Morgan, Abby and Pepper's Pigtails

I mean...people...honestly...I ask you, is this not the cutest picture ever?!

I cannot believe I got both of them to stand still, look at the camera, and smile at the same time.

Because Cody was in Orlando again this past week/weekend for the Crisco Pie Baking Festival, we asked our good friends Becky, Abby and baby Ben if they wouldn't mind us joining them Saturday morning. Becky, of course, went above and beyond and we made cookies and had yummy waffles and eggs for lunch.

I loved how cute Abby was in this picture and how funny looking Morgan was.

Classic.

Thanks guys for entertaining us, feeding us, and getting us out of our house on a rainy day.
Morgan insisted on bringing his Weezer DVD so here are some videos of the kids enjoying the entertainment:

For church today I couldn't decide between a purple or blue bow for Pepper's hair since they both matched her dress. So I got the crazy idea to see if she had enough hair for two. Turns out she had just enough, and I thought the result was just awesome!
Her super cute hand-me-down dress.
I love that both of my sisters have older girls and we are the glad recipients of all their clothing purchases!

Out of focus back view.

I just love her curls.

A great view of her signature walking pose.

Totally in the rock zone!

Nice view of her awesome drooling abilities.

Sans bows but still adorable!

While I was trying to get pictures of Pepper's cute hair, Morgan was rocking out to his own tunes. He insisted I take a picture of him and this is the image I got. This kid is one intense singer.

Doctors and Weezer

On Monday, Pepper had her 1 yr appointment.
She weighed in at 22lbs 6 ozs and was 29ins long.
I discovered when I came home that those were Morgan's exact stats at 9mos old.

We love our little lady!

Morgan has begun cheating on his 1st love Barenaked Ladies's DVD with Cody's Weezer DVD. Or I should say in Morgan's words "Weezert."
He now goes up to everyone and starts singing, "Do you want to destroy my sweater?" Most people are slightly confused but those in the know find it very cute.
Morgan insisted on putting stickers on his guitar because Rivers has stickers on his guitar in a couple videos. And his favorite video is "Hash Pipe;" is it wrong to think that a 3yr old talking about hash pipes is funny?!



Yep, Morgan has a blue mark on his forehead because he slept on his Little Gym stamp.
He tried out their dance class on Tuesday, along with about 10 other little girls. Morgan learned tap and ballet. It was a lot of standing around and the other little girls, apart from the one girl from his regular class that was excited to see him, refused to hold his hand and dance with him. Oh well, at least he got to do the chicked dance and jump around for awhile. Next week we try sport skills.
Besides watching the music dvds Morgan and Pepper also love to crank the ipod and boogy down. Here are some of the their crazy moves from the other afternoon:

Pepper's Big Birthday Bash!

This Saturday, we had a little shindig to celebrate our Pepper's 1st Birthday.

It was a "spring time" theme. We were hoping to bar-b-que and let the kids run around outside but unfortunately the weather turned on us and we were all stuck inside away from the freezing rain. Despite being a little crowded we all had a fun time celebrating.
Pepper's springtime outfit. Later when we went outside I had to add a jacket and thick tights. It was wishful thinking!
Hayley, Pepper and baby Reed.
Pepper LOVES babies in car seats! They are her favorites!

Heather and Julie could be an ad for beautiful smiles!

Cody getting ready to broil the shish kabobs and fry the hot dogs.

Not quite the same but it worked.

Playing with baby Ben in his car seat.

Here's a video of the party choas and what the other kids were up to while Pepper was enjoying her party:

Enjoying another birthday cupcake while watching the festivities.

Here's another video of her cake eating skills:

Luckily, Becky was prepared and brought in a blanket for us to put on the floor for the kids to have an indoor picnic. It worked great and the kids seemed to enjoy it.

Pepper enjoying her goodies.

Pepper LOVES Heather and I don't blame her.

I love lazy eyed pictures. Classic!

Gramma Goodier got Pepper this awesome Radio Flyer scooter/walker/wagon.

She thinks it is so fun to push around the house and all the older kids are enjoying it as well.

Looks like Pepper is imitating the face on the bug.

That night for dinner we decided to get out of the house for awhile and let the kids run around McD's. Morgan is finally big enough for the play place and Pepper is really starting to get a taste for french fries!

So that was our weekend. Thanks to everyone who came and helped us celebrate!

Thank goodness for great friends and little birthday beauties!

Peppermint Turns One

Okay, so I know this picture has nothing to do with Pepper but I thought I'd save the festive pictures for last. Last Tuesday, Morgan went to his first dentist's appointment.

Morgan has always been really good about going to the doctor's so I was hopeful that this wouldn't be too difficult for him. I was pleasantly not surprised. Morgan sat perfectly still and even let them take x-rays. He started to get a little concerned when the dentist started to clean his teeth but the dentist was very nice and put Morgan at ease.

Such a big boy!

Speaking of big kids. Morgan has now graduated to a booster seat and Pepper has taken over the forward facing car seat. If you notice in this picture I had not yet adjusted the seat to fit Pepper but don't worry she is all adjusted and very snug. She's also very happy to be facing forward.

Cody got home from Orlando Tuesday afternoon so we decided to take the opportunity to go to Steak n Shake to celebrate Pepper's birthday.
We were all very happy to have Daddy home!
Our big birthday girl!
Pepper loves drinking from straws so when she saw mine she couldn't resist. This was her first taste of soda (it was Sprite) and it was quite amusing to watch her reaction. So if you enjoy watching babies get slightly startled and confused but despite the discomfort keep going back for more, enjoy:



On Wednesday, Pepper's big day, we had playgroup at a playground near Morgan's preschool.

It was a beautiful day and Pepper was very happy to be outside. I sat her down for a little while and she tried to eat all the wood chips. I was picking them out of her mouth forever!

After naptime we were all playing around in the livingroom watching Weezer (Morgan's new musical obsession.) Here's a video of Pepper enjoying a birthday present while Morgan shows off his drumming skills. He's using the pillows as cymbals to complete his drum set.

First birthday cake experience. She was excited.

Watch her in action:

I know this picture is not Pepper's best but I put it on here because her eyes totally remind me of pictures of my mother as a baby. That wasn't meant to be mean but I thought Jill and Gramma would find it interesting.

Playing peek-a-boo with her bib.

So proud of herself!

Just fyi Pepper slept horribly that night and I was blaming it on teething but now I'm starting to wonder if it was the new sugar rush!

I tried to get some pics showing off my giddyness at having the cutest little lady ever!

(I'm her mom so I get to be biased.)

I love her wet kisses.

I love her curly hair.

I love her big squishy cheeks and her dimpled smile.

Pepper is my favorite!

Since the weather was once again lovely, Morgan, Pepper and I went for a walk.

Morgan loves looking for bugs and likes to tell me stories about what the mostly pretend bugs are up to. I can't say that is my favorite quality in him but he does look pretty cute doing it.

I love my little Pepper and we are so blessed to have her in our family.

She can be a little drama queen (I have no idea where she gets that from) but she brings such a sweet spirit into our home.

Pepper is already able to withstand most of her brother's rough-and-tumbleness. But despite getting beat up by him most of the time, Morgan is the only one that can really make Pepper laugh. I LOVE it! When those two laugh together my heart melts and I know there is nothing I'd rather be doing in my life than watching over these two little bundles of energy!