Trick-or-Treating

Our neighbor friends came over for an early dinner before we took the kids around our neighborhood for trick-or-treating. Claire and Mercedes clipped along at a faster pace, and their haul of candy made Claire exclaim, "This is the best Halloween trick-or-treating ever." Mercedes dressed as the Gray Lady and Claire as a black cat. Claire proudly created most of her costume by drawing stripes on a gray shirt and whiskers on her face. We tried to get all the kids in one picture. However, Logan (the turtle) wouldn't stand still long enough, and Collier was already strapped into the stroller.

Mercedes was in character with her forlorn expression; she normally has a lovely smile.

The monkey and the banana were perfect costumes for my boys, and I was thrilled that tonight's wearing was the third opportunity they'd had to don them this holiday.

Hamilton and Logan got really into the ringing of doorbells and asking for candy. They said several times, "Go get more candy!" in super-excited voices--even while they were standing on porches gripping pieces of candy. And we got plenty of it throughout the evening. Hamilton also enjoyed saying, "Happy happy," though sometimes he'd tack a "ween" on the end. Collier was content in his warm costume to ride in the stroller for the evening.

The boys were so cute with their getting in and out of the wagon in between each house.

I know it's dark in this video, but you can hear Hamilton's excited voice.

Six Months Old

Collier turned six months old on Friday. He's growing like a weed, and he continues to move around so much. He squirms and scoots across the floor while he's playing. He rolls over both ways and spins around so much that he hardly stays on his playmats, especially if he's going after a toy. He enjoys standing, and he can balance himself in a standing position at the coffee table. He does not usually like sitting.

He's still happy and all smiles for everyone who looks his way, and he's still spitting up like it's his job. I know Mr. Morgan is ready for him to outgrow that yucky trait. We're feeding him lots of new foods including sweet potatoes, bananas, green beans, carrots, green peas, and apples. He seeems to like everything as long as it's pureed enough--and shoved into his mouth fed to him as quickly as possible.

Collier has a sweet, cuddly nature; however, holding him can be a struggle if he wants to be on the floor rolling around and playing. He does enjoy his exersaucer which I use when I need him to stay put. He loves watching Hamilton play, and Collier still takes Hamilton's running him over with the umbrella stroller rough playing well.

He spends most of his playtime on his belly gnawing on different toys. Lying on his belly is his favorite position, though it was Hamilton's least favorite.

We love our littlest boy who's growing so fast!

Gonna Get You

While playing with my new iPhone, I captured a video of Hamilton (hence the vertical picture). He loves to play "Mama get you" which involves my chasing after him saying, "Mama's gonna get you." Typically he then runs to the rug and falls down, starts laughing hysterically, and burps and hiccups several times. Here he started "getting" Mr. Morgan and me saying what sounds like, "Minna gonna getchoo." I love when he cracks himself up.

Everyday Conversations

Hamilton talks so much about everything now, especially those things familiar to him. Since we have dogs and diapers, we deal with poo daily. I tried my hardest yesterday afternoon to get Hamilton to sing his familiar songs in his precious voice, but all I got was a conversation with a two-year-old about poo. I don't think I imagined motherhood would be this way. It's still cute, though.

Mountain Weekend

Our weekend in the mountains gave us our first taste of winter: We enjoyed a roaring fire in the fireplace nearly the whole time we were in the cabin. The nights were cold, but the days were sunny and cool. We drove to Spruce Pine for the morning, and Hamilton got to see a train up close. He and Pops were both excited.

The cabin was near a pond that looked beautiful with all the fall color reflecting off the water.

Hamilton loved finding "ticks," and he carried them on our walks just like Pops likes to do.

I could just eat up those chubby cheeks.

Travis and Pops found some corn kernels, so they encouraged Hamilton to throw them into the pond for the ducks and geese.

Since Sunday was Mr. Morgan's birthday, Mom made him a delicious apple pie with "Happy Birthday, Seth" written in the crust. We did birthday celebrations so late in the evening--after our dip in the hot tub--that I didn't capture any pictures of all of us in our pajamas.

I realized once I got home that I didn't get any pictures of Collier; I guess he was napping during the few times I had my camera with me. And our pictures don't tell the whole story of the weekend--which began with our arriving at a cabin with the main power turned off. A refrigerator and freezer full of rotten food had to be cleaned out. Mom's stomach was the strongest, so she got the job. After the rotten-food debacle, the rest of the weekend smelled much better.

Catch-Up List

Yes, we're still sad about Phoebe; but contrary to the blog's previous front-page post, life continues. I have much to share from the last two weeks. And I have pictures, especially for those wonderful grandparents.

1. My women's conference over two weeks ago was fabulous--no kids, no cooking, no chores! We heard awesome teaching, and I got to hang out with some cool chickies! We ran into lots of friends from other churches, despite nearly 2000 women in attendance. I was surprised and delighted to see my high school chum one morning at breakfast.

2. I've weaned Collier, so he's now fully drinking formula. I was eager to wean because--to me--breast-feeding gets old. I was ready to have my body (and time) back to myself. As I type, I think this all sounds selfish, but I was really ready to be finished with pumping. I weaned Hamilton between five and six months, too.

3. Hamilton does lots of new things now, like saying, "I wuv you!" He loves giving and asking for "high fives." He sings many of his familiar songs in distinguishable words and tunes; I'm really hoping for a video of his rendition of "ABC" soon.

4. We celebrated Mr. Morgan's birthday with Claire on Thursday night. She made him a brightly colored card, and because she had extra clay on hand from social studies class, created a sculpture of herself for him. What father wouldn't love a clay figurine of his daughter? Nevermind that Hamilton points and says, "poop" every time he sees it.

I thought it improved from far away. Something about the tilt of the head and ponytail, I think, is what I like.

5. My blogging has been so light this month, and my other writing is non-existent. I'm not sure why I'm feeling so uninspired these days, but not meeting with my writers' group every few weeks has not helped. Our coffee-fueled discussions helped hold me accountable to writing and blogging, inspiring me with ideas and reaffirming my purpose. Christy and Patty, I miss you! I know there were excellent reasons why we took a break from writers' group, but let's start again soon.

6. Mr. Morgan and I started a cleanse this morning. I'll probably post about our three days without solid food once we're closer to the end.

7. I found a fantastic food blog last week with delicious sounding recipes. I tried the pumpkin spice bars and cookies. The bars were delicious but crumbly because I added raisins and pecans. Sadly, I burned the cookies, but they would have been great without the scald.

Since this post is already long, I'll create another with pictures of the boys from our weekend in the mountains.

In Mourning

Wow, what a long time since my last post. Sweet Papa Joe called thinking I might have been sick. I have many new items to post and a new layout option to check out, but I must first post about our difficult week.

Our dear Feebs left this world last Saturday, and we greatly feel her loss. Mr. Morgan and the boys went to the farm to hang out, and I went to a women's conference in Atlanta. After a tragic accident, Phoebe was laid to rest at the farm--a place she loved because she had so much freedom to roam and so many places to explore. I wanted to remember Phoebe on the blog as the sweet-natured dog that she was. Her small stature and cocked-head grin could melt any heart.

She was a constant companion to Fatty, encouraging Fatty to act years younger than her bones make her feel. A Fourth of July before we had kids to dress up, we adorned Phoebe and Fatty with festive bandanas for their necks.

Phoebe's gazelle-like bounding around the yard always made us smile. She loved to chew on her toys--and the boys'. She loved to scavenge after our meals and eat her own, though sometimes standing was just too much effort while licking her bowl clean.

And she loved freshly popped popcorn. She and Fatty were in the kitchen because of the melodious sounds of kernels popping.

She didn't mind eating her food off the floor when Hamilton helped feed her.

Phoebe had a special affinity for Mr. Morgan. Even when her bath was done, she didn't want to be far away from him.

She loved sitting in his lap.

Phoebe cozied up to anything that smelled like us--piles of laundry, the babies' Boppy, etc.

Rest in peace, dear Feebs. We'll miss you so.

Five Months Old

Last Wednesday Collier was five months old, and I'm not getting any quicker at posting his monthly updates. He continues to be a happy baby--except when he's not, and he lets you know it by an ear-piercing squeal. Lately we've had mostly happy days with less squealing.

After a week of sleeping sometimes swaddled and other times not, I think we've given up the swaddle for good. He's younger than Hamilton was when I stopped swaddling him but about the same size. Collier's continuing to grow, so his little arm's breaking free of the swaddle was beginning to be a nightly occurence. At his last appointment, he was over 14 pounds. He's nicely fitting into six-month clothes, and I'm starting him in some nine-month outfits as well.

He still loves to play on his belly, holding his head up like a champ. He rolls over to the left and right, from belly and back, and back to belly. He swivels, too, and he's starting to draw his legs in like he wants to scoot or crawl. He is not, however, showing any signs of wanting to be in a sitting position.

His dark, full hair from birth is gone. I think he may turn out to be blonder than Hamilton, though right now he has far less hair than Hamilton had at this age. Collier loves to smile, and he does so with his whole body whenever anyone talks to him. Claire thinks it's just her talking to him that makes him smile, so don't tell her that anyone's attention produces the same result.

Collier's eating cereal three times each day to supplement his three bottles. Moving from four bottles to three last week has opened up my schedule, so with Collier's two longer naps (instead of three) I'm able to have a little more time to call my own. I've been spending my extra time cleaning the house, since those chores are the first things I neglect when I have too little time.

I haven't seen or felt any teeth yet, but he loves to chew on his pacifier, hands, and toys. He's just discovered his feet this week, so now he chews on them, too.

I tried to get a sweet picture of Hamilton and Collier. Hamilton fussed at first, then promptly dumped Collier over and out of his lap. Fortunately, the grass was plush and soft under the quilt.

Despite what the picture shows, Hamilton is still usually sweet and mostly gentle with his little brother. He always wants to give kisses and hugs to the baby. Collier laughs mostly at Hamilton, which I think is sweet, since Collier's laughs can be few and far between.