Morgan Graduates from Super Beasts

My little man graduated from his Super Beast class at the Little Gym on Friday. He will now be moving into the Funny Bugs class for 3 yr olds. I am very excited about this move because it means he will be taking the class all by himself while Pepper and I watch from the waiting area.

Morgan just loves going to his gym class every week and has learned so much through the past year. He is much more confident in front of groups of people. He now is able to say his name when asked and will even tell the class my name when asked.

He is more coordinated, adventurous and willing to try new things.

He follows directions better, has become better at waiting his turn and for the most part works well with the other children.

He looks like the bubbles are melting his face.

The parents attempted to do a conveyor belt thing to give the kids their medals.

I apologize to future Morgan for his horrible haircut but my what a handsome big boy!

Morgan and one of his favorite classmates. She's very feisty and competative and keeps Morgan on his toes. Gotta love a strong woman!

Morgan, classmates and teacher Katie.

Saying "Ta-Da"

Before I lose some of you with all the videos of Morgan, just a little self-bragging moment. Last night our ward had a chili/pie making contest. I entered the pie contest and was also one of the judges. I made sure to keep it kosher with my fellow judges over my pie but I ended up winning the "People's Choice" award for my French Silk Pie. I was very surprised and felt quite happy that others enjoyed that pie as much as I do. Thanks for allowing my "me" moment, now back to Morgan.

So here are a bunch of videos for those interested:

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of Morgan's gymnastics skills. We are very proud of our little man and how much he has grown lately. He is still adjusting to Pepper's new mobility but we're getting there. Great job Morgan!

9 months with Little Miss Pepper

Yesterday our little lady had her 9 month check up and she passed with flying colors.

She is currently 28 in long and weighs 21 lbs. Being our kid she is of course in the 90%.

She has four teeth, loves to eat anything and everything and can move around at lightening speed, much to Morgan's dismay. Pepper loves to smile at everyone and melts hearts wherever she goes. She is very similar to Morgan as a baby, she sleeps like a champ, loves to eat, loves playing with friends but Daddy especially, is generally happy and pretty chill. We love having Pepper in our family and our home!

I can't believe how quickly 9 mos can pass.

Morgan's hair has gone a little crazy and the mohawk is getting a bit overgrown. He now has a kind of mohawk with a tail. I tried to fix it but my skills are not so great. But after a bath last week his hair was looking pretty fun so we decided to have a little photo session before storytime.

Morgan told me I was his best friend last week and it made me the happiest mother ever!
People are always calling him a mini version of me...do you see the resemblance?!

Our little rocker!

Best buddies!

Morgan insisted on putting the camera right in his face for a picture and I must say I was very happy with the results.

On Saturday afternoon we watched Morgan's little buddy Jack so his parents could go on a date. Jack brought his little Batman hat and Morgan thought that was awesome. We can't really get Morgan to wear regular hats but I guess if it has Batman on it he'll wear anything.

Just a nice picture of Cody.

Thanks for working so hard for us and for being a fantastic daddy!

We love you.

Snowed In

So apparently the snow never stops once it starts here in Ohio. I am trying not to complain too much, since the roads have been pretty good considering and that was my biggest fear. Luckily, most days if we don't want to get out in the snow we don't really have to, except for Morgan's preschool, which is literally two minutes down the road.

So on a slow paced snow day while Pepper and I were enjoying our new alone time, I decided to try and get a picture of her new top teeth. Easier said than done!You can barely see that on her left side she has two teeth sticking out of her gums.

She got a little concerned after about the twentieth picture.

On Sunday after naptime, we ventured out into the snow around the apartment complex.

Morgan is always dying to jump in the snow but he never has his snow gear on.

Man o man it takes FOREVER to get kids in their snow gear...I don't know why my mom ever let us out of the house during winter when we were growing up!

Morgan had a blast.

Pink Ladies.

I had rolls in the oven that I had to go in and switch around so I decided Pepper needed a scarf and I needed my hood on when we came back out.

Cody thought my full outfit needed capturing. I was still in my dress and tights but with Santa socks and winter boots. I think the bright red gloves with the hot pink coat really sent us over the fashion edge!

On of my favorite things about my husband is his love of cooking.

After a stressful day he loves to unwind by creating in the kitchen.

I enjoy eating his creations. This was a feta cheese mini-hamburger. Delicious!

I wish I could say my homemade whole wheat rolls really took the meal to another level but I think the meal really just put up with them. Oh well, better luck next time.

Big New Year!

This year is already proving to be a big year of firsts for Morgan.

And since Pepper is still a baby, everything is new and exciting for her.On Monday morning, Morgan, started preschool. Two sisters from our ward run a little school in the basement of one of their homes. It is a very cute setup and there are other children from church that attend. Morgan was very excited to go to school and see his friends and teachers.

They said he did a great job and played well with the other kids. Yipee!
Morgan's other big event was turning his bed on Saturday into a "big boy bed." We just took off the front of his crib and put up a railing so he can climb in and out. I was wondering if this would affect his wonderful sleeping habits at all but so far nothing seems to have changed. He still yells out for us when he wants to get up and never gets out of bed without permission. I'm sure one day he'll catch on to his new found freedom but for now we're not going to let him know.

This Sunday the kids wore new outfits from Gramma so I had to take a picture.

I prepared Morgan on the way home from church that we were going to take a picture before he had lunch and got to watch a show. He was very willing to take the picture, which was a miracle and he looked so handsome! When I told him to put his arm around Pepper and this is what he did I just cracked up!

I can't get enough of these two!

Pepper has now learned to pull herself up on everything.

This is not my favorite new development sometimes as she gets into everything but at least she is still pretty short. She's starting to get pretty good at cruising along the furniture.

She also loves to babble constantly and to have you repeat her noises. We have lots of great conversations this way!

I also managed to do Pepper's first ponytail.

It is still quite little and not really worth it but I was excited nonetheless!

Oh yeah, and Morgan's eyes have now changed to green like his daddy's eyes.

But the dimples are still all mine!

Morgan wanted to take some pictures and this is one he managed to get of Pepper.

She loves to feed herself little crunchies and puffs and will sit there for quite along time as long as you keep feeding her.

Like brother like sister!

So this is how our year is starting out and we couldn't be happier!

I can't wait to see what other firsts this year has in store for us.

Good-bye to a Great Year!

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Cody took half days so I decided to surprise him with a trip to the Columbus Temple on Wednesday afternoon. Luckily our great friends, Becky and Jerry, volunteered to watch our children for pretty much the entire day so we could make the trek out there. It takes us about 2hrs to get to Columbus so it makes for a long outing. We even got to go out for lunch at a real restaurant, which was a nice treat for us.

It was all greatly needed and greatly appreciated. The creche outside the temple.
The "baby temple" as Morgan would call it. It is probably the tiniest temple I've ever seen but it was still just as beautiful and peaceful.

At the end of this year I was especially grateful for my eternal marriage and family.

Thank you, Cody for a wonderfully crazy year!

Here are some cute pics of Pepper sporting her new duds amidst her new toys.

I swear if she could steady herself a bit better, this girl would be walking.

A great shot of her bottom teeth. The day after Christmas I discovered that she has one top tooth and three more working their way in. The top tooth isn't one of the middle teeth but the one to the left of middle. Is that weird?! Shouldn't you get the ones in the middle first?

She's also sporting the chapped cheeks just like Morgan did at this age.

Thanks Gramma for all the cute outfits!

The day after we got back Morgan was still a little out of it so we decided to just veg all day.

Morgan wanted to watch the "baby tee-wee" so this is how he pretty much spent the whole day.

Good times.

Morgan taking a break with Daddy's Game Boy.

Like father like son!

We have had a lot of snow since we got back from Khan's house.

On New Year's Eve, Cody decided to take advantage of the snow and day off to take Morgan outside to play. It was the perfect weather and snow to make a snow man.

And Morgan thought it was the perfect day to eat a lot of snow!

I thought they did a great job for Morgan's first snow man.

Morgan loved to jump on all the snow piles.

Walking and eating around Park Hill.

Morgan reflecting on all the changes of the past year and looking forward to the year to come.

Morgan starts pre-school next Monday and we are both excited. I have been looking forward to this day since I brought Morgan home from the hospital...or so I thought.

I'm actually getting a little sad and nervous to not have my little man around all the time. He's just getting to the age where he is a lot of fun to talk with and play with but I know how important it is for him to go and learn. He is such a social kid that I know this will be a wonderful experience for him and it will be nice for Pepper and I to have some more time alone.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us so much throughout this past year of changes. We are truly grateful for our wonderful, amazing families and for all of their love and support.

We hope this next year brings nothing but happiness and joy to all of you!