Now that we have our sweet baby boy home....we can enjoy all being together!

Nana & Papa came over the day we brought Axton home.

Finally....getting some cuddle time with our babies!!

Sleepy boy!

First time out....but just in the car to drive around & look at Christmas lights. :) Dr Yap said we shouldn't take Axton out anywhere in public for at least 3 months....so this should be interesting.

Meritt's bath time! Golly geez....she's getting so big. :(

And Axton's first bath time at home.

3.5 weeks & sleepy! He pretty much sleeps 23 hrs a day, but that's to be expected since he should still be in my belly.

Sleepy girl holding her water cup while she sleeps. :)

Big sis & little bro

All clean & smelling good after his bath.

2 clean babies!! Meritt's first time to hold her baby brother.

Silly boy likes to throw his head back sometimes, so we have to be careful or he almost throws himself out of our arms.

Smiling!

Sticking his tongue out.

He looks chubby here.

She loves to put her marker lids on her fingers like long fingernails.

Cheese!!

Finally got a couple presents under the tree.

I have to take advantage of the few times Axton is awake to see his pretty, dark blue eyes.

She LOVES to kiss her brother.

I took Meritt to my friend Thana's little girls birthday party at Gymnastics Sports Center. Meritt's most favorite thing in the world to do is JUMP!! So she was in heaven....

That's my friend, Kendra in the blue...and her little girl, Kresee, who is a couple months older than Meritt.

Jumping in the foam pit

Meritt & Kresee waiting for cake!!

Meritt hasn't ever had one of these drinks, but she liked it ok.

This girl loves her some cake!!

Trying to potty train, but it's not working. We even brought it in the living room & let her watch cartoons, but she still never went. She's just not ready yet, even though she tells us right after she goes in her diaper......but we just can't get her to tell us before or to sit on the potty for very long. We definitely don't want to traumatize her....& most people say it will just click one day and she'll start doing it.

Baby boy on his changing table.

Snuggling with Mommy

Axton in his crib :)

The Mareks came over to play.....these kids are so funny when they all get together.

Meritt feeding Axton for the first time. She thought she was such a big girl!

She was dying to get on the Nap Nanny when we first got it out, so we let her lay on it. It's a pretty good little seat for all ages. :)

5 weeks old

Sleeping so sweet with her water cup. The water cup is becoming a regular at night, but she doesn't drink it...just holds it. And as you can see, she sleeps sideways in bed like she did in her crib. Not sure how we get her to sleep the right way because I will turn her around after she's asleep...and she always ends up back sideways. Silly girl!

Bath time again for Axton. :) He really likes it unless it's too close to time to eat.

Sleeping in Mommy & Daddy's bed. If he start fussing too early in the morning, I can hold him in bed with me & he will sleep a little longer.

She will just wear her headband like this for who knows how long.

New Years Eve, we had our friends Jeremy & Alisha over with their little boy, Boone.

Boone-9 weeks & Axton-6 weeks

A little comparison

2012-01-03T14:20:00.000-06:00

I found a couple pictures of Meritt that looked almost identical to Axton's....and around the same ages, too. :) We think they definitely look like siblings, but there are some differences too. Some people say he looks just like his Daddy & a few say he looked like me when he was first born. Who knows....I think both of our kids have a good mixture of both of us. I'll have to look at some of mine & Chris's baby pics to compare.

Meritt is chubbier that Axton, of course, because she was full term & he was preemie.

Christmas time

2011-12-29T21:52:00.000-06:00

We love Christmas time!!

Having a newborn at home has been different & since we can't take Axton out, it's been a little challenging to do things. Gramie, Nana & Papa help us a lot....so one night Gramie watched Axton so that we could take Meritt to eat & to the Fantasy of Lights. I had been feeling a little down, so it felt good to get out of the house & lifted my spirits.

December 23 - The other Morgans, Jeremy, Amber & Claire... got to town & we couldn't wait to see them.
Meritt & Claire hit it off!

Meritt & Papa

Nana & her girls

Meritt says "I love Christmas"

And here's Santa's little helper! :)

Christmas Eve we hung out with the Morgan fam, took some pictures, played & then everyone went to the Fantasy of Lights, but Axton & I went home to rest....and so I could get some food ready for the next day.

Morgan Daddy's & their girls

Before we took pictures, the girls thought they needed to play with my camera.
It was pretty cute because Meritt knows how to push the button & was taking pics of Claire that close. :)

We sang "If you're happy & you know it clap your hands" to get them to look at us.

So then they did the motions to the song in most of the pics.

Then we let the girls hold Axton.

Sweet siblings!

The whole family!

Meritt & Axton must have been really good because Santa brought some awesome presents!

Christmas morning....Meritt was SO excited when she saw all of the toys.

Axton was pretty excited too! haha. Santa got him this cute giraffe chair.

Then we headed to Nana & Papa's for breakfast and presents. Amber & Jeremy got the girls matching pajamas as a Christmas tradition.

The elephant ball popper that we got Claire was a hit!

And the Sit'n'Spin they got Meritt was a hit, too!

Axton didn't want to wake up for present time!! I think that will be a different story next Christmas.

Then we had my family at our house for late lunch & presents.
Gramie was the first to get ahold of baby boy. :)

The twins attacked Gramie to thank her for their money! :)

Baby's First Christmas

Family pics

Whole fam

Christmas night opening presents from Mommy & Daddy

She loved her guitar

The day after Christmas we celebrated with the Austins & Grandpa Caddell

Meritt loves playing with Owen's toys....& especially liked playing swords.

I went looking for Meritt & saw a blue light coming from under the bathroom door. This is what I found....& it was the funniest & cutest thing.

Ella got this weird cheetah/leopard hat thing & Meritt loved it, but she called it a Tiger. :)

Rrrrraaaahhhhhh!!

Owen was super pumped that we got him Spy kit stuff.

Kisses for Axton

We got Ella the Just Dance 3 game for Wii, so Julee & I decided to try a couple songs. It was pretty funny & a good, little workout. :)

Cuddling with my baby boy!

All of the wonderful Christmas cards on our fridge from everyone!

Hope everyone had a blessed Holiday season!

6 weeks

2011-12-29T00:09:00.000-06:00

Big boy is 6 weeks old today! Every week he changes more....and becomes more like a normal newborn.

Meritt 2.5

2011-12-23T22:42:00.000-06:00

Our amazing little girl doesn't seem so little anymore. :( She is becoming such a big girl & is absolutely the greatest child. She is the happiest, most fun, outgoing & smartest toddler. She doesn't have tantrums, she minds well, we can pretty much take her anywhere with us.....she is just the best!

Meritt is still in speech therapy a few times a month & she (and us) loves her therapist, Nancy. She has really come a long way with her speech....she can almost say most everything, but not necessarily the clearest or where everyone could understand it. She has her own words for some things & still can't pronouce a few sounds....but it's all coming together eventually. Meritt LOVES to dance & has great rhythm. She could watch cartoons all day long if you let her & sometimes it has gotten close to it in the last few weeks. We only let her watch good, learning cartoons & she has really learned a lot from them. One day she just all of a sudden counted to 10 with the cartoon and it was the first time she had ever done it. She is very smart & will say or do things that we didn't even know she knew. :) She is so compassionate towards people....especially lately. If we get onto her, she will say "Mama mad" or if she sees someone crying she says so-and-so is sad. Then if she sees us cry or anything, she wants to hug & kiss us....and since Axton has been home, she constantly wants to check on him & gets worried when he starts crying. Meritt is just a very sensitive & affectionate little girl, which I love about her. She will give anyone & everyone hugs. There are so many little things that her & I do...or that she & her Daddy do, that are special to each of us. We love her joy & laughter that fill our home every day. Meritt is one of the most amazing gifts we have ever received!

Our angel is 2 1/2 years old & so beautiful! I had a little photo shoot with her too. :)

Newborn photo shoot

2011-12-22T21:59:00.000-06:00

I got some time to have a little photo shoot with Axton & Meritt to get some pics to make baby announcements. I got some pretty great ones that I will cherish forever.

This picture of Meritt holding Axton & she's not smiling....is probably the most beautiful picture I've ever taken. Meritt looks like a model & it is just so perfect. :)

1 mo

2011-12-17T18:15:00.000-06:00

Our big boy is ONE month old today!! He's doing really good & we're just trying to adjust to having a newborn again.....with a toddler, too. :)

Doing what he does best....sleep!

Few Christmas pics

2011-12-15T21:48:00.000-06:00

I took a few pics after we got Axton home so that I could send Christmas cards out. :)

Thanksgiving & First Snow

2011-12-05T22:20:00.000-06:00

We had Thanksgiving at our house, but we didn't have to cook or do anything....since we have been a little busy. Everyone brought the food & we had a great time with family. We felt weird because our new baby was in the hospital, but it felt good to be around people & have a good time. We took pictures like we always do & since Axton couldn't be here, Meritt held one of his teddy bears in his place. :)

So precious!

All grandkids.....9 boys (including Axton) and one sweet girl! :)

A couple extras that spent Thanksgiving with us.

Meritt holding the teddy bear for Axton.

In order by age...DJ-23, Jesse & Josh-22, Jordan-17, Tristan-12, Samuel-10, Jared-7, Aiden-4, Meritt-2 & Axton-1 week

Mark's fam

Gramie, Papa Don & grandkids

Aunt Pat's family

Meritt coloring with chalk

We are definitely thankful for this little girl! She has been our shining light during some dark times lately.

Daddy being silly & lifting Meritt up in her car. :)

The Mullins were in town for Thanksgiving & we got to visit with them.

Meritt & Briana didn't really want to take pictures....they wanted to color. :)

We were hanging out with the Austins & I just love how Meritt loves being with Ella. Ella is such a good girl & I think it's great if Meritt wants to be just like her.

A couple days after Thanksgiving was sweet Nana's 60th birthday!!

Then yesterday we got our first snow!! It wasn't much, but was still pretty.

Meritt actually touched it & wasn't scared of it. Last year when we got a big snow, she would scream when we tried to put her in it.

All bundled up in her new coat that Papa Don got her. :)

Birth Story - Axton Rush

2011-12-03T23:20:00.000-06:00

Thursday, November 17, 2011

8:00am-1:00pm - Worked my next to last day
Went home to get Chris for my doctor appointment & felt a little something like I peed on myself and was having some pressure down low, which I had been having similar feelings for a while so it wasn't really a new issue. I didn't think too much about it.

2:00pm - Got to Clinic for my appointment & felt another little gush....thinking I peed on myself again. I mentioned everything to my doctor and he felt like it was probably just pee because water breaking is usually a big gush and it completely gets everything wet. He said that sometimes if you have a bladder infection or something that it can cause the bladder to contract & make you pee a little at times. He sent me to the lab to get a urinalysis & then we could check back on the results when we came back for my sonogram at 4:00. He definitely thought I was bigger than I should be & was anxious to see how big the baby was....or if I might have lots of fluid in there. So I went to the lab, completely emptied my bladder & headed back downstairs to leave.....when I felt another gush!! That's when I thought something wasn't right because I had just peed....so Chris convinced me to stop back by my doc's office to let them know. Dr Lamar had already left for an emergency at the hospital, so they had Nancy the nurse practitioner check me. They put this special paper in the fluid & it immediately turned blue, meaning it was amniotic fluid. She said we needed to head to the hospital to get checked & they would let them know and Dr Lamar, but that it didn't mean we were having a baby. Sometimes they will let you leak for a while if everything looks ok. I mentioned that it was a good thing tomorrow was my last day of work....& she quickly said, "No, today was." Wow....that was true!! We then got a little nervous, but were just kind of shocked because we never would have thought anything weird like this would happen. I got all hooked up, Dr Lamar came down real quick to do a sono & check my fluid and the baby. The baby was good & he said I had TONS of fluid in there. He was shocked that my water was actually breaking & they did a few more tests to make sure. It was definitely broke & pretty quickly I started having contractions. They weren't really too bad & I came to realize that the pressure I had been feeling down low was contractions.

4:00pm - After talking with Lamar & Dr Yap (pediatrician), they both agreed that the baby was going to come regardless & that a day or so would not make a difference.....but could actually make it more stressful on him. So we trusted them & decided to go ahead and have a c-section to deliver Mr. Axton. Dr Yap couldn't predict anything until the baby actually got here....but he said the difference in a 30 week baby & a 32 week baby is very significant. There was a possibility of the baby going to Cook's or possibly having to be on a ventilator, but he said that the baby could be perfectly fine with immature lungs, which is expected when it's this early. They began prepping me for surgery & we let our families know what was going on. I wanted Meritt to be there when the baby was born, so the grand parents took care of her & bringing a few things I wanted....especially my camera. :) It was so strange because I was in the weirdest mental state. I wasn't really scared or nervous or crying....nothing. I was calm & in shock I think. Chris prayed over us & got a little emotional, which then got to me a little because I knew he was really scared. I think I felt a sense of peace and knowing that it was all meant to happen this way.

6:37pm - Baby Axton was pulled out of my belly....screaming & crying!! Hearing him was the greatest sound I had ever heard....because I knew that meant he was breathing & ok. Getting the spinal was a lot more painful that I remembered the epidural being last time. They also put this warming thing on be during surgery & I thought my arms might be tied down, so I was panicking a little....until I asked the anesthesiologist if I could move my arm to scratch my nose & he showed me how to get it out. I felt much better after that. I was feeling the meds pretty good & was having trouble staying awake, which happened with Meritt too. I don't like feeling so out of it. I could see my belly in the reflection of the light, so I actually watched them cut me open & saw my precious baby's head full of dark hair come out....it was pretty neat! Dr Lamar said that he looked like a full term baby!! That was reassuring. Chris told me that the baby looked good & I told him to go with Axton while I went to recovery. Dr Lamar got me stapled up & couldn't wait to go find out how much he weighed. We had many blessings on our side that Axton was a good size for being so early (5#14oz)....so maybe the gestational diabetes I had actually helped out by putting extra weight on our baby boy. :)

I was in recovery for a while....in & out of sleep....and Chris would come check on me every once in a while. He brought the camera to show me a few pictures of Axton since I didn't get to see him right away. After recovery, Chris said they rolled me into the NICU/nursery to see him, but I don't really remember it. He was in an incubator & all hooked up to monitors, so I couldn't see much anyway. I got to my post partum room around 9:30 or so I think, and my sister stayed with me so that Chris could go home to get Meritt settled. Gramie stayed at our house with Meritt the first night. I was so drugged up & kept falling asleep while I was talking to my sis....or while trying to text/facebook on my phone. :) Since I couldn't breastfeed Axton, I had to start pumping so that my milk would come in.

I stayed in the hospital for 3 days. We would go see the baby every few hours, but everything just seemed so weird. I was pretty sore sometimes in the hospital, but could get up & walk around. The nurses taking care of Axton were wonderful & I completely trusted them. So...we had to leave our baby in the hospital for 21 days, but would go visit at least twice a day. He made such great progress & did so well for being almost 2 months early. We had almost gotten in a routine of going to the hospital & everything was so strange....we were in shock for a while that things happened so unexpectedly. It was tough being at home without our baby & almost felt like we didn't even have a baby sometimes. We went through some pretty extreme feelings & emotions, but very thankful for our family & friends prayers and support. Our friends, Erin & Dutch, had gone through a similar situation a couple months prior with their babym Finn... and they were a great support for us as well. This experience brought us so much closer & gave us a greater Faith....in God, life & our strength as a family.

Our lives are forever changed & so incredibly blessed by our 4th member of the Morgan family!

Here I am in triage having some contractions & water gushing. :)

Mommy & Daddy....soon to have TWO kids!!

Not sure when this was taken...but I'm guessing before or after the baby was born. :) I don't know what she was thinking or if she knew what was going on.

This is the first picture that Chris took of him before they got him all hooked up to everything.

He had to be on a CPAP machine for the first few days, but that was very common & much better than the ventilator. We were so blessed that he was so healthy, otherwise!

It was hard seeing him like this, but I knew he was ok. I hadn't seen his face in person without the CPAP or his hair either.

The next day I got to see my sweet girl. She seemed a little confused about why I was there, but we just kept telling her that Mommy had the baby.

Keeping her entertained in the hospital room. I've never been away from her at night for this long & I wanted to spend some time with her while I was in the hospital. I was very concerned with wanting her to understand & not be scared.....but she did fine & you would have never known anything was different.

First time walking to the nursery to see Axton. The little blankie thing is something the nurses give the babies that are in there & Mommy's can hold it to them when they visit to get their scent on it. I loved it!

Proud Daddy

First picture as a family of 4

I LOVE this pic!! Meritt seeing her baby brother for the first time....priceless.

She wanted to touch her baby brother....& even tried to tickle his toes through the glass. So precious!

The next day (2 days old) we got to hold him for the first time. It was a wonderful moment!

His skin was so new that it was really reddish-orange & I got to see the tons of dark hair he had. It was really wavy & slicked back from the hat they had on him. :)

He grabbed onto my finger immediately.

We didn't hold him long, so that he could get back on the oxygen.

I wanted a picture of Daddy's hand with Axton to show how little he was. :)

Adorable mum that Aunt Julee had made!

This is a little card they put on the baby's bed in the nursery for the parents to look at & it shows their status each day.

Baby boy was pretty swollen the first few days.

3 days old & no more CPAP! He's making great progress & on a nasal canula now.

The respiratory therapist wanted to put him on his belly for a little bit & he actually loved it. His respiratory rate was a lot better this way. :)

This pic makes him look so chubby! They kept having to re-do his IV because it would get inflamed or come out, so they put it in his scalp. :(

Cuddling with his "lovey" as I called it.

4 days old and look how big that preemie size pacifier is!

Holding Daddy's finger

He was pretty jaundiced, so he spent his 4th day under the ultraviolet lights.

I got dicharged from the hospital & needed some cuddle time at home with my baby girl. :)

5 days old - Visiting Axton & getting to hold him again

Popeye :)

6 days old - Yay...he opened his eyes! No more IV in his head & he likes to pull out his feeding tube in his mouth a lot. The nurses all love him!

1 week old - Thanksgiving! We all went up to see our precious baby boy Thanksgiving morning before the whole family came to our house.

Thanksgiving family picture!

When Axton got off the CPAP & on the nasal canula, I think he was at like 35-40% oxygen....and then depending on how well his stats are, then they will bring it down gradually. It was a BIG deal to get down this low & meant he was doing really good. Every little step forward was so important & we would get so excited. This was a big step....getting to 30% oxygen....and then it didn't take long for him to get off after that. The number we wanted was 21% because that is "normal breathing air" as they would say.

9 days old, Axton got his first bath. Here he is all sprawled out before it.

Our sweet neighbor, Amy (Burkett) Wolfe, was one of Axton's nurses & she gave him his first bath. :) Amy & I also went to school together.

He didn't really like his body being washed....but he sure loved his hair being washed. :)

All clean & first time to have any clothes on. He looks like such a big boy....but notice how long the sleeves are on him & it's a newborn size. It was so great seeing him without all of the tubes on his face!

After his bath, he got a new clean bed across from where he was, on the other side of the nursery. He was now next to his "girlfriend" (I'll tell that story later) and would stay there the rest of the time.

And more importantly.....NO MORE OXYGEN!! He did so well & the NICU staff was agressive, so he doesn't need oxygen anymore. That was the biggest hurdle we had to get over & now we could focus on the other stuff. :)

The next day (10 days old), Axton got his FIRST BOTTLE! When he was on oxygen, they had the feeding tube in his mouth, but now that he was off oxygen they moved it to his nose. It wouldn't be as easy for him to pull out of his nose (although he still managed to sometimes) and would make it easier to start feeding from a bottle.

Chris was working at the hospital, so he got to come up to see him take his first bottle. I forgot I had his Lovey in my shirt....just getting my scent on it while I'm there so that it could comfort him in his bed when I was gone. :)

I think his first bottle was around 20-30 cc/ml....which is hardly anything. But we had to start slow & he did great sucking. The hard part was getting him to take it all because he would sleep through the entire feeding. Poor baby....he's just not supposed to be here yet. :)

Puckering up! I think he wanted a kiss.

Now that he was very stable & progressing so well....we could let a few people hold him when they came to visit. The nursery is strict, understandibly....& we could only have 1 visitor at a time in there with us. Everyone in there is very diligent in making sure all hands are washed & sanitized....so all visitors were expected to as well.

Kandra got to come with me one evening when I went to feed him & hold him.

Aunt Julee came another night.

And then Gramie....holding her 8th grandson!!

Big yawn

Nana came up with Daddy one day after work to get to hold her 1st grandson. :)

First smile caught on camera

13 days old - pulled his tube out of his nose, so we got a good picture with no tubes!

Axton has so much hair that it spikes up into a faux-hawk pretty well. :) I think it's adorable!

He started opening his eyes a little more & I snapped this pic. He looks so peaceful in Daddy's arms.

2 weeks old!! - Throwing a PEACE sign! haha

Daddy feeding his first bottle.....and did a great job by the way!

A little snuggling with Mommy

Another smile. He looks so different with this hat on. They started putting a hat on him at this point because one of the things he needed to do before he could leave is to maintain a normal body temp. The incubators have heaters in them, but they would slowly start to lower it to see how he did.

We came to visit brother before taking Meritt to see Santa Claus at the mall.

He has his own little Christmas hat, too.

These days were really starting to drag & we had hoped that we would already have him home by this time. The biggest struggle was getting him to eat from the bottle every feeding & then hopefully getting to actually breastfeed him. He finally got off the feeding tube & was getting a bottle every 3 hours, even if he didn't finish it all.

19 days old & eating his fingers.

Yay....finally out of the incubator & in an open bed. Now we knew it should be close to time to bring him home. After talking with Dr Yap & the nurses, everyone agreed that he was ready. I wanted to practice breastfeeding him a few times before going home, so we scheduled for him to be circumsized & released the next day.

Here he is, next to his old bed that's cleaned out. We will never miss that place or seeing that bed he spent his first 3 weeks of his life in.

So on December 7, we got to bring our precious baby boy home....on his 3 week old birthday & weighing a whopping 6 lbs 5 oz!! The lowest weight he ever got was 5#9oz, so coming back up to 6.5 was awesome.

We were so ready to get started trying to have a normal life again....at home with our new addition to our family. We had kind of bonded with the parents of the baby girl (aka girlfriend/nursery neighbor/Addyson), Julie & Mitchell Reece, who had their baby just 4 days after us....but theirs was even more scary that ours. We would see each other at time & talk....and come to find out, Mitchell is a coach at Rider & a couple years older than Jesse & Josh. Anyway, they are a young couple & this was their first baby. Chris & I both had a strong feeling about wanting to help them. We had a garage full of baby girl stuff that we would never be using again (because we had pretty much decided we aren't having any more babies after all of this)....so we wanted to offer them everything. We all became friends on Facebook, then they came & took a bunch of the baby stuff we had....and they were so appreciative. We felt so good about it & were so happy that we could give it to people that could use it. We continue to text each other & enjoy giving Julie advice when she would ask. :) I hope we can stay in touch & get updates on the babies.

Axton in his going home outfit

We got one last picture in the nursery....our COMPLETE family going home! Praise God!

Mommy & Meritt bringing baby brother in his new home

Gramie had put a little decoration in the front yard for us. :)

And FINALLY....we are all home...together!

We are incredibly thankful for the nurses, staff & Dr Yap that took such great care of Axton during his first few weeks of life. They were all so encouraging & helpful. The rule of thumb, so people don't get their hopes up, is to not expect a preemie to go home until his due date. Well it doesn't usually take that long & it didn't for us....so we are blessed big time and so happy he is home before Christmas.

Thank you to everyone for the thoughts & prayers for our baby boy! It meant so much to us.

Now we're ready to enjoy our new addition & make lots of memories. :)

SURPRISE...Guess who's here?!?!

2011-11-19T23:30:00.000-06:00

WELL.....we got a BIG surprise on Thursday!! Our precious baby boy decided to make an EARLY arrival. We are still in shock from everything, but very thankful that everything is going good. Axton is doing very well for being so early.....I was only 32.5 weeks.

Here he is.....

Axton Rush Morgan
Born 11/17/11 @ 6:37pm
5 lbs 14 oz - 18 in

Daddy got a quick pic before they put the CPAP on him.

Praise the Lord that he is a good size & completely healthy besides having immature lungs & just normal stuff because he is so early. We are incredibly blessed & now a family of FOUR! :)

I will blog the whole birth story soon.

A few things...

2011-11-15T23:12:00.000-06:00

Just a few random pics to post....

My sweet girl snuggling with Mommy & my big belly. :) Trying to cherish these moments before big boy gets here.

Have to show this comparison....which is freaking me out! I knew I was bigger this time, but didn't know it was this bad. :( I'm ready to have my doctor appointment & sonogram on Thursday to check on Axton.

Playtime on Mommy & Daddy's bed.....

I love this beautiful face!

Meritt loves to take her clothes off & jump around on our bed. :)

Chris sent me these beautiful flowers to work for my last week. It said "Thank you for working hard for our family and carrying our baby boy! Congrats on retirement! Love, Chris, Meritt and Axton"

So funny & sweet! I can't believe I won't be working anymore after Friday. It's going to be weird, but good & hopefully relaxing before baby boy gets here.

Last weekend we hung out with the Mareks to let the kids play.

These kids & their juice cups.....it cracks me up!

Then I got them to say cheese. :)

Not sure why they all laid in the floor...silly kids.

Maternity photos

2011-11-14T22:19:00.005-06:00

We took some of our own maternity & family pictures this weekend with the help of my tripod, Chris's skills & sweet Ella's help, too. I think we actually got some great pics to keep!
Here are a few of my fav's!

Baby Shower

2011-11-13T21:12:00.001-06:00

Here I am a week and a half ago at 30.5 week pregnant. This belly of mine has really popped out & is getting bigger by the week.

Meritt thinks she has to come stand & get her picture taken, too.

Then I had my little baby shower last weekend & it went good. I really appreciate my girlfriends & sister giving it to me.

Here are the hostess gifts I made for D'Nitra, Kelli, Kandra & Julee.

The shower was at D'Nitra's house.....& they did great with the decorations & everything.

Adorable cake!

Gramie, Meritt, Me & Axton in belly. :)

Nana, Meritt & Me

Me & my Sugar Monkey

Me with the hostesses

Gifts

I LOVE the diaper bag that the hostesses got me!

Cousins

Meritt & Daley playing

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T22:26:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween!! We were very excited to see Meritt trick-or-treat this year. She was very friendly & loved putting candy in her pumpkin sack.

Here she is....the most beautiful Minnie Mouse ever!

We had some visitors.....Tristan, Samuel & Jared (Mad Hatter)

The McQuerry's

Meritt w/ her Nana & Papa

And w/ Gramie & Papa Don

Mommy & Daddy, too

Headed out to do some trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.

She loves this ghost. Gramie took her walking every day for a couple weeks before Halloween to see this ghost....and Meritt would go give him a hug! So cute. :)

Across the street neighbors, Jimmy & Belinda....and their family.

Going through all of her candy & pretending like she's eating it. :)

Went out to a few more houses after dark. I couldn't believe a lot of people just left buckets of candy on the front porch.

Then the Austins came by, too. Ella the genie & Owen is Luke Skywalker.

It was a great time this year & next year we will have baby boy Axton joining in on the fun! :)

Fun trip to the Zoo

2011-10-30T12:11:00.008-05:00

We took a family trip to the Ft Worth Zoo last weekend to do something special with Meritt before her baby brother gets here in a few weeks. I figured we better go soon than later because it's already getting hard for me to walk long distances with this big belly. :) I was afraid I would get too tired, but I did much better than I thought & we all had lots of fun. The weather was perfect & it was a great day together.

Meritt is ready to see some animals!!

First stop....pink flamingos (but they were actually orange).

Meritt & Mommy by the flamingos.

Zebras

Meritt looking at the Meercat

This is a meercat.

Daddy & Meritt with the Elephants!

Meritt loves Elephants, but I don't think she realized that they were so big in real life. :)

Eating some cotton candy!

Rhinocerous in the water

More Elephants

Now for some Monkeys!

Baboons are so weird looking.

Meritt did not like sitting up on this ledge...as you can see by her death-grip on Daddy's shirt. :)

Another Rhino.

Riding on Daddy's shoulders!

More flamingos...these are white with a little pink.

Giant turtles!

Lemur....like the funny animal in the movie, Madagascar. :)

Komodo dragon!

Crazy lizard that was really trying to get out!

Meritt liked the water animals!

Biggest crocodile we've ever seen! It kept swimming along the glass like it was showing off, but maybe it just wanted to eat all the little kids. :)

Parrots

Macaws

Coral reef fishies!!

Daddy & Meritt looking at the Kangaroos

Mommy & Meritt with the kangaroo statue.

And lastly....the Penguins!

Beautiful drawing

2011-10-19T19:15:00.003-05:00

I got a wonderful surprise today! I had asked a lady at work who is an amazing artist, to draw a picture of Meritt in pencil. She brought it to me today & it is beautiful!! I am so happy & excited to have it. I wanted to capture this time when Meritt was about 20 months old (January 2011) and she had the famous "fountain" ponytail that we always put on top of her head....because everyone remembers her that way....and her teeth were really starting to come in & she had her sweet, chubby cheeks. I love it so much & can't wait to frame it and hang it in up.

Pregnancy update

2011-10-19T16:22:00.004-05:00

So I guess I better update on my pregnancy. I just went to my 28 week appointment with the nurse practitioner, Nancy, last week & had to do the glucose test and some bloodwork. I forget how gross that sweet drink stuff is…yuck! I had my fingers crossed that I wouldn’t have gestational diabetes again. I also told Nancy about how I’ve been feeling really tired & weak. I can hardly walk through the grocery store without feeling like I can hardly stand up. I even got like that one day last weekend just trying to clean the house a little. They tested me for anemia (which I had last time) & I thought that might be it because weakness is a symptom. Well, Nancy called me within a couple hours after I left & said I had diabetes. :( My blood sugar was 225, which is really high. I’m scheduled to see the Dietician at the hospital tomorrow to get started on all of that stuff again. She also said that I was NOT anemic, but it won’t hurt to take Iron pills if I wanted. I don’t want to take them if I don’t have to, but I wonder if it might make me feel better? Nancy read my sonogram results & they said that this baby boy is measuring perfectly symmetrical. He’s only measuring a couple days bigger, so we’re right on track. Everything looked good & my placenta had moved up, which is great. I was thinking that I might not have anymore sonograms, but now with the diabetes, they will do more so that they can watch him & make sure he’s not getting too big.
I’ve only gained 10 lbs total, to date….so I’m glad about that….but I look much bigger & no one would probably believe it. It’s definitely all baby I guess. I’m not looking forward to having to be on a diet for the diabetes & possibly having to do insulin shots again, but I’ll do whatever I have to so that our baby will be healthy. I can’t believe I am beginning my 3rd & last trimester now. It’s going by pretty quick….& I only have 12 weeks left. :) I still haven’t been feeling that great, but I’m really trying to stay positive & enjoy this precious time. Growing a life inside of you is the greatest gift & experience in the world. I don’t want to complain or take it for granted because there are so many women out there that have trouble or aren’t able to conceive. It’s very exciting to feel Axton moving around in my belly, except when it hurts a little or if he’s pushing down pretty hard. I felt him have the hiccups for the first time yesterday & it was pretty obvious. Then this weekend we are taking Meritt to the Ft Worth Zoo as a fun trip before the baby gets here & also before I can’t walk anymore. :) And lastly…we have our next appt on Nov 3, which is a 3 week & then I will have two 2 week appts & then it’s every week until he’s here!! Also, 4 weeks left of work & then I’m off for good.

Here I am at 28 weeks. I feel like I'm so much bigger than I was at this point with Meritt, but I looked back at my pregnancy scrapbook with her & I'm about the same size...just a little bigger.

My belly definitely gets bigger at night after dinner, which is pretty normal....but it makes me feel miserable. My belly is also really tight sometimes when I'm standing up....like a rock! :)

Pumpkins

2011-10-17T19:30:00.005-05:00

We're getting ready for Halloween & the beginning of Fall. I let Meritt help decorate the door & she loved it!

Then...I finally took Meritt to the Pumpkin Patch on Friday for some pics & pumpkins. Ella went with us & got some of her, too. It was pretty windy, but still nice & sunny. We had fun & got some great pumpkins.

This was her favorite pumpkin & kept carrying it around. I decided to get it for her...even though I think it's pretty ugly. :)

She was pretty sleepy the other night & I couldn't believe she had her blankie all wrapped around her head when I went to check on her. It always scares me when I find her blankie wrapped around her neck or somewhere weird....but she loves it & I can't take it away.

Then yesterday she wanted to go see the pumpkins on the front porch that we bought & immediately wanted "her" pumpkin. :) So cute!

A few pictures...

2011-10-13T21:51:00.003-05:00

A few quick pics.....

First of all....PRAISE THE LORD!! Finn got to go home on his 2 week birthday.....with a perfectly normal bill of health. We are so thankful & he is doing great. Prayers are such a powerful thing!!

Meritt wearing Owen's red cowboy hat & it's SO cute!!

This girl was sleeeeeepppyyy! We let her take a few toys to bed with her or she'll just get up & get them anyway. :)

We went to visit the Wyricks & see baby Gunner again. He was about 3 weeks old & such a cutie! Meritt had so much fun playing with Atlee & doing everything she did. It was a good visit & is getting me ready for a newborn boy myself. Meritt touched Gunner a few times & was sweet, but then just went on & played.....it didn't phase her much, but we'll see how it is when her own baby brother is at her house everyday. :)

LOVE this pic of the girls!!

Sunday Funday!

2011-10-02T21:42:00.004-05:00

We had a nice day today! This sweet, little girl makes everyday the best. She brightens our day from the moment she wakes up....and she really is such a wonderful child. Her speech has gotten so much better over the last couple weeks....and she is almost saying a new word every day. It almost just happened over night & she is making such great progress. A couple of words have made the biggest impact because she has never been able to say them. To most people, and even most kids, they are simple words....but she would only use sign language to say "more" and would only make this gulping sound for "juice"...and all of a sudden one day she said them. We couldn't have been more excited & now she says them all the time. She is putting several 2 word phrases together, too....and we think it's the cutest thing ever! We are trying to spend these last few months together as a family of 3....doing fun stuff & spending quality time together.

Here are just a few pics of my Sugar Monkey being her adorable self!

Seriously?!?!? What 2 yr old will sit still and pose for you?

I got Meritt some new letters for her room that match her bedding & decor better. They are so pretty & she loves them!

She has been playing with this toy camera & is taking a picture of me as I'm taking a picture of her. :)

CHEESE!

Then we headed to Mommy & Daddy's bed to play....and take more pictures!

Jump, Jump, Jump

Her hair is hilarious!

We had a good Sunday & now it's "nite-nite" time!

Baby Finn

2011-10-01T23:49:00.000-05:00

My sweet friend, Erin, had her baby boy the day after our friend Kelli. Erin really tried to get that baby out on the same day as Gunner, but Finn Judson Barrett made his appearance @ 10:45 pm on Sept. 22 and weighed 8 lbs 5 oz.

Well right after this sweet boy was born, he had to go to the NICU due to lots of fluid in his lungs. After several days of ups & downs with him....he is finally on the road to recovery & doing much better. He was one week old this past Thursday and his Mommy & Daddy got to hold him for the first time on Wed. I know it was such a precious moment for them & we have b een praying non-stop for sweet Finn & their family. Erin is one of my best & dearest friends....so it was very hard for me to know she was going through this very scary time & I couldn't be there because they live in Indianapolis. So Finn developed pneumonia, had to be on a ventilator, feeding tube & chest tube for several days.....but as of now, he is off of everything but the feeding tube & Erin is slowly getting to start breastfeeding him this week. Everyone's prayers have been working & they hope he will get to go home in about 5 days or so. Praise God for healing Finn!
Here are a few pictures of this baby boy who has been such a "warrior" (meaning of Finn)

Soon after birth

A few days old

Sweet little hand that happens to be making the sign for I love you!

First time to hold him.

About a week old....almost looks like he's smiling. :)

When Erin & Dutch walked in the NICU to see him the other morning....the amazing nurses had left this note! Awwwhhhh....

He has regular clothes on & this adorable hat.

YAY!! Finn is off of oxygen now, too!

God Bless you guys & can't wait to see Finn go home very soon! Go Finn GO!!

Lately

2011-09-30T22:28:00.004-05:00

Just some pictures over the last few weeks to catch up on what we've been doing. I don't take as many pictures as I used to because I used to take WAY too many....but I'm sure that will change once this little boy gets here. :)

Meritt fell asleep within minutes after getting in the car one day because she wouldn't take a nap that day. :)

Finally can get her hair in a ponytail....as long as I clip her bangs back a little. :) It makes her look like such a big girl.

Walking around at Nana & Papa's one day.

Daddy's girl.....laying on him watching TV. :)

Cute picture of Claire stacking her blocks...sent by Amber.

By the way....I don't think I've annouced that they are moving back to Plano. Yahoo!! We couldn't be more excited and can't wait to get to see them A LOT more. :)

Movie night at our house with the Austins! The kids watched a movie in our bed while the adults watched Bridesmaids in the living room. They did pretty good except for Meritt wanting to jump on the bed. :) She went to bed at her normal time, so then Owen & Ella could watch their movie.

I had to take some pictures of this beautiful girl after her bath one night....because her hair is always so clean & pretty. We hardly ever leave it down because it gets in her face during the day....and we couldn't believe how long it has gotten. She looks so big!!

She was right up at my camera trying to push buttons. :)

Bath time! She likes it when Daddy does this to her hair & makes it look silly.

There was a yard down the street with all of these flamingos....which we later found out has to do with Race for the Cure. Meritt kept calling them "mingos" & I wanted to send a pic of her to my friend, Erin, because that was her nickname when we were younger. :)

Ella & Meritt trying to help me clean. :)

A couple pics of Kelli's baby boy Gunner. So cute!

Big sis Atlee giving her baby brother a kiss!

We hung out with the Austins the other night & Uncle Sam was Meritt's favorite person that night. :) It was pretty cute!

Baby Boy Morgan

2011-09-29T23:16:00.000-05:00

We got to see our sweet baby boy in my sonogram today! He was kicking and opening & closing his mouth....it was so cute. I loved getting to see him on the screen at the same time that I felt him kick. :) He's growing & doing great....and the technician mentioned that my placenta was not low...so I think it's doing what it needs to do & moving up. We got some more great pictures of him & we definitely know he is still a boy! :)

We are officially announcing his name.......Axton Rush Morgan !!

We know it's pretty different, but we love it and wanted something unique like Meritt's is. It kind of sounds rocker-ish to me...and that's fine with me. :)
Here he is....

And the most recent belly pic of me....at 25 weeks!

Happy Birthday x 2

2011-09-21T21:28:00.000-05:00

Happy 33rd Birthday to the best hubby & daddy in the whole world! Thank u for all u do for us & for being such a wonderful man. You are such a blessing & we love u more than u know!!
Love~ Your wifey, Your Baby Girl & Your Baby Boy in the belly :)

We also want to wish a Happy "Birth" Day to Mr. Gunner! Congrats to Kelli, Eric & Atlee on this precious, little guy.....7:42am, 7 lbs 8 oz, 19.5 in

Austins & Fun!

2011-09-18T22:17:00.008-05:00

We've been spending lots of time with the Austins lately & having fun!

Meritt LOVES being with Ella again....now that we're picking her up from school.

How adorable is this? Meritt is doing exactly what Ella is doing...hand on head, coloring, etc. :)

Friday night we went to the TX/OK Fair with Aunt Julee, Ella & Owen.

Meritt riding the carousel.

Trying to win some prizes!

Feris wheel time! The heights kinda freaked me out.

Not sure why she's covering her eyes. :)

About to ride the little aligator roller coaster.

We weren't sure if Meritt would hold on & how she would do....but as you can tell, she had a blast!!

The petting zoo was a different story. Meritt wanted no part of it....even though she loves animals. I guess it's different when you can look at them behind glass or in a cage. :)

Walking with prego Mommy who couldn't do much.

Super Slide time!

More roller coaster before we left!

Everyone had a blast & we're glad we went!

We were so excited to get some rain on Friday & then we got more on Saturday. Thank the Lord for the rain.....it was awesome!

Starting September

2011-09-10T21:51:00.013-05:00

Starting September has been busy, fun & even better weather!

I've taken several pics of Meritt sleeping lately because it's so adorable & she's always doing something different. Sometimes she loves having all of her stuffed animals right by her. :)

Last weekend our friends, Jeff & Amy, came by to visit while they were in town & we got to see their baby boy for the first time. Beckett is 2 months old and he is so adorable. Even being 2 months old....he is still so little & I know it will be a shock to have a newborn again.
Meritt was really good with him & was easy.

Then we had Jared & Jordy's birthday party/cookout on Sunday, since it was Labor Day weekend & most people were off on Monday. The weather cooled off quite a bit, which was really nice....but made the pool a little chilly for swimming.

Meritt dragged Papa Don around everywhere for a little while.....she sure loves him!

Meritt having her a strawberry.

Birthday boys....Jordan-17 and Jared-7

She loved the cupcake....but refused to use a fork. :)

And proceeded to get it all over her face!

So with the weather being cooler & a little cloudy for a few days....we finally got to spend time outside! Meritt has missed playing outside SO MUCH....and so have we.

She kept walking towards me as I was taking pictures of her.

Talking to Nana on Daddy's phone. :)

She has recently learned "OH NO!" and she puts her hands on her face to make it more dramatic. It's so cute....she learned it from her speech therapist. :) I caught this picture and the wind was blowing her hair every where, too.

Then she took a picture of herself because she has become interested in my camera...so I will let her push the button sometimes.

She thinks it's so fun to run around chasing Daddy or to be chased. :)

I love her face in these action pictures.

Sleeping on top of her book this time!

Met the Austins at the park one evening....and this is Meritt's favorite one to go to.

I like it because she can actually climb up by herself and play on part of it without us having to stand by her the whole time.

Cutie cousins!

Quick kiss for Daddy before heading down the slide. :) She is such a sweet girl!

Going to feed the ducks....

Mommy gets a kiss, too!

Aunt Julee, Owen & Ella

Loves her Pooh bear

And then last night we found this stinker asleep on her floor...with all of her animals & book. This girl cracks us up. She DOES have a thing about playing in her room after we put her to bed/nap, but this time she just fell asleep I guess. :) At least she stays in her room!

We've been SO bored this weekend & haven't had any plans or anything to do. We don't have too many friends that have kids around Meritt's age to play with....so we feel bad that she doesn't have more kids to be around....and we want her to have fun.

So finally we decided to go to the park again for a little bit.....and we couldn't believe there was no one @ either one we went to.

This girl is a dare-devil and isn't afraid to climb high or try big slides, etc. We're going to have to watch her! :)

Meritt likes to wear her Daddy's hat....pretty cute!

Just a couple belly pics of me lately. I'm 20.5 weeks here....halfway!

Meritt wanted to be in the picture too.

And this is from yesterday.....23 weeks!

I feel like I'm growing way faster than last time.....and I'm already feeling pretty uncomfortable for some reason. This baby boy has been a lot harder on my body than Meritt was. :( I don't feel as good & have aches, pains & pregnancy complaints a lot sooner this time. I'm a little worried that it's going to get worse by the end of this. I just hope I'm able to walk....haha :)

No matter what.....this sweet boy is definitely worth it! He's kicking & squirming quite a bit now and Chris has felt him, too. One night Meritt was in his lap cuddling and the baby was kicking....so it was neat because he was holding one of his babies in one hand & was feeling the other baby in my belly at the same time! I love it! :)

Meritt update

2011-08-30T18:39:00.015-05:00

So I thought I would update on what's been going on with Meritt lately. Her speech therapy has really been paying off. Her speech therapist, Nancy, is so wonderful & good with her. I'm so glad we asked for an actual speech therapist because it has made all the difference in just a couple months. Nancy gives us so much great feedback & things to work on, so it helps us know what to do. It's unbelievable how much more she is saying in actual words now, instead of just gibberish or sounds that we can't understand. Every week Meritt says new things and Nancy is very impressed by her all the time. Also, Meritt is learing new things all the time anyway and surprises us constantly. She is so much fun & super silly, too! We really can't believe how much she has changed & grown up over the last few months. I just got our blog book for Meritt's 2nd year (from 1st bday to 2nd bday) and it's crazy how much she has changed. She definitely doesn't have any of that "baby" look to her anymore and is such a big girl.

This picture was just from 6 months ago....she still had the chubby, baby face a little.

Now this is from last weekend....she's such a big girl, her hair has grown so much and she's starting to get longer & thinner.

I'm so glad that I have this blog book to look back on because I could never remember all of the wonderful, beautiful memories we have made together. We absolutely love being together as much as we can & Meritt brings us so much joy every day. She is the perfect package....cuddly & loving (gives us hugs & kisses all the time and likes to snuggle & sit in our lap a lot)....and so fun & playful (very imaginative - loves to be chased & tickled, plays games with us & we can just give her a playful look and she will get so tickled). Meritt really is such a good girl & people are always complimenting her. Now, lets hope this little boy on the way has his own, perfectly wonderful qualities and isn't too much of a handful/terror that will wear this Mommy out! :)

Here is a quick picture of Meritt & Nancy looking at a book.

We made a list of all the words/phrases she can say well & says regularly. There's quite a few & we didn't realize how many there were. It's still not where she should be, but I have no doubt that she headed in the right direction and will be up to speed in no time.

I got it, I hold (and recently I hold+object "I hold cup"), Nose, Eyes, Shoes, Ears, Teeth, Where is it?/Where is she/he or Where is (object)?, Cup, ball, Head, Car, Sky, Sun, Surprise (just says Prize and throws her arms up), Pool ("cool"), Home, Tv ("T"), Grapes ("eyes")-not sure why, but can't really say "gr" yet, Hi, Bye, Home, I did it!, Apple, Flip, Baby, Cheese, Cold, Kite, Fly, Blue (favorite color-only one she knows :)), 2, 9, 6 (every time she counts, she repeats 9,6,9,6,etc....must be her favorite #'s), Nite-nite, See ya (usually every time she says Bye to someone, it's immediately followed by See ya), Daddy ("da-ee"), Mama ("mom-ba" like the dance), Hi Daddy/Hi Mama, Shoo & waves her hand side to side (for when she poops/pees or something is stinky - because we say "shooey" a lot)

Occasionally says, but not well:
Nana, Gramie, Papa, Bed, Phone, book, Slide, swing, Bless you (something to that affect...after we sneeze)

*I'm sure I've forgotten several, but this is the majority of them.*

A few new things she is doing:

turn light switch on (but not off because she can barely reach to flip it up and it's too far up to flip down), fake cries/coughs/laughs sometimes being silly (definitely comes & fake cries when she hears another kid crying. She is very compassionate & does not like other kids crying, or when one of her cousins gets in trouble & has to stand in the corner, she gets upset & wants to go stand with them. :)), knows the color blue for sure - will point to anything blue & say it...and she doesn't just say that every color is blue, if there's music playing...she's dancing...anywhere we are, JUMPs all.the.time! - it's her most favorite thing to do lately...she used to only know how to jump on the bed & would land on her booty...and if anyone ever said jump, she would do it & land on her booty on the floor (which isn't good)...so now she has finally learned how to jump the normal way :), will sometimes talk on the phone & actually say something, can blow a whistle & her nose sometimes, will get her juice out of the fridge (with a little help opening the door), pats on my belly & says baby sometimes....but then will also pat on her belly or Daddy's belly, too :).

I guess that's about all I can think of for now.....but we are so proud of our little girl and can't wait for more new, exciting things to come!

Fun times

2011-08-28T13:57:00.007-05:00

Here are some pics of what we've been doing lately!

Hanging with the Austins

Meritt liked Ella's doll house for a little while....until Owen brought out the guns & then she had a blast chasing after him & shooting the guns!

Went swimming @ Nana & Papa's.....and it had been a while, so Meritt was super excited!

She will stand on the bottom step and try to swim to Daddy....and she does good to close her mouth if she goes under water a little. :)

Favorite thing to do......JUMP!!

And loves to play on the steps, too.

Then we planned an afternoon to meet Aunt Julee, Ella & Owen at Jump for Joy. Meritt has only been there once or twice & this girl was in "jump" heaven!! She was completely sweaty by the time we left. :)

She's our little dare-devil.....and thinks she can do anything!

One night she got a bath early, so we played a little bit afterwards. She smells so good after her bath & she loves to cuddle!

Then we had Ella's birthday party last night at the bowling alley. There's not much for a toddler to do....but she still had fun & wanted to play with all of the big, colorful balls! :)

She got to play some games with Daddy, too!

She was holding this one by herself!! So strong!

Sweet cousin Ella let her use her ball and bowl a couple times when it was her turn! :)

Air hockey time!

and shootin' guns!

She got to bowl with Daddy a couple time, too.

She's doing her sign language saying "more"! :)

Ella blowing out her candles!! This picture is funny for so many reasons! :)

Fun times!

Good times

2011-08-23T20:59:00.009-05:00

Fun stuff & good times going on lately.....

We had 1 cooler day last week and took advantage of it by playing outside with the Austins.

Always end up stripping down when it's water table time!

Cute picture of Claire sitting in her basket with books. :)

Cheetos puffs time! She absolutely LOVES them & was laughing so much. :)

Sitting in her big girl bed watching her portable DVD player. This is her new favorite thing to do....and this is also what has made her love going to bed like she used to. After her bath, she gets to watch a little TV & then is as happy as can be. We are SO thankful that she is completely comfortable in her bed & is doing great! :)

Reading "nite-nite" books with Daddy.

Another adorable picture of Claire.....and looks like she loves stickers!

Do you think she has enough bath toys?!?!

Sweet girl Ella turned 8 last Friday! We can't believe she's so big & starting 3rd grade.

Owen doesn't think it's fair that he doesn't get a present too!

Mom & daughter

Cousins

Ella trying to be a rapper.....haha! :)

Those are Meritt's 3D glasses.

I try to get her hair in a ponytail, but have to clip the top back first. She looks like such a big girl!

My big girl is eating cereal all by herself.

I love her hair in pig tails!! :)

And last but not least.....just today, she got out of her bed at some time when she was taking a nap and ended up falling asleep on the floor next to her bed.

So adorable & funny at the same time!

Halfway

2011-08-20T23:23:00.003-05:00

I'm 20 weeks pregnant today! I can't believe it's already halfway over.....which means the second half will probably fly by even faster.

This was me at 18.5 weeks, but I'm already showing a lot more than that....just in the last week and a half.

I officially felt the baby move when I was 18 weeks. I had felt some flutters every once in a while, but that was the first REAL kick (more like a thump), so that made it official. I'm now starting to feel him move & kick more often every day and I know it's just going to get stronger. Feeling the amazing movements is the greatest part to me!! I'm feeling pretty good for the most part. Every once in a while I get dizzy or feel sick and I just recently started getting stopped up....but I think it's just from pregnancy or the dry weather because I don't have any other symptoms.

I've also officially told my work that I won't be coming back after the baby. Very exciting! My last day will actually be November 18, so that I can enjoy the holidays and have a month off to spend with family & my sweet girl....before we become a family of 4. I think I'll actually be working Full-time once the baby gets here. :) I've always wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom and I can't believe I actually get to. It is really important to both of us & we found a way to make it happen. BUDGET, budget, budget! We may be sacrificing some things, but it is totally worth it!

We're having A......

2011-08-10T22:54:00.000-05:00

BOY!!!

Yep...that's right. Meritt is going to have a little brother. :)

And we are all SUPER excited! We didn't care either way & I have been feeling like it was a boy for a little while. This pregnancy has been completely different than with Meritt....so I just thought it might be. We will definitely have stuff we need because we have LOTS of girl stuff. :) Here are the sonogram pictures we got today. I got pretty lucky because they normally only give you about 4 pics, but they scheduled mine in the other radiology department where they do the Cat Scan's & stuff....so the lady gave us a whole CD of the pictures! Yay for us! AND the pictures are really good.

Here the money shot. No doubt it's a BOY!

Perfect, little profile

Love these little feet already. :)

Looks like this boy has long legs!

Some shots of his arms. He kept showing them off.

]Last but not least.....his beautiful spine!

Now it's on to finding some cute decor for the nursery and trying to find the perfect Boy name....which will not be easy for us.

More to come....

Catch up time

2011-08-08T23:15:00.010-05:00

Ok...I guess I better get caught up on posting pictures of what we've been doing lately. We've either been pretty busy or I've been too tired to do much...so here it is. :)

We let Meritt skinny dip in the backyard one evening before bath time. It's been SO hot that we hardly go anywhere or go outside. These 60+ days of 105+ temps and no rain is really getting bad. :(

I had to get a pic of Meritt with a "big girl" ponytail. Her bangs are not quite long enough, so I have to pull them back in a clip and then I can make a ponytail with the rest.

So sweet....giving Daddy a kiss!

This silly girl loves to throw her blankie outside of her crib and then yell at us to come get it for her....until we finally tell her to stop throwing it and go to sleep. :) I guess she threw it out again, in between her bed & the glider....and then when she tried to reach through the bars for it she found one of her "nite-nite" books...and then fell asleep. This cracked me up so much when I went to check on her.

A couple weekends ago we went to visit our friends, the Vickers, in Springtown....spent the night & went to pick up my new car the next day in Granbury.

The Vickers have a sweet dog named Rusty. Well...Meritt has a weird thing with dogs. She loves them, is scared of them and obsessed with them all at the same time. At first she will act scared, then once you show her it is a nice dog, then she wants to see it, and when you take her to pet it she freaks out like she's excited, but scared to touch it. It's the funniest thing, but usually after she's warmed up to it then she will get closer and even pet it on her own. Now, this is only with calm dogs....which all of the ones she has been around are really calm and well-behaved.

Here are a few pics with the dog & kids.

Scarlett, Aiden & Meritt

The kids outside of Babe's Chicken in Granbury square. We had never eaten there before, so we all went after picking up my car. It was really yummy!

And here's my new car!! We love it! It's a 2012 Kia Sorento. It's so much easier to drive & get into than my truck. We sold Chris's truck (which he was sad about) and he is now driving my truck. This will be much better with Baby #2 on the way. :)

We had the Austins over for dinner one night & let the kids have a popsicle. This was Meritt's first time to have one.....I know, that's bad....but we just never thought about it. She liked it ok, but it was too cold so she didn't eat much.

The kids put on a show for us.....we called them the Morstin band....with Meritt on the piano, Ella on the maraca & whistle and Owen on the drum. It was pretty cute!

Then Aiden turned 4 a couple weeks ago and we went to their house for cake & ice cream. He's such a big boy now and we had a great time!

Meritt sure loves her Papa Don.

I took Meritt to Katie's baby shower at the bank and she was great entertainment. I let her play on the keyboard while we were waiting for everyone.

Playing with tissue paper from the gifts...

Now for the BIG change that's happened lately. We figured it was time for Meritt to get a "big girl" bed and new dresser since we will be needing the crib & changing table for the new baby.

Here's the bed after we got it put together.

And here it is with her new bedding on it! So pretty!

We made a great, big deal out of her being a big girl & she was really excited to show everyone her new bed. We knew she really didn't understand the whole thing, but hoped she would do great because she always loves going to bed and always sleeps good.
Here is the Big Girl sitting in her Big Girl bed!

Time to go nite-nite in her new bed.

And she's out with no problems the first night.

That all changed. She did great the first night & her nap the next day, but then it all went south. For some reason that 2nd night she freaked out....shaking, crying and acting really scared about going to bed. It also seemed like she didn't want us to leave her. I had been noticing the last week or so that she was becoming very clingy to us and wanting us to hold her a lot....which she normally doesn't. We wondered if she sub-consciously knows that there is a big change coming (the baby) and is acting different because of it. She knows what a baby is, but she doesn't really get the whole thing of course. If you ask her where the baby is, she either pats on my belly or kisses it. :) Anyway....after several days of horrible nights & naps...including her throwing up several times because of getting so upset....and us trying everything we could to help her....Chris finally took her to Dr. Yap to make sure she doesn't have a stomach issue or something because of the throwing up. We tried putting the crib back in, changing her night-time routine, letting her watch TV before bed...but it didn't help and the only way to get her to sleep was for me to lay down with her. Dr. Yap said that she has a sensitive gag-reflex, which we knew, and that she doesn't have stomach problems....but that she is having anxiety at night. He would normally tell us to do the cry-it-out method, but he said we couldn't with a kid that throws up....so we were going to have to do it the hard way....which is making a palette by her bed and laying there every night until she gets used to her new bed and knows that we aren't leaving her. I was very stressed & upset about the whole situation because she was so happy & had always gone to bed so well....so it just made me sad that this was happening. It has finally started to get better (but I don't want to jinx anything) and there have been a few nights that we haven't had to lay in there the whole time & she still goes to sleep fine. Oh...how I have prayed that it's just a short phase that she's going through....and hopefully it will continue to get better and she will be back to normal. :)

Saturday donuts! She seriously ate that whole, sprinkle donut. :)

This past weekend I threw a baby shower for Kelli, with some other friends of hers and it turned out great. Here's Vicky and Atlee at the shower

Atlee got a few gifts for her at the shower, too!

Kelli & her hostesses

Meritt sound asleep the other night....with her Pooh bear, elephant and pillows! :)

The other morning she was just laying here on the floor for the longest time, so I took a pic because I thought it was funny......until she got up and was soaking wet from peeing all over herself....AND left a puddle on the floor. You can see her clothes are wet where she's laying on her belly. That girl will go all night without peeing and then has the biggest, fullest diaper when she goes for the first time in the morning.

We find out tomorrow what the baby is, so I will post the good news then. :)

More family time

2011-07-19T22:47:00.009-05:00

After the 4th of July weekend....the next weekend we got to see the Morgans again! They stayed in OKC for the week and decided to drive through WF to visit one more day. Jeremy, Amber & Claire stayed with us one night & left the next morning to go back to Houston. It was a quick trip, but we had a great time again....and the girls had a lot of fun together, too.

Here's some pics of their visit.

Cousin bath time - a first for both of them! :)

Cutie patootie in her pig tails!

Outside naked sprinkler time!

Update

2011-07-19T22:16:00.002-05:00

Well...I guess I'll give a quick update on Baby Morgan #2. He/She is doing good as far as we know. We've only had 2 appointments & got to hear the strong heartbeat both times, although it took a little bit at the second appointment because they used one of the handheld doppler things on top of the stomach. Once we found it, it was good and in the 150's bpm. I haven't had the best time these first few months, but I'm hopeful that it will get better soon. In the very beginning I had some nausea, fatigue & moodiness....and then the nausea & fatigue let up a little, but now it's come back some. I have a really hard time finding anything that sounds good to eat & have to just make myself eat something sometimes. I haven't been eating the healthiest, but I'm trying. The Baby Center emails say that I should have gained about 5 pounds by now, but I've actually lost 3-4 lbs....probably because I'm not eating as often or as much because I feel sick if I get too full. I'm officially in my 2nd trimester (15.5 weeks now). I now also have severe headaches every, single day around the same time. It is so bad sometimes that it feels like a migraine & I can feel it coming up from my neck muscles, so I wonder if it has to do with sitting at my computer at work for half the day?? Well, we have another appointment on Thursday & I'm definitely going to mention it to see if Dr. Lamar will give me a prescription. I had headaches last time I was pregnant, too. I still have no energy at all....and the 110+ degree heat we've been having DOES NOT help a bit!! We can hardly stand it...and can't wait to find out what this little booger is. I think we will be scheduling the sonogram on Thursday....probably for the 2nd week of August. So, we may get to find out in just 3 weeks. YAY!! I guess that's about all for now and maybe I'll have more fun stuff to report in the next update. I'm looking forward to feeling the baby move, soon too. A couple times I think I have felt a little flutter...but not for sure. :)

This picture taken at 13.5 weeks.

July 4th weekend

2011-07-09T22:37:00.009-05:00

We had a great, but busy 4th of July weekend. Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Amber & Claire made a trip to OKC to spend the week with Amber's family, so we decided to go up there on Saturday to spend the day with them. We haven't seen them since Christmas, so we were very excited. We had a wonderful day of family time & the girls played great together. Claire is so adorable & we couldn't get enough of her! Nana & Papa came up that afternoon to visit, too. I also got to cure some pregnancy cravings & eat some good food while we were there. :) Then on Sunday, Chris's cousins from Houston were in town & came by that morning to visit. We had a great time with the Mullins & Briana and Meritt had fun playing together, too. Sunday evening we went to Uncle Mark's for a family get together & swimming.....so of course Meritt had a blast & was a complete pruny, little thing when we finally tore her away from the pool. Monday the 4th we didn't actually do much....just stayed around the house & rested. It was a great 3 day weekend & most importantly....had wonderful family time!

Just got there & Meritt was giving hugs!

It's hard to explain, but Meritt has a weird reaction to pets. She loves to see dogs & really wants to pet them, but kind of freaks out when you actually get her close to them. It's the weirdest thing....and funny, too. I think she remembers Bandit, so she was trying to warm up to him. I couldn't believe she was this close! :)

Adorable, little Claire with her bear!

They played right in the entryway of Amber's mom's house for the longest time after we first got there.

Still wanting to get close to the puppy!

Claire really liked Meritt's sandals, so I put them on her & she took off walking around in them. :)

Playing with the balls.

My heart smiled so many times seeing them have fun & play together. We SO wish they lived closer so that the girls could be closer.

Claire & her Uncle Chrissy

I had to get in a pic too!

We told them about the cartoon Bubble Guppies & how cute it was, so Amber was looking up some clips on the internet.

Then we found a cartoon on TV that the girls liked!

Uncle Jeremy and the girls

With Nana

Claire got tickled when Uncle Chris blew on her belly!

Silly face while playing on the chair.

I absolutely LOVE this picture. They really favor each other & also makes Meritt look so much older now. :(

Meritt & Aiden playing on the pool steps.

Finding some random stuff to play with.

That girl loves to jump in the water to Daddy.

We got her a big shark just like the one that the Austins had in Mexico that she loved.....but she doesn't really care to stay on this one much.

She also loved going down the little slide into the pool.

Meritt & Briana

Giving hugs

Briana loved Meritt's car & would hardly get out of it. :)

Playing with the piggy bank

Set up the camera to get a group picture!

Had a great time with the Mullins!

July 4th cutie patootie