Random Going Ons

I just wanted to post some cute pictures of the girls I've taken this month and comment on the going ons at the Pointer household!

Here's Pres having a "tea party" with some hot coco. She is very into tea parties lately! We had three pretend tea parties just yesterday complete with desert. And we always talk in our best English accent! My grandma would be so proud! And to hear Presley say, "daw-ling" is SO funny! Anyway, she loved having her hot chocolate in a real tea cup! I think I know what we're going to do from her 3rd birthday party!

Here' s Teagan's new look. She likes to give it to strangers to size them up. Strangers and her own parents, and anyone else she deems necessary! Very intense. She is learning so much right now! Talking and really understanding everything and knows what she wants (and gets rather ticked if you don't get the memo)!!

And just moments before the look above, this precious smiling face! By the way, the ouchey on her forehead was from Teagan and tricycle vs TV armoire, part II. :( Which is totally my fault.

This was fun but made me realize I'm not a good or patient teacher. We went on a "color hunt" to help Presley learn her colors. Big sister still doesn't know her colors!! But I swear this child has ADD. She couldn't pay attention to save her life! We went around the house with the grocery cart that Santa brought and gathered up all the orange things we could find. But she wanted to put everything in there. Not only that, but when we first started, I asked her what color something was and she got it right, and then I praised her, and then everything beyond that was that particular color. Did I over praise?? I was on a mission for her to learn her colors that day! Probably a bit over zealous to say the least!

Teagan is a climber!! She can maneuver chairs, stools, pillows, and anything else that can give her some leverage to get to where she wants to go! Mama's got to be quick with these two!

Making progress

As far as potty training, we are making progress!! Yay!!

Before, this is where she might go to take care of business.

But today I found her on the potty with the door closed (I guess she likes her privacy) taking care of business. I am so proud of her!! She's had several recent accidents after a good week of big girl undies, so I'm not sure what that's about, but I haven't made a big deal out of it and have just encouraged her to go on the potty next time. Anytime I ask her if she needs to go, it's an immediate "no". But I know the reminders help. We are getting there!! Amen!

Muscial Bed

The picture in the previous post also gives you an idea of how we sleep at night. Recently I've decided we play 'musical bed' all night (hence the reevaluating of the sleeping arrangements I recently mentioned).

Previously, it went Daddy, Presley, Mama, then Teagan. Then once both girls are asleep, I'd push Teagan in the middle and sleep on the outside, so then it was Hubby, Pres, Teggie, Mama. Then depending which side I needed to nurse on, Teagan would flop around on both sides of me throughout the night. So you would think that sleep would be getting better. However, as you can imagine, these two aren't getting any smaller. (Hubby and I aren't either for that matter!) In fact, they are growing like fertilized weeds!! So things are getting cramped anyway.

So now add the fact that Presley wants to start out on the other side of me. So recently it goes Daddy, Teggie, Mama, Presley. Then after the girls are asleep I'd move Presley into the middle and position myself on the outside. Well at some point in the middle of the night Teagan wakes up and realizes that Mama isn't right next to her and demands an position adjustment. So then Price pulls P over towards him and I snuggle with Teagan until she's back to sleep. That's a good scenario. If Presley wakes up in the midst, she'll make her demands and then we start all over.

And if all the above isn't enough to make you need a nap, this week Pres got sick in the middle of the night with an obvious stomach virus and vomited not once, but twice on the bed. The first time I heard it in my sleep and jumped up hollering for Price to turn on the light. He had no idea what had happened, and I'm still not quite sure how I heard it myself. Then we cleaned up Pres and stripped the beds down to the mattress cover and all got back in bed, almost to sleep, and wham, this time she pretty much threw up right in her hair. So off to the tub, while Hubby pulled the remainder of the sheet off. So me and Presley slept on the air mattress that was already blown up in the living room (story for another post) while Hubby and Teagan sleep on the bed without sheets! Snuggling with a kid that smells like vomit despite her midnight scrub is not so fun! Meanwhile Hubby is loving sleeping on the mattress with no sheets - yuck!!

Then the next evening Teagan got sick with the same thing. Her's lasted during the waking hours, hallelujah!! Thankfully neither one of them had it long and today their appetites are back to normal.

Tomorrow, dance class starts! Not for Pres or Teggie, but for me and Hubby!! More on that to come!

Daddy's girls

This picture is kind of old (notice the pacie) and I snapped it from my phone before bed, so the quality isn't all that great, but I LOVE this picture! Presley likes to watch something on youtube on our phones before bed. Every once in a while Teagan will catch her a glimpse or two. This was so cute how they snuggled into Daddy's arm!

There have been many series of requests on youtube. First it was "row, row, row your boat", then "ABC's" (pictured here), then it was all things "choo choo soul", then "puppies" (the Siamese cat song from Lady and the Tramp), then it was "paradise" (the pure imagination scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), then all things "strawberry" (strawberry shortcake), and now she's requested Mary Poppins, but we haven't even opened that can of worms yet.

Recently however she's rekindled her love of books and we've been reading the Tales of Peter Rabbit, which are longer stories and her attention and listening skills have pleasantly surprised me! I was beginning to think she was ADD like her Daddy! :) Teagan also really enjoys books, but she's so independent it's hard to read them to her when she wants to be the book holder and the page turner... We are looking forward to story time at the library starting up the end of this month!

Look-a-like?

Everyone always says how much Teagan looks like me. I don't see it as much as everyone else says, but I do a little bit. I took a picture of a picture (with my camera phone so not that great of quality) that my grandmother has in a frame of me when I was about a year old. I can see the resemblance a little bit here...

Teagan in an old fashion dress standing on the table. (Don't try this at home!)

Me in the 80's, obviously!

A great shoot to share!

Just before Thanksgiving, I had the pleasure to shoot a family at the Old Cotton Mill in McKinney, TX. It is a really neat place to have a photography shoot. It does cost per hour however. So this shoot was a fast one. I was so impressed with how the kids smiled and behaved so well and how the pictures turned out! Mama ordered a really big print (24 x 30) to go in her house and put one on her Christmas card!! These are two of my favorites!

(This is the one they printed big!)

Miss Teagan

Teagan wanted some blog love from me too. So this one goes out to my baby. Here's a little somethin' I think she'll like!

Teagan is currently teething her big, giant molars. Ouch!! She's been a bit fussy to say the very least. But mostly just when she is tired. Probably not the best timing, but we have also been working on weaning at night. I was so tired (literally) of nursing her all night - whenever she happened to roll over or change positions! And so we began dropping all the middle of the night feeds, but if it is after 7 - 7:30, I'll humor her, just so we can all sleep in a little longer.

Well the absence of 3 or 4 "feeds" (using that term loosely here), was not happily met in the middle of the night. Let's just say, this wasn't the face we could barely make out in the dark.

Yeah, or nothing like this either.

It's gotten A LOT better, but she'll still fuss here and there. But those first couple of nights, WOW!! She would get all sweaty and hot during her fits, even. Hubby said with that will, she's bound to be successful!! She gave it all she got, but I stood firm! And we have endured it - all of us! Presley the other night, in the wee hours, told her "that's enough!" So we are on the road to sleeping through the night! Yahoo!! After we have kicked that habit, we are going to reevaluate the sleeping arrangements! Lots of changes for this family this year, and it's only mid January!!

Teagan has also blossomed in her vocabulary recently!! She can say almost anything you ask her to, and she is articulate!! She's now putting two words together. This morning, when Presley woke up, she said, "Hi Weegie!" to which Teagan responded, "Hi Sister!" which sounds like "sissy". And she is quite the social butterfly in public. She'll give random folks a big, loud, "Hi!" And then bask in their attention - a chip off her sister's block for sure!! It's funny!

Other words she says - up pee (please), ice, mama, da, ba (bath), mo (more), boo (book), eye, no (nose), chee (cheese), dow (down), I know there's more, but I can't think of them right this moment. Yesterday, she learned to take her diaper off, so no more running around in just her diaper. She's gotten so much better when I leave her, but still gives whoever is watching her a run for their money!!

Come to think of it, she gives me a run for my money!! And I love her so much for it!!