One Year Check-up

Ok so not really a doctor picture but cute none the less. Megan likes the sit in Baron's food bowl. Yes, she is always doing something odd and funny. On to her doctors appointment...Dr Shanavas said that "She's perfect!" Always nice to hear. She also had a huge weight gain over the last 3 months. Megan now weighs 18 lbs 12 oz (3 lbs heavier) she is 29 inches tall (2 inches taller). Those measurements put her in the 20th percentile for weight and 40th percentile for height. She still isn't big enough to face forward in her car seat, but I knew that was going to happen.

Megan was supposed to get 2 shots today but after a long and frustrating conversation with the nurse that didn't happen. Basically, I was told to lie to the Health Department so Megan could get a cheaper vaccine because the doctors office was out of one. I can't in good faith tell the Health Department I'm under-insured just to get a vaccine. So tomorrow when I'm calmed down I will call the doctors office and set up an appointment to get the vaccines and will pay full price if I have to because I can't lie. The whole story is confusing and who knows what I will have to do or pay but getting Megan a chicken pox vaccine shouldn't be this hard.

What a Party!!!

Knowing that Megan had no idea what a birthday was, we opted to have a party and yet not have a party at the same time. The Sunday before Megan's birthday we invited family to join us at Grandma and Papa's house for Megan's party. It was very casual and laid back for a first birthday party. Don't worry as soon as Megan knows what birthdays are she will be able to have themes and invite friends but until then she will celebrate with family.

She knew exactly what to do with her presents (now keep in mind the last gifts she has opened was at Christmas) All of her cousins did an excellent job helping with gifts. It was very cute, Liam told Megan that all of the gifts were from him and he said, "You're welcome" after she opened every gift, too cute!

Once again, without anyone showing her, she knew how to get on and ride her ladybug. She really liked her ladybug when she got home and could roll on carpet. Her legs are barely long enough to "walk" the ladybug while she sits on it. Most of the time we push her and she grins from ear to ear.


My first attempt at making a cake that wasn't a rectangle. Her fish cake turned out to be easier to make then I planned, I just need to find a recipe for frosting that isn't so sweet but can stay thick for decoration. I guess I have a year to figure that out.

I figured that Megan would like the cake, but I thought I would have time to put the cake on the tray then grab a camera to take pictures. I was wrong! She didn't waste a second on getting the cake in her mouth. I don't think she even tested to see what it felt like, I think she just lifted the cake up and shoved it in her mouth.

Yum!

As you can see, she cleaned her plate! A lot of cake was pushed under by her legs but she ate a lot of it too! She also took time to feed Daddy and Mommy some cake. For the record, birthday cake tastes very different after it has been flattened by a one year old. It was weird, but how can you resist being fed by a frosting covered cutie like Megan!?!


She loved her cake!


We timed the cake consumption after the gifts and before swimming in the lake. Here we are hosing her off before she gets in the lake. She had a ton of cake goo stuck to her.

After a quick swim, and by swim I mean splash, some of us went out for a tour of the lake. I think this was the first time Megan was on a boat. Just warming her up for our cruise this spring!

And there you have a birthday party for a one year old! She had fun and we enjoyed the celebration. Hopefully next year we can have a birthday party in a new house, but it was great to have a family that will let us take over their house in the mean time!

A Big Happy Birthday to Megan!!!

Oh my goodness, we have a one year old! How in the world did Mark and I get so lucky to have such a wonderful little girl? Every day she makes us laugh, smile and just reflect on how lucky we are.
As you can see Megan's one year photo shoot went a little better then the last few month pictures. She is just such a ham that she gets so excited to have her picture taken. We can't wait to print all of the "month" photos and put them in a frame to see from month to month how she has changed. Looking back at pictures that were taken a year ago, oh my goodness she was so little.

She has learned so many things in the first year of her life. Once she has learned something new, it is hard to know who is more elated Megan or us. It has also been interesting to see how repetition is it's own amusement. Who ever would have thought that doing/seeing the same thing over and over again would be so much fun!?!

There are days when we can't believe it's been a year already but we have more days when we think, "It's only been a year" meaning we adjusted so quickly to having Megan and being a family that it seems like it has always been this way. We can't remember what is was like without her. Yes it was easier to leave the house on short notice and it was easier to go see a movie, but other then things like that, what did we do before Megan? All we know now is that we wouldn't have changed anything about the last year. It has been so perfect that we couldn't have dreamt for anything better.

11 month photo

1 month photo

Just a quick update

Sorry I haven't posted anything new in a while but we have been busy doing things. Megan is turning one and we have been busy celebrating! We are leaving for Chicago on Wednesday but I will continue regular posts after we get back to fill you in on the birthday activities (Megan's and Mark's). I will try to post her "elephant" photos later today but my computer will have to cooperate.

I can't believe me baby is turning one, and I can't believe how busy we have been in the last week or so! I promise to be better after we return from Chicago.

Going for Gold at the 2010 Olympics!!!

Left to right: Danielle, Jason (my brother), me and Mark

Ice skating in August anyone??? Jason used to skate and play hockey all the time in high school. Then he moved to big cities and got busy being a chef so he hasn't skated in a long time. Jason wanted to see the ice arena at Adrian College while he was home and he lucked out that there was an "open skate" time, so we all went ice skating.

For those of you who don't know, I'm not so great at any sport where things are strapped to my feet. Skating, skiing, roller blading or anything like that just doesn't fit into my skills. So with my parents watching Megan I strapped on some skates and took off around the rink!
Just posing for a picture. Actually, Mark needed to help me get to the other side of the opening along the boards because I didn't want to fall and break my arm. Hey give me a break, the last time I skated was when Jason made a ice "rink" in our back yard, in high school.
Just keep wait until the 2010 Winter Olympics, I'll be a contender for gold!

As you can see I wasn't lying about my lack of skating skills, but we all had fun, no body fell and Megan enjoyed watching Uncle Jason zoom by on skates. (I didn't get any pictures of her because that would require me to hold a camera while trying to stand up.)

Golf Anyone???

Jason and his girlfriend, Danielle, came to Adrian for a quick visit over the weekend. Jason finally got to meet his niece, Megan. The first day they were in town they had a list of things they wanted to do. First up was to hit some golf balls at the driving range. Left to right: Jason, Danielle, my dad and my mom (swinging a golf club a month after her surgery!)
Megan and Grandma eating some snacks and playing with a golf ball and club.
As you can see from Megan's hair, it was a little windy at the driving range. At one point Megan was standing up and had to use all of her strength and balance to keep from getting blown over!
The best part of the driving range for Megan was the huge bucket of balls to play with. Megan is really into emptying things so she had so much fun trying to empty the whole bucket. She wasn't tall enough to get all of them but she sure did try her hardest.

Next we went dinner at El Chaps then ice skating at Adrian College. Those pictures will be in the next post.

Shrimp Boat

Here's Megan in her "Shrimp Boat" and no I did not come up with that name it is on the side of the boat. Caila was nice enough to pull Megan along. No surprise that Megan loves being in the water. She likes the boat because she doesn't have to be held. We just need to be careful when it gets really shallow because once her feet touch the sand she tips over! There was only one time when she went under, the boat flipped and her legs were sticking straight up into the air. Mark flipped her over quickly and she didn't even make a peep, she just went back to floating around.
Everyone enjoying the water. Tracie is in the kayak and Kelsey is standing on the kayak. The kids were having lots of fun balancing on the kayak, I told them next time they will have to try to stand on one leg because they all stood up too easy.
Caila on a kayak with Megan in the background getting pushed/pulled around the water by her cousins. They all like Megan and had to take turns pulling her in her Shrimp Boat.

Just a quick video of Megan cruising in her boat with help from her cousins.

High School Reunion!!!

So my 10 year High School Reunion was Saturday night, at the bowling alley! Which actually turned out better then anyone thought it would. We went out to dinner first and were taking bets on how many people would be there. Since the remodel the bowling alley is pretty nice, the only down side was the bar area was not ideal for visiting. So our group started to bowl and people were able to talk and enjoy some cheep entertainment. From left to right: Laura DuMont, me, Crystal Nobles and Rebecca Francoeur. We used to go bowling on half-days in high school so this wasn't the first time for this pose!
Here is Mark bowling, he beat me my one point in the first game, 88 to 87. As for the second game I lost track of how bad he beat me. Don't be fooled neither one of us are great at bowling it was just fun.
Yep, that's right a little random line dancing at the bowling alley!
I miss Laura!!! She moved to Chicago 3 years ago and I don't get to see her enough. We are taking a mini-vacation in a couple weeks so we will visit a lot then. And no she is freakishly tan, I'm just that white!
Megan stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Berthold and she must have had a great time because she up until 11:05! We picked her up at 11:20. I still have no idea how she stayed up so late because she slept horribly the night before.

I had fun at the reunion, it was great seeing people, but I'm glad Megan was my excuse to leave early. The rest of my friends were out at the bars until 2:30, I never would have lasted the long. So thanks Megan for letting me have an excuse to skip the Adrian bars.

Insurance Companies are like Defense Lawyers!

Just an update on my mom... She is recovering great from her first mastectomy and had to endure further testing on the other breast. Well we have the results and she has breast cancer in the other breast. If you recall the insurance company would only pay for one mastectomy even though there were suspicious spots on the other side. So on Aug 29 she will have another mastectomy! I am extremely bitter at Blue Cross Blue Shield. The only up side to having them done at different times is that she is able to use one arm while she heals. And now that we know it was in both breasts, she will have everything taken care of now so she doesn't have to worry what will happen in the future.

On another note: this weekend is Adrian's "Relay for Life" so I'm sure tears will be shed. In fact I'm tearing up right now. So to my late Grandpa (I miss you), Michele and my mom, all of whom had battled or are battling cancer you will be at the top of my list in thoughts and prayers this weekend.

Enjoying Loch Erin

A pre-dinner swim is always fun. Megan had fun playing in the water/sand so much that she screamed her head off when I had to lift her up when a wave/wake came to shore. Lately she has been in a "drama queen" phase if she is told "no" but luckily her ADD kicks in and she quickly forgets why she is mad.
Still no teeth, but it didn't stop Megan from eating some corn. ***on a side note she is starting to get a tooth nubbin on top, it's about the size of a pinhead but hey it's something!
I think my mom has a picture just like this of Megan's Uncle Jason eating corn this way. Oh and the bite marks on the corn are not from Megan, Liam didn't finish his corn and Megan wanted it. The way I see it is that I am allowing Megan to get some of the germs she isn't exposed to because she doesn't go to daycare. She didn't get sick and she loved the ear of corn so no harm done.
Liam, Megan and Morgan, enjoying some time on the couch. Around 7:30 at night Megan crawls on our couch at home and throws herself against the cushions and crawls from side to side. She did the same thing at Grandma and Papa's! Plus she discovered that their couch is much fluffier then ours. She had fun playing with the cushions.

The Men in Megan's Life

Of course there is her Daddy, which she sometimes calls Da-daddy. It's cute. I know that she is wrong but I can already see that they are going to have a very special bond as she grows up. In this house, the phrase "Daddy's little girl" is very true!
Then we have Papa Schutte. Megan has been uneasy around Papa until this picture was captured. We went out to visit Papa after he had a knee replacement and as we were leaving Megan stretched her arms out to go to Papa. Then they snuggled for a bit, very sweet. Since then Megan will go to Papa.
Next we have Grandpa Berthold. We all went down to Grandma-great's house to work on her "to-do" list. Megan noticed these bells hanging on the wall. So Grandpa picked her up at let her ring the bells just like my grandpa did when I was young. Megan grinned from ear to ear as she rang the bells. Although it did kind of scare her when she shook them so hard the fell off the wall. She loves her Grandpa and sometimes cries when he leaves the room.
Last but not least, we have Godzilla! Megan loves to carry Godzilla around. She likes to suck on his nose and laughs when we squirt her. We have Godzilla around to keep Baron away as she learns to eat her finger foods (our dog is scared to death of water so we squirt him like a cat to make him stop being annoying) And yes, Godzilla is the water bottle from the t.v. show "Good Eats"