Hattie is crawling! She is on the move!

Hattie is crawling! I am so proud of my little nine month old. She has been working so hard at crawling and has finally mastered it! She is still a little new to the whole moving thing, but she isn't letting anything slow her down. When she sees a toy or something she wants she finds a way to get to it. At first it was moving her body all around until somehow she had made it to her target. For a while she couldn't figure out how to pull her knees under her. She found herself in the tripod position with no where else to go. But, sure enough she finally figured it out. The remote control is something that she LOVES. Whenever it is in sight she throws a fit until she has it in her hands. This can be a little annoying seeing as how she pushes every button and you find yourself watching an infomercial....but it is a sure way to calm her down. Morgan was the same way, if I remember correctly it was the remote that got her to crawl for the first time as well.

Here you will find three video's with her progress over the past week. The first one you find her in the tripod stance. The second video you see her crawling to Boomer...another huge motivation for crawling and pulling up. And the last video is her finally putting it all together.

I am so proud of my little baby. She is growing up right before my eyes!

Morgan's Song

Morgan has always enjoyed singing. I love hearing her little voice. Of course she loves the typical children songs...ABC, Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, I'm a Little Teapot, Old McDonald Had a Farm. Recently though she has started making up her own songs. There is a reoccurring melody that she repeats throughout the song...Chad and I are not quite sure what she is saying but it is something like "Dom you ana..." She then fills in the rest of the song depending on what is around her, what she sees, or some action she is performing. Chad and I find ourselves crying we are laughing so hard. Here is a little example of our little singer-songwriter-dancer Morgan. Make sure to look for the following phrases:

Shake your booty

Basketball

Find a stick

What song are you singing?

Then you run away

Hattie is nine months old

I can hardly believe my little baby is already nine months. The past nine months have gone by SO fast. It seems as if it were only yesterday I was holding her in my arms for the first time looking into those tiny little eyes. With Morgan the first nine months went by quickly...but nothing like this.

She is changing so much ever day. She has said her first words...."Da Da"...I am still waiting for "Ma Ma." She is rocking back and forth on the verge of crawling. Just in the past week she has completely master picking up cheerios and feeding herself. I remember with Morgan that now the milestones will begin to happen so quickly from here on out. Soon she will be walking...running...feeding herself people food...it is going so fast.

I love my little girls so much. My life is complete. I couldn't be happier. I am so lucky I get to stay at home with the two of them and watch them grow, develop and change right before my eyes. I wouldn't trade this time I have with them for anything! I am so lucky!

Birthday and Mother's Day

May is always such a wonderful month for me. My birthday is May 6th and Mother's Day falls shortly there after. I am pampered for about a week in a row. This year was no different. Chad let me sleep in on my birthday which is all the present I really needed. I was then greeted by my girls and my wonderful husband with breakfast in bed. There really isn't any better way to start the day. My mom was in town which again was a wonderful present in itself. She is always such a great help with the girls and it was wonderful to have her with us on my special day.

The day was perfect. A little shopping with my Mother, my girls and my best friend Erin followed by a wonderful lunch. My Mom babysat for the girls so Chad and I could have a night out. We had an amazing dinner and drinks with friends. It was an amazing day! My Father came down on Thursday and we had a family birthday celebration that evening. Cake and presents and an amazing dinner....I had two birthday celebrations. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family who treats me so well.

The weekend came and there were many activities planned. My friend Sarah came in town from California and it was amazing to see her. We threw a baby shower for Erin on Saturday. Erin looked beautiful and we all had so much fun. We were so happy we were able to throw her a baby shower for Baby Stella on the way. We all can't wait to meet her!

Sunday was Mother's day and Chad let me sleep in again. Wonderful husband! Now sleeping in these days is a little different than the past....or pre-children, but an eight o'clock wake up time is WONDERFUL! The whole family got together for brunch to celebrate all the wonderful Mother's. Aunt Jane, Uncle Hank, Christin, Sam, Hannah and Jacob, Mom and Dad, Chad, Morgan and Hattie, Sarah and I. We had a full table of wonderful Mother's.

Unfortunately, all of our family does not live close by. The only thing that would have made the celebrations better is if the rest of my family could have been there too. But, with phone calls, cards and skype I was able to visit with everyone.

Thank you to my amazing family for giving me such a wonderful birthday and Mother's Day. I truly feel loved by all of you!

Sarah the Dinosaur

Morgan has a love for movies. Ever since she was old enough to watch a full movie she gets fixated on a movie and wants to watch it over and over again. Her first favorite movie was Happy Feat. I think Chad and I can recite the movie by heart we have seen it SO many times. Since then some of her favorite movies have been Ice Age, Ice Age 2, The Jungle Book, The Jungle Book 2, Madagascar just to name a few. Just recently she watched Land Before Time for the first time and she feel in love. Once again, she asked to watch it over and over again.

One of her favorite characters from the movie is a dinosaur called Sarah. One day we were at the doctor's office and Morgan asked the nurse what her name was. When she replied "Sarah", Morgan replied..."Like the dinosaur." I had to laugh out loud at that one.

Last weekend my friend Sarah came in town from California. I told Morgan that "Sarah" was on her way to see us and she was very excited to hear that. Immediately she thought the dinosaur from the movie was coming to her house to play with her. I explained to her that Sarah was a friend of mommies and not from the movie. I continued to tell her that movies are make believe and pretend. A hard concept for a two and a half year old.

After Morgan's nap Sarah had arrived at our house. I got her up and told her Sarah was here. Her face lit up and she was SO excited to go see Sarah. As Morgan turned the corner Sarah said "Hello." Morgan replied "Hello", but continued to look down the hall for the real Sarah. We tried to explain to her that this was Sarah but Morgan was confused. She looked at Sarah with an intense confused look and said....."But you aren't Sarah....you are a people." It was so sad. She was DEVASTATED. She really thought Sarah the Dinosaur from the movie was coming to her house to see her. It broke my heart to see the disappointment in her face. My friend Sarah felt horrible as well....she had completely let Morgan down. At the same time it was so cute and funny. It was hard not to laugh.

After some time Morgan came to realize that the dinosaur wasn't coming to her house. She was happy that "Sarah the people" was there to play with her. It is amazing what goes on in the little minds of two and a half year olds. Reality and fiction is a concept that is hard to understand. For now Sarah the dinosaur will have to remain on the tv...who knows what the next movie will be and who the next favorite character of the moment will capture Morgan's interest.

Napa Trip

Marci on the swing at Pride Vineyards

Chad and Marci at the Rehearsal Dinner

Beautiful view outside Quixote Winery


Chad and Marci before the wedding



Bruce and Adam after the ceremony

Flowers

The ceremony location

Chad and Marci dancing at the reception

The reception

Chad enjoying some wine

Domaine Carneros

Chad, Marci, Bruce and Adam wine tasting at Ma(i)sonry

Adam and Bruce


Chad and I have a great love for wine and wine tasting. I was lucky enough to be in the industry before I had children and learned so much about wine. We were exposed to some interesting people and had the chance to travel to some amazing wineries. Since children we have tried to get out to Napa several times since it is one of our favorite places. In April Chad's boss got married in Napa and we were SO excited to go to our first wedding in a place that we love so much. Not only was it amazing wedding in an incredible setting, but we were also able to visit some of our favorite wineries and visit some new ones as well.

In was also our first trip away from Hattie. After a long struggle of getting her off breast feeding, we were finally able to supplement her feeding so that she was getting the nutrients she needed. Our stubborn little eater though, still refused the bottle. We just had to be creative and get her the formula she needed in other ways. The girls did great with their Nana and Aunt B. The only problem was that Morgan came down with the stomach bug halfway through the trip. Nana did a great job taking care of her and by the time we came home she was on her way to recovering. It was hard being away from our babies, especially when they were sick.

We had INCREDIBLE weather the whole time. 70 or so in the day with no rain. We even rented a Mustang convertible which really allowed us to enjoy the beautiful weather. We discovered several new wineries and bought lots of wine for our cellar. But, we made sure to hit our favorites...Robert Keenan, Pride and Domaine Carneros to name a few.

The wedding was amazing. Bruce (Chad's boss), married his boyfriend Adam and there was a wonderful group of people who joined us as we watched the two of them join in marriage. We met some great people and had a wonderful time starting new friendships. The location for the event couldn't have been any more beautiful. It was a dream wedding. No detail was left undone. Beautiful flowers, tasty food, of course amazing wine, the decorations, amazing people, the location...it all was perfect.

Chad is an amazing photographer and captured the wedding with some amazing pictures. He truly has an amazing eye. There were so many pictures to choose from to include in this blog...I had to narrow it down. I know Bruce and Adam were very pleased and thankful for all the amazing pictures he took to help capture the wonderful experience we all had.

I hope you can see from these pictures what an amazing photographer my husband is, how much fun we had...and of course what an amazing wedding it was. Enjoy.