Equestrian Firefighter?

It's possible, right?!

Could she be any cuter?
I am rather enjoying Morgan's recent love (read: obsession) for all things horse related.
I hope it is not just a phase and she goes on to have a passion for riding!

Kisses For Daddy

Love and Miss You Daddy!!
Stay safe and come home soon!

Mmmuah!

Mother's Day Weekend

On Mother's Day weekend we did a bit of touristy traveling here in California. On Saturday, we went to visit Hearst Castle. If you've never been, it is a must see! We had a great time and the castle is beautiful! Bring Benadryl if you are allergic to flowers even in the tiniest bit, my face swelled so I could barely see, my eyes and nose were runny, and I couldn't stop sneezing from the beautiful flower gardens, but it was worth every minute! I won't go back without allergy meds though! We even stopped in Paso Robles for a little walking around and a yummy dinner. We can't wait to go back to check out some of the wineries!

Then on Sunday, we went to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. First we drove down, what seemed like, the never ending road and ended up at Crystal Cave. We had a wonderful time exploring the cave, but the walk back up the hill was a little tough. After the cave we drove to the LodgePole Restaurant on top of one of the great big hills and had a wonderful time exploring the path and eating a yummy dinner. It was a long and tiring day, but so much fun! We even got to see a baby black bear!

What Does The Piggy Say?

Oink...Oink!!

All Good Things...

...must come to an end.

It was a bitter sweet moment when I realized our sweet baby girl,
while still sweet, is no longer a baby.

She is a walking, talking, climbing little girl...with full blown toddler attitude and a penchant for tantrums! Also, a new found curiosity and exploitative nature has emerged from my once cuddly sweet babe. No longer will she sit still to be snuggled, she must go...go...GO!

Here are a few pictures of our little Morgan the Explorer.


Purely Sweet


So Lady-Like!

**Dress courtesy of Morgan's Meme.**

Learning Photo Shop...slowly!

For those of you who don't know yet, I started back to school on 6 April. I am working towards my BS in Photography through The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online, thanks in part to Uncle Sam. I only have 5 more years to utilize my MGIB benefits and now seems as good a time as ever to use them...it may take me those 5 years to actually finish my degree since I lost all but 8 of my credits from previous schooling. Something about there being a statute of limitations. Apparently, you cannot transfer credits older than 10 years. Yikes! Have I really been out of school that long?
Anyway, I am desperately trying to learn Ad@be Photo Shop CS4 and Ad@be Lightroom 2, as well as becoming better at composition and lighting. I haven't actually taken any photography classes yet, as they require an online learning class and basic English and Math courses first.

Here are a few of the most recent photos of The Doodle Bug.

The last one is not a favorite because of the chair leg, but I just LOVED that adorable little face! She had had enough of me taking her photo and just asked me, "Uhp peas!" (Translation: Up Please) and gave me that goofy grin. How could I not put the camera down and snuggle my little girl after that?!

Doodlebug Dress

Morgan's Meme made this dress for her last summer.
It was a little big last year, but fits perfectly now.
The little dots on the dress are little ladybugs...

So Sweet!!

So Sad...Mommy won't let me play in the pool outside with my pretty dress on.

Crackers make everything better!!
Look at those huge tears on her cheeks.

So Happy!!

Spring Fun...

Here are a few pics from the past few weeks.

Mmmm....chocolate!
Morgan's first taste of chocolate.

Clapping for chocolate...she must like it!

Yep, she likes it!!

Sooo sad because Mommy stopped pushing and she wasn't done yet.
Mean Mommy!

Somebody likes to run and march!

Future gymnast??

First Illini T-shirt...
...and boo-boo's on the knees.

Yes Daddy, that is a WHOLE sausage link in my mouth!

Mommy's Doodle Bug

Stacked these blocks all on her OWN!!!

With Sadness...

I HATE to share news like this, especially in this way,
but for the moment this will make it easier for me.

This past weekend, Michael and I found out we were pregnant.
We also found out the pregnancy would not last and I would miscarry.

This was not a planned pregnancy,
though we would have embraced this miracle with open arms!

Many of you know the pain, heart-break, medical intervention and time it took to be blessed with our Sweet Morgan. Throughout that process, and prior to, I had been told we would NOT become pregnant with out medical intervention.

Well...SURPRISE!
Apparently, we CAN get pregnant...without assistance from a doctor.

The tricky part now is STAYING pregnant,
should be be blessed again.

We have no answers as to why,
we speculate is may have been due to my Protein-S Deficiency,
but we won't know for sure.

Da E-sta Bunny, Da E-sta Bunny!

The Easter Bunny made an early pit stop at the Simpson Residence last week.
He must have known Michael was going away and wouldn't be home for all the excitement.
The Easter Bunny sure does pack a mean basket, too!

Morgan's Wagon "Basket"

Nesting Blocks
Morgan's Favorite!

Pulling the wagon

Easter Egg Hunt

Morgan had a great time "finding" all the Easter eggs "hidden" around our family room.
We have since been to two more egg hunts and have accumulated quite the collection of eggs. She has a blast dumping them from a bucket onto the floor then picking them back up again. We must do this a dozen or more times a day. She also loves for me to hide some eggs while she is napping and find them when she wakes up and comes down stairs.