Teagan - 12 weeks

Our baby girl is 12 weeks old and is approaching the 3 month mark! I know I said it when I wrote about her at 6 weeks but holey moley time if flying! Teagan's true personality is starting to shine through and makes our hearts smile constantly. We always had an idea of what parenthood would be like but we never expected it would be this incredible. She teaches us daily lessons in love, loyalty, simple needs and living in the moment. She is such a good baby and brings joy to so many people.

12 weeks marks the end of my maternity leave as well. I am sad to be going back to work but I know things will shake out the way they are meant to be. I feel so blessed to have had this time with Teagan. I spent some time at the day care and know she will be in excellent hands. The caregivers were so great with the babies and I already see Teagan making friends with the other kiddos. It will be interesting when the structure of my days go from tummy time and trips to Target to conference calls and server configurations.

Teagan's latest tricks and happenings -

She loves her fists. She will stare at them in awe as if she is just learning they are attached to her arms. She is especially fond of the thumb between her forefinger middle finger - this is the letter T for Teagan in sign language! She is also discovering her feet as she watches them fly around and thump up and down.

Mirrors! She just recently started to smile at us and herself in the mirror. The daycare she is going to has a triangle mirror that the babies can crawl through or lay in - she is going to love that!

Sleep...it is amazing how she puts her to sleep at night and after a middle of the night feeding. We turn the monitor on expecting to hear some signs of awakening but not a peep (crossing fingers she continues this skill). She is consistent in sleeping 5-6 (a couple times 7) hours at night before being fed. She is not a napper! I am sure this will change but as of now, we will take the mini cat-naps.

She has moved on from her love of the ceiling fan...to the TV. Yikes...I do not like this new obsession but I think it is the light and movement more than anything. She loves when daddy watched the Red Zone on Sundays!

Bath time is so much fun! She smiles in the warm water as we splash around and sponge her down. All signs thus far indicate she will be a water lover like her daddy!

She is mastering the grasp. She is starting to reach out to toys placed in front of her but if you place something in her hands, she grips it right away. Along with this, she continues the hand to mouth motion. Sometimes a fist goes in, sometimes a shirt or a toy.

Expanding vocabulary. We could listen to her "chat" all day! The noises she makes range from a wimper to a giggle to a hiiiii to a sigh. We have conversations with her where she will mock the sound we make. The smiles continue to come more and more but she has a new look too...the super serious look. She gets this look of deep thought as if she is trying to solve a complex math problem. Her eyes are alert as ever and she is follwing movement around the room (especially looking for mom and dad!)

Rolling over will be next. I can just see it! She is starting to throw her legs up in the air and to one side. She did it once with the assistance of a wedged blanket. But her crib movement is hilarious...we put her down facing one way and go to find her completely turned the opposite direction. Oh and the crib....she loves it! She started in the crib on October 20th and hasn't looked back. I laid her in the bassinet the other day while I put sheets on the bed and she looked so big in it!

She continues to eat like a champion. The breastfeeding is still going really well. It is amazing to me how our bodies communicate and sort it all out. I look forward to the nights where she sleeps 8+ hours but I honestly enjoy the quiet night feedings where it seems like we are the only two awake in the whole world. Just the other night, I thought Rick was sound asleep. We both started laughing aloud as she started to guzzle away as if it was her first meal in weeks!

Her 2 month stats were: 11lbs12.5oz, 15.75" head and 25.25" which puts her over the 100th percentile for length! This girl has long everything! A couple of weeks ago we noticed how long her eyelashes are. Her hair is starting to grow and is still whispering blonde. The eyes are dark blue and her skin is like a china doll. I often rub her cheeks to mine and there is nothing like baby eskimo kisses!

Recent Highlights -

Grandparents Visit - Grandma Janet and Grandpa Todd came for a few days November 6th. We had a blast hanging out while they got some quality Teagan time in. It is a joy watching them interact with her. My dad said he has her expressions memorized now! We enjoyed their company and they got to see how much Teagan has changed in 2 months - win and win!

First trip to city - We headed to Chicago for dinner at friends house and a play date with cousin Ryker. Those two are going to have so much fun when they can play together! Teagan and I also headed downtown to meet the coworkers. It was fun to show her off and we enjoyed lunch at the Sears (Willis) Tower and met Beth and Jenny at Starbucks. She was an angel the whole trip!

Walks with Riley and Lauren - It was perfect timing that we were both on maternity leave at the same time! The babies snooze through our stoller rides but it is a good excuse to get out and about.

Springfield visit - We headed south to see mom again as well as meet Great Grandpa Richardson on November 11th. The first trip to the farm was so fun since that is the house I grew up visiting day in and out. Teagan got to stay in the "kids room" where I once played with snoopy and dressed up in Grandma's old costumes. We also got to see Anna and Tim, Ashley Chris and their new baby Ben as well as the Knox Family. No trip is complete without a trip to Capone's! We stopped in Bloomington to have lunch with Uncle Chris as well!

Helmers visit - Michele, Ben and Jacob came to visit and got to meet the little missy! (11/17) We did a little birthday celebrating while they were here. Christy and Todd hosted an awesome dinner and the girls snuck away to the wine bar once the babies headed to dreamland. We got out for a little stroller ride and enjoyed each others company. We are lucky to have such good friends who can get together and feel like we haven't missed a beat! It was hilarious to see Jacob and Teagan together. They are 7 months apart and will certainly be friends growing up!

Thanksgiving - Teagan's first Turkey Day! And our first traditional Thanksgiving in 2 years. Nicaragua in 2009 and Las Vegas in 2010. Grandma Candy grilled an awesome turkey and we ate and ate and ate. I sure love everything about that meal!

Well that is all I have for now. So much more to come!

XO,

EAT

Champions

We had the pleasure of watching sports history on Thursday (10.27.11). It was even more thrilling because it was the baseball team I cheer for - the St. Louis Cardinals! The Cardinals forced a Game 7 of the 2011 World Series in a dramatic 11th inning 10-9 victory over the Texas Rangers. The Cardinals were twice within 1 strike away from letting the Rangers have the title. They refused to give up in the 9th and 10th innings which led to David Freese's 11th inning walk-off home run to win the game. Freese had already hit a 2 run triple in the 9th to tie the game up at 7 and then Lance Berkman in the 10th tied it up at 9. It was the first time in World Series history a team rallied twice from 2 runs down in the 9th inning or later. They had to overcome 5 deficits in the game! Talk about determination and perseverance.

It was truly incredible to watch it all unravel. It was a roller coaster ride just to watch from the couch so I can't imagine what the players were feeling! Oh yes...I should mention they went onto win their 11th World Series Championship the following evening!! This team continues to demonstrate true success with class.

I certainly don't claim to be the biggest or most loyal Cardinals fan and quite frankly some regular season games are better off watching highlights rather than a 3 hour game on TV. But I do know the excitement that a season like the Cardinals just had can evoke emotions in any sports fan. It makes me wonder if Teagan will grow up to enjoy watching sports like I did with my dad. One of my favorite memories as a child was waking up to look at the chalkboard in my room to see the score of whatever game went past my bedtime. My dad would write the final score and a quick recap of what happened. We will let Teagan make her own decisions as to which sports team she may or may not cheer for. But until then....I could not resist....

XO,

EAT

Did you know the human head weighs 8 lbs?

Remember this kid?

The little cutie who played Ray Boyd in Jerry Maguire turned 21 this week. He was 6 when he played the role. Really?! I was obsessed with this movie when it first came out. I thought Jerry had the best job in the world and would watch it over an over. I was 15 and thought the love story behind it all was endearing. I recited "you had me at hello" and "show me the money" over and over. But wow...when Rick told me Jonathan Lipnicki was 21 I will admit I felt just a wee old. But old in a good way :)

XO,
EAT

Teagan - 6 weeks

The number one bit of unsolicited parenting advice I have received thus far is "enjoy these early days because they go by so fast." This is ringing more and more true as the hours, days and weeks go by. I had to triple check the calendar when it came time for Teagan's 1 month appointment. Everything checked out beautifully with our first visit. She weighed in at 10lbs and a lengthy 23.5 inches which puts her in the 99th percentile!





What Teagan is doing these days:

Just this week she started smiling while awake

She is fascinated by the ceiling fan. She will stare at it as if it is a UFO about to take flight.

We are starting to see a pattern in her days...naps and feeds around the same times.

Lifts her head to look around during tummy time

Searches for something to kick her feet off of and squirms up and down, left and right

Loves to be worn on mom or dad in the Baby K'Tan sling

Snoozes on car rides and stroller rides - loves fresh air!

Is recognizing faces more and more...ours as well as stuffed animals, her mobile and her little doll Lucy

Teagan has had lots of visitors the past few weeks. Uncle Erik and Aunt Lehala came the first week of October. They both enjoyed snuggling with Teagan and while intimidated at first they were naturals within the first hour of being around her. We hung around the house and watched football, went to Todd and Christy's for dinner and shuffleboard, walked around downtown Naperville, ate some Chicago style grub and just "chillaxed" with Teagan. It was so much fun and we are thankful they were able to make the trip!




She also had the pleasure of experiencing Pelican Lake at just 1 month old! We were able to sneak away for a long trip (Oct 5-10) and boy was it worth it. We had a true Indian Summer with the most gorgeous weather...sunshine and 80 each day and perfect fall color. The boys even got to barefoot several times...in the north woods...in October. Dan, Cara, Ryker, Jen, James, Sandy, Rick, Grandma and Grandpa T, Great Grandma and Grandpa S and Tracy and Doug were all up for the weekend. We ate well, got lots of fresh air and showed Teagan what Pelican lake is all about. We dipped her toes in the lake and she let out just a small peep. It will be fun next summer when the kiddos are moving around, exploring nature and can get more than a toe or two in the water!







XO,
EAT

Teagan Grace Tiltges

On September 4th 2011 at 12:31am we learned that something so small could impact our hearts and our lives in the biggest way possible. We welcomed Teagan Grace Tiltges into the world that morning and have absolutely loved getting to know her the past 2 weeks. She was born at 7lbs 13oz and 21 inches long. She is long and lean with big hands and feet and soft whispering blonde hair. She is absolutely perfect in our eyes and although I never had any true pregnancy dreams, she would have blown away anything I could have possibly dreamt up! She was born to Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" and in the song Clapton sings "I feel wonderful because I see the love light in your eyes. And the wonder of it all is that you just don't realize how much I love you." Yep, that pretty much sums up how we felt as we were meeting Teagan!

Our favorite times thus far is when she makes eye contact with us and it seems like the world outside of that moment stops. Her face tells a story and her squirming legs and arms just add to the narration. She definitely takes after mom and dad both since she loves to eat and seems to be a busy body except at night (fingers crossed!). We just love to watch her whether she be resting peacefully, actively watching the surroundings, vigorously feeding or wiggling around.

Her birthday was extra special since both sets of grandparents could be in the waiting room to hear the good news of Teagan's arrival! They were accompanied by Tiltges aunts and uncles. She came a week late (due date of August 27, 2011) so the waiting room was anxious and overjoyed to hear the news from Rick even in the wee hours of the morning! The nurses got a kick out of their enthusiasm. Cousin Ryker and Teagan are exactly 4 months apart!

I must also mention that the song following her birth (randomly selected by Pandora on the iPad) was Joe Cocker's version of "With a Little Help from my Friends" (written by Paul McCartney). This song used to remind me of my crush on Kevin Arnold from "The Wonder Years" but now will bring me back to those first few minutes in the labor and delivery room we spent with Teagan. We would soon be surrounded by family and friends that would shower our new family with love. We had already fallen madly in love by the time Cocker sang "Would you believe in a love at first sight? Yes, I'm certain that it happens all the time"

What an amazing journey we have been through since the early days of pregnancy into the early weeks of parenthood. Rick and I feel like we are so fortunate to have our daughter in our arms and we can say with huge smiling faces that life as we know it will never be the same!

So much more to come! Until then...

XO,

EAT

Trips, Weddings and a new baby!

And so the excitement continues...

We welcomed our very first nephew into the world on May 4! Ryker James was born that afternoon to everybody's surprise. He came 5 weeks early but is happy and healthy as can be. Cara and Dan are learning all of the joys of parenting their new son and seem to be settled into their new routines with Ryker around. Ryker is so adorable and it has been too fun to watch him grow in just this first month! Congratulations to Dan and Cara...we can't wait for Ryker to meet his very first cousin!



The day after (05.05) we drove down to Springfield where my mom, dad, brother and Lehala were in from Colorado staying at Grandpas house. We arrived that evening and stayed up chatting and catching up with the family. There is no better feeling than having us all under one roof! We knew it would be a short trip but we made the most of our time and enjoyed the visit. Friday we roamed the farm, played with Stewie, hung out with Grandpa and then headed into "town" for some more tours and a Mexican lunch with Uncle John, Aunt Gale, JP and Kristina. Dinner that night was at the favorite Capone's and reunited us with some old friends and brought lots of good laughs and reminiscing! Mom and Dad even got to feel R2B2 kick a little! We had to head back Saturday morning but it was worth every minute of the drive!





Saturday 05.07 we joined in the celebration as cousin Melissa married her now husand Jason. It was a fun wedding in a cool venue in the northern suburns...Byron Colby Barn. The bar was in an actual silo! They had an authentic Croatian meal and one heck of a dance party. Melissa was on cloud 9 all night...every time we saw her she was bouncing up and down with the biggest smile on her face. Congratulations to them both!

The following weekend we headed in Indianapolis for Loren and Maureen Schneider's wedding weekend celebration. The weekend kicked off with a cocktail party on Friday where we were able to catch-up with friends from near and far. Saturday we spent the day relaxing and roaming around Indy and getting ready for the wedding that evening. The ceremony and reception took place in a gorgeous club downtown. The band had the entire crowd from the beginning and the dance floor was certainly the place to be! The following morning we joined a brunch and headed home to see baby Ryker who was at home. We had a great time celebrating Loren and Maureen's first hours as husband and wife and wish them all of the best!

Why stop there?! Well we did for one weekend at home. The last weekend of May we packed up and headed to another opening weekend in Pelican Lake. It was nice to get back to the north woods and relax in the fresh air. The boys worked hard to get the dock in, I helped plant flowers, we ate like kings and slept like queens and just enjoyed a few days away. I was slacking on the photo taking that weekend though! Sometime it is nice to put the electronics way or never even get them out of your bag.

That is all she wrote for now!

XO,

EAT

R2B2

Oh Baby we are half way there! Literally, we are half way through the pregnancy and 15 weeks (give or take) away from meeting this little wonder of ours! It has been a truly amazing experience from the moment we found out could it be; yes it might be; holy cow it is! I have been lucky to have felt well so far and am thoroughly enjoying the pregnancy life. We had our mid-way appointment about a month ago and got to see the baby in all of his/her glory...not to mention glimpses of all the organs and inner works. Chills ran through us both as we held hands tightly while the Dr. performed his duties and explained all of the measurements along the way. We chose not to find out the sex of the baby prior to birth. No true reason other than the additional magnitude of surprise on the actual birthday!

The baby has taken on several nicknames but the one that has stuck is R2B2...insinuating the name will be Rick II or Beth II. I can assure you while we both love our names, the name R2B2 takes on will be different from both. Naming aside, this little wonder has developed quite the personality inside and even hosts daily kickboxing classes! We are thrilled at the thoughts and daily discussions about the life this child will lead, the traits they will take on and the experiences we will have as new parents. In the meantime, we are in full "nesting" mode. The new carpet was installed as part of home remodel version 3.0, the nursery projects are underway and boxes and bins of goods we once thought we could not live without are being sent to the Goodwill. Stewie even senses a movement of change but him just isn't quite certain what that change will be yet! Now we just need the weather to start cooperating as we know the most amazing miracle will be arriving at the end of the summer!

XO,
EAT

Here we go, where we have been

March is upon us and signs of Spring are popping up everywhere. We certainly did not hunker down for the Winter, stock up on firewood and indulge in crock pot meals. I was looking back at the journeys since November and have no choice but to smile on the memories we have to move forward with.

We kicked off the holidays with a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Chris's 21st birthday and Thanksgiving, sprinkle in some at home fun and then headed to Colorado for a week for Christmas and the New Year. January kept us grounded with Karly's 30th birthday, Blackhawks and Bulls games, kart racing and dinners with friends and family. February started with the blizzard of the century mentioned in the previous post. On February 14th our good friends Michele and Ben welcomed a baby boy - Jacob Dane Helmers! I celebrated my annual work party - the Housties and capped off the month with the much anticipated trip to Florida for barefooting and sunshine with Dan and Cara! Returning on a Monday, booking a flight on Thursday and flying out on Friday sent me to Colorado again to see Erik propose to Lehala!! We have come full circle as I made a trip to Cincinnati last weekend to meet baby Jacob and Rick returns today from Vegas for Loren's Bachelor weekend! Below are some recaps and photos of all of the fun!

Vegas was a surprise trip for Chris's 21st birthday and a first for Rick and I both. There was just so much to do, eat, see, drink, share and explore in this large desert oasis. We did a good job at making the most of our time and had a blast roaming the city. Some of my favorite memories are: the man spilling red wine on me during the flight there and giving us $100 to bet on red; the fountain show at the Bellagio; traveling back in time to Old Las Vegas and getting a second wind that carried us to the wee hours; waking up fo breakfast at Paris and then back to take a nap; finding the boys at the same seats in the sports book as the girls left all afternoon; crammed into the suburban for Thanksgiving at the Aria; overall decor of the Aria; LOVE show; Phat Cats penny slots; learning (sorta) to play Craps; running around with the whole Tiltges clan!

Christmas was certainly one to remember for us. We celebrated Christmas Eve at Dan and Candy's new house where we had dinner, exchanged gifts and laughs and enjoyed being together with that side of the family. Christmas day we hit the road about 4am and drove to Colorado to spend the week with my family! We made it just in time for a late Christmas dinner and boy were we all (including Stewie) happy to be out of the car. We actually did gifts with them the next day and enjoyed lots of maxin and relaxin. The weather was so pleasant so we spent the first part of the week taking bike rides and hikes with Stewie in the sun. We even got a game of badminton in on the volleyball court! My mom's Christmas gift was a girls day where I treated her to a day at the bead lounge where we made our own jewelry, lunch at the cutest little cafe and then a private mother/daughter yoga lesson! We had a blast together! We also got my parents a membership to the Denver Science Museum so we scoped out the first iMax on the Hubble Telescope. We then met Erik and Lehala for a yummy mexican dinner at Lime in Denver. Thursday we headed up to Breckenridge to get a day of skiing in and a relaxing night at the lodge. New Years eve was a quiet night in where we played Rock Band and actually did make it up until midnight! New Years day we headed back home after a great week in Colorado!

Here is a shot from Karly's 30th birthday celebration at Medieval Times! It was fun to act like a kid again and cheer for our red knight!

The theme for Christmas gifts this year was the gift of experience. That theme continued when Cara and I presented Dan and Rick with their gift this year - a trip to Florida for barefoot lessons from a pro! Of course we got to go with but being on a lake barefooting for 2 straight days was the highlight for the boys. They absolutely made the most of the lessons and improved drastically from start to finish. They started with backwards barefooting and learned new tricks such as one-foot and backwards to forwards. It was so much fun to watch their faces and reactions as they would conquer new skills in this already difficult sport. The proof is in the hours of video footage we have which will provide as their references until it is time to get back on the lake. We headed from Winter Haven, FL to Clearwater for the second leg of the vacay. We spent lots of time enjoying the amazing 80 and sunny weather. We hit up the pool and the beach, ate lots of yummy food, went to the sunset festival on the pier, took a trolley tour up and down the sound, shopped and even caught a Tigers/Yankees spring training game. What a fun trip!!

I had a spontaneous moment when we returned from Florida and decided I wanted to be in Colorado to witness my brother propose to his girlfriend during a surprise party. I booked a very last minute flight out and surprised the surpriser himself! He convinced Lehala's friend Brittany to throw him a surprise birthday party...where he would propose to her in front of family and friends. It was the perfect plan and was executed without a hitch! I hid in a fake tree at the bar this took place at and watched as Erik delivered his speech and got down on one knee. Lehala was in complete shock as she thought she was on the inside of this! A BIG congratulations goes out to them both - we can't wait for the wedding celebration! It was a great weekend and I enjoyed seeing the family for a weekend!

A very special congratulations goes out to our friends Michele and Ben on the birth of their son - Jacob Dane! He was born on February 14, 2011 and is the most precious little baby. Christy, Karly and I got to make the trip to visit him last weekend and see his mommy and daddy. I have enjoyed hearing about him and seeing the photos but nothing is quite like meeting him in person and holding him. He is a good baby with curious eyes, puppy dog squeaks and a face that you can't resist! It was a great weekend of playing with Jacob, catching-up, shopping, dining and laying in the yard enjoying the spring sunshine! I can't wait to hear about more and more firsts about this new buddy and the future visists we will have!

Well that is all for now. More to come as life offers us more and more excitement and treats!

XO,

EAT