The Morgan's Movements {Week 17}

Time for a weekly catch up. 

Last Sunday after Mason and Maddox took a bath, Mason asked for hair "like Momma and GiGi" :) 

Matt was able to do that! 

  

Mason fought afternoon nap but we really wanted him to rest some. He ended up with me in his bed and he fell asleep right on top of me. :) 

I also got some Little Bit snuggles, too! 

Mr. Adventure...always on the MOVE. 

Monday morning, it was rainy and yucky UNTIL our neighbor brought over warm Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Oh my gosh. I got myself into trouble. 

Mason and I spent some time playing inside that morning and we built towers and he made all of his cars and trucks line up and knock them over. :) 

  

  

Then he wanted to get into the bed with Maddox. This is always so sweet, however, Maddox has been in there napping and is ready to get up and Mason wants to play. haha! 

Boys playing together...I love it so much! 

We got to visit some friends we hadn't seen in WAY TOO LONG! I didn't get many pictures but this one was cute. E was trying to get Maddox's attention and he was enthralled with her! 

Tuesday brought speech and Maddox had a blast! He is standing easily. now and taking steps so he was exploring things he'd not really seen before. 

hehehe! 

Sunday through early Tuesday brought so much rain. Late Tuesday, Matt took the boys to Hatcher and it was insane how wet it was! 

  

Goofball drinking water...YUCK! 

Wednesday, mason and I made homemade banana muffins and he was quite proud of their deliciousness! 

  

More love from Mason...More uncertainty from Maddox...

Maddox liked our muffins, too! 

  

And some black beans! 

Uh-oh. I'm not ready but it's happening. He is so doggone busy! 

  

Storytime on Wednesday continues to be such a fun time for us. Maddox LOVES it now, too! 

I went to get the boys Thursday morning and found Mason patiently waiting like this...hehehe

Just sitting a bit...

  

Now two brothers sitting together! 

A little light reading, er, eating while sitting is always fun, too! 

  

Friday was a FULL day of fun that I'll blog about more soon. 

Saturday morning, we went for a Panera breakfast date thanks to free bagels. Yay, free! I headed to get my haircut and Matt did something for our neighbor. She'd asked him about the price of mulch at Home Depot and he just picked some up for her. He spread it for her and she was so grateful! 

She gave him this for Mason....God Bless Her, she is so incredibly precious to us! 

When I got home from my haircut, Matt took Mason to Big Air. We got a gift card for Christmas and it was a perfect time to use it! 

I'm not sure who had more fun but I do know that Matt was definitely more exhausted! 

  

Saturday afternoon we picked strawberries and then that night, Matt and I watched this documentary. It was incredible but I cried for two solid hours. I was straight up exhausted at the end! 

It was a good week! 

Looking Glass Lies by Varina Denman {A Book Review}

Last year I read three of Varina Denman's books in the Mended series. I reviewed the third book in that series, Jilted. I really enjoyed those books and read them very quickly. When Varina e-mailed me and asked if I would be interested in reading her latest book, Looking Glass Lies, that releases today, I was very interested! 

Looking Glass Lies is the story of Cecily Ross. She is recently divorced and moves back to her small hometown in Texas. She finds herself with lots of emotional pain and just trying to figure out how to manage her life. Cecily reunites with friends from years before and many things are much different than she remembered. She experiences many different things including an intense tragedy on her journey to healing. 

Just as I enjoyed the Mended series by Denman, I really enjoyed Looking Glass Lies as well. The story was a page turner and easy to follow along with. The twists and turns were often unexpected but so good! I enjoyed the development of the characters throughout the book, too. This was a great fiction book and I highly recommend it! 

Thanks, Varina, for trusting me to read your book! 

Only Love Today by Rachel Macy Stafford

I cannot say enough good things about this book, Only Love Today, by Rachel Macy Stafford. I had not heard of Rachel or her previous books before I saw this book for review. However, as soon as I read the tagline for the book, I knew I wanted to check it out. 

This book has been incredible for me. Rachel wrote the book in seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter and it is not intended to be read all at once. That being said, I have not read this book all of the way through. 

I have been reading over the past few weeks and it's just been so good for my heart. When I'm feeling overwhelmed by parentings, marriage or just life in general, it has brightened my day. 

Each excerpt is short and sweet and just directed at truth about looking for the goodness in others, especially your family, and focusing on love. I can honestly say that nearly every time I've looking at an excerpt, it has been on point for that day. Incredible. 

I have already recommended this book via Instagram and Facebook and I'm doing the same here right now. If you are looking for some water for a dry weary soul, this. is. it. So good!

Thank you, BookLook Bloggers! 

Maddox {Week 47}

Day 323: 

Day 324: 

Day 325: 

Day 326: 

Day 327: 

Day 328: 

Day 329: 

Mason {3.5 Years Old}

The big guy in our house is THREE AND A HALF TODAY!!! We usually try to celebrate half birthdays in our family, mostly for the kiddos, so hopefully we will have a special day with our guy. 

I wanted to talk some today about some of the things Mason is up to these days. I know I blog about our day to day all of the time so this will be more about his abilities, etc. :) 

Mason is HILARIOUS! He loves to laugh and make others laugh. He's starting to tell jokes more frequently. He also uses humor to try to get out of trouble. Example: He will do something he knows he shouldn't do and then say, "Thats funny, Mom!" NOPE. Nice try bud! 

He is doing so well in speech. He goes twice a week right now and he will go once a week during the summer. He loves his therapists and he is such a trooper. He's starting accepting speech help more at home, too, which is great! We are so proud of his improvement. 

He went through a period of pushing/shoving and just some aggression and in the last few months that has really gone away almost completely. I am so grateful for this and also so impressed with how he is learning to channel his frustrations in a better way. Like anything, we still have our moments but improvement is always a plus! 

The things he learns are just amazing to me. He will suddenly start talking about something and Matt and I will just be blown away that he even knows those things in the first place. haha! Just yesterday, he started spouting off the days of the week. Never taught that to him directly which makes it even more exciting. Just picking things in day to day life is so funny. 

Mason LOVES to dance. He loves music and is often asking for a dance party. 

This guy would read for hours everyday if schedule allowed. He enjoys it so much and often we will sit and read for a full hour when Maddox takes his morning nap. 

Just as he loves reading, he thrives on play time, especially outside play time. As for inside play time, it's becoming more and more imaginative and that's super fun to see and play along with. 

Mason is an excellent sleeper and eater. He likes most foods and rarely complains about what's on his plate. He moved to his big bed two weeks ago and he's done super well. Again, he has his moments but they are rare. 

He loves his people. His parents, his brother, his friends and their families. He enjoys being around people so much. 

I mentioned intelligence above and want to share a little more. During his recent speech evaluation, they assess receptive/expressive language and in some areas, he was at a 5-7 year old level. whoa! During our school time at home, we are working on pre-writing skills, comparisons of different types, holding a pencil, following directions and things like that. He does really well and we work about 30 directed minutes each day. 

Mason loves adventures. Dates with Mom or Dad, family nights, movie nights, road trips, etc. He's all in all of the time. I love that about him. 

Mason, we are super proud of who you are. Keeping being you, Bud.