Cabbage Patch Prophecy

As of 9 p.m. on July 6, there's no sign that our baby is anywhere close to being born. So it's safe to say that the Cabbage Patch Prophecy won't come to pass.

Suck it, Ayla Carissa! :-)

Fourth (5th) of July Parade

We capped off our Independence Day weekend with a trip to nearby Haddonfield, NJ for the annual 4th of July Parade -- this year, held on the 5th so that the locals could wear their "4th of July, 2010" shirts twice, I guess.

Before the parade, Morgan flashed her cheesiest grin for a photo. Nicely done.

While we waited for the parade to arrive, Morgan blew bubbles. Meanwhile, the baby living in Ariella's belly was thinking to herself, "Aw, man! Why couldn't my delivery date have been sooner? I'm missing all this fun stuff!"

Morgan's favorite parts of the parade were the Mummers, the String Bands, and the firetrucks. Her least favorites were the creepy guy who was taunting kids with his hand puppets, and the equally creepy person dressed up as a Gelatti who was handing out coupons to Rita's Water Ice.

Andy's favorite was the neighborhood association that dressed up like Magnum P.I. (Hawaiian shirts, baseball hats, and cheesy mustaches -- even on the kids). Only in America, folks. Only in America.

Escaping from the Heat

For the past two weeks, South Jersey has been bombarded with temperatures in the 90's. Even a nasty thunderstorm couldn't break the humidity -- although it did knock our power out for 13 hours last Thursday. Yuck.

On Sunday, Morgan finally escaped from the heat in her wading pool, along with cousin Alex. Ariella gave the weekend cool-down an extra jolt with yummy ice cream sandwiches.

Of course, Morgan isn't the only one who's looking to escape from the heat. Our little baby-to-be has been making moves to get out of her 98.6-degree hideaway. She's in her 37th week now, has her head down, and could push her way to the outside world any day now.

Remember our post in March about Morgan's future-telling Cabbage Patch Kid? Well, the doll's birthday -- July 6th -- is this coming Tuesday. Will that be the day?!?

Pool Party!

Remember that tiny little flower girl who sprinted down the aisle at our wedding? Well, she's 7 now. And two weekends ago, we celebrated her birthday with a fun Hello Kitty pool party.

At first, Morgan opted for the kiddie pool, while the big kids slid down the water slide.

But before long, she was taking the plunge just like the big kids.

It didn't take long for Morgan's lips to turn blue from the cold water in the pool. But luckily, it was time for Pin the Bow on Hello Kitty and breaking the pinata.

"Look, Mom, there's candy in there!"

Matching necklace, bracelet and ring... best party favors ever!

Big Girl Bed

Morgan has been waking up at 5am and asking to sleep in our bed lately. So we figured that was a tell-tale sign that it was time to convert her crib into a bed. So this morning, we pulled the front off her crib, and PRESTO!!! It's a big girl bed!

(... now if we could just get her to agree to brush her teeth. Hmmm.)

Scrabble Anyone?

Jenny and Jon escaped the oppressive heat in the attic the other night by playing a game of Scrabble in the dining room. The next day, Morgan really wanted to "play ABC blocks". So we did.

Her best word: "JAFUIDI"

7 letters... 18 points... triple word score = 54 points! Nice job.

Strawberry Season

New Jersey continues to prove that its worthy of the nickname "The Garden State". (So far, the only plant life our yard hasn't been able to support is grass.) Last weekend, we were pleasantly surprised to see that our strawberry plants produced a delicious crop of red, juicy berries.

Ariella and Morgan searched through the leaves and quickly filled our basket. Many of the strawberries were big -- and, as Morgan demonstrates below, some were "teenie."

With a big basket of berries at their peak ripeness (plus another basket we bought at the grocery store earlier in the day before we realized ours were ripe), we needed to eat them fast. So after dinner, Morgan got to enjoy her first taste of chocolate fondue. Yum.