Thanksgiving

Ready for some math? (Don't worry--it's simple)

10 kids
-1 kid serving a mission in Chile
+2 parents
+4 spouses
+4 grandchildren

=19 people in one house

Yes, it's a little crazy, but we wouldn't do it if we didn't enjoy it. We were able to spend a week in West Virginia with Jon's family and had a great time.

After the disaster that was last Christmas, we learned from our mistake and put Seth in his own room. Which meant we had to share a room with Kade and Elizabeth, but they were very gracious about it. Jon even designed a partition out of toy boxes so we had our 'own' rooms. It worked fabulously, but it's only a matter of time before we run out of bedrooms!

We all had a great time, but Seth was in HEAVEN. A 5 gallon bucket, full of cars? Another bucket, full of balls? And an Uncle Jakey to play with him all day long? I seriously felt like I never saw the child. He was so exhausted from playing all day that he slept like a dream the entire time we were there.
We didn't do much besides hang out together. There was a lot of Wii playing, a soccer game, kickball game, and lots of inside game playing (don't ask Jon about the Rook game). My favorite part was watching Seth while we played kickball & soccer. He'd run around the field, pointing at people and babbling away. Sometimes he'd even get himself worked up to a yell. He was a great little coach. Unfortunately, he had to continue his coaching from the trampoline so he wouldn't get run over.
Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. I got to help by making the rolls and a lemon meringue pie. My only complaint is that there are NEVER leftovers. Bloods don't believe in leftovers--they stuff themselves as full as they can because they know there won't be more later. Guess that's what happens when you grow up with 9 siblings...

(Seth & Megan trying to figure out why they can't get to each other)

It was fun watching the grandkids (sort of) play together. Seth, Rebekah & Megan were all born within 6 months of each other. Next Christmas they'll all be 2--it will be a very exciting vacation!

(Seth & Rebekah going on a walk. Everything was great until she turned around to look at him. As soon as he realized she was in there, he clamored to get out. Poor wimp is still afraid of little girls)

Of course, the best part was seeing Jon's brother, Stephen, who just got home from a mission to Spain. We got to hear all his stories, see his pictures, and enjoy his fabulous cooking (he made us a Thai dish--go figure). And he got to meet the 2 nieces and 1 nephew he'd acquired while he was gone.

I'm quite proud of the fact that we only managed to forget three things during all the chaos of leaving: the breadmachine yeast I bought for the rolls, my library book, and my camera cord. Could have been worse. After all, Mary forgot her wallet...(Scott, Mary & Rebekah headed home at exactly the same time we did, so it was extra chaotic for all of us to make sure we had everything we owned).

(Our son: The Cheeseball)

I am grateful for many, many, many things, and our family is one of the biggest reasons I have to give thanks.Happy Thanksgiving!

Baby Steps

Bringing a newborn child into your home is a little terrifying. For the first several months of his life, you are EVERYTHING to him--food, protection, warmth, and entertainment.

Then, slowly, he starts doing things for himself. He sits up. He feeds himself. He plays alone for short intervals.

Finally, he starts to walk. He'll start by cruising around the room, holding on to the furniture. As he gets braver, he'll stand unsupported for a moment before he realizes what he's doing and sits down in terror.

Because walking is scary. The idea of letting go of your support and venturing across the room alone keeps many children from trying.

But one day it will be worth it. One day there will be something across the room that makes it worth all the fear, and he'll go. And suddenly your baby isn't a baby anymore--he's growing up.

Not to say that it will be easy from now on. He'll still lose his balance, trip over toys and run into corners. For a few months he'll have a perpetual goose egg on his forehead. But with practice comes confidence, and the bruises will fade.

So why do we let our babies fall down and get hurt? Wouldn't it be easier to just carry them wherever they want to go? After all, they're just little! They need all the help they can get.

The problem is that they don't stay little. Eventually your baby will become too heavy for you to carry, and then what do you do? You've carried him for so long that he's never learned to walk! Better to let him work his way through the fear and bruises than to leave him totally dependent on you.

But what if instead of a child, you have an adult? An adult who, because of traumatic circumstances and poor decisions, is still completely dependent on those around her? An adult who has her own little child to care for? Then it's not so simple anymore.

It's easier to be carried than it is to walk. And once you've been carried around for so many years, the thought of walking gets scarier and scarier. So when someone tries to put you down--to get you to take just a few steps, they'll hold your hand--you rebel. You push them away so completely that you're left sitting on the ground alone, waiting for the next person to feel sorry and pick you up.

The problem is that no one can carry you around forever. Like a child, eventually you get too heavy for people to bear. It's a natural consequence. After being put down so many times you should start to realize that everyone else is walking--everyone except you. And maybe you should take the hand that's offered, and try a few steps on your own. It will be hard at first. There will be fear, mistakes, and pain. Just stand up and try again. It gets easier with time.

But you don't want to try. You push away from the arms that have carried you for so long and wait there on the sidewalk for someone else. You'll never learn to walk until there's no one left to carry you. And then you'll have to do it all alone--no hand to hold. No one to help you back up. And you'll wish that you had taken the help when it was offered.

And how do the rest of us feel? Those of us who carried you for a while before you got too heavy? Who decided that it was time for you to learn to be independent? Who offered to hold your hand and were cruelly shoved away? We're angry. And hurt. But mostly, we're sad. Sad because we thought we were helping you learn to walk, but instead you used us to carry you. Sad because by the time you're forced to learn, it may be too late for you to teach your daughter.

We're angry and hurt, but we can't stop worrying about you. And since you've pushed us away, there's nothing we can do but pray. Pray that somehow you'll learn, and that when that time comes there will be someone to help you. We just wish you would have let us be that person.

An Exercise in Futility

Ever tried to get three kids under the age of 18 months and a 3 1/2 year old to simultaneously cooperate for a photo shoot? Well, we did, and here are the results:

Getting three of them to sit still was fairly easy:

"Our parents must be crazy"

See? They're even (mostly) looking at the camera!

It was when we added a fourth child that things got complicated:

The adorable Baby Megan screaming into her father's lap

It was pretty much downhill from there. First, Seth tried to leave...

Then Rebekah thought it would be cool to crawl on top of him...

...and by the time we got Megan to look, Rebekah was done with the glamour shots.

The result: a collage of the 3 best shots:

Notice that Seth is throwing a fit in one and that Megan isn't looking at the camera in any of the shots. At least we all got a good laugh while we were attempting this...

Many thanks to poor Jocelyn, who still smiled through all these pictures while her sister/cousins weren't cooperating...

More Sethisms

I had to cancel my piano lesson this afternoon because my poor little baby is sick (just in time for the holidays!). But I have to admit, I kind of like it when he's sick. It's the only time he'll snuggle with me.

Of course, now that his medicine has kicked in, he's off and running again. So I'll blog while he watches Lion King. ('Watch' is used very loosely. At the moment his back is to the screen and he's throwing ducks around).

I love, love, love this age. He's getting more self-entertaining, doing new things every day, and generally just makes us laugh.

Seth and Books:
This child is addicted to books. We read to him when he goes to sleep. We read to him again when he wakes up. Then we read to him several times during the day when he walks up to us with books and says, "please?"

He loves finding the kitty in the books we're reading. If the page doesn't have a cat, we can't get a single sentence out before he's turning to the next one. He's also getting good at finding cows and ducks.

A friend in the ward passed along a book with buttons that you press to make noises. I thought Seth would love it--a book that makes obnoxious noises, two of his favorite things. Turns out he's terrified of it. As in chin quivering, wailing, run away kind of terrified. Guess we'll save that one for later...

Seth's Words
He's picking up new words almost every day. My favorite addition is 'bubbles' (buh-ba). My new screen saver is a bunch of bubbles that bounce around, so now every time he sees my screen he points and says, "Buh-ba." At which point I have to stop whatever I'm doing and turn on the screen saver until he gets distracted by something else.

Other new words: push, trees, duck, balloon.

He's also really into grabbing my phone and running around with it by his ear, babbling away. He actually managed to answer it yesterday when someone called it. Don't know who it was, but they got an earful. They didn't call back.

Seth's comprehension is getting better and better. Except when it comes to the phrase "come here." When he hears that one he'll stop what he's doing, look at me, and then run away. Stinker.

To sum it up: I have the smartest, sweetest, cutest baby on the planet.

First Sentence!

It's official.

Sentences that may or may not have counted previously:

"Cheese, mmm."

"Car, crash."

"Dad, please."

But the official winner is:

"Bear, please."

(Spoken yesterday after his nap when he wanted the bear on his shelf. You'd better believe he got it. Oh, and it was totally unprompted, too).

Neglecting my Motherly Duties

What's that you say? It's been THREE POSTS since I put up pictures of my son?

Totally unacceptable.

Unfortunately, I've only taken 4 pictures of Seth so far this month. I figure he deserves a slight break before all the picture-taking insanity of the holidays begins. So here are my 4 pictures of Seth, in chronological order:

Investigating his loot from trick-or-treating. And yes, I did let him eat it all, with the exception of the sucker and the gum. We're not going there yet.Helping me put away the Halloween lights. He was not happy to see them go. If only he knew what's going to happen at Christmas...Wearing the same pajamas I wore as a kid. Jon thinks he looks like a clown with the collar, but I think it's adorable.We are SO into tongues right now. He ALWAYS has his hanging out, and tries his best to touch ours whenever possible. So gross.

He officially passed his 16 month mark, which we celebrated by taking him in for a flu shot (seasonal--his pediatrician is STILL waiting for H1N1. Grrr....). He didn't cry at all--such a tough little man.

New skills include word recognition: he can find the kitty in every single one of his books (we're working on cows now). He can also point to his belly, toes, and leg, plus my eyes, nose and teeth. Very cute.

New vocabulary words: clock "cok", bird "beah", and please "peas." That last one melts my heart every time and gets him a lot more sweet stuff than he really should be getting. And no--still no "Mama." Half the time he doesn't even recognize the word--if I say "Where's Mommy?" he looks at me like I'm nuts. I have to say, it doesn't really bother me. It's just one of the many, many little personality traits that make him so adorable.

Just one story:
Seth loves pens and is always trying to steal them out of my hands during piano lessons. One night after lessons last week he walked up to the shelf where I keep the pens and started begging. I finally gave in and passed him a pen.

He immediately dropped to the ground and started swiping the pen underneath the couch. Turns out his bouncy ball had rolled underneath and he couldn't reach it. I was floored--neither Jon nor I had ever used a pen to get anything from under the couch before. This was all Seth's idea. Still blows my mind.

In totally unrelated news, I NEED TO GO SHOPPING. It's officially been an entire year since I bought myself a new article of clothing. I want a dress. A cute, black dress that I can wear for Christmas. Anyone up for a shopping trip?

5 more days until we leave for Thanksgiving vacation. I don't think I've ever been so ready for a break in my entire life...

Hello, My Name is Megan and I Live at the Church

Sunday November 1st: 3 hours of church + one presidency meeting after

Tuesday November 3rd: 1 hour of Mutual (insanity) plus 1/2 hour cleaning up

Thursday November 5th: 1 1/2 hours of Stake YW Presidency Training, plus 1 hour driving time

Saturday November 7th: Ditched Super Saturday to go to the temple. Total time: 5 1/4 hours

Sunday November 8th: At church 15 minutes early + 3 hours church+ Linger Longer+presidency meeting +choir practice+fireside

Monday November 9th: 2 hours setting up for YW in Excellence

Tuesday November 10th: 1 hour setting up, 1 hour of YW in Excellence, 1 hour cleaning up after

Wednesday November 11th: Choir practice (which I have to ditch because of a piano lesson. Sorry Catherine!)

Friday November 13th: Regional Auxiliary Training. 2 hours + 3 hours driving time

Saturday November 14th: Ward service project/swap meet=2 hours

Sunday November 15th: 3 hours of church + presidency meeting

TOTAL for two weeks (approximate): 33 hours

Don't get me wrong--I LOVE serving with the Young Women. But this time of year makes me want to scream. Or go inactive for a couple of months.

Thank heaven for Thanksgiving and Christmas vacation...

Two Years Ago...

Two years ago we left the wonderful friends we'd made in our 14 months in Iowa and headed to Jon's new position in Maryland. We knew no one. We were paying $900 a month to live in a tiny, smokey, purple-carpeted apartment. But we had no doubt that this was where we needed to be.

Two years ago sweet Dawn took the time to invite me over and become my first friend in Maryland. I'll never forget that.

Two years ago I was teaching Primary and slowly getting to know the people in our ward. And two years ago I was assigned to be Sommer's visiting teaching companion, which soon led to an amazing friendship.

And, of course, two years ago we found out we were going to be parents. It was wonderful and terrifying to think about how this baby was going to change our lives.

I've thanked Heavenly Father many, many times in the past two years for bringing us here to Maryland. For the first time since I left home for college, I feel like I have a place to call "Home."

We love it here. I've spent my entire life on the West Coast, but I have no qualms about raising our family here on the East Coast. Except, of course, for the fact that we are so far away from much of our family--that's the one thing I wish I could change.

But we do have a family here. Our ward is absolutely incredible. I love going to church every Sunday (and Tuesday, at the moment) and seeing all the amazing people we've befriended in the past two years. They've become our family away from our family. I honestly think if they ever split our ward that I will have a meltdown. I can't imagine this ward without every single person we've grown to love since we got here.

I also can't imagine my life without Seth. It's chaotic, sleep-deprived, and demanding, but it's also amazing, hilarious, and the best thing that's ever happened to me.

It's been a good two years. Here's to many, many more!

For those who asked...

To get the stretched out blog template like ours:

Go to Layout, and select Pick New Template.

The first option in the second row has three options:
Minima Lefty
Minima Stretch
Minima Lefty Stretch

Our blog is using Minima Lefty Stretch. If you'd rather have your links/photos/etc. on the right side of the screen, choose Minima Stretch.

WARNING: Choosing a new template will get rid of any color schemes or fonts you've selected. It will keep all your posts/pictures/links, though.

Once you've saved the template, you can do whatever you want with the colors. Blogger lets you mess around with them a little bit, but you can do more if you feel like messing with the html. Here's a good website that will give you the html codes for the colors you like (you can plug them into the the Blogger "Fonts and Colors" page where it says "Edit color hex code").

Getting a header that fits correctly can be tricky, too. Ours is 1112px × 350px. The height is perfect, but (obviously) the width isn't quite long enough to fill the header wrapper. So yours can be a bit wider and still fit.

FYI: If you already have the correct dimensions on your picture, DON'T select "Shrink to Fit" on the upload page.

I used a combination of Picasa and Microsoft Paint to make ours. Classy, I know.

TO CHANGE YOUR FONTS:

Go to this website and do exactly what they say. I used their font named "Little Pot." If you need help changing colors or font sizes on your blog, let me know and I can help out.

That's all there is to it! Good luck!

Trick or Treating

After the disaster that was the Trunk or Treat, I cordially invited myself, Jon & Seth over to the Atkinson's for dinner & trick-or-treating on Halloween. Krystal keeps trying to make me feel better by saying it was a mutually decided activity, but it totally wasn't. I at least brought the dinner so I didn't feel completely rude...

Somehow we managed to all eat dinner, despite a constant stream of interruptions by trick-or-treaters. After we ate, it was off for Seth & Victoria's first trick-or-treating. Don't worry-we only took them to a few houses. Not like they're really going to eat the candy (okay, Seth will. Krystal's probably a better parent than I am and will just eat Victoria's candy herself).

The first door we went to let the kids pick out their own pieces of candy. Seth snagged a cherry Tootsie Roll and refused to let it go. He still had it in his hand when we got home.

The precious tootsie roll

Victoria prefers the animal crackers she snagged


Investigating his loot


The cutest trick-or-treaters on the block


Victoria makes sure Seth didn't get anything worth stealing


Seth helps Victoria put her hat back on (it was actually Krystal's hat, so it kept falling over her face. She'd knock it off and Seth would put it right back on. It was great).


The completed costume. I forgot the hairspray during trunk-or-treat and the shoes during trick-or-treat. So here's the entire costume, taken after we got home that night.

Thanks again, Shawn & Krystal, for letting us crash your Halloween. We had a great time. In fact, I think I'm going to invite myself over next year, too...