Photo Shoot

Morgan cooperated! She's been smiling for a while, but it's hard to get a picture of. This is what makes the first two months worthwhile.

And by the way, the purple outfit is a 3-6 month that's already too short in the legs, and she's only 2 1/2 months old. She's going to be a giant.

Favorites of 2009

I was inspired by cousin Missy's blog post, but thought I would extend it to favorites in general so as not to completely steal her idea.

Favorite Book: "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

It tells the story of three Southern women during the Civil Right's Movement. Two of the women are black hired help, and the third is a white writer who decides to write the story of hired help in the south as her way of getting published. Along the way, the woman author learns a lot about her town and race lines that she had been blind to before. It gives a really fascinating look at the relations between the help and their employers, both good and bad. And don't worry - I didn't love this book just because I'm a history major. It's well written, funny, and thought provoking; definitely worth the read.

Favorite Movie: "Up"

If you haven't seen it, you must. You can borrow it from us. Both Erik and I agreed that it was the movie of the year. I cried twice (although that doesn't mean much, coming from me) and laughed the rest of the movie. Why can't all movies be that good?

Favorite New Recipes: Maple Syrup and Cucumber Sauce (not to be eaten together...)

They may sound very basic, but they're great! And maybe that's why I like them - I'm a big fan of easy. (By the way, Abby, I know you gave the syrup recipe to me two years ago, but I finally made it this year. Belated thanks!)

Maple Syrup

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1 stick butter

1 t. maple flavoring

Boil 2/3 c. water, then add sugars. Stir until dissolved. Add the flavoring, then butter. Stir until melted. Store leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate. Good for a couple of weeks. Just microwave when ready to use, and the sugar crystals will melt back in.

Cucumber Sauce

2 c. plain yogurt

1/2 c. mayo

1/2 c. sour cream

2 lemons, juiced

salt and pepper to taste

1 t. garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced

1 T. Italian seasoning

1 cucumber, peeled and grated

Mix all together. Serve on pita chips as an appetizer, or in a pita with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and steak. Men like this.

Favorite (or most used) Store: IKEA

This year alone we have acquired a bookcase, a second bookcase, a toy storage unit, a tall pantry shelf, and numerous baskets from IKEA. Lauren chose, Erik assembled. Life is good. Except that Erik is now terrified to move again, due to our ever growing furniture collection.

Favorite New Appliance: Washer and Dryer

How did pioneers keep their babies in clothes? I swear, I do a load of Morgan's clothes at least twice a week. She is a champion spitter upper, and once you factor in her onesies, burp cloths, bibs, outfits, mittens, blankets, and my clothes, it turns into a lot of laundry. I would pay big money to whomever invents plastic wipeable clothing that doesn't make babies sweat.

Favorite Hobby: Cross Stitch and Embroidery

Erik isn't allowed new hobbies - he doesn't have time. I, however, have been introduced to stitchery by mother Kathy, and I love it! It's portable, requires inexpensive materials, and unlike cooking, lasts forever. And dang, does it look good. When and if I ever finish my first cross stitch project, I'll post a picture. Hey, babies are time consuming.

And of course...

Favorite Person: MORGAN!

You knew she'd have to make an appearance somewhere.

Merry Late Christmas

Here are some photos and a video of our Christmas break.

We went up to Lewiston (Cache Valley) to visit Lauren's grandmother.
Now Morgan has met five of her great-grandparents!

The day after our trip to Cache Valley we drove down to Las Vegas to meet up with Lauren's family. We stayed just off the strip in a time-share condo that only had a very small casino. It was great not to have to walk through the slots to get to our hotel room. Morgan was a trooper during the car ride.

Here we have Lauren while Morgan is modeling her new jeans. Also, you can see Morgan seems to be growing another chin. She gets that from her daddy.
We had a great time with the Boizelle's in Las Vegas. We went and saw the Bellagio Fountains, the shops at the Venetian, tried to stimulate the economy at the outlet malls, and had some great family time.

After Vegas we went with the entire Merkley side of the family to Aspen Grove (above Sundance ski resort, at the base of Mount Timpanogas). We had the traditional soups for dinner with "Rice Krem" for dessert.

Christmas morning found us at my parent's house in Layton. It seems all of the gals got robes. Notice Nana (a vegetarian) is hugging a bag of romaine lettuce.

Morgan woke up at 2 AM on Christmas to open presents. Santa brought her these nice overalls. Enjoy the above video.
We hope that you all had a merry Christmas. Best wishes through the new year.

Lights, Camera, Action!

So I finally figured out how to load video.

Here is a little clip of Morgan after her baby blessing.

The little eruption at the end was a nice touch I thought.

Thanksgiving

...which I realize was forever ago. However, when our internet connection is slow, it takes forever to load pictures. We had some quality time with Erik's family, and Morgan enjoyed playing with her Far-Far.

And of course, there was a rather significant football game going on. Erik's own personal Turkey Bowl ended after five plays when a large man drove his shoulder into Erik's knee. That, however, did not stop him from cheering on the Cougars in the Holy War. Morgan joined in, as you can tell.

I was a little worried that it would be dangerous for Erik to hold Morgan during the game, as he usually jumps around, flails his arms, and yells at the TV, but they both had a good time (and so did I, far away).

Erik's starting her young.

We went to Orem for Thanksgiving, to Erik's aunt and uncle. This was the most memorable part of the evening (besides fabulous food, of course) - everybody got involved in Beatles Rock Band. All the cousins got involved, along with several aunts and uncles! Even Nana was singing along with most of the songs while rocking Morgan.

It was also a lot of fun to have my brother Ben and sister Becky with us over the holiday. It probably wasn't the most exciting of times, since having a newborn cramps a lot of activities, but we enjoyed having them. As you can see, they weren't too thrilled about the diaper changing bit, but they did fight over Morgan.

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

Hanging Out With Friends

Here's a little catch-up on some older pictures:

This is Morgan with the daughter of a friend from church. She's not much bigger than Morgan, but she was so proud to be holding a baby. A lot of the kids from the Primary have been anxious to see our baby, since I was pregnant my whole time working there. It's been hard to explain, "You're germy - back off!" I went back to the Primary for the first time last Sunday, and one little 3-year old kept staring at my stomach, like "What happened?"

A nice moment with Nana and Lizzie. They're always willing to hold and change her, so we visit often.

And here she is with Grandpa Godfrey in her little Sunday dress. We're so glad that he finally got to hold her!

Sigh...

Morgan's been having some rough days lately. They started Monday, her 6 week mark, which is exactly when one baby book says she should reach peak fussiness. Supposedly, it happens because of increased interest in social interaction and decreased interest in sleep, but all I've noticed is zero napping and constant crying. The prophetic book says there's not much to be done but wait for the phase to be over. So in the meantime, I'm documenting it.

Now just picture that face in a baby blessing dress and you'll probably get a good idea of how this Sunday will go.