This is the story of my Morgan Pie. I have written down some things since she was born to document her life, however, as life goes we all get a little busy and neglect some things. Here are some memories from her first year.
Miss Morgan Pie was born on February 21st at 4:52 AM at Genesis East Hospital(aka what Patrick calls Mommy's Big House) in Davenport, Iowa. It was Ash Wednesday. She was about 5 days overdue. I was tired, fat, and uncomfortable and hence very anxious for her to be born. Her labor was textbook. I went to bed and around 11pm my contractions started and only 5 contractions later my water broke. Miss Maggie DeLaney came and stayed with Patrick and Ryan while off Heath and I went to the hospital. It was a great labor without any gliches(something new for us). Very calm and peaceful with only Kimberly, our midwife and 2 nurses in the room with us while Heath got to catch baby number 3.
Miss Morgan had a "true knot" in her cord and was predicted to become an acrobat(little did we know then how well she would live up to that prediction). She had a headfull of dark hair and a beautiful little red birthmark over her left eye which has faded away by now. Morgan had her days and nights mixed up for awhile but thanks to "babywise" she was sleeping through the night by 2 months.
Her first smile was on a Wednesday 2 weeks before Easter. She smiled at Mama and Patrick. In fact she always seemed to smile when Patrick was around.
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Lots of things were different having a little girl around. I absolutely love dressing her. She is like a real live baby doll. I so look forward to our time together as she grows up. She has definitely become quite the girly girl.
Another difference between her and the boys was her affinity for her thumb. The boys always had binkies which are easy to throw away, and the good Lord knows that I tried every type of binky with Morgan hoping to find one that she would love as much as her thumb. No such luck. She had her thumb in her mouth the day she was born and I must admit I thought she was so stinking cute with her thumb in her mouth when she was a baby. Now that she is a big girl we have rules about the thumb. She does pretty good, but needs to be reminded.
Miss Morgan took her first big trip when she was just under 2 months old. We went back east to Parkersburg, WV for a wedding and of course to see Oma and OpaAfter the wedding we went to Pittsburgh, PA to see Gramma and Pappy and everyone else. Daddy flew home to Iowa and I stayed with the 3 kids at my mom and dad's for awhile. I wasn't sure how the 10 hour return trip with one adult and 3 kids would go, but everything was fine and everyone behaved. I love my kids!!.
By 2 1/2 months Morgan could roll from belly to back and by 3 months she could go back to belly. Her favorite pasttimes were swinging in the swing, hanging out on the floor with Patrick and Ryan, or snuggled up in the sling.
She laughed for the first time on June 18th 2007, from mommy tickles.
On July 7th 2007, I went upstairs to get Morgan after her nap. I found her in her crib up on all fours rocking back and forth. I couldn't believe how strong she was at only 4 1/2 months old. She was 24 1/4" and weighed 14 pounds 1 ounce
At five months she started eating food. There was nothing better than a mashed banana as far as Mogan was concerned. She would grab the spoon and not want to give it backShe refused to take a bottle but loved her sippy cup. She also loved the jumpy seat and the bumbo seat and the elusive kick 'n play.
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A funny story about the kick'n play. I got one as a gift from my sister Michelle when I was pregnant with Patrick. It was the greatest toy. Both boys loved it. When Ryan outgrew it, I gave it away and can't remember to who. I wanted to get one for Morgan but I couldn't find them anywhere. Well my dad, who would always do his best to try to help me in all my crazy ventures made it his mission to find a kick 'n play for MorganIt really was not a big deal but he ended up going all the way to the toy manufacturer to find out that they didn't make them anymore but there were 2 or 3 available somewhere in the states. Well needless to say my dad got one of the last kick 'n plays left. Morgan enjoyed it and now Jack does too. I think this is one baby item that I will keep. Thanks Dad!
Morgan's first Summer was a great one for our whole family.
It all started on Mother's Day. Heath and the boys bought us season passes to Splash Landing. It was wonderful. We were at the pool nearly everyday. Morgan would sleep in here stroller or be right there in the water with us. She loved the water. She would start kicking and squealing as soon as she saw the water
8/5/07 Morgan can sit up all by herself. She can get herself from lying down to sitting without any help. Again I was amazed at how strong she was. About this time as well she was no longer crawling on her knees. She was on her hands and feet. I used to joke that she was practicing for the line of scrimmage. Leave it to me to have visions of my little girl playing football. Heath didn't find it funny but Aunt Jen and I did. What is also funny is that last night and a couple of other times in the past few weeks when Morgan didn't want to go to bed she would say, "Mommy I want to watch Peyton Manning on TV." I seriously don't know where she got that from but now Aunt Jen is promising to send posters of Troy Pohlamalu and the rest of the Steelers to straighten her out.
8/12/07 We won a trip to Vegas!! It was our 10th wedding anniversary and we were going to Vegas. All we had to do was make a music video. Me as Barbara Streisand, and Heath as Vince Gill. Who knew that those two ever got together for a duet. Thankfully they did because it got us an all expense paid trip to Vegas.
We took Miss Morgan with us,and Oma and Opa stayed with the boys at our house. Luckily we had friends that live in Vegas and were able to babysit for us. Great food(808 and Bobby Flay's restaurant), great entertainment(Celine Dion), great room at Ceasar's Palace but couldn't wait to get out of town. We stayed for 2 days and then went to Palm Springs to visit a friend. I love Palm Springs. It is beautiful!!! I even love the heat. Nothing beats sunny skies, beautiful mountains, and 110 degrees with 10% humidity. Morgan behaved wonderfully the whole trip.
From the plane ride to the gondola ride she was a little angel
By six months she was crawling everywhere. She loved to eat and was enjoying three meals a day. Her favorite foods were bananas, oatmea, blueberries, avacado, & peaches. I made blueberry soup one night and she could not get enough. 3 cups of Blueberries, 1tsp of lemon juice, 1 1/2 cups pineapple juice, and 1 tsp of vanilla pureed in a blender and served cold. Sounds "Purplicious!" She was a great eater but oh so messy. Every bite was followed by a thumb chaser which meant that there was food all over her hands and all over her. Even Ryan called her "a mess."
At six months old, Morgan did not like to be alone. Fortunately she was not opposed to the boys entertaining her so I could shower in the morning. She spit at them and of course being boys they thought it was hilarious and all was well.
8/14/07 BIONIC BABY STRIKES AGAIN! Miss Morgan pulled herself up to standing at the ottoman. I guess she really wanted some of the taco dip that Mommy and Daddy were eating. Slow down little one!
September 2007
Miss Morgan loves to eat!
Pasta is one of her favorites. She has started to get up between one and three times a night which is a huge switch from sleeping through the night. You can't help but smile though when you walk in the room and she sees you, she gets all excited, waves her arms and jumps up and down. She started to take baths with the boys, and is just as crazy and messy as they are. Morgan also earned a new nickname this month, "the stairmaster." She is on the stairs and up to the top before anyone can catch her.
October 2007
So begins sibling rivalry. Morgan is very jealous when mommy holds Ryan. She is also teething at this time, and has been dubbed, "Little Miss Crabby Pants." Other things that happened this month include your first word. Da da da da da of course. Also she gave her first kiss to mama on the 28th. Mommy spent the next week or so trying to get her to do it while daddy was around but of course he had to wait til you were good and ready.
October ends my notes on Morgan's story. Somewhere over the course of her first year she became very attached to a stuffed toy butterfly rattle that my sister Kristin gave Patrick. Well in November we started to pack up our house to move and one day when Daddy was at home with the kids all day the butterfly got lost. I ended up searching every store and internet sight to finally find two on ebay. I bought both of them and on the day that we got them in the mail we found "the original" BUTTER and so now we have three. Morgan however know which one is "my favorite Butter." It is amazing that she can tell even in the dark.
In November 2007 we had our annual Thanksgiving Christmas Tree Trip to Joslin, IL. This was the first and only year so far that we found the perfect size and shape tree and only after about 10 minutes of looking. Morgan wasn't too interested and spent most of the time sleeping.
December 1st was the day that Morgan took her first steps. Wobbly of cours at first but before we knew it she was running with the boys. Christmas was fun.
Morgan enjoyed the wrapping paper and her very first babydoll. Her favorite gift was a shopping cart and some dishes which she stills plays with today almost 2 years later. For the most part, like most babies, she was more overwhelmed than anything.
January 2008 came and Mommy went back to work. Miss Morgan started out going to Miss Angela's house and was quite the helper with all the other babies. She would come home from there and I would be amazed that Angela had braided her hair. She must have special super powers because I still have a hard time doing that and Morgan is almost 3 and her hair is a lot longer.
February 21st, 2008 Morgan turned one. We celebrated a joint birthday between her and Patrick since their birthdays are only a week apart and we were moving on the 29th. Our friends came over including, The Pohlmans, The Wilcoxes, The Chizeks, The Mahers, and The Williams.
Her cake was a butterfly that I cut out and pieced together myself since "Butter" was her favorite thing.
Miss Morgan is a joy. I just love having a little girl to dress up and play with. She is so different from the boys and I look forward to our adventures together as mother and daughter with each passing day.
I pray that God will always watch over you and no matter what life hands you that you will always remember that like we sing every night, "Jesus loves me this I know.." I love you baby girl!
