Monday, March 28, 2011

The Sweet Spot

When I am snuggling with Brian I will often put on a snooty face and declare, "This is my spot, no one else's!!" And I've told him that when I pass I want this put on my tombstone because I figure it will give someone a little chuckle when they need it most.

Now our 23 month old has her very own ideas on where her sweet spot is. It's in my car. And unfortunately not the seat designated for her by the powers that be according to her weight and size. We recently replaced one of our ancient cars with a Mazda 5 (hurrah)! Have you seen them? They are a mini version of a minivan with a potential three rows and more room than a sedan. We absolutely love it so far but it didn't take little mouse long to realize she can now hop over to Kade's car seat, the back storage area and even the driver's seat! It's become sort of a brand new playground for her!

With her increasing insistence for independence she likes to climb up in her seat and "help" me put her seatbelt on. When I open the door I start off telling her she needs to get in her seat and that's where I go wrong. Here's what usually happens....



Tea, that's NOT your seat!..... Also not your seat...She'll say, "Teagan's so little Kade's seat." This tells me she totally understands she is too little to sit in this booster. But everrrry day she tries all the same and even seems content to just hang out there for the day with no thought of actually going anywhere!

And now she's discovered the trunk space where she can stand up without hitting her head!

Occasionally she actually gets into her seat without a battle where she insists on "helping" me with the buckles. This takes time. A lottttttttttttt of time. She can get the top part in but thank goodness she hasn't figured out the second half or how to undo these things!


Eventually mom's warnings and patience runs out. That's when I force her into her seat and move full steam ahead to get her seatbelt secured. This is often the result. Poor thing. Guess what she does when DAD asks her to get in her seat??? Um hmmm...she gets into her seat.


This has me thinking about saying something once and only once. We're getting there but it's easier to think about than practice, isn't it? Anyone have tips on getting your little one to hop straight in (and joyfully!) to their car seat? If so, do share!! Hope you have a great day there! More adventures soon.....

Sunday, March 27, 2011

The Final Countdown!

Hello friends! I hope you had a great weekend where you are. I had to capture this shot of Teagan's milk last week because of the expiration date of April 18, 2011! That is two days after Teagan's super pink cowgirl themed birthday party and two days before the birth of her baby brother or sister...at least that's the plan anyway! I can't believe we are just three weeks away!

And the cookies have a link too! My friend Linda gave me the awesome recipe and tells me they help promote lactation - so I assume that means I needn't feel too guilty about scarfing a few under the guise of making them for friends, right? Check out the easy recipe below. These are sure to become a favorite especially if you like chocolate and banana bread...and I ask you, who doesn't?


Come on April! I am just crossing my fingers for the perfect weather on Saturday, April 16th which is the day of Teagan's birthday party. We've had all kinds of crazy weather in the south this spring so it could get interesting!

Linda's Super Awesome Chocolate Banana Cookies


Ingredients

3 ripe bananas

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup Ghirardelli dark chocolate morsels

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl mash the bananas. Stir in oats, chocolate, oil and vanilla. Mix well and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drop by the teaspoon full onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes in oven or until lightly brown.


Speaking of Linda, she sent me this great shot of Teagan from our play date last week! Teagan will rarely look at me when I have the camera in my hand these days...how did she get wise to me so early in the game? Anyway, so this picture was a nice surprise! Thanks Linda!

I hope you all are off to a great start of the week! More posts to come so stay tuned.....

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Friends are Friends Forever

Hi everyone! What an eventful 48 hours it has been! On Thursday night and with Brian out of town for work I began having contractions that were five minutes apart then moved to three minutes apart for close to two hours. Thank goodness my sister Melissa was staying with me and helped me get to the hospital while Brian drove home in the wee hours to meet us there. And a special thank you to my friend Jennifer who dropped everything to stay with Kade and Teagan until we got home. It gave me such peace of mind to know they were in good hands!

Ultimately I was given a shot that made the contractions slow down and eventually go away. It made me super sick though. I've spent the last 24 hours in bed recovering! At 35 weeks we want this baby to stay put a little longer so I am grateful that our Labor and Delivery team knew just what to do to help me get to April 20th, our scheduled C-section date!

In the meantime, I have a quick post here of some of our friends that we've been enjoying the spring days with. Enjoy and more to come!


Starting off our pictures with a shot of Poppy and Nana Mo! On Tuesday, March 22nd they celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary! Way to go Jim & Maureen!! I still give them a hard time about how crazy they were to go on a first date after realizing they each had three children already! When my little brother Rob came along we had NINE people under one roof. It was always crazy and always fun, our own version of The Brady Bunch! Sláinte Jim & Mom, may you have many more anniversaries to come!

And now on to our lovely friends headed up by sweet Olivia!

Teagan gives buddy Roman a kiss!

Isn't he so cute? He is all boy and such an athlete already!
I love this one of Tea and Olivia
Jennifer and Teagan! She is the sweetest friend ever!
Landon's got some wheels! Oh gosh, I just flashed forward to our street in a few year's time when these kids will all be driving!
Teagan and Roman
Roman and Tea's cousin Kade
Our cul-de-sac is full of these motorized cars. The kids love it!

My sister caught this great shot of Landon and Madeline
Suzy and my twin, Melissa

Roman's big brother Miles, also a cutie!
Sweet Caleb! Remember when I said he was going to become a big brother to a little sister named Sophia this week? Well she turned out to be a Liam!! It's a wild story and you should see the two boys together. It's so precious!
Sweet Elsa
Another great shot of Caleb
We had so much fun on a playdate at Ashleigh and big brother Daniel's house! Isn't she so cute? She woke up from a nap minutes earlier and was in such great form!

Big brother Daniel was such a great host and Teagan keeps asking for him!
Hey there Kaden! Looking forward to our Thursday playdate this week!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Erin Go Bragh (Ireland Forever)

Hello everyone! I have been trying to post but we have been so busy amidst celebrations, doctor's appointments and getting multiple bids on the dreaded air conditioner replacement. By the way, that has just gotta happen as we have already hit above 80 degrees here...I know, in March! The good news is I took at ton of pictures while we were busy and have five new posts in the works so stay tuned over the next few days as I get caught up sharing!

Last week was full of celebrating St. Patrick's Day...and I suppose I over extended my pregnant self as we had a nice trip to Labor and Delivery on Saturday night due to low blood pressure. We had to leave John and Blair's dinner party to do so. It was so disappointing as we love catching up with them and all our friends who were there and it doesn't happen often enough with everyone's busy schedules. And as we were in hospital until midnight we didn't get to church on Sunday either. Then yesterday little Tea woke up with a terrible cough so we've been lying low this week too. Hopefully we'll be rearing to go again later this week. I keep thinking we just have three short weeks until Teagan's birthday party, my family's arrival, the new baby's debut and Easter! There is so much to do!!

Here are some of the highlights from all the fun!
First I have to say a HUGE thank you to Stephanie from Poppies Garden! She made this adorable dress in record time with a matching bow for Teagan. She is so sweet to work with and her prices are super reasonable so check out her Poppies Garden Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/PoppiesGarden

Brian just loves Christmas and didn't want to part with our Christmas tree this year despite February inching closer by the day. So I promised him that if he would take it down we'd have a mini Paddy's Day tree in March! This is one of my favorite ornaments!



Isn't this beautiful? Poppy and Nana Mo sent this sweet surprise and it made the perfect centerpiece for our Irish dinner on Friday night!


My Japanese friend Michiko is married to an Irish Brian! When I think of her it is always with a big smile on her face and something funny and witty to say! She is incredibly sweet and thoughtful aside from being an an amazing wife and mother of Sean and Stephen. Plus, she is an incredible cook! I promised to share her recipe for brown bread so here it is!

Michiko's Irish Soda Bread
3 c all-purpose flour
1 c wheat bran or wheat flour
pinch of salt
2 tsp baking soda
300-400 ml buttermilk

Directions: Mix first four ingredients together then add buttermilk. Mix until the dough becomes soft and pliable, like an earlobe. Bake at 400 degrees for around 15-20
minutes.

Kade was such a sweet boy and wanted to help me make the bread!

He makes me laugh! Before I could stop him he slung his foot up on the counter insisting that I get a picture of the cool new shoes his Poppy and Nana Mo bought for him!
Teagan snagged Kade's cool shamrock glasses!

Madeline came over to help while we got dinner ready. She came up with this oh-so-chic version of Tea's Paddy's Day wear!

Aren't these cookies too cute? Jennifer and the kids made them. Remember my Valentine's heart blobs? I must get this recipe as they were yummy and actually kept the shape of the cookie cutters!

Brian's de-lish Irish Stew, Jennifer's salad, my brown bread and the cookies made for a wonderful meal with good friends!

The next day we took a sleepy Teagan to our Paddy's Day parade!

Brianne and Melissa, fresh from their four mile race! Way to go ladies!!
Myself and Brian!

Jackson is Totally Charmin'!

Caleb had a blast!

The preggers club! Shanna was just days away from giving birth to baby Sophia. She was born yesterday and I can't wait to meet her! I think I am next up unless our babies have other plans!
Brian and Dave give the parade the thumbs up!
That night we headed to John, Blair and Lauren's house. Lauren is such a sweet, cuddly girl. Like Tea she is a big Yo Gabba Gabba fan...and also going to be a big sister this year!

Sigrid made a new friend! Lauren took to her right away.
Teagan, Lauren and Zia having fun at the sand table!

Charlie was so great with the kids and they loved him! I see little ones in his future with fiance Sigrid.....

This is a nice one for my pregnant friends who may be reading in the wee hours. I got this cupcake from a local bakery...just had to "test" the flavors in case we use them for Teagan's birthday party. Isn't it pretty?
Getting ready for our Thursday playdate!
We made ornaments for our Thursday playdate friends and Roman!



My little girl went straight for the John Deer tractor despite her dress!

Happy St. Patrick's Day Elsa!
Jackson loved Kaden and Greyson's slide! He came down headfirst a few times, no bother at all!


A big smile from Kaden who was enjoying the unseasonably warm weather!





Mom Linda with Elsa. Isn't that the cutest little bump she has?
That's all for now but stay tuned as I post more pictures tomorrow if my tired self will cooperate!