HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY MORGAN!

It is so amazing to think that Morgan is 1-year old today!

The year went by so fast, filled with so many wonderful memories and milestones. She is growing up. And is quite a little girl already. Today has also brought back many memories from Jan. 27th, 2008.

Daddy and Mommy have had fun reliving the big day by playing, "this time last year we were...." As we are writing this posting: 1:45 pm bags are packed, 1:50 pm one more contraction and Mommy's water broke, 1:54 pm on the phone w/ doula/dr./grandma, 2:00 pm in the car on the way to the hospital, 2:22 pm we pull up to the hospital, one more contraction and Morgan is born at 2:25 pm. What an eventful day it was...full of a lot of excitement, anticipation, adventure, and a little fear as we (two first-time parents to-be) ventured through labor at home and the eventual car delivery.

Today we had a low-key birthday celebration (the big party will happen a week from Sat on 2-7...the next best thing to the 27th). Morgan opened a couple presents and had a mini-cupcake as a small preview of birthday cake.

Chosing to Stand

Morgan is definitely standing all on her own now!

Remember her motivation for walking along furniture? Daddy's remote? Well apparently the right motivation for standing just happens to be Daddy's cereal.

She was demonstrating her skills for really the first time last night at her friend Kaya's house. Still just a little unsteady, and not 100% confident, but she is so proud of herself. (And my oh my, that is one cute haircut!)

My first haircut

Today we took Morgan for her first hair cut. As you can see she was excited to go, and you can also tell that it was about time to put some order to that crazy mop. :)

She did great through the entire thing....Daddy did a good job too.

The end result was a really adorable bob. It was amazing how much lighter and shorter Morgan's hair was when it was all done and how much older she now looks.

95% Better

We are all feeling much better...maybe not 100%, and all still suffering from a little of the bronchitis, but we are getting close.

What a rough couple weeks! Where has January gone???

This entire week Morgan battled her RSV cold. Grandma Brown was a savior coming over on Tuesday and staying till Friday so that Morgan could stay home from school and recover. We just can't wait to be healthy again. At least we are able to enjoy this weekend a little and get a couple projects done...even Morgan was able to help out some.

Hospital Stay

Saturday morning during Dr. rounds, we asked about going home that afternoon, and they basically said no way. Sunday was a repeat. But by Monday (today), Morgan started doing better and showing signs of eating again and nursing enough to keep herself hydrated. So we were finally released this afternoon, after a 3-night/4-day hospital stay in Grand View's Pediatric ward.

It was a long time, but tolerable once you just accepted the fact that you were going to be stuck there for awhile. Morgan had a great crib (that she refused to sleep in of course) but that turned into a playpen so she could have some freedom once she started feeling better. Since Mommy was a nursing mom, the hospital provided all her meals...which were surprisingly not too bad. And Morgan had the cutest hospital gown (which definitely came in handy for the continuing diarrhea)...the back view just isn't as disturbing on an adorable infant.

By Sunday though, Morgan and Mommy were ready to get home and started to get a little antsy. There was a cot for Mommy to sleep on at night, but Morgan was not letting her get much rest. The shower was a little less than roomy. And there was a limited amount of freedom with the IV poll attached to Morgan. Luckily the hospital had a fun car to push up and down the hallway to pass the time. It was music to our ears when they finally said she was ready to go. The stay and trip home was little like going down memory lane since we were in this same hospital just about a year ago when Morgan was born. The nurse that helped us to the car today was coincidentally the same nurse that came down to the car with the Dr. when Morgan was being born.

We are so happy to FINALLY be home and feeling much better...but of course the saga doesn't stop there...Morgan developed an RSV infection while in the hospital. Thus, she is coming home with Bronchitis. And we are hoping that one day soon she will return to the happy baby we saw a little over a week ago now.

One Sick Baby

Last night we had our first trip to the ER with Morgan. It was scary for all of us...Morgan ended up having the traumatic experience of getting an IV, for her dehydration and blood work that confirmed all her levels were low, especially creatinine. So after ~5 hours in ER we were admitted to the pediatric ward and ended up spending the night.

But suppose we should back up and start from the beginning with what landed us here...

Monday we all went to work and school, ready to start our normal routine after vacation. Then it hit...the worst GI bug you can imagine...it hit our home and many others in the community (there was some talk of it possibly being the Norwalk viurs). Mommy and Daddy starting feeling the symptoms at work and barely made it home; Morgan sort of started feeling it that night. (What a difference a day makes! Check out the blog posting from Sunday!) Well we were down for the count for the next 24 hours, staying home on Tues. And while we were home, the bug also wiped out the entire daycare class. Feeling better, we dragged ourselves to work/school on Wed. Morgan still had some loss of appetite and mild diarrhea continuing, but her mood was not alarming. Thurs. she was a little more fussy and still not back to eating normal. By Fri. it was obvious she was not getting better...showing some signs of dehydration and being really lethargic, we decided it was time to visit the Dr.'s office. Upon first look, he wasn't too concerned but because of the week-long GI symptoms, he weighed her. We were shocked and immediately worried to find that she had loss enough fluid that her weight was the same as her 9 month check-up....she had lost 2 lbs! And we immediately headed to the ER.

Hence we are here. And just survived the overnight stay...it was rough, but at least we know we are in good hands.

Relaxing and Playing

What a wonderful weekend...we've had a great time relaxing together at home after the holidays, before we return to work/school tomorrow. Morgan had fun playing with her Christmas presents...check her out with Daddy watching her new "I Can Read" DVD.

It is hard to believe that our 2.5 week vacation is actually over already; although, in a way, we are ready to get back to our normal routine. It sure was great while it lasted! :)

Happy New Year!

We hope you had a great time last night celebrating the arrival of 2009. Can that be right??? 2009 already??? Yikes!

Morgan didn't make it to midnight (she welcomed in the new year w/ banging pans this morning instead), but Mommy and Daddy did, barely that is, crashing at about 12:05. :) We didn't do anything special besides enjoy fondue and drink champagne, but last night was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what a momentous year 2008 was...the big event in our lives of course being the birth of Morgan. And our year was full of many amazing adventures and experiences as you can see just with a quick glance at all the blog postings. This is the 102nd posting since Morgan was born just under 1 year ago. We sure have been busy! And are looking forward to many more adventures and experiences in 2009.