Tessa Jane

This post will be about Tessa. Shocker, huh? Funny how having kids makes everything in life seem to be all about kids. Well, those of you with them will understand and cut me some slack since that's all most of you blog about, too. ;)


Anyway, when Tessa is in BIG trouble, I will call her "Tessa Jane" instead of just Tessa. She almost always understands the seriousness of this added middle name even though she doesn't know what a middle name is. Just the other day, she wanted to get my attention. She tried her usual "Mommy!!!". When that didn't work fast enough, she yelled out "Mommy Jane!!". It has stuck and that is all she calls me now. Oh, and Anthony is "Daddy Jane" if you were wondering.


This afternoon, we were able to capture the little artist in action. She even explained her drawings as she went. Here is a labeled picture (all labels were dictated to me by the little artist).

Click on the picture to see it bigger. The car at the bottom was Daddy Jane's contribution. The little creature in the car was added later by the little artist.

Lists

I am a list maker. Lists have always helped me to feel less stressed about what needs to be done. I enjoy crossing things off my list, but I mostly enjoy the relief I feel knowing I no longer have to remember what needs to be done--I can just consult my list. So I have been making lists of things to do, and things to buy, and people to email or call. They are starting to pile up. My lists, that is. But I have a few things I have set as goals for myself. This list is meant to help me get LESS done rather than more. I always tend to overdo things--especially right when I need to slow down the most. So here are this weeks goals:


1. Stay on top of laundry.
2. Cook dinner each night.
3. Go out to a public place at least once with both kids BY MYSELF.
4. Remember Tessa's baths and to periodically check her pull-ups.
5. Stay sane/optimistic.


Here is a list of things that I am using to help me accomplish my list of goals for the week:


1. COFFEE
2. CHOCOLATE
3. SLEEP (hahahahaha)
4. ALCOHOL (jk--or am I?) ;)
5. HUSBAND (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA)


I figure the list of goals will grow as my ability to do more things while juggling two kids improves.


Oh yeah, we took Jack to his two week appointment last week. He is perfect! We are proud of our bouncing baby boy. He slept his first 5-hour stretch a few nights ago. I am hoping this is the beginning of something wonderful and elusive called S-L-E-E-P.


Here are some new pictures thanks to my dad:

And Baby Makes 4...

Well, here we are on a Sunday night watching TV while the kids (that's strange to say still) sleep. It has been a very good two and half weeks of family fourdom. Jack had his two week appointment with our new pediatrician (our old one moved away). Not only was Jack an A+ in every way, but the new Dr. is a hottie!

Our lives are obviously very effected by Jack's arrival, but the change is not quite so dramatic as it was with Tessa. I feel GREAT!! Not being pregnant is a state of being I want to have for always and forever. I finally healed enough to feel more like my old self again--someone I haven't seen or heard from since, like, August '08. I have been hauling the kids all over town the last few days. I even had to nurse Jack while sitting on a toilet in the restroom of a restaurant we ate at on New Year's eve. Hey, you do what you gotta do!

A few nights ago, I discovered the wonders of the pacifier all over again. Jack hasn't been a paci kind of kid so far. But I finally "convinced" him to take one and he dropped blissfully into sleep. At 2:00 AM, this seemed like some kind of Red Sea moment that made me want to fall on my knees in thankfulness--which I would have done if I thought I would make it up again. That extra hour of sleep was like finding $50 in a pocket of some pants you haven't worn in a year. So when the next night rolled around and the pacifier was MISSING, I almost had a "moment". You probably know what I mean. It was 9:30 and I was tired and I just couldn't face the night without that little wonder. So we searched the house and the car for 20 minutes before we admitted to ourselves that it was gone. That's when my wonderful and beautiful husband got in the car and drove to the store and bought a package of paci's.

Getting to church has been an exercise in flexibility. And patience. And unconditional love. We just don't have things down yet. There is so much to do! And there is no real way to get out of the building quickly when people press in on all sides to admire the little cutie in the car seat. Plus, our car is TINY now that there are two car seats in the back. We need a bigger vehicle in a bad way. I am extremely against mini vans. For some reason I hate them. But I see the convenience--and I wish I had it! Maybe not in a mini van, but there are other options.

OK. Well, it's almost 9:30. I really need to go to bed. The nights are long. I look forward to sleep when it comes back around (what is it, like, 7 years?).

Welcome to the World, Jack!

I am so excited to be making this post! It has been a long road, but we finally got to the top on Wednesday the 17th at 6:05AM. Jack was born a whopping 9 lbs, 2 oz and 20 1/2 inches. My, did that hurt! We are all home now. Basically healing, getting cabin fever, and not a lot of sleep. Tessa is doing great as a new big sister. She loves helping to go get things mommy needs to take care of Jack. No matter how tired I am, this beats being pregnant ANY day!


Have a Merry Christmas!

Update

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. I was kinda hoping to have my next post be a birth announcement. But it is taking FOREVER! I am sad to say, I am still pregnant. I still get approached about six times a day by total strangers wanting to know when my due date is. No one remembers how to talk to ME, they only know how to talk to my pregnancy. If I had a nickle for every "How are you feeling?", "When is your due date?", "I bet you're ready to be done"...I would have college funds and retirement taken care of. I guess everyone thinks they are the first to ask. Or maybe, they think I am excited to talk about the same three questions all day. I am eternally thankful for the few people left in my life that can have normal conversations with me. It really helps me remember that I actually am in here somewhere--not forever gone while cooking a baby.

ANYWAY. Did I mention my patience is virtually gone these days? :)

So. Since my last post, we have had a handful of snows. Some giving us 8 inches or so at once. Tessa got to build a snowman with her daddy on the deck. She LOVED it. In fact, she had to say hi to the snowman each day after building it as it shrunk more and more into a puddle.

The snowman started off normal enough, but when the face and arms needed to be added, Daddy got lazy. He didn't really get the right parts on the snowman. So when he finished, Tessa spent some time staring at the monstrosity before pulling out the eyes and arms and throwing them over the rail of the deck.

Which was fine with me--it kinda creeped me out.

We put up Christmas decorations and lights. The house is festive and fun. Since our cat Diego ran away last summer, we haven't had to limit the ornaments to unbreakable. We also don't have to flush the cat out of the tree every time we come home (he would sleep in the upper branches).

We woke up today to the news saying that the temp in Denver was -18 degrees. Yes, that's 18 BELOW zero. Anthony's car wouldn't start. And since getting into his work place is like trying to get into the oval office, a coworker of his had to meet us at the gate to drive him in. Tessa spent the whole morning on hyper drive about it all. She kept asking Anthony if "Daddy's blue car was broken?".

Well, that's about it! If I don't post before the 25th, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving...

And all through the house, not a creature was stirring except...

I was partially awake last night when I heard a loud noise in the house. I had just flopped over in the bed to lie on my other side and gotten my "nest" of pillows readjusted in all the right places when I heard it. So I did what every red-blooded American girl would do. I shook Anthony until he woke up and told him he needed to go check the house because I had heard a noise. As he stood up, we heard, "Daddy?" spoken softly outside the door. The loud noise I had heard was Tessa shutting her bedroom door as she left it. You see, when we first moved Tessa to a big-girl bed, we put safety child door knob covers in the inside of her room. She was too young to wander the house at night--but she was very capable of doing just that. Since then, Tessa has developed a very healthy fear of the dark. Apparently, the dark is where dragons are. She usually won't go into a dark room and certainly not a dark house alone. So we removed the doorknob lock. The last month, she has slowly come to discover this new freedom. And that leads us to last night.

We have officially begun that stage of parenting where your child comes into your room at night and asks you for a cup of water, or says they are scared, or tells you they are about to throw up. It's like being promoted in the field of parenting. (haha)

For Thanksgiving today, we cooked our little family a nice small feast. Before we ate, we made special hats together to wear. Anthony was a pilgrim, I was an Indian, and Tessa was a turkey. I know she spent over an HOUR playing with the glue, scissors, and construction paper. You give that child an art project and she goes to town!

My favorite dish was the deviled eggs. Tessa loved the rolls. Anthony said it was all great, but he ate seconds of the green bean casserole.

Now we are plunked on the couch digesting our meal while Tessa naps hers off upstairs. We are truly a blessed family!!

Hope you are having a great Thanksgiving with your loved ones today!!

Time keeps on Tickin'

There comes a point in every woman's pregnancy when she no longer cares how much sleep she will lose, or how painful labor will be, or how different life will be in her world with a new baby--she just wants it to be over!!!!!! I am officially there. I am past the worry stage. I am now into the please-let-it-be-over-soon stage. Here are some visual images that I think do a better job of communicating my feelings than my words ever could:

Maybe I've said too much...