The Morgan Monsters

Dallen George is 2!

2010-01-02T14:32:00.001-08:00

I can't believe how fast these last two years have flown by us. Seems like just yesterday I was having him! He's turning into such a fun and loving little handsome guy! He weighed in at 25lbs even and is 34inches tall. He's tall and thin like his daddy! We threw him a little family birthday party on his birthday Wednesday Dec. 30th.

here he is with Grandpa

and the birthday boy with Grandma and our adopted Grandma Karen

my two favorite guys

he really did enjoy everyone singing to him

but more than that, I think he enjoyed his yummmmy cupcakes

Two of his favorite things: his sweet ride and his puter

Happy Birthday, big guy!

more pics of Christmas

2010-01-02T13:52:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve we spent with my parents for the annual crab feast. Then we went back over there in the morning and spent the day there minus a few hours for Dallen's nap.
Get ready for a little pic overload!
Christmas Eve Dallen got to open one present and it was a "BIG FISH" aka shark that he takes to the bath with him

he loved his walkie talkies

playing walkie talkie with Uncle Jared

Great Aunt Kim got him a really nice plush horsey. And of course Grampa had to give him a ride on it

The Morgan's Christmas Day

Telling Gramma all about his wonderful Christmas!

getting a little late for everyone!

Christmas with SIL

2010-01-01T22:01:00.000-08:00

We had a great dinner with Kim and her boys a few nights before Christmas. It was the start to a whole week of celebrating the Christmas holiday. Dallen sure did have a great time hanging out with his big cousins.

here he is all dressed and ready to go

CHEESE

Dallen and his big cousins

my sweet babyface

mommy and Dallen

The Morgan's

first Christmas present. He had NO problems getting that thing unwrapped!

Kim and the boys got Dallen a grocery shopping cart with a bunch of food to fill it with. When he was done unwrapping it he proceeded to run laps with it around Kim's kitchen/dining room. Too cute!

the start to our Christmas season

2010-01-01T21:33:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone had a great holiday season! We started out the Christmas season hanging our advent calendar that Grandma Morgan made us a few years ago and decorating the tree.

Cheesin' it

as you can see he was very helpful with decorating our tree, don't mind the bed head.

our Christmas tree all decorated

This was our candle we lit for Dick and Jeanne. It shined bright all day!

during our holiday extravaganza we attempted our first trip to Chuck E Cheese for cousin AJ's 7th birthday! Here are a few pics of Dallen having a blast.

it looked like the most disgusting pizza ever, but he ate the whole thing just fine.

and just for giggles, this is Dallen showing us is "O" and he yells OOOOOOOOOO and loves to shout GO DUCKS! he's definately the product of Doug and I!

First Official Belly pic

2010-01-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

So it seems that with this pregnancy I'm not at all as good at keeping up with the belly pics. I took this one a few weeks ago at almost 18 weeks (4.5 months) but I'm the size I was at about 6.5 months when I was pregnant with Dallen. Maybe that's why I don't keep up with the pictures. My SIL always said that the uterus is like a balloon, it remembers what it did last time and it'll grow faster the second time.

I will make sure to be better about taking my belly pics now..........
maybe!

Last few months have blown by us

2009-11-24T21:16:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted anything new since the summer. These last few months have really gotten away from me. I thought I'd post some new pictures of our little man and also announce that we are getting ready to welcome a new little Morgan in 2010. We're hoping that the little nugget will cook until May. The last 4 months have been a lot rougher than when I was pregnant with Dallen, but we're getting through.

Here's some pictures of our time spent at the pumpkin patch this fall.
DG petting the hairy goats

driving the tractor

'scuse me

what do you think of this one mom?

or this one?

Ok, now THIS is the perfect one!

riding on the tractor back with our perfect pumpkin

here are a few other misc pics from the last few months
Dallen super excited to shoot some arrows with daddy

my kid that loves his hats he needs to wear more than one at once

and last here is us in our own little impromtu photoshoot.

DG's first trip to the beach

2009-07-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend me and Dallen took a trip down to Coos Bay to visit our friends that just moved down there a few months ago. We left Doug at home to some peace & quiet. This was Dallen's first trip to see the ocean & boy was he thrilled. I couldn't tell if he was most excited about seeing his old buddies Byron & Ayden or seeing the sand & ocean for the first time. I think it was a pretty close toss up!

Here's DG & Byron sharing/sneaking snacks

oh, how I'm missed you friend!

DG's ready for some sand & surf!

all the boys enjoying the beach

Dallen was so excited he was running around yelling & pointing at everything. It was the funniest thing ever. Still makes my heart smile!

hey, kid, what did you find?

oh a starfish!

and a crab!

Mommy & the sleepy one!

tribal dance!

best buddies reunited

free at last!

my happy kid

time for a sandbath!

and a sammich!

I've seen it all, now I can go home happy! (blows kisses)

here's me and Jill on our one night out. Wade thought it was a good idea to offer to watch all the boys so we could have dinner without the kids. I bet he was sorry! HAHA! Me & Jill went to this little restaurant called Oyster Cove they have the best cod EVER! We thoroughly enjoyed our night out!

thanks Jill & Wade for having us, we really had the best time!

we're all moved and enjoying the summer weather

2009-06-02T12:27:00.001-07:00

We're all moved and really settling into our new home. It's definately home already! We were able to sell our home in Thurston within a week of listing it & just closed on it last week. Boy were we lucky! Our neighbor friend called to tell us how sad her daughter was to see the moving van in the driveway. :( We'll miss the old neighborhood & the old neighbors!

Our new home has a great backyard that we're enjoying in this weather. Dallen's favorite thing to do after breakfast is play in the yard. Here he is in his yard clothes.

the elusive DGman..... he's always taking me on a wild goose chase..... can you find him?

there he is out in the open! Can you catch him?

Daphne loves having a buddy to play with on the patio!

Sammi girl is really happy to be back in her home & Daphne is settling in really well, as well

Along with moving Dallen also started a new daycare. He seems to be loving his new friends. There is a little girl who just turned 1 a few days ago & she's faithfully there to greet Dallen with a HUGE smile when he arrives every morning. As one of the little boys said, "Riley and Dallen are best of buddies!" They are so cute. Here is Dallen modeling one of their crafts they made one day. It's a fox hat, if you can't tell & it has a little tail on the back.

and here's a pic for giggles

dancing baby..... and more

2009-04-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

here is a little of what we've been up to this last month.....

*disclaimer* the pictures below were provided by our friend Jill

We've decided to move back over to the 404 (Santa Clara) & we've been working on the house this past month. Painting painting painting constantly, and doing little upgrades. We're waiting for the new floors to be put in in another week and a half & then we'll be all set to move late May. We're really excited to be back over closer to the grandparents & in our old neighborhood.

Our little buddy Ayden turned 1 this month. The Morgan's attended his Barnyard bash.
Ayden getting his Birthday lubbins from the BFF. Dallen is tortured, truly tortured that it isn't his birthday again!

Happy First Birthday, AW!

We think Ayden is pretty special!

Here are a few pics of our dancing boy. We always knew that Dallen liked to get jiggy with it, but he just let loose this day!

get low!!!!

and whose never had a little fun with a stash!

mario, anyone? Where's my Princess Peach?

we torture him daily!

here's a few extras because he makes me giggle!

my beautiful love child!

Good Morning, Dad

2009-04-12T21:09:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to say a "GOOD MORNING" to my dad, this fine morning.

We had a full weekend with Mom's birthday, Stacey's graduation & Easter. From all the celebrating there were plenty of balloons & streamers & fun party stuff. Of course Grampa finds the most fun things to do with all these party accessories.

Dallen sure thinks Grampa is pretty special with his pretty pink karate headband (made out of party paper streamers).

And Dad has to say, "This better not end up on the blog!" You can see Dallen is a little concerned, as well!

It's really too bad that my camera is an extension of my hands! Sorry Grampa *giggle*

my kid, the climber

2009-04-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Doug's mom always told stories of how Doug would pull out the drawers in the kitchen to climb to get to the top of the refrigerator. I was hoping that gene had passed over the kid. I still have hope, contrary to these pictures.

You're supposed to stand AT the table, not ON it!

yes, that's a recliner chair!

we've since broke this dangerous habit of climbing on the dining room table & chairs!

Dallen George's birth story

2009-04-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

I figured since my blog is going to be saturated with my baby. I might as well FINALLY write out his birth story. It's been almost a year and a half & I haven't written it all the way out. So bare with me.

Here I am. December 22nd, 2007. 32 weeks pregnant

Thinking I had over a month left to go. I was really beginning to love my big belly, even though I couldn't eat anything because there was no room for the food to go. Well, exactly a week after this picture was taken me & Doug were watching Blades of Glory on a Saturday night. There was a part in the movie that said something about wetting themselves & at that instant I felt like I had wet myself. I went to the bathroom & nothing happened. I started thinking, I wonder if that was my water, but it didn't continue to leak or anything. Kelli called me and I mentioned it to her, but said I don't think it was anything since it didn't continue. She told me that she would get in the car and drive down from Seattle just tell her when. Poor girl already had birthday plans to spend New Year's Eve in Seattle with friends.

I talked to my parents & my mother-in-law after that. I then called the on call doc and they said to come in if I want to get checked. I wasn't in any pain or anything, just a little discomfort, nothing I couldn't handle. So I went to bed.

I didn't sleep at all because my mind was racing & I was a little uncomfortable. At 7am Sunday morning (December 30th, 2007) my Grandma called me because she locked herself out of my parents house. She was staying there with their dog while my parents were visiting my Grandma Nikki & Hal over in Redmond. Mom had said she had a bad feeling about leaving for the weekend. Since it was snowing real hard & it was hard to make it over the mountain.

Doug had asked if I needed him to drive me over to let Grandma in & I said yah, you better & we might want to grab the hospital bag. So we did. I called the doc on call who happened to be my OB, I was thrilled she was back from her Christmas break that morning. We stopped in the hospital to get checked out. I still wasn't having any pain, just uncomfortable. I just kept walking around & I was fine. The lady at the admitting desk said something about how we're having a baby today. Me being in my strong stage of denial, said, good God, I hope not! At this point I was still only 33 weeks.

I got into my gown & the nurse explained these strips that she was going to insert and if it changed color than my bag had actually broke (which would have been 12 hours prior). The strip did change color & still in my stage of denial, I said, so that means it wasn't my water?! The nurse said, nope looks like we're going to have a baby today, 8am by this point.

The doctor came in and explained to me that since my water had been broken for 12 hours & I was only 2-3cm dialated that I needed pitocin. One of my fears. I was trying for an all natural, no med birth. I questioned my alternatives & she explained that if baby didn't come within another 12 hours the risk of infection is really high & that it would be a dry birth which could be VERY painful & might be dangerous for the baby.

So they hooked me up to the pitocin which brought lots of painful contractions. I dealt pretty good. Aside from freaking out on ANYONE that tried to touch me or make noise. I was in my zone & concentrating & I wasn't having Doug shuffling his cards or the conversation going on within the room. Oh & by this time mom & Dad had made it back over the mountain in record time. Should have taken them close to 6 hours in the snow barely took them 3 hours. Kelli flew down I5 & made it in record time & Stacey skipped out early on church and stopped by and picked up Grandma on the way. I had a whole audience that I was trying to NOT be aware of!

After about 8 more hours of pitocin I caved and got the epidural. MAN, I was back to my comic self after that. I was feeling good & really enjoying my experience & everyone there. I was glad to look across the room to see everyone sharing in this blessed moment! I have to say that I will try for the no meds birth next time, but if it comes down to pitocin then I'd rather not torture myself, I'll take the epi with the pit!

Once I started feeling the urge to push, I let my body take over & the doc was cool with that. She said whatever you're feeling go with it. At this point the neonatal team was called in and waiting for his arrival. His heart rate kept dropping & I was concentrating on getting the oxygen in me, to get it to baby. So after about 20some minutes of pushing and 22 hours of laboring (half of which I didn't know I was in labor) here came our bouncing baby BOY! They took him straight from me & took a few seconds, which seemed like HOURS, for him to start squeaking. Right then I felt relief & warm tears. When they got the oxygen on him they let me see him for a second & then they swept him off to NICU (where he stayed for a week). The whole room was cleared. Everyone followed Dallen down to NICU (daddy didn't leave his side the whole time). Thankfully Doug's family was waiting outside to visit. They kept me company.

Dallen George was 5lb 15oz & 19 3/4 inches long.

I got my shower & we rolled down to the NICU so I could snuggle my baby for the first time.

The following week was VERY hard. The NICU staff was excellent & very understanding of my emotions. At one point a nurse came over to me & Doug & looked at Doug & while rubbing his back said, "she's going to cry. Let her cry. It's normal." I broke down. I was trying to hold it together. But it just wasn't right that I carried my baby for 8 months & didn't have him coming home with me. I had to leave him with the nurses to take care of him. I was there for almost every feeding during the day and I'd go home and sleep at night. Looking back on it, it was a blessing in disguise. He's my first baby. All the nurses showed me how to care for him & helped me while I was there. I got to go home and get a full nights sleep. Although it was VERY hard to not have my baby, it was good in some ways to have the extra help.

cding

2009-04-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

CDs, not as in music, but cloth diapers. I've had a lot of people ask me in the last year+ why we cloth diaper when there are disposables. Many people comment how much easier disposables are. It's really no different besides one extra load of laundry. I can hardly see a difference with all the loads I do already. And besides the environmental factor of not throwing extra waste into our landfills and the extra chemicals in disposable diapers, I have rediculously cute blackmail pictures for the future. My kid better be nice to me!

Here are just a few of the fluffy bum pics.....

adventures in haircuts

2009-04-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

Because I'm more of the beast than the beauty in this family. I knew I shouldn't have taken on the task of giving Dallen his first hair hack. I couldn't stand it anymore after his first birthday.

It was just getting too long over his ears & the back of his collar. I didn't mind it so much when he was younger & I think I was trying to hold onto the baby in him a little longer than I should have, as people would look at his clothes & then say oh HE'S cute. I was afraid he'd get a complex about being called a girl.

Here's his first hair hack from momma!

Poor kid doesn't have any bangs. Grandpa was giving him a little sympathy.

Here Jill spiked his new locks to try to hide the hideousness

Lesson learned! I think I'll leave the haircuts to Aunt Stacey!
Related note: Aunt Stacey is graduating from Beauty school TOMORROW! I'm so extremely proud of my sister! I'm so happy that she's finally going to be doing what she loves to do!

starting to blog

2009-04-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd try out this blogging thing. I was inspired by a few friend's blogs. I really enjoy reading you guys (*cough* Jill *cough*). Hopefully I won't be too dull, maybe my whitty self will come out to play every once in awhile.