November...

Well, I'm keeping up on my posting pattern pretty consistently. Does that sentence make sense? You'll have to forgive me... I feel like my English skills are deteriorating lately, and I don't have good English as it is. Pretty sad.

Sunday evening (20th) Seth and I went to Park City and stayed until Wednesday to have a little 5 year anniversary getaway. We left Scarlett with family. Park City was great, relaxing, and fun. We did some shopping, caught a few movies, ate good food, went driving around the crazy rich people's houses, etc but my favorite part was probably playing pool with Seth. It was just nice to be together, with no distractions or schedule. I didn't take a single blasted picture... and I had my camera like the whole time. Lame, I know.

So... Thanksgiving was a blast. A Lot of Seth's family was in town! Cousins from Rexburg came down and stayed with us Wed-Sunday. He has some cousins that live in Provo going to school also, AND Seth's parents were in town! So it was quite a blast. I really didn't take any photos of Thanksgiving though :( My father in law, Steve, was taking a ton so I felt like I didn't need to. But of course I didn't get copies of the photos he took before they left home to Michigan.

It was a great feast though! We played a lot of "mafia" afterward. And that is always a blast with the Oesterle clan. (Seth's mom's maiden name is Oesterle)

We also did a little black friday shopping. Oh, how I wish we had some photos of that!! I didn't do a great job at planning out a wishlist this year. But I like the deals we got, and the experience of it all. We went to wal mart. And holy. crap. It was nuts! I like going to wal mart b/c the last two years they have started Thursday night, so you don't have to get up super early. It's easy to stay up late than to wake up early.

I went looking for the 600 thread count $20 sheets right away (any size!). Got a pretty good spot, and once it was time to attack (10pm) it was MAD HOUSE. CHAOS. I was able to get in there though and start handing things to people around me who wanted some. Then I was throwing the set that we wanted (mother in law/cousins, us)... They went fast! On the way out of the store 45 min later my Mother in law said "I saw a different side of Megan tonight that I would have never imagined." Hahahaha. Oh boy. I can get determined about some things....

We got a fisher-price little people "dance and twirl" set for Scarlet, 10 bucks. it was marked down from 30 to 15, but I also had a $5 off coupon fisher price toy - and got it for TEN.

We wanted to try target at midnight... but it was absolutely insane. I thought wal-mart was crazy. But Target was nothing compared to Wal-mart. It was SO bad. the line literally wrapped around the parking lot 3 times. And at the door they had the zig-zag line along the side of the building. Then, once it was midnight, they were only letting a dozen or so people go in at a time. I don't know how long people had to wait outside, but we weren't going to hang around for that mess.

Friday was pretty chill. And that was a good thing. Saturday Seth's parents left on their 24 hour car ride home to Michigan. Seth's mom, Sandi, had been in town for about 6 weeks! It was fun having her here. I can't believe it's December, b/c she was here November just flew by. I wish Steve, father in law, could have stayed longer! But that's life.

I got to decorate our Christmas tree while the cousins went out off roading in the Nutty Putty cave area on Saturday afternoon. Scarlett slept the whole time, it was perfect. Saturday night we went to Temple Square. Goodness it was cold. But great. I am not going to lie, I was a tad disappointed this year with the lights. I feel like there have been more in the past. But I like seeing the nativity scenes and the different displays they have. And of course the Salt Lake Temple looked amazing all lit up, as always. I'm glad it worked for us to all go up together, We're a good group of cousins.


And that was our Thanksgiving week! It was a party.

Seth's at work this weekend. Scarlett's currently taking a nap. And I'm doing lots of cleaning, laundry, etc. But all with such a heavy heart. And lots of tears. I am just so sad.

I have an adorable bright blue eyed nephew who is just 7 months older than Scarlett. They are the best of friends. Scarlett absolutely loves him. Loves him. She gets to go play with Preston while I work two days a week. They make each other laugh and love playing together. They also make each other cry and scream and all that other feisty toddler stuff.

Scarlett is still rear-facing in her car seat, and when we are just blocks away from getting to Preston's house Scarlett gets very excited and starting saying "Preston! Preston!". Sometimes Preston is the first word when Scarlett wakes up, and her last word before going to sleep at night. She asks where he is, and just adores him. They are such good friends. Such close cousins.

Yesterday Preston was seen by a specialist who is very positive Preston has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. They will do a muscle biopsy in a few weeks to confirm the diagnosis. We were hoping for something curable, temporary. However, this is not curable. And I am so sad. There is no DMD or muscular dystrophy in the family history of Preston, but 35% of DMD cases are from a mutation and not genetic.

Preston was born into the greatest family, with the best parents for him. It will be okay, but it is still hard.

Precious Promises

The First Presidency Message in the Ensign (A Magazine the LDS church publishes each month) this month was excellent. I hope you don't mind, I just feel like sharing it tonight.

Precious Promises of the Book of Mormon

Many years ago I stood at the bedside of a young father as he hovered between life and death. His distraught wife and their two children stood nearby. He took my hand in his and, with a pleading look, said, “Bishop, I know I am about to die. Tell me what happens to my spirit when I do.”

I offered a silent prayer for heavenly guidance and noticed on his bedside table a copy of the triple combination. I reached for the book and fanned the pages. Suddenly I discovered that I had, with no effort on my part, stopped at the 40th chapter of Alma in the Book of Mormon. I read these words to him:

“Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, … are taken home to that God who gave them life.

“And … the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow” (Alma 40:11–12).

As I continued to read about the Resurrection, a glow came to the young man’s face and a smile graced his lips. As I concluded my visit, I said good-bye to this sweet family.

I next saw the wife and children at the funeral. I think back to that night when a young man pleaded for truth and, from the Book of Mormon, heard the answer to his question.

From the Book of Mormon come other precious promises, including promises of peace, freedom, and blessings if we “will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12).

From its pages comes the promise of “never-ending happiness” to “those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual” (Mosiah 2:41).

From its pages comes the promise of “incomprehensible joy” to those who become “instrument[s] in the hands of God” in rescuing His precious sons and daughters (Alma 28:8; 29:9).

From its pages comes the promise that scattered Israel will be gathered—a work in which we are engaged through our great worldwide missionary efforts (see 3 Nephi 16; 21–22).

From its pages comes the promise that as we pray unto the Father in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, our families will be blessed (see 3 Nephi 18:21).

From a study of its pages comes the fulfillment of the prophetic promise that “there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.”¹

And from the pages of the Book of Mormon comes Moroni’s promise that through prayer, real intent, and faith in Christ, we may know the truth of these promises “by the power of the Holy Ghost” (see Moroni 10:4–5).

With other latter-day prophets, I testify of the truthfulness of this “most correct of any book on earth,”² even the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. Its message spans the earth and brings its readers to a knowledge of the truth. It is my testimony that the Book of Mormon changes lives. May each of us read it and reread it. And may we joyfully share our testimonies of its precious promises with all of God’s children.

The Dentist

Scarlett loves "Teeth". She loves to brush her teeth, and point to her "teehh". She also loves playing w/ mom and dad's toothbrushes when she can't find one of her own.


Last Wednesday we took a family trip to the Dentist. Yay for clean teeth!

It was Scarlett's first time, they call it a "Happy Visit". The hygienist was showing Scarlett the different tools she was using on my mouth to clean my teeth, while Seth was getting his cleaned in a different room.

Scarlett was not impressed with all the tools. If looks could kill ... Scarlett was just staring that hygienist down. Priceless.

The dentist couldn't quite get a good look at Scarlett's teeth but he said "so far so good" She still has her cuspids to come in, but the dentist said they are pretty close to breaking through.

And sure enough, tonight, our poor uncontrollable crying-in-pain little girl is teething. Thank goodness for ... oral gel, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Somewhere over the rainbow, a rocking chair, and a mommy.

It is moments like these that I wouldn't trade for anything in the entire world. Anything.

Get your carpets cleaned more often

Painfully gross carpet = Embarrassed to have visitors



Investing a little $$ with a coupon from the free ads in the mail on carpet cleaning = Visitors welcome and encouraged.

Garage Sale'ing

I only went to on a garage sale kick one Saturday this summer. I loved it. I wish I had gone more. I left Scarlett and Seth at home to sleep while I went to a first few, and then they joined me. Seth about freaked when he saw my wad of cash I was ready to give to anyone for their junk. But it was a ton of One dollar bills... I felt so rich though.

We got some sweet and CHEAP toys for Scarlett, some jeans and shoes. I got this gigantic framed art piece that I only want for the frame - project in the works. At our last garage sale stop there was a lady just trying to get rid of a ton of other people's stuff for them. She pretty much said take whatever you want and give me $5. Score! I got a lot of smaller frames for projects I make as wedding/baby gifts. Like this: I made it for my cousin Mary's wedding gift. A bit of spray paint and sanding here and there.We also got a table /chair set that is just right for Scarlett. She likes having her own little chair. I want to put new fabric on it and paint it... too many projects.We got a few new games and hair bows. It was fun to find new treasures - will definitely try to go more next season.

Thursday Nights

Seth has class from 6-10 every Thursday night. One of Seth's classmates, a single dad, brings her little girl over for me to watch and they carpool to class.

She's 7 months older than Scarlett, it's been about a year now that she's been coming over. They're great fun together, she's a fun little girl. We like to have our girl dance parties... I'll have to get a few photos of that. But here are a few snaps of Cheese stick & Strawberries snack time! Yay!!!

In September... I turned 29

Twenty Nine. Years. Old.

It's not bad... It's just kinda weird to think I'll be in the 3-0's next time September 25th rolls around on the calendar.

Seth and I went and saw Kalai in Concert. I'm a huge fan of his music. Later in the week we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, my favorite! And Had some friends over to play games and blow out the ball of fire. My biggest request was brownies instead of a cake, these two are the best brownie makers ever.

Alive!

Yea... I'm a lazy blogger. About every other month, you know... I'm sure ya missed me.

I just came across this blog, and I'm totally motivated to cook some yummy - EASY - recipe's this week. http://eyelikesfood.blogspot.com/ <--- Check it out!

Honestly - I really do not like to cook. I don't. But after I do I realize how easy, satisfying, and really yummy it is. I should be into these kinds of cooking blogs more - great ideas. I just never seem to have everything in the kitchen - so we end up going to the store. I think that's what I don't like most about cooking. I feel like I never have the ingredients, and I don't like the plan a head, shop for everything a week in advance. I've done it before... I just need to get in a habit of it.

Scarlett would not stop saying "eye brow" at church yesterday. She loves naming off her "face parts". . . "Tongue, teeth, eyes, nose, ears, head, eye brows!!". She also is on this screaming kick, it KILLS MY EARS! I don't know what to do!! She really doesn't get in trouble often, but this is making me want to start a "Time Out" process with her. She screams SO High and loud. I try to tell her how "It gives mommy's ears Owies". She likes the word "owie". And she makes this really sad/concerned face when she knows she has given someone else an "owie". Who knows what it was about, but she screamed like 3 times in a row during a brother's talk at church in Sacrament Meeting. I'm talking about the blood-curdling screams. Just at the right time too, when he was sharing how his a significant time in his family. Sigh... Oh Scarlett.

I made a super cute Halloween wreath, inspired by pinterest. I need to fix part of it, but I will post a photo soon!

All about Miss lately

** This is an extremely boring post. Warning! If you don't care to read about the development of a toddler, its not worth reading this post!! You've been warned. **

Scarlett is just a few weeks away from being 18 months old. Why is that such a big deal!?!

Because she gets to go to NURSERY!!! at church.

We are primary teachers together, but one of us is always on Scarlett duty - which means following her around the halls. Today I took her into nursery for the last 20 minutes to see how she does, and I can tell this will be a very easy transition for her. Scarlett rarely shows signs of separation anxiety. It's one of the pro's to working part time during the week. So I am hoping she will love nursery.

She still isn't very coordinated. No... I don't see a future in sports with this little one. At least, she has a long way to go. She likes to climb on anything, which she's alright at. But she is a bit klutzy. She is quite vocal. It seems likes she's adding words to her vocabulary faster than we can track or be excited about. We talk to her like she can understand everything we say to her, or ask her to do. If she doesn't get it, we'll repeat it or say it in a different way and she usually gets it.

Scarlett's words include:

Hi
Bye (bai-bai)
Hello (when she's talking on the telephone)
Thank You (Tink Yuuu)
Juice (Juss)
Uh oh
Baba (milk - bottle, but she drinks from a sippy cup now)
Please (sign)
more (Sign)
Baby (baybee)
Dog (doggie)
Raja or Meow for Cat
I love you (Ieeuuu)
Teeth (Teees)
Eye (like hi)
Daddy and Mommy or mom
Hi dad (hi daaaah - especially on the phone.
Num nums (food)
Banana (nana)
Cracker (kha kha)
cookie (cooookie)
Peek- a- boo (Peeboo)
Shoes (shu shus)
No/Yessss - or she'll shake her head no
Hot dog (ho dog)
Book

She mimics us all the time, but these words she has used w/o mimicking - on her own throughout the day. It's really fun to hear her mimic though. If she's in the right mood she might just try to copy anything.

She's very expression-ate. She'll grunt, sigh, "uuugh", "umph" when she's trying to carry something or open something. It's pretty funny, sometimes she'll even grunt for you if you're opening something for her.

Scarlett finally has the close mouth kiss down. Which actually kind makes me sad. I'll miss the open mouth, plant face on mom's and get her slobbery kisses. She gives Seth more kisses now too. But she has to be in the mood, all on her own time.

She loves her baby doll lately. She'll bring me a baby blanket and her doll for me to wrap it up in. Then Scarlett takes it from me and paces, she even pats the baby to "soothe" it. It's adorable. She loves her accessories too. She's very observant of others accessories. Hats, sunglasses, jewelery, etc. She's such a girl!

She has her favorite drawer in the kitchen. We always find random cooking utensils at any room or space in the apartment. She likes to open her baby wipe containers so she can wash or dust off furniture, the carpet... Raja... etc.

I wish she would be able to fall asleep anywhere other than her crib or car seat, or that she'd stay asleep when we transport her anywhere. But I can't complain... she goes to sleep at 8:30 and generally wakes up between 7:30-9:00. If she wakes up unhappy I'll take milk in for her and she'll go back to sleep after a good drink. You know it will be a good day when she wakes up just talking to herself and is content staying in the crib for a few minutes. Sometimes she is extremely happy and she is jumping up and down like a mad-lady screaming. It's pretty funny.

She has started to interact with movies, she loves Tangled and the Baby Einstein videos a lot more. Ok... I know this is really getting boring now. She's doing great! She's no longer a baby, she's our little girl. It's really fun to be able to talk to her and see her trying to process it all. Often she just jibber jabbers to us, and we're left trying to process it too :)

We love our little Scarlett!

Vinyl with my cricut

I got out the cricut machine last night and tested it out with vinyl, it works great! I thought I'd have to get one of the strong "deep" blades, but it cut just fine on a high pressure and slower speed. I have been thinking for months now, about quotes for our walls. This is the only one I have come up with that I wanted to do.
You like? It's just above Scarlett crib, under the loft bed.

This is my cutepie this morning. Ugh! She is so cute I cannot stand it.

IOWA (another catch up post)

This is my 9th catch up post I've done today. Wow. I was behind. There is more to catch up on, I'm sure... but this is my last for today, I hope.

On July 4th Scarlett and I flew to Iowa to visit my family for a week. We used my Grandma and Grandpa Hartley's 60th wedding anniversary party as a reason to get back there.

We flew out of Provo. Yes, Provo Airport. random, right!? It is the smallest airport I could ever imagine. They just opened a flight with Frontier that goes to Denver. It was almost $100 cheaper for us to fly out of Provo than the usual Salt Lake City. It flies into Des Moines though, so it's a 2 hour drive for someone to pick us up. Scarlett was amazing on flight out there. The flight wasn't full so she got to sit in the empty seat next to us. We had a 45 min layover in Denver and then she slept the whole 2nd flight. Seriously, it was perfect. I can't believe she did so well.

My parents picked us up. I love my mom and my dad. I love going home still, and it is getting kind of different since I have a daughter of my own... Life has changed a ton since I lived in my home 10 years ago! It was July 4th, so that night we went out to watch the fireworks in Coralville.

Tuesday my mom kept Scarlett, took her to work down at the Dental Lab. I hear they had a fun day all together, mom, dad, and Scarlett. I went with my sister, Kara, to Prairie Du Chien WI to get my older sister Alicia and her two kids. They spent the rest of the week in Iowa City with us. I'm pretty bummed I didn't take pictures of them all out in the kiddie pool on the deck. But they had fun out in the humid hot days in the water.

My brother Aaron and I. . . he is growing out his hair... to donate.

Alicia and I spent some time organizing family pictures and getting them printed for frames to display at the wedding anniversary party. I worked on a few old small 3x4" photos that were from the 50s when they were married. I was able to blow them up, clear them with different contrasts/exposure using Adobe's lightroom and photoshop. I even added some color to a black and white so the maid of honor's dress was yellow, grandpa's suit was navy, they had red rose boutonnieres and bouquets. It was pretty neat, if I do say so myself.

The party was awesome! They had the bakery up the street make a replica of the original wedding cake. It was delicious too! My aunt Joette gave me a few journal entries to share about stories of the kids growing up and memories. I think that was my favorite part. They had a display of my grandpa's airplanes (he built them after flying them in the war) and my grandma's quilts. She does amazing, amazing work. I would say about 100 people came. 40 of us were family. It was a great night, I'm so glad I could be there for it.

I drove the 3 kiddos home ... it was a 45 min drive. It went pretty well, and they were asleep by the time we got back to Iowa City.

The bakery my parents ordered the anniversay cake from gave us a dozen baked goods for us to sample, Scarlett enjoyed them...

Saturday we had a Hartley Family dinner, so we were with all my cousins again. We played mario kart and visited a lot. My parent's basement flooded about 2 years ago and they have completely redone it. Dad has a very nice set up going on down there now! It's a home theater , a nice big screen with surround sound, grandma-made curtains. The carpet is as plush as carpet can be, and there are big love sacks to just plop down into and watch a movie or play the Wii. Then the other half of the basement is a kids play room. Scarlett loved that!

Scarlett and mom with GiGi Hartley and GGPa Hartley.

Sunday after church and dinner Scarlett and I drove to Waterloo to visit with GGma and Pa Oesterle. Also, Seth's parents - Grandma and grandpa Burke came down from Michigan just to see us! Scarlett loves to play with her grandparents, it was so nice to see and visit with them. We spent Monday going to the pet store and Mcdonald's for chicken nuggets. Scarlett wasn't feeling well all day and had a very hard time napping. So unfortunately she didn't play much as she usually does. But I hope it was worth it for Seth's parents to come to see us, it's quite a drive from Michigan. I tried to take a ton of pictures, which are all on my ipod, I need to figure out how to get them off.

We went back to Iowa City late Monday night. On Tuesday we tried to make the most of our last day with my parents. We went to the pet store to see the cats, dogs, rabbits, etc. I have never been to a pet store as awesome as the one in Iowa City by sycamore mall. You can hold a lot of animals, and they always have a great selection of cats and dogs. It was raining off and on, but we went with my parents to the ped mall downtown and Scarlett ran through the fountain. Iowa City has 3 or 4 random pianos placed around downtown for the public to play. I think it is pretty cool! Scarlett had a fun time plunking down on the ivories. We got some yummy gelato and headed back home for Scarlett to get a nap in.

Later that night we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner with my parents and Brian and Gloria. On the way to the restaurant Brian told us he had proposed to Gloria!! And they are getting married!!! We are soooooo excited to have Gloria in our family, I don't barely even know her but I think she is so great. I'm excited to have another wedding in the family too! Very, very exciting.

After dinner we went and fed the ducks at City Park. Too bad it had been raining so the mini carnival/train wasn't open. But the ducks were a hit. There were a ton of them and we were just barely parking when they all flocked to us for some bread. Scarlett loved it.

Wednesday morning with grandma...

Wednesday morning hanging out at the lab before heading out for the airport.

Wednesday we headed to the airport early afternoon. Scarlett didn't have as great of a time as it was when we flew out to Iowa. But we survived. It was nice to be back with our dad/husband. we sure missed him. It was a fun mommy/daughter adventure.