Another Milestone

If you've ever taken a baby in a carseat to the grocery store, you know that the carseat takes up all the room in the shopping cart, and I mean ALL of it! So, since Morgan was born, I've been filling the area where a child sits with my groceries, balancing them and trying to keep from dropping them all over the store. Well, today, Miss Morgan reached an incredibly helpful milestone - she sat up in the shopping cart at Target!! I got this amazingly cool shopping cart cover at the last Picky Chick Sale for $6 and it is going to be a lifesaver! It has a tiny toy attached to it that Morgan loved chewing on and lots of space for other toys beside her. She really enjoyed looking around the store, and it was so much fun for me to talk to her while we were shopping. I can't believe my sweet baby is growing up so fast!!

See you soon!

Morgan's Christening Day

Today was a most wonderful day for our family. Sweet Morgan was baptized at our church and it was such a special time! My parents and several of our sweet friends sat up front with us and Morgan was a perfect angel! She was so cooperative and smiled and charmed the congregation just like she loves to do. She was especially fascinated with Pastor Jim's glasses, which he had to finally remove whenever he held her. Morgan wore my christening gown, the same one Bailey wore almost 10 years ago, and she looked so beautiful in it! After she was baptized, we sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness," which is my favorite hymn - the soloist at our wedding sang it more than 16 years ago and it's been so very meaningful to me and my mom ever since. The entire service from Morgan's christening to the music to the sermon were exactly what I needed to hear today. It happens so often in my life that when I most need to hear a certain message, or when God is talking to me and I'm not listening, the worship service touches my heart in a profound way. I'm just so glad I was listening today . . . !

See you soon!!

6-Month Check-Up

Today was Morgan's 6-month check-up and she is growing & thriving! She weighs 17 lbs. 10 oz. and measures 26.5 inches long. Eyes, ears, nose, throat, and hips all look good & she impressed the dr. with her ability to sit up without help. When he began his exam, he said that at 6 months, most babies experience stranger anxiety. I almost laughed out loud, because Morgan, much like Bailey, has never met a stranger!! She had to get two immunizations today and was happy & smiling within minutes. I am so thankful that she is so resilient! After a long, afternoon nap, she is playing and eating and having a wonderful day!

See you soon!!

GOT BABY FOOD?

Spring Break trip to the ATL

We decided to take the plunge during spring break and take our little family of four on a trip to Atlanta for a few days. It was Morgan's first overnight trip and I just knew we'd keep everyone up all night in our hotel, but she was wonderfully well-behaved except for a little fit or two. We got into town Monday afternoon, checked into the Grand Hyatt (thanks Priceline!), and took advantage of a few of the many retail opportunities and one of the cupcake opportunities (CamiCakes) in Buckhead before going to dinner at Maggiano's, one of our favorite restaurants in the ATL. Absolutely fabulous!

On Tuesday, we ate a delicious breakfast at The Flying Biscuit. If you've never eaten their Creamy Dreamy Grits, you are truly missing a rich culinary experience. I consider myself to be quite the grits connoisseur, and these are the best I've eaten at a restaurant! After breakfast, Bailey & Chris hit the art supply store, while Morgan & I continued my impromptu cupcake tour of Atlanta at The Little Cake Bakery. So far, from the cupcakes I've tried in the ATL, their Marie Antoinette is my favorite! It consists of vanilla cake with a raspberry center, European buttercream and home-made crushed almond toffee on top. It is absolutely as good as it sounds!

After our morning outings, we headed to the retail mecca of the South, Phipps Plaza & Lenox Square Mall. With shops like Tiffany & Co., Vera Bradley, Brighton, Anthropologie, and Crate & Barrel, just to name a very few, these places will definitely put a dent in your wallet! Chris bought me a beautiful bracelet at Brighton for our anniversary, which is Friday, and Bailey bought her very own Vera Bradley purse with her own money. We love pretty things!

After a quick spruce, we headed to JCT Kitchen for dinner. I love reading restaurant reviews on Facebook and I had read that JCT had some delicious fried chicken. It's a cool restaurant in the Westside Urban Market complex (a place I am definitely checking out again next trip!!). Morgan was having a little fit when we arrived which made me all the more thankful that we'd made an early reservation. Once she ate, we put her in a highchair that she loved and we enjoyed a fantastic meal. We started with an appetizer of creamy goat cheese on crusty grilled bread, followed by that famous fried chicken with mac & cheese studded with delicious Benton's bacon. That was one fantastic meal!


The highlight of the trip for me was our trip to the World of Coca-Cola Museum today! I have been a lifelong fan of Coke dating back to my Tab days ("Tab's got sass . . . !")so visiting the museum is like visiting an old friend. We've been several times and we always have a great time. Bailey LOVES the tasting room, where you can sample Coke products from around the world. Some are really yummy while some are pretty gross!


So our first little trip as a family of four was a success!! We're already planning out next adventure . . . !!

See you soon!!

A little post-Valentine's Day action

I realize it's been almost a full month since Valentine's Day, but as I remember it, Valentine's Day was C-RAZ-Y for us. I don't remember why, but trust me when I say it was. It was a few days later that I realized I had NO good pics of Morgan on her first heart day and that had to be rectified! So I staged a few shots of her on the little red heart blanket Bailey got from her "boyfriend" and I think Morgan looks so cute holding her little gifts! What a blessing our sweet girls are!!


See you soon!!

I'm just not sure where the time goes, but I have truly missed blogging for you, sweet readers! Morgan is growing so quickly and having so much fun learning to sit up and eat Melba toast, which is her new fave! We thought she was teething, but now we think she just likes having something she can feed herself. That works wonderfully well while we're eating dinner! She is almost 6 months old and has already started eating Stage 2 food which include veggies and fruit blended with chicken or turkey. I know it sounds gross and it really doesn't look much better, but Morgan LOVES every flavor she's tried so far. Morgan reached another milestone a few days when she started sitting up on her own. It happened somewhat unexpectedly. We had been workging with her for a little while and she kept toppling over, but when she was ready to do it, she just did it! Now she loves sitting on the floor on a blanket and playing with her toys.



We took another little road trip this past week and enjoyed breakfast at the Apple Barn in Sevierville and a little trek to Gatlinburg where Miss Priss got a new hat! She really needs one when we go for walks on sunny days and this one was too cute to pass up! Morgan tried bits of biscuit and pancake at breakfast and wasn't overly impressed, but liked being able to feed herself a little. I can tell when we feed her she doesn't think we do it fast enough!