New words

Let's add to the list of words: ouch (which she thinks is a pretty funny word! She likes to go hit her head, then say "ouch"--go figure!) and up.

We head to Boston in 32 days! Looking forward to seeing a part of the country I haven't before.

Fun at Splash Factory

We went to a local city splash park this morning.
Despite going at 9am, it was over 90 degrees--plenty warm for a water park visit!
She was soaked within a matter of minutes!

Look, Mom! I'm trying to catch the water!

water, water, water! It's hard to catch!
(that's her friend, Bethany, in the background)

I'm so cool...

This is SO MUCH FUN!

Okay...what is NOT documented in the photos...how much running she did. She literally ran and ran and ran and ran...well, you get the picture. She'd run into the water fountains, then she run back to me. Then she'd run around to the other stations, then she'd run to the fence, and the grass and just everywhere. There was little visiting for me with the other mom's from the playgroup! But she had fun. And it completely exhausted her! Completely.

And, no, she didn't keep her sunglasses on the whole time, in case you were wondering. Once they started to get too wet that the water hindered her sight, she brought them to me. I couldn't believe how long she kept them on, though!

Too smart (and cute!)

Here she is today with her monkey "mommy-keep-track-of-me" backpack

New stylin' shades. (Yes she keeps them on! )
The frames are purple (of course), she wouldn't even TRY ON the pink ones, once she saw the purple ones.

This week has been unbelievably hot around here...in the 100s with heat index almost 110. One morning, we were getting in the car to go to the store. When we go outside, she is a stinker about getting in the car. All she wants to do is run, run, run (away from me, of course!). I've gotten smart and left a stuffed bear in the car. When it's time to get in the car, I simply say, "are you ready to see Mr. Bear? " Typically, she just run over to the car and gets so excited to see Mr. Bear. (Thank goodness!!!)

Anyways, back to the story. So, I put her in the car seat. She looked at me, made a funny face and signed "hot". I smiled, giggled a little (you have to be careful about that sometimes!) and yes, honey it is HOT! Too cute!

Another funny story--the other day I asked her which of 2 outfits she wanted to wear. One was a light purple tank with a denim skirt while the other one was a coral onesie with coordinating shorts. Anyways, I could tell she was NOT excited about her options...she kind of had a "ho-hum" look on her face. So, I offered another outfit exactly like the shorts, but the onesie was a deep lilac purple with striped shorts. She squealed with delight and literally grabbed that outfit out of my hand before I could even get it on the floor to show it to her! Such a fashionesta.

Weekend Fun...

Some photos of our fun this weekend!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.
Megan was NOT in the mood to take photos this morning...
so Daddy joined in on the fun

Nope, still not interested in taking photos, but not a horrible photo

Shaving cream fun...

Note to self: shaving cream doesn't taste so good
(we did try to warn her!)

Our shaving cream art.

Boy did she have fun with this today!

Itsy- Bitsy Spider

Megan loves this Itsy-Bitsy Spider song. Here's she's doing the actions while we were on our way to the zoo.

Other things...she says "day" (thanks to her Signing Time Video!) and just babbles all day long. Most of it has "irish" or "sh" at the end. Most commonly heard is "hel-whoa, I-rish" or "bub-ish" or something similar. DH noticed this morning how much she says these things--all morning (and often day) long. Yep, once she's saying more words...it will be NON-STOP talking!

She can now say every letter of the alphabet when you show her a letter (except U). Some of the letters she still says the sound (I mentioned "G" earlier) others include "B", "F" (which really is the sound of her blowing her nose in short, quick puffs-I can't think of a better way to describe it...make the noise for yourself...it DOES make sound the letter "F" makes), "P"...when she says "W", it sounds like "dub-(unidentifable sound)-this". This game has been a LIFESAVER when she's bored...the doctor's office the other day...the car if we're all in the car (thanks to magnadoodles!)...the store (I carry a small notepad, pen & crayons in my purse)...it actually comes in quite handy!!!

Photos at the Zoo

We went to the D-Zoo this morning...it was incredibly hot and we only saw part of the zoo, but we'll go back another time to see the rest since we are members and go as many times as we want for free!!

Daddy & Megan Love

Love that Beautiful smile!

Momma & Megan

Blog award

I have been awarded the One Lovely Blog Award by Tracey at Grace Comes by Hearing. Please check out her blog here.

Here are the rules:
1. Post the award on your blog together with the name of the person who has given the award and the blog link.

2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I've not had to time to work on this...but I did want to note it!! (I'll award it later, I promise.)

Thanks, Tracey!!!

New words

In the last couple of days, she's added "bubble", "ball" and "apple" to her list of words! She is constantly chattering...so you have to listen for when she happens on a word. Or rather, when she "reveals" that she knows a word!!!

Sleep had been doing SO WELL. Until I went away this weekend. I kind of expected that to be the case. I went for a "disser-cation" where I focused on my dissertation Friday night and Saturday. I came home mid-morning on Sunday. It was so nice to make progress without interruption. I got a lot accomplished, organized and a plan devised. DH & Megan survived. Grandma V even called to try and help out, but DH said, I can handle it. And he did! I didn't realize how much I missed them until I was on my way home. I guess being focused does that!!!

I knew she was...

Growing like crazy, but YOU. HAVE. GOT. TO. BE. KIDDING. ME!!!!

We had her 2 year check up today. The kid has GROWN again!!! She's now over 34 1/2 inches tall and weighs over 28lbs. geez. That's makes her (on the American charts) in the 72% for height and 67% for weight. Seriously, kid. GIVE ME A REPRIEVE! (even if it's only a few months!) Her pediatrician is Chinese and when I told her she was from Hunan, even she was surprised at Megan's height. So, I'm not alone here. She commented that one of her birth parents must have been from the northern region of China since she is so tall. She also said the curls will likely stay since she's had them so long--or at least keep a nice wave. SWEET!

Photos

I got the scissors out the other day and finally gave her a quick clip.
The bangs were so long, she had to tip her head back to see me...
I knew it was time! (it's not the best cut...but I had to move fast!)
She has her curls back!

The front...it's still really long...especially on the part side,
but I'm leaving it for now...next month I'll take her Brenda
and she can "clean it up" in time for the wedding.

Remember how I said she's into hats now?
Well, this was the first one she tried...and loved.

Oh, and the big girl cup...
as evidenced with the water down the front of it...
we need some practice!

Pre-haircut...
A usual occurrence at our house...
Megan now searches the dogs out to sit by and read books.
I guess they make a good thing to lean against!?!

And Now it's June

(to quote Everyone Loves Raymond) "holy crap!" Where has the year gone?

So, let's see...I've not been the best at posting lately. Every day Megan does something and I think "I need to blog that"...but then the day goes by and I don't get it done. I guess probably because I want to put photos up and I can only do that on the desktop. If I go back in the office to do that, she thinks she needs to help me on the computer. So, here's a list of some new things to note:

• She LOVES to help...empty the dishwasher, carry laundry, push the laundry into the dryer, etc. You have to catch the silverware she's taking out of the DW fast enough, or she puts them in her mouth on the way to you, though.
  
• She has started bringing things to me when she finds things she's not supposed to have. For example, if she finds a TV remote, she brings it to me rather than try to run and hide with it or frantically push a million buttons before I get it.
• She has started saying "GO" while signing go...she does it a lot when we stop in the store to look at something and she doesn't want to.
• She makes frustration noises when we are stopped in the car (as in "go, darn it! I hate to stop!")
• She's drinking from a "big girl" cup now. Of course, she lets a lot of the water go down her shirt, but she'll get it. We keep practicing (especially when she hasn't drank very much).
• She's using her fork all the time now.
• She identifies every letter of the alphabet (as in we ask her to find a letter and she always does).
  
• When she is identifying letters, she says A, D, E, I, O, S, X. She doesn't say "G", but she says "Go" or makes the G sound. She makes the sound for "H" as well and sometimes "Z". (This is a game that helps us get through the grocery store after the snacks are gone!)
  
• She loves puzzles, coloring and writing.
  
• She's still sleeping with one of us right now for part of the night. Some nights are better than others, but I think she likes sleeping with us (at least for the time being, that might change soon).
• She gives the sweetest kisses! She loves to give kisses to dolly with a loud smack. It's so darn cute!
• She's gotten into hats. Late last week, I found a hat and put it on her head--she liked it, so I got others out and she actually keeps them on!
  
• Oh, and before I forget to mention, one of her teachers at school commented that she noticed Megan likes it if she would comment on her shoes. Oh boy, takes after Auntie Katie--a shoe girl at age 2!!! I guess that just goes with her being a little fashionesta, uh?
• And lest I forget...this weekend she started trying to put her leg on the side of the tub and wanting to put lotion on...just like me. HOW FUNNY! (Of course, she can BARELY reach, but too cute!)
  

The other day we were getting ready for supper and DH called her into the kitchen. She was barefoot (it's been in the high 80s, low 90s) and he said "Don't you love the sound of that pitter-patter? Um, Y-E-S! She is so sweet, loving and absolutely adorable. We couldn't be more in love! We are SSSOOOOOO blessed with our little princess! (Today marks her being with us 14 months--boy does time fly!)

Family & Sleep

Reading funny books with Uncle Collin & Gina (future Auntie)

Sleep...where are we????

Well, when Collin & Gina came to visit this past weekend we decided to try something different. We set up the pak-n-play in our room. We figured if she woke up (which she had been doing a lot since we came home from SD trip), we'd just put her in bed with us like we did at Nana's house. She had never slept in our room before, so we really weren't sure how it was going to work. It worked out great. The first night, she ended up in our bed around 2am (I think) and she slept pretty well in there (although I didn't). Then we decided to try it Sunday night as well since DH was off on Monday and didn't have to get up at 430am. It worked out even better. She didn't wake up until after 4am and slept in our bed until 545. Since the work week was going to start, we decided to do some furniture re-arranging in our extra bedroom (where we've been sleeping--across the hall from her room) and put the bed against the wall. We also moved the pak-n-play in there. So, this week, we've been putting her to sleep in the rocker in her room, then moving her to the pak-n-play across the hall. She's slept in there until at 4am (this morning it was 520), then put her in bed with me. Yesterday morning she slept until 520 am (not so good considering she didn't go to sleep until 845!!!), but this morning, she slept until 630! And she went to sleep around 815-catching up from the night before, I'm sure! The last couple of days I've also had her nap in there, too. After I put her to sleep, I'll lay on the bed and read for a little while and/or take a nap myself. Then when she wakes up, I bring her to bed with me. She's still only sleeping 2 hrs, but at least its not in the rocker with me as it has been again lately.

I'm not sure how long we will continue this routine. I'm guessing a few weeks, maybe a couple of months. We'll reassess once she's sleeping past 5am in her bed. Regularly, that is. I honestly think she'd sleep until at least 6am if we could get through the sleep issues. But, who knows.

Doggie Love

Megan loves to share Irish's pillow.
He is not as fond of the sharing, but accepts it.

Reading bedtime stories to Irish.

Reading Bedtime stories to Dakota
(Dakota actually sat through the story a few times, surprisingly!)

Zoo

Megan's first "horse experience"
(She loves horses, but not this one much, apparently.)

Our attempt to get a photo of the girls..

Feeding the goats
She liked it, but I was afraid she would eat the food herself!

Photos

We went to the zoo with NanaLin, Brooklyn, Aunties Tosha & Katie
(more photos of that later)

The best we can do with our subjects...
Don't they look adorable in their matching/coordinating outfits?

The beautiful girls!

Such a cute photo!

Auntie Jodi with a not so excited Megan

More to come...

2nd Birthday Party

We started off in our birthday dress...(the pants were a last minute addition with the cold weather)


Then we did a craft (decorating a paper lantern). Here are a few of the decorators.


Then we took some photos...(another post)..which required an alternate outfit, so the birthday cake photos are with the alternate outfit (bummer, but still cute). Yes, I made the cake, it was actually pretty easy.

A Quick Hello

...from the great (but cold) state of SD! We are having fun seeing all the family...but looking forward to some warmer weather. Yesterday was nice (in the 70s). Nana, Aunties Katie & Tosha, Cousin Brooklyn, Megan, DH & I all enjoyed a beautiful day at the zoo yesterday followed by a picnic at the park. Megan's party is today (looking forward to seeing Auntie Jodi & Uncle Keith as well as Cousins Ashley & Brady!), and it's only supposed to be 60. BBBRRRR...cold considering it was a balmy 91 when we left Texas!

So, photos when we return on Wednesday!

Please Pray

...For Kayleigh's family. She was born in June weighing 1 lb. She went to be with the Lord last night. In her 11 months of life, she never came home from the NICU. In fact, they were preparing to bring her home in the next few weeks.

We know the pain of losing a baby. Mother's Day will always hold a special place in their hearts. Pray that God would bring them peace, hope and comfort in the days, weeks and months to come.

Mother's Day fun

Fun, fun, fun!

Megan found these old glasses and has been very interested in them.
(Of course, she won't wear the ones she has!)
Dad finally got a photo last night.

Grandma V & Megan
Oh, and Mr. Lion, who Megan loves to throw out of the rocking chair
and laughs and laughs and laughs!!

Mothers Day morning, Megan found this hat on the chair.
She hates wearing it when she's supposed to, but this morning she wanted to wear it while she had breakfast. So we obliged, and captured it on camera, of course!

Happy Mothers Day!

Here we are this AM after church...in front of Ian's tree

Daddy with his precious daughter

Momma with her baby girl