minus the fat face

Minus the fat face and crazy hair, these are my favorite pictures of Teagen and I. Now, I just need to work with adam on his camera angles...seriously.fat.face.ughh. To be carrying a boy, in the heat of the summer, sure does a wonder on the chub factor! :)

day 2

So, for day 2, I had the *brilliant* idea that I would take her to the playground beforehand and then maybe the transition into her classroom wouldn't be too bad. Ha! If only our church playground wasn't her favorite playground and she didn't want to leave. Good try Mom but we won't be trying that again!

This is her "go to you know where" look

hmmmm...I think you are trying to trick me Mom

(I can only imagine that I had this exact same look growing up)

When did my baby get so big??

Check out the new kicks

Love her smile!

I'm still trying to get the obligatory 'sitting with my brother outside the house' shot. Too bad I either got dirty looks from her or she was chewing on the stickers...nice T!

Let me tell you, this girl is a force to be reckoned with. She is something fierce. As my dad says, "o, she'll do just fine with 2 brothers. She is going to be one tough cookie". I couldn't agree more. I just love her to pieces!

Day One

Wouldn't you say Day 1 of going to mdo/preschool was a success? ha!

So, I guess I should preface this a little bit... so, I was so indecisive about if I was going to put Teagen in or not. In fact, indecisive is an understatement. I originally enrolled her on W,F and Eli on MWF. Then, I had a revelation of sorts that that was too much time(mainly the MWF for Eli) because, afterall, I do stay home. So, I changed Eli to T/Th and withdrew Teagen because my heart just couldn't handle it...afterall, she is my little girl. All the while, we were trying(yes, shocking, #3 was not an accident) for #3. Now, Teagen's pregnancy was bad but it was bareable. So, I was optimistic about this pregnancy. Then, it hit me and the next thing I knew, I was in the hospital, over the toilet and had a pump in my leg. Bad, it was very bad. So, I sent my wonderful husband back up to the church to re-enroll T. Luckily we are friends with the director and she gladly found a spot. Now, it's not that I was re-enrolling her to get a break. I re-enrolled her because I couldn't parent. I was not functioning and, at the time, it was the best decision that I could make. Now, it is clear that *somebody* was stearing me in the direction they thought best. And, it turns out, this is great for her. Despite the pictures, she loves it. And, she has made so many little friends. Now, some would say, "she is too young and doesn't get 'friends'". Let me tell you, I beg to differ. During class, she will walk around the class and name all of her friends. She talks about them ALL the time. She is, by far, the tiniest(size mostly but age too by a month, I think). So, many of the kiddos have taken her as the 'baby' and try to take her hand and drag her everywhere. I find this hilarious. Because, if you know her, you know that she is feisty. Must be a site to see! Either way, I feel so blessed that we are in a position where I can stay home and still have the opportunity to socialize our children with others!

On a plus side, I am using this time to clean the house, cook and pack. Three things that desperatly needed to be done but have been sorely neglected for far too long!!

Longingly pointing at the door to go back inside...

Hey Mom

Didn't you know that it was 107 outside in Bryan when we went to play?

Seriously, the hottest day of the year. I didn't know. Man, it was so hot. We lasted, maybe, 25 minutes. I thought I was going to die. And, little T who usually doesn't complain about the heat was looking at me like I had lost my mind. Probably because her little heiney was on fire everytime she tried to go down the slide...sorry babe.

how i love you so

I love that you are such a good mommy to your baby

I love you for your independence

I love your love of food

I love you because you are a royal mess

I love your attitude

I love you because of everything that makes you you.

and she cooperated

only for about 30 seconds but it was just enough...

I just did a quick edit on it so I'll have to come back once I am finished and re-post.

Don't you think she'll be a great big sister?

the potty scoop

(note that this is the best toy ever)

So, as much as I have been avoiding my little girl growing up, the reality of it is she is almost a whopping 18 months. She has the attitude of a 16 year old and the dramatic-temper of a 10 year old. But, she is still my sweet, cuddly little babe. She is definantly a mama's girl but has daddy wrapped around her finger. If I tell her, "no more crackers(or something)" she will go and find daddy and he always, gladly, abliges...without knowing that I have already told her no. Ha! Just the start, I figure. She is all girl in many ways but has no fear. She never runs out of energy and is always on the go. She is very self entertaining and amoungst her favorite things are balloons, balls, tops with lids and her baby doll(a seperate post coming later). She has a serious sweet tooth but is such a great eater that it doesn't really bother me. She eats all the time but is yet so tiny for her age...I think below 25 percentile which doesn't matter all that much except she seems to be 'sliding downward' on the old growth chart. We go back next month so we'll see what our wonderful pedi says.

Well, I started this post about potty training stuff but was sidetracked...pregnancy brain. So, I tried to potty train eli at 18 months and he just wasn't ready. I gave it 7 days in underwear and then went back to diapers. I then potty trained him at 24 months when Teagen was a month old. It worked perfectly. She was so tiny that I would just put her in the sling and I could devote all of my time to him. So, I thought with Teagen that I would just introduce the potty to her and then relax until after the baby is born. Then, when Adam is off and can help, I would potty train her. But, you know, those cloth diapers feel wet which is good for potty training. So, she will now tell me potty when she has to go. I let her run around all the time without a diaper and am trying to take a much more relaxed approach then with Eli. She sits on the potty all the time but inevitably will get up to poop and pee all around my house. She's just a little scared. So, hopefully I will get the jist of what she is going to do soon and I can either go for underwear or back to diapers. But, Eli is helping so much and will sit right next to her on the potty and cheer her on for hours. So cute. So, this time, it's her wanting and me not trying. A much different approach then with the little man...we shall see what happens.

In this picture...she kept telling adam 'potty' but they just didn't make it in time! HA...adam kept saying "erin, help me out here"...sure honey, I am on my way! :)