Enjoying the Holidays Despite Everything

So we may not have a job, or any money...or our complete health (Morgan's still not to full fighting power) but darn-it we are going to enjoy this holiday season in NYC!

Luckily the City has quite a few low cost or free seasonally appropriate treats to enjoy. Last Thursday we took a respite from the sick house and made our way to Grand Central Terminal and the free toy train display in the Transit Museum Store.It's not a very big display but it kept Morgan happy and content for a good half hour. He loved pointing out all the trains, cars and buses moving about.
Besides the trains, Grand Central has a holiday bazaar that is fun to walk around and view all the fun knick knacks (way too expensive to buy but fun to look at). They had a fancy TV display showing fish in HD. Morgan was mesmerized!

On Friday we joined our friends Kiasa and Bella to make the trek to Macy's to see Santa. I fondly remember going to Macy's during the holiday season as a child and thought it would be fun for Morgan as well.

I ask you, is there a cuter face?! And check out that perfect little curl!

Macy's really goes all out to keep you entertained while you wait in a line that zig zags around a little Santa Land.

More trains, yipee!
At first Morgan was pretty happy so I was feeling somewhat confident about him meeting Santa. But after about the 5th "Elf" tried to talk to Morgan about Santa he was done with people in weird costumes trying to mess with him. Morgan wanted nothing to do with Santa and refused even to look at him. I sat next to Santa holding Morgan for the picture while Morgan cried. It was classic! So funny!

To keep with the low budget costs, I wanted to point out that it does not cost anything to visit Santa or his village. Just the cost of the actual picture if you decide to buy, so a pretty good deal. Macy's window displays also kept Morgan entertained while Cody and I took turns doing a little Christmas shopping.

A little winter view of the Empire State Building.

On Saturday the Harlem 1st Ward had its annual Christmas Party. Since I'm on the activities committee we were there early to help decorate and run the show. I helped out at the cookie decorating table. It was a huge hit with children of all ages!

Candice, Jordan, Noelle and Matthew enjoying the goodies.Some primary artisans working on their edible crafts.

I also helped the kids play a present/music game. Every time the music stopped the child holding the present got to unwrap one layer and find a prize. The kids seemed to enjoy this game, especially since everyone got a prize! Great job to Sabrina and family for the cookies and present games. We would have been lost without you all!

Later Santa, also known as Cody, showed up to entertain the kids. Santa was delayed due to a misplaced beard but thanks to the quick thinking and artistic skills of our Bishopric, Santa made it in time. If you look close Santa's beard is made out of masking tape and cotton balls. Great save guys! Cody called it the Santa Ninja since he could barely see out of the space between his hat and beard. Cracked me up!

A great close-up of the beard and I just want to point out Jeff going crazy in the background! What are you doing Jeff?!

I thought since Morgan had watched Cody get dressed and knew that Daddy was under the beard maybe he would be okay sitting on his lap and taking a picture. NOT the case!

Morgan just kept shouting "Daddy" and would not be comforted despite our attempts to convince him Daddy was there. He didn't stop crying until we got in the elevator and Santa took off his beard.

Here is Cody post Santa. Check out the wave action in his hair (he got a much needed haircut today). Cody had a great time being Santa Claus and getting the chance to practice his future craft. That's right folks, our big retirement plan is for Cody to be a professional Santa during the winter months...and no we're not kidding!

Here are some memorable kid moments for Cody:

Kian: (worriedly) Santa I am not in Africa, I'm here, not in Africa.

Santa: So I should bring your presents here not to Africa.

Kian: (much relieved) Yes!

Kian's cousin Cyra was very excited to see Santa and danced about him but did not actually get close enough for Cody to talk to her. Excitement is one thing, actual interaction another! Other children had stage fright on being asked what they wanted for Christmas but ran back later once they remembered, worried they had missed their chance with the "Big Guy."

So that's a little taste of what we've been up to, in regards to Christmastime NYC style!

I Wouldn't Wish This Week on Anyone!

So tis the season for sickness and man o man did it hit our house with a vengeance!

(Warning: not for the faint of stomach!)

We went to wake Morgan Sunday morning only to find the poor little boy and his bed covered in vomit. Sometime in the night he must have thrown up and being the trooper that he is he slept right through it. Since he seemed fine besides smelling horribly, we happily gave him the milk he asked for and proceeded to get ready for church. Seconds before I was going to leave the house with him, Morgan, fully dressed to leave the house, decided to reproduce all the milk he had consumed. Needless to say we didn't make it anywhere and I called Cody in tears to inform him he needed to come home. Luckily he was able to come home and assist me in the multiple more accidents of the day...one of the few days I wish I had free washing/drying in my apartment! Morgan made it through the day but was a thoroughly tuckered out little boy by the end.
A small taste of the clean-up process.
Well, Monday seemed to put Morgan in better spirits but then the horribleness settled on Cody and I. We were down for the count for the rest of the day and night. I can see why even small families need more than one bathroom! Somehow we made it through the night and I thought the worst was over by Tuesday. Sadly, Morgan has kept up the yuckiness till today (note to everyone, pasta, milk, bright red Gatorade and chocolate not good ideas for a small child with a stomach ailment! Oh and never let a child with diarrhea run around naked for ANY length of time...EVER!). We finally took him to the doctor to hear that he is just fine and everything just has to run its course...so glad we spent the money to hear you say that, Thanks!
So our house has not been a fun one this week but we are slowly recovering (knock on wood) and hopefully will join the rest of the healthy world soon.

Here are a few fun moments from our past weekend to help negate the nastiness I just described:
Saturday my Relief Society had a Super-Saturday craft day. Thanks to the hard work of our enrichment committee we had tons of fun crafts to work on and goodies to eat. I had a blast making 3 pairs of earrings, a scrapbook paper covered wooden frame, some uppercase living embellished holiday jars and plate and a 12 days of Christmas story book.

Here's an example of my newly acquired jewelry making skills. I didn't have anywhere to story the earrings to I just used my ear...note to self, not a good idea when you haven't used those holes in years!

Sunday night, despite the hardships of the day, Cody and I managed to find joy in our sorrows. We discovered that we make a great "hazmat team". We were so on the ball by the end that we actually managed to only have to change Morgan's bedding and clothes a few times.

Don't let our happy faces fool you. We are so completely exhausted and disgusted by this week of yuckiness but at least we have each other. Possibly one of the few silver linings to being unemployed during the holiday season!

The Holidays Have Begun

Here are the boys enjoying a break from our "preschool" class inside Morgan's tent.

Thank goodness for little friends!Cameron and Nikki had a great Christmas Party last Friday night and we thought we'd take advantage of the situation to take a picture of our little group. Since it was around bedtime we decided to make Morgan festive and just put him in his Christmas pajamas...he and Cody left soon after since Morgan was very ready for bed!
Eliot and Chase just chillin at the party.

Cody the sports fan elf.

Morgan is a holiday sack of potatoes!

I love the holidays!

Drum Roll Please....

So in case you missed my subtle hint, yes, we are having a little girl!

(and yes I ripped off Ashley's idea for a photo!)

Yipee!

I was over the moon when the ultrasound tech told me...we both were...but maybe me just a little bit more than Cody! I had prepared myself for the news of another little boy and had told myself not to be disappointed if it wasn't a girl. But let's be honest; we all know I desperately wanted a little girl and I am SO excited to have another female in the house to do girly things with. Watch, just my luck she'll be a tomboy! At least I have control over what she wears for the first few years!

Well, thanks to everyone who has been checking in with us and sending your prayers our way. We really appreciate all of you and hope your first weekend in December is a great one!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Since we didn't have our own Thanksgiving dinner on the actual Turkey day, we decided to make all the fixin's on Friday. We spent Thursday night and all Friday cooking away and invited two sets of missionaries over to join us.
Morgan and Cody were both very proud of the perfectly cooked turkey!
Food makes both of my men very happy!

Saturday morning we got all dolled up and went down to the Brooklyn Bridge for family photo time. Our good friend Nikki brought her fancy camera and volunteered to take some pictures for us. We don't have them yet but I just know they came out great! Thanks Nikki, Cameron and John Henry for being such good sports and coming back from New Jersey early to help us out!

And here is the baby bump on week 19! We find out this Friday if we're having a boy or girl so stay tuned!

It's that Turkey Time of Year

Happy Thanksgiving from Morgan, Cody and Beth

We have lots to update you since we last posted. It has been a busy and crazy past week or so. But for the sake of the holiday I will begin with the present and work my way backwards. Today for Turkey Day we went to our church building to help others from our ward serve a Thanksgiving feast for a shelter that had asked for our help. We had a great turnout from our Harlem 1st ward, unfortunately we didn't have as many people show up as we thought so our Bishop and others started recruiting people off the street to come and enjoy the food. In the end everyone was blessed with yummy food, great conversation and a sense of truly being grateful for all the Lord has provided for us.
Our ward hanging out and waiting for more to arrive.

Taelen, the little boy handing out plates was on top of his game. Too bad we didn't have more people to hand them out too! More food for us:)

Last Saturday was our wards official Thanksgiving Party, so it's kind of like we had two parties. We had a great time eating and hanging out with everyone. We have been working very hard to get Morgan to smile for pictures. We tell him to show us his teeth (thanks for the great tip, Melgars) and he has finally stopped pointing to his teeth and this is the result. It makes me laugh every time I see it!

I want to take this Thanksgiving moment to say how grateful I am for wonderful friends. This lovely lady here, so graciously letting Morgan root through her purse, is our dear friend Anna. She has been a great friend during our time here in NYC and has been a huge help since Morgan was born. She is a wonderful babysitter and helps me every Sunday during Sacrament meeting, since Cody sits on the stand and I am alone with Morgan. I know I shouldn't need that much help with only one child but when that one child is Morgan, I need all the help I can get! I love talking about books, school and life with Anna and will be forever grateful that we have had her as a friend!

We opened a box the other night that contained bubble wrap and that great little tool belt. Morgan loved carrying his tools around and started stuffing everything into the pockets. Then he danced around with the bubble wrap. This kid just makes me laugh!

Talk about relaxed! This kid needs more stress in his life!

I must admit I have never before in my life bought a pomegranate and opened it myself. Since they are in season and on sale and I love them, I decided it was about time.
Morgan decided it was about time too. He ate them about as fast as I could get them out. Man those things will make you work for every last little seed...but man were they worth it just to get this face...

I couldn't stop laughing after I took this picture. He looks drunk on pomegranate and milk!

Last night we braved the cold and the crowds and headed out to the Upper West Side to see the Macy's balloons being blown up.

This is a view of the rest of the City who came with us!

It's hard to say if it was worth it but I guess it was cool to let Morgan see the balloons up close.

I don't think we would ever do it again because crowds are not really our thing but I'm glad we can say we at least did it once! We're such New Yorkers; so jaded!
Last Saturday before the ward Thanksgiving party, we helped this cute little man party on his 2nd birthday. Eliot is one of Morgan's best little friends and we had a great time celebrating the existence of such a great kid!

Eliot got a tent for his birthday and all the kids enjoyed playing inside. Bella and Chase are helping Eliot out at the moment.

After playing hard, it was time for sugar! Of course you may notice Morgan still has one hand on a little truck. Let's not get crazy with the break from playing thing!

Chase and Tyler joined Morgan and I in the cupcake picnic. Notice we're not on the carpet, crucial move for toddlers and green icing!

Every night Morgan gets so excited to play with Daddy...and to be set free from his clothing! Cody busted out Morgan's soft football and the two worked on Morgan's important ball handling skills. Never too early to train to be a linebacker!

Here's a fun video of Morgan jumping about, throwing the football, drumming along to Cake and showing off his smiling skills. Yep, he looks very ready for bed!

So once again, Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family that are near and far. We hope you all take a moment to let Heavenly Father know how grateful you are for your many blessings. Right now I have never been more grateful for little faces that make me laugh and light up my heart. I love my family and the life Cody and I have decided to make together. I am especially grateful for prayer and my faith that by following the Savior's will we not only can but will be blessed beyond our comprehension.

Thank you for all of you who have prayed for us and given us hope and friendship!

I hope you all have full tummies and hearts during this wonderful holiday season!

Bring on the Christmas music!