A wonderful Christmas time

It's a long story but...

...on Christmas Eve we ended up in the McDonald's drive-through ordering off the dollar menu. As I was laughing at the situation, I thought of my family in Utah eating prime rib and a few tears started to flow. I felt really sorry for myself until the woman at the window handed us my McChicken and small fries.
"Merry Christmas," I yelled from the passenger seat.
She winced, then shut the window.
Ryan said it was because she probably didn't understand English, but I think she knew what I said. I realized that I would much rather be eating at McDonald's on Christmas Eve than working there on Christmas Eve.
I stopped feeling sorry for myself, which was good because the next event of the night was very humbling.
Ryan, Ethan and I went to the visitor's center at the D.C. Mormon temple. Ryan's parents are on a Mormon mission there and his mother, Judi, is in charge of a live nativity held every night. You know where this is going. Judi asked us to be Mary and Joseph on a night when it's pretty hard to find others (though we were the second couple that night) who want to go sit in the cold and show off their dramatic prowess.
Ryan and I have zero experience in drama, but Judi and a sister missionary gave us a great 15-minute training and we got out there and acted our little hearts out. The first few times were shaky. I would stand up at the wrong time or Ryan would turn spotlights on the wise men when the narrator was talking about shepherds. But we got the hang of it after a while and it turned out to be a lot of fun.
There were so many people there watching. We even got a few hecklers.
After doing the nativity scene 11 times we went back to Ken and Judi's, played games, visited and ate junk food, which we continued when we woke up in the morning.
Ethan got lots of presents and a haircut on Christmas. He still doesn't look like my baby. But he's even cuter if you can imagine that.
It was such a memorable Christmas!

Merry Christmas

We didn't get a Christmas card out this year, so we hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas!

The human disposal

Things I have found in or approaching Ethan's mouth:

- Paper, paper and more paper. I usually find that when I hear him choking on something and stick my finger in to find out what it is.

- Tags. He always searches out the tags on toys and sticks them in his mouth.

- Books. Who doesn't love the taste of books? He only gets to read under parental supervision now.

- Cords. Mmmm, electricity.

- My earrings. He is always trying to pull them off of me. Today I noticed him putting one in his mouth (don't ask me how he got it) and when I grabbed it I found the other one inside.

- The child safety plug. A little ironic? It is supposed to stick in the outlet so we can avoid electric shock, but he somehow (yes, again somehow) found a lose one and stuck the entire thing in his mouth.

- A nail. Yes, I might be getting a visit from DCPS after this one. I turned around the other day to see him sticking something in his mouth. I yelled, "No, no Ethan," and he pulled it away from his mouth for a moment, but then pushed it back toward the slobbery abyss. I ran and took it away. It was a nail that had been holding a cable to the baseboard. I think he pulled it out of the wall.

I am a stuffy American

Ethan and the Washington Monument made completely out of leaves.

My favorite monument, the Jefferson. I love how the dome is the top of a gourd. I wish I had taken a better photo of him inside.

The Capital building.

The real one.

Watching trains go by with Elliot and Ava.

Today Ethan and I met Julie and Elliot and Adelle and Ava at the Botanical Gardens. Right now there are these neat to-scale models of the important buildings and monuments in Washington made completely out of plant materials (see photos) on display and some pretty amazing trains - not to mention the thousands of poinsettas.

As we walked through, I stopped to take a photo of Ethan and a Washington Monument made of leaves. A group of people from Asia approached me and one of the men asked if he could take photos of Ethan. I said yes with a laugh.

Then, one of the women in the group came up and picked Ethan up right out of his stroller. I stood there in shock for a moment, wondering how anyone would even think it was right to pluck someone else's baby out of a stroller without asking them. The lady then began to kiss Ethan and pose for the camera. I finally got the guts to say something and with a weak smile I mustered, "Um, I probably need to catch up with the people I'm here with."

The lady just smiled at me and then back to the cameras that were wildly shooting her photo with my son. After what seemed like several minutes, she put him back in his stroller. But the cameras kept clicking. I sat for a second, wondering if I should just walk off while they were taking photos (I don't think they understood that I needed to leave). Then out of the blue, another woman came up and picked him up.

It was at that moment that I felt like laughing out loud. I began to imagine the culture from which these people came. And then I thought of that security bubble that we keep around ourselves here in America. And I realized that I am a stuffy American who probably needs to relax a little bit.

But really, who wants a picture of themselves and someone else's baby?

Hallelujah

Ethan is finally eating vegetables - plain - not secretly mixed into peaches to disguise the taste! He loves peas and carrots and even eats green beans without protesting. Ryan said he had a talk with him.

And yes, Ethan has been crawling for the last few weeks, I just keep forgetting to blog about it. He now slowly creeps around the couch, then he starts giggling and makes a crawling sprint toward the Christmas tree. It's all a game to him to see if he can sink his teeth into my ornaments before I get there to stop the carnage.

Can you tell I have nothing to blog about?

I have a hard time picking a favorite of anything, but I always had a favorite ornament growing up. It would change from year to year, but each Christmas, I would unconsciously pick the shiniest or most beautiful and hang it front and center on the tree - where everyone could see it. Below is this year's favorite. One day I want to have a very whimsical tree with lots of colorful ornaments like this reindeer.

Ethan found a favorite this year too. The fact that it was near the ground might have given him a slight bias toward it, but who cares? He even tasted it to make sure it was the best.

It feels like Christmas

I seriously loathe scrapbooking, but I love paper. So I always buy cool paper and it just sits in my cabinet, gathering dust. Yesterday, however, in what might be my craftiest moment to date, I made good use of that paper. I needed more Christmas decorations and I found this idea on Design Sponge. I am so proud of myself (for ripping off an idea) that I felt prompted to post about. ;-)

Attack of the killer baby

A lot to be thankful for

It may be a couple months later than in Utah, but fall is finally here! The colors are brilliant outside my window. It was in the 70s earlier this week - perfect weather to go out and enjoy the leaves.

We had such a great Thanksgiving. We went to Ryan's parents' house on Wednesday and stayed overnight. It was so nice to relax and visit with them. We love them so much and are so grateful they are here. On Thursday, Ken and Judi had a dinner to go to, so we headed to our friends' apartment for a feast. We had so much fun with these great families in our ward. Ethan had an especially good time flirting with Ramona. He didn't quite know what to think of James.

We ventured out on Black Friday and came home with some pretty awesome finds. Can't wait to put them back in their boxes on Christmas Eve, wrap them, then open them the next day.

Today is football day. This morning Ryan is playing football. When he gets home we'll watch the BYU v. Utah game. What a fun week.

Another baby boy

Micah Maughan is finally here!
Congratulations Ben and Emma! Micah is Ethan's fourth male cousin born this year and the third boy on my (Megan's) family's side. We can't wait to see the little guy in person!

Thanks, Kenz, for the photos.

Until the fat baby crawls...

Have you ever had that dream where you are trying desperately to get somewhere, yet you are being forced in the opposite direction by some unseen force? If so, welcome to Ethan's life for the past two-or-so months.

The poor little guy has been scooting backward everywhere for a very long time. The problem is that he just can't seem to go forward. It makes him angry at first, that that sippy cup just gets farther and farther out of reach. But he eventually bumps into something else - like a table leg or electrical cord - that turns out to be an awesome chew toy. ;-)

Well today Ethan put his first knee forward, then the second knee. He reached my toes, lifted one up, examined the others, then eyed the plastic box a few feet away. Only, his next push toward that most interesting-looking box landed him on his face and, once again, he began rocking back and forth, then scooting backward on his belly.

Well, it was a start.

To be continued...

Hysterical

When it gets past Ethan's bedtime, he thinks everything is either funny or horrible. He thought this was hilarious.
He is nine months old today!

I heart Chuck

I've added another favorite TV show to my list (24, The Office, Jeopardy). I (Megan) find Chuck to be quite entertaining.

GIVE ME A G-double-O-D MORNING

When Ethan began stirring at around 5 a.m., Ryan stuck out his hand to me. It was as if, with that gesture, he was saying, "I'm sorry that you have to get up with that child and by giving you my hand, I'm trying to show that I care." I laughed, but then took his hand and gave it a little shake.

I pushed my down comforter back and stepped onto a noisy toy that turned me back around to the bed. Ryan's hand was still in the air, palm up like I had something that was his and he wanted it back.

And then he said, "Just give me the pom-poms."

He would only be a cheerleader in his wildest dreams.

This is how our friday nights go

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!I found this to be absolutely hilarious. Thanks Brandy, for making my day.

Happy Birthday Mom

It was my mom's 50th birthday yesterday! She is the greatest mom ever and we love her. And she's heading to Mexico today! Have a great time Mom.

My baby momma

I was talking to some older ladies at a training for work this week and decided to show them some pictures of Ethan. One lady looked at me and said, "How can you have a baby when you're still a baby yourself?" I told her that I'm probably older than she thinks. Then she countered with, "You must have an older lady or...... baby momma. How old is your baby momma?" I just told her that my wife is 23. It drew the same blank stare I get when I tell people Megan stays at home with Ethan.

Expect us to gain a lot of weight

Last night Ryan yelled, "I will eat no more chicken!" (I know, you thought he was so mild-mannered)

I admit, I am not much of a cook. I had no idea, however, that my chicken was that bad. And the problem is that I don't really know how to cook anything else.

Today at the grocery store I bought pre-prepared foods - crab cakes for tonight, frozen lasagna, frozen pizza, etc. - but you can only eat such foods no more than once each week.

I'm thinking the rest of the week's menu will have to include beef. Any ideas?

Our little stinker

"Why wouldn't every parent want their child to be a skunk?"

That's what I asked myself last week when I noticed the millions of skunk costumes marked down 50 percent at the local Old Navy. There were a couple lions left and one hot dog, but skunks? There was a whole rack of them. And we found one for Ethan - just his size.

Tonight, we went to our ward trunk-or-treat, though we didn't actually make it to the part where kids walk around and take treats out of our trunk (Ryan had class and Ethan was screaming bloody murder). Does anyone have ideas of how to get rid of an entire Costco bag of candy bars before I eat them all? I guess I could go around and meet my neighbors.

Happy Birthday Ben

Tomorrow is my older brother Ben's birthday! I'm not even sure how old he is. Ben, are you 28? We hope you have a fabulous day! And you too, Emma.

Too lazy to play tag

Since I started this blog, I have been tagged several hundred times ;-) and each one has been slightly-to-totally different. We all know I love to write about myself (note how Ethan's blog has turned into a stage for my rantings) but for some reason, I just cannot get myself to respond to a tag.

I've decided it comes down to my laziness. So, to all those who have tagged me: I'm not ignoring you. I'm just a bum.

And maybe part of me is trying to keep all of those memories of "things I would never wear again" and "things I was doing 10 years ago" in that dark hole in my brain where they've been hidden for the last 10 years.

Little boy

You kill one and 300 come to the funeral

Here are just a few photos of the serious infestation of box elder bugs in Cache Valley (and one of beautiful Cache Valley). I don't remember those little black and red bugs being this bad. It's so bad that my mom woke up one night last week chewing on something crunchy and disgusting. She promptly spit it out, discovering it was a box elder bug. The slight tickle of box elder bug feet on my arms or face woke me up several times during my stay there. My mom would vacuum in the morning and the carpet would be crawling with the little pests by the afternoon. Pretty crazy.

Alarming

Probably the most important thing I have learned in my 8 months as a mother is to never wake my sleeping baby. It took a fire in my high-rise apartment building to get me to do that - and I even hesitated for a few minutes.

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to a very loud ringing. It took me and Ryan a while to realize it was the fire alarm. We didn't smell smoke but looked out the window and saw others filing out of the building. I sat for a while thinking about how Ethan would likely not go back to bed after we came back in the building. And then I slapped myself, realizing I could be chancing our lives in exchange for a few more hours of sleep.

So we walked up a flight of stairs and smelled smoke (exactly the same smell as when I burnt some peach cobbler a few weeks ago). We walked outside to about five firetrucks and lots of firefighters - but no black clouds of smoke billowing out of windows. It took about 10 minutes before the firefighters stepped back outside and told us to go back to sleep.

Of course, it just wasn't that easy for me and Ethan.

Preparation for the wedding!

The amazing flowers for Wendy's wedding all came out of my sister McKenzie's head! Yes, she is amazing. I got to help arrange the flowers. It was so much fun (but a lot of work) and I felt so skilled after I finished (even though I just copied her designs). In doing this, we totally trashed my parents' garage. My mom and Kenz also did the favors, which were these darling carmeled apples. Afterward, we set up a table in my mom's kitchen to see how it would look. I love how it turned out.