Casa Morales

The Circus

2009-04-12T19:04:00.004-04:00

Will got to experience the circus for the first time back in January. His favorites were the tigers and the cotton candy (at $12 a bag, I should hope so!). We had a great time. Will watched in pure wonder. Thanks Big Daddy for taking us!

Lane's 1st Birthday

2009-04-12T18:18:00.002-04:00

Lane had a great first birthday. Lots of family and our newest cousin, Baby Sabine! The polka dot cake was a huge hit. Here are the sweet pictures. By the way, Lane took her first official steps on her birthday and hasn't stopped since...

Christmas....Better late than never?!

2009-04-12T18:02:00.004-04:00

Here are some Christmas shots. Needless to say, it has taken me awhile to get them uploaded. I could make a thousand excuses but I will refrain. The kids had a great time celebrating our Savior's birth. Will really "got it" this year, not the Savior part, but the presents part. It is fun experiencing Christmas through the eyes of your children. Nothing like it. More to come...

FALL

2008-12-21T22:04:00.010-05:00

Ok, so I haven't been too great about updating this blog. BUT, in my feeble defense, our computer screen is broken and it's very difficult to see the pictures. No longer an excuse, I am BACK and this is one of my new year's resolutions for 2009...

Halloween was a blast this year. Will loved trick or treating and when he was the last 2 year-old out around 9 p.m., I thought it was best that I take him home. His favorite part was ringing the doorbell and he proceeded to do it multiple times. He ended up being a fireman (his raincoat and rain boots) after his monkey costume was not so appealing and a little scary. After seeing last year's Halloween pictures (he was a monkey), he assumed he forever was a monkey. But I think he "gets" it now, that he can pick something new each year! :) His little "sissy" was a precious chick.

Thanksgiving was great this year. We went to Beaver Creek with Michael's family and had a great time. The kids did great and completely exceeded my expectations. We had never flown with them so we were a little wary of how to control them on a flight out West. Once out there, it snowed for 3 straight days. The place looked like a winter wonderland. Will finally "knows" what snow is after learning about it in school. We had a great time sledding, building snowmen, and having snowball fights. Our Thanksgiving dinner was delicious too, thanks to Jorge putting the oven on the "convection" setting. What fun memories! Will is ready to ski so hopefully we will hit the slopes next time!

Here are some pictures from fall festivals, birthday parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. Enjoy and sorry for keeping you on bated breath for so long... :)

Summer Fun

2008-07-26T22:16:00.011-04:00

Summer has been great so far! I don't want it to end... The beach was wonderful. Being in the water everyday for a month created a little fish out of Will. Straight from the beach, we went to Greystone for 2 weeks. Michael taught tennis and I kept the kiddos alive...no small feat! :) Will and Lane did great. We lived in a one-room cabin and surprisingly, it wasn't bad keeping the kids sleeping and napping together. I guess they were so tired by nonstop activities--fishing, swim lessons, painting class, gymnastics, golf and golf carts, water park... Lane, who might just be the happiest baby who ever lived (during the day anyway!), tagged along, always smiling, and watched her brother in action. We had a great time...we love that place and wish we could stay all summer! Here are some pictures....

June at the Beach

2008-06-11T14:37:00.004-04:00

Our month at the beach has gotten off to a great start. Will loves it here and might not be a townie after all. Sandcastles, cheetoes, ice pops, hoses, big boy bed, Lightning McQueen, ladder car, waves, crabs, boogie board, just to name a few of the highlights... :) Lane is having a big time too, however, my hypothesis that salty air would make her sleep better has been proven false. We've seen several friends too...Mary Chapel, Addison, Jax, and our church buds... Anyone is welcome to come for a visit...we do the same thing every day (beach, eat, nap...beach, eat, sleep) but surprisingly, it's not boring! Hope everyone is having a great start to their summer!

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T14:30:00.008-04:00

We had a great Memorial Day weekend! On Sunday, Michael participated in the Intersect Project with church. They made the news (http://accessproduction.org/videos/intersect.swf)! The moms hit the park and ate picnics and played. On Monday, we went out in the boat with Michael's parents and David, Stacy and Baby Jax. Will went tubing with us and waterskiing in Tati's arms. Watch out Cypress Gardens! He was driving the boat on the way home and fell asleep at the wheel. Check out Michael. He's still got it, even at 30! Enjoy the photos...

Momma's Birthday Party

2008-05-05T01:23:00.007-04:00

We told Will on Saturday that Momma's birthday party was at the beach. All the way down there he kept asking if I was going to have balloons, a bouncy house, a fire engine, and a train. He's been to some pretty fun parties lately so his imagination went wild, I guess. Will loved the beach, building sandcastles for his cars and looking for shells. And he liked the ocean too. At one point he said to me, "Momma, no more waves." How do you tell a 2 year old why the waves don't stop, other than by using the go-to "God made them that way" line? The pool was also a hit, especially the water slide. For someone who doesn't like to wash his hair for fear of water getting in his eyes, he definitely surprised us! Anyway, we spent the night in a hotel and had a great time. At one point Will asked, "Momma, whose house is this?" It had never occurred to me that a hotel would raise such a good question. I had a great birthday...Thanks Bebe and Big Daddy!

Conversations with a 2 year old...

2008-05-03T11:57:00.004-04:00

Will says everything now... I find myself carrying on full conversations with him all day long. It's hilarious. I know I say this at every stage, but this one might have them all beat (his sister is at a pretty cute stage herself though). For example, we were driving in the car the other day and his DVD wasn't working. So, I pull over on the side of the road to fix it for him. I pressed a few buttons and it started playing. I got back in the car and Will exclaimed, "Momma, you fixed it. You didn't need dadda. I am so proud of you." Like I said, hilarious...

Potty Training...Well, Sort of...

2008-04-29T14:52:00.003-04:00

We have started experimenting with the potty and this picture was too cute not to share. If it doesn't make you smile, nothing will... (granted, I'm a little biased!) :)

The Zoo

2008-04-24T10:07:00.005-04:00

We went back to the zoo the other weekend. The crowds were a little overwhelming but we managed to have a good time. We only saw the giraffes and then headed for the carousel and play park. Once again, we had to ride on the bench of shame in the carousel (reserved for handicapped people and apparently those scared of the animals). See picture. Then we went to the play park where we ate lunch, climbed nets, and went down the slide... The play park has a little water park inside of it when the weather turns hot and apparently we were the only parents that didn't bring our child a swimsuit. Problem solved, we went into the gift shop and paid for an overpriced swim diaper. Will was a little tentative but made friends with the manatee. Enjoy the pictures! Btw, Lane went with us but the camera didn't take too many pictures of her...next time!

Jeep!

2008-04-10T17:26:00.002-04:00

Here I am cruising down the street in my new set of wheels! Thanks mommy and daddy...I love it!

I'm 2!

2008-04-06T15:53:00.008-04:00

Will is 2 years old! His actual birthday was last Thursday and it feels like we have been celebrating ever since! It's like Mardi Gras or Hanukkah or something. And at the rate we are spacing out all the gifts, it will still be his birthday next April. We had a big day, starting at his buddy Blaine's house. Blaine is a "big" boy (almost 3) and Will thinks he is really cool. Then we went to "Pump It Up" for his friend Michael's birthday party. This was a little confusing for us but we just rolled with it, pretending it was Will's birthday party too. (We steered clear of Michael's gifts, though.) Inflatable bouncy things are Will's favorite; he is fearless. A huge birthday dinner of fried chicken capped off the evening, followed by a monkey cake, and yep, presents. Saturday was the actual day of his birthday party. The theme was Curious George, Will's favorite cartoon, which admittedly has some poor role modeling in it. In every episode, curiosity evolves into mischief and then some form of shady (dis)honesty. But monkeys are cute so I figured it would make a cute theme. It turned out to be a lot of fun for the kiddos but the weather didn't exactly cooperate. See the dark skies in the above picture. Tica and Tati were so gracious to let us move the party indoors. We are still celebrating but here are a few pictures to tide you over. His major present, an electric jeep, is still waiting to be unveiled but there are just too many other distractions right now. It will remain my wild card... :)

Easter

2008-03-23T20:39:00.008-04:00

We had a great Easter weekend. Yesterday Will and I dyed eggs which was an eventful experience to say the least. First off, my precious toddler kept saying over and over, "Mama, let's dye. Dye, Mama, Dye." It sounded pretty morbid when we were supposed to be in a celebratory mood. Then, he kept looking for Ollie (a duck from his favorite book) inside the eggs. It's very hard to explain to a toddler there are no ducks inside eggs when all of his books say there are. The picture of him in bunny ears reminds me of Ralphie from A Christmas Story...poor guy! We also tried a photo shoot with Lane in her easter getup. Clearly, it wasn't too successful. On Sunday, church was incredible. Will was sick so he couldn't come but Michael, Lane and I went and celebrated Christ's resurrection. As Will's favorite song says, "Oh Happy Day!" Lane went to the nursery for the first time, which also made her mom very happy. Afterwards, we had a yummy brunch with my parents and an easter egg hunt in the backyard. Enjoy the pictures!

Tag!

2008-03-12T15:48:00.007-04:00

Here's a picture of Little Lane...she's a doll. Well, I've been "tagged" thanks to my good friend Meg! Here it goes, in no particular order, 7 strange things about me...

I acquired a taste for green olives when I was pregnant with Will. It hasn't gone away. At any time of day, I could go sit on the couch with a jar and a fork.
I don't keep a calendar anywhere. I keep all of my events in my head and just hope I remember when the right time comes. I am disorganized with myself, but almost obsessive-compulsively organized when working for an employer.
I love t.v. I love surfing up and down the channels even when I know nothing's on. I watch mainly FoodNetwork and HGTV, planning recipes and house projects I'll never do. I read the bumper stickers that say "Kill your television" and I think "Are you crazy?" I don't allow myself to watch it until Will's in bed...that would be bad. Oh, and I love the show "Cops".
I love to travel but hate flying in airplanes. I go up and talk to the pilots before take-off and tell them to "do a good job" and "talk to us a lot back here". They think I am flirting but I'm totally serious. There's a humiliating story of me holding on to a sailor I was sitting next to when the plane was bouncing all over the place. He thought I was coming on to him. Once we landed, I had to run through the terminal to get away from him. That is one of many a bizarre story.
In conjunction with #4, I love tracking flights on USA TODAY Travel or FlightAware. If I know you are flying, I will get on Weather.com, check the turbulence report for you, then go to a flight tracking website and follow you through the air, checking wind speed and altitude that sort of thing. Very bizarre... I am fascinated by airplanes but terrified of flying in them. If you invite me to your villa in Europe though, I will get over it and come anyway, just to be clear.
I floss for at least 10 minutes per night.
I don't like to sip Diet Coke over ice. I only like it if I can chug it from the can.

Backyard Fun

2008-03-10T16:46:00.005-04:00

Will had a BIG weekend. When he woke up from his nap on Saturday, he had a nice surprise waiting in his backyard...the Cadillac of all jungle gyms was set up just waiting for him to take a spin. Our friends, the Feeleys, generously let us have their swingset since their kids had outgrown it. We gladly accepted! Of course now my plans to grow amazing roses and veggies are shot since we have this monstrous piece of yard art but I am getting over it. It's all about the kids, right? Will's cousins' Jack and Frances were also in town so that was exciting. Then on Sunday we went with our small group to the "woods" and had a big time, the hit being an old John Deere tractor. Will was in heaven. When he reached for the motor oil and the key, I knew it was time to go home... Too much fun!

Recent Pictures of Will

2008-02-17T15:02:00.011-05:00

Will is at the cutest stage ever. I swear I want to freeze time and bottle his cute little expressions and mannerisms. We've had a busy few weeks, even with a 6 week old baby. Will won't let her slow us down a bit so she comes along for the ride. Here are a few pictures... The first one is entitled, "Dump Truck in the Buff"....Will's two favorite things combined-- trucks and being naked. The next few are from the Metro Park "Kids Kampus". We went to rent a tricycle for Will and they made him wear a hairnet with the helmet! Hilarious! The next one is Will getting up close and personal with a train. He and his daddy got out of the car, shades on, and went right up to the cross bars. Bathtime is always a hit--one thing I've realized is that life is better with bubbles. And then there's Will's "sissy", this "thing" that he knows is very important and never seems to leave. He gave her a ride in his pick-up truck the other day, which is his clearest expression of "I Love You", before only reserved for his beloved Elmo and Cousin Jack. Good times!

Birthday Party Season!

2008-01-22T17:23:00.000-05:00

Will's buddies have started having birthdays and these pictures from Wesley and Jake's party were pretty cute. The weather was freezing but Will could not be deterred from having fun. Cupcakes were the big "tweet". Enjoy!

Lane is here!

2008-01-02T15:46:00.000-05:00

Lane has arrived!! She is a great baby and the perfect addition to our family.

Sarah "Lane" Morales
December 28, 2007
12:23 p.m.
7 pounds, 14 ounces
20 inches long

Christmas!

2007-12-30T17:08:00.001-05:00

Christmas was great. The baby held on, cozy and comfortable in the womb so we were able to celebrate and focus on Will. He was a champ on Christmas Eve, staying up at Mita's house until nearly MIDNIGHT! He loved his presents, especially his Elmo garage and FSU ball and bat. On Christmas Day, we went to Bebe's and Big Daddy's for another round of gifts (can you say "spoiled"?) where he is now the proud owner of a black pick-up truck with neon airbrush on the side. He loved riding with the tailgate down, transporting his cousin Jack. Only in north Florida... He also got more tools than Bob Villa and constantly wants a "project". He is following more in Big Daddy's footsteps than his father's! Then we had another round of gifts at Tica and Tati's and last but not least, Santa had him a Thomas ball pit and a new trike with a big red bow under our tree. Lots of excitement! Next year, we'll be able to focus more on the reason for the season (it's Michael by the way for those of you that went to Access Church on Christmas Eve) but this year it was a little nuts. Merry Christmas everyone!

The ZOO!

2007-11-24T16:18:00.000-05:00

Will's first trip to the zoo was great. While the animals provided some interest, the playground and train were the biggest hit. While petting the goats, he kept trying to open the gates in classic "houdini" fashion. Big Daddy came with us and hopefully wasn't stressed out too badly. He did make a comment, "I don't remember you and Leyden being this active."

Thanksgiving dinner

2007-11-24T16:11:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving was very low-key and relaxing. Michael cooked the turkey on the "egg" and it was excellent. Basting it every 20 minutes kept us close to home. Will was such a big boy at Thanksgiving dinner. His girlfriend Mary Chapel even joined our family celebration. We are very thankful and blessed!

Thanksgiving Cooking

2007-11-24T16:00:00.000-05:00

Will "helped" his mom with some pumpkin bread. Lots of potential in the kitchen... (The bib is serving a huge purpose, don't you think?!)

Thanksgiving School Lunch

2007-11-20T14:19:00.000-05:00

We got the chance to go to Will's school today to witness the boy in action! We never know what goes on in school-- it's this big mystery but we do know he loves it. Today was the Lakewood Thanksgiving Lunch and it was precious. When Michael and I arrived, the teacher was just beginning storytime and to our utter amazement, Will sat on the carpet and listened intently. He didn't know we were there until about 10 minutes into it and when he saw us, he just smiled and kept right on tracking with the story. No greeting for his dorky parents.... Meanwhile, all the other parents have their kids in their laps. We watch Will eat his Thanksgiving lunch with his buds and show mom and dad his favorite toys. It was a fun day! The last picture above just captures our son's obsession with glasses...

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-03T14:15:00.000-04:00

Halloween was great! We went over to our neighbors' house for great food and company and lots of boys dressed in Star Wars which Will was mesmerized with... We dressed Will up as a monkey, which surprisingly he didn't mind. I had talked up monkeys all week and how neat they were, which probably helped. The costume was sort of cruel though since it was made for people who live anywhere other than Florida. But my little trooper indulged me for pictures and trick-or-treating. Speaking of, trick-or-treating was a hit. Will caught on to the concept pretty quickly. Walk up to someone's door, they open it and put candy in your bag... He has been walking around with his pumpkin bag ever since, saying "can-dee", yet doesn't seem to understand why the treats have abruptly stopped flowing. Good times!

Fall is Here!

2007-10-23T13:58:00.000-04:00

Here are some recent pictures from fall festivals and such... We just need a chill in the air and we'd be all set! Halloween pictures coming soon!

End of Summer

2007-10-08T11:24:00.000-04:00

Hey guys (I don't know who actually checks this thing!). Just had some pictures to share from our recent months. Will is talking like crazy. Granted, you sort of have to speak his language to "get" what he's saying. School has started and he is loving it, or so his teachers tell me. He has gotten a "Happy" on his daily report card since he started so that's a good sign. (Can you tell I'm a proud mom?) His favorite word is "outside" which explains where we spend most of our time...mowing the lawn, playing with golf clubs, riding in a wagon, blowing bubbles, going to the park. Take care!

Summer pics

2007-08-20T11:49:00.000-04:00

Here are some recent pictures from this month... We have had a big time. Will is starting to say words and can finally communicate what he wants by pointing. He wrapped up his Totster class, learned to blow bubbles in the pool, and mastered mowing the lawn. Enjoy!

ST. LUCIA!

2007-08-09T14:50:00.000-04:00

St. Lucia was incredible! The villa where we stayed had the most breath-taking views. Pictures don't do them justice! Highlights included hiking the Piton, doing lots of Caribbean cooking, playing tennis, exploring a sulphur volcano (whew!), sunsets, and a fabulous goodbye dinner. It was an incredible anniversary present. We missed Will a ton but it was nice to have some time away, get refreshed, renew our wedding vows (just kidding!), and realize Michael and I have a good thing working after 5 whole years. Enjoy the pictures!

Back Home!

2007-07-19T14:44:00.000-04:00

Camp was wonderful! We had a great time and loved being in the Greystone bubble for a few short weeks, free from tv, internet, work, cooking...I could go on and on!

Will especially loved it. Highlights for the little guy included swimming in the pool, watching the puppies at dog camp, eating apples, playing on the tennis courts, petting horses, sleeping with mom and dad, and eating (only) fresh-baked bread for every meal. The only lowlight was Will getting bit by a horse but he has gotten over it and his finger has since regenerated. Michael got to play tennis most of the day which he loved. And I got to read and nap and keep our son alive, who would head straight into the lake if we turned our backs.

Camp is such a special place for us and we are truly thankful that it was a part of our summer!

Some Summer Pictures

2007-06-26T16:12:00.000-04:00

Before we head out with limited cell and email access, I thought I would share a few pictures from this summer. Just to tide you over...ha,ha! We have had a big time and Will is officially ready for swim team next year. Here are some highlights...

Headed to CAMP!

2007-06-26T15:12:00.000-04:00

This Friday we are off to Camp Greystone, which has turned into a very special place for us. Michael is in heaven playing tennis all day and I get to run around with Will. There will be no cooking for nearly 3 weeks, which my morning sickness will appreciate! Here is a picture from camp last year... time flies in a year! We'll update you on our trip and have lots of fun pictures to share.

Welcome to our Blog!

2007-06-26T11:50:00.000-04:00

We are pretty new at all of this BLOG stuff but are ready to embrace technology for the sake of updating you on our family. Let's be honest; it's really about showing off our son Will, who grows bigger in size and personality each day. And we have a baby on the way, who I am sure will get some airtime. We are blessed. I guess this is more of an opportunity to praise God publicly. Enjoy!