We took a trip to the NC State Fair last weekend. Honestly, I am so over state fairs. They are such a filthy money-pit. People throw their trash everywhere, there are hastily assembled rides and a grotesque amount of calories consumed. But it was fun to take Lucy and Marie and let them see the animals and taste some of the food. Amy (Lucy's mom), who is 27 weeks pregnant did a pull-up! I had my weight guessed. I had my belly hidden behind a coat, and the man guessed 130. Boy was he surprised when I stepped on the scale! Lookout! Needless to say, we came home with a prize.
Marie is a real chatterbox these days. She can put 3-4 words together, and is starting to sing songs, count, learn letters and play lots of pretend. Today she was singing "twinkle twinkle little star" in the car, and I could decipher about 48% of the lyrics, and the melody was pretty good, too! She loves to sing, so I've started singing her hymns at bedtime. Amazing Grace is her favorite, so we pretty much sing that one every night, but I'm going to try to teach her a new one this evening. Any suggestions?

Ralph and Heidi will be here one week from today, which we're thrilled about. Marie knows who is coming when we ask her, and that they are flying on an airplane. They are going to help us move into our new place a week from tomorrow. It's a 3 bedroom townhome in Cary. We already have the keys and have started moving things over. We're making a few trips/week. It's so nice to have a van! Marie has started calling this place our "old house" and the new place our "new house". She'll notice things (like her Teddy and her potty chair) that are missing around the old house and say "Teddy/potty go new house".

This pregnancy has been amazing so far. We've got around 15 weeks left until Thumper is due. Some people are so shocked at how different their pregnancies are, but this one has been strikingly similar to Marie's - the only difference being that I was sick for a shorter amount of time. It was around 7-8 weeks with Marie, and only 2-3 weeks with this kiddo. I constantly craved applesauce with #1, but with #2 I've craved salad and Cheerios most fiercely. That's not to say that I'm eating healthy, by any stretch of the imagination!

In the next installation of the Meehan blog, I hope to post pictures of our move & Ralph/Heidi's visit, Marie's first trick-or-treating, and Joel's 1/2 MARATHON! He'll be running 13 miles for the fun of it on November 4th!

A meal of corn dogs and corn-on-the-cob

Scott and Lucy / Joel and Marie checking out the animals.
It's amazing to me that she knows what the names of the animals are after only having seen many of them in books (where chickens are the same size as cows).


Getting close to the cow pen.


Fine dining and ambiance at the State Fair.
Amy was there, too, she just took all of the photos so we don't get to see her pretty face and cute baby bump!

The daddies teaching the daughters all about animals.

Joel took the day off of work today, and the three of us went to a pumpkin patch / farm combo and had great fun! Hubby and Daughter are sleeping right now, so I thought I'd go ahead and post them while I felt ambitious. I should be sleeping, too, but instead I am eating Nutella out of a jar with a spoon. Here y'are...

This is one of my favorite pictures to date.
They were having soooo much fun!

Marie ran over to the rooster and said "caca doo doo!"
(translation: cockadoodle doo)

The token "child sitting in a patch of pumpkins" shot.
You just gotta take one, no matter how cliche they are.



Marie picking out her very own "puhkin".

Walking through the corn maze in search
of a few ears to feed the goats. No luck.

Daddy and Marizzle taking a short cut
through the field.

A family hayrack ride.
Marie is unlike a lot of kids that I've met, in that when she is really really interested in something, she doesn't get smiley and silly and excited. Instead she gets very contemplative and stoic, as you can see in this photo. It looks like she's spacing out entirely, but then she'll say something very intuitive that shows us that she's just drinking it all in.
Maybe this isn't as unique or strange as I think it is.
Just an observation.

Picking cotton was her favorite activity of the day.
And we've got a plastic bag full to prove it.

Honestly, this was my favorite thing, too. Joel explained to me about the cotton gin and how tedious it was to remove all of the seeds before its invention. I'd never picked cotton before, or even touched the stuff, so I felt very educated. Yes, I've led a very sheltered life.

The gals. Can't see the belly in a front shot.
Marie's belly is very visible, though :-)

On the ride home she derailed into tired silly mode.
Daddy taught her the phrase "Oh man!" yesterday,
which she was saying when this was shot.
She took her shoes off and dropped them
on the ground and said it (as if it were an accident).

Introducing Marie's new friend, Lucy (and our new friends Amy and Scott)! Maggie and Amy met a few weeks ago at Barnes & Noble story time. The girls are just a couple of months apart in age, and both mommies are pregnant and due within two weeks of each other. They're expecting a baby boy, and we don't know the gender of our little rugrat,

who at the moment is causing me much abdominal grief.

It was a very welcome surprise to make such good friends in such a short time, since our dear friends (whom we miss ever-so-much), the Peters, moved away very recently. They moved away in the physical sense, but we still love them very much!

Anyway, Amy took these photos of Marie and Lucy yesterday while we are at their daddies' soccer game:

Being silly widdle girlies.

A game of chase.

They ran out to meet their daddies after the game.

Reading time.

More reading, Lucy cuddling the soccer ball
...and Maggie making an odd face.

We've officially decided on a boy's name, but are definitely in trouble if this kiddo is female. Any suggestions are welcome with open arms. We're both into traditional (non-made-up) names, that are not extremely common, but still recognizable. Please help us. Actually, Joel's pretty laid back about the whole thing, but I'm seriously distraught. And to top it off, I really think we're having another girl! I would love that. Joel's such a great daddy to Marie. I can just see him in a house full of women.

I'm copying Jen. I want a pink Dyson vacuum, too! Thanks for the heads-up Mrs. Leman. Sign-up to win by Oct 1st. Okay, now I'll go try to be productive again. Bye bye!
http://www.5minutesformom.com/2334/dyson-pink/#comment-396116

Okay, so I didn't like opening the blog to a giant picture of me and my pregnant belly. I love my pregnant belly and the baby inside of it, but it was just a little in-your-face. Anyhow, here are a few pictures from yesterday:

Marie playing in her fort with "chicken".
If you squeeze chicken, an egg pops out of his bottom.
She used to be afraid of him, but now they're
good pals.

Eating some goulash that she helped Mommy make.

I learned something new about my husband yesterday. He's got some mad cookie-making skills. He taught me a thing or two. Marie got to pick out which cookie cutters to use, and daddy did all of the rolling and flouring. Way to go Team!

Some of Marie's preferred shapes. We made a ton of airplanes, hearts and cars, as those were her favorites. Unfortunately, she had to go to bed before we made the colored frosting. Tonight, at small group, Marie will be sharing her cookies with her friends.

21/40 weeks

Miscellaneous Pictures from
August and September

Yorktown August 11

Marie with ponytail

Buckethead. Currently a favorite game.
Hey, she may look like her daddy, but that
doesn't mean she's got his smarts!

Her wild hair could use some taming.

Practicing for winter and learning about
different items of clothing.


This morning on our walk. Marie's first

time feeding the ducks/geese.

Joel and his mini-me...um...I mean, daughter.

My posting has been pitiful these days. Life seems to be flying by at warp speed this summer. What with a new baby on the way (e.d.d. Jan 28th), an impending move (just across town...don't worry), visitors from Nebraska and Minnesota, a trip to Nebraska and Georgia, and a little jabber-mouth of an 18-month-old to run after...I barely have time to breathe, let alone post pictures! However, I have had plenty of time to stuff my face with delicious foods (milkshakes, hershey's kisses, McDonald's hamburgers). I'm gross.

The big news this month is that Joel and I have a new niece! Ada Mae Meehan was born on August 16th (in the wee hours of the morning). Apparently she arrived around 90 minutes after Tim and Carissa got to the hospital. Good work, Mom! We won't get to meet her until Christmas, but here are a couple of pictures of the cutie patootie:

In other news, Joel has been a soccer playing fool this summer. Come rain, or shine, or really really really shiny 100 degree shininess, he's out there playing nearly every week. League starts up again in the Fall. Here are some pictures of their championship game from their Spring League. They lost by one goal, and had a chance to tie it up in the last seconds. Surprisingly (for those who know Joel), he made it through the season concussion-free. Photos courtesy of Beth Vanderkin :-)

"Out of my way, Inferior Athlete!"

"I'll be taking that ball from you now. Have a nice day."

Getting a little rough.

The three teammates from Trinity Community Church.
Thomas, Joel and Tim.


And, finally, here are a few from our trip to Lake Burton, GA at the end of July. Joel is absent from the photos because he wasn't able to attend. My dad, brother and one of my step-sisters all flew in to Raleigh and we drove down to GA together. Marie enjoyed meeting all of my family, whom she hadn't ever met before, but warmed up to very quickly.

Celebrating the belated birthday of our great nation.

Cousin Jackie, who introduced Marie to the wonders of back-rubs. She becomes comatose.

Not sure why this one is so small. It is Marie, freshly bathed, playing by the lake (under heavy supervision, of course).

Just me and the little goober.

My dad, Isabelle (step-sis), me and my little brother, Patrick.
Patrick taught Marie to call my dad "Geezer" instead of "Grandpa". Very nice. She referred to Isabelle as "Izzy" and Patrick was shortened to "Pat". She did very well with their names and enjoyed having them around to play with.

The family celebrating Grandpa's 86th birthday.
The country club even had child care for Marie. My aunt and uncle generously rented out this beautiful balcony room overlooking the Smoky Mountains for the celebration.

Me and my Grandpa DeBord with the ever-present cocktail in hand.

Gramps, Tristan (cousin) and I. Tristan just returned from his second deployment and will be promoted to Major soon.



I must also mention that Ralph, Barb and Dan Meehan all came for a visit earlier this month, but I only took a couple of pictures during their visit, and haven't gotten the chance to upload them onto the computer yet. We had a lovely time of sports-playing, cards, games, picking on Ralph and fellowship. We even made chocolate-chip-free pancakes for Dan (long story). The time was too short, as usual!