Highlights (so far...)

We've had some great times over the last couple of days here in Colorado! Here are some highlights...most of which are all FIRSTS for our lil' Teagie Bear!


First time BLOWING BUBBLES all by herself!



First time wearing PIGTAILS!





First time SWIMMING!




Ooohh....look what I found in the flower pot, Mommy!

We enjoyed taking a scenic drive through Blanco Basin yesterday morning and soaked in God's beautiful creation!



We visited the Pagosa Springs Wildlife Park earlier today. It's kind of a small place and we were actually the only visitors there which was kind of neat to take our time and walk around. Teagan LOVED seeing many of the animals that we read about in her books and wouldn't stop squealing and saying "oof oof" (dog) and "ooh ooh ahh ahh" (monkey)....even though neither of these animals were at the park. :)



We saw goats, sheep, a miniature donkey, a bobcat, mountain lions, an emu, an elk, coyotes, a porcipine, and wolves. We hoped to see the black bear but he was too busy napping (despite our many attempts at affectionately calling "cubby bear" like one of the staff told us to do to get him to come to us). :)










She loved collecting the rocks on the ground almost as much as seeing the animals. :)

We Heart Colorado

While we usually head south during Spring Break (the only time of year that Tim isn't bound to any snow plowing or lawn care contracts), we decided to venture west this year for a change of pace (and we figured it would be hard to relax on a beach with an active 15 month old). It was a pretty easy decision for us since if we had "another life," we'd choose to live in Colorado (plus, Mom and Dad O graciously gave us a deal on a condo through their timeshare). We LOVE it here!

Our family adventure began early Thursday morning with a drive to Chicago where our brother and sister in law, Matt and Kelly, live. Kelly graciously transported us and all of our gear to the airport. For those of you who know me, I can get a little frenzied with making sure everything is organized and planned out and running smoothly before/while leaving for trips. I tried really hard to just to "roll with the punches" while preparing to leave this week and Thursday was no exception despite the "circumstances" which challenged me otherwise:

Despite waking up super early, Teagan decidd to not sleep on the way to Chicago....I was counting on the fact that she would, knowing she most likely wouldn't sleep on the plane, making an already challenging situation more challenging (making an active 15 month old stay on our lap for over 4 hours).

We found great deals on airline tickets several months back and decided that although we enjoy road trips, 4 hours on a plane with a 15 month old was better than 24 in a car. I was very proud of my packing skills....we only had one suitcase we would have to check in (Northwest now charges for each piece of luggage checked) and Tim and I each had a carry on suitcase we were planning to take with us on the plane. I could take her diaper bag on the plane without it counting towards the carry on limit and we also had a stroller and Kelty back pack that we could check at the gate for free since it was baby gear. Whew.

Well, my "perfect plan" proved not to be so perfect after all. The piece of luggage that we checked in was apparently 2 pounds "overweight" according to Northwest's policy. It was going to cost us $90 to check it unless I took out 2 pounds worth of stuff. Apparently, a box of crackers, a couple of books, a blanket and a bottle of hairspray (which ended up in the trash since I could't take this on the plane) proved to weigh 7 pounds (whatever) and were transferred to my now disorganized carry on luggage. We were good to go or so we thought. Upon arriving at the gate to the plane, we were told that the plane was too small for our carry on luggage so they had to take it along with stroller and backpack and put in in storage underneath the plane. To say the least, I was not happy as one of these carry on's was packed with some food and new lil' activities/toys I had bought special for Teagan to occupy her on the plane ride. While the whole plane waited for us, I scrambled to transfer and stuff as much food and trinkets into the diaper bag (the only thing I could actually take with us on the plane) and with the help of my more rational thinking husband, reminded myself that all would be okay. :) After finding our seats on the small plane and trying to get comfortable while crammed with Teagan on our lap, we were informed that there was going to be a delay due to weather in Memphis (where we had a layover). Although delays can be frustrating (but understandable), we've discovered they take on a whole new level of frustration when traveling with an active, over tired, hungry child! Over an hour later, and after exhausting most of our "special activities/distractions", the plane finally took off. The hour and 1/2 flight to Memphis seemed to take four hours but we survived (barely) and landed just in time to do a diaper change, transfer some new toys to the diaper bag and take off for another 2 and 1/2 hour flight to Denver. Since Teagan was spent from the first leg of the journey (okay, us too), I prayed for an extra measure of strength for the second leg since without God's intervention, the 2 and 1/2 hour flight to Denver was not going to be pretty. Praise God for helping us through! Amazingly, Teagan did much better this leg of the journey (sticking one of her special new toys, a pack of gel cling-on flowers, to the back of the seat proved to be a highlight and a lengthy distraction for our lil' one) and after just a short melt-down, she fell asleep for the last 45 minutes of the flight. Many people on the plan (who graciously played many rounds of "peek-a-boo" with her), commented on how well she did. We are quite proud of our Teagie Bear and for her endurance during this VERY long day!

Well, we landed in Denver and the mountain view made all things better. :) We stayed the night in Denver where the Lord blessed us with a good nights rest after an exhausting day. Yesterday morning we got in our rental car and took a beautiful 6 hour drive south to Pagosa Springs where we'll be staying for the remainder of the week. Pagosa is about an hour away from Durango where I worked as a camp counselor one summer 8 years ago. We're looking forward to taking a day trip there so I can show Tim the camp and reminisce of days past. :) We're also looking forward to doing some hiking and checking out the hot springs here in town! Right now Teagan is sleeping and Tim and I are relaxing and looking forward to continuing to soak in some good family time together!

We're looking forward to a great week and hope you all have one as well!









We taught Teagan how to "pop" her ears when they got plugged from going up and down the mountains (she kept putting her fingers in her ears...poor baby didn't know what was going on). We don't know if this actually helps her, but it's been cute watching her try. :)


We woke up to several inches of snow this morning! Yikes! Supposedly it's suppose to warm up over the next few days so that's good news. :)

Boat For Sale

Tim and I are selling a boat we bought last summer. Long story short, soon after making this purchase, my parents bought a new boat and offered to sell their old boat to us. This was a hard offer to pass up since this was the boat I grew up on and we can now "keep it in the family" (I am quite sentimental for those that don't know), it has been so well taken care of (thanks, dad!), and the price was hard to pass up (again, thanks mom and dad o!). SO....as you can gather, we opted to purchase my parent's old boat and now need to sell the one we bought just prior to that.

If you or someone you know may be interested, please let us know!! This is the perfect family boat and it is in great shape!

1985 FOUR WINNS HORIZON
17 FT.
SHORELAND'R TRAILER
2 COVERS
230 HORSEPOWER, 305 CU.IN, MERCRUISER V8
OPEN BOW, SUN DECK, SWIM PLATFORM

Asking $4,200 OBO

Daddy's Girl

Teagan loves spending time with her daddy (and her daddy is just a little smitten with her as well!). :)






Tim's new favorite "toy" (a tractor for the business).


Training Teagan to be a John Deere girl and one day take over the business. :)






Teagan also loves her "big brother," Bailey. He brings her so much joy!! :) He's such a good sport to constantly let her climb all over him and give him hugs and kisses! :)

Ezra Alexander Foreman

Our adorable nephew joined the world on March 12! Praise God that everything went well and that Ezra is healthy (he weighed in at 9lb 7oz!! - way to go, Tara!) :)

We were able to take a quick road trip to Cincinnati last weekend and visit Tara and Mark and their precious boys and we miss them already!

Updates

Tim:
He finally got a break from plowing for a couple of weeks although this is bittersweet as he is antsy to be out there bringing in the money! We were blessed with an extra snowy December and January though so the break hasn't hit us too hard. While at home, he's had a chance to do some organizing, marketing and planning for the upcoming lawn care season so that's been nice. It did snow last night so he is back out right now clearing driveways and parking lots! I'm so grateful for how he maintains his business and for how hard he works!
I am also grateful for the way he continues to strive to be a Godly husband and father! He wakes up early on Friday mornings to join a bunch of other men at 6am for Bible study and fellowship geared specifically for men.
Firefighting is going well. They've been a little slow lately although last night was an exception as a local restaurant burned down. Unfortunately, Tim couldn't make the call as he was plowing. I am also grateful for the medical training that he recently completed (he is one step below an EMT) since a couple of weeks ago, Teagan choked on a piece of food while we were at a restaurant and Tim had to perform the heimlich maneuver on her. It was a really scary moment that shook both of us up for a long time but we praise God for allowing Tim to think and act quickly and correctly. For those of you who don't know how to help a baby who is choking or not breathing, please learn how HERE.
On a final note, Tim is giving me a hard time for not posting pictures of the basement that we finished off. It was a slow and long process, taking up most of the past year, but it's now completely finished and turned out really nice! Due to time commitments, we did get some help from our builder for some of woodwork and drywall and Tim used his skills to lay tile in the laundry room/bathroom as well as put the stone around the fireplace. I'll post pictures soon!

Me:
For those that don't know, I am now officially a stay-at-home Mom and I'm loving it! This was a very difficult decision to make for various reasons, and I learned a lot about myself in the process...but we've received total confirmation that this is where God wants me to be for this season of life! I'm grateful to have even had the choice. I am also grateful for Bethany Christian Services and for the work that I was a part of over the last 6 years! I appreciate the way they sent me off so well with support and encouragement! I am planning on volunteering there once a month so it will be nice to stay connected that way.
Now that I'm home full time, I'm happy that we finally have nailed down a good daily routine so life can be a little more predictable. Teagan is down to taking just one nap a day now, usually around noon. I like this better b/c now we can actually go places in the mornings without feeling like we have to rush home or that she's going to be thrown all off. I am part of a Mom's group at church that meets every other Wednesday and love connecting with great friends there. Teagan has fun playing in the nursery during this time (after she stops crying when I leave....). :) We are also a part of a book club/play group that meets on Friday mornings. This has been a fun way to meet other moms in the community that I normally wouldn't have known otherwise. I've also been taking Teagan to the "Book Nibblers" (nursery rhymes and songs and book reading for kids ages 0 - 2)at the library on Tuesday mornings but I'm not sure if we'll continue this or not. It seems to take more time to get READY to go there compared to the amount of time that we are actually there. Along with these, we've enjoyed going on other fun adventures but also just being home and spending quality time together.
Pregnancy is going well for the most part although I'm more than excited to be done with this first trimester. I've been feeling pretty nauseous and REALLY fatigued. These feelings, along with getting a bad cold this past week, made me want to spend every minute of the day on the couch. I'm so glad Tim was home b/c I realized how difficult it is to be a good Mom when you're sick! Thankfully, I've been feeling a little better the past two days so I'm hoping the worst is behind me. Also, I learned this past week at my first doctor's appt. that I am actually further along than previously thought. Our due date is now September 8! We are very excited though still anticipating the craziness that I am sure is to come with two kids 20 months apart! It's nice how much less anxiety we have with this pregnancy and the upcoming changes compared to the first! It's nice to have gotten through all those "unknowns" of having a new baby!
Speaking of our growing family, I am now a mini-van mom! Yikes! Never thought I'd say that. I've actually embraced it and am loving the '05 Honda Odyssey we bought after trading in our Ford Escape. Practicality, safety, comfort, space, and a good deal won me over. Shhh... Tim really likes it too (of course, the GPS and DVD system that came with it help with this). :)

Teagan Alise:

Our Teagie Bear is growing up so fast! She's always been a little ahead of her time but since full fledged walking/ running has started, she really has turned into a toddler and no longer our little baby! She's been so fun and interactive lately which also makes her seem so "old" all of a sudden. It's amazing to us how her receptive skills have kicked in, seems like overnight! For example, we can tell her to get her socks, pick up her monkey, wash her duckie in the tub, go find her sippy cup...and SHE DOES IT! :) Can you sense our giddiness?! :)
Teagan's favorite things as of lately include the following:
Saying "Dada" (sometimes "Daddy"), "Mama," "Baaa" (always for "ball" but sometimes for anything that starts with a "b" - book, Bailey...), "hi," and "baby" (and actually pointing to a picture of a baby....we really don't know where she learned this!), giving Bailey hugs and kisses, trying to feed Bailey his food with her plastic fork, trying to put EVERYTHING in Bailey's water bowl (including herself), being chased and tickled by Mommy or Daddy, dancing/bouncing whenever she hears music (including the cell phone), refusing to drink milk, :) playing with boxes, emptying any drawer or cabinet she can open...and sometimes sitting in them, using her baby signs (and learning that just b/c she signs "please" doesn't mean she'll get it!), :) reading books, learning her animal noises, jumping on the couch, picking up small (and sometimes invisible!) pieces of things on the carpet and giving them to Mommy, blowing kisses, and lifting her shirt up to find her belly button and then making Mommy and Daddy show them theirs as well. She seems to especially like making Tim do this. He's such a good sport. :)

Showing off belly buttons.


The "toy" she plays with the most! :)


Cheese grin with static hair (from playing on the couch). :)


Hanging out with her best bud, Bailey.

Random Things...

I was "tagged" recently to write 25 random things about me. Some of these you may already know but I guarantee that there will be at least one that most of you don't! :)

1. I am a "mirror-image" identical twin. I'm right handed, Jess is left handed. When we look in the mirror, Jess resembles more of me and I resemble more of Jess (at least that's what other people tell me). :)
2. I really want a Jamocha milkshake from Arby's right now!
3. I am not an avid reader but wanted to improve in this area so Teagan and I joined a book club/play group with a friend of mine. I'm still not very good at keeping up with the reading each week but at least I try.
4. Tim and I first met my freshman year at Hope. He asked me out and I said "yes," only a few days later, told him I had changed my mind. Poor guy. Thankfully, God knows better and we reconnected two years later. :)
5. My mom and 3 sisters are my best girl friends.
6. I am very fidgety when I am settling into bed...I need to be "just right" before I can fall asleep.
7. I wish I had smaller, cuter feet (rather than my "finger toes"). :)
8. I am part of a Mom 2 Mom group at church that meets twice a month.
9. I don't like talking on the phone and therefore, am not very good at keeping in touch with people. :( Sorry, friends. It's nothing personal!
10. I love decorating....but usually end up just daydreaming about how I would make things look in the house b/c actually doing them takes so much time and can often seem overwhelming.
11. I've been trying really hard to have some quiet time with God first thing in the morning...what a difference it makes in my day!
12. I love Dove dark chocolates.
13. I am passionate about social justice issues and am often plagued with feeling like I'm not doing enough.
14. I still hang out every few months with friends that I've grown up with since Kindergarten. I love you West Siders! :)
15. I find it really hard not to laugh when trying to stop Teagan from doing something naughty because of the way she'll look at me before she does it. I also have a hard time not laughing when she farts b/c she gives me a big cheese grin after doing it. :)
16. I worked as a social worker for almost 6 years at Bethany Christian Services and am now a stay at home Mommy!
17. I use to be a good athlete in high school and college (basketball and track/field)....competing in five state championships and qualifying for two national championships and making all-conference several times. Never thought I'd be as out of shape as I am now! I need my sister!! (she's a personal trainer).
18. I am extremely indecisive about most things...but very opinionated about a few. :)
19. Tim and I are homebodies. We love staying home with a $5 pizza and a watching a movie or TV.
20. I loved my childhood. :)
21. I don't like doing my hair, thus, I end up pulling it back in a ponytail most of the time and constantly debate keeping it long or cutting it short!
22. One of my favorite things in this world is listening to Teagan laugh!
23. Tim, Teagan and I are going to take a family vacation to Colorado the first week of April! I'm excited to show Tim the camp I worked at for a summer during college.
24. I am not a morning person.
25. I'M 7 WEEKS PREGNANT! YUP...TEAGAN IS GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER AROUND SEPTEMBER 19!
(They'll be almost 21 months apart).
WE'RE SO EXCITED! GOD IS GOOD! :)