a picture of me!

I got my hair cut this morning. I think I'm going to like it! I couldn't find a "before" picture but she probably cut about 5 inches off and majorly thinned it out. I think it'll be much nicer to deal with in the Mississippi heat!

my little swimmer

Addy started her first round of swimming lessons ever last week. I can not get over how good she's doing! Here was the girl that would never step foot in the water without her floaty, and who was too scared to put her face in the water to blow bubbles just 2 weeks ago. She's now jumping into the water and swimming back to the wall all by herself!

I am so proud of her! One thing having a child with disabilities has taught me is to really appreciate my kids' accomplishments. I got teary eyed watching her swim!

This picture is sort of hard to see but she's the girl on the left with her face in the water swimming to her instructor. Yesterday she swam almost the entire width of the pool with no help.

At the end of the lesson the kids are encouraged to go down the waterslides. Last week Addy wouldn't even attempt it. Monday she went down for the first time, after a little hesitation and last night she went right down and didn't even need her instructor to catch her!

We'll finish up this week of lessons and then do 2 more weeks after we get back from vacation. Maybe next summer we'll get to go to Noah's Ark in Wisconsin!

Morgan

Is 16 months old now so I think she deserves a post about her!

• she has curly brown hair - different from her blonde sisters! Looking back I realize that Addy's hair was quite curly at this age too, but she was definitely blonde. Riley too, although Riley had straight hair.
• She says "ball" for sure. Just in the last week or two she started saying "hi", "bye-bye" (with a wave) and "uh oh" appropriately. She's been saying hi and bye-bye for a while but often not when she's "supposed" to. She also says "mama" and "dada" but it doesn't always seem like the words are directed at us.
• while she doesn't say their names yet if you ask her where Addy, Riley or Sadie are she'll look towards them so we know she understands at least.
• when she wants food it's "mooo?" like she's saying more. She is getting better about food, I'd say within the last 3 weeks really. She pretty much went from eating almost nothing, maybe a taste of yogurt here, a lick of ice cream there, to eating lots of cereal and especially Pirate's Booty in a sitting. She even eats ham! And we almost have to give her her own bowl of ice cream now. :) Still not drinking anything but mama's milk but hopefully that'll come. Once in a while she takes sips of water. Oh and she loves shredded cheese! My Wisconsin roots coming out in her. :)
• she loves carrying a purse and pretends to talk on the phone all the time which is so cute!
• she started walking at 11 months (or was it 10? poor 3rd child). I think she was standing on her own at 10 months, walking closer to 11. Anyway, she now runs, jumps (sometimes off the couch, oops) climbs.
• She just got her 9th tooth! She's had the same 8 for months so she was due.
• Her sleeping is hiddeous, especially lately. Maybe more teeth are on the way. She still sleeps with mom and dad. One of these days we'll get her in the crib. She screams bloody murder when I put her in it for naps so I figure I'll work on those first.
• She is an absolute joy and makes me laugh constantly. Even when she sprawls herself on the floor and throws one of her many temper tantrums. I just can't imagine life without her!

Part of me wishes she'd stay this age forever and part of me wishes she'd just hurry the next 2-3 months along. This is about the age Riley started turning into herself and regressing. We didn't really notice it until she was about 18 months so I figure once Morgan passes that mark I'll stop watching her so closely all the time. I know I could get her tested and know but I really don't want to wonder if that phone call is coming, or if the letter from the genetics department is in the mail. Plus I think it would be worse for me to watch her grow and develop only to know it'll be taken away. I just want to enjoy her. And I do!

curtain pictures

I love Pottery Barn Kids but can't handle their prices on most things. I bought sheers from PBK (actually ebay) for all the girls rooms but made the actual curtains and I think they turned out pretty cute!

These are Riley's - I also made covers for the couch pillows since we slipcovered the couch. These were the only curtains I made out of actual fabric - pink with green polka dots that go perfectly with her wall color.
Morgan's curtains I had intended for Addy's room until Addy informed me she didn't want polka dots. They are bright pink with white dots. I made them out of a set of sheets from Target. Love Target!
Addy's were also made out of a set of sheets from Target. She picked out the color though. She wanted brighter pink with no polka dots - and she got it!

Not curtains but a great addition to any screened porch: the Barbie Playhouse! :)

fun at the boat landing

Just so it doesn't look like it was all work and no play for the last week - we did take the girls down to the boat landing last night. It's right in our backyard so it's pretty easy to do. One of these days we'll make it all the way down to the actual beach on the lake!

Poor Sadie wanted to go in the water so bad - but we didn't want her to be all wet so late in the day. She's snuck in on her own a few times already though!
Addy is the only one who actually went in!

Mississippi Girls

I find myself singing that Faith Hill song a lot lately. :-)

From this (in Georgia):
To this:


I should have taken pictures of all the boxes we had in here but I'm pretty proud of how much we got done in one week! We did have my in-laws here to help though, otherwise I'm sure we'd still be living out of boxes!

I gave a couple pieces of furniture away before we moved (love Freecycle!) and amazingly everything else fits pretty well. I'm not too sold on the king-sized bed in Morgan's room but it works for now.

I have to say I LOVE my new cooktop and double ovens. I didn't think I'd like gas again but this one is so much better than the one we had in Minneapolis. And the ovens have pretty blue on the inside and the ding is so cute. :)

The screened in porch is probably the best thing we had them add to the house before we moved in. It's so great to sit outside and not have bugs fly all around us!

Mississippi again

After driving through some pretty nasty thunderstorms on Sunday we are back in Mississippi again. Mitch came home to Georgia last weekend and we packed up anything we wanted to take that the movers wouldn't pack and brought it here. We close on our house next Tuesday, and I can't wait!

Right now the plan is for Mitch's parents to come here on Saturday and then Sunday Morgan and I will go back to Georgia to be there when the movers pack up our house. Then we'll come back Wednesday and move into our new house either Wednesday or Thursday.

I finally saw the house yesterday for the first time since April. I'm a little more nervous about how we're going to fit all our stuff in it. Might have to Craigslist a few things... It's harder now that we won't have a basement for storage, plus the garage is a lot smaller than our current garage.

Also - it's HOT here! Addy is going to Vacation Bible School this week and I think I'll try to walk with Morgan after we drop her off, otherwise it's too hot. Going to Wisconsin next month will be a nice relief!