Keeping it Real

Things have been fun at our house lately and we are all getting used to the new routine. I've been posting some sweet pictures of the happenings lately, but I think it's important to keep it real.



Some of us are learning to share and it's really HARD sometimes.



And sometimes the kids are best buddies and so stinkin' sweet...



Sometimes there are accidents....you can see where this is going, right? (There was some head knocking Three Stooges style shortly after I snapped this photo.)



And we don't always agree on the same book...



But there is still love and happiness...

Day of Mothering

Children up on stage for Mother's Day program at our church.


David giving Mommy a rose (Emi and Aubrianna did too)

What a goofy girl (plastic toy pliers)

Hangin' out on the Gathering Room stoop

Dogs needing some mothering too...

F*A*M*I*L*Y

Well, we knew it could happen and just might happen once we purged our house of Everything Baby. Emi has bugged us to adopt from Africa and Haiti and we've told her to pray about it. We had so much grief in the past in trying to start a family with 3 tubal pregnancies and 3 miscarriages (2 after IVF and FET cycles) and with failed adoption attempts that we decided to give it over to God. Years ago we agreed that if God wanted us to have (more) children, He would have to bring them TO us. He did that very quickly with Emi and when we adopted her we decided we would always have open adoption so no one involved would wonder about their family.

So this past Winter we finally got rid of the last of the baby stuff and right after I was contacted by the adoption agency about 2 toddlers. They knew we had experience in transracial open adoption and felt that we would be a good family. We were really relaxed about this opportunity because we knew that God would put the kids where he wanted them and now we know that he wanted them in the Morgan Family.

I can't begin to thank the friends and family and friends of family who have blessed us with All Things Toddler now that we have two of them in the fold. We have received toddler beds, toys galore, so many cool clothes and lots of love from so many people. Scott's work and Emi's soccer team are hosting "baby" showers for the kiddos so they will get some cool new clothes, toys and hopefully Pool Stuff soon.

The house is continually transforming with Emi moving all of her stuff up to her new room, but sleeping with her new brother and sister in their room. We're all cozy and adjusting to this new life.

Learning all over again from the little ones the importance of play and nap time and also delighting in showing them all of things that life has to offer. Last night life offered a nice piano concerto, actually Emi offered us a piano concerto while we ate dinner at the dinner table.

So what if we are behind on our stories? They are DVR'd and we'll get to them...

New Kids on the Block

Her Hair Reminds Me of a Warm, Safe Place

(Where as a child I'd hide) That's what I want!

Since I cut my hair off, I've been in product purgatory trying not to be wasteful of the products I'd purchased prior and not loved while searching for honest recommendations of good hair products. Here are some products that I have tried lately and really like:

Joico Dry Spray Wax - my hair stylist sprayed some of this into my hair after cutting it several weeks ago and it made my hair piecey and chunky and smelled HEAVENLY - something about it reminded me of high school (but in a good way) too. And at work I can sort of reactivate the stuff by scrunching my wet hands into my hair.

Kerastase Age recharge shampoo - a recommendation from the Pioneer Woman (and this one didn't call for butter!). From the first time I used this shampoo I was amazed! The shine on my hair was unbelievable! I loved it so much that I got excited and left it at Scott's grandparents' house (3 hrs away) when we visited. I am planning to reunite with this awesome shampoo this weekend! This shampoo was a bit more than I normally spend on shampoo but I have never loved a shampoo as much as this!

One Hair Biscuit solid shampoo and conditioner - I got this at Target along with the conditioner bar and was expecting miracles after I read the reviews online. This little bar of shampoo replaces 3 bottles of shampoo. I don't know about that, but I liked the idea of saving money on shampoo after what I dropped on the Kerastase. I can report that I really like the hair biscuit, but I didn't care for the conditioner. Each bar cost less than $10 each.

Hair One Cucumber Aloe Cleansing Conditioner I got this at the local Sally store (next to Target)because I could not imagine paying $186.00 for a gallon of WEN shampoo/conditioner that instructs you to use lots and lots and lots of the product for best results. I really liked the idea of the WEN products and was THIS CLOSE to buying a kit, but when I researched WEN products, I found the Hair One products and was much more willing to part with $9. Also, Sally let me return a bottle of smoothing lotion that I bought last year without a receipt so the cleansing conditioner only cost me $3. (I know - Big Spender!). I like to use this as a leave-in conditioner and styling aid.