New Heights

Megan is now declaring her independence in a new way...she is cruising! She will pull herself up, and carefully take little wobbly side steps around the coffee table/piano bench/kitchen chairs/whatever else she can find. It's fun to watch her discover new things, but I'm looking forward to when she is a little more stable...she tries to smack her head on corners too much for the moment. However, she's avoided any major bruises thus far.
She continues to grow...weighing in at 16 lbs, 11 oz and 26.25 inches long as of yesterday at her 9 month appointment. Even though she is on the small side for her age, we can't believe how big our little girl is getting.

Here's a little taste. Sorry for the shaky camera-work :)

What a happy messy face...she loves to feed herself

Play Time

We're still enjoying the summer (despite the HEAT). There's this place near us called Miller Outdoor Theater that stages free shows all summer long. Last week, the show was called "When You Wish" and was a montage of Disney songs. It was put on by TUTS (theater under the stars) the same place that does a lot of Broadway shows, so the singing and dancing were great. And it was fun to hear so many songs that we knew so well! It started at sunset and actually was quite pleasant outside. We set up a blanket on the hill facing the stage and had a good time. Megan had so much fun watching all the people around us and listening to the music that she didn't fall asleep until 9:30! Her usual bedtime is 7:30 or 8.
Anyway. Other than that, we've been swimming, testing out the ice cream maker Dan got for Father's day, swimming, playing with friends, swimming, and trying to get out and see some local sights when we can.

Kaden (the son of my friend Kat) playing after we went swimming! Yay, he can walk!


Megan tries hard to keep up.


He may be able to walk, but she's going to take that toy from him (how do they learn grabbing this early?!?)


Ah haha! Megan wins!


Megan playing on the air mattress with Uncle Tyler--the video doesn't do it justice, she was giggling for like a full 20 minutes before it.

New York, New York

So after 11 fun-filled weeks of my entire family being within 30 minutes of each other (the first time all five of us kids have lived in the same city since Jamie left for BYU in the fall of 1994!), our little honeymoon of family time is over :(. Jamie and Trent and their 4 kids left yesterday for New York (Connecticut really) by way of Utah.

My mom hosted a goodbye party for them on Monday night. We all took turns over the weekend with their kids to give my Mom some breaks while Jamie and Trent cleaned their Houston house and supervised the movers. Sunday night, my little brother came to stay with us--I loved it because I got to take a shower without my little Megan rushing me AND I went to the grocery store without her as well! Thanks Uncle Tyler!

I got to have my sweet nieces Julianne, Catherine, and Madelyn come swim at my place with Megan and I on Monday afternoon. It was a little nerve-wracking for me since I had to have one arm around Megan and one hand on Madelyn the whole time. But, no one drowned (or nearly drowned) and it was even pretty fun. Thankfully, Julianne and Catherine are not only fantastic swimmers, they can also touch in the entire pool at my apartment complex. Then, Julianne came to sleep over after the goodbye party. Again, I got to take a worry-free shower. Julianne was so sweet to her little cousin Megan.

My nieces testing out the water (which has reached that point where it only feels refreshing for about 5 minutes...then you feel hot both in AND out of the water)


After swimming (can you tell it was a challenge to get all 4 girls looking at the camera at the same time?)



Julianne and Megan...more than one person (including myself) think that Megan looks a lot like Julianne did when she was a baby...do you think Megan looks like Julianne now?


Megan's newest trick--kneeling! She now crawls (not scoots--crawls) all over the place. Whenever I go to get her out of the crib, she is kneeling in there waiting for me and holding onto the bars. She looks like a little prisoner, it's so cute.

FYI

In case you noticed that my link list has shrunk greatly, it's true! I transferred all of the non-private blogs from my link list to google reader--it's a MUCH more efficient way to blog-stalk.

8 months old

It seems so hard to believe, but it's true--in fact...Megan is 8 months and 1 week old! We had a great 4th of July weekend; it was so fun to have 3 days in a row with Dan at home. On the 4th we went to a breakfast and flag raising at the church. It was a building-wide activity so my older brother and his family were there as well as my parents and little brother. In the afternoon we swam and swam and in the evening we went out to my oldest sister's house for dinner and fireworks. We swam at my parent's house again on Saturday and played games. Megan dove in a pool for the first time! (Grandpa was watching her-- he was standing in the pool and letting her crawl on the ledge between the hot tub and the main pool when woops!--she attempted to crawl on water and immediately learned that she was not able to do so.) Sunday was relaxing and after church we went to celebrate my mom's birthday with my siblings at my parent's house. Here are some of Megan's recent pictures...enjoy!

Megan at one of Uncle Tyler's swim meets


Rolling her eyes at Grandpa after he let her try on some goggles


Some people have said that Megan's ears stick out a little...I just don't see it :)


These are today--this outfit is from Dan's mom and I have been so excited for Megan to wear it since I saw it!


I love the jeans. They are so cute!