Leavin' on a Jet Plane

We're ready (well, almost ready) to head out east. We're planning on leaving the house before 6am for our 8am flight. We're SO EXCITED to spend the week with my sister & her DH...then seeing all the family next weekend! I doubt I'll get to post anything while we're gone...

But, while we're gone...head over to Bringing Lily Home (you can also click on the button on the right). Adrienne & Jim have been trying to add to their family for quite a while...since November, they've held 2 kids they thought would be joining their family, only to find out the biological families changed their minds. They are on the journey to bring Lily home from Korea. They are doing some GREAT fundraiser giveaways. Click over and check them out!

Please Pray

Little Stellan (see the link on the right side bar)...is back in the hospital and need in desperate need of prayers. They simply cannot get his heart to calm down. As I understand it, his heart as been beating at around 225 beats per minutes for the past almost 24 hrs with little break.

You can follow her blog (and tweets) for more updates.

Catching Up

Things have been so busy around here. DH has been working 50+ hr weeks which makes for little time for me to have someone to watch Megan so I can blog. We leave on Aug 1st for vacation in Massachusetts and I've been attempting to get organized for it. We're renting an apt with my sister, Katie, and her DH so that means planning meals, etc. in addition to sight seeing. I've also been trying to work on my dissertation for the few hours Megan is at grandma's every week. I'm teaching online again this fall, so I've also been updating my class...and making some adjustments from last semester I didn't like. As you can see, blogging has take a back seat right now! I try to at least put some photos up of our sweet Megan.

Okay, so back to Megan! Some things to note:

• She is talking all the time. Mostly just putting various sounds together, but I would guess she has about 50 or so words she says regularly. (I love to eves drop on her talking.) The majority of the words she knows are taken DIRECTLY from her Sign ing Ti me videos. Thank goodness she signs when she says them because some of them are hard to understand (for example, her current favorites: "like" and "don't like"). For "milk", she says "gilk" and "stop" is "bop". Oh, and "hungry" is "hum".
  
• She's beginning to recognize the first letter of words. For example, she says "M-mom"; "A-apple"; "D-dad"; "L-la la la" and she always signs "grandma" whenever she says "g" only she says "guh" for "g".
• She just started saying some family names...Nana, Katie (ta-tee), Ashley (ash) and she says "bubba" for both Brady & Brooklyn. I'm trying to get her to say "bee" for Brooklyn since it's her nickname.
• She loves to ride her bike. She loves to say "crash!" when she runs into the wall or door or whatever larger object was in her way.
• Funny story: last week went to W@l-m@rt to escape the heat. I made the mistake of going down the kids shoe aisle to see if they had their sandals are sale yet. We had to stop and look at the tennis shoes...and try on a particular pair that was white with turquoise sparkly ribbons on them. She was quite frustrated when I told her we were not going to buy them, but we would tell daddy that she found a pair she liked. (Oh my, I couldn't believe it!)
• She is working on her bottom 2-year molars. They are kicking our tails. It's been horrible. We've even had to break out the paci for more than just nap time. I think it helps distract her from the pain in her mouth.
• She loves to write and color.
  
• She also loves foam stickers, puzzles, balls and making towers with her blocks (which also have letters on them). Oh and how I could forget: pushing her dolly stroller I got at a garage sale for 50 cents! Best 50 cents I've spent!!!!
• She's beginning to express interest in numbers. She identifies and says 8. She'll identify numbers up to 10, but won't say any other ones, yet.
• She loves to brush her teeth. If she could brush them all day, she would be most happy. In order for her to know when teeth brushing time is over (and therefore minimize the number--well, and length--of the fit), we have one of her stuffed animals in the bathroom that plays music. We let her brush for a little while, then we start Ms. Elephant playing her music. If she thinks we are waiting too long to start the music, she points to Ms. Elephant and makes sounds like "you forgot to start the music!". Too cute.
• She's really gotten into stuffed animals (which she has a lot of!). Ms. Bunny, Ms. Rabbit and Mr. Bear are some of her favorites. Oh, and how could I forget Pooh!? Pooh plays music and she loves to carry him around listening to his music...and asking for more and more and more. She often likes to take a stuffed animal in the car. Currently, Bunny & Rabbit have made several journeys.
• Getting her in the car completely stinks. Its horrendous. She wants to go wherever we are going, but she prefers to run away from me and the car. I used to have Mr. Bear in the car which would get her to come to the car to give Mr. Bear a hug. Now, however, that doesn't work (or she's already taken them all in the house!). So, this past week, I've simply sat in the passenger front seat with the door open and ask her (repeatedly) if she's ready to go. She always says "yes" (which she says to most everything), but still takes her time coming to the car. It's the MOST frustrating thing! She doesn't do it for DH, but then he either holds her hand or carries her to the car. She also does it coming in the house. Lately, I've just been carrying her into the house since it's SO MUCH easier. And she doesn't object. Yet.
  
• She knows that red means stop and she recognizes stop signs. We'll be in the car and I hear her say "bop"...and sure enough, we're at a stop sign. She also knows that green means go. Now, knowing these things do NOT mean that she's any better at waiting at the red light! She still complains when we have to stop.
  

Sleep...you know things are really hit or miss at our house. What we have had the MOST success with right now is having her sleep with us. It's not ideal, but it helps all of us sleep. Ultimately, that's most important right now. I have noticed that once the ibuprofen wears off is when she begins stirring. If I don't get her another dose right away, we're up for at least an hour while waiting for it to kick in. In fact, the best way for her to get back to sleep is simply to sit in the rocking chair with her. If I do, it can often just be 30 minutes or so. Sometimes less, sometimes more. I'm desperately hoping these teeth come in very soon. Although, I know that right now we'll just have the bottom ones in, at least we'll be half way there!

That's the best I can think of right now...I'm sure there are a TON more things I'd want to put on here...but they are not coming to mind right now.

Swimming, again.

It's been hotter than blazes down here...heat index horrific. Megan & I broke the pool out this week to cool off (well, she cooled off..and I took photos!)

This is the "million dollar shot"
(except she wiggled..and its blurry. there goes my million dollars. crap.)

This is a close 2nd...

I need to update on so many things...but Megan is trying to hijack the computer mouse, so it'll have to wait...

Please Pray for Kate

2009, where, oh where have you gone??

I'm not sure how it can be July already...but alas, it is...we've had a busy few days...

Today we picked up a new pool from my friend, Audrey.
It has a slide...which Megan LOVED going down!
Since she decided to skip nap today, the pool helped pass the afternoon.


Megan & mommy got haircuts yesterday.
Megan's hair is still long...don't worry!

Brenda (the lady who cuts my hair) gave Megan this bike...
she's hardly gotten off it since we put it together last night! (We should have waited until morning for her to see it put together..she didn't want to go to bed last night)
Her little legs are too short to work the peddles, but she walks with it--quite successfully, I might add--around the entire house.

She is fascinated with ice. Whenever the dogs get one, she has to have one too, or she takes theirs.

We've started the month off busy!!! It doesn't look to be slowing down until we get back from Boston.

Words now include: baby, book, read, papa, stop, go, hey, up, bye, hello, whoa, mom, dad, apple, shoe, church, ball, day, beep-beep Irish, diaper, bubble, eat, hi...and she's constantly babbling...we're making progress!

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!