Still my baby...

Well it looks like Teague is about as ready as I am to give up his status of "baby Teague". I was getting dinner ready last night and I kept hearing "Mommy, HELP YOU!" (everything that would normally be "me" is actually you; examples: "Mommy, Hold you.", "Mommy, play with you", etc...I think it stems from "Do you want Mommy to hold you?"). Anyway, I finally went to find out what the problem was and this is what I found - my baby boy thinking he is still truly a baby and wanting to sit in the baby gear that we just got out of storage! He was truly stuck. I hadn't attached the bottom of the bouncy seat to the holder thing so I could put batteries in, so he went to sit and sunk to the floor and got stuck. Too cute. And for the record, I am excited for this baby but I keep telling Teague he will always be my baby boy and now mama is having a baby girl. Seems justifiable enough to me!

Everything else is going well here. We've been really busy between my Crisis Responder work schedule, play dates with friends, and just having quality time with the 3 of us. This baby is technically full term, so any day now!

We hope you are enjoying the last week of August (sniff, sniff - I always hate seeing summer go)!

Fair Days

We spent Saturday and Sunday in Morris taking in the Stevens County Fair. This is an annual tradition for our family and it certainly gets more and more fun every year for us as Teague gets older and obviously enjoys it more! Nana bought him about 15 tickets for rides which I kind of laughed at because he was really more excited about going to see the animals (and if you notice in the pictures we were there 3 different times as you can tell by the 3 different outfits!). Nana is more concerned about keeping things "even" between all the grandkids and since the other grandkids got fair ride tickets, so does Teague! I was surprised that he liked the rides so much, when the only 4 he could go on do the same thing - go in circles up and down a semi incline/decline, one is a boat, one is a bugee, one is a motorcycle and one is a train. Good times. But obviously enough, the animals were his favorite as he woke earlier than normal at 7am this morning asking to see the animals. So we trudged back out there at 10:30am (basically the first people out there) to see all the animals (in the rain). He would get so excited about seeing the animals that he would just shake trying to decide which to see "FIRST!". He told us "SHEEP FIRST" before we got there, but really he saw the horses first since that was the first barn we came across. It was a great time, once again - next year bring on the fun with two kiddos!!

Holding the baby pig in the "kiddie barn" - not to be confused with "kitty barn" like Teague assumed!

Papa and Teague in the horse barn.

LOVED the carousel!


"Train ride, train ride, goin' on a train ride....riding on a train..." (Gabba song)!

Driving the boat.

Hanging out with my friend Beth's girls, Ava and Paige, in the kiddie barn.

"SHEEP FIRST!"

Loved being able to pet the VERY woolly black sheep.

Can you tell he's excited?!

Nana and Teague trying to pet the goats.

Let the Countdown Begin!

Oh my. I am about a month away from my due date. It's been a bit hectic around our house trying to get everything off of "the checklist". I am up late and up early...I did the same thing with when I was pregnant with Teague. It drives Ryan crazy, but I can't stand not having things done WAY ahead of time and this to me does NOT feel like WAY ahead of time, it feels like my greatest pet peeve...PROCRASTINATION. I would rather not refer to it as procrastination, but rather my inability to get things done between working and taking care of Teague. So most checklist items occur after bedtime and last until at least midnight. Oye. So thus far we have made and froze 15 meals (I mean I have - and I still welcome the drop in friend with food, don't be fooled!), disassembled the crib (didn't fit through Teague's door into the next room over), reassembled in the baby's room, repainted the dresser, made basket liners, made a baby blanket and tonight a little free hand painting in the baby's room. WOO HOO, not much left on the list!

So you may have picked up on the fact that there is no crib in Monkey's room anymore. Such a big boy! We actually had bought another crib because I didn't really want to put him in a regular bed yet (didn't want him getting up and out of bed whenever he wanted). Well I had to move the spare bedroom bed somewhere, so into his room it went. He thought it was so great he wanted to sleep in it. So we tried it on a "trial" basis. I can't believe how well it went! We told him he can't get out of bed unless mommy or daddy come and get him and he just lays there and talks in the morning/after nap and then sits up when we come into the room! Ahhh, such a good boy! It hasn't affected his length of sleep (my other concern), so I can't complain. The transition went well. I just can't believe he is sleeping in a big boy bed, doing so well potty training, etc. Why is it that I feel bad that my "baby" is not a "baby" anymore???!!!

I finished up my college bound career camp last week but have been working alot at my crisis hospital job. I am taking over for the program director for 2 weeks this month while he goes to Italy with his wife. I am really looking forward to that and also loving this job as it may offer me some additional options in the future. I guess it's always good to keep options open, right? So while I enjoy my new position, I am having a bit of a hard time giving up my last few weeks of summer for work as well.

I am coming to the realization that I will likely have to return to work for a couple of weeks before baby arrives. I guess that's good because I want her to bake as long as possible and I mind as well get paid for workshop week instead of taking sick time.....but still, how do you get motivated for another school year when you know you won't be there for more than a week or two and not return until the next September?! The beginning, middle and end of the school year is the most stressful times in my job, so the thought of stepping into that is a bit daunting for me and I can't help but wish someone else was doing it, but I am sure once I am there I will feel like I never left (like every other year)! And I have to admit that I am not looking forward to the comments of "how huge" I am since a majority of these people have not seen me since May when I was barely showing. I still can't get over that ANYONE would tell a pregnant lady that they are HUGE - especially other women who have had babies?! However, those people who are sweet enough to say things like "No way you have only a month left? You're so small..." or "you just look like you swallowed a basketball, it's all in your belly" - keep those comments comin'!!! =)

Here are a few pics from the last couple of weeks and a video at the bottom of my groovin', jammin' son...

Looking at the frogs Papa caught...so fascinated by them!

What the boys do best at Nana and Papa's....sleep!

Look at these two cute cousins hanging out with their coffee mugs full of juice and watching Barney! So adorable.... (Chase is perfect in Teague's eyes!)

Teague chill-axin' at Nana and Papa's in his swimming trunks, reading a book!