Teagan has loved being in preschool this year. It is amazing to me how fast kids learn. One minute he is learning his letters and the next he is sounding out words. He really enjoys school and it is fun to see him get so excited to go. He has especially enjoyed the social opportunities this has provided. He has made many friends and seems to thrive in his preschool environment. He asks if he can go to school everyday.

My favorite part of him being in school is that he is learning so many cute songs and poems. He sings me new songs all the time. I love that he is learning music.

Teagan has always had a passion for music. From the time he was a tiny baby music would soothe him even when it seemed nothing would work. One of his early favorite songs is I Love to See the Temple. This struck me as funny because it was a favorite of mine as a child as well. Growing up near the Jordan River Temple was lots of fun since it is visible from nearly everywhere in the valley. Whenever we were in the car and could see the temple, Stephanie and I would sing that song. Now I have a little boy who is doing the same thing. I love that.

Potty Training

One of the hardest things I have ever done is attempt to potty train Teagan. He is the most stubborn person I know. He showed plenty of interest and according to the many books I read, he showed all the signs of readiness. He started out really well. His pediatrician suggested sticker charts to help him earn a prize. We had our trip to Disneyland already planned and so we decided to make that his prize. He worked hard and by the time the trip rolled around, he was doing great.

We went to Disneyland and he was nearly 100% accident free. Then we got home. Once he earned his prize he didn't want to do it anymore. There was NO convincing him to pick it back up either. We struggled for months trying to get him to go potty again. He was certainly capable.

Fast forward six months and we had a short trip planned to Las Vegas. Teagan was really being stubborn and frustrating with going potty, but he did pretty well on the trip. While on the trip, Teagan had a reaction to some sunscreen we used and got a pretty bad rash on his face. Once home, the rash wasn't going away so we took him to the doctor.

The doctor treated the rash and I was also able to talk to him about Teagan's potty training. He told me not to worry, that Teagan was only 3 and would pick it up when he was ready. Then he turned to Teagan and said, "Teagan, you are a big boy now and need to go potty in the toilet." Teagan tilted his head to the side, sighed and said "oh-kaaaaay." I didn't think much of it.

We drove home and he told me he needed to go potty. I was encouraged by his enthusiasm and praised his efforts. A few hours later, he told me again. I was getting excited by his continued interest. This continued on for the rest of the day! He was going potty! I wasn't going to let myself get too excited. He would have days like this before and then still decide to quit. The next morning he woke up and told me he needed to go potty! He is still doing it! He later told me "Mama, if I don't go potty in the toilet, the doctor will give me a shot!" It then occurred to me that the last time he had been to the doctor was for an immunization. Teagan thought that agreeing to go potty was the reason this particular doctor visit didn't include a shot.

Ever since then, he has been completely potty trained. I guess he just needed the right motivation. I am so glad we are past that stage in life! Oh and one other thing I thought was funny. We got him a pair of boxer briefs in case he liked that better. They are white, knee-length shorts with spiderman on them. He put them on and immediately got so excited. "I have big boy pants just like daddy!!!" I guess I should have thought of that sooner :)

Darryl Pearson, RN

College is rough. Darryl's experience was no exception. It's been a long and difficult road, but he made it! I am so proud of what he has accomplished. Darryl has worked tirelessly toward this goal and he will make a great nurse.

When Darryl's last semester of nursing school began I was talking to my dad about how excited I was that he was nearing the end. I told him I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. He said to me something that really stood out. "You know what the light at the end of the tunnel means, right? It's either the end of the tunnel or an oncoming train!" Of coarse he was just kidding around, but as finals approached and the stress level in our home was intensified, it sure felt like we were about to be hit by a train.

It may seem selfish of me, but I feel like I worked hard toward this too. My big ambition in life is to be a stay-at-home-mom. I felt a little like I sacrificed a part of that to support my family during Darryl's schooling. I worked full time during the hardest and most stressful times in our lives so far. After being gone from my son all day, I would come home from work and just lay next to him while he was sleeping. People always say to enjoy the precious youth of your children since it's a mere fleeting moment in time. Never has the thought of that hurt me more than during the times I was away from my son. It still pains me to know I missed most of his second year of life.

Enough about me. Darryl is the real hero here. He worked the very hardest and sacrificed the most. We calculated the number of hours he spent away from home and it was nearly double the 40 hours a week I put in. Between clinicals, study groups, class time and a part time job, he still managed to get his homework done and get decent grades. I am so proud of all the hard work he put in toward a career.

3 years old!

My little baby is so grown up! Teagan had his 3rd birthday. He is such a fun, loving and adventurous child. He is really into animals, and pirates. He will go around singing pirate songs all day long. He knows a handful of pirate songs. He also loves Diego the cartoon about animals. He is always talking about the animals he learns about on the show. He especially loves ocean animals. He knows the different kinds of Sea turtles and can tell the difference between them. It's really cute. We have a annual pass to the local aquarium and while it's quite small, Teagan NEVER gets sick of it. He is completely fascinated every time.

He has such a large vocabulary and is always saying such funny things! I seriously laugh about things he says every single day. He is just bursting with personality and I love it. He loves to play pretend. He pretends he is a bird and will expect me to play along. He informs me we are now pretending by saying, "Mama bird, let's build a nest." and then he won't answer until I call him baby bird. He pretends all sorts of things and just calls me whatever it is he wants me to pretend to be. It's captain when we play pirates and mama penguin, or Jesse from Toy Story, or Wallace from Wallace and Gromit, and many other things. It's fun to see his active imagination.

Teagan is an extremely active kid. He doesn't care for anything that involves sitting down. He can't even watch one episode of Diego without jumping on his trampoline or walking around. The episodes are only 20 minutes long since we watch it commercial free on Netflix. I am starting to get him interested in quiet activites and he is coming around slowly. We like to do kitchen science experiments. I loved that kind of thing when I was a kid and so I figure he probably would too. His favorite is making a "vol-ba-cano" which is volcano. Thankfully baking soda and vinegar are cheap. Someday I will actually explain to him the nature of the reaction, but for now, he just thinks it's "really amazing!"

He has a little preschool that he goes to once a week. (Really just a toddler socialization class.) He really loves school. It helps his social skills since my poor kid is an only child and due to my work schedule has limited opportunities for play dates and other social activities. We do have awesome neighbors that he plays with, but since I work crazy hours and my mom watches him, we don't get to play as often as we'd like. He loves going to school and especially loves the playground. He has actually come home with some impressive "modern art" type pictures. He loves hanging them on the fridge.

He is starting to learn to peddle his tricycle and enjoys spending as much time as possible outside. He loves his mama and daddy and is such a sweet, affectionate boy. He wakes up in the morning and wants to snuggle for five minutes before getting up. It's the best part of my day.

Teagan is very close to his family. He really loves his extended family and talks about them all the time. He loves spending time with Diya and Buzz (my parents) and also Grandma Reita and Grandpa Curt (Darryl's parents) when they are in town. He went through a phone phase where he wanted to call people in his family all the time. He would ask to call just about every person in the family. He mostly asked to call Grandma Reita and Glade (his cousin).

Teague is a little gadget guy. He LOVES playing with electronics and his current favorite is Grandpa's iPad. He can navigate that thing like he has done it all his life. He picks it up and in about 3 seconds he has his favorite movie streaming on netflix. He also loves his gameboy and is surprisingly good at a couple of the games on it.

I can't believe 3 years have gone by. I am amazed at how much each member of our family has changed since Teagan's birth. Darryl and I have both grown together and learned so much since becoming parents. It's the best and the most difficult thing to happen to our relationship. It melts my heart to see what a great father he is to our precious boy.

Children are truly a gift from God. I can't express adequately what my precious little gift means to me. I feel so blessed to be Teagan's mommy! Happy Birthday Lovie-Lou!

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful holiday this year. Darryl's brother Curtis stayed with us for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning. Christmas Eve we had a pajama party with our neighbors and watched the classic Rudolph cartoons. The kids loved it.

We woke up Christmas morning and "Santa" had come and set up Teagan's presents and left him a full stocking. He ran out, saw his stash and said "Thank you Mom and Daddy!" He's not even 3 and he already doesn't believe in Santa?! We quickly informed him that the presents were from Santa and he said, "No. They're not." Anyway, "Santa" brought him an exercise trampoline to give him something do burn off his energy indoors during the winter. He LOVES it!


We had a wonderful breakfast of waffles with berries and whipped cream and then hurried off to my parents house. We were able to talk to my brother, Garrett who is on a mission in Louisville, Kentucky right now. It was great getting to hear his voice and it made us all miss him that much more. We had a nice time at my parent's house.

Later that evening, we spent more time with Curtis. Teagan just cannot get enough of his Uncle! I felt a little bad for Curtis. Teagan wanted him to chase him, wrestle, throw him in the air, etc. Teagan was having the time of his life and Curtis was laughing nonstop at Teagan's persistance. He was a good sport and made Teagan's Christmas as fun as it possibly could be.