Trying to catch up

Yes, I'm behind. But here's a little of what's been going on with us lately.

The Birthday:

Megan turned 3 at the beginning of the month! THREE!! Can you believe it? We've had a grand time celebrating all month long. We've been to Marbles Kids' Museum and Monkey Joe's and eaten a lot of cake. As we were putting the candles on her cake, she said, "Mommy, put my 3 on and light it up!" She just gets cuter with age!

(Please look past the hair in the last picture. By the end of the day it takes on a life of its own.)

Happy Third Birthday, Megan!!!

The Wedding:

On March 5, Uncle Kevin (Brian's bother) and Aunt Vicky got married! Megan was the flower girl and the whole event was just wonderful! Megan was very deliberate (and cute) in her flower distribution as she walked down the aisle. And she and Sarah both had a blast dancing to the music. But the highlight of the evening for Megan (and probably all of us) was the delicious wedding cake! When it came time to cut the cake Megan said something along the lines of, "Finally! I've been waiting for the cake ALL DAY!!" Congrats, Kevin and Vicky! Thanks for letting us be a part of your amazing day!

Sarah:

Sarah just turned 10 months! Whoa...that's almost a year old. It's been a fast and fun year. Sarah is into everything. She's been crawling since 6 months and standing, cruising and climbing since not too long after learning to crawl. She's been taking little steps here and there, but last night, she officially walked! Yay, Sarah!!

She's also saying a few words, mostly "Hi" and "Bye" as she waves to everything and everyone. Her growth continues to be in the 90-95th percentiles for height and she's already into some 18-month clothes. She's also just about to outgrow her car seat, so it's time for us to install the bigger one. Her appetite is quite healthy as well - she loves any finger/table food and mostly eats what we eat. Recently, she's started feeding herself with a spoon. Here current tooth count is 2 on the bottom with at least one if not two top teeth breaking through soon.

Her hair is still pretty short and no matter how much pink I dress her in, everyone always thinks she's a boy. It is rather amusing, though, to see people's reactions when they ask what his name is and I reply, "Sarah."

I'll do my best to resume updates to the blog, and thanks to our readers who still check our blog for occasional signs of life. As Brian posted earlier, you can always check out our photos to see what we're up to! Happy Spring!!!

Surviving Month One

Now I know why my parents were always calling me "Beth" and my sister "Stacy." That second child's name just hasn't become second nature yet...every time I try to type "Sarah," my fingers automatically start typing "Megan." Anyway...

Sarah is one month old today! So we have officially survived the first month and are still here and sane enough to blog about it. I'm not saying that every moment has been pure bliss, but it hasn't been as completely insane as I had imagined it to be.

In fact, there have been some downright sweet moments. Yesterday, for instance, a big thunderstorm rolled in after nap time. Megan has developed a crazy fear of the thunder, but when Sarah started crying during the storm, Meg ran over to her, held Sarah's hand and told her, "Don't cry, Sarah. It's thunder. It's just a noise. It's outside. It won't hurt you." I happened to catch this magical moment while I was doing laundry, and I was so proud of Megan for being so caring of Sarah that it brought a little tear to my eye.

And twice this week people have asked Megan if she likes being a big sister. And twice she has replied "Yes." This is a definite shift in Megan's attitude towards sisterhood; two weeks ago she would have told you - hands down - "No." Occasionally she does still tell me, "Megan no want Sarah to go," and she did try to get me to leave Sarah at Granddaddy and Grandmommy's last week, but I can tell she's softening.

So, yes, we are all adjusting. We're trying to keep to our routine and stay busy (not that staying busy is that hard!) It's challenging and we don't make it to too many places on time, but we're getting better. This morning we actually did make it to art class on time, fully dressed, diapered and fed, with almost no resistance to getting out of the house and into the car. Days like today fill me with hope!

Here are a few things that have kept us busy recently...

...hunting for tadpoles and crayfish with Grandmommy

...playing in the sprinkler at playschool

...hiding out in the fort

...just hanging out

Life With Two

Thanks, Dad, for posting about little Sarah's arrival. It's been almost 2 weeks since she was born and a little over a week since we came home from the hospital. We're all doing really well, though a tad sleep-deprived. Sarah's pediatrician is very pleased with how well she's doing, and on Tuesday she weighed in at 8 pounds 2 ounces (up from 7 pounds 12 ounces at birth and 7 pounds 6 ounces when she left the hospital). I'm recovering much better and faster it seems after this delivery than after Megan's. Though they were two completely different kinds of labor and delivery...I really don't feel like I just gave birth less than 2 weeks ago.

Megan seems to be adjusting okay to being a big sister. Other than the occasional sympathetic crying, she responds well to Sarah and is quick to tell us that "it's awake!" or "baby sister crying."

We've tried to maintain a pretty normal routine, for Megan's sake as well as my own. Megan, Sarah and I went to playgroup on Monday so that Megan could play with her friends. On Wednesday, I ventured out with the girls by myself to Chapel Hill to run an errand (my first trip with them alone!). We rode through UNC's campus, but didn't stop to reminisce since it was a quick trip. And on Friday, we had a very chic girls' outing to Rockwood Park, complete with a picnic lunch and gummy bears from Foster's Market.

And somewhere in there, Sarah got 2 sponge baths this week -- she was smelling pretty milky. Like big sister Megan, she appeared to like the water, but didn't like being cold. Thank goodness for the adorable, cozy bath bag!

I think that just about covers our first two weeks as a family of four. There are lots more pictures on the photo page so check them out. I'll add a few more in separate posts. Stay tuned for more "Life with the Herrings!"

Pictures are up!

Dad is typing left-handed (one handed), so this is short.

Pictures are up!

http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=herringfamilypictures&page=herringfamilypictures&album=3908

- dad

Catching Up

Thanks, Dad, for putting up the last few posts. With trying to keep up with Megan and get everything ready for the new baby, I just haven't really felt like adding "update blog" to my already too long to-do list. But I will add a few things here to bring all you readers up to speed on life around here.

So Megan turned 2 back in March. It's amazing to have a 2 year old and she's just hilarious with all the things that she says and does. She had a purple cake for her birthday (at her very specific request) and I'm sure she'd love to show you all what it looked like. Her favorite park of the cake - any cake for that matter - is definitely the icing. She's a sugar fiend like me.

Here are Megan's 2-year stats, as well as some other pertinent info:

Height: 36 inches (though I think the nurse was a little ambitious there, and I measured her a little closer to 35 inches)

Weight: 26 lbs, 4 oz (and I'm certain she's gained another few pounds in the last month)

Favorite color: purple

Favorite foods: grapes, blueberries, shrimp, elmo snacks, corn

Favorite letters: M and W (because a W is an upside-down M)

Favorite songs: Old MacDonald and the ABCs

Favorite activities: painting, washing her hands, taking pictures with mom's camera

Here's a Megan photograph...she's not too bad!

So, now you know!! She's also becoming insanely independent and I hear "Megan do by self" all day, with some "Mommy pick up" thrown in for good measure. She seems to have some grasp of the new baby's impending arrival. Last night I told her that my tummy was moving around a lot, and she said, "Baby Sarah come out soon." Bless her heart, I hope she's right!! She'll also tell me that some things are Baby Sarah's, like a pair of shorts that are too small for Megan or the new crib. Hopefully she'll adjust ok once the baby is actually here.

Here are some of the things we've done in the last month...

...Went to The Fork Stables in Norwood to see the horses

...Dyed Easter Eggs

...Hunted Easter Eggs and saw the Easter Bunny

...Went to the Museum of Life and Science and rode the train

...Went to a Durham Bulls Baseball Game and played in the Wool E. Bull playground

So that's it in a nutshell. Otherwise, I'm cleaning, organizing, doing lots of laundry, and just trying to make sure we've got things covered for the baby's arrival. I think we've got the big things covered: crib (check), diapers (check), clean clothes (check), hospital bag packed (check), and car seat installed (check). That puts us in pretty good shape. I'm hoping that all the newborn knowledge will come back to me. It's amazing how foreign it feels even after 2 short years...but Meg's been mobile and talkative for what seems like so long, that I often forget she's only 2. I'm just ready to have this little one out. I'm ready to get this show on the road, to stop being a punching bag for what is surely a world-class kickboxer or a kangaroo that is living in my tummy, to meet this little girl, and to be able to walk normally again (this pregnancy waddle has got to go!). It's sad to think that this will probably be the last time I'll be pregnant, because overall I do enjoy being pregnant - though this pregnancy has been tougher than my first, probably because chasing around a toddler doesn't leave a lot of time to just sit and bask in the pregnancy glow. BUT - I am excited about our growing family and can't wait to introduce little Sarah to you all.

Stay tuned, the next post will probably be "the one." Until then, take care! (oh yeah, and here's one more rare photograph of pregnant mama with the little one.)

The Great Wolf Lodge!

Hi all!

In trying to catch up with events over the past month, the retelling is not complete without talking about the Great Wolf Lodge!

Megan with the wolves!

Since our family is growing, Mom and Dad thought it was important that the family we have now had some good time together to bond. So, Dad took some vacation, and the family packed up and went to The Great Wolf Lodge in Concord NC.

The family spent 24 full hours at the park, and had a great time!

We got to visit the bear...

played in the water, and just had a lot of good fun! Megan really liked her time there, but I think the whole family agrees that "84 degree" water sounds fun, but when you are soaked, it is REALLY cold. We haven't seen so many kids running around with purple lips ever!

The family had a great time, and if you would like to see more pictures, just head over to the link below. The NEW family will head back in about 2 years, and we expect to have more fun then!

Ps. Scary talking tree -- we will hear your bed time story next time!

The Great Wolf Lodge Pictures

- Dad

All Dressed Up!

Megan picked out her own outfit this morning. I think this is one of those rites of passage for two-year-olds.

Once we got the bathing suit on, Megan exclaimed, "Megan all dressed up!"

Megan sings the ABCs

She's not even 2, but she's already a little performer! The ABC song is her favorite song to sing right now. I even hear her singing it to her stuffed animals in her bed when she wakes up in the morning. On this particular day she was singing while playing the piano.

It's My Potty and I'll Pee If I Want To!

This is one of those posts that may not be one of the "cuter" aspects of our lives, but it sure is a proud one! Megan has started to use her "big girl" potty!

She started showing signs of potty awareness a few months ago, so I picked up a little training potty. We haven't really used it for much other than a step stool to reach the sink to wash her hands. She'd sit on it occasionally, but nothing happened.

This past Wednesday, Megan was reluctant to have a new diaper put on after her morning diaper change, so I let her run around diaper-less. I put out the potty for her just in case and told her to use it if she needed it. I went into the kitchen to clean up breakfast and when I went back into the living room, she had peed in the potty!! We took the little removable bucket into the bathroom, and Megan got to pour it out into the big toilet and flush it all by herself.

I know, it all sounds kind of gross, but we were both very proud of her accomplishment: Her first big girl potty!

She used it again twice on Friday, with me initiating and encouraging her to go.

But tonight, Megan came to me and asked me to take off her clothes and diaper, and then she got on the potty and peed again!

We're going to take this at Megan's pace and not push anything, but I'll continue to give her the opportunities to use her potty and hopefully she'll continue to tell me when she wants to go, too. I know this won't be without accidents (we had one of those tonight, too), but so far, things seem to be off to a good start. We're so proud of Megan!

(And I know I'm behind on posting some Christmas photos -- I'll get that done, I promise!!)

The Rambler

Megan is quite the little chatterbox these days. Her vocabulary is expanding every day (so Brian and I really have to watch what we say around her!) She has even been putting words together to form simple sentences. She says things like "Meggie watch Elmo," "More gummies!" and "Mommy catch!" On that note, should Megan ever ask you to catch something, please pay attention. The girl has quite an arm on her and you've probably got about 3 seconds before something goes whizzing past your head.

One night recently Megan woke up coughing, so I took her a glass a milk and rocked her for a while. She didn't drink any of the milk; instead she talked to me non-stop for almost 30 minutes - I could barely get a word in! Our conversation finally culminated with Megan saying, "Mocha-Shoki-Tig-Tig-Back!-Bailey-treat-treat-Splash-apple-yummy!" all in one breath. I replied with "Megan, Quiet!"

And she still loves to dance! Here's a video of Megan doing a more lyrical-style dance to Elmo and India Aria's ABCs.

18-month Updates

Megan is now 18 months old, and recently went to the pediatrician for her 18-month appointment. She checked out really well and did much better with the doctor at this visit than her last. Megan weighed in at 24 lbs 4 oz (60th percentile); her height is 33 inches (88th percentile); and her head circumference is 45.9 cm (30th percentile).

She also had two shots: DTaP and Hib. She seemed to do really well with these shots, and had a lot of fun playing with the band-aids afterwards.

Megan has also started attending a new Parents Morning Out program at a local Lutheran church where Brian and I sometimes attend. Megan goes to the PMO 1 day a week for 3 hours. This gives her a chance to socialize with kids without Mom around, and it gives me a chance to get some things done that I can't always do with Megan in tow. I'll admit that it was really hard to leave her the first time, but Megan has seemed to really enjoy the PMO - especially the arts and crafts, and although it's weird not having Megan around, I'm enjoying my few hours of "me-time" each week - Even if I am doing housework!!

Tooth Explosion

On Monday night, Megan woke up around 1 or 2am screaming. Normally, I let her try to work it out and go back to sleep on her own, but that wasn't happening. So I went in, comforted her, and went back to bed. Then around 5 am - same thing. In my groggy state, I didn't really think too much about why she was up, I just wanted her (and me) back to sleep. So when I was changing her diaper after we got out of bed (again) for the day, I noticed some white inside her mouth, and sure enough...new teeth! I think I've mentioned before that her teeth only seem to come in around 3am...

I think there are 3 new teeth coming in: 2 on the bottom and 1 up top, and they are pretty far back, so maybe molars. She has 8 in right now (4 bottom and 4 top), and this will bring her up to 11. What a mouthful! She appears to be feeling better now. We did give her Tylenol Tuesday night to help ward off any nighttime pain, but haven't needed to give her more since. Here's a picture of her toothy grin. Ok, that's not much of a grin!!

In addition to the tooth explosion, we've also had little vocabulary explosion. Up until now, Megan's been pretty content with her dozen or so words that she says. But in the past week and especially these past few days, she's really started trying to say more things. She now says baby, moo, moon, owl, oink, diaper, pillow, and beetle. Granted some (ok, most) of them aren't crystal clear, but she's showing a lot of interest in trying new words and we're certainly encouraging her!

Then and Now

Ok, last post for tonight...I promise! It seems like lately it always comes up in conversation about just how much Megan (or any of our friends' children) have changed in the last year. So I thought it was time for another "then and now" photo post.

Then (August 2008):

Now (July 2009):

15-month Check-up

We just got back from Megan's 15-month check-up with the pediatrician. She weighed in at 23 pounds 7 ounces (that's only 5 ounces up from her 12 month visit), but she shot up 2 inches to 32 inches - that puts her in the 90th percentile for height. This explains why she can suddenly reach so many things on the countertops now.

So aside from some good measurements and reassurance that Megan is devleoping just fine, the rest of the appointment was pretty much terrible. Megan started crying as soon as she saw the doctor's stethescope coming towards her. Crying turned to yelling as the doctor checked her tummy and hips. From yelling she moved onto the shreiking when it came time to check her ears. And then came the worst part of the visit: the vaccines. That's right: the crying, yelling, and shreiking was the good part. She got MMR and chickenpox vaccines today. She pretty much screamed MAMA MAMA MAMA through the shots, but the nurse did a really good job and administered the 2 shots quickly.

Now we're back home resting (except that Megan just woke up -- no three hour nap today i guess).  Hopefully the rest of the afternoon will go better than the morning!

One Year Check-up and More

Last week Megan had her 1 year check-up with the doctor. She weighed in at 23 lbs 2 oz (80th percentile), measured 30.25 inches (85th percentile), and has a head circumference of 44.7 cm (45th percentile). She's growing quite well! I joke with Brian that we don't need to measure her to know she's getting taller...just watch her reach things on countertops and tables that she couldn't reach a few weeks ago! We also got 2 more immunizations -- not fun.

The pediatrician also encouraged us to give Megan more table foods, so we've been doing just that. It's easier for her to eat chunkier food now, too, since she has 3 teeth. She's been eating chicken breast, ground turkey, steamed veggies (carrots and squash mostly), fruit (bananas, apples, pears, and peaches), pasta, yogurt, cheese, and even a fish stick. She seems to really like the meats, especially the turkey. The only thing that she really hasn't liked so far was the cottage cheese, but I'm still offering every few days in hopes that she'll change her mind. Lasagna is on the menu this week, so we'll see how she likes my version compared to Gerber's.

Megan is also developing quite a little vocabulary! She says Dada, puh-puh (puppy), ball, ballah (balloon), duck, dog, and has "conversations" all the time with her animals and books. She also barks like a dog: arf arf, and sputters when she sees cars. Two nights ago I was especially proud when she looked down at her pajamas covered in little ducks and pointed to one on her leg and completely unprovoked said, "'Duck!"

I'm amazed at how much of a little person she has become in this first year!! Just for fun, here are some then and now photos:

March 2008 -- a few days old...

March 2009 -- 1 year old...

Happy 1st Birthday

Today is a VERY special day -- Megan's first birthday!! I still can't believe that a whole year has passed. It's gone by so quickly! It really does seem like just yesterday that she was born. 

We got Megan a little cake to celebrate tonight. She had no problem digging right into the icing! We cut her a slice so she could get to the cake. She nibbled on the cake and smeared it all over her face -- but we didn't let her go too overboard since it was just before bedtime.

Thanks to everyone who called, emailed, left messages, and sent cards for Megan's birthday. She's a lucky girl to have so many people who care about her! And thanks to everyone who has kept up with our family through our blog and photos this past year. We're looking forward to keeping it up in this next year, too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!!!

Hive-less, but not toothless

The hives appear to be gone. We don't have to see Megan all red and splotchy anymore!! (This picture was from Saturday morning.)

It took all weekend for them to subside, but I haven't seen any since Sunday night -- a great thing since Megan was refusing to take any more Benadryl. By Sunday night, none of us were doing so great with the Benadryl...Daddy tried to give Megan the last dose, but the oral dispenser was a little more sensitive than he realized and he shot Benadryl all across the kitchen and onto the ceiling. Amid all the stress of the hives and a fussy baby, we at least got a good laugh out of that.

I think we hit this "perfect storm" of baby issues this past week...on top of the cold/ear infection and hives, Megan also started to cut her top teeth. I guess the bottom tooth got lonely, so the top one decided to join the party. That would certainly explain her increased fussiness and obvious discomfort while sleeping (or, more accurately, not sleeping). I don't remember the first tooth being this bad, but i'm sure things have been compounded by the congestion and other junk. So far only one of the top teeth has cut through the gum, but it doesn't look like the other is that far behind. We'll have to wait and see.

[Video] Megan Oil Change

Megan Oil Change?! from Stacy Herring on Vimeo.

Getting Into (and onto and out of) Everything

It's getting really hard to keep up with Megan these days. She's so fast and gets into everything in an instant!! We put up safety gates a few months ago to keep her in the living room and to keep the dogs out. They work well, but we don't always get the gates shut behind us, and Megan has learned to watch the gates and she can tell if they are shut or not. If one is not locked, she speeds towards it, pulls it open, and crawls through. She gets very excited when she's "on the outside" and likes to explore the bathroom, kitchen, piano room, and even the stairs.

When Megan is in the bathroom and kitchen, she loves to open the cabinets and pull out pretty much everything. Time for safety locks! (which i have, but haven't installed yet.) I do my best to keep her out of most of the cabinets, but I do let her have free reign over the tupperware cabinet.

And this last little trick of hers had to be put to a stop very quickly, but I did think it was a good demonstration of Megan's determination to go anywhere. I guess she wanted a closer look at the gas logs, so she climbed onto the hearth!

She's showing no signs of slowing down, either. In the last week she's started to stand up on her own. Tonight she even managed to move one foot forward before falling down. I don't know if that officially counts as a first step or not, but I don't think it will be long before she's going to be even harder to keep up with!

Eating Like a Big Girl

Lately, Megan is getting much more independent. She wants to feed herself at mealtimes now. This gets pretty messy, and some days, I just don't want pureed foods in my hair and on my clothes, but we're working on it. Megan likes to take the spoon out of my hand, put it in her mouth, then smash all the leftover food on the spoon onto her hands, and put the spoon back into the bowl. She's proud of what she's doing and claps after she put the spoon down. I haven't gotten a picture of it yet since it take two (or more) hands to feed her, but I did catch this picture after a rather messy lunch. Apparently the featured dessert was "foot."