July Round-up

After I was concerned that I had too many activities packed into this day, we woke up to find a crying Hamilton who fell back asleep while waiting the remaining ten minutes for his alarm-clock light to turn green. The second time he awoke crying I asked him if he felt OK, and he said his throat hurt. So this morning has been drawn out with lots of TV watching, some throwing up--mostly in the toilet, feeling revived and heartily eating breakfast, and finally back to TV watching with his feet covered up by the blankies that normally must stay in his bed.

I found him like this when I walked back downstairs after checking on Collier: Hamilton was fast asleep on the hard floor on top of the dirty towels. Yes, that's a barf bucket in the bathroom--just in case.

Since our many activities have been postponed or canceled due to Hamilton's sickness, I now have a more open day which in some ways makes me feel good. And I'm having time to sit down and blog. I still have some pictures left to post from our trip over the July Fourth holiday.

Swimming Lessons
Hamilton's been in swim lessons this week and last week, and he's learned so much. While he used to be tentative around the water--sometimes taking up to ten minutes to even get wet--he now jumps right in. He puts his head underwater, kicks his feet, jumps in from the side, and tries to swim. I'm thrilled with his progress.

Here's a picture from our trip to Mountville when we spent a late afternoon at some friends' pool. It took Hamilton several seconds of encouraging to jump into the water into Pops's arms--and he definitely didn't want his head to go under.

Now he confidently jumps into the water by himself and then swims toward the adult catching him. Sadly, I planned to wait until his last day of swim lessons (today) to take my camera. So I have no pictures of his cute little class, which included Grady and West.

The Pacifier

The "paci fairy" came to visit Hamilton--and take his pacifier--on his third birthday while we were at the farm. We opened the special prize that she brought just before bedtime.

I started talking about her visit the week before, and Hamilton really obsessed over her coming, her taking away his pacifier, and her bringing him a special prize. Once I'd encouraged him that the paci fairy would bring a special prize, I had to actually think of something to bring him. I thought I had a great idea: A Thomas the train pillow. My thinking was that he could have something in his bed with him that he'd love and would help ease him through pacifier withdrawals. While he did like the Pillow Pet at first, he turned a little hostile toward him after asking repeatedly for his pacifier but not getting it. He told me, "Take Thomas downstairs. I don't want him."

Those first few nights without the pacifier proved hard for Hamilton to calm himself down and go to sleep. But after a week or so, he went back to his old habit of going to sleep within minutes of my telling him goodnight. (The pacifier was a wonderful crutch for helping him sleep these past three years, but I was thankful it didn't take long for him to adjust to going to sleep without it.)

Greenville Day Trip

During our stay in Mountville, Mom and I took the kids one day to the Children's Museum and to Falls Park on the Reedy. We'd read on Aubrey's blog about how fun the Children's Museum was, and it was indeed fantastic. Claire loved the museum, and so did the boys. This climb-able sculpture was super cool, and Claire was much braver than Hamilton as she climbed through tighter spaces and closer to the skylight above.

Then Hamilton discovered these mirrors, and he loved jumping and running on them.

We perused the shelves at the "local Bilo." I'm so proud that my son mostly filled his cart with fruits and veggies first.

Mimi helped the boys with the climbing wall.

The farm exhibit was such fun for the boys, since it was for kids under five. Mimi and Claire explored other floors, while I watched the boys play in the farm.

After a rejuvenating lunch, we walked to Falls Park, so we could see the cool bridge and play in the sprinklers. And the sprinklers even had a train--much to Hamilton's delight. We had neglected to bring a swimsuit, so we pretended Hamilton was a little European boy with small swimming trunks.

It was a beautiful area of the park, and the best part was the shaded benches for the parents.

Our Students

We've spent every Sunday this summer with our adopted college students, and Hamilton has grown attached to Alex and Trevor. Last Sunday he literally cried tears after they left. They're so sweet and wonderful to him, and he loves for them to come play each week. We talk about them a lot during the week, and nearly every night Hamilton thanks God for Trevor and Alex.

Grady's Birthday
Hamilton loved Monkey Joe's for Grady's third birthday. Amanda planned well because not only was it military night and we all got in free, but tearing the boys away would not have been easy unless we were headed somewhere equally fun like "Chik-ih-lay."

Collier even joined in the fun.

Hamilton (in red) and Grady (in orange) climbed up the big wall before sliding down the other side.

At Chick-fil-A the big boys sat by themselves in a booth, and they looked so old.

Amanda made the cutest cupcakes with grass, asphalt, and cars on them; and the boys picked their favorite color car.

West and Hamilton stuffed their faces with cupcakes.

Grady and his cousin Tyler did the same.

My Hiatus

Though the party brings my pictures up to date, it's hard to believe I haven't posted anything in three weeks. I'm sorry, dear readers. I'm hoping to pick back up with my beloved writers' group this fall, which was a great source of inspiration and accountability for writing and blogging. Lately I've felt so busy with other things--two active boys and extra church duties as we fundraise--that blogging has taken a serious backseat. Even when I have a snippet of time, I sometimes don't feel motivated. I'm hoping to work through this "writer's block" and be back to posting regularly soon.

So Much

Several weeks ago my friend Kelly and I were saying how we hoped we'd hear soon from our mutual, though out-of-town, friend who often goes "off the radar" for months at a time. Kelly wisely declared that perhaps our friend thinks, Oh there's so much to tell them about and catch up on since we last talked. It'll take forever; I'm exhausted just thinking of talking to either of them. So she doesn't call. Really, we just want to talk to her, hear her voice--even if it's brief.

I realized the other day that I was thinking of this blog that way: There's so much to chronicle, so many pictures to post, so much fun stuff to write about--when will I have that much time? Those thoughts were passively hindering my posting to the blog. So I'm trying to break out of that thinking and just post even if I can't catch up totally in my allotted time to write.

Elsewhere

I have adorable Palm Sunday pictures and videos to post, multiple egg hunt photos to scour, and Easter morning shots to edit. But with this fabulous weather and our rambunctious boys, I've been elsewhere during my blogging time. I have not forgotten about you, dear readers, and I look forward to time to blog later this week. Follow me on Twitter for quick updates and pictures if you're craving more adventures of the wind-blown Morgans in between posts.

Wonder Boy

I've been sadly negligent in posting about Collier's monthly progress. I haven't updated since he was six months old, and that's such a long time in baby months! He's now one week shy of nine months. Yesterday he pulled himself up in his crib all by himself! I went in to get him from his nap, and this smiling face greeted me.

He's been crawling quickly and everywhere for a few months, and he's even gotten better and more accustomed to sitting. He also can stand for several minutes at a time by himself, and it seems like he's itching to start cruising around the furniture.

Collier conquer skills so quickly: Just a few days ago he pulled up to his knees, then two days later he's onto his feet. He's even started climbing the stairs. In my memory Hamilton didn't progress this quickly, though Hamilton also didn't have a big brother to keep up with. I think Collier will be the kid that will force us to install a gate at the top of our stairs. He would have gone down head first yesterday if I hadn't been there to pull him back from the brink.

Collier's the happiest little thing, but he's still spitting up some (much to Mr. Morgan's chagrin). He's got two teeth coming in nicely on the bottom, which you can see in this picture. We still call him "Baby" many times, though he's quickly moving from baby to toddler.

Wednesday/Father's Day

Though it's Wednesday and the week's half gone, I'm still getting caught up from our vacation in Tennessee. After trying so hard to be on top of things and buying Father's Day cards several weeks before, I forgot to take them on our trip. Consequently, Mr. Morgan didn't get his card on Father's Day, and my dad received a replacement card a day late. I felt like such a slacker that even my small attempt at remembering and celebrating Mr. Morgan's day was thwarted. Basically, Mr. Morgan got a back-scratch. While he does love my back-scratches, they're not really celebratory. So here's to Mr. Morgan, my loving husband and attentive father. You're the best!