Muffy arrived at Hazel Lane in mid March of 2004. Spring was just starting in Hopkins MN, with the snow melting and the flower buds just starting to peek out. Muffy came with great references, many outfits of clothing for any occasion and this letter:

March 9, 2004 Dear Grandma Carol, You don't know me even though I'm coming to live with you! I'm hoping ours will be a long and happy relationship! Let me introduce myself. I am Muffy, Muffy's #3 sister. I've been living here at Grandma Char's all my life. Grandma Char has too many of us and sometimes I think she neglects us when we're still wearing our Christmas outfits in March!!! Muffy said she had the most wonderful time in Minnesota and that you were the sweetest Auntie/Grandma. She said that if I wanted, I could come and live with you! I DO WANT TO COME AND LIVE WITH YOU. I want to be there with you and keep you company and be there when your Granddaughter, Morgan, comes to visit. I miss the little girls who used to come and visit! I'll get to see little Morgan grow up as she visits you over the years! So... I will kiss my Muffy sisters goodbye and my Mamma will pack me carefully along with some of my favorite outfits. I just can't wait to be with you. Love, Muffy P.S. I'm wearing the Christening dress that Weezie's Muffy was wearing when we gave it to her!

Here's Muffy in her Christening dress that she wrote about in her letter. The caterpillar that lives on Morgan's changing table welcomes Muffy to Morgan's bedroom.

Here's Morgan in her Christening dress on Feb 1, 2004, the day she was baptized. Rachel, her God-mother, shows off the pretty dress. This was the same dress that Morgan's mommy, Michelle, was baptized in way back in 1971.

Then came Easter. Muffy decked herself out in her finest Easter dress and got acquainted with her new friend, Pandy. Pandy is a Steiff bear that came to live at Hazel Lane when Grandpa and Pandy moved from Newport Beach, CA in 1986. Muffy loves this outfit because it has cute little pink underpants, matching pink shoes and a wonderful Easter bonnet with flowers, ribbon and a bow!
What fun Muffy had showing off her Easter Dress to Morgan. Morgan said Oh, Muffy, your dress is BEAUTIFUL. Why thank you Morgan replied Muffy. I do so love it myself, too!

Muffy still felt in the Spring/Easter spirit, so she changed into her Easter Egg Romper. This is a fun outfit to wear, because it has such bright colors and straps that are decorated with little flowers of pink, blue and yellow. And of course, it has matching shoes! Muffy feels particularly springy when she wears this outfit. Each morning, Muffy and Pandy say Good Morning to Morgan. Morgan took Muffy's hand for the first time on April 22nd, 2004 at just over 3 months old! Grandma and Morgan compliment Muffy on her fun choice of clothing. The morning of April 23, 2004, Morgan asked, Muffy, how do you like my bib that says I got my first hug at Methodist Hospital? That's wonderful, smiled Muffy. What fun it is to live here and see you in the morning. I live in your crib, so whenever you take a nap, I can watch you sleep and welcome you all over again whenever you wake up.

Upon thinking about nap time and sleeping in the crib, Muffy changed into her pajamas. I particularly love my pink bunny slippers with the blue ears, said Muffy. And, my lamby, which I can cuddle when I sleep. Muffy takes a nap with some of Morgan's other crib friends, Paris the teething bunny and the Itsy Bitsy Spider, who is one of Morgan's favorite friends. Paris said, Oh! Muffy! I just love your sleep bonnet, especially the fuzzy pink tassel! That's cause I am pink and blue too! With a big yawn, Muffy mumbles Thank you Paris and with that they all fall off to sleep.

And, guess what...the next day when Morgan came, Muffy was still in her PJs, so nap time was a snap!

In May, Elly came to visit Morgan and her crib buddies, Pandy and Muffy. Elly giggles when you press her chin and that just makes everyone in the crib giggle too! Elly was a present from Grandma Sil at Morgan's first shower. Morgan said Oh thank you! Elly is sooo much fun! And Muffy said Gosh, Elly is so big that I can ride on her back! Morgan just smiled, loving ALL her toys and crib friends and thinking What a lucky little girl I am!

Morgan, Muffy and all the crib friends celebrated Morgan's 4th Month Birthday. Muffy put on her Lemonade dress for the occasion. Pandy said in his deep voice Oh Muffy, what a wonderful ruffly head band you are wearing! Muffy giggled and blushed a bit. She sort of has a crush on Pandy. She clicked her yellow shoes together and everyone sang Happy Birthday to Morgan. Dumbo the blue elephant with spectacular pink ears whistled the tune through his trunk, which everyone enjoyed.

After drinking the refreshing lemonade that Muffy made while wearing her Lemonade dress, everyone realized that they were hungry. So, Muffy did a quick costume change and put on her Cherry Pie Dress. This is a wonderful dress because it is red and green with cherries on it. And, she has matching cherry-colored shoes! So as not to get the dress dirty while baking, Muffy put on her white apron. It is so lacy and cute and even has matching cherry pockets. She went to the teddy bear kitchen and whipped up a delicious cherry pie. When the pie was done, she took it out of the oven with her matching pot holders with cherries on them. When the pie was almost cool, she took some cherry filling and wrote her name on it, just for fun! Muffy took the pie to her crib friends and they all had a piece. Morgan wore her extra large bib that day so as not to get cherry pie on her clothes. Can I please have another piece? asked Morgan. Of course, said Muffy. Elmo wanted seconds too, but with his LARGE mouth, he could have eaten the entire pie with one bite. He had to settle for a small piece so everyone in the crib who wanted pie could have some.

 

On June 2nd, 2004, Muffy took a trip out of the crib and visited Morgan in Red Rocky. For her trip, she put on her new Mommy and Me teacup dress. It has teacup pockets, a yellow bow on the sailor collar, and she especially likes the blue ribbon for her hair and the matching yellow shoes. They look so summery and match so well with Red Rocky. Oooh, says Morgan.

Hi Grandma!, Morgan and Muffy said. We are having SO much fun out here playing with all these toys. Come play with us! So, Grandma sat down and played with Morgan, Muffy and the Red Rocky toys. What a day they all had. Everyone was very tired that night and slept very well. We'll have to do this again said Morgan. Muffy smiled and happily agreed.

 

Morgan loves that blue dress of Muffy's so much that she asked her to keep wearing it for a while. Morgan gave Muffy a BIG hug and said, I'm so happy that you came to live with me! Muffy expressed the same sentiment. And then Muffy said, I do so also love your new pink dress. Isn't it fun to wear dresses? They are so cool in the summer heat.

On June 8th, Morgan lead the crib crew in a song fest. They sang all of their favorite songs, including Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Itsy Bitsy Spider song, Morgan Had a Little Lamb, and others. Everyone joined in on the fun, with Pandy singing the loudest. The blue bird on Morgan's mobile sang a bit out-of-tune, but nobody cared because it was just fun to all sing together.

 

As the weather got warmer, Morgan and Muffy felt sort of laid back. Muffy put on a summer dress with a white blouse and blue gingham jumper. She had cool white pants to wear under the dress in case the wind blew it up. And in case she went outside, Muffy also put on a straw hat with a cute pink bow on the back. Morgan felt laid back too and wore a white flowered top and her jeans with the leather flowered waist band. Grandma said this reminded her of the 60's and the jeans she used to wear.

Morgan and Muffy started to play around and decided that Muffy's hat would look good on Morgan too! Morgan mugged for the camera with Muffy's hat and her tongue sticking sideways. She covered Muffy's head with her hand, so Muffy's head wouldn't miss the hat. All the other crib friends just laughed at them and everyone had a fun afternoon. Pandy laughed so hard he had to put his head on Morgan's shoulder.

 

Hmmmm, Morgan mused. If I look this good in Muffy's hat, maybe I would look even better in the new hat that Grandma and Grandpa bought to send to cousin Seth for his 3rd Birthday.

So, Morgan tried on Seth's new cowboy hat. It fit perfectly with her outfit of jeans and flowers. Morgan just loves to dress up!

 

On Morgan's 5th Month Birthday Party, Muffy was still in her summer dress and hat. Morgan decided to help Muffy back on with the hat, since there was no mirror for Muffy to look in. Morgan wanted Muffy to look just right, and the hat is an important part of the outfit. How's this? Morgan asked Itsy Bitsy Spider. A little lower he replied.

And just to get a second opinion, Morgan asked Grandma. How does this look Grandma? Grandma agreed that the hat was going to be fine. Thank you Morgan, said Muffy. And, Happy Birthday on your 5 Month Birthday! You are getting SO big! And, I love YOUR outfit today! Then all the crib friends sang Happy Birthday to Morgan.

 

It was the 4th of July and everyone was celebrating. Mommy and Daddy were at a friend's cabin up north, so Morgan and Jake came to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend. What fun they all had. Muffy put on her heart jumper (actually for Valentines Day, but it was so cool, she couldn't resist). Morgan wore her red, white and blue outfit with matching star bib. Jake just smiled the whole weekend! You don't have to be scared of Jake, Morgan reassured Muffy. He's big, but he loves little bears and little girls too! Grandma and Grandpa just loved it all!

Then the big day happened. Morgan turned 6 months old on July 13, 2004! All the crib friends had such a party. Morgan laughed the whole day and had such a sunny orange outfit on that she just glowed. Muffy still had on her heart jumper because it was festive and also cool. It was quite warm outside (in the 80's), so everyone really enjoyed just playing in the crib. They had pretend birthday cake and ice cream and all sang Happy Birthday to Morgan. Muffy ate so much, she just had to lay down for a while and Morgan said just relax on my legs Muffy.