hopefully

Hopefully my crazy nesting won't come back to haunt Teagen one day. She has caught the brunt of my recent sewing endeavors. Afterall, homeade boy clothes just aren't cute at all. Hopefully she won't be 'that' girl in school who's mom has made her all the clothes and she is forced to wear them when she really hates them. You know exactly what I am talking about. But, here was my first attempt at a ruffle shirt. I think it's adorable. I have other ideas in store to help spruce up some plain shirts that she has. Yes, hopefully she won't be 'that' girl. :)

I do it.

"I do it" and "Excuse me Bubba" are Teagen's most often used phrases. I do it pertains to anything and everything that she can or wants to try doing by herself. This includes, but not limited to, going up and down the stairs, getting up into her chair at the table or on any piece of furniture, finding her shoes, washing her hair, flossing her teeth, climbing into the car, getting a snack, etc...

These are all things that she prefers to do by herself. If you say, "T, lets go get your shoes on", it's always, "I do it mommy" and she does. Yes, fiercely independent. Much different than her older brother.

"Excuse me Bubba"(for her it's "cuse me bubba") is anytime that he is in her way. This can be when he is sitting on my lap and she wants to be in my lap or when he is blocking her way and she wants to get through. Polite little dainty thing she is.

Here is when we were using the bubble machine(thanks Marti!) and she wanted to fill it up. "I do it Mommy".

How I love thee.

In the chaos that is our normal household existence, I am constantly reminded of just how lucky I am. Two healthy, beautiful kids and another on the way. Full of love and life and a daily reminder of what life should be. I love them both equally but yet so differently. Is that possible? It's really indescribeable. Teagen is my daughter. My little girl. I once feared the thought of her having two brothers but then, it's hard for me to imagine any other way.

I never swayed either way on the sex of my children. It didn't matter to me. Happy, healthy and loving. That's all that I wanted. I stand beside that. But, yet, I feel so blessed to have her as my daughter. And, yet, she fits so well into the roll of the 'only girl'. She has fierce loyalty to her brother and often seeks his guidence and his leadership. But, she has fight. She doesn't have to say anything, she doesn't need to. She will just look at you and then you will know where she stands. I just laugh inside as I watch this transpire because she is so much like myself; so fiercely independent but yet so strongly dependent on those closest to her.

I know that she will be the protector of her little brother. A role that she, undoubtedly, will take very seriously. I pray for a smooth transition for her. She has an unmatched loyalty to me. She accepts no substitute and it's a trait that I really don't want to change. After all, she is my daughter.

Swinging!

Adam's guest blog: Teagen loves the swing...LOVES (spelled L-O-V-E-S) the swing. We go to a park, she starts saying "Swing! Swing!" and pointing. Swinging pics, are, conversely, some of the hardest pictures to take. Here are a few that actually came out.

(Plastic lids are pretty fun for her, too...)


(OK, so this one really did not come out, but I love it because she was having SO much fun!)

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...