Viva Las Vegas!

So last week, Dan and I were talking about the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament. He has gone to it many times and was sad that he had no plans for going this year. I was talking about how many people I want to see before we move and how it feels like time is running out. And I said hey-I really want to see my cousin Candace...who happens to be in school at UNLV (the location of the MWC tourney this year). So we emailed Candace and she graciously let us invite ourselves to stay with her (even though she was already going to be putting up her dad, her father-in-law, and her husband's cousin). We had a great time.

We left early Thursday morning and arrived in time to watch BYU beat CSU. Megan did great on the drive out. We didn't mean to take a video, but you can hear the last half of a giggle at the beginning so I wanted to post it.

This was while we were stopped in St. George so Megan could eat.

We stayed at the stadium to watch the game after BYU/CSU and grabbed some dinner. Then the girls (Megan, Candace, and I) headed to Candace's condo to hang out while the boys caught 2 more games.

Friday we went to the strip. Megan hated the inside of casinos (the semi-darkness, noise, and crazy lights bothered her) but did great as we walked down to the Bellagio fountains. Sadly they were not doing the fountain shows because of wind! So we left. Friday night Megan and I stayed at the condo while everyone else went to the game.



On Saturday, the whole group went to the Shelby car museum. Apparently the Shelby is an amazingly cool car (Dan was very excited)and we got to see lots of them. It was a good time. Then we headed to the championship game...unfortunately, BYU lost.

Dan in front of one of his all-time favorite cars.


The whole family at the museum. We got to sign on the wall behind us.


Megan and my cousin Candace. Despite her worried face, she actually loved Candace.

My Uncle Chuck (Candace's dad) loved Megan. She had him wrapped around her little finger. And I loved that Chuck (like Megan on Utah time) was up at 5 am every day. One morning, Megan got to go hang out with Great-Uncle Chuck so Mommy could sleep for another hour and a half!

Sunday we got up, caught sacrament meeting, and headed back to Provo. Megan slept almost the whole way. Overall, she did great. Her biggest challenge came from the fact that we were constantly interrupting her naps to go places. It seemed like almost every time she fell asleep we'd move her and she'd wake up. But...road trips are still great...even with a four month old!

Sweet Sleeper

Megan likes to cope with exhaustion by holding something (a burp cloth, Mom's hand, toys, etc) with both hands and pressing it to the bridge of her nose. It's really a funny little habit, but it's pretty cute as well. We had a momentous day last week where Megan REALLY slept through the night (8 pm-7 am) but that has not repeated itself yet. Last night she woke up 3 times. But the usual night is still waking up once around 3. I just love how sweet she is when she's sleeping.

Hanging out in the kitchen, "helping" Mom make dinner.


Eating can be exhausting!


Zoomed in on the sweet face.


Just before bath one night. Check out those red rimmed eyes--she fell asleep about 2 seconds after we laid her down that night.

Mmm, mmm, good

Yesterday was a big day for our little Megan girl. She had her four month checkup and weighed in at a hefty 12 lbs, 5 oz., 22.5 inches long. She then got her set of four month immunizations (3 shots, 1 oral). THEN, she got to have her first bite of rice cereal!

Here is Megan testing out her new high chair, spoons, and bowls.


A cute face--check out those beautiful blue eyes!


Tasting the spoons.


Her first bites! You'll see that she's still not too sure about this cereal thing.

B-Ball

Dan's brother Ben was in the state basketball tournament last weekend. He is a senior and the starting center for his team. They played hard and did really well. They made it to the championship game but ended up getting second place (by 3 points!). It was an exciting game and a fun family event despite the outcome.

Megan with Papa before heading up to Ogden for the game.


Amber, Dan, and Megan wearing red for the Braves!


Grandma and Papa


Uncle Ben shaking hands with his opponent before the game (it's blurry but he's the one in white and red)

Someday the Snow Will Melt...

That is meant to be sung like the first line of "Someday My Prince Will Come" and with the same longing. Today has given me a brief glimmer of things to come--I think it was almost 50 degrees. I took Megan for her first real walk. We went around the Provo temple. She fell asleep before we got to the base of the temple. I think I enjoyed the walk more than she did. It felt so good to be outside and have it be warm enough to enjoy it.

Megan is practicing her sitting up skills. It takes LOTS of concentration...and strength.


Sometimes that sitting up stuff is tough.


But chewing on a toy makes it all ok.


Here is a picture from our walk. And if you look closely at the ground, you can see a faint color there that I BELIEVE is called green. It's been so long since I've seen it.


Here is the little one all snuggled in. By the way, she started rolling over on Sunday. If ever she is willing to do it when the camera is on, we'll be sure to post it.

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)