New Blog

Hey guys, I know it's been awhile...but the truth is, I feel like, at least for now, that God is asking me to stop this blog and begin one with Ryan...so I hope you will join me over there.

http://christopherclan.wordpress.com/

What's New???

So, I know that it's been awhile. We have been so busy around here. Things are going so good. Morgan is getting so big....it's by far the neatest thing now b/c we can have conversations with her. We dialogue, she tells us she misses us every day when she sees us after work, she tells us she loves us. This is the best part of parenting.

Although, I have two funny stories a/b Morgan to tell. I thought about not sharing b/c it implicates me, but it's funny. One night we were eating dinner and I nailed my knee on the kitchen table and I said "oh shit". It killed....anyways, Morgan says "oh shit" to which we don't say anything. So fast forward a few weeks, we don't hear her say it anymore...I think we got away with it, or at least I did. Then this morning the four of us are laying in bed and Morgan passes gas, she says "I tooted, Oh shit". Ryan rolls over b/c he's dying laughing. So later on I am in my room in getting ready for church and Morgan wanted to go see Ryan b/c she usually goes with him to church early but he was preaching today so she stayed home with me. anyways, so I told her you have to get your socks and shoes on then we can go. Well, she was having a hard time doing it but it was keeping her busy so I let her have at it. Well, all of a sudden I hear her screaming "Oh shit, oh shit" over and over. I tell her to come in to my room and I said "Morgan Grace, that is a naughty word you cannot say that" she looks at me real serious and says "oh shit" but she poses it as a question, well it makes me laugh like Im 5 and then she's laughing and we just kept going back and forth like this as I tell her that's naughty.

Speaking of the word "oh shit" that's what we were thinking when we found out a/b this...

However, after the intial shock wore off, we have found that we are extremely happy about adding to our family this July...and more so, we are so blessed. We do not take the gift of life for granted one bit, so we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of this little guy.

Levi...is the sweetest child. He is so laid back that he makes it so easy to have two kids under 2 and he's so easy that it makes it easy to embrace the fact that we will have three children two and under. He sleeps well, he eats great, I can sit him in the middle of the floor and he will play for hours all by himself. He is crawling now and in fact he's been pulling himself up. He definately wants to walk, so he's just paving the way for Baby three. And his first word: Momma :) He's a momma's boy by far. Everyday when I go to pick him up at my grandma's, he gets so excited to see me that he shakes his little fists and then he'll pull my hair to pull my face to his and he just kisses all over me. I love it....

So, that's the scoop w/ us....we are selling our house...clearly we need something bigger now...so please pray for us there.

I'll be in touch soon.........

Morgan

As Morgan continues to grow, so do the stories!

1) The thing that warms my heart the most is she likes to pray. When dinner is put on her plate, she instantly says "let's pray" and proceeds to say "God is great, amen". She also knows that mommy will never say no to prayer. and this includes bed time. so sometimes, as a stall static, I get "let's pray" a/b 50 times. so my prayer goes something like this "dear God, please knock Morgan out, amen" I don't want to ever get on her a/b prayer. she's too young right now for me to explain to her that I know what she's doing.

2) Morgan is obsessed w/ "poopy in the potty" and things like that. Ryan gives the kids their baths. lately he's been giving them baths together. when he does this, he gets in the tub w/ them and puts on his bathing suit. after we got back from san diego, he couldn't find it so he just thru on mesh shorts. when he got in, the water put the shorts right against him if u know what I mean. morgan grabbed his package and said "dadda, you poopy".

3) one morning I was getting ready and I thought she was in the living room. i took off my robe and was bending over to get underwear, morgan stuck her finger right in my butthole! I a/b died.

She cracks us up. she's very dramatic. i have no idea where she gets that stuff from. but she is truly just a joy.

This past week we made our way to California. The best man in our wedding got married in a small town a/b an hour and half outside of San Diego. So we made our way to Brawley for the weekend and then we headed back and spent a few days in the San Diego area. The kids did great on both flights. The wedding was beautiful. And the time away was just what we needed at the perfect time. We went to the San Diego Zoo and we walked the beach. Morgan got a kick out of walking on the beach. At first she didn't know what to think, but once she got the hang of it, she dug it. Ryan's sister and her husband joined us to be our Nannies and Lisa met us out there as well.
While we were out there Ryan celebrated his birthday. Originally I was going to take Ryan on a helicopter ride at sunset over Hollywood, but once we got there we decided not to make the 2 hour trip to la b/c the travel was a little hard on the kids. They had a hard time sleeping and what not w/o us there so we weren't comfortable with being so far away. Anyways, so instead we went kayaking in the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla. Let me just give an recap of our time out there. Not even a minute after we get out there I see a wave breaking and I know that we are going over. The kicker though...as I see the wave peaking I can see at least seven sharks in the break. But there was nothing that we could do. I don't think I could ever adequetly explain how fast we got back into the kayak. After we were back in the kayak and we meet back up w/ everyone we look down and notice that there are hundreds of sharks. Umm..they failed to mention that we'd be kayaking in their mating ground...literally. They were only leopard sharks and they said that they don't eat humans, but dude, a shark is a shark. But it was so beautiful out there. La Jolla is gorgeous. We kayaked right in front of Dr. Seuss's house. Pretty neat.
So, the trip was great! The kids did good. But I know that they are happy to be home. As soon as we got home Morgan ran straight to her room and showed everyone her bed. So now we are back at home and settling back into the daily grind.
The kids are doing really well. Now that we are in a groove it's actually pretty easy. I hate to say that b/c I know that at any given moment things could change, but for this moment, we are doing really well. Our kids are friends. It's sweet. They are always holding hands. Morgan is growing up so fast. It's so crazy that I can hold a conversation w/ her now. She's a riot. We say Morgan, tell us a story and she will easily go on a 20 minute tirade. She slaps her knee like an old man and just cracks up. She's a handful, but man, I love her zeal. Levi is five months now and he's laid back as ever. He has just started to sit up and I find that I am not so eager for milestones to be met w/ him. But boy, he's trying to keep up w/ his sister...but he's not nearly as vocal as she was. I don't know that we could handle two chatty cathy's!
Life is good. God is even better and I can't wait until the day that I get to see Him face to face!

Mom's..I need some advice

Hey mom's. I need some advice. In less than two weeks we will be flying to California. We have traveled with Morgan prior to Levi's birth and she was great. The concern I have at this point however is that one, she's extremely mobile now, two, she's a huge talker, and three, she hates to sit still. So...any advice for our trip? Suggestion, tips, etc..we're desperate..and we're trying to avoid making the news...You know, couple asked to exit plane...
thanks!

Random Thoughts

1) I love having my son. He's so laid back and just entirely too happy! He's always smiling and laughing. He's just learned that full on belly laugh like an old man. I love it.

2) The night before Levi was born, we got Morgan to sleep and then Ryan crashed. I took the time to lay there and spend some alone time w/ God and just stare at my family of three. That night, I laid in bed and I cried...I could not possibly fathom how I would be able to love another child the way I loved my daughter. I couldn't believe that my heart is capable of that. I also cried b/c giving birth is very bittersweet for me. I love that God has blessed me with the ability to carry children. I do not take that for granted. Going through that whole process has taught me more about God than I ever could dream of. There are few moments in my life that I will be able to carry life inside of me, so I wept...

3) My daughter is entirely too grown up for her little age. If you have met her, then you will be able to envision the story that I am a/b to tell you...she loves boys. Too much. It's almost scary. She will play with girls, but she won't hug them or anything..boys on the other hand, she wants to either hug them or sit in their lap. Anyways, so the other night she is outside and she sees some little boys...they are coming towards her and she proceeds to throw her paci out of her mouth unto the ground...then she says "oh no" and shakes herself from side to side...just envision a grown woman shaking her boobs..yeah, that's my kid.

4) This one I am not too proud of, but for the record, it was 2 in the morning, so I think I should get a reprieve. Morgan woke up so I went to her room to get her. Her and Levi have their own small hallway and in b/w is their bathroom. Well we got a gate up in the hallway area so that Morgan can get up, but she can't leave right..so I go and I get her, I climb over the gate, I climb back w/ her..after I got back over I realized that I had left her paci, so I go to climb back over all the while I am carrying her...well this time I nail the gate and it crashed loudly..fearing I just woke my son up, I say "shit". Morgan, who I thought was back to sleep, quietly says "shit". So, not wanting to make a big deal out of it b/c then I know that she will proceed to say it all the time, I just ignore it.

5) I just need to say that I am thankful for Ryan. He continues to model Jesus for me daily. He is by far the most humble man I know. it is through his actions that I am able to grow deeper and deeper in my faith b/c he continues to honor and serve the Lord in such strong ways that I can only sit in awe of. It is in those simple things that he does, that no one sees except for his family, that makes me understand not only his love for me, but his love for Jesus.

Pictures

Hey, quick post...I wanted to show some of the pictures that we just had taken...Morgan was less than cooperative...all she wanted to do was "rock a bye"...rock in a rocking chair...Enjoy.....