the big reveal.

The end is in sight! Ted (and our amazing brother in law, Roger) have been eating, breathing, and sleeping this pond for the last 3 weeks. After working day and night the rock portion is complete, there are plants in the water, and the fish are still alive a well. Ted still needs to plant some grass plants around the black tubs and then it will be a finished project. I am actually really impressed with these boys - And there is even talk of a new business, so if you want a pond... you know who to call :) Up next - regrowth of the grass that was destroyed in order to create this masterpiece and then next spring we plan to add a patio and landscaping along the back of the house. Then we will have a finished yard!

dress up.

Ainsley and Val came to visit and we decided to take the girls to get a fun photo shoot for their 1st birthday! We plan on doing this until they are 30.

fair time.

We decided to venture to the fair last night and of course we need an outfit for the occasion! Sarah and I were shopping and saw these cowgirl boots and we could not resist. I almost didn't get them zipped up her chunky thighs! It took her awhile to get used to them... as you can see below she even tried to eat them off.

These girls love giving kisses!

Ok - so we were so excited to take Teagan to see the animals because she goes crazy for anything that is furry or moves. Actually, it doesn't even have to move. It just needs fur. We were sure she would love seeing all the different animals and boy we couldn't have been more wrong about our assumptions. As soon as we put her down to see these pigs, which was our 1st stop of the night, she went ballistic. Sobbed and sobbed. Between the chaotic chicken barn, the bunny that ran across her lap when we were trying to ease her into petting it, and the tractor pull I do not think this child will be able to go back to a fair for a long time.
This last picture pretty much sums up the night....

And she's off....

Teagan made a decision to walk today! Well, I had mentioned that she would take a few steps here and there but never anything long enough to catch on camera. Today she got alot of practice. Still very wabbaly (is that a word?) but getting better and better with each try. By the end of the day I think she was realizing that it is much quicker to crawl and she would have nothing to do with the walking thing. These videos are so cute but pay no attention to the overly excited screaches from the new parents. :)

pushing my chair

I have learned a new "mom" lesson - don't waste money on toys. All day long this girl is in my drawers, ripping magazines, playing in the dog water bowl (gross, I know.) and as of late pushing chairs! I managed to get some footage of it tonight. I cannot believe how big and FAST she is getting. And by the way - she is taking steps now. Just 4-5 at a time but it is precious! Mute the music on the side before watching the video.

surgery week

After 3 weeks of wonderful vacations I had to head to the Cleveland Clinic to have the AVM's (atrerial venous malformations) that were in my neck and shoulder removed. Those of you who know me pretty well know my history with those... but here is the short version of a 20+ year struggle. I was born with an AVM in my left hand. At 8 months of age I had that one removed and I was told it would never come back. Over the course of several years I have had 8+ develop in different locations on the upper left side of my body. For several years I was told that it was best to "leave them be" and that we would just monitor the growth and deal with the pain as it came. I had 2 different procedures to slow down the blood flow in the veins that were feeding the growths, but this was only a temporary fix.

During my pregnancy with Teagan I had some very difficult spells, especially towards the end of the pregnancy. Between the pain and the growth that developed over the time I was pregnant we felt we needed to get some answers before we proceeded with the next pregnancy. And to be perfectly honest... I was just plain sick of dealing with them! I finally found 2 doctors at the Cleveland Clinic that are fabulous! They are the first Doctor's that has been able to give me any type of game plan for taking care of these pesky things. I was in the hospital for a week... and boy was it a long week... but the surgery was a great success. I am so thankful that the Lord lead me to this team of doctors. Maybe this was another reason I was supposed to marry Ted and move to Ohio?

Nikki and the girls came to take care of Teagan, which was a huge relief for me! I get so worked up about leaving her for a DAY so I knew a week was going to do me in. It was so comforting to know that she was home and sticking to her normal routine. They brought her up so that she was there when I got out of surgery and then for another visit a few days later.

Waiting for mom to get out of recovery

The girls were so great to have around. They are such a big help with Teagan and they just crack me up all the time. Here are some fun snapshots of the week.

We couldn't figure out where the girls had gone off to one day.... my mom found them in our closet playing dress up with Ted's clothes!

My all time FAVE of them. Arn't they BEAUTIFUL little girls?!

Cronk Family Vacation ~ Bemidji, MN