One Year

Happy First Birthday Hadley Faith. It is hard to believe that a year ago today we held you in our arms for the first time and met our little miracle. Beyond your story in the beginning of our pregnancy you proved to be a miracle again as soon as you came into this world. Your cord was wrapped around your neck and criss-crossed around your body. I remember my doctor saying you had a Guardian Angel watching over you and I knew once again God had big plans for you. You add so much love to our family and bring all of us so much joy. We can not imagine life without you. You fit perfectly into our crazy little family and made us a family of five. My heart tripled in size when I first held you and the love I have for you really is indescribable. Thank you for being such a fun, sweet, easy going little girl.

We love you with all of our hearts!

Happy First Birthday Little Mommal!

Hours Old:

2 Weeks:

One Month:

2 Months:

3 Months:

4 Months:

5 Months:

6 Months:

7 Months:

8 Months:

9 Months:

10 Months:

11 Months:

And One Year:

We love you Sweet Girl!

Hadley Faith Morgan

Born February 18, 2008

7 pounds, 12 ounces

20 inches long

February 22, 2008- First Sponge Bath

February 24, 2008- Lost umbilical cord

March 1, 2008- First outing- to a church meeting

March 4, 2008- First Doctors Appointment

March 12, 2008- First Smile

March 14, 2008- Starting to Look around

March 20, 2008- First Coo

March 22, 2008- First Illness

March 23, 2008- Slept through the night (not regularly until 10.5 months)

April 3, 2008- Follows objects with eyes

April 19, 2008- Got your second bottle. Gavin and Ellie gave it to you

April 21, 2008- First Laugh

May 1, 2008- First Immunization

May 9, 2008- Try to sit up by lifting your head

May 10, 2008- First 3-6 month outfit

May 11, 2008- Our first Mother's Day together

May 20, 2008- Grasping at toys

May 21, 2008- First time in pool

May 23, 2008- Found your toes

May 29, 2008- Blow raspberries back at us

June 9, 2008- Reached for a toy all on your own and so proud of yourself

June 15, 2008- First Father's Day with Daddy and you rolled over

June 28, 2008- Starting to scoot

July 7, 2008- Babbles “Ma”

July 11, 2008- Left for Destin, Florida- our first family vacation as five

July 12, 2008- First time at the beach

July 13, 2008- First time in the ocean

July 16, 2008- First boat ride

July 17, 2008- Discovered sucking your toes

July 20, 2008- First food- rice cereal

July 21, 2008- Gave kisses

July 23, 2008- Sat up today and slept in your crib for the first time

July 24, 2008- Turned when called by name

August 6, 2008- Love looking in the mirror at yourself

August 13, 2008- Clap hands

August 14, 2008- First trip to Mema and Pepa's Cabin

August 22, 2008- First tooth appeared

August 27, 2008- Drank from sippy cup and second tooth appeared

September 3, 2008- Says “hi”

September 4, 2008- Says “Mama mama”

September 5, 2008- Got up on all fours and ate finger food

September 10, 2008- Says “Dada”

September 12, 2008- First Hurricane, Hurricane Ike

September 18, 2008- Crawled

September 20, 2008- Stood alone

October 9, 2008- Trip back to Concan to see Scott and Tayton

October 13, 2008- Climbed stairs

October 25, 2008- First bike ride

November 1, 2008- First cookie

November 25, 2008- Calls me “mama” and knows it's me and waved bye-bye

November 27, 2008- First Thanksgiving and first steps

December 11, 2008- Says “Bye-bye” and danced

December 13, 2008- Walking all over the place for the last few days

December 25, 2008- First Christmas and third tooth came in

January 8, 2009- Folded hands on your own as we prayed at dinner

January 9, 2009- Gives open mouthed kisses

January 12, 2009- Fourth tooth appeared and you can push up to stand when fall

January 16, 2008- Copied me and said “all done,” “park,” “puppy dog,” and “hi”

January 18, 2009- Says “Duck” and fifth tooth came in

January 22, 2009- Says “Ga-in” for Gavin

January 26, 2009- Got sixth tooth

February 3, 2009- Says “uh oh” and “no no” and shakes head when saying "no-no"

February 14, 2009- First Valentine's Day

February 16, 2009- Copies us when we make silly faces

February 17, 2009- Got your top one year molars

February 18, 2009- First Birthday

VALENTINES

I just love Valentine's Day. Maybe because it is a low stress holiday or because it is a day to focus on the one's you love. Whatever it is, I love it and we had such a great day today. Frank and I actually started celebrating last night. We went to the Glass Menagerie for dinner and had a yummy four course meal. It was heavenly. Then today we did our usual Saturday routine with the kids and donuts. I tried to do pancakes, but my kids are creatures of habit...so donuts for them it was. But today was a special donut day because it was Valentine's Day!

After breakfast, the kids opened up their gifts. Gavin and Ellie both told me what they wanted for Valentine's a few times this week so they were easy.

And I knew Hadley would love the ball as she was screaming when I took it away from her at Target and the girl loves her some books so she was easy too.

We had a fun day just hanging around and playing

And Dancing to Taylor Swift...

And then it was time for dinner...and what a fun dinner it was...

We had some of this...

And this...

that made this....

FONDUE...

The kids LOVED it and so did we. For dinner there were two kinds of cheese dip with carrots, cauliflower, apples, asiago bread, and grilled pesto flank steaks.

Then it was time for dessert...who can resist chocolate with strawberries, bananas and angel food cake??

Hadley liked it a little too much...

So much that Ellie wanted a mustache like her...so like any good mommy would do, I painted her one.....

And then Gavin....

Frank and I stuck with silly faces....

And then it went just a little too far...

But hey, it is Valentine's Day and it was a Fun, Silly kind of day.

Hope you all had a Great, Fun, Silly kind of Valentine's as well!!

Sweetest Little Invitations

I wanted to throw a little shower for my sweet sister in law who is having her first baby in June. I made the invitations last week and am still so giddy over them. They turned out adorable. I had gone to a ritzy little invitation place and was hemming and hawing over which unisex invitation to get. None of them blew me away....then I saw that I could buy plain invites and envelopes and I remembered seeing an idea on another blog. So, I came home and looked it up again and got to work. After Cutting, sewing, and gluing they were done! Here is how these precious little babies turned out..I love them! Are they not adorable??

College Pot Luck Roommates, Sweet mates, Aggie Friends, and the Zoo...

This week I was able to meet up with some old Aggie friends. My old roommate April and I got to go meet up with our old sweet mate, Lisa and another Aggie friend, Marnie. It was so fun to meet their kids, enjoy a yummy lunch and catch up on the last ten years. Life has been good to all of us. Four friends now have 8 kids. My how things have changed.

Four Old Friends:

Our kids:

And then yesterday I took the kiddo's to the Zoo with a few friends. We had a blast. It was a beautiful day and Gavin and Ellie were in love with the animals. Hadley on the other hand cried whenever I held her up to see something. She was scared of the seals, giraffes, and elephants. She would grip her legs around my waist and scream. Poor girl. I am sure in a year or so she will enjoy the zoo as much as her big brother and big sis. Thanks Kelley and Tiff for a fun day!

Ellie's Hip Hop

Dance Recital...

"Parents Just Don't Understand"

The girls did so great today. They were all so cute all dolled up and loved all the attention....

Especially the flowers at the end. :) I loved that it was all of her closest little friends and that they made up the entire dance class. The crowd definitely loved these four little 3 year old girls!

25 Random Things About Me

I have had several people tag me and I think it is pretty neat to read about everyone, so here it goes....25 RANDOM things about me:

1. I have a major addiction to Starbucks...I swear it really does help me get things done...it is helping me think of 25 random things to write right now. ;)

2. I kept my maiden name as my middle name when I got married and passed my middle onto my daughter Ellie....so Elizabeth lives on.

3. I am married to the most amazing man who makes me laugh every day and I can honestly say we hardly ever fight. I am a lucky girl.

4. I am addicted to Gymboree. It is a stress reliever for me to shop there. I wish I had as many cute clothes as my kids do.

5. I can remember coming home from Kindergarten and eating lunch while my mom watched Young and the Restless... and I still watch it to this day (after the kids are in bed-yes frank watches it too).....that's what...25 years?

6. I hate to clean but hate a messy house...makes me feel out of whack.

7. I tivo everything we watch and can not stand to watch something without tivo as commercials feel like a waste of time now.

8. I love designer jeans (they really do fit better) and could wear them everyday.

9. In the last six years I have only had three months where I haven't been pregnant or nursing.

10. I have been pregnant 8 times but only have three kids.

11. Hadley was a twin and is a miracle. I had all the nurses crying when they realized she was going to make it. And my doctor thanked me for allowing him to witness a miracle. (Read my very first post on this blog for that story).

12. I was born and raised here and have only moved away for college when I went to Texas A&M.

13. I am a 2% and could care less about Aggie Football. I can't stand that you have to stand the entire game...and I NEVER wear my Aggie ring.

14. I love watching my kids learn new things, but hate that they are growing up way too quickly.

15. I love to read although I don't get to do it as often as I'd like. I am a big chick lit girl.

16. I have read half of the one year bible and hope to read the entire thing someday.

17. I have a new found passion for running. I hate it while I'm doing it but feel so proud of myself when I am done. The 1/2 marathon was a big accomplishment for me.

18. I have a leaky valve in my heart that causes me to have heart arrhythmias that sometimes can be scary.

19. I have a scar on my forehead from a basal cell skin cancer.....which leads me to the next one..

20. I love the sun and love to be tan...but am finding myself feeling guilty these days if I don't wear sunscreen.

21. I write letters to my kids just in case something ever happens to me...I want them to know how much I love them.

22. I am pretty crafty and love to cook. I definitely got this from my mom...

23. I love Gavin's DS and when he is in bed I sometimes play Super Mario Bros. on it while he sleeps.

24. I am pretty competitive at games and hate to loose.

25. I am a talker, pretty social, and I tend to over commit myself. But I feel very lucky to have all the wonderful friends and family that I do and I love you all!! I am definitely blessed!