Take me out to the ball game...

Today we went to PNC Park in Pittsburgh for our annual Pirates game. Yes, we know the Pirates aren't very good (they haven't had winning season in 15, well probably 16 by the time this one is over, years) but we enjoy going and always get to sit in very good seats, courtesy of Patrick's Uncle Rodney. The Pirates lost 1-0 to the Houston Astros, but we still had a good time. Here are a few pictures from the game.

Our Fourth Anniversary

Today is our fourth wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe we've been married for 4 years already. So much has changed in our lives since 2003 and I never would have imagined that we would be where we are right now. I always tell my friends that being married is the best thing next to being a mom, and I still believe that. Patrick and I aren't doing anything special today...in fact my poor husband is sick! We did go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Tuesday and last night we went to dinner with some friends who will celebrate their fourth anniversary on the 27th of July.

In honor of our special day, here are 4 things Patrick has taught me during our marriage:

1) Things are never as bad as they seem. Take a step back from the situation and you will see a way to solve the problem.

2) Happiness can be found in a simple things like a good book, round of golf, or 20 minute power nap.

3) It is OK to be late (every once in a while!).

4) Your toughest critic is yourself, and people always see you in a better light than you see yourself.

Thanks for four wonderful years Patrick. I look forward to the rest of our lives together.

Everyone, Meet Dory

Today we finally took a big step and purchased a new vehicle! It's been 10 years since I had a new car, and I forgot a) how awesome new cars are and b) how much I HATE buying a car! Thankfully I had The Colonel (a.k.a. my dad) with me and he got a great price on a 2008 Ford Escape. It's Mountaineer Blue (navy for all of you non-West Virginians!), has a sun roof, satellite radio, cruise, and is just fantastic!! I have named it Dory after the character on Finding Nemo who, at one point in the movie, is reading the word "escape" and pronounces it "es-KAP-a". And I thought it was doubly fitting since the SUV is blue! :) So here are some pictures of Dory, in all her new car glory!

Happy FIRST Birthday Morgan!

Please check out Morgan's website for many, many more pictures, videos, and comments about today. I can't believe my baby is one!

It's Monday

This is the perfect descriptor of my day....enough said.

Crying over spilt milk

Today a tragedy of gigantic proportions happened at our house. A few weeks ago I had gone out to the deep freezers in our garage to prepare Morgan's weekly allotment of breastmilk. One of our freezers is notorious for frosting over and I noticed that some milk had become completely encased in ice. Not to worry though, if it was covered in ice, it was cold, right?

Today I asked Patrick to go out to that freezer and de-ice the milk so I could figure out just how much milk I have left since we are going to start the slow transition to cow's milk next week. As I am sure you have guessed by now, when Patrick opened the door to that freezer, water came gushing out and ALL the ice and milk was defrosted. And I am not talking a few bags. Over 150 bags of breastmilk was lost. 600 ounces. Enough milk to feed Morgan strictly breastmilk for over 4 weeks.

I cannot even begin to describe how devastated I was once it was discovered, or how immediately my heart sank to my toes and my eyes welled up with tears. Or how even hours later it still upsets me. I still have 5 weeks worth of milk in the other freezer that remains frozen and drinkable. And I am going to start mixing her breastmilk with cow's milk next Sunday. But that is not the point. The hours spent pumping, bagging, sterilizing, and more importantly the intense love and motivation of best nutrition behind my intent to freeze all that milk was all gone. In a gush of water and milk.

You know the old saying from your mother, "Don't cry over spilt milk!". Sorry Mom, today I cried over spilt milk. I just couldn't help it.

Happy Father's Day!

Although it's Patrick's second year as a father, technically, it's his first OFFICIAL Father's Day! Morgan gave him a golf practice net, a golf bear, T-shirt, picture frame, and a collection of pictures of the two of them in a pretty collage frame. All of the pictures are of the two of them napping together (something they do frequently)!

We also went bowling today and Daddy helped Morgan roll her first ball, knocking down 5 pins.

Best of all, Morgan gave her Daddy (and Mama) the gift of allowing us to see her first unassisted steps! It was such a joy to watch her, and she is so cute! Now she's officially a toddler!

Happy Father's Day Patrick. You are such a good Daddy. I see the love for your daughter in the light of your eyes every day. I could ask for a better man for her to grow up with.

You eat the peas, I'll eat the Milk Bone

Morgan and Bailey have become the best of friends over the past few months. They play together, Morgan often racing the dog up the hallway toward one of Bailey's toys. Morgan will take toys out of Bailey's mouth, or they will play tug-o-war, and Bailey will bark at Morgan, causing Morgan to laugh and laugh like it's the funniest thing she has ever seen!

Bailey has also figured out that when Morgan eats, food gets dropped to the floor, so she takes up permanent residence under the high chair during meals. Last night Morgan was eating peas and some pork chops cooked in mushroom gravy. I had mixed some of the peas in the mushroom gravy, which apparently was not the correct thing to do. Morgan was picking out the peas that had gravy on them, looking over the side of her high chair, and dropping the rejected peas to Bailey! She was eating the peas that didn't have gravy on them though. It was funny to watch, but I had to teach Morgan that food on our tray needs to stay on our tray, even if we don't eat it. After dinner Morgan got to sample a small bit of Mama's chcolate ice cream. Traditionally Bailey always gets to finish off the bowl. Below is a picture of what happened next:

Since Morgan's newfound mobility and independence, Bailey has been having to deal with a lot of invasions to her way of life. As I mentioned on Morgan's website, Morgan has discovered the dog's food and water bowls, which for 11 months have been untouched by the baby. Morgan also spends a good deal of time in the dog's "house" or swinging the door to the cage open and shut, with the poor dog inside wondering what the heck is going on! Yesterday Bailey left a Milk Bone on the carpet in the foyer just outside of her cage. While cooking dinner, I glanced down to see Morgan eating the Milk Bone! So apparently nothing of the dog's is sacred anymore, although we are really going to work hard on keeping Morgan out of the dog's food, treats and water!

A sad day, but the good kind...

Today, after much thought over the past week, I have stopped nursing Morgan completely. We had been down to one nursing a day, in the morning before our days started. Recently she has been crying after only nursing for 2-3 minutes, and I finally figured out that she was probably not getting enough milk. This morning I gave her a 4 oz bottle of frozen milk, which she drank quickly, and she didn't cry when the feeding was over.

It's a bittersweet day for me. Many of you may be laughing because before I had Morgan I swore that breastfeeding was gross and not for me. I was only going to "try" because it was cheaper than buying formula. However, Morgan took to it pretty well and it really helped us bond through my intense period of post-partum depression. Even though I am looking forward to actually sleeping IN one morning and letting Patrick take care of the morning feeding, I am going to miss our special time where it was just me and her, and I was the only one who could give her what she needed.

On the positive side, Morgan is growing up and doing more things on her own. I don't have to lug the breast pump with me everywhere I go, nor am I having to wash and sterilize breast pump bottles and parts every day. I also don't need to pack the Boppy on vacation. I don't have to worry so much about feeding schedules and being somewhere that I could nurse privately. Even though it's an added step to now put the frozen milk in a bottle, and makes more bottles to wash, it's a step toward Morgan being completely off breast milk (and the bottle). I am not going to rush her weaning from the bottle, but I hope that by 15 months she is completely off the bottle. Then we'll tackle the binky!

Smithsonian National Zoo

Over the weekend we went to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Maryland. Their company was having a picnic at the zoo for it's employees and Jeff thought Morgan might like to go. We had a really wonderful time! We got to have two animal encounters (a tarantula and a tenrec), and we got to see the gorillas get fed! It was funny because they were actually tossed brown bags...to which either Patrick or Jeff made some comment about the original brown bag lunch!!

On the subway

Next Stop...the National Zoo

Tenney Family at the Zoo!

Morgan liked the tarantula.

Just eating my brown bag lunch...

Joann the Tenrec

Watching the Oranutans

Tai Shan (we think)

Totally Wiped OUT

It was really hot, but all in all we had a wonderful time and Morgan seemed really fascinated with the animals that we did get to see. She was sleeping through the elephants and pandas and slept a good bit of the way home, but I think she had a good first zoo experience!

Welcome Jack!!

My dear friend Catherine, who I went to high school with in Germany, and her family welcomed their second child, Joshua Ellsworth Gillespie Jr., "Jack", yesterday at 11:58 AM, weighing in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces. He is such a cutie!

Happy ONE DAY birthday and welcome to the world Jack! We are glad you arrived early and in good health. Congratulations Catherine, Josh, and Hannah. Your family is beautiful.

Morgan is 11 Months Old

Today we begin the last month of of having a "baby". In 31 short days our little girl will turn ONE, and will be officially a toddler. Be sure to check out Morgan's website for a much longer post on how she's growing and developing.

The past few weeks have been trying for me with Morgan. It is nothing that she is doing, or isn't doing. She's a kid, plain and simple. I have just been struggling with her seemingly constant need for me to be holding her....her struggle for independence....her increased mobility. It has seemed that I have had much less patience for little fingers to pick up food, for heavy eyes to finally close for the evening, for a curious mind exploring things that aren't meant for babies.

However, I never fail to thank God every day for her. I recently saw this post on another website. Please take a moment to watch the 6 minute video. It was so moving, and really brings home how thankful we should all be with EVERY day we have with our children.

Thank you, Lord, for Morgan. She is a blessing and a joy. I see You in her every day. Thank you for the past 334 days. I pray for many, many more days to spend with her.

Remembering Those Who Have Gone Before

Even though Memorial Day is a rememberance of those war heros who have died defending our nation's freedom, most Americans take this day to remember all of those in their lives who have passed away. While we didn't actually visit the cemetary today, Morgan and I did take a moment to visit my grandparents' gravesite very near our house. Morgan has been there once before, but she really liked feeling the stone and touching the flowers.




To all the American heros who made the ultimate sacrifice, thank you.



To those who continue to fight for those who cannot, our family prays for your safety.




And to Grandpa Hiram, Granny Evelyn, Grandma Lee, Grandpa Rege, and all the rest of the family members who are with the Lord, we miss you.

Woodchopping Festival

This weekend is the annual Woodchopping Festival in Webster Springs, WV. Men come to qualify for the world championships in wood chopping, they have a car show, gospel singing, crafts, and of course there are some carnival games and rides. We didn't attend much of the festival this year, but we did see the parade and the fireworks.

Morgan at her first parade

Watching the parade go by

Parade Marshall--Josh Stewart

(a Webster County native, he is an actor who has had roles on Criminal Minds, Dirt, Third Watch, and CSI:)

Watching the fireworks with Daddy

Welcome Brady Thomas!

Patrick's best friend from college, Pete Allen, and his wife Andrea welcomed BRADY THOMAS ALLEN yesterday at 5:48 am. He was born about a month early (originally due 6/25/07), but still weighed in at 6 lb, 1 oz and is 19.5 inches long. Mama and Brady are doing very well.

Morgan got to visit Brady today for the first of what promises to be MANY times. Congratulations Pete and Andrea....he's so handsome!

Note to Self: Do NOT feed prunes to a baby wearing a dress!

I learned a very valuable parenting lesson today, the hard way...as if there is any other way. While searching on the internet last night for a pair of shoes (I know, such a WONDERFUL way to spend my time) I happened to glance over at Morgan, who was standing at the baby gate wearing a cute pink dress with a matching diaper cover that her Grandpa Teagarden bought for her.

To my complete horror I saw that she had a major diaper explosion. And I mean MAJOR. The diaper had reached maximum capacity without my knowledge and failed to hold back the flood. She had eaten prunes for lunch, and apparently they worked well! Poop was pouring from her diaper, down both legs right onto my light beige carpet!!!!! Of course I shot like a rocket off the couch to get her, never thinking what the next step would be. I couldn't take her to the bathroom/tub because it was currently being occupied by my husband. (Why oh WHY is he always "unavailable" when we have poop explosions?!?!) So we ran to her changing table, dripping as we went. It was a total mess, as I am sure you can imagine. Not only had both legs leaked, but poop was pouring out of the top of her diaper as well! I can honestly say this was the worst diaper explosion we have had to date. And I HOPE it remains the worst!

Thank goodness we were already scheduled to have the carpets cleaned today, and thank GOODNESS this explosion happened yesterday (before the carpets were cleaned) rather than today!!! So, take some advice from a now learned mother: Do NOT feed prunes to a baby wearing a dress!

Weight Watchers Update

Weeks until Morgan's birthday: 6

Pre-baby pounds to lose: 9

To reach Weight Watchers goal weight: 16

Panic Level (on a 1-10 scale): 10!

Apparently I missed the memo that I should be LOSING weight instead of gaining it!

Happy Mother's Day

Today is my first official Mother's Day, and I can't help but look into my daughter's gorgeous brown eyes and be so thankful that God has given me the privelege of being a mother. Being a mom has changed me in so many ways, and I am a better woman, and I hope a better wife, because of it.

Today I reflected a lot on what it means to me to be a mother, on mothers who have lost their babies too soon, on my wonderful mother, and on mothers who have gone on to be with God (including both of my grandmothers). I remembered how much I longed to be a mother and prayed for a child. I remembered how happy I was when I found out I was expecting, and how that joy continues today. Even though today was filled with cranky cries, I am glad that Morgan wants to be with me so much that she will cry for me.

My hope is to remember how great it is to be a mother, even through the hard times that are sure to come. Every day is worth the smile I get when I go in to see Morgan in the morning, the hug and pats on the back I get when I pick her up, and the quiet time in the evening when my drowsy/sleeping almost toddler is laying against my chest.

Happy Mother's Day, to all mothers! Here are some interesting facts about births, in honor of today.

Weight Watchers Update

Weeks until Morgan's birthday: 8

Pre-baby pounds to lose: 8.5

To reach Weight Watchers goal weight: 15.5

Panic Level (on a 1-10 scale): 9