Baby Boy #2

Yesterday was a good day. Michael and I were able to go to my second ultrasound. The first was just an ultrasound we paid for to find out the gender of the baby. With Ty, I had a client do my ultrasound so she told us that we were having a boy. It was so special to find out during the ultrasound and be able to look at our baby and think, "Thats our son"! That's how we wanted to find out this time. In Lethbridge with your diagnostic ultrasound they will not tell you the gender. Instead you have to wait until your next doctors appointment and your doctor will disclose the information. The first ultrasound was really special. It's really quick, maybe only 10-15 minutes. We went into the room, both of us excited for whatever we found out. She starts the ultrasound and I get excited to see the baby, then she types on the screen "I am a BOY". I'm not sure if it's because I'm pregnant or not, but the tears just started coming. I kept picturing another son, a little brother for Ty, and then kept thinking of how much I love Ty and how much I will love this boy. When we found out with Ty we were both excited, but I think understanding how much I can actually love my son made finding out so much more emotional for me. I didn't feel any disappointment that this one isn't a girl. I am SO excited to have two sons. I just cannot wait for Ty to be a big brother.

The second ultrasound that took place yesterday was also amazing in other ways. We got to see so much more of him this time. Both Michael and I got to watch the whole time. The tech kept trying to get him to move to certain positions which allowed us more time to see him move around. It was cool to feel him move while seeing him move at the same time. I know you've all probably seen many ultrasound photos in your time, so these are mostly for our enjoyment but here are some photos of our little boy!

Pointing his finger 

His little feet together. He had his legs all stretched out as you can see in the next photo. 

Feet are on the left, bum on the right. These are his legs.  

A bent leg and his little belly. 

Baby boy's profile! 

I have a post I want to do about Ty with lots of cute pictures but it's telling me I'm all out of space. I've heard this happening a lot recently. It can't be that we are all filling our space at the same time, can it? Anyways, I guess I'll have to finally print off my blog! So hopefully I can do another post soon!

another this and that post

I know this is super old, but I wanted to post a couple photos. We went to Waterton on September long weekend with some friends for the day. It was an awesome day. Here are some photos.

 Ty and Brady going down the slide.

 Double swinging it. Ty was so ready to get out of there and it was getting really cold out, but how cute is this!?

 Our little family. Man I love those two!!!!

This isn't in Waterton, but I made Ty a fort last week and here he is vegging out in it. :) What a beautiful little boy! 

In other news.... my sister Becky had her baby! Two weeks early!! Brooklyn Danielle is so tiny (about 6 lbs) and beautiful. I love my two nieces! 

I've been feeling a bit better. I'm still sick but not as often, and I'm not spending my days on the couch like I used to. I've started showing, so I'll have to post a photo soon. I'm already 14 weeks and I can't believe how fast it's going by. 

I have an entry into a big draw prize tomorrow for $50,000 of prizes (I was drawn to be entered into this draw, haha), including a CAR! So wish me luck! I have won a lot in my day, usually small things, so I have a good feeling about it. How sweet would that be to win!!??!?!??!?!? I'm sure if I do you will be hearing alllll about it tomorrow evening! :)

12 weeks

I've been terrible at blogging. I've been really sick so it's been hard to have motivation to get anything done. Yesterday was the worst day so far and I couldn't keep a thing down. I puked 9 times (my record)... TMI? Probably. But someday it'll be good to know no day in pregnancy could be as bad as yesterday was. I haven't left the house much and I'm usually in my pj's or housecoat all day laying on the couch. How useless do I feel? You have no idea! Most days are good with Ty at home. I do the essentials, and he's really good at playing on his own and entertaining himself. When Michael comes home from work he will often take Ty out grocery shopping or on a walk just so the kid can get out of the house. I got some Zofran yesterday so I'm hoping it works! It better! It was $100 after coverage for only 30 pills and it says to take 3 a day!

Ty is doing great though! Here's kind of where he's at now that he's 16 months:

-he's been teething, two of his molars are almost thrzough.

-he says "na" (please)(we have no idea why he thinks na sounds like please) and "tis" (thanks)

-he says "yes" for every question we ask him. I guess it's much better than no.

-he has started cuddling a little more. Usually only if the cartoons are on and it lasts a maximum of 5 minutes. 

-he does TERRIBLE at church. Usually one of us is in the hall with him for the whole 3 hours of church. Lately, Michael brings him home the second hour of church while I am doing singing time, and I bring him home the last house because I need to eat and he needs a nap. He won't sit at church, and just runs down the halls so usually we are just chasing him all around and he cries when we pick him up. It's very draining.
-he can tell us what sounds a dog, horse, owl, and kitty say. The horse is the best!!

-he has started hugging us, which we love a lot.

-he says "sha" repeatedly while he carries a shoe all around the house.

-he finally enjoys brushing his teeth, and lays still during diaper changes (im sure that won't last very long)

-when Michael comes home from work, he just runs away from him. This is because Michael is always saying "I'm gonna getcha...." and so Ty has learned to run away. It's funny.

-when I tell him to say "Mom" he says "Dad"..... still.

-when the phone rings he says "Dad", because usually it's Dad calling from work. He loves to talk to Dad on the phone.

-when we tell him "no" he has started banging his head on things. Sometimes my leg, sometimes the couch, sometimes the floor. He will also hit his head with his hands. It's actually kind of funny, and I'm hoping it's just a quick stage!!!!

big news

We are very excited to announce we are expecting Baby Mendenhall #2!!!!! This one is expected to arrive April 25, 2013! Ty is excited (we think) to be a big brother, and we are thrilled to have another little one join our growing family. We can't wait to meet this little munchkin!

merdontrall

I'm always posting photos on instagram! You can follow me @merdontrall. Some of you probably wonder where merdontrall comes from. Michael used to work at Henderson pool and at the end of the year they gave an award to each employee and he was given an award (i don't remember what for), but it said "Michael Merdontrall". He kept the award and showed it to me once and I've never forgotten. I think it's the funniest thing. Is Mendenhall really that difficult of a last name? Anyways follow me @merdontrall on Instagram!

Sibling photo shoot

It was my Mom's birthday last month and we were trying to think of something to do for her birthday. We realized we have so many film photos of family that Michael has taken from gatherings, birthday parties, and mini photo shoots. We decided to get some of our favorites together and also get my siblings together for a photo shoot. We ended up giving my Mom a huge frame with probably 19 photos of us kids and grandkids. The photo shoot turned out awesome and we were all so excited to give the gift to our Mom and she loved it. Here are some photos from the shoot. Note: all film photos taken by Michael.

None of the single photos of myself turned out this day, but Michael still had lots of other photos of me for the collage.

 We like to be silly. Brad wasn't too gung ho about the jumping photo.

 I love these people!

 We framed this photo big for my Mom's wall.

two photos

Amy got married!! She looked beautiful and her and Joe (MacDonald) looked SO happy. Weddings are just the BEST! Here's a photo of her and I... sorry for cutting you Joe! You're kinda in it.

 A forecast of 33 degrees could only mean a day at the pool or beach. And luckily we have this huge SANDY beach, in Alberta (!), and so off to the beach Char-Lane and I went with our kids. I have never seen the water this low and the beach this huge (this is Wally's beach). Sand everywhere! Ty even got a nice mouthful. Poor boy.

grey is the new black

Michael has been bugging me lately to color his hair "grey" again. I refuse to. I don't think it looks good, and I felt like people second guessed my judgement for what looks good with hair when I did it the first time. He loves it so much but I just can't bring myself to doing it again. So I got an e-mail from him the other day with the subject being "grey is the new black" and opened it to find these photos.

Really? Gandalf? hahahahaha..... Oh Mikes, ya got me. I definitely want to do it now that I've seen a picture of Gandalf.... Not!! I don't think he realizes that the last 4 actually have NATURAL grey hair, which is impossible to replicate. Give it another 10 years Michael and you can have your dream hair color. hahaha


*I would like to clarify that I don't think grey hair is unattractive. I think fake grey is unattractive.

Ty-14 months old

Ty is now 14 months old! He is at such a fun age. I feel like every month that passes is more fun than the last.
-He is WALKING. Everywhere! And it's SO nice. It's way easier to take him places now and let him down on his own. He is so cute to watch walk all over the house. I especially love watching him walk all the way to the mailbox and back with me, which is across the street.
-On walks he loves to touch the bushes and trees.
-He loved to point to the ants on our front walk and follows them around and even tries to pick them up. He is such a boy!
-he says "amen" and "night night"... we're still working on words. If I ask him a question, he doesn't say "yes", he makes a noise more like "uah", but we know what he means. :)
-I found a pair of shoes to fit his short round feet! It's wonderful. They are sandals so hopefully his feet start to look more normal for when we get colder weather.
-He hates having poop in his diaper. His whole first year, he never cared about a dirty diaper but now he will cry and won't go to sleep if he is poopy.
-He loves to ride in the chariot while I go on a walk, and we go almost everyday!

That's all I can think of for now. That photo was taken on a Friday evening with my iPhone. We were across the street at the school field playing.

sun sun sun

I feel like every blog post recently is just random photos of what we have been up to this summer. We have had a lot of fun being outside in the gorgeous weather. We go to the pool and spray parks a lot, and Ty and I go on a lot of walks/runs.

 At Magrath Days. I love his little face here.

 Okay this face is so stinking cute too! This is at the Galt Gardens Fountains downtown.

 Ty with Dad at Henderson Pool

 Ty and I at Henderson Pool. He loves to do "squinty eyes" for us.

Ty sitting with Grandpa and almost ready for bed. This is at the Magrath Days Rodeo. 

 Super bright out before the Magrath Days parade. And Ty eating his first sucker. He loved it.

 Okay I am now realizing all these photos are with Ty. Here is Ty petting the goat at the petting zoo. He LOVED the animals. 

 5 minutes of that=hot sweaty exhaustion

 My adorable niece, Madison. How can you not just love that face.

 Ty and Dad swinging at my Mom and Bryans house.

 Ty and I have gone to Galt Gardens Fountains a lot recently, and so I called Michael before he was off work and told him where we were. It was so hot out so Michael went through the water with his work clothes on. 

 Pro speed Kayaker.

 My first time kayaking. This is in Waterton.

We camped one night at Crandell Campground with Michaels parents and his older sister Jody. This is Ty in the morning, eating his blueberries, wearing Aunt Jodys hat.

Just after lunch.

Here are some more kayaking photos. Ty loves being in boats.

He loved playing in the boat. 

Cardston Hail Storm 2012

This is mostly for my records, and for us to remember. July 26 we made the trip to Cardston for our monthly temple trip. Within the first 10 minutes of the session, we heard some loud bangs. Within moments we heard hundreds of them and it continued for about 15 minutes. We all knew it was very large hail and that there would most certainly be damages. For the next two hours I was hoping and praying nothing was damaged on our car. As we left the temple we saw lights smashed, trees shredded, flowers flattened, and as we moved to the street, windows smashed, cars dented, glass everywhere. I was devastated. I knew we had no insurance coverage for hail.

While Michael was in school I was able to save up $10,000 to pay for our 2007 Toyota Matrix. Previously we were driving an 89 Plymouth Acclaim and that car was starting to look old, so our new Matrix was my pride and joy! Since Michael was still in school, we just got basic coverage on our car, deciding we would get it covered better once he was working. Unfortunately, we forgot. Now we have our Matrix which is a great car, but will never look the same again. We have to replace the windshield, another window, and a rear light. NOW we have coverage on it, so if you don't have something you value covered, I encourage you to go get it insured! We definitely learned our lesson.

Here are some photos of the damage. The hail was the size of tennis balls.

 

This is the hail 2 hours after it had fallen.

This is the roof. We have chips and cracks ALL over our car now, as well as rusting