She Rocks!

Later, Dad turned on some ACDC for Morgan. The first video is the best but is hard to see.

Morgan tried out my music too.

So sweet!

I wish I could capture Morgan’s personality on film. I don’t normally video tape her, so when the video camera comes out she stops whatever it is she’s doing. Morgan often has these moments where she is just so delicate and sweet and dainty and lady-like that I just sit there in amazement while observing her. Lately, I find myself just admiring Morgan and how special she is. I know every parent feels this way because every child is unique.

Morgan’s sweet, dainty, girlie self just makes me smile and love being around her. She doesn’t have a huge vocabulary but she’ll sit there and just jibber- jabber constantly in her sweet little voice. She’s extremely expressive as she tells her stories and sometimes at the most intimate moments she just sucks me in with her little self. I hate that there is really no way to quite explain what the experience is like and I doubt I’ll ever capture one of these moments on film. I guess I’ll just have to be content in knowing that Daniel and I are some of the few who will ever get to experience these precious moments.
Here’s some video I recorded trying to capture Morgan’s personality.

Only a child...

could eat a spaghetti dinner and manage to do this to her butt.

I was cleaning her up after a fairly clean consumption of spaghetti, or at least I thought so until I set her down so she could go play. Daniel and I still don't know how she managed this. It's not like she was sitting on her spaghetti.

Morgan ate most of her breakfast a couple of months ago like this. Didn't the Cheerio on her forehead bother her?

I left my baby girl!

Daniel and I just spent 5 days in Texas without Morgan! Can you believe it?! I started freaking out a couple of weekends before we left. I literally cried off and on all weekend and worried about if I could actually go through with leaving her. I even called the airlines and tried to cut my trip in half only to learn that would cost an additional $700. We traveled to Texas because Daniel was the Best Man in Brian and Brianne’s wedding. We left her with Aunt Dusty and of course she took great care of her. I was never worried about that. I was worried about the fact that she wouldn’t understand why Dad and Mom left her and that we were coming back. It eased me to know that Morgan loves her aunt and that she’s a pretty easy-going baby who adapts easily to new situations. She’s never had to be on a strict schedule and is like her father in that she can just go with the flow. Daniel and I had a great time but yes, I cried pretty much every day. I would get this overwhelming sick feeling because I just yearned to hold and squeeze her. Being a mother and experiencing the bond with my child never ceases to surprise me and open me up to a whole new world.

People were shocked that we left her for so long. The reason I went ahead and did it is because I make Morgan my entire world and will continue to do so until she no longer lets me but I know that the relationship between Daniel and I is just as important. I know that I shouldn’t completely lose my identity as Angela.

We got to sleep in, have some alone time and I even hung out in South Padre Island alone for one of the nights. I drove to the Island late Friday night, checked into my hotel and then woke up the next morning and hung out at the beach for a few hours. I lounged in the sun, listened to my IPod and watched waves crash on the beach. Their wedding was beautiful and it was fun getting to hang out and get to know everybody. I was happy that Daniel got to be there for Brian and I was happy to accompany him as his wife. I enjoyed meeting and spending time with friends who he grew up with. Morgan did great but I can easily say that I won’t be leaving her again anytime soon.

From left to right: Jesse, Brian, Abe and Daniel. These guys grew up together. It was fun getting to hang out with them.

The below picture is Daniel and I at the wedding. Brian and Brianne got married at Brian's parent's house on the Arroyo. The Arroyo is a shipping channel to the Gulf of Mexico.

Eating at Whataburger after a long night of having fun!

Morgan loves her Grandma Irwin!

Daniel, Morgan and I were so excited to have Linda visit us for about a week early this month! The first thing Morgan did when Grandma got here was show off which she's never done before. She brought Grandma all of her toys and wanted Grandma to hold her and play with her. It's like they picked up right where they left off last time they saw each other.

Grandma read Morgan lots of books during her visit.

Awww.... so sweet!

The Sunday before Linda left, we all headed up to Dusty's house to visit with her, Chase and my mother who was visiting at the time. It was nice because Morgan got to love on her Nana too! We had a really nice afternoon visit.

We were sad to see Linda go and really appreciated her making the trip out. Can't wait until next time!

What a difference a year makes!

Easter 2010

Saturday, Linda, "Morgan" and I colored eggs.
Okay, well Linda and I colored eggs, while Morgan applied stickers.

The finished product...

The Easter Bunny left a basket out for Morgan to find first thing Easter morning.

Morgan spotted it right away and pointed and squealed with excitement.

She then proceeded to carry the plastic eggs from her basket one by one to Grandma Linda.

After she finished showing Grandma all of her eggs, Daniel and I showed Morgan the eggs the Easter Bunny had hidden for her in our living room. I was a little apprehensive about whether Morgan would grasp the concept of hunting eggs but she did great! She definitely got the idea and had a blast hunting. She even found one that Daniel and I had forgotten about. We were all relaxing in the living room when we heard, "Ohhhhhhhhh" as she ran and grabbed the forgotten egg.

Dad helped her find some eggs that were hidden up high.

Later that day, I gave Morgan the chocolate bunny from her Easter Basket. Watching the progression was pretty funny. First it was mainly indifference.

Then it lead to surprise.

And then came smiles and her saying, "hmmmmmm."

It ended with pure joy.

While Daniel was at work that evening, I spent the majority of the time cuddling and playing with Morgan. We got some much needed bonding time not only with each other but with Grandma too. We had a great day!

Bunny Love

After the experience of taking pictures with Santa, I originally decided against taking Morgan to get pictures taken with the Easter Bunny. It seemed like pictures with Santa was more torture than fun for Morgan. But then a friend of mine told me about this place where kids get to take pictures with live bunnies. I knew Morgan would love petting bunnies so Daniel and I took her last night. She immediately spotted the bunnies when we got there and got really excited. They sat the bunny down and then sat her right next to it and she was thrilled! Most of the pictures taken were of her actually petting the bunny but Daniel and I picked the below picture because we thought it showed her sweet personality. It was a lot of fun for everyone!