Our Memorial Day

 Danny + I celebrated Memorial Day.. not weekend.. just the day this year.   For the weekend I flew to my cousin's wedding in Nebraska while Danny stayed home and studied which will be another post when I can load all the pics.    Anywhooo.... we celebrated our freedom and enjoyed a day together on Monday.  First we checked out our Cute "Healthy Baby" bean that Danny's sis Laura got for us.. still growing strong!! It even says Healthy Baby on the outside..look close  :)

 Then we hung out together in the morning and played a little wii... We'll call our games a tie.. but we all know that Danny always schools me in the gaming world.  haha... Don't I look wonderful with the non-makup morning glow.. haha!

 Love this guy! xoxo

 Then in the afternoon Danny had to study for a few hours so I went to Ikea for a bit with my friend Sarah and then came home and finished my sociopath book while I waited for Danny... watch out all you sociopaths.. i'm onto you!!

 Then it was date night out... we got reservations at Quarterdeck in Arlington and ate crabs for 3 hours!!! I reserved outside seating because I thought it would be nice to get out.. it was super nice + HOT!!! I was dying from the humidity but the atmosphere was so fun that I only noticed the heat every once in a while.  It was wonderful to just sit together with a pile of crabs inbetween us while we chatted away.  I love my sweet hubby and have missed our "alone" time together without the distractions of all the studying + work!

 Danny at his happiest... with his wife + crabs!! haha... I have to give him props... he has been studying from 9am-10pm almost everyday!!! Please pray for him to do well on his board exam in 3 weeks.. I know I am!!  He's putting in the work though so I know he'll do great :)   All in all I am happy to be an American and super grateful for those serving our country to ensure our freedom.  We are so lucky to be living the dream in America.

Little Thumps that make my Heart Happy!

So the past week I have been feeling little thumps in my lower stomach.  More like light touches or flicks.  I have wondered if that was a little hand or foot letting me know she's in there or not.  So yesterday my suspicions were definitely confirmed!  She kicked and kicked all day!! On my drive to work, all day at work, and when I got home after we ate dinner I was laying on my side and feeling her move all over so I thought hey I bet Danny could feel this too!! So he quickly stuck his hand on my buddah belly and she gave him a little tap*tap so he knew she was there!!  The rest of the night she was pretty mellow... I think Danny was excited to finally be able to feel her :)  I know I loved it!!   I can't wait to meet her and see how her sweet little spirit will develop.  I am 20 weeks tomorrow and am feeling VERY pregnant.  Living in DC is great for the sun but this week the humidity was turned up and my feet and hands are SUPER swollen!! It is hilarious to look at my feet and not recognize them at all.  Danny has been a sweetheart and has rubbed my "paddle feet" almost every night this week.  He's going to be a great Dad :) Other changes have included noticing that she has moved up my torso so now I think she's pretty much right behind my belly button which has left my lower stomach a little soft and everything else tight and crammed upward... which I believe is why my heartburn is on a vengeance this week. I have also had some close encounters with leg cramps in the middle of the night but luckily I've caught them before they were too bad.  I haven't had any real cravings lately... other than nothing looks good to eat.  My appetite is literally gone... and yes, I still puke almost every morning if there is too much flem in my throat when I wake up.  It's pretty disgusting.  Overall though my belly bump is popping out and my belly button hole isn't as deep.. we'll see if it ends up as an outie.  I got my first 2 (tiny) stretch marks on my stomach and cried... hopefully I can stave off any more coming with some good vitamin e treatment.  Everything is so far so good... I feel so blessed.  I still think of my last pregnancy as that baby would have been one year old today.   God has a reason for everything I know it :)

The Original Moms xoxo

 The original moms.. my Grandmas!!!  So my parents went to Idaho over Mother's Day weekend and visited these two lovely ladies... without them I wouldn't be here!!  Left is my Dad's mom- Grandma Mercenia Galloway and on the right is my Mom's mom Wanda Johnson.  Both are amazing women and have played a huge part in my life as I've grown up.  I was so excited to get pics from my parent's trip out to see them that I had to document them on my blog. 

 Memories:  Grandma Johnson is the happiest person on earth! Really I mean it... she is a hard worker and still insists on mowing her own lawn.  She is always looking at the bright side of life and has taught me that with a little optimism and faith in God that everything will work out for the better.  She is the most giving person as well.. she is always kind and considerate of those around her and I love her for it!!  I got to spend most of my childhood at her house after school with my cousins and we had a blast!  Well I always did at least even if I did get my cousins in trouble most of the time :)
Grandma Galloway is a doer.. ever since I can remember she has had lots of friends around + activities going on. She likes to stay involved with her church and friends.  She is also very thoughtful of others and quick to offer her opinion and advice if you ask for it.  She has been an example in her retirement community as she has befriended many of her neighbors.  Also this woman has a Green Thumb!! She can make anything grow and always has many beautiful green plants around.   She loves her family and I appreciate her example in my life :)

 

The family out to a "Mother's Day" Lunch at the Retirement community.  

This is a shout out to my dad who apparently can now make the world's best mousse cake!  Send me the recipe!! xoxo
Morgs

Ward Party

 Sadly, our ward that consisted of 800+ had to be split! So in order to have one last hurrah together we had our own little Crystal City Ward Academy Awards night.  It was a lot of fun.   They had the new bishop for the new ward and our bishop up on stage for some friendly competition.. had some comedy acts, some hilarious awards were given out and it was overall a great evening.

 

They even had a Photo Booth where Bro + Sis Smith (who are amazing photographers)  helped us dress up in star quality props and took our pics.  Here's our Photo Shoot.. 

Overall it's going to be a bittersweet split... I have many friends going to the other ward and although we all live close it's going to be hard not to see them every Sunday.  Hopefully we can all still get together for girls night!!

My first Unofficial-Mother's Day

Yesterday was Sunday- Also MOTHER'S DAY!! My first un-official one :)  To celebrate Danny got me a seriously huge double side body pillow.  I love it! He also picked out some BEAUTIFUL flowers for me.. light pink/ white roses with pink lilys that smell amazing and made the BEST pot roast in the world for dinner :) 
My parents also had some flowers delivered to me on Saturday that was a fun surprise.  I was having a pretty hard night on Friday, just feeling over whelmed with our messy house, pregnancy & life and so I cried to my mom how much I missed having her around.  It really breaks my heart that we have to live so far away.  Well I think she felt bad for me and sent me flowers when I have been too tired and overwhelmed to even send out Mother's day gifts to her or Danny's mom.  Maybe tomorrow they'll get mailed.  haha..
I also cried at church when the little primary kids got up to sing their songs.. so tender.  Last year Mother's Day was a horrible mess.. I couldn't keep my emotions in check and left church early and cried all the way home because they gave me a mother's day chocolate, after my miscarriage I felt like I was far from being a mother and it broke my heart... This year is of course, was so different... 
My heart is overwhelmingly FULL with gratitude that we've been blessed to bring a little one into our family.  I can't believe that it's finally happening!! On the flip side, my heart really goes out to those women in my ward/life who I know are trying to get pregnant and still can't.  I know their pain, I felt it for 3 LONG years... I want to give them a big HUG and say that the Lord knows them and will somehow bless them with their desire to become a mother.

I also want to say how grateful I am for my mother!  Being an only child I never realized that she too went through the struggles of having more children after me.  It wasn't her choice to have only one child, but I'm glad she at least had me! :)  I feel like my bond with her has grown as she's been able to understand me more than anyone else could through all of this.  My mom has always gone above and beyond for me & Danny and is a great example in our lives. 

As a pregnancy side note:
I'm really starting to show now that I'm 17 weeks and have gained 6 lbs...  I've really been trying hard to be careful and limit my meal portions.  I don't want to pack on the weight cuz I really believe it will be hard to get it off!!  Maybe I'll post pics soon... Anyway I can't wait for my little one to come... now onto the name game... what will we call her?!  Our favorites so far are.... wait I can't tell you that.. it would ruin the surprise!!  But if you have any name suggestions please leave a comment :)
xoxox
Morgan

It's a......

GIRL!! We're so excited!!!

Last Tuesday on May 3, 2011 we went into Stork Vision to find out what we are having!!!  It was a great experience and they had big screen monitors all over when she did the ultrasound.  Once it was for SURE determined that it was a GIRL she then did a 3-D ultrasound of the baby.  It was so neat.  She kept her head turned so we could only see the profile and then all of a sudden she turned to look at us.. and it even looked like she had a little smile on her sweet little face!! SO FUN!! Danny and I were just bursting with joy!! I can't wait for our little girl to arrive!! I even wore a pink shirt that day for "Team Pink"   but really thought it was going to be a boy as we have only really looked into Boy names.  I can't believe that we are going to be blessed with a little girl.  Such a sweet surprise.  I think due to the initial shock Danny may have been more excited than I was!! haha... We finished off the night by celebrating at Cafe Rio!! They just opened in Olney, MD so we made the drive over and it was well worth it! I wish they were closer!!!   YUM!  I just can't stop thinking about her, wondering if she will look like Danny, how her little personality will turn out.  I am just thrilled!  Of course the families are going to wait to see the next ultrasound in a month but we are 100% that this little one is a "she"  Now i just need to stop saying "it" and say she instead! haha.  

Date Night... in the middle of finals?!

 A favorite comedian of ours had a scheduled show/book signing last week so naturally we HAD to go!! 
Even if Danny was supposed to be studying for finals.. haha.. It was a nice break from the norm.  The crazy part was that for the ticket price we got an hour show, a book, he signed our book & we got to chat with Demetri :)  Kinda cool!!  The venue was in a Greek Orthodox Cathedral.. kinda weird..and luckily we got there just in time to be one of the first 50 peeps in line so the front row was ours!  I rarely get front row seating at any event but since this was general admission we went 45 min early and scored some of the best seats in the house.

Here's his website if you want to check out some of his clips from Comedy Central :  Important Things with Demetri Martin 

 Demetri- the man himself...  Don't you love the religious decor in the background?

 Part of his act are sketches.. .they are SUPER funny.. I took pics so I would remember them but pregnancy has the best of my brain and I can't remember what this one was about...

 Loved the cupcake drawings... he said if it was an actual "cup" cake then it should be the size of a cup... so deceiving... haha..

 Nearing the end of his act he had these big post-it drawings all over the Stage..  He even did a Q&A session after and people asked the dumbest things but he could always think of something fun & whitty.

 Pic with Demetri ... bummer.. it was blurry.. I couldn't have that!! So I had him sign my book while I really got my camera ready :)

 Signing my book.. I decided that this would be the best surprise Birthday gift for my sis-in-law (shhh don't tell her!!) since she LOVES Demetri.. so I found a pic of her on facebook had it displayed on my phone so he could really sign the book to her :) I'm so cheesy but I thought it was a fun idea...

 Photo take #2!  Pretty good!! Demetri was a pretty cool guy and for the couple min we had with him, he + Danny were all about bro-ing down and talking about their love for cool watches.. Demetri wears the Futurist by Casio (which turns out that it's a girls watch hehe)

 Typical Demetri lanky legs pose... signing his books :)

All in all we had a great night!! We even got a super close parking spot which is rare in DC and I was very grateful for that since this pregnant girl didn't feel like walking far or waiting in line forever.  We only had to wait 10 min in line, were seated and the show started about 30 min later... they even served kosher treats after! hahah kinda random but a fun way to spend a night together.  Too bad I'm lame and didn't get pics of myself .. I know you're all dying to see my ever growing baby bump.  Maybe someday when I don't feel so large + in charge! haha
xoxo
Morgs