Catching Up on Birthday Stuff

We really love this new place that we tried for our anniversary so we decided to go again to Epi's for my birthday dinner.

It was just as good as we remembered it. Their fish in cream sauce is to die for. My romantic husband reserved the porch table for us but we ended up sharing with a walk-in that was going to be turned away because he didn't have a reservation (on a Thursday night... it's that good).

Tom brought me flowers (and he's lucky he did because he was late getting home from work). I was sick with a cold by the end of the night though and all I wanted to do was sleep. Okay, part of me wanted to go to a movie because I rarely go anymore so we went to Date Night and subsequently found out that movie theater prices have gone up again. Is it normal to pay $10 each to see a movie? I don't know. I grew up where it cost $4.50 a ticket.

Friday Night in the ER

Poor little Morgan caught my cold last week but to her it ended up being croup. She was having a hard time breathing and coughing on Friday evening so I called the on call nurse around 1am. While I was talking with her she could hear Morgan, who starting throwing up. She also had a 103.8 degree temp so the nurse suggested I take her to the ER. So off we went. Tom was out of town for work so it was just the two of us.

They gave her a breathing treatment, which she hated, and took x-rays. The x-rays were clear and healthy, thank goodness. Here she is in her little hospital attire. We brought some books to read and something to play with in case we had to wait a while (and we did).

3-0

I turned 30 today. I have been thinking about the last ten years and everything that has happened. It was a great decade. Here are some of the things I have done...

Turned 20 while working in South Carolina. Came home and went to school at UVSC for a semester while working at a shoe store. Got my associates degree. Studied for a semester at BYU-Hawaii. Went skydiving. Served a mission in Washington DC. Came home and went to BYU for a couple of years while working at dental offices and with Jamie. Went to Disneyland. Went to Tijuana with my younger brother. Went back to DC for a visit. Graduated from BYU with a Bachelors in Exercise Physiology. Got accepted to grad school (in physical therapy) at the University of Utah. Spent a month in New Zealand and Australia. Got a job in Salt Lake. Moved to Salt Lake. Got a different job. Got another different Job. Moved to Provo. Bought a house. Bought a duplex. Kissed lots and lots of boys. Met the last boy I'd ever kiss. Cruised the Mediterranean. Got engaged. Got married. Honeymooned in Belize. Sold the duplex. Got laid off. Cruised the Hawaiian Islands. Wrote a book. Moved to Idaho. Got a job. Cruised Mexico. Vacationed in South Carolina. Got pregnant. Hiked Machu Picchu in Peru. Had a baby. Bought a house. Quit my job. Visited friends and family in Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin. Hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner. Went to Disney World. Watched my baby learn to crawl. Saw her take her first steps. And today, on my birthday, saw her first two teeth poke through. I have had a wonderful 10 years!

New Callings

Our ward recently was split so they have been redoing a bunch of callings. I was in the young women and Tom was in the primary. We got called in to talk to the second counselor in the bishopric a few weeks ago. The week before we saw the bishop outside of church and told him we would do anything but scouts. When we were with the counselor guess what the calling was... Webelos! Seriously my heart sunk and I was starting to think of ways we could get out of the ward -- that's how much we liked scouts last time. Tom started sweating on his forehead and we were both like, "Um. Huh. Well." Then we started the nervous laugh and I mentioned what we told the bishop the last week. As if on cue, the bishop walked in. The counselor explained what we were talking about and the bishop took one look at us and said, "lets rethink this one." So technically we didn't say no to the calling. I'm just happy that we can now stay in this ward. I really love the people and I love my house. Moving would have been inconvenient.

Our new callings (that we willingly accepted) are young men's secretary for Tom and primary chorister for me. I admit that I'm a little bit nervous, not being musically inclined and all. I start next week and I think it will be fun.

12 Month Stats

Morgan got to go to the doctor yesterday for her year immunizations -- lucky girl. She did really well though and only cried for a minute. She also was weighed and measured. Her stats are:

Weight: 18 lbs 5 oz -- still 10th percentile

Height: 28 inches -- 10%

Head: 46 cm -- 75%

She is growing well and her weight is perfect for her height. I guess she should look like Charlie Brown with a big head but you really can't tell.

She took her first steps yesterday! We were so excited.

She sometimes says "mama" and chants "da-da, da-da," although I wonder if she understands the meaning of the words.

For the past few days she has been talking really fast. It sounds like "tickatickaticka" or "digadigadiga."

When you tell her to say "dad go" she does. She came up with it and I doubt she knows what it means but we play along. We're pretty sure it doesn't mean that daddy left.

She has stopped doing this but a few weeks ago when we'd read her the book "Baby Boo" she would say "jes" or "yeth" after the question, "do you want to play?" It was pretty amazing. She must want to play a lot.

She is sleeping through the night and has been consecutively for about a month. It is so wonderful for us. My midnight swearing has been eliminated!

Morgan will kiss her baby dolls anytime you tell her to but she won't kiss us on demand. Lucky dolls. She's going to be a great mommy.

She has been going to bed with a doll in one arm and a Gloworm in the other. When we check on her later she usually is sleeping on top of the covers away from her toys or with her bum in the air.

I just love this little girl. She has been such a blessing to me. When people ask if I miss her being a new baby I honestly can say that I don't. I have loved every stage and I always love the stage we're in the best.

Happy Birthday, Monkey!

Here are some pictures from Morgan's birthday party. We had a yummy bar-b-que with a bunch of our friends and family that could make it.

Here's Morgan blowing out her candle (okay, I did it).This is before she tried the cake.This is the first big bite after a bunch of little delicate tastes.This is when she realized that eating cake is so cool. It makes your hair stick out and everything.

Then we did the pinata. We wanted everyone to have a turn hitting it but it only made it through a few of the kids. Morgan's claiming her piece of candy from the pinata.Presents were the last thing we did. She didn't focus very long on this but luckily I took over for her.

We really have the best friends and family that would come to a one-year-old's birthday party to show their support. Thanks everyone!

Birthday Party Decorations

I have been planning Morgan's first birthday party for months so a long time ago I decided to go with a "monkey" theme. I looked online and at party stores for girl monkey decorations and couldn't find anything. Finally I found the cutest invitations and party favors but each invitation cost like $2 so I ripped off their idea and made my own invitations and decorations (except the pinata that I bought at Zurcher's and added eye lashes and a bow).

Invitation

Pinata

Monkey Bean Bag Toss

Hula Hoops (okay, I didn't make these either)

Pool's Open! (and ice cold but the ambiance was great)

Monkey Banner

12 Month Banner (each of the poofs is a hair bow)

Monkey Birthday Hat
Monkey Birthday Cake