Laurie Morris

Originally, born in Rochester Minnesota, I was raised in Richmond Virginia, a beautiful city and wonderful place to spend a childhood. I ran off to college, armed with as much common sense as I thought I would ever need and settled in at East Carolina University where I met my soon to be husband, Daniel. We married shortly after graduating and planted ourselves in Raleigh to begin our lives together. Daniel and I knew very early on that we were going to get married. It was meant to be. If I had gotten into my first choice school, I would never have set foot in North Carolina, let alone Greenville. If Daniel didn’t enjoy irritating his father by going to any school but NC State, he never would have found himself waiting for me outside of Econ1200 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We are avid Pirates now, sort of as a “thank you” to our alma-mater. We are active Pirate Club members, attend each and every home football game, some away games and have even made it out to the bowl games in recent years. We love ECU for bringing us together. And now we have our own little Pirate as a result! Daniel and I have been married for 7 fantastic years. In September of 2010, we were hit with the most life altering news we could imagine – we were pregnant! This was an incredibly joyous occasion for Daniel. I, however, found myself wrought with anxiety and worry for the new and unknown world I was about to enter and from which I would never return. After meeting Lily, I knew there was no way I could give her to a stranger on my way to work every day. And the decision was made. I have been home caring for Lily since I brought her home from the hospital and I am happier than I could have ever imagined. I have found that, much to my dismay, I was made to be a mother. Even the truly trying times, sleepless nights and colicky months are a drop in the bucket compared to the joy I receive daily from watching my child learn and grow and seeing her smile.

molly-dewitt

How Long Do We Monitor?

Screenshot from the app on my camera

Our trusty video baby monitor recently went on the fritz. Of course, it happened in the middle of the night. I woke up to a loud and repeated beeping sound and once I shook off my sleep I realized it was the baby monitor alerting me that the battery was dead. Except, it was plugged in. Uh oh.

I fiddled around with the dang thing for a few minutes  and couldn’t get it to hold a charge. So, I snuck into Emmett’s room and rooted around in the dark until I found a sound-only monitor we had been given as …

cassy-fiano

Road Tripping with Toddlers

We had to go on a short road trip recently to Virginia. I wasn’t too worried about it, as we drive back and forth to Florida a couple of times a year, and the kids always do great. Little did I realize how wrong I would be.

See, I forgot the key element of our Florida road trips. We always plan to leave ridiculously early, around 3am, so that the kids will still be exhausted for the drive. We get to Florida at a decent time, and they sleep most of the way. It works out great.

Well, this time, we left at around 3:30 in the afternoon. And there was definitely …

molly-dewitt

Ain’t No Party Like a Monkey Party

Like most of the other bloggers over here at Cuddlebugs, my little guy is coming up on another birthday. In less than a month we’ll officially have a two-year-old around here. It’s hard to believe.

In an effort to avoid embracing the reality of my little guy turning another year older, I’m going full force into the party planning phase. Last year, we had a mustache bash for Emmett and it was a hit.

This time around we’re doing a sock monkey themed get together. I figured this may be the last year that he doesn’t actually request a particular type of party so I might as well get away with what I can, while I can.

So sock monkeys it is. …

cassy-fiano

Busted Lips and Scraped Knees

Maybe it’s because he’s a two-year-old now — but my son has suddenly become a magnet for ouchies. He’s never had any shortage of tumbles or face plants before, but somehow, he always was able to avoid actually hurting himself. Now, every time I turn around, he’s got a busted lip, a new bruise, or a scraped knee.

Now, when he runs a little too fast and trips over his feet, he busts his lip. Or he’ll fall while he’s playing outside and end up with a scraped knee… or elbow… or shin… or anything else. He’ll bang his head against something and a shiner will pop up almost immediately. I …

molly-dewitt

Breaking My Rules and Playing Houdini

I’ve been drinking a lot of chocolate milk and juice lately, and it’s all Emmett’s fault.

The wee one came down with some respiratory nastiness a couple weeks back that seemed to hang on a little bit too long and eventually added on a low grade fever. So, I schlepped him to the doctor last weekend to get him checked out and make sure there wasn’t anything serious brewing in his little lungs.

The doc wasn’t overly concerned but decided to prescribe an antibiotic to make sure things didn’t continue to worsen. Because Emmett has run the gamut of antibiotics in the last year due to …

laurie-morris

High Needs or “Spirited” Babies and Children

I am revisiting something I read about while in the throes of adjusting to a very temperamental, inconsolable infant.  I was desperate to know why my baby was so very different than my friend’s babies and wouldn’t let me put her down.  She hated my husband, let alone anyone else hoping to give me a break.  I used to hide in the shower, I couldn’t hear her screaming in my husband’s arms when the water was running.  The nurses in the NICU used to say “she’s a spunky little thing” or “she’s going to be a handful.”  I couldn’t understand how they could possibly see that in a few day …

cassy-fiano

Turning One

It’s hard to believe, but Wyatt’s going to be one in about a month. Everyone always tells you that your kids will grow up fast, and you never really believe it, but it’s true.

Part of it is hard to believe because in many ways, it doesn’t feel like Wyatt is one yet. He still seems like he is much younger than he actually is. He can’t sit, he can’t crawl. He babbles a little, but not too much. Developmentally, he’s probably closer to about six months old. That’s right on track for a baby with Down syndrome, so it doesn’t worry me. But it makes it so much more …

laurie-morris

Birthday Throw Down

The bug’s second birthday is upon us!  Such an exciting time.  Last year we (the parents) celebrated the feat of surviving the first year with our friends and family on her birthday by having a party at our home.  We had obtained a number of new grays, some wrinkles and there was much sleep to catch up on, but we did it!  The party was just as much for us as it was for the bug.  We came together with our friends and loved ones to gawk at the baby and enjoy the company of people we hadn’t seen since we entered the Year of the High Needs Baby.  It was a fantastic time (the party and the year).  It …

cassy-fiano

Picking Sides

Usually, Wyatt is happy as long as he’s being held or played with. He really only cries if you put him down, because he wants attention, all the time. It didn’t even matter who it was from — he just wanted to be snuggled and played with. But I noticed that recently, he’s been pretty anti-Mommy… and all about Daddy.

Wyatt seems to be going through a period where, no matter what I do, I can’t make him happy. I hold him, he whines. I try playing with him, he whines. I put him down, he whines. I, apparently, can do no right. But when Daddy takes him? Oh, he’s as …

laurie-morris

In The News

Normally there is a very good reason for recommendations made by the American Board of Pediatrics and other organizations regarding the health of children. Juice versus water, formula versus breast milk, these are choices parents can make and miniscule issues in the grand scheme of things.  The recommendation made by the ABP, are just that, recommendations. Choosing one and not the other, isn’t going to aid in your child’s demise or your failure as a parent.  What I cannot understand are important safety issues that clearly are not taken seriously by parents.

Recently, a local woman was charged for the death of her 10 month old that she left unattended in …

 

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