New look

Ok, so we finally have a new look (thanks Jennie!) I don't know if it will last, but we'll try it out for a while :)

Gifts from Heaven

Blogger help!

I need help from my fellow bloggers out there. I am desperately wanting to change the look of my blog. But I have a few questions:
-suggestions on where I can look for new templates?
-how do I upload a new template without losing all of the settings I already have on my current template (I have tried this once before, but realized that by changing to the new layout I had found, I lost everything but the text from my posts)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and if anyone wants to take my kids so that I actually have time to do this, that would be appreciated too ;)

Skinny: adjective; ??????????

Isn't it funny and sad how your definiton of skinny changes over time? When I was in college, I always wished I was just a little bit skinnier. Then I had my first baby and realized..."hey, wait a minute, I WAS skinny in college." The baby weight started to come off, but I never really got back to being my 'skinny self'.' Then baby # 2 came along and I realized....."hey, I WAS pretty skinny after baby #1". So I'm sure that if God decides to bless us with another child I will look back and say "hey, I WAS pretty skinny after baby #2"....which is just really sad to think about, because if what I look like now, could one day be considered skinny to me.......YIKES!

DISCLAIMER: Before I get any seething comments or e-mails, let me just clear up that I do not find myself fat in any way....I just wish I were skinnier, and there's nothing wrong with that :)

Three little piggies....well, really ducks

Just about every day, we make a trip up to Wesleyan College which is right up the road from our house. It is a good way for me to get out of the house and get some exercise and they have lots of things that interest Jackson. There is a lake with ducks, turtles, and fish to feed, an equestrian center with lots of horses to look at, and lots of construction...which means lots of big trucks. But Jackson really likes the three little piggies you see to the right. Ok, yes, they are ducks. But Jackson has nicknamed them the piggies because they are ALWAYS hungry for our bread. The geese and other ducks that are there are hit or miss, but these guys never turn down a snack and follow us all the way around the lake when we are there trying to get more from us...Jackson finds it quite funny. Here are some pictures from our trip today.

"Mmmm...do I want to give this to the ducks, or do I want a bite?"

"Wait for it, wait for it."

"Catch it, catch it!"

"Ok, Mom told me to tear these into little pieces, but here you go big guy."

"Look Mom, I'm a college frat boy."

" Ok...can you get a close up of me with one of the ducks in the background?"

"Beautiful! Now just me...."

"Uh, Mom, that might be too close."

"Where did the turtle go?"

"Beh he is"

"Let me see if I can reach as high as the excavator."

"How about I just stand in the scooper"

"Ok, it's hot, let's go."

Semi Potty-Trained????

I really think Jackson is starting to understand this potty thing. He is asking more and more to use the potty even when he is wearing a diaper. Well, let me back up. With Luke being so little, it being so hot, and us not really having much money, we typically spend most of our days at home during the summer. So my potty training strategy has been to take Jackson's diaper off when he wakes up in the morning, make him sit on the potty first thing, and then he goes diaper free for the rest of the day. After observing him for a while I figured that as long as he had a diaper on, that was where he was going to pee. So I thought if there's no diaper there, he's more likely to use the potty. I was right for the most part...he only peed on the floor twice. And thankfully neither time was on the carpet.
So today, I decided to let him try out his new big boy underwear that he picked out at Target last week. He chose Lightning McQueen. I explained the importance of big boy underwear and how they were not for tee tee and poop. Sure enough, when he had to go he announced it as usual..."Mommy, I need go potty" I directed him to the potty chair, he pulled down his big boy pants (a skill that needs a lot of work as it took him about 3 minutes to get them off), sat on the potty and went! I cheered and made a big deal to which Jackson responded "Mommy, that's too loud" So I'd say that's a pretty big deal.
And can I just say that he looks so cute in his tiny little boy underwear. I took some pictures...but after careful review by Brad and I we decided that it was best not to post them for several reasons
1) our blog might get flagged for child pornography
2) to prevent Jackson from needing therapy when he's older

Cows and Kangaroos!

Today was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick Fil A. If you dressed like a cow, you got your meal for free. We are all about anything free here at the Dennis House, so we were there! Since we do not have any cow costumes on hand, we had to get creative by taping white cardstock to our black shirts. Although I argued that I shouldn't even have to dress up...the fact that I am lactating and you can milk me should be costume enough. We went with our friends, April and her son Catch and Katherine and her daughter Mary Kate. I think we might turn into chickens if we eat any more Chick Fil A!

He looks humiliated to be wearing this cow 'costume' but I promise it's just the camera angle

Jackson and Catch in their cow attire...Catch is the ever popular blue variety of cow

Mommy and baby cow at Chick Fil A

KANGAROO BOB'S!

We also visited Kangaroo Bob's this afternoon, which is an indoor 'jumpy place'. I promise we did not paint Jackson's face red...he just played that hard.

Jumping in action

Taking a break on the starfish

How do I get out?

Serious action shot...check out the hair.

Daddy and Jackson in the alligator mouth

Whew! I need some juice!

We're back!

Wow, a lot has happened over the past month in a half...I'm not sure how to update everyone on what's been going on in our lives. But I'll try. We have pretty much been gone from Macon since the end of May when we left for our trip to the beach. We went from the beach to live at my parents' house in Atlanta for the month of June while Brad did a transplant rotation at Piedmont Hospital. It was so nice to be close to our family for such a long period of time, but we are glad to be back home, in our house, and surrounded by our friends here in Macon. Here's what you've missed!
We had a wonderful time at the 'new' beach house. While it was a very different type of vacation with 4 children under the age of 4, we made wonderful memories as we always do that I will treasure. Here are some pictures...

The house

Jackson and Allie travelled to the pool in their 'limo' each day

Luke and Mommy under the umbrella

Allie and Jackson with Teddy

Playing with sand

My beachy boy

Just a shot to prove that Brad was in fact there...if only for a few days

Brad and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on June 21st. We spent the weekend at my parents' lake house on Lake Hartwell.

A picture taken from our sunset cruise on the boat

Brad celebrated his 29th birthday on June 24th...next year's the big one!

Luke turned 2 months old! He weighed in at 12 lbs, 10 oz and is 24 inches long. He's smiling, cooing, and sleeping through the night. We are enjoying him so much!Smiley boy!

Jackson is getting closer to becoming diaper-free. We have tee-teed in the potty many times and are headed in the right direction (jelly beans can be a great motivator).

So that's pretty much it. Not much new going on with me. I never did find my Max and miss him dearly. It was hard coming home without our entire family and there is a definite hole in my heart. The sadness is getting easier with time, and I have so much to be thankful for and happy about in the meantime....

We're still here

I know there probably isn't anyone who checks this blog anymore because it has been so long since there has been a new post. I promise, one is coming soon. We have been living in Atlanta for the past month and have just 'moved' back home. Things are crazy right now and unfortunately, blogging is kind of low on the list. But keep checking back...hopefully I will have time soon.

Prayers....PLEASE!

I know this may not sound important to many, but I need prayers for one of my animals. My little cat, Max, is missing. And I guess 'missing' may even be a bit of a stretch. He has been at my mom's house since last Tuesday, with access to a pet door he can come and go from, and has been checked on and taken care of by various people (along with the other cats who are there) But he has not been seen since Saturday evening and has me worried. Brad is now at my parents and has been there since Sunday night and has not been able to find him. We have resorted to posting flyers as of tonight (Tuesday). I am feeling very helpless in Florida and Brad is doing a great job of trying to find my baby. Please pray that he would return safely or that we would hear some news of his whereabouts. And also that I would be at peace, not worry, and be able to focus on taking care of my 2 little boys and trying to have a relaxing rest of my vacation.
This may seem silly, but if you know me at all, you know just how much my animals mean to me and how worried I am about my little Max. Thank you.

Surprise! (but not really)

Well, as the ever inquisitive Morgan children suspected, something was a little fishy about this family trip to the beach (no pun intended). And it turned out that all of our hunches were right, despite my parents valiant attempts to throw us off course and surprise us. They bought a beach house in Saint Augustine! It is absolutely beautiful! We couldn't be more excited. How wonderful that Allie, Jackson, Jake, Luke, and any future grandchildren will get to make so many wonderful family memories here each year as they grow up. I will post a picture of the house as soon as I can...things are a little hectic here with all these kiddos running around!

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May is over! Well, almost over. Tonight (Wednesday) is Brad's last night and we leave for the beach in the morning. We will be spending a week with my entire family at a house in St. Augustine. I am so excited and treasure these trips with my family where we make such wonderful and sweet memories. Jackson is very excited too and can't wait to swim, build sandcastles, and throw the beach ball with his cousin, Allie. Please pray that we have a safe drive down and that we have a relaxing and wonderful trip :)

Blog catch up

I have been absent from the blog for the past week, so there are several new ones to catch up on....make sure you scroll down!

Turtle Dennis

It's turtle time again! In the spring/summer dozens of box turtles make their way through our yard in an attempt to reach the creek behind our house. They are able to get under our wooden fence up by the house, but run into a little obstacle when they cannot get past the chain link fence at the back where the creek is. So we do lots of turtle rescuing. Tonight, we had our first one. Usually the turtles are discovered by Gus who holes them up under the deck and barks at them as if he's captured a rabbit. But this years first turtle was discovered by my little Max(cat)...he found him under Jackson's slide. Every turtle we find is always a big deal. We bring it out in the driveway to watch it walk around, talk all about turtles and what we know about them, find a box to put it in, attempt to feed it lettuce or whatever we can find in the frig, and then when I feel that the turtle has suffered enough, we take him back to the creek and set him free. Tonight I decided to ask Jackson what we should name the turtle. I really didn't know what he would say. I kind of thought he might want to name it Luke. He paused for a minute and then said we should name it Turtle Dennis...of course!

Jackson, with Turtle Dennis

(his feet are not that big...just the camera angle)

Max, not letting his 'capture' out of sight

My 'charges'

Today was exhausting...physically, emotionally, mentally....just plain exhausting. Really this is no different than every other day in my current life as a, for the most part, 'single parent'. I really don't know how single moms/dads do it. I found myself literally running around trying to tend to everyone tonight and realized to myself "I have a lot of creatures to take care of and tend to"...and while it may be crazy and exhausting...I wouldn't trade my job for anything.

You might think I'm crazy, but I really do love them all equally (don't get carried away...I realize the value of human life over animals)

So I thought I would post some pictures of my 'charges'

my loving husband, Brad

precious Jackson

sweet Luke

Gus...my P.U.P.

spunky little Annibelle

sweet little Max

James Bond

(not technically my cat, but I feed and love him just the same)

If I had a dollar for every time...

(fill in the blank), I'd be a rich man....you know that familiar saying? Usually, the nickel is used instead of the dollar, but in light of the current economy, I thought dollar was more appropriate. Well what would our fill in the blank be?

Jackson had an ear infection

Yes, Jackson has yet another ear infection. And Jackson doesn't really develop ear infections gradually. They hit him like a ton of bricks with no warning. We go from being a fine happy 2 year old to crying so hard that we cannot catch our breath. Remember the post a while back when we were up all night and Jesus Loves Me was the only comfort? Well this time, even Jesus Loves Me couldn't fix things. Of course this all happened around 10 pm. I called my neighbors to come sit with Luke while I took Jackson to the pediatric after hours where I spent 2 hours in a room with a sobbing little boy. In the meantime, my dear mom got in her car and drove from Atlanta meeting me at the 24 hour pharmacy around 1am. (Could Brad be off night float already?) I honestly don't even remember what my little boy is like when he's not sick. I think we have been on some sort of antibiotic for an ear infection for the past 2 months and he has just not been himself.
I am not by any means anxious for the hot June weather....but can May just be over already?!

And the Oscar for scariest movie goes to....

Baby Mozart, apparently. Jackson used to love the Baby Einstien movies when he was an infant, Baby Mozart in particular. For those of you not familiar with these videos, they are basically puppets, shapes, and brightly colored objects moving across a black screen while classical music plays in the background. Sound exciting? Well it's the most amazing thing to a little baby. So I thought the other day as Luke was wide awake and staring at the ceiling fan, that I would pop in Baby Mozart to give him something a little more exciting to look at. Luke seemed to really enjoy it. But to Jackson, you would have thought I had just put in the most awful horror movie you can imagine. He started crying and saying "Scary, Mommy." "Hurt Jackson" "Turn off movie, Mommy". And bless his heart, I couldn't stop laughing. I'm not really sure why it was so scary to him, but here is a picture of him crying and watching the tv from what he considered a safe distance. I found it very amusing :)

2 weeks old already?

Luke went for his 2 week appointment yesterday and I can hardly believe it's been 2 weeks since he came into this world. He is now weighing in at 8 lbs 14 oz and is 21 1/2 inches long. He is sleeping pretty well at night for a newborn, but Mommy is still exhausted. I will be glad when the month of May is over and Brad is no longer working the night shift. It has been very hard not getting to see my husband :(
Jackson may be over the hive outbreak. We have stopped the frequent benadryl doses (thank goodness!) and are going to see how he does. Please pray for rest for me, rest for Brad, obedience from Jackson and that I would not struggle with feeling so lonely :) We are so blessed.

The Dennis Refugee Camp

Can I have my bowl of rice please?