Firsts

First Thanksgiving: Hanging out on the couch at Grandma and Papa's while everyone else ate Thanksgiving dinner.
First BYU over Utah win: And she was dressed for the occasion. The Cougars remain undefeated in her lifetime!!
First babysitter: Aunt Carrie volunteered to watch Megan (and the BYU game) at home so Dan and I could go the the game--and she was a perfect angel while we were gone!
First time in the swing: she loved it...and managed to stay awake to enjoy it for about a minute and a half.

Photo Shoot Take 1

So Maren came over today and brought her black "photo background" with her. We made a solid attempt to get some cute little bare pictures of Megan. Megan wasn't too sure how she felt about this--but at least she didn't have any accidents while she was diaper-less. We may try another round tomorrow, but there are some cute ones from today.

Time with Daddy

Now that Dan is back from his interview trips, he has been enjoying some quality time with Megan. She loves to help him with homework (or help distract him from homework)--as you can see. And he got to give her a bottle last night--her first one ever--which she downed like a champ (and I must say I enjoyed the fact that I was done with that feeding in a quick 15 minutes of pumping--while Dan got to sit with her for a full 40 while she actually drank her meal). And--these cute stripey outfits (courtesy of cousin Savannah) are some of Dan's favorites.

College Courses for My Life (Meme Tag)

Ok, Ok. Here (finally) is my current class schedule.
1) As I was tagged by Jamie, I decided to participate in this first class with her. (I felt like Laundry 501 would be over my head--you can read about it on her blog)
Photography 515 : For those that have already mastered blurry shots, shots that are too dark, fancy shots where only part of it is in focus (but not the part you want), backs of people faces, closed eyes, red eyes and other common shots. We will teach you how to photoshop them into award winning photographic art. Other topics will be straightening and whitening teeth in photos, losing weight by photo editing, and generating new smiles where only frowns existed before.
2)Ambidextrosity and Multitasking 220: (*formerly known as How-to-do-everything-one-handed-while-nursing-a-child-and-talking-on-the-phone 201) In this course, we begin with balance and hand-eye coordination and use these skills as a base for more complicated tasks. We cover how to put on eyeliner and mascara while also blowdrying your hair and not waking your child. The final for this course is a toughie--you must successfully make a new and confusing recipe while carrying on a coherent telephone conversation, holding a 15 pound bag of potatoes in your right arm (or left arm if you are left-handed) and opening all cupboards using only your toes.
3)Time stretching 350: This course is for all of us who constantly get the feeling that time passes much MUCH too quickly (and we are unsure exactly how we filled it, but it was filled and now is gone). We will learn how to make a summer last for what feels like a year (like when we were little and we could hardly remember what school was like by the time the summer was over) AND cover the handy little tidbit of how to get that dinner made that normally takes 24 hours in about 20 minutes. One convenient feature of the class is the endless supply of quiet time we learn to create in which to practice all of these newly acquired skills.
4)Speedy Scrapping 400: In this course, you actually learn to write a computer program that incorporates all of your personal likes and dislikes for scrapbooks to create a scrapbook for you and your family members that LOOKS like you personally crafted and glued and cut each page when in fact--the program does it for you using your digital pictures and automatically sends them to be printed at WalMart and then mailed to your house. A must-attend course for...practically every person alive.
5)Compact Organizing 550: This is a graduate level course for people living in a space with an average of less than 200 square feet per person. You learn how to use ONE closet to serve the purposes of at least 4 others (for example, a pantry/cleaning supplies/crafting supplies/golf club storage all in one). You build custom shelving for every square inch of spare wall space in your home and learn to vacuum pack all of your clothes. You also receive a handy supply of cookware and oven items that actually fit inside your miniature oven (and a free recipe book!). This is a great pre-requisite for anyone looking to take Spreading Out 551 (for those new home buyers) or Anti-pack ratting 552 (for that little hoarder that hides in all of us).
Mmmm. Wouldn't that be a dream schedule.
And now-- I tag Maren, Michelle, Heather, and Kliz.

The Sweetest Sound

Ok, ok. So maybe when she starts cooing my opinion will change, but for now--her cry really is so sweet. *And take note of the dimples.

Go Cougars

Megan has had the opportunity to watch/listen to 2 BYU football games since her birth. Thanks to her Granny, she has appropriate gameday attire (the pale pink BYU Cougars embroidered on the onesie). And--the cougars thus far are undefeated in her lifetime! Coincidence? I think not! Don't worry--the look of concern on her face definitely resulted from the tense last few minutes of the TCU game--but BYU did pull out the win! :)

Just Us Girls

Learning to play Rook already!
This is my attempt to capture her dimples that appear when she cries.



Meeting Grandfather and Mama Laney (great grandparents on Amber's side)
Meeting Grandma Great (Dan's grandma) and playing with Grandma

Dan, Megan, and I have been on our own now for 2 days--after a fantastic week of being pampered by my Mom. And now today, it is JUST the girls--Dan has followed my Mom to Houston for a job interview. Luckily, it's a short trip--he'll be back tomorrow. And so far, Megan and I are both surviving! I even managed to shower and organize a few things. Enjoy some pictures from this week--she's changing so fast!

Megan Moments

Even though she is only 6 days old, she already is changing! Here are some of her adorable moments from the last few days.

Too Cute

So Dan and I have taken more pictures in the past 3 days then we have in our entire time knowing each other (not counting trips with the Amber's family where my Dad is taking the pictures). But with a baby this cute, how can we NOT document as many adorable faces as possible? By the way, one of her cutest features is that she has dimples that appear on both cheeks--only when she's crying! Hopefully they will also show up when she figures out the whole smiling thing--but until then, what a cute sad face she has. We'll document it as soon as possible :)

Who does she look like?

Some say Megan definitely looks like Amber--others say Dan--what do you think?
You can compare our baby pictures (keep in mind that Dan and I were both over 9 pounds--so subtract the fat factor)

Game Over!

It all started as a regular day at work. I got there at 5:55 am, had 2 little preemies to care for and one new hire to train and all was going well. At 2:30 pm, I got a call that my doctor wanted me to go in for a non-stress test (where you watch the babies heart rate and any contractions on a monitor for 20 minutes) to follow up from a non-stress test the day before. Things looked mostly good--except when I had contractions--then the baby's heart rate would drop but come right back up (this is called a variable deceleration and usually means the cord is being pressed on. It's not the worst thing to see on a non-stress test, but it was enough for my doctor to decide to have me admitted for an induction since I was at full term anyway).
So--at 3:30 pm I walked back to the NICU (it's on the same floor as the non-stress test and labor and delivery) and told the charge nurse that I was going to have to go and have a baby and couldn't finish my shift! The new hire I was training took over for the last few hours and I left to call Dan and get admitted. Things were slow to get started (not surprising since inducing a first baby usually takes a while), but they did start! My doctor broke my water at 10:30 pm and then things got really intense and at 11:30 pm I got my epidural (heavenly!!). Between 2 am and 3 am I went from a mere 3 cm to complete!
I started pushing around 3:30 am and little Megan arrived 3 contractions later at 3:51 am--all 6 pounds, 15 ounces, 18 1/2 inches of her. Dan's Mom and Aunt Carrie were there for the delivery (along with her Daddy of course) and her honorary Aunt Maren ALMOST made it. :) She arrived just 15 minutes too late! My delivery nurse Kasey went to nursing school with Maren and me and it was so fun to have someone I knew as my nurse (and she was excellent).
SO--here are some shots of the little one in her first few minutes! She was a little "cheesy" as we nurses say, but don't worry--she got all cleaned up later. It was love at first sight despite the cheese--she's quite a cute one (and don't worry--I'm not biased).

The Waiting Game

Here is the latest belly shot--on October 25. This little girl is getting cramped in there--and we are ready for her to come play! All that's left is waiting. Her Granny is coming Nov. 1, so she doesn't have to come quite yet, but Granny is leaving Nov. 10--and we sure hope this little girl is here by then! Especially since her Daddy has a job interview in Houston Nov. 11!
The crib is filled with beautiful quilts--one from my mom and one Dan's mom.
She may be cramped in my belly--and she'll still be a little cramped once she's born as you can see from this shot of her room/the study/where we keep the extra furniture. Kids sure do have lots of stuff for being so little...

Autumn is Here!!!

We took these pictures up the canyon between conference sessions. These pictures don't do justice to how beautiful the colors were. We picked the perfect time to go. I love the fall!

Date Night

We're trying to live up our last few baby-free weeks!

More Baby's Room

The room is slowly taking shape--I finished the drapes a few days ago.

Our Growing Family

The belly as of July 27 (blue shirt) and more recently (brown shirt) on September 12.

The due date is rapidly approaching and that little girl (and my belly) are growing at amazing rates.

Yay, the crib!!!

Thanks to the truck of Jenn and Chris Roundy, we are the proud new owners of our very own crib. We (meaning mostly Dan, Dan the handy-man) set it up last night and I finished making the bed skirt today. It's cute isn't it!?!
We had our doubts about actually having space for this baby, but now she's got one whole wall just for her :).