Family Pictures

It's that time of year again....time for family pictures!  Actually, it's a time to get Meredith's pictures for Christmas and then get a few of Chad and I with her :)  We opted for an early Sunday morning photo shoot, hoping they wouldn't be too busy, but alas it was crowded as usual.  Guess it's just that time of the year.  We had to reschedule once because of a bruise Meredith had around her eye, due to a fall off the slide, so we didn't want to push the date back again.  Meredith did surprisingly well in the actual photo shoot, much to our amazement.  She is usually so squirmy for pictures we try to take.  However, trying to hold her still while we chose our favorite pictures was a different story.  Next time we'll have to take a sitter along with us!

All decked out for Christmas

What a big girl she is getting to be!

Our little bookworm :)

Hard to tame down all of the hair in the back :)

The Prentice Family

I love this picture, especially since we didn't get any professional pregnancy pictures while I was carrying Meredith.  It won't be long and we will be a family of four!

Pumpkin Patch

One of the highlights of our Fall was visiting our local pumpkin patch.  I was able to go several times with other moms and once with my parents.  Though I don't think I ended up getting my money's worth with the season pass I bought (do you sense any bitterness?), it was fun and will be even more fun next year when Meredith can participate in more of the activities.  Here are some pictures of our adventures:

Lauren and Meredith.  (Meredith had a nasty fall earlier in the week, so that's the reason for her bloody nose).  It was VERY cold this particular morning.  I loved the little wagons they had available, since the strollers didn't push so well in the gravel.

Mommy and Meredith in the corn bin.  I found corn EVERYWHERE when we got back home...in the van, washing machine, and her boots.

Pre-Ride...all smiles.

So far, so good...

This is one of those rides that will be better next year.  She kept falling down off the seat :(  I wish they would have allowed me to ride along with her.  She was pretty scared at this point.

Post ride...all tears :(

This was one of her favorite activities - going in the miniature houses (including a post office).  This is on my wish list for my Dad to build for our back yard.  Isn't it cute?

She loved pushing the shopping cart around.  She's used to being on the other end, as I push her around the store.

Washing her veggies.

The view from inside the miniature house.  Beautiful!

Riding the tire-made horse swing.

We even got to go on a hayride around the pumpkin patch!

She did not like this activity.  My Dad tried to jump on it with her, but she would have none of it!

Grandpa Perry, Meredith, and Grandma Perry

Call Me Megan Crocker

Well, I'm no Betty Crocker, but I felt like one today.  It was our turn to bring snacks for Chad's Wednesday night high school ministry Bible study.  We needed to come up with snacks to feed 35+ kids and group leaders.  Though I love to cook and have enjoyed it even more since we got married (it's never fun or easy to cook for just one person), I'm not big on baking.  It's not that I don't know how, it's just that I'm not a big dessert person.  Sure, I'll have sweets now and then (don't even get me started on my recent pregnancy-induced DQ Cookie Jar blizzard craving), but I could do without.  I'm the one at Thanksgiving that would rather have seconds of meat/potatoes, rather than having dessert. 

Anyhow, I came across a super simple recipe for Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies.  I can't believe I just admitted that....me and peanut butter?  Well, it was a sacrifice I made for Chad, because it is just about his favorite food ever and as for me, I absolutely hate the taste of it!  I guess opposites attract.  To balance it out, I also made a store bought package of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  Not that there will be any leftover treats after high school guys go through line, but I'm hopeful.

So, I cranked up the Christmas music on my iPod and began baking.  It kind of put me in the holiday spirit :)

Meredith just discovered the oven light.  She had just woken up from her nap (can you tell by her hair?) and was in a trance as she stared at the cookies baking.

Finally, I will leave you with this humorous e-mail I sent to Chad after my baking experience with the peanut butter cookies:

Do you know how much I love you?  Well, I'll tell you!

I have been hand rolling every PB cookie and have PB stuck under my fingernails.  Also, since you weren't around, I had to taste test one of the cookies.  I can't believe I did it.  I now have this awful taste in my mouth! :)

More New Words

We are so impressed with our little girl, and yes this is very much a brag post.  Last week, she had her 18 month appointment with her pediatrician and I was a little concerned, because the doctor mentioned most 18 month olds know about 10 words (I think she meant 10 words they could verbalize).  Well, Meredith probably knows 75-100 words, but at the appointment, only was up to about 6 words she could say.  Low and behold, just a few days after her appointment, she started talking like crazy and we could actually understand a lot of what she was saying!  When I picked her up from church nursery today, her teacher said that "she wants to talk so bad."  And, that's the truth; She will look you in the eye and make complete sentences with maybe one word you can understand, but just fills in the rest of the sentence with gibberish.

Here is a list of her new words.  Each day she seems to copy at least one word we say, so I guess we should be watching our tongues very carefully :)

• Cat (ca)
• Bubble (sounds just like the word)
• Bye (we are working on having her say it as she is waving.  I was so touched that just a few minutes ago as I was putting her down for bed, she looked over and said "bye" as I turned off the light.  Such a sweet girl!)
• Ow
• OK (Oooooo-K)
• Papa (usually just pa)
• Ball (ba)
• Tickle/Tackle (sounds like ta at the beginning and can be used to mean either of these words.  We tickle her all the time and she tickles others, while she tackles Chad in their nightly playtime.)
• Baby (apparently, she has said this twice now and I have missed it both times :(  She said it in front of our small group Sunday and said it to Chad at Toys R Us tonight, and I missed it both times.)

PS - On an unrelated note, Meredith has learned to climb pretty well now.  She uses her little foam Elmo chair for support and carries it over to the couch or ottoman and climbs right up.  Thankfully, she is learning to get down much more gracefully than before, though she still likes to jump up and down on the furniture which gives me a heart attack!  Unfortunately, she has shown signs of trying to climb on the railing of her crib, but she can't get a good enough grip...thank goodness :)

I am trying to let her walk more when we go out places, since my sciatica is flaring up in this pregnancy and lifting a solid 25 pound toddler is getting to be a bit much.  I'm hopeful she continues to be more independent when climbing the stairs to her room and eventually will be able to go down (we haven't even attempted to show her that yet).