The Spaghetti Incident...

As you will see from the video below, Mallory's love for spaghetti has apparently been taken to a whole new level. We're not sure if she just loved the feel of the spaghetti in her hands or if she thought she could fit more in her mouth by squashing it into a ball. Regardless, the pups didn't mind the "shower" of food that was about to come their way.

Hey, that's Mine!



This past weekend we signed Mallory up for some open playtime at a place called Tiny Tots right near the house. They offer an open time for kids to play every Saturday from 9:30 - 1. We received a really nice Groupon discount and couldn't pass it up. Since we haven't had Mallory involved in a lot of group activity, we thought this would be the perfect place to get her some socialization and the perfect energy outlet.

Upon arrival, we were quickly signed up and placed Mallory amongst the sea of screaming and running children. Most of the kids were between Mallory's age and 3-4 years old. Michol and I were able to be in the same play area the entire time and make sure Mallory didn't get into any trouble. For the most part, the kids played on their own and had little contact with each other, but it was good to have her actually see other kids playing and attempt to "communicate" with each other.

Towards the end, Mallory was playing near a kitchen set and began collecting various supplies. We're not sure what she was planning on doing with her collection but there was a slightly older girl who wanted one of her frying pans and wound up taking it off Mallory's homemade counter (a bin she turned upside down). Well, as you will see from the video below (at about 24 secs in), Mallory was not too excited about it and got up, followed the girl into the kitchen, and took it back.

Needless to say, it was time to go at that point and as I went to pick Mallory up to get her shoes and coat on, we got a nice dose of  Meltdown Mallory :) After what seemed like an hour of putting shoes on and bundling her up, we made it to the car and were very happy that we survived her first of many play dates. All in all it was a successful trip and look forward to the next one!   

Merry Christmas / Happy New Year!

As you can tell by the date of my last post, things have been extremely hectic on the home front and The Merriman Tales have been neglected to say the least. On the positive side, there is plenty to share! Before getting too far, I wanted to mention that Aunt Mema is doing really well with her recovery from major surgery. We are all glad that she is home and getting better with each day. Mallory misses her so much and cannot wait to see her! Also, Grandpa Merriman is doing much better after having a medical issue of his own last week. He is now home and doing well with recovery. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with both of them as we start the new year!

So we last left off with a Thanksgiving update which seems like years ago at this point. Michol and I spent much of the early part of December racking our brains for gift ideas. We managed a day off together so that we could hit the stores in search of the perfect gifts. We also put up the tree and decorations around the house. The one missing element throughout all of this was the "white stuff" which decided to hold off for much of the month.

         

Not feeling well :(

 

As Christmas Day quickly approached, we each encountered bouts of illness which I started and passed along to everyone. Michol got the worst of it and had to seek urgent care for antibiotics. We did everything we could to not get Mallory sick but it was inevitable and she woke up on Christmas eve with a runny nose and horrible cough. Unfortunately we had to miss the Christmas Eve service with the Merrimans but it was probably a good decision since the next day was looking to be a long one.

Christmas Morning!

Christmas morning arrived and we woke Mallory up and brought her downstairs to open some presents. In our minds we had all these pictures of her running to the wrapped gifts and ripping them open in excitement. We set up the living room with her presents placed inside her play pen. We put her in the pen and she immediately turned around, started crying, and wanted to be pulled out. Knowing that she was not feeling good, we assisted in opening the gifts for her and she eventually warmed up to her new toys one by one.

Not in the mood to open gifts!

Starting to warm up....

The kids hanging out in the living room...

After eating some breakfast, we got everything together and headed out to the Merrimans for our first stop. Mallory couldn't stay out of the kitchen for some reason so most of the pictures we took were of her by the refrigerator. Sensing that a nap was needed, Uncle Harry attempted to walk Mallory around until she fell asleep but was unsuccessful this time (good try though!). After exchanging gifts, we sat down for a great roast beef and vegetable dinner.

Crossword puzzles at the Merrimans

Thanks Uncle Harry!

We headed over to the Astriabs for the second half of the day and surprisingly Mallory was still in good spirits even without a nap. You could tell she was starting to lose it towards the end of the night but we changed her into some pajamas and hung out for a little while with the family. This year was a little more low-key with Aunt Mema staying home to rest and recover but we still were able to see cousins Jeanette, Andy, Mac, and Conner.


 

Opening gifts at the Astriabs!

We got home at about 9 and put Mallory right to bed...she slept like a champ all night (as always) and woke up feeling much better. She was certainly in a better mood to play with all her new toys. Michol and I had most of the week off so we were able to relax most of the week. We didn't have much planned for New Year's Eve so we ordered our last big meal (slice of triple chocolate cake included) for the year from Olive Garden and relaxed at the house for the rest of the night.

Looking forward to sharing new adventures in 2013!