Easter Babes

Like many others around the world, this past Easter we were able to spend the day with family.  We had a wonderful time at Hubert's parent's house and we were lucky enough to have Jake, Ashley, and Milo Baxter with us to share the holiday.  Here are some fun pictures of the babies.

This is Ellie showing off her new bottom teeth

Milo doing his famous new wave

Ellie with her Grandma Natasha

Milo with his surrogate Grandpa of the day, Gonzalo

Milo after he's put back a few gulps of his mother's finest breast milk

And finally, a picture of Ellie that I think is the cutest picture in the world

A Moment...with Meagan

On this segment of "A Moment...with Meagan,"  I will talk about an experience I shared with another individual this past month that really got me thinking.  No, it wasn't a deep conversation about such topics as religion, politics, children, or anything that would matter, it actually had nothing to do with any of that.  In fact, the other individual which whom I speak of has no idea he had anything to do with any experience I had.  So let's begin.  As I have talked about before, Hubert got me a wonderful jogging stroller for our anniversary, but because the weather here in Utah has been so cold, I have only been able to use it for short walks, that is, until last week.  You see, all of the sudden the days got warmer, the sun was out, and I wanted to take advantage of the weather so I decided to go on a little jog with my daughter in tow.  Now, there was a time, long long ago, where I used to be an avid jogger.  In no way was I running marathons, but I was up to about five miles a day and loving it.  I have never been in better shape nor have I ever felt better.  It wasn't until Hubert's seed found purchase that I stopped jogging due to pregnancy sickness and the overall hugeness that became of me.  But that was all going to change last wednesday.  As I got to the paved jogging path, I was overcome with the sense of health and well being; as if I was the most health conscious and in-shape person that Farmington, UT had ever seen.  It's funny what happens when you used to be in shape and want to be in shape again.  You seem to forget, or at least I do, that it took months and months to be able to get where I was at, but that wasn't stopping me.  I was going to run those five miles my first day back.  And so I began, and of course at the beginning you feel great, like you could do this for hours.  Two minutes later, I thought I was going to pass out.  Even though I had this feeling of doom, I wanted to push myself to at least run a mile, just one mile.  So I pushed and I pushed and kept going until I was sweating like a pig at a luau, my gut was hanging out, and my breathing was so loud it seemed as though the neighborhood children were running inside their homes for safety because they thought a werewolf was after them.  Along this jogging path, I encountered an elderly gentlemen walking towards me.  I didn't miss a beat, kept at the pace I was going at (which was a little bit faster than crawling), looked at him and nodded, and didn't give him a second thought.  It wasn't until further down the path when I saw him.  He was a young boy, probably 11 or 12, and all of the sudden I was extremely self-conscious of myself.  I will also say this, right after I passed the older gentleman, I was going to start walking, but when I saw this kid I made myself still run.   As I got closer to him, I found myself sucking in my stomach, breathing through my nose, and even running faster and as I passed him, he made no sign that he knew I existed.  So why did I do this?  That where this "moment" comes into play.  After this incident, I started to think about why this pimpley little kid made me so self-conscious and I came to a conclusion.  First, I will show my 7th grade ID.  

I know, it's no good.  When I moved to Utah, I was 11 years old, chubby, horribly shy, oh, and I had a horrific perm.  Because of all of these things, boys and me didn't mix and I was always horrified of what they thought of me.  You would think that 16 years later I would have gotten over this, but apparently boys of this age still effect me, BUT NO MORE!  I will no longer be uncomfortable around pre-teen boys who have no significance on my life.  Instead, I will jog by at a pace slower than when  my daughter rolls over, be completely unaware that my loud breathing will wake the dead and finally, be proud of my post-baby stomach and all of the glory it beholds (and it's a lot).  

Thank you for sharing my moment.

The Bowling Coalition

Every Monday, I have the opportunity to be on a bowling team and compete in a women's bowling league, which is referred to as the "Bowlettes."  It's really fun because I get to spend time with really good friends which are my sister-in-law, Ashley Steele, her sister, Reggie Peck, and a good friend, Angie Ballard.  What's fun about our team is that we all have  babies, as opposed to the very elderly women that we bowl against who each wear wrist braces which I assume aren't for their fragile bones, but for better agility while bowling. We are also the youngest team there, and finally, we are in dead last.  I'll tell you what, these other women know how to bowl and they take it seriously.  We just go because it's fun to get out of the house and be with friends and we get a strike every once in a while.  So in honor of our fabulous team in which we are named "The Pin Monkeys," here are some fun pictures.

"The Pin Monkeys"

Before bowling, Ashley and I like to get into character.  She chooses to pull a "Blue Steel," whereas I prefer to put on more of an ape-like persona.

After getting a strike, which happens rarely, we celebrate by either doing a handstand or clicking our heals together like the infamous leprechans do.

And of course, how can we be the "Pin Monkeys" without our little bowling babies?

Ellie and her favorite cousin, Milo the Magnificant

Gracie

And Sophie