Mobile Megan and a Mother's Worst Nighmare

Megan is now a little over 7 months old and has become so much more mobile and in control of her body, although she is still working on all the particulars.
Well exactly a week ago today the most terrifying thing happened. We have a large tub sink in the kitchen which has been really nice for giving Megan a bath in. Even when she was too little to sit up there was plenty of room for her to lie down and since the only bath tub we have is downstairs, the sink is a lot more convenient. So last week I was giving her a bath in the morning, and I turned around for literally 1 second and took maybe 2 steps away, when I hear a "slip" only to turn around to see my baby fall head first from the sink to the hard tile floor!!!! Ahhh! She was just outside my reach and it was as if in slow motion. There was nothing I could do, but I picked her up quickly and ran for the phone. She, of course was hysterical and I was shaking so hard I didn't know what to do. What if she had a broken neck? Don't they say that when most people break their necks they don't even know it until later because the bodies adrenaline kicks in and they don't feel the pain? I don't know. What if there's internal bleeding? I was so terrified that I had just killed my baby. So I immediately called 911 (my second time in a year, thanks Em!). To some this may sound paranoid, but I just didn't want to "wait and see" on a head injury. While I was waiting with the person on the phone (they make you stay on the line until the people get there) I was able to give Megan a few emergency homeopathy's (my natural health training kicking in) and they were there in minutes. They came right in and took a look at her and reassured me that my baby was very lucky and just fine. Her head was a little red where she hit it, but other than seeming a little shaken up and tired from the experience she was perfectly alert and her eyes looked just fine and she had no visible cuts. They left a few short minutes after they came, reassuring me that if there was any hint of a problem they'd take her, but they were sure she was fine.
Just a month ago my grandma was telling me a story about how my mom had flipped herself out of her car seat that was sitting on the counter onto the floor at 1 month and how she was just sure she had killed her baby. That story kept replaying in my mind thinking how horrible that would be if that happened to me, and here it did. Oh, I felt so horrible. I cried and felt so guilty for letting something like this happen. And then I had to keep replaying the horrible event for all my wonderful, caring neighbors who were calling to make sure we were okay after they saw the EMT outside. It was probably the lowest moment I have had as a mother. I am so grateful that my baby was watched over that day. She never even got a bump on her head! She been a lot more cautious with all her new found mobility, but she's here, happy, and healthy, and I couldn't ask for more. We truly are so blessed.

More Christmas Pictures

There really are SO many adorable pictures from Christmas morning, but I can't fit them all! Megan is is the "hand to mouth" stage and just loved getting everything she could in her mouth. What lucky parents we are to have such a fun, zesty little girl!

Christmas Time.. at Last

Every year we trade off Christmas and Thanksgiving between the Basil and Willhite sides. This year it was a Californian Christmas. The first few days weren't as warm as expected, but the last half of the trip the weather warmed up and it was quite nice.
Mark, his sister's and their families were all together (and Mom and Dad Basil, of course) which made it really nice.
The first day we arrived ended up being a full day of Christmas shopping since I didn't want to shop here and then have to pack them over. Although it certainly would have been nice to have extra luggage room on the way home. The other two days were also spent shopping, cooking and eating really great food. Megan even had her first food while in California. We also got to visit Santa, which was fun. It is so nice when there are two cooks in the kitchen and another mother at home to watch the baby while Mark and I got to go out and just be together. We don't get a lot of time to do things with just the two of us very often and it was especially nice because EVERYTHIHNG out there is just 5 minutes away, where here it takes at least 15 minutes to get just about anywhere. Living and a more populated area certainly has its advantages.
Christmas Eve was spent at Mom and Dad Basil's where Mark and I got to play Mary and Joseph. Megan was supposed to be Baby Jesus, but the though of waking her up mid-night sleep didn't sound real great to us, so a doll filled in for her. The theme this year was Itanilan dishes and I made Mark favorite bar-b-que chicken pizza. It was a real hit! P.S. yeast rises MUCH fast and better in California-- bakers beware!
Christmas morning, Megan was the center of attention. Santa "Basil" lovingly took care of our stockings and visited us all. Megan started her "Little People" collection via grandma and grandpa, with a few other toys, a dress, and pajamas. Although, we could have given her wrapping paper and she would have been just as happy. We spent the day cooking, sleeping, eating and enjoying each other's company until it was time to go to Grandma and Grampa Mathonis's where we did it all over again just with more people.
We had one day after that and then early the next morning we were off and home to Utah again. The trip was way too fast and we were sad to have to leave, but we had a great time and Megan had a blast playing with all her cousins!

On New Years we spent some time with the Willhite's and exchanged gifts as well. It's sad to have to split time between the families, but its also good because we get to feel relaxed with whom ever we are with without feeling as if we have to spend the days "Party Hopping", so to speak.
It was indeed a very Merry Christmas!

Deer Valley

In the last year Mark has started doing the Health and Fitness portion of the "Leadership Training Week" for Franklin Covey. It takes place about every month or so at different resorts here in Utah (i.e. Homestead, Sundance). But just recently they changed the location to The Lodges up at Deer Valley Resort. With the new changes Mark needed to be there 2 days so rather than drive up and back they graciously put us up in an AMAZING room-- all expenses paid! Wow!!!!
The room was not just a room, but consisted of a master bedroom and bath, another bathroom off the hallway a full blown kitchen with all the amenities a bar and dinner table, a nice living room with a fireplace and a large deck extending from the bedroom and living room. When we walked in we were stunned, to say the very least. It was beautiful and far beyond anything we would have stayed in on our own.

Also, one day my parents and brother Pierson came up and dad, Pierson and I skied (I love Deer Valley, it's the only place I like to ski anymore because local passes are such a great deal and the lifts are NEVER busy), while my mom graciously watch baby Meg. I haven't had the opportunity to ski in a few years and it was so fun, even though the snow wasn't that great being so early in the season. When you ski at Deer Valley it's the whole experience that's great, now just the slopes.

We had a wonderful time! Thank you Mark and Mom for making this all possible-- oh yeah and thanks Covey!

So Many Important things

Time flies by all too quickly and I don't get (or should I say make), the opportunity to write things down. Megan has hit some major milestones this last month and I think it's time I jot those down:

Monday, November 26, 2007-- Sat alone for the first time (about 20-30 seconds)
Said first word "dada", although I'm not so sure she knows what it means

Tuesday, November 27, 2007-- Got her first tooth on her lower right side

Thursday, November 28, 2007-- Learned to "army crawl"

Since that very busy week in Megan's life she's been busily practicing up on her mobility skills and is a much more content baby. Before she always wanted to be held up to where she could see everything that was going on and now she prefers to be able to move out on her own (although she still likes me close by). Then yesterday, Sunday, December 16, 2007, she popped up on her knees all by herself. She doesn't get that she can move better in that position, but it's only a matter of time until she does. Also, today she started to imitate my noises. I was making a popping sound with my lips that she thought was so funny and interesting and suddenly she started to click her tongue on her lips. Every time I would then click my tongue, she would do it back. It was so cute. It's so fascinating how fast they grow and learn. We are truly blessed to have such a fun little girl in our family!

More from Mexico

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to Mexico. Most of them are from the zipline tour we went on (monkey in the cage, hanging out by the river, and if you look really close up in the sky you can see little dots of people flying through the air over the canyon).
Also, Meg "Muffin" (as my dad calls her) and her grandpa in the pool.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Four days after Pierson returned home we all left for a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was fun to be back as a family, with all my siblings together again. We had a marvelous time, playing at the beach, hanging out at the pool, and seeing some sights. Megan was not so sure she cared for the beach (I think the waves kind of freaked her out). So Mark, Meg and I spent our time mostly at the pool.
We stayed at a resort right on the beach so we could head up and put Megan down for her much needed naps, which was nice because she isn't so great at sleeping on the go (except she does sleep really good on the plane).
Travel days down and back were long because we had some lengthy layovers in Guadalajara, but we still had fun eating and talking. The plane ride down from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta was pretty intense. We were in a little "puddle jumper" type plane and we hit a little turbulence. It felt like we were on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride at Disneyland.
One day we all headed up in the mountains and did a Jungle Zip-Line tour. First the rest of my family went up and we stayed at the bottom looking at the monkey's and snakes and sitting by the river. Then, when the boys and my parents were done, they took Megan and Mark and I went up. It was very fun. The zip lines were long and some were VERY high, but we really had fun. Although, I'm not so sure my mom had fun since Megan was pretty upset that I left her. She decided that week that she wanted mom,and only mom. She didn't like anyone else to hold her. Part of that attitude was quite endearing, but I felt bad for everyone else, and it would have been nice to eat a meal in peace, but I love her dearly anyway.
We also spent one evening wandering around down town. It was neat to see where and how the people live down there. The taxi ride down there was pretty crazy since driving laws don't really exist. We just had to hold on for the ride. Mark also had a good time bringing back his old Spanish skills from the mission. It was nice to have a translator on hand. And I even got to do a little para sailing!

It was a great trip and a great big thank you to Mom and Dad Willhite for that one. Mostly it was just nice to be away from "it all" for a while. No cell phones, clients, no work. Just lots of time to spend together. We miss Mark with his crazy schedule so it was a great opportunity for us to be together as a family and for Megan to have a little more one on one with her daddy. It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving week!