Happy Birthday and Anniversary

I will post pictures of EK's birthday soon. Matt has taken over my laptop until he is done with the semester. Its called procrastination. He started on the paper last week that he has known about all semester. He kept telling me, "but I've done the research." As soon as he decides to finish I will post some new pictures and videos. Don't hold your breath.
Alot has happened in the last two years!


Two Years Ago



One Year Ago

Ella Katherine's Future Husband

Our dear friends and neighbors will be welcoming their first baby boy into the world sometime tomorrow. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Boston Andrew Payne. Lila Lee is being induced tonight. We can't wait to meet him. Everyone keep Andrew, Lila and sweet baby Boston in your prayers. Lila we hope you have an easy labor and that little Boston is healthy. Andrew we hope you make it through the labor and delivery and the wonderful law school finals you have coming up.

We went to Natchez this weekend for my Aunt Verna Mae's 100th birthday. We had such a blast and EK was full of herself. While exploring the church that the party was at we caught the footage below and its too funny not to share.
I realize that it is absolutely disgusting the we let her lick the glass door, but it was too hilarious to stop her. I can't wait to see what she picks up from doing that.



Untitled from Morgan Vitart on Vimeo.

Our Child is Not Right

Untitled from Morgan Vitart on Vimeo.



Untitled from Morgan Vitart on Vimeo.

Update

Everything is going great at the Vitart household. Ella Katherine is finally getting mobile. I guess this is a good thing. We spend every second watching her every move. She love to terrorize Gizmo. The poor dog turned 13 yesterday and she makes his life miserable. He can't see and she grabs his feet and screams at him. He flips out and runs away when he hears her coming. She is developing quite the personality which is really fun to watch.
Matt found out he will be clerking for the summer which is truly a blessing. It will be while I am out on maternity leave, and as you can imagine I haven't had much time to build up days since my last maternity leave. This will really help. He will do that for six weeks and then off with the army for another four. It will be interesting to see how I make it with a 16 month old and newborn by myself. Matt is wrapping up his third semester (three more to go!!) in next several weeks. Ella Katherine and I will be getting out of the way.
Baby #2 is doing great so far. Although we are receiving much opposition from others, Matt and I have decided not to find out the gender of our baby. We want it to be a surprise. I was able to listen to the heartbeat Friday and everything sounded good. My blood pressure is still up, but they haven't started meds yet. My official due date is May 6th. We can't wait to meet it.

Swinging

Untitled from Morgan Vitart on Vimeo.

Candy Thief

We had a great time trick-or-treating with the Davis' last night! Ella Katherine knew exactly what was going on, she was trying to steal and eat Grayson's candy all night.

Happy Halloween!

Strawberry Patch Park.

We took Ella Katherine to the park last weekend. She had such a blast on the playground and with the geese. She has been before, but this was the first time she could actually enjoy it.

Congrats Cathryn and Luke!

Matt's cousin Cathryn got married last weekend. The wedding and reception were beautiful and so much fun. Ella Katherine was dressed appropriately for the wedding, but after a couple of hours she was tired of it. That is why she looks like a little redneck in the picture. She stayed on the dance floor all night long and loved it. This child loves to dance. It is hilarious! This is one of the only pictures I have. Its hard to take them when you are taking care of a child.

Updates

Life has been super busy lately. I am finally having time to sit down and do a new post thanks to a relaxing weekend in Collinsville. Ella Katherine is down for her morning nap, so I have snuck off to the computer. Law school and the Army have kept Matt super busy and thanks to the wonderful economy my job has been quite stressful lately. Working at a bank during times like this is NOT fun! If I get asked one more question about FDIC I might go crazy! Oh fun story about work yesterday. We actually had a customer whoop it out and urinate in our lobby. I am not talking about a small little puddle, he must have been holding it for hours! Downtown Jackson can be quite the interesting place to work.

Ella Katherine has become quite the active baby lately. The last two weeks she has been a little under the weather with ear infections and sore throat, but she is started to bounce back. We are still not crawling, but I don't think its too far away. I think she doesn't see the need, since we do EVERYTHING for her.

In case you haven't heard yet(if anybody stills reads this thing), Ella Katherine is going to be a big sister. We are about ten weeks along. My second appt is next Thursday. We will set a due date in stone then, however it is around May 4th, as of now. Two in diapers, living in a two bedroom town home and one income should be quite exciting. Nineteen more months until Matt is done. I have the countdown going!

Pictures

We recently had Ella Katherine and Grayson's pictures made by Mary Moment Photography. Katie did such a great job and the prices were not bad at all. I have put a link to the proofs below. It will not let me copy any to put on here. If you are looking for someone, I highly recommend her.

PROOFS

Daddy's Coming Home!!

Matt will be coming home from boot camp Sunday! Ella Katherine and I can't wait! It has been a long month. I am anxious to see how she reacts upon seeing him. I know he can not wait to have some good food and nice bed to sleep in.

Sick at Grammy's

These are a couple of pics of Ella Katherine at Pappy and Grammy's house in Collinsville. This child loves watching cartoons!

Blessing!

So today around 1:15, I was loading up the minivan to head back to Jackson from Meridian. Ella Katherine and I were the only ones here. She was napping and I decided to let Gizmo get a final bathroom run while I loaded. He went off in the woods like he always does(we live in a huge pasture). Well about twenty minutes later when he had not returned I was worried. I live in a small town and my mom had rounded up the troops twenty minutes later. We searched for three to four hours all over our land and the surrounding areas. Finally everyone came in and we gave up! About a quarter until five we were all sitting in the family room and Allison Dallas said "oh my gosh, there he is!" Sure enough he came up to the door. He was almost dehydrated and a bit disoriented, but he is a trooper. We believe he got lost and found his way back finally. It is definitely a miracle!

They Grow up so Fast

Gooey Butter Cake

I know this is an unusually large amount of post for our blog. Matt is at basic training and Ella Katherine is with her Grammy in Meridian. She has her first ear infection and also has a cold. I stayed home with her on Tuesday, but couldn't miss any more work. I am sure she will be spoiled rotten when I pick her up. I say all this to inform you of the incredible boredom you experience when you are alone after having a child and husband around constantly. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying. I just don't know what to do with myself. I keep going to the nursery to check on the baby and find myself freaking out when she is not in there or listening for her cry during the middle of the night and worrying because I never hear her. So what am I doing with my free time? I have been staying at work late to get caught up and working on this blog pathetically enough. Oh and I have been cooking like crazy. I miss having time to try new recipes. I tried the Paul Deen cake recipe below and I highly recommend it!! I had to give half of it away to our neighbors so that I would not finish the whole by myself.


Gooey Butter Cake


Ingredients & Directions:
Cake:
1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Prepare Filling

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar


In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ease of preparation: easy

Fourth of July Sunday

This is the Life!

We are moving to a new tub this weekend. She is outgrowing this one just a bit. This is what she does when you put her in it. Ella Katherine immediately moves herself into this position.

A Glimpse into the Future

Matt is at basic training right now and they have a website where they post pictures of their daily activities. They shaved the poor things hair off on day two. He was the only one who came without his head shaved, so they got him good! I guess I know what he will look like in thirty years when he loses it all! I hope it grows quickly! I thought this was a sweet picture I saw on the site. His sign say " I love you Morgan and Ella Katherine." The website below shows some the things he is doing while there.

Leadership Training

Some of Our Favorites!

1. The Miracle Blanket
Although we are still not sleeping through the night, this has helped tremendously. It works much better than all other swaddle blankets I have tried. It doesn't come undone, and she passes out as soon as I wrap her up.


2.Boppy Newborn Lounger
We don't use this anymore, but Ella Katherine slept on one of these for the first ten weeks and it was fabulous!

3.Robeez
These adorable shoes never fall off and are so comfortable for them (at least I think they are).

4. Itz Been
One of the greatest things for a new mom. These are especially great if you are breastfeeding. I never could remeber what time I fed or changed Ella Katherine. Trust me, if you don't have a kid you will one day understand this. It also helps you remember which side you last fed off of. GREAT gift!!



5. Huggies Lavender and Chamomille Wash and Lotion
This smells wonderful and is much cheaper than some washes. It lathers well also.


6. Video Monitors are a Must!

7. Fisher Price Glider
Ella Katherine takes all of her naps in this. It was actually what we gave Grayson, but he outgrew it. EK LOVES it!


8.Blankie and Passy!
She is already attached to both. This is not going to be a good situation. In order to nap she has to have both. She rubs the blankie with one hand and plays with her hair with the other. It is the cutest thing!

I am sure there are many more, but this is all I can think of for now.

It's Been Way Too Long

It's been a while since we have updated, but I will try to catch everyone up on our lives. A lot is going on in the Vitart family.
Ella Katherine in now a little over five months old. She is really getting the hang of using her hands and is obsessed with her feet and trying to talk. She is quite the healthy baby. She is so happy! All she does is laugh and smile. I think she is beginning the wonderful process of teething. WE are still on a milk only diet. She has one rice bottle at night. This child hates food. She wants nothing to do with it. She is also obsessed with our dog Gizmo. She thinks he is hilarious.

Matt finished his first year of law school. One down, two to go! He is clerking with a Court of Appeals judge for the first part of the summer. Then he is off to boot camp. Yep, he joined the Army. He will be at boot camp in Fort Knox. His mother recently came down and spent about 5 weeks with us. It was her first time to see the baby. She helped alot and we had a great time.

I recently got somewhat of a promotion and will be moving branches. I will be much closer to home and Matt. I am really excited, but will miss my coworkers. I have officially become a mom recently. I joined the minivan club. Yep you read it right. I have a minivan and I LOVE it!!! Trust me, when you have children you will understand.

We also spent our first nights away from the baby last weekend. It was hard, but we had a great time. She went and stayed with Pappy and Grammy (my parents) for the weekend. We went to the movies, out to eat, and we actually got to take a Sunday afternoon nap. You don't realize how much you miss those!

Storm

Last Friday at 12:30 Ella Katherine, my mom, gizmo, and I huddled in our 5x3 downstairs bathroom as some of the worst weather Jackson in the last 20 years swept over our neighborhood. Blessedly our home received no damage other than 2 trees down on our backyard fence. The worst of it all was that we were without power for 5 days.

Watch Out Boys

Two Month Check-up

Ella Katherine had her two week check up yesterday. She handled her shots pretty well. She was a little fussier than usual last night, but we got through it. She weighed 11 lbs 2 oz(50th percentile), 22 inches long (55th percentile) and head circumfrence was 38 1/2 (39th percentile). She is starting to get so much fun. She has started smiling and babbling. I can't believe how much she has already changed!

New Pics of EK

EK

My mom always worries that I am not getting enough food but by looking at my massive double chin that is apparently not the case. I am still adorable though.

Grayson

Here are a few pictures of the G Man. I feel like I have neglected him since Ella Katherine was born. The three of us went to Patrick and Haley's tonight to celebrate Haley's birthday. I think Haley and I got a few bites of dinner in between tending to both of the little ones. Boy things sure do change! Grayson is doing so great since his surgery. He weighs in at a whopping 15 and some odd pounds these days and is around 25 inches in length. He is so much fun right now. He has started laughing and smiling at everything and he discovered his feet in the last couple of days. He just sticks his leg in the air and shakes it. He will stare at it for a long time. It is hilarious!

Happy Birthday Haley

This post comes a couple of days early, but I didn't want to forget. Monday is my wonderful sisters 28th birthday. We are getting so old. Haley I hope you have a great birthday. You are an amazing mother,wife, and of course sister. I am so glad we live in the same town and are getting to experience motherhood together. I love you and have a wonderful birthday!!