And I thought I was just getting fat

Well, it's been confirmed. Hubert's seed found purchase and we will have another little peanut running around in about 7 months. I always have a fear, as if I have had 15 kids, that there really isn't a baby in there and my gut is just expanding because McDonald's cheeseburgers are delicious, but not in this case. Luckily, there is a baby in there, thank goodness it's only one, and it has a strong heartbeat of 175 and looks like an alien, but my alien. So far everything has gone well. Unlike with Ellie, I have only thrown up a handful of times, whereas with her I would throw up a handful of times in the span of one hour, which makes me think I'm having a boy, but who knows? But we are very excited and will keep you loyal followers updated as the months progress and I expand into a person that once resembled Meagan, but now resembles a large, slightly swollen version of Meagan in a fat suit. Isn't pregnancy great?

My list of things that must go

Every week, X96, a local radio station does a segment called "Our list of things that must go." I haven't heard it since I stopped working, but every time I did hear it I would have my own little list of things that I think should go and I was reminded yesterday of my little list, which always changes, when I was driving home from church. Please understand that if you do something on my list, it doesn't mean I don't like you, I just don't like what you do and judge you constantly. So here is my top ten list.

1. People that don't clean up after their dogs

It's disgusting and don't think that just because it's winter and there's snow that no one will notice because, genius, the snow melts. And also, just because you have a small dog doesn't mean that their poop doesn't need to be picked up because it's smaller. Be a decent neighbor, nay, human being and clean up after your dog.

2. Metal license plate covers that have the name of the car engraved on the bottom.

As if I don't know that you are driving a BMW or the always "cool" Corvette, you have chosen to seek out a cover that shows the world behind you exactly what you are driving and made the assumption that the American public has never seen the likes of that exotic car that you have painstakingly chosen to show off while wearing your Polo shirt collar turned up.

3. Luxury SUV's

I understand that some people have a lot of money and would like to not only live in luxury, but would like to also drive in it, but I have to say that whenever I see a luxury SUV like, say, a Mercedes, BMW, or Lexus, the only word that comes to mind is "pretentious." I mean, do you really plan on taking your $60,000 car off-roading any time soon only to immediately take it to a car wash where you will tip the poor 16 year old who just cleaned your car for an hour $1? No, the reason that car was purchased was to show that you can afford a car like that. And what's wrong with a nice Toyota Four-Runner or Honda Pilot? Not expensive enough?

4. Backing into parking spaces

Let's think about this, guy in giant diesel truck doing a 50-point turn trying back into the smallest parking stall at the mall and causing a mile-long line of waiting cars. Sure, when you leave you'll be able to pull right out, but has it really saved you time when it takes 15 minutes to actually park your car? No, it hasn't.

5. When people say " 'We' need to do something" when they actually mean " 'You' need to do something."

Don't get me wrong, I love my old boss and still try to stop by and see her when I can, but nothing would drive me more crazy then when I would have to reschedule an entire clinic, but was told to by saying, "We need to call all these patients and not only reschedule their clinic times, but also the CT's, MRI's, Ultrasounds, Angios, and X-rays that I know took you a very long time to coordinate on the same day to another day." Believe me, there was never any "We" involved.

6. When Ellie poops in the tub.

Seriously, she needs to stop and now instead of saying "poo-poo in the potty", she says, "poo-poo in the tub." So now when I bathe her I just stare at her face and when she starts making that really hard look of concentration, and you know what I mean, I immediately grab her and get me and the entire bathroom soaking wet. It's driving me crazy!

7. Romantic comedies with Julia Roberts

They meet, the argue, date another person for five seconds while only thinking of the other one they argue with, go to their apartment, profess love, end up together and all this is wrapped up in a stupid song sung by a girl who isn't even old enough to understand what love is. I hate romantic comedies with Julia Roberts.

8. The Jonas Brothers

I'm not really a big fan of any group whose members aren't old enough to drive, but I particularly dislike The Jonas Brothers. Why, you ask? From the syrupy/horrible lyrics to their style, they need to be banned. Is there really ever a need to wear painted on jeans, t-shirt, vest, and scarf all together? No, there isn't and therefore it should never be worn.

9. People that tell me, and I quote, "You need to put a clip in your daughter's hair."

Listen, I know her hair is curly and wild and sometimes looks as if I brushed it with a pork chop, but when she pulls out every clip or bow or anything else I've ever tried the second I put it in, it feels a little pointless. Why don't you focus on other things like the fact that she can sing all of "Twinkle twinkle little star" or that she can count to 15 or maybe that she can point to and say quite clearly all of the animals at the zoo and what sounds they make. It's a superficial society we live in.

10. FOX News

I know I've said this before, but I have to say it again. I think FOX News is the worst news station in America. From Bill O'Reilly to the occasional Satan's spawn that is Ann Colture, there is nothing redeemable about FOX News and their complete and utter one-sidedness when it comes to politics, politicians, or anything else they deem non-conservative. If I'm feeling bad, I know I can watch FOX News and get a good laugh at every ridiculous thing that comes out of all of their mouths.

Fun at the park and on the potty

Holy Cannoli! I can't believe how bad I have been at posting on my blog. I apologize to my dozen, possibly baker's, readers who follow my interesting life. So instead of talking about everything that has happened in the past two months, let's go back as far as two weeks! First, we went to the exciting Layton park, you know, the park next to my alma mater. GO BLUE AND BLUE! After I stared at my high school in awe for the better part of 3 hours, I realized that I had come to the park not only with my loving husband and daughter, but also with those crazy Meese's. So here are some fun pictures.

Ellie's first experience in a swing and LOVING it!

Graham Meese, apparently bowing

Harrison Meese, too cool for the swing (it's so like him)

Swinging with her momma

And dadda

Second, we have a potty for Ellie, but in no way has it been put to good use, that is, until yesterday. While in her bath, she stood up, looked me directly in the eye and said, "Momma, poo poo in the potty." My excitement was the equivalent of Ed McMahon arriving at my house with a check for 10 million dollars. So I picked her up without even bothering to dry her off, put her on her potty where she sat for about 3 minutes telling me about pooping in the potty, and then after all of my excitement, nothing happened, but hey, it's a good start, right? And because I love taking pictures of my child naked, this was no exception. So here it is.

My Random Life

My sister-in-law, Lindsay, tagged me with the task of listing my top 6 random things that have either happened to me or that I have done in my life.  And after days of thinking, pondering, and sorting, I think I finally have the top 6.  So here we go.

1)  When I was 9 and living on Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma, my genius brothers and their friends decided that it would be fun to take the Christmas Tree lights off the bushes and trees and throw them at people's doors.  I, of course, followed them because I was always following them around and during this great adventure the military police were driving around and caught me and my brother Isaac, but only because I ran out of the bush that he and I were hiding in.  We were put into their police car, taken to the station, and had a report filled out.  My poor mother had to come to the station and pick us up.  Unfortunately, my poor parents dealt with this kind of thing a lot.

2)  Another time in Oklahoma, I was walking in the creek by my house with my friend, Rona.  We, of course, had taken our shoes off because why should you wear shoes when walking in an irrigation ditch?  Any way, I ended up stepping on a large piece of glass that went into the ball of my foot, walked about a mile to my home with a bloody footprint every step of the way, and  finally got home to an angry father because he had told me about a million times not to walk in that ditch because I might step on glass.  He took me to the hospital and because he is an oral surgeon, he felt it would be best if he stitched my foot up.  Oh, and before he did it, I asked him through terrified and scared sobs if it was going to hurt and he slowly looked up at me with a smile and responded, "don't worry honey, this won't hurt me a bit."

3)  Going along with the glass in my foot, after my dad was done stitching me up, he got my medicine, which was pink in a clear bottle, and took me home.  He was not too happy with me still and when it was time to take the  medicine he called me into the kitchen so I grabbed my crutches and hobbled in.  In the kitchen there stood my father with the open door to the fridge and my brother Josh sitting on the counter.  My dad reached for my medicine, grabbed a spoon, and started to pour, but little did he know he grabbed the Calamine lotion next to the bottle of my medicine.  Both bottles were pink.  I knew this and my brother saw what happened and try to tell my dad, but he was too mad and told him to be quiet before he could say anything.  So after two spoon fulls of Calamine lotion and the terrified and apologetic look on my brother's face, I was done.  And almost immediately I hobbled into the bathroom and threw-up.  That was almost 20 years ago and my dad still feels bad.

4)  When I was a sophomore in high school, my friend Julie was the only one who had her license so of course, she drove everywhere.  Well, one night we all tried to pile into her car, but it was too small and there wasn't enough room.  Being the genius I am, I volunteered to lay in the trunk  because I thought it would be fun.  Well, Julie forgot to turn her headlights on and got pulled over and as the cop was walking to the car my friends were telling me to be quiet, as if I was going to yell "HELLO OFFICER!" to him.  Now, everything would have been fine, but Julie put her purse and wallet in the trunk, so of course she had to open it and when she did all I could do was start laughing and say, "how's it going?"  Obviously, this didn't go over too well, but fortunately, after about a 30 minute lecture from the cop, we were both given warnings and let go.

5)  After dances were over in high school, there was always an activity that you would do afterwards, whether it was to rent out a theater and watch a movie, go swimming, or roast marshmallows over a campfire.  Fortunately, my friends were way more creative and I remember one after dance activity in particular that was the most fun and exciting ever.  The guys that we went with with worked at the golf course and decided to sneak us all in and take the golf carts out and go for a midnight joy ride.  About half way through, all of the sudden we saw lights coming toward us and realized that security had spotted us, so we floored the carts, which went about 15 miles an hour, jumped off when we got close to the entry and somehow I  hurdled the 5 foot fence that was standing between freedom and getting arrested by golf course cops.  It was awesome.

6)  A couple of years ago, Hubert and I went to the Sundance Film Festival with our good friends, Matt and Jenny Meese.  We decided that night to instead of going to movies, we wanted to find as many celebrities as we could, and we ended up having one of the most fun nights of my life.  Not only did we get denied three times when trying to get into the Entertainment Weekly party, but we saw Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Tara Reid, Crispin Gloven, Nick Cannon, and so many more.  The best part for me was when Adam Brody put his arm around me and I got a picture, but the funniest part was when Puff Daddy was standing right next to Jenny and she asked for his autograph and he didn't even smile at her and just nodded his head no and got into his car and drove off.  I don't know if any of us had ever of have ever since laughed as hard as we did that night.

Off the endangered species list

If you weren't already aware, and for most of you, you wouldn't be, Ellie is in love with everything panda which is why she has everything panda.  And no, we didn't force her to like this docile creature, she came up with her infatuation all on her own.  Oh, and just to let you know, she was watching Kung Fu Panda when I took this picture which is why she had no idea I placed a small panda on her head.  

A poem, if you will

'Twas three weeks before Christmas and nighttime was falling,

I hadn't yet showered and Ellie was calling.

Hubert walks through the door, her face lights up with glee,

I hand him the baby, finally a chance to pee.

But something was happening, an evening of fun,

So ready, we got, for Ellie to see "The One."

Our branch Christmas party was finally here, a fun time with friends,

And the most fun at the end.

In walks The man, bag thrown over his shoulder,

The kids all go crazy and I have never felt older.

It's finally her turn and I lower her without error,

Who knew all her smiles would turn into pure terror.

Maybe next year will be better, I guess we'll wait a while,

But hey, at least Santa and I got to smile.

Let the holidays begin

The day after Thanksgiving, our little family had the opportunity to go with our friends, the Jensens, to Manti for the weekend.  I know what you're thinking and I'm sure it's going something like this, "Wow, Manti!  If only we were all so lucky."  But even though it's a small and quiet town, we had a great time with our friends, but the best part was when we drove up into the mountains, unhooked the four-wheelers, found our Christmas tree, and cut it down.  And to prove that Hubert and I did such a thing, I documented our journey.

Sure, it's a little Charlie Brown and Ellie thinks that she is helping me all day by removing all of the ornaments and handing them to me, but I love it and can't wait to do it again next year.