DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!

Has anyone else in Utah attended the Dicken's Christmas Festival and actually enjoyed it?  Nate and I decided to take Morgan and go last night since I started making a little extra money tutoring.  I noticed on their webpage that you could save a $1 by  buying tickets in advance online, and since every dollar counts, I did that, and saved .75 a ticket because there's always a fee when you buy online.  So $12.50 and high expectations later we arrived at the Utah State Fair Park where of course you have to pay $5 for parking.  $17.50! Okay, whatever, it may still be worth it.  Have you ever paid $17.50 to go to a flea mall, because that's basically what we did?!  The advertisement said "not just another craft show."  It promised entertainment, caroling, and Father Christmas.  Entertainment came in the form of a young girls dancing show.  That's cute and fine if there's more to it.  No Carolers.  Oh, and you want your child to see Father Christmas.  I was told that would cost $20 more!  You have to be kidding me.  Yes, there was a lot of food.  Yes, there were lots of shopping opportunities.  But just because you put "Ye Olde" in front of a word does not make it Olde!  Ye Olde Mexican Bags.  Ye Olde Navajo Tacos!  Not to mention, all of this requires money and we just paid $17.50 to get into the place.  Okay, there were the free reindeer to see.  And there was a free carriage ride from one building to another if you could wait in line for it.  That's what we got for our $17.50.  Next time, I'd choose Hogle Zoo lights instead for sure!

I don't really like confrontation, but I was so disappointed I decided to express my concerns to someone in charge, honestly, hoping for a refund.  I still want to enjoy a Christmas activity!  So I sent out an e-mail expressing my wish to speak to someone, and just a few hours later received a phone call.  It was nice to have my e-mail answered quickly.  I expressed my concerns nervously but calmly and this is what I was told.  "I'm sorry you didn't enjoy yourself.  If you had found me last night I would have showed you the free stuff."  "You can sit on Father Christmas's lap for free.  It only costs to have a picture.  Whoever told you that must have misunderstood you."  This is my problem?  She'll take my concerns to the board.  How does that help my family this year?  What a disappointment?  I'm sorry, but I would not suggest this activity to anyone I know.  Well, unless they like to spend money for the chance to spend more money.  Go to "Ye Olde Wal-Mart" or "Ye Olde Target" instead!

Thanks for letting me vent!

How did a month go by!

A couple of months ago I set a goal to blog every week.  That lasted about as long as my "diet"!  Now it's been a month since my last blog...oops.  So here's a catch up!

Morgan is now almost 14 months old and an absolute joy of our lives.  She recently conquered going up the stairs, which is a fun game when we chase her down the hallway. She's also had a couple of big falls which is stressful for Mom.  But i'm glad to see her growing.  She is finally pulling herself up to stand and is gaining a lot of strength in her legs, so I'm not so worried anymore.  She'll learn to walk...she's just on her own schedule!  Aren't we all?  She can point to her hair and belly button but not her nose...oh, no, that would be too easy...instead she can find mom's nose, or dad's nose, or the nose of a little girl from down the street, and expects a nice HONK when she finds it.  She loves to watch Super Why, Dinosaur Train, and Caillou.  We love to watch her study new things, so intent on learning how everything works. 

She still loves books, especially the ones Grandma Andrea gives her, you know, the ones with the buttons that she pushes over and over and over so it sings the same song over and over and over...those books that Grandparents buy but never keep at their own house! Honestly, I love them, they don't bother me at all.  I'm just silly enough to love singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas that many times!  And if it makes her happy, I'm happy.

We had a fun Thanksgiving down in St. George with Nate's family, where we got the exciting news that Morgan will get a cousin in April!  Congrats Sam and Erin.  We're excited to add more babies to the family.  Morgan's schedule got a little confused while we were there as most babies do while on vacation.  So as we were eating Thanksgiving dinner, Morgan did what we all dream of doing....she ate some potatoes, rolls, turkey, and lots and lots of apple-cranberry sauce.  And then....

The eyes started to droop

 The head started to bob to one side

 And to the other

 and you would think a good parent would whisk their child off to bed, but oh no, I was too busy laughing and watching until finally

 down the head went!  Sleeping at Thanksgiving dinner.  A dream come true!

We also had fun going to see the new muppet movie thanks to Grandma Lundell, and we all loved it, even Morgan, who made it all the way through.  Almost.  Only missed about the last 5 minutes!  What a long attention span that baby girl has!

Most of our entertainment at dinner now is thanks to Morgan.  She loves to eat one bite and drop the next on the floor...luckily we have a dog who takes care of most of the sweeping.  Boog is finally earning his keep.  But definitely the most entertaining dinner yet was The First Spaghetti. 

You can just see the excitement in those blue eyes:

 Yummy and sweet at this point

 Yes, this is the difference a few minutes can make!

We recently picked out a Christmas tree...one of my conditions of having to spend Christmas away from my extended family is I get to have a real tree.  Love the smell.  Love the way it looks.

And just today I got the coolest Christmas present from my sister Lynda.

It's a door mat, and I absolutely love it.  I think it is the cutest thing ever!  Well, not as cute as Morgan, but maybe close.

I could go on, but I'm sure your computer is tired of downloading pictures, so I'll just say Happy Holidays for now and promise to blog again soon with pictures of holiday festivities!



An Extravagance

Since I moved across the country, I have been jealous of my family on several occasions when they went to Disney on Ice.  Then I heard about a month ago that it was coming to town, Disney on Ice: Treasure Trove.  And I thought, I have a little girl now, I can go too.  But when we looked at the price of tickets we decided it was better to wait until another year.

Until I woke up this morning.  The morning of said Disney on Ice expensive entertainment.  And I decided I just needed to go.  So we did.  All in a sort of rush, we purchased tickets online, packed up some coats for the forecasted snow, and off we went.  So worth it!  I'm sure I enjoyed it the most of the 3 of us, but Morgan definitely had her share of fun as well...as soon as she got over being scared and crying, which was pretty fast.  I especially thought the songs from the Lion King were beautiful, the skaters all dressed as animals.  Unfortunately with all of the lighting effects I couldn't get any good pictures of the show, but here are a few of Morgan and I enjoying ourselves.

There was way too much to see for Morgan to actually look at the camera!

Some firsts

A couple of days after Morgan's first birthday, she got her first haircut.  Mommy just couldn't handle the baby mullet any longer.

 They have the kids sit in little cars with steering wheels and everything.  But Morgan was too interested in what was going on to really care.

 I don't know how they cut it straight as many times as she turned her head!

 There was another kid screaming and trying to jump out of his seat, made it a little unsettling for Morgan.  Sad face!

First haircut accomplished!

This Halloween was not Morgan's first, but last year she was a little too new to enjoy the festivities, so this was Morgan's first Halloween to dress up and trick-or-treat.  We enjoyed the day by watching the Halloween parade at school (that many kids was a little overwhelming for her).  I love seeing all the costumes and how creative people are.  My creativity this year only went so far as buying a costume at Costco.  But I think it is so cute!  Morgan is my little ladybug, so her costume was obvious!

 Cutest ladybug ever, in my humble opinion

 First time trick-or-treating

Enjoying the loot

Morgan and Boog

and Mom and Dad laughing....a lot!

The most amazing thing about this video is how Boog doesn't like anyone else...well, he likes Morgan obviously, and Nate and I, and my parents when they come to town and he loved my niece Georgia this summer, but he basically acts like he wants to attack anyone else who comes to our house!  What a sweet little guy he is with Morgan!  I am impressed everyday with how gentle he is with her.

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Memories and reflection

One year ago I was enjoying my first day as a mom in my own house.  My tiny little baby only weighed 6.5 pounds when we brought her home.  I had no idea what I was doing, and loved every second of it.

Now Morgan is a year old, 19 lbs 9 ozs, 28.5 inches long, (30% for both)  much better at eating, still loves to sleep, but not so content to just be cuddled.  She is on the move.  She crawls all over our house, she's dying to learn how to maneuver the stairs.  If I go up to the kitchen without her, she just sits at the bottom and yells out for me.  Once she finds a toy she loves, she will sit for 5 minutes or more and play with one specific toy.  She already loves cartoons, especially Super Why and Dinosaur Train.  Her favorite part of the day seems to be story time, and in her lift-the-flap books, she knows where all of the flaps are and lifts them herself.  She likes to make people laugh and be silly.  Now that she's off all of her bottles except for the nighttime bottle, she is a much better eater.  Mostly she loves vegetables and pears, but she also tries a variety of spices and flavors, and recently (thanks to several birthday parties) has discovered how yummy sugar, cookies, cake, and ice cream are! 

Morgan reaches out her hand when she wants to touch something or someone, which is often.  Boog, our golden retriever, is probably one of her favorite things to touch, and the poor guy is so patient with her.  She hasn't quite learned a soft touch, so her "petting" means pulling hair.  One day she even managed to get his tongue in her hand!  They play together and eat together, much to my dismay.  Before I can stop her, she feeds him part of a goldfish and then eats the other half.  Yuck!

I cannot even begin to describe how much I love her.  I dreamed of having children all of my life, since the time I was just a tiny girl myself.  I feel so blessed, and when I look at her, it reminds me of the love my Heavenly Father has for me.  I have a lot to learn to be the kind of mom she deserves.



Celebrations

Even though we had celebrated Morgan's birthday with both the Guthries and the Powells, I wanted to celebrate on the actual day as well.  So we decided to do a fun fall activity and go over to Hee Haw Farms with some friends.  It actually ended up being a really warm day, a little to my disappointment.  I think if you're going on a hay ride, sweaters and scarves and hats should be involved, but not in the 70s!  We had a great time anyways.

 Morgan was all dressed up in her overalls for the occasion

 it's a long way down

 but here goes

 other Emmett Otter lovers may be reminded of another slide

 Mommy's turn!

 enjoying the hay ride

I think Morgan wanted to pet the animals, but she was not allowed.  She pulls on Boog all the time, and he takes it, but I wasn't sure if the farm animals were ready to have their hair pulled.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!



Pictures, Pictures, and more Pictures

In anticipation of Morgan's first birthday, we decided to try a new photography studio which just opened close to our house.  It was such a wonderful experience!  I loved all of the pictures, all 38 of them in less than 45 minutes!  The photographer was wonderful, the studio was colorful, yet peaceful.  And best of all, Morgan enjoyed the experience, giving us some great photos.  So for this blog, you'll have to excuse me, no more words, just pictures, lots and lots of pictures.  Thank you Camera Shy!



Return of Spookley the Square Pumpkin and the Want-to-Be-Crafter

On a recent trip to Robert's with my 50% off coupon in hand, I saw a display for Do-It-Yourself Fall crafts, complete with detailed instructions.  I thought, "I can do this!"  One craft I just didn't get though, square pumpkins?  Why would I want to display square pumpkins? 

While looking through my box of classroom Halloween stuff, I found a book I had forgotten all about:  The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin.  Now displaying square pumpkins made sense!  So wanting to be crafty, here's what I managed to do.

 I also attempted a felt table runner, with hand-stitched leaves.  I kept my version a little simpler than the one at Robert's.  I think I like it better that way.

 Here's the project that's not quite finished yet:

Am I still a want-to-be-crafter or actually a crafter now?  I'm not sure yet.

My friend Melanie on the other hand, she is definitely a crafter.  She makes adorable hats for babies, and in one night completed a hat for Morgan which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!

This is Morgan admiring herself in the mirror. 

If you're interested in hats for your little ones, she does custom work.  Look for her at the little crochet shop on Etsy.