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