Flight 426 from Iowa has arrived ... and departed.

Mom and Dad made one of their famous flying trips out from Iowa last weekend. Dad was able to come since the fields were too wet to be in. I'm glad he was able to come even if it means a later start to planting. Sorry Dad, but it was nice to see you too! Of course Morgan was excited to see Grandma and Grandpa again. She was a little concerned about the cows in Iowa. She asked several times who was taking care of the cows.

It was a chilly day, but we played outside anyway. We went for a walk and Morgan was able to show Grandma and Grandpa the frogs in the pond. We aren't seeing as many frogs yet this year. However we are seeing neighborhood kids at the pond trying to catch them. Dave's theory is the frogs are a bit spooked by the hunters. Maybe later this summer they will be out more.

Morgan is a lot more daring this year with her slide. It's amazing what a few months can do. A favorite new trick is going down on her belly - head first - hands out. Should I be letting her do that? I don't know. She thinks it's fun and she hasn't gotten hurt yet. We'll see what other new tricks come as the summer goes by.

Dancing Dandelions

On one of our recent walks Morgan discovered dandelions. As you can see by her nose in the picture she had to smell them right away. Ever since that day she seems to find one "flower" to pick every walk. I figure people are happy to get rid of them. She carries it with her until we get home then she puts it "nigh night" in the flowerbed. That means she buries it in the mulch. Much like Grandma doesn't want stones in her house, I don't feel like having a house full of dandelions.

Stones, Stickers and Smiles

This past weekend we made our first trip to Ohio since Adrienne was born. Morgan can hardly wait to swim in the pond and she asked if she could several times while we were there. It was still a little too cold for that. Instead of swimming she had a great time feeding bread to the fish. Everyone is excited about having the pond this summer. I think the adults may be just as excited if not even a bit more then Morgan. :)

It doesn't take much to keep Morgan happy outside - she just loves being outside. She is showing you her stones. She loves to pick them up and carry them around. She gives them to you as "presents" saying things like "Here you go Mommy, you can have this one." Isn't she thoughtful? She loves to throw them in the creek. Grandma Chupp showed her that game last summer and it quickly became a favorite. We did learn this weekend that we need to do a stone check at the door. Morgan loves the stones so much that she wants to bring them inside with her. Surprising as it may be, Grandma does not share this love and would rather not have them in her house.

Stickers were the hot ticket item inside. Morgan was kind enough to "share" with Adrienne and Grace. For the most part Adrienne and Grace were good sports. Adrienne did pretty well on this trip. She loved being held for all her naps. I even got to hold her while she was sleeping. That was nice. At home there is always something I should be doing when she sleeps. We are still working on the bottle issue. She seems to think that nursing is the only way she wants to eat. We insult her greatly everytime we try to offer the bottle. Grandma saw this first hand as she was the one who got try this weekend. I'm not ready to give up yet. Especially since she took a bottle up until 3 weeks ago. :( I love my baby, but I love my breaks too.

Grace has changed to much since we last saw her. She is sitting up really well and as you can see for yourself, loves to show off her beautiful smile. It was great to watch her and Morgan play. Morgan loved bringing Grace toys to play with, and Grace would thank Morgan with big, wet, open mouth kisses. Yummy!

"We do NOT eat dirt!"

Today was a beautiful day much like yesterday, as far as weather goes. However, Morgan's basic outlook on life today was 100 times better then it was yesterday. Yesterday was filled with melt-downs, tears, and words like "I not like you - I want Grandma". Today we had smiles, laughter and words like "I love you mommy." Yesterday afternoon we took a walk. I had Adrienne in the front pack, Abbey's leash in one hand and Morgan's hand in the other. Morgan decided she didn't want to hold my hand so she screamed the WHOLE way around the block. I warned her 3 times that if she didn't stop screaming we would go straight inside and not be able to play outside after the walk. Much to my dismay she did not stop screaming. So on a day when I desperately wanted some fresh air and we all desperately needed fresh air, we went straight inside and that is where we stayed.

BUT today was a new day. We spent a couple hours outside getting reacquainted with our back yard. Morgan ran in the grass, dug in the dirt and helped me clean out the flowerbeds. She loved it!

Adrienne still isn't sure she likes being outside. It took me a little while to get her calm and eventually asleep in the sling. I think the picture shows her feelings at this point about being outside. She did eventually fall asleep and like I mentioned earlier we were able to clean out the beds. I never thought I would do yard work with her in the sling, but it worked.

Morgan had a great time playing in the dirt. I did a good job of just letting her play and not worrying about all the clean-up that was to come later. I did have to tell her several times that "We do NOT eat dirt!" She also tried to feed Abbey a rock and "watered" her with the watering can. Poor Abbey, she is so patient. All in all today was a good day!

Monkey See Monkey Do

"Hi, what you doing?" "Sooooo . . . I just taking care of Adrienne" "Soooo . . . have to go now" "Have a good day." These are just a few of the phrases Morgan repeats as she walks around the house on her toy phone. Sometimes she even carries her baby in the other hand. I wonder where she learned this?

Adventures of Amelia and Morgan

Amelia was here playing with Morgan today. Of course they had a great time. I love watching them. While I was making lunch Amelia was carrying around the hippo as if it was her baby. Before I knew it the two girls were working together to put the hippo down for a nap. The conversation was great - talking about what the hippo needed: pillow, blanket, songs... The picture gives you a taste of the scene.

Adrienne in the swing is another great story. Again I was in the kitchen and Amelia came out talking about baby toys. Morgan was quick to follow telling me they were sharing. I praised them for sharing and playing nicely. With these two girls there is sometimes more "mine" and fighting over dolls then sharing and playing nicely. A few minutes later I went in to the living room to check on Adrienne who was sleeping in the swing. What I found was Adrienne sleeping in her swing surrounded by her toys. I then understood what the girls were telling me. They found baby toys and were sharing with Adrienne - how nice.

Afternoon Away

Art and Donna came to visit us on Sunday. They stayed with the girls while I took Dave out to eat for his Birthday. We all win. Dave and I get some time to ourselves, and Art and Donna get a chance to play with the girls. Morgan lives for the time she gets to spend with grandparents. Adrienne will soon figure out how wonderful her grandparents are, and how lucky she is.

It was another beautiful day. When we got back from lunch we all went for a walk. Morgan was quick to bumb a ride from Grandpa. I don't blam her, the view must be really good up there. Adrienne wasn't so sure about the sun. You can see in the first picture she is covering her face with her hand.

Daddy-o's 30

We made our own little party for Dave tonight since he finally turned 30 today. Now maybe he will finally leave me alone about turning 30 in November. We went all out with balloons, hats and everything. Morgan loved it. She picked out her own birthday card for him and of course added her own "message" to it. Dave wouldn't tell me what he wanted for his birthday dinner, so Morgan won - I made her favorite - pancakes.

I think Dave is doing pretty well for himself at 30. Look at those beautiful girls. Who could ask for more?

We did give Dave his favorite cake. As you can see Morgan liked it too. The Cool Whip was still a little frozen so Morgan was eating hers like a popsicle. She was lovin it!

Love my daddy

We have all been enjoying Adrienne's smiles. She especially loves seeing her dad when he comes home from work. Those of you who know Dave know that he is a singer. Adrienne loves it when he sings to her. She beams from ear to ear. It's great!

Will comes to Goshen

Sam, Leah and Will were in town and we were blessed with a visit. It is always great to see them. Morgan is always excited to have friends over. That day it was beautiful outside so we were able to spend most of our time outside. Will had his first slide experience here. Naturally at first he wasn't sure what he thought, but by the end of the morning he was loving it.

I had the good idea of breaking out the shovels and they were a hit. Later that morning they moved their excavating project to the front flower beds. Will loved getting dirty. At first this concerned Morgan. Leah reassured Morgan by telling her Will actually enjoyed getting dirty. So naturally Morgan thought she would help him out. We caught her dumping shovels full of dirt on Will's head. I quickly put a stop to that and explained that he does a great job getting dirty on his own and that she doesn't need to help him. Funny thing is, he didn't seem to mind. Good thing our kids are washable.

Sunshine, Slides and Swings - These are a few of Morgan's favorite things.

As you can see from her face Morgan was so excited to at last, after a long winter, be reunited with her friend, the "twisty slide". It was so beautiful today. We had to take a family outing to the park. So we packed up our new double stroller and were off. Dave doesn't understand how I'm ok with the stroller, but don't want to drive a minivan. The way I see it, the stroller is "crowd control".

Unlike her sister, Adrienne wasn't sure if she liked being at the park. It took me numerous bounces and several times through "Jesus Loves Me" before she finally drifted off to sleep. Even if she doesn't now, before we know it she will have learned to love these outings as much as Morgan.

Adrienne - 2 months

Nigh Night

This afternoon, before Morgan's nap, we were playing "nigh night". She was being the mommy and I was being her - saying everything she says to me. "One more song" "Put the blanket by my face" "I need a drink mommy" and on and on. She was doing a very good job at being mommy. It didn't suprise me since she is so motherly with her little cousins, Adrienne and sometimes even her friends. She tucked me in, kissed me, sang to me and even brought me a cup of "tea". I had closed my eyes because I was supposed to be going to sleep. Before I knew it she had crawled up on top of me and layed her head on my chest. I hugged her and we kept singing for a few minutes before she remembered she was 2 and didn't like holding still. It was such a sweet moment!

First Smiles

This was one of the first big smiles we were able to get on camera. At first we thought we were missing it because her eyes were closed. Then we realized she was like her sister, father and her Grandma Chupp, who all close their eyes when they smile. It's a beautiful smile and we live for them, even if we can't see her pretty blue eyes. :)

The Jackson Five

Dave felt sorry for Morgan being stuck inside this winter so he got the idea of getting upbeat music that she can run around and be crazy to. This particular day she is jammin to the Jackson Five, but another favorite is Jock Jams.