We're actually in Virginia right now, so lots of babysitters (although my kids are both sleeping right now) and my brother brought me his dvd copy of the second season of "LOST" which is freeing up my computer for important things like blogging. (In fact, I'm sitting here typing this post while watching "LOST" on my brother's sweet 50" plasma screen tv. I know, my life is so hard!)
So, without further ado, March, April, and May (in pictures) in the life of the TEUF/KRUF Family.
I *think* in my last kid-related post I posted pictures of the kids from St. Patrick's Day, so I'll pick up from there. On March 18th we boarded an airplane for (what we thought was) our last plane trip for a long, long time and headed back "home" to Virginia to introduce Teagan to most of her extended family. For some reason I was camera impaired during the trip and have hardly an pictures. Maybe it was chasing after an almost-two year old and taking care of my then two-month old? Anyways, here are some of the pictures I *do* have...
Teagan with Uncle Brian and Cousin Jay:
A Handful of Fergusons:
Teagan and Grandma:
We were at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Easter Sunday, and, boy, was Keiran lucky that we were. We're not really Easter celebrators, but Kieran probably would have gotten a small something if we were at home (maybe a couple of springtime books). At Grandma and Grandpa's house he made out like a bandit, though. His basket had WAY more candy than anyone else's, he's the only one who got a chocolate bunny, he got a Thomas the Tank book, a stuffed bunny. Good lord, I don't think we need to buy him anything ever again for Easter and I think he'd still come out ahead...
Here he is on Easter morning enjoying his massive haul:
The weather was really nice when we returned to our home in Illinois, and so one beautiful Sunday morning we went over to Kieran and Teagan's friend Maya's house and walked over to her neighborhood park for some fun playtime. Although our camera takes awful pictures inside, it does a fantastic job outside, so there are lots of park shots to admire. I especially like these ones:
Playing in the mulch:
Loving the swings:
Going down the slide like a big, big boy:
Kieran had a great time:
although "making music" on the metal trashcan and basketball post with sticks was probably most awesome for Kieran and Maya:
Teagan, like the "chillest baby ever" that she is, slept in the Kozy pretty much the whole time we were at the park:
Teagan, like the "chillest baby ever" that she is, slept in the Kozy pretty much the whole time we were at the park:
We have some seriously adorable future Hokies on our hands, don't you think?Just two days later was Kieran's second birthday, and we had a fantastically fun birthday party that Saturday with lots of his friends and their parents, as well as two wonderful aunties from Virginia who took a crazy, whirlwind roadtrip to spend the weekend celebrating with us. Here's Kieran and Aunt Kathleen checking out his ladybug cake:
I am seriously proud of this cake, which was my first real attempt at creating an artistic birthday cake. Not too bad considering what his birthday cake looked like the year before... And it tasted fantastic to boot!
Here's David showing the cake to Kieran and his friends Dema and Kharma:
Getting ready to lick the (delicious red currant) icing off the candle:
And getting ready to eat a bite of cake:
Of course, Teagan was at the party, too, but she was happy to just observe all the big(ger) kids playing and having a good time from Mom's safe arms:
Here's a picture of me and Teagan and our friends Linda and Josie and Neli and Kismet.
Kismet and Teagan were actually born on the same day! I think that fact is so special, and I hope that they will be friends for many years to come.It was around this time that Teagan figured out how to get her hands into her mouth. One morning I had put her on the changing table while I was straightening up around the house and she was being remarkably quiet. I peeked over at her, and this is what I saw:
How adorable are these pictures? Fortunately, the novelty of thumb sucking seems to have worn off for her (since it's pretty darn hard to "lose" or throw away a thumb), but she was certainly a cute little thumb sucker while it lasted!It was around the end of April or beginning of May (dear goodness, time blurs together when you have two babies two and under!) that we put Teagan in her doorway bouncer for the first time, and she LOVED it! She bounces and giggles the whole time she's in it. It's great for those times I need both my hands and don't feel comfortable having her in a baby carrier, like when I'm drying my hair or cooking.
When my sisters came for Kieran's birthday party, Aggie Becky brought this shirt that she bought last summer after I told her that I was pregnant again. I informed her that I was going to have to purchase some white-out and cross out "daddy" and write in "mommy" in order to make the statement truly accurate, however:
I don't think it's any big secret that I was more than a little upset when I found out I was pregnant with Teagan, and Becky thought this shirt would at least make me laugh. Seeing my beautiful daughter, whom I love more than words can describe, in it brings a smile to my face. (Oh, and yes, the onesie is unsnapped because my gigantor baby did not fit into this "6 month" sized onesie when I put it on her, but I needed to get a picture of it for posterity.)May was a bittersweet month for us as our beloved babysitter Caryn graduated and headed out into the real world where she's sure to do great things. While we're so sad to see her go, we also know that she will touch so many other children's (and adults') lives as a teacher for Teach for America and through whatever she chooses to do after that. Words can't express how thankful we are that Caryn was a part of our lives for the past two years, and we will miss her immensely. Here are a couple of pictures of Kieran and his good buddy, Caryn (along with Teagan and me):
Thank you, Caryn! Congratulations! We love you!
On a similar note of things Kieran adores, Curious George continues to be a favorite of his, and we read George stories over and over again ad nauseum, but it never gets old for him. Apparently Teagan's becoming a fan, too:
(David would have me mention that, although you can't quite see it, he is wearing his Fantasy Football League Champion t-shirt from Yahoo! for the past season. TBL readers, just think, this could have been yours if you had been wise enough to draft Pierre Thomas for the championship game...)
These pictures of Teagan were just too cute to pass up:
As you may have noticed, Teagan is no small fry. When we went in for her four month check-up the doctor told us she's in the 99th percentile for weight (18 lbs.) and off the charts for height (28.75" tall!). Dr. P. printed out the growth chart with the growth curve, and for height she is, no joke, about an inch above the 97th percentile curve for height. Gotta love breastmilk. That is seriously the breakfast (and lunch and dinner and snack) of champions. In any case, that little girl's gonna be a basketball player if she keeps growing at this rate. Let's just hope she has her dad's coordination when it comes to sports and not mine!!
I was a bit lazy when it came to breakfast in May since I was working hardcore on finishing my thesis, so, for Kieran, it often consisted of frozen Earth's Best blueberry mini waffles (heated of course) and various easy to prepare fruits. One morning Kieran decided he wanted to sit on the coffee table, which we had pulled over to the sliding doors for his birthday party and never moved back, and eat his waffle and apple slices for breakfast while watching the birds and squirrels in the backyard. It was so cute, I just had to snap some pictures. This one was my favorite:
As I mentioned above, I was working hardcore on my thesis this past semester, which certainly contributed to the dearth of posts lately. I am proud to report that I finished it, defended it, and it is 101 pages of brilliance (not just according to me, but also to my committee). What a relief to have it over with! Now I just need your good vibes as I try to pick up two or three classes to teach in English or Women's Studies in the fall.
I wouldn't have been able to finish my thesis without babysitting help from David, Caryn, and my good friend, Erin. She took Kieran some mornings so I could work while Teagan slept (she sleeps until 11 most mornings. Now if I could only convince Kieran to sleep past 7/7:30 my life would be complete!) or sleep with Teagan if I had been up all night writing (nighttime writing is when I'm most productive). Thank you, Erin!!!!
One morning Erin and Maya picked Kieran up and took him to our local children's science museum for a fun-filled morning and lunch. When she got to our house to drop him off, this is what it looked like in the backseat of her car:
These two kids are just so adorable! They must have had a fantastic time at the museum! Thanks again, Erin!
And that, my friends, concludes our TEUF/KRUF update. I'll be posting some more in the next couple of weeks while the kids and I are visiting my parents at their house and at the beach and I have ample babysitters. Be on the lookout for some adorable beach, pool, and bathing suit pictures!
(David would have me mention that, although you can't quite see it, he is wearing his Fantasy Football League Champion t-shirt from Yahoo! for the past season. TBL readers, just think, this could have been yours if you had been wise enough to draft Pierre Thomas for the championship game...)These pictures of Teagan were just too cute to pass up:
As you may have noticed, Teagan is no small fry. When we went in for her four month check-up the doctor told us she's in the 99th percentile for weight (18 lbs.) and off the charts for height (28.75" tall!). Dr. P. printed out the growth chart with the growth curve, and for height she is, no joke, about an inch above the 97th percentile curve for height. Gotta love breastmilk. That is seriously the breakfast (and lunch and dinner and snack) of champions. In any case, that little girl's gonna be a basketball player if she keeps growing at this rate. Let's just hope she has her dad's coordination when it comes to sports and not mine!!I was a bit lazy when it came to breakfast in May since I was working hardcore on finishing my thesis, so, for Kieran, it often consisted of frozen Earth's Best blueberry mini waffles (heated of course) and various easy to prepare fruits. One morning Kieran decided he wanted to sit on the coffee table, which we had pulled over to the sliding doors for his birthday party and never moved back, and eat his waffle and apple slices for breakfast while watching the birds and squirrels in the backyard. It was so cute, I just had to snap some pictures. This one was my favorite:
As I mentioned above, I was working hardcore on my thesis this past semester, which certainly contributed to the dearth of posts lately. I am proud to report that I finished it, defended it, and it is 101 pages of brilliance (not just according to me, but also to my committee). What a relief to have it over with! Now I just need your good vibes as I try to pick up two or three classes to teach in English or Women's Studies in the fall.I wouldn't have been able to finish my thesis without babysitting help from David, Caryn, and my good friend, Erin. She took Kieran some mornings so I could work while Teagan slept (she sleeps until 11 most mornings. Now if I could only convince Kieran to sleep past 7/7:30 my life would be complete!) or sleep with Teagan if I had been up all night writing (nighttime writing is when I'm most productive). Thank you, Erin!!!!
One morning Erin and Maya picked Kieran up and took him to our local children's science museum for a fun-filled morning and lunch. When she got to our house to drop him off, this is what it looked like in the backseat of her car:
These two kids are just so adorable! They must have had a fantastic time at the museum! Thanks again, Erin!And that, my friends, concludes our TEUF/KRUF update. I'll be posting some more in the next couple of weeks while the kids and I are visiting my parents at their house and at the beach and I have ample babysitters. Be on the lookout for some adorable beach, pool, and bathing suit pictures!
