Santafest 2008!

Remember Meg's first picture with Santa in 2007?



Well... what a difference a year makes!!



We are all feeling much better, so we headed out to go see Santa and follow that up with a treat of frozen yogurt - yum!!! It was 82 degrees here today - not the kind of weather for dressing up in tights and a Christmas dress. LOL!

At least the photographers took 3 pictures and we could pick the best one. The first one, Meg had a look of absolute horror to be sitting with these people. The second one was a little better, but she still wasn't looking all that convinced that this was a good idea (flash back to the pumpkin patch picture). This was the third one after they talked to her for a bit and said they had a piece of candy for her. Did someone say "Candy"??? All is right with the world now!!

Meg is off all breathing treatments - we have them on standby to make it through the winter just in case. They made her so stinking hyper and we were doing them per orders of every 4-6 hours. She stopped sleeping!!!! My good sleeper, who usually sleeps 10-11 hours at night, was only sleeping 1 hour (or less) at a time and then she was up, ready to play! Even at 2am. She was like this for 2 nights and then we got smart.

She has a third tooth on the bottom now (on the right, next to the center two)! It came in last week in the middle of her sickness. AND at her followup appt on Tuesday, the doctor said one of her molars is coming in on the bottom left. Holy cow - poor kid!

We're All Sick.

Yep - everyone.

Meg has another bottom tooth now.... along with bronchitis and possibly the beginnings of pneumonia. She's on breathing treatments with a nebulizer and antibiotics.

It's been grand....

More Teeth!

Meg has been Little Miss Cranky lately - all thanks to 2 more teeth coming in on top!!! One popped through on the top left 2 weekends ago, and the one on the right is coming through now. She has 8 teeth now - 2 on the bottom, 6 on top. We keep waiting for more on the bottom so she can "balance out". LOL! Everyone says "oh look at her two little teeth!" and I say "and there's 6 more on top that you can't see!". So don't stick your fingers in her mouth - yowie!

She has been doing great in her new class! She's taking naps on the cot instead of a crib and she's going down without a binky! Yippee!!! We had went cold turkey on all bottles the last time she had a stomach bug and couldn't have any dairy right before her birthday. We were going to work on the binky next. She only has one in her crib at night, I usually don't let her take it out of her room. Giving it up at night will be our next trick.

Meg is doing a lot more walking than crawling! In school, the teachers get her to walk to each new station or activity. At home, she walks to Biscuit, thinking she can grab on when she gets there and then the dog jumps out of the way at the last second. She gets mad about that! Meg has learned how to use her scooter and as Bill says, our furniture will never be the same. LOL! Her absolute favorite toy right now is the box that Bill brought all the sugar pie pumpkins home in. Crawl in and crawl out, put toys in and take toys out, push and pull the box around all day long. She just loves sitting in it! When it breaks, we are going to have a hard time finding another one as sturdy and then we'll have some real toddler 'tude on our hands!

Things are very busy around our house right now.... so if I don't post again in the next few days, I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Historic Election

To all of you that voted early or stood in line yesterday to make your voices heard... no matter which candidate you support... THANK YOU for voting!!

12 Month Stats!

Meg had a check-up this morning!

length: 31.5" inches (98%)
weight: 21 pounds, 1.2 ounces (52%)

Tall! No wonder she can still fit into her 9 month clothes as long as they are 2 pieces! The Gymbo 12-18 month clothes (mainly the rompers and pants) still seem a little big for her, as do her Hanna size 80's even though she is right in the middle of the size charts. Her size 4 shoes are still a little big on her feet too but I know this will all change very quickly.

She's being transitioned to the next toddler room at school since she is standing and walking now. We've also been told that she is one of the more dominant kids in the current class and the teachers had to remove some play structure in the room because Meg would just bowl it over instead of playing with it quietly. I really hope she doesn't become Little Miss Bossy. Yesterday, she spent half the day in the new room. It was pretty evident to me because when she got home, she was standing and walking more than usual. I know she's trying to keep up with the bigger kids. The note said she did really well - and even participated in their circle time. She knows what circle time is... when she was at the kid gym, they called everyone to the circle. All the kids sat on the edge of it, Meg crawled and sat right in the center of it!

Happy 1st Birthday Meaghan!!

A year ago today, we met our sweet little Meaghan for the very first time. She was not even 24 hours old and she was so small. Bill and I had a discussion at lunch today, looking back at that moment and about our week in Iowa while we waited for the legal paperwork to be filed and approved. It was such a wonderful time for us to bond and be a family.

This was the first picture I took of the little angel:


Well a fast year later, and here we are! It's Meaghan's first birthday party! Things don't always go as planned as moms of toddlers already know. With the time change, it definitely threw things for a loop a bit. Naps were off and with us having a busy weekend, it just went crazy pretty fast. Then we were trying to hurry things along since we had some guests that had to leave early. All the food was very good though!!! I did forget about the tub of potato salad in the refrigerator!

Meg got a pink pokey ball from Grammy and Granddad!!


The Pooh Surprise birthday cupcake cake!


"I don't want this stupid hat on - what are you all looking at?"


"Stop all the singing - I don't like cake!"


For all of you that say my child never cries..... here was the big melt down.


Ding ding! Cake - round 2! Meg did a little exploring with a spoon.


And then she got dirty so all was not right with the world again.


Clean up - Biscuit, where are you??


Meg went into the bathtup and then we decided to take a break from the cake and open presents!


A box!


"I don't know how to work this thing, but it makes good noises!"


"Ohhh another toy!"


Grammy and Papa got Meg her very own rocking chair!


"How does this thing work??"


Grammy and Granddad found a scooter for Meg!


"Ohhhh streamers!"


"It's good to be me!"


Ding ding! Cake - round 3!













In the end, Meaghan does like cake after all. She apparently is just not a big fan of getting dirty. After a second bath and some playing with her new toys, she was back to her normal self!!! She was one tired little girl.

Next year I'm sure will be hard to keep her out of the cake and she will want to smash it when we don't want her to!

All of these pictures were taken by my brother Jon! Thank you!!!!!!! :)

More Walking!

"I rock!!!"

Halloween Pics

Happy Halloween!!

Wow!

Today is a big day at school! They are having a big Halloween party and a kid parade. Meaghan is Tigger. We tried it on her last night and she is cute as can be! I wasn't so sure she'd be happy to wear the head part but once she saw herself in the mirror, she thought it was very funny. Bill is taking pictures at the party today and I'll have my camera back for the big pictures tonight. We carved two pumpkins last night that we purchased from the great pumpkin patch - they don't last very long here in Florida!

I can't believe it is almost Meaghan's birthday. This time last year, I was going completely insane, trying to distract myself. We hadn't put up any decorations, nor did we have any candy in the house because we were so close to traveling for Meaghan's birth! I sent Bill to the store on the way home from work and he pulled in with the candy loot literally 5 minutes before the first door bell rang!

It's been an amazing year. I've revisited all of Meaghan's pictures, pulling together the year update for Meg's first mom, H. It's hardest for me to write the letters because I get very emotional. I love telling H all about what has happened since the last update but I know they must be bittersweet for her. The best part is pulling all the pictures - the places we've been, the things we have done, the funny faces, new milestones. I alternate between laughing and crying and sometimes both at the same time!

Meg has grown so quickly and every day I am reminded what a blessing and true miracle she is. My life will never be the same. She has made me a better person. She made us a family.

The Great Pumpkin Patch

Ooooohhhh... pumpkins!!!

I spy a sticker!

No.... I'm not pulling it off.... it was some other kid, so I'm just fixing it!

Pumpkins are fun!

Can we come here everyday?

Seriously - why do you think this is a fun place for me to sit? And why are you laughing?

I like sitting here much better!

My pumpkin!
Noooooo, not time to go home yet!

Laundry Time!

If you have a front loading washer, you probably keep the door open, like we do, so it can dry out between uses. Yesterday morning, I was washing breakfast dishes, and it was quiet.....

Little Miss Helper was doing her thing:











Everything was pretty much sorted into that pile for washing anyway, so she finished loading it all in, I put the soap in. When it was time to move the clean clothes into the dryer, Meg was right there! I handed her each piece from the washer and she put it into the dryer. She was sooooo proud of herself!

She also likes "cleaning" the coffee table and floor with a hand towel. She is fascinated with my feather dusters! I wonder if this trend will continue????