Baby Girl Morgan is now Laura Grace Morgan!

SHE'S HERE! SHE'S HERE! SHE'S HERE!

On Monday, November 9th, 2009, Laura Grace Morgan was born at 11:36PM! She is a beautiful, healthy gift from God. She measured 18 inches and 6 pounds, 12 and a half ounces. She's got DARK blue eyes, and her hair is slightly dark like her daddy's! She is adorable, beautiful, pretty, sweet.....our gorgeous girl!


I contracted most of the day. Scott was working about 3 and a half hours away, and my main concern was making sure he had time to get home before she came. Scott made it to the hospital with plenty of time to spare. The delivery went well and baby and mommy are both doing well.

She is now 1 week old. We are thanking God everyday for our little Laura Treasure. Her big brothers enjoy holding her, talking to her, helping her keep in the pacifier, and even singing to her! I overheard Eric saying, "Don't worry, Little Pretty, I will protect you." She's got two great protecters! Joel is quick to let me know if she is stirring or crying or rooting or smiling...he checks in on her to make sure she is okay! The boys always remember to say goodbye in the mornings and kiss or hug her goodnight every day!

"EVERY GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE."

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Thankful for Elastic

I currently am 8 months pregnant. I have 29 days until the due date on November 21st. I have been stretching those elastic waistbands a little farther these days. :) Things I have noticed lately:

>it is harder to get a good night's sleep , or even roll over in bed
>I am moving even slower than I have been (which I thought was all ready pretty slow)

>I have to space my errands throughout the week (no more fitting it all in on Fridays)

>Eating is not fun - there's no where to put it

>My feet hurt, so I am thankful for plush socks

>Pregnancy brain is in full force - what was I saying?
>I have to be thankful for the little things that make life easier - like elastic!

On a better note, my husband seems to be full of energy. He's spent the last several weekends (when he's been healthy) doing errands around the house. Fix this, paint that, build something new, organize this, toss old junk, hang a picture....!



We've had a fun time preparing the nursery. The last minute details are coming together. We still need to finalize a few things, and the calendar is pretty full the next two weeks. So if she can wait to meet us until at least Nov 8th!, then we will feel "ready". That sounds likely, but we'll see what the doc says later today.
The last few days have been hard due to both boys having the flu, and we are praying I do not get it. That seems to be a familiar story lately. I haven't felt ready for winter....ever....but we are looking forward to staying in and relaxing once the new baby girl arrives.

3rd Trimester, the End of Summer and Beginning of School

I am currently in my third trimester of this pregnancy. I feel excited getting closer to the due date and yet anxious at the same time. I have 10 weeks left to get a lot of things done. This baby girl still needs a name, I would like to do more work on getting her room ready for her, and then there's the list of STUFF we have to buy....

The summer ended well for us. We spent a couple weeks in Kentucky visiting my sister and her family after the birth of their 2nd boy. The cousins had as much fun catching up and playing as we sisters did! We also took a weekend camping trip that has been three years in the waiting. It was a fun time together out in the "wild" nature.

Our boys started back to school this week. The transition has been easier then expected. I guess my almost 10 year old and 8 year old boys are growing up. Eric is practically in men's size clothing and he's built like a pillar. Joel grew 2 inches over the summer and looks like such a handsome man more and more. He even shares his brother's socks now! They are both getting so big and grown up. Eric loves/prefers being goofy and silly most of the time. Joel is as serious as Eric is goofy. They both make me laugh everyday. Looking at them, it is hard to believe my life sometimes. Especially when I get a glimpse of my growing belly and remember I get to start again-but with a girl. WOW! Parenting is such a great privilege and responsibility. I am thankful every day. I'll leave you with a fun story overheard during the drive to school this morning.

Eric: Hey, Mom! Did you hear about the new breed of dog discovered?

Mom: thinking this is a lead-in to another Eric joke...No, I haven't heard about it. Tell me!

Eric: It is a mixed breed with Docksin and Yorkie. Guess what they call it! A DORKIE!

Mom: Are you serious or did you just make that up?

Eric: No-really. It is real. My teacher told us yesterday!

After a little research on my part, we found out it is a mix of Dachshund and Yorkie! See http://dogbreedinfo.com/dorkie.htm for pictures.

What do ya know!

My Kid's are great!

One Month Left

No, not of my pregnancy, but one month of SUMMER left! It is bitter sweet. We are sad so much of our summer has passed, but are also glad to have still another month to enjoy the extra free time as a family. Our Summer Wish List has a few more items left undone. August should take care of that! We leave sometime in the next 7 days for a trip to Kentucky to visit and help my sister with the arrival of their newest little baby. We also want to take our boys camping at a nearby campground. Eric and Joel both requested to go fishing as well, so I hope we can accomplish camping and fishing in the same trip. A few requirements of camping this time: 1) It must be in a tent, 2) It cannot be in the back yard!, and 3) SMORES over a real campfire are required. I think we can accomplish that. Just don't ask me to clean or cook any fish we may catch! As long as we can bring an air mattress, I think it will be a good time. No TV, no video games, no house work or regular chores, just good "clean" outdoor fun! If anyone has good campfire meals, pass 'em on! This will be the first time we will have taken the boys camping "for real".
With summer coming to an end, I hope you can find the time to fit in those activities you reserved for your summer. There's no time like the present!

The Wait is Over

After 20 long weeks, we have been given some great news. We are going to have a girl! A sonogram today showed a healthy, beautiful, baby girl! We feel like we have been given a gift. We asked God for a girl, we tried for a girl, and God answered, "YES!" We are grateful to get to take care of a daughter. I see pink and purple in our future, and bows and ribbons, and dresses and ruffles, and tea parties and princesses. Or maybe she'll be more like her mother and climb trees and pitch softball, play kickball with the boys and build cities out of blocks with her brothers! We can't wait to meet her. Thanks be to God for his indescribable goodness!

Summer Season Salutations

Summer is a great time at our house! I love the extra time together with the boys, and I enjoy the extra hands around to help with house work! We have taken it mostly easy during this first month of the summer break. The boys have played in the sprinkler an average of 3 days a week. I am feeling well most of the time and am grateful for the renewed energy. I am currently in my 18th week of the pregnancy and getting antsy for our sonogram in less than two weeks. My next post will most likely reveal the baby's gender. For now, "Baby Morgan" has a nice ring to it!

July will be a fast and busy month. We always look forward to celebrating the 4th. We have planned a vacation in July, and Scott's big trade show for work is in July this year. August will be a month to visit with family in KY, relax as much as possible, and plan for the school year.

I can't believe I will have a 5th and 3rd grader this year. Each year they grow, I recognize the changes they have experienced and the changes it makes in the family as our kids grow up. We've been spending time watching old home videos and I am so thankful we have them. Time does go so fast. Kids do change so much. It reminds me to appreciate the everyday things, because we only get one today!

Hope you enjoy your season in life, whatever it may be today!

Counting down

One trimester down; two to go. I am officially through my first trimester and have a sense of relief. I have woken up the last few days feeling better than I have in the last month, but I am more tired now. I think that all my energy has funneled to controlling the nausea and keeping myself from throwing up! It has been a difficult and tiring task. It has all seemed to catch up with me lately. God knew I would need to be feeling better though....
Two weeks in a cast....My 7 year old spent the day in doctors offices yesterday. He hurt his foot at a birthday party Tuesday night and is now in a light blue foot cast. It was hard to send him off to school today. I stood watching him hobble on his large foot from the car to the school building. Part of me just wanted to keep him home again today; but he is tough, and he wanted to get back to doing things on his own. The hardest part is that he will have to sit out the rest of the soccer season and a couple weeks from Tae Kwon Do. While it is hard to see him struggle, I am so proud of his bravery!
Eric, my 10 year old, has seen this as a challenge for him to step up and help out even more. I am so proud of him. He's not complained or gotten frustrated. I can hear his sweet voice saying, "sure, Mom! I'll be right there" or " okay, Joel. I'll get it for you!"
Two weeks of school left and we can all relax a little bit. Everyone here is looking forward to summer break, summer weather, and summer fun.
We've spent lots of time counting down lately to the things we'd rather be doing. Sometimes looking forward gets us through the tough times of the present.

Getting Thru Nauseaville

Pregnancy after 30 has been very symptomatic for me. I feel OLD, and tired, and nauseous, and sleepy, and sick, and weak, and gaggy. . . need I say more? While the symptoms of this pregnancy seem more noticeable, they are shadowed by the excitement. Having two eager children, together with Scott and I, increases the anticipation and wonderment of pregnancy. Almost daily the boys ask me, "how 'tall' is the baby now?" Can I tell my friends? My teacher? Our neighbors? They are thrilled, to say the least. We are tracking the baby's development using an online resource and they are amazed at the pictures of unborn, growing, alive babies. From the size of a lentil at 6 weeks along -- to its present size of 1 and 1/4 inch at 10 weeks (about the size of a kumquat seen above), picturing our tiny baby is nothing short of awesome. Realizing the amount of growth and development that will take place over the next 6 months overwhelms us with the truth that God performs miracles for us and within us each day!

Feeling Old

I feel tired and old these days. The body is an amazing thing, but is still human, none the less. I have very good reason for it all, though! We are expecting our third child and are thankful that this time around, my only (biggest) complaint is the tiredness. So far I have not gotten sick, though I feel pretty close sometimes. At this point in my other two pregnancies, I was throwing up night and day, day and night-there was no relief. That is not the case this time, and I couldn't be more grateful. We are due mid-November. The boys are thrilled beyond what we expected. Joel is glad to not be the "little" brother anymore. He is enjoying his "Big Brother" shirt we got for him. Eric is excited to find out if he will have another little brother, or even more mysterious...a little sister. So much to discover with a pregnancy. I am glad they will be able to experience it at this age. Scott and I feel thankful that our desires matched with God's timing for our family. I am feeling hungry and tired! More updates to come . . .

Tired and Sick and Sick and Tired

It started two Saturdays ago. Chills, fever, cough, sore throat, aches and sleepiness. The flu is awful and is worsened when a parent and a child have it at the same time. Joel came down with the flu about the same time I did. It hit him differently than it did me, and he ended up missing an entire week of school because of it. Now I am on day 11 and still feeling symptoms. After having no voice for 4 days, now I feel like body aches are back. I am definitely in need of a rest. Spring was supposed to mean getting rid of the sicknesses from winter. Instead, we get another round of illness. Chills make the 50 degree days still feel like 30 something.

I know we've all been there, and my circumstance is no different than millions of other moms. But it is hard to be a good listener and comforter when you feel too sick and tired to do anything. With Scott gone this week, I find it easy to slip into a sulking attitude of complaints. So I have to force myself to seek God's response in these times.

This is what I came across! I needed this dose of spiritual medicine.
I sound like Job's negative wife . . whine, whine, whine!
Job's reply during his tragic circumstances (which should certainly put my menial circumstances into perspective), "Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" Job's faith, not his understanding, carried him through all his troubles.**

Hope your faith in a God who sustains is carrying you today!

Lord, how happy it is when strong afflictions from Thee raise in us strong affections for Thee!
~~Francis Burkitt

**From the Power of a Positive Mom Devotional.

Reality Hits Hard

Last weekend I was able to attend the Hearts-at-Home National Conference in Bloomington, IL. It's a great event for moms of all ages and in all stages. You get refreshed and encouraged in your efforts to be a great mom and wife. I love the event and suggest it for all women as there is something for everyone. They have two more conferences scheduled for this year. If you need a refresher, check out their website at http://hearts-at-home.org for more info.

Before I got home, I started feeling like I could be coming down with something. Headaches, chills, body aches...the works all hit me Sunday. I have been sick all week and today have only a whisper left of my voice. On top of not feeling well, my 7-year old, Joel, has been sick all week and has not attended school yet. He seems to be even worse off than I do, and he will have to take the fun, 10-day, antibiotic treatment. We've spent time relaxing, but you can only relax so much while feeling badly. We've had lots of homework, laundry, nose-blowing, spitting, sleeping, TV watching, . . you get the idea!

I can't help fearing that my 10 year old is next. He's been able to go to school and he has been very helpful bringing home Joel's work, refilling drinks, emptying trash - all the fun stuff. We are praying for thorough recovery for the entire family.

The reality of life usually hits pretty hard after a personal retreat like I had at the conference, but reality is a good reminder of a REAL God that gets us through. Hope you see the joy in your reality this week. P.S. Spring is Coming!

Commit your actions to the Lord

Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.
~ Proverbs 16:3, NLT


After reading this verse, I couldn't help but think about all that's going on in our lives.

If we commit our actions to God, our plans will succeed.


I found it interesting that the verse is talking about action. Just Do It and Commit what we are doing to the Lord and God will bless our plans with success. Maybe it is not our idea of success, but God will reveal Himself to us and verify that He is working in and through the events in our lives when we seek His work in our lives and commit our plans to Him. Otherwise, we are just being "wise in our own eyes"

Just a few thoughts for today!

Remembering Kelly

Today is the anniversary of the day my friend died and went to heaven. Kelly Sue Johnson was only a Junior in High School when she passed on. I still remember the emotional events that took place after her death. While she has been missed for these last 14 years and thought of often, we who knew and loved her understand that whatever her life would have been on Earth cannot compare to what she has been doing in Heaven. We are thankful for the promise of Heaven and the Hope we have as heirs with Christ of the Heaven we will gain one day.

Respect for Authority

Well, it finally happened. I always wondered when I would get pulled over by a police officer. I assumed it would happen to me (as it has to so many) at some point in my lifetime. I've been driving for 15 years now and today I was pulled over for speeding for the first time. I was driving the boys to school (what a lesson for them), and we were a mile from home and a mile from school. I saw several cars that I recognized from the boys school driving slowly passed mine while glancing my direction. SHAME! I knew I was guilty. I needed to be stopped because I was not paying much attention to my speed. I had turned up the radio, and me and the boys were having a fun time listening to K-LOVE for some before-school inspiration. During one of my periodic glances in the rear-view mirror, I spotted a police car pulling out of a side street rather quickly. I instantly knew he was after me. I did not know how fast I was going, just that I was not paying attention and was most likely lead-footing it.
The boys had LOTS of questions and concerns. What happened? What is going to happen? What does that police man want? Why is he walking up to the car? What happened? Oh NO. Are we in trouble? Do you have to pay the police man money? Are you going to jail? They were a little scared actually. It was a good lesson for them. After the officer asked for my licence and proof of insurance, he of course went back to his vehicle to fill out the paper work. I assured the boys that the officer was doing his job in pulling Mommy over because Mommy was breaking the speed limit. Mommy will probably get a ticket because I disobeyed the law. No, I won't have to go to jail, but I will probably have to pay money as my punishment. The consequences of sin are what I deserve.
Oh No, Mom. OH NO! They kept repeating. My youngest understood this concept and said, "You shouldn't have been speeding, Mom." My oldest son was mostly upset that the officer was going to give me a ticket. He has a hard time accepting responsibility in his own life and I am glad he was able to see this happen actually.
When the officer returned, he explained that I was indeed speeding. He was extremely gracious and decided to give me a WARNING. I apologized and thanked the officer for doing his job. I drove the rest of the way onto school staying far from the speed limit. I told my kids what had happened and that I was shown mercy by this man because he did not give me what I really deserved, a ticket. It was a good opportunity for some important life lessons for ALL of us! Phew! I am most thankful today!

We want what we can't have.

This week "someone" at our house learned a hard lesson. Sometimes we can't have what we want, even if we have the means to get it ourselves. "Someone" decided to purchase a mini lego character from a friend (without permission). The money was given and the lego was received. However, this was not approved. "Someone" had taken matters into his own hands while keeping this information from his authority (Mom and Dad).

It reminded me of how we all can be at times. Sometimes we want something that seems like a good idea. We go after it and may even obtain it. But were we supposed to have it in the first place? Sometimes what we want is a good thing. Sometimes we think it is a good thing, even a great thing. We "feel" that it is supposed to happen because we want it to. When God answers No or Wait, we often get discouraged because we have focused on us or what we wanted instead of on the fact that God is still active in our lives. He is still answering us and still in control.

We hold onto this little idea like my son was holding onto his little lego-with a closed fist. He was keeping that part of his life to himself, much like we may keep or hold onto something in our life. We allow God to have reign over all the areas outside this one thing we are keeping tight in our fist. God wants us to release it to Him. To give all completely over to Him. To allow Him to be the giver in His time.

We want something we know we aren't to have right now (even if it is known in the recesses of our mind, we know). We keep it to ourselves and this means we are not lined with God's will, but our own. The great thing is that God waits. He waits for us to give this over to Him. He gives grace. He waits for us to release this thing we wanted until He decides to give it to us. He waits, so we have to wait. His grace makes a way for us to receive from Him in the first place.

So for us now....the lego was returned. My son's desire has not left for this unique lego he wants, but he learned that he cannot keep what he obtained without permission. And we all are reminded that acquiring what we want outside of the will of God usually isn't as enjoyable as we had presumed!

Teacher or Contractor

There hasn't been too much happen at our house this week. There have been a couple things worth celebrating though. Eric (10) got to lead the TaeKwonDo class during stretching for the first 10 minutes of class last night. He has been taking lessons with little brother and with Dad too since October. The class consists of 20-30 people in all age ranges. There's teens, moms and dads, grandparents and a few kids. Eric is usually one of the younger ones in attendence (his brother wins that award). He had a little help from a senior ranking class member, but it was quite the experience. Normally, only blackbelts lead stretching. He was very excited and proud of his accomplishment. The rest of the class and the Master Teacher applauded his efforts. Our little teacher!

We are currently undergoing some construction work in our basement. Watching the progress each day/week has been fun. Next week the dry wall goes up and some carpet may get installed in another area of the house. This process has brought out a side of Joel (7) that we hadn't noticed before. He is very willing to help "build stuff" and wants to help the workers hammer, or dig, or paint etc . . . Joel and Eric were doing "scientific sound tests" to see if they could hear the difference between the room with insulation up and the rest of the basement. This is all very official business, you see! They take it quite seriously. Perhaps Joel has found his calling!

We are thankful for good health this week in our house and are looking forward to a nice weekend. March is almost here, so we all hope that means that the snow will not return.

Old Fashioned Ways

This morning while making breakfast for my two boys and myself, my 7-year old pleaded for my attention. I knew this was something serious or seriously important to him. I stopped buttering the toast and looked up at him to see what he was so dramatic about.

First let me describe the setting. Joel, the 7-year old, is in our 3-season room just off of the kitchen. He is sitting on the floor in front of the television. This, by the way, is a normal morning occurrence on school days. The weather today is quite cold here in Iowa. The three-season room is very cold in the winter so we have a space heater for just these occasions.

Joel normally sits or stands quite close to the heater to warm himself while playing video games. When he called for my attention, and I finally looked up from my breakfast preparing, he was smiling so big . . . the kind of smile a kid makes when he is doing something he believes to be truely clever! Joel wanted me to watch him as he stepped away from the heater and rubbed his little hands together as quick as he could. He exclaimed, "Look, Mom! Am I warming my hands the old fashioned way?

I smiled as I watched for a minute. You could see the pride on his face that he felt for accomplishing this genius task! It reminded me how much boys love to do things on their own and realize new abilities. I love having kids! And I love my boys! What new things will we discover next time? What new adventures are waiting for them in their lifetimes?

My prayer for them is that they allow God to mold them into great men who will do GREAT BIG things for God! And my prayer for myself is that I will gain the wisdom from God to know the difference between lessons they need to learn from God and tragedies I need to intervene in.

President's Day

A funny thing about politics . . . political views can be contagious. They are in our family! My seven-year-old son was somewhat disappointed today because he wasn't excited to celebrate our current president. His question was, "Why do they make people celebrate a president who has only been in Washington for a few weeks and most of that time he's been traveling in Illinois?" My thoughts I kept to myself, but couldn't help smiling over the irony from my 7-year old!

What's in your outlook?

Today was very anticipated. I had built up the day and looked forward to some quality time with my husband. We had spent some special time with our kids last night and planned a date with each other for today.
It was not all roses and sweetness though. The day began with bad news and it was hard to feel joy about the anticipated events of the day. I knew I could better my day with a change in my outlook. If I chose to focus on the unexpected (and unwanted) negative circumstances, my day would remain dissapointing, giving no matter to the planned events. It was a challenge to face the unwanted circumstances, but necessary. And it was absolutely necessary to face them with the right attitude. This proved even more challenging. It was not a joyous time getting through the rough part of the day.

Now, with hindsight, the day was great. I might be tempted to believe that the day was ruined by the unwanted circumstances and bad news. It might be easy to focus on the negative news and feel that all good was erased by the bad. A second look at the day changes my mind.

Was breakfast ruined? No. The cinnamon rolls I made were great, everyone was glad to have a special treat. The kids had a fun play date planned...and that went great. I got to have dinner out with my husband. We ended the day with some good conversation and laughs. All in all, the bad news didn't get the best of us.

While the bad news was something we feared, something we did not want to happen/hear, and something that brought us grief--it did not ruin our day, or lives, or family, or future.

It's all in the outlook.
Hope you had a great Valentine's Day.

Welcome

Thanks for "subscribing" to our family publication. Within these "articles" you can learn about our family and our lives. Our goal is to inform, encourage, and perhaps entertain. Happy reading.