Fun with Uncle Corbin

Last Friday we went to the South Davis rec center. We had a blast and it was a good way to use one of Patrick's days off.

P.s. we have recent good news...Patrick was finally hired full-time with the state. He is no longer an intern and we have health insurance! It's fabulous. Megan and I are grateful for such a good husband and dad.

Anyway, we went swimming at South Davis rec and then just walked around. It is a fun place, but it's so expensive we can't go as often as we'd like. Here are some pics. The rock climbing picture is for Curtis...it was taken with him in mind. He'd be so proud to know we're teaching his niece to rock climb young! :)

Happy Holidays!

Watch out...way too many blog posts are on their way! ;)

We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year. And so we went to Idaho. This year was a little different though because we went to Susan and Mike's in Idaho Falls rather than going to Grandma and Grandpa's farm. It was different, but still good. We will miss Thanksgiving at Grandma's house. I have almost no pictures of Thanksgiving, but I wanted to remember this year since it is the beginning of new Shively Thanksgiving traditions.

Here are a few pics of Megan from the car ride and one of her outside. It was such a warm Thanksgiving!

Merry Christmas!

So happy it's Christmas!

Our Sunday

This has certainly been a weekend to remember. That wind was incredible. The wind came on Thursday morning, so these pictures (taken on Sunday) of our cul-de-sac are certainly after a lot of clean up. Seeing our neighborhood looking like a war zone kept reminding me of these lines from How Great Thou Art:

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed.

The root system of the huge pine tree that fell in our front yard.

And the huge hole that pine tree left in our front yard.

Patrick out working. Church was cancelled. Our ward cleaned up from 9-4.

A big tree down at the end of our street.

And one of the piles in our neighborhood that had to be cut, loaded, and hauled to the dump.

Happy Halloween and Fall!

Yep. She's 1.

Well this is my last monthly update. Can't believe we made it all the way to 1.


12 things about Megan for the 12 months she's been alive:

1. Fruit, fruit, fruit. She'd eat it all day if I'd let her.
2. Oh, and crackers. She can't get enough of those either.
3. She is starting to wave and smile and be goofy for people. And she loves waving hello to everyone at church.
4. She is understanding more and more words everyday. But can't really say many. "Pup" for puppy and "Ba" for ball are her favorites of the moment.
5. She will put on a cheesy grin for the camera.
6. Now that she is getting better at communicating what she wants with pointing and grunting, she thinks she should get what she wants all the time. Hello tantrums.
7. Being outside is like heaven for her.
   
8. She does not like milk. Warm or cold. From a cup or a bottle. She won't have it.
9. She loves her cousin Jenna.
10. She is helpful when we get her dressed. She will lift her arms or legs. Although she's only helpful if she's not trying to run away!
11. We are trying to teach her the concept of "soft." Especially around my parents dog. She is starting to catch on and is soft about half of the time. Maybe more.
    
12. And her stats for the month:

• Height: 29.9 inches (76th percentile)
• Weight: 21 lbs 15 oz (56th percentile)
• Head Circ.: 44.2 cm (24th percentile)
  

We love you Megan Joy. Keep being happy and crazy!

Happy 1st Birthday Megan

No Good Very Bad Day

Three or so Saturdays ago we had a not so fun day. Megan was throwing up for no apparent reason, Megan's room flooded through the window, and Patrick sprained his ankle really badly while playing basketball. Why is it that bad things seem to happen in groups?

Patrick's ankle is still working on healing. It is looking a lot better, but it's still swollen and giving him grief once in a while. Here are pictures from a week or so after. This is after the bruising had calmed down a bit. I'm sure you all wanted to see them. :)

11 Months

Okay okay. This post is coming like 1 week before Megan turns 1, but I still wanted to get a little something down before she has been around a whole 365 days! :)

It will be a short post because I can hardly remember what she did before she was 11 months and what she's learned since then, but I can remember a few things.

The big accomplishment for the month is walking. She started walking just a week or two after she turned 10 months. Now she is a total pro. I love watching her stomp around and seeing her legs look more and more like toddler legs. She's losing those rolls! This is a video I took of her a few days after she really started to give walking a try.

Here's what she's been up to other than walking:

- 2 more teeth. She now has 8. They are so goofy and crooked. I love them.
- She loves her blankies. It doesn't matter which blanket it is. She loves them all.
- She is getting more and more into books. But her version of reading is turning the pages as fast as she can. Maybe someday she'll figure out the words are good too. What can I say, she's a mover.
- She also has a strange love for the couch (as you can tell by the pictures above, they are pretty much all next to the couch). Laying on it, climbing on it, and playing hide and seek by it are definitely some of her favorite things lately. Pretty much anything is better when you're on the couch.

Summer 2011

Patrick and I do exist. Hard to believe I know since I only post things about Megan. But we are alive and we acutally do things. So this is going to be a pictureless update about us. Pictureless because we are far less cute than Megan and I am bad at taking pictures.

So Patrick first...

Patrick is still working for the state. He was hired as an intern in January and has worked there since then. It is not our ideal job, but it pays the bills and we are grateful that although his internship was supposed to end in June it has continued through the summer and will continue for as long as we'd like. We are looking for other jobs/opportunities for him and hopefully we will know what he should be doing soon. :)

Patrick has also been schooling. He is such a trooper. I don't know how he leaves at 6:30 and comes home at 9:30 without complaining and then does homework on top of that, but Megan and I are grateful. And we can't wait until school is over so we can have a just plain working dad (still about a year to go though...).

He also stays busy with playing basketball as much as he can and reading Harry Potter.

Now me...

I think I am the most boring person of the family. :) But I have been trying to grow a garden this summer. Things haven't gone as well as I hoped, but we had a far less than ideal piece of land to grow plants on and an unexperienced gardener. And the garden didn't stay as weed free as I'd like because Megan is a total handful outside. I can't be weeding while she crawls around because she will end up eating dirt or bugs or bark. But, we've got potatoes and beans and some tomoatoes. So it's fun.

I have also been studying for the CPA exam and trying to find some sort of flexible work to help ease Patrick's load now that I feel a little more compentent at the motherhood thing. Finding jobs has not gone as well as I'd like and it's sort of frustrating, but I hope something will come when the time is right. I passed 2 parts of the CPA exam and have 2 left. That's usually what I spend naptime doing...studying.

I have also worked on a quiet book for Megan which has been fun. I'm not done yet, but maybe I'll post pictures when I've finished.

So there you have it. A post about the parents of Megan. Maybe we'll make an appearance in a picture someday soon.

10 Months

My goodness this summer is flying by. I keep meaning to post something other than an age update about Megan, but the months keep slipping away and I still haven't done it.

Megan is 10 months now. She is a mover and a shaker. Her worst enemy is sitting still. :)

Her accomplishments for the month:

- She stands like a pro. She can stand on her own for longer and longer everyday. She can also stand up without using a couch or the like. She can just stand from sitting.

- She loves walking with things. But she can't do it on her own yet. She's taken a step or two on her own, but nothing consistent.

- She loves clapping.

- She grinds her teeth. Yuck. She has 6 of them. 4 on top and 2 on bottom.

- She sleeps less lately. Shorter naps and waking up earlier in the morning.

- She loves playing with cars and trucks. Basically anything she can push around.

- She says mama and I think she actually knows what it means. She is more mama clingy than I'd like.

- Trip to St. George with Frost cousins.

- Opens drawers and cupboards.

9 Months

Megan is 9 months today. Wow! Time flies. She is becoming more and more like a little toddler. She is such a cutie. We love her to death!




Updates on the little girl:

- Real crawling is now the norm. And she is getting faster everyday I swear!
- She stands up to things like a pro. She will let go and stand for a bit (maybe 20 seconds) and when she has her hand on something to help her balance it usually isn't doing much.
- She loves being outside! Loves loves loves it. But she is such a handful outside. She wants to touch and eat everything. In fact she ate a huge spider web a few weeks ago. So gross!
- She has mastered her little pincers. She loves eating bread and cheerios and anything else we'll give her by herself in the high chair.
- She has 4 teeth now. But not the 4 you'd expect. The 2 middle bottom teeth (normal) and the 2 outside incisors on top (strange...). I wonder when the top middle teeth will decide to come in...
- She loves dogs! Grandma and Grandpa Clayson have one and now Jamie and Dwight and she is crazy about them. Watch out dogs because Megan is coming to get you!
- She follows her cousin Nathaniel around everywhere whenever he's around. And sometimes Nathaniel is a little cutie and crawls around with her. So fun!
- She is finally starting to sleep well again. Hopefully we have a break in the teething action so this continues. Teething and sleeping don't go together in Megan's book!

Her 9 Month Stats:

Height: 28.43 inches -> 76th percentile
Weight: 19 lbs 6.5 oz -> 58th percentile
Head Circ.: 43 cm -> 20th percentile

Pool Time!