The Adventures of Meredith Courtney

I think I'm going to write a children's book about Meredith. Better yet, maybe I should have my sister Kristyn write it since she is the published children's book author in the family (Buy "Cool Daddy Rat" in stores in March!). But seriously, Meredith is such a fun and silly girl and has had so many adventures in her life I could write a novel! Here's some pictures...

Was she really ever this small?
It's hard to believe that that car seat is now almost too small for her.

Meredith went to her first Houston Astros game at 6 weeks old.

She has also attended several BBQ competitions with her dad. Daddy took 2nd place in a couple of divisions in this competition.

In August we went to California and Meredith got to meet her cousin Kamryn and see the house that mommy grew up in. She also got to visit her Grandma Riley's grave for the first time. It was a bittersweet visit.

She's met all kinds of Aunts, Uncles and Cousins.

Meredith went to the zoo for the first time at 3 months old.
We'll have to take her again when she's old enough to actually care! ;)

Meredith got to be a baby bumblebee for Halloween, and she opened presents on her first Christmas morning!

She tried out the Johnny Jump Up for the first time and liked it!

She learned to enjoy the Texas sun and experienced the wonder of watching bubbles floating in the air.

Meredith also got to experiment with her fashion sense:

Daddy calls this the "Hippie Outfit"

One Cool Cat!

The Lady Bug Look

The Risque Look

The Chic Hat Look

Retro 80's Baby

The Hot Dog on a Stick Look?

What a kid! I just love my little girl! What a fun year we have had. I can't wait to see what the next year brings! Mommy loves you Meredith!!

I Got Tagged!

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED....

I'm so excited!! ;) I feel like I'm in the "IN" crowed because I got TAGGED!! LOL! And I get to brag about the love of my life...that's so cool!

1. What is his name? Courtney Kirt Fruge... but NEVER call him Courtney. He HATES it. He goes by Court.
2. How long have you been married? About 18 months (May 20, 2006)
3. How long did you date? Well...ours was a quick courtship... we were married almost 6 months to the day after we met. We met in November 2005, married in May 2006.
4. Who eats more? Him. I had a gastric bypass 6 years ago, so I can't eat much. And he's a competitive BBQ-er...so he can eat!
5. Who said 'I love you' first? Me. We were at the Conference Center in Salt Lake attending the first Presidency Christmas Devotional and I leaned over and whispered it in his ear. I guess I should have been paying more attention to the First Presidency, huh? lol!
6. Who sings better? Me... although he's not bad. But I did take lessons for 5 years, so I'm more trained than he is.
7. Who is taller? He is. He's 6 feet... I'm 5 foot 6 inches.
8. Whose temper is worse? Probaby mine. And if you know me, then you know that I don't have much of a temper. Court is very controlled when he is frustrated or angry. He either gets really quiet, or he'll be really short with me. But he never yells or flies off the handle.
9. Who does the laundry? Mostly I do.
10. Who does the dishes? Mostly me. We have an agreement...he cooks, I do the dishes. And I love it. It works great because he loves to cook and I don't mind doing dishes.
11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? (Looking at it) Me. He says he has to sleep closest to the door so that if anyone broke into the house, they'd have to go through him to get to me. Sweet, huh??
12. Who does the cooking? Court... When I was single, I almost burned down my apartment boiling water...and I mean that literally. I left the pot on the stove and when I came back to check on it, there were flames...apparently something had gotten into the burner and ignited. So, basically, I don't do a lot of cooking. I do, however, do most of the baking.
13. Who is more stubborn? Court, definitely.
14. Who proposed? Court did...at Temple Square. It was totally awesome and a total surprise. I mean, I knew we were going to get married, but was not expecting a proposal that night at all!
15. Who is more likely to admit when they are wrong? I think we both do. One really great thing about our relationship is that we communicate really well. We talk things out.
16. Whose parents do you see the most? Court's....we are living with them right now, so we see them every day!
17. Who pays the bills? I pay the gas, electric, and city utilities, he pays the cell phones, cable, and the car and house notes. That's because I already owned the house before we met, so all the utilities were already in my name and coming to me, so I just paid them all.
18. Who wears the pants in the family? Meredith.
19. Why do you love your husband? Aside from the fact that he is very good looking and a great kisser ;) (I know he's embarrassed right now!)... he's a total southern gentleman. He treats me with respect and dignity. He makes me feel beautiful and loves me for who I am. He often sings "Forever and Ever, Amen" (the Randy Travis song) to me when I'm fussing about my weight or appearance...which melts my heart and reassures me that he's in this for the long haul. He's honest, a worthy priesthood holder, an excellent father. He has a great sense of humor and we share similar perspectives on the world. We are the perfect match! I love you, Court!

Now, I would like to tag my Sisters-In-Law Jodi Riley and Caryn McCabe.

TAG, YOUR IT!! ;)

Christmas 2007 Part 3

CHRISTMAS DAY!

Meredith's 1st Christmas was a happy day! She woke up at 5am and was very chipper! She's been doing that a lot lately. I just wish she'd sleep until 7! Wouldn't that be nice? Fortunately, Court took Meredith so I could go back to sleep. I had taken some pain medicine the night before for my back, and was still feeling quite groggy, so I needed a little more sleep. We started opening presents around 9am. It was me, Court, Meredith, Court's parents and two of his sisters. I videoed Meredith opening presents, but silly me, I turned the camera on it's side long ways, so most of the video clips I shot are sideways! I'll have to figure out if there's some way to rotate the picture so you can watch it like normal. Meredith got a bunch of books, a booster chair, some new jammies made by Grandma Linda, a stuffed frog, an Elmo chair and a few other things. The Elmo chair was from her soon-to-be-uncle Adam. Thanks Adam! Meredith loves it...when you sit on it and move, it shakes and giggles. When it stops shaking, Meredith will start rocking to try to get it to shake again. It's funny to watch her.

Later that afternoon, Grammer and Grumps, and Andy and Darrellyn and their family came for what Court dubbed "Meat Fest 2007". There was smoked ham, fried turkey, beef brisket, and pork shoulder. All of it tasted great! My compliments to Chef Court!! ;)

By 8:30pm, Meredith was very tired and ready to go to bed. We got her in her jammies, fed her, and then she crashed. It was eventful day for her! Here's a few pictures of Meredith's 1st Christmas!!

5:30AM Christmas morning... Mommy looks like death! ;)

But Meredith was happy as could be!

The Elmo Chair

Kari and Kimberly (Court's sisters) in their Christmas Jammies

The tree, the presents, and Meredith enjoying the Elmo chair.

As we expected, Meredith found the wrapping paper more interesting than the presents.

Court's parents and their loot.

Court's mom got Meredith this Cabbage Patch Doll. Meredith often sucks on her bottom lip, and when she does, she looks like a cabbage patch kid!

Meredith's Cabbage Patch Doll is named Madilyn Amy... Meredith thought the bottle was tasty.

Christmas 2007 Part 2

On Christmas Eve, I woke up with a pain in my lower back that got progressively worse through out the day. So I was hobbling around like a little old lady most of the day. It was sad because I couldn't even carry Meredith. So, I spent most of the day sitting down. Court fried a turkey and smoked some brisket and ham and pork shoulder in preparation for Christmas dinner. The Fruges have a tradition each year of going to their Aunt's house and having breakfast for dinner on Christmas Eve. They have waffles, eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, hash browns, etc. So, we went to Darrellyn's (sp??) and had the traditional breakfast dinner. This is also usually when everyone opens their Christmas pajamas, but since we had already done that at Caryn's the night before, we just visited and watched Andy and Darrellyn's family open their jammies. Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve:

Cute little Meredith Claus!

Cousins Claire and McKenna...they have been two peas in a pod since birth!

Geezer, mommy and mad Meredith!

We are a happy family... Court is wearing his Christmas pajama shirt. Most of those little animals have bite marks in them and it says "I Love Animals...They Taste Great!"

Meredith's First Christmas 2007

Christmas 2007 Part 1

Meredith's first Christmas was a busy one! But we had a great time seeing family and enjoying some good old fashioned Christmas cheer! On Sunday, we went to Court's sister's house in Lufkin and had lunch. Then we went and saw her ward's Christmas program, which she sang in. We all got to open our christmas pajamas that night and we opened the kids' gift exchange gifts. Court's sister Kim had us this year and she gave Court a turkey fryer. I got a kit for making a penguin shaped cake! It is really cute! Meredith got a play gym that she just loves. It has a little stuffed lion that, when you pull on it, it plays music. She played with that for quite a while. All the women got matching red and black pajamas and the guys got their usual basketball shorts and t-shirt with a funny saying on it. Court's said, "I Love Animals. They taste great!" LOL! Perfect for Court! Here's a few pictures from Caryn's: