On a side note....

While we were getting ready for Meg's party, I hurt myself....on duct tape. Mom was putting table cloths down and I was ripping off pieces of duct tape to hold them down. While I was ripping a piece off, I failed to notice that my pinkie was attached to the duct tape. I ripped the tape, hard, of course, and my hand went one way and the pinkie that was attached to the duct tape went another. It hurt so much that I had to put my head between my knees to keep from throwing up. But I'm a good Mama, so I taped my pinkie to my other fingers (with the offending duct tape) and we celebrated Meg's party and had a great time.
But as soon as we got home and unloaded, it hurt like crazy again and I gave in and decided to go to the emergency room. When I explained how I injured myself, the nurse actually said "I've never heard of anyone hurting themselves on duct tape before!" Well, at least I'm the first at something! Thankfully, it's not broken, but I tore my ligaments in my finger pretty badly. I'm in a splint & will be for 2-3 weeks with total healing time being around 6 weeks. Look at how pretty!

I think the funniest thing about it was when I got home from the ER, I needed to chill out a little, so I turned on TV to the Discovery Channel (one of my all time favorites) and Myth Busters was on. And wouldn't you know it, the duct tape episode was on!

A great party

Meaghan's 2nd birthday party was amazing. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the food was great (thanks to Mitch for grilling, Becky for Strawberry Jello pretzel salad, Janine for baked beans & my mom for brownies & strawberries and dip) and everyone had a great time. The bounce house rental was clearly the best investment to the party. The kids spent the entire party bouncing- we had to drag them out just to eat! Even cake and goodie bags held no allure compared to the bounce house. Meg had such a blast!  (And I'll be honest, I tried the bounce house and I get why the kids liked it- it was so much fun!)

Happy girl, bouncing away in her birthday bounce house

Hanging with her cousins

Daddy, Meg & Mama, posing with Mike & Sully

Meg loving on Grandpa

                                     
                              Meg's Monsters Inc. cake- thanks to ShariCakes- she does such amazing things!

Meg's Nana & Grandpa

Meg & Auntie Dana

Peekin' out of the bounce house

She loved everyone singing to her!

Grandpa, Uncle Kev, Steph & Grammy

Having a great time!

Daddy & the birthday girl

Opening presents- she liked it, but was confused as to why they were taken away from her as she opened them. She finally refused to let go of a tube of Little People that Aunt Becky & her family gave her until we opened them. She carried them with her the rest of the party. Everyone was so amazingly generous. When we got home and were unloading, Michael said it looked like Meg robbed Toys R Us!

Thanks for all the AWESOME presents! She was good & told everyone thank you!

                                      Grammy got Meg the cutest Babbling Boo doll- it even sings!

Many, many thanks to all the people who helped us throw Meg such a great party, helped set up or clean up and for being so generous and loving to our girl. We love you and couldn't have done it without you!

Latest Stats

As of her Friday morning Doctor's appointment....

Height: 35 inches tall- (btwn the 75th and 90th percentile for kids her age)

Weight: 28 pounds, 7 ounces (50th percentile)

Developmental Milestones: Talks, walks up stairs, hops off a step

Concerns: Potty training, move to 2% milk

SHE USED THE POTTY!

Sunday morning, party morning, Meg peed on the potty for the very first time! Yay! She & I woke up together and I took her into her room to change her. Unlike usual, her diaper was dry, so I casually asked her,
"Meg, do you want to go potty on your Elmo potty?"

And she said
"Okay, go potty"

So she sat on her Elmo potty and I sat on the floor with her. Daddy brought her a story and we got to page 3 and she started to pee. I honestly couldn't  believe it and once she finished, we danced and sang. She loved it! I need to make her a potty treat jar b/c her peditrician said that little treats are a reward that seems to work for kids. Meg loves m&m's, so I'm going to make her a jar with Elmo and potties on it to use as her treat jar.

I'm so proud of that kid!

A Great Day for a Birthday

Meg's birthday started out with presents in the morning- She got a Little People House, backyard and tractor.  And......

A new bike!

She let me take a cute pic before we went to dinner at Red Robin and then we had cake!

And it was good!

Happy Birthday to my darling Meglet

When it all began, I wanted to take pictures of her at regular intervals so I could watch her grow. So, from the very beginning...

Meaghan, at 10 weeks gestation. We watched her dance inside me and it brought tears to my eyes for the first time. I loved her from the first time I saw her.

Meaghan- 1 second old. I cried again at the joy of being her mom and at the celebration of her life. I could tell from her entrance that her life would be a momentous one.

From that point forward, her life has been well documented, to say the least!

Now she's 2. Beautiful, smart, sweet and wonderful. I look at my darling daughter and feel so blessed to have her in my life. Happy Birthday, my sweet girl. Mama loves you so much. Thank you for being my daughter. Watching you grow has been the greatest joy of my life.

Party Centerpieces

I just had to post a picture, since they are so cute. We all know I obsess over party details because I truly believe that all the little details really make the party special. Check out Meg's centerpieces for her Monsters Inc./Toy Story party.

Pretty piggies

On Sunday, I was touching up my toenails because, as we all know, once it's May in Ohio, it's sandal weather, regardless of the temperature. Meg was watching intently and when I was finished, she asked me to "paint piggies" So, my little one now has painted piggies. Aren't they cute!?!?!

Although...it makes her looks so much more like a little girl than a toddler... and I don't know how I feel about that!

Good time, good toys

This past weekend, Meglet had a playdate with her Grammy. Grammy started a new job (congrats again, Grammy!) and since she and Meg miss each other so much, they needed a playdate. This helped me out a ton! I got to pick up birthday neccessities, like her present that has been hiding at Grandpa & Nana's house. Shhhhh....

When I picked Meg up from Grammy's....

Me- "Meg, tell Grammy thank you and that you had a good time"

Meg- "Good time" (pause) "Good toys"

Apparently, Grammy's house passes the test!

Our garden update

Meg & I enjoyed an afternoon in the back yard on Thursday. Our plants were getting a little big to stay in their little cells, so Meg & I planted our tomatoes and cucumbers. She really loved watering the newly planted tomatoes & cucumbers. Our green pepper are still too little to plant and we’re looking for a good place to put our sunflowers- they surely need lots of sunlight, something our back yard doesn’t have!

Aren’t we pretty???

Meg has finally grown enough hair that we are starting to get her used to headbands (which she will tolerate) and bows & hair ties (which she will not). She recently earned her own drawer in the bathroom after I decluttered and threw out bags full of old makeup, dried up nail polish and half a million beauty products that didn’t work. After her bath last night, I was combing her hair (read: chasing her through the bathroom, armed with detanging spray and a comb, getting a swipe in here or there) and she noticed her drawer that I had left open. She started playing with all of her little head bands and thought it was very fun to put them on Mommy. She was very serious- she would put one on, stand back and look at me, then take one off only to replace it with another (or two!) I couldn’t laugh, because she was taking it so seriously, but I made Michael take a picture of us because it was too funny.
P.S.- Please don’t mind my red, shiny face. I always wash my face while she’s in the tub!

As heard in the Meglet mobile

Meg- "white bubbles"
Mama & Daddy- "what...?"
Meg- "white bubbles....sky" pointing out the front window.
Daddy- (light bulb over his head) "you mean clouds?"
Meg- "Clouds...okay!"

Random Ramblings

Wow…. Life is getting very busy at our house. Meg’s 2nd birthday is coming very soon- in fact, she will be 2 in 14 days. I’m having a lot of fun planning her party, although I always go overboard! I tried this year to make it easy- we’re having a picnic lunch (burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, etc.) outside at a park, but it seems like the more simple an idea seems, the more complicated it really is! It should be a great party and I know she’ll love it- just the birthday cake alone will be enough to get her excited! Last night we were talking about her party and I mentioned cake. Her little ears perked right up and she said “birthday cake?” and we told her “yes, you will have birthday cake on your birthday.” She got so excited she was running around the room yelling “cake, cake, cake!” What can I say, the kid loves cake!


We’re also planning the big trip to Sesame Place. My packing list keeps growing and our attic is crowded with all of my “necessities” which I’m trying to organize into some sort of order. We’re going with our friends, Nick, Becky, their 2 year old, Jake and 1 year old, Maddie. Meg loves hanging out with her friends & I do too! I really can’t wait and I hope that it will be a great trip and as relaxing as traveling with a toddler can be. Really though, Meg showed herself to be pretty good on long car rides a couple of weekends ago. We took her to Amish Country with Nana and Grandpa, a 2 ½ hour ride from our house. Nana and I sat in the back with her and we played with her Little People, watched a bit of a movie on the DVD player and colored in her coloring book on her Travel Tray. (which I strongly recommend to any parent with a long car ride ahead! Go to www.onestepahead.com or amazon.com and check it out! Well worth it!) But she was pretty good. The ride to Sesame Place will take a lot longer, but at least I know she can do a 2 ½ hour stretch, which is pretty good for a little one!

So on top of all the big things, we’ve been getting the outside of the house in order. Michael’s been tending the lawn and it looks great, almost like living on a golf course! The plants for the garden that Meg and I planted are growing like crazy and we’ve had them outside for the last few days to harden them off. We will probably plant this weekend, as long as the temperatures stay warm. I can’t wait to show her how to plant. She’s been very good about helping to water the plants inside, and I know she’ll enjoy watering them outside too. Meg & I have also been spending a lot of time at the park, playing and enjoying the nice weather. We usually go right after I get home from school and play for about an hour. She’s really getting big enough and bold enough to try everything (or almost everything) at the park. She also really enjoys playing with the other little kids. And the nice thing is, we’ve found out that there are two kids in the neighborhood that are just her age. Parker & Reagan live nearby and we seem to run into each other in all the same places! Hopefully, we can set up some official play dates!

I think our summer is going to be great. We’ll continue to visit the library for story time 2-3 mornings a week, we have a nature center a few towns over that is free, and we can go to the local pool or the splash pad that is one town over. Plus, we have a zoo membership. I think that we’ll do a morning activity, like going to the library for story time or going to the park, come home, have a snack and a nap, wake up, have lunch and then head out for an afternoon activity, like the pool, nature center or zoo. Most of our activities will have to happen in the afternoon, since we’re early risers due to school and her nap time typically starts around 11:30. Michael would love for us to sleep in, but I don’t want to get too far outside our routine. It’s going to be hard enough to go back to school (and maybe to preschool for Meg) without having to totally change our routine. I just can’t wait to spend the summer with her.

Our 1st trip to the Emergency Room (Guess it was going to happen...)

So right after we took these great pictures on Saturday, Meg had a little accident. We’re not quite sure what happened, but Michael, my mom & I were standing at the computer looking at and choosing the pictures we wanted. She was running around behind us and all of a sudden, she started sobbing. My mom got to her first and she showed my mom her wrist and said “Boo-boo” We all figured she would do what she normally does- just shake it off after a little TLC. Well, not this time. She would not stop crying and wouldn’t use her hand or arm. As I was holding her, she was holding her wrist and really seemed upset and in pain. Her wrist started to swell, so after a lot of debate, we decided to take her to the Emergency Room, just to be safe rather than sorry. We spent about 2 ½ hours in the Emergency Room, took X-rays, and found out that she probably sprained it- we’re assuming that she fell, hands out and sprained it. The nurses and the PA we saw were great- she really enjoyed the coloring book and cookies, as you can see from the pictures below. Then, the PA & Daddy wrapped her wrist in the littlest ace bandage you ever saw, which she kept on for all of about 20 minutes. As soon as we were discharged, she started using her arm again! We got home and had comfort food for a kid- cheeseburgers and ice cream- yum! We’re certainly glad that she’s ok.

A sad little girl with a hurt wrist

A worried Mama and Meg, enjoying a coloring book and some crayons

Meg, with her wrist all wrapped up.

Fabulous Pictures!

On Saturday, we took Meaghan to get her 2 year pictures taken. Grammy (my mom) went with us and we took a few "just the girls" pictures for Grammy for Mother's Day. Meg was a delight and really enjoyed her Daddy bouncing a rubber ducky on top of the photographers head. In fact, a few of her pictures have a ducky cameo!

What a cutie in pink strawberries!

She looks so adorable in this picture!

Now for pictures of Grammy, Mama & Meaghan (I hope Grammy doesn't mind being on the internet!)

I spent far too much money on pictures, on outfits and shoes, but it was well worth it. Her strawberry dress came from Crazy 8 and the pink shirt and orange capris are from Gymboree. Now, normally, I wouldn't buy from Gymboree. Their clothes are adorable, but far too expensive for a practical mama like me. But I stopped in on a rainy Saturday and found this outfit for her. Each piece was only $6.99, so it came out to the same amount that I would have spent at Children's Place or Carters (where most of her clothes tend to come from). So I think all in all it was well worth it. She looked amazing and we have great pictures of her and us.