Hear Myla "Read" (In her own language, of course!)

I finally got a pretty good video of Myla "reading". She enjoys her books so much...especially these little Disney board books that my cousin got her. Thanks, Olivia! I love it at the end when she looks up. She is looking at Michael and she smiles and says "Daddy." I could eat her up!

Impressed? I am.....

As I mentioned several weeks back, I started a new workout program (P90X) with my neighbors. Well, they were out of town this weekend, so Michael was sweet enough to get up with me and workout. Sunday was yoga day. I can't say Michael was thrilled about doing yoga, but he did it with me anyway. Of course, he did it with near perfect form. I was struggling to do any of it, and he did it with the greatest of ease! I had to get a picture of him doing the Crow pose. I thought it was pretty awesome! If he could have gotten a picture of me attempting to do it, you might have gotten a good laugh out of it!

Thanks, Michael, for getting up with me! I appreciate your encouragement during this eating right, exercising, weight loss process!!!

Brush, Brush, Brush Your Teeth (or tooth)....

I figured since Myla does have one tooth and she is drinking milk now and eating lots of table food that we better start brushing that sucker! I have to tell you that I didn't think she would like it at all, so I was holding my breath tonight when I brought the toothbrush to her mouth. She opened up, no doubt thinking it was something to eat, I'm sure, and I scrubbed that little tooth and she smiled and laughed! She liked it!! Probably because the toothpaste tasted really good!

Also...Myla has started taking a few steps in the recent days. She will stand on her own for longer periods of time and occasionally will take a few steps. This, to me, is so hard to believe!! I don't think it will be long before she is running around everywhere!!! I will try to get a video as soon as I can, but it is hard to try and video and catch her when she falls down. I will work on it, though!

Fun in the Sun with Grady...

Yesterday Myla and I spent the afternoon with our friends Natalie and her son, Grady. Myla and Grady were born only three days apart. They are so funny together, and yesterday was no exception. They had fun in the pool, but they were both not real sure about the Elmo sprinkler. Below are some pictures from the afternoon....

Getting used to the pool
Grady loves to put the rubber duckies in his mouth! He is SO cute!!!
They were not real impressed with the Elmo sprinkler!

Do you think Myla liked her first fudgesicle (not sure of the spelling on that)?

Just some random pictures....

We haven't had anything extremely exciting or blog worthy happen lately, so I decided I would just put up a few recent pictures of Myla. She is doing great and changing everyday it seems like. I love this age!! She is so much fun and interactive. Michael and I were watching her the other night, and we both said that it is still hard to believe that she is ours! What a PRECIOUS gift God has given us!

Myla has really been loving her "ball popper" toy lately. It has always intrigued her, but now she has figured out how to turn it on by herself, and she will actually sit there and watch it and not try to pull it over or take all the balls out.
You want one??
This is my favorite expression of Myla's...besides her sweet smile, of course! This is the expression when she turns the ball popper on. How cute is that?
This was this past Sunday before church.
I wasn't sure who had not seen the pre-sleep, pink dog position. As soon as you give Myla her pink dog, she immediately begins sucking her thumb...even if it is not bed time. It is so sweet! This actually was bedtime last night. She likes to roll around on the floor now before she goes to bed.

For Goodness SNAKE!

Let me begin this post by establishing that I am PETRIFIED of snakes. So, as you can imagine when I came home yesterday to discover a 5 to 6 foot long black snake on my patio, I about DIED! Seriously, I cannot believe I didn't faint. I came in from running errands and heard the dogs going crazy in the back. This in and of itself is not unusual for Oskie, but Tanner rarely barks, and he was about to have a coniption! I opened the door thinking nothing of it, and see this nasty creature curled up with it's head off the ground looking at the dogs. It was about 6 feet away from the backdoor...thank goodness it was night right by the door!!! The dogs had it cornered, so I guess it was trying to protect itself. I then proceeded to about have a panic attack. My neighbor, came home about the time this was happening, and saw me in my front yard on the phone about hysterical with poor Michael. She came over to comfort me, but not before I came back in the house and watched that stupid snake slither all up on our patio furniture and off into the yard. YUK!!! I was terrified, and I think Susan was quite concerned about me. I would have taken a picture of the creature, but my memory card was in my purse in my car because I had just gotten some pictures printed off at Wal-Mart. I'm kind of glad that I don't have a picture now because I can't get the real picture out of my head, and I don't care to look at it over and over. I really don't know why God created snakes!

Okay, I know that nobody probably wanted to know that, but it has definitely been the most exciting thing that has happened around here this week. We have not seen the snake since then, and we will hopefully never see it again!

Giving Kisses...

I got this video of Myla giving kisses to her stuffed hippo the other morning when we were playing in her room. She loves to give kisses...mouth wide open, no less! Too sweet!

Goethie Wedding

Michael and I had the privilege to be a part of some dear friend's wedding this weekend. We have gotten to be friends with Lanier and Keonna over the past year or so. The start of the friendship actually came from a very unfortunate situation. Let me explain...last year Lanier was involved in a severe motorcylce accident in which he badly damaged his knee. Michael did his therapy for several months before and after surgery, and during that time we got to be friends with him and Keonna. They got engaged during this time, and Lanier was kind enough to ask Michael to be a groomsman in his wedding. We are SO excited they are finally married! The wedding was beautiful, and the weather even held off so they could have the outside wedding that they wanted! They are a precious, Godly couple, and we pray that God blesses their marriage beyond all they can ask or imagine.

Congratulations, Lanier and Keonna!!

We love you and can't wait for y'all to get home!!

The Newlyweds!!

Mr. & Mrs. Lanier Goethie

The four of us

Me and Keonna

Visit from Aunt Maggie

We were so excited last week to have my sister come visit for a couple of days. Myla was so excited to see her and play with her. And play they did! Maggie was such a great entertainer, and Myla enjoyed her company so much! We also loved having her here because we don't get to see her that much. I was not very good taking pictures while she was here, which is unlike me, but I did get a few...especially of them reading...one of Myla's favorite pasttimes. Maggie also had Myla hysterical blowing bubbles at her while she was in the bathtub. The last picture is a Cracker Barrell in the Ole Miss rocking chair.

Reading with Daddy...

As I have mentioned many times before, Myla loves her books. She is really starting to understand that they are for reading. She loves it when we read to her. I took these pictures the other night of Michael and Myla sharing a book, and I thought they were too cute, so I thought I would share. Please excuse the diaper baby...she had messed up her outfit, and it was almost bath time!

Need Advice from Mothers.....

Okay, I thought Myla was getting to be a better eater, but I spoke too soon. I am at an awkward stage where she doesn't want baby food, but I can't find a lot of table food that she likes either. Right now, she basically eats her bottle, puffs, rice rusks, 1 jar of baby food fruit in the morning, and sometimes meat sticks. She isn't crazy about table food veggies. I am worried that when she turns one and isn't taking her bottle anymore, where will she get her nutrients? Any suggestions on what your kids liked at this stage? Please leave a comment of email me at meredithmeurrier@yahoo.com. Many thanks!!

BRING IT.....

I just wanted to send a "Good Job" to my new workout partners Susan and Ethan! We started the exercise program P90X this morning at 5:00 a.m. We made it through the first day....one down, eighty nine to go! Good job, and I will see you two bright and early in the morning!!!

My Little "Helper"...

I was inspired by my neighbor, Susan, yesterday after I watched her clean out Haley's drawers. I decided that it was probably a good time to do that for Myla. I had a drawer out on the floor when Myla came in and decided to "help" me. She loves to pick things up and just throw them, as you can tell from the clothes behind her. I guess she thought the drawer would be a good things to play in. I decided that this might be a good idea to remember if she was fussy one day, and I needed something to do to entertain her!!!

Fun with Friends!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I watched Haley on Friday afternoon, and we had so much fun. She is just starting to laugh out loud, and I got her to do it a few times...such sweet sounds!! Myla had fun showing Haley how to play with her toys. I am sure these two will have a lot of fun times together in the future!

Our friend Haley...

This is our friend Haley. She and her mom and dad, Susan and Ethan, live right next door. Haley is growing up so fast! It is hard to believe that Myla was Haley's age when Haley was born. It is so fun to watch them grow up and change so much. Before long, they will be playing together all the time. Right now, Haley is just trying to figure out how Myla moves so fast! Haley will be moving in no time, I'm sure! I am keeping Haley this afternoon while her daddy works outside, so I am sure I will have more pictures of the two of them together to add!

Another new thing....

This is another new thing that Myla loves to do....walk behind her push toy. She can only do it on the carpet or the grass outside because she puts all her weight on it. If she is on a smooth surface, she would surely fall! It is really amazing to me to watch her do this considering that a month and a half ago she wasn't even crawling!

One more new thing....gosh she is doing lots of new things, but she loves to give kisses....good old open mouth, wet kisses! You can ask her to give you a kiss, and she will lean in big smile, mouth open and plant one on you. I will try to get a video soon!

Yes, I am still alive!!

WOW! I can't believe how long it has been since I updated this thing! We have been really busy this week...but more on that later!

New things with Myla...She absolutely LOVES to be outside! I have to say that I love it too because she is perfectly content when we are out there, so I slather her up with sunscreen and out we go for the afternoon! Sae Sae gave Myla an inflatable swimming pool for Easter, and she loves being in it. She doesn't necessarily like the cold water when she first gets in, but after I dump her bath toys in there, she forgets the temperature of the water and proceeds to have deep conversations with her toys.

Speaking of deep conversations...I believe we have a talker on our hands. Myla "talks" nonstop. It is her own language for sure! She can mimic some words, but her new favorite word is "Hey!" I will leave the room, and, of course, she follows me as quickly as her hands and knees will bring her. As soon as she sees me, she says, "Hey!" with a big smile on her face like we haven't seen each other all day. It is the cutest thing!!!

Another new thing....Myla LOVES spaghetti. Michael and I had it for dinner one night, and I thought I would give her a bite. She cried when I quit feeding it to her. Now she has it often, and she never refuses it! She is eating better, and she is now pretty much on all table food. She is getting to be such a big girl! Here is a face only a mother could love.......covered in spaghetti!

Myla has always loved her books, but she now realizes what they are for....to read! She loves to sit and "read" her books. She opens it up, jabbers to the pages, then turns the page and keeps jabbering! She will do this for very long periods of time, and she is so content. I know her Mimi will be proud that she has inherited her love for reading! Let's hope this continues the older she gets. Oskie joins her sometimes too. As you know, the two love each other! She still says "Okkie" all the time! Sweetest thing!

The main thing we have been doing this week is Vacation Bible School at our church. I have been helping with the 3 & 4 year olds, which has been a lot of fun, but Myla on the other hand has not had much fun at all. DO NOT LET THE PICTURE BELOW FOOL YOU! The workers must have taken this first thing in the morning on Tuesday, because shortly after, she screamed for over an hour. I have to reluctantly say that it was my fault because I forgot the ever important pink dog (her sleep lovey) that she MUST have to sleep. I cannot believe I forgot the stinking thing...you think I would have learned my lesson by now. I figured she would have a hard time sleeping at VBS because of all the action that would be going on around her, but without the pink dog, she wouldn't even try! My sweet friend Natalie kept her yesterday while I went and today I took a hiatus from VBS to stay home with my little schedule baby that doesn't like to be away from home!!! I am a little anal about her schedule, but it makes my life easier. Okay, enough about that! She is going to go with me tomorrow because the ladies are upset that she hasn't been in a few days, so I figure she will survive!! She has done fine today at home!

Almost forgot to mention, we have a tooth...FINALLY! That sucker finally popped through!!! You can kind of see it in this picture. It looks so funny! I don't see any signs of any others following close behind, but we will just be patient!

Well, that is our last few days in review, and, again, please forgive me for being such a bad blogger!!!!!!