Teague Patrick turns 2!

*** Disclaimer - I forgot to post this back in December but wanted to make sure it was included for the boy's blog book ***

My baby boy is officially and without question now a toddler. He's talking up a storm and starting to act more and more like his older and "thinks he's wiser" big brother. He's still a big boy and 100th percentile in height and weight. He's a big eater but a little more particular than his brother (which Josh swears Colton did when he was younger but I have mommy amnesia). He loves yogurt, applesauce, any sort of squeezable fruit pouch, chicken, sunbutter and carbs except for mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, weird! He'll eat the spaghetti version of pasta but nothing with a cheese sauce.

He's started to pick up his brother's sayings including "oh my gosh" and can put together sentences really well. I just love this age and the excitement and enthusiasm with which they say everything. Even the simplest phrases are so adorable when you're two.

Teague is still a great nighttime sleeper and napper. He tells us when he's ready for bed and for nap and we never have any issues with him. If he keeps this up he'll definitely be our hard to wake teenager. I secretly can't wait!! Momma has years of sleep to catch up on!

Teague is a lover of all things trees and woods. If you ever can't find him just look for the nearest bush. He constantly has scratches and stick wounds on him from traipsing through the bushes and rolling (yes rolling) in the dirt and leaves. As much as he loves being outside and all things dirty, he also loves TV and way more than my other child. His current favorites are Micky Mouse Clubhouse, anything Pooh, Dora, Ice Age and Kung Fu Panda. I was adamantly against allowing him to watch Kung Fu Panda but I lost that battle with Daddy and Colton and so far he seems to have turned out okay in spite of it ;)

We love our Sweet Teague so much it hurts and we really enjoyed celebrating his birthday with friends and family (and Batman) this year.

Love,
Jenny

Batman and Birthday Celebrations - So Much Fun!

We had decided a few years ago that we would have a party or parties for the boys every other year. This year was a joint party year so we planned to have a little celebration at home/school on their actual birthdays and then have one party the weekend in between.

For Colton's birthday we started the morning with balloons and presents and birthday chocolate chip pancakes which are a family favorite. Colton was over the moon for his new art set, Spider man sheets he's been asking for all year and........drum-roll.........a new swing set! The swing set was actually a gift for both boys so we wrapped it up and let them open it together. We got an awesome deal on this set and I picked it because it had the most levels on the tower portion (allowing for lots of fort play) and a rock wall which is good for my little climbers. As I sit writing this post I can see daddy slaving away outside on day 5 of assembly. They were NOT kidding when they said it takes two men 48 hours!! He's hoping to be done by Christmas day so fingers crossed!!

The joint party was a huge success and I'm so thankful for all of our friends and family who were able to join us, especially my grandpa who made the last minute decision to ride up with my cousin Kelly and be here for the party. The original plan was for the party to be outside in the backyard - we were planning to have the swing set done and set up our small bounce house and pretty much let all the kids run around. I had hoped to decorate our porch area and set up the food outside so that our superhero party stood apart from all of the Christmas decorations. Well...the weather had other plans. The Wednesday before the party the weather said 100% chance of rain. Um, what now? Well, thanks to some quick thinking by a friend we learned about Capes and Tiara's - a superhero/princess rental service for birthdays. Thankfully Batman (which Colton planned on dressing up as for his party) was still available. 

I was a bit nervous - how would this work? Would he be good with kids? Would Teague (who was also a guest of honor) run in fear? Ultimately it ended up being perfect. Batman was awesome, both boys loved him and the superhero party definitely stood out from all the holiday decoration! The expression on Colton's face was priceless and watching him drag Batman over to meet his great grandpa was the highlight of the afternoon. Batman was even kind enough to play hide and seek with the kids and he enjoyed birthday cake with Colton. He stayed for a full hour playing games, helping make superhero masks and even performing a small superhero induction ceremony with each of the boys. I'm not sure we'll be able to top this year's party for quite some time!!

Love,

Jenny

Colton Ray turns 4!

Just like we warned by all the parents before us, the nights and days are long but the years are so short and go by in the blink of an eye. We can hardly believe that our little Colton is 4 years old. We had been preparing for a busy December with Christmas and two birthdays but boy did it sure come upon us quick this year! I'll try and give a recap on all of the festivities and I hope to get a few posts together this month to share with our friends and family who couldn't be here.

So what does 4 years old look like and what do I want to remember about this age? Oh the questions!! Why, why why? Just like I did when I was little, Colton asks questions about everything! Whenever we don't know the answer (or aren't quick enough to make something up) he comes up with his own theories - a recent favorite: When Papa and Nana babysat and put the boys to bed but Papa accidentally said the dinner blessing at bedtime "Mommy, why did Papa not know the words to our bedtime prayers? Oh, I know, he must have just not had the right words inside of his mouth" His favorite expressions are "Oh my gosh," "that is awesome," and "actually, I think...."

The older he gets the more compassion he shows for his brother. They've always been good buddies but I can finally see him starting to take on the role of "big" brother and care for Teague. Now don't get me wrong, these two rough and tumble boys wrestle like crazy and have knock down, drag out brawls over toys but when push comes to shove he defends his brother and is concerned for his safety. I love seeing their relationship grow and I love seeing the adoration in Teague's eyes for his brudder.

Colton is still at the same daycare where he's been since he was 3 months old (location changed and ownership changed but same families and teachers). He does really well there and we're blessed to have wonderful caregivers who love my babies, especially Miss Cheslie, our favorite teacher/babysitter. I'm not sure what the next year holds because we are prayerfully considering a move to a VPK program at our church but we have several months to consider that decision and the impacts on our family. It's just so hard to believe we are almost ready for real school!

Colton's interests are all over the place - he loves pretty much everything but these days he spends most of this time outside whether in his sand pit, driving his new truck or dragging a cart around the backyard playing imaginary games. I think yesterday he only came inside for a total of one hour during the day!! He's still our puzzle boy who loves to put things together and he's recently started showing an interest in drawing and coloring. One of my favorite interests that I try to encourage is his love for cooking. He literally can watch cooking shows on tv and sit quietly, amazing since I can barely do that! He gets his little stool and climbs up to help me when I cook and even knows how to crack eggs like a ch
amp.

I remember the day my little Colton Ray was born like it was yesterday. The long and incredibly painful natural birth, the many, many hours awake with me in tears and Josh laying half asleep on the couch while Colton curled up in his arms and got the few hours of sleep he would get for the night. Oh were the nights ever long but how incredibly short the years have been. Happy Birthday to my first baby, my precious and deeply loved Colton Ray Highlander.

Love,
Jenny

18 months old - my baby boy

As the saying goes, he will always be my baby. I can't believe how quickly he's grown in the last couple of months! Not just in physical size but in development of new skills and language. 18 months is such a fun age and his personality and independence are really showing. He's still in awe of his big brother and does everything (good and bad) that brother does. What's been surprising though is his independence which is probably the result of being the second child. While he'll follow brother around he is also perfectly fine doing his own thing and doesn't hesitate to jump in on his own even when brother is a little more cautious. Case in point - we went to a big indoor play area when we were home visiting my parents and Colton took his time testing out the slides and bouncers slowly progressing to the bigger ones. Teague had no fear and immediately went to the biggest slide and clawed his way to the top.

Teauge is in a big daddy phase right now. Only daddy can put him to bed and hold him and only daddy gets kisses. Well, every now and then when he's hurt mommy will be the only one but for the most part it's all about daddy. It's so sweet to see him rush to daddy and climb up on him to rest on his chest. Daddy is first word in the morning and the last person he wants to see at night. I love seeing my boys develop such a strong bond with Josh.

Let's see, other things I want to remember about Teague at this age: he's a big climber, jumper and all around daredevil. He has no fear and loves to jump in giant pillow piles with his brother. He sings his ABC's and can count to 10. He has incredible balance like Colton and Josh even found him standing on a basket the other day (the thin edge under each foot, amazing). His most commonly used phrases are "what's this" and "no Colton." He is a great eater and loves yogurt, applesauce, buddy fruits, any and every carb, raisins, spaghetti, peas and corn. Typical breakfast is two buddy fruits, a banana and a bowl of whole grain cereal of some kind. He walks into daycare and is immediately ready for snack. He's a bottomless pit! It makes sense though, at his last check-up he'd grown to 30 lbs and 35 1/4 inches tall. He's wearing Colton's 2t clothes and is only two shoes sizes smaller than Colton (he's in an 8 1/2). Teague is still an awesome sleeper - he takes a two hour nap daily from 12-2 and sleeps at night from 7:30 p.m. until 6:30 a.m. He rarely wakes up at night which is awesome considering his brother's bad habit of joining us at night!

Teague loves animals and came name them all, even the weird ones like Toucan, Gorilla, Cheetah and Ostrich. He loves to make animal noises and I took him to the zoo for a mommy/Teague date and he was in toddler heaven. He called everything a cat that day which was so funny. He knows the animal names but he refused to say them which had everyone around us laughing as he pointed at things like a bird, ostrich and monkey and called them cats.

Some of Teague's bad habits include taking off his diaper constantly when we're just hanging out around the house. Maybe a future nudist? He's a climber for sure and we have to watch him carefully because we've caught him a few times at the top of the stairs which is problem since he doesn't know how to get down. He's rough - we've had to work on hitting a lot more than I remember with Colton. Again, that's probably a result of being the second boy and needing to defend himself. It's something we've worked on and I've already seen a lot of improvement - every now and then he'll make the motion like he's hitting but not actually make contact. Much better than the hard whacks he was dishing out before!

I really can't imagine two more perfect little boys and Josh and I feel so blessed that we get to be their parents. Parenthood isn't easy - we struggle daily to know the best way to handle tantrums and discipline and we work hard to feed them well and make decisions in their best interests but ultimately we know that their lives are in God's hands. There's no right way to parent and we can't take credit for the good they do in life OR for the bad, we can only love them with all our hearts (that's easy) and provide guidance and the rest will be up to them and God's plan for them. Just the other night as Colton was laying in bed and about to fall asleep I told him that I was sorry for the mistakes I make as a mommy. Sorry for the times I've yelled and for not being patient and I promised him I would try harder every day to be a good mommy. That precious little boy kissed my hand and just said "I love you" before closing his eyes and off to sleep.

Teague 12 to 18 months

Love,
Jenny

Easter Blessings

We had a wonderful Easter this year and enjoyed celebrating with both sets of grandparents and Josh's sister and her family. The boys school had an Easter egg hunt and it was freezing outside and then by the time the actual holiday came it had warmed up to shorts weather. There were lots of pictures I took of the boys with their Easter baskets and dressed up for church as well as Josh whipping up buttermilk fried chicken for Easter dinner but I guess I waited so long to upload them that they disappeared (more like I can't remember what folder I saved them in and on what computer). Here are a few that I was able to track down -

Easter 2013

Love,
Jenny

Giggle

So many posts to catch up on so I'll start with an easy one. I was nominated by someone (????) for an article in a local magazine on Inspiring Working Mothers. I have to admit, my first thought when I heard that was disbelief. I had actually nominated a few friends of my own and was taken back when I got the email. Especially considering my morning - sick kid, late for work, cell phone in the freezer instead of lunch...yeah, one of those days.

The photoshoot was actually pretty miserable. The photographer was nice and accommodating, the editor was awesome and totally cool (she has three boys of her own), it was me that was a basket case. Friday at 5 p.m. after a long day at daycare my two hungry boys were about as out of control as you can imagine. That causes momma to sweat and get flustered - not ideal for a photoshoot. Somehow they managed to get some decent photos although my Teaguers was having none of the "smile and say cheese" stuff. I could just kiss his little cheeks off though, he's so precious and I love how much he looks like a Wills in these photos.

As for Colton, I was so excited when the magazine came out and I couldn't wait to show him. His reaction? Tears! He was crying and asking why I didn't hold him upside down, lol! The mind of a 3 year old.

So here is the feature and my Q&A. I'm honored to have been a part of this special feature. All moms need encouragement and a reminder that they are not alone and I'm glad to have been able to share that with other working moms. I love the community I live in and I gotta admit, it's kinda fun to have people stop you in Publix and tell you they loved your story in Giggle :)

Love,
Jenny

Holidays 2012

Here are some photos from Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was a whirlwind and so much fun! We spent Thanksgiving with my family down in West Palm Beach and it was the first time Teague had been to my parents house. He had met my family before during a visit to Vero Beach but it was his first time at their house in West Palm.

We spent Christmas at home and had a wonderful Christmas dinner at our house. Caitlin and Mike were here and both sets of grandparents. The boys slept so late on Christmas morning that we had to wake them up! I'm sure there won't be too many years that happens. Santa brought a bounce house which has been a huge hit and we love to set it up on the weekend in the backyard and get lots of exercise and fresh air.

Here are some photos from all the festivities - it was such an amazing time with the boys at this age. I'm already counting the days until the holiday season starts again next year.

Holidays 2012

Love,
Jenny

Tball

We recently signed Colton up to play Saturday t-ball. It was through the YMCA. Originally he was signed up on a 3 year old team that would just do drills and learn and maybe have a game at the end. Well, our YMCA isn't exactly in a great financial situation and apparently didn't advertise well because Colton was the only kid his age signed up to play! They had such low turn-out that they put us all on a team together (kids of all ages).

The first practice was crazy because Josh had signed up to play on a company kick-ball team so I had to take Colton on my own while my mom watched Teague. He actually did pretty well for a three year old. He lasted about 10 minutes throwing and catching, hit the ball off the tee a few times and ran to first base. Like most kids his age, outfield was no fun so he opted instead to hang with me and Grammy in the dugout and eat snacks.

The last few weekends he's gone with daddy and that's gone much better. He is really great at listening to his coach and doing what they ask. He still loses focus and gets distracted easily but for a three year old to last for an hour and a half of anything is pretty darn amazing. Colton and Daddy always go to lunch after practice so this has really been a great bonding time for them (and a great break for me to get things done around the house!).

We'll probably do swimming this summer and then maybe soccer in the fall if that interests him at all. Just enough to keep him busy and entertained but not so much we lose our minds driving him all over town!

Here are some photos from tball and a video at the end of Colton up to bat.

Tball

Love,
Jenny

Teaguerdoodle turns ONE!

Be still my heart. I can barely stand to think about the fact that my sweet little baby boy is now fully moved on past babyhood and into toddlerhood. This year went by so incredibly fast but was so full of memories and laughter and sweet moments.

Teague is just an amazing and lovable little boy. He gives the best hugs ever. He will wrap is little arms around your neck and just hold you as tight as he can for as long as he can. He'll mash his little chubby cheeks up next to yours and it's almost as if he can't get close enough. He always seems to know just the right time to give a hug too, he just has a sense about when you really, really need one.

As most little brothers, he adores Colton. He will watch and emulate everything he does (the good and the bad!) and as much as he hugs daddy and mommy he also hugs his brother. Recently Colton and Teague have discovered how much fun it is to wrestle which makes me so incredibly nervous but Josh constantly reminds me that boys will be boys and it will only get worse as they get bigger. As long as they are playing nice I guess I'll have to be fine with it :)

Teague is still an awesome sleeper. He goes to bed around 7 or 7:30 and sleeps until 6:30 or 7. He rarely wakes up at night even when he's sick. The only time he does wake is when he hears his brother and thankfully he will go back to sleep as soon as Colton quiets down. He was a thumb sucker when we was trying to fall asleep but when we stopped the bottle he sort of phased it out on his own. We did have a band-aid on his thumb a few nights for a little cut from his teeth and that seemed to help too because he didn't like the taste of it. I'm not ready to call it done yet but I certainly hope we won't have to revisit this in a few years. Everything I read about thumb suckers online freaked me out!!

Right now Teague is about 28 lbs and I can't recall his exact height on his birthday but he was not even on the charts for height, he was well above. He wears 18-24 months and 2T clothes and I even had to put him in 3T the other day and they fit, yikes! I'm sure soon he'll slow down like Colton did or at least I hope that's what happens. He already eats so much that I can barely keep up and we go through at least two gallons of milk in our house a week. At $6 a gallon for organic it's gonna break the bank!

Teague is a man of few words. He loves his books and will pick them up and sit in his chair at bedtime ready to read. He'll point at things but hasn't started to identify them yet. He will say momma, dada, no, yes, thank you and down.

We had a wonderful first birthday party the week after his actual birthday. We waited a week so that more of our friends who were out of town for the holidays could join us. We did a candy cane/gingerbread theme with lots of red, white and tan and it was the perfect sweet party for a one year old. Teague enjoyed running around with all the bigger kids, jumping in the bounce house, eating cake and visiting with lots of family and friends. Here are some photos from the festivities -

Teague's 1st Birthday

Now that I'm a mom of two who has moved on from babyhood and into the throws of toddlerhood I can honestly say that the first year, for me, truly was the hardest. Balancing all the needs of a little baby combined with the loss of sleep was incredibly difficult but I know now just how fleeting those days were because they are over already. I love being a mom of boys, two boys, and love this little family that God has blessed me with more than I ever imagined I possibly could. I'm so excited to see what the years ahead have in store for my little men.

Love,
Jenny

Birthdays Galore!

We sure had a season of birthdays around our house in December! So crazy that I'm just now getting around to posting about it :) First up, Colton turned 3!!! He is at such a fun age with new sayings every day and SO much personality, we can hardly keep up. I wish I could recall his stats but he had his check-up almost two months ago and unfortunately I don't have it handy. He was still in the 90th percentiles for height and weight although to me it looks like he is starting to thin out and, sadly, lose much of his baby fat.

A few of my favorite sayings:

• "I want to do it...by mahself"
• Pahscetti (spaghettie)
• When asked about heaven - "it's way up high in the mountains, way up so high"
• "Grammy and Grampy/Nana and Papa live WAY far away" while pointing in the direction
• To Teague - "Swiper no swiping!!" a Dora reference about a sly fox that steals things :)
• While pottying - "Do you hear it mommy? It's coming! Oh wait, that was just a toot." 
• At the top of his lungs for no apparent reason - "BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP HAVE YOU ANY WOOL" (he gets the random bursts of song from his mama)
• Putting his finger over his mouth while looking up, "hmmmmm, let me think about it for a minute."

Colton is your typical toddler eater. He loves all the usual suspects - goldfish, cheese, yogurt, applesauce, and chocolate milk. He does eat lots of other stuff though like carrots (and on occasion broccoli) and will try other things when he's feeling adventurous - burritos stuffed with lots of yummy things, veggie lasagna, goat cheese, and more. I try my best to make sure he gets as balanced a diet as possible and most of what the boys eat is organic so I don't lose sleep over it anymore - far cry from when he was a baby and I was so ridiculously careful, I laugh now that I have two and my little one prefers his food from the floor :)

He is really into dinosaurs and knows most of their real names. He loves playing cars, riding his bike and scooter, doing puzzles over and over and playing in dirt and/or sand. He collects piles of sticks and has the most amazing little imagination and has such great little story lines going when he plays. He's just now starting to realize he can play with Teague although it usually involves wrestling or dragging his brother around and telling him what to do. Slowly but surely I'm seeing their little friendship evolve and despite the madness that is our life, I am SO GLAD I had them both so close together. Most days I'm seriously questioning that decision but when I really, really look at all the positives I wouldn't change a thing. I hope one day they can look at their friendship and be grateful for it too.

The challenges at this age have been manageable but we're still working on a few. He's fully potty trained and probably has an accident once every few weeks. The best part of being a mom of boys??? They will pee anywhere!!! That includes the daycare parking lot (where I walked around the car after putting Teague in and saw white tush) and the playground at the ball field. Awesome, huh! Thankfully any parents who have witnessed this have been more than understanding but I have got to get this boy to understand that you only potty in bathrooms!

For a year he has been an excellent sleeper and goes to bed at 8 p.m. and wakes at 7 a.m. About the time we transitioned to a toddler bed (two months before turning three) he suddenly developed a fear of the dark and then proceeded to get out of bed at least six times a night. No, no, he wasn't happy just sleeping with us, he preferred when one of us slept on the floor while he slept in his own bed. For two very LONG months we toughed it out and hoped it would just be a phase. The part that made it unbearable is that he would scream and cry when he woke up and realized we had left his room and then Teague would join in for a wonderful children's choir at 2 a.m. Well, one tough baby gate + a week of difficult nights with little to no sleep and he was back on track. It was difficult for us all but it was so necessary and now my sweet boy is back to his regular sleep patterns and so much more rested (as are we).

He has always been good about thank you, sorry, may I please be excused, but he often forgets the please and only gets the "yes sir, no sir" when asked - although he immediately says it so I consider that a start. All in all he's doing great but I can see why consistency is key...maybe by the time he's 5 he'll have it down :)

Here is an album with some photos from his parties - he had a Spiderman party at school on his actual birthday and then a dinosaur party with a few friends at Sun Country indoor play gym followed by a pizza party dinner. He was so excited to turn three and loved celebrating (over and over and over) with all his friends and family.

Colton's 3rd Birthday

I still can picture the day he was born with such vivid detail that I hope I never forget. The smell of the hospital room, the little sounds he made and the first time they laid him across my chest and I fell in love. I'm so proud to be his mommy!

Jenny