Family Fun Holiday Weekend

This was my last weekend before I return to work full time starting Wednesday.  We have gone out of town for the 4th weekend every year since I can remember.  This year however, mostly due to my return to work immediately after the holiday weekend, we decided to stay home.  I think in the long run it was a good idea because we were able to catch up on stuff around the house and get things ready for this week.  But we wanted to still do some fun family activities, mostly for Teagan's sake.  Saturday was spent running what felt like a million errands and having lunch with Grandpa C.  Sunday we planned a day trip to Robert Treman State Park in Ithaca.  It was a nice drive down along Cayuga lake (with Teagan asking every 5 minutes of the 2 hour drive "are we at the waterfall yet?").  The park has a waterfall, and the stream is dammed to create a nice, natural swimming pool at the bottom.  The surrounding landscape is gorgeous and although the water is chilly, the swimming is nice.  We brought a picnic lunch, which we ended up plowing through because someone was anxious to swim.  Then we changed and Teagan was finally able to swim.  I didn't end up swimming because Declan was super tired so I put him in the carrier and wore him while I watched Teagan and Matt swim.  Teagan didn't last too long in the water, because at 62* it was a bit chilly!  She was in and out a few times, and enjoyed jumping off the ledge and having Matt catch her.  Her blue lips chattered every time she came over to say hi to me.  She did love the waterfall so we watched that for a while, and watched the people jumping off the diving board down 10 feet into the water.

After everyone dried off and changed we had one last stop at the park - the stream actually flows across the road so Teagan got to splash in that for a few minutes.  This was really just for my benefit because when we went camping as kids we played in the same stream.  After we left the park we made a quick stop at Jillian's Drawers, which is a cloth diaper (and children's) store in downtown Ithaca.  They are one of the most well known internet sites for ordering diaper supplies, but it was cool to see the store in person.  Since we paid the state park fee for the day, we drove into Taughannock Falls SP for a quick drive to the falls overlook.  Then it was on to Cayuga Lake Creamery for some ice cream.  They make all of their ice cream so we enjoyed a delicious treat (that was almost free, since we all used our birthday coupons!).  Then we headed the rest of the way home in time for baths and bedtime!  Teagan seemed to have a really great day, and Matt, Declan and I had fun too.

Today we stayed in town, but crossed some more things off our "fun things to do" list.  Teagan and I made ice cream in the morning with the ice cream machine (it was technically frozen yogurt).  Then we got ready and went to the splash park in town.  We had a quick lunch and Teagan took a nap.  After nap, we made driveway paint using cornstarch, water, and food coloring and Teagan painted away while D enjoyed kicking away on a blanket in the grass.  Matt and I just enjoyed the warm weather and watching our kids enjoy themselves!  We grilled dinner and ate on the deck.  Teagan had some playtime with Matt and I and then was off to bed!  It was such a great weekend.  In a way it feels like the "end" but really summer is just beginning so I am sure there is a lot more fun to come!!!

I have photos from real cameras and also video to share, but for now, some iPhone collages to go with the weekend recap!!!

LPGA

We went to the LPGA event today with free tickets Matt got from work.  While we both like to watch golf and go to the LPGA almost every year, when you have kids its too stressful to watch golf - they hold up the "quiet" signs and my heart starts racing fearing that Teagan and/or Declan will start talking/crying/screaming/laughing/etc and distract the golfers.  But we enjoyed still ourselves by visiting the "free stuff tent" which is set up with table after table of free samples of food and products (and is air conditioned!) and Teagan had an absolute blast on the bouncy house devices in the kids area.  Another enjoyable part of the day for Teagan was riding the bus to and from the parking area.  Declan was good the whole time and enjoyed snuggling with Mama in the carrier and even Teagan got in on the babywearing action by riding in our 2nd carrier on Matt's back.  And we did get to watch a little golf there too.

Black on Black

Teagan has had a rough week in the injury department.  A record THREE incident/injury reports came home from daycare in one week.  She fell on the playground and hurt her back, then was pushed by a classmate and got a black eye, and then was bumped in the face hard and got another black eye (on the prior black eye, but much worse!).  It started out as almost a rug-burn like scab, and a swollen, red, and bruised eye.  The swelling was worse today and the rug burn has turned a very deep red.  Poor babe.

Various views of the damage:

Otherwise, here are some more fun iPhone photos from the week/weekend so far.  In a nutshell - little pup after his bath, my kiddos, Mommy's cat vs. Teagan's cat, the eye.  Then our walk today - baby riding, little bub snoozin', blowing bubbles & paci face!

And for my own records - Declan slept almost 9 hours last night, we're making such great progress at night time!  I was awoken to a cry through the monitor at 4-something so I sprang up to go feed Declan and it turned out it was Teagan making a little peep.  So back to bed I went for a little longer because Declan was still sleeping like a champ!  He is still having some sleep/nap/fussiness issues during the day but I am trying to be patient!  The weekend has been nice to have some tag team action!  One more week at home before I start back to work, so I am sure that will throw a wrench into any habits and routines he has developed!

And while I am getting the chance to actually add some words to my post (hehe, instead of just slapping up some photos), here are some recent Teagan-isms that have made us laugh:

#1
Erin: "Teagan do you want a granola bar"
Teagan "No, I don't WANT a bamola bar....but I DO want a bamola bar.  I like bamola bars. I want a purple one" (purple = mixed berry because of the purple box)

She just haaas to exert some sassy 3 year old attitude by always saying no to everything first and in the same breath saying she in fact does want what we are offering!  I constantly get "I dont WANT ____...but I DO want ____" or "I dont LIKE dinner....but I DO like dinner, I'm hungry." And the emphasized words are always the same!!

#2
Erin: "Do you want to go to Old Navy with Mommy?"
Teagan: "I don't want to go to Old Baby"

#3
In our bathroom while I'm getting ready, Teagan starts to close the door
Teagan: "I'm going to close the door, just call me if you need something"

This made me laugh because if I leave her in the bathroom to brush teeth, go potty, etc I always say "call me if you need something"

#4
Teagan: "Daddy lay on the floor and go to sleep"
Matt lays on floor
Teagan: "I'm going to rub your back and cuddle for one minute.  Close your eyes.  I'm going to go make you some food" T runs off to her kitchen and brings back a meal of play food

Again, mimicking us because we always say "I'll cuddle for one more minute" when she is stalling at bedtime.

#5
Sometimes she leaves off the first consonant of words, even though she knows the word and generally speaks very clearly and very well.

"But Mommy I EED it" (need it)
"We can go play in the ard" (yard)

#6
Teagan's lyrics to Farmer in the Dell - "the farmer takes a ho".  She later said "the farmer takes a hose" but not before sending me into an uncontrollable fit of laughter (which was contagious because the more I laughed, the more she laughed)

#7
Old Navy cashier to Teagan: "are you doing anything fun today?"
Teagan: "we're going to the zoo"
I stand there and shake my head no to the cashier because we aren't going to the zoo
Old Navy cashier to Teagan: "well what's your favorite animal at the zoo?"
Teagan: "umm, I like the zebras"
I laugh and shake my head no again and point out that there aren't any zebras at our zoo

#8
Teagan: "I want to wear naked to daycare today"

#9
Teagan: "Daddy can you zip my best?"
Matt: "You mean your VEST?  With a V like vacuum?"
Teagan: "Right, with a V, like bacuum"

#10
Erin: "What did you have for lunch today?"
Teagan: "a burradio" (burrito)

This one stuck, so since when Teagan was a baby we called her "our little burrito" when she was swaddled, we started calling Declan "our little burradio" when he was swaddled, which Teagan thought was quite funny

10 weeks

Some phone pics from this week -

(kids in laundry, Teagan in the carrier, Teagan helping Matt wash the car, cute belly buttons and sleeping babies, etc)

Zoo zoo zoo

We took the kids to the zoo last weekend.  The weather was great and the animals were so active.  Teagan enjoyed seeing all the animals and the sea lion show.  We even got an up close look at the polar bear swimming in the water from down below!  Also included are a few shots of Mr. Declan at 9 weeks.

Mr Cutie Pants at 9 weeks:

Father's Day

We had a great Father's day - here is a photo recap:

(In summary - fun, Daddy time, silliness, happiness, and 

CHOCOLATE PB CAKE!!! - what more could a Daddy ask for???)

And in other photos in the last week:

Hopefully I will get through some "real" photos soon - pictures from the zoo and Declan bumming around the house!  They are downloaded to the computer I just need to convert the files and upload!

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

It was August 18th, 2008 when I last made a post like this.  That time it was for Teagan.  This time, it's for Declan.

DECLAN SLEPT 8 HOURS LAST NIGHT!!!!!!

9:30 - 5:30.  Heaven.  I woke up at 230 and again at 430 and checked on him.  I made a comment to Matt at 10:45 before I fell asleep that I thought he would be up soon to eat, and boy did he surprise me.  In a VERY good way!