So, what's up?

I know that it has been a while since I posted... Well, 4 months to be exact. So to my faithful readers and friends, please know I haven't forgotten you. I have thought several times that it would be nice to update you in the excitement happening in the Morgan household, and I just simply haven't sat down to do it. And I really like to add photos with my posts, and I can't do that from my iPad, so I have just been lazy.

So I'm sure your wondering, what's up?

-I'm pregnant with baby number 3! The funny part is, is that we had tried to avoid having a baby in September but our attempts failed. So baby #3 is due in September too... (my kids and hubby are all born in sept). We should find out if we are having a boy or girl next week... Hopefully. Then we will begin the naming process, and the room planning. I am feeling well so far and have been on all the needed medications since the beginning. I just started to feel the baby move for the first time this past week and i was happy feel it. I seriously thought i would feel it much earlier, because this is my 3rd. The kids are very excited and were the ones to spill the beans to our friends here in town... Finnegan was busy telling his classmates who in turn cornered us on the issue. It was quite comical, as I was approached several times regarding "something tht Finnegan had told my child while at school.". The first couple of times I was actually scared for fear of the horrible things he might be saying... But then chuckled to find out he was sharing our news with the world!

- We are less than 2 months away from our cross country move back to Seattle. We have had many attempts and lures by my husbands company to keep us here , but we are headed back west. There was even a time that we thought we might head south to FL instead for a short time, but we are preparing for our return to the west. I have enrolled Finn in school for the fall and have contacted my OB for our appts. Our house has been put on the market and we had our first showing today, We areReady to head back, and excited.

-We have just returned from a business trip and a few days of vacation to Florida as a family. Other than taking our kids to FL during "spring break" we were pleased with our trip. Our kids benefited from being with each other and are now best friends. On our way home we took a full day in Disney World. It was a fun time and our kids loved meeting Mickey Mouse. They are still talking about it. Penny had her first haircut there, and Finnegan got to drive a car at the speedway. We rode Dumbo together as a family, and enjoyed 3 parades and some of the fireworks. The kids loved swimming at the hotel and each walked away with a stuffed animal and Mickey sucker!

-While we were gone in Fl, our dog had major surgery... A procedure we knew she would need but just didn't know she'd need while we were out of town. She is now recovered, much better than the doctor anticipated and we are pleased with the results. We look forward to no more surprise visits to the vet mid week for costly procedures and overnight stays. Yeah, Oreo!

So, thats whats been happening here. I hopefully, will be updating more frequently!

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My jumping bean can't sit still for two minutes to watch anything on TV usually, but she adores Rapunzel. So this is how I found her this afternoon... Absolutely precious!

Vanilla is Ready!

The vanilla is ready!! I waited patiently and now it's time to give my gifts away! I was super excited to bottle it up and will share it with my Bible Study gals this week. I don't know if any of you have done this, but it was pretty cool! I deviated a bit from the bottling instructions. After spending all the $$ on the vanilla beans, I just couldn't throw them in the trash without scraping the seeds from inside and adding back to the extract. I cook with vanilla paste and love seeing the seeds in my baked goods. So I added it to my formula. I was happy with how it turned out and have even used it in a recipe or two.

If your a friend of mine on FB, check out the sweet comment made by my sister in law regarding her vanilla that arrived in the mail earlier this week!!

More photos...

These are some of my other favorites from our "Christmas Card Photo Shoot"...

This one looks like he is kissing her, but he's not... sweet anyway!

Her "rockin" shoes!!
My little mommy!! She loves this baby so much!!

This is a true representation of Finn's personality... he gets really excited about things sometimes and makes this super silly face!
And he always has a question!!

She's such a cheeser too!!

My handsome dude!!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is fast approaching. I am happy to say that I have successfully sent out the Christmas cards, shopped and wrapped all of the gifts before the 10th of the month!! I even mailed all of the gifts for our out of town family before the last day! I am right on schedule... at least for the moment. Now, I just need to host a luncheon for my Bible Study gals, visit Finnegan's school program and pack for our trip to Grandma's house!

Anywho- I wanted to share a couple of photos with you! The first is our make shift card for this year. I had sticker shock this year with Christmas cards and decided to not order so many this year, but rather print a nice picture and "picnik" it to say "Merry Christmas"! (If you haven't ever used picnik.com, you really should.) But these are a few photos from our photo session with a new friend in town. He hasn't taken a ton of photos like this, but it was worth a shot, and I think they came out beautifully... but hey, they are my kids, so of course I'm gonna think that!! :)

Hope you enjoy them!! I'll post a few more tomorrow for you to view!!

Christmas is Upon Us!

Christmas is getting so close. I can hardly believe that the month seems like it's flying by! It is already the 7th and this weekend is FULL of parties and activities, and next week we make the trek up to Michigan for our Christmas celebration. I am quickly starting and finishing projects that I thought I had weeks to finish. But, really, no time at all.

So, as we get close to christmas, let me just say that it is the 7th, and I am DONE Christmas shopping. And almost done wrapping. My kids gifts were bought before the month had even started. For the past couple of years, my husband has been on me to "tone it down" with the gifts. Each year I have the best of intentions, and instead of sticking to a gift limit, I keep to a budget, which with lower prices each year, I find a way to get them TONS of stuff within our budget. So, this year, we decided to stick to a gift limit for our kids. We decided initially that we would give 3 gifts from Santa, and 1 from us. Then it was lowered to 2 gifts from Santa and one from us, and now it has turned into 3 gifts from us (plus a stocking with candies and a couple small trinket toys). Nothing "officially" from Santa except a stocking of small things.

Our kids have so much and get SO much from other people (you'd think our family was gigantic with the amount of things they come home with), and it really isn't neccessary for them to have stuff just to have stuff. And to be perfectly honest, I really wasn't impressed with the toy offering and sales out there this year. There wasn't a list of toys our kids wanted and I just didn't feel like I needed to spend tons of money to get them everything I thought they might like. I am so excited for Christmas this year... for our kids to open the 2 gifts we are taking with us (1 large gift will be left home due to space in the car) and give them time to open them and play with them. It will be so nice.

I recently have seen several people post on FB the 4 gift guideline... 1 gift they want, 1 gift they need, 1 gift they wear and 1 gift they read. I think that is a great rule of thumb. And I think ours follow that guideline... sort of like "name that tune"... I can follow that guideline in 3 gifts! :) HAHA!

Have you noticed a significant difference in the way you give gifts in the last year or two?

I heart Pinterest

I love Pinterest. If you are crafty, a foodie, love decorating, parties, gift giving, photography, or simply love to see other peoples ideas, than Pinterest is for you! In the past months, I have tried more new recipes, with many successes, and new crafting ideas, gift ideas and found some great encouragement. Today, I even made a new wreath for Christmas out of plastic ornaments... Really something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and just haven't.

So if your crafty, or want to be, check it out. I'm sure you'll find something that will inspire you!