On the up and up

Well I am not feeling the best. I came down with influenza symptoms out of nowhere on Monday, went to the clinic on Tuesday and tested negative, etc. etc....it's just been a long, tiring, fever filled week for me. And let me tell you, it isn't fun when you are taking care of a baby in the middle of the night. Ugh. But I am hoping that I have turned the corner and hopefully the worst of it is over for me this season?! I can hope.

My dad came today to help me with the kids as Tina is closed for illness and I got a little weepy and overwhelmed last night thinking of taking care of both kids today while I had a fever. My dad took pity on me, came over so I could sleep the morning away, made us dinner and took Teague home with him tonight. Thanks Dad! I did take Teague to get his flu shot, I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to get it myself (due to fever), but Teague was so brave about it! After the shot he looked at me, frowned and said "she pinched"! He wasn't impressed by her "naughty" behavior I guess! So it is really quiet here now as Ryan took Lola to the volleyball game and Teague is at my parent's. I am actually leaving tomorrow afternoon for my parent's for the weekend as Ryan is gone to another basketball clinic. He is getting excited for the season to start, but I am feeling a bit indifferent about that!

Last night we took the kids to JCP to get some pics of Lola for her since she is 6 weeks. I wanted a good pic of the two kids together since Teague was less than cooperative at her newborn pics. There were some great pics taken and both kids were so smiley! I can't wait to get them back and post them. It's amazing how much Lola looks like I did as a baby!

Here are a ton of pics...Happy Halloween to all!

Hi there pretty girl!

My dad said that she gets a look of being petrified when Teague comes around, this wouldn't be the look, would it?!

Carving pumpkins while Daddy went to the football game. He liked it better than last year, but it was hard since I was holding Lola in the sling.

Lola hanging in the sling while carving pumpkins.

Teague with the finished product.

Finished product, try not to be TOO concerned about the two year old next to the butcher knife, okay?!

Hard to get the true look with the flash, but it will have to work I guess!

First bath both kids together (daddy was still at the football game, he's trying to prep me for basketball season). Teague loved it, Lola....hmmm you decide by the next two pics...

Yep, here I am busy taking pics and I catch this pic just in time. Look at how hilarious Teague thinks he is....

....and how petrified he is when Lola starts screaming her head off. Good, good times.

Good Times.

Wow, it's nearly the end of October. I cannot believe that Lola is already 5 weeks old and that I could be going back to work in just a week (but I am NOT and so happy about that)! Lola is changing so much, she coos and smiles and amazes us daily! Teague is still head over heels in love with her, so hopefully that just continues.

We went to our friend's, The Wahlin's, Halloween party last night. It was a good time and my sister kept Teague overnight so we could arrive home late and sleep in (thank Kris)! I am sure Ryan will die that I put these pictures on the blog from the party!

Have a great week!

Lola snuggling with one of Skylar's barbies at Nana and Papa's house...Skylar was quick to inform us that that barbie was a boy, she stated "I hope Lola knows that is a BOY! Nana doesn't have any Ken dolls so I cut all her hair off so she was a boy".

Hmmm, what's that saying "Monkey see, Monkey do"? I caught Teague in the chair on Friday night "pumping". Hmmmmmmm. Blackmail picture.

I could hear Teague talking and couldn't figure out where he was - here I found him in Lola's room while she was napping. He was busy talking to her and patting her bum. So cute.

Teague was SOOOO excited about seeing the animals at the pumpkin patch!

....and feeding them of course!

Here we all are, Lola is snuggled inside of the Baby Bjornm, sleeping!

Mommy, Teague and Lola swinging at the pumpkin patch.

Dutchmen cheerleaders at the Halloween party. Won't make the Christmas card this year, I think Ryan was relieved of that!

And finally our little Washington/Dutchmen cheerleader!

Mommy's Happy Birthday!

I am one month old today!

I can smile now!

Look at how chubby I am starting to get!

What a cute little frog!

The 4 cousins together.

Decorating a pumpkin at Coborn's with Mommy!

Teague, Megan and Alex

What do you think??

Mommy and Auntie celebrating our birthdays together!

Yay! Mommy's Happy Birthday! I think that Teague must be getting somewhat confused about all the birthdays that we keep celebrating - Papa's, Auntie's, Mommy's, Amanda's....etc. You'd think he would stop crying with the happy birthday song, but no. I had a great birthday. We went out for breakfast to Charlie's, Dana and Ken were here from Seattle and brought us Val's for lunch, and then Ryan's parents and Megan and Alex came to watch the kids while Ryan and I went out for dinner to Ciatti's! No cooking for me, again! WOO HOO!

Like I mentioned, Ryan's sister Dana and her hubby Ken were here and so we spent a lot of the weekend in St. Cloud. Ryan was off Thursday and Friday. On Saturday Erica, Dustin and I took the kids over to the Coborn's shopping area in Sartell for the pre-Halloween Trick or Treating. It was good practice for Teague to be able to say trick or treat. He looked so adorable in his frog costume!

My baby Lola is already one month old today!!! This month has just flew by, so sad at how fast this is going! Lola smiled at me for the first time last Monday (3 weeks and 3 days old - so advanced since they supposedly don't normally smile until 6 weeks - she's the same age Teague was when he started smiling too). She is also trying to talk to us with a little cooing here and there too. So adorable, of course. Lola was suffering quite the stuffed up nose so sleeping was tough for a couple of nights, but she seems to be back to normal now (thank goodness, it was so sad to see her so stuffy and struggling to breathe).

Have a great week. I hope you enjoy the video below of Teague demonstrating how a froggy jumps and what it says!

3 weeks

Not much new to report here. Life is going along very nicely and we are all doing so well! We had a nice weekend (minus the snow OF COURSE). Saturday our friends Jere and Meghan, along with their boys, came from Monticello to visit and made us a really yummy dinner. It was so fun to see them and to watch Teague and Gavin play so well together. On Sunday we went to Sauk Rapids to help Amanda celebrate her sweet 16 birthday! I can't believe she is already 16. Such a sweet and fun young lady - our kids are lucky to have a big cousin like her! Of course Teague cried at "Manda's Happy Birthday" and even informed us ahead of time that he would be crying about it. Stinker. Tonight we are going to my sister's to FINALLY celebrate her bday (same day as Lola's) and mine together. Tomorrow my sister's family and my parents are leaving for Orlando for a week at Disney World. We sure will miss them, but are excited for them to have a fun trip. Here are a few updated pics... Have a nice, snowy week!

Lovin' on his sister before bedtime - always wanting to "Hold Yoya"!

Teague getting ready for his bath but just had to "Hold Yoya".

Look at little Lola's curly hair after her bath! So fun to have a child with hair!

Little Lola all ready for bed...

Look at little Lola's eyes when I make those "scary" sounds. Poor thing...

A little of this and a little of that...

Mommy kissin' Lola!

Mommy with Lola

Daddy snuggling with his two favorite kids!


Lola's first (non sponge) bath

Yep, still cries during the Happy Birthday song!

Papa with his 4 grandkids.

Oh it's been an interesting couple of days. It was Ryan's first day back to work yesterday and Teague had a 102.8 temp for the past two days. I took BOTH kids to the Dr office. Big deal, right?! Well not when both are not only crying, but SCREAMING and Teague refused to walk (who could blame him, he was tired and feeling really cruddy), so in I walked carrying the carseat and a 2 year old on the other hip. It was a total circus. And he didn't let up on his crying until home and in bed 1.5 hours later. We did find out that he has a double ear infection - which I will take. I was/am so worried about my kids catching the influenza. I was just hoping this winter sickness wouldn't start so early this year. But then again when they are forecasting snow for the weekend, what can you expect?! So after a good intro to life at home with 2 kids under 2, we are faring better today and Teague seems to be on the mend.

My mom is here helping me out over the next couple of days. I love having her here! We just lay around, she cooks and tomorrow we are shopping. This is the life....I need a full time cooking/cleaning person, but that may not be possible on one income I suppose! Until then I will just have to take my mom up on her visiting whenever possible - though I suppose the cooking for us will end eventually?!

Little Lola is growing leaps and bounds! She is starting to get so chubby and doesn't look like a scrawny little newborn any longer. I still can't believe that she is still smaller at 2.5 weeks than Teague was when he was born!! She is a blessing in our lives and we just LOVE spending time with both of our kids together.

Our weekend was nice. We took the kids to Oktoberfest in Freeport (it was cold - is that the reason for the ear infection?!), but Teague loved the petting zoo and jumping in the jumpy thing. They had good food - which is what I went for! On Sunday we went to church with my entire family and then to my parent's to celebrate "Papa's Happy Birthday". It was so nice to all be together again. Teague loved it because he got to go and see "the animals" like he does every time when he is at my parents. And he cried when we sang happy birthday - thought maybe he had outgrown that, maybe it was the fever spiking?! Regardless, happy "social security birthday" to my dad!

Have a good week!

Such a cute video of Teague....he is laughing at Ryan "pretending" to drop his cookie and then at the end he says to Lola "Hi....Good". I guess he is used to us asking him "HI TEAGUE, HOW ARE YOU?!"

Overflowing...

My heart is just overflowing with love for my new little family and life. I can't believe my good fortune to have such beautiful and healthy children and a wonderful husband. I am overflowing with emotion (or is it just hormone)?! Regardless, I count my blessings day and night.

I don't have many new pictures (2nd child syndrome already), but here is one of my favorite of Little Lola cuddling with Nana.

Lola had her 2 week check yesterday and has gained a pound since discharge from the hospital! Yay for mommy's nutritious milk! She is growing and amazing us daily.

Ryan is back to work on Monday and I think I will do okay. Teague still goes to Tina's part time, so we will see how our days go when it's me with the two kids alone. My mom is coming for two days next week to help me (and shop with me) and we have a play date with the Van Beck's already planned. I think I am going to like this stay at home mom business!! =)

This weekend is going to be cold (along with the homecoming game that we aren't attending any longer because of the cold), but we are going to try to make the Oktoberfest festivities in Freeport on Saturday and then celebrating "Papa's Happy Birthday" (as Teague's refers to it) on Sunday. He's talked about "Papa's Happy Birthday" all week. Precious.

Hope your week is good!