Lazy Laundry Afternoon

Yesterday afternoon, David was holding Tessa, and I asked him to run upstairs and get her bib out of the dryer so that we could feed her lunch. He was gone for quite a while, then finally he came downstairs with the laundry basket. I asked him where Tessa was, and when he turned, I saw her relaxing in the laundry basket with all the clean clothes. David gave Tessa quite a few rides around the house and she was having the best time! Daddy comes up with really fun stuff to do!

Where Dreams Come True....

Happy 5th birthday Nathan! Tessa's cousin Nathan turned 5 on January 24, and his family all went to Disney World for a week to celebrate. When they got back, we had his birthday party which was a Cars theme. We had so much fun at the party! Aunt Nancy brought hats from Disney world as party favors for the kids there!!! The kids all looked so cute in their hats. Aunt Nancy also brought a picture of the previous generation lined up at a birthday party with their Mickey hats on. The picture had Amy, Alissa, Matt, Jon, Josh and Bekah celebrating June birthdays when Alissa, Jon, and Bekah turned 2. It was fun getting to repeat with the next generation of kids. Thank you Aunt Nancy - Tessa loves her hat!!!

The kids all lined up on the couch for the Mickey shot!

Mommy & Tessa when her hat was first on - she wasn't real sure about it

I'm a Mickey Mouse Princess!

We had so much fun getting the three new babies together and taking pictures. Tessa and Evan are sitting up so good by themselves, and Cole is really close to being able to. We are having so much fun raising our three babies together. Tessa has a tendency to be a bit of a "bully" when she's around the other babies. She's learning how to hold her own around the boys. Let me share with you my ideas of what she was really trying to say during our picture time.

Tessa: Hmmm, being good is so overrated.

Tessa: Yes, I got his hat! He's not even trying to fight back.


Tessa: Oooo, now Evan's here. Maybe he won't mind if I take his hat.

Tessa: Just a little bit closer Evan, and I'll be able to grab it.


Tessa: Got it! Now, if I could just get it off his head.

Tessa: Okay, no more grabbing. Let's just take a nice picture.

Happy 8 Month Birthday Tessa!

Happy 8 month birthday baby girl! 8 months ago today you made your first appearance in this world. This has been such an exciting month of your life. You got to see a new year and a new decade come and all the celebrating that goes along with the new year. You went to your cousin Jack's 3rd birthday party, and dressed up for the John Deere theme. We had our first weekend on our own when Daddy took a trip with the youth group, we missed him, but we managed just fine. You also got to play out in the snow for the first time. You love to see all the new things in the world around you. Your biggest change this month is how much you are moving now! You started creeping a little bit when you were 7 1/2 months, and since then have been moving nonstop. You are even getting so close to crawling. Still no teeth baby girl! Where are they? It seems like you have been teething for months, but here we are, with your swollen gums, waiting for your teeth to come in. Even though you have no teeth, you are becoming very efficient in gumming your food. Mommy has started to give you bread and real veggies and jello, and you love every new taste that you can get. I love it that you are clapping all the time now and how you smile, laugh and jump around (in your jumperoo) when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse comes on. You are really turning into a real little person, and I love you with all of my heart! I can't wait to see what the next month of your life is like. You are my angel!!

Tessa's New Hat

We've finally got our new hat!! Many weeks ago, I saw my friend Noelle had hats very similar to this one for her twins and I just couldn't get over how cute they were. I tried to find one in a store, but never could. Then one day, my mom said that she could make one, she could knit just about anything. So we bought some yarn that would match her new winter coat perfectly and she got to work. It took 4 tries, but she made Tessa the perfect hat! The other hats were too wide around or too tall, but she finally got the perfect size for my sweet girl. This is the cutest hat I've ever seen! Grandma Vicki did all the knitting, then Aunt Alissa darned it together and put on the tassle. Tessa and I are both thankful to have talented people in our family to make such special, homemade, unique gifts. Love the hat!!!!

Mommy's Girl

Tessa is most definitely a Mommy's girl. She is my sweet little angel who brings a smile to my face every day. She is always moving and changing and I just can't help but want to take pictures of her all the time. I want as many memories recorded on film as I possibly can. We had a great, relaxing day off hanging out at Grandpa and Grandma's house with Alissa, Jack, Cole, and Grandma. My sweet baby girl is so beautiful!

Snow Fun!

Tessa got to take her first trip out into the snow yesterday. We went down to Grandpa and Grandma's house because I had the day off of school. Alissa and I took Tessa, Jack, and Cole out to play in the snow. I didn't have a snowsuit for Tessa, just a coat, so I took her changing pad out for her to sit on so she wouldn't get her pants wet. She really seemed to like the snow and kept trying to pick it up. She's my little snow bunny!

All Done!

I've been working with Tessa lately to try and teach her a little bit of sign language. We've been working on thank you, all done and more. I wasn't really sure how early babies can pick up these kinds of things, but I figured that if I start early with the sign language, then when she is capable of understanding it, she would be used to seeing it. A couple days ago, she was watching me from her high chair as I was asking her (and signing) if she was "all done," and she moving her hands like she really wanted to do it but couldn't figure out how to make it happen. I was so excited that it looked she was getting it. Then tonight, we had a breakthrough! We were at Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Vicki's house and she was eating her supper in her high chair. I used to think when she started to stick her tongue out and spit bits of food out that she was all done, but since she does that through basically the whole meal, that is no longer my compass. She started fussing a bit after she had eaten quite a bit, so I asked her again (while signing) if she was "all done," and she looked at me for a few seconds then lifted her hands and turned them back and forth a couple of times! I was so excited for her!!! She did it twice while in her high chair, because I kept asking if she was all done, then she started to fuss again as if saying, "Mom, I said I was all done, now get me out!" Something new every day - I want to keep teaching her more signs and see how many she can pick up!

My Little Creeper

Tessa is about 7 1/2 months old, and she has just been pretty unmotivated to move around. She didn't roll over until she was almost 5 months old and she didn't seem too upset about it. She was content to just lay. The last couple of weeks, I've noticed that she has been really trying to go straight forward when she's on her belly, but she always ends up rolling when she tries to go straight. Tonight, Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Vicki stopped by for a few minutes and were playing with Tessa on the floor. (Side note, Tessa is ALWAYS trying to get the remote control). The remote control for the tv was on the floor, and before all of our eyes, she just started creeping toward it! It was so incredible! I am so proud of her!!! I got a really good video with my video camera, but by the time I thought to get my cell phone out so I could upload a video to the blog, she was kinda tired of it and not really wanting to keep doing it, but check out the video, at the end, she does a couple big creeps forward. My little girl is on the move!!

Flip the Pancakes

David and Tessa have so much fun when playing together. Daddy's are always loads of fun. Over the past couple of weeks, we've noticed that when Tessa gets really excited, she'll hold her hands out in front of her and shake them up and down. David started calling that "flipping the pancakes," I have no idea where it came from. So when she would start to do it, he would say, "Flip the pancakes! Flip the pancakes!" and she would laugh and laugh. Earlier this week, I noticed she is now starting to flip the pancakes on command. It is cracking me up. Tonight, when were down at Grandma's house, Tessa was standing on Grandma's lap and I had Cole standing up on my lap. Tessa and Cole were just staring at each, totally seriously, then I said, "Tessa, flip the pancakes!" And she started doing it! The funniest part of it all was the reaction out of Cole, he started cracking up too, which of course made the rest of us start laughing. I love all the new things that she learns everyday. Keep on flipping those pancakes baby girl!

A Casual Day...Ending in Mischief

Yesterday, we had the most wonderful, relaxing Sunday. David led worship at Sugar Grove, then he came home and we had lunch and lounged around watching movies and playing with Tessa. She enjoyed having both Mommy and Daddy home for the day. I was able to snap a few pictures of Tessa throughout the day.

Tessa is having a little tummy time!

She is getting so much better at sitting up

Hello there Mommy!

After a while of playing together, she hit her wall and broke down --- soooo ready for a nap!

Tessa took a really good afternoon and was all ready to play again when she got up. David and I were playing with her on the floor and she was busy with her zoo and her teapot and all her other toys. We stepped away for a minute or two to get something going with dinner and when we returned to the living room, she had scooted herself over to the entertainment center and went wild with the DVDs. We just sat there and watched her, laughing, for a while. By the time she was done, she had every movie off the shelf, and some of them had been flung across the room. It just might be time to put the movies up higher.

Who me? I didn't do that!

Pretty in Purple

Digital creativity is not really my strong point. I have always admired Alissa's blog and how cute she makes it. When I decided that I wanted to start a blog, I asked her if she wouldn't mind doctoring it up so that it would look really cute. Thank you Alissa for making my blog look absolutely adorable!

Learning to Blog

So lately, I have really enjoyed following blogs of my friends and family. I never thought blogging would be something I would be interested in, but here I am, ready to record the thoughts, actions and activities of my family. Hopefully, I can remember to check back in every once in a while and write. Happy Blogging!