Hometown Holiday Weekend

Our town does a nice job of getting everyone in the holiday spirit with Hometown Holiday Weekend. It begins on Thursday evening with an evening parade where all the entries are lit up. We have started a tradition of going to eat at a place in town where the kids can decorate a cookie prior to the parade. This year Kelsey was able to do most of the decorating on her own, with just a little help to spread the frosting. Megan and Mommy looked on while Daddy and Kelsey decorated. By parade time, Megan fell asleep, so she and I watched from inside the restaurant while all the others went outside. We were gone the remainder of the weekend and did not get to participate in the other fun activities. One of the coolest parts of all it this year was that Kelsey was on the cover and inside of the brochure for the event!

9 months

Our beautiful little Megan is 9 months. And when I say little, I mean really little. She went to her 9 month appointment last week and she is weighing in at a whopping 15lbs. 2oz. which is the 2%. Her length was the 51%, so that makes her long and skinny like her big sister. Everything checked out great, and she is a healthy, happy girl which makes us very thankful.

Here is what she is up to right now:

She wears size 3 diapers.

She crawls 90mph. She can get across the room in no time at all.

Still wakes once a night for a little cuddle time and feeding with Mommy.

She ventures all over, including by the stairs. Kelsey never bothered the stairs, but I think we will need to get a gate for Megs.

She screams when she gets excited. Our daycare provider calls her a little screech owl.

She pulls herself up on the couch and can stand while holding on.

She says mama, dada and hi (which is more like hiiiiiiiiii as she is waving.)

She can walk if you hold her hands.

She can wave and clap.

She just started doing So Big by herself.

She still has no teeth. I am going to stop guessing when they are coming because I have thought they were coming many different times and she still has a gummy smile. Updates to come when they finally make their appearance.

She and Kelsey have started to interact more and more. She follows Kelsey around and Kelsey is more interested in playing with her now that Megan can sit up, crawl, and focus a little on what is going on.

She eats puffs and crackers along with baby food. We just started a sippy cup, but she likes to just bite on it right now.

Oh Megan, you are such a joy. Happy 9 month birthday! Love you to the moon and back!

Happy Thanksgiving

We spent our Thanksgiving with the Skala crew this year. As much as I love heading back home, the idea of not packing up and being here was pretty appealing, too. We had a delicious meal, watched the Packers beat the Lions, played games, searched the Black Friday ads, made a turkey craft with the kids, ate some more, and simply enjoyed each other's company. Kelsey has been so excited for Thanksgiving. She made a ring countdown at Mary's and was counting down the days until "we go to grandma's and eat turkey and green bean casserole." When Thursday morning rolled around, she woke up saying she had a headache. She was not her happy self all day either. Megan on the other hand made up for it because she was smiling from ear to ear most of the day. That night, Vickie, Diane, Stacey, and I went shopping at 10pm. We joined the craze! Tradition ladies?




On this Thanksgiving, I want to give thanks for my family. It was our first one as a family of four :) We are BLESSED to have health and happiness. We are thankful for a roof over our heads, food on the table, jobs that support our family, our freedom, our extended family and friends, and time that we get to be together. I am blessed to be the mother of two amazing daughters and an incredible husband. It is so important to reflect on what you have and never take them for granted. Thank you Lord for all that you have blessed us with!

Relaxing weekend

Our weekend was a relaxing one. We did the usual errands to get us out and about, but the rest of the time was pretty easy going. Sunday was church and breakfast, and afterward we put up the Christmas tree since we had the time. Kelsey did a great job helping. It was special to talk to her about the relevance of some of the ornaments and how they belonged to Grandma Sandy. Her favorite ornament was one that has a recording of Kelsey saying mama when she was just 5 months old. Megan did not seem to like the tree so far, which is probably a good thing with how busy she is right now. Hopefully she continues to leave it alone. Kelsey and I put the ornaments higher just in case Megan gets curious. I love weekends like this where there are no set plans and we can just be. Matt did go into school to get some work done, but we still had some wonderful family time. It even snowed for the first time on Saturday to add to the desire to stay in. I better enjoy this weekend because with the holiday season upon us, we are about to become one busy crew.

Cheerleaders and Name

Last weekend we took the girls to meet the Vikings cheerleaders. Megan thought they were so exciting that she fell asleep before we even got there. Kelsey thought it was pretty cool though. So did Daddy ;)

Kelsey has been working hard at writing her name. She was struggling with her K for awhile. She would make it in 3 strokes, and when she picked up her pencil for the third stroke, she often made it look more like an H. Mary has been working with her a lot, and we also take time at home to work on it. Kelsey was pretty frustrated at one point and would say, "I can't do it." So we backed off for a few days to see if that would help. Mary also worked on saying I think I can, I think I can. Something definitely clicked and here is her new result. We are so proud of you, Kelsey!

Crawling!

There is no doubt about it--our Megan is crawling! As soon as we put her down, she is on the move. And boy does she motor! She transfers from crawling to sitting and back in a matter of seconds, too. It seems to have happened so quickly. Plus, she is waving, clapping her hands, and getting into everything. A few of her favorites right now are the book stash, the picture frame with my mom in it, and the carbon monoxide detector. We have to watch her every move. Gone are the days of setting her down and her staying there. Another sign she is getting bigger. We are SO thankful to have a happy and healthy little crawler :)

8 months

Miss Megan is 8 months old. Here's what's new:

She is moving and grooving! She scoots, army crawls, rolls, pivots, and does just about everything she can to get from one side of the room to the other. She gets up on all fours and does crawl too, but usually it is just a few motions and then she goes back to what is easier for her. However, I give it a week and she will be fully crawling.

She weighs 15lbs.

She loves the remote. I remember Kelsey going through this phase as well. We have an extra one that we have taken the batteries out of for her. She also likes to crawl to the carbon monoxide detector on the wall. She gets all the way over there and then I am the meanie who picks her up and moves her away. What is it about those random objects?

She shakes her head when she doesn't want something. When she is finished eating, when it is time to take her medicine, when I go to put on her jacket.

She can wave. It is more like a full arm swing, but she seems to do it at the appropriate times of someone leaving.

She has developed some stranger anxiety, even with family we see a lot. Poor girl gets so scared and let's out the saddest little cry.

She loves the tags on things. Oh, and rags. When she is in the bath, she loves to gnaw on the rag and let's us know she is upset when we take it away.

She makes lots of noises. Mama, Dada, and then a lot of mmmmm, ahhhhhhh, ohhhhh, :)

She still adores Kelsey. Kelsey comes by her and she lights right up. Love it!

She responds to the sound of her name.

She looks SO much like Kelsey did at this age. Their baby pictures right at this age are almost an exact match!

She likes to grab hold tight of things. When I have my glasses on, I have to be ready because she has ripped them right off my face.

No teeth yet. I have thought they were coming for awhile, but the wait will just have to continue. Come on toofers!

Our baby girl is so precious to our family. We love watching you grow and change.