Poor baby!

This picture sums up our month. Poor Morgan caught a cold in early November. I can deal with colds. Snot is not as bad as poop or barf. Right?!? Well, the poor kid got an ear infection. She took antibiotics for 10 days and was sort of getting better. I say sort of because she still wasn't her happy rambunctious self. Then she caught another cold and guess what? Oh you guessed it- another ear infection. This time she was treated with numbing ear drops an a different antibiotic. Two weeks later she's on her 3rd round of antibiotics. Last night was one of those nights you hear about from other parents and secretly thank God it wasn't you. Let's see...so I'm highly allergic to penicillin. Not just highly, really, really highly. Anyway, I gave her the dose after dinner last night and all was well. Went to my wonderful bookclub and started getting itchy. So I came home in time to break out in hives all over my body. Downed a few benedryl pills and am now fine. I have no clue why I reacted so bad this time as I'm not sipping the junk for fun and I wash like a crazy person after administering the crap. Anyway, what matters is I'm fine. So we go to bed. Thank god, cause I felt like I was drunk on benedryl. Our sweet Morgan woke up at some point. I went into her room, put drops in her ears and gave some advil. This has been our new nightly ritual for weeks now. I feel like I have an infant. Anyhow, I go back to bed, turn on my fan so I can try to go back to sleep while Morgan is whining in her room:( I had one of those moments where I just felt like something was wrong. So I go back into her room. I opened the door only to realize I had just smacked her with the door as she CLIMBED out of her crib and was standing by the door screaming when I opened it. Needless to say it was a very long night!
Hopefully my book of blog post makes sense, I'm tired!
I'm so ready for summer! And I love winter!:(

Christmas Tree Day...

Meet Unky. He's tall. Real tall. Like a tower:)
These girls were'nt having any fun at all. Can you tell?!?

No fun in this bunch. Not.

2 out of 4 smiling. Not too bad.

Pretty sunset.
All in all, we had a great day. Good friends. Good food. Good weather.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble...

Miles and Amanda's great friends the Thomas' hosted a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner. The picture below shows how much Morgan loved Auntie Manda's pumpkin cheesecake. Delish. Uncle Miles...or a daddy look-a-like with hair!

We went to a great bounce house called Monkey Bizness. It was a hoot. For all ages!

Awe.

We went downtown for a few hours one afternoon. McKinley found a giant horse and wanted her picture taken. I love this one. Amanda and I look like we could be real sisters. Not just great sister-in-laws.

We heart Boise.

October Camping Trip...

Meet my cousin Miranda. She was cold. Really cold. So she became a marshmallow for the ride home.
Meet Tooper (Cooper). He and McKinley had a blast camping!

Meet the happy campers McKinley and Morgan.

Long Time No See...

Okay, so I'm only a few months behind! I'm sorry. I've been wiping noses among other things. I'll try to do my best giving you an update on what the heck we've been up to. It's been a whirl wind since summer. No joke.
Here are some major highlights-
-Tyler got a new job! Same type of work, just a different company. He's really enjoying it so far and likes the crew real well.
-We went to Boise for Thanksgiving. Pictures to follow. I'm one of those moms that believes in Benedryl for medicinal purposes. Seriously. I am proud to report however, I didn't have to subdue the kids for the 6 hour car ride. They did amazingly well. :)
-My little brother graduated from CWU!
-My baby sister is in China!
-Can't think of any other major things...so enjoy the overload of photos that will be uploaded here shortly. Ready. Go.

Crayola!...

Thank goodness Crayola makes non-toxic, washable markers!!!

First day of 2nd year preschool!...

Skylee, Dailey, Audrey & McKinley. This picture captures their personalities (except Skylee!)

Soooo excited!

And getting so big!

McKinley started her second year of preschool last Friday! She was so excited to see her friends and teachers! What a little blessing our sweet girl is.

Our Sweet Aunt Peggy...

Our sweet, sweet Aunt Peggy went to be with the Lord on Saturday. We are so blessed to have such wonderful memories with her. She was truly a remarkable woman. These pictures were taken on Easter 2011. She gave McKinley a very special wooden egg and a darling bunny pillow. She also gave me a very special colander which I will cherish for many days to come.

We'll sure miss you Aunt Peggy! Thank you for everything you taught us and for being such a wonderful person.

I don't remember what they were discussing, but I'm sure it was something very important. :)

Morgan the Moose...not so much:)...

We thought our sweet little Morgan was a bit on the chubby side, hence the nickname Little Moose. However, she had her one year check up last Friday and our doctor called her petite! She weighs 20 lbs 3/4 oz and was 29 inches long, making her in the 30 percentile across the board. We love our Little Moose and her little chubs!!

Here Fishy, Fishy...

As many of you know, McKinley is not a huge eater. She's a snacker. However, she and Tyler went fishing and cooked their catch for lunch. She ate the entire thing and wanted to go back the next day for more. Atta girl! Make this hunting family proud! :)

Happy Birthday Morgan!...

We had a wonderful party for Morgan's birthday. The weather was perfect! The birthday girl loved the attention and LOVED her mud pie. When the group sang happy birthday, she realized everyone was looking at her and got shy. We love our sweet Little Moose.

Great Granny G-G (Jeanne) and baby Claire
Nana and MorganHappy birthday to you...

Yummm...

Hmmm...

It looks like she just did a dive into her plate.

The aftermath. I'm glad she still fits in the sink:)

The big kids had fun too!

Awe. Our family.

Jeepin'...

The Mr. & Mrs.

Sparkler birthday brownies!

Ohhhh so pretty!

The beautiful lake we hiked to.

Tyler took me on a jeep camping trip for my birthday. We had a great time! :)

Sweet baby Morgan, Happy Birthday!

Our Little Moose is ONE today! Time has flown by. I woke up this morning remembering that one year ago I had given birth to our little bundle of joy. She screamed for a few hours in the hospital and I seriously pondered running away. Okay, not really, but I was scared to death that we had ourselves a little monster. Thank goodness, it only lasted during our hospital stay and once we came home, she was a happy little girl. She still is a happy little girl. Here are a few things I love about her:

1. She LOVES and I mean LOVES carbs! That kid will eat an entire loaf of bread if we'd let her!

2. She said Mamma first and that is still her only word besides a few babbles here and there.

3. She is persistent.

4. She giggles when we ride in the jeep.

5. Her bare feet making nosies when she walks on the tile floor.

6. She eats anything!

7. She loves her sister. And I love their special bond. You can see it in their body language.

8. Her brown eyes melt me.

9. Her chubbs make me smile.

10. She always wants her daddy.

11. Her finger prints ALL over the sliding glass door.

12. The way she stands at the end of her crib bouncing after waking up.

13. Most of all I just love her. She is such a blessing to our family.

She has her 1 year check up on Friday. Stay tuned for the stats.

Our sweet little niece!...

Little Claire. Isn't she precious!?!?

More Orcas Island FUN!...

The islands are so pretty!
Sweet Skylee!

This picture makes me smile!

~The Luau~

The girls painting a tablecloth. Fun and messy project:)

Orcas Island FUN!...

These pictures are in random order...blogger is not cooperating!
McKinley thought the ferry ride was so fun.

Pulling crab pots

The girls...minus Dailey.

These two were a riot. They love the boat!

Getting ready to catch some crabbies:)

Our big girl!

Pretty girl:)

So much fun!

Dinner!