The Colony Long's 1st Annual Christmas Party

Josh's aunt and uncle and their kids live just around the corner from us; which we LOVE! Marc and Tiff are more than our family, they are some of our very closest friends! We see them pretty often, but we decided we needed to have our own little Christmas party last week so the kiddos could play and exchange gifts. We went over to their house and had Marc's famous tacos and spent the evening watching the kids. Cade loves Morgan so much and he is so good with her and Landry loves to help take care of her! We are so blessed to have them so close!! It was a very fun new tradition!

12 Days of Christmas--Post #2

We're still counting the days till Christmas and here is what Meems and Pop have given Morgan for "The 12 days of Christmas" days 3-8. (they are a little out of order...but I hate uploading pics on blogger. If any of you know an easier way to get them in order, please let me know!)

Day 7--Bath Toys

Day 8

Day 8---A new bow! Isn't it cute?! Great for Spring!

Day 3--A new Christmas bow

Day 4--Christmas socks

Day5--A new phone

Day 6--A sippy cup

So cute!

ONLY 4 more days to go!

Blanket or No Blanket????

I have a question for all you moms out there. When your kiddos were little (around Morgan's age----8 months)...did you cover them with a blanket in the winter??? I always put Morgan in warm PJ's and socks and we keep the house warm, but I don't usually put a blanket in there because she's such a crazy sleeper I thought she'd just get out from under it anyway. But, I want to be sure she's warm.

So, what did you do?

12 days of Christmas-Post #1

For several years now Josh's parents have done "The 12 days of Christmas" with their grandkids. Well, this is Morgan's first Christmas, so its the first time she has gotten to experience 12 days! Meems and Pop (Josh's parents) sent a big box of presents (each small things) labeled Day 1, Day 2, etc.... (And can you believe they also get them several other presents for Christmas day?...they spoil her, but hey, that's what grandparents do)

It started Monday 12/13 and here are the 1st 2 days so far!

Day 1: A new Christmas Ornament!

Day 2

Day 2...A book with my picture in it! So cute!
Its called--If You Were Santa

MORE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COMING SOON!!!

The crazy things people say

Saturday we took Morgan to see Santa at Stonebriar mall. We had to wait in line about 40 minutes and of course, we were right behind Miss Chatty Cathy with her two kiddos. One was about 5 yrs old and the other was 10 months (I know because she told me practically her whole life story).

Anyway, I don't know how we started talking to begin with, but once we did, she looked at Morgan (who was sitting sweetly in her stroller minding her own business and eating Cheerios) and said "I was just thinking earlier when I saw ya'll that she looks really spoiled and I was thinking my son will one day have to deal with high-maintenance girls like her".

Ummm.....is that supposed to be a compliment? How should I take that. I really didn't know what to say, but you could tell that she didn't think she said anything wrong and that she thought she was being nice. I guess because her outfit was cute and she had a bow on that makes her high maintenance. I wasn't sure if I should smile or punch her in the face.

Fast forward to later Saturday night when we went to dinner at Snuffers.

Morgan loves going to restaurants so she was playing and flirting with strangers, as usual, when a guy who works there came over to tell us that he thought Morgan was very cute. He asked how old she was and then proceeded to say, "Well, you have about 3 more years before you say, I'm about done with you kid". WHAT??? Your done with your kid after 3-4 yrs? Do people never think before they speak?

The whole thing just made us laugh! People crack me up!

Money down the drain...literally!

So our toilet in the master bath has been "Out of Order" for the past 3 weeks. It just had no pressure and would not actually flush. We have a "handy-man" that we use for a lot of things and we called him to come fix it (he's much cheaper than a plumber), but he was really busy so he just came today.

Well, did you know that tree/plant roots can grow into your plumbing system?? I had no idea. Then again, I know very little about how things work, etc. Apparently, some roots were in our system that he had to get out and now, presto...it works again! Thanks, that will be $65.

So, money down the drain! But hey, at least it works again.

Playing catch-up and recomittment to start blogging again!

Ok, so as most of you can obviously see, I've fallen off the blogging bandwagon for a while. Don't worry, I still spent plenty of time reading all my friend's blogs, I just slacked off on mine! Well, I promise to restart, starting now!

Ok, to catch up:
Morgan is 8 months old today! WOW...how time flies! She's been sick since Sat night with a terrible runny nose, congestion and cough. Then she really stopped eating/drinking much at all and sure enough..she has her 1st ear infection. So, that means her 1st time on antibiotics. I consider us lucky that this is the 1st time, but I was hoping to postpone that even longer, but oh well. Anyhow...I'm sure she'll be better soon! (then we can both get some sleep around here again)

Morgan is crawling everywhere! At first it was army crawling; now its regular crawling with return to army crawling when she needs to get somewhere fast! Man, when your children can follow you around you suddenly cherish the days when they couldn't. (not that I don't want her to crawl, I'm very excited she is, its just that it makes for much crazier days and for saying the word "No" like a million times!)

Here's a few new pics!
More posts soon!

Don't cry over spilled milk

Whoever made up that old adage obviously didn't pump breastmilk 5 times a day! I had a bottle of breastmilk (6 oz) in the fridge that I needed to put in a bag to freeze and as I went to get it out of the fridge I wasn't paying attention I guess and somehow I knocked it over, it flew off the shelf in the fridge and onto the wood floor in the kitchen. As it hit the floor, the plastic lid bust open and out spilled 6oz of my hard earned liquid gold!! I was like...."Nooooooooooooooooooo, I worked hard for that." Oh well. So I'm down to only 7 extra bags in the freezer, but hey, we are still doing good for now. 4 months and still only breastmilk. Hope to keep it up!

Can't resist the owl!

I was in the sorority Chi Omega when I was in college! I LOVED it and have so many wonderful memories and friends from that time! The owl was our "mascot" and anytime I see anything with an owl for Morgan I have to get it!! I found this adorable onesie at a little shop in downtown Grapevine. Soooo cute! She also has some adorable owl PJ's from Gap that I bought for this winter (if any of my fellow Chi-O sisters are interested here is a link to buy them http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=12845&vid=1&pid=764363 )!!

I took these pictures of her this morning while singing "Chi Omega Yours Forever" to her!! (I think its her new favorite song!!)

4 months!

4 months old! I can't believe its already been another month! Morgan is our little princess and continues to make us smile all the time. Her smile and laugh are infectious and when she smiles her whole face lights up!!! She's really playing with toys now and getting such a personality! Unfortunately, she's very impatient...one of my worst character traits to inherit! But all in all, she is just plain wonderful!!! We tried rice cereal last night and she wasn't a big fan, but we'll keep trying!

Her 4 month stats:
Weight: 14lbs 12oz---------75th-90th percentile
Height: 24.3 inches---------75th percentile

At least somone likes my singing!

Yep, that's right...I have one major fan....MORGAN! I think we could say she's the president of my singing fan club! She loves for me to sing to her. I have sang songs to her since the day she was born. We sing while she takes a bath, we sing while we play, we sing all the time. We sing baby songs, church songs, silly mommy-made-this-up songs. Lately, she has gotten into throwing fits occasionally, especially when she is done riding in her car seat, but the one thing that makes her stop and start smiling again is me singing to her. Let's just say I have never been told I sing well, but now poor Josh has to hear me sing off key all day long! I actually sang the entire way from church to home today, just to keep her happy...O the things we do! It doesn't work when Josh sings to her, just mommy!

I have to admit though, it makes me happy that I make her happy!

Bows....they are just our thing!

So you all know very well by now that my daughter wears a bow pretty much all the time. No, I don't put them on her when we are just at home or when she is with my grandmother during the day while I'm at work, but if we are going somewhere....she wears a bow. There are 2 reasons for this...#1 I LIKE THEM & I THINK THEY ARE CUTE! #2 People will know she is a girl.

The one day I didn't have a bow on her someone told me she looks like a boy because she is so big. Ugh, did you not notice the hot pink polka dot outfit she was wearing?

I get annoyed by so many people telling me that she doesn't need to wear a bow. Yesterday the lady taking her pics said "I just don't get the whole bow thing". At church, the lady in the nursery takes her bow off and puts it in the diaper bag as soon as I drop her off. She says "bows are my pet peeve".....Well, you taking her bow off is my pet peeve. Anyway, I like them. We have LOTS of them. And she is going to keep wearing them! They are fun and I think she looks precious!

More 3 month pics!

So here are the pics of Morgan we had taken this weekend. Just a little fun at the local Picture People Studio. I was bummed that she wouldn't give us her big cheesy full-face smile for these pictues. I was acting like a crazy idiot, singing and making silly noises and she just wouldn't do it. As soon as the camera was off, she was back to her smiley self---of course! But....they are still great pics of her!

3 months!

Morgan turned 3 months last Wednesday! WOW.....I can't believe how big she looks in these pictures! She is doing really great. Right now she is starting to really like sitting in her Bumbo and playing in her Baby Einstein exersaucer. She is sleeping from 8:30pm to 6:30am!!

She loves to hear herself make noises and smiles at pretty much anything!! She also LOVES to sing!! We sing all kinds of silly songs and she loves it!!! She's been occasionally laughing out loud for several weeks now, but she saves those laughs up and only lets them out when something is really funny!!

I love watching her explore, study things and play! She is starting to actually reach for toys now! So fun!!

Morgan is 2 months old!

Morgan was 2 months old on Sunday!!! I can't believe how much she is changing. She is all smiles right now which is so fun! She's awake so much more and we're really getting into a routine now.

Her happiest time is on the changing table! She will smile and coo and talk every single time you lay her on it! She is still sleeping about 8 hrs straight at night and I think we are going to move her from the pack and play to her bed in her room this weekend (we'll see if I can really do it...I'm a little nervous, but she's just the next room away)!!

Here are her 2 month stats:

Weight: 12lbs 6oz ---90th percentile (breast milk agrees with her...she's my chunky monkey!)
Height: 22.5 inches-----75th percentile
Head: 15inches-----40-50th percentile

This weekend is mine and Josh's 6 yr anniversary, so Uncle Marc and Aunt Tiff are going to watch Morgan while we have dinner! (My parent's are sharing her with Marc and Tiff since they get to see her all the time and have kept her several times while we run errands!)

Of for the love of Pumping....

So, first of all, I'm sitting at work waiting on my next patient and just finished pumping for the 3rd time at work today! Yep...I'm pumping 3 times a day at work, so I try to pump around each time Morgan should be taking a bottle. Its going well, but man, this is a chore! I mean, what girl doesn't love being connected to a milking apparatus that many times per day! When I sit there pumping I think "Man, I'm glad no one sees how ridiculous this looks!"

It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to clean all the pieces to the pump each time, but its really a hassle. I have to load up the pumping bag in the morning, all the pieces, bottles, etc, pump 3 times, load it all back up before leaving work, sterilize the pieces at night and repeat!

I love breastfeeding and I love that its going well! I really want to breastfeed for as long as possible and I am really very thankful that I have a job that can accommodate pumping, but it definitely takes determination! I just pray that my supply stays up enough for us to continue!

So much to do....so little time!

Ok so I never realized there were so few hours in the day until I became a mommy! I mean, hello...I just can't accomplish all I'd like to in a day. (I know you're probably thinking, "then how do you have time to blog"...well I'm at work and eating my lunch right now and doing paperwork too) I know I'm talking mostly to moms since most people who read this are moms too, but seriously! I'd love another 2 hrs a day so I can get a few things done and still sleep. Right now I get about 6 hrs of sleep a night, not uninterrupted sleep but still 6 hrs cumulative and after 6 weeks its starting to catch up with me!

I could just let Josh give her a bottle at night and me go to bed early but she already has 3 bottles when I'm at work and I want to nurse her too, so sleep is the sacrifice I make.

I love being a mommy and I love Morgan so much! I just wish I had a little more time to do all the small things that life requires, but its all a work in progress! The 3 of us are learning together and Josh has been really great too!

And...I appreciate my mom sooo much!!! She has been so great! We have bonded in a whole new way since I became a mommy and we've always been very close! She has come over anytime I need her to, gone to the store for anything I need, helped me figure out what to do, let me get some sleep, and loved Morgan sooo much! There has only been 1 day of Morgan's life that she hasn't seen her Nana (at that day we took Morgan to Oklahoma to see Josh's family)! Thanks Mom, you are amazing!

Oh, and a little update on Miss Morgan, she is doing better (I think)...still congested in the nose, mainly in the morning and otherwise no other health issues and still no fevers yea!!!

I'll post pics of her church dedication soon!

3 more days

I have only 3 more days until I have to go back to work. Its hard for me to even type that without getting teary. I have been very blessed to have a paid 6 weeks off, but that means Monday its all over. Wow, these 6 weeks has flown by!!

My days have been faster than any days I've ever known. They've been full of breast feedings, diaper changes, baby baths, being peed/pooped/spit up on, cuddling with Morgan, singing to Morgan, doing TONS of laundry, rocking Morgan, kissing Morgan, sleepless nights, happy tears, tired tears, sending Josh on endless trips to Babies R Us or Target, just simply staring at Morgan and thinking "How did I ever deserve this precious gift from God?" and realizing that I have never loved someone the way I love her!!!!!

These have been the best 6 weeks of my life! I am so blessed to have this little girl and I'm sooo going to miss being here to see her every minute of the day. However, I am also very blessed that my granny and mom will be the ones keeping her; that makes me feel comforted for sure!!

I LOVE my job..don't get me wrong. I spent lots of years and lots of money (that I'm still paying back) to have the career I have today, but next week will still be hard.

Please pray for me! Pray that I won't cry too much and make my patients think I'm crazy! Pray that Morgan will do great! Pray that I'll be able to get enough sleep to function during the day too!

Just another reminder that I have no control....

What the heck....I've literally left the house with Morgan like 4 times ever, I make everyone wash their hands all the time and I have like 3 bottles of hand sanitizer around my house and don't let people touch her without using it....and she has a runny/congested nose...WHAT????

Yesterday she started sounding really nasally and congested and it just got worse overnight. I've had to use saline mist and bulb suction all last night and today. I took her to the pediatrician this morning and they think it could be a virus but they aren't sure. I hope its just allergies. Anyway....her lungs are good, no ear infection, no fever, just nasal stuff. BUT...you know its bad for a newborn to have fever, so please please pray with me that she doesn't develop a fever and that this clears up ASAP!

We are supposed to do baby dedication Sunday and the doctor said as long as she is getting better and not any worse we are fine to still do it, so pray for the best. And...I really am sad that the last few days I have home with her she's all congested and not feeling like herself.

I've been in tears several times today over it all....please pray for her to get rid of all this nasal congestion and that she is better very soon!!

Clean House??? When?

I LOVE a clean house. I love those vacuum lines in the carpet...they make me very happy! I love shiny counter tops and the smell of cleaning chemicals! I love all clean and folded laundry and organized drawers and closets. I LOVE a made up bed. I made my bed EVERYDAY before work because it looks so pretty when I get home. I'm a little OCD and that's ok with me, but its very hard to be OCD with a newborn.

Will my house ever be clean again? I'm thinking maybe No!

How can one little girl cause such havoc on the cleanliness of this house. Everyday I clean, pick up things, do some laundry and yet it never looks totally clean. Ahhh....I think I may have to learn to live with a little more mess than I used to (but its not easy for me)

I'm realizing more everyday that I really have no control over anything. I used to think I did, but now I'm admitting that for the most part I don't. God grant me patience...its never been a strong suit of mine!

Oh well were movin' on up....

Yep, we're movin' up...Diaper sizes that is! Morgan is out of her newborn diapers. It makes me sad! I can't believe it...the size 1 diapers look so big, but they fit her! Its crazy how much she's grown! We knew it was definitely time to move up to the size 1's when she had 2 big poopy blowouts in 1 week. The newborn size just wasn't big enough to cover the chunky hiney anymore.

And, its not just diapers. She has also outgrown a lot of her newborn clothes too. There are still a few brands and outfits size newborn that fit her, but she is wearing several of the 0-3 month clothes now. I actually packed up a small box of newborn onsies and nightgowns this morning. My baby is growing everyday!!!

In other news, she is starting to like bathtime more and more everyday! So fun!!!

One Month Old!!!

My sweet little girl turned 1 month old yesterday! WOW....this month has flown by.

Morgan's 1 month stats:
weight: 9lbs 11oz---70-75th percentile
height: 21 in----50-60th percentile
head circ: 14----40-50th percentile

Morgan loves to eat, she is still only on breast milk and takes 1 pumped bottle a day (next week we start 2 a day because I go back to work soon....more on that later). She is a great sleeper too...I her feed around 9pm then we go to bed, mommy wakes her up to eat at 12am then she sleeps until 6:30!!! She smiles and laughs in her sleep and she is starting to occasionally smile back at us!! We are so in love with this sweet girl and can't believe she is growing so fast already!

Also, she is starting to finally enjoy bathtime! Yea!! (I think I wasn't making the water warm enough at first).

Morgan's 1st Bath

Morgan's umbilical cord fell off at the end of last week, so we got to give her a real bath! Well, she wasn't really a big fan. It started off with a stunned look on her face and quickly changed to screaming and then finally she was a little happy by the time we were almost done. I think she was most happy to be wrapped up in her towel than anything else! Hopefully she'll grow to like them!

My life was changed forever in a moment and it was the best moment of my life!!!!!!

So a lot has happened since the last time I blogged...I became a MOMMY on March 30th 2010 at 12:46 am...here's some pics and a brief overview to get us up to date!

I went to work on March 30th knowing I was already at least 4cm dilated and we knew it might be a possibility the dr would send us to the hospital that day, but I went to work as usual and Josh met me at the appt at 1pm. Sure enough, I was 5cm and almost fully effaced so she told us to go home, get our stuff, go to the hospital and get ready to have a baby! It was so surreal but before we knew it we were all checked into Presby and ready for baby to arrive.

The labor wasn't bad; however, Morgan's heart rate didn't respond well to my pushing and my dr was pretty sure the cord was wrapped around Morgan's neck....I didn't push very long and my dr said we had to get her out now because the cord was really wrapped tight around her neck, and so she encouraged me to push with all I had and if she wasn't out in 3 more pushes we'd have to do forceps or an emergency c-section....well, through my tears God gave me amazing strength and Morgan was born!!! 7lbs 3oz, 19 3/4 inches long!!

I will never forget the moment they layed her on my chest.....it makes me cry just typing about it!!! My life was changed forever in a moment and it was the best moment of my life!!!!!!

Morgan has done well, but she developed some jaundice and at first they just kept checking it for a few days and then decided she needed to be under "the lights" the help bring it down. I was in tears thinking they would bring this huge incubator-type thing to the house that she'd have to be in all day long, but to my suprise they brought out this "bili-blanket"....which is basically a blanket of lights that wraps around her toso and velcros on. We were able to hold her, feed her, etc all while she was under them. However, as of today, she no longer needs the lights because her level has came down...YEA!! And....she eats so well, she's already gained 9oz in 6 days since we left the hospital!!

Nights are going well, she wakes to eat every 3 hrs and then is back down until the next time...she really has been a wonderful baby!!

So...that pretty much brings us back to today! Josh is back at work as of yesterday and my mom is still here helping us. Life is good!! :-)

34 weeks and Pictures!

I just finished with my 34 week appt, and things are pretty much on cruise control. My belly is measuring right at 34 weeks, gained a total of 18lbs overall and feeling pretty good (except for trouble sleeing). Next visit in 2 weeks will be my first "check" to see how things are progressing and the week after that we'll do our last sono to see how big little miss is getting!

My sister in law, Crystal, took a few maternity pics for us this past weekend. I wanted to have some pics to look back on but I didn't want to pay a forture for a formal session since in another month or so I plan on having some professional newborn pics of Morgan done. So, here are a few of my favorites...Crystal did a great job!