Life the past few weeks: bottles, smiling, tummy time, visitors, and pinterest dinners

First Bottle 

A day after Teagan turned one month, we decided we needed to try the bottle. When I go back to work she's going to have to take it, and we wanted to make sure that she wouldn't fight it. So we decided that each dinner feeding could be a bottle so Patrick could enjoy that sweet time with T. I think I had a little bit of a harder time than she did. I'm realizing through this process that I don't exactly move on well. Each new stage that we get to makes me so sad that time is passing so quickly.

Funny story-when Patrick first tried to give her the bottle she was not having it...which only made me cry more. How could I do this to our sweet girl? He decided I should try it first so that the amount of change was minimal for her. As soon as I got her, she did awesome, making me think oh good, she does still need me. Then, Patrick looked at me and asked, "Are you supposed to be shoving that whole thing in her mouth?" Me: "Umm, yeah." No wonder she was having a hard time--he was only trying to put the tip of the bottle in her mouth. She was getting teased and was less than excited about it. So maybe it wasn't that she needed me in that moment and more she needed the whole bottle. Once dad learned that, she did great. :) 

Wearing her "I love Daddy" pjs

Tummy Time

Tummy time is still a bit of a struggle most days. I've learned a few things though: if I can put her in her boppy she feels a little bit more secure, if I open the door the fresh air calms her down (although now with the West Nile scare we might be doing a little less of that), or if I play music she'll calm down too.

Problem is, if she's too calm it doesn't go towards her quota for the day. She must be doing push ups. Like this...

We must find a happy balance. 

Finally some relief when she gets put on her back :) 

I like smiling, smiling's my favorite :) 

Well, I think we can say that Teagan has started to smile more consistently now. It just melts our hearts when she throws us one of her smiles. She loves smiling at her dad when he comes home from work...sweetest thing ever! 

She's trying to make sure everyone sees both of her chins in the top right picture. :) 

 Visitors

Uncle Joe (Patrick's brother) flew in for a concert in Atlanta and got to come hang out. Teagan wore her I heart my uncle t-shirt just for him. :) 

My college roommate Meagan was also in town this weekend with her little girl. E is 14 months old and was absolutely precious with Teagan. She quickly learned who she was and if you asked her where Teagan was, she'd point right to her. She also would come in to the house and say "Baby?" with her little hand upturned like-"Where is she, that's who I came to see!" So, so, so cute as you'll see in the pictures below. 

...but first a throwback picture from 5 years ago of Meagan and me since we managed to only get pictures of our girls and none of us. She is an awesome friend and a wonderful mom. I'm glad I have her to ask my hundreds of questions when I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing! 

Love this next series of pictures. First, E coming over to say hello. Then, she gets a little concerned that T is crying. Next, wondering why the adult standing above her doesn't seem to be doing anything. Finally, giving her a kiss to make it all better. :)

 E trying to figure out how she can get in the nap nanny with Teagan.

Sharing some more sweet kisses

just future college roommates sharing a laugh :) 

Patrick loving E's dance moves. :) He and Dustin kept the girls for us so all the college roommates could go out and get a pedicure together to celebrate Meagan's birthday. 

And another throw back picture of the college roommates since we didn't manage to get any. This should teach us. :) 

This girl loves her nap nanny. quite comfy here. 

Pinterest Family Dinner

We had another one of our "family dinners" this past week. While the guys were out playing golf, the girls decided to have a pinterest dinner-where we made a bunch of random things that we've been wanting to make. We had mini corn dogs, mozzarella bites, bourbon meatballs, spinach and feta croissants, crispy edamame, sopapilla cheesecake, peach & balsamic pizza, and girl scout samoa clones.  Lots of deliciousness going on. We had a few left overs for when the guys came back. :) 

I made the peach and balsamic pizza and samoas. Yumm! 

First for the samoas-I've been waiting a long time for an opportunity to make these. Not only are they a little time intensive, but they also a bit dangerous to make for only you and your husband. I needed someone else to share the calories with. :) 

I thought I'd take some pictures of me making the cookies, you know, be a good blogger and all. Then, as flour and sugar covered my kitchen, I realized I should probably just focus on the cooking and a little less on the documenting. 

I pretty much followed the recipe exactly from this website. I will point out a few things though. First, I didn't have a cookie cutter as the recipe calls for....so I just got the top to a Tropicana orange juice bottle we had and voila! Also, it says that the dough needs to be rolled out to about 1/4 of an inch. I know from my Martha Stewart sister that the thickness of the dough can make a big difference...so I rigged together 2 magazines that were about 1/4 inch, taped some parchment paper to the side to keep the dough away from the magazines and used those as my guides to roll out the dough. Finally found a use for that Architectural Digest we had sitting around. :)

Secondly, the chocolate. I definitely recommend using the double boiler method to melt the chocolate. I've done the microwave for another recipe and it is a disaster. To do that, you just get a pyrex bowl and place it over a pot of boiling water on the stove. You don't want the water to touch the bottom of the bowl though. The steam from the boiling water rises and melts the chocolate evenly. It worked great! The recipe recommends using a bittersweet chocolate because the coconut/caramel mixture is so sweet. I did that, but I feel like it made it taste a little less like the real samoas. Next time, I might try it with milk chocolate instead. 

The finished product. If I can do this, anyone can. They didn't taste exactly like the real things, but there were still pretty tasty. 

Super easy Peach & Balsamic Pizza...recipe found here. I'll be honest, it doesn't look quite as pretty once it is out of the oven but it still tastes awesome. So much so, I've already made this again for dinner last night.

 Patrick's signature picture of the other husbands taking pictures. 

Girl picture-this time plus one! :) Come October our girls group will grow by one more! 

Happy One Month!

Happy one month to our sweet girl! When I think about how she's only one month old it still seems so young, but then when I think that one whole month has already passed us by I start to get a little emotional. :) I took some pictures of her today and was comparing them to the one week pictures-I can't believe how much she's grown already! It makes me sad, but then Patrick tries to remind me that it would be really odd if she wasn't growing, so I should be glad. okay, okay. 

Sweet Teagan, at one month old you are starting to like your baths. You still love going outside and can sense the fresh air immediately. You like listening to your dad and me sing to you (and you don't seem to care that I can't sing...not yet anyway). You love for us to read you "Snuggle Puppy"...or maybe that's just me. You have a pretty strong hatred for tummy time.  You've also gotten strong enough to break out of your swaddle-although only once out of your miracle blanket. You have started to eat more efficiently-only 15 minutes now (yay)!  You've started only waking up once during the night to eat. ...and BIG NEWS: you've smiled at your dad and I. Today was the first day that we realized that you were smiling at us and not just the sweet random smiles in your sleep. 

Here are some pictures that I've taken of you at one month: 

these next few I took at 4 weeks, only a few days off your official one month birthday

now for the true one month pics :) 

 letting me know you had enough :) 

seriously, no more :) 

comparisons with one week

We also went to visit and have dinner with Danny and Angela who welcomed Maggie on July 17th, only 5 days after Teagan. In fact, Teagan was born on Maggie's due date and Maggie was born on Teagan's-just a little fun fact in case you need that for some trivia one day. :) 

moms with our little girls

and the dads getting their turn

We love you sweet girl and we are so glad that God chose us to be your parents. We feel so incredibly lucky! 

4 weeks old!

Time seems to be flying by...which is not exactly helping my coping with Teagan growing up too quickly. I can't believe that four weeks have already passed by...and it is even harder to accept when I do the math and that means 1/3 of my maternity leave is already up. Although part of me does miss the excitement of the beginning of the school year, I am so glad that I get to be home with our sweet girl. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I can't even think of where to begin with updating since the last post, so I'll try and do it through the hundreds of pictures that we have of her.

A visit from the Fedyk fam. :) Her kids seem to be quite naturals-I might be calling them in a few years to babysit. I've taught on the same grade level with Jocelyn every year-she's a fantastic teacher and wonderful friend. I'm so lucky to work with a grade level who is going above and beyond to make sure that my sub is taken care of so I can focus on sweet Teagan instead of work right now. Thank you! 

Teagan's first real bath after her umbilical cord fell off. She loves bath time...as you can see from the picture below. She actually has started to like it recently, I just don't have any pictures to prove it. 

She melts when it is time to wash her back. It was the only moment of peace with the first bath and she still loves it. 

our sweet girl 

We went for a walk by the river. She loves, loves, loves being outside...and being in her pouch. :) It was nice for me to get out of the house too. 

Papa (my dad) getting some sweet snuggle time in when he came to pick up my mom after she stayed with us for almost 2 weeks. 

Nana :) 

First night in the crib at 13 days old. I cried and cried. I don't think I was ready to move on to the next stage. Patrick wasn't either, but he was nice and strong for me since I was the one having the meltdown.  It probably didn't help that I read Max Lucado's In Case You Ever Wonder to her before she went to bed. I'm not sure why I thought I was going to be able to handle it when I cried in Barnes and Noble while reading it...when I was pregnant. Holding her in my arms reading it to her...yeah, sobs.  Then laying her down in her crib...more sobs. She seemed to like it just fine though. 

2 weeks old! 

one of my faves :) 

Pappy (Patrick's dad) getting in a little snooze with Teagan. Patrick's mom also came and stayed for almost a week. It was great-she cleaned, cooked, helped with bath time, did laundry. We're trying to convince them to buy a house in our neighborhood. :) Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Teagan with her Mammy while she was here though. We miss you Mammy! 

Bright eyed girl 

My sweet student from last year and her mom came to visit.  Her mom will be keeping Teagan once I go back to work. 

3 weeks old! 

The weekend after her turning 3 weeks old, we went home for her to meet her great grandparents and our aunts and uncles. It was a crazy, busy, rushed weekend of traveling but we were so happy for Teagan to meet our wonderful family...and she did a pretty good job of traveling too. 

Aunt Lu/Rinz/Laudie with her two nieces 

Sisters with our kiddos

Aunt Kristen

Trading kids :) Caroline would not look up! 

"Honeymoon" and Teagan...a close family friend of the McGuires

"Julah" and Tegan...another close family friend of the McGuires

Granny (Patrick's grandma) with her first great grand baby! :) 

4 generations

My Aunt Marsha

Mema (my mom's mom) and Teagan

Patrick and Caroline sharing a laugh

snuggles with Nana

Giving Nana a hug

My Aunt Janine and Teagan

Getting some snuggles with Caroline

My cousin Ben

Walked in to see if Patrick was ready for dinner and they were both passed out. :) 

Libby (my dad's mom) singing to Teagan.

 Papa and Teagan

Whew! A crazy 3 weeks. It is hard to believe that she's 4 weeks old today and a full month on Sunday. We are so thankful for each day with our sweet girl...and that she is a healthy and happy baby. We love you sweet T! 

so in love  :)