home, funeral, and ty

We are now all moved into our new house! It was a super stressful busy weekend but I'm glad we are finally all in and starting to get settled. Our walls and carpet are pink so we are doing some renos.. We spent 3 days painting the entire main floor and it already looks so much better! I'll have to post some photos soon, but all our furniture for the living room is in the basement because we planned to replace the carpet with hardwood floors right away, but we are having some trouble deciding what we want, so it will probably be a couple more weeks.

My Grandpa Parker passed away this past week. His funeral was yesterday. It was a beautiful service to reflect on his life. There were many good stories told of him and it was great to see so much family! In his obituary it stated he and my Grandma who passed away in 2006 have 11 children, 63 grandchildren, and 79 great grandchildren and counting. That's A LOT of people!! My grandpa lived a long happy life, and had even just returned from a cruise 2 weeks before he passed away!! He was a great example to me. In February, all of our family received this letter from him, along with some scriptures he outlined for us to read. I really just wanted to keep his words for me to look back on. I am so grateful for him in my life, and I'm so happy he is now reunited with my grandmother in heaven.

Film photo taken by Michael. Grandpa with Ty (6 weeks), and Madison.

Dear Family,

Hope these scripture start you thinking, I love you all. I thought it was important that you all consider life and what it is meant for. I feel I can be silent no more, cause my time is short so I feel like I need to bear you my testimony. I know the gospel the is true and I hope you all can come to the same conclusion that I have. The gospel has been restored, and we need to listen to the council that has been given by those in authority. I have felt prompted share this message with you my loved ones. I want you to be with me in the afterlife me and Ileen (Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma) she is already waiting for us. I wish for us to all read the Book of Mormon before the end of April. Let me know how you feel when you read it. I don't want to preach a sermon that turns most people off, so I just want you to know that I love you and want to share this with you.

Dad, Grandpa, Great Grandpa.


For now, our little family is just awaiting the arrival of our little boy, who is due in only two weeks!! I'm so scared to go through labor again, but I'm excited to meet this little boy. I can't wait to see what he looks like and to have a newborn again. Ty has grown up so much recently, and is talking a lot. He has also been very whiny lately. He will repeat a word of something he wants, over and over and over.. and then he will move onto another word and whine repeatedly. I won't lie, it has been driving Michael and I nuts, but we are loving how much he has been learning and he always keeps us laughing. I've been trying to teach him "happy" and "sad" and what they mean. So the other day we were getting Ty ready for bed and Michael was tickling him lots and he was laughing up a storm, and after the tickling was over and he was laying in Michael's arms he said, "happy Ty" in the sweetest little voice. It was such a precious little moment for our family to be together and for Ty to express that he was happy. Michael and I couldn't help but tear up. Here are some photos Michael's mother took of Ty yesterday. 

 He loves to pick up a phone and say "hawow?" 

sunglasses

A few months ago I purchased a pair of sunglasses I had been eyeing for a while. They went on sale below $20, so I was excited. The other day I sat on them and I broke them. Then I was telling Michael how I was frustrated because the more I spend on sunglasses the faster they break. I remembered receiving a pair for Christmas and they were probably the most expensive pair I've owned, but still under $50, and they broke within the first month. I was showing him the sunglasses I got in Vegas that I paid $3 for and they are still in great condition. Then he pointed out how the pair that has lasted the longest was the pair I FOUND 5 years ago... So if you want great luck with not breaking your sunglasses, spend less... I definitely don't think we will be splurging on a pair anytime soon.

$50 pair- less than a month
$15 pair- a few months
$3 pair- 1 year and counting
FREE- 5 years and counting

I tried doing a "follow by e-mail" thing and I don't think it is working. SO for those who would like to be e-mailed when I do a new post, please let me know and I will add you myself. Then you won't have to miss any new blog posts because I know when blogs go private people often stop reading them because they don't come up on your blogger feed anymore. So comment below if you'd like to get an e-mail whenever I make a new post.

burnt food

I woke up this morning to the sickest smell. After I got up I realized it was a big pot of seriously burnt oatmeal. Michael must have put it on then went and took a shower while it was cooking on accident. YUCK, it's making my stomach feel sick.

It reminds me of a time in high school that my friends still make fun of me for. My mom decided to cook up some hamburger first thing in the morning before we all left the house, so it was ready to make spaghetti in the evening, but she burnt it. I don't know if you smelled SERIOUSLY burnt hamburger but it was SICK. My bedroom was in the basement so I was only upstairs for a couple minutes before leaving the house in the morning. Everywhere I went at school I was turning heads. I had someone near me in the halls comment that something smelled like "fish" (obviously they don't know what they are talking about, haha), and many others kept wondering what "that smell" was. It was so embarrassing for me that I called my mom and made her come get me at lunch so I could go home and shower. Now my friends and I talk about it and laugh, and lets be honest, it is kind of funny.

So that's what I'm flashing back to today...

Homeowners

We bought a house!!!!!!! We are so so soooo excited about it. We take possession April 1 which gives us enough time to do a bit of updating before the baby comes. It's got pink walls and pink carpet, but we are excited to make the changes to it. We will post before and after photos once we are in and have updated it a little bit! These next two months are going to be insane for us. Along with the move, I am a bridesmaid for my best friend Nikki's wedding at the end of this month, and then a few short weeks after that we are welcoming son #2. Wish us luck!

I tried doing a "follow by e-mail" thing and I don't think it is working. SO for those who would like to be e-mailed when I do a new post, please let me know and I will add you myself. Then you won't have to miss any new blog posts because I know when blogs go private people often stop reading them because they don't come up on your blogger feed anymore. So comment below if you'd like to get an e-mail whenever I make a new post.

30 weeks

Am I really already 30 weeks along? I'm so excited by how fast it has been going. So often recently I have found myself just wanting to cuddle this little boy on the couch. I'm really looking forward to having a baby again and having this back pain be over with. I already weigh more than Michael, although last pregnancy he was 10 lbs heavier than he is now, but honestly with gaining the weight, although I think about it often, it doesn't bother me that much. I feel like it's part of this cycle of having children and I kind of like the change. It's pretty awesome after having a baby to look back on photos and see the difference even just in my face. So here I am at 29 weeks and looking smaller than I actually am.

Ty has been doing great with wearing his glasses lately. He will wear them for up to 25 minutes around the house. He even asks to wear them occasionally. He is continually learning new words! His new ones this week are circle, show (when he wants to watch cartoons), out, and "indy" for windy. He had this little circle magnet to go on his magnet board and he carries it around a lot repeating "circle". Today he was drinking bathwater using his lego and I was explaining to him that he shouldn't drink it because it's not clean and there are yuckies in it, and then I pointed to some fluff in the water, probably from his toes, and he repeated yucky. Within the next few minutes he was panicking and pointing at the "yuckies" because they were floating around him. He wanted OUT. Everytime they got close to him he got closer and closer to tears. It was really cute and funny.

My birthday yesterday was nice. Ty and I hung out at home during the day, then Michael got home and we went out for all you can eat sushi with Ty. Then we came home and watched American Idol together. Michael got me a DQ ice cream cake, a new pair of slippers, and a 45 minute massage... which I cannot wait for!! I also got some bath stuff, and some cake icing decorating stuff. We don't have anything planned tonight for Valentines Days, but tomorrow we are going out to a 50's themed Gala in Magrath with some of my family, which I think will be lots of fun.

small update

I am now 28 weeks along! How did this time pass so quickly? I'm in my last trimester and feeling pretty good. I have started getting back pain again, like I had with Ty, but I'd rather have it then be sick again. I've been trying to do some yoga and stretching so I'm hoping that helps soon.

We have been house hunting... :) It's a bit overwhelming but exciting. After tonight we will have looked at 30 homes, and so far, we haven't seen anything that we love. We've been looking on the south and west side in Lethbridge. It's been difficult for us to find a balance of things we each want in a home. Michael has already found many homes he would like to buy but I just feel like if we are spending that much money, we should LOVE it. I know it's not going to be my dream home, but we just want to make the right decision so we can stay put for 5-10 years. My hope is that we find a place to move into before this little boy arrives, but our house hunting is slowing down now that we have looked at most of the homes with our criteria in our price range.

Ty is talking a lot. Only single words, but it's awesome how fast he is picking them up now. Some of the latest include banana, orange, corn, lion, owl, bear, snow, boat, star, baby, moon, bunny, cars, help, coat, and today his newest one "boki" for broccoli. Right now Ty sleeping schedule is completely ideal and SO predictable. He goes to bed at 7pm and wakes up between 8-9am, then naps at noon for 2-3 hours! It's the best he has ever slept and I am loving how I know exactly when he will need to go to sleep! Now if he could stay like this until well after the baby comes, I would be so happy!

Swimming Lessons

Okay I am DYING here!! How adorable is this photo? I was talking to my Mom about how I wanted to put Ty in swimming lessons before baby #2 came so she said she would pay for Ty and Madison to go in them together. They love to hold hands.

 Yesterday was their first class. I'm pretty sure Madison just loved the whole thing, but Ty hated being put underwater and he hated having to lay on his back and kick his legs. The photo below shows Michael struggling with Ty to keep him on his back, and then there is Madison's leg way up high in the air. She was a pro. It was fun to watch them, and I'm excited to take turns going in the water with Ty. I'm glad he has the chance to have these lessons before all the water time he will be getting in the summer!

The Holidays

Okay I've been terrible! But here's a makeup post for the past month or two! We drove down to Salt Lake City with Michaels sister and his parents to go to Devin and Amber's wedding. Ty did really great on the drive. He also became obsessed with the word "lights" while we were there. The hotel lights, all the Christmas lights, and especially all the lights on Temple Square. He was in heaven.

At the mall right across from Temple Square they had this AMAZING play place for kids. There was all these dinosaur figures and they were soft. So you didn't have to worry about your kid hitting their head on them. Ty absolutely loved it. It makes me sad we have nothing like this in Lethbridge.

The slide he went up and down, up and down.

A better picture of all the dinosaurs. Ty would go up to all the dinosaurs and point to their eyes and say "eyes"

My two guys on the wedding day! Man, I love these two!

The lovely bride and groom. Ty was afraid of everyone, especially Devin. Don't worry, by the end of the trip he let his Uncle Devin look at him at least.

Us with the bride and groom. They looked so happy, and it was such a wonderful day! You can really tell how much they love each other. Ty is soooo ready for a nap here.

Ty became smitten by his Auntie Jody. He got to spend a lot of time with her over the holidays and he definitely preferred her over anyone else.

The night after the wedding Ty got the flu and was up all night puking. It was great that we were in a hotel though because we didn't have to worry about doing all the laundry after! :) Then on the way home Michael was sick, and his Dad got sick, then after we got home, I got the flu. We thought it was all over but we were very wrong. This photo is of Ty during sickness #2. We all ended up on antibiotics for possibly strep throat and Ty got a double ear infection. I sure got a lot of snuggles during the holidays.

This was at a Christmas party we had over the holidays with some friends from high school (plus spouses). It was super fun to get together and eat some good food and reminisce while looking through old photo albums.

 Ty with his truck he got from G and G Smith. Ty got spoiled by all grandparents, but he was SO sick on Christmas day so we really didn't get a lot of photos of him that day.

 Ty with Maddy at G and G Parkers. Just playing on their iPhones.

 Ty loves this dog he got from G and G Smith! We sometimes have to hide it because he always trips over it while carrying it around the house. He also got that chair for Christmas from Santa!

Ty taking a nap with Grandpa Mendenhall. He NEVER does this, so it was a treat! The only problem with having him fall asleep on you is that you can't move until his nap is over... haha. I made that mistake with him over the holidays. I was sitting and he was sleeping on my chest and by the end I thought I was going to pass out with because I couldn't breathe with the pressure from the baby and Ty on my chest. Anyways, I took a LOT of photos over the holidays but with Ty not feeling well I really didn't get many good ones of him. We had a lot of early nights but we still had a nice holiday and Michael got to take a good amount of time off work!

Ty 18 months

Ty is now 18 months and he is just SO much fun! I've been wanting to do a post about what he's been up to lately so I'll just list everything!
-he says guck(truck), owl, clock, cracker, eat, shoes, socks, boops(books), boop(sounds like boo-p, and its boot), auntie, papa(grandpa), uncle, dog, baby, lights(while pointing to all the christmas lights on the house)
-when we ask where the baby is he goes over to my belly and pats it
-he loves his big giant dog he got for Christmas
-loves riding on Dad's back
-went to nursery today for the first time and he liked it, and when we got home he was hyper. I've never really seen him hyper so it was really funny. he was babbling his own language and laughing randomly and acting really silly.
-kicks legs when we pick him up like he's swimming
-he loves to wear his winter boots around the house
-he LOVES to dance. His style of dancing is basically just tapping his feet on the spot repeatedly
-if anyone is ever pestering or taking something away from him or bullying him he squawks at them. I guess it's his defense mechanism. haha
-Ty now naps only once a day and he goes down for his nap without his bottle. He's been doing this for about a month and a half now.

Here are just some random photos of Ty I wanted to post of him hanging out at home!

 Getting ready to go outside

 He ALWAYS gets up in his crib when he is awake so it was really funny to have him just laying there after a nap one day.

 One day I told Ty to smile and this photo above is what I got. hahahaha. We've been working lots on it and his smiles are much more realistic. Also notice all the books. He put them all on the couch then climbed on the couch and goes through them one by one and once he is finished each book, he tosses it onto the floor.

 Just laying on the floor being cute.

A photo of Ty with our Christmas tree this year while eating one of his favorite snacks, dried cranberries and blueberries. It's not much taller than him, and he really liked the lights and decorations. Notice his eye too. It's been getting a lot worse and he had broken both pairs of his glasses but we got them fixed so we are working on him wearing them all the time now.

I have a lot more photos of Christmas and our trip to Utah and other random stuff so I'll post them soon! I've been really bad at blogging lately, I know.. but I have been feeling great lately so I will be posting again soon!

5 years!

About two weeks ago Michael and I celebrated our 5th anniversary! I can't believe it's been 5 years and I also can't believe it's only been 5 years. haha Does that make any sense? I feel like Michael has always been a part of my life. We didn't do much on our anniversary. We thought about going away for the weekend, but Michael's brother is getting married in Utah soon and so we will be travelling down there and also with Christmas coming up, along with trying to finish paying off student loans and hoping to buy a house in the not too distant future, we decided to stick around and keep it simple. We spent the day with Ty and then went out for a really nice dinner together. After we put Ty to bed we just laid in bed talking about each year we've been married. We talked about the highlights of each year. It was fun to think back on the early days of marriage and all that we've accomplished up until now. Michael brought up some memories I had forgotten about and the same vice versa. We talked for probably 2 hours of all the special moments that we have experienced in our marriage. I really can't think of a better way to celebrate our 5 year anniversary than to spend it talking about our most special moments and blessings. It really has been an amazing 5 years. We have definitely had some highs and lows although I'd say the highs waaaaay outdo the lows. I feel like my life is exactly where I dreamed it would be 5 years ago. Probably better. I can't wait to see what the next 5 bring for us. I feel so blessed to be married to Michael.

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.