Sometimes I Feel Like Meg Ryan... But I Don't Have Tom Hanks to Instant Message

Sometimes I wish I needed glasses so that I could feel like I was created by the words of a writer in Hollywood working on the next big film. I'm sitting in my bed with an oversized sweatshirt on, my hair in a messy bun, a cup of hot chocolate on my night stand, and I'm typing away on my computer. Is it just me that feels like this could be a scene from a movie? If only I had the glasses. Oh well. I still feel a little bit like Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail." However, I'm blogging. Not instant messaging Tom Hanks.

Have you ever felt that way? Like your life could be a movie? There's this show on Lifetime right now called "My Life is a Lifetime Movie." Luckily, unlike those poor, unlucky women, my life has never felt like that kind of movie. You know, the kind where you and your husband are happily married with three kids when you find out that he's not really a general contractor but a hit man for the mob. Or that he moonlights as a drag queen who had an affair with a politician and was murdered because he threatened to go public with it and now your family is in danger. Yeah. Lifetime movies are certainly quite ridiculous.

So, no, my life has never felt like a Lifetime movie. But, there are those moments during certain days where the thought crosses my mind, "If there was a perfectly themed song playing right now, this could be a scene from a movie." Like the time that I was at the grocery store and somehow ended up knocking seven cans off the shelf. I still have no idea how I managed that one. The kind employee who was nearby helped me stack them back up, and then he asked if I was finding everything okay. I responded, "It might not seem that way, but I'm doing just fine." He gave me a pity laugh. Throughout the rest of my shopping trip I kept ending up on the same aisle as that employee (part of me wonders if he followed me), and he would kindly smile each time he saw me. If that was in a movie, it would be the "meet cute."

Or the time when I sang a song, and accompanied myself on the piano, and a cute young man in the audience finally got up the courage to introduce himself. Sadly, I was seeing someone else at the time. He pursued, but all of his efforts, his right and left turns in his pursuit, only brought him to dead ends. However, a few months later I was single, once again, and he finally got up the courage to ask me out. It was only after the third date that I realized I liked him. A lot. If that was a scene in a movie, it would be the point at which the "cute and funny friend" becomes the "handsome and hilarious more than friend."

So, even though I don't have glasses to perfect what I think could be a scene from a movie, parts of my life totally could be. Because that second example that I gave is how Derek and I met. There are a lot of other things that happened during our meeting/dating. If I took the time to type all of them out, they would convince you that the meeting/dating part of our lives should be a movie. Trust me. It's quite funny and entertaining. But, I'm ready to be done staring at this screen. And, Derek ran to the store to get more hot chocolate (the man knows me all too well) and he should be home soon. Good thing, because my cup is about to be empty.

Yep. Empty.

My Favorite Face

Reece is the maker of many faces. I have some pretty cute videos of Reece where she makes this face that CRACKS ME UP. It's awesome. Her little eyebrows furrow together, and her mouth pulls into a frown. It's so cute and absolutely hilarious to see her cute little face look like that.

In this one, not only is Reece going to make the face that I love, but she's snoring! Made me laugh so hard.

In this video, Reece was sleeping. And she was SO NOISY. That sound you hear is when she breathes out. Who knows why or how she was making that sound, but it was something I couldn't let go unrecorded.

I love this video. It's nothing really exciting, she's just totally fascinated by the mobile of her swing. I just love my baby girl!

Reece's First Bath

This post is a long time coming... what I'm blogging about happened over a month ago, but I just barely transferred pictures from our camera to my computer. Anyways!

The Monday after Reece was born, October 8th, my mom gave her her first sponge bath at home. My Grandma Dixie, my mom's mom, gave me and all of my siblings our first bath. Here are some pictures of me getting my first bath.

And now for some pictures of Reece getting her first bath. She has already grown so much! It's crazy.

Six Weeks

Reece was six weeks old on Friday. I can't believe she's already six weeks old! Even though sometimes I get really tired of staying in the apartment all day, I love every single minute that I get to spend with my sweet girl. She is the best! I love that she is starting to interact with me more. Her sweet little smiles and smirks make everything wonderful.

I have my six week check-up at the doctor tomorrow morning. It's not necessarily an appointment I'm looking forward to, but I am excited about starting to exercise again! It has been so difficult for me to feel fully myself without being able to workout! To be perfectly honest, it's been the one thing about having a baby that I didn't expect to be so hard on me. But, Reece is more than worth it.

I mean, come on. Just look at how cute she is!

Makes Me Nervous

So, I have decided to make my blog private. Why? Well, simply because, in the last week, 52 people have been directed to my blog by searching Google for, "Derek and Taylor Morgan." Our blog is the first result! And every picture I've put on here is then shown in the "image results" section. And I know that I could just change the settings so that search engines can't find my blog, but it still makes me nervous that anyone could be reading this.

So, it's a private blog now. Which is kind of a pain, considering that I have to invite those people who want to read and they have accept the invite and then log in when they want to read the blog. Sorry about that. But now that our life involves more than just me and Derek, I feel very differently about random people reading this. Maybe I'm overreacting or being paranoid. But I don't feel like I am.

Definitely Our Girl

My mom recently sent me some of my baby pictures. I look at them and am so amazed each time at the similarities that I see between me and my baby girl. And then I look at pictures of Derek as a baby, and I'm amazed at the similarities I see between them.

So, I put some side by side. Just for fun.

We love her so much! She's the greatest and the cutest and sweetest baby. Ever.

Forever is for This

As I was standing in the freezing cold, all I could think about was getting inside to where it was warm. We were outside the stake center right next to the Boise Temple, waiting for there to be room for us in a classroom to watch the video. Derek was holding Reece and making sure her blanket stayed wrapped around her nice and tight to keep her warm.

I was looking forward to touring the temple. Extensive renovations had just been completed, and Derek's grandma (who works in the temple and had been inside already) had been telling us about how beautiful it is. I knew that I would enjoy seeing all the new furnishings and paintings, but I don't think I totally understood how much I would take from our tour.

After we got inside to watch the video, we then again had to wait in another line outside the temple. In order to help keep the carpets clean, everyone has to put plastic booties over their shoes. And apparently, this was what was holding everyone up and was the cause of the line.

What you see when you walk through the front doors
of the temple.

When we finally got to get our plastic booties and walk inside, the warmth was heavenly. It felt so nice to be in a warm place after spending so much time in the cold. Once I got over how cold I had been and how warm I was then, I was able to focus on other things I was feeling. The awe was overwhelming as I took in the scene around me. The dark mahogany and beautiful chandeliers were breathtaking.

Our group started walking through the temple. The first room we went through was the separate chapel just for those going to the temple to perform baptisms, and then we continued on to the font. By the time we got to the font, I was amazed at all of the stained glass in the temple. It was all so intricate and detailed. The window behind the baptismal font is stained glass, and it depicts the Tree of Life.

As we continued walking through the temple, the beauty continued right along with it. Everything was perfect. The carpets, the paintings, the lights, the fixtures, the chairs... I could go on and on.

Our tour was a silent tour. So not only were we able to take in the beauty of the temple but the quiet around us made it much easier to tune in to how we were feeling. I was able to tear my eyes away from what was around me, and I looked ahead of me to see my wonderful husband holding our sweet baby girl just as we were passing one of the sealing rooms. It made me think about the day that Derek and I were in a similar room getting married for all eternity in the Seattle Temple almost two years ago. It was one of the best days of my life. My heart swelled with gratitude for temples, for the sealing power that makes it possible to unite husbands and wives for forever here on Earth, and have it hold true in heaven.

We then passed by some ordinance rooms, and continued on to the Celestial Room. As we walked through the Celestial Room, I took a moment to just think. I looked at Derek and Reece, and I could feel so strongly the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. The room was breathtakingly beautiful, and the place that it represents brings such joy and hope to my heart.

My eyes got a little teary as I took all of this in, and instantly wanted nothing more than to be with my family forever. If you think about it, forever is a beautiful thing. It is a promise that you will never have to let go of the things that you love. You will never have to truly leave your loved ones. For me, forever is a reality. I can have my husband with me for all of eternity.

We finished the tour, took our booties off, and headed back to the stake center to write down how we enjoyed our tour on a comment card. After we were done, we got in the car and buckled Reece in. As we were driving away, I was looking at some pictures on Derek's phone that we got of Derek, me, and Reece outside the temple, and I came to a conclusion.

Forever is for this. For families. For my family.

Weekend in Boise!

Derek, Reece, and I went to Boise this last weekend to see family. Reece got to meet her Grandma Dorene and Grandpa Craig, and her Great-Grandma Barbara!

We left Friday morning around 11:45 and got to Boise around 4:00pm. We spent some time with Grandma, where she gave Reece some fun things! She gave her a hooded towel (it's so big and warm and cuddly, and pretty too!), a pair of socks (SO cute), and a headband that I just die over every time I look at it. I love it!

 The darling headband and socks that Reece got (left) and Reece after her bath this morning, all cuddled up in her new towel (right).

Then we went over to Great-Grandma's house for dinner, where she got to spend time with Grandpa! Reece's first night away from home (since coming home) went pretty well! She didn't sleep as well as she usually does, but I figured she wouldn't since she was in a new place. But all things considered, she did great.

Saturday morning we got up and were able to go on a tour of the Boise Temple. It is absolutely beautiful. I don't have the words to accurately depict how incredibly beautiful it is on the inside, but the temple is gorgeous. As we were walking through, I was amazed at the amount of detail. Temples are amazing.

Derek, Reece, and I outside the Boise Temple. Please do me the courtesy of ignoring my fat face and bad hair. Focus on the cute baby.

After the tour of the temple we went to Uncle Mark and Aunt Christine's to visit them and let Reece have some much needed time with Grandma. It was so fun to get to see everybody and visit! We love spending time with family. It makes us happy.

Nap & cuddle time with Grandma

We went to the Boise State University Bookstore and looked around. They have some darling baby clothes there! Afterward we went to Target. I love that store! Reece got a cute Christmas outfit too.

 I love Reece's half grin in the picture on the left and how sleepy she is in the picture on the right. These were taken while we were at Target.

Then we went back to Uncle Mark and Aunt Christine's where Reece got passed around, and loved, and cuddled. She was loving it. I could tell. We had a delicious dinner with some of my favorite dessert (brownies and ice cream, a classic) while watching the BSU game. They killed Hawaii. It was kind of sad.

 Reece sleeping at Uncle Mark and Aunt Christine's.

Then we went back and put Reece to bed. She was pretty tuckered out, so she slept really well! We got up the next morning, packed up our stuff, switched cars with Derek's dad (our little Honda doesn't do too well in the snow, so we figured we'd be much safer with an Expedition this winter, especially now that we have Reece), and Great-Grandma Barbara took us out for brunch.

Sleeping at Great-Grandma Morgan's. About to wake up.

My sleepy family.  Trying to wake up and get ready to go.

When we were all done eating, we headed out of town! We stopped on our way home in Pocatello to have dinner with Quinton and his family. When we got home, it was freezing outside! So I hurriedly went in and fed Reece while Derek was trying to be as fast as he could be in bringing everything in from the car.

It was a really fun weekend! We loved getting to see family and being able to let Reece meet her grandparents! She has now met both sets of them. She's a lucky girl to have accomplished that being only a month old. We can't wait until Christmas when we get to be around all of our family again!