It's been 6 years...

At 6:36 this morning Tyler turned 6 years old!  It's hard to believe my little boy is already six, he's already in first grade, he's such a little boy!  Tyler has brought so much joy (and noise) to our lives.  He's constantly in motion and loves to make people laugh.  The other day he announced to us that he's "half ninja", who knew I gave birth to a ninja, no wonder he was so active in-utero. 


Here's a quick look back starting at 6 months:

6 Months:

One year:

Two years:

Two and a half years:

Three years:

Four Years:

Five years:

Six years:

It's a Pirate!

We had birthday party number 2 last weekend.  It was Tyler's friend party and all he invited were boys!  And let me tell you, boys are crazy!  All the wrestling and jumping, and just general pandamonia carried on for the entire duration of the party.  Luckily, I was able to get them all to participate in the activities I had planned.  We played pass the skull, peg leg, x-marks the spot, balloon pop, musical pirates, etc...  It was a busy and fun party.  The boys all thought it was so funny how Tyler's Mom screamed every time a balloon popped (what was I thinking have a balloon popping game).  I heard the next day from Tyler's teacher that the party was the talk of the class.  A couple of the boys even said it was the best party they had been to.

Your not seeing things.

"It's the first time it's snowed on my Birthday!"  That's what Juliana was bragging about on her birthday, she couldn't believe it was snowing!  Actually not many of us could believe it was snowing on October 15th, but sure enough:

8 years.... wow!

8 years ago right now I had been in labor for 18.5 hours and still had a little more than six hours to go.  Juliana was a big baby and she was flipped, it took a little over 24 hours for the doctors to realize the only way she was coming out was with a c-section.  She came out crying at 10:53 pm on October 15th.  These past 8 years have been more than I could ask for.  Every hug, every kiss, every boo boo... it's all so worth it!  I've spent every second I could with her the past 8 years and know I'll never look back and wish I spent more time.  I've been there for every milestone and just about every tear.


I've been looking back at some pictures today and had to post some.  I don't have any digital files of her as a newborn, I'll have to scan them later.  But I have some from every year.

Six Months:

Nine Months:

One and a half years:

Two years:

Two and a half years:

Three years:

Four years:

Five years:

Six years:

Seven years:

Eight years:

A little bit of fall...

Fall has always seemed magical to me.  Perhaps it's because it's when both of my children were born.  I think it's also because it's just so beautiful!  The leaves are at peak color right now, and seeing the sun hit the reds, oranges, and yellows can be breathtaking.  One of our fall traditions that started three falls ago was to visit a local orchard here in Connecticut and go through the corn maze.  The kids absolutely love it!  They take turns being the leader and we always seem to eventually find our way out.

Here is a picture to really show how beautiful fall is in New England.

Birthday Party #1.

October is always the busiest month in the Teebagy house.  Juliana and Tyler's birthdays are both mid-month and that means lots of parties!  This past weekend we had party #1, it was Juliana's friend party.  She decided on a sports theme and I got to work on the planning.  Unfortunately not only did it rain on Saturday, but we also had a thunderstorm, so I quickly starting planning "plan B" and decided on some activities for inside the house.  We had 16 girls and 2 boys.  If you've never been in a room with 16 screaming 8 year old girls before, well then you should consider yourself lucky.  Just kidding, they were all good, loud and excited, and ready for some fun.

We played several games; pass the ball (kind of like hot potato), over under with a football, basketball shoot-out, and my favorite,  a sport clothing race.  We divided the girls into two teams and they had to race one at a time to put on a sport jersey, pants, and shoes, oh and they were all mens size!  It was so funny to watch them run across the room.

It was then time for cupcakes.  The kids and I spent the day before baking and decorating the cupcakes.  We had vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and topped off with Skittles.  We also had chocolate with chocolate frosting topped off with sprinkles.

The weather cleared up a bit and we headed outside for the last two activities.  Again we made two teams and the girls played volleyball... not just ordinary volleyball, but GIANT volleyball.

And then of course you can only follow GIANT volleyball with GIANT hockey!

It was a great party and fun was had by all!

Soccer time.

The kids both started soccer a couple of weeks ago, and they really love it.  Of course it helps that their Dad is the assistant coach on both teams.  Practices are once a week and this Saturday they both had their first games of the season.  I was so proud of both of them, they really worked hard and went for the ball.  They are both #1!  Juliana is on the orange team and Tyler is on the blue team.  This weekend Juliana played the girls blue team and Ty played the boys orange team.

Funny things...

Kids are always saying and doing funny things and mine are not an exception to the rule.  The older they get the funnier they get.  Even when they are fighting, they can sometimes still make us laugh.  Last week we were all outside and Juliana poured a cup of water on Tyler (that's not the funny part), the funny part was he ran over to the sprinkler, picked it up, and aimed it on her!  He got her back, of course she didn't find it funny.


This summer we were driving and the kids were asking what meat you got from a pig.  Then Tyler asked what animal an onion comes from.


Last night we went out for dinner.  I asked Juliana what she wanted from her Auntie Becky for her Birthday, she said, "Money", I said, "What if she wants to buy you something", she said, "a gift card"... "or a savings bond"!  What 7 year old asks for a savings bond!  She cracks me up!

Back in time.

Yesterday we went back to our old neighborhood in Attleboro, Massachusetts to partake in the annual neighborhood block party.  This event has happened every year since the very beginning of the subdivision.  This was our 7th year attending and as always, it was so much fun.  We lived their for 4.5 years, the longest Steve and I have lived in one place together since we've met.  Juliana was only 10 months old when we moved in and at the time was an only child.  Tyler was born there and I can vividly remember the day we brought him home from the hospital.  It is always so exciting to see everyone, and mostly to see how much all the kids have grown.  Many of them weren't even born yet when we moved in, and now all of them are in school, riding bikes without training wheels, and able to hold full conversations with the adults.  


Yesterday Tyler was very proud of his Mom (me) and my cooking.  I made a crab dip and he made sure every single person at the party tried it.  There were many people we did not know, as everyone has different guests there, but that did not deter him.  Of course by the end of the day everyone there knew his name.  I got so many compliments on Juliana and how beautiful she is.  Her hair gets many compliments as well, it's long with a bit of curl and just is "her".


We got home last night around 10:00 and will look forward to next years block party.  I will hopefully remember my camera next year too.

School Days...

On Monday morning the kids officially started school.  Juliana is in third grade, yes, I said THIRD GRADE!  And Tyler is in first grade!  They both woke up ready to go to school, we are lucky thus far that they both really enjoy school and look forward to it everyday.  We had picked out outfits the night before which was exciting because they both got a bunch of new school clothes and shoes.  Their new lunch boxes and backpacks were packed and they were ready to go.  I normally drive them and pick them up from school everyday, but for the first couple of days I let them take the bus on the way there.  Steve made sure he had time in the morning too, so we could walk them to the bus stop together, and then we went to breakfast.  It's sad and exciting to watch them grow up and form new chapters in their lives.  I hope they have a fabulous year in school this year.

I couldn't get a normal smile out of him that morning:

I made cupcakes for them when they came home: