Coffee Date.

*I was inspired by this post.

If it was before noon then we could officially call this a coffee date. I would be sipping instant coffee with lots, and I mean lots, of French Vanilla creamer, from one of my very favorite mugs that we received as a wedding gift. But since it's well after noon time and I'm sipping on a Diet Coke instead, I guess we can't officially call this a coffee date. Anywho.

We'd probably be sitting on my back porch on my big red couch. Most likely during nap time so that we could actually talk. You would hear the ocean waves over the baby monitor and there would most likely be music playing from the iPad. My dogs would be sitting at your feet begging for attention and there would be a nice cool breeze (I hope).

I would start by telling you that Travis and I had the most awesome weekend. We traveled, by boat, down to Charleston with Owens, Trenholm, Jonathan, Ashley and some other great friends for the weekend. It was so nice and so relaxing and a large time was had by all. I'm still recovering. Time spent with these people makes my sides hurt from laughing so hard.

I would then tell you that we didn't worry one bit about our girl because we knew she was in THE best hands. She was with Kaka and Gator and also getting to spend the weekend with her favorite cousin, Hunter. She adores Kaka and Gator, as well as Hunter, and on the drive home Sunday she cried three-fourths of the way for Kaka. 

I would then tell you how much I love Hunter and how he is such a sweet boy. He is growing and changing and doing so much. He can now say our names, "Ah Cake" and "Heder". Oh, how I love him!

We would then talk about plans for this upcoming weekend and possibly 4th of July. I would tell you that we will be spending our time on Lake Murray soaking up the sun. I would tell you about how much I love Lake Murray and how it holds a very special place in my heart because it's on this lake that Travis popped the big question.

I might also mention that I am thoroughly enjoying this summer, but I think Morgan Kate might be a tad bit bored with me. Just today I took her to the park, alone, and she asked numerous times if anyone else was coming. 

While we were talking about MK and children, I would probably tell you how my mom hates for me to call Morgan Kate by her full name. I mean she loves her full name, but dislikes that I only use it when MK is in trouble or testing my patience. I sent her this text just the other day. So true.

Then we might talk about children's clothing or great finds and I would tell you about these darling little yellow shoes that I got for MK just last week. Not only are they darling, but super easy to put on and they were also fairly cheap. It's a win-win situation for all involved.

I would tell you how full my heart is and how content I am with life right now. I would probably go on and on about all the things MK is doing and how I love being a mom. It's the greatest thing ever, but also one of the hardest. I want to do things right and raise her to be a kind and generous person. I want her to be loving and open minded. 

That would lead me into a conversation with you about her daddy and just how much I love him. He is my absolute world and makes me the happiest girl in the whole wide world. 


Of course we would talk about you and all you have going on - your weekend plans, upcoming vacations, children, spouse, pets, shopping, hopes and dreams, etc.


And then, out of nowhere, MK would say over the monitor, "Mommy, I all done napping". We would wrap up our conversation, head in to get her and be greeted with a sweaty, but oh so sweet hug.

Dear Morgan Kate,

In like eight weeks or something crazy like that you are going to be four. Oh. My. Mercy. Four?!? My brain cannot even really fathom that. I have really enjoyed all of your ages/stages, okay, maybe not every single one of them, but this particular age, right now, has probably been one of my most favorites. You are so much fun and so full of personality. You make me laugh all of the time. You are so smart and observant and you pick up on everything. Your memory is out of this world and your language and conversation skills blow my mind. You are my sunshine.

Even though you are about to be four, you still wear mostly 2T and 3T clothes. Height wise you need threes, but your waist is about as big around as my pinky finger. Tiny. Needless to say, buying pants for you is a challenge. I try to stick with dresses, skirts and shorts. You are pretty vocal about what you want to wear. I try to honor your opinion as much as possible, but it's not always easy. You wear a size 7/8 shoe and your favorite shoes are your crocs or your rain boots.

                  

You are a good sleeper as long as we keep you on some sort of routine. You need to be busy during the day and you need to go to bed at the same time each night. When we stray from your routine then you start to complain about bedtime and you start getting up during the night. You sleep in your big girl bed every single night and we are so proud of you! 

You are a decent eater and will try anything at least once, you always have been that way. Your favorites are fruit, peas, green beans, rice, ham, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and ice cream. You also really like candy which is no surprise because Gator and I are HUGE candy fans. You get it honest. There are days when you eat really good and clean your plate and other days when you don't really eat a lot at all. 

You have the biggest imagination of anyone I know. Seriously. You play pretend everything and you still have all of your imaginary friends -Dabba, Mimi and Jason. You tell us that Jason is your brother. And while we are on that subject, you ask us every. single. day. for a baby brother or sister. And you even tell people that you are going to be a big sister. There are lots of friends in your life getting brothers and sisters and you think you are supposed to get one too. Each time you ask, I just tell you that you need to talk to the big man upstairs about all of that. Anyway, back to your imagination. You play pretend doctor, pretend baby, pretend princess, pretend teacher, pretend dancer, pretend cook, pretend mommy. Like I said, pretend everything. You love to dress up as a princess or dancer. Often times I find you all dressed up "teaching your girls" to dance. You crack me up.

You love reading books. Your favorites are books about princesses or fairies and you also really like books about trucks. We read two books each night and numerous books during the day. There are several books that you have memorized and you read them to us. Blows my mind. You also like playing on the iPad and right now your favorite app is Mickey Mouse Road Ralley or something like that. You also love using the iPad to play music and take pictures. You are really good with technology. You also love playing outside and drawing with sidewalk chalk. You would draw for hours if we let you. You enjoy driving your pink Jeep and riding on your tricycle. And you really love playing with your "fwens". You know your ABCs and you can count to twenty, most of the time. You think every letter is the letter A. Ha! You also sing a lot and you can hear just the first few notes of a song and you know what it is. I think you get that from your daddy.

You are a very sweet girl and you tell us you love us all of the time. It melts my heart. You are really snuggly and love to just cuddle and hug and give kisses. At nights, before bed, you love crawling up on the couch with your daddy and watching Tom and Jerry (your favorite). You also say, "Mommy, you are the best mommy evah" or "Daddy, you are my favorite daddy evah". We both just eat it up. While you are 99.9% sweet, you can be a little sassy and even a little whiney. You don't usually do anything to get in trouble, but you say things sometimes that get you in trouble. We are all learning. 


I hope you always know how happy you make your daddy and I. You really do complete our life and we thank God for you every single day, multiple times a day. I feel so blessed to be your mommy and each day you just amaze me more and more. We love you more than we could ever express. 

You are our world. You are our heart. You are our everything, baby girl. We love you muches.


I love you, 
Mommy

Summer so far...

1. Sleeping in

2. Swimming lessons

3. Lunch with Uncle Owens

4. Reorganized kitchen cabinets

5. Bought two "new" antique dressers

6. Lunch with Kaka

7. Dance camp

8. Lunch and "pickin" with Trenholm

9. Spend the night party with Hunter

10. Countless lake trips

11. Lunch and play date with Annie Parker and Jessa

12. Lunch with Raven

13. Spend the night party at Kaka and Gator's

14. Cleaned out the pantry and both bathrooms

15. Cleaned out MK's dresser drawers

16. Baked cookies

17. Painted

18. Shopped

19. Indulged in several Starbucks coffees

20. Lots of fun with sidewalk chalk

21. New recipes

22. Summer colds

23. Celebrated Father's Day

24. MK spent the weekend with Kaka and Gator

25. Trav, Owens, Trenholm and I, along with friends, did a river trip down to Charleston for the weekend

Can't wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for us!

If you have read this blog for any amount of time you will have probably noticed that MK's hair has been super ssslllloooowwww to grow. Seriously, it has taken almost four years and it still isn't past her shoulders. She's only had one haircut, ever, and that was this past September.

Just in the past few months her hair has really started growing. Or maybe it just seems that way to me.

Most of the growth has been in a "V" shape. Longer in the back and shorter on the sides. 

I hated to have it cut, but I knew it needed some "shaping up".

I bypassed the "cute-toy car-loud music" hair places for children and went straight to "my girl", Lauren. She is awesome and I knew she would know exactly what to do.

Morgan Kate loved going and I loved watching. She definitely did not sit still and each time Lauren would cut, MK would jerk her head, but in the end it turned out great. A big THANKS to Lauren for her patience!!

It's so much more even and looks SO much healthier. It's still long enough for "penny tails", so all is right with the world. 

At the end of May, Nolan celebrated his second birthday. I can still remember when his momma was growing him in her tummy and now he's already two. Wowzers. I have super talented friends and Raven is no exception. The girl can throw a party! Everything was perfect and so cute and so yummy!

The "babies" had the best time outside with all of the water toys.

The birthday boy had an absolute blast and looked so stinkin' cute! Can you say adorable?!?

Nolan is one lucky little boy and at one time had five little girls at his party. Ha! He may not think he's so lucky in a few more years. 

He got an awesome four wheeler from his uncles, but he wasn't able to truly enjoy it because the girls took over. Imagine that!

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful party! I had the best time hanging out and catching up with my friends as well! We have all been together since elementary school and now have babies of our own around the same age. I can see each of their mommies in those little faces!

Liz and Neeley, Raven and Nolan, Melissa and Caroline, me and MK

 Oh, how I love these "babies"!

Swim lessons are over.

Morgan Kate is relieved. I am even more relieved.

Don't get me wrong. MK had a fabulous instructor. Seriously. A-mazing. And I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with some of my gal friends.

But, let's just say, MK didn't really "dig" swim lessons. She hated going underwater and was least than thrilled to kick and scoop and jump. 

I must admit I was kind of surprised by how she reacted. Okay, I was really surprised. We are around the water almost every single weekend, so she's had lots of exposure. I thought she would just jump right in (literally) and smile the entire time she was doing it. 

Wrong. She smiled three times. Twice for pictures and the final time was when she realized it was all over.

These two precious boys took swim lessons with her and they were troopers. They only seemed to get slightly upset when they saw MK thrashing and screaming. She did lots of thrashing and screaming.

Despite her initial feelings, she did end the week with a big smile (most likely from relief) and she gave her swim teacher a big hug and smile and "Thank you".


I am sure, in true Morgan Kate fashion, she will be swimming laps next summer and not even thinking twice about it. The girl does things when she is ready and apparently she just wasn't ready. Oh well, you can't fault a momma for trying.