2010 Top 10

This isn't in any particular order, but it's top 10 highlights from this year!

1. Teague turned 1.
2. Matt and Jennie gave us a new nephew/cousin named Micah Reuben.
3. We got gazelle intense (Dave Ramsey) and paid off our Escape in 2.5 months. (We're almost done with debt #2 ~student loan~ then on to debt #3 ~last student loan~ before we're DEEEEEEEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! [should be some time this summer] minus the house).
4. Opa stained our fence.
5. I had Finley Grey my sweet little chunky monkey girl!
6. We welcomed brother-in-law Alex into the Maier family.
7. Drew finished the deck and some of the landscaping.
8. Took a couple of trips up north to 2 different cabins.
9. Updated our kitchen sink from the yucky old acrylic one to a new stainless one ~it's awesome!
10. We're all healthy! Thank you Lord!

Splash Universe!

This is El Senior Blogster checking in.  On Tuesday I took Teague, cousin Ryder and his friend Adam Blematel to Shipshewana, IN to an indoor waterpark.  We had a blast getting wet and hanging out.  My Principal had some extra tickets from a fundraiser at the YMCA in Niles and he gave some out to staff.  I was lucky enough to score 3 tickets and found out children under two are free.  So, we didn't have to pay for Teague to go.  Here are some pictures of the day.  Enjoy!

 Ryder never quite mastered the lily pads.  But it wasn't for lack of trying!

Here's a shot of the jungle gym they had.  Every 2-3 minutes, a big barrel of water dumps over the entire structure and soaks everyone on it.

A shot of my boy and me after taking a spin on the lazy river.  Boy did he enjoy the river.  He got more and more bold every lap we made!

Ryder and Adam before attempting the lily pads.

Here we are in the kiddie pool.  It must have been 10 degrees warmer than all the other water in the park!  We spent a lot of time here as you can imagine.  In the foreground is Justin Ellis, one of my former students we bumped into while there.

This is Justin's sister, Kaiah who I have this year at school.  They were hanging out with their little sister (holding Justin's hand) who is a bit older than Teague.  This pool was only 8" deep.  Perfect for the little ones.

In the kiddie pool there were some fun water structures to play with.  Teague really liked this one.  I don't have a picture of the slides, but he mastered them in the kiddie pool.  Only to get yelled at later by a life guard who didn't like the fact that he was going down on his belly feet first.  She said all the other kids would think this was okay.  I had to have a heart to heart with Teague after this. 

Crawling around.  He liked to be chased after.

When Teague is happy and excited he doesn't know anything else to do but yell.

A hard earned lunch.  After lunch I layed Teague down for an hour to nap in a dark party room that wasn't being used.  It wasn't ideal, but it did work.  We then hit the water for a few more hours before going home.  We had a wonderful time and definitely would like to come back.  For smaller kids this is perfect, for older ones, it could be a bit small.  There were a few big tube slides and such, but  perhaps the Great Wolf lodge would be better suited for them.  It was free, I'm not going to turn that down!

some of my favorite ornaments

Love it!

It says: 2008 Mr. and Mrs. has such a nice ring to it.

This I got from one of my students Brice. His mom was so nice in getting it for us. We were pregnant with Teague.

I got this one from another parent. It's made totally from shells.

I love this one: Imagine! All the love in the universe...

...tucked inside a tiny boy!

I picked this one up at Joanne's for the family this year. It was 60% off!

3 sleeping babes

Finn's in my bed!

Teague is in his bed.
Yes, he's still in his PJ's. It's just one of those days.
Who's the other baby?
Well...
It's my favorite nephew Micah!

He's in our guest bed downstairs. (Don't worry Jennie I've been watching him like a hawk!) The daddies are at church practicing for our Christmas Eve service and mama Jennie is hard at work.

finn's first food

On Sunday Finn had her 1st go at oatmeal cereal with bananas. As you can tell she didn't care that much for it and ate only half of what I gave her. Tonight she ate all her food and I'm hoping her tummy will stay full for a little bit longer so I can sleep longer. We'll see how it goes!

4 and sore!

Finley is 4-months-old today! It's gone by super fast and we're about to embark on the food journey. She's sore because she had her shots today. We are doing most shots but not all. Our family is choosing not to have the flu shot and we're also holding off on the chicken pox vaccination as well. I don't think they're necessary, but that's our choice. Anyway the stats on our girl are: 25.5 inches tall (75th-90th%) and 16 lbs. 12 oz. (still 95th%). She's def my chunky monkey. She also totally rolled over from back to front this past week and she wiggles like crazy in the bath tub - it's too cute! Have a Happy Monday!

Crazy Conlin Christmas

My brother Michael taking pictures of other people. I surprised him.

This is my other 13-year-old brother Alex. Doesn't he look like Bruno Mars?

Lily, Heather (Lil's mom), and Kelley

Deklan (Heather's baby) & Amy

As grandpa Conlin would say, "Nic, you look so beautiful!" Only grandpa would always tell Nicole that over the phone. How he knew she looked beautiful was beyond us, but it's true - she is beautiful! AND she's holding my little Finn.

My cousins: Kori & Kelsey

soon-to-be cousin-in-law Denise (holding Finn) - we found out yesterday she's going to marry my cousin Aaron!!! Yeah! I love happy news!

total mayhem

more craziness

There were over 40 people at my mom's house!

Whoever bought Lily this hat - I LOVE IT! Can you hand it down when you're done Lil or tell me who gave that to you so I can hunt one down for Finley???

Oh this is too precious! Teague was playing with Deanna's Beauty and the Beast tea set. He sat there for at least a half hour pouring himself tea and those that came to join him!

My girl loves the texture of the Frazier fir.

That's Jeanne Imach our friend and Realtor. She's amazing (just in case you ever need someone to sell your house or if you're looking to buy)!

I love this kid!

Enough Said.

sexy husband

I may be biased, but there is nothing sexier than my hot, shirtless husband holding our daughter because she was crying and he was trying to console her. It worked! She stopped crying and he's an amazing daddy!

me and my boy

playgroup at BH library

Teague loves the sensory tub. He played there almost the whole time.

cracks me up!

Quick put them together for a picture!

Teague, Finley, and Deklan (I love Deklan, he's such a snuggle - he just didn't want to sit anymore) too cute!

sideways sis sis - not sure why that turned back but it did. oh well.