So Much to Be Thankful For

The Guckenberger's were so nice to include us in their family Thanksgiving again this year. I loved how Alex and Olivia decorated the walls and table with art and chocolate turkey placecard holders. Teagan tried pumpkin and mashed potatoes for the first time and loved both which made her daddy very happy! There's some Irish in there somewhere if she's a spud lover!

We have so much to be thankful for this year including our family and friends, Gerry's recovery and release from the hospital in Ireland, Keith and Brian's new jobs, our little Pascaline in Rwanda, the fact that somehow Melissa and I made it to our 40th birthdays and with just a little worse for the wear...we are even grateful for Teagan's first tooth that popped up this week because it means our little girl is growing up, even if it is so very quickly. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving of their own!!!

Olivia and Teagan

Ze Artistes Alex and Olivia

Jon hamming it up!

Jen, Alex and Jean

I've so much to be thankful for!

I'm telling you pumpkin is DIVINE!!

Kade's Gotcha Day!

We had so much fun celebrating cousin Kade's Gotcha Day on November 13th which marks the day Melissa's adoption was finalized. At 2.5 years old he is alllllllllllll about Buzz Lightyear and friends so the night primarily focused on the merits of Good Buzz versus Bad Buzz!!

We love you SO much Kade. You are such a sweet, funny boy with tons of energy. And you are so very gentle with your new cousin who will grow up as if your sister. Big hugs from Uncle Brian (Bri-kan), Auntie Sooz and Teagan

So our thinking was, how cute is this? A Buzz Lightyear cake!

Two year old translation: You put Buzz in CAKE???!!?? That is so not cool.

He even introduced Teagan to his favorite toy.

They love each other!

Gotcha!!!

Pictures of Ireland

I wanted to share some of the pictures I captured while we were in Ireland. Brian spent too much time at the hospital in Dublin while Teagan and I spent most of our time in Co. Cork and I also finally got to see The Ring of Kerry (thanks Av!!). As a family we had a few nice days in Galway.

The Gap of Dunloe

Taking a yogurt break after the climb at the gap! Horse drawn carriages usually cart people up the steep hills but they were no match for two eager moms with super strollers!!

K&A's house in the countryside

Out for a walk at K&A's house.

Brian and Keith at Michael Collins' memorial and incidentally the place he was ambushed, Béal na mBláth

A castle that was built in 1035.

I am going to frame this one for my friend Brianne who loves Ireland as much as I do. We captured this on a walk around the farm in Galway.

Brian and Teagan walking on the farm.

Galway city. We went to eat fish and chips at a place Brian liked when he went to Galway University.

Teagan LOVES Ireland and can't wait to come back!!

Trip to Ireland

We spent the latter part of September and most of October in Ireland. Brian's father continues to recover and we are so looking forward to his first request which will no doubt be for some delicious sort of cake...or round of golf! While we were home it was great to catch up with friends and relatives. Teagan and I had a very special time with Shay and Avril. We filled our days with long walks, trips to the park, lots of laughter and I got completly hooked on The X Factor. A special hello to her family!

Cousin Shay shows Teagan the ropes at the local playground.

This is technically from the beach trip but I had to include it here. I will always remember this look as being so Teagan at age 5-6 months! Little Man is ready to go for a walk!

Ok, all I picture here is these two as teenagers and the amount of trouble they will get into on summer trips to see each other!!

He's a little Keith if I ever did meet one!

Baby Teagan sleeping so peacefully on a walk.

And waking up a few minutes later. This is one of my favorite pictures as it shows her sweet spirit.

Baby and Daddy waking up! No doubt SkySports is playing some form of footy on the telly.

Teagan's First Beach Trip

Hello everyone! You may be wondering where the heck we have been??? Sigh. I so wish I were as diligent in updating the blog given friends with two, three and more children, super busy careers and social lives who manage to make blog updating look - well, ever so easy. I even know one super dad who updates regularly with cool videos and a clever mom who changes the background of her blog daily....Alas, that would not be this blog. I had the very best intentions of posting our Florida scoop (mere weeks after the September trip) when an emergency in Ireland called us home. Thankfully all is well on the Emerald Isle and I am a dedicated picture taker, much to my husband's delight (um hm). We've much to catch up on then so here we go!

Teagan's First Beach Trip

First, in September Teagan and I went on a spur-of-the moment trip to Florida so she could meet my sister and her family. The look on her cousins faces as we surprised them was priceless! We have some great memories of our time with Uncle Ron, Auntie Angie and cousins Peyton, Kiersten and Zachary.

Teagan's first time touching sand! Here she is practicing the "Mmmmm" face her cousins taught her. Thanks auntie Angie for the great picture idea! Who needs a professional photographer with her around?
We took this one for daddy's desk.
Love this outfit from the R's. We thought this old piece of driftwood was a pretty cool backdrop.
Mom took this one. One of my favs.
We saw dolphins swimming just off the shore everyday.

Kiersten and Peyton snuggling up with little Mouse.

Poor Zachary. He'd had enough of the pictures already!! Z-Man, Uncle Brian says he knows just how you feel.

Thanks Uncle Ron and Auntie Angie for an awesome time!!

Teagan is Three Months Old!

It's crazy how fast these three months with Teagan came and went in a fatigue induced blink of the eye! She has grown so much. At her two month checkup she weighed 10 lb 2 oz! Our chunky monkey also experienced many "firsts" which included a tentative smile that quickly became bold and gorgeous - I know. I am partial but seriously I can't think of any other way to describe it! That smile just melts my heart everytime. She also found her voice, laughed out loud, rolled over, participated in her first July 4th parade and and more.

We love getting to know her sweet, funny little self! She is thankfully an easy baby. Someone please remind me of this when she gets into the Terrible T's - that's Two's, Three's and Teens from what other moms have told me. For now the swing's The Thing. She flirts with it, giggles, coos, stares at its flashing lights in awe...and even lets the rocking motion and lullabies put her to sleep...on occasion that is and with less frequency. We can already tell this little girl will follow cousin Kade as a mover and shaker. She has absolutely no intention of sitting still while there is so much to explore! Her neck is strong because she is constantly craning to see what is going on around her. We can't wait to see where she's off to once she figures out how to crawl. Now there is a scary thought. Suddenly I need caffeine. So bring on the coffee and stay tuned for more!!!

Our neighborhood had its annual July 4th parade for the kids with fire trucks and an ambulance. The kids wound their way through the hood to the pool where they had popsicles and swimming. That night we had a huge BBQ and fireworks in our cul de sac. Kade loved it and led the way for our family!

Kade was amazed by the fire trucks and ambulance!

That's Teagan in the stroller waiting for the parade to start.

I will always remember trying to get Teagan's first July 4th pictures! I gave her a flag thinking it would be an oh-so-cute prop for her to kind of hold...but she went bananas waving it ferociously (who knew she is so patriotic?)!!! Seriously thought she would poke an eye out before I could take it back off her. Call it an Amateur Mom Move. This picture shows her wavvvvvvvvvvving like crazy...

..."That freaked me out too mom! Um, you can have this back....."

Sitting on Daddy's lap at John and Blair's dinner party.