Thanksgiving in Missoula

On Thanksgiving Morning we got up bright & early & headed over the passes to Missoula to have Thanksgiving with my brother, his girlfriend, and my parents.

This picture was actually taken last week --- after it snowed. JaCee loves to ride the 4-wheeler with daddy while he's plowing.

 My brother & his girlfriend took JaCee sledding at the school right by his house on Thanksgiving day. JaCee is just figuring out this sledding thing & my brother informed me I need to work with her on how to "lean" on the turns. Apparently she fell out a few times. Here is Ryan teaching her how to have a really good time!

 And somehow my brother talked his girlfriend into pulling JaCee too. Although JaCee A.D.O.R.E.S Erin (my brother's girlfriend) beyond words! JaCee spent the entire weekend in Erin's back pocket.

  Mmmm....the best part!

This was Morgen's 1st Thanksgiving. She loved it. She had some Turkey, mashed pot's & green bean casserole. She loved it all --- except the cranberry sauce, which she gave me a dirty look for putting in her mouth. Oppppsss...

 

Grandma with both of her babies.

 This picture is priceless. We spent Friday -- shopping --- all - day --long. The girls did great. Saturday - more shopping before some Turkey left overs for lunch & then hitting the road. They were both so tired. We were up way past bedtimes & up way earlier than they are used to, so before we were even on the freeway, they were out. Matt looked back & said you have to get a picture of this. So adorable!

Dear Morgen...

Today you turned 10 months old! I've had an emotional month with you...This month I think I noticed the most changes in you. You are becoming a little person & not so much baby. You are walking while holding on to anything. Your favorite thing to hold on to right now is MY LEGS & walk where I do.  You love to be in the kitchen with me. If the refrigerator door opens, you are in it. If I'm putting away dishes, you are "helping" me. If the garage door opens, you are standing at the entry way to see if daddy's home! Your really interacting with your world...You are just starting to get daring enough to reach for something and let go of the solid object you are holding on to. You love your sippy cup & you can drink all by yourself. (after you figured out how to tip your head back).

You have started talking this month. You say Momma all the time! You crawl around the house calling out, "Momma"...it melts my heart. You learned SO-BIG! When I say, "who's big", you put one hand in the other & stretch your arms over your head like it's the hardest thing you've done! Then you clap for yourself!Your clapping is more like banging...but when I clap for you, you bang your hands. I love the big smile on your face when I say good job Morgen --- you are so proud of yourself! Just this week you learned Uh-Oh if something drops. Mostly your sippy cup, but I dropped something tonight cooking dinner & you said, Uhh-Ohh to me! Adorable! You try to say JaCee, but it comes out mostly like a bunch of S'sss.

Dinner time feeding has been my biggest challenge with you. You can't decide if you want to feed yourself or if you want me to feed you, what you want --- when your done, etc. We'll keep working on it.

Sleeping --- like feeding time --- your all over the board right now. You will sleep through the night two nights in a row, only to get up 2 times the next few nights. I just know that you are growing way too fast, so I enjoy my cuddle time with you at night --- all too soon, you will be in a big girl bed and I'll have to steal kisses from you, so getting up at night doesn't bother me.

This week is your 1st Thanksgiving. I remember last Thanksgiving at Matt's parent's house, you were inside me & I was getting ready to enter the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy with you. We'll go cut down our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving & put it up next weekend. I have to admit I"m a little nervous to have the tree with as mobile as you are. A little part of me is really hoping you hate the feel of the needles & don't think they can help you get anywhere. We'll see! 

Before I know it, Christmas will be here & you'll be 11 months old. Don't worry I already have your 1st Birthday party theme picked out & it's C.U.T.E~!

We love you so much baby girl!

Here you are in the bath-tub. I have started giving you a bath with your sister sometimes & you Love-love-love it. You squeal in delight while splashing!

 With Daddy before Church

 In the refrigerator!

 You are just learning how this toy works. For some reason you are pretty scared of it & most of the time you spend pushing it around while you walk on your knees.

 JaCee was outside helping daddy with some yard work, but it was waaay too cold for us! You spent the entire time at the window watching JaCee ... and here JaCee came to give you a kiss!

 With Mommy before a shopping trip...you have really become a mommy's girl this month. You used to only need me for food/comfort....now I am not sure if separation anxiety has hit or you realize that in my arms --- JaCee can't get you!

My comparison for the month!

JaCee was 10.5 months old. Morgen is10 months old!

Fall Fun...

I have been slacking on the blog I see. Mostly because the girls are fighting colds & really ---- my day's are consumed with fussy girls...and runny noses...which aren't very cute pictures. =) Thinking back over the past few weeks...we have painted our basement. The entire thing! Not fun. But it was needed. My mom came to visit for a "marathon Christmas shopping weekend." We had a good time! It put me in major Christmas mood. I have been feeling pretty festive anyway. I will admit I have been listening to Christmas music for a good 2 weeks now! I LOVE IT! My Christmas shopping has been done for a while now, (I try to be done by Oct.) so now I get to buy holiday decorations & start baking! JaCee is figuring out Santa. We were at the mall & saw Santa & she promptly buckled herself into the car seat so Santa couldn't take her. She makes me laugh so hard...and Morgen's doing good. Plugging along. Still walking around holding on to things. She's not daring enough to let go of things so I think we're still a little while out on the walking. I'm still OK with her not walking becuase watching her crawling is just adorable. And she can crawl FAST now too! She'll be 10 months soon, so I'll do another 10 month post for her.

 We went to Matt's parents to help his parents with a few winterizing things on the farm. Here is a Carrot they pulled from the garden! HUGE!!!!

 How most of my day's are spent...JaCee, leave Morgen A-LONE! Bless Morgen's heart, she is SOO tolerant of her sister...it amazes me.

First snow of Winter~

And the girls L.O.V.E.D. it! By 9 am breakfast was done & the girls were bundled up. JaCee has been waiting for it to snow for a LONG time now...excited was an understatement when she saw the snow this am. Although I think Morgen liked the snow more than JaCee did. Morgen squealed in delight the entire time. As I was pulling them in the sled around the yard, our neighbor Bob came out & yelled, "you have winter fever!" I said No, I have a 2 year old who won't let me live it down if the snow melted before we got to play in it for a while!

 (Morgen fell on Gma's dishwasher...thus the boo-boo on her nose.)

Happy Halloween!

JaCee's 1st year of trick-or-treating was a success! She loved it! We took her to our neighbor Bob's house 1st so she could have a good experience for the 1st door...and she loved it. As we were walking away she said, "I want to do another house..." We went around our block & she did great. The weather was so nice out it was like a big block party, neighbors out talking & visiting. I was worried how JaCee would do with people & mask's on, but she did great. Who thought the man dressed up as Santa Claus would send her to screams & tears! I told Matt looks like pictures at the Mall with Santa are OUT this year! She proceeded to tell the next 2 houses we went to that she did NOT like Santa Claus. I had to laugh. She woke up this morning asking to go trick-or-treating again...

Here is my little bunny!

 Without her ears on!

 And my baby bumble-bee!

 Pre-Costume...the sun was in her eye's so she was having a hard time looking up.

 Saturday night we carved Pumpkins after dinner. The girls had fun. Well JaCee had fun watching us. She didn't like the feel of the inside of the Pumpkin though, so she mostly just watched.

 And Morgen played in the drawers while we were busy cutting away...

Here is another one of my comparison pictures.

Morgen is 9 months old. And don't ask me HOW or WHY the bow is in the Middle of her head...I'll blame it on JaCee. See how perfect hers is with no siblings to tackle her. JaCee was 7 months in her picture.