Already 10 Months Old!

Well, our little Megan is growing so fast. Do I say that every month? She is moving quicker and becoming more comfortable on her feet. She just learned how to walk behind her push walker and thinks she is such a big girl. She pulls herself up on everything, tables, legs, chairs, anything she can. Everything is new to her. It's so fun watching her see things for the first time. Along with all of her moving though, she has decided that sleeping is not for her and she would rather be crawling, playing, doing something than be in her crib in a dark room. We started having to get up 3-4 times a night with her for awhile. It was getting pretty frustrating especially to me when I had late nights at work. I think we're getting back on track though. She's starting to take longer naps in the day and sleeping through the night again. Thank goodness!

It seems she's changing every day too. She has 4 teeth now, two on top and two on bottom. Her hair is growing in thicker and curlier. We can tell that it really is going to be blonde like we've been hoping. Her eyes seem to be a good mix of Josh's and mine. We really couldn't have asked for a more beautiful little girl.

In the pictures below she is standing at our front door looking out at her Daddy doing some yard work.



It's pickle time again! They really quiet her down when she is grumpy or I need a little extra time to finish cleaning the kitchen!


Megan is definitely a water baby. Unfortunately now she is trying to stand up and move all over the tub. Just last night she slipped at least 3 times, with me sitting right there even. She takes it is stride though, doesn't cry and just does it all over again. I think showers with mom and dad are going to be her best friend before long.

"Mohawk Megan"

Little Ham!

Jay and Alia, Campbell and Henley all came over for dinner a few weeks ago. Megan and Henley are only about 5 weeks apart. I think they had fun playing together except when Megan tries to beat him up. She doesn't know her own strength!

Those chubby little legs get a work out now with all of her moving and standing.

Megan and I went to the Street of Dreams in Washington with Grandpa and Grandma. Megan wanted to place her order with Daddy to make her a play house like this one.

And there is the princess!


So in the next couple of months we are going to try and plan this big girl's FIRST birthday party. She's got lots of friends and family who are going to want to share in the excitement with her (us)! Just can't believe it!!!

9 Months Old!

Well, little Megan is getting not so little anymore. We had her 9 month check up today and the doctor says she is doing great. She is 21 lbs. 11 oz. and 28 inches tall. She's actually lost a little bit of weight due to all of her moving around. She's right on track for her age in everything and then some. She can crawl soooo fast now too!

This is a picture of Megan in her first Nike jogging suit from Steve and Cristy Richards. I didn't know if she was going to be able to wear it before she outgrew it but then we had those cloudy/colder days and it was perfect for her. She looked adorable. (Of course!)

Aunt Tami babysat Megan one night so we could go out and this is one picture she took.

Megan has 3 teeth now. They have been quite painful for her but she is being a trooper. You can see her first one in the picture below but now she has two on the bottom and one on top.

We went to LaPine last week from Monday night through Saturday. It was really nice to get away and not think about the things we 'should' be doing. Mom and Dad came over Wednesday through Saturday so we got to spend a lot of time with them and they loved spending time with Megan. They would take her in the morning on walks and hang out with her so that Josh and I could get a little extra much needed sleep. on Friday we all drove to Crater Lake. It was pretty amazing. It just doesn't even look real, in the pictures or in real life.

It was pretty hot in LaPine so we bought Megan a little kiddie pool to float around in. She is such a water baby, she loves it, as you can tell.

How Cute is She!!!?!?!?!

While we were in LaPine Megan really started to pull herself up to a standing position on the couches and tables. She was still quite unsure about it all though and didn't really understand how to get down once she was up. When we got home on Saturday night, it was like we watched a transformation in a matter of seconds. She crawled right up to the table, pulled herself up and then to top it all off, grabbed her own sippie cup and started drinking. Up to that point, we had to still help her with a cup. She's not wasting any time!

So, now we are on a countdown to the big ONE YEAR! I'm already thinking about her party and what we're going to do. We just can't believe it's already been 9 months!

Growing Fast

9 months is closing in on us fast. Megan is now crawling everywhere and anywhere she can. She's starting to learn the meaning of "no" as she tries to crawl to the wood stove or the dog's water bucket. I'm pretty sure she knows what we mean because she stops and smiles and then tries again, stops and smiles. She's pretty darn cute but that doesn't mean we're going to let her do it of course! We're going to have to get serious out baby proofing the house, especially those two things.

Last Friday we went to Seaside with Aunt Kelly and Aunt Stacy. We decided to go to Seaside so that she could ride the carousel. She really liked that. She sat on her own horse and went up and down, up and down. It was a really nice sunny day so we put her in her bathing suit and walked down to the water. Of course she tried to eat fist-fulls of sand. And we found out the hard way that there are sand fleas down there. They were biting our ankles and they got Megan's little thighs. She actually had blood where they were biting her! I was so mad! As soon as we realized what was happening we got her out of there. I think she was more interested in trying to get the sand in her mouth than realizing anything about the water splashing up on her though. Maybe just a little young for the beach yet.

You can't see it from this angle but Megan was actually paying the man herself.

We went into a little toy store down there too. Megan really liked this stuffed giraffe.

We also went to the water park that they have in Wilsonville by the visitor's center. It's just a concrete stream basically that they chlorinate and everything. It wasn't really in my plan for the day so I wasn't prepared and she ended up just playing around in her onesie. She really liked that too. She wanted to crawl all around but I was afraid she would scrape up her knees too bad. We didn't spend too long there because I am really afraid of her fair little skin getting burned.

My cousin Trisha got married on 07/07/07. Here are a couple of pictures afterward.

Well, that's it for now. I'll give another update on her 9 month birthday!

Dear Mom

I've been wanting to write this letter for some time now and of course have never gotten around to it until now.



First of all, I just want to tell you that I'm sorry. When I think back to all of my years growing up, there are so many instances that I know I caused you heartache, worry, STRESS, disappointment, or all at the same time. I know that we both know that kids aren't perfect but until I became a mother, all of those times still seemed to me as the fault of someone else or you being too hard/strict on me. Now, knowing the intense love that I have for Megan, I am able to see that everything you did raising me was with all of the love and best intention that you had. You loved me so much, you were just trying to protect me or just ensure that I turned out to be the best I could be. And mom, even though there were some pretty rocky times, I think I turned out pretty okay and that has everything to do with you.



I guess now that I've become a mother, everything has come into perspective. Now I know how hard it really is, how tired you really get and how absolutely worthwhile it is. I remember times growing up where you just wanted to get away and spend some time alone. It didn't happen very often but of course back then, all I could think about was myself and thought that you just didn't want to be with us. of course, now I know that wasn't it at all. Now I understand what a hard job you had and in order to be an even better mom, you needed some time to take care of you.



The biggest thing that I've realized is that you love me and all of your kids more than any of us could even know and all of your decisions in raising us stemmed from that - even when I thought you were being mean or unfair. I'm so sorry I didn't see it that way back then. I would take so many things back if I could. I know I said things and did things that had to have broken your heart but you never gave up on me. So while I was feeling selfish about how bad I had it, I had no idea how lucky I was to have a mom that loved me so much that she held me accountable and taught me to be the person and mom that I am today.



I can honestly say that I learned how to be a good mom from you. I had a wonderful example. I'm not sure when it happened but there was a moment after Megan was born that I was thinking about how much I really love her. My next thought was, "Oh my gosh. This is how much my mom loves me." Right then I knew that I had to tell you 1) how sorry I am for not realizing it sooner and 2) thank you for loving me so much and doing all of those things that had to have been hard for you to do. But you did them because you loved me. I know I wasn't very fun to live with a lot of the time. I know it's not always going to be easy with Megan or our other kids. All I can ask for is that someday - hopefully before she's 29 - she will be able to answer any questions she has about the decisions I made with, "Because she loved me."



So now that I got all of that out, I also want you to know how proud I am to call you Megan's Grandma. I see and feel all of the love that you have for her and she is one lucky little girl.



I love you so much mom and I absolutely know that I haven't told you that enough. When we were in La Pine after Christmas, I just had the urge to hug you and tell you that I loved you. When I came back into the room I think I saw that you had tears. I realized then that you must not hear it nearly enough. So I will try to be better about it and not wait another 29 years. I hope you have a wonderful day. I love you.



Kristie

Megan is 8 Months Old TODAY!

We can't believe time is going so quickly. Megan is getting so big and before we know it, we'll be planning her first birthday party. This last month she has really started to move around. She crawls a little bit but mostly she scoots, rolls or pushes herself across the floor. We really need to think about baby proofing our house because she has already started to get into things that she shouldn't. She is no longer safe by herself! Just in the last few days she has gotten her first tooth. It has just broken through barely enough to feel it. She however has been feeling it for awhile and has been a grumpy pants. I feel so bad because there is little I can do to comfort her. Motrin and Tylenol have become good friends.

In the last month we've also been working on her being able to go to sleep by herself without being rocked or nursed to sleep. Some nights she goes down pretty easy and others she really tests our willpower to not go in there and soothe her. We've always known she has a good set of lungs but I think she thinks we forgot. She has got one loud scream!

She is really just the love of our lives and even through the grumpy times one smile from her brightens our day. Here are pictures from the last month.

Trip with Dad to the park



Karen's family made it down from Alaska for the summer and we all gathered at Grandma and Darlene's for dinner.


Cousins, Rylan and Megan. Rylan was really bummed over Christmas because they actually got to come down for it but he caught a bug right before they arrived and couldn't hold Megan. He made sure that wasn't going to happen on this trip!


Lesly's birthday party at the Forest Grove pool.


Lesly took Megan to Show & Tell in her kindergarten class. She was so proud of her 'little baby cousin Megan'!


Hamming it up at mom's group.



We went on a garden tour today and got to visit 8 gardens in the Tigard-Tualatin area. It was a lot of fun and gave us a lot of ideas for our own yard. Aunt Terri's house was one that everyone got to tour. I think hers was the very best!

Megan got to meet her very first horse "Sweetie" at one of the homes.

Megan is definitely a water baby. We've lowered the temperature in the hot tub so that she can be in it. She loves floating around and kicking her legs. I just can't get enough of her cute little bathing suit either!

A few weeks ago we went to the zoo with Aunt Kathy, Lesly and River. It was Megan's first trip. This picture isn't perfect but you can see a HUGE polar bear right in front of the window. Megan probably just thought it was a big dog. She also liked to see the fish swimming in the sea lion tank.