MERRY CHRISTMAS

So Cordelle thought it would be a good idea to give a general summary of our family for this year on our blog, kind of like most people do in their Christmas card. And because I listen and go along with everything he says (:) I decided to oblige. Ah, I kid, I kid.
Cordelle is still busy working as a graphic designer at the Leavitt Group (an Insurance Brokerage with their head quarters here in Cedar City). He loves the people he works with, but is very busy these days being the only full-time designer. He spends most his free time either playing hoops or football with Seth or doing other freelance projects to bring in extra cash. One of which being our home business doing wedding announcements (cedarweddings.com). He is still serving as the 1st counselor in the Elders Quorum presidency and loves being involved and getting to know the people in our ward.
Wendy is just chillin' at home with the kids. She loves being a mom to a crazy, yet entertaining 2 year old and a sweet little 2 month old girl. She loves any chance to get outside or get some sort of exercise. She always has some sort of project to work on whether its a craft, a home improvement project, or some random idea she thought up to engage Seth for the day. She still serves as an advisor in young womens and works with the Laurels. She loves being involved with an organization in the ward and thinks the world of her girls and the other leaders. She also helps with the cedarweddings side business by meeting with the couples who are getting married, consulting what they want for the announcement and then relaying the information to the "Designer. " (That was difficult writing about yourself in the 3rd person)
Seth is two....need I say more? Probably not, but I will. Seth's most recent loves are Dancing and singing especially to David Archuletta's new song Crush. (which surprisingly he knows like every word in the song... he speaks in broken toddlerese, but knows all the lyrics to the latest pop songs..crazy!). He LOVES to help with dishes which usually means a mini flood on the floor, a soaking wet outfit, and dirty dishes mixed in with all the clean ones. But it distracts him long enough for mom to clean the rest of the kitchen. He still loves riding his bike, playing with his friends, watching his movies (sound of music, Tarzan, The Lion King, Toy Story, Cars...to name a few). He really is hillarious and is learning new words everyday. So dad and mom have learned we have to be a little more careful about what we say cause sure enough, clear as day, our little parrot repeats it.
Jaquelle is darling. Mom cant get enough of her, but already she is showing signs she is not a cuddler....but that usually doesnt stop us. She is smiling a ton and compared to a couple of colicky months ago, she is an angel. Other than that she cant do much, but she gets her fair share of photo shoots cause dressing up girls is far too much fun. We love this stage of babies!
Well we hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and hopefully you can spend a little time appreciating the gift we've really been given...our Savior. We love you all.

Happy Birthday Tallie!

So Sunday is my little sister Tallie's birthday and she's going to be 24! So I decided I wanted to post how much I love her! Growing up it was amazing we didn't kill each other. Although we did drop a TV on her violin because we were fighting over watching Star Trek the Next Generation or MASH (I know we had a strange childhood). There were typical sister rivalries like when I drew a line down the middle of our shared bedroom with tape, threatening her never to come on MY side of the room. And then there were times when we would be grounded to our bedroom till it was clean, but enstead of getting to work, we ended up staying in there for 2 days just playing with each other amidst the toys and clothes and who knows what. There were mutual backscratches where we both had to scratch each others backs for 15 minutes and after I got my entire allotted time, I conviently fell asleep 2 minutes into hers. Of course, I totally abused the older sister privileges. I would make her get me peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches, cereal or drinks of water late at night when we were supposed to be sleeping. (Although she did get me back a couple of times by putting toothpaste, or even worse, soap in my food/drinks as her funny way of getting back at my ordering her around.) We fought over clothes, cleaning the bedroom, her getting the pink stuff and me always getting stuck with the "boyish" blue colored toys. Yes, as kids...we were...well, kids. And I fully admit to being the big bully older sister. But sometime between high school and college something clicked. "Tom and Jerry" finally sat down and ate some ice cream together so-to-speak :) and now I honestly can say that that kid is one of my best friends in the world. She is downright hillarious and one of the only people that can still make me laugh till I cry or pee (preferably the former). She is always giving and always thinking about everyone else. Whether its spoiling her neices and nephews or shopping with her brothers (who completely owe their sense of style to her), she is always the first person to drop what she's doing for her family and friends. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and be the cool older sister that let her little sister tag along with her friends or that alway watched out for her. I wish I would have been a better friend to her while we were young but I suppose kids are kids, and siblings are siblings. I guess all I can say now is I am grateful we've become the friends we are and Tal, I love ya. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Picture overload....of Jaquelle, but their cute

Jaquelle is getting so big! Today at her 2 month appointment she weighed 12 bls 10 oz. So looks like she's healthy all except for her BM's. You see she only poops once every 10 days! Weird huh? And let me tell you, it just stores up in there cause when she does poop it is like never ending poop fest. If we dont catch her grunting in time, it will be up to her chin. Sick. But I tell you those days that she poops we all have a mini poop-party where we dance around and sing "Every party has a pooper thats why we invited Jaq, party pooper!" That song takes on a whole different meaning now. Anyways but she is doing great and I love it cause she's starting to smile and (knock on wood) I think the collick is slowly subsiding so perhaps there is a light through that tunnel or at the end of it, or however the saying goes. So thanks for all your advice.
Seth on the other hand is getting crazy! I think the jealousy might be sneaking in. Whenever we lay a blanket down on the floor for Jaquelle or in the swing he hurries and lays down on it. And if we go to put her in her vibrating chair and he didnt get there in time to snatch it from her sometimes he just sits on her. But the weirdest thing he does is in the car. When we put him in his car seat first and then go around the other side to snap Jaquelle into her car seat base (which is right next to Seth), he always has his hand on top of the her car seat base. So naturally we tell him to move his hand cause Jaquelles carseat will smash his fingers but he admittantly wont move his hand. So once I gently put it down on top of his hand and still...nothing. Then one time Cordelle was trying to put Jaq in quickly and forgot about this weird habit of Seths and he really did smash Seth's finger under her car seat. But even remembering how much it hurt doesnt deter him from keeping on doing it. Cause everytime its the same thing. Weird. Well I guess if he's trying to get our attention he gets it so, mission accomplished. Still though, why would he do that?
Anyhow enjoy the photos of Jaq from the last month.

A busy Weekend

Wow, its been like a month since I posted. How lame. Well nothing much has happened until this week anyways. Thanksgiving was fun but we literally ran from one thing to the next the whole time we were up north. We had dinner with a friend of Cordelles from High School, went to two movies (Bolt, and Twilight), hung out with my sister Krista and her kids, had Thanksgiving with my family, had Thanksgiving breakfast with Cordelles family, hung out with his 3 brothers, hung out with Tallie, played Rock Band with Brett, visited with Dave and Laura (who we hadnt seen in a while) and lastly squeezed in watching Wall-e with my parents. Seriously it was crazy. But it was fun to see everyone. Here is a picture of all of us getting a ride in Cordelles dad's newly restored Model T Truck and Model T. (I guess Jaq isnt in it, she was sleeping). And then I threw in a couple of pictures of Cordelle and Seth playing in the back yard and Jaquelle in her swing at Grandma Morris'.

A blessing

Halloween...about a week late

This year for halloween we recycled Seths kitty-cat costume and had Jaq dress up in it, she was cute but she slept through the whole event. Lame. Not that I wanted her to peep up and have her first words be "trick or treat" or "more candy" or something but still, Halloween, I found it is much more fun with a toddler. Seth was a dinasour. Not cause he asked to be one but because it was on clearance last year. Even still it was a shock to me when I got it out to dress him up he started crying and wouldnt come near it, let alone dress up in it. I couldnt believe it. Its not like we went cold turkey on the whole dinasour bit either. We were prepping ad pumping him up for weeks about how cool dinasours are and what sounds they make. Id even make Cordelle get down on the floor and imitate dinasours daily with him (although his dinasour imitations really could gave resembled a horse like cat or some sort of a dog-bear, so I'm sure this didn't help much). I should have just rented Land Before Time. Those were some cute dinasours...nothing like this costume. Come to think about it it was pretty scary looking. Long story short, I had to bribe him into the costume and once he couldnt see the dinasours head he was cool with it.
Cordelle and I dressed up as well. We took boxes of cereal, hung them around our necks, stuck plastic knives in them with fake blood dripping down and told people we were "Cereal killers." (See pictures) Thank goodness for last minute google searches. Oh yea also I made these wicked sweet chocolate cupcakes that had eyes, and legs coming out of them (chocolate licorice) to make them look like hairy spiders. Well I was really excited to show them to Seth cause I thought he'd have fun eatin them. But once again I was wrong, but this time it wasnt my fault. Cordelle (being the mean father that he is) took one up to Seth and said, "Seth look at this HUGE spider" after which he lunged it from his hands into Seth's face and growled. Needless to say Seth screamed and would not come close to the spider cupcake, the table, or even the kitchen after that. Matter of fact even after we showed him that it was candy and cake, he just freaked out watching us eat it. Days later he still wouldnt touch the chocolate licorice remembering them as spider legs. Dang Cordelle ruined my Halloween mother of the year moment. It was supposed to be such cute idea too. Really it sounds like we just freaked Seth out the whole holiday, but he realy had a good time! (I think).

Too darn cute not to post

Seth got some desperately needed new Sunday clothes and was kind enough to pose a second so I could snap this picture. Doesn't he look handsome? And this picture of Jaq is one of the only ones I have of her eyes open. Because if she's not sleeping or eating, she's crying...which never makes for cute pictures. Pretty sure she's collicky, which my friends, has not been so fun. Any of you had collicky kids? Any good advice you want to share? At this point, Im taking anything I can get. Even the other day someone said cartwheels would help (for me not the baby) and in my sleep-deprived, half insane mind I thought pretty seriously about attempting one until I thought, "Thats just plain rediculous!" Still though, any suggestions?

PARK IT!

This saturday we just had to get out, so we took Seth to Park Discovery. I dont know why they dont just call it Discovery Park. Lame. Anyways it was way nice, I am hoping that luck will prolong fall just a little longer before I am banished to my dungeon home with a toddler and a newborn all winter. Yikes.

Cousins!!

A week after Jaq was born my sister Krista and her kids came down and it was so fun, especially for Seth who couldnt stop hugging Mason the first night they were here. Mason and Seth had a sleepover that lasted only a fraction of the night but it was fun. It was so nice to have my sister here to just talk and hang out with instead of using all my minutes calling her 3 times a week! Ah, I wished we lived closer! (Thanks Kris for entertaining Seth and for the dinners, you're the best! )

It begins

So I have a lot of people ask me how Seth is doing with a baby around so I thought I'd share this funny story. Generally, the most attention Seth has given Jaquelle is a worried/concerned look when she is full out crying, or he wants to hold her for 1.2 seconds and then wants to put her back in the swing without help...dont worry we dont let him do it alone. Or he runs up to her gets right in her face and says "Hi baby" over and over again. So pretty cute, I thought. Pretty harmless and as for the jealousy factor....well it really hasnt even been one, so that was a big sigh of relief on my part. But the other day I was getting ready and once again I heard Seth saying "Hi baby" over and over again and I thought to myself I really shouldnt leave him alone with her in the same room, so I went to check on them. Jaquelle who was sound asleep in the crook of the couch was kind of fussing and moving around a bit. When I got closer I saw that seth who had been snacking on some cinnamon toast crunch cereal had pried open Jaquelle's mouth and stuck one in it while she was sleeping! Of course she being, what, days old, I was like BLA, Seth what are you doing? We then had the talk that NOTHING gets put in the baby's mouth. Why he picks this time to begin sharing is beyond me. I just thought to myself...here we go, life with two begins.

Drum roll please....SHE'S HERE!!

Wahoo! So Friday morning (Sept. 26th) at 9:57 I finally had Jaquelle Lynn Morris. The whole birth this time around was like night and day to Seth...short and relatively painless. All I can say is my new best friend is Mr. Epideral. Dont know how some of you do it without it. Anyways, yea, this time it was a really cool experience and she came out in just 3 pushes! She weighed 7 lbs and was 19.5 inches long. She is just beautiful and get this...she has a head full of hair (dont know where it came from cause I was bald till I was two but I love it!) And I think I can spot dimples on those cheeks too. OF COURSE I posted pictures...but hospital pics are always weird so more will be coming.

Grannie Annie and Jaquelle

Then the next day of course was Cordelle's Birthday! We spent most of it in the hospital still, but finally we got home in time for a big Spaghetti Dinner (Cordelle's choice) and cake and ice cream. It was fun and crazy all at once! ( Thanks for being so much help even though it was your b-day Cordelle!) He did get to watch endless hours of college football at the hospital so he was probably pretty okay with the way things went that day.

Two birthdays right in a row! Jaquelle and Cordelle...Ha they rhyme, how trite. Alright better go, looks like sleep deprivation is taking over to craziness.
Pics of the cake thanks to my awesome mom and my little bro Scott!We didnt have 28 candles so we had to improvise with candyCassidy (Cordelle's neice living with us), Grannie Annie, and Us

Very Prego

So sorry I look nasty but I thought I'd put a picture of me and my big 'ole belly at almost 39 weeks (It seems to be the trend while your prego)! Usually I avoid the camera at this stage, actually I dont think I have any pictures of just me while pregnant. Hum...probably better that way. So any fun or fabricated wives tales as to how to go into labor? I love to hear these, cant say I buy any of them but it makes me laugh.

Seth's Dad

So tonight I was on the computer and I could hear Cordelle and Seth in Seth's bedroom playing basketball on his nerf hoop. Seth was way giggly and Cordelle was saying all sorts of funny things like "air ball" or "off the front of the rim" in funny voices that Seth would repeat and then laugh that kind of laugh where you cant help but smile at. And I just started to think there is nothing better than being married to a man that loves to be with his kids. Its just one of those qualities you didnt know your husband had when you met and married him but now if you had to start it all over again would be at the top of your list. I love watching him be with Seth cause Seth adores him. But Cordelle seems to be having the time of his life too. Its like he's just impatiently waiting for Seth to grow up so he can do more things with him. On Saturday morning he woke up early and then woke Seth up and took him to Cedar City's Sky Fest. Basically, its a festival where they launch like 20 hot air balloons up in the sky and its pretty fun to go to. So while I slept, the two boys had a fun morning out where Seth was totally enthralled with the Big Balloons and then they went out to breakfast, just the two of them. Seth came home on the biggest high and couldnt stop making the sound of the hot air balloons (cause apparently it was pretty loud) and telling me how they go up, up, up. Over and over he was telling me stories about the morning, either about the big balloons or how he got to eat ketchup with his hashbrowns (which he loves). It was just so cute of Cordelle to want to do that with him and let me sleep in. I just couldnt go without saying somewhere that I truly am blessed with an incredible husband who turned out to be pretty darn good dad as well.

GRASSY business!

We have GRASS!  Whahoo!  Our summer dream is fulfilled.  It was a long time coming but doesnt it just make a house look like a home?  I never thought I'd be so excited for the green stuff.  But yea, that picture is where we're leaving our yard for the rest of the year.  Any more flowers, shrubbery or landscape will commence in the spring...cause uh, we're broke.  And here is a picture of our BABY corn and carrots.  Okay so pretty much we just stunk at watering our "experimental" garden, but next year when we have our REAL garden we'll have a better crop. FYI the corn was nasty tasting but the carrots are quite good.  Matter of fact its the only way I can get Seth to eat them.  He loves to go with his dad and dig them out of the ground.  He's funny though cause he carries them around with him, green stem and all and he looks like a mini Buggs Bunny. 

  Other than that we are just waiting around for this baby to pop out.  Im almost 38 weeks!  Oh yea, and there was a funny story I wanted to share about Seth.  We were walking through our kitchen heading outside to play when Seth walked by a pile of dirt I hadn't swept up.  He literally did a double take, turned around and said, "A Mess!"  He immediately went and got the broom out and "swept" up my mess (aka spread it even more all over).  But still, I realized how anal I have been about cleaning lately when my toddler gets distracted with cleaning a pile of dirt on his way to go play outside.  It made me laugh.  Hey at least he recognizes when things are messy.  Guess I should ease up a bit with the cleaning.

BYU wagon boy!

So pretty much I just thought these pictures were cute so I wanted to upload them. I picked up this BYU T-shirt while I was at Ed-Week. Now Seth's all prepped for BYU football. He even says, "Go Cougs." And then of course his infamous wagon, which is now a permanent taxi cab for Thumper and Lucky. I love this age.

Ed week funnies with my Sisters!

Okay so every year my mom goes to Education Week. Well this year she told us that on if we wanted to go on Monday she would watch our kids. What an awesome Mother! So on Monday, my two sisters, Krista and Tallie, and I took of for BYU for Education Week (well I guess in our case Education Day). FYI Ed Week is pretty much like EFY for adults, and its just fantastic!. Anyways I thought I’d share a funny story that happened to us while we were there. Alright so we are walking to a class in a building all the way across campus. My sister guesses that it might be a brick walled one in the distance that we could see so we start walking towards it. On campus there was some construction going on so there were fences everywhere that you’d have to go around and such to get to where you wanted to go. Well right before the brick building we were heading to we saw another fence. Not wanting to go all the way around the fence we found a door that was of course locked and Tallie hopped over it and let Krista and I through. It wasn’t long before we realized where we were. All of the sudden we saw a set of missionaries, and then another set of missionaries. Soon we realized EVERYONE we saw had missionary tags. Pretty much we had just jumped over a locked fence into the MTC!! Whoops. Can you imagine if that was on a security camera? Finally we saw a older guy and we approached him and said, “I think we’re in the wrong place” to which he answered, “yea, I think you are.” He informed us we had walked right by the building we were supposed to be at across the street. WHOOPS. How hilarious. I am surprised he didn’t come up to us and say “alright girls who are you trying to find and how did you get in here?” On the way to our real building we had a whole fabricated story planned out that we could have told him including me (being pregnant) finding the father with the support of my sisters. TOTALLY inappropriate but hilarious none the less. Needless to say we thanked the gentleman who helped us and laughed about it the rest of the day. I’ll tell you it totally made the long, hot hike across campus completely worth it.
Overall, the day was a blast and I have to say I LOVE MY SISTERS! They really are my best friends. Thanks guys for the shower and the fun weekend.

TWO YEARS OLD!!

Seth is TWO!! I cant believe it, but its true, I have a two year old. As mentioned below on Seth’s actual birthday we were camping at Payson Lakes but that Saturday we did go home and have a traditional birthday party with my family at my sister Kristas house. He got some really cool toys and clothes from his cousins and Grandparents and then of course we as parents caved and got him a wicked cool Radio Flyer wagon. He’s been hinting at it for months now, pulling around all the neighbors wagons etc, he couldn’t have been more obvious about it if he tried. I kid, I kid. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sethers!

Seth and Dad eating his little cake up at Payson Lakes on his real Birthday.

Anna, Seth, and Mason eating cake and icecream