A New Arrival

We have some exciting news to share with you---our family is growing!!! No, Megan is not gaining a new sibling...but we did buy a new (new-to-us) car yesterday.
I must admit that I have been dreading this adding-a-second-car thing. I know we are at a point where we will need it but, I am a very shall-we-say frugal person (ok, you could call me a bit of a tightwad). I just HATE to spend money. Especially in any amount over 4 dollars (which incidentally is why I can't buy groceries at Walmart--there are so many things that fall under the less-than-$4 category that I tend to spend twice as much). However, it was less painful than I imagined. In fact, once we made the final decision that we had found the car we wanted, it was almost fun. Almost. So...about 30 pieces of paper, the biggest check I've ever written, and 12 hours later--we drove away in our very own white 2004 Honda Accord EX. I drove it to run errands today and I must admit that it was the most excited I've been to go grocery shopping in a LONG time.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dan and I were able to go to the temple last night and enjoy some Martinelli's (that's sparkling apple juice). It was a nice Valentine's Day--made even better by our adorable little Cupid. We hope all of you enjoyed some of the Valentine's spirit.

Headstrong Girl

Megan is wearing the jumper and jacket I made for her. I like the jumper better. But it's a pretty cute ensemble.
Megan's new favorite thing to do is sit up. She doesn't really like to be in that semi-reclined position...ever. For example, in the tub if we put her on the "newborn" side, she sits there with her head held up and her legs flailing trying to get enough momentum to sit up all the way until we give in and turn her to the "toddler" side of the tub that is made for sitting up. She will make similar motions if I try to lean her back on the c-pillow. So now the c-pillow sits in front of her for padding and she sits straight up on the couch. She's getting better at it, but still eventually flops to one side or the other. She hasn't face-planted yet, but I know that day is coming. She seems more grown up now that she wants to be up and looking at the world. My goodness, time goes so fast...

Tagged Again

My Spouse and I:
How long have you been married? Tomorrow makes 33 months (that's almost 3 years for those of you who may be divisionally challenged).
How long did you date? 10 months
Who eats more sweets? Ooh. That's close. We both love them. I go more for candy or chocolate chips. Dan prefers the baked goods. We both love ice cream. That's probably why I try to avoid having any of those in the house. Except for chocolate chips of course.
Who said I love you first? Dan for sure.
How old is he? 28
What is he afraid of? Me dying.
Who is taller? Dan, by about a foot. It's the perfect height for him to give me excellent comfort hugs.
Who is smarter? I often think I am but I usually get proven wrong. We are smart in different areas. Dan has more common sense I think. And an excellent sense of direction.
Who can sing better? No doubts here, it's Dan.
Who does the laundry? Generally me. But Dan almost always has a hand in lugging it up and down the stairs and folding it.
Who pays the bills? Me.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Looking at the bed, it's Dan.
Who mows the lawn? Oh to have a lawn...what will that be like? Obviously Dan will do it (hopefully he sees the obvious :) )
Who cooks dinner? Usually me. But Dan will make a few favorite dishes (like adobo) and will make any recipe I leave out for him.
Who drives? If we are together, Dan. I am so bad with directions it's just easier to let him drive. Plus he is a better snow driver.
Who is more stubborn? Probably me.
Who kissed who first? I suppose it was Dan. I just know it seemed to take him FOREVER (or at least like 2 weeks) to finally do it.
Who asked who out? Dan. We went to see "The Best Two Years" at the dollar (big spender, I know)
Who proposed? Dan. He proposed by the Houston Temple fountain on New Year's Eve 2004. I told Maren who told Dan that that would be the perfect spot. Plus it was the only time we were alone together on that entire visit.
Who has more siblings? Again, it's Dan.
Who wears the pants? To quote from our "Singles Guide to Married Life" book: Dan--you may wear the pants, but you should probably let Amber pick them out for you. :)

Baby it's cold outside...

So it's about this point every winter when I start to really (and I mean REALLY) get tired of the cold. It's currently 18 degrees. It's been snowing every other day. And the snow is now all dirty and piled up, sidewalks are icy, and it's just bitter, bitter cold out there.

Megan and I went for a walk last week as one of the storms was blowing in--it wasn't snowing but it was chilly (as you can tell from her little red nose). Don't worry, I had her all bundled. And we walked down to campus so we could thaw halfway through before we walked back home.Despite all of our inside time, Megan is a pretty happy kid. And she still adores bath time. In dreaming of warmer weather to come (and in preparation for our cruise/move to Houston), we bought Megan this swimsuit last week. Isn't it the cutest suit you've ever seen? I'm so excited to see her in it (although since baby suits pretty much only come in 12 mo. size, it will probably be a little big on her).

Discoveries

Megan is discovering new things everyday. Like toys and how to grab them (although she misses about 90 percent of the time)
the best ways to snuggle with daddy
how mom is crazy and takes pictures of her in hats and outfits that say "cutie"

and today--how it feels to get 5 shots (3 in the left leg and 2 in the right) in about 6 seconds. While I'm grateful she'll be protected from all of those diseases, it was still SO sad to have her look up at me screaming while the nurse was poking her legs. She's having a good day all in all. She's been quite smiley. And of course, she's gotten tylenol just for good measure. Hopefully she has a good night...

Oh Happy Day

What a glorious morning it is--Megan is happy and Amber is even happier! Why, you may ask??? Because last night, Megan went to bed at 10:30, fussed for about 10 minutes at 11:30 until she got a diaper change and a warmer blanket, and then SLEPT STRAIGHT THROUGH UNTIL 6:15 THIS MORNING!!! That was almost 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep for Amber!! WOO HOO!! I hope this is a new tradition! And with all that extra sleep, I can do things like update my blog! Maybe I'll even write our Christmas 2007 letter...

New Year's Day 2008

Megan and Uncle Ben enjoying some football...
Megan celebrated her first New Year's Eve by going to bed at 9:15 pm! But don't worry--always the party animal, Megan promptly woke Amber up at 1:30 am to get in a late celebration...

Christmas Eve and Christmas

Megan conked out waiting for Santa to arrive. (*note the very tiny spike of hair behind the bows--see her hair IS growing)
Here is the whole fam on Christmas morning (can you tell Tyler woke us up at 6 am???)
We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas with Amber's family. We had a fancy dinner and the grandkids acted out the Christmas story from Luke 2 for Christmas Eve. Megan got to play a lead role--Baby Jesus!
On Christmas, we got up early, opened gifts, headed to Shad's house to check out their presents, and then spent the night at Jamie's house for a "family reunion". Amber and Dan came in second at the family reunion's Rook tournament--a very, very close second...in fact, we basically came in first except that Jamie and Trent must have cheated (it was at THEIR house and THEY win? sounds like cheating to me)

All the stockings were hung...

Yay for Moms with embroidery machines, sergers, and mad skills. Here are the stockings "I made" (as in I was physically present, but didn't necessarily do a whole lot). I ended up with material for 7 stockings, so I guess Dan and I are having 5 children...now we just need to pick names so I can get them embroidered...

All Smiles!

The day has arrived! Megan can finally express her happiness with her face--she started having some true, intentional smiles about 2 days ago (Dec. 16) and is starting to show them more often. Her daddy can't wait to see them in person when he gets to Houston tomorrow.

Taking Care of Grandpa

Here is Megan--she finally got Grandpa to sleep and could enjoy some quiet time...interpersed by snores.

Feeling the Love

Uncle Tyler and Megan (adorable outfit compliments of MidCityGal). She's really developing her talents...like sticking out her tongue as often as possible.
Zach and Megan. Zach is quite the "helper"--2 nights ago he decided that she needed a few cups of cold water on her feet to improve her bathtime experience--Megan was not so sure :)

Uncle Tyler's favorite afterschool activity: Megan, snack, and a DVR episode of The Amazing Race.
Julianne and Megan--Jamie, Maren and I think Megan takes after this particular cousin especially--so she'll be beautiful when she's big!
Hailey and Madelyn--they really are good helpers. They both love to stroke Megan's soft hair and to hold her--but they are done after about 2 minutes.
Catherine and Megan--two cuties!
OK--can any little boys face be more filled with joy than Adam's in this shot? All he wants to do is hold this little girl all by himself whenever possible--she's like the coolest doll he's EVER seen. He throws quite the fit when his turn is over.

Megan recently took her first airplane trip (she was an angel on the plane!) and is enjoying the warm Houston weather. She has gotten to spend lots of time with her Houston cousins and has survived...oops, I mean "enjoyed" their love!

Blessing Day

Megan was blessed last Sunday, December 2. She was surrounded by so many loving family members and friends including all of her living great grandparents. It was such a nice day; we thoroughly enjoyed the time we got to spend with everyone. And Megan looked adorable--she was wearing the same beautiful dress I was blessed in--made by her Granny those 23 years ago!

Meeting Grandpa and Baba

Megan got to start out the month of December by being inspected by Amber's Dad and Amber's Dad's Mom! Her Grandpa and Baba both gave their stamps of approval--how could they not with someone that cute?

One Whole Month

It seems hard to believe, but our little Megan is already one month old! She is such a good baby and is happy one hundred percent of the time (ok, it might be more like 99 percent--she does let us know when she's got a bubble in her tummy that she would like to get out--but she is getting to be quite the champion burper--and her daddy makes sure to be a role model in this area)