Big Girl Teeth!

Teah has lost 3 of her baby teeth in the last 7 months, but I neglected to blog about any of them. So, here is one big blog about all of the craziness that comes with being such a big girl and starting to get those grown-up teeth. First, here's a picture of Teah from April of 2010 with all of her baby teeth intact:



Teah lost her first tooth on July 30, 2010. I first noticed it was loose at the end of June. We were on our way to Teah's first soccer class and she was biting the mouth of her water bottle to try to get it open. She started crying and telling me that her mouth hurt. When I looked, I saw blood around one of her bottom teeth and noticed that it was loose. Teah was 5 1/2 years old at the time and I wasn't even thinking of loose teeth - I thought she was too young. We ended up going to soccer class and afterwards I called the dentist and asked about the tooth. This is when I learned that children lose their first tooth as early as 5 years old and the dentist told me it was nothing to worry about - she just had a loose tooth!

The weekend that Teah lost the tooth we had been invited to the lake house by our close friends The Mills Family and were staying near Traverse City. The last night we were there I was brushing Teah's teeth for her and when I was done she spit something out in my hand. My first thought was that she spit out a piece of food that I had brushed loose. I looked down and it was her tooth! It bled a little and left a disgusting bloody hole in her mouth, which I didn't expect. Here are a few pictures we took after the momentous occasion:





Teah's other bottom tooth was loose by the time she lost her first tooth. We kept checking on it, but it never seemed to be getting much looser than just a little wiggle. One night she was chomping on an apple and starting freaking out and her mouth was bleeding quite a bit. She had jarred that other tooth loose and now it was really wiggly! On October 15th, our college homecoming weekend, Teah lost her 2nd tooth. She was eating chicken nuggets at home for dinner and after taking a bite the tooth fell right out. Her first big-girl tooth was almost fully grown in next to it at this point.





The tooth front was pretty slow for awhile. Teah's second adult tooth was growing in, but as it did it was pushing the tooth next to it and that tooth was getting looser and looser. Here is a picture of Teah in November, with her 2nd adult tooth not yet grown in. I love kids with missing teeth!



On January 16th, Teah lost her 3rd tooth. We were driving in the car and she tells me that she was trying to move it so that it wasn't "way way way in front of the other teeth". She tried to push it back in place and it fell out. She definitely let this tooth get very loose and had learned not to bite into any apples or chew on the other side :) With her two grown-up teeth grown in, when she lost her 3rd tooth there was barely even a space where it had been.



Also during the winter I noticed that Teah's 4 front teeth were loose, except they never seemed to get any looser. Just a little bit wiggly. Then I realized that her teeth were moving. You can see in the picture above and the one below that she developed a space between her front teeth that hadn't been there before. The human body is an amazing thing! Her mouth is growing and getting ready for those bigger front teeth to move in. So, here she is - then and now. The first picture below was taken in April 2010 before any teeth had been lost. I took the now picture last week. I can't believe my little girl is getting so big!

Big Sister, Little Brother

I love this picture! The kids just have the perfect expressions on their faces. Teah has the "I'm the big sister and am in charge of things" look, while Carter has the "I'm the little brother who looks up to my big sister" look. The arms around each other reminds me of how close they are with each other. So cute!

Teah's new haircut

For basically her whole life Teah has felt the need to have something in her mouth. She was a major pacifier baby and didn't lose it until she was 3. Since then she has bitten her nails and chewed on shirt sleeves and collars. In the last year she has taken to chewing on her hair, which I can't stand. When she first started doing it I decided that there was an easy solution to the problem - cut her hair so short that it wouldn't reach her mouth. So, Teah has maintained a pretty short 'do for awhile now. This winter we let it grow out a bit and she was doing a pretty good job not chewing on it (choosing mostly her shirt sleeves instead), but she picked up the habit again, so when we made a quick visit to Chicagoland we took her to the children's haircuttery and chopped it all off again. Here are a few pictures of Carter and Teah together that I took when I was playing around with my camera to give you a "before" picture.




"After" - I actually really like her with a short bob

Happily Ever After

Teah has never been into princesses, frilly things, wearing dresses or jewelery. We've never read Cinderella and the two times we've been to Disney World we couldn't even find time to get the princesses autographs - Buzz Lightyear, Flik, and Minnie Mouse were much higher on the priority list. She's just not your typical girly-girl and for this reason I was even more surprised by what she said to me the other day.

Quite often in our daily lives the subject of marriage comes up for some reason or another. We talk about people getting married in general, Mommy and Daddy getting married, who gets married, why people get married, and people getting divorced. One day during one of our conversations about getting married, Teah looked at me with an expression on her face that I don't think I've ever seen before. It was definitely a starry-eyed, girl in love, happily ever after face and she said to me, "Mom, will you and Daddy love each other forever". It was just as much a statement as a question and I thought she was about to start dancing and singing "Someday my prince will come".

The only thing I could think when she said that was, "Uh Oh. Now we can really screw this girl up." Thankfully my answer to her question is Yes, but her question made me realize that she has entered into a new realm of emotional understanding where her little heart could get broken and have ramifications long into her future. Sometimes it's scary what an awesome responsibility parenting is.

The Worst Best Kids Ever

My kids are the best, no the worst, maybe the best, definitely the worst, sweetest kids ever! I was going to write this blog only about the sweetest things that they say, but being a realist and not wanting the world to get the wrong impression, I had to add both sides of the coin. Also, when I'm 60 and my kids are asking me for advice with their own kids, I know I will have forgotten the bad and only remember the good, so they can look back on this blog and know they weren't perfect angels ;)

Having a 3 and a 6 year old can be challenging to say the least (as all you parents out there know) and there are many times when I want to run away and throw in the towel. Just yesterday Teah was on the floor in an aisle at Meijer (the grocery store for you non-midwesterners) screaming and throwing a tantrum because I made her get out of the TV cart because she wouldn't stay sitting down on the bench. Carter sat in time-out for 20 minutes, screaming for the first 5, refusing to rinse out his yogurt container and put it in the recycling. I also cannot count the number of times this week that Teah has said that I'm being mean by enforcing one of our well-known house rules. Carter punched his sister, Teah tried to make him do everything her way, tantrums were thrown, doors were slammed, I was verbally and physically abused - all in the last week. I'm not saying that my kids are horrible and in moments of calm and rational thought I understand that they're still so small and learning how to control their emotions and deal with the lack of control and change in the world around them. They're learning how to appropriately deal with difficult social situations and I'm the one who needs to teach them. This is of course more difficult to remember in the heat of the moment when I'm throwing in the towel.

So, I can only thank the heavens that these children of mine are also the sweetest kids on the earth. Here are some of the wonderful things they say and do that make the work worth it. Last week during our time together when Teah was at school, Carter was playing and having a good time. He stopped, walked over to me and said in the sweetest, most sincere little 3 year old voice, "Mom, you're my best friend". The other day Teah had noticed that there are a lot of girls in her class taller than her and we were discussing the fact that people come in all shapes and sizes. I mentioned that it was possible that she would grow up and be short, since I am short myself and we share the same genes. She looked at me with true happiness on her face and said, "Mom, I'm going to grow up to be just like you!" I get kisses, hugs, the biggest squeezes EVER, and I love you's every day.

I'm not the perfect parent, my kids aren't perfect angels, but the love that we share is an amazing thing that will hopefully get us through the moments that are the most difficult.

Robert's comments after reading this post: "Our kids aren't superlatives. They're not the best or the worst. They're kids and they're wonderful."

Equal Rights For All

Teah and I had a pretty amazing conversation today about equality, but before I recount what was said, I need to explain a few things that Teah and I had previously discussed.

A few weeks ago Teah and I were talking about marriage and I pointed out the fact that it isn't only boys and girls that get married, but boys and boys or girls and girls. I also let her know that in many states in the U.S. it is against the law for two people to marry each other if they're the same sex. This, I explained, was the reason that Aunt Andie and Aunt Chris got married in Canada. About the same time we were having these discussions, Teah was also learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. at school. She came home and told me that people with dark skin or light skin didn't used to be able to do the same things, but MLK helped to change the rules so that everyone was equal.

So, Teah had these separate discussions tucked away in that amazing brain of hers. Tonight she connected them all on her own in a pretty awesome way. On our way to a friends house we were chatting in the van and somehow the subject of babies came up. Almost always when we talk about babies Teah tells me that she doesn't want to have any when she grows up - she decided this many months ago at exactly the same time she learned that having babies hurts. I told her that probably she could wait to make that decision until she was a grown-up and maybe she would want to talk to the boy she's going to marry about it as well. This is when she said, "Mom, if I move to another country when I'm a grown-up then I can marry a girl if I want to". I told her that she was right, but that probably by the time she was a grown-up she would be able to marry a girl here in the United States since there were people fighting to change the rules. To this Teah responds with, "AGAIN?", in an agitated voice. My first thought was that she was confused and thought that same sex marriage was legal before and they were fighting to change it for a second time. So, I told her that they weren't fighting "AGAIN" because it had always been against the law for two girls to get married. Seemingly exasperated, Teah responded to me, "No Mom, I mean the rules that were changed when people with light skin and dark skin couldn't do the same things". She was frustrated that people had already fought for equality and now they were doing it AGAIN!

WOW. Even a six-year old can see the parallels between the fight for same sex marriage and the fight for civil rights.

A Weekend Visit

This past weekend we were happy to finally be able to find a time to get together with Dan, Annalee, and Miles. Miles has gotten so big since we last saw him and at almost 16 months old he runs around like a pro and had a great time playing with Teah and Carter. I pulled out our more age appropriate toys and we even blew up the bouncer. Miles impressively took everything in stride and I think even had a great time. By the end of the evening he even warmed up to the dog and they were playing catch and laughing. My camera was low on batteries and my charger was MIA, so I only pulled it out at the very end of the evening to snap a few pictures of Miles.

Tulips in February

I would like to say Thank You to Meijer for selling these awesome tulip bulbs in a vase so that I can have long-lasting tulips in February. They really brighten up the house in the winter!

Pool Sharks

Well, we're on our way to being a family of pool sharks :) We picked up a used pool table off of Craigslist in the fall and every now and again we find the time to play with it. Robert gives the kids lessons and works on his tricks and I try to slop a few balls in every now and again. Here are some pictures I snapped this evening.

Robert showing Teah how to hold her cue.


Then, of course, she wanted to do it herself


Yeah! She actually hit the cue ball ;)


Carter gets some help from Daddy


Robert practicing his "trick" shot. He jumps the cue ball over the 1 and hits the 8 ball. He made it into the pocket in only three tries.


Carter's head shot for when he hits the pro circuit

Crazy Hair

This is Teah after jumping in the bouncer :)

Sweet Dreams

Vegas! The dog, not the city...

The Hilliards have a new family member and I have a new blog subject! Meet Vegas, our rescue dog.

Almost 3 1/2 years ago now, our first ever dog, Scrappy, died of cancer. Carter was only about 5 weeks old, so we weren't in any hurry to replace Scrappy with all of the other demands of our two children. Now that the kids are older and both in school, I decided it was time to start thinking about getting another dog. I started looking before Christmas, but with the holidays and Robert's knee surgery, we put off the decision.We still weren't sure if we were ready, but the kids and I decided to go to a dog adoption this past weekend to just look around and pet some dogs - or so we thought!

Vegas was listed as a Schnauzer mix, although from the looks of his wiry hair, short legs, curly tail, and long snout I'm guessing he is a mutt through and through with a mix of many different breeds. We adopted Vegas from The Animal Rescue Project and they told us what little they knew about his history. He was found in mid-November tied up at a rest area near battle creek. He was found with the tags in the picture, showing that he had a rabies vaccination in Las Vegas, NV in 2007. The Battle Creek animal control facility called the numbers and tried to locate his owners, but they were unsuccessful. After 10 days, The Animal Rescue Project rescued Vegas from the shelter, where if he stayed too long he would have been put down. Vegas was at their shelter for 2 months before we decided to take him home. The shelter estimated him to be about 4 years old.


Robert was working, so I was sure that we wouldn't come home with a dog, but after spending almost an hour in the petting room with Vegas, I fell in love. He passed all of the tests - pulling on ears and tail, taking away rawhide without aggression, not a crazy barker, enjoyed playing with dog toys, got along well with another dog, and he wasn't overly assertive about needing our attention. Also, he was the cutest scraggly mutt I've ever seen, and if you had ever met Scrappy, you know that's just the look I love! So, after getting Robert's OK over the phone, we decided to bring him home!!

After stopping at the pet store for the essentials, we brought him home, set up his food and water, showed him where to do his business, and gave him a bath. Since Vegas was at the shelter and not in a foster home, the rescue wasn't sure if he was house-trained. So, I decided to keep him in our basement until we could figure out exactly where he stood on that front (the carpet down there is much more cleanable than on the main level). When Robert got home the next day Vegas greeted him with doggy enthusiasm and the family was complete :)

In the few days that we've had Vegas I've learned that he is indeed house-trained, he loves to play fetch and will bring the toy back and immediately drop it at your feet for another throw, he enjoys chewing rawhides and nylabones, he's great on car rides (he's ridden along on a few trips to preschool), and he's generally an awesome dog. I can't imagine why his former family would've wanted to give him up, but their loss is definitely our gain! Here's a few pics I've taken of him over the last few days. Have I mentioned that I also have a new photographic subject :) My kids are probably thankful to not be the only ones having to pose anymore!

Makin' Lunch

Carter loves to help me cook and I couldn't resist snapping some pictures of him while we were making mac -n- cheese the other day. How cute is he? :)

Getting Dressed

Carter is 3 1/2 years old now and really becoming very independent. I can't believe how big he is and I just needed to document something that he does all by himself. He's just so cute. So, here he is getting dressed.

Bathtime

Well, I've been so focused lately on improving my professional photography skills that I have neglected taking pictures of our everyday life. So, it's time to get back to the blog with some bathtime pictures. For some reason I love pictures of the little ones in the bath. So, this afternoon Carter was having a ball in our jacuzzi tub and I decided to snap a few pictures of him. He didn't have any of his bath toys, just a few cups and he stayed in there playing for over 30 minutes! He loves the bubbles that the jacuzzi makes after I wash his hair. It's hilarious when he decides to put some on his chin and say, "Ho Ho Ho"!