March update

March has been a very interesting month so far. We've managed to cram-pack a lot in.
Earlier this month, John and I took a road trip down to Dallas for a night to see the John Mayer concert. While we were in town, we met up with our good friends Jolie and Blake for a nice, adult, awesome Mexican dinner at Mi Cocina. My favorite. It was great to see them, and like all their Tulsa friends, we really wish they lived closer. The concert was fantastic, that boy can play guitar, and he's pretty easy on the eyes too! None of it would be possible without My mom and Bill who so generously agreed to watch the boys while we were gone. They got to have an honest to goodness sleep-over at Nanas!
Speaking of my mom, she has been so great, especially lately as we've been bringing Cole to doctor after specialist after urgent care. Poor kid had some serious pressure build up and infections in his ears that not only wasn't responding to antibiotics, but the antibiotics themselves were causing him some horrific hives. We finally agreed that the best decision for him was to have tubes placed in his ears and his adenoids removed. He had the surgery on Thursday, and so far so good. He is one amazingly tough kid. Today we head to the allergist for more skin testing to figure out exactly ( if possible) what's causing these hives. Wish us luck!
As for Henry, what can I say? He is such a little peanut. The tiniest little kid with a ginormous attitude that makes him even cuter. He has the quirkiest sense of humor and you can't help but adore him. He reminds me of that little mouse on Tom & Jerry (jerry's cousin maybe?) who doesn't realize his size and is constantly trying to fight Tom. "touché pussycat!". That's H.
Now that the boys are sharing a room ( by their request), we've been able to make Cole's old room a dedicated toy room, and free-up our gameroom to be an actual gameroom. We ordered a game/poker table and can't wait to have our first adult poker night.
Social life to come!

Catch Up....

I apologize for the length of time that has passed since the last post. It's been exciting here. I flew with Pepe and Tico to California to drop them off to live with my dad and Stepmother, and by the end of that week, Pepe had worn out his welcome. Luckily, my awesome cousin Tricia snatched him up right away, and after flying all the way across the country again, he has now found permanent residence in Sarasota Florida with an incredible mom and doggie sister Emma. Life is good for Pepe these days. I guess Tico behaved himself because he's staying in California, and slowly warming up to his new peeps. I miss them a lot, but am excited that they both have homes with relatives, so I know we'll see them again. Cole, on the other hand is "glad" they're gone, because in his own words, "they bothered me with their bodies" WTF???

We had a nice round of H1N1 virus sweep through our house quickly followed by a nasty little stomach bug. That was a fun few weeks. We had all been healthy up until this week when poor little Henry came down with a nasty chest infection / probably RSV and pink-eye in both eyes. Little smooshy.

Probably the most excitement we had was driving cross country (to Phoenix). My sister meg came with us for the drive on the way out, and John joined us out there two weeks later after he was done with a business trip. He was lucky enough to be able to accompany us on the return trip. I have to say that overall, the boys were very well behaved in the car. There was some arguing over books and toys, but mainly they just accepted their fate and made do. I will spare you all the blow by blow and simply pass on some pearls of wisdom that I learned on our journey:

1) If you have 2 kids, buy 2 of everything. Exactly the same.

2) Don't stop in Gallup New Mexico. For anything. Just don't.

3) When eating lunch at a concrete table with concrete benches, help your toddler down. Otherwise, stitches will result.

4) Don't ever tell your 3 year old that you'll be staying in a hotel that night then decide to drive on through to just get home (and tell him the hotel was sold out). They like hotels. This will devastate them and cause you to make fake phone calls to the "hotel man" to make SURE they're really completely sold out of rooms. You will have to listen to "but I really really wanted to go to the hotel" over and over for hours.

5)Your kids will surprise you. They're a lot more adaptable than you think.



Finally, here are some pictures from the past 5 months:








Halloween. I made the costumes. They were very into trick-or-treating!

Henry on Christmas. He really likes presents.

At the Phoenix Zoo on our last day.






There was something in the water at the zoo..............





The boys being awesome in the car on the long drive home.

First Day of School

Henry has been carrying around his Handy Manny lunch box for weeks now. He was finally able to use it today. I just got back from dropping the boys off at their first day of school (John came too). For Cole, this is his third year, but it's Henry's first day EVER. I want to cry, but all I can do is smile. I know it's selfish, but it is really nice to have some down time. There are so many little projects that I need to get done, but for today, I think I just may relax a little. Neither one of the boys cried when we dropped them off. I'm pretty sure that Henry had no idea that we were taking off, and Cole has just resigned himself to the routine of school. I can't wait to hear their teachers' reports of how they did today.

So much has happened in the three months since I last posted that I won't attempt to recap it all here. Anyone who cares probably is already up to date on the happenings in the Morgan household. For now, I'll post some recent pictures and do my best to update a lot more often. Cut me a break, it's been a very long Summer!

Sad news

It's Friday night, and it's been a brutal week. As anyone who follows my facebook page knows, we were told by Cole's allergist that in Cole's best interest, we need to find new homes for our dogs. Since birth, Cole has had terrible eczema and a few instances of asthma. After a skin-allergy test turned up very positive for dogs, the doctor believes that they are causing his skin issues, and the longer he is exposed to them, the more severe his asthma will become. We don't have a choice really. I've had Pepe since I was single and living in an apartment in Sarasota. He's been the only constant in my life for the past seven years. It sounds so silly, but I just can't imagine that anyone else will love him like I/we do. It's unfathomable. Anyway, it is what it is. If you are reading this, and you or anyone you know wants a (or preferably two) adorable chihuahua(s), PLEASE let me know. They are completely current on all of their shots, and have been very well taken care of.






As if the dog situation didn't suck enough, Cole woke up yesterday covered in the most gnarly hives I've ever seen. I pumped him up with Benadryl, but when they were still reappearing 36 hours later and the antihistamine was no longer effective, I took him to Urgent Care (It was a blast. me, Cole, and Henry in the tiniest room ever waiting, waiting, waiting for the doctor. There are so many fun nooks and crannies in those exam rooms. For some reason, my kids like to pull the stirrups out from under the exam table, and jam them back in. Repeatedly)

As anyone who has had hives knows, there's absolutely no way to pinpoint what has caused the outbreak, you can only treat the symptoms. This is not the first time the poor kid has had hives, just the worst case yet. The doctor thinks he's allergic to something he either ate, touched, or breathed in. He thinks it's got to be something in the house, and we may never know exactly what it is. Perfect. Just perfect.

**As an aside. I took the pictures to show his doctor, because knowing my luck, after 36 hours they would have magically disappeared on the way to the doctor's office. I post them here purely for sympathy :(





The bright note in an otherwise crazy-hectic month was a visit from the Skeffingtons. Dena, Sean, Noah and Jamie decided to spend their memorial day long-weekend with us in beautiful Bixby Oklahoma. It was soooo great to see them and watch the kids play. How is it that we have four between us? It feels like yesterday we were shooting rubber bands across the aisle on the bourse floor. Damn time flies! We had a great time at the children's museum and Incredible Pizza. We swam and lounged at my mom's pool. We cooked out and Sean and John were able to play golf. All in all, I think we all had a really nice time. It's our turn to visit them next.



Next week my sister Meg is coming to town for ten days and I can't wait to see her and spend some sisterly bonding time together! Later in the month, John and I are taking a long overdue trip. We're going away for three days and Jonna has graciously offered to come and watch our boys. Cole is so excited. After our getaway, Grandma and Grandpa Martin are coming from California to visit! This will be the first time Henry has met them. I can't wait!!!!!!
In July I'm off to Phoenix for a very long weekend to hang with my sisters and niece and nephews. While I'm there, Bonnie and I are going to see New Kids On The Block in concert. Yes people, this will be number three. I am beyond excited, so I will spare you all from reading the ramblings of what it means to get to see them again with Bonnie.

It will also be my sister Penny's 38th birthday, so we plan on celebrating by spending the day at the Spa at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch (where John and I were married).

Poor me :)

I'm sure I'll come down with some rare tropical disease before then and have to skip both trips. This hasn't been my year.

Congratulations are in order.....

It's been a while since I've posted an update, so I'd like to take a second to congratulate Bryan and Rachael on the birth of Claire! Now that everyone in our house is totally healthy, I can't wait to visit and finally meet her!


Also, congratulations go out to both of the Stall ladies - Jolie and Angie - both due with little boys. Boys, boys, boys.............. There's nothing better (unless, of course, you happen to be the mother of a little girl). Angie, I'm so excited for you, there's something very special about the relationship between a boy and his mother - it's super cool. Jolie, you already know how strong that bond is, and you get to experience it again. How cool. Speaking from experience, watching your two sons grow up and become friends is awesome.


Now for our family updates. Besides the two month long chain of ear infections, stomach viruses, awful colds and seasonal allergies, it's status quo here.
Like almost every parent of a one to five year old in Tulsa, John and I took Cole to see Sesame Street Live at the BOK Center Friday night. I was a little leery. Cole doesn't do so well with disguise. Santa, the Easter Bunny, those cows standing out on memorial in front of Chick Fil A - Cole is terrified. I mean TERRIFIED. Surprisingly, he did fine. Perhaps it was because we were far enough in our row that when the characters came down the aisle there was no danger of them "getting" him. Maybe he was just in awe of seeing everyone in "the flesh", but he was actually pretty excited. At one point, Zoe came down the aisle, and a bunch of kids ran up to her for hugs. I took Cole up to her, and he actually HUGGED her. I couldn't believe it. My little boy is growing up.......at least that's what I thought until we took him to see the Easter Bunny at the mall today. Holy crap, that kid needs his nails clipped. I still have the impressions in my skin. In the end, we have a picture of John holding Henry sitting next to EB. it was the best we could do.


This past weekend we took a family trip to Branson. It went surprisingly well. No major meltdowns, and everyone got a pretty good night's sleep. We went to The Landing, and for the first time in a very long time, we took both kids to an actual sit down and order restaurant. OK, it was Joe's Crab Shack, but it counts. They did great!!! (Aside from Cole declaring right in the middle of dinner that he "did poop"). As a reward, we took them to Ben and Jerry's. Cole got his "black" (chocolate) ice cream, and Henry got an empty cone (I wonder how much longer that trick will work). It was a really nice weekend. I can't believe how well behaved the boys were. John and I were talking about how we finally figured out their limitations, and as long as we don't push it with them, all is well. It only took us two and a half years to figure it out.

10 random things about the Morgans.

1) The first word Cole says when he wakes up in the morning - without exception - is "vitamins".

2) Any car trip lasting more than fifteen minutes ends in disaster.

3) I can not stand holding a pencil with wet hands (or any other type of raw wood object).

4) John is compulsively organized.

5) When giving change at a store, John has to first organize the coins by denomination and date.

6) I can not stand the sound of finger or toe nails being clipped.

7) If given a choice, neither of the boys would wear pants, ever.

8) We keep Cole in line (while in public places) by telling him "the man will come and yell at you if you continue to ________" Cole is terrified of "the man".

9) Henry can say Mama, Dada, Bye Bye, Ball, and God Damn. Yes, they both say it.

10) Cole drinks on average a gallon of water/juice a day.

Spring is in the air

Not much new to report from the Morgan house. We've all been sick with some severe congestion and Henry had an ear infection, but We're all emerging from the depths of Hell slowly but surely. As I type this, I'm looking out the window, and I can see Spring coming waaaaay off in the distance. Bring it on.

I will officially be registering Henry for two days a week in the Mother's Day Out program Cole currently attends. The same two days as Cole. Salvation is only six months away. What will I do with myself for those 11 hours a week? I'll figure it out. I'm in a major sleep deficit, so maybe I'll do like Obama and try to cut it in half.

The boys have a new cousin, and Henry has officially been replaced as the baby in the family. Andrew Cade Johnson was born on January 29th. He's a cutie, and it doesn't sound like he's giving his parents too hard of a time. I can't wait until he's old enough to come over for play dates with his older cousins. How lucky are they that they have a cousin a mile away?!?!?

I'll post some new pictures soon. We bought a new computer and I haven't transferred my photos over yet. Until then, here's one of the professor to hold you all over :)