Mmm... Sweet 'taters!

On Saturday afternoon, Morgan got her first taste of "real" food when we upgraded her up from rice cereal to sweet potato.

We're pretty sure she liked it... even if the pictures below don't necessarily show that.

Full house in Jersey

We had a packed house this weekend. Grandma (aka Sheila), Nanna, Pappy, Lindsay, Jenny and Jon all came to see Morgan. Morgan, being the ever-gracious host, entertained them with new tricks (sitting up by herself) and old ones (lighting up the room with her smile).





Morgan modeled all of the new goodies Grandma knit for her, including a new sweater...



And a matching hat...



After a fun-filled Friday and Saturday, we capped off the weekend with a hayride with Aunt Lindsay.






Morgan was fascinated with the hay. Luckily, she didn't get any of it in her mouth (even though she tried a bunch of times).





Once we reached the pumpkin patch, it was time to bust out the camera and capture the classic "baby in the pumpkin patch" shot.





We were really hoping to get a great photo of the three of us together. But, well, that didn't quite work out, as you can see below.



After a busy weekend at home, and a fun day at the pumpkin patch, Morgan needed a little 'thumb time' and a nap on the ride back.

New trick, new toy

After seeing her pal Cooper sit up straight by himself last weekend, Morgan decided to start sitting up, too. Practically overnight, she went from sitting in the "tripod" position to sitting up like a big girl.

To celebrate, we put Morgan in her sweater that Grandma knitted and went to Toys R Us (okay, Toys R Us had a sale)



We bought Morgan a fun circus train. She spent the rest of the morning sitting up on the floor, watching the train roll back and forth...

Morgan's First Tastes

Morgan has gone from sleeping through the night to waking up again in the early early morning. So Sunday we decided to see how she would do with some rice cereal.


She did fairly well for her first taste of rice cereal. She, of course, got it all over her face but what baby doesn't?


She was very intrested in holding the spoon. Ariella thinks it had more to do with just wanting to put everything in her mouth and less with actually eating.


She seemed to like it.

Columbus Day '08: The Next Generation

On Saturday, we hosted our 2nd annual Columbus Day Weekend BBQ at the house.

This year, the barbecue ribs and chicken were only a side show. The real stars of the day were the newest additions to the families: Morgan, Michael (born the weekend of last year's party), Cooper, and Joey. Add in Marissa and Mikey, and the kids almost outnumbered the adults this year.

Morgan and Cooper got reacquainted the way only babies can... by eating each others' hands.



Cooper: "Morgan, I'll trade you my stuffed Monkey for your toy aquarium..."



Morgan: "Talk to the hand, dude!"



Cooper: "Hey, who's the new kid?"



Morgan: "That's Joey! Here, eat this chain. I need to smile for the camera."



After an afternoon of stimulating conversation with the boys, Morgan and Marissa had some girl time inside.



All in all, Columbus Day '08 was a big success. We're so glad everyone could make it. It was great to finally get all the kids together in one place. We're already looking forward to '09.

Pumpkin Picking Pix

Last weekend, we took Morgan pumpkin picking with Aimee, Russ, Henry and Alex. Of course, the day became less about actual pumpkins, and more about chances to take pictures of the cousins.

Morgan at 5 months

Morgan turned 5 months old on Friday.

Lately, she wants to practice standing up all the time. She's getting much better at sitting up by herself on the floor. And she grabs pretty much everything within reach.

Here is her 5-month photo...



And here are some out-takes from Morgan's 5-month photo session...