Our little family plus Morgan's constant companion Gramma and Pepper, aka the Pink Ladies
Yes, we are VERY happy to have Gramma here!
Gotta love his rockstar stance!
He watches people play guitars as much as we'll let him. He loves watching people perform live on stage and then tries to copy their moves. I must say he's getting really good at the jump/turn in the air while playing your guitar move!
Morgan's other new favorite thing is to hold his little sister.
Luckily when I'm nursing or she's fussy he is content to also hold his cabbage patch doll.
Happily sharing Gramma's couch bed.
And Daddy's lap.
We haven't been out on a date yet since Pepper arrived into our life but Gramma did give us a break the other night so we could take a drive. We rode around some housing developments near us and dreamed!
So not much excitement has been going on around here, just adjusting to life with two kids. Luckily my mom has been here to help with everything and keep me company.
It takes me awhile to bounce back when my well ordered life gets interupted but I'm trying my best to go with the flow. I've had to accept the fact I may be a little late for a few things until we can get a more organized nursing schedule. Pepper is luckily a lot easier to nurse in public situations, so that really helps the cause. Morgan has also been a champ for the most part and seems to be warming up to Pepper's presence in our lives.
So here's a few things we've been up to over the last week.
Last Sunday we went for a walk again and Morgan was surprised with a new scooter. And Pepper tried out her sling. Both seem pretty pleased. And we had a fun surprise with a blimp fly-by. Morgan kept calling it a helicopter...close enough. Here's a nice video of Morgan's skills.
My mom has been taking non stop pictures of Pepper and her Boppy pillow. Here's a sampling from her photo shoots. (We need a better camera!)
Thanks again Sharon for this fun outfit. I'm glad it was gender neutral enough for both of my children!
Here are my two favorite little people in the whole world! I love that Pepper can't take her eyes off her great big brother.
A week ago Saturday we took Pepper on her first picnic. Although she was only four days old, we decided it was good for everyone to get out of the house and it was a great chance for us to get to know some other families in the ward.
It was also nice to enjoy the fresh air after being in the stuffy hospital.
Here we captured Pepper's first walk around the neighborhood. Not that she saw much of it. Like how it looks like my mom and Cody are in two different climates!
Morgan likes to run behind the garages and try to break and enter on everyone's storage units. Grandma Adams helped teach him that trick...thanks Grandma, we miss you! :)
Here's Pepper's first bath a t home. She didn't seem to think much of it.
She's almost as pink as the towel.
Pepper is a baby who loves to be swaddled. This is how she spends most of her time when not cuddled up to mom.
Pretty in Pink
Family resemblance.
Gotta love baby feet.
Yay for my little family.
I wouldn't say Morgan has instantly taken to Pepper or being a big brother. For the most part he just seems to ignore her. But he always likes to know where she is and he makes sure to include her in his good-byes. I think he's still warming up to the idea of having her around but for the most part things are going pretty smoothly.
Here is her Smuckers inspired outfit that she wore on her first trip to Daddy's office. Gramma always makes a nice place to take a nap.
My happy boys.
Here's Morgan rocking out to Barenaked Ladies DVD "Barlaked Nadies". This has been the new staple in our home and Morgan is getting so good at immitating the band's moves. It just cracks me up, as you can tell by my chuckles in the video.
She came screaming and peeing into the world at 9:50 a.m. on Tuesday April 14th.
She was 8 lbs 8 ozs and 20 3/4 in long.
Once again it was a very quick, furious and naturally painful birthing process.
I will just give you the basic details right now and Cody will fill you in on the full story soon. It's best told from his perspective!
Here's a video of Pepper's first moments:
Unlike Morgan, Pepper is a champion nurser...thank goodness!
We are loving all the pink!
Daddy's little pink burrito!
A very proud big brother.
Once again, Gramma Goodier missed the birth by a few hours but we are very happy and grateful to have her here!
Yep, Morgan took over my cup and my dinner.
Pepper's first visitors. Our lovely relief society president, her daughter and grandkids took care of Morgan while we were at the hospital. They came to visit later that night after my mom, Cody and Morgan had gone home. The kids wanted to take Pepper home with them.
You know she's ours because of the chubby cheeks!Although I'm a little surprised she has so much hair and that it is kind of dark?!My mother and sisters, Jill and Kim, sent us this adorable duckie bouquet. Cody got me the fruit bouquet and Ashley sent us the I heart NY bear. Thanks everyone for thinking of us! We loved all the text messages, phone calls and well wishes! I didn't really have reception in my room, nor could I make long distance phone calls, so I was a bit limited in my communication. Thanks again for helping us feel connected to everyone.
Now we are home and taking it easy. More to come we promise.
Ok, so this post is going to be a little long and a little eclectic. We have had a lot going on in the last week or so and I'm trying to get everything updated before our little lady arrives. Speaking of the little lady, I may possibly be in labor as we speak so I'm pretty sure she will be arriving in the next day or so, along with my mom tomorrow. We were really hoping Gramma would beat her here but we'll see...
So last week my sister Jill and her two little girls, Jane and Alice, came to visit us. It was fantastic to have them here. The girls helped entertain Morgan (and get him ready to have little girls around messing with his stuff) and Jill was a big help for me. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you and we miss you tons!
Morgan and Alice enjoying Steak N Shake
Jane doing a nice over the shoulder look for the camera.
Alice, 9 1/2 mos decided she was a walker while she was here. Morgan decided that meant he needed to knock her down whenever possible.
These pics are all out of order but here's the gang cleaning up the last day they were here...suppossedly...more later. Oh, and this is a good shot of Morgan's new room. It's really nice and roomy and has two big closets that provide nice storage.
Since it is still pretty chilly here some days, we checked out some playplaces. Here are the girls at Micky D's.
And here's the gang at Chik-fil-A
Such a cheesy guy.
On Saturday we checked out the Akron Zoo.
It was small but lots of fun and had lots of fun things to see.
Jane and Morgan of course loved the train ride.
They had lions that Morgan loved to watch. One was sleeping so he kept trying to wake him up like the sleepy Wiggle.
They had an awesome indoor jellyfish exhibit that could have entertained Morgan all day. He even got to touch some sea creatures. I was creeped out by them but he was all for it. Such a boy!
Our one Easter Bunny pic.
The penguins were also a huge hit and very entertaining.
I've been enjoying getting ready to have a little girl to dress up and my sister-in-law Katie gave us some cute bows for Pepper. Morgan and Alice helped model them for me.
More Chik-fil-A pics.
For the second session of General Conference we took the kids to the church building to attempt to listen. We almost made it through the first hour but spent most of our time in the nursery pretending to listen!
Such a cute fireman.
Saturday afternoon, Jill was nice enough to watch the kids while we did a little second car shopping. Here are Jane and Morgan outside our place.
Cody and Jill also took the kids out for a walk to feed the geese some apples.
As you can see Jane and Morgan did most of the apple eating but at least they had a good time.
On the nice days we checked out some local playgrounds.
I guess cheesy grins run in the family.
Morgan enjoyed bathtime with his cousins. Poor Alice got the raw end of the deal most of the time, since she couldn't defend herself against the older kid splashing.
Jill and the kids joined us most afternoons to pick up Cody from work (luckily she stayed with everyone at home for the morning commute). We checked out the Smuckers store one afternoon; all of us except Jane who slept through the whole thing. The last day they were here it started snowing, which messed up their flight. We all went to the airport on Mon afternoon just to be turned away when no flight was available for them. Tues morning bright (or not so bright) and early I took the girls back to the airport. Despite the snow they managed to get out on time and headed back to sunny Florida. Jill sent a pic from the Akron airport's children's area. Pretty nice for such a small airport.
So here are some shots of our place from last Tuesday. Snow in April, lovely!
By Wed late morning it was completely gone. Luckily all the daffodils have seemed to survive and are looking lovely.
This past Friday, Cody had off work for Good Friday so we headed up to Cleveland to buy an old missionary car. Morgan discovered his Dad's hat and decided to show off his kickin style. Morgan is engrossed with Baby Noah if your wondering why he looks slack jawed.
So here's our next new/used car. A 2006 Chevy Malibu V6.
Morgan checking things out. Cody loves his new car and I love that we don't have to take him back and forth to work anymore! It works out great for everyone!
Saturday we checked out the local outlet stores in Lodi. They have a train that runs around the whole place. It was a couple bucks for a twenty minute ride and kids under 3 were free. Score!
Our handsome man Easter Sunday morning.
That afternoon after church and nap, we set up a little Easter egg hunt for Morgan both inside and out. It took him awhile to wake up and get into it but he managed to enjoy himself.
He really enjoyed the spoils of his labors! I made some mini-cupcakes for Easter and Morgan loves to call them "happy cucakes." He says it so cutely and always adds a heartwrenching "pease" at the end that I have a hard time saying no to more. He must have eaten a dozen on Easter alone!
I also got the bright idea to dye eggs as a family. After we stripped Morgan down and had him locked into his booster seat we enjoyed a little egg dying and managed not to make a huge mess. So here's the latest pic of me at 38 weeks and ready to pop.
We'll keep everyone posted on Pepper's arrival but we expect her anytime. Today at my appt I was at a 4 but not contracting. I'm starting to think that has changed but nothing serious yet. Thank goodness for the Relief Society or I'd be really worried about what to do with Morgan!
We are a happy little family who live in the Akron, OH area. Cody works for the fabulous Smucker's Company. Our favorite little man Morgan is five and loving life. Our little lady Pepper is almost three and a bundle of girly joy! We welcomed, Hazel to our family and couldn't be more in love with her.