100th Post

We just happened to notice that this is also our 100th post. Hurray!!

Here are a few pictures we took over Christmas. We spent Christmas in Logan with our families. Unfortunately, Ethan stayed up late every night and took no naps (not that we didn't try...we just couldn't get him to settle down because he loved seeing his grandparents and aunts and uncles so much). As a result, he didn't give us the reaction we expected on Christmas morning. When we opened presents at Grandma Morrey's, Ethan didn't want anything to do with it. He wanted all of us to go downstairs with him and watch him play with his cars. After struggling with him, he compromised and remained upstairs to play with his cars while the rest of us opened presents. He was a little better at Grandma Taylor's house and actually opened a present or two.

When Ethan saw Uncle John shoveling snow one morning of our visit, he rushed outside to join him while still in his jammies.

We also took Ethan sledding for the first time. He liked it, but we made the mistake of taking him to the sledding hill in Grandpa's truck. He seemed to enjoy the first time down and asked for more, but changed his mind and kept saying, "no...truck!" He absolutely loves riding in trucks and simply sitting in the front seat to explore the dials and buttons.

Fortunately, when we returned home from Logan Ethan was willing to open his presents, and he liked it! It was funny when he opened them because whenever he ripped off a piece of paper, no matter the size, he would hand it to Mom before he continued opening it.

Ethan has been getting really good at putting two words together lately. In the last few days he has also been obsessed with cereal. It is almost all he wants to eat. He often will say, "eat cereal," or "more cereal," or "cereal please." He must think about cereal a lot. The other night Kyle checked on him in his room before we went to bed and he stirred and mumbled "cereal" in his sleep. The good thing that has come of this is that Ethan has finished off all of the not-quite-empty boxes of cereal taking up too much space in our pantry.

We do still love Brooklyn, but she never does anything exciting. Just kidding. Actually, yesterday she started smiling at us when we talked to her. She especially got excited this afternoon when her mama was interacting with her. It is so much fun to see her grow. It is amazing how fast it is happening and we really look forward to getting to know her personality better.

Being New Year's Eve, we were planning on staying up to watch a movie once our kids were both asleep, but as tired as we feel now at 10:21 PM we will ring in the new year with our eyes shut.

Happy New Year!! (and good night)

Ward Christmas Party

We've had quite the week. We attended four Christmas parties together as a family this week. Jen got food poisoning from a RS activity this week and almost had to miss our ward Christmas party. Fortunately she felt just well enough to attend (though she only ate bread and water) so that she could help persuade Ethan to sit on Santa's lap after last year's fright. It was a little less traumatic, we think.Brooklyn took to Santa much better.
Although she had been in bed all day, Jen didn't want to miss the Christmas party because she was asked to portray Mary. The woman who asked Jen also had a costume made specifically for her to wear. Besides, it would be Brooklyn's acting debut. Not only would she be able to stretch herself by playing a boy, but what an opportunity to play the part of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

Lastly, here is a picture we took a few weeks back of Brooklyn in the Santa dress her Grandma Taylor got for her.
We spent the weekend in Logan for family Christmas parties. The drive there was a bit of a pain since they closed I-15 just north of Ogden due to a 33-car pile up. We hate winter driving! Our drive home was fine, but Kyle was sick today with the flu, I've had a sore throat (and still waiting for my stomach to feel 100% again), and Ethan seems to be getting a cold. We sure hope we all feel well again for Christmas.

A Month Already?!!

Brooklyn is a month old today. She's still as sweet as the day she was born. She's starting to sleep for longer periods at night. We don't want to jinx things (again...last time we bragged about her sleeping, she was a terrible sleeper for the next few days), but the other night she slept for a record eight hours, ate, and slept for another four. We're so happy to have her in our family. It's only been a month, but it's already hard to imagine life without her.

Highly Advanced

Our little Brooklyn is growing up so fast. This week when we were giving her time on her tummy she decided she didn't like it, and rolled right over. And then she did it again. And again. And again. We managed to catch it on video. Her grandpa Morrey would be so proud. He loves to brag about how "Highly Advanced" his grandchildren are. Here is some proof.

Rob and Christin came to visit this weekend. Ethan absolutely loves his uncle "Bobo." One highlight of their visit was when they taught him how to make a really cute dolphin sound. (We'll see how "really cute" it is in a couple of days after hearing it over and over and over.) It was fun visiting. Please come again.

This last week, we put up our Christmas tree. It's hard to believe Christmas is so close.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving up at Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's house. It was the first time most of Brooklyn's aunts and uncles got to meet her in person. Ethan had a blast playing with several of Grandpa's toys. He loved to watch the trains go around the room, and whenever they came close, he would reach out and touch each car. Thankfully, he was very gentle and didn't wreck any havoc.
Recently, Grandpa got a new tractor for the family farm, and he took the grand kids for a ride. Ethan absolutely loved it, and had to have two rides. Grandpa let Ethan sit on his lap, and Ethan even got to help drive. Our little boy is all boy, no doubt about it. When we left the tractor, Ethan sobbed and sobbed, wanting to go again.

(Click below--it's a video!)

Today we took Brooklyn to church for the first time. We were planning on waiting a week or two, but decided that it would be easier to just take her, rather than juggle her between our responsibilities in Relief Society and Sunday School. She was a perfect angel and slept the whole time.


Funny Story:
Ethan has discovered that he loves barbecue sauce. Tonight at dinner, he loved it with his chicken, and kept asking for more barbecue sauce. He likes to lick the sauce off of the chicken and go back for more sauce. Eventually, he eats the chicken. We decided to do a little experiment and put barbecue sauce on the food he hadn't touched yet. Success--He ate most of his BBQ-coated broccoli. We love our silly boy.

A Walk in the Park

We took Brooklyn for her first walk around the neighborhood this week. Ethan had a lot of fun and even helped push Brooklyn home from the park. It's kind of sad, since this is probably one of the last times we're going to get to go for a walk before it gets too cold.
Brooklyn's umbilical cord dried up and fell off this weekend, so we got to give her her first bath in a 'real' tub. She wasn't too happy about it until we put the wash rag over her to keep her warm. Then she was as happy as a lark.
After Brooklyn's bath, Ethan had to pull the baby bath tub out of the bathroom and into his room, where he insisted on sitting in it, even though we told him that he would get wet. This picture shows him discovering that Mom and Dad were right -- he DID get wet.
Ethan is such a silly boy. Lately he's been trying to figure out how to take off his own clothes. (He's wearing a turtleneck!)
Brooklyn has been doing really well. We're amazed how much this girl can sleep. She is only awake for eating, diaper changes, and a little bit of play time each day. Last night she let Mom sleep for six hours straight! We went to her aunt's house this week and got some beautiful pictures taken which we'll post as soon as we get them. In the mean time, check out http://heathertaylorphoto.com/blog/ for a sneak peek.

Ethan still really enjoys his sister. He loves to hold her and give her kisses. In fact, he just showed her love by ripping out her pacifier and then trying to shove it back in her mouth (thankfully Mom was there to help out).

Welcome Home Ethan!

Ethan got to spend the last couple of days up at Grandma and Grandpa Morrey's house while we adjusted to having Brooklyn, and today he got to come home. It sure is amazing how much bigger he seemed after taking care of little Brooklyn. His diapers are about as long as she is! He is turning out to be a really sweet big brother. When asked who his sister is, he replies, "baby!" and sometimes says her name, "Boo-dah." We let him hold her tonight, and he was so thrilled. He gave her kisses.

Despite her crying, Ethan was beaming from ear to ear. Such a proud big brother.
We thought it would be fun to compare our baby photos. We believe that Ethan has Jen's eyes and Brooklyn has Kyle's eyes and Jen's nose. Feel free to post a comment with your opinion. We're interested to see what people come up with. (click on the picture to see more detail)

So, here's the story of Brooklyn's birth:
Wednesday morning, labor pains woke Jen up at about 1:30 am. About an hour and a half later, the contractions were close enough to go to the hospital in Salt Lake. A neighbor was very nice and came over to babysit Ethan. After a nice half hour drive in to Salt Lake, we arrived at the hospital, where they hooked Jen up to monitor her progress. An hour later, they officially admitted us to the hospital and after enduring five hours of labor, Jen was able to get her epidural. Once the doctor broke Jen's water, things moved very quickly and before we knew it, it was time to push Brooklyn out. Things progressed so quickly that Kyle almost slept through the delivery. It was amazing how much easier things were the second time around. Two pushes and she was out.

We were surprised at the similarities between Ethan and Brooklyn. Here are the stats:

                 Ethan           Brooklyn
Days late         1 day            2 days
Labor Begins      12:30 am         1:30 am
Epidural          5 hours later    5 hours later
Cord around neck  2 times          2 times
Weight            7 lbs 2.8 oz     7 lbs 2.3 oz
Length            20.5 inches      20.5 inches

GOT MILK?

Our little Princess

A Very Tired Family

We are finally home. As you can see below, both Jen and Brooklyn are soundly sleeping next to me while I post this, so I'm going to make this short so we can get some much needed rest. We wanted to get a few more pictures posted before the day was done. We'll put more commentary in our next post. Enjoy.

The Morrey Family is Proud to Present...

Brooklyn Taylor Morrey

Born Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 12:09 pm.

Weighing in at 7 lbs 2 oz and 20.5 inches long.

More pictures and details to come.

Eviction Notice

Today is the due date and still no baby. We've been packed for three weeks. I've been dilated four centimeters for a week now and yet she still refuses to leave the womb. We decided to give her an eviction notice last week. We scheduled an induction for Thursday if she doesn't come out on her own. I really don't want an induction, but was going crazy not having an end in sight. It is especially hard when it is difficult planning what to do with the other child you have at home and family isn't too close by.

This was an eventful week. Kyle's youngest brother, Michael, returned home from his mission on Thursday and met Ethan for the first time (sadly we didn't get any pictures). We were a little crazy and traveled to Logan on Sunday to hear him speak about it and were grateful we could be there. We were happy that we didn't have a roadside emergency, but had interesting conversations of what it would be like to have a police escort to the hospital like they do in the movies. We were tempted to leave Ethan in Logan with his grandma since he'll be spending time with her when we are in the hospital, but I couldn't imagine the possibility of several days by myself just waiting for baby to come while Kyle was at work. Besides, Ethan hasn't ever spent a night away from us before and even though he adores his grandparents, we don't want to make the separation longer than needs be.

I'm still holding out and hoping that baby will come today, though I hope labor won't begin until at least noon. Kyle has an exam this morning that he would be happy to miss if I went into labor, but once he starts he cannot really stop in the middle of.

So, if anyone has any creative ideas or things they've heard will safely induce labor, they would be fun to read and tempting to consider at this point. I've already heard of castor oil (which I've read can have some terrible side effects and I'm not desperate enough to try), eating pineapple or spicy foods, brisk walks (which I have been doing), full moons, changes in barometric pressure, and a few other things I won't mention.

I was so looking forward to posting pictures of our little pumpkin this week, but since she isn't here yet, here is the very last comparison picture featured on babycenter.com: Our baby is estimated to be the size of a small pumpkin. The average size of a newborn is 7.5 lbs and 20 inches long. Hopefully our next posting will come soon and before Thursday.

If anyone wants to change their guesses on when the baby will come, feel free. Everyone was so kind to not guess past the due date.

We'd also like to send out a happy birthday shout to Michelle, Aunt Annette, and our nephew Jackson. Today is a popular day for being born.

Somebody was born today...

...It was Jen, 27 years ago. It was a nice birthday. Kyle told me my present was that I got an extra hour of birthday fun (due to daylight savings). Seriously though, he gave me a few really nice presents. I got a music player for the kitchen so I can listen to music more easily since I spend so much time there. He also got me some really good chocolate, made me a carrot cake from scratch, and prepared a lovely roast beef dinner with the instructions that I couldn't do any of the cooking. It was very good and nice to have the day off.


Ethan was very sweet today. He gave me a wonderful present. For the first time he let me know that he had a poopy diaper by getting my attention by repeatedly saying "blegh!!" and pulling his pants down. I often ask him if he is poopy and he shakes his head "no" regardless of whether he is or not. Hopefully this will continue and he'll be ready to potty train soon.

We were finally able to capture a picture of Ethan when he folds his arms and closes his eyes for prayer. So cute!
Kyle has been teaching Ethan the difference between smiling and frowning. This is Ethan's attempt at frowning on command (you can also tell that he really enjoyed eating some of Mama's birthday cake tonight).

Happy Halloween!!

Ethan went trick-or-treating for the first time this year. We dressed him up as a monkey because he likes monkeys and does a really good monkey sound. The Primary had a parade on Friday afternoon and Ethan had a very good time (though he may not look it--we had a hard time getting him to smile for the camera). He took his friend Curious George and ate his very first doughnut.


Ethan was excited to dress up as a monkey and loved the fact that people were giving him candy.Ethan was excited about all the candy in his pumpkin at the end of the night (we only went to a few houses).
Ethan probably hasn't ever had so much sugar in one day before. Luckily we were able to get him to bed just fine.
No, Baby isn't here yet, but she is now about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, like a small watermelon. Hopefully she'll come this week.

Fun in the Fall

We had lots of outdoor fun this week. Stansbury has an old historical mill that puts on a small pumpkin walk every year. It is nothing to Logan's production, but was fun nonetheless. Jen and Ethan went with some of her buddies from her aerobics group and their kids. Here are some pictures of their afternoon.





Today our family went up the canyon to see what was left of the leaves. Ethan especially enjoyed the outing. He wouldn't stop chattering the whole time and loved being free to climb and wander.

Ethan was such a tough kid. Whenever he fell down (which happened frequently with all of the rocks hiding under the leaves), he would just brush off his hands, and get back up to continue wandering.

Ethan was a funny boy today. Apparently in nursery he volunteered to say the prayer. When the nursery leader asked who wanted to say the prayer, Ethan said "me." We were surprised to hear this since he can't say prayers yet and we are lucky to get him to fold his arms and keep his eyes closed.

This weekend we were blessed to be visited by both grandma Morrey and grandma Taylor. Ethan absolutely loves his grandmas and talks about them all the time. He always loves to be around them. When they left he sobbed. He has never been so sad to see them leave before.

This week our baby girl weighs about 6.8 pounds and measures over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). We are getting more and more anxious for her birth and are hopeful she'll come this week (then we can finally verify that she is a baby and not a fruit or veggie).