bouncing buddies

A few weeks ago my sis-in-law Andrea & I got our kids together. Normally these two cousins just fight, but on the trampoline it was a different story.

Here are Megan & cousin Kienan holding hands while jumping:

This one is a little longer, but if you can hold out until the end there is a really cute hug.

And, of course, how could I make a blog post without a close-up shot of my little cutie? Here ya go. Pure happiness.

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my daddy's moustache

My daddy has worn a moustache for as long as I can remember. I have seen a few pictures of him without one, but I maintain that the man-without-a-moustache could never be my father.

I know there are millions of great dads out there (the one living in my house included) but I am going to focus on one dad today: mine.

I was born in the same hospital as my dad, in a little town in northern Michigan (the Upper Penninsula) called Hancock. We also share the same cleft chin (or "dimple chin" or "butt chin" or whatever you want to call it). My father & I are certain that the hospital must have grabbed a hammer and gave all its' babies butt chins. Genetics? Nah.

My daddy was always the calm one. I don't ever remember hearing him raise his voice. So, when we were naughty and wanted to confess something, we'd go to him, hoping for a lenient punishment. Instead, he'd always say, "go tell your mother."

We have given my daddy all sorts of nicknames over the years. I think it was my older sister, Jasmin, who first coined the name "Popparoni", and from there it went on to Papa-Rapa, Papa Romano, and many more. My favorite name for him, though, is daddy. Whenever I see a man with a moustache, I think of my daddy and how much I love him.

My daddy is totally handsome and this picture doesn't do him justice:

I always wished that I got my daddy's good looks. He's half Italian & he has the darker skin & dark features to prove it. Not to mention, he's always been skinny, which is a dream of mine.

There's just something about a daddy and a daughter. I love my daddy SO much and I'm so grateful for all the things he taught me. I'm grateful for his calm personality, his smile, the way he will call me up out of the blue just because he hasn't talked to me in a while.

I have so many fun memories of my dad. He used to "hang and quarter" us, in which he would hang us upside-down and give us a quarter. He would go on weekends to the National Guard and always bring us home something. He brought home hamburgers on Friday nights. If I remember correctly, he was always the one to give our Family Home Evening lessons. Another thing I loved is that he would sit at the piano and play his favorite songs while he sang along- which is also one of MY favorite things to do.

My dad has a great hobby of building with wood. When we were kids he built us a kitchen set out of wood. It was awesome. I'm sure all my friends were jealous of it. He also built a huge wall unit for one house, and added built-in cabinets for another house. It's kind of hard to explain, but he's REALLY good at it. He was and is always in the garage working on something.

Around the time Jared & I got married, my dad was really sick with something he caught while on a business trip to India. The disease is called Amyloidosis, and as explained to me, is worse than cancer. The survival rate is surprisingly low, and my dad had to do go on dialysis. He also received a kidney transplant which only lasted a few years. Now he is back on dialysis. Through all of this, he never complains. You wouldn't even know he has gone through so much, and you wouldn't know that he is in so much pain. He is so brave and optimistic and wonderful and I love him. I could go on forever about my daddy but I think I will stop here.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! I love you!

Bad Hair Day

I used to think Megan had a lot of hair. I used to think she would stay still for hours at a time. I used to think I could always do something cute with that head of hair.

I was wrong.

This past Sunday morning I turned my daughter into a pokey-head... or something. It started as something I saw on someone else's blog, and it ended up looking like Medusa's offspring. Unfortunately, since I waited until right before church to get it done, I didn't have time to fix it. (I guess that's what I get for "working" on Sunday!)

Here are some pictures of the ridiculous head of hair that I forced our daughter to wear to church:





I hope Megan looks back at this and laughs, and doesn't get upset with me for taking her out in public like that! Don't be alarmed, though. Don't call the authorities or the hair police. This morning (Monday) I took out those crazy braids. Now she just has the poofs, but it doesn't look near as terrible.



It's all live-and-learn. Now I know NOT to do her hair Sunday mornings, and I know that her hair is too short to do thick braids. Lessons learned.

I'm sure you'll agree, however, that she is ridiculously adorable no matter what her hair looks like.
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the truth about my musical abilities

Megan has been around me every day her entire life, so she has gotten a large dose of me playing the piano (albeit not near enough) and singing to my heart's content. Truth be told, I sing all day long. I sing pretty much half of what I say. I'm a total nerd. Luckily, Megan just loves me anyway.

The other morning, Megan was showing her skills on the piano. I thought it might be fun to get her on video. Then I decided to have her sing while she plays (like I do). The result was rather amusing.

Now I know what Megan truly sees when she watches/listens to me at the piano.

Enjoy Megan's imitation:

ridiculousness

I'm sure most of you have no idea how ridiculous our daughter is. And when I say ridiculous, it is in the sense that she is picky about the most random, particular things.

For example, yesterday she woke up from her nap and was bawling her eyes out. Why? She had a hangnail. Often, if she has any crumbs on her hands while eating, she has to wipe them off before she will take another bite. And, here are some others:

She gets upset if her pillow is crooked in her crib.

If there are any food particles on her cup, she wants a new cup.

She is deathy afraid of new shoes, especially strappy ones.

If she drops a goldfish cracker on the floor at the grocery store, she freaks out until I pick it up.

Whenever she finds a piece of trash or piece of... anything... on the ground, she immediately gives it to me so I can throw it away.

When I cut up her food, she only eats pieces that have straight edges.

When she places her sippy cup in the fridge she doesn't want it to touch anything else.



Maybe these behaviors are totally normal for a 20-month-old. Maybe every child develops their own set of OCD-type mannerisms as they grow. Maybe every mom goes a little bit crazy because their child is so demanding for such silly things. Don't get me wrong; I don't give in to her every whim (and I certainly did not teach her these things!). It is very taxing to try and NOT give in to these things. Yes, it is cute, but sometimes it just drives me bananas.

I'm just curious, does everyone else have the same issues with their children?

Cali Trip Part 3: Laguna Beach

After Sea World & two days of Disneyland we were off to the beach. Before we left, we made sure to get a picture of the cousins together. Unfortunately, Jenny & her three kids had to travel back home so they didn't join us at the beach.

Megan & Kyla sporting the same shirt:

Here are the grandkids that were here in California: (Megan, Kyla, Alaina, Elise, Gabe & Cohen)

At the beach there was this very cool place (I call it an oyster bar) where there were just thousands of oysters lined up together. I should have taken a close-up picture because it was cool. Instead, a picture of Megan & Jared at the oyster bar:

I absolutely LOVE this picture. There's nothing like a daddy & daughter. (if only I could photoshop out that kid in the water!):

At one point, Jared starting putting sand on Megan lap. She didn't mind, so he kept on placing more and more. Eventually, cousin Kyla came over to help:

And here is the end result: Megan Mountain.

Here are Alaina & Megan just chillin' in the sand:

And, lastly, this one needs no caption; it' just Megan being herself.

And that is it! The next day we traveled back to Utah. So long, sunshine!
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