Ever since Gran played this song for Megan the other day, she has been doing the "macaroni" dance all over the house. She LOVES it. She asks for it over and over and over again. But she's not content with dancing by herself; oh no, we must all join in with her. Even Papa's been caught dancing with Meg. We don't do the actual moves for the dance, we just groove and shake it.

"The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize." - Steel Magnolias.

Today we went to lunch and shopping at Hobby Lobby with Granna and Double G. At HL, Megan informed me that she needed to go to the big girl potty. Off we went. Once inside and ready, Megan refused to go. She wanted Double G to come in and "hear" her go pee-pee. She kept telling me to "go get'im Double G." I tried to explain that Double G couldn't come into the girls' bathroom, but she really didn't care. So she wouldn't go pee-pee.

This morning I had a flashback to my childhood (no offense to my parents) and a sneak peek to kindergarten through graduation...Megan and I woke up late for school! I ran around the house like a chicken with my head cut off, and we barely made it. I threw her lunch together, threw her together, ran my fingers through my hair, and took off. (To my parents and siblings: it's amazing how much of the "pigs" lecture I remembered as I drove her to school this morning!)

Megan went to the Ranger's game with Mommy, Daddy, my friend Karen, her sister Julie, Grandma, Cati, Gran, and Papa. We were a rowdy bunch! It was a very exciting game with back and forth scoring. Megan "loves" fireworks, but only if she can't see or hear them. Go figure. Gran got smart and covered her ears for the homerun fireworks, and that did the trick. For those of you wondering if "cheesy smile" still exists, see for yourself! :) And for those of you who haven't seen me in a while, check out the freakishly curly hair! I have no control. It's curlier (is that a word?) than ever.

I get it all the time, "How's it going living with the in-laws?" It's really not bad at all! We all come and go, we have company to interact with, they give us our space, etc.

EXCEPT: I went to the freezer today for a treat, because I deserve one, and someone has found my stash of Snickers Ice Cream Bars. They are all gone! Instead of just blaming Daddy, and ripping into him, I have to do some investigating...there are other people visiting the freezer these days.... :)

Megan's personality is really starting to show. She is constant, full of energy, random, distracted, fun, hilarious, sweet, talkative, etc, etc, etc. She's always making us laugh.

It's hard to capture her personality in a photograph, and she is rarely still enough to video, so today I just let the video camera run while she was contained and ate her snack. There are two, (I won't be offended if you don't watch all of them), but it'll at least give you an idea of her little personality right now. (My yapping in the background is more to help translate for you!)

Most of the reason I keep this blog is to keep family and friends informed of Meg's adventures. I also keep it, selfishly, for myself. It's my therapy, my journal, my outlet, if you will. I named it "ramblings" for a reason; just in case I ever decided to start rambling about random things, then I had warned you ahead of time that ramblings could occur. I believe today is such a day. So you've been warned...do not blame me if your eyes glaze over and your head hits the keyboard, thus imprinting qwerty on your forehead (but then at least I'll know next time I see you...).

Here is my quandry...should Megan be an only child? How do you know whether or not "one" is the starting point or stopping point? I've asked around and gotten so many different responses from "don't do it...wish we hadn't..." to "I'd have 10 more if I could afford them...", etc. But how does that decision become resolved? I think about this everyday and of course like most things, I've over-analyzed it to death, but it's a big question.

I've known several only children and have varying opinions about an "only child." If we only have one kid she could have much more, I could go back to work sooner, I wouldn't ever have to go through pregnancy again, we could probably save money, we'd only have one schedule to follow for sports, dance, etc, we wouldn't have to split time with her and a sibling, and various other reasons.

BUT, being the oldest of five kids, there are so many things that I think I couldn't have learned without having brothers and a sister. Siblings provide a ton of life lessons that Megan couldn't get anywhere else. I've reflected on being the oldest, and a sister, and I would hate for her to miss out on some of the good and bad situations I've faced. If I wasn't a sister I would've:

• never learned the finer points to fighting, biting, scratching, pulling, chasing, hitting, etc.
• gone on dates alone, instead of with a 3 year old little boy saying, "no more kissing, and I mean it."
• never dropped my life to run out to Utah when a sibling needed me.
• had $500 or more when I taught the same year a sibling was a senior in high school and came panhandling for lunch money.
• never been stressed during November - February (wrestling season) as all brothers competed.
• never been a bridesmaid three times in six months.
• never gotten a phone call from my sister thanking me for all I do as the oldest.
• lived alone while my husband traveled instead having a brother live with me - which by the way, I think helped me grow as an adult more than any other experience in my life.
• never had to lick my food in order to make sure it was mine and no one else would touch it.

Hmmmm...I'll keep thinking on it. It's fun to be a sister, but Megan might not have the attitude towards being a sibling as I have. Hmmmm....

Megan and I are suffering the first bouts of allergy season. She's got a sinus infection, and I've got ear infections. Antibiotics are flowing freely over here...except she won't take hers and mine is taking it's sweet time to take effect. If you call, and I don't answer my phone, it's because I can't hear!!! Poor Gran has taken Megan duty for the past two days while I moan and groan in pain. I've tried find my benefits paperwork for being a stay-at-home-mom, but apparently I don't have any!!! :)

Sitting at the game...relaxing...pointing out players to my girl.
Megan: Oh, I-na (means need or want) go big girl potty!
Mommy: For real? Now?
Megan: Yep!
So we go. And she goes.

Couple hours later, I'm sitting at the game...relaxing...cheering with my girl.
Megan: I-na go big girl potty!
Mommy: Again? For real?
Megan: Yep!
So we go (pictured above). Dry diaper. And she goes.

Folks, this is our life now. I do not, repeat do not, want to be potty training, but she asks to go - and goes - all day long! She probably went 10 times today. I'm not ready for accidents, pulling over on a whim, running to the bathroom, carrying 3 changes of clothes, cheering in public (it's bound to happen), and all things associated with potty. NOT ready.

Papa, Gran, Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy, Megan, and I went to the Ranger's game tonight for Fireworks night. Megan LOVES the horsey (Ranger's mascot), so Daddy got her a horsey stuffed toy - oh and he found a new girly hat for her, too. With both grandparents at the game, Meg had plenty of laps to bounce around to and on. She got to see Saltalamacchia, learned how to say Catalanotto, and drew pictures with Gran. Big night! But when the fireworks started, she was outta there! "I-na go home!" Once we got in the car, she was fine and loving them. Figures.

Every year we get together with Gran's family for lunch. This year we met at Pappadeaux's. The kids and grandkids took up an entire table, and really not many brave souls ventured over to our end of the room. It was probably just a little overwhelming to even look our way. It's good to see the family, and if nothing else, find out what everyone is up to and how they are all doing. Oh, and we get to catch up on the latest stories, of course. Megan ate, but was way more interested in walking outside...as were all the grandkids.

We've been living with Gran and Papa for two weeks now, and I must say things are going pretty smoothly. Megan still doesn't quite understand when Gran leaves the house or when we leave without Gran, but it's getting better when we leave. Daddy, Megan and I are getting the good end of the deal around here. I feel like such a slob...Gran comes behind me and cleans up after me all the time (even though I beg her not to)! We do have a pretty cool cooking arrangement; I cook dinner and she does the dishes. Perfect for us because she doesn't mind dishes, but doesn't like to cook; vice-versa for me. She's also given me a scrapbook table/room where I can leave my stuff out all the time and work on it when I get a chance! What exactly is our contribution? We provide the entertainment in the form of Megan. :)

I don't refer to myself as clueless for nothing. I just don't understand toddlers. Cousin Kati said it best when she said, "I think toddlers are bipolar." Megan is the exact opposite of what she was last week. Last week she would take medicine; this week she spits it out. Last week she liked going to the gym's kid watch; this week she screamed every time I took her in there. Last week she liked me; this week Gran is cool and Mommy is chopped liver. Last week she could hear; this week she acts like she's deaf when I talk to her. Last week she would eat; this week she chews her food and spits it out. Last week it was pee pee in the diaper; this week it's "big girl potty". And who the heck knows what next week will be like.

Megan made it through the first day of school! Her teacher said she was a great student. She cried for a while, and kind of whined during the day, but she still participated and had a great time. Her teacher is a friend of mine and knows how psychotic I am about pictures, so she took pictures of Megan throughout the day for me. Thank you, B! She definitely learned something today as she ran through the house when we got home screaming "God made me!" She painted an apple tree, as their letter for the day was "A". She also helped her class understand that "aquareen" starts with A. At lunch the little boy next to her had chips, and she tried her hardest to get him to trade a chip for a grape.

I am so excited for her to get to play with other kids and learn. I got a ton of work done here. A win-win as far as I'm concerned!

Today is Megan's first day of "school" (Mother's Day Out). We've been talking about it, pumping her up for the big day, and this morning she was running around clapping and cheering. Of course she picked out her Cowboys shirt to wear on her first day...just like her Mommy: no need to dress up and look frilly! This is a picture of her carrying her lunch out to the car with a happy look on her face. That didn't last. She walked into school and said, "No no no no...." and started wailing away. It's been an hour now, so I hope she has stopped. Now, what to do with myself for 4 more hours...

*Update: 3 hours down and 2 to go...I'm doing okay! Actually, I hope Megan is having a good time, too. I've gotten lots done, but I miss my girl!

Thanks to Crayola and Blues Clues, Megan is an expert at her colors lately. She announces colors as she sees them. But her favorite is "aqua-reene" (translation - aquamarine). She likes to look specifically for that color. Today we were looking for a new scrapbook, since we've outgrown the green one (hey, so what if she has 2 full albums for her first year???). As we walked up and down the aisle she would point and say, "That one...pink...this one...blue...that one...etc". But then, in the dramatic quiet, "AQUA-REENE...oh goodness...hold it." She got the aquamarine album, of course.

Cousin Kyler spent the night with Gran and Papa last night. He and Megan got to play together last night and today. It was a little difficult for the two of them to figure out this whole living situation, but they had some cute moments together. Kyler decided that Megan's room needed to be painted blue, so he got busy with his (imaginary) paint and paint roller. Megan was intrigued and painted, too. He had me bring him the paint can and would jump down off the bed to dip his roller into the paint. We're talkin' very imaginative and very realistic!

The grandkids are huge fans of Papa's "game." Megan got to play today...video below.