Turning Over a New Leaf

Oh, poor, neglected blog (and blog readers).  I apologize for my absence (but not really, because not blogging meant I was actually simplifying and prioritizing my life). 

In any case, I hope to get back into blogging more frequently and consistently now that some things have changed in our lives.  I'm not teaching right now (and probably won't this entire year) so my schedule is more flexible, and little KRUF has started school!!  These two things mean I have a lot more free time to try to keep up with the whole blogging thing.  My next post will likely be about K's first day of school, but until then I'll leave you with this updated family photo taken this morning outside of K's classroom. 

Christmas '09

I know, I know.  I don't post often enough on this blog.  Sorry.  My life is crazy.  I taught five classes (FIVE!) this past semester, have two kids under the age of four, my husband is a full-time doctoral student in physics, and I am working on getting over my obsession with having a clean house (but it's a work in progress).  Anyway, I know I have been super lame about posting pictures this year.  Join facebook and friend me if you haven't already, and you'll get some updated pictures occasionally... 

The holiday season this year has been the most fun since we've had kids.  They both totally understand and were into the holiday traditions and activities this year.  Of course, it was sad to once again be apart for our families this year, but it was so great to have a quiet and leisurely day with our own little family this morning, especially since this was the first year that Kieran really understood and was excited about Christmas morning.  The quiet and leisurely day would just not have been an option if we were in Virginia since our holidays there were always so insane, rushing from one family to the next on Christmas day.  I could only imagine how crazy it would be lugging two extremely overstimulated kids along for the ride...

As usual, I'll let the photos (mostly) do the talking about our day. 

 

 Kieran woke up pretty excited once he realized that today there might be presents under the tree.  He woke up pretty early for him, as you can see by the incredibly sleepy eyes he has in this picture.

Once he realized that he wasn't dreaming and that there were all of those presents under the tree, he was pretty excited!  His big eyes here attest to that fact.  Little did he know that he would have to wait another hour and a half before he could start to open those presents because he had to wait for his sister to wake up.  Thank goodness for stockings with binoculars and two lollipops, as well as for the film Polar Express, which helped him wait a little more patiently.

 

Once Teagan woke up we headed back in to open gifts.  She was less impressed by the tree and presents...

This is the now annual Ullrich-Ferguson family photo in front of the holiday tree.  I love these pictures!

 

Teagan opening her first gift.  She was such a delicate present opener, unlike her brother who thoroughly enjoyed ripping the paper off of his gifts (and those of anyone else who would let him!).

This is Kieran giving Teagan his present for her.  He was SO excited to give it to her!

 

Kieran got his first pair of roller skates.  Needless to say, he LOVES them, in case you couldn't tell from the look on his face.

Teagan got a tea set, which she ADORES! I wasn't sure she would know what to do with it, but she opened it right up and started pouring a drink for herself and then sipping out of the cup.  SO cute! 

Kieran has been begging for a bowling game ever since he played at his friend Nathaniel's house.  He was beyond delighted to receive a set for the holidays.

 

Teag got a cradle for her babies (and a new baby, too) from my parents.  She has been loving on that doll and putting her babies in the cradle off and on all day long.  I have a feeling this gift will get a lot of use during her childhood.

 This series of pictures is hysterical.  As I mentioned before, Kieran was more than willing to help everyone open their gifts because he wanted to see what everyone was getting.  Here he is, helping Teagan opening one of her gifts.  As you can see, he starts out by asking her something with just a couple of fingers on the package.  This quickly devolves into...

 

 Kieran opening the package for his sister. 

 

 Fortunately, she doesn't seem to mind. 

 

 I don't think he was impressed with the glittery purple fairy/butterfly wings, wand and ponytail holders.  Teagan, however, was clearly happy about this gift. 

 

 Here he's like, "Um, I think you should hold this Teag because... 

 

I'm outta here!" 

 And here's the sweet little fairy princess with her wings to round out this part of the post.

Happy holidays to you all.  I'll try to post more pics soon but I make no promises... 

The Wearing 'O The Green

Better late than never, right?

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, so of course we got all decked out in our green to celebrate our Irish heritage. (Need I remind you of my children's names?)
David has been gone since Sunday morning before any of us awoke, so it has been a really laid back week. I thought about making vegan corned "beef" and cabbage, but it was just too much to tackle with the kidlets, so maybe we'll make it this weekend. I did end up making these awesome potato and kale puffs. The kids love them (although I did have to tell Kieran that they were just like french fries to get him to eat them), and they will definitely be a part of our rotation (albeit with less salt than the recipe calls for).

St. Patrick's is always an interesting and happy holiday for me, not just because of the Irish heritage, but also because that was my mom's due date with me, but I waited another week to join the family. This year it was especially exciting because it marked the start of the last week I'll spend in my 20s!!

Hope you all had a great St. Patty's Day!

One Year Old!

Today Teagan turned one year old. I cannot believe that she is already one! It seems like it was just yesterday that she was born! So much has happened in the past year, and we have loved every minute of it!

Tonight we took it easy and had a small celebration at home. It was, after all, my first day back at EIU for the spring semester. Despite the low-key celebration, the birthday girl had an awesome time. She gobbled up the corn chowder and beer bread we had for dinner, and wanted to feed herself. She wants so desperately to do everything for herself, just like her big brother (who quite honestly would be just as happy to have us do just about everything for him lol).

When it came time for cake, Teagan loved being able to sink her hands into the yummy frosting and smear it all over the place. She didn't think the carrot cake was too shabby either. :)

Seriously, can you believe that this little one:

is now this big one?

Me neither!

Just For You, Kate...

even though you are going to see these little monkeys in less than a week!

I know it has been a long time since you got some pictures of the dynamic duo. Here's an update in less than five minutes...

Kieran got his first big boy hair. His curls are mostly gone, although his hair is very wavy at times. Here are some front, back, and very smiley photos.
David celebrated his 30th birthday, and we had a great party. David's good friend, Abe, and his wife, Anna, traveled all the way out to IL to celebrate with us, which was a real treat. (They also happened to be on their way home from the Democratic National Convention, and we got to hear firsthand how awesome it was. So very cool! But I digress...) I will perhaps post some pictures of the party sometime in the near future (or on Flickr), but for now I'll leave you with a picture of David's birthday cake. The party was a football themed soiree--we played two-hand touch and then (since it was David's birthday) we watched the Illinois/Missouri game, and earlier in the day David and Abe watched the VT game.
This cake was made by my amazing friend, Kris. Isn't she talented??? And not only did it look pretty, but it tasted AMAZING, too. It was a vegan vanilla coconut cake, and I am getting a huge craving for some just looking at this picture. It was soooooo good.

The weather was really pretty beautiful until early November, so we spent a lot of time outside this fall.
Here are some pictures from one of our trips to the Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur for Kieran and Teagan's friend Kharma's birthday party and for our local La Leche League chapter's World Breastfeeding Week potluck. (Coincidentally, Kharma's little sister Kismet was born on the same day as Teagan, in the same hospital, and our postpartum rooms were right around the corner from each other!)

Yes, Teagan is upset. She WANTS SOME OF THAT CAKE!

Once she got it everything got a LOT better in her little world. Yes, that is chocolate cake (vegan) in her hands and around her mouth. What can I say--she is her mother's daughter.

As you can see, Teagan really wants to eat these days (and none of that babyfood crap--she wants whatever we are eating). So we finally got her her own chair, and it is AWESOME! She loves to sit in it and eat to her little heart's content.
Halloween was a blast around here. The kids were dressed as jungle animals, which was so cute. Kieran really got into going trick-or-treating this year. He now thinks that every holiday means you get candy. You ask him what happens at Christmas, and he will tell you he gets candy in his candy bag. I guess that would be a lot cheaper, though...

Teagan has six teeth (and I think is working on more right now), but her top teeth came in unusually--she got her eye teeth before the middle ones on the top, so we joked that she looked like a little vampress...See what I mean? It was an adorable smile, though!

Teagan now has SO much hair, and it's always getting in her eyes, so I have started putting it up, which is absolutely adorable. She has started scooting on her bottom to get places, and she is FAST! I doubt she'll ever crawl because scooting works just fine for her, thank you very much. But, she is desperate to walk like the big kids do, and I would bet money that she will be walking before she's one. She cruises around the furniture and is getting pretty daring and trying to go one-handed. Case in point: That's all for today folks. Maybe it'll be another two months before I post again, maybe it'll be in two weeks. Who knows! Either way, there should be enough pictures here to tide you over...so no more complaining, Kate!