After days and hours of practice with Grandma, Megan can finally do "the fish face." Those fat little cheeks can really disappear when it's time to show off! She's full of tricks and new words lately...guess what the newest one is? Wal-mart! Oh my gosh, my 1 year old says Wal-mart! What does that say?

Megan's friends, Tyler and Wesley, came over for dinner on Friday night. We had spaghetti and salad for dinner, followed by a red velvet cake. Tyler and Megan were covered in orange sauce - they looked like Oompa Loompas (hence why she is half naked again). After dinner the kids played very hard!

Everyone has a comfort - something that makes them feel secure and perhaps even warm and fuzzy. To some people it's money or food or shopping or chocolate or a blanket, etc. I am comforted by people. Two of my brothers live out of state, and I miss them tremendously. We talk and email regularly, and now webcam, but it isn't the same. It is frustrating that I only get to see them a few times a year. There are so many things that I wish we could do together more often, yet I usually have to share them when we get together and try to cram everything into a short visit. Such is life. When they're not around, I am comforted when I see their friends. It makes me think of Matt and Jeff, and the memories flood. I love those moments. Tonight I watched Jeff and two of his friends, Adrian and Bo, in the stands. I see both of his friends way more than I do Jeff, but tonight I got to see them all together again...which will give me yet another memory to reflect upon later when I really miss him.

Man, Meg's Uncle Scotty is a good wrestler! He pinned both of his opponents tonight in no time - in fact we missed the first one it was so quick. Not only is he a great wrestler, but he's a great team captain, too. We are SO proud of him. He was interviewed about wrestling on TV today at school...it was a great interview (I got to see it)! Oh, and a birdie told us that he is ranked #8 in the state in his weight class!!!!!!!!! Congrats, Uncle Scott!

Megan loves crackers. LOVES them. She would eat crackers for every meal and snack if we'd let her. She also loves to share her food now. Put two and two together, and you get what happened to me tonight. Megan was eating crackers and Kix. She decided to feed some to me. I'd hand them to her and she'd put them in my mouth. She likes it when I pretend to bite her fingers, etc. We laughed and carried on for quite a while. We were at Uncle Scotty's wrestling match, so I kind of got distracted. Next thing I know, Megan is trying to feed me again. How sweet. Except for when this fish cracker hit my lips, it didn't feel quite like the others. It was slimy and cold. Ewwwww....seriously, she took one out of her mouth and tried to put it into mine! NO WAY! But, in refusing the cracker (and possibly because someone yelled at a wrestler) it made her pucker up and cry! Hard! So, I've disappointed Megan again today. (I got home while she was napping today, so Gran wasn't there to pick her up out of bed when she woke up - 20 minute meltdown!)

Sunday night I was putting food and dishes away when I noticed a $20 bill in the little magnet holder on our fridge. I asked Megan and Daddy who's money it was and why it was there...they had no idea where it came from and neither do I! We had several family members over for Megan's party on Sunday, and so far no one can clear up the mystery. Heck, I've been in such a frazzled state lately that for all I know it has been there for a month! If it is someone's money, we'd like to return it. If it is a "donation," we'd like to thank the altruistic person!

Megan's birthday party was a very small family party. If you've ever seen Megan around an American flag, you'd definitely understand the choice of theme. I made the cakes (Jello poke cakes) and we had pizza. Again, very low key. At first, she didn't dive into her cake; she picked off the strawberries and ate them whole! I finally smashed her hands in it to get her started. It was a mess. We're still finding smashed cake around the house! If you'd like to see the video, please email me and I'll send the link. (Put your mouse over the side show to get the little explanations for each picture, if needed.)

We went to watch Uncle Scotty wrestle on Saturday. Megan LOVES to watch, and clap, but she does not like it when people "yell" (cheer). In fact, she got to go sit with Uncle Scotty on the team bench, but when he tried to coach, Megan got all bent out of shape. She had to leave the bench in order to compose herself. She got to wear Uncle Scotty's hat and play on the mat with Grandpa.

Megan, Daddy, and I went to Outback Steakhouse for our birthday dinner. While Megan thought we were okay company for a while, she quickly tired of us. First her head flopped forward, then backward, and finally forward again. She slept there for a good 10 minutes. It was nice to be able to finish our meals! This was the first time - ever- that she fell asleep while eating. (sorry, pics are from Daddy's camera phone in the dark!)

Meg first celebrated her birthday with a trip to Dr. H's office with Daddy and Gran (Mommy had to work). She weighed 20 lbs. 13 oz (50th) and was 30 inches (90th). She had to get her toe pricked for the iron test, and her Daddy said she sat there while they stuck her and didn't even move or scream. She did scream and throw a huge fit when they laid her down to measure her length. Go figure. She lucked out big time - due to the snow/ice yesterday, the Dr.'s office didn't get a shipment of shots, so Megan didn't have to get shots today! BUT, she'll have to get them next week. :( Since Megan loves to carefully isolate and throw her veggies off of her high chair tray, Dr. H gave Daddy lots of ideas on how to sneak veggies into meals. Watch out, Meg!

This evening we went to dinner with Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Scotty. She had a wonderful mixture of all of our meals - mashed potatoes and toast from Grandpa; chicken, tomatoes, and mandarin oranges from Uncle Scotty and Grandma; broccoli , carrots, and salmon from Daddy; and pears from DelMonte. I didn't share anything from my plate since I got bad fried foods! Shame on me! She also learned how to do "fish face" with Grandma...

Oh, I just love this girl! She's such a good kid. I love watching her learn, observe, perform, eat, sleep, etc. Even her tantrums are kind of cute (as long as I'm about 3 feet away). What a delight!

Much to the dismay of my mom and mother-in-law, and like the neurotic mother that I am, I held off until the we received the go-ahead from the Dr. to flip Megan's car seat around. I expected her to be SO excited, and at least kick, flap, or something, but eh, all she did was just sit there. Big whoop. Oh, and give me this bogus face when I tried to capture the moment.

Yeah, sorry...I started it out wrong, but I flip it...hang on.

Snow and ice twice this week and more on the way!

I woke up this morning, took a shower, started to get ready, and turned on the news to see what was going on in the world. Low and behold, it snowed last night! Lots! On the 10:00 news last night they said MAYBE some flurries but nothing really. However, we got a lot of snow and ice overnight. All of the area school districts flashed "closed" at the bottom of the screen except for the one that I work for now. And then it happened...they joined the masses and closed! Whoo hoo! One more day home with my girl! Daddy's work closed, too! Since this is Meg's first real snow (ice doesn't count), we bundled her up and took her outside. Little did we know she'd make breakfast out of it. She ate lots of snow off of the driveway....mmmm...tasty.

Megan is not supposed to touch the mini-blinds, but today when we told her to stop she'd put her head on the blinds and mumble (of course before I got the camera). Then she decided to hold the string and flick her little wrist each time Daddy told her not to hold the blinds. Don't worry, he finally got firm with her!

As some of you know, I'm back to teaching for the next four weeks. ONLY four days a week for four weeks. One of the few reasons I took the job is because it has a definite beginning (today) and end (February 12th). So how do I feel about it? Bittersweet. I'm sad, but glad for the opportunity. A friend of mine said today that she knows that I genuinely like to help and teach kids. This is true. But I also LOVE staying home with Megan - more! Therefore, I'm looking at it as an investment. With the money I'm making over the next month, it will help me stay home MUCH longer (oh yeah, the pay was one of the other few reasons)! Megan is staying with her Gran during the days I'm working, and she'll be home with me on Fridays. She was with Gran today, and apparently their activites wore her out! I thought we'd come home and play hard, since we weren't together all day, but all Meg wants to do is sleep!! How's that? So, I'm working, taking care of a kiddo, trying to maintain a household and marriage, and turning 30 this week. Give me a break if the blog isn't updated, please!

We finally found a way to keep Megan still for more than 30 seconds at a time - Daddy's boots! It was funny to watch her try to walk; she just kind of rotated her hips left and right. Yeah, I'm a little partial, but look at that smile!! :)

Can you tell we're bored today? We're stuck inside due to the winter storm.

The 70's shag got too close to the eyes, so Gran came to the rescue today. We spared the curls, but trimmed her bangs. She looks so much better! I can actually see her eyes.

Meg has three teeth now; two on bottom and one on top. The top tooth came in the other day, and I had no idea until I heard this weird noise. It was a piercing, scraping noise similar to fingernails on a chalkboard. Come to find out, it was Megan grinding her bottom and top teeth! It sounds horrible, but she loves it! She does it off and on all day. We're a tad bit worried because her bottom two teeth are crooked...very crooked. Do they make baby braces???

Yes, only wearing a diaper in the middle of winter...These are some of the signs that Megan knows. Not making an appearance in this video: up, cat, eat, and sleep.

Never a dull moment around here. Meg has really started communicating with us, but 95% of the time we have no idea what she is saying. If I ask her, "Hey, what are you doing?" she answers, sometimes a long winded answer, but it's Greek to me. She also says many recognizable words....more and more every day!

Just in case you haven't heard the news yet, the Cowboys lost tonight. Our Daddy is not very happy. Therefore, use caution if you plan to call or speak to him anytime soon. All they had to do was kick a field goal and 'ole Romo had to mishandle the snap...well, after all the other crap that went awry towards the end of the game. Anyway, you've been warned. (Good thing Meg was asleep during the 4th quarter since she's big on repeating everything we say...) I'll let you know when the coast is clear over here.

We spent all day Friday at Uncle Scott's wrestling tournament. Megan was so good, considering we had to keep her up off the nasty school floor for about 10 hours. She took a nap on Grandma, ate lunch with Granna and Double G, walked to the other school with Grandpa, and spent quite a bit of time clapping and cheering for Uncle Scott. Uncle Scott went 3 and 2, with some great wins - one against a Pennsylvania team! Grandma has better pictures of the tournament, but the only snapshots I have (because I videoed everything I could) were of Megan and Daddy reading books between duals. I'll get better photos up soon.

Apparently, Megan's resolutions consist of: eating less, playing more, sleeping less, pooping more. I hope she breaks some of them...

As for the Mommy? Yep, I make them every year....and break them soon after. However, this year I'm going to keep this one. My resolution this year is "it's all about me." Let me explain. Am I turning 100% selfish and forgetting everyone else? NO! I'm just going to start taking care of one person that has been tossed aside lately...me! I'm irritated at myself for allowing people to walk all over me and/or tell me what to do. So, I'm going to take care of myself by paying attention to what I want (within reason). I'm just not going to be bullied or pushed around anymore. Perhaps Daddy is taking this a little far...we were grocery shopping last night, and I asked for suggestions for dinner. He said, "What do you want? It's your year!" HA! I started the year off with a shorter haircut and some color...yikes!

Meg, Daddy, and I spent New Year's Eve over at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Megan took charge of the entertainment, as usual. She was all over the place and into everything! It took the watchful eyes of every adult there to keep her under control. Later in the evening, Megan used Grandpa as a jungle gym while we were all trying to play cards. Grandpa even gave Megan her own cards, but she just couldn't keep from eating them.
** I updated the post below w/a new picture and a new video.**