So these are called FEET!

Lots of new things last week for Morgan.

First: She has now found her feet and loves to put them in her mouth....she was actually sucking on her toes yesterday while I was changing her diaper. Can't believe how flexible babies can be!!


Second: She is self feeding herself. She still needs a little help holding the bottle but she loves to hold it herself and can hold it up for a few minutes at a time.

My Little Man....2 1/2 years old!!!

My Little Man.....what a ham-bone!

Whenever I get out the camera and set up for one of Morgan's little photo shoots each month, Conner wants to get right in there too. Most the time if I want any of just her, I have to take them while he's napping :) On the good side, it's been kind of nice that I have been able to keep up on some photos of Conner too. Sometimes I get so wrapped up on making sure to take as many pictures of Morgan as I did Conner that I don't want to forget to take pictures of my little man too. I know these pictures will bring back such good memories a few years down the road. Although he is constantly on the move, he seems to like his picture taken. Lately after I take a picture, he says take one more (I must say that a lot) and then wants to see it on the camera screen...maybe I have a photographer on my hands :)

Well, here are a few pics from Conner's latest photo shoot...he's now 30 months old and before I know it 5 months will have past and we will be celebrating his 3 year birthday. I'll cherish these pictures later when I look back and wonder were the time went and try to imagine when he was this little. I don't know how many people have told me it goes so fast.....they sure weren't kidding.

The first two are my favorite but the rest are to show you what a little ham-bone I have and his many faces. I think I need a camera that takes 5 quick pictures with one press of the button since he moves so quickly and by the time the picture is taken I've lost my shot!

5 Months Old!!!

Where does the time go?

It seems like just yesterday we were bringing our precious little girl home....fast forward I guess and she is now 5 months old! I can't believe how fast they are both growing up but it seems like she is growing much faster than Conner did. I think that's because we have a busy 2 1/2 year old running around and when Conner was a baby he was our sole focus.

Here are a few of her 5 month pictures I took this week. She is such a curious girl these days that most of them I wasn't able to get a smile out of her because she was much more interested in the flower (shhh I picked them from my neighbors yard), her feet or her dress rather than Mommy but I thought they were very cute and priceless.

***Of course I can't pick out my favorite...I like the first three the best but all for different reasons so I added a poll on the left side of this screen for you to tell me your vote.



Here are a few things about Morgan:

• Morgan loves playing with her daddy, he almost always gets giggles and squeals out of her.
  
• Always has an eye on her big brother and will fuss if he or mommy are out of view.
  
• Sucks her thumb but prefers the pacifier.
  
• Rolls from back to tummy.
  
• Started pushing with her arms while on tummy and scooted across the room back wards.
  
• Loves to laugh, squeal and blow bubbles.
  
• Everything goes in the mouth that she can get her hands on.
  
• Found her feet the other day.
  
• Loves to read books along with big brother.
  
• Loves playing airplane.
  
• Loves wheels on the bus.
  
• You are my sunshine calms her down.

BUBBLES!!!

This was just too cute so I had to get a few pics!

Morgan has been babbling away lately, typical girl I know :) Normally she opens her mouth wide and makes a very loud squeal but lately she's learned a new thing....to stick her tongue out and blow bubbles. She does this for so long the bubbles start to collect at the corners of her mouth.

We love her little noises and squeals and cherish every moment we have with our precious little girl!

Chicago Trip

This past weekend was our first weekend trip to Chicago with Morgan. Thankfully there were no major construction or backups on the way there or back making the trip no longer than 3 hours each way. She slept part of the way there but only 20 minutes of the ride home so the rest of the trip mommy was in the back between both kids entertaining Morgan. When she was awake she wanted to see something other than the back seat, can't blame her :) Unfortunately Indian/Chicago Roads + Back seat = car sick for mommy...so the trip home couldn't get over fast enough, but we made it :)

Conner loved spending time with his big cousin Seth and seeing Grandma Haartman, Auntie Kris, and Uncle Jason. Morgan and Kasey are still too young to enjoy each other but since they are only about 3 1/2 months apart they will someday seem like twins. There is such a difference during that first year!


Even though the weekend seemed to fly by it was good seeing everyone. We can't wait for the Haartman annual summer vacation in a few weeks. Conner kept asking where S-man was once we got home so he will really enjoy seeing him for a full week along with his other cousin Braeden.

On the way there I realized that we made a trip to Chicago when Conner was just 5 months old and took his 5 month pictures in one of Seth's little chairs, so while there I tried to snap a few pics of Morgan in the same chair since she is just 5 months old this week. She also took her first sink bath as Conner did 2 years ago...deja vue!!!

Here is Conner's 5 month pic and a few pics of the girls in the chair :) More 5 month photos will follow!!!

Conner 5 Months

Morgan 5 Months

Morgan and Kasey

The twins watching a Video :) Seth (Left) Conner (Right)

Pool Party

Our good friends Danielle and Kevin Sills so graciously held a pool party last week and the kids had a blast!!! They all slept like babies that night I'm sure.

The twins Cole and Cadence were definitely water babies, jumping off the sides and going under water....not afraid of anything. Bryson was a regular swimmer too, you could tell he was familiar with Grandma and Grandpas pool. Kendal swam with only a noodle for the first time and everyone was so proud of her! Kennidee enjoyed the pool but had a lot more fun playing with Morgan and watering the plants with the watering can. Conner was a bit scared of the large pool and stuck to the ground most of the time...he had more fun in the sprinkler and on the tramp; and Morgan enjoyed standing in her exersaucer and sitting in the pool with mommy...she really didn't care where she was :)

The kids had a great time but I think the parents were just as tired at the end from chasing their little ones around the whole night. I'm just thankful Morgan isn't mobile yet. The time for relaxing parties will be in the future. hehehe

The boys were able to sneak about 5 minutes (literally) to play a little water basketball and jump off the diving board but the kids soon realized what was going on and wanted to join in :)

Thanks Danielle and Kevin for a nice cool down from all these hot days!

My little helper

I'm trying lately to let Conner do more things on his own, after all he isn't a little baby anymore...he's my big boy now that he is 2 1/2 this month. This is more of a challenge for me just because I'm so use to doing.

I know that sometimes it's just easier and faster doing them myself but I have to step back and let him become more independent.....and he is LOVING it! He even asks to help when it's dinner time!

He loves to help me cook! He does anything from shaking spices, mixing up ingredients, putting pasta in pan (when it's not hot) and setting the table. As you can see from the pictures Morgan wants to be in the center of the action too :)

He has also learned that when he's hungry or thirsty he can open the frig door just as easy as I can and this way he can pick out exactly what he wants.

My little boy is growing up and he's such a helper....I've even got him trained at Morgan's bath time to go get anything I forget, so their is a method to my madness....hehe :)

The odds are getting better :)

Well the odds are getting better on the potty these days. Since my last post in early June when Conner went pee pee and poo poo on the potty for the first time, I thought it was the beginning of the potty training success so to speak. He sat on the potty a few times each day for that following week but no success and he soon became not interested. My original goal of being diaper free by the end of the summer was not realistic I guess.

I decided to take a step back and let him come to me. I didn't want to push it and he was clearing not ready yet even though he knew the signs to go he just didn't understand the process yet. I continued to read him potty training books and told him after changing a diaper and flushing it down the toilet that he should tell me next time he needs to go and we can go on the potty. Well a little over a month later he finally came to me.

This Sunday he told us he had to go uckies, so off we went to the potty. To our wonderful surprise he went and continued to the rest of this week!!! So this week he has successfully gone 4 times on the potty, 2 times in the diaper, and once in the bathtub :) So the odds are getting better and hopefully he will continue. I still think my original goal is not realistic but we are on our way to diaper free some day. Once we have mastered going poo poo we will then master pee pee too. My pediatrician said that will be easier after they are trained to go uckies the pee pee will be easy....hope he's right :)

We are SO VERY PROUD of our little man!!!!

Been a long time

Just a quick note to say sorry I haven't posted in what seems like a long time for me....we have lots to post and more pictures to share just a bit busy here in the Haartman household. I promise I'll sit down this week/weekend and make some posts.

What is this????

Morgan just had her 4 month check up today and is doing wonderful. Although it's more like her 4 1/2 month check up since she is now 18 weeks old.

She weighs 14 lbs (50-75%) and 24 3/4 inches long (50-75%)...just a little above average in both. That's 2lbs 12oz. less and a little over 3inches shorter than Conner was at that age but that is to be expected since she is a girl.

Looking back at Conner's achievements at this age they are both right on track except Conner was already rolling and Morgan is still trying but very close. One major difference is their personalities, it's crazy how siblings can be so different. Morgan is now squealing a ton, even in the middle of the night and always wants to watch the action. Conner was the action (still is) and was much more active and a much better sleeper. Hopefully that will change and she will love sleep just as much as her brother and mommy. Right now she is extremely addicted to her paci at night and will sometimes wake up (not even sure if she wakes up since her eyes don't open) and cry just to have me put it back in (it will be nice when she learns to do this on her own) thankfully that's all she wants and I'm back to sleep in minutes.

This week we started cereal. She is not as eager as Conner was to eat this strange mush but is doing better each feeding. Conner was like a bird with his mouth always open for the next bit and he couldn't get enough. Morgan can't quite figure out what I'm putting in her mouth and does she really want to eat it. Here are a few pics of our little pumpkin eating her first cereal, she looks sooooooo tiny in that big high chair!

4th of July Fun

4th of July Weekend

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

Man did we have a very busy but fun week/weekend. So much to share and so many pictures to go along with, so this ones going to be a novel :)

We started out our weekend a little early, this happens every year due to my birthday. We spread the fun throughout the whole week into the weekend. We started our fun this year on Tuesday and went all the way til Sunday!!!

Tuesday: Grammy and Papa Bruneau's

After Morgan's morning nap Morgan, Conner and I went to Grammy and Papa's to have a birthday lunch and to spend the day in the pool. Her nap should have been longer but I made the mistake of telling Conner we were going to Grammy and Papa's after Morgan's nap....Conner then beelined to her room and woke her up so we could go.

We ordered lunch from Snitzel's Deli (spelling?) which is one of my favorite sandwich places in Ada. It was a beautiful day and Conner had a blast in the big pool. My mom has the perfect backyard for toddlers....it's shaded in one place or another the majority of the afternoon and it's fenced in so Conner was contained. :)

Morgan took a good afternoon nap so Mommy and Conner could enjoy the pool together and the rest of the time she enjoyed the outdoors in the shade in her exersaucer. Conner was such a big boy going in the pool. He never complained once when I put the life jacket on, which was a big shocker for me since the past two summers he refused to wear one. I think it helped that Sydney, Lilly and Rylie (grand-daughters on Dick side of the family) where there. Conner had a blast following Sydney around and playing in the water. He got more daring as the day went on. His favorite spot was the ladder and every once in a while he would go down one more step.

We headed home around 4:30 so we could make it home for dinner with daddy. Both kids were lights out as soon as I got on the main road. Needless to say our busy day had Conner sleeping like a baby that night.

asleep on the way home

Wednesday: Staying Dry or should I say Wet

We stayed home to do some cleaning and stay sheltered from the big storm that was heading our way. Our neighborhood got hit pretty hard with power lines and trees down all over. We were lucky we didn't loss power. I was suppose to go scrap booking that night but due to the storm and flooding it was cancelled (I found out later that a huge tree was down on Wilson and the road was closed so I wouldn't have been able to get through anyway).

Instead we went outside after dinner and played in the rain since there was no thundering and lightning at that time. Conner had a blast splashing in the puddles and Ryan had just as much fun being a kid again. Our neighbors probably thought we were crazy with a captial C!!!

jumping in the rain

Thursday: My Birthday...almost at the top of the hill, YIKES!!!

Ryan had taken the day off and the plan was to head to the beach for the first time this year but the weather was not beach worthy, so we went to the mall for a little birthday shopping instead.

That morning our luck ran out a little bit because as I was cutting Ryan's hair the power went out. Thankfully I was almost done so I was able to finish with the scissors but the power stayed out the majority of the day. Sometime around 5p after shopping and naps we called Consumer's Energy to see when we could expect it back on. They said Saturday around 11p. WHAT!!!!

Thankfully about a half hour later our power was restored. Later that night we took a walk around the neighborhood to see the damage. I can't believe how many people own generators. Apparently our street is not connected to the rest of our neighborhood because everyone else was out of power. Maybe that's one good thing about Uccellos since they were probably a higher priority then houses to Consumers Energy.

That night Ryan and I had a relaxing campfire and a few drinks to top off a wonderful birthday spent with my wonderful family. I couldn't have asked for anything more. Thanks guys for making my day so special.

Friday: Lunch with Dad

Friday we were treated to a wonderful lunch for my birthday by my Dad, Step-mom Kristi and little sister Jesse at Bennigans. We ended up taking Jesse back home with us to spend the night since they were coming back the next day to babysit anyway. Conner absolutely LOVES his auntie Jesse and pretty much was glued to her side the whole time. He was so excited that she was spending the night.

After a much needed late nap for Conner we went to Millennium beach for some water park fun. It was Morgan's first time at the beach and boy was it a handful.....I kept thinking I will never be able to take two kids and all this stuff on my own during the day. Morgan had a good time and even enjoyed the water on the beach. The water park was a bit cold for her so we watched the three kids (Jesse, Conner and Ryan) play in the water instead. Conner was screaming like a girl every time the water splashed down on him, I think I had a prima grin on the whole time.

We ended the night with fireworks around 9pm in our driveway. They were probably a little cheesey for Jesse but she seemed to enjoy them too. We picked out our favorite three and set them off at the end for the Grand Finally!! Conner seemed to really enjoy them....maybe next year when Morgan is older we can go to the ones downtown.

screaming like a girl

watching fireworks

Saturday: Birthday Dinner

We had plans with a group of our friends to have a birthday dinner for me downtown at San Chez so we were going to keep the afternoon low key so the kids got good naps for Grandpa and Grandma Kristi that night but it was such a beautiful day we decided to meet a few friends at Millennium beach for the afternoon.....so back to the water park we went. This time I packed the wagon in the trunk and boy was that so much easier....I might actually be able to do this on my own, we'll see????

That night we left our little Morgan for the second time since she has been born (I know she's 4 months old and we are crazy but it's better than with Conner...he was 6 months) We were both a little nervous because of the stranger anxiety she has been having lately but she was a trooper and we received a call around 8:30 saying she didn't cry once. We ended up having a wonderful dinner and a great time with great friends.

The gang at dinner

Sunday: Recoup

Sunday we spent the whole afternoon in pj's recouping from the very busy week. The only thing we accomplished was getting groceries that night and we only did that because it was a must!! I felt every bit my age that day since we stayed out until 1am and Morgan was up a few times in the night wanting her paci. It seems to be hit or miss with her lately....maybe she's teething???

All in all we had a wonderful, wonderful 4th of July weekend with only a minor power outage. Hope you haven't fallen asleep reading this book. I've attached just a few pics but since I have so many I'll also be attaching a slide show of the many many cute pics soon.


Have a great week!
The Haartman's

Fast Learner!!

Well, it's Sunday night and I have a ton of pictures and stories for you all from this very long and busy 4th of July Weekend. Unfortunately I don't have the time or the energy to post them all tonight so they are coming soon I promise. Probably within the next few days if the kiddies give me time :)

I will leave you with these adorable pictures of Morgan. Tonight I put her in her exersaucer (something she has just started to sit in this week and love) while I picked up the very messy house a bit before bedtime. While picking up toys I was listening to her talk away and decided to give her a quick look to see what she was playing with that had her so interested and this is what I found her doing. Of course I had to grab the camera for a few quick snaps to add to her photo album. Usually she just touches all the toys....but what a smarty she found out quickly she can eat the toys too :)

Stranger Anxiety

Well Morgan is starting to have a bit of stranger anxiety.

This is something I will have to get use to since Conner never really had it...he would get a bit shy around others but never this anxiety like Morgan. She had a few meltdowns (and when I say meltdown I mean MELTDOWN) about a month ago but only had a few and I kind of put it off as she was tired or hungry (this did really surprise me since she is not a crying baby)....a few weeks went by with none and then they were back.

She has had two in the past few days, both happening when she was tired or hungry or both so I think those are the triggers but boy can she cry. She will scream at the top of her lungs until you give her back to me or feed her a bottle and it even takes me a while to calm her down.

I think I've worked out most of the kinks...she needs her naps (beauty sleep like her mommy), needs to be feed (boy she loves her food) and most definitely needs to be held facing out! She loves being able to watch everything and not up against you (maybe she'll be claustrophobic??) So note to self....whenever I'm heading somewhere new I need to make sure I have a bottle on hand just in case.

So my good natured, easy going baby girl calls the shots when she wants to, who am I kidding she calls the shots all the time!! Everyone told me girls were high-maintenance :)