Some Of My (Teagan's) Favorite Things

Dancing! I LOVE to dance by myself, with Mommy or Daddy, or with my baby dolls. I know how to turn on the CD player and sometimes will even create my own lil' stage to dance on. I especially like to watch myself in the mirror when I dance. I think I'm pretty good. :)





Cuddling with Bailey:



Helping Mommy unload the groceries:



Giving kisses!


Doing my "silly face"



Doing "pop-a-wheelies" with my car!


Dressing up (okay, this is really Mommy's doing, not so much mine). :)



Doing art projects!

(Mommy lets me paint bare naked so I don't make too big of a mess. I think it's pretty fun!). :)

Climbing on EVERYTHING. There is almost nothing too challenging for me...on the dining room table, into my high chair, out of my pack n' play. I'm really strong! :)


Planes: pretending to be one or pointing to them in the sky (we live right by a lil' airport so I am constantly hearing them and get so excited when they go over our house!).

(Disclaimer: I usually wear a diaper but I was recovering from a bad diaper rash and needed to dry out). :)

Watching Daddy mow our lawn (sometimes Mommy will even sit me out on the deck in my high chair so I can eat and watch Daddy at the same time). I can even say "lawn mower" and get really excited whenever I see one when we're out and about (I usually think it's Daddy on the mower but Mommy tells me it's not and then I get sad). Daddy is happy about this since he hopes that one day I can work for him or take over the business. :)



Playing with my friends!

Me and my cousin, Myles.

Having a pool party/picnic with my friends from church.


Going out for ice cream with my twin friends, Jennalyn and Lydia.



At the beach with my "boyfriend," Evan.



Drawing pretty pictures with sidewalk chalk!



Saying "hi" (in a very high pitched, sweet voice) to the bugs on our deck.




Wearing my cool sunglasses.



The Toilet: I'm already showing many signs of getting ready to potty train. I am fascinated with the toilet and love to help lift the lid and flush (while saying "bye bye pee pee!"). I've even tried climbing in it but Mommy stopped me just in time. Mommy also walked into the bathroom one day to find that I had put Elmo in the toilet. I told her that he had to go potty. :)


Having picnics at the beach and then playing with Mommy and Daddy.





Looking at photo albums and reading books (my favorite books right now are "Merry Christmas, Curious George" and "A Pocket For Corduroy." I can even say "George" and "Corduroy" and often refuse to be read any other books but these two)!



Playing in the sprinkler and in my lil' pool in our backyard (it's a monkey)!





Boycotting naps. For some reason, this isn't one of Mommy and Daddy's favorite things though and they really hope that it's just a phase! I thought it was funny when I took off all of my clothes and my diaper and jumped around in my crib for an hour instead of sleeping the other day. I could tell that Mommy thought it was funny too when she walked in on me but she made me get dressed and go back to sleep (which I eventually did). :)



Mommy and Daddy say that they are really enjoying the "stage" that I am in right now and that I light up their lives! I am definitely keeping them on their toes and teaching them new things about how to parent an active and sometimes testing toddler! They think I am growing up really fast. I am talking up a storm, can run really fast, love to hide myself or things and say "where'd go?!" (Mommy and Daddy are good at playing along...even when the thing I think I'm hiding is in plain site), :) am good at helping feed Bailey his food every morning, and love to take care of my baby doll (I'm going to be a great big sister)! They think that I am quite the lil' ham (I love to tickle them and make faces at them and make the laugh!), a great helper, a loving cuddler, and definitely a lil' sweetheart!

Summer Fun

We've had a great summer so far although it's going by too quickly!! Here's a lil' roundup of some good times we've had so far:

Petoskey Soccer Tournament:

We've been going up to Petoskey for the past 8 years for an annual soccer tournament. We always enjoy our time up in beautiful northern Michigan and this year was no exception! It was, however, a bit more challenging than years past as staying in a small hotel room with an active 18 month old who doesn't sleep well away from home wasn't ideal. On top of that, most of Tim's games were later at night or during Teagan's nap time so she and I were only able to watch a couple of games (only one of which Tim actually played since he hurt his leg and sat out the last game). Nonetheless, we made the most of it and created some fun memories as a family. I think in the future, Tim and I will enjoy this weekend, kid-free....at least until the kids are at the age where they can participate and hold more interest in it all.

Teagan enjoyed cheering Daddy's team on! Now whenever she sees someone running, she yells,"Go...Go!" :)

Much to her Daddy's delight, Teagan is actually pretty good at kicking a ball already. She can also differentiate between a soccer ball and other balls and will say "soccer" (although others may not recognize that this is what she is saying...we're getting pretty good at understanding her language). :)

We had a great time celebrating Father's Day while up there. Here, Tim is opening the gift that Teagan made for him. I'm so grateful for what an INCREDIBLE Daddy that Tim is to Teagan!

Tim's Father's Day gift from Teagan (a stone plaque with her handprint in it as well as some things she collected in our backyard). :)

I love my lil' sweetie pateetie!

Boating:

We've enjoyed going out on our boat....ONLY ONE TIME....so far this summer. Pretty sad, eh? Goes to show just another way that having a lil' one changes your life! :) Teagan loves to be outside and enjoys being on the boat but admittedly, it's not very relaxing to take her with us because she's not one to sit still and keeping her from not falling or climbing out of the boat is exhausting! Besides that, we just don't have the same kind of "free" time that we had before. Nonetheless, we did enjoy this one outing and hope to at least make it out at least one more time before summer is over!

She loves to yell, "Wheee!"
Classic. If this picture had sound, you'd most likely hear her singing the "clean-up song." Most of the time, she does seem to have a knack for helping pick up or wash things and always accompanies her tasks with her version of the song: "mean up, mean up!" :)


STAY TUNED....more Summer Fun pics will be posted soon!

32 weeks

Tomorrow I will be 32 weeks pregnant with our lil' boy! It's amazing how quickly this pregnancy is going by! It's surreal to think that our lil' guy will be here in less than two months! The closer it gets, the more excited we get to see our son face to face and cuddle with him in our arms! According the http://www.babycenter.com/, he weighs approx. 3.75 pounds and is approx. 16.7 inches long. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair and his skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth!

I'm feeling the normal changes that happen during the 3rd trimester....becoming more uncomfortable and dealing with more fatigue, nauseousness, heartburn, braxton hicks, sore body (kudos to my thoughtful husband who gave me a gift certificate for a prenatal massage for my birthday!! I'm so excited!), and moodiness. Lovely! These "negatives" are so minuscule though compared to the awe of feeling our baby move inside of me and knowing the ways that God is masterfully forming him right now. I am so blessed to be given this gift of carrying a child! Here's a picture to show you how my lil' basketball is turning into a giant watermelon! :)

From Tim

Oh, how I am so blessed and how I love these two beautiful girls! Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of them (sorry if you have already seen some of them).

teagan dancing after hiking a trail in colorado

brooke enjoying some coffee from her favorite colorado coffee shop

teagan enjoying Cross Bar X

mommy giving a beautiful smile while Teagan does her "Silly Face"

she loves to climb

a little time on the beach with her sweet shades

mommy daughter shot

probably my favorite pic of all (feeding the fish at the cabin)

another feeding the fish shot

french press photography

As many of you know from previous posts I've written, my sister, Tara, has been a gifted "hobby" photographer for many years. Some of my favorite pictures of our family...and especially Teagan, have been taken by her. After a lot of thought, prayer, and dreaming (and lots of encouragement from us!), she has ventured out into turning this hobby into a profession!! We couldn't be more excited for her! She is still keeping her part time job as a pastor at her church (not to mention her full time job caring for her two precious boys) but is integrating this into the mix as well. Check out her website: www.frenchpressphotography.com
- I especially love the "welcome" section explaining why she chose this business name and I'm a little partial to some pictures of a cute lil' someone displayed throughout the site. :)

If you know of anyone in the Cincinnati area looking for a creative and gifted photographer...tell them about French Press Photography....or, if you're from the West Michigan area, feel free to book her since that means she has to come and visit. :)