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

Ty's 13 month update

Ty is now one year old (okay, 13 months) and I haven't had a lot of time to do an update at what he's doing these days.

-is walking across the room on his own
-loves his new forward facing carseat so he can see Mom and Dad
-doesn't really talk. He says "nana" for banana and "dada" for Dad. Still no "mama", but I can't wait for the day that happens.
-he does the sign for "eat"
-folds his arms when we tell him to for prayers, and even a couple times has said "anen" for amen.
-is SO attached to Dad. He got really use to having him home for 4 months and now that Michael is back at work, Ty usually wants Dad for everything when he's home.
-sleeps 12-14 hours a night straight!! I could get used to this!
-HATES diaper changes. As soon as we lay him down, he is bawling his head off. I try to use distractions but he cries 90% of the time
-had started to cry when he doesn't get something he wants... it's kind of funny sometimes to see his face scrunch up and see how he can get himself crying so hard over not being able to play with the printer for example.
-he is always giving kisses to us. Sometimes we have to ask, sometimes he just comes up to us and offers one or two. Open mouth of coarse, but aren't those the best baby kisses?
-if he ever hears any type of a beat, he will be dancing, and by dancing I mean a bouncing squat, or nodding his head.
-whenever we go get him from his crib, he grabs his blanket and holds it up for us. Not really sure what he wants us to do with it, but it's cute. He doesn't have a lovey or anything so we are always confused by the gesture. :)
-his feet are still too fat to wear shoes. Yep, we have a 1 year old that never wears shoes. We have a lot for him but they won't fit on his feet. His toes go in but right after the toes, his foot turns into a little ball, and won't go in any further. It's funny, but hopefully they slim down a bit so he can walk around in public areas.

We started talking about what we think his personality will be like. We think he will be sociable but not the center of attention (he is quite social with strangers, never shy), silly (he likes to be a bit goofy, but I guess most kids do), and smart (because he loves books). We think he will like gadgety(?) stuff (not sure if thats what you would call it) and books. He has a lot of toys but he seems to prefer my computer drawers, our lightswitch on the stairs, and our cupboards.

We love this age he is at. He is silly, and loves to play, and we love watching him learn new things.