The Morgan Family: July 2009

Friday, July 31, 2009

Stats

I took all three kiddos to their doctor today for a well check. I figured I needed to get them checked out before moving and needed to ask our Doctor some questions about how to proceed with shots as I have delayed some of them and have a waiver from Texas that is not good in Alabama. So, we chatted about all that and did the usual measurements of the girls.

I did Ellie's 4 year old check up three weeks early and Hadleys 18 month old check up 3 weeks early. Everything looked Great. Ellie passed her hearing and vision test with flying colors and I had Gavin retested since he failed the last hearing test and he passed as well. :) :) :)

Anyway, the girls are just going to be tiny girls. They are still on their own growth curve and doing well for them, but compared to the rest of the world, they are just petite and little. I'm thinking they got more of their Great Nanny and Morgan in them and not the Carpenter genes for height. Hadley actually moved up percentiles for height but holding behind on weight.

So...for Ellie's 4 year old check she was:

30 lbs. (10%) and 36 3/4 inches (3%)

And Hadley at 17.5 months:

21 lbs. 1 oz. (5%) and 30 3/4 inches (20%)

They didn't weigh Gavin as he's still a few months from being six, but he got a good report otherwise as well.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Home Again, Home Again..Jiggitty, Jigg..

Ahhh...Home again. After 17 days away...we are home sweet home. For the last 17 days we have been to El Paso, Birmingham, and then Destin.

On July 10th, we headed to El Paso to meet our new little nephew. He is adorable. We instantly fell in love with little Robert William the moment we laid our eyes on him. He is a sweet, sweet boy and it is awesome to have another little Morgan in the family. Tay and Scott graciously hosted our clan at their house with a two week old. Are they brave or what?? We stayed in El Paso for Four days, flying back home on a Monday night.

The next morning, less than 12 hours after coming home from El Paso, we boarded a flight to Birmingham, Alabama. We flew into Birmingham and met with our realtor who showed us 24 houses that I had picked out over the Internet in ONE day. We saw houses from 11am-6:30pm back to back to back. It was a crazy day. We narrowed it down to 8 houses that we viewed again the next day and then narrowed it down to two. Finally after looking at comps in both sections of the neighborhood we realized there was one that was a better deal and had a nice yard for the kids. Unfortunately the offer we got on our house here in the Woodlands, didn't come through. So, we couldn't put an offer on the house we found in Birmingham. Bummer, because last weekend we found out it got a contract. Wahhh... all that work and the house we wanted got taken.

We flew home from Birmingham on Thursday night and left for Destin at 4am Saturday morning. We stayed in Destin for a week and just got home. Have we been busy, or what?? It is nice to be home. However, we are back home to keeping the house clean and leaving for showings. It is crunch time and it is all starting to get a little stressful. I don't know what we will do if we don't sell our house before Gavin is to start school in two weeks. There are no rental homes that feed into the school we want Gavin in and there is only one apartment complex that has NO units available until October. Sooo....I am not sure if I will stay behind with the kiddos until the house sells and Frank will commute back and forth like he did a few years ago...or what. I guess it will depend if we get a contract on our house. If we get a contract on our house and we can put a contract on a house there..then we can pay out of district tuition until we close. But we have to have a set closing date to be able to even pay to get him in school. So, that is where we stand right now. A lot of things up in the air. I really wanted Gavin to start school with the kids there, but every day we don't sell our house it is looking less and less likely. So, time will tell what the immediate future holds.....

Destin, Florida 2009

This year we stayed at the same house we rented last year. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the beach house. It is perfect for our crew and so convenient to everything. It is within walking distance to a little town called Sea Side and is right on the beach. Trust me when I say it doesn't get much better.

The 12 hour car ride wasn't too bad on the way there. On the ride home it was a different story but we managed to make it home without pulling all our hair out. Let's just say Hadley isn't a fan of long trips in her carseat. ;) She is a fan of singing though and knows a few lines of songs everywhere from Lady Gaga, to Alan Jackson, to the Weepies. This girl LOVES music. We kept laughing in the car when she's start singing the words to songs we had on. She was quite the riot on the trip, talking more and more every day. One of the funny new phrases she has is, "NO WAY!" When I am about to stop her from something she shouldn't be doing she screams "NO WAY..." Or if I take something away..it is hilarious...for now anyway.

Gavin and Ellie both loved the beach. The water was like a giant pool most days. Clear and calm. Last year we had red tide, this year it was perfect. We spent every day at the beach. The kids had a blast on their boogie boards, chasing and catching fish and crabs, and going to get smoothies and snowcones. Every year we say we should have booked two weeks. Wouldn't that be nice?

This year we went with the Mckellars again and also the Hayes family met us there for a few days. The kids had so much fun playing with their friends. Hopefully we will keep up this trip every summer and meet our friends out there. We are already talking about our trip there next summer.

Anyway, here are a few pictures...

From DESTIN 2009

El Paso 2009

We have been on pins and needles anxiously awaiting our yearly trip to El Paso. We have been looking forward to meeting Mr. Robert William for months now. We were so happy to finally get to meet him. We had a blast! Besides loving all over and snuggling little man, we swam, made homemade ice cream, and ate a lot of good food. :) Tay and Scott were brave to insist on having all five of us stay with them at their house when they just had a baby.

Thanks for having us and congrats again on your handsome little boy. We are so excited to watch him grow up. We are thrilled to have another BOY in the family!! Every time Gavin says he wants a little brother we tell him Robert is like his little brother. :)

We love you guys!!

From El Paso July 2009

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

We Got an Offer...

We put our house on the market Monday and were told Monday night to be expecting an offer. Well, we got it yesterday. We are hoping we can agree on all the little details and we will have a solid contract soon. In the meantime we are still showing our house like crazy. Fun times. As soon as I think I can come home I get another call and have to leave again. Poor Hadley has not been able to sleep much. I am hopeful that if this buyer doesn't work out we'll have another soon. We've had a lot of traffic and even one looker taking pictures of our house, that's got to be a good sign, right?? And a few that keep coming back to drive by. The potential buyers we have now want to close on or before August 7th. I must admit that it is bittersweet because I love our little house and our neighborhood. It's starting to get REAL. The realization we are about to leave our family, friends, and comfort zone is starting to hit...

Deep Breath...DEEEEEEP BREATH...

I'll keep you posted....

Saturday, July 04, 2009

How Quickly Things Can Change.

Just last week I sat down and added to my calendar every school event and holiday for the 2009-2010 school year. For both Gavin's school and the girls preschool. I jotted western day, pajama day, Thanksgiving feast, Christmas parties, etc. I added the girls gymnastics schedule for the year, and had a tentative day for Gavin's tennis and Ellie's dance. I was pretty impressed with myself to have the year planned out. How quickly plans for an entire year can change.

Last Saturday morning Frank received a call with a great opportunity. Unfortunately, that opportunity requires us moving from the place we call home. The place we have pretty much always called home. For those of you that know us, you know this is a VERY hard decision for us, even though to many it would be a no-brainer. We grew up here, went to college and came back. Our family is here and we have friends who we think of as family here. I've always had this little fantasy that our kids, who have had friends since being days old, would know and grow up with these friends forever and ever. Sounds like a fairytale, right? It was mine anyway.

So this was a BIG decision. But, ultimately we feel that by Frank accepting the position we are doing what is best for our family in the long run. I am extremely proud of Frank. Extremely happy for him and we are going to make the most out of our new adventure and our fairytale is going in a new direction. As scary as it is, I have been praying for direction and for peace. For the first few days I kept questioning what the right decision was, weighing all the advantages and disadvantages, wondering how we would know and see the "signs" that this is the direction we should take. It is a long story, but the pieces seem to be falling into place, and I feel like I am getting more and more signs that this IS the right thing for us to do. I am constantly amazed that if you diligently ask for answers, you get them. I think this move will be great for us. That doesn't mean it's not scary for me, that I am not going to cry, and miss everyone terribly, because I do know me, and know it will be a big adjustment. But I am feeling much more at peace and know this is the right thing to do for our family.

So, where are we going??? We are soon to be residents of Birmingham, Alabama. That is where Frank's company is based. We had gone on a house hunting trip a few years ago so I feel like I kind of know the area. But, back then we ultimately decided that at that particular time in our lives it was best to stay here. This time, we feel like this is too good of an opportunity for Frank to pass up. And he is very excited about it. Gavin's school will start August 11th. Yep, you read that right. 4.5 weeks from now. And we have two vacations planned between now and then. Looks like we are going to be busy. So my calendar for 2009-2010 is about to get revamped. My how quickly things can change.