We had a big adventure a few days ago. We discovered that at least three lizards (or some kind of reptile- I’m going with lizards for now) live in the retaining wall in our backyard!

Nora was fascinated. I had to keep reminding her that lizards like to come out when it’s quiet and sunny. So she waited patiently the first day…

and was rewarded with several glimpses of the lizards! We decided this one was a Daddy lizard.

There was also a Mommy lizard but she was too timid to catch on camera.

And this one was the Brave Lizard because he let us get the closest.

Actually, I was a little nervous when Nora spotted the Brave Lizard. He was really brave. She would move in to stare until she was less than a foot away. I was scanning through my essentially nonexistent knowledge of lizards trying to remember if any poisonous lizards live in the area just in case she actually touched him. Do they bite? Do they jump?!?! Do they jump on small, curious children?!?

Thankfully, none of the above happened. But you already knew that since no one reported hysterical screams coming from the East Cobb area.

Then Remy started digging into the wall and that scared them off for the rest of the time we were outside. Even the Brave Lizard only ventured one last peek before calling it a day.

The next day we took up the lizard hunt again. I reminded Nora that we had to be very quiet if we wanted to them to come back out.

“Lizards nigh nigh?”

“Maybe. The lizards might be sleeping. But I think they will come out if we are really qu- ”

“WAKE UP, LIZARDS!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKEEEEEEE UUUUUUUUPPP!”

And if that Brave Lizard didn’t stick his head out a few seconds later. Shows what I know about luring out lizards.

(Wanted to make sure this one didn’t get lost in all the Picture of the Days, so I’m featuring it on the front-page now.)

Our daughters are blessed to have a lot of special people in their life. And last night we received a really precious video made by Aunt Annie (Lauren’s sister) that celebrates Quinn’s birth and homecoming. Thank you, Annie. So far you are 3 for 3 in making our eyes well up at the enjoyment of this video.

We are loving life as a family of four! The past two and a half weeks have been so much fun. (And have gone by so fast! Time needs to slow down!)

Quinn is such a huge blessing to our family. She’s cuddly and loves to snuggle. (Maybe I should say, we love to snuggle with her and don’t give her much choice.) She seems pretty calm so far (granted it’s still the early days) and is a good sleeper. She doesn’t usually cry unless she’s hungry or is about to… need a diaper change. She looks a lot like Nora did as a newborn but with lighter hair and blue eyes. She gets really loud hiccups that make you feel so sorry for her. She looks around with wide eyes and her tiny mouth that reminds us of a little glow worm. Especially when she’s all swaddled up.

And she has an amazing big sister.

Nora LOVES her baby sister. For months before Quinn was born, if we mentioned the word “baby,” Nora would say, “GIRL!” I was actually a little nervous that she would completely reject the idea of a baby brother if we did indeed have a boy. Well, she was right and we were wrong. As was the Publix Deli Man, at least 10 strangers who told me I was carrying like the baby was a boy, and even our own labor and delivery nurse who also guessed we were having a boy. (Also, I am officially never guessing gender publicly again. How hard is it to guess correctly when there’s only two choices? How am I always wrong!? I’m like the opposite of a prophet.)

Of course, now we can’t imagine anything other than our family with two girls.

But back to Nora the Big Sister-
This girl adores her baby sister. Sometimes she just sits next to her and plays with Quinn’s little feet.

Nora is thrilled when Quinn is awake. We are still in that phase where she sleeps 90% of the time. (No complaints here!) So in the rare moment when Quinn isn’t sleeping, Nora cheers, “Mommy! Baby wake! Eyes open!”

Over the weekend we made a quick trip through Costco (we were completely out of dog food- poor Remy is even lower on the totem pole now). Nora was very concerned when the cashier moved our cart down the aisle with Quinn and her infant seat in it. “Mommy! Mommy!” She pulled me towards the cart and looked at me with an expression that said, “He’s taking our baby away!”

And if Quinn makes the smallest sound, Nora is the first to inform me that, “Mommy! Baby! Cry!” A few nights ago, Nora got her first taste of serious crying when we pushed poor Quinn past her time to eat (by about 15 minutes, but that was more than too long for her) and the little munchkin was doing the full on newborn wail as we pulled into our driveway. Nora dealt with the situation by plugging her ears with her fingers.

The next night she was clearly worried about a repeat when Quinn started to whimper as we neared our house and said in a voice of slight panic, “No, baby!” (No worries, we made it home in time.)

We feel so, so blessed and have loved having so many people stop by and our huge families with whom we can share this special time. The newborn phase really does go by so fast. We are trying to soak up, document, and enjoy every minute.

Here’s a quick 5 x 5 of some of the sisters’ moments together.
We are so happy you’re in the family, Quinny!

Nora Praise. Happy Birthday! You are two! Your Mommy and I are just now sitting down after having 28 family members over at our house for your “doggie theme” birthday party. What a success it was! It’s hard to believe all that has happened in just the past one year:

You’re an awesome blessing to so many people.

Most recently, you have become a fantastic story teller! I love coming home to hear what you did that day: who you saw, what happened at the playground, what you and Remy discovered in the backyard, and how you helped Mommy around the house. Thank you, also, for waving goodbye to me each day as I leave for work. It isn’t fun to leave you girls, but you’re sure to give me a cheerful send-off. I am a very very blessed Dad, Nora.

Soon you will be an older sister! We caught a glimpse of what this will be like tonight as you opened your arms up to hold your cousin, Baby James. You smiled big. You laughed as his fingers began to tickle your face. I can’t wait to see how you take to our own.

We love you so much. God has blessed us greatly in the past year, Nora. I’m so thrilled to tell the story each time we get the chance. He is Faithful and True.

Whew. We have had quite a morning in the Teague family. Everything has calmed down now, but I thought it might make for an interesting post. =)

It all started when Nora accidentally locked herself in the playroom. She loves to run full speed into a room, shut the door, and wait for someone to come find her. If we don’t do this fast enough, she calls for us to let us know that we should be looking for her. I was getting ready to go to a doctor’s appointment when I heard her shut the door and a few moments later start yelling, “Mooooommmmmyyyyyy!”

I played along and was saying, “Nora? Where did she go? Oh, Noooooorraaaaaa!” She was giggling and I could tell she was really excited about the moment I opened the door and “found” her. (It’s always a great moment. Very dramatic but with good closure.)

Since there was only one closed door, I knew she was in the playroom. But when I went to open it, the handle wouldn’t turn. No worries, this happened a few weeks ago when she locked herself in the baby room on accident.

Josh had handled that one, but I thought I knew what to do. I tried using a bent clothes hanger to jimmy the lock open. The whole time, Nora still thought we were playing. “Mommmmyyyyy!”
“Noooooraaaa….are you in the playroom?”
Giggle.
After a few minutes, I could NOT get the handle to turn so I called Josh in. He hadn’t left for work yet, Praise the Lord. He was the one to bust her out of the nursery, so I figured I wasn’t doing it right. The only thing is, he couldn’t get the handle to turn either. Asking Nora to “turn the little button” didn’t yield the desired results either. She had no idea what we were talking about.

At this point, Nora picked up on the fact that we weren’t opening the door. She started whining and saying, “Open! Open!”

By the time we decided to unscrew the handle and take it out, she was getting really upset. But when the handle on her side fell on the floor right in front of her, she lost it. She was crying pretty hard by then and calling for us over and over. She also kept trying to put the door handle back in the opening.

Meanwhile, Josh and I still couldn’t get the door to open. We could now see her through the opening where the handle should have been. I think that made it worse. We just wanted to comfort our little girl. And she clearly wanted out and continued to try to help by sticking the handle back into the cutout opening. This proved to be our saving grace. Josh realized we could study her side of the handle to figure out how to turn the lock. After a few more tries, we finally figured out what to push to make the lock click and loosen.

We opened the door to a very upset, very worried little girl. She calmed down quickly, but it obviously made an impression on her since she kept talking about it. “Mommy. Daddy. Open!” Then grunting noises that I think were supposed to sound like us as we tried to get the door open. I guess we sounded frustrated, too. Followed by fake cries that described how she had been crying. Then, “Daddy. Open.” I heard this story over and over as I hurried to put on our shoes and get us out the door.

That miniature crisis over, we left Daddy at the house (who was now running late for work) and went to Gran’s. I warned my mom that Nora would probably want to tell her what happened. Mom said that she did recount the story to her a few times.

Then it was time for my doctor’s appointment. It was actually at a specialist to get one of my test results checked out. There was a possible concern which I won’t bore you with the details since the doctor said she wasn’t concerned and felt it wouldn’t be a problem. But the point is, since it was a question about my health for the rest of pregnancy and delivery, I didn’t think there would be too much attention given to the baby.

As it turns out, I got to have an ultrasound! The only downer is that I would have made sure Josh could have come if I had known we would get another sneak peek at the baby! Now I’m thinking that any time you go to a prenatal specialist for any reason, they are going to check out the baby’s health, too.

So here’s what I got to see and learn during the ultrasound-

The baby looks great and measurements are on track.

Baby weighs just over 5 pounds.

The baby has HAIR! I got to see it. And with five weeks still to grow.

I got to see a close up of the face and saw the little cheeks and even the tongue.

I got to see the kidneys (or so I was told. I couldn’t make those out) and I got to see the bladder. The bladder was full. =) I know that’s kinda gross, but I thought it was also a sign of how developed the little ones are in there. All we might see is a big belly that squirms sometimes, but hey- there’s a whole person in there! Right down to a functioning bladder.

Plus- Sorry if this is TMI, but I thought it was interesting. The image was pretty clear and I noticed some particles floating around. I asked if that was the sonogram image or if it was actually particles floating in the amniotic fluid. Sure enough, the technician said it was little particles of skin, etc that’s supposed to be there.
1) I was fascinated that I could even see this detail. It must have been a high quality sonogram machine.
2) Ew! I’m so sorry, Baby! I didn’t know you had to swim around in and swallow that stuff. Poor little thing. Don’t worry, when you arrive, you get fresh air.

And here’s a picture. I know it’s fuzzy and hard to tell what’s going on. The baby is facing the camera so you can sort of make out the facial features.

It’s almost time, Baby! We get to meet you soon!

Thank you so much to everyone who’s been praying about the house! We really appreciate it. =) We think we found the one! It’s in the same neighborhood as Josh’s brother and my mom, which is fun and seems old fashioned in a good way. And the rest of our families are going to be within driving distance! (I’m counting Birmingham, even if that is a longer drive, it’s better than a plane ride!) We just need the inspection to go well and we should be good to go. I really hope this is the one because it seems like it would be so much fun to live near family. We’re already envisioning meeting up at the pool, walking to each others’ houses, and making day trips to visit the Birmingham folks!

We’ve decided that we are driving and planning to leave Seattle on the 24th of November and drive through Thanksgiving and be in Atlanta by Sunday night. We are prepared that we may have to make extra stops if the weather isn’t safe to drive in, but that’s the plan for now. The movers are scheduled and I’d say about 60% of the house is packed up.
Since we’ll be on the road during Thanksgiving, Josh agreed to stop and eat at Cracker Barrel. I’m so excited. I’ve been craving Cracker Barrel. And….. there’s one outside of Buffalo, where we’ll hopefully be staying that night! Yes!

Finally, I feel so bad for Nora these days. I think she gets really bored. I haven’t been able to play with her or take her out as much as she probably needs since we’ve been packing during the day. At least there’s lots of boxes around…

We are thinking of getting her a dollhouse for Christmas. It looks like she’s ready for one.

PS. We have an ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday! We’re hoping to have some fun pictures to post of Baby Teague!

PPS. Speaking of pictures, sorry that we haven’t had new pictures of the day! Josh is the one who knows how to do those and he’s been super busy scheduling movers, the whole process of trying to find and purchase a home, not to mention experiencing a busy time at work. Hopefully we can get those POD’s going soon.

I present to you a direct quote from What to Expect When You’re Expecting: “Researchers have found that a woman’s brain-cell volume actually decreases during pregnancy.” This is why a lot of pregnant women have trouble remembering things. I find a little comfort in knowing there’s some science behind it. Even if it’s that my brain cells have shrunk. Here’s a few examples:

Last week, I was waiting for my stove top coffee maker to work. It usually works after 3 or 4 minutes. I waited about 20 minutes before I finally investigated. Yeah, you knew it- I had the wrong burner going the whole time.

I walked into the Osh Kosh store and a girl walked up to me and asked, “Hello, how are you?” And instead of saying, “Oh, I’m good, thanks. You?” like a normal person, I stood there and tried to figure out how she knew me and if I should know her name. There was a nice long awkward pause as I stared at her before it f i n a l l y clicked that she wasn’t someone I knew. She was a salesperson welcoming me to the store. Then I way overcompensated by saying with far too much inflection, “Oh! I’m good. Sorry, I just had a moment there.” She did that little that-was-weird-but-I-will-act-like-it’s-okay-however-I’ll-be-leaving-now laugh.

I spilled a glass of ice water on the dining room table, left to get a towel and totally forgot all about it. About an hour later, Josh asked what the large puddle was doing on the table.

4 way stops terrify me. I have to turn down the music and focus with all my brain power when I’m still two cars deep in the line. If I do forget to do this prep work, I just let everyone else go ahead of me because if I have an accident and it’s my fault, I don’t think the insurance company will accept the excuse of Pregnancy Brain. (Valid as it may be.)

I was supposed to pick up some dry cleaning last Saturday. I remembered on Wednesday.

And finally, it’s taking me way longer to pack than I planned since I continuously go into a room to get something and then can’t remember what it was. I’m spending double the amount of time walking back and forth trying to remember that I was going to get the tape/bubble wrap/that little vase that would fit perfectly in this small space I have left.

In other moving news, we have made a few decisions. We will most likely all drive together through the Thanksgiving holiday so Josh will have to take fewer days off work. We’re still house hunting. We thought we had a house picked out but that door closed. Our second choice is already under contract from someone else. We’re still looking in the Marietta area.

The cross country road trip might be a little easier due to Nora’s use of the iPad. She’s learned how to work the interface of the videos and is able to pick out, stop, or repeat play movies of her choice. Sometimes she ends up in iTunes (thank goodness for password protection before purchasing) but is scarily accurate most of the time. I’m a little embarrassed about it. But it will be very convenient on the road!

We’ve had some moving companies come to give estimates. Our last representative came about an hour before Nora was due for a nap. We’ll call him Mr. Thorough. Mr. Thorough was very proud of his company and had lots of good points (and I really didn’t mind hearing them, though it sounds like I’m making fun of him.) As the time came and went for when I would have laid Nora down, he was still explaining some of the benefits of choosing his company. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore, curled up on the carpet, and passed out. I was trying to subtly tickle her with my toes to wake her up and she didn’t stir. So when he asked, “Can we sit down while I explain the insurance pricing options?” I had to admit that my daughter was asleep at our feet. (He hadn’t noticed.) I carried her to her bed, where she went down without a peep and slept for three hours. (The last time she fell asleep on the floor, I think she was about three months old.)

We are slowly but steadily figuring this move out as we go. I’m helping as best I can with my smaller brain. =) Poor Josh.

In case you haven’t heard, we’re moving back to Atlanta! A position has opened up for Josh in the Atlanta office, so get ready, fellow Southerners! We think we’ll be moving back late November or early December and will probably be living in Marietta.

The move is bittersweet since the Lord has provided such a blessed life for us the past two years in Seattle. We’ve made some great friends, been part of such a loving and serving community, as well as a church where it’s easy to see that lives are being changed by Christ. We will truly miss our friends and community from our time in the Pacific Northwest.

At the same time, we are so thankful and thrilled to be coming back to our families and southern friends! We love the idea that Nora will have chance to really get to know her (many) aunts, uncles, cousins, as well as her grandparents. There’s also so many awesome friends back in Atlanta who have been so great about making time for us during our visits and keeping up with us through the past two years. We are so excited to think about being able to make plans to come visit and hang out with you all again! We’re looking forward to being able to travel to see those of you who live outside Atlanta that we haven’t been able to see during our visits.

So now all we have to do is pack up! And find a place to live. And figure out if it’s worth it to ship the car and try to ship Remy as air cargo. (He may never recover.) Or if poor Josh should drive across the country with Remy in the backseat (again) while I attempt to fly with Nora on my lap with a 6 month baby bump. Or if we should all drive together even though Nora is not a huge fan of the car. And if Josh (or all of us) do drive, is it safe to drive the short route across the northern states when it’s getting really cold? Or do we lose a day and drive south first? So maybe there’s a few details we are still trying to work out…

Meanwhile, Nora’s so excited about spending more time with her extended family! Well, she would be if she understood what was about to happen. We’ve been working on everyone’s names for awhile now, but she’s finally learning a few. She’s says:
Poppa- Poppy and/or Panzy
G- g- g- Gran
Nee Nee- Aunt Annie
Ay ya ya ya- Ally
Caca Blaboe – Uncle Beau
Jee- Aunt Jeanine
EE- Aunt Tiffany

If she hasn’t learned your name yet, Family Members, don’t take it personally. A lot depends on which home movie she’s currently obsessed with and how often you’re featured in it. Right now it’s the Mexican Vacation movie from a Teague trip a few years back and she doesn’t recognize Uncles Kemble or Royal. But she’s learned almost everyone else from that movie. She’ll learn the rest of the Petrellas and Robinsons as soon as she gets back into those movies.

In other Nora news:

-She calls for me anytime she doesn’t see me. “Maaaaaa!” Yes, it sounds like someone from New Jersey.

-Her newest hobby is collecting rocks from the backyard. She brings them over to me to hold, leaves them in a pile on the steps, and balances them on top of her play lawn mower and pushes them around the yard. Like she’s throwing them a little parade.

- As a result of pregnancy, my complexion isn’t exactly porcelain-like . Nora gets very concerned about my “boo boos.” She stares at my face with a totally serious expression, puts one hand on each of my cheeks, and turns my head to inspect each and every blemish. It’s a fairly humbling experience that I get to endure several times a day. Especially when she catches ones I haven’t noticed yet.

- Nora was lifting her baby doll into a chair with a loud grunt. Josh correctly identified that she is mimicking me when I put her into her car seat. (She is 26 pounds and I have the upper arm strength of a ten year old.)

-The other day she was playing in her room and I kept hearing her saying something that ended in “eee.” For the whole afternoon I tried to figure out what she was saying. It was something like, “Uh, oo, EEE!” I finally realized she was counting to three. We made a big deal about it and now she does it because she loves our reactions. Sometimes she tries to build it up by saying about four two’s. And gets totally distracted in the process and never makes it to the big ‘three!’

-She likes to pat Remy and say, “Goo gah” for ‘good boy.’

-She gets really excited to go pick up Josh from work. She starts calling for him when we pull up to the building. “Daaaa!” As soon as she sees him, she just giggles.

-She calls stars “uh abo ya,” (‘up above the’) from her Twinkle Twinkle Little Star book. (Her favorite page reads “Up above the world so high”.) If only she knew they have a much simpler name.

-I think she thinks the word for running is go go. Because that’s what she says whenever she sees a jogger on the road. Or maybe she’s just cheering them on.

And finally, in pregnancy news, everything seems to be going really well! I’m so thankful that I’m in the second trimester and have a lot more energy. (Very helpful for packing.) I’ve been feeling the baby move at least once a day. Yay!

I have to watch what I do around Nora the Mimicker. Here she is copying my hands-on-hips study of the kitchen and packing progress.

Here are some of the little things Nora’s doing now.

I have a hard time believing that her birthday was six months ago! Looking back on pictures from her party, she looks so little! Of course, in six more months, I’ll see the pictures from now and say the same thing. :)

(also viewable via YouTube)

Here’s a collection of five, 5-second clips from the past month. Inspired by this, who was inspired by this.

Some weekend footage to round-out Friday’s “Fork” post.

We’ve moved and are loving the new house! We took this video before we left but didn’t get a chance to share it before we had to pack up the computer. We wanted to remember Nora’s confidence on elevators. I think if she could have reached the buttons, she would have been more than happy to ride on that thing all by herself. It’s interesting to me that she just accepts that this is how we get outside. We go into this room, wait, and come out right where we wanted to be.

This is a fun video only because of Nora’s reaction after each block she places on the “tower”. So proud!

It’s been a little while since we’ve had a Nora & Remy video. So without further adieu…