Teagan is 30 Months Old!

My sweet Teagan, tomorrow you are off on a last minute adventure! We are joining Daddy on his business trip to Arizona where we will spend time with your uncle Ron, aunt Angie and cousins Peyton, Kiersten and Zachary followed by a week in Colorado where we will catch up with friends we have missed so, so, so much since our move!

In the meantime, I forgot to post your update at 29 months old and you are growing so fast!

*Today you weigh 29 lbs 6 oz*

*You wear a size 2T but more often are fitting 3T clothes so half the time I have the wrong size for you. In shoes I was sure you were a size 9 but in some shoes you are still an 8.5 so I am guessing there too!*



THE WORLD ACCORDING TO TEAGAN (a.k.a. "Tea-isms")

- You looked confused when a woman in the store said you sure are a lucky girl. You said,"I'm not yucky!!!"

- You spied some sheds in a field and became convinced they belong to The Three Little Pigs. Which is cute. But not so much when you get upset with me if I chose not to go down that road!

-On the way home from church last week you said, "Stop messing with me!" By the way, you totally got this saying from your dad!

-"Isla has the pickups!" (hiccups)

- "When daddy was a baby he drank whisky!" (You overheard Nana Betty talking about how she put a bit of whisky on his gums when he was teething. How you came up with this conclusion is beyond me...but it got such a response that you love repeating it over. And over.

-"Oh yeahhhh! I get it."

-"Do you understand me guys? (hands thrown up) I want my chocolate milk."

-"I'm organizing/I'm measuring/I'm going to work." You love giving us a play-by-play of your very busy and important toddler day.

-"I'm the mommy" you said as you walked around in circles. Me: Teagan, is that what mommies do? Walk in circles??? Daddy thought that was super funny.

-Last night you said, "I'm a girl. I'm stronggggggggggggg (with arm muscles flexed)!"

-Tonight we talked about Madison, your cousins' kitty cat. For some reason you cautioned us, "Don't eat him because it's yucky. We DON'T eats cats....but if her back hurts, I'll pet her." Good to know.

Here are some fun videos we captured recently. I love you my little mouse....

Pumpkin Time!

I do so love the fall! We have been having a great time going to our favorite pumpkin patch, making crafts and cupcakes!

The pumpkin patch has the best old fashioned general store!

This was Isla's first patch visit and my most willing photo subject for the day!

I couldn't decide which picture I loved best so I am posting both!

Teagan loves pumpkin patches and just like last year she was not interested one bit in letting me take photos. This is one of the few I snagged of her on the day!

I love Kade in front of this old truck and barn!

Last year we introduced you to The Pumpkin Man and he returned this year!

The Pumpkin Man 2010: His pumpkins are so expensive...$50!!

This is also a flashback photo from 2010. Isn't Kade so cute? I planned on getting a pic of him in front of this sign again this year but the patch staff had put garbage cans in front of it...a shame because it is so cool!

As I looked back at old photos of our trip to this pumpkin patch last year this one stood out as special. Here is Teagan spilling the beans that we'd soon welcome her baby sister!

In another edition of Who Wore It Best....Teagan in 2009

and Isla in 2011! Her First Halloween outfit passed on from her big sis!

Getting ready for Halloween...even this holiday lets me indluge my love of tutus!

Last week we made fall crafts that Nana Mo sent us!

And cupcakes - Teagan's favorite. She kept asking to make them her favorite color inside. Green. So we did.

And with sprinkles expertly applied by two year old hands....

....they were delish!

We hope you are having a great week! What are you doing to celebrate fall?

Cousin Time!

Happy weekend everyone! Now that we are settling in with baby Isla we've started having Kade over to spend the night again once a week. We sure do love cousin Kade and look so forward to these nights! Lately the weather has been fantastic so we've been going to the park.

Spidy action!





Hello friends!




His new all time favorite is Iron Man! This is his mask from his Halloween costume making an early debut at the park because it is just that cool!

Tonight we had park time and movie night (The Bee movie, so cute!). Tomorrow we are headed to Teagan's last swim class and the pumpkin patch! Can't wait for more adventures with our sweet, funny little man! We hope you are off to a great weekend too!

Santa Can Wait!

Whew! What a crazy busy night! Brian stayed with the girls so I wouldn't have to drag them all over tomorrow going from errand to errand. I got seven stops in between 7:00 and 10:00 despite getting little sleep in the last week. When I say I am not sleeping I mean as in I am getting four hours a night lately! I am not sure what is going on but I seem to float from room to room at night soothing one baby before the next one wakes up. Hopefully it is a phase. Anyway, despite needing to go straight to bed it was so worth every second tonight as I didn't have to sprint through Costco with two little ones trying to get out of the cart!

Speaking of shopping, Teagan has become a bit of a shopper herself! Now when we go to the store she has longer arms and many more opinions. Last week we were on the baking aisle at our grocery store. She got so excited telling me to, "STOP!! Go back, Mommy!! Looooooooooook, Mommy!!! We HAVE to get this!!" She was so very excited. You may wonder what was so life changing that we simply had to go back for it? A cheap set of salt and pepper shakers. Magically they didn't make it home with us. Ha!

I was spot on when I named her blog Teagan's Travels because she loves to travel as much as her mom and dad. So far she's been to Colorado, South Carolina, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Mexico and Ireland. But she's an even bigger fan of luggage. She just adores it so THIS was just a super awesome find....


Pink, sparkly and expensive!!

Watch this video! I told her this was a job for Santa Claus but she didn't understand my meaning. She tells me Santa can play with all the other toys in the store but this bag is HERS!



Happy Thursday everyone! And sweet dreams....

Who Wore It Best?

I can't believe how fast the days are flying here! Last week was crammed with a lot of fun activities. Plus I was swamped with trying to catch up on the house and laundry after being sick. I had nary a moment to post but this week looks to be a bit calmer. I have a bunch of fun stuff to share! It is almost midnight and for some reason our house is stirring. I've fallen asleep three times but Isla, then Teagan and finally Brian all had dreams where they were crying out/talking which had me up and checking on them. I think we are all super tired. Here's to a peaceful remainder of the night. Just a quick post before I am off!

Isla is growing up so fast and wearing as many of her big sis' clothes as possible. I found this cute picture of Teagan in a green yoga top Isla wore last week. What do you think? Do they look alike? It's hard to tell but I think Isla's eye lashes are coming in as long and beautiful as her sister's which makes me super happy!

This is Teagan on November 13, 2009. She was a month older than Isla is right now in this picture! This day really stands out to me because it is Kade's Gotcha Day - the day his adoption was finalized and he officially became our little boy! We were over at Melissa and Kade's house celebrating!

Isla at five months old. My baby is growing up so fast! This picture reminded me of her Grandma Emma, my mom's mother. I see a bit of Emma in Isla's sweet smile.

I took this last week of the girls! You would not believe the number of pics I had to take before I got this one. How do other parents make getting pictures of siblings look so easy???

That's all for tonight! Cousin Kade is spending the night tomorrow and we are excited! Hope you are off to a great week where you are!

Reason to Celebrate!

We have had a rough two weeks of chills, fevers, sore throats - you name it! But it has been wonderful as well because in the midst of two rounds of viruses we were well enough to get the girls dedicated at our church!

I know many of you reading come from different backgrounds and countries so I'll take a minute to explain what dedication means in our church. We believe that as parents we should dedicate our family to raising these precious lives in partnership with our church to love Jesus and have the Bible and its message in their hearts. Then when they are old enough to make the decision (usually around 7-10 years old) they will hopefully decide to accept Jesus as their Savior and ask him into their hearts. It is a simple, sweet prayer that can be whispered in private. There is no set prayer for this but it might go something like:

Dear God,
I know that I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin so I can spend eternity in Heaven. I invite Christ into my heart and life as my personal Saviour.

That is so simple and yet so important! Being saved does not require anything else -not good deeds, not being sinless, just that simple prayer affirming belief in Christ as the single path to God. Still we pray the girls will one day choose to be baptised in front of the church simply as a public declaration of their faith. What a great day for celebration that will be!

We got just a few friends together for the ceremony as we wanted to have it when Betty was visiting. Brian had to make a speech in front of the church, a mere 4,000 people!! It was beautiful and moving and I was so proud of him!

Our neighbors Lonnie, Jennifer, Madeline, Olivia and Landon. We learn so much from watching them walk with Jesus.

Natasha and Krissy made the day extra special!

Our favorite verse is
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. - James 1:17

The beginnings of our table. I love the three roses Betty picked from our garden representing The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The books are bedtime prayers that will record our voices reading them to the girls. I hope it is something they pass down to their children.

Melissa and Greg - aren't they cute together?

Isla loves Madeline

...and her Auntie Melissa!

My sister and me with the girls! We had such a great day!
Betty with her Tuppence! She and Isla formed a special bond while she was visiting.

My sweet nephew Kade! We love this little boy like our own and always include him in our prayers that we pray for the girls.

Jackson

Olivia

Landon

Brian said it so much better than I will here but when we pray for our kids (including cousin Kade) each day we pray that:

- they will have a close, personal relationship w/ God
- the will have a heart to serve others
- we will be the parents God wants us to be

We can't wait to see what God does in their lives and thank our friends and our amazing church for giving us a foundation and support!