Tegan turns one today!

Wow, it was a year ago, we anxiously waited to meet the little girl who would
win our hearts and minds and enrich our lives. From holding her all swaddled up in a blanket, to seeing her first angelic smile, from her first laugh, to her first stinker face, I think I've had one of the best years in my life, laughing and smiling, feeling the joy only a grandchild can bring. Tegan is perhaps the sweetest, happiest, most contented child I've ever known and I love spending time with her. Watching her grow has truly been a honor and I am looking forward to what this next year brings! Happy Birthday, darling Tegan, we all love you!

Tegan's first Christmas

It was truly wonderful to have a little one to spend Christmas with. This Christmas was all about and all for Tegan and we had a great time! I'm happy to share the pictures and videos with all on the next two pages!

Surrounded by gifts

Tegan really enjoyed Christmas. She helped unwrap all of her gifts and enjoyed all of the excitement.

Opening gifts is exhausting

Baba break on her new pony!

Our little Christmas present!

Here she is singing the song only she knows the word to!

Tegan loves Christmas boxes too!

No more crawling!

Tegan walks everywhere now. It is rare that she'll crawl. She is learning how to open up the pocket doors that lead to and from the kitchen. We will then have to gate the stairs!

Tegan loves to play with Unkie Fankie's wheel chair.

Playing

Tegan is playing with Dublo blocks, she likes to put them away in the container. Doesn't she look precious in the outfit MeMe bought her?

Sometimes, you just gotta stop and laugh!

Tegan is waiting for Nanny Susan to come visit!

Tegan can cook!

Here she is eating something delectable from her new kitchen. Hmmm, maybe I do have a willing student after all?

Tegan's new place to chill

Shannon bought Tegan this cute pink bean bag chair so that she has a place to sit!








Tegan knows how to relax now and as you can see, catch 40 winks!

Christmas Videos!

Merry Christmas

We are very excited this Christmas because we have the sweetest little present to celebrate with. We are looking forward to tomorrow morning when Tegan opens her gifts and plays with her new toys! It is nice that we are having a white Christmas as well. I will be posting to the blog over the weekend so check in and have a wonderfully merry Christmas!

Tegan walks around

and drinks milk now from her sippy cup!

The peppermint stick

Our little whirling dervish is enjoying her first peppermints stick! She really likes candy!

Princess

We took Tegan to get her pictures done and don't you know, every single picture was so adorable that I had to get them all!

The first snow

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Uh Oh

Here is Tegan's version of uh-oh, which she says all of the time. I am really looking forward to when she can talk!

Hat shopping

Into the gifts

The Christmas tree and the presents provide our little elf with hours of entertainment!

Tegan opens a gift! Shades of Shannon!

And here she is returning to the scene of the crime! Poor Noah is trying to distract her from the gift, by offering his cell phone, but Tegan knows this is a new toy! I swear, she is looking more and more like her Mom...

I remember when Shannon opened every gift and then rewrapped each one, thinking that I wouldn't notice! That was her worse Christmas ever, since she knew exactly what she was getting. We laugh about that now, in fact it was so Shannon to do that. I bet Tegan is just like her mom! Lol!

Have fun Shannon!

Such a tease

Tegan does give up the mystery item...eventually.

Oh the weather outside is frightful

Tegan has her cup of milk and is ready to go bye-byes!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

And Tegan is all bundled up and ready to go!

Little shepard girl

The face off

Note the intensity as Tegan glowers at her opponent with a steely, steady stare.

Tegan's walking videos

Finally, I tried and tried to post these videos yesterday, to no avail, but I got them on today. I think it's cute that since she has taken her first steps, she doing it all the time now! She has a stomach virus so she is not 100 percent, but she remains adorable nevertheless!

Big news!

Here's a picture of Tegan enjoying her first lolipop! A waitress gave it to her and she knew what to do with it!
She even offered me a lick!

Ok, the big news is that last night, Tegan took six, count them, six steps!

On another note, I have connected with my best friend ever from my childhood on facebook, Barb. She is a grandmother of three! I feel so
blessed to be able to connect with her anytime I want now! Today, I
am a happy grandmother!

Happy Birthday Brandon!

Well, he is eighteen, living in his own place, and I couldn't be prouder of him and at the same time, sadder. He is quite a guy, working, going to school and getting good grades and now supporting himself (for the most part).

I will miss seeing him everyday and asking how his day was. I will miss his presence in my day to day life, always a highlight in my day. He is a great kid and has always exceeding my expectations of him. Boy, the empty nesting thing sure is tough on a Mom, especially when it's your baby...

The new face

OK, here is Tegan's new face. We call it 'The Face'. You never know when she will give you 'The Face', but she knows it's cute and will lay it on you when you least expect it. Apparently, she gave the face to two elderly women at TGIF and they laughed and laughed. I'm just glad I could capture it on film!

Come on in!

Tegan at play

A totally different perspective

I submit Exhibit A of Tegan's adorableness. I don't know why she does this, but it is so darned cute and simply cracks me up!

Tegan goes to work!

Last Wednesday, Tegan visited me at work while Shannon had her first pre-natal exam. We spent the time up front, where she spread her adorableness to the people who stopped in for coffee. She is talking to my friend Susan here.

like mother, like daughter

Please, no piercings!

Tegan opened the hot chocolate

Shaun and I were talking in the kitchen, for just a minute. I looked down and Tegan had the floor covered in hot chocolate powder!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God.

~Ray Stannard Baker (David Grayson)

The joys of Christmas

How wonderful it is to introduce Tegan to Christmas.
Keeping her off of the Tree
will be a challenge, but we moved hookless ornaments to the bottom so that she can discover and explore. We have all decided that this Christmas was going to be all about Tegan!

The Tree

Always into something!

Tegan is an elf!

Tegan in a box!

Decorating for Christmas brings many challenges when you have a little one around. So while we were assembling the tree, we put Tegan in the Christmas tree box, and she was quite happy to sit and play with her babies. Keeping her away from the tree is another story...

Fisher price girl

Here is Tegan wearing the Fisher Price Telephone pajamas! She is too adorable for words! This weekend, I'm planning on getting the house decorated for Christmas. We usually do this the weekend after Thanksgiving, but since Frank will be here, I decided that he might enjoy

some Christmas spirit a little early. I haven't figured out just where to put the trees and how the heck I'm going to keep Tegan away from them. I thought I would wrap some large boxes and create a barrier around the tree. I just need some boxes!

It will be a busy weekend and hopefully the whole family will get involved. I can't wait to see Tegan's reaction to the decorations!