The kids loved having her here (as did I since it meant a pair of helping hands and someone to get up with kruf so I could recouperate from the long evenings spent up with Ms. 2 a.m. herself--aka TEUF).
Kieran especially enjoyed his time with his "aggie" Becky, which was what he used to call her before he got the hang of saying "aunt." 
I kinda like the way "aggie Becky" sounds, so "aggie Becky" you'll be evermore in my mind, dear sis!
Teagan put on a good show for Becks, too. She started "talking" while her dear auntie was here. They had quite a few lovely conversations, mostly consisting of coos from Teagan. 
It was so wonderful that Becky got to be here for that milestone!
Alas, Becky had to head back east after much too short of a visit, and Kieran especially missed her. 
So, how did I cheer him up? Why, with his first ever set of finger paints. 
Boy does he love them! He has this funny habit of calling any and all art activities "cutter book" (coloring book). So, when he sees crayons or markers or his finger paints he exclaims "cutter book!", thereby indicating his desire to paint or "cutter." One day I had him strapped into his high chair painting when I ran out to use the bathroom. This is what I returned to find: 
Um, paint is supposed to go on the paper my friend, not on you! (Unless, of course, you are David circa 2000/2001 when he decided he wanted to dye his skin a whole bunch or random splotchy colors--good thing he knew me by then, as I talked him out of it. In that vein, however, on second thought, Kieran, your painting preferences are just further proof that you truly ARE your father's son, just in case you have any lingering questions about that David...) Anyway, pardon that digression my friends. You've gotta love kids' creativity when it comes to art. Of course, David and I think Kieran is a genius no matter what he does.
On the sibling front, things are going well. Kieran still, for the most part (say, six times out of ten), ignores Teagan except when she's crying or has something or is doing something that he's interested in as you can see in these pictures:
Notice how in this one, Kieran is thoroughly engrossed in something else. 
He just wants the playmat because Teagan is using it. When she's not laying on it, he has zero interest in it. Teagan, however, loves to share and play with big brother. 
This big smile was directed at Kieran. Needless to say, I think she's going to love him a ton!I'm sure that by this point in this post you're all wondering what "the Big Cut" refers to. Never fear--it does NOT refer to anything terrible happening to any of us. You see (and here I go digressing again because this story needs a bit of background info), pretty much since Teagan was born, Kieran has been dealing with one sort of illness or another. All of them, however, have included a persistent runny/stuffy nose.
While this typically would be a bit challenging in and of itself, it becomes doubly challenging when one is dealing with the troublesome limitation of only having two hands with which to comfort, console, rock, and otherwise tend to one's two young ones under the age of two. Inevitably, when I would be nursing or rocking Teagan, Kieran would want "Mommy Up! Mommy Up!! Up! Up! Up! Mommy! Up!" Despite my attempts to explain to him that I couldn't pick him up/hold him but that I could sit and snuggle him on the couch or bed or floor, he only wanted "Mommy Up!" Tears, and the resultant snotty nose, would soon ensue when I couldn't drop everything (especially Teagan) in less than two minutes to give him what he wanted. Then he would do the thing I grew to hate more than words can express. He would wipe his nose--yes his snotty, runny nose--in my hair. Ponytail bound or not, he found a way to smear his snot in my hair. 
Now friends, my hair was not what you would call short. It was quite long. And, it is quite fine (as in texture, not style), so rocking the mom ponytail everyday, all day, would result in lots of hair breakage, which just looks messy when you've got long hair pulled back in a ponytail all day long. So, one day last week, on a particularly bad day in the Ull-Ferg household, I had had it. In my mind something just snapped. I was (internally, of course) saying, "If someone wipes their snot or spits up in my hair ONE more time, things will get pretty nasty around here." Then and there, I called up a stylist who had been recommended by a friend and made an appointment for the next evening.Now, I had been toying with getting a dramatic cut for quite some time. The long hair was really getting to me in the fall when it was still like 90 degrees in October (OCTOBER, people, OCTOBER! We do NOT live in the South!), but last summer my stylist, whom I LOVEDLOVEDLOVED (Hannah, move back, PLEASE!) moved out of town, and I am always nervous about getting my hair cut by someone new. But, the snot-wiping and spitting-up made me take the plunge with someone totally new to me. So, friends, here is a picture of me moments before I left for the salon:
And here is the new 'do:
It's definitely a change. I'm still not sure if I like it or not.
The bangs are too short to tuck behind my ear (Hello! I did say I wanted to make sure it was something easy and simple b/c I had two babies at home. BABIES, I tell you, BABIES! Bangs that annoy the life out of me do not equal easy and simple!) I kinda feel like it needed to be thinned out a bit more so it wouldn't create a mushroom on my head. But, as David pointed out, it's going to take some getting used to. It's not what I'm accustomed to seeing on my head, so I'm sure that's part of it, but I do think that part of it is that there was still some cutting to be done to make it a bit easier to shape and lie the way I wanted it to. Oh well, c'est la vie. And, no one tops Hannah as best hairstylist I've ever had. (Please move back?? Please??)Well, that's the news that's fit to print 'round these parts. We have some awesome videos of Kieran showing off his newest skills. Hopefully I'll be able to get them up sometime soon. Keep an eye out for them!
And, one last picture of Teagan in an adorable onesie from Anja:
I love it (and her)! Thanks, Anja (and Casey & Nick)!
