Teipen Family Holiday

We have seemed to be on the go with home projects, work, school for the kids, and school for Daddy since the beginning of the year so we decided to declare last Saturday a "Teipen Family Holiday". This way we were forced to put all work aside since there is no working on a holiday. It proved to be lots of fun and we all anticipated it for the week, just as if it were a real holiday. The first order of business was a nice trip to the beach. Maddie and Sam have been patiently waiting for a time to try out their new beach wear and Mommy was looking forward to donning her maternity bathing suit....but my old one still fit so that will have to happen another day!
It was pretty windy on the beach, but the kids didn't feel it! Maddie stopped to pose for a few cute shots, but as always Sam's picture had to be snapped while he was on the go! The water was really cold, but the kids didn't notice this either and were pretty wet by the end of the trip. Sand castles were built, large holes in the sand were dug and Daddy showed the kids how to do a back flip off a sand dune, which proved to be the most entertaining! (I wish I had the camera out to capture that one for you all...Let's just say he didn't stick the landing!)

Jumping off the sand turned out to be the most entertaining thing on the beach and kept the kids busy for a full 30 minutes!

We then headed home for showers and then went back out the Pier Park (a mall on the beach)

to accomplish some much needed spring shopping! It was a very relaxing day...just as a holiday should be!

How our Garden Grows

We decided to put out a small vegetable garden this year. We are all excited to see what we will get! It's a little hard to grow things in sand so Daddy and Sam worked some compost into the plot hoping for the best. (As you can see Sam had mostly a supervisory position)Sam is a really hard worker and we let him get his own hoe from Lowes...It happened to be the only hoe we own so it really came in handy :-) He also picked alot of the seeds we put out which consisted of green beans, radishes, tomatoes, yellow squash, cucumbers, peppers, carrots and basil. (it's a really small garden so we just put one row of each item out)The favorite part of every gardening experience...the water hose! Maddie and Daddy also put some Sunflowers out along our fence row.

Everybody got in on the action for a little while, then after a few plants/ rows were trampled, the kids went and played! We are so grateful for the beautiful weather we have had this Spring...and now we are hoping for a bountiful harvest! The kids ran outside this morning to see if any of the seeds had popped up...hoping they come up soon!

Family Campout

The kids have been begging for another 'camp out' before it gets too hot so we decided to have one Friday night. Daddy and Sam built a great fire and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows! We even had some reese's s'mores. Don and Mary joined us for dinner and we all had a great time.
Sam was very helpful in setting up our campsite. He got out all the chairs and wanted candles around us. He also gathered all the wood for Daddy to build the fire. He is such a great little worker. The kids love being able to roast their own hot dogs and marshmallows now.

We all camped out in the living room. Mommy got the couch and Daddy got the air mattress with both kids. Daddy got lots of good Daddy points, but Mommy got more sleep! Then we all made a big breakfast. That is my idea of a good camp out!

Fun at the Park

The weather was so beautiful this weekend! We took advantage of it Friday by meeting some friends at the park for a picnic. It was lots of fun! Sam and his buddies Aaron and Ryan...they had a great time chasing the girls, finding sticks to turn into guns and throwing sand/ pine cones. Just boys being boys!
Everyone loves the big tire swing!

Miss Jen brought everyone balloons they could blow up themselves. We are very grateful to have good friends for ourselves and the kids and are looking forward to many more park days!

Maddie's 5th Birthday

Madaline turns five tomorrow...so hard to believe she is getting so big! We have been celebrating her birthday this weekend, and it was lots of fun! (if you are wondering why she has the same hair bow on in every picture it's because it's new and she loves it!)

She got to have some friends over for a Mother Daughter luncheon this afternoon. We had a treasure hunt, a craft, and lots of play time! Her cake was Hello Kitty. Mommy sure wishes Aunt Melinda were here to make her cake....

A major highlight of the kids birthday is getting mail. They love getting package and cards from all our family. Mom sent this Easter dress and one for bitty baby to match. The kids will be spending Easter with my parents and are very excited!

She also got lots of Money/ Gift cards and is planning a shopping trip to Claire's- the store where "everything is beautiful".

Aunt Amy and Uncle Wayne sent Bitty a ballet outfit. Maddie loves her bitty baby and we take it lots of places (she even checks it into nursery at church). She was so excited to get so many things for her doll. Every Sunday she insists on dressing like bitty. I love watching her play act with her doll and I'm sure it will be fun to watch when the new baby comes.

Mommy and Daddy got her a new big girl bike and Papa Don and Miss Mary got her the new helmet and bell. We went out riding after the party and had a great time!
It's so much fun to all four ride along together. We kept Sam's pace and just enjoyed the weather.

17 weeks

I'm now 17 weeks and 5 days. I'm feeling so much better and am very excited to be back to my old self! The house got a thorough cleaning and I caught up the laundry this week...which hadn't happened in a while! I can feel the baby move sometimes which is very reassuring. I think it is already quite active because the nurse had a very hard time keeping the heart rate on the Doppler today because he/she kept flipping over. Everything went well at the Dr.- my B/P was fine I had a 4# weight gain and the baby's heart rate was in the 140's. We scheduled our next ultrasound for April 1st and are very excited to find out the gender. Sam and Troy are confident that the baby is a boy, but Maddie and I both feel like it is a girl. I think I'm carrying high like I did with Maddie and we have already agreed on a girls name which should mean something! No one really cares what it is, but it gives us something to talk about! Thanks to Maddie for taking this picture! She is starting to be such a big help around the house and I'm sure she will lots of help when the baby comes. At the Dr. today when the nurse came in to take the heart rate a baby started to cry in another room. Maddie got very excited and said "Mom we can even hear the baby crying!" I tried to explain to her that the baby was in a different room and we wouldn't be able to hear our baby yet. She is very excited about the baby and I'm excited to see how they react when the baby comes!

Finger Puppets

Maddie is doing very well in K-4 this year. She is learning so much and can even sound out words now! Her favorite subject is still Art. I usually have to save Art Projects to the end so that all her other work gets done. Here are some finger puppets she made last week.