The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

This is hilarious you have got to watch it.. I died laughing. Garran's mom emailed it to me. I have to admit I have said half of them and I think my mom said almost all of them to me minus pinao and orthodotinst. Hope you enjoy mom!

Staking my Claim : Part 2

So for those of you that read my previous blog about my neighbors know that we have had some parking issues. Well this is my update. So recently she must have gotten the hint, because she has not been parking in my spot. She parks in the one next to it. However I think she is secretly trying to start a mini parking lot war. She now parks so close to my line that I can barely open the door. VERY ANNOYING! (Picture not actual neighbors car, but just to portray the seriousness of the situation, you understand!) So now what to do, what to do. I thought about really trying to come up with ways to solve the situation. Kill her with kindness. Make cookies for her and go introduce myself so that it won't be awkward anymore when she pulls up and I am glaring at her through my kitchen window. She knows that I can see her, that is why she rolled her eyes when I was parked in the coveted spot as she got out of her car one day. Then jokingly I told Garran that I was going to park right in the middle of the two spots right on the line. See how it feels when someone does a bad job of parking and all you want to do is park in front of your house. But alas I worry that I am all talk. I know it will continue for the rest of the time that we both live here with it going the way it does. Every time we see each other smiling and saying hello. Maybe she does not know that we are feuding.... But everyone in my house does! Oh well any suggestions on how to fix this problem... openly welcome. And just so you are wondering.. I am a perfect parker.. I will back in and out just to make sure that I am in between the yellow lines. I want to be courteous to my fellow parkers. Is it to much to expect the same from others?

Screaming and Laughing... It's all contagious!

Today has been a loud one for us. Cullan and Kael think that it is funny for one of them to scream and then the other one screams in response. Usually Cullan starts this lovely exchange, and then it usually ends with me saying or yelling "Boys.. Stop Yelling". I know real effective yelling at them to stop yelling. Anyways today in the car, Cullan started laughing for no reason. Not just a giggle but a full out, real gut busting laugh. I had no idea what he could be laughing about. We were just driving down the highway coming home from Target. Anyways, as Cullan was dying laughing, Garran and I could not help but giggle. It was just to funny that Cullan was cracking up and we had absolutely no idea about what was so funny. But then out of no where Kael starts cracking up. He is just dying laughing too. We probably all laughed for about 10 minutes.. The only one that knew what he was laughing about was Cullan. Go Figure. Oh well, sometimes it's fun when laughing is contagious.

Giving Blood =)

The other day a young man from our church called and said that for his eagle scout project he was having a blood drive. I thought oh that is great. I give blood on a regular basis when I am not prego or having major surgeries =) So not recently, however since neither applied right now I told him to sign me up. He asked about Garran and I told him that I was not sure but that I would talk to him. Well I guess he took that as a yes, because the next Sunday, Garran said that his name was on the sign up list. What is funny about this is that Garran absolutely hates needles. You would never guess a big strong guy like my hubby hating needles. HE REALLY HATES THEM. So the day finally roles around and Garran is dragging his feet about going but I told him that even if he decides not to he will have to drive me home. So we pack up the fam and head out.
When we get there Garran decides to do it. I knew that he would do the right thing. Anyways, he gets called back first. It just so happened that day they were especially looking for people that had our blood type to do a special test with. For some reason Garrans lady did not ask him if he would like to do it but mine did. So Garran was done with all of his questions much faster than I. He went over and was getting ready to get hooked up (The whole time I mention I can hear him telling the blood lady how much he hates this and that he is only here because of me)! Anyways so the final part of checking me, was checking my iron. You have to be at 12.5 to give. My right hand prick came back at 12.0 so we tried my left and it came back at 10.8. Guess who was not giving blood. Oops. So I stand up with a stack of papers about iron enriched foods that I need to start eating and Garran instantly knows. He gives me this disgusted look and starts shaking his head. He goes "You can't give blood can you" I just smiled and said "No Honey I can't, but I will hold your hand when it is time for the needle." He was grumpy. Saying the usual like you wanted to do this and can't but I still have to. But he was already on the table, no need to leave now. Well of course Garran has great blood. He filled up the bag in like 7 minutes. I told him that I bet he would be the record holder for the day. (He was not impressed) So as he goes to sit up all the color drains from his face. I said honey you do not look to good, would you like some juice or a cookie. Sure he would, so I went and got it. He comes and sits at the table for a few minutes while I go and get the kids from the nursery. By the time I had them packed up he had come and found me and said that he was ready to go home. I thought that it was pretty quick, but I thought well he knows how he feels. So we get in the car and get about 1/3 of the way home, when he starts kind of groaning and he is sweating. So I ask him if he would like me to pull the car over. He says yes. So I pull into a Doctors office and is on his hands and knees in the grass. I felt so bad for him but at the same time I was laughing. I know I am a horrible wife. I could not help it because he was still grumbling about giving blood. So he stayed out there for a little while. Took care of what he needed to do. Then came and got back in the car. He still had no color and I said I think that we better get you home so that you can get some rest. So we came home and Garran took a nap as well as Kael. Cullan and I ran to the store to get some stuff for lunch, I thought a little something to eat may help Garrans situation. But Garran pretty much spent the rest of the day lying down. Needless to say I think his giving blood days are over for a while. Oh well at least he did it this time. I am sure the young man with the eagle scout project appreciates Garrans effort. All though the following Sunday after giving blood, Garran told the kid (jokingly of course) that he was holding a grudge against him. Next time he better come up with a different service project.

PS. At the urging of my friend I have to add what Garran said to me when he got back into the car. He said "I know you are going to blog about this", I told him well yes I probably would. And secretly I was wishing how I had my camera. Am I a bad wife? Sometimes husbands can be so funny!

CHEF BOY O DEAR!

Well as you can see one night while I was gone, Garran made the kids some dinner. It must have been yummy because this is what Garran showed me when I got home. What a MESS! But he sure is a cute mess.

SPT - MY VERY FIRST TIME!

My friend Rebecca introduced me to this. It looked like so much fun. I rarely post pictures of me on this blog. Usually all of my post are about the kids. So anyways there is another lady named Lelly that started this thing called SPT. Self Portrait Tuesdays. Every Tuesday she gives you a topic and you think about what it means to you and then take a portrait of yourself. So today is my first time, I am so excited. Here is the topic that she gave for this week.

have you *fall*en into autumn yet?

So I thought about this for a while. I love autumn. It is my favorite time of year. I love the leaves changing and the pumpkins. Decorating. The whole nine yards.. Like I said my absolute favorite. However as much as I love it, it is also our busiest time of year. So today it was raining out, kind of typical of this time of year. Cool and Rainy. And so in the middle of of putting away laundry and vacuuming, I decided to take a minute for myself. I *fell* into my couch, propped my feet up and enjoyed the cool breeze of this soggy autumn day. It was relaxing to watch the rain fall, if only for a few minutes.. So here it is my first.. SPT!

For any of you interested in also participating in this fun little idea, you can check out Lelly's blog at http://lellysmusings.blogspot.com/! Have a great Tuesday!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY KAEL-BAEL!

(His actual birthday is today, I just wrote it last night becuase the kids were asleep!)

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY KAEL! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH! HERE IS OUR TOP TEN LIST OF FAVORITE THINGS THAT YOU DO RIGHT NOW!

1. YOUR FRANKENSTEIN WALK

2. YOUR FUNNY BUT SWEET CACKLE LAUGH

3. YOUR OH SO SLOPPY KISSES

4. LAUGHING AT YOUR OWN NAUGHTINESS!

5. HOW MUCH YOU LOVE YOUR BROTHER AND THE FACT THAT YOU THINK HE IS SO COOL.

6. YOUR WONDERFUL HIP HOP DANCE MOVES..

7. YOUR SUPER TIGHT HUGS (WE LOVE THOSE LITTLE ARMS WRAPPED TIGHT AROUND OUR NECKS)

8. HOW YOU LOVE TO DRENCH THE BATHROOM BY SPLASHING IN THE TUB WITH YOUR BROTHER.... (ENTER LAUGHING AT YOUR OWN NAUGHTINESS)

9. YOUR FEROCIOUS GROWL...

10. THE WAY YOU WAVE AT EVERYTHING LIVING OR NOT!

WE LOVE YOU AND HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT BIRTHDAY.. WE ARE GLAD YOU ARE PART OF OUR GILLESPIE GANG!

Moments that melt my heart!

Even on days when I feel like I am going to pull my hair out little moments like these next two that I am going to tell you about make it all worth it. So, Saturday night I had a thing at church that I had to go to. When I got home and walked through the door Garran said, "Look Boys, Mommy is home" Cullan said Hi, but Kael reached out for me and gave me three big sloppy kisses right on the lips... I love those even though they are messy and gross. I would not trade them for anything. Not to much later it was time for the boys to go to bed and Garran had gone to a friends house for a little while, so I just had to put the boys to bed and relax for a little bit. However as I was putting the boys to bed. I put Kael down first and then I went to put Cullan to bed. I laid him down in his bed and gave him and kiss and told him that I loved him. I went to get up from kneeling next to his bed and he rolled towards me and grabbed my hand. Hey then looked at me and said "MOM MOM" which was his way of telling me to stay a minute. He gestured more than spoke it. Anyways so I sat there for a minute sort of resting my head on his pillow next to him. He then reached over with his little hand and started rubbing my check and gently playing with my hair. I told him what a sweet boy he was being to which he leaned over and gave me a kiss goodnight. Ahh at that moment my heart melted. I need to remember these moments at the not so good moments, when I feel like I am going to pull my hair out. (Even though those are few and far between!)

Get Ready, Get Set, Almost Time to Party!

Well as most of you know both of our sons birthday's are coming up. I have been working like crazy trying to get things ready for their party. It is mostly family.. once we get everyone their it is pretty busy, but each boy got to invite one friend. They will have cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles.... It will be busy. Anyways so I decided it would be fun to have a costume party for their birthdays. You only usually get to wear your costume once, so this year we are going to get to really get some good out of it. Even the adults have to dress up. I am super excited for the party. I think it will be lots of fun. So the reason for this blog. I have been trying to come up with fun ways to decorate that will not be to scary but that will be fun for the kids to be around. So we started last night. In one of my family fun magazines they had paper bag gargoyles. I thought that the kids would think they were funny and cute. Here are a couple pictures of our first attempts. I think that we will put them around the house with some little pumpkins. They are kind of silly but fun. Then we started working on the pinata. Cullan loves pinatas. So we have three layers of paper mache. Eventually it will be some kind of pumpkin with arms and legs. But right now it looks like a paper mache easter egg. I am so excited to see the boys in their outfits. And for that matter, I am excited to see Garran in his costume. He is not telling me what he is going as, so it is going to be a big surprise.... I am going as the tooth fairy. It will be fun..

My Denim Duo!

My boys at the gardens again. Thought you might like these pictures!

Kael's First Kiss......

At my mom's house this week, Kael was playing with Baily their dog. He just loves standing outside her kenel and listening to her bark. They kind of egg her on. Anyways, my mom and I were standing in the kitchen and all of a sudden we look over and Kael is leaning toward the dog kennel with his tounge haning out, obviously mimicing the dog. But just then Baily sticks her tounge through her cage and Kael got a big wet one. My mom and I were dying laughing. But of course I got a picture of it. So here you go.

Rocks can make you really grumpy.. Maybe I should pay more attention =)

So today I had the boys out and about. We went to play at the arboretum again. (I will post pictures later) They boys had fun. They played with the rocks and all sorts of fun things. They really liked being able to just wonder around. Anyways once we left, Kael had fallen asleep. I decided to run to target while both boys were asleep because I can throw them in the stroller and do my shopping in peace. So we got home and both the boys woke up. Kael had been rather grumpy and complaining. I thought that it was probably because he did not sleep as long as Cullan. But then I decided to check his diaper. As I was changing him three little surprises roll out of his diaper. No not what you think. Yep he had somehow managed to get rocks down the back of his overalls and down his diaper. No wonder he was grumpy. So here was a picture of what he found and how happy he was with a clean, non rocky diaper.

We have a DIAGNOSIS!

Well this week had to take a trip to Blank Children's Hospital so that our littlest Kael could see a neurologist. He had been having what was first diagnosed as seizures from about the age of 2 months. They were supposed to go away by the time he was a year old but because they did not and he is two weeks away from his first birthday, we had to see a specialist. I have to say that everyone at Blank Children's Hospital was so wonderful. They were great with Kael. Super friendly and just wonderful and patient. We really had a great experience. So at first we had to have Kael have an EEG. This was a very long experience. Kael had to be very sleep deprived. He had to be kept up two hours later than normal and then had to wake up two hours earlier. Which meant we were up around 4:30. He also could not have anything to eat. Which also made him a little grumpy. (This is obviously not Kael but this is just what it looked liked. He had between 25-30 cords coming from his head. He did so good though. He cried a little but even the nurse commented on how well he did. We were very pleased with him.) Anyways so we had the EEG and then we had to meet with Dr. Narowong. She was very nice and said that his EEG and come back normal. She did diagnosis him with a condition known as shuddering. We did not know what it was either, but here is the definition that she gave us.

Shuddering: Older infants and children can suffer from paroxysmal bouts of shivering during which spontaneous activity decreases and the upper extremities are adducted and flexed at the elbows or, less often, abducted and extended. The head and knees are also frequently flexed. Aside from artifact, there are no EEG abnormalities during the attacks and incidence of epilepsy is no higher in these children than in the general population. Anti epileptic medications do not modify the attacks. Shuddering episodes gradually decreases in frequency and intensity in the first decade of life. Many children have episodes of shuddering come from children who have episodes of shuddering come from families in which many members have an essential tremor, and the two disorders may be related.

So now we are just moving on. We are glad that it is not more serious and that Kael is expected to live a very normal life. This is no painful and it does not cause any long term pain or problem. We are happy to have our sweet little boy happy and healthy.

Happy Birthday Stacy!

Happy Birthday Stacy!

So these are ten memories I have with Stacy, I have about a million more, but these are good.

1. When we were sitting on your couch while going through the cars to song burst 1980's I think. We were laughing so hard we were crying. It was so much fun.

2.Eating Burek and almost dying with it hanging out of my mouth. But hey garage sales are totally worth it.

3. Endless of nights of scrapbooking.

4. Ollie puking all over both us because of eggs, HMM I guess he is allergic to eggs.

5. Going on double dates to Cedar Rapids, with Ed wearing his bright orange vest telling everyone just how special he was.

6. In Nauvoo, trying to take important pictures and Ed and Garran only wanted to stand next to each other.

7. "Is it ok that Ollie is peeing on the couch", just checking.

8. Watching the ring" Oh yeah it's not that scary" Except for Meghan who is scared of everything! =)

9. Ahh Glorious Garage Sales!

10. Celestial Couple .... I still can't believe Danny and Silara won. They are not even married.

Happy Birthday Stacy !

I hope you have a great day!

Love Meg

Cullans Wild Sheet Dance!

So this morning I was siting on the couch and Garran and Cullan were playing under this sheet of our bed. They would let Kael crawl in and out until he had enough and then he would come sit with me. Well then Garran came and sat on the couch with me and Cullan had the sheet to himself. Oh my goodness. The kid went wild. I don't know what happened. It just turned into Cullan's Wild Sheet Dance! Enjoy!

Staking my claim!!!

This blog may show some of you just how crazy I can be at times but I have to share my victory with someone and I figure you guys will appreciate it as much as anyone else. I have to preface this tale with the fact that I had an on going war with our last neighbors only they had no idea that we were at war. When we lived just up the street from where we lived now, we lived next to a couple that I would refer to some times with great frustration as the "CLOSE PARKER'S". They would park so close to my car sometimes that I would have to climb into my car through the passenger side. Ohhh I really hated that. And I would grumble constantly about how the close parks could never manage to park evenly in between the two yellow lines. But then we moved and my frustration was over. Or so I thought.

Now we live in a different home just down the street. I like the parking spot right in front of my door. HMM why you ask, maybe because I have two small boys and usually groceries and diapers. You get my point. Anyways there is a girl that lives above us and to the left that I believe is newly married and they have NO children. Since they have moved in she has a new love. MY PARKING SPOT! Every time I come home I have to find somewhere else to park. Sometimes it is just one space over. Other times it is farther away. This drives me crazy. I know that it is not my spot but it is my favorite and I don't think I whine about a lot. But I really love that spot. So today I came home from Hobby Lobby and it was empty. Guess who is winning at the moment. MEEEE! I do not plan on moving the car until around lunch time tomorrow. So I am going to enjoy my sweet victory for the next 18-19 hours! Enjoy the picture I made Garran take of my victory.. I don't know if you can see but the spot next to me is empty, just for her =) which by the way is so much closer to the stairs she has to walk up that I do not know why she does not just park there anyway.

I have been tagged again!

• What is his name? Garran (you would be amazed how many people can not say it right)
  How long have you been together? We have been married for 3.5 years!
  How long did you date? almost a year
  How old is he? 27
  Who eats more? hmm I say Garran
  Who said I love you first? Garran did on a blanket looking at stars!
• Who is taller? Garran
  Who sings better? I'd say him.. oh yes I can not carry a tune
  Who is smarter? That is a toss up..he is about some stuff but I am about other stuff
• Whose temper is worse? oh that would be..... ME
  Who does the laundry? Both of us
  Who does the dishes? unfortunately we both do them.... =(
• Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me but just recently, used to sleep on the left,but recently decided his side was more comfortable..
• Who pays the bills? Me
  Who mows the lawn? Landlord
  Who cooks dinner? Usually me
• Who drives when you are together? Its a toss up, but usually Garran
• Who is more stubborn? We would tie on this.. We both can be super stubborn.
• Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Garran
  Whose parents do you see the most? Garrans only because they live 25 minutes away!
• Who kissed who first? Garran likes to say I laid one on him, but it was him, he kissed me first.
  Who asked who out? He asked me
• Who proposed? Garran
• Who is more sensitive? Me by far..
  Who has more friends? we run in pretty much the same social groups.. but I would half to say me.. I am way more of a social bug than Garran
• Who has more siblings? Garran by far. He has 5 to my 1.
  Who wears the pants in the family? I'd say him and he'd say me =) I guess that's a tie too!

I tag... Stacy, Krista, Rebecca, Lacey

Good Food, Good Friends, Good Fun!

So this is a new blog I am starting. If you go to it at http://scrumptiousmorsels.blogspot.com/
we can all start swapping recipies. I think it would be alot of fun. All I need is your email address to be able to give you permission to post. So if you will send it to me as soon as I have it I will delete it. Feel free to tell your friends about it. I think it would be fun to get a big group posting new yummy things all the time. I am always looking for something fun to cook and they can post pictures of fun things like cakes or things like that. I really hope this takes off. I think it will be lots fun.

PS. you can also get to this page under the link on my page titled recipe exchange.. Happy Blogging!

A DAY IN THE GARDEN WITH FRIENDS!

TODAY WE WENT TO THE ARBORETUM WITH SOME FRIENDS. WE HAD A GOOD TIME BUT MY KIDS WER GRUMPY AND THERE WERE THESE ANNOYING LITTLE BLACK BUGS THAT WOULD BITE AND REALLY HURT. ANYWAYS I GOT SOME REALLY CUTE PICTURES OF THE BOYS. I THINK WE WILL GO BACK AGAIN SOON. THERE WERE SO MANY GOOD PHOTO OPS AND I THINK MAYBE AT A DIFFERENT TIME OF DAY, THE BOYS WOULD HAVE MORE FUN ALSO.

I have a slide show at the bottom of the page if you would like to see them =)

Big Helper

Cullan really loves to help. He really thrives off hearing "What a big helper you are" He smiles and claps for himself. We try to let him help with things that we know he enjoys helping with. Ironically this is one of his favorite things to help with!