A World Forever Changed

On December 8th, 2009, at 3:31 pm, we welcomed a big beautiful girl into this world. 8 pounds, 10 ounces and 20.25 inches long- God blessed us with this daughter, who looks so much like her daddy and who we call Clara. Okay...we really call her "muffin", but her name is Clara.

She is almost 8 weeks old, has blue eyes, a head full of dark hair and is tipping the scales at 14 pounds. I think she is going to be tall. She is so so long! In the last month she has showed us her big gummy grin, the beginnings of her precious personality, how strong she is already and how big her appetite is! She is sleeping through the night (she has slept 8 straight hours the last TWO nights) and every day she is learning more and more. She is a daddy's girl to the core and loves to hear his voice.

She loves music, when we sing to her ( her favorites so far seem to be Jesus Loves Me, Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes, and the songs Daddy makes up for her) anything that is black and white, snuggling close to mommy for naps, laying on Daddy's chest, bathtime, playtime and her swing.

I know in the coming months she will learn more than she will for the rest of her life. I can't wait to see what this sweet pumpkin has in store for us. We are loving this journey!

My dear daughter, I love you more than I can ever express. You are a precious joy in my life and I am so blessed to call you mine. Love, Mommy

33 Weeks

Time is flying by and I cannot believe in only 7 short weeks we will meet our little girl. Lately I have found myself more emotional when it comes to this whole experience. It is amazing to me that God allows our bodies to do such amazing things. Right now there is a little girl in my belly with her foot in my ribs and I couldn't be happier.

Last week we had our 32 week sonogram. Because Derrick and I were both such big babies (I weighed 10 lbs. and he was close to 10) our doctor thought it was a good idea to have a sonogram to see how big she is now and to guestimate how big we think she will be come her due date. Well, ladies and gentleman...she's gonna be a big girl. Baby Center says she should weigh about 3.75 pounds and our chunky monkey is weighing in at 4 pounds 12 ounces (just shy of 5 pounds). The general rule of thumb is that she will gain 1/2 a pound each week until her due date. That means another FOUR pounds. So, we are pretty sure she is going to be between the 8 & 9 pound mark.

The sonographer also said she had long legs. She gets those from her Daddy. Her Daddy is in love with her already and it is THE cutest thing I have ever seen. I cannot wait to see him with her. I don't think he wants to wait much longer either.

Last weekend was my baby shower held by amazing friends and family. So many of my favorite people in the world were able to make it out to celebrate Clara and I was so happy to see them all (some couldn't make it, but that's okay I know they would have if they could have). This little girl is going to be the best dressed baby in town. She received so many adorable outfits, sleepers, onesies and blankets. Her closet is already filling up!

Her room is really coming together. Brenda finished the bedding. It's BEAUTIFUL! I am assembling the mobile right now and hope to have it up in the next few days. I have a large "C" to paint and some frames to hang, but all in all- it is almost ready for her arrival. :)

Another Look at the Nursery

The pretty crib and wall mural. You can't tell from this picture but the flowers are covered in fabrics from the bedding and are 3D so they stick off the wall.
We have made good progress in the nursery. The walls are painted, the mural is painted, the curtains are made and hung, the furniture has arrived, the bedding is almost finished (courtesy of and many thanks to the amazingly talented Brenda Mangold), and little by little the final touches are falling into place.

Glider and Dresser which are now in different locations.

Accent pillows made by Brenda Mangold. So cute!
The furniture is dark espresso stained and the gilder is upholstered in chocolate chenille with a subtle geometric square pattern on it.

Curtain panel and sheer panel with a view outside and of one of the bookcases. This was my first attempt at curtain making. Do not look closely. My sewing machine revolted in a few places.

My Grandma Harriet left this set of plates to me. She purchased these because the little girl reminded her of me. I couldn't remember what colors they had in them and I was so happy not only to see that three of them are blue, but that these same three plates have a little girl holding or watching birds. Perfect!
We have been spending more time in the nursery too. Derrick and I will go in there and put the ipod on Clara's playlist (yes Derrick started her very own play list) and take turns rocking in the glider and talking. It's so relaxing in there. I can't wait for her to see it.

These handmade flowers will help to make the mobile. They were also made by Brenda Mangold.

Little Clara's closet is beginning to fill up with cute girly things. My friend, Tina, in California gave us the cute organizers to divide clothes by size. Right up my alley. :)
Even Boomer likes the nursery, although he is not so sure about the new family member in my tummy. He gets very jealous when Derrick talks to my belly or feels the baby kick. I think he will be a good big fluffy brother though. He's so sweet and protective.

Another view of the hand quilted flowers for the mobile.
I hope to have finished pictures in the next week or so, but until then, here is a picture of the much enlarged bump. I am 32 weeks on Tuesday. Less than 9 weeks to go. I cannot BELIEVE she will be here in 2 months! To be honest, I am totally and absolutely ready to meet her. Derrick might be more ready than me (probably because he is ready to have his energetic, non-moaning wife back) and asks Baby Clara, "When are you coming to see Daddy." This of course melts my heart and makes me love him even more.

Boomer thinks Clara's room is the perfect place for a nap.

...and a stretch...
Oh and I have been working on little projects for her too. I made this taggy blanket and a boat load of hair bows. I will post pictures on the hair bows later because there are a ton of them.

First taggy blanket attempt. I made one for my friend Terri too.

Nursery Beginnings for Clara

Before we started planning to try for this baby, we talked about nurseries and how we would not have a pink room if it was a girl. She would have enough pink in her life from dresses to pj's and toys. Plus, neither one of us could imagine so much pink in our gender neutral house.

Her nursery, pre paint (Derrick was getting the room ready to paint)
Fast forward to June, we found out it was a girl and I started looking into nursery ideas. When I first started thinking about the nursery, I decided to look at all kinds of bedding and the rest of the nursery would come from there. The first bedding I loved was a Dwell Studio baby bedding called Dragonfly. It has bright yellow, chocolate brown, white and the palest pink you've ever seen. I started imagining the room and just really liked the whole idea...then I showed the bedding to Derrick. He vetoed it immediately saying, "I thought we weren't going to do pink."

The Dwell Baby Dragonfly Bedding- super cute, but vetoed
So, I started looking at bedding that was girly, but not pink. There were not that many choices out there. That's when I found the Serena and Lily website. I just loved the Rye Bedding. It was simple and clean and could be turned into a relaxing girly paradise. Derrick approved it too. Then I looked at the pricetag. $500 for THREE pieces. Really? I know it is the nursery and you only get to plan it once, but I would rather invest that money on her crib, the glider or her entire stroller/carseat getup.

Serena and Lily Rye Bedding- beautiful
Allison, one of the best friends a girl can have, has the best mom, Brenda, who can sew up a storm. She made Allison's nursery bedding (which is amazing) and generously agreed to make ours. I was so excited! Not only would I not have to spend $500 on three pieces, but this baby girl's bedding would be made with love from someone I love. Hurray! I traveled through the greater DFW area searching for the right fabrics and finally found them all. They are now safe with Brenda being made into something wonderful and I can't wait to see it! It definitely has the color scheme of the Rye bedding, but with a girly, funky twist.

Her crib and dresser (we didn't need an armoire)
A few weeks ago we ordered Clara's furniture- a convertible crib with an espresso stain that not only converts to a toddler bed, but also a full sized bed. She'll have it for life. -a double dresser with six drawers that will act as the changing table for the first few years. -and a glider. The glider was lovingly provided by Derrick's parents, Pops and Noni. It is pretty big and covered in a chocolate chenille with a geometric print. I love it! Thanks, Pops and Noni!

One of the bookshelves in her room (Derrick brought her the "pudgy bucky" from a conference)
In the meantime, while we wait for furniture and bedding to arrive, we have started preparing the nursery. Derrick painted the closet this weekend (it was blue and the wrong color of blue and really needed a facelift) and Tuesday night he painted the nursery. The color is Latte by Sherwin Williams and it's perfect! I sewed new liners for the baskets I found at Hobby Lobby. The fabric is one of the fabrics for her bedding. I am now working on the curtain sheers. I have finished one of them. It's a white cotton with a blue/tealy raised dot. I love it!

The baskets I just lined with one of her fabrics. I love my sewing machine!

The fabric for her curtain sheers. This fabric is the most "baby" thing in the room.
Oh- I also found a super cute lamp at Pier One. I added ribbon details and a covered button. The covered button is fabric from her bedding too. It's a funky retro floral with blue, turquoise, pink, chocolate, ivory, white, orange and green.

The cool lamp from Pier One with the embellishments
Above her crib, I am going to apply a tree branch wall decal and to the decal I am adding little blue birds and 3-dimensional flowers. Above the tree branch I am paiting her name "Clara" in a very girly font. Allison's mom is making quilted flowers for her mobile and I am putting the mobile together. I ordered the hanger for it yesterday.

It's hard to see, but this is the mobile hanger
So, it's all coming together. I am really getting excited and I love this planning phase. I can't wait for the room to be complete and I promise to post pictures as soon as I can.

This great bird painting was painted for me by my Aunt Dale for Christmas last year. It goes perfectly in her room.

30 Years and 23 Weeks

Today, I turn 30. I really can't believe it. How did 30 get here so fast? In so many ways I feel like I just graduated from high school and college. I remember the days when I thought 30 was old. I don't feel old. I feel young...and pregnant. I am officially past the half way mark in the pregnancy and I thought from this point out, I would keep a better update of how things are going.

So, to update, IT'S A GIRL! Clara Charlise Morgan will be here in less than four months. I can't believe how fast time has flown! We have accomplished many things in preparing for her, but still have many things to do as well. We have ordered the crib and dresser, the glider and the fabric has been mailed to my amazing friend Allison's very talented mother who will sew a miracle (she's so talented). We picked out and purchased the paint and I have started picking up little accents for her room here and there. I am going to attempt to make the curtain panels myself, which I need to start and I have pretty much wrapped up the registry. We are booked for our birthing class and feeding class and next week I have my super exciting glucose test. So far I am feeling really great, other than terrible sciatica in my left bum area. It really smarts and may be the most painful thing I have experienced to date. I am sucking it up though. I have been to the chiropractor, tried stretches, warm baths and I am currently sitting on an icepack. Nothing seems to relieve it. The doctor says my hips are spreading and that combined with the baby gives a lot of pressure to that nerve. I just want to be able to walk without looking like I'm 80.

I am 23 weeks and Baby Clara is 11" long and weighs about 1 pound. She can hear sounds, voices and music and can feel movement like the sway of dancing. We can't wait to meet her!

I hope everyone is doing well! Here are some of the latest ultrasound pictures:

Her perfect little hand

Both of her not so tiny feet (I think they look huge!)

Her profile

She sucks her left thumb, which is cute because Derrick is left handed.

20 Weeks

I am officially 20 weeks as of Tuesday and Friday could not get here fast enough! We have our 20 week ultrasound on Friday morning and we will find out if there is really a little girl in there. I am so excited and nervous at the same time. It would be pretty funny if the doctor told us it was a boy after we have imagined a little girl, started registering for a girl and planned the nursery (we have not painted or anything...yet). We will be happy with whatever we are blessed with. We just want a healthy baby.

I think I have started feeling little flutters/movements, but I am not 100% sure. I will say that on Friday, this baby did a somersault in my belly and it was the weirdest/coolest feeling. I can't imagine what it will be like when the kicks really get started. I am really ready for Derrick to be able to feel the baby move so he can have something he experiences other than a sleepy wife.

As of this week, Baby Morgan is about 10 inches long from head to toe and about 6.5 inches long from head to bum. I still can't believe how fast this process flies by. Before we know it, December will come and we will have a baby, a little person to love who will have us all wrapped around their little finger (ahem...Derrick).

Our parents are so very excited. Billye practices holding any baby she can get her hands on, my mom is already trying to schedule her visit and Derrick's dad is so over the moon. He said, "I just am afraid I won't be able to tell the baby no." He of course says this about 3 minutes before he asks me how old the baby has to be before they ride in a go cart!! We are going to have one spoiled little person on our hands!

Boomer knows something strange is going on. He is very snugly (more than usual), super needy and pouts like crazy. It's going to be interesting to see how he reacts when the baby is actually here. Friends have given us a few gifts and he loves to smell and root through them. One of the gifts is a little green stuffed elephant and I know he thought it was for him. Poor Boomer. His world is about to rock.

I hope to update again soon and be a better blogger. That first trimester really did a number on me. I was so tired and nauseous, but I am feeling like my old self again.

Hudson Christopher- Bestill My Heart

Allison and I have been friends for 12 years. We met in the dorm our freshman year of college and were roommates for 4 years. She is like my sister. I don't even know if you would just call us friends. In November, when she told me she was expecting, I was ecstatic! When she told me it was a boy, I was thrilled, but now that he is here I am over the moon! Look at how TINY! Swoon!

Yesterday, my heart grew a little. Hudson Christopher was born. He is perfect, tiny and has tons of beautiful hair. I cannot wait to meet him! I cannot wait to sing him funny made up songs (which his mommy used to "love" when we lived together) and I cannot wait for he and our growing bun to meet in the new year. Hudson, no dating til she's 30!

Allison, Colby and Hudson- I love you so much!

Baby Girl?

I have been a terrible, basically non-existent blogger as of late. I swear it has been for several good reasons. The main reason being that nausea and exhaustion took over my life for several weeks and I am just beginning to feel like myself again. Pregnancy is a magical thing, but feeling like I have a permanent hang over is something I could do without.

Yesterday Derrick and I had a 13 week appointment complete with ultrasound. The doctors did some early testing for chromosomal defects (Down Syndrome, etc.) and provided an ultrasound. It was amazing! In just 6 weeks the little bean we saw at first turned into a baby. We saw the toes, feet, hands and fingers, the head, profile, brain, heart beating and round tummy. The heart beat was 163 beats per minute and that baby was wiggling up a storm!

The doctor also provides a gender prediction. They are accurate 95+% of the time and only have 1-2 false predictions a year. The prediction....GIRL! Derrick and I were in shock. For some reason we have had boy on the brain. We are happy with whatever God blesses us with, but now we have to get used to the idea of pink, bows and girly things. We have the official gender ultrasound in July, but this lets us call the baby "her" instead of "it" which I like a lot better. I am starting to show a bit which is SO WEIRD but exciting! I know the next 6 months are going to fly by. I hope you are all doing well!