A Teagan by Any Other Name

All of you have been very nice (to my face) about the fact that my baby's* name is Teagan (pronounced TAY-gan.) But the fact is that every time I get a call from the doctor's office confirming TEE-gan's appointment and that HE'll be getting immunized, or people ask me to repeat myself when I tell them her name, I wonder if maybe I've done her a disservice. Heaven bless Brandon, he gave me a 51% say in what we'd name her and reassured me that if he hated it, he would have used his veto card. Seeing as Teagan Elizabeth is on her birth certificate, he didn't hate it. We waited until the very last minute to fill out her information - it's one of the weightiest decisions we've ever made. But Brandon has never looked back. In fact, he was surprised to read the draft of this post. I'm not saying that I regret her name, I just feel badly when I have to correct people and while we knew it would need to happen before she was born, now that it's actually happening, I wonder if she'll hate me for it.

Teagan was a name I'd heard growing up and loved. It came back to me while I was expecting her and although he'd never heard it, Brandon was very respectful when I told him it was on my list. I liked the name before I ever thought to find out what it meant, but turns out the Irish meaning of the name Teagan (TEE-gan) is little poet, and the Welsh meaning of the name Tegan (which is supposedly unrelated, but is pronounced the way we pronounce it) is pretty or fair. Sweet, no?

As we reviewed potential names, we agonized over different spellings and while something like "Taegan" or something more phonetic like "Taygan" or "Taigan" might have helped people get her name right the first time, we didn't love them.

More often than I care to admit, people correct me when I introduce Teagan as "Taygan."
Random stranger: "What's her name?"
Me: "Teagan."
Random stranger: "Huh?"
Me: "Teagan. Like Reagan with a T."
Random stranger: "Oh, you mean 'REE-gan."
Me: "No, I meant "RAY-gan." Thinking that if I know who Ronald Reagan was, they would too?

It is interesting how comfortable random strangers can be when it comes to giving opinions on children's names. For instance, I meant to share this particular run in six months ago... 

As I was shopping for Teagan's 1st birthday (items on list: tablecloth, serviettes and balloons - it was a fancy affair) I ran into a couple with cute twin girls in their cart. They asked how hold Teagan was, and I told them she'd be celebrating her 1st birthday in a few days. "So what's the theme for her party?" they asked me. Thinking they had heard me wrong, I repeated that she'd be turning ONE. Their noses turned up and they said "Oh, so there's no theme?" We're six months out of grad school and had closed on our house the day previous, so we didn't exactly have money earmarked for tiered cakes and embossed invitations. Sensing that we were clearly weren't going to see eye-to-eye on the subject of extravagant birthday parties for babies, they changed the subject and asked me what her name was. See conversation quoted above. Add "Oh. [shared sideways glance, and mutual sneer] That's different." [matching sneers] Tough crowd. So I politely asked the names of their twins. "Luciana and GiaBella." No lie. Read those names again and tell me that my daughter's is different. I thought I would have received more understanding from people who'd also chosen names with cultural significance, but I was sorely disappointed. Doing my best to be polite, I excused myself and wished them the best with what was sure to be the Party of the Century for Luciana and GiaBella - neither of which made the Top 10 Baby Names list of 2010...not to mention the top 500.

While it may be a little different, I can't think of anything that suits her better. We had a short list of names we liked, but looking back, it's hard to imagine her as any of those. That's not to say that we'll start from scratch next time around, but a Teagan by any other name wouldn't smell as sweet. Although her odor has less to do with her name and more to do with her weird eating habits. She's cheeky, she's spunky, she's hilarious, she IS different. She's Teagan and we love her.

Honestly, have any of YOU ever had second thoughts about the names you gave your children? Or have you ever had strangers make you feel uncomfortable in a discussion about names? Do tell!

* Yep, I called her "my baby" but I suppose that isn't accurate anymore. If you want more details about my TODDLER at 18 months, please check HER BLOG - if you need an invite, just leave me your e-mail.

Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your kids.

Truer words were never spoken (so I'm told). So Mum & Dad came to claim some of their reward a few weeks ago. Remember when Teagan put herself in a voluntary time out when she saw Daniel & Nicola come down the stairs for the first time? Well, she needed no time to get used to GG & G-Pop. First order of business: a rather one-sided game of Connect Four. (I won't tell you who won.)

Next: face time with GG. And not this space age Face Time stuff. Old school. Their conversations were quite intense. Probably complaining about me.

Now, it wasn't all fun and games. As Teagan's young mind is so malleable, it was important that she be taught some important life lessons from her grandparents, since her mother didn't listen well enough.

G-Pop took it upon himself to teach Teagan the finer points of remote controlling. What we didn't tell him is that she already knows how to push the most annoying ones (Stop, Off, Mute) at the most crucial moments possible.

This just in: G-Pop still has a little bounce in him.

Teagan was very patient and didn't let on that she knows more about cell phones than her ol' G-Pop when he tried to show her how to use it. An Oscar worthy performance, to be sure.

In an economic climate such as this one, you're never too young to appreciate the benefits of couponing and price matching. Although it seems you'd be able to appreciate it more once you reach an age where bargain hunting is more exciting than tearing newspapers to shreds. Not really sure what the cut off is.

Next lesson: GG's a pushover GG will always be ready and willing to drop everything to read you a book as many times as you want to hear it. Especially when you sign 'please'.

The same goes for huggling. GG will always make time for huggling. I spent a lot of time on that lap, crying about many a silly problem. She's still got it.

 

 "Will my locks be as luscious as yours when I grow up, G-Pop?" She sat and stroked his hair. It was sweet...and hilarious.

As you've probably learned if you've been reading this for very long, more visitors means more shoes for Teagan to try on...and occasionally chew.

The poor little soul has been sitting on the floor for months now, craning her neck to see Dora and The Wiggles. GG & G-Pop took pity on her and ordered a Dora the Explorer throne chair for her to call her very own. I think she likes it. Thank you, GG & G-Pop!

 

It's seen a lot of action lately, and she's grown more and more comfortable.

A far cry from her first attempt at sitting in it -her back up sensors must be faulty.

She's still working out some of the kinks. We're not counting on scholarships for college.

They literally put on a song and dance to try and entertain Teagan, and this video proves it. I certainly never saw my parents dance around with bubble wands. If only she knew how rare an opportunity this was. She's so ungrateful.

Since I was incapable of boiling water when I lived at home, I made sure to put some of my most impressive meals on the docket while the 'rents were here. Crispy coconut chicken fingers and sweet potato fries, anyone? (Yeah, my "impressive" is probably on a completely different level than yours.) And naturally, we went out to Cici's. I think the words "all you can eat" are on my family crest. We're pretty hardcore - Cici's did not see us coming.

We actually ventured out and did more than just eat (shocking, I know.) We hit the splash pad, the park, took some scenic drives and climbed a mountain. Yep, climbed a mountain. Just in case anyone called it into question, Dad was sure to secure photographic evidence that it is indeed a mountain.

Mum & Dad celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary whilst they were here. Aren't they cute?

One day, we might be as cute. 28 years to go.

A little GNO atop a mountain, anyone?

To make a short story long: we had a ton 'o' fun! Mum sacrificed her short break from school and Dad used all of his vacation time to come and visit, and we're so glad they did. Thanks for the visit.  

WE LOVE YOU!

And they said it couldn't be done.

Technically, I said it couldn't be done, but who has to know? No matter who the naysayers were, I proved them wrong this week and sewed. Nope, not a typo. I sewed. As in I pinned fabric, cut it and operated a sewing machine. (I won't tell you how much more my friend, Jane, did.) And yes, I'm obsessive compulsive and arranged the crayons in a rainbow (not ROYGBIV as Brandon would have it, but my own personal thoughts on what a rainbow should look like.) Did he mix them all up to see if I would notice at church today? Sure enough. And did I notice? Let's just say I threw him the most evil look one could muster in a church building, resulting in him putting them all back where they belong and all being right with the universe.

It all started when Teagan spilled an entire box of crayons one too many times in church. There must be a better way! I thought. Then the events played out as follows:
1. Saw people plucking plucking rolls of crayons out of their purses.
2. Took to Pinterest to find out how they're made.
3. Sighed deeply.
4. Immediately went to Etsy to find out who else makes them.
5. Drop jaw at how much people are charging for something that should be cheap & simple for anyone who knows their way around a sewing machine.
6. Posted on Facebook asking ladies in my ward if they knew someone who makes them or knew how to make them. Less than an hour went by before someone had offered to make one for me! (I love my ward - and no one's paying me to say it, I promise.)
7. One step further, employing the teach a man to fish philosophy, Jane offered to host a sewing party and help us finish various projects we'd been working on (and by we, I mean other people).

So we partied, we pinned, we laughed, we looped, we gossiped, we gathered. And just to prove that I did most some of the work, Jane thought quickly enough to get a snapshot. Complete with the tongue that comes out whenever something needs my complete and total concentration. This was one such project.

And the finished product: a perfectly gender neutral crayon roll to keep Teagan's crayons in place. Why would it need to be gender neutral, you ask? Because Brandon asked me if now I'll know how to make another one...and it doesn't look good! So what's good for the goose is going to have to be good enough for a potential gander (down the road).

Jane was an absolute dream to put up with my inane questions and not laugh...too hard. It was hard for anyone there not to laugh when she showed me a few stitches on the sewing machine and I asked "Are you making that go with your foot?" I told them I was a beginner, but I don't think they believed me until that moment. Thanks to another friend who hand sewed the super cute button on the front to keep it nice and tight. It was so nice to be surrounded by women who know more than I do and who are willing to share that knowledge.

After all this, Teagan will colour. Or so help me...

Mushy? No. Full of wonderful memories? You bet.

I guess Teagan was too busy enjoying her Day with Daddy to take a heart-meltingly sweet photo with me, like the other ones I'm seeing pop up on Facebook. But this one will always remind me how hard Brandon slaved over homemade egg mcmuffins this morning and meatloaf tonight, how much time he spent walking the halls with her at church and how many times he walked around the block with her so I could have some time to myself and how much thought "they" put into my beautiful gifts. Although I'm wearing basketball shorts and Teagan is half-naked, it's a photo worth keeping. Thanks for my day, Buddy!

My Man Makes a Mean Meatloaf and other Mother's Day Tales

I don't usually get all emotional here, but this Mother's Day has been a particularly emotional one for me (and no, I'm not pregnant). But indulge me while I record for posterity (and my scatterbrained self) my feelings on this, Mother's Day 2012. If you're looking to laugh, you'll have to look elsewhere for the time being - I'm surprisingly serious today!

Say what you will about Teagan, but no one can argue that she isn't a great sleeper. From birth she's been a champion sleeper - I think she may be part sloth. She's always been great at sleeping in random places - a Pack 'n' Play from birth to 3 months, friends' houses on the move from Vegas to Moscow, a crib at Grandma & Grandpa's and GG & G-Pop's, friends' closets, tents and most recently a bed at our friends' house this weekend.

Apparently the floor, too. I wonder where she gets it?

It has been wonderful to know that we can take her nearly anywhere and count on her adjusting and sleeping well. Lately, her 13 hours of sleep a night (+2 naps - do you hate me yet?) have been interrupted by what our pediatrician thinks could be nightmares. (heartbreaking!) 

She's been kicking her feet through the bars of her crib - not an easy task - and wakes up when she realizes she's stuck and screams bloody murder. It's really difficult to pull her feet back through (so Brandon tells me) so she must be kicking with some force to wedge them in there. Of course I can't help but pick her up and hold her when she has tears streaming down her face and can barely catch her breath for crying so hard. So the only upside to this whole ordeal is that she's in the mood to be cuddled. AND it's usually before Brandon and I are in bed, so it's exponentially less frustrating than it could be if I were sound asleep. I couldn't remember the last time she feel asleep in my arms until last night....

She probably had Strep throat here, which is the only possible explanation for my being allowed to cuddle her.

I sat and held her in the rocking chair for a few minutes, and she just stared at me with her sad, wet, red-ringed little eyes. I whispered and I sang and she continued to lay there. It occurred to me for the first time in a long time that I am the one she looks to for comfort. I still remember how it felt to huggle with my Mum when I felt sick or upset and the way she made me feel like everything was going to be just fine. It struck me that this is now my responsibility for sweet, little Teagan - that I'm supposed to make things all right - talk about a weight on your shoulders! She drifted off quickly and I just couldn't bring myself to let her go and put her back in the crib. I was reminded of the rush of feelings that came over me when I held her for the first time, and how incredibly grateful I was that I finally had her. Then, just as suddenly, I remembered every time I'd raised my voice to her and every harsh word I'd ever said. I'm sure I was frustrated in the moment, but holding her sleeping body in my arms, with her little face so innocent it made me cringe to think that I'd ever been able to speak unkindly to her. (I'm working on my patience.) I rocked and cried and rocked and cried for I don't know how long, just feeling ashamed that I'm not a better mother - that I don't have the seemingly endless patience everyone around me appears to have. But as I watched her sleeping through my tears, unconsciously sucking on her dummy (if she had to choose between me and and it, I'm fairly confident I'd lose) I knew that because of her ability to love unconditionally that she would forgive me for being less-than-perfect and that my loving her with all my heart and trying my best to be a good parent is good enough for now.

Cuddling her last night and having these revelations was such an incredible blessing, and pushed me to commit to being a better, more patient mother. Not a bad way to start Mother's day, huh? Well it only got better from there, with the dynamic duo waking me up with homemade Egg McMuffins and incredibly thoughtful gifts.  

 

I don't know how he does it, but my husband is the best gift giver I've ever known. The Willow Tree figurine is "The Quilt", a mum cuddling a baby in (what I can only assume is) the middle of the night. Yup, he's inspired.  It will always serve as a beautiful reminder of my special moments huggling Teagan and comforting her after a bad dream. I'm sure Brandon's glad that Mother's Day only falls once a year, because cleaning the house, making breakfast, walking the halls at church with a tantruming toddler, making dinner, walking around the block multiple times (to give me a break) and cleaning the house again (he's still cleaning as I write this) is difficult to do without murmuring a complaint. I am so grateful today for my partner in this crazy adventure we call parenting. I feel blessed beyond measure to have the opportunity to be a mother in this life. I thank Heavenly Father every day for a wonderful mother who spends every waking hour (and she hardly sleeps) devoting herself to making life better for her family. I feel so fortunate to have a fantastic relationship with my mother-in-law who welcomed me with open arms from the day we met and worked hard to raise a son anyone would be proud of. I have incredible grandmothers who, although they live far away, never forget a birthday or anniversary and never miss an opportunity to make us feel loved. With so many incredible examples in my life, how am I not better at this? I'll get there one day, with these two angels by my side.

For those of you who have been diligently checking Teagan's blog for an update - I'M SORRY! Her 18 month profile is UP and there's more info up there about our little Nugget than you probably ever care to know. For those of you who don't have an invite to the Little Richardses blog, please leave your e-mail and I'll get you into the party!

Hairy Potter.

Enjoying a "relaxing" evening watching Harry Potter 7. Well, Brandon's watching, and I'm working on our budget. He started to stroke my hair, which I was thought was sort of uncharacteristically romantic. Turns out he was patting it down - he couldn't see the TV. We're so in love.

The Kids in America

I suppose now that they're 20 and 17, I should stop calling them "The Kids", but as it made for a clever title (unless you're unfamiliar with Kim Wilde's 80's classic) I'll continue to use it, at least until the end of the post. My little brother, Daniel, and littlest sister, Nicola, a.k.a. "The Kids" (Kristina & I were dubbed "The Girls", apparently we separated ourselves into teams of two) visited in March and I lived to tell you about it.

Things got off to a bit of a rough start. They arrived late at night, so Teagan didn't see them until the morning. It must have given her quite a shock, because she put herself in a voluntary time-out at the bottom of the stairs for a solid 5 minutes. Nicola came down the stairs as she was like this and Teagan didn't even flinch. If only she looked like this during obligatory time-outs!

She became more and more friendly fairly quickly, especially since Uncle Daniel seemed to be able to play all of her favourite songs. The key to this one's heart seems to be music. She's always singing, dancing or "playing" the piano. And by 'playing' I mean 'stomping on'.

These two were thick as thieves by the time Nicola left. Here they are having a nice (sticky) chat over sour watermelons. Key to Teagan's Heart #1: Music. #2: Food. Sing a song about food and she's putty in your hands.

They spent some major bonding time watching Barney - Daniel LOVED him when he was a baby. Nicola thought that dressing to match Teagan would score her some points. She did in my book! And yes, she's in her car seat. White trash? Yes. Effective? Also yes. (This photo may or may not have prompted GG & G-Pop to spring for a pint-sized Dora armchair...details to come.)

Here we are spending more quality time, but this time it was Psych. We got The Kids hooked and had multiple Psych marathons. What?!

Apparently we keep different hours than high schoolers, so Nicola passed out on our couch several times. Teagan became very concerned when her Auntie was unresponsive. She first assessed the situation and made sure there were no live wires or anything else harmful before she approached. This is her "Oh no!" face that now comes with a garbled "Oh no!" Kind of hilarious.

Here she is saying "Are you alright? I'm here to help you." Clearly our first aid training has paid off.

Luckily, Auntie Nicola was only sleeping and therefore lived to read Teagan story after story.

It's always fun to hang out with Nicola and be reminded of how I looked 12 years ago. It must be scary for her to hang out with me, but she gets a free lesson in why you should eat right, exercise and moisturize. You're welcome, Mini-Me.

I pleasantly surprised myself by still being able to do this. You should count your blessings this was a photo and not a video...it took a lot of grunting and complaining (and time) to get there. 

Daniel and Nicola weren't incredibly interested by The Strip, although Nicola assures me she'll be back when she's 21. Not sure what she's planning (Mum, did I just get her in trouble? Oops!) but for now we stuck with a token trip to see some of the free touristy things. Like the Bellagio fountains, where each and every one of us were violated by people with no regard for personal space. I drew the line when the lady behind me rested her camera on my head and Brandon when something touched him where his bathing suit covers. We didn't take pictures in hopes of one day being able to forget The Incident. But we saw Elvis...

...and the Bellagio Gardens, which weren't as impressive as other times we've been, but we still managed to be entertained.

Next time I'll remember to flip the picture so I don't look quite so crazy. And I'll be sure to blow my nose first.

We saw the Mirage Volcano, street performers and more skin than a dermatologist sees in a week, all part of the experience. And we tried to get a decent photo of The Kids with The Sign, but some robust Texan women didn't grasp the concept of a line and so this was the best we got (they were in the background of all the other ones.)

In keeping with our high class theme, we took them to Cici's (between Brandon and Daniel, we may have made them reconsider their $5.49 special!) and Denny's. They don't exist in Canada, so we claimed it was a cultural experience. Apparently the water at Denny's was eye-rollin' good.

Teagan must have missed The Ultimate Skillet on the kids' menu. But her forlorn look didn't seem to faze her father.

We opted to take a few group photos before the trip was through, and since I didn't have the foresight to set up the camera to take them automatically, we merely broke into two groups:

Where was Teagan while we were enjoying a little photoshoot? Well, she was awfully quiet, wherever she was. This happened to be the exact moment we found out that she was tall enough (where does she get THAT from?) to reach nearly the centre of the kitchen table. How did we know? She dumped an entire container of yogurt on the floor and spent several minutes trying to get up and stay on her feet.

I'm working on my patience and trying to enjoy these little messy moments (those of you more experienced mums dealing with nail polish and permanent marker with a smile on your face have my utmost respect). I'm a neat freak, so this doesn't come naturally. I was calm enough to decide to document her first real mess (are you just laughing at me now?) reminiscent of Bambi on ice for the first time.

Everyone asked us what we did while my siblings were in town for a week, and were shocked when I responded that we didn't do much. We're homebodies and just enjoy being together at home, playing games, watching movies, punching eachother, throwing pillows while people are unawares and other such heartwarming family activities. It was a lovely, low-key visit, and it was so nice for Teagan to get to know her Auntie Nicola and Uncle Daniel better. So glad you came. Love you, you crazy Kids!