Tribute to Mike (hee hee)

With the Christmas Tree up, and the infamous New Year's Eve party just around the corner, life has me, yet again, counting my many, many blessings. One of my greatest blessings you ask? Mikey!!! So here, love, here is my tribute to you and your greatness. My top 10 list. 10 reasons why I love Mike. (And Mike, I'm screaming "UNCLE!!!" louder than ever)

10. Mike lets me refer to him as 'Mikey' even though he has told me countless times that he really despises this nickname. Maybe he thinks I forget. Little does he know that I never forget, and I do this to be 100 percent obnoxious. I also post the following picture to be 100 percent obnoxious. Isn't married life fun?

9. He shaves his face for my kisses. Cute isn't he? It's especially cute that he bought himself a little new razor. (I'm not allowed at this time to discuss the make, model and color of said razor)

8. He works a gazzilion hours a week so I can stay home with the baby.

7. He tries to stay in shape. Unlike me, who....well...lets just say I run on the treadmill if energy allows, and you can guess how often that happens. 7.5 He doesn't work out, and stays home and watches Mitch if I have had a long night, so I can catch a few hours....

6. He insists we start ridiculous traditions, such as, a family Christmas picture. More than that, he insist we take it in the middle of a snow storm, by a particular tree, and did I mention I wore little ballet flats to take the picture? oh my gosh...talk about cold!

5. He likes Mitchell. Now, I know this isn't really that hard to do, but it's especially adorable when Mike takes over nighttime routines, such as bathtime and storytime.

4. He helps me chow down a 3-layer chocolate cake at 2 in the morning. (I was craving one....and stayed up all hours of the night waiting it to cool...and frost...etc. and then woke him up to eat it. Hey, some think that is a nice gesture. ) Also, I think I'll add that last night I made sugar cookies, and Mike stayed up with me till all hours of the night to frost them to perfection. And I do mean perfection.

This is a picture of the cake. It's not pretty, but it was also 3 in the morning. It has a piece taken out because I just...couldn't...wait...

3. He tells me I'm sexy the morning after the cake.....(dare I say fight, or does that still have negative connotation in this house?)

2. He loves his family. And loves mine. And drives me down to Utah often because I am just that needy.

1. Mike loves our little family, and is a wonderful father.

AWWW Mike we just love everything about you. Thanks for all you do babe!

Another day in the life of Mike and Meagan

Monkey Torture: So Meagan decided that she would introduce Mitchell to her diabolic monkey named Miguel, don't worry though no relation to me. She tossed it in his face and used her baby talk to try to get him to laugh and he just sat there and acted like he cared, we have video evidence. For some reason, when I played with him with the monkey he laughed hysterically. It's obvious which parent he prefers.

Temple Sealings: Well, Meagan and I decided to go do temple sealings at the Rexburg temple and it was a really wonderful experience as always. A member of our ward, Brother Jolley, was the temple sealer and we were able to seal families from Argentina. It was interesting because I recognized some of the last names from my mission. Meagan almost passed out because it was too early in the morning for her and her knees were tired after doing three pages of sealings.

Drunk work experience: So I was at work minding my own business and getting some last finishing touches done on some of the treadmills we got in and a drunk man decided to stumble in. It turns out, they went to the rodeo finals in Las Vegas and were coming back through Idaho to go home to Cardston. they stayed the night in Idaho and they supposedly got into a bad fight. He got wasted on expensive wine, and then his wife dumped him on the side of the road the next morning because he was drunk. She then called the bus station and bought him a ticket to go back to Cardston. Anyway, long story short, they wouldn't let him on because he was drunk and I had to call them to convice them to let him go home.

Commission: So they are finally paying me commissions for the Idaho Falls store and it has made our lives so much easier than before. We were struggling financially, and still are, but not as bad as we were before. The checks have added up and helped us to be able to afford Christmas this year.

Hand Slap Game: So Mitch was in his hi-chair and I was playing the slap game with him where I slap his hand and he hits me back. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. I would slap him lightly, then he would hit me as hard as he could. Then, he laughed really loud. RUDE!

Thanksgiving and the Surrounding Events.

Perhaps some of you think I've kicked the bucket because of the lack of posts, but that is not so. Although I think I came pretty close during the risky wisdom tooth removal. You should all be happy to know that I do indeed have feeling in my lower lip. Such a relief.

The wisdom tooth ordeal had me-dare I say-stuck-in Utah, without my husband, for a week. I use the word 'stuck' because Mikey had the car, and I have a working mother, and wandered the house for a day or so. Don't you worry though, I was plenty occupied with the stomach flu, blending up green beans and sandwiches, rinsing constantly with salt water, using a syringe to clean the holes out, and still, yes, still, getting dry socket. Yuck... But the week was still full of excitement and loads of fun. Mom took us to see Twilight, which was so romantic. I realize most people hate it, but Mike reminds me of Edward......which is weird, I know, and since he and I hadn't seen each other for nearly a week at that point, I was pretty much sobbing the entire time. Maybe I'm just a sap.

Mitch got to meet the fabulous Jen. And Julianne and Lars. And he was just so cute, as always, and I was glad to catch up with old friends. OH! AND! I found my other lost yearbooks, and 3, count them 3, grandma books, including my favorite!! My life gets more complete everyday.

Also, I think it is important to note, Mom, Paul, and I ventured out to Sams Club where I found some adorable baby clothes, and wanted to buy out the entire store. This is his newest Sunday attire, which I would let him wear constantly, if it didn't look so uncomfortable, because it is just that cute.

You're probably wondering what poor Mikey did for a whole week without his little maid and cook..... Don't feel bad. Lets just say he got a full nights rest everyday, and took a vacation from working out. Rude! Just kidding... he deserved every bit of sleep since he's back to the never-sleeping-again routine thanks to a screaming baby, and a no-snoring-allowed wife.

And then Mike finally got to Utah and we were off to Ohio!!! Ohio is always nice. My hair looks ten times better, my lips never need chapstick, and I'm pretty sure it's better for my horrendous acne problem too. I don't think I can breathe better though, that's probably one of those urban legends. OH! Fact of the day: Pringles, the chips, here, in the west, have a little bubble so when you open it, it goes "pop" Apparently, out in the OH, this is not so. And, says Mike's dad, if you were to buy a can a pringles in Ohio and take them on the plane, a bubble would grow. Something about humidity blah, blah. And I was really, truly, going to try this, and I forgot. Until now. How depressing. I guess this is going to have to wait till the next trip. Perhaps the bubble would shrink if traveling the opposite direction? I'm going to find out.

In Ohio, one of Mike's friends and new fiance wanted to go to sushi with us. I love sushi, thanks to Paul, but Mike here, hates fish- cooked fish, raw fish, the smell of fish, the look of fish. I'm pretty sure the only reason he likes fishing is to kill the fish.... just kidding...he throws them back in... do not panic vegetarians! Anyway, we went to sushi anyway, and although Mike ordered chicken, he did try my little raw crab, avocado, rice and seaweed roll, otherwise known as the California roll, and didn't even flinch. Didn't hate it, but didn't really like it either. I'm so proud of you Mikey!!

Mitch was adorable the whole trip. He was so perfect on the plane, words can't even express. I think the airline stewardesses are nicer to us because we have such a cute baby. I guess we'll keep him around, ha ha. Grandma Taylor referred to him as "angel baby" for the duration of the week, because he was really that good. I couldn't ask for a better baby. He loved everyone, especially his only cousin, Clara. It was like they new each other! They both went crazy! It was seriously the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Thanksgiving was amazing. These Taylors are definitely cooks.... Cheri's fiance, Ian, made 8 pies, from scratch. Talk about dedication. And they were fantastic (and I think I really did try them all....the baby weight will never really leave me....) And Mitch randomly fell asleep on the floor while about 3 people were playing with him. That, I think, was definitely a highlight. I didn't take a picture though, the flash would have killed the moment, so imagine it. Maybe the turkey dinner made him sleepy too.

Friday Mike and I made our way into the deathly crowds.... but we survived. And actually were really fast, considering. We bought Mitch a little jumper for Christmas, he'll love it. It was a pain getting it on the plane and we just left it at my parents house, which means we'll be up late Christmas Eve setting the darn thing up. But I am sure he will love it.

Also in Ohio, we went to a fantastic book store and bought Mitch some really cute childrens books. And now he has a total of 6 books to open up, and 3 toys. Is that weird?? I don't know why I am more prone to buy books over toys.... he loves books now, but maybe his mother is pushing them on him too much. ha ha. Oh well, there's always next year to try and get this "toys at Christmas" thing right.

Somehow in Ohio Mitch found his "scream for pure joy" voice. And he is loud!! So it's the end of the day and I've got a headache from my baby's ridiculously loud screams. At least he's happy. This should make church more interesting.

I daresay Mitch's favorite person in Ohio is his Grandpa Boyd. I guess we picked the right person to name the baby after. Mitch couldn't have been happier being held by Grandpa, it was so cute. An honorable mention goes to Shelby, she could get him to smile anytime. I asked her if she wanted to come home with us, but apparently she has school and a life....

We also went to Kirtland. It was amazing!! This is the only picture I took. I had my hands full with Mitch (who had indeed found his screaming voice.... not so cute when you're inside the temple) but it was really interesting. I can't imagine living in the Midwest for so long and then walking so far away to Utah only to find (most likely terrifying) mountains and desert. I love Utah, but I think that would have been a little depressing, Kirtland was beautiful.

Also, we put up the Christmas tree. (Not ours, yet. Maybe when I finish cleaning... but in Ohio) Mike's mom has one of the prettiest trees I have ever seen. Mitch loved to look at the lights and ornaments, I can't wait to put ours up, maybe he will scream less?

We had a fabulous vacation and the both of us were really dreading Idaho. The cold weather, icy roads, and no variety really send us over the edge sometimes. But, now that we're here again, it's nice to be back at our own little apartment, just the 3 of us. I just wish I could figure out how to clean my bathroom and fold my laundry with a screaming baby.... at least he's not crawling.....yet.

I promise next time my post will be short....

My life. My lame, lame life

Lets begin with a follow up from the dentist.

No cavities for Mike. No cavities for me. Why are my teeth hurting you ask? OH! I have a wisdom tooth coming in, wrapped around a few hundred nerves, good chance of losing all feeling of my bottom lip for the rest of my life. Fantastic. I'd rather have a cavity.

So because the dentist we went to seemed a little nervous (at least to me) I am having surgery in Utah, and we are leaving for Ohio Monday, so now Mitch and I will go to Utah for a week, and Mike will catch up Sundayish, to fly to Ohio.

I'm occasionally an idiot, and booked my plane ticket in the name of "Meagan Taylor" which, don't get me wrong, that is officially my name, I just don't have a government issued ID with that name. That's right folks, no Idaho drivers license.

Last year, about this time, I went to the DMV to get an Idaho license. And found out you have to take a test. And I failed. I got like 50 percent or something. Now, don't laugh! If you only saw these questions. "What do you do if an animal is crossing the road in front of you? A. The farmer must pay for any damage done to you and your car. B. Slow down and avoid hitting the animals. C. If you hit the animal, you are liable to the farmer for the animal" K....B??? NO! Wrong! C. go figure. One more reason I hate Idaho.

So earlier this week, I realize I probably should get my license before Ohio, which means before Utah, which means by today!!! Mike works constantly, and could only take me early Friday. So, I study for 2 days. STUDY!!! You don't understand, I studied!! Who does that? I read the entire manuel, took practice tests- everything!!!

Today I get up really early, and put makeup on (shocker, I know) I even put eye liner on. Did my hair. Wore a black shirt. Wore matching shoes. Wore earrings.

And we get to the DMV and apparently you have the most ridiculous proof you really live in Idaho.
"Here's a bill."
"Oh honey, it has to be a utility bill."
"All ours are electronic."
"Well.... then a lease argreement."
"Our lease is up. We've lived here for well over a year."
"You should have got your license after 30 days."
"Tried! I failed the stupid test. Would you like me to drive you over to our apartment? I'll show you the bed, the vacuum, the laundry that needs to be folded.... "
Pause
"W2 Form?"
"No."

So we drive to our apartment to get a note from the manager that we do indeed live here. She is, of course, not there. So we drive to the copy shop, because our printer is out of ink, to print off our e-bill. It doesn't have my name on the bill, so Mike photoshops it in. Thanks honey.

Surprisingly the lady accepts this, and I go to take the test. I hate testing. I was so nervous I was shaking. Shaking! I could only miss 6 questions. There was 40. The first 20 I missed 5. And they were the stupid questions I answered too quick, or second guessed. So I started taking things more slowly, breathing a little calmer, trying to ignore the smart guy next to me answering questions too fast for any normal human, ignoring my husbands rants about his 95, no wait, 98 percent- the first time.... This is when my brain splits into 2 different people, one good, one evil, unfortunatly during testing, it's hard to tell which is which.

Question 37. Wrong. Crap. Now I have to get the last 3 questions right, and I pass. Okay. I can do this.
Question 38. Correct!
Question 39. Correct!
Question 40:
What does this sign mean?

Good Meagan "Yield! Yield! I win! I pass!!!"
Evil Meagan "Now, wait, read through all of the answers"
Good Meagan "Oh....Slow Moving Vehicle?? Crap... What does that sign look like?"
Evil Meagan "It looks the same I think. If it was a yield sign it would say yield right??"
Good Meagan "Yeah, Yield signs say 'yield' yeah, okay. Slow Moving Vehicle"

WRONG!

Evil Meagan "hahahahahhaha"

My life! I'm fortunate enough to have a husband that brings up old, bitter, heart-wrenching memories. We talked about me starting drivers ed a year late, and failing the written test 3 times, and then failing the driving range, and failing the actual driving test. And my mother refusing to let me practice driving, and screaming for her life every time I got in the car. And me praying for my life every time behind the wheel. And shaking all the way down the highland highway the first time Paul let me drive by myself to Kohlers (with one of those fake babies. I just set him on his seat, without a buckle, and he fell off and was screaming..... and I was too nervous to take one hand off the wheel and solve the problem, so I had this screaming baby for a good 20 mins....I think I failed that test too. Crap. I stink at motherhood too) They should probably just revoke my license. Mike didn't even let me drive home.

And to top it off, while writing this sad, sad, post, I decided to bake some cookies just now, and I went to put them in the oven, and two little cookie dough balls fell off onto the oven floor. Sob, sob, sob. And I couldn't get one out. So I turned the oven off, and the door is open, and I am watching the thing make a mess out of my oven.

On a positive note, here are some pictures of Mitch. That cheers anybody up.

He's in the 99th percentile for height, 96th for head circumference, and 46th for weight. The doctor said if we average our heights together, that's a good indicator. But that would be like 5'7.5 I somehow don't think that's likely.

Mike got a hair cut today. Apparently he looks like a stunk. We'll have a story and pictures of that very related story later.

I must say, yesterday was a better day. The Office was on- Pam came back!!! Mitch slept 6 hours in a row. I had high hopes for an Idaho license. Oh well....I guess its only 10 am the day s bound to get better.

Glory Days

This week I had the opportunity to go through my old stuff in the attic. Er...basement. And brought all of it home!, much to Mike's dismay. He should be happy I didn't place every doll and stuffed bunny on the back of the bed. Haha.

Okay, fair warning, this has potential to be a long post, so before I forget, lets briefly recap halloween. We went to Utah, which was so fun. Mitch loves being the center of attention, and he's a flirt. So between my mom, Amy, Emma, and Madeline- Mitch had the time of his life. We dressed him up as a gangster. Not trying to say anything, thanks mom, just being lazy.... it required no sewing, shopping, or creativity-really.







This happens to be my favorite picture thus far. "Gwamma.... Is that you??"

So the basement. Mom gave us lots of fun childrens books, trying to make up for the long lost 'grandma' books that disappeared post traverse mountain. And Mitch is starting to look at the pictures! Reading becomes more fun everyday.

Also I found one yearbook, who knows where the other 5 are. 7th grade. Possibly the worst year ever. At least fashion and hair wise. For those of you who can't remember the catastrophe, this is what I looked like (as small as possible, please glance and move on....)

Sad, sad, sad. It was fun to go through and look at all the '2 cool 2 be 4 gotten' and 'INVU4URAQT' comments. With my personal commentary and editing. For example. Some guy wrote "Meagan, you are one ___ babe. I luv u" I took a black sharpie and covered up the blank. I'm guessing it said, hott, at worst sexy. But apparently it was too offensive to leave in. I even wrote "bad language" in parentithesis next to this comment. Ha ha. I guess that is expected when you let stinks, and have panacakes for breakfrest. Also, one random girls picture had a heart around her, drawn with a yellow highlighter. And her name was highlighted as well as the perpetrators. I wrote, by the side of her picture, "Everything in yellow is Symon's signature." Thank you Meagan from the past, for keeping things so clean and orderly.

Mom found her old homecoming and prom dresses. They were lovely. And somewhat see-through, and somewhat low-cut. Mom placed the dresses on hangers, and hung them in Amy's closet. Amy found them Sunday morning, "Does she want me to wear them? Like, to church??" We guessed yes, and Amy and I played dress up. We were going to wear them to church, but I couldn't nurse in mine, and Amy doesn't like her back showing.

Emma found one of my old dolls. One of my favorites, actually. Amy had 2, and Emma had one, and we all played together. Her name was Katherine, and I called her Kat. for short. Grandma gave her to me for my birthday one year, along with a yellow crying towel. I guess I was an emotional child (not much as changed, really) and cried a lot. I don't remember that part. I just remember thinking Grandma was kidding, she wouldn't dare...., and then really, truly, opening a towel immediately deemed the 'crying towel'

Well, I guess that's it. I revived my frank, and got some new pages starting in January. We are extremely excited for Cheri, Mike's sister, and her engagement. And to spend a week in Ohio, showing Mitch off to all Mike's relatives that have not met him yet. And the dentist. Tommorrow, actually. Personally I hope for less than 3 cavities. Keep your fingers crossed.

Franken-Cookies

To lessen the intense arguement of who-will-write-the-blog, we are switching paragraphs!! Mike here will start things off, and I, Meagan-the-best-blogger-of-all, will follow second.

Well to start things off, Happy Halloween to everyone especially to humble Meagan above. We celebrated it this year by making frankenstein cookies for our friends in the ward. The reasoning behind it was because someone left treats at our house and put Boo on our door and told us we had to spread the wealth by giving treats to other people. This Frankenstein idea was Mike's. He has the most creative and innovative mind in the family. Practically perfect. Anyway.

You learn a few things about yourself and whereabouts when you open your door and there is a "Boo" on it. 1. You are mormon, in a mormon community, with crazy mormons that do crazy neighboorhood "closer-togetherness" activities in hopes of making everyone feel loved, hopefully this works. 2. You find the need to be excessively creative, which is Meagan's forte, thank you very much, with a little help from 'parenting' magazine. I still have no idea why we are subscribed to the magazine in the first place. Probably because I had a baby!!! The hospital signed us up no doubt.

So we made the "cookies", by making rice krispy treats and then putting them into the fridge to cool. Meagan was rushing me to stir the marshmallows and to this day I don't know why. Anyway, maybe she was hungry. Then we made white chocolate frosting and I bought candies to put on the faces for the eyes, ear, mouth, and nose. Stop doing head shoulders knees and toes. I know you were. Anyway. We then cooled them and took them to the neighbors. I can't describe how funny it was watching Meagan run from the door and the neighbors not even being there. It was an official kodak moment.

Mike-y dear forgot to mention the challenge of frosting the darn things. And he, being a man and all, proclaimed it my duty, and it was not pretty. So, we hope the lucky neighbors didn't catch us, and we hope they are thinking we have children old enough to do such things. Also, Mike forgot to copy the BOO sign, instruction sheet, and 2 (yep, 2) poems. (One saying, and I quote "May the only ghost that comes to stay, Be the Holy Ghost to guide your way) Ah....gotta love it. Anyway, so because we only had 24 hours to be good neighbors, we made our own signs. And didn't revive the poems. So...I guess you could say we started our own chain. Hopefully we got the instruction part right... And people will know we started it because the BOO sign on our door we printed in Blue ink, and gave the neighbors BOO signs in orange ink. We are out of Black.....so... our signs don't really looked copied. HA! oh well.....

Well, this weekend we're headed to Utah to see Meagan's family. It will be the most exciting experience of my life (hehe). We are so excited to see family(actually just Mitchell is). HEHEHEHEHHEHEHE!

Sickness hits the Taylor's

Well, this week was an interesting one as Meagan had a serious breast infection and needed to be treated with antibiotics. She had a large lump in her breast, and it took four days to get rid of the thing. The poor girl, then came down with a head cold and needed to be taken care of so I had to get off work early and help her out. She's feeling a lot better today now that she is almost over her cold. Advil Cold and Sinus is amazing, that's all I have to say.

On a positive note, my job is going well in Idaho. I just hired a new guy from Colorado. He is great. Return missionary and Eagle Scout, my GM wouldn't have it otherwise. I swear the person could be an ax-murderer and as long as he was an RM and Eagle Scout that he would be ok with me hiring them.

My mother is dealing with more health problems as she goes under the knife over the next couple weeks. Turns out she has a problem with septic-smelling fluid leaking out of her body and that two of her body parts are separated and she needs surgery to bring them back together. Don't know a whole lot about it, just know that she's on bed rest for a while.

Meagan and I are really excited to go down for Utah for Halloween. We have decided to go as Jack and the Beanstalk. Meagan is going to be the bean stalk, Mitch is Jack, and I am the big scary giant. It should be wildly entertaining.

Glorious Thursdays.

Thursdays are glorious around here. Mike gets home around 7:20. On the days I decide to be a competent wife, dinner is on the table at 7:30. Mitchell is asleep, or almost asleep... around 7:45. And...The Office starts at 8.

Since the days of motherhood began, I really have no idea, ever, what day, or time, or year it is. It's a fun time for any woman. I have 2 shirts, "nice" shirts, (reserved for church hours only) that are not stained with milk, spit up, poop, or food (you know, the days where you try to make and eat chili with one hand. Never a good idea). Chocolate and ice cream become more of a necessity than milk and eggs. The days goals are shower, maybe to the dishes, make dinner, hopefully do the laundry, oh, and brush my teeth. Reality is that, you know deep down, only 2 will be accomplished by the days end. At that point it's either sleep, or do the dishes and laundry.....Church becomes the highlight of the week, and the only time you find the excuse to spend the time on hair and makeup. It gets really emotional when your husband finds a way to let you spend a week with your family for Christmas, instead of the planned 3 days. Seriously. Motherhood changes everything.

So, Mike gets home and reminds me it is Thursday. Mitchell was coincidentally asleep by this point. Dinner was to be waffles, because I am trying to get over a breast infection, and everything else I could whip up seemed to0 hard, ha ha. Adding eggs and water to a mix is hard enough.... So Mike and I proceed to shove waffles down our throat as fast as physically possible. It is at this moment I realize how pathetic we are. This is sad! Two grown adults should not be this excited about a TV show. In fact, I should probably be sleeping.

Like most my posts, this story has no point. The Office was hilarious as was Saturday Night Live News, and now we have an entire week to go before we can laugh again.

The Tale of the Never-Ending, Never-Dying Smoke Detector....

It all started around 2 am. Beep....Beep....Beep. This is annoying. Really annoying. Especially when I'm trying to fall back asleep and anticipating the next Beep is not good for sleeping habits.

Lets talk about the anticipation. Whoever made these non-dying alarms must have decided it would have been funny to make the time between the beeps as long as possible. So you're counting.....and you hear beeps in your head, and you realize you haven't heard them for awhile.... right when you think it stopped for good....BEEP!!! AH!!!!!! WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN AT 2 AM!?!?!?

So, obviously-because I'm the best wife ever, I hit Mike, who was in a sound sleep, I know this because of his snoring, which is a completely different chapter in the 'Meagan never will sleep again' novel. Mike was just oh too sweet about getting up to fix the smoke alarm. It amazes me he never gets upset about me waking him up in the early hours.

Anyway, Mike stands on the edge of the bed and pushes a button (that emergency button, the one you push to make sure the thing still works. As if the people who really are capable of sleeping through fire, are also capable of checking their smoke alarm.) That seems to work. He waits for the beep.....waiting....waiting. And gets back in bed "good night" "thank you honey" BEEP!!!!

So the covers are thrown off, the light turns on. The battery compartment must be here somewhere!! Mike goes and gets a kitchen chair. And is standing on it. Still. Where on earth? There has to be batteries in this thing, right? BEEP!!! It's this point Mike starts swearing. Ha ha. For the cause of keeping this post kid-friendly (and mormon friendly too, really) I'll spare the details....

Mike is frustrated, and the beeping just won't stop. He looks at the alarm, realizes it is attached to wires.... electricity......hm....
"what if I turn the circuit breaker off...."
At this point, I am tired, cold, and want to die.
"anything....seriously...."
So he turns the breaker off to our bedroom. No clock, no lights... it's a small price to pay for silence. He gets back into bed. And just as we are both dosing off into wonderland...BEEP!!!

HOW ON EARTH???

The circuit breaker is switched back. I am sobbing. He is swearing. Mitchell is now screaming. My life! I just don't understand.

So, I'm feeding my baby, Mike is still standing on the kitchen chair desperately searching for the battery compartment and he gives up, and quite frankly, so did I, even though I really just laid there, fighting the battle of laughing or crying.

For the next hour the three of us laid there, anticipating the next beep. And finally, there was no beep. It was over. It had to be. I think it finally died. And you know what? I'm not replacing those batteries, nor am I marching down to the apartment manager and asking them to fix it. Who cares?? I'm fairly certain I would wake up if there was a fire. Please.... I don't sleep anyway! Right now I'm counting my blessings that we live in apartment with only one smoke detector. One that works no longer!!! Ha ha ha!

The Slush and Meagan's Hair

Well, Meagan decided that it would be a good idea to make a slush for me after work, which was nice of her. What she didn't realize is that you shouldn't put too many ingredients in because it can become too thick. here's a picture of her slush upside down. We couldn't get it to move without an ice pick, lol. I will give her credit, it was good.




















The Second picture is of Meagan and her new hairdo. She decided to go with the afro and I really don't know what she was smoking when she took her yearbook picture. I told her to stay away from the marijuana.

Miracles!!!!!!!

Mitchell slept a whole 8.5 hours waking up at 4:30. Perfect. So, now I feel quite rejuvenated and it's a lovely feeling.

Mike, however, woke me up at 3:20 thinking Mitch was dead. No, not dead, still breathing, no blankets over his head, still hugging Rover, so back to sleep I went.

Yesterday, Mike's carpool ride to work decided to quit- right that moment. haha. Who does that? So Mitch and I had to go pick him up. Which was fine, because I wanted to exchange some baby gap clothing someone bought us which are way too small for the gorilla. Mitch is usually pretty good in the car, but because it was just me driving, I guess he thought it'd be funny to complain the entire way because his binky fell out of his mouth. drama drama drama. So, I try to solve this problem by blindly trying to find the binky, and then trying to find his mouth with my finger. I succeeded, luckily, going 45mph down the freeway. Good thing no one was behind me. At this point I find myself wondering who thought it was safer for children to be in rear-facing seats. Mitch of course, spit the binky out, at which point I figured it was better to keep both hands on the wheel :) Then dad gets in the car, and of course he calms down and is a perfect, quiet angel the rest of the time. My life...

Anyway, we get to the mall. Turns out the baby gap clothes were bought in 2003. Okay.... So... now what? Can't really give them away as gifts, that would be really tacky, especially if they decided to try and return them. Oh well, new clothes for the next little boy. Or new clothes for the neighbors little boy, which is probably more likely. We did find Mitch a nice little coat at Old Navy which he needed because it's probably close to blizzard season, here in Rexburg, Idaho.

I also came across Mike's senior yearbook, and decided to share the great photo with all of you. Love you dear....

The battle

Well I found out my mother is still suffering from illness and is getting her leg worked on tomorrow. They are going to wrap her leg to pressurize it because she has an inflamed leg, due to her chemotherapy and stint. Hopefully she'll be okay and everything will work out. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer in December and was given two years to live. They say she is in remission and for now it is gone, but that it might be back. One can only hope that through the power of the savior, she will be okay and I know that what is supposed to happen is going to happen. It's hard to know that such a wonderful person in my life is fighting the fight of her life at such a young age. She has been an inspiration to me in almost every aspect of my life. I don't want anyone feeling sorry for her and she doesn't either, but it is hard to watch such a wonderful human being suffer. It's times like these that you remember want the savior has done for us and how great we have things in our lives. We may feel like we have life tough at times, but when realize all the savior has done for us, we remember how awesome we have it.

Food Storage, Take it or Leave it.

So, recently Mike and I decided we should start putting food away for rainy days. We haven't really officially started yet, but we've had many a talks about flour, sugar, powdered eggs, water.....oatmeal...the essentials, I suppose. A few days ago, Mike decided to put this talk into action, and this is what he brought home.


Yes, it's true. 72 boxes, 288 pastries. Lovely. I figure it is probably expected as the first item in our food storage, much like the deer was the first major event in our marriage. Much like our first remote is gigantic. Much like our first couch would most likely be rejected at the DI. Much like our first kiss when Mike missed my lips. Just kidding... Anyway, the list goes on....and I'm so glad to be eternally married to such a crazy man, who can make me smile everyday. We love you Mike!

The Many Adventures of Mike, Meagan, Mitch, Madee, Messes, and Monkeys

What a week! Madee is quite a talker, and quite the singer, and poor Mike was constantly subjected to various barbie songs, disney songs, and musicals- his favorite! haha. But, Mitchell loved every little bit of Madee, and no one can get him to smile more than his now favorite aunt.

The fun all started Sunday night, when I decided Madee had enough 'Webkins' and suggested a game we could play. It seems no one has cooler games than Tara, and that was quickly brushed away with the idea of a fort!

"Can I build a fort?"
"Yes...."
"Can I build it in the family room?"
"Sure."
"Can I have some tape?"
"?...Why?"
"To tape to the walls!!!!"
"Um...no..."
"Then you have to help me because you and Amy built the best forts ever"

And the most dangerous, really. Amy and I stacked books on top of chairs till they almost fell over, and then throw the blankets over them. And almost everytime, within 5 mins, the books would fall, and we'd save each others lives.

So I started draping blankets over our disgusting couch and T.V. etc, when Mitch woke up, and I left the room for 10 mins, and came back to Mike duct taping blankets to the wall. Wow. The fort was so big, Madeline could stand in it.

Monday we decided to head to Walmart for paperdoll supplies. And came back, and started a very very long paperdoll making process, which quickly turned into puppet making, since muliple clothing would have taken us years..... Madee insisted I draw the paperdolls, draw their outfit, color the people, cut them out, glue them, and she would color the clothes. Fabulous. It was then Madee was put on 'Mitchell duty' and she did a wonderful job of singing to him, kindly offering the binky, rocking him in his battery-eating swing, and making faces at him. The paperdolls were so amazing, I sort of wish I would have kept them for myself, haha. Madee and I hosted a webcam showing of "it's just called life" to mother and emma, and I had the duty of keeping the camera steady, which was hard due to all the hearty laughs.

Mike rented 'Nims Island' one night and the four of us watched it together. Mike was also applying for jobs on the computer and was not watching the movie as well as Madee and her high movie-watching standards would like. So Madee quizzed him afterward and Mike only missed about half of the detail-oriented questions. Too bad for him. The movie ended at 9pm, an agreeable bedtime I thought, but, no, Madee refused to take her bedtime medicine that consequently made her sleepy and Mike and I were left to suggest an endless list of appropriate activities.

"Lets work on the paperdolls"
"That's for the daytime"
"Lets make chocolate covered bananas"
"Ew...."
"How about a fashion show- Mike can be the judge"
"Boring...."
"Lets toilet paper the neighbors"
"That isn't fun" (nor is it doable at an apartment complex)
"We could play monopoly"
"That takes too long"
"I know! We could tie a rope from the neighbors door knob to the banister so they can't get out in the morning"
"That's mean!"
"My toilet is getting dirty"
"Meagan thats what mom says!"
"Truth or dare?"
Pause
"Okay."

So truth or dare it is. Madee laid down the ground rules- no kissing, no killing, no leaving the room, and no being too loud. Deal. Madee got the low-down on all my ex-boyfriends. Madee dared Mike to dance with a rose in his mouth (and Mike took our cameras) Mike dared Madee to pretend like the detergent was her boyfriend (possibly portraying potential concerns....) Madee dared me to dress up and act like Mike, and then I dared Madee to eat a banana like a monkey. And then, she complied to our request of bed.......

We finished the paperdolls Thursday, so Friday I decided to take Madeline to the mall to help me exchange some baby gap clothes we received as gifts that are way too small. But, Mike accidentally took the keys to work. Nice going. So, instead, we decided to make sugar cookies. We found a recipe on the internet that seemed good, so away we went. This recipe made near a million cookies, and frosting time came and I only had 1/4 bag of powdered sugar....and no food coloring. Madee then suggested we take the cranberry juice...and Q-tips....for decoration (not sure, but this didn't really sound too plausible). Since I had a car, but no keys and a stroller.... we went walking to the grocery store. I honestly thought it would be a 5 mins max walk. And I was very, very wrong. The entire trip took us an hour (there and back though.) We got home exhausted, dead, and not really in the mood for extensive decoration. So after another viewing of Princess and the Pauper, we started the decorations. We finished around 7:30 that night, about the time Mike gets home from work.

"Well, Madee, Mike should be home any minute, lets set the table"
"!%"!%$&!&^ MIKE! &!%*!@"
amp;!&^ MIKE! &!%*!@"
"?...Yes?...."
"Meagan he will eat all of the cookies!"
haha. so it's been a week and Madee is convinced Mike will walk in like some sort of monster, see the 60+ nicely frosted cookies on the counter and shove all of them in his mouth before anyone can stop him.
Madee calms her own nerves by asking how many she can take home. After trying to use my non-existent math skills I tell her 20. She then grabs a piece of paper, writes 20 'M's on it, cuts them out and places them on the cookies she wants to show the family. Mike then walks in the door and Madee screams, top of her lungs, "NO!!! DON'T EAT THE 'M' COOKIES!!!!"
Mike scares her by reminding of her that Mike starts with 'M' too.... and then after some slaps by me, complies.

Later that night, she reminds me that we have not yet made edible playdough and we leave tomorrow. This is something I'd promised we'd do- mostly because I was so sick of Tara showing me up on everything (cooler books, more movies, better music, more kids toys, 'more funner' names for dolls, etc.) Tara and Madee watched an edible play dough documentary, and when I asked Madee if they made the play dough, and Madee responded with a negative, I knew this might be the only chance I get.... so how could I break this promise? So 10pm rolls around and I'm kneading edible play dough together for her to take home, the sugar cookie high was enough for me to realize my mother would probably enjoy a similar high :)

The week was such a blast, we've decided it should be a yearly event, but in July so Emma can join in the fun, and only 5 days so Madee doesn't miss home so much. See you next year Miss Madeline!!!