The Weekend

We had a fun weekend that started on Friday. Okay, lets be honest, for Morgan and me the entire week is like a weekend except that daddy isn't home during the day.

This is Morgan's bath time on Friday.
This is how I have to shower lately or I get a 17 pound, fully clothed, crawling girl in the shower with me.

This is what happens when I don't let her climb into the shower with me.

We had a play date in our new play room that used to be the theater room-turned-library.

The girls all wanted to suck on the same binky for a few minutes.

On Saturday we went to a 1st birthday for our friend, Hendrix. I got lots of ideas for Morgan's big day. No pics of the party but here we are, ready to go.

On our way home from the party we saw a petting zoo in the parking lot across the street from our subdivision so we had to stop. Morgan LOVES dogs. These weren't part of the petting zoo but she liked them the best.

Then she saw little ponies (or donkeys).

Then the baby lambs.

It was a good time and so fun to see Morgan experience things for the first time. On Sunday our ward was split. Thankfully we are in the same ward at 11am (the best time for us, minus Morgan's nap time).

Medium

I don't know what it was about being in Phoenix almost a month ago but it made me have this intense desire to watch the show "Medium" (it takes place in Phoenix and is about a medium -- hence the name). I had seen the first three seasons so we went to the video store to rent season four. They didn't have it so I settled with season five (I know you should never watch shows out of order but you don't understand this insatiable need to watch the show). We watched it every night that week and it was great. Then I started having dreams that I was a medium and I would dream about a murder and then wake up and feel like I should tell someone so they could stop it. Since I'm definitely NOT a medium myself, I easily discarded the dream as totally subconscious awareness of too much of a good show. However, I did do a little research. It turns out that the show is about the real life of a woman, Allison Dubois, from Phoenix. She has also written books about her experiences -- which took me to the library.

I checked out "Don't Kiss Them Goodbye," by Allison Dubois and have been reading it here and there. It's really cool because I have been taking my knowledge of the spirit world (that I learn about with my religion) and comparing it to her book. It turns out that I am a total believer in mediums (or psychics, if you don't know what a medium is). I really believe that some people are seers (in a non-prophet way, besides THE prophet, obviously) and can communicate with those who have passed on. Also, she talks about how to be a good medium you have to practice and make yourself better. It reminds me of something I learn at church about hiding your candle under a bushel.

Anyway, weird post, I know, but I guess it is a little testimony about how God gives each of us talents and we can either bury them or use them and make them better. On a side note, I'm glad I'm not a medium because I already get scared of the dark. I couldn't imagine seeing dead people in the dark -- or seeing murders from the eyes of the killer or victim like Allison Dubois.

Resolution Success

If you read my New Year's Resolutions you may remember that one of them was to buy a bunch of coats on clearance and donate them to people who need them when it gets cold this year. My resolution is half way complete! I have purchased 6 coats and 3 snowsuit sets. I still may buy more but for now I can at least say that I kept my resolution. Yay!

Just so you know (if you want to do the same), it is a little late in the stores that I've checked but I found great deals online. I purchased from overstock.com and got everything for around $100.

This cute snowsuit (pictured) is one that I bought.

11 Months

Morgan turned 11 months yesterday. Some memorable things that she is doing are:

Excitedly crawling to her daddy when she hears him come through the door (which is also very exciting for Tom because it took a while for her to want him and not me).

If she's in a good mood she will dance to any music she hears. Sometimes she dances when my phone rings.

She is becoming more daring and will stand unassisted until she loses her balance. Still no steps but we think they are coming soon.

She loves her music toy (pictured) from her uncle Robb.

She will still eat anything but some of her favorites are ham, cheese, peas, and Gold Fish (multi grain, of course). She loves to feed herself. Okay, she even feeds herself soil from this giant potted plant in our dining room. I think we have an incident every day.

Here is a picture of her first french braid (done last week).

I made her some arm-warmers because her hands/forearms are always cold from crawling on the hardwood floor and I'm tired of the jackets we have. They seem to be working.

We love this little girl so much and are anticipating her first birthday party next month! It's a monkey theme (because that is her nickname).

More Photoshoot Pictures

Do We Look Alike?

Me and Morgan... Are there similarities?

Nana Time

We had Tom's mom stay with us for the weekend. It was so fun to see her. We miss being so close in proximity. She even watched Morgan for us Saturday night while we went to dinner. We wish she didn't have to leave so soon.

Good News For The Riches

I have wonderful news (for Tom and me anyway). Morgan finally slept all night! Okay, maybe she didn't sleep all night but at least we didn't hear her crying (if she did cry) so at least we slept all night. She was in a different position when I checked on her (still sleeping) at 5:30, then at 6. Finally she woke up at 7:30 (8:30 with the time change) and I was elated.

I have been having middle-of-the-night Touretts where I start swearing every time she wakes up. Before you judge, let me tell you that for almost 11 months she has awoken on average 3 times every night, which means that I have been awakened that much, which leads to a very tired and exhausted Kelli who swears in the middle of the night.

I actually have a post from when Morgan was around 3 months old that says she slept through the night... and she did for a 3 month old. I think one night she slept from 11pm until 4am. Well, for an 11 month old, that is not okay and besides, it only happened one or two times months ago.

We decided a few nights ago to let her cry it out. I have to ween her in a couple of weeks anyway so she shouldn't need food in the middle of the night. Anyway, we did let her cry it out two nights ago with me checking on her every 10 minutes while she would cry and just laying her back down. I hope I can stay strong because it is hard for me to listen to my baby cry and not pick her up and cuddle her. Maybe she'll sleep through the night again. Please, please, please.

V-Day Party

It was a while ago but I wanted to record (since this is basically my journal) what we did for this Valentines Day party we attended.

My friend, Angela, is an extreme go-getter who makes sure every minute of her day is taken by either family, service (she is the Relief Society president), exercise (teaches aerobics classes at the church and local school), and if there is any time left, she plans parties. This one was for Valentines Day but a couple of weeks after.

We arrived at Fiesta Guadalajara and had to pick a name tag. Ours were Lady and The Tramp. Then we were given an envelope with 5 or 6 random words in it. We had to write a love poem to our spouse using those words. We were then asked to read our poems in front of everyone. Tom was the first one to go and after him, nobody wanted to follow. Here is his poem:

Ode to Kelli,
My darling for your love I'll always work
As secretary, maid, or SODA JERK.
My sweet you've made me richer than John D.
(Rockefeller), and haven't starved me like that poor GANDHI.
My dear you make me want to do what's right,
Your love keeps me high like a STALACTITE.
My love your heart is always my key need,
Like plankton can't live without SEA WEED.
My lady your love makes me crazy like a RABID dog.
For you are my princess and I am your frog.

Mine wasn't quite as good but here it is:

Tom, Tom, Tom... at this SYMPOSIUM
I write to you this poem, sorry if it's dumb.
Until I met you, my heart was CATATONIC.
Now my PLASMA boils - isn't that ironic?
I will join you for all your adventures,
Even when we're old and wearing DENTURES.
Hey, lets go to Africa and see a big ANTEATER.
Remember how before Morgan came you had a small two-seater?
Every time I see you you get a big fat hug.
To finish off this poem -- remember the BEARSKIN RUG?

Before the party she had all the girls send her a song that reminds us of our husbands and she dedicated them all night. The guys were asked to think of one word that describes their wives and that word was written on a giant heart cookie. Tom's word was Snugglepuss (which is totally an inside joke) but he was told it could only be 10 letters so it ended up being "Snugglepus." We had a good laugh about that.

At the end of the night, the girls were given a card from our husbands and the guys were given cd's (with the songs from the night) with a little dedication from their wives.

It was a really cool party and a lot of thought was put into it.

Sleepy

The night before we went to Phoenix our neighbor's kids slept over because the dad works out of town and the mom had to take his wallet to him five hours away. Anyway, we had a pizza party and watched movies. Morgan was so exhausted. She fell asleep in her high chair.

Morganisms

Some new things that Morgan is doing:

She loves soda. We don't let her have it really but she knows what it is from the rare tastes and she will do whatever she can to get to it. Here she is trying to get anything left from the empty can. She climbs up my legs to stand. This is a very common position for the two of us. I got so many cute outfits from a couple of friends and had to take her pic this morning in this one. She's pulling a Britney Spears but at least she has underwear.

Phoenix/Vegas Trip

Within the hour of not passing my driving test, I had to be in the airport ready to board a plane to Phoenix. Tom was in Baltimore for business so I decided to take Morgan to visit my BFF, Katie and her baby, Andie and then drive from there to see my BFF Kim (Katie's twin) and her newborn baby, Brienne, in Las Vegas.

It was so good to see them and the weather in Phoenix was so so so great. We borrowed a double jogging stroller (...and I was thinking my single is heavy with one baby...) and I took the girls running a couple of times while Katie was at work.

This is Andie and Morgan in the tub. Morgan wasn't quite sure about it.

Morgan loves Rossi the dog. She got a kick out of him and his cohort, Scotty.

Little girls holding hands.

This is the ginormous jogging stroller that we borrowed from Katie's visiting teaching companion.

Crappy picture but it is the only one with Katie and me in it.

Morgan and Andie

Eating a lemon at Famous Dave's.

Hello blue eyes!

I know this is blurry but I love it because this is how Morgan is lately. She tips her head back to laugh. It is so cute and memorable for me.

Here are all three babies. Brienne (less than one month), Morgan (10 months), Andie (7 months). I love how Morgan is holding Bri. She'll be such a good big sister. I got these headbands and the hat for a great deal at Hobby Lobby and we made the bows. Normally the Potts sisters are not okay with pink and big bows so it was fun for me to force them.

Not an Idaho Driver

I'm the kind of person who avoids government offices for as long as I can so it's no surprise that I wouldn't change my legal name to "Rich" for over three years. However, my bank called and mentioned that the IRS wants my real name on my bank accounts or I'll be fined (way to put it gently). That gave me a little kick in the direction of the Social Security Administration office last week. I took Morgan and we waited for an hour or for me to get my name changed -- and it's official!

I decided that since I was in the flow of changing my name, I should change my driver's license too (oh, you're supposed to do that within 90 days of moving to Idaho) so after the Social Security we headed over to the Driver's License Division. I had my marriage license, passport, Utah driver's license, and a power bill (everything I needed, or so I thought). This wait wasn't as long but when I handed the lady (side note: have you ever noticed that everyone who works in these kinds of offices has hair like it's the 80's) my stuff she looked at the marriage license and told me that it doesn't have the stamp they need so I couldn't get my Idaho license but I could do everything to get ready for it. I decided to go ahead and take the test, for which I had sort of skimmed over half of the manual while babysitting a crawling 10-month-old (meaning I couldn't concentrate at all).

I got to number 38 out of 40 (while trying to keep Morgan calm) and missed my 7th question, which totally means that I FAILED the drivers test. So there you have it. I guess I technically cannot legally drive in Idaho.

It's March!

I literally feel lighter today because it's March! I woke up in a great mood, then learned that it is supposed to be 59 degrees today so I started doing figure skating in my living room. There's just something about months and months of winter that weigh me down and now that it's March I can feel spring and see green. I'm so excited!