Morgan Jessica is 1!!

Thursday, January 15 our little baby girl turned 1! The first birthday is always hard for me because it is the start of no longer being a baby. However, Morgan is small enough that she still seems like a baby. Her birthday was just a normal day, we all got up, went to work or the sitter and then came home. We did our own little family thing on Thursday. Megan was too excited to give Morgan her present so we did our presents that night. Megan picked out a toy for her little sis and Morgan loves it. Megan tells everyone that it is her favorite present. After she opened a few gifts from us, we went to Apollo Burger to get a quick bite to eat. That was the extent of her birthday. We then had all of the family over on Sunday. Boy, did Morgan get spoiled! She was given a lot of very cute clothes, some shoes, stuffed animal, book, toys, you name it! Then we did the cake. I attempted to draw Curious George on her cake, but he didn't turn out quite rite, but oh well! Everyone sang and she attempted to blow out the candle, but Megan helped. Then she got to have a piece of cake. She loved it and was successful in making a mess of herself. It didn't bother me because that is what kids are supposed to do on their birthday! We are grateful for all of our family that came; everyone that lives close by was there and that means a lot.

Some great things about Morgan:
She is an extremely happy baby. She usually only cries when she is hungry or tired. Feed her and get her to bed and you are good. She laughs and smiles a lot. She likes to throw her binky at you and she likes to put it backwards in my mouth! She is trying to walk on her own, but is fine just walking along furniture and walls. She gets very excited when I get to the sitter to pick her up. She looks for her sis when she hears her voice and gets a big smile when she sees her daddy. She wakes up so happy; which is refreshing because we do have to get up early. We love having her in our family and can't imagine life without her. I am grateful she is here, she is definitely worth all of the pain. We love you sweet Morgan!

Reflection

I just want to take a minute to type up some thoughts. Today has been a day of total reflection for me. It started out as a normal day, however it is Morgan's 1st birthday, maybe that is the reasoning for the mood. Gratitude is an amazing thing, yet sometimes difficult to feel and share. The last year and a half have been, quite honestly, the toughest times for Ryan and I. I had the hard pregnancy to start with, add on top of it the housing market downturn, and now the economy is even worse. However, through all of these trials, we have been so extremely blessed that it would be totally disrespectful if we didn't show gratitude. Now, I know that everyone has trials and I wouldn't trade ours for what anyone else goes through. It is just as simple as seeing what you have in your life right now at this moment and realize how lucky you are! Ryan and I have been married close to 10 years. We have 2 beautiful, healthy, happy girls. Our families love us and are a huge support. How seriously luck are we? What more do we need? I get a lot of inspiration from my cousin, Bonnie. Through the last 5 years she and her husband have wanted to be parents so badly, and how badly they deserved to be. Through a lot of faith, prayers, and trust in the Lord, they have been blessed with such a sweet girl, Kate. How great they are for having the patience and faith to last as long as it took. This last year has given us a lot and we know there is more to come. Whether it is easy, hard, happy, or sad we are fortunate to have each other. One last thought...my thoughts and prayers are with Steph and Niki; two great gals who are going through hard things in their lives (totally unrelated to each other) right now. Love you both.

Primary Children's Medical Center

Friday, January 9th, Megan had to go to PCMC for major dental work. She had to have crown, root canals, and cavities filled. There was so much work to be done, that the pediatric dentist preferred to have her at the hospital and to put her under general anesthesia. We arrived at PCMC at 9:30 am, checked in, and then began the waiting game! Her original time to be taken back to the operating room was 11:30 am however the patient before her had a lot more work that needed to be done than anticipated so I was told about a half hour behind. Well, 12:00 came and went and then I was told maybe another 30 minutes. It ended up being 1:00 pm when Megan was taken back and the work began. Megan was such a trooper. There was only one time in the entire day that she got nervous. When we were walking into the hospital she got a bit nervous and wanted to go home. She got over that and didn't look back. She had a lot of play/wait time so the nurses had to keep finding different things for her to do. There was a Childlife Specialist there, Bel, and she was great. They got to play doctor on their hospital buddies, she played with Care Bears, My Little Pony's, colored, made a sticker book, there was a lot to do. When it came time to take the medicine, the first dose that relaxes them, she didn't even hesitate...she took it all with a lot of other people watching. I was just shocked! After she took that medicine she had to stay in the wagon because she would get weak and dizzy. She was so funny. She knew the medicine was supposed to make her dizzy so she pretended that she was dizzy and would fall down in the wagon so dramatically. Then the medicine really started working. We walked her back a little bit and then gave kisses and she was gone. I was really quite proud of myself because I didn't loose it! We were fortunate enough to have Ryan's brother, Rob who is a dentist, scrub in with the pediatric dentist. It was really comforting for me to know that Uncle Rob was there making sure she was ok! Right as there were done, Rob called me to let me know everything was done and all went well. Then the pediatric dentist, Dr. Stewart came and talked to me about everything and how great Megan did. After that I was able to go see her and be with her while she was waking up. It took her awhile to wake up and become coherent, so I just watched her sleep for a bit. After awhile, she became more aware and she informed me she was ready to go home! We worked on getting things together and then a short time later we were on our way; at 5:30 pm! Needless to say it was a long day, but I could not have been more proud of my little girl. In fact, on the way home, I looked at her in the rear view mirror and started to cry because I was just so incredibly proud of how well she did. That night and this weekend she did great too. I did learn through this whole thing that I am so grateful that she was there only for dental work; I met quite a few people who were there for much more serious issues. I told them that I will take her dental work and be happy with that.

After check in.

First of many things to play with.

Bel and Megan playing doctor on her hospital buddy, Karen.

More doctor play.

Megan taking a turn with the breathing mask so she knows what it will be like.

Megan putting in the IV on Karen.

Megan and Bel.

The beginning of the wagon ride.

Recovery

Build A Bear Workshop

Megan finally got her wish of going to Build A Bear Workshop, of course it was for a good reason. She had to go to Primary Children's Medical Center for major dental work. I figured she deserved a prize. The night before her surgery, her and I went on a mother/daughter outing and she made her bear. However, she ended up not picking a bear, but a dog and she is quite cute. I could have easily spent way more money, but we had to keep it limited. Megan had a hard time choosing which outfit, but finally decided. After we were done and on our way home, I asked her what her dog's name is and Megan informed me that she was still thinking about it. When we got home she announced to her dad and I that her dog is Sabrina. Megan and Sabrina have been inseparable ever since!

Megan making a wish on the heart before it goes into the bear.

Megan putting the heart into her animal.The finished product.

Home with her new friend, Sabrina.

New Year's Weekend

For New Year's Eve/Day/Weekend, we went up to the Morgan Family Cabin. Ryan's friend Mike and family came up and joined us as well as Ryan's brother Jon. We had a great time sledding, snowmobiling, coloring, playing games, and just hanging out. Megan had a great time sledding with Patrick and Davin, they got her over her fears and away she went! Morgan even enjoyed sledding with me. I was able to go out for a ride on the snowmobile with Ryan showing me the way. Thanks to Jon for watching the girls! I had a great time and could get to really love snowmobiling...not sure if I could love it as much as Ryan - he really enjoys it. The cabin is a fabulous place and we are so lucky to be able to get up there and have fun. There are already talks of another trip in February...anyone interested???

The famous ice tree as you turn off the main street in Heber.
Megan being oh so cool.

Us just hanging out waiting for dad to unload the trailer.

Morgan and I ready to head outside for a few minutes!

Ryan is helping to dig Mike out of being stuck.

Here is Ryan snowmobiling.

Christmas 2008

Christmas this year was really good. Like many, we had a much more simple Christmas this year, but it was a lot of fun. My sister Allisyn and her family came up from St. George and stayed with us. They arrived on Christmas Eve and the kids had a great time. We spend Christmas Eve with Ryan's family so we went over there for a fabulous dinner and company. We then came home to get all the kids to bed. Megan was great and went to bed and stayed in bed...Allie's kids got out of bed a few times, but finally everyone was settled for the night. Christmas morning came and the kids informed us all that Santa had come! Boy did he! Megan was super pleased and even got a few surprises from Santa and mom and dad. Morgan enjoyed all of the chaos and loved playing with the wrapping paper. After the morning craziness, we went back over to Ryan's parents house for more spoiling. His parents are so good to us and the girls. Later on during the day, we went up to Syracuse to my brother Peter's house. We had the Morgan family get together there. We were missing some, but a lot of us were there. Of course, we were ALL spoiled again. We are just really lucky to have the parents we both have; it can't get much better than what we have! We all had a great time and enjoyed being with our families.

Meg opening her Webkin. Morgan with her Dad and monkey!

Megan and her BIG surprise. Morgan trying to figure things out.

From Staley's - cupcake maker and alphabet caterpillar.

Morgan with her cousin Reese and her Grandma Kay. Megan was upset with Morgan for playing with her vanity set.

Megan loving her vanity. My cute Morgan.