Kai and Mac Update

[insert usual excuse about not posting to our blog here]

Hi, Mom and Aunt Betsy. Glad you stopped by. I thought I would surprise you a bit and have a something here for you to read.

Kai



Yes, you almost wouldn't know it from the updates on this blog, but we have a son. And he's 7 months old! Dude, time flies, when you're having fun, and also when you are raising kids, as it turns out.

• Eating: Kai is just now starting to eat some real food. And by "real," I mean vegetables and fruits ground and blended into a consistency of projectile-all-over-my-shirt. Last night Granny was able to coax little man into swallowing prunes, followed by sweet potatoes. Yes, we know that's sorta backwards, but up until now, getting anything down this kid's goozler other than formula has been an exercise in futility, so we're just going with what works.
• Crawling: Not so much, but he's working on it. He can roll over to his belly in a blink, but we haven't seen him roll back to his back yet. He pushes his top half up with his strong little arms, kicks his legs, but he's still high centered on that belly until he can learn to pull his knees up under himself.
• Talking: We think he might be a singer some day, sorta like Adam Lambert based on his 80s hair band scream. By the time he's ready, the style will be back, no doubt. Kai has said mama, dada, lala (which we think is "I love you"), mmmmmm (for Mac probably), hi, and bye. The last two were reported by various family members with keen ears, but haven't been confirmed by the officials yet.
• Hair: He has 2 cute/annoying little curls (depending on your disposition toward curls) on the top of his head. Jennie would like to cut them off; Granny says keep 'em (reminds her of the Gerber baby). I think they're like his little signature -- and might help him with his 80s band motif.
  

We're so proud of our little prince. He's full of energy, fairly predictable with his naps and eating times, and a joy to have around.

Mac



Oh, our little princess. Where to start...

• She talks all the time.
• She talks non-stop.
• And something else, what was it... oh, she talks a lot.
• Except when she's watching movies on my iPhone, which she figured out 2 days after I got the thing. That's probably why just about everyone in Jennie's family wants an iPhone now, I'm sure. Mac is the absolute proof that anyone can run the thing (if a 2-year-old can do it, then anyone can, right?).
• Little miss has a pink bicycle now with training wheels, and she can pedal that thing pretty good.
• Mac finished up soccer class last week. I think she thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to run around the field with Dad (and sometimes Mom) and be active together.
  
• She's still in gymnastics every week, and recently was moved up a class level cuz she's so darned good.
• Mac was in VBS at the church last week, and loved nearly every minute of it. I say "nearly" because some of the kids kinda freaked her out (heck, they freaked me out), but for the most part I think she had a good time and learned a little about Jesus. Though we're still trying to figure out how she came home with dirt in her hair and various crevices.
  

• Mac really enjoys riding in the bicycle trailer with her brother, pulled by Dad.
  

That's all for now. As always, you can watch our Flickr photostream for the latest Morgan activities. I'll try to update the blog more often this summer, since we'll no doubt have so many exciting family activities to share.

Mac's Pregnancy

Before I forget what it was like, I want to post my memories of being pregnant with Mac. So here goes:

We started trying to have a baby January of 2005. Tim's dad was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly after we stated trying, so we prayed very fervently that God would bless us with a child before he passed away. We also knew if we had a boy we wanted to name him Wesley Kai. Wesley was Tom's middle name. Tim came up with Kai. We both loved the name. The year went by and no baby, so in August I had a general physical run and they said that all my levels were in the normal range: like thyroid, vitamins, minerals, etc. So we kept trying.

Tim's dad ended up passing away December 29, 2005. We didn't tell anyone yet, but we thought we might be pregnant, and prayed that it was true. November was the last "visit" I had from my special friend. So over the next few months we took a few home pregnancy tests. All negative. Lex, my nephew was born February 2nd. Shortly after his birth we recieved a huge answered prayer. We had spent the last 18-24 months trying to remodel/build our home and after our Thursday meeting, we finally got the approval to break ground. Yeah! Two days later, on Saturday, we took our next test. Tim went special to the store just to buy the test. He jumped like he had springs in his feet in excitement when the test showed positive. God was so gracious to answer the house prayer 2 days before answering the baby prayer. Thank you God!!

The next day I headed to the gyno for a blood test to confirm. Results: Yes. Because "my friend" hadn't visited since November we had no idea how pregnant we were. So my gyno sent me to the obgyn next door to start my prenatal visits. The first thing my obgyn wanted to do was an ultrasound to find out how pregnant we were. The tech didn't say much of anything during that first ultrasound. The doctors office called later and said they wanted to do another ultrasound in 10-14 days. So we came in again. This time the tech was very talkative and pointed out the "bean" (our baby) and the yolk sak. She said that based on the spacing of the baby from the yolk sack I was probably about 6 weeks pregnant. The doctor placed our due date as November 5, 2006.

Since we found out so early that we were pregnant, it really felt like a long pregnancy. The first trimester was not too bad. I had a little bit of evening sickness, which Tim was so gracious to clean up for me several times. I missed the bathroom and/or the toilet several times, so I started going outside in the bushes. It was much easier to clean up. I also had heart burn for the first time in my life. I found Tums Smoothies to be my favorite snack in the evenings. The only time I got nausious during the day was smelling construction workers from the remodel and my massage oils. So my parents offered for us to stay with them until the construction was complete. We gratefully accepted their offer.

During that first trimester I was so tired and hot, all the time. But the second trimester was great. I felt energized and confident. We even went on a trip to Memphis and the long car ride didn't even bother me. The third trimester was pretty good. The heart burn came back, along with a little bit of evening nausia, feeling hot, and manditory afternoon naps. During the whole pregnancy I craved salty things like fries, ketchup, and coke. Up until then I didn't even like ketchup and very rarely drank coke. I also developed prenatal gingavitis, had lots of nose bleeds, and had an oversion to sweets. I really didn't ever want desert, especially not chocolate. I was really trying to live a very healthy lifestyle before getting pregnant, and that was the last thing I wanted to do while I was pregnant. I worked out very little, ate terribly, and slept alot. I didn't gain very much weight during the pregnancy, but I established some very bad habits going into the next "nursing year."

At 21 weeks we had another ultrasound done to determine the sex of the baby and that all baby parts were there and working well. They said "it's probably a girl" and gave us an 85% chance of accuracy. We were very excited, and a little frustrated because we could not agree on a girl name. We spent the rest of the pregnancy debating names.

At 7 months, there was this day I will never forget. Tim had just gone to work and I was still laying in bed. It started pouring down rain outside and I remembered that the painter had left all the windows open. Oh no! So I went to go close the windows. The only way to get in our home was to walk up a beam from ground level to the foundation level, which was about 4 feet up. I'm quite afraid of heights, but the rain was great motivation - so I very causciously went up into the house. I sucessfully closed all the windows and was taking my last step off the beam when I slid to my knee. It was like doing a deep lunge, except my knee dug into the asphalt. I got a terrible skinned knee from that. I cried all the way on the walk home. Cleaned it up, put on a couple of bandaids, and went on with the day. Several hours later I was coming out of the office and missed the bottom step. I did the same deep lunge with and that same knee dug in the asphalt. Oh my!! I cried harder that time. I spent the next couple of months cleaning up my gross skinned knee, which was the larger than a silver dollar.

The last two weeks of my pregnancy were filled with terrible swelling. I didn't know that feet could swell too large to fit in flip-flops. They looked like baloons. And my legs and ankles weren't much better. Tim's work was so nice and they threw us a baby shower during the last few weeks. It turned out to be a scavenger hunt. It was a really neat concept. I recommend doing this type of a shower more like 6 weeks before a baby is due. Because I swelled up huge after walking around for an hour. At this point in my pregnancy I wasn't working any more. Walking around for 5 minutes took about 1 hour of sitting with my feet propped up to get rid of the swelling. Yuck! The remodel was complete, except for a few minor pollishing touches, so we were able to move in 2 weeks before our due date.

I didn't have a great or a terrible pregnancy. I would say it was average to good. Tim loved me being pregnant. He was always saying how beautiful I was. I enjoyed the extra physical affection he showered over me during the pregnancy. My love tank was overflowing! And what an added joy when Mac was born. I felt so loved and felt so much love for Tim & Mac. God truely blessed me.

Mac's 2nd Birthday

Whatever you say, momma.
Originally uploaded by Tim Morgan

Our little princess is finally 2 years old. We had a smallish birthday party with family. Mac got a new kitchen set, new clothes, new baby doll things, an activity table, a chalkboard, and more.

She was very excited to have so many people in her home, showing her love.

Halloween

IMG_4989
Originally uploaded by Tim Morgan

We kicked off Mac's b-day party with a photo session. Lex was a pirate, Mac was a ladybug, and Inara was a punk rocker chick.

The kids were pretty cute in their costumes, and our neighbors were happy to see such wonderful trick-or-treaters. :-)

Hello Again

Wow, it's been a few days since we've posted here. Shame on us.

Here are some updates:

1. We are having a new baby boy/girl in December. Jennie has heard the heartbeat a few times, and everything is going good so far. We'll find out the sex in a few weeks.
2. Mackenzie is talking a lot more now. Today she asked me "Did you have a good day?" when I came in from work. (I always ask her if she had a good day.)
3. Mackenzie is also potty training. She does very well, but we are sometimes inconsistent with her because of our busy schedules. If it were not for her busy parents, she would have been done with diapers months ago probably.
   
4. My grandmother fell and broke her jaw. She is not doing well. She is my last living grandparent.
5. We are heading to the lake tomorrow evening for a long weekend at the lake.
   

First Steps

Tonight we were at the Culver home and Mac took her first two steps from Daddy to Mommy! How fun!

Mac's First Voicemail

Mac and Jennie left me a voice message today that was absolutely great. You can't hear much of Mackenzie unless you listen closely, but still it was very sweet. I just wanted to blog it so I never forget Mac's first voicemail.


Mac's First Voicemail from Tim Morgan on Vimeo.

Halloween Photos

Here are some photos from Halloween. All the kids dressed up (well, I should say we dressed them up) and were adorable of course. Mackenzie was dressed as Snow White.


Lex was dressed as Tigger and had some bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!


Inara was dressed as a nurse.

We had a lot of fun dressing them up and taking pictures. Though we didn't do the door-to-door thing, but we did head to the mall to see the other kids dressed up and to have some professional photos done.

Mac's First Birthday

Thank you so much to all the friends and family who made it out to our home this weekend to help us celebrate Mackenzie's first birthday. The party was great; our home was packed. Thank you so much for being a part of Mac's life and encouraging our family in Christ...

Update: And thank you just as much to those who couldn't make it but were there in spirit. Many have sent their prayers and best wishes and gifts. We appreciate everyone so much... it is good to have such a loving and supportive family and group of friends.


Mac's Birthday Party from Tim Morgan on Vimeo.

Also, here is a 20-minute video of the first year of Mac's life.


Mac's First Year from Tim Morgan on Vimeo.

I Did It

On Saturday, October 13, Mac learned how to crawl down a step feet first. Then she lifted her hands and said "I did it!" It was so cute.

She has also said "I love Dada." I can't wait for Tim to hear her speak.

Rubber Duckie

This is one of Mac's favorite songs. I sing it for her every bath time!

For Mac

Call this a prayer, or maybe a pledge; here are the things I want to do and the person I want to be for my daughter:

1. Loving. Always loving.
2. I never want to raise my voice to be heard or understood.
3. I want to be 100% interested in what you're doing or saying right now.
   
4. I am your biggest fan.
5. I will admit mistakes.
6. I will protect you from bad people.
7. I will pray for you and the choices you make.
8. I will love your mom until I die.
9. I will ask you to do things you don't want to do in the interest of our family and/or your own future.
10. I will blog and photo-document your life until I drive you completely crazy.
    

Mackenzie's Blog

Mac has her very own blog now (does that really surprise you?). You can keep up with all our daughter's latest developments at mackenziemorgan.com.

Mac is crawling

Horray! We've had a great couple of days! On Tuesday Mac crawled almost 20 feet while playing, she said "daddy" in sign language, and moved her arms and legs in swim class like she was swimming. Today Mac crawled over to the couch and pulled herself up to standing. We think she's cutting some more teeth. So she is developing so quickly. Once she decides she can do something, she does it well.

She loves playing with musical toys. She has a puppy that sings songs when you push the tummy, feet, hands, and ears. Mac finally "gets it" and will push different parts of the puppy then dance to the music. She loves her "First Sign's" DVD and is beginning to enjoy her "First Move's" DVD, both by Baby Einstein. She still loves her bear-blanket. We're trying to look for another one to buy so we can have plenty clean and ready for her all the time.

We are so thankful that God has blessed Tim and me with such a beautiful and wonderful baby girl. We pray that she would continue to develop into a healthy, strong, and loving child of God.

Father's Day 2007

Best ever. Well, it's actually my first, but it rocked! It was better than my birthday. We went to see Pirates 3 yesterday, and today we went to Outback for dinner.

Dale & Lindsay made this video for me, and it's awesome:

Daaa

Mac just said something that kinda resembled "da-da" (aka "daddy"). It could be completely accidental as she's been experimenting with new sounds and facial expressions, but I'd like to think she actually thought of me and said it. In any case, it's a nice change since the number one sound she's been making lately has been "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm."

First Tooth!

What a day! Mac cut her first tooth (bottom left tooth) and rolled over from her stomach to her back! We didn't even know she was teething. She is sitting up so well. Only needs a little padding to stop a backward head-bang to the floor. She can lean forward, pick up a toy, and then sit up again. She is so great! And to top it off, Lex got his first haircut. What a great day!

Six Months

Baby Mac is now 6 months old, as of May 3rd, and is doing amazing things now. She is sitting up. She is rolling over on her left side (from back to front only). She is eating rice cereal. She goes to sleep in under 2 minutes with this routine: placing her in the crib, hand her the bear/blanket, put the pacifier in her mouth, cover her with a blanket, turn out the lights, and shut the door. She usually sleeps from 10:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. She is a cat-napper. She loves to cuddle. She spits out her paci when she's hungry or sick of sucking. She reaches and grabs toys. She can grab her paci and put it in her mouth. She loves watching Lex play with toys. She laughs at silly things. She does a unique foot kick-roll thing. She is a very content most days. She loves music. She cries if a bad singer sings. She loves listening to Tim & me talk. She is very tall. She has lots of clothes. She is very focused. She is opinionated. She is strong willed. She has very blue eyes. She has her grandma Ruth and daddy's dimples. She is an amazing gift from God.

Horray

God, we thank you for totally healing Mac. And not only did you completely get rid of the RSV, you did it really quick. Thank you for friends and family that brought encouragement and supported us in prayer. You are so great! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Mac's Legs

Mac is starting to push with her legs a lot now. Mostly, I think she's
happy to feel better after her week of sickness. Yesterday, I put her
against my chest and shoulder, and she pushed herself up almost over
my shoulder. It was very cool. Also, we put her on a little "tummy
time" mat and she was pulling her legs up underneath her and pushing
out -- a tiny step on her way to crawling. Though, she is yet to
attempt to roll over on her own. We attribute it to laziness. :-)

More on RSV

From Wikipedia:

RSV causes respiratory tract infections in patients of all ages. ... In the United States, 60% of infants are infected during their first RSV season, and nearly all children will have been infected with the virus by 2-3 years of age.

Mac and RSV

From an email Jennie sent...

Will you please pray for Mackenzie. She has RSV. It's a virus, so no antibiotics. And because she has this, she couldn't get her 4 month shots.

Here's what babycenter said about RSV:
"Because it's transmitted by physical contact, RSV spreads like wildfire. RSV is transmitted through the air and on surfaces — all your baby has to do is to breathe in the air after an infected person coughs, or touch a contaminated toy. The virus can live on hands and surfaces for up to six hours."

Because it's so contagious, I won't be leaving the house until next Thursday for her 9 day checkup with the doctor. So we won't be at church on Sunday, have our small group on Sunday afternoon, or be at staff meeting on Monday.

The good news: the doctor called her a happy weeser. She weeses and then smiles real big. She does NOT have to do breathing treatments. She is also eating well.

As Jennie said, please pray for our little one. Thanks!

Family Videos

We started yet another blog to keep up with our family videos we've been uploading to Google Video. So bookmark this link. Because you don't want to miss a second of the cutest little girl ever born!

Last night, we were sitting at church, talking to some friends. While I was holding Mac, she just started laughing randomly. It was hilarious and exciting. I've heard her laugh in her sleep before, and there's the frequent smile and coo, but this was the first time I heard her just outright laugh hysterically. I'll never forget it.

She's also doing fun things with her hands and her mouth. A few days ago, she figured out how to make a clicking sound with her tongue. It's so funny. At one point, it was almost like a language between us -- we would click, and she would click back. It's so cute.

Smiling and Cooing

Mac's been making cool sounds and smiling a lot the last few days.

Mac Sleeping Better

Mac is sleeping a bit more during the night, and she is awake more during the day. On Saturday, she was very unhappy and cried a lot. We were at the church much of the day working on stuff, and she just didn't like that. But, the next day we were there again, and she slept. So we're not sure what the deal was.

Mackenzie's One Month Old

Mackenzie had her one month checkup. She weighed 9 pounds, 12 ounzes and was 23 inches long. She has also started sleeping between 5 and 6 hours at night. God, thank you for a wonderful baby girl! You created her just right!!

Mackenzie Has a Cold

Mac has a cold. She's handling it very well, but she gets a little frustrated
every now and then when she tries to breathe deep through her tiny
nostrils. But, she seems fairly happy, especially since I had probably
the same cold and I know it was miserable.

Baby Pics

IMG_1730.JPG
Originally uploaded by Tim Morgan.

Here are some more hospital pictures. Expect even more MGM pics over the next couple weeks.

It's a Girl!

Mackenzie Grace Morgan
8 lbs 8 ounces
21 inches
She was born at 1:42 p.m. on Friday, November 3, 2006

More pictures to come...

Water Breakage & Epidural

Jennie's water was broken by the doctor moments ago, and the epidural has been put in place. Jennie is a whole lot more comfortable now!

Lex says, where's my cousin?

At the Hospital!

We've been a the hospital since 3:20 a.m. Jennie is progressing nicely.

So much for due dates and doctors who re-project them!

Due Date

It's funny. The doctor gives you a due date and you plan on it. Why? I don't know. The doctor gave us a due date of November 5th, but the doctor just said that it will be at least another week. So, God must think that Mackenzie needs more time in my tummy.

Tomorrow we will have a 3D Ultrasound done. At least we'll be able to see her tomorrow, even if it's only a picture of her.

We pray that God will continue to prepare Tim & Me for Mackenzie. We thank God for the extra week to get our home in order. We pray that he will continue to develop and grow Mackenzie into a beautiful healthy baby. And we pray for a safe, healthy delivery.

It's a Girl!

ultrasound 3
Originally uploaded by Tim Morgan.

We just finished with our latest ultrasound and were told with a decent amount of certainty that we're having a baby girl. We have 8 ultrasound pics in total; click to see more.

First Kick

This afternoon I placed my hand on my belly, and I happened to feel the baby kick. It was definately a kick. I hope Tim gets to feel a kick soon. - God thank you for this gift. We can't wait to see the baby You created.

Baby's First Moves

Over the past couple weeks, I've felt like 5 little flutters. Early this morning I finally felt the baby move. It wasn't a kick or a punch. It felt like the baby was traveling from my right side to the middle of my belly, and it lasted like 10 seconds. It was very cool!

Due Date

Okay. The doctors office called today and gave us a due date of November 5th. Pretty cool!

Our First Real Ultrasound

ultrasound1
Originally uploaded by Tim Morgan.

We finally have pictures of our little baby peanut. Here he/she is. We hope to get a due date today or tomorrow. But at least we have proof now! (As if Jennie's moodiness wasn't enough :-)

We're pregnant! ...and building our home!

Jennie and I found out this weekend that our permit for our home building project finally went through after eight months or more of jumping through flaming City of Tulsa hoops. Then, soon after that good news, we found out we're prenant.

Just in case you didn't catch it on your own, WE'RE VERY EXCITED.

Please pray for a healthy prenancy, healthy baby, and swift and painless construction process.