Limbo Limbo

We're finally feeling like we're back to some semblance of real life after a few weeks of limbo. Our stuff made it to Houston just fine, we spent 4 days unpacking (but not really getting settled since we would come to our apartment during the day but meals and nights were spent at my parents' house), and then headed off on our cruise with Dan's family. I must say I didn't love going on vacation in the middle of moving. I was pretty stressed before leaving, trying to make sure we had everything packed for vacation and I hated leaving our new apartment in such a mess! I've really enjoyed attacking pile after pile and finding homes for everything now that we're back. I've even gone grocery shopping (it's amazing how having food in the fridge makes everything seem better :). Here's some pictures of the mess that was our apartment. Follow up pictures will be posted eventually.

The Main Living Area--observe the lack of cinderblock and the high ceilings. and the boxes...they are a lovely touch


Megan's room


The master bedroom

Fun times at Grandma's house

We've really enjoyed our weekend in Bountiful. Megan especially has enjoyed being snuggled and spoiled by Grandma, Papa, and Uncle Ben.

Megan loves to help me get ready in the morning--the double vanity really comes in handy!


Megan and her Great-Grandfather. We got to spend some time with Grandfather and Mama Laney this afternoon.


Megan in her (and Mom's) favorite toy at Grandma's--the swing set! Megan loves to swing by herself--she smiles and giggles nearly the whole time.

The Only Way to Move

One of the biggest perks that comes with Dan's new job is that his company moved us--we didn't have to collect a single box, pack a single item, or carry a single piece of furniture down those dreaded three flights of stairs. Dan and his dad had so much fun carrying all of those items UP the stairs, they were really quite sad to miss out on that experience...NOT. Let us tell you, THAT was the way to move. We went to Dan's graduation ceremony at 8 am, were home by 9:30, put away a few small items and waited for the movers. They arrived and got started around 11 am. We were there for a little while but were basically in the way. So we walked around Costco, went out to lunch, and took naps only to be rudely awakened by the movers around 2:30 pm. They were DONE! That's right my friends, by 3 pm, a mere 4 hours after they started, our entire apartment was boxed, labeled, and safely tucked into the moving van. It was amazing. Anyway. We were able to get a head start on cleaning and finished up Saturday around 1:30 pm. We've been relaxing since then in Bountiful and will fly to Houston tomorrow.

Megan was a big help while we cleaned the apartment--she took great naps so we could get lots done.


*Just a side note: The green pillow Megan is sleeping on was the first and last piece of "furniture" in our apartment! For the first 3 weeks of our married life, it was the only place to sit in the apartment--it served as couch, table, and chairs. And then, at the end of our time in Wymount, it served as crib and bouncy chair as well!

Class of 2008

Just in time for his 10 year high school reunion, Dan is wearing graduate robes for the second time! He is officially done with his baccalaureate education and I am so proud of him. One of Dan's lifetime goals was to get in to BYU and now he is a BYU alumnus. It was not an easy road but he was determined and put in the hard work necessary to accomplish it. He is a pretty amazing guy...sigh, I'm so lucky :)

The whole family before the school-wide commencement...it was between snow flurries and about 35 degrees! Brrr!


Megan and Dan outside the Marriot center


The whole fam


Dan and his parents at the smaller graduation ceremony


Megan really enjoyed the ceremony :)

The End of an Era

It has been a very eventful few weeks for our little family. We have had lots of "lasts" and are looking forward to many firsts. A week ago Friday, we went to dinner with some of our favorite people in the world! Maren, Brian, Brigham, Bryan, Lynn, Nathan, and Stephanie. We went to the Bombay House (a really, really yummy Indian restaurant in Provo). It was some delicious food and even better company. We will miss our many Utah friends. It is hard to believe that I have known Maren and Stephanie for 6 years and all the boys for about 5. Wow, how time flies.

Lynn, Bryan, and Brian


Stephanie, Nathan, and baby boy bump


Maren, baby boy bump, and Amber


Brigham helping eat some ice cream


Dan and I enjoying our last night of entertaining in 650 square feet of 1960's cinderblock!

Swimming!

On Tuesday, we heated the hot tub to 99 so the kids could swim. Megan thought the huge bathtub with Mom and Dad in it was just about the best thing ever. She had a great time.

Mom and Megan


Daddy and Megan


We let her go topless...scandalous, I know!

Green!

There was no doubting what season it was while we were in Texas--spring had arrived! Flowers were blooming, my mom's garden was thriving, and there was green everywhere. I had to learn how to dress Megan for the warmer weather so she didn't roast, and she LOVED being outside.

Megan and Zach relaxing while the family played croquet.


Funny face


I love the colors in this one.

Go 'Stros!!

Dan got to go to his first Astros game at Minute Maid Park while we were in Houston. Dan, Tyler, and I were invited to use some extra season tickets from our good family friends. Kat (the daughter of the family with the tickets) and Kaden her sweet little boy were there also, and her husband Glen even made a quick appearance. Dan and I loved hanging out with Kat and Glen before they moved and we are excited to be closer to them again in a few weeks!

As you can see, Dan maintained his Boston pride. But he did cheer for the Astros--they even won!


Kaden was such a good boy during the game. We didn't trust Megan to be so happy, so we left her at Granny's house.

Getting to Know You

Megan was a little wary of her Houston family when we first arrived--going on walks helped her stop crying while Dan and I were away looking at apartments! She was getting pretty comfortable with her Granny by the time we left.

Zach and Hailey, the big helpers! They loved going on walks with Granny and Megan.


A close-up on the exhausted little girl

Scooting

One of Megan's newest tricks is scooting. She will hang out on her tummy, put her hands and feet in the air and flail and then go up on her hands to see if she was able to move anywhere with her flailing. It is when she pushes up on her hands that she scoots herself backwards. It's pretty funny.

The little scooter--scooting herself away from the toys on her play-gym--she's quite proud of her accomplishment.

Happy Easter!

We thoroughly enjoyed our first Easter with Megan (and I thoroughly enjoyed my first Easter since 2005 where I didn't have to work all day!). Dan was off to early meetings WAY before the Easter bunny came to visit. Megan got to wear her cute Easter dress (seriously she looked so precious) and we had a nice day at church. By the time Dan made it home from meetings, the Bunny had come and gone. We got some delicious chocolatey treats to share! Then it was off to Bountiful to have ham and deviled eggs (among other things) with Dan's family. We had a wonderful day.

The family after church

Our lot of goodies

Bilateral Myringotomy with insertion of Tympanostomy Tubes

What a mouthful! Thankfully the procedure itself takes about as long as it takes to say that. Megan had her very first surgery on Friday. The night before was the worst part (have you ever tried explaining to your hungry 4 month old why they can't nurse after midnight?!?). But she did manage to fall back to sleep without eating. We arrived at the surgery center at 6:45 am, she went back for the procedure around 8 am, and by 8:30 we were home! Hurray! She has a hearing screen this week and we hope she will pass with flying colors.

Here is a post-procedure Megan. If you look closely you can see some crusty blood on her left ear :(


Of course I forgot the camera, but she looked so cute in the hospital gown (the smallest one they had was HUGE on her)and the little square shaped hospital socks holding her prize--a brave lion.

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)