Monday, April 30, 2012

Happy 2nd Birthday, Meghan!


Meghan is one very special little girl. She has endured more medical tests and blood draws than most yet leaves every appointment by giving the doctors hugs and thank you's. Everywhere she goes, she attracts attention. Meghan is cute as a button, full of spunk, and never stops talking! Imagine encountering an 18 pound child that looks like a 9 month old, walks like a 3 year old, and talks like a 5 year old.


Funny Meghan
Meghan loves telling knock-knock jokes. Her favorite: Knock, knock; Who's there; lettuce; lettuce who; lettuce in!

She also seems to have impeccable delivery, which I absolutely cannot describe in words. Sometimes it's not what she says, but how she says it that makes us chuckle.

The other morning, Meghan took my watch off of the nightstand, and we had the following conversation:
Meghan: It's a tiny clock!
Me: Meghan, it's called a watch.
Meghan: Okay, I'll watch it! (followed by her staring intently at the watch for quite some time)

Last weekend at mass, the ushers passed by with the collection baskets, but they did not put one in front of Meghan.  So Meghan yelled, "Hey!  I need money!"


Talented Meghan

This child is destined to be an entertainer. While Camille has her weekly dance lesson, Meghan waits outside the room and watches through an observation window. She loves to mimic the dance steps. One of the other little dancer's grandmothers saw this and brought Meghan a teeny pair of tap shoes. Meghan loves to tap!

Meghan has a definite affinity for music. Her seldom-fussy moments are easily cured by a song. If she won't eat her dinner, we just make up a song about it, and she eats! I'm certain her potty training is going so well because we made up a song for that, too. 
Every night Meghan insists on singing "Twinkle Little Star" before going to bed. She has a song for everything. I have never met another 2 year old that knows dozens of songs, sings in key, and throws in claps or snaps in time to the music.


Affectionate Meghan

Meghan is a snuggler. She already has a knack for cheering up anyone's day. Her life revolves around her grandparents and great-grandparents. She has a very special bond with her "Granny Loney", who we lived with for several months when we moved to Minnesota. Meghan loves to give and receive hugs.

Last Saturday we took a little day trip to my cousin's house for her son's first communion. On the trip home, we were asking the kids what they enjoyed doing/did all day. Camille said, "play with my cousins". When we asked Meghan what she did all day she accurately said, "hug".  She had spent the entire day wandering from lap to lap snuggling with whoever she could find.

Meghan adores Camille and frequently puts her arm around her big sister and says, "I love you, best buddy!"

Meghan is also very complimentary. She is always telling us, "ooh Daddy I like your nose"; "Mommy I like your ears"; "Camille I like your shirt". (You get the gist.)


Meghan is a ray of sunshine in our home. We still do not know exactly why she is so tiny, but we are learning to accept, with each normal test result, that maybe God just made her that way.

13 months old
Opening some belated birthday gifts in the "Bern cave"

14 months old
Loving Granny's backyard

15 months old
Ponytails at last!

16 months old
Searching for treasures

17 months old
Playing with the penguins in Fargo

18 months old
Reading Granny's magazine

18 months old
Smurfin' with her "Best Buddy" for Halloween

19 months old
Celebrating Granny Ward's 93rd birthday with some cake

20 months old
"Look at me!  Look at me!"

21 months old
Using my step stool so I can play like the big kids

22 months old
Enjoying the new house

22 months old

22 months old
Pretty dress

23 months old
Swimming at my cousin's birthday party in Casselton, ND

2 years old!

Happy Birthday, Peanut!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Seven Quick Takes Friday- It’s all about me!


And why shouldn't it be?

-1-
I'm trying to type this blog entry in the Microsoft Word template. We'll see if this will work!
-2-
The girls and I headed to Grand Avenue yesterday morning for some shopping and fun. Juut had a 20% off sale on Aveda products, which I love and prefer for my hair. However, now that I don't work, I don't feel right spending the money on my hair. A sale was just what I needed! After our shopping, we stopped at Bread & Chocolate for cookies and milk (at 9AM!). We had a good time. Afterwards, Camille asked me what we would eat for dessert. Silly girl!
-3-
I am taking a much-needed break from writing my thesis. I hope to be done by April 30th. Woohoo! The kids are at Ken's parent's house today. I have the greatest in-laws on Earth. They take such good care of the kids and have been watching them 3 days a week while I stay home and write. I cannot wait until this Master's degree is over. So many plans are waiting for "the day I'm done".
-4-
Even though this winter was very mild, I still struggled with the lack of sunshine. I felt more miserable than I've been in 6 years. I loooved that Florida sun! This year was not conducive to a vacation in the South, but next year we will definitely be finding our way to our beach in the darker months.
-5-
I at last found a decent physician here. White Bear Lake (>1/2 hour from our house, but totally worth it) has an awesome pro-life family clinic. At least two of the physicians there attend our church and all of the physicians are certified specialists in various forms of NFP. How lucky am I?
-6-
I discussed my struggle with the winter with my new physician. She checked my Vitamin D levels. I am actually happy to report that I received a call today from the office saying I am insufficient in vitamin D. No one has ever thought to check my vitamin D even though it is very common with seasonal depression. I am hopeful that an enormous supplement will help me feel more energetic in the winter months. I hate to think about how deficient I would be if I didn't already take a vitamin D supplement and drink a ton of milk.
-7-
We are struggling here a bit trying to figure out how to balance responsibilities and expectations now that I stay at home with the kids. How do people keep their homes tidy when people actually live in them all day? Keeping the house clean was easy when I worked because we were never home. We just ate and slept there! This morning I made little schedules for everyone in the house to help organize and solidify our duties. Thankfully Camille is an excellent helper. Now I just need to get Meghan to help and between the three of us we'll have each floor of the house covered. (Totally joking about this!)