Meg's 2 year pictures

I'm finally getting around to posting Megan's 2 year pictures. It was a little hairy at first. She clung to me and wouldn't let go. Fortunately, she got over it pretty quickly and hammed it up. I might be a little biased, but she's just so stinking cute!

Here's one last picture of the 3 of us before we become the 4 of us.

And just for those of you who are wondering, we're still going strong with the potty training. Only an accident or 2 a day. Keep your fingers crossed that she continues.

Back To The Potty!!!

Just had to post to say ..... Megan peed in the potty all day!!! The only diapers I had to change was when she woke up in the morning & from her nap. And if that isn't great enough she asked to go every time! Including leaving story time at the library to go potty AND getting out of the kiddie pool in the backyard to go potty. I hope she decides to continue this!!!

This and That

My goodness has it been a busy week. On Wed. Nathan's mom, sister and her kids came down to visit and stayed until Sat. Then Nathan's Aunt Joyce came down Thurs.-Fri. It was a nice visit, and the kids had a great time together. Megan is still asking for Aunt Jill, Shane and Katie. She defiantly misses having another 2 year old around to play with. And I loved having a few adults around. especially, when they help get ready for Meg's birthday party.

Here are Megan and Shane playing in the pool Jill brought. They loved it. This was the best picture where you can at least see both of them. Every other picture the back of someones head.

Aunt Jill and baby Katie. A couple of bathing beauties!

On Thursday was Meg's 2 year apt. and she was 35 inches tall and 28.5 lbs - both around the 90%. I've heard if you double their height at 2 it'll give you an idea about how tall they'll be as an adult. If that's the case Meg will be 5'10" - not to shabby I think. The doctor was impressed with how well she's talking and patiently answered all of my questions. I was again reminded how much I love her pediatrician. You can't beat a doctor who takes the time to patiently answers all of your questions. I had an OB apt. and gained 5 lbs. To say I was mad would be an understatement, especially after gaining 7 lbs last month. I was so careful and, despite a few set backs, I made sure to cut back on all sugar and eat more veggies. Funny enough, the doctor reassured me that it's OK and I'm on track to gain between 35-40 lbs. I gained 37 lbs with Meg and was really hoping to do better this time around. So I've taken the very healthy view of saying screw it and have been eating anything and everything I want. I figure I'm going to gain 40 lbs then I'm going to enjoy everyone of them. I'm measuring 30 weeks (1 week ahead) and start going every 2 weeks now. And finally, it was Nathan's birthday, and Jill, Becky & Joyce were nice enough to babysit so Nate and I could go out and have a nice dinner by ourselves. We went to a steak house and it was FABULOUS!!! The food was amazing and it was so great to have time with Nathan without dealing cutting some one's meat or being used as a human jungle gym.

Megan enjoying her cake and ice cream.

Sat. was Megan's birthday party. Thankfully, Jill was nice enough to take the kids to the local library to see a fire truck program so we could get ready for the party. All of the kids were extra cranky after a week of nonstop fun. So it was defiantly not fun for Aunt Jill and I'm sending her lots of thanks for the sacrifice. We had an inflatable pool out for the kids. Meg had a great time trying to pour water all over 2 of her grandmas. Of course, before she could get water anywhere near them she would spill it all over herself. So we had a couple of outfit changes during the day. Megan's favorite gift is a pink purse. She has been carrying it around everywhere.

Meg enjoying the pool one last time before it goes home with Shane.

Picture Time Line

Here is our first picture together. Megan was literally minutes old.

Megan under a month old. She was already trying to get her tushy up and crawl. The girl was a mover from Day 1!

Here is Megan around 3 months. For some reason this is one of my favorite pictures of her.

Here's Meg at 6 months. As you can tell her and Cameron were already good friends.







Megan around 9 months. She was so happy to find 1 Easter egg at the neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Holding the basket was almost as much fun.




Megan just before her first birthday. She and I were living in temporary housing in Georgia while I finished out the school year because our house sold so quickly. Nathan would work during the week in Ohio and come back to Georgia on weekends.

Meg around Christmas 2008. She likes to pretend that the baby monitor is a phone. I was pretending her hair was long enough for pig tails. I think it looks adorable though. Only an 18 month old can pull this look off.

Here's a picture of Megan just before her 2nd birthday getting ready to swim.

2nd Birthday Pictures

We had a very busy weekend. Friday was Megan's birthday and also her first class of gymnastics. She loved it of course. Who wouldn't love being able to run free to climb, roll, and flip yourself around for 45 minutes? After a very long nap, we drove up to visit Grammy where we had cupcakes and Meg opened a few presents from Grammy and Grandpa. On Sat. Meg went with Daddy, Aunt Jill, Shane & Katie to the Cleveland Zoo while I went to a baby shower for a good friend. Sun. Nathan's parents had a party for Nathan's, & his father's birthday (both birthdays are on June 18) & Father's Day.

I tried to get a good picture of Megan on her birthday, but the girl won't smile for pictures anymore. I hope the photographer can coax a smile out of her tomorrow when we get her 2 year pictures taken.






Megan got a few presents from Grammy and Grandpa on her actual birthday. Here she is appreciating her new shirt and raincoat. She kept exclaiming, "Wow, I like it."

Here's Megan enjoying her birthday cupcakes. I don't let her have sugar very often so this was a big treat.

I wanted to post a picture time line of Megan, but I'm having trouble finding older pictures of Megan. We had to get a new computer last fall, and I know they got transferred over I'm having trouble finding them.

Megan is 2!!!

Well, it was bound to happen -my baby is 2. I find myself in complete and utter disbelief. When did she get so big? Who told her she could grow up so quickly? It feels like I am pregnant with her instead of with her little brother or sister. Crazy how quickly time flies when you have a kid.



Not only is it Megan's birthday, but it's also the 2nd anniversary of me becoming a mother. How is something as monumental as this not celebrated? Your life, priorities, paycheck, conversational abilities, hobbies, hormones, worries, and hopes all change so much once that little one arrives. It feels like it should be commemorated somehow. Now, don't worry I won't in any way take away from Megan or her birthday celebration. I just decided to take a minute and briefly celebrate by telling the story of Megan's birth - which I'm still in awe of by the way. So here goes.....



I had contractions on and off the whole day before (June 11), but since they didn't get stronger or closer together I chalked them up to braxton hicks. On Tues., June 12 (my due date) I woke up at 2 am with contractions that were 10 mins. apart. They weren't too bad and I was able doze off in between them. Around 3:30 they started getting stronger and I couldn't sleep anymore. As I was trying to get Nathan (who is a very heavy sleeper) up I got a particularly strong contraction and was yelling, "OUCH!" as he groggily asked, "What hurts?" To which I yelled "My uterus you idiot!" Well, that woke him up! He bolted out of bed and became Mr. Attentive Husband. At some point I got in the shower and let me just tell you hot water is AMAZING. It really took the worst of the pain away. As I'm in the shower my contractions are getting closer and closer together - to the point where they were 3 mins apart. Poor Nate kept trying to convince me I had to go to the hospital. But I, being an incredibly stubborn (and potentially stupid) person, kept refusing because 1. I wasn't convinced I was in real labor and 2. if it was real labor I WAS NOT going to the hospital to only be 3 centimeters dialated. Finally, the hot water ran out and I was forced to get out of the shower. The only way Nate could convince me to go to the hospital was by telling me they had lots of hot water - so off we went. We arrived around 6:30 am and of course I was assigned to the C wing - the farthest away. (Northside Hospital is referred to in Atlanta as the baby factory, Nuf said) After 5 mins and I barely got past the A desk & a nurse realized I must have been in actual labor and kindly got me a wheelchair. When I hit the room a bunch of nurses descended on me trying to get me into a hospital gown, put in an IV, do the paperwork to admit me and I'm having contractions that are 2 or 3 minutes apart. Nate stepped in and was able to convince them to let me follow my birth plan (no IV, no epidural, as natural as possible). As soon as I got the hospital gown on my water broke and with the next contraction my body curled around itself and I yelled out, "I'm pushing." You can imagine the panic this caused the nurses. They leaned me back, found I was 10 cm dilated, and called the doctor. He came in confirmed it and said the baby was trying to come out ear first and left. The doula arrived and along with a new nurse, who liked helping women go naturally, helped me get into different positions to shimmy Meg into the correct position. At 8:11 am Megan was born. The (new) doctor put her on my chest and Nathan and I just gazed at her in amazement. It took about 5 mins. before the doula finally asked, "Well, what is it?" In our amazement neither of us had thought to look! It was very special to have this baby on my chest and just love it for itself and not because it was my daughter. That bond would come later. Nate called everyone as Meg was being weighed and measured - she was 8lbs. 3 oz. and 21.5 inches long. Very long and skinny - no sursprise since she's still very long and skinny. Of course I wouldn't let him call anyone before we got to the hospital because I wasn't in real labor so why wake everyone up? (Did I mention I am incredibly stubborn?) My mom didn't believe him at first! It wasn't until she heard the word placenta in the background that she realized it was for real!



So very long story short I woke up with contractions at 2 am, got to the hospital at 6:30 am, and delivered Megan at 8:11 am. I was able to have her completely naturally like I wanted. Amazing!



Now those of you who know Megan know this birth story fits her to a T. The girl decided she wanted out and BAM she was out. Who else but my Meg would be born on her due date in just over 6 hours? Yes, my Megan is just that determined to do things her way. I should have known when the pediatrician came in to check on her later that day and said, "You're going to have fun with that one!" She was already holding her head up and looking around while she was in her bassinet less than 12 hours old.

Fire station & a visit to the park

Thursday was a busy day. We took a tour of the local fire station, and played in the park after trying to get a pool pass for the local community pool. The fire station was pretty neat. The kids were all preschool aged so the fire fighters geared their tour way down. They even took us for a ride around the station in the fire truck! Of course, they got a call as we were finishing up so everyone had to huddle in the middle of the bay as the fire engine rushed out. The kids loved seeing the lights flash and sirens blaring.

The park was fun. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Megan is a dare devil. She climbed up as high as she could on the big kid equipment, scaled a rock climbing wall, swung on the big kid swings and had to hang from any bar she could find. Good thing I signed her up for gymnastic this summer.

Meg in the ambulance. She tried to jump out of the truck. Good thing I was nearby to grab her before we had to test the fire fighters emergency skills.

Meg climbing into the fire truck. I can't tell you how many pictures I took trying to get her to look at the camera. No such luck - this is the best I could get.

Megan on the big girl swings. Some day I think the girl is almost 2 going on 12!

This slide was way up at the top of the big kid playground equipment. And of course Megan found the bar and had to swing from it. She even tried to stick her feet over the edge of the slide to test my reaction. She wanted to jump off the side of the slide! Keep in mind the slide was about 6 feet up.

And finally, here's Megan swinging from one of the bars. She even tried to touch her toes to the bar. Sign that girl up for gymnastics.....wait already done. ;)