Play date with Olivia

Just a few random things that I haven't had a chance to write on yet...

This semester, school is gonna kick my rear.  It's already really challenging, and it's only the 2nd week of class.  I have my first quiz next week, and lots of papers to write.  Plus, I am taking an additional class so I am in 9 credits, plus have a full-time job, a couple of pretty needy little kiddos, and a husband to care for.  One day at a time, right?!

Please forgive me if I slack off a bit on my blog...

it's not because I don't want to...

Maggie will, every once in a while, suck her thumb or a couple of fingers.  She never did take a pacifier, she would always gag and choke on it if we gave her one.
Brian found her sucking her thumb during a nap one time, and snapped a quick picture.
What a doll!

Colin still loves this silly race car track.  

Now he has added his own accessories...such as his legs!  The cars are powerful enough they can climb Mt. Colin with no problem.  

 A few weeks ago, Colin started asking for Olivia to come over to his house to play.  We had to arrange schedules, but last weekend, it happened!  He, and Olivia, were so excited to hang out at our house.  We played in the tunnel...

Got our hands dirty in some playdoh...

Had a "pretend" birthday party for Maggie, complete with all the fixin's you would ever want at your party, just in make-believe world...

and read some books and did some puzzles.

The two of them played really well together, once the initial shock was over that Colin would have to share his toys with Olivia.  I am so excited to know these two will grow up to be great friends.

Now, as for this weekend, we have another very exciting thing planned...

SESAME STREET LIVE! on Sunday!

I will be sure to take lots of pictures...Can't wait!! 

Laughing it up

I know I keep writing about how much Maggie just loves Colin.  Well, Brian caught it on video for you all to enjoy.  

We were just getting ready for bed, Colin was being Colin (throwing around his favorite stuffed animal Oof) and goofing around, and Maggie thought he was being hilarious.  She gets the hiccups when she laughs too hard, and she had been laughing for a while already, so please excuse her hiccups!

I hope you smile, too!

8 month photo shoot

Can't believe she's 8 months old today.  I had better not blink or else I'll get behind on planning her very first birthday party!

Maggie is such a doll.  She doesn't have much to say (da-da only right now), but when she gets a babbling (mostly at church), she can be quite loud!

She thinks clapping is HILARIOUS right now, and will stare and laugh at Colin all the time.

She doesn't have any interest in crawling just yet, and can sit on her bottom forever without falling over.  Such stamina, right?!

Maggie is still full of drama...so different than Colin in so many ways.

We love you Maggie Mae!

 Hey mama, did I get any drool on my outfit?!

Gross (this is VERY much like her brother, drooling all the time!)

She was able to reach out and grab Colin's remote for his car and in doing so, accidentally pushed the button, causing the car to crash into our fireplace.  This startled her...she's trying to figure out what just happened!

 Surprise!  I got mama's lens cap!

 Chewing on her Tylenol bottle.  This girl loves to chew on the soft, squishy top.  I don't even think there's any medicine in the bottle, but we take it with us all over town!

I still think she looks so much like her Daddy (blonde hair, blue eyes, fair complexion, rosy cheeks).

Good thing I think he's pretty cute, too! :)

A few of our favorites right now

 I can't believe I go back to school in just a few days.  I (and Brian) have really been enjoying my time at home in the evenings with the kids.  I know me going back to school will be worth it in the long run, but I am really dreading my first week back.  

I know, this, too, shall pass!

Until then, I will update you on some of our favorite things to do right now...

Colin is TOTALLY into the Grinch movie.  He asks for it all the time, and since it's only about 20 minutes long, he will sit and watch the whole thing.  He has gotten to where he has started saying the lines in the movie while it's playing.  Pretty impressive, I know.

 Here's Mr. Grinch, himself!

 Everyone still just LOVES bathtime.  It's hard keeping the water in the tub, but maybe that's just because Mommy & Daddy don't like to get soaked.  I hope our kids will always enjoy the water.  

I think it's in our blood...

 Maggie getting her cute little cheeks cleaned up.  

She loves splashing and kicking her legs around in the tub, too.  And, still doesn't mind when Colin pours water all over her head.  

 Another new favorite...watching the random family videos that Daddy has uploaded on YouTube.  He has a few of Colin walking Jake, Colin at the Royals game, Maggie looking in the mirror when she was a baby, etc.  The kids just laugh and laugh, seeing themselves on TV.  

Brian and I's favorite... a new toy organizer.  

We bought this little guy about a month ago and have just loved it.  Colin really likes knowing where to put his toys when he is done with them, and I love it because things are staying picked up.  We are trying to get things all together for when we put our house back on the market in a few weeks.  

Ugh!  I hope I'm ready for this drama again...

Oh, and speaking of drama...another of my favorites right now...Infants Ibuprofen!  

There has been an official sighting of at least one more tooth in Maggie's little mouth.  Little girl has been a bit fussy lately.  This, too, shall pass!

Updates

 We are finally settling in to 2012.

So far, so good!

Maggie got her first tooth on Tuesday, January 3rd.  I'm sure there will be more to follow soon, but I think little babies just look so cute with random teeth in their mouth.  She never really has been fussy, just extra drooley.  Such a trooper!

She also has started sleeping unswaddled at night and during naps.  She just LOVES this new transition of sleeping on her tummy.  Not a peep comes out of her anymore, and she wakes up in such a great mood.  I remember this transition to be much more traumatic for Colin.  I guess it's a good thing!

Colin had a run-in with another kiddo at our daycare, hence the huge red goose-egg on his forehead, just above his right eye.  

There are some days Colin really challenges us, and other times he's such a sweet kid.  Sometimes, he's a combination of both, almost instantly switching from one to the other.  He is a 2 year old, that's for sure.  

This is a great age, it keeps Brian and I on our toes.  

Just a couple of cute pictures of the kids before bed one night.  They seem to change so quickly these days, I want to remember every stage!

Christmas time in Topeka (on New Years weekend)

We were able to celebrate Christmas with the Dudley side this past weekend.  Since we don't get out and party for New Years, it was nice being able to spend some quality time with family.

Tiff and Chad came in from Belton and we brought our family to visit Meemaw & Ginger at her house.

After the kids got up from their naps on Saturday, Meemaw made some fantastic snack trays and we "grazed" all evening.  We also opened up our Christmas gifts.

Chad, just before getting "the look" from Meemaw.  She said she couldn't even hardly get the food on the tray before the boys came up and ate it all.

Colin enjoying making some music with his candy-filled Candy Cane from Meemaw.

Colin got some awesome jumbo animals from Meemaw.  He loves them.  They can go just about everywhere with him and are easy to clean.  There are 10 total.  He is really into animals right now, so another trip to the zoo might be coming up soon!

Chad and Tiff got the kids some much-needed Mizzou apparel.  Maggie got this really cute onesie with some bling on it.  Colin got some awesome t-shirts and a Mizzou jacket and pants set.  

Another fun gift, this one is from Colin's Godparents, Scott & Suzanne.  He had so much fun playing with the felt barn.  This toy got pulled out multiple times over the weekend.

Meemaw made Maggie a bow-holder.  We changed the ribbon on there so that there were 2 strands hanging to attach bows on.  I never thought my little girl would have as many bows as she has already.

Colin doing a performance for us on his echo microphone.  He found that hat somewhere and insisted on wearing it around for a while.  Maybe it was just part of his show apparel!

Meemaw and Maggie Mae.  She got these really cool bugs that snap together.  Right now they are being used for chewing on, I think we've got some teeth brewing in that mouth of hers.  She sure seems to be quite drooley lately, so maybe one will pop up soon.

Colin got his hands on one of GG Rice's hats.  This must've been before bedtime on Saturday.  

Just a cute shot of Maggie.  She sure does look like her Daddy!

We brought Colin's build a road toy with us to Topeka.  Here he is showing Aunt Tiffey how to use it.  Colin currently enjoys making the cars crash into each other.  One car lost his fender and has a huge crack in it.  The other one just runs really slowly.  I guess we'll be ordering some replacement cars soon!

Colin thought Meemaws phone was pretty cool.  He kept calling GG Rice in Michigan and "talking" to her.  It was quite a challenge trying to get it away from him, he must've had something VERY important to talk to her about.

Colin (with phone) & Mags on the hearth.  We wanted to take as many pictures as possible to remember our family time in Topeka.  

Another cute picture of the kids

Beautiful Meemaw and her pretty young ladies!

Not sure what was going on in this picture, but I thought it should be on the blog!

Our "eyes shut" picture.  Tiffany has gotten better with having her eyes open during pictures, but we love making fun of her anyway!

Kisses for Meemaw.

We had a great time in Topeka.  On New Years Eve, we stayed up and played Buzzword and had so much fun.  We didn't make it until midnight (only until about 11:30 pm), but Maggie woke us up at 2:15 am, so that was close enough, right?

Here's to another fun year.

I wonder what 2012 has in store for the Teson Family?!

I'll keep you updated...

Lovely time with Friends

Our buddies, Erin, Caleb and Madeline, came by to visit us last week.  They were in town from St. Louis to see family over the holidays.  We are always so blessed to see them and we love our time together.  They are just those friends that no matter how long it's been since you've seen them or talked to them, you can just pick right up where you left off.  

Even though the time was short, we had so much fun.  It's really cool to see our kiddos interact together and see their differing personalities.  I'm sure they'll be best of friends as they grow up!

Erin and Maggie.  Just hanging out.

Splish Splash in the tub.  We bathed poor little Maggie first so she didn't have to contend with the older kids splashing her all over.  It was a good decision.

The best picture of the mamas & the kids.  Sorry that Erin wasn't looking, but she was desperately trying to hang onto a wriggly little girl.  

While the girls chit-chatted, the boys played video games and drank.  It always seems like they act like teenagers when they get together...but, now they have families and wives to take care of.  It's nice to see them just have fun and enjoy each others company.

Creepy face

Silly boys.

We also played some board games and looked at pictures.  It was a nice evening.  It's too bad they don't live in town, but it's always such a great time when we get together.