Goldilocks And The Plastic Bear

As I have mentioned, we went on a fabulous family vacation this summer. Our primary goal was to take David through Yellowstone and appreciate all of nature's wonders. The one animal we didn't see was a bear, which was frankly fine by all of us. Except Morgan, who has apparently decided bears are more fun to ride than ponies. Good thing this one's not real...I'm pretty sure the park rangers would have frowned upon the following:

Reading Rainbow

You remember that show, right? You know, the one that was all about encouraging literacy? Unfortunately, it hasn't done a thing for Morgan...she can't even write checks or go to the bank for me. She can, however, rock a rainbow. Gotta love public television.

What You're Seeing Here

Is my exhausted husband, sitting in the dark with our daughter, at a bus stop. That's right, a bus stop. See, we went on an amazing vacation with my family (more stories to come), that included a night in Jackson Hole. The fact that it was the last night of our trip should have been the sign of ominous things to come. Too bad I wasn't listening to the universe.

It all started at about 5:00 am (note the pitch black background), when girlfriend decided to wake up.the.entire.hotel.screaming.bloody.murder. (We even asked the front desk -- there were complaints. Real sorry about that, Room 102.)
So David took Morgan outside - truth be told, he may have been hoping for an early morning bus route to pick her up...they didn't. We kept her.

Problem was, it was only 40 degrees. Morgan was cozy. Dad was clearly in rough shape (oh yeah, that's the face I wake up to every morning - love you, honey!)

With all that fresh morning air, Morgan started to perk right up.

And then I tried to convince David to do the same.

Fake it till ya make it, baby.

I'd like to tell you how this story ends, but I only came outside long enough to take the pictures. After all, it was cold and dark out there; someone had to keep the bed warm...just doin' my part.

Three Years In The Making

As I am sure you know, I am not one to fill my blog with sappy posts about rainbows and sunshine. But today my baby turns three and I am ALL SORTS of reflective. So, a few words to my daughter:

Dear Morgan,

Today you're three. You are wild, you are naughty, and you are wicked smart. You change my life every day. You were a long time in the making; the decision to become a mom was not an easy one for me. I look back now and wonder why I waited. But then I remember -- I was waiting for you.

I see in you all the things I love about your dad - your sense of humor, your fierce love of life, and your uncanny ability to make me laugh. You also have his eyes, warm and genuine. But you're not just Daddy's girl. You have my smile, full of mischief. You're also stubborn and ridiculously independent, two traits I see in myself a little too often.

You are quickly becoming your own presence, finding your place in our family as not just our daughter, but as our friend. Evenings are full of stories about your day, weekends are full of adventures to the woods, and sometimes just to our backyard. You take it all in, relishing in every moment, reminding me to walk a little slower, watch a little closer, and breath a little deeper.

My dearest daughter. You will never know how you have shaped my life. I am thankful every day for you. As you begin this next wonderful year, I will be by your side, watching you grow, falling in love with you all over again.

Happy Birthday, Punkin.

Love,

Mommy

Like Sands Through The Hourglass

It's been 34 years today -- to celebrate, he surprised her with some fancy new jewelry and she bought him some new glasses. It's good to know that the romance is still alive.

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Hoe Down Throw Down

We have lived in our house for five years. Over that time, I have roped my father into more home improvement projects than I can count. From wiring to planting, there's always a "job" waiting for my dad when he comes to visit.

But now he's trying to pass that hoe to the next generation. No wonder my parents want us to have more kids...those short little arms can only rake so much.

Oh What A Night

One of our community parks hosts an outdoor movie night every Friday in the summer. They set up a large screen and families gather for some good, wholesome fun. We do not participate in these events. Instead, we set up our own movie night, Redneck Style.

First, we had snacks. And yes, it is customary to pair Diet Pepsi with M&Ms. Then we set up blankets and pillows. If it wasn't so much work, we probably would have dragged out our whole damn bed.

Then we settled in for some quality movie viewing, complete with the rubber tote entertainment center. Yeah, it's leaning, we know.

We made time for an intermission. And yes, that's apple juice. We only give her beer when she's really good.

All in all, movie night went just as expected. The DVD was so scratched we couldn't get it to play for more than 3 minutes, Morgan wouldn't hold still and kept wandering off into the darkness of night, and my butt was so covered in mosquito bites that I thought I had chicken pox! Good times in the suburbs, good times.

dad, Dad, DAD!

Hey dad, whatcho doin'?
Dad, I said whatCHO DOIN'?!?!?

DAD, WHATCHOOO DOOOIIIINNNNN'?

dad, Dad, DAD! I love you.

Love you, too, Baby Girl. Love you, too.

The Butcher, The Baker, The...

Nah, we'll stick with The Baker. She's got that one nailed.

High Rollers on the High Seas

This is not our boat- This is also not our house -

These are, however, my in-laws - don't they look nautical?

We, however, look a little less natural on the water (maybe it's the life jacket, those things are SO overrated).

Until we got girlfriend behind the wheel- it's like she was born to drive!

Wonder where she learned it from? Maybe Grandpa?

Or maybe Nana? This was actually her first time, but she totally pulled it off.

I mostly chillaxed and pretended we were living on our houseboat instead of renting a party barge for 2 hours.

Oh yeah, we could get USED to this!

Third Time's A Charm

One of the downfalls of being the mommy is that I am usually the one taking the pictures, which means I am rarely in them. On a recent road trip I tried to capture an action shot in the car. As you can see, only one of us was cooperating -

Take One: Yeah, that's what I want, you sniffing your shoe. That's a keeper.

Take Two: Even better, fake sneezing. Real cool.

Take Three: We have a winner! Thank goodness- threatening you with bodily harm is

losing its effectiveness.

An Emerging Theme

Morgan loves coffee. I may have mentioned it once before, primarily in an effort to assure everyone that I wasn't stunting her growth (her check-up is next month, so I won't know until then if I've ruined her for life).

Not surprisingly, Morgan loves coffee even more when we're camping. I think it's something about the fresh air that makes everything taste better. That, or the fact we all started our morning with a little Bailey's in our mugs...cheers!

That's What You Get

When you ask your daughter to "say cheese" one too many times.

Okay, just kidding. I bribed her with a Mercedes and she agreed to one more photo.