Brag on Your Kid

I haven't done a Teagan post in a while and I figured now was a good time when I'm not super busy with a new baby.

Can I just say that Teagan is a delight. He is constantly making me laugh and he is so sweet. Such a tender little boy.

Here are some things that he's doing/enjoying lately.

-Teagan loves to pretend play. Whether with super heros, stuffed animals or anything else he can get his hands on he is so creative. The things he comes up with are hilarious.

-He counts like this 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,14,18,16,19,300! I'm tempted to never teach him the correct way because I love it so much.

-He is learning lots of his letter sounds and is getting better at recognizing what letter words start with.

-When we do "cheerio math" he is a wiz. I either change the number of mini cups or the number of cheerios and he has to figure out how many to put in each cup to make them all the same, he gets to eat the leftovers. I am amazed at how well he does with it.

-He can memorize like nobody's business. I think he has 8 or 9 Articles of Faith, the Pledge of Allegiance, and several scriptures and songs memorized. We only work on it for about 5-10 minutes a night so I'm really proud of him.

-He loves to build. He creates really cool building and "stuff" out of dominoes, cups, legos, cardboard boxes, and blankets. Of course he loves to break them when he's done. :)

-"The Bernstein Bears" is his favorite book series. He has 6 of the books and would have me read them to him all day if I had the time. He knows them all pretty well and is quick to correct me when I try to skip parts. He realized one day that our family will be just like their family (dad, mom, boy, girl) and was so excited and is determined that we are dressing up as the Bernstein Bears for Halloween.

-He is an expert helper and is seriously going to be a huge blessing for me when the baby comes. He sets the table, helps clear the dishwasher, starts the dishwasher, helps carry dirty clothes/towels to the laundry room, helps fold clothes, wipes off counters, takes out garbages and is learning to vacuum his room. When he gets to do a new chore he gets SO excited because he feels really big and helpful. I love having him work by my side and am trying to enjoy every minute before he realizes that he hates chores and it becomes more of a battle.

-He is great with other kids and is a peace maker. He shares so well and is quick to figure out a solution to any disputes. You could say he's a little bossy, BUT he is willing to compromise when someone holds their ground (luckily a lot of the kids he plays with are also oldest children so they don't let him get too bossy.)

-He is very aware of other people and their needs. It amazes me when he notices that someone is feeling bad and he does something to make them feel better. Sometimes I'll see him giving me a silly smile and if I ask what he's doing he says "I just wanted to make you happy mom." I'm trying to smile more so it can go both ways. :) He's always finding Jax's special dog and bringing it to him when he's sad.
-Zac has always been the favorite parent, but I think he's finally found a place for mom. He goes to Zac for all things fun and exciting and comes to me when he's ready for a snuggle and some loves.

-He listens and picks up on everything so Zac and I are having to readjust music, TV, and especially the way we talk. Why does it sound so much worse coming out of their mouths?

A couple of funnies, I can't remember anything else, I really need to start writing them down more often!

The other day I was talking to my mom on the phone about teaching your kids to save for college. I said something along the lines of, "And if they want to use their savings to get a car I'll just say nope, it's for college or a mission." Teagan pipes up "Just so you know mom, I'm getting the car!"

Randomly in the car one day: "Mom, you can eat lotion if you want, but just so you know, you're going to die."

I lost my tablet the other day and was trying to find it and Teagan was so excited and was following me around the house saying over and over in a sing song voice "rules is rules mom, If you don't take care of your tablet then you won't have a tablet anymore, rules is rules!"

We love our little Teagan. He is so wonderful and I am so grateful for him. He's not perfect, but neither am I so it works out pretty good if we can remember to cut each other some slack once in a while. I can't believe he's 4, time really flies.

Eloise

Only sevenish more weeks until our little darling girl will arrive. This pregnancy has gone SO fast. I don't know if it was the holidays or what, but I am happy about it.

The last few days I've been working on a couple sewing projects for her room. I made these fun curtains:

And this cute little soft blanket. Please don't look too closely, I am not a perfectionist and have adopted the "good enough" attitude that helps projects go about 100 times as fast. Kudos to my sister Julie for that advice!

We are all so excited to meet her.

-Teagan is always talking about baby Ellie. He makes sure to hug my belly when he goes to bed, if I try to hug him back he says, "No mom, I'm hugging Ellie right now, not you."

-Zac and I are reduced to tears about anytime we hear something sentimental about having a daughter

-Teagan has named his bear "Ellie" and takes care of her all day, it is the sweetest thing. He changes the diaper, feeds her, puts her down for naps, reads to her and always makes sure she has a snuggly blanket. I know he is going to be such a sweet older brother.

-I've had way too much fun shopping the sales for baby girl clothes. I've been banned from buying anything else until she's here (except diapers).

-Zac gasped when he saw all the clothes in her closet (I have all the dresses and outfits from 0-18 months hanging up so it does look like a lot) and Teagan was so excited and said "Look dad, the drawers are full of clothes too!!!! Girls are just too fun!

Any predictions on her birthday? I'm due March 6th...My sister is begging for me to plan a c-section for February 29th, but I'm going to just wait it out until little Lois decides it's time to come (we're hoping for a normal birth if everything goes okay, I'm not anxious to have another c-section!). Teagan came 3 weeks early and it's hard for me to not consider mid-february as a possibility, I'm trying to stay focused on the first couple weeks in March so that I don't get disappointed. I wonder how many more posts until she arrives....

In case you thought I was perfect...

Do you ever read a book and just idolize and love the characters and want to be like them? I definitely do, if only I could be Bella! haha But seriously, when I read the Anne of Green Gables series I was so determined to be just Like Anne Blithe. She was the most patient, loving mother and wife. I would talk about her to Zac as if she was a real person, "well, I'm going to try to discipline more like Anne from now on..." Then he would kindly remind me that she is a fictional character.

Well, I'm reading "Little Women" for the first time and I just can't get enough. Marmee (Mrs. March) is the most wonderful person. Part of me is reading thinking, "How can I be more like her as a mom to my kids" the other part is thinking "Thanks mom for the wonderful advice, I will try to control my temper better!" Of course the book is fiction, but I love how she just parents with love and has the sweetest way, what would it be like to be like that?

I really do try to emulate these women, honestly, I think about it all the time. I set goals, make reminders, read books often and really make an effort to be a better mom, but then something happens and I fly into a range.

Go back with me to Saturday. It actually begins Friday night when I stayed up WAY too late so I will use that as a slight excuse for my actions of the day.

Saturday morning two people woke up on the wrong side of the bed, me and Teagan. Things went from bad to worse that morning. What began with a "it's time for our chores" ended in time outs, threats (not followed through in case you were wondering) and lots of raised voices and frustration. (usually chores aren't a big deal around here)

Next came the haircut. Teagan isn't a fan of haircuts and usually whines, but Saturday he was particularly against the idea and was SCREAMING and covering his head with his hands. His tear/booger streaked face of course accumulated a ton of hair since it was wet and he was miserable. I was loosing my temper and Zac came to the rescue by putting Teagan in a head lock while I finished the haircut. I think at one point all three of us were screaming at each other at the same time. It was such a wonderful, happy time. Just what we'd all been imagining for our Saturday morning.

After cleanup we all took some time apart and came back and became friends again. We all had the appearance of having ourselves back together so we decided to continue with our Saturday plans and go shopping. (What were we thinking, honestly????)

We only went to one store and it was fine. Then we went to go to lunch at Rumbi. While Zac and I ordered, our angelic child went and reserved a table for us. We, of course, trust him because he is four and everyone knows that four year old boys are mature enough to take care of themselves at restaurants. So we order our food, only to be interrupted by a yell and a crash. When we turn to see the noise we see that a table has been tipped over and a little girl is under it and Teagan is on top of her. We race over, put the table back, apologize like 50 times and then the girl's mom says something like, "he was on top of the table and I could see it happening in slow motion..." that's all I heard... at this point just imagine my normal face turning from pasty white to a deep scarlet, smoke starts emerging from my ears and I really loose it. I grab Teagan and carry him out to the car like you do when you are enraged with your child (you know, they're parallel to the ground and you're holding them off to the side with one arm). Zac patched things up with the family (they were really nice about it) and was out in a second. Teagan received corporal punishment and the lecture of a life time on the way home.

It was really fun, I hope next Saturday is just like it!

Later that night I asked Teagan what his "High" and "Low" of the day were. It broke my heart when he said "my low is when I was laying on the table and it tipped over and hurt that little girl, I didn't know the table was going to tip over." His low wasn't getting spanked (not a very frequent happening around here) or getting sent to his room or lectured. He really felt bad. At that point, guilt started setting in. The realization that we handled the situation BADLY and overreacted and were way too hard on Teagan started really setting in.

Ugggghhhhhh....why is parenting so hard? Then of course I remember Mrs. March's speech to her daughter Jo about holding your temper. I think I was more embarrassed about being THAT family with THAT kid than I was actually concerned about the behavior. Why didn't we just silently march him out of Rumbi and drive home in silence and talk about it after the smoke had stopped erupting from our ears. He already knew he was in trouble and was scared for his life as it was. Silence would have been more effective (although I don't think he'll be climbing on tables when we're out to eat any time soon).

My point is that I used bad judgement as a parent. I hate that. I just want to always do it right the first time.

I was reading a great article Monday (click here to read it) and I loved it so much. Not only was it a great reminder for me to not judge other parents, I was able to get rid of some of the guilt. I love the part where the writer says "In truth, I’ve yet to meet a mother who doesn’t adore her child and isn’t trying her best." SO TRUE!

Okay, I adore my child, I am trying my best, I'm bound to mess up because I'm about as human as they come, but lifelong damage hopefully won't be done. Trial and error is about the only way to go and course corrections along the way are going to hopefully lead me to being an expert by the time my kids are out of the house. And then I'll have to sit back and watch as they mess up with their kids....oh the circle of life. They'll get mad when I try to help and tell me to back off because they're going to "learn for themselves" and "do it their way." Oh boy. Do you think God just sits up there and laughs at the ridiculousness of us? Probably.

I'm grateful for second chances, repentance, learning from mistakes, kids that love and forgive you even when you totally mess up, a spouse to learn from and brainstorm with when I'm feeling lost, articles and books that help me see a bigger picture and inspire me, and sleep.

Chirstmas 2011!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, it was a little crazy, but a good kind of crazy. Now that the company is gone, it feels a little empty around here.

The sad news is that I left my camera at Teagan's preschool a few days before Christmas and just got it back, so all of these pictures I had to steal off my mom's camera (it took us a long time to figure out how to take a non-blury picture) and my little sister's camera. At least there are pictures though!

My mom made these awesome crepe paper balls for every single member of our family. I bet she spent 30 hours or more making them!!!! As you unwrapped the ball there were treasures hidden in the layers of crepe paper. It was like opening a stocking. The kids and adults had a lot of fun with it! That was a labor of love if I've ever seen one, I was very happy that we opened them at my brother's house though, they were a bit messy. :)

Christmas Eve Zac and I hosted our first ever Christmas party. Note to self...have it on a different day next year(maybe a week before Christmas), it was a little too crazy to have so much going on! But we had a blast.

It started with a yummy dinner and then we moved on to the musical sing-a-long which was my favorite part. Everyone was kind enough to play along with my dorkiness and they brought their musical instruments and we had a little talent show. :)

Jingle bells was awesome on the violin, I can't wait until Teagan is old enough to start lessons!

Zac wowed us with a fun game of "Name that Tune" on the trumpet. He is such a good sport! I think that this was my favorite part. (that is our niece, Lily who LOVES Zac)

Zac is a pro...he didn't even practice for this, just whipped out the trumpet from 9th grade and was sight reading. I was so impressed! If I had to break out my middle school instrument (the violin) it would be a scary sound!

My mom had her Ukelele, how did we forget to have her do a solo for us?!?!?! Next year for sure!

We had several piano/xylophone duet attempts, good times...I think I better start practicing for next near right now, I am not a performer! Whitney and my mom were dreams though!

Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer is always a treat when you've got this cute family singing!

After everyone left we opened our Christmas PJs and got a picture of us in our beautiful sweaters, I think I will always wear mine from now on. :)

Teagan didn't fall asleep until 10:30!!!!!! So we were up way too late setting up, it was really fun though!

We had to put a few finishing touches on his room, he loved it! I love it too, I'm super happy with the way the quilt turned out and I love the bookshelves Zac built.

Christmas morning started BRIGHT And EARLY (6:20) and was really blurry thanks to our lack of photography skills.

Somebody looks like they regret getting up so early....

Somebody looks excited about getting up early!

This is the gift Teagan picked out for my mom, it's a picture of a metallic rose in a cheap frame. When he saw it at the dollar store he exclaimed, "Grandma Packer would LOVE this!" So funny! We loved having my mom with us over the holidays, she is so fun and we got to play lots of pinochle which is always a plus!

After visiting Zac's family and my Dad in the afternoon we were completely beat (no pictures because I had no camera)! Why did I give birth December 26th? Who knows, but I did, so we celebrated in a very low key style. He got a booster seat and asked if we had any other presents (how could he not be absolutely thrilled over a booster seat?) Alas, that was the only one until June 26th when I've regained enough energy to give him a birthday party.

I did make him a birthday cake and we went bowling. It was fun, but I have to admit I felt a little guilty not making a bigger deal out of his birthday, luckily he has nothing to compare it to. :) He just was overjoyed to have candy letters and sprinkles on the cake, kids are so easy to please!

We had a wonderful holiday season, I felt so lucky to be close to family and to have a home for the first time this year. We loved being able to see almost all of our family over the course of the last couple weeks. If only we could spend this much time with family all year round. Now it's time for us to get ready for our sweet baby girl to come. I have 9 weeks left and I have a feeling they are going to fly because I have lots to do! Happy New Year to everyone!