FORTY days until the March of Dimes Walk!

FORTY days to raise money that will continue to help babies just like Morgan Kate!

FORTY days to spread the word and raise awareness about this wonderful organization!

Remember, the money donated to the March of Dimes doesn't just help premature babies. The money raised funds research that helps ALL babies and ALL pregnant women. 

If you haven't signed up to walk, please be sure to do so. It doesn't cost a thing, just click on the purple button in right sidebar and sign up!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today my girl is two and a half. Two years and six months. Thirty months. It doesn't matter which way you say it, it makes me sad. 


Don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled that she is growing and changing and learning so much each and every day. I love that her legs are getting longer and her hair is finally beginning to fill in. Beginning being the keyword there. I love that she can climb onto our bed without any help. I love that she can sit in a big girl chair and finally see above the table. I love that she knows exactly what I'm talking about and she understands why her daddy and I laugh so much. It melts my heart to hear her talk and I could listen to her for hours as she tells us about her day. It makes me smile to hear her talk about her friends and name each and every one. And even though I would love for her to run to me every afternoon with big, open arms - it truly does mean the world to me that she doesn't want to leave and that she cries for "Wobbi". I love that she's old enough to recognize vehicles and she knows which truck belongs to Gator and which belongs to Owens. It makes me laugh out loud that she thinks every article of clothing and every toy in our house was given to her by her Kaka. (She's mostly right.) It warms my heart that she thinks every baby is "Hunter". And it brings tears to my eyes when Travis tells her that he loves her and she says, "I love you back, Daddy". 


She's doing so much at two and a half years old. She is talking in sentences and even asking questions. No, it's not perfect speech and a lot of it is hard to understand, but I'm her mommy and I GET it. I know what she's saying and what she wants. (Most of the time, anyway.) She's kicking and throwing balls and climbing on every thing in sight. She's dancing and singing and humming. She can hear a song once, maybe twice, and then hum the entire song. A-mazing. She can put on her pants and tries so hard to put on her shirt. She can put on her shoes and her jacket and even tells me which shoes she will and will not wear. Such a girl. She's using the potty a little. Very little. We've had the potty for two months and she has "pee-peed" in the potty twice now. The second time being tonight. At this rate we are averaging once a month. And I'll take it. She's now beginning to wear 24 month and 2T clothes. Size 4 diaper and size 5 shoe. She asks to wear bows in her hair and likes to wear socks. She loves her "jammies" and loves to play dress up. She doesn't like to be cold and she doesn't like getting up early. (So my child.) She doesn't like for the sun to be in her eyes and will say, "Sun bright momma". She finally refers to me as "momma" and not "Bobby". She loves to see the "schoo buh" (school bus) each morning and even asks to go to "schoo". She enjoys playing outside and coloring. And she loves watching the Fresh Beat Band and Dora. She LOVES cupcakes and asks for them frequently. She gets up at night about once a week and comes to bed with us. (We love it.) She still sleeps in her crib and she still gets a nighttime bottle. And I could care less. I love it. She can say "A, B, C, D, E" then we skip a few and then all of a sudden there is "Z". Some days she can count to three, some days five and some days we go straight from one to five. She knows she is two and will tell you, sometimes. And she's starting preschool in the fall. Yes, preschool in the fall. 


And I'm sad. I'm sad she's growing so fast. I'm sad she's no longer technically a "baby". I'm sad that everything seems to be flying by. I just want it to slow down. I want to remember to savor every moment and soak up every second with her. I'm sad that my time with her during the week is so limited. It makes me sad to think back to my stay-at-home days and think about how our time together has changed so much. I know it's silly and foolish and ridiculous, but I'm still sad. 


I love the big, sweet girl she is becoming. I do. I love her confidence and independent attitude. I love her courage and demeanor. She makes me so proud to be her mommy. But I want it to all slow down and I want to remind myself every chance I get to just enjoy it. To enjoy every single second. 


Happy half birthday, my sweet girl! I love you so much and I am so very proud to be your mommy. You are one special, special girl!

This past weekend the guys (Trav, my dad, Owens and Kyle) were all on a camping trip/bachelor weekend for Owens. It involved camping, of course, as well as the lake, boats, firewood, steaks and potatoes and other things that guys do when gathered together. And it wasn't just them, there was a total of about twenty or so guys doing whatever it is that guys do. While they were away for a guy's weekend, we decided to take girl's weekend.

Morgan Kate, my mom, Mama Jean and myself headed to Summerville to spend some quality time with Aunt Deborah, Kelly and Corrisa. To do the things girls do when together. Things like shopping, eating out, having long talks and of course painting our nails. Actually the only person to receive a mani and pedi was the youngest of the bunch, MK. 

She, like so many other girls, loves being pampered and she adores having her fingers and toes painted. I love watching the excitement and happiness on her face. She is so still and so quiet and when it's all over, she's so proud.


We had a really great weekend. Mom, MK and I stayed with Corrisa, and MJ stayed with Kelly. We had a nice lunch Saturday afternoon at California Dreaming, spent the day shopping (or trying to shop), picked up my bridesmaids dress, found a dress for Mama Jean to wear to the wedding and ended our day with a delicious dinner at Corrisa's. She's Italian and she knows how to cook some pasta. Yummy. 


I love being able to spend time with my family, especially when it's just us girls, and I love being able to give those types of experiences to Morgan Kate. She hasn't stopped talking about "Keh-key", "Cissa" and "Debah". 


And I wish I had more pictures, but it's kind of difficult to shop, eat, chase Morgan Kate and still remember to snap pictures. Sometimes I barely remember to stop and use the restroom. Ha!

I just looked back at my blog posts for the past two weeks and I think I blogged a total of four times. Fourteen or so days and only four blog posts. Ugh. It has been a busy two weeks. Sick baby girl. Sick hubby. Hubby away for the weekend. MK and I away for the weekend. Lots going on at work. Lots going on in life, period. However, with all of that said, I have GOT to get back on the blogging bandwagon. It makes me sad to look back and see such gaps. 

Last week we had some really nice weather. Weather that actually allowed us to get outdoors and play. MK loved it. Travis loved it. I loved it. Of course while we were out MK called her favorite "kitty" over. I think I have mentioned before that we don't have cats, nor do we have any desire to have one. But we do love my grandmother's cats and our neighbor's cats. Our neighbor's cats are in a way kind of like ours. We love them as if they were ours. We "cat-sit" sometimes. We feed them and pet them. And MK absolutely adores them, especially the black cat, Lily. 

Here she is chasing Lily across the yard. MK wants Lily to sit in her lap and love every minute of the petting that takes place. Lily, on the other hand, would prefer for that not to happen. 

Lily likes to just watch. From a distance.

Not only did I want to capture some moments between Lily and Morgan Kate, but I wanted to get some shots of MK in this little outfit. Kaky bought her the dress and I just love it. I also really love it with these striped tights. And that bow. And those boots. I actually love everything about this outfit, especially the little girl in it.

Now off to make my to-do list for the week and include "Blog more than once." 

Exactly a week later my baby girl is finally feeling better and on the mend. She started with fever last Sunday which continued into Monday. Coughing, runny nose, crankiness, sneezing, low-energy all kicked in Monday evening and didn't leave out until Friday evening. Thursday MK even began to run fever again. And in the midst of her illness, Travis caught whatever she had. Thankfully however, everyone is well on their way to being one hundred percent. I'm so thankful!

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I don't pretend to be a bargain shopper. I don't pretend to be amazing at using coupons. I do good just to make the grocery list. I took a coupon class last year this time and have really done nothing with the information I gained. I only use coupons when my grandmother cuts them out for me or they come in the mail ready to use. 

With all this said, I have been rather interested in Groupon. My brother first introduced me to Groupon. For weeks, even months, I just looked and watched from a distance. I then decided that maybe I should sign up for it. It couldn't hurt. I saw a few good deals come through, but nothing that really made me stop and say, "I have got to have this." Until, a few weeks ago when a Groupon came out for a canvas photo. I have been wanting a canvas photo for forever, but haven't wanted to fork out the big buckaroos. The Groupon was $45 and that $45 entitled me to a 16x20 canvas from Canvas on Demand. The $45 also covered the shipping and handling. I went to Canvas on Demand just to see what my savings would actually be. The actual price of the canvas I was going to be ordering was $112 and with shipping and handling I think the total was going to be $126 or something like that. My groupon or coupon or whatever it's called would definitely be a savings. I quickly purchased the Groupon online and ordered my print within about three or four days. My final product arrived just last week and I was so pleased with it. SO. VERY. PLEASED. It is amazing.

I can't wait to hang it. I have the perfect spot. And I keep patiently waiting for another deal like that. 


**Just a few days after I purchased the Groupon, I found another deal through Canvas People. You could order an 8x10 for FREE and only pay shipping and handling. I got this adorable 8x10 of Morgan Kate and only paid $14.95. Wowzers!

Morgan Kate had a rough night. A lots of coughing, stuffy nose, can't breath kind of night. Awake at midnight and in bed with us before one. A very restless night to say the least. Not only was she tossing and turning, but so was Travis. We're pretty sure that he has whatever MK has. But, at the 11:45 this morning we were finally able to get in and see Dr. G.

This picture was taken around 10 or so this morning when we were just waiting for the time to pass and our appointment time to arrive. She was just pitiful. But still wearing her princess dress up clothes. Such a girl!

About ten minutes before the above picture was taken MK was in tears. She was just crying and had these huge tears falling from her cheeks. She may whine a little bit sometimes and she can be rather grumpy, but she rarely cries. Especially like that. I felt so bad for her. She just did not feel good, at all. 


When we first arrived at Dr. G's they did a flu test. You know, the swab up both nostrils. MK was not impressed with this at all, but the minute the nurse handed her this sucker, she was all smiles.

Flu test came back negative. Ears looks good. Lungs sound great. Dr. G said it's just a really nasty, awful cold. It will need to run it's course of seven to ten days and MK will feel pretty rotten. It's a cold, but she's still really contagious and it's not something we want to spread to anyone, but especially MK's friends at Roddey's, so she's out for the rest of the week. She's now on an inhaler and a cough medicine. Hopefully these two meds will do the trick and she will be back to her old self in no time.


While I'm never happy to hear that my baby is sick, I was happy to hear that her lungs sounded great. Even two and a half years later her lungs are the first thing I worry about when she starts feeling bad. I immediately have flashbacks to oxygen tanks and CPAP. I start to worry that she might have to hospitalized or even worse. My mind just goes in a thousand awful directions. But, in the past six months she has had a viral infection, croup and now this really bad cold and she's handled all of them very well. Makes a mommy happy for sure. 

It's that time again! Time to March for Babies!


I have been meaning to post about this for forever, but just haven't found the time. Being off with a sick child has actually allowed me the time to finally post about it. Go figure! I was off today because MK had her ENT post-op visit. Everything checked out terrific and she passed her hearing test with flying colors. But in the meantime she got sick. She started running a fever Sunday afternoon and the coughing/runny nose/etc. followed. So far she has been fever free for twenty-four hours (so, no I didn't take her to the ENT with a fever), but she sounds terrible. So, so congested, really hoarse and an awful little cough. Apparently, every other child in our area is also sick so there were zero available appointments today with our pediatrician. When we called yesterday we were told to wait twenty-four hours and now there are no appointments. Lesson learned, don't wait twenty-four hours. The plan as of now is to take another day tomorrow and head to our pediatrician's office.


Until then, some information about March for Babies.

March of Dimes Q and A

In just a few weeks, 60 days to be exact,  we will be walking for the March of Dimes and for babies just like Morgan Kate. I have tried my best to think of possible questions you might have and provide answers to them. If you have other questions please leave them in the comment section of this post and I will try my best to answer them.

What is the March of Dimes? What do they do?

The March of Dimes (MOD) helps moms have full-term pregnancies and research the problems that threaten the health of babies. The MOD is not just for premature babies. It's not just for full-term babies. It's not only for babies that have passed or babies that are still in the womb. It's for all babies. And all pregnant women. All moms. Every single one. In every single place.

The research conducted by the MOD is vital. Lifesaving. We would know, it helped save our daughter's life. Without their research there might not be artificial surfactant. And without artificial surfactant our baby girl may have never taken her first few breaths. The MOD educates, promotes, researches and raises money for healthy, full-term pregnancies. 

Contrary to what some might believe, the MOD didn't step in and magically wipe away our medical bills. They didn't give us money while we were in the hospital or once we got home. They didn't pay us to be an Ambassador family and they don't pay us to support them. We choose to be a part of this organization. We choose to support them and we choose to help raise money. We choose to do this because what they have done has helped save the life of our baby girl and many, many others.

When is the walk?

This year we will only be participating in one walk - the Orangeburg walk. The Columbia walk falls on Owens and Trenholm's big day and I kinda figure we should be there. Ha! The Orangeburg walk will be on Saturday, April 9th at 9:00 am. If you are interested in participating in the Columbia walk it's on Saturday, April 30th at 9:00 am. You can also visit the March of Dimes webpage to find other walks in or around your area.

 

How can I help?

Helping is easy! You can pray, you can walk, you can tell others about the March of Dimes, you can donate money or you can raise your own money. And if you are feeling especially froggy, you can do all of those!

How do I donate?

Donating is simple. You can click on the purple button located to the right. Once you click on that button you will be taken to a very secure page where you can donate using your debit card or credit card. If you aren't comfortable making donations online then you can send a check through the mail - just be sure to make it out to the March of Dimes.

How do I sign up to be a walker?

There are two ways to do this. One, you can simply leave me a message or send me an email and let me know you want to be a walker. Simple as that. Or, you can click on the purple button located to the right. Once you click there it will take you to a new page. There will be two options on that page. One says To Donate and the other says To Walk. If you click on the button that says To Walk, then it will take you to yet another page where you can sign up to walk and also set a goal to raise your own money. In the end, the money you raise will go toward Team Morgan Kate's grand total. This year the March of Dimes is trying to increase their registered walker totals, so signing up as a walker would be a great way to help with this!

I'm confused. What do you mean, "raise my own money"?

There are two ways to give to Team Morgan Kate. You can simply donate OR you can help raise money on your own. When you help raise money, you set your own goal and you seek out others to donate to YOU. Closer to the walk you will collect all of your money, send it to me and all donations will go toward Team Morgan Kate's grand total. If you raise $200 you will receive a March of Dimes t-shirt. If you raise $500 then you will receive a March of Dimes t-shirt and sweatshirt. And so on, and so on.

Can you explain this in simpler terms?

Basically, if you are only interested in walking - then just send me an email or leave me a message in the comment section and I will put you on the list. If you want to walk and donate - then send me an email or leave me a message in the comment section and I will sign you up to walk and THEN visit the purple button to the right and donate money. If you want to walk and raise your own money, then click on the purple button to the right, once you are taken to a new page click on To Walk and go from there.

I've never participated in a walk, what is it like?

This will be our third year participating in the walk. The walks usually begin at 9:00 am. The Gardens are the starting point for Orangeburg and the fairgrounds are the starting point for the Columbia walk. We all meet up a little before 9:00. We all begin at the same starting point, but there are two different routes. One route is between two and three miles and the other is between four and five. We take our own water bottles, but along the way there are stations with fruit and water. There are people walking, people running, people sitting along side the road and others that aren't able to walk and they stay back at the starting point. In past years Morgan Kate has gone along with us and we pushed her in the stroller. There are lots and lots of people and it is such a rewarding and special day!

The walk was is before lunch and different vendors supply drinks and pizza. After the walk and sometimes before people give speeches, awards are given for money raised and afterward some people even enjoy picnic lunches they have brought from home.

Other information:

I am almost 100% sure that we are going to have t-shirts made again this year. When I have more information I will let you know. I promise that will be sooner rather than later.

Last year we set up a "Morgan Kate" tent and we will do that again this year. It's a central location where we can all meet up, hang out, conversate and of course, take pictures. Ha!

Please let me know if you have any other questions or need any other information.

After any Saturday morning excursion, especially one to Edventure, you need a little sweetness.

Some yummy, delicious Cupcake sweetness. 

A sweetness that makes you all happy inside.

 Two little pieces of heaven on earth, the baby girl and the cupcake. 

I feel like I say this every Sunday evening or Monday morning, but we really did have the best weekend. Seriously. Friday evening we relaxed at home. I was in bed and asleep by ten o'clock. Heavenly. Saturday morning we all got up, ate breakfast, got ready and headed out for a day of fun with my parents, Kyle and Hunter.

Our first stop was Edventure. And it was truly an adventure. For those of you who don't live here or aren't familiar with Edventure, it's this awesome children's museum in downtown Columbia. There are all of these different exhibits -Body Works, My Backyard, a farm, a grocery store, a fire truck and so many others. In the heart of Edventure is this enormous boy, Eddie. He is this huge boy and you can explore his insides. 

Meet Eddie.

And Eddie's enormous, but very real, working watch. I was quite impressed.

Travis had never been to Edventure. I had been once, but for a girl's night out, so I didn't really get to explore. MK on the other hand, has been before and she "knew the ropes".

Our first stop was the fire truck where she got to dress up like a fireman.

Drive a fire truck.

And slide down the fire pole. 

We then headed to Snowville where Morgan Kate was able to ice fish, slide down the snow slide, throw snowballs and learn all about penguins. There was even a few snowflakes. 

In another exhibit she was able to cook all sorts of food, sit by a fire and play checkers with Kaky and Gator.

Morgan Kate's favorite stop was the grocery store. You could shop, check-out and then you were expected to restock. Of course the restocking was left to Travis and I.

Hunter's favorite part was the My Backyard exhibit where they had a really nice and really plush crawling area.

My favorite stop was the news desk. Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to replace Katie Couric and now Meredith Vieira on The Today Show. In college I even took a broadcast meteorology course and was thrilled when I found out that we would get to stand in front of the weather board and be videotaped. I know. I'm a dork. Officially.

Morgan Kate and I were also pretty interested in the painting area. Travis had to practically pull us away.

One of our final stops was the dental area. And because February is Dental Awareness Month there was a dentist and her daughter (dressed up as the tooth fairy) talking to the children about brushing their teeth and passing out toothbrushes. Morgan Kate loved it and wanted to brush "Little Eddie's" teeth. MK's Aunt Kelly would be so proud! 

We had a fabulous time and can't wait to go back. Morgan Kate thoroughly enjoyed herself and we thoroughly enjoyed watching her run and play and learn. It was the best!