Puzzle Table

In the playroom we have the puzzle table. This is where I do my puzzles, (which I love so very very much) and it's where Morgan has his plethora of puzzles. (Which he loves so very very much.) He's quite skilled with them too. I guess I did pass something on to my son. They are definitely one of Morgan's preferred activities.

Bedtime just got easier

Since Morgan has recently learned how to crawl out of his crib and since he is two and a half, we decided that now would be a good time to get him a toddler bed. We decided this a few months ago. I've been looking on craigslist for a good deal on a toddler bed, but there were hardly any at all! I looked in Boise and there were always some toddler beds. So why wouldn't SLC or the Provo area have any? There are more babies in Utah, I'm pretty sure, and the city is bigger.
Then Aaron told me about KSL classifieds. I'm a convert. That's where all the ads go. It's even more user friendly than craigslist. Love it.
The second time I looked at it I found the toddler bed that I've been wishing for. It's the blue racecar kind. I'd find these sometimes, but usually way out of our budget just for the frame. I found one in practically new condition AND it came with a mattress and a sheet for only $50! Woot! So we got it.

Morgan LOVES it. He was so excited when we were setting it up.

Morgan likes being in bed much more now, so bedtime and naptime haven't been an issue.
The first day, every time he went into his room and saw his new bed he would gleefully shout, "Car!" or "McQueen!" It was like he'd forgotten it was there and had a happy reminder.
Yesterday when we got home from church Morgan immediately went up to his room to visit his bed. I'm happy he likes it so much.

The Love saga continues

My Sunday tradition is to post old journal entries. We are currently learning about the beginnings of my relationship with Aaron.

The last mention of Aaron was Feb. 26. A month passes before he makes the scene again because he had a brief relationship with a different girl. So I no longer considered him a possibility. But, like I said. It was a brief relationship.

April 4, 2004
Hello, well my social life is great. I don't have a crush on Brody anymore. That is only because he and Cheryl are dating now. I like Joe Bird, Aaron Nelson and kind of Alan. I see them all a lot. They are so much fun. I love it.
Aaron's still in the picture, but not yet prominent.

April 17, 2004
Boy, My life is great! I love it! I feel bad, kind of like I'm using my parent's just to stay in their home at night, for sleep, and to eat their food. I'm never home. 8 hours of work a day, then something social practically every night.
Ah, that was the life. Seriously, there probably wasn't a more fun season for me, not even college.

Want an update on my crush life? Basically the same...Aaron Nelson, Joe Bird and Alan. But right now it is especially Aaron. I've been hanging out a bit with Chanel; Aaron's awesome sister. Their family is awesome. Their parents are just as clever and witty as they are. Very fun family.
Look! Aaron is moving up in the ranks!

So get this. I was talking to Chanel on the phone one night and she told me that she was talking to Aaron about girls. She was trying to help him find a girl to ask on a date. She threw out my name. Aaron said, "Yeah, I could take Melanie on a date." Then was the ultimate compliment. "I think she could keep up with our family." Meaning that I am witty enough. :)
This was my first taste of what I call The Nelson Pride. I'm just glad he didn't make me take an IQ test before he would consent to date me. :)

Now, here comes some second hand dialogue. I don't do much of the He Said, She Said stuff, so be ye warned.
So anyway, I talked to Chanel after that and she brought up the girls again, "So Aaron, anyone you're particularly interested in?" "Oh no, not really." "Anyone you're going to ask on a date?" "Well I was thinking about calling Melanie. I was going to call her Wednesday, but then we went bowling." (Traditional after institute bowling. I got my all time high at 138) "Then I was going to call her tonight, (Thursday) but I didn't." "How did you get her phone number?" Then he was like, "The Martins..." I guess he never really said how. This is all according to Chanel. So, that is very exciting for me. He hasn't asked me out or anything.
However, today I went to the Nelson's house because of a "date" that Chanel, Sis. Nelson and I were going to go on. We were planning this to talk about boys. Well, then Aaron called to ask about something random, then asked what was going on. Chanel told him, so he learned that I was at his house. He was kind of self-invited to join us.
So then I write about our lunch and walking around the Karcher Mall, (Hall).
Aaron also got a haircut. He looks so good. I told him I I liked the hair.
Okay, so, we also went to a movie. In fact, I kind of flaked out on Joe and Alan, my other two biggest crushes, so go to this movie with Aaron. This is significant! I gave up on spending time with TWO crushes so I could spend time with ONE crush.
I had a wonderful time. I like Aaron more now. Chanel is coming over after church, maybe Aaron too.

Mom and Dad have been letting me have curfew extensions lately. In fact, Aaron called my house last night, on my behalf, to ask my parents for a curfew extension, because a bunch of us went and saw "The Lord of the Rings" in the theater, one that started at 11:00 P.M. They actually approved. I didn't get home till 3:00 A.M. It was totally worth it though, just cause I had a blast. I even sat by Aaron in the theater.
Funny, right? A boy called my parents and asked them if their daughter could stay out later, and it was actually approved? I planned it that way though. My chances for an extension were pretty slim if I was doing the talking. But who can resist the mellow tones of Aaron's rich voice and intelligent persuasive abilities? Haha. Apparently not my parents.
Sorry this one is so long. This one journal entry was packed with Aaron goodness.

Zoo and a Picnic

On Saturday we went to the Boise zoo with some of my family. We were disappointed that the weather wasn't nearly as nice as the day before, but what can you do. It wasn't too bad anyway.

One of the first things we saw was the giraffe slide. Oh what fun.

Morgan as a turtle.

The kids saw a carosel and of COURSE had to ride. But I see no problem with that. Especially since and adult gets to ride free with a toddler. :)
In the African animal side of the zoo they had this safari jeep that was no end of fun for the kids. (Well, I take that back. Since they are no longer in the jeep there obviously WAS an end to it.)

After going through all of the zoo we headed out to the park for a picnic.
Why oh why do I have my mouth wide open?

Handsome, handsome.

Here's the crew.

We had this super friendly squirrel come up to us and reap the benefits of our picnic. Here he is reaping.

And here are the benefits.

Anniversary

We just got back into town after our anniversary weekend. We just went up to Boise, but had a ton of fun. After Aaron took a test for work on Thursday we headed for Idaho. We arrived in Boise and did a bit of shopping at the Factory Outlet mall, then Aaron's parents arrived and picked up Morgan so they could watch him for the night. After diner with my folks at a Mongolian BBQ, (so yummy! They don't have any very close to us here) we went to the Anniversary Inn. The whole month of March they are running a special that you can stay in any room for the price of $130 on a weekday. Woo! So, instead of staying in one of the more economical rooms, we choose one from a higher tier. The room we picked? Biker Road House. Now let me explain. (Because after disclosing our room selection I always feel that I must.) Neither Aaron or I have a huge obsession with Harley's or anything, (though the former likes them more than the latter) nor did we think the decor was especially pretty. But the Biker Road House has a foosball table. And a pinball machine. And a dart board. None of the other rooms had any of those. They also had a motorcycle. Aaron diagnosed it as being real and lamented that we couldn't ride it around the room. :)

Look, Cousin It came and joined us for some pinball action.

*BLINK*

Not to brag or anything, (yeah right, that is exactly what I am doing!) but I had the high score on pinball. I won both games of darts and my position as champion of the foosball table was not contested.
The breakfasts there are super yummy. The cheesecake and sparkling cider left for us were also very good. This was the most fun we'd had on our anniversary. March 19, 2009 marks us as happily married for 4 years. Go us.

Enter Aaron, stage left

Hey, lets pretend it's still Sunday and I am doing my Sunday traditional journal entry. However, this time I decided to skip to when I first mention Aaron in my journal. Basically I am skipping over my first year at college, (which I found fun to read because of the nostalgia aspect, but I was getting too old for it to be very cute, ya know?) But I bet there might be some readers who will find the evolution of my relationship with Aaron and I interesting.

Feb. 5, 2004
Oh, but I have been going to the single's FHE's. I love those. Chris came last time. He doesn't like them as much as me. There are tons more people than there used to be. More guys too. Joe is an item of interest. Alan, Brody and Aaron are cool and funny. Aaron and his sister Channelle are so hillarious. Them alone are reason enough for me to go.
So there you go. Aaron was introduced to my journal amidst a few other boys. (There names have been changed-ish.) Oh, and, sorry Chanel. But that is how I spelled your name. :( BTW, Chris is my brother.

Okay, I decided that at least up until I start dating Aaron I will post every mention of him, even if it's only to help tell an anecdote that I thought noteworthy because of a different crush.

Feb 26, 2004
(Speaking of Brody) I've developed a bit of a crush on him. One week at FHE I sat by him and we talked and flirted (he's easier to flirt with than anyone else I know) he even sat on me when he was fighting Aaron for a seat.
If someone sits on you accidentally, it means that they really like you, right? And....alas. Aaron was just a side-note in this story.

Okay, I have this pretty funny story now, but it is pretty long, so I will paraphrase most of it. There was a fellow in the group who had some kind of mental handicap. He was kind of sweetly special, you know, but he really really liked girls and that sometimes made things awkward. So, while I was at this FHE (family home evening) thing he pretty much declared his love for me in front of everyone. Then he tried to guilt me into accepting a date with him. (A bit later I actually did accept, but he never set it up, so I was safe.) Anyway, in the midst of it all, with everyone trying there best not to bust out laughing .....
Aaron said, "I don't know how to handle this." and he went outside. I don't know why it was so hard for him! I was the one in the process of being asked out!
Indeed, Aaron, how is it that you couldn't handle that?
But the night of fun continued with only a couple more embarrassments from the special guy, (some of which I was saved from by Brody. Way to miss an opportunity, Aaron!) and then it was time to go.
Chanell asked Chris why he didn't save his sister. He said he didn't know what to do. Then Aaron (Chanell's brother) said, "This is what I would have done!" As he punched his hand with his fist. Funny aye? Man, those people sure are fun. I need to be better friends with them all. Good enough to do things with and junk. Maybe we will soon. :)
Look Chanel! I am getting better with your name! And...it seems more like harsh than funny what Aaron suggested, but it certainly was funny at the time. Seriously, Aaron and Chanel were basically the life of those parties. And pretty soon I was initiated into the fun group of people and I had a blast with that group (and junk. ??). Good times man, good times.

Mmmm, magnets

Things have changed a little bit around here lately since Morgan learned how to open doors and climb out of his crib. He learned the two things only a couple days apart. So now when he wakes up from his nap or after a nights rest he can climb out of his crib and open his bedroom door to come pounce on me in bed. Because I will still be in bed. Because I sleep as long as I can. Because I am always tired. For no reason. Anyway, this is the new morning routine.
Yesterday I was still lying in bed while Morgan was dancing cheerfully and noisily around the room while I stubbornly tried to ignore him in order to catch a few extra winks. (Futile, I know.) But then Morgan had to go and spoil it all by choking on a foreign object, which scared me enough to bring me fully awake. Nothing major though; he soon effectively swallowed whatever it was. Then I was curios. What WAS it? I searched the ground where he'd been playing for any clues. I saw a little magnet thing and then remembered that there had been a completely different magnet ball somewhere around, which I have sometimes had to remove from Morgans mouth. (Yes, I am fully aware that a good mother wouldn't have such objects on the floor, especially when the toddler already shows a propensity to put said objects in his mouth. No lectures please.) So, after a little more searching for the magnet ball, I determined that Morgan had swallowed it. Uh-oh.
Kids aren't supposed to swallow magnets. If Morgan swallowed another magnet a few hours later he would likely DIE. (The two magnets would try to stick together through all the organs and stuff or something, I'm not completely sure, but it's really bad.) So, would it also make sense then, that if he swallowed any other metal object, whether a magnet or not, it would have the same results? Well, I'm no expert so I can't say for sure, but let's just say that extra vigilance would be my credo until the magnet, uh, passed.
And boy was my extra vigilance needed! In fact, I could have used more of it. It was almost as if having a magnet inside him, Morgan turned into one. He was so attracted to little metalic objects! He found tiny screws, coins, cuff links, you name it, and immediately put them in his mouth! UGH! This kid was on a suicide mission. But he's still alive. But he hasn't passed the magnet yet.
Oh, at one point Morgan even found that other magnet, the one that alerted me to the missing magnet ball in the first place, and he picked it up and said, "Mine!" Needless to say it was immediately confiscated and hidden away.
Morgan has opened my eyes to all sorts of scary possibilities. Life seems so fragile when you have a little one. Not that I think he's going to die from his strange munchies, but it does make you more aware.

Stuttering and Spinning

The other day Morgan started stuttering his T's. But perhaps that's misleading. If the word ended in T he would stutter it. Foot-t-t-t. We thought it was funny and so got it on video. He also likes to spin in circles lately and his eyes are so funny to watch. He likes to see where he's been apparently.
Oh, and, lookit! In some of the video Aaron is in the background making dinner! Awww. It was a marvelous meal. He made Sesame chicken that tasted like something you would order at a Chinese restaurant, it was so good. And he made bacon fried rice. It was delicious.

Just me.

Hey, remember that time when I told you about the unfortunately placed stains in my new shirt? Well, I got them out! Yay! I used dish soap, which Sharla and my husband suggested. So now I can wear it again, and the world is my burrito.
I also got a haircut a couple weeks ago. Neither picture shows it well though. It's not perfect, but it is much closer to what I asked for than the last time I got my haircut. In fact, I asked for about the same thing. Apparently only one of the stylists listened. It's layered and tapered, but you can't really tell. Ah well.

Dryer discovered

Morgan found the dryer door opened the other day and made a conclusion that it was a perfect place for him to hang out.

He even tried to close himself in. But alas, his little fingers prevented that.

Out again, he is so pleased with himself. :)

A Dreamer

My Sunday tradition is to post some of my old journal entries. I usually post what I find to be entertaining, so they usually involve boys and crushes.

Here I went to a wedding reception of the sister of one of my big crushes.

Dec. 1, 2002
When I got to Jenni’s brother Karl, (something I have been anticipating for awhile) I worked up the nerve to tell him that he looked good. That wouldn’t be anything hard for someone less shy and more experienced in the dating area. But I meant what I said. Yep, I’ve got it pretty bad for Karl. I didn’t used to, but then I had a dream with him in it and we were kind of a couple, and ever since then I think about him more than you would think for just a little crush. By the way, he is 4 years older than me. He also flirts with Erin Coon and Ann Marlin. Grr. However, I do believe he blushed when I complimented him. *sigh*
Amazingly enough, the whole crush-on-the-guy-after-I-dreamed-about-him thing wasn't abnormal for me. Usually though, those crushes dissipated after a little while because it's hard to maintain a crush on a dream.

When we were eating our refreshments the Williamsons came and sat with us. Guess what? Kenny was there! Yay. However, he left soon after arriving and without a word in my direction.
Aaaaannnd, that pretty much sums up the relationship that I had with Kenny.

Tonight I went to the singles prayer that we have every Sunday. Karl was there. He was actually kind of in charge. After the meeting I talked a little to him. He is quite nice to talk to me.
Oh, the magnanimous condescension bestowed upon little ol' lowly me by one so noble and great is truly a noteworthy sacrifice indeed.

I just described Karl's visiting older brother as attractive with an amazingly low voice, then I continue...
I think it would be cool to be a part of the Davies family. They are all so cool. Not that I think that I’ve got a chance with Karl, not with Erin and Ann as competition anyways. I wonder why those boys aren’t married.

A special note. This could very well be the first time I ever met Aaron, my husband. The first time that I remember seeing him was at one of these little singles prayer things. He came with his sister Chanel and I remember wondering if they were siblings or dating. I also remember a conversation he had with his sister and it was funny. And Aaron was wearing his black leather jacket, so I know it was winter. But, as unromantic as it is, I can't say there was a love at first sight thing going on, so he didn't make the journal entry. While I developed a crush on him not too long after this, Aaron didn't notice me till over a year later. But, all's well that ends well.

At the pool

Yesterday we took advantage of the cold and snowy weather and went swimming. :) We had fun. Morgan was a hoot to watch.
When we first got there Morgan was wary. When he saw the giant bucket dump out gallons of water onto the play area he was downright scared and tried to leave immediately. But he slowly warmed up to the area. We put him in a life jacket then he and daddy went into the water. Fun, right? Right?
I love this picture. Morgan is trying to hard to smile through his fear. He wasn't so sure about the floating thing.
But after we played for a long time Morgan really warmed up to it. He went down slides and was tossed back and forth between his parents and had a blast. We took off his life jacket and he was free to move around more. He jumped off the edge of the pool to his parents' waiting arms and sometimes didn't seem to care whether or not they were there to catch him. He saw daddy dunk his head in the water and so tried to imitate that by dipping his mouth and nose under. And when he went down the big slide without a life jacket he shot out like a torpedo! He went so fast, and even though I was at the bottom of the slide to catch him, I didn't. :( He was so surprisingly fast! I quickly retrieved him from the water and he was happy and ready to go down again. (Though I do think he got water in his nose and also may have hit his head on the bottom of the pool as he got a bit of a bump.) He was so brave.

Experiment

Today Morgan and I had a little experiment. From start to finish it was about 15-20 minutes in length. Total.
It started when Morgan started talking about poop. As in, he thought he had to do it but hadn't done it yet. I suggested the toilet. He acquiesced. But nothing happened. However, I thought now would be as good a time as any to put just underpants on him.

I also gave him a cup of juice to make his other juices flow. About every 2 minutes I asked if he had to go potty. I showed him a sucker too and told him that if he peed or poohed in the toilet he could have it.
So he wanted to give it a try. He sat on the toilet and grunted for awhile then reached for the toilet paper. Boy was he indignant when Mommy still refused to give him the "hucker" as he calls it.
About three minutes later he made some sounds of distress. I saw the wet lines down his pants and rushed him to the bathroom. His pants weren't that wet so I figured he could still go some more. But he didn't.
Now we're back to square one.

Outside Play

We've been loving the warmer weather lately and have been taking advantage of it by playing outside a bit. Today I was excited when I saw that it was almost 60 degrees. So, after lunch I got Morgan all excited about getting in the wagon and walking to the park. But when we got outside it was soooo windy! My park plans were quickly changed, but Morgan's weren't! Even though he HATES wind, he still wanted to have his promised wagon ride. He was out there cringing and blinking and taking in rapid breaths, like he does when he's in the wind, and saying it was cold, (it really wasn't, but he doesn't know the word for windy) but he wouldn't agree to go back inside. So I put him in the wagon and we made a lap around our little townhouse compound.
When we got back to the driveway Morgan was still sputtering in the wind but still wanted to stay outside. So he played with some sidewalk chalk.
Oh, and surprise surprise, they are actually working on finishing the other units here! So across the street were men at work and a little Bobcat machine thing working to straighten out the soil. That was pretty fascinating for Morgan. Sometimes he called it scary and sometimes he called it cool. :)

Burnin' love!

It's Sunday, so I post some old journal entries that I find amusing.

Here I am writing about going to OYA, (Outdoor Youth Adventure) which is kinda like EFY, where you go somewhere for a week. But the one we did was awesome. It had ropes courses, horse back riding, a little handcart trek and we slept in tee-pees. One of my counselors was Aaron Parson.
July 25, 2002
I’m close to in love with Aaron. He is so cute. And funny, nice, hilarious, very handsome, a returned missionary form Guatemala, and so funny. His only imperfection is that he is a tad shorter then me.
Ah, but you don't know how much that shorter than me bit actually bugged me.
I was listing all the other kids in my group and telling how cool they each were individually.
And lastly, Gregory. He was different. He often seemed confused. He breathed really funny and loud. It always sounded like he was crying. He bothered me a lot at first, but toward the end of the week when I realized he was human he wasn’t as bad.
I sound kind of horrible, don't I? I don't deny it. During the week Gregory and I were paired for a game. I had to guide him across a field of rocks without him stepping on any or anything. Since he was "different" we were the last pairing to go. I got specific instructions to do it differently and after completing it...
Aaron made eye contact and kind of whispered “good job.” Like he meant it.
So, he must be in love with me too, right? Because he meant it when he said good job!

We had a single adult class in our ward before they formed and actual singles ward in our stake. The members of the class took turns teaching.
Sept. 2, 2002
Last week at church Kenny Weyerman taught the lesson. It was excellent. He sure is a good teacher. I now have more reason to like him. Not only is he cute and musically talented and an RM, he is also very funny, smart, and has a good testimony. But boy is he cute! I even joined the ward choir, partially because of his influence.

Sept. 22, 2002
Karl Davies is in charge. My crush on him has diminished quite a bit. Don’t know why. But my love is still burning for Kenny.
Burning love! Ah! Just so you all know, I did know that these things were silly as I wrote them. I knew that I wasn't actually in love. But since it was in my journal I didn't worry about other peoples' interpretations. I had no idea I would be posting the silliest excerpts on the internet for all to see.

Oct. 18 2002
Today I went to Liz Weyermans reception. They had it at their home. So Kenny was there. He didn’t even look at me, but he flirted with Erin Kunz for way too long! Ooh, that girl! Why is she so pretty?

We had some missionaries over for dinner.
Nov. 9, 2002
Might I add that Fairchild is quite cute? Mmmm yum.
Jason challenged me to a round of slap boxing. We were in the front room. I took the challenge with no hesitation and immediately began whomping on him. Soon the elders were watching and kind of cheering me on. I am a much better slap boxer than Jason. I hope I humbled him.