Morgan's 1 year photo shoot

In Morgan's first year she developed so many new skills and behaviors. She has been such a great addition to our family and I know she will continue to bless our lives each day. Here are a few pictures from her 1 year photo shoot.


Morgan and Grandma


My family
Zach and Morgan
Swinging for the first time!

Mermaid Ariel
Daddy and Morgan (This looks like a paparazzi photo)
Princess Morgan
Sliding with Zach
Mommy and her princess

Saying "dog"

When Morgan was about 6 months Shawn and I bought a program called Your Baby Can Read. It is a complete program with flash cards, books, and dvd's. I have seen Morgan progress so much with this program. We work on the flash cards at least three times a day and watch the dvd once a day. Here is a video clip of her and the "dog" card.

And we're off...

Morgan is starting to get the whole walking thing down. I was not thinking when I took this video and it is sideways...sorry. It is also a very short clip...too hard to do by myself! We went back to the doctor last week to have her weight checked and she only gained a few ounces. We are not worrying about it too much because she is just under the 50% line on the charts and do not feel like we need to be concerned with her weight right now. Morgan is eating regular foods...pretty much whatever I make for our meals she eats with us. I am in the process of looking for a new pediatrician for her. We can never be too safe with a second opinion.

Climbing, Piggy Tails, Walking and Slime

The other day Morgan and I were playing in the living room, I walked into the kitchen to get a drink and came back (in a matter of 1 minute) to find Morgan standing on top of her mermaid car holding onto the couch. She was so proud of herself!

My little Princess does not like the little clips in her hair, so I decided to try piggy tails. She is just too cute with them!

Morgan has begun to take a few steps every now and again. I was trying to get her to take some steps and after she did, she put her arms up and cheered.

This weekend at church we had Slime Time Live. It was a game show for the kids to test them over the summer's curriculum. Every child was slimed...and some of the leaders were too. I was lucky enough not to be slimed!! It was a great way to get the children involved in the teachings from this summer and also for them to be excited about it. It was definitely a "slimey" day!

What I Miss Most...

Recently I have been asked by more than one person, "What do you miss most?" At first I had to think about the question, because usually I do not miss a lot of things because I am happy how my life is right now. But after the 3rd time I was asked this I finally realized that what I miss most is my classroom(s). So I decided to share a little bit of my teaching years with all of you. I graduated in 2005 with my Bachelors degree in Elementary Education. I did my student teaching a Ira A. Murphy in the Peoria District and I prayed everyday that I would land a job there. I LOVED the teachers I interned with and the kids had the biggest hearts. My internship ended in May of 05 and I had received a letter of intent on my last day. I was going to teach 3rd grade starting in the Fall. My own classroom I thought, oh WOW! I was nervous, scared, and REALLY excited! One of my favorite things to do is decorate, so I was even MORE excited to have an entire room that I could do what I wanted with. Here are a few photos from my first classroom.

In the Fall of 2006, I graduated with my Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction and I started working for another school district...NOT GOOD! I had NO support from the teachers or administration. I was thrown into a first grade room with NOTHING and I was more scared now than my first year. After, 3 months of this I decided that I could not do it anymore and LUCKY for me I was able to go back to my old school and teach 4th grade...YEAH I even had some of my students from the prior year in my class again. I moved everything from my old district to my new "old" district on a Saturday and set up my entire room that day. On Monday I started with my new class and the rest of the year was great. I only have a few pics of this classroom to share.

Now, for the BIG change. In May of 2007 we moved up North to Happy Jack. I had to switch schools again and now I was going to be teaching in Winslow, Arizona. Now I was definitely scared. I was also offered a position teaching 1st grade again...great I thought. The room was completely EMPTY. NO books, computers, NOTHING! Everything was in the hallway and I had to move it all in! The worst part was I like to work until the job is done, but I lived 40 miles from my new school, so I knew I could not work till dark, because then I would take the risk of hitting an Elk or deer on my drive home. It took me a week to set up this classroom...all the teachers at this school thought I would NEVER get it done! Low and behold I finished the day before "Meet the Teacher" and still had time to do lesson plans! The first picture is a before picture of my MESS!

This was our morning circle area, where we worked on our sounds and math skills.

This was my reading area.

We had bulletin boards outside our rooms and I re-decorated it every month. By the 1st of the month I would have a new theme up and ready to go...You can bet I was "hated" by the other teachers when mine was done and theirs was not! :)

This was my corner! A bulletin board of my life that I shared with my students. I used fabric for everything. My desk was old and ugly so I took fabric and hot glued it to my desk and put posters up. Basically when all was said and done there was really no wall space left in the room. I LOVED it!.

So this is what I miss most...what about you? Is there something in your life that you have accomplished that you do not do anymore that you miss? Share it with us! I dare you!

Mid-August Fun with NEW milestones!

We have enjoyed the month of August so much! Celebrating birthday's, visiting friends, and of course shopping! Morgan was super spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa this weekend with shoes. We had her foot measured to make sure we were getting the right size.

She got a little pair of brown shoes that can be dressy or casual and she got a pair of reebok sneakers. We had to find her some good shoes because Morgan took her first steps on Saturday!

Morgan and I had such a busy day on Saturday. We started out in Anthem at the outlets with my parents, then back to my parents to play for a little, next we were off to Phoenix Gymnastics for Taylor's birthday party, after that we headed to our friend Lynne's house for a visit with the girls, then we went back to my parents to gather up our shopping goodies and grab a bite to eat at Chipolte, then we finally headed home.

Here is my best friend Dacia and her daughter Taylor...who turned 6...and Morgan and I.

Brooke and Morgan

The Bondi girls and Morgan. Morgan and Tatum played the entire time we were there. Tatum put Morgan on the beach towel and pulled the towel around...Morgan was just laughing like crazy.

Grandpa and Morgan after we ate at Chipolte...one of our favs!

Now today we will begin our day at church and then come home and do our weekend cleaning around the house. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

The Cricut

Last weekend I got the greatest new gift from my parents...The Cricut Machine. It is a scrapbookers dream, well at least mine. This machine cuts everything out from you that you can possibly imagine. The first thing I made was a birthday card for my friend Dacia's daughter. I used my Cricut and cut out all the balloons and all the letters. Then I used my sticker machine to make all the letters stickers. I am so excited to start making my holiday cards this year! Between stampin' and now the cricut I should be able to come up with something creative!