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Friday, November 30, 2012

4 months

Well she's already 4 months old. I truly can't believe it. She's SO BIG!!

Tessa, at 4 months, you are:

*15 lbs 11 oz. HOLY SMOKES!! I love those little chubby cheeks! I thought you were a big girl but when I looked at Tommy's 4 month post, he was 2 pounds bigger!

*25 1/2 inches long. All of your pants are getting too short!

*in a size 2 diaper.

*eating 4-6 ounces every 3-4 hours.

*an AWESOME sleeper! You have been consistanly falling asleep around 8:30 or 9pm and sleeping until anywhere between 6:45 to 8am. LOVE it. So thankful every day that you sleep good!

*SO happy! You are always smiling. ALWAYS! Especially right when you wake up.

*talking a lot. You just sit and coo and smile and giggle.

*in some 3 month stuff, but mostly 3-6 month stuff. Your shirts we are getting a little bigger, like 6-9 months because they're usually too short. But it works well with leggings! Mommy is addicted to buying you clothes. LIttle girl stuff is just SO stinkin cute!

*OBSESSED with your toes! You never stop playing with them. Even when you're in an awkward position, you still try to grab them and play with them. The other night while Mommy was decorating for Christmas, you fell asleep holding onto them :)


 *a master at getting your socks off. Truly, it's like some kind of crazy trick you do. I almost don't even bother with socks and shoes. If it wasn't so cold, I wouldn't put them on you! You always, ALWAYS get your socks and shoes off. Drives me nuts because you have some REALLY cute shoes!!

*officially rolling over! Aunt Brooke said you did last month. She didn't actually see it but you were on your back and when she came back in the room, you were on your tummy. Then, just 2 days ago, she saw you. And then Mommy saw you do it at your 4 month check up at your doctor's office. It was so exciting! Big girl!

*holding your head up well. You enjoy tummy time a little more!

*drooling like CUH-RAZY! It's insane. We either have to change you 3-4 times a day or keep a bib on you all the time! I keep waiting for a tooth to poop in, but no sign of one yet!

*just the sweetest thing. You really are. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED having a boy and I'm glad I had a boy first, but having my little girl is so awesome. You are so calm and laid back and sweet. I love your little snuggles!


Tessa Grace, you are an absolute joy. I can say that in 100% honesty! I can't wait to see you grow up and get to know your little personality even more. I couldn't have asked for a better 2nd child!! You completed our family in a way that I didn't even think needed to be done. I love you so, SO much and I can't believe I get to call you mine! Love you, sweet pea!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

22 months

Tommy, at 22 months, you are:

*28 lbs still

*about 35 1/2 inches

*still in a size 5 diaper (for about a year now!)

*in a size 7/8 shoe
*SO ornery. It seems to have gotten particularly crazy in the last two weeks or so. You KNOW what you're doing and you give the most devilish grin before you do it. You've also gotten really good at giving "mean" looks.

*talking a LOT. Like, ALL the time. You find a phrase and just say it over and over and over until we want to cry. You say, "Minni-minni-mouse!!" constantly. You always want to watch it, but you say it even when it's totally irrelevant. You also have been saying, "Dog--digga--dog, dog!!" No clue what it means, but you say it every 5 minutes. But you say a lot of actual words too :)

*sleeping much better. For awhile, you were waking up at like 6:30 in the morning. SO not okay with mommy. It must have been a phase because now you're back to your normal 7:30 or 8am wake-up time.

*a horrible eater. According to your aunt, you eat a TON at lunch and you eat stuff that's really good for you like peaches and noodles and vegetables. You will not TOUCH that stuff at home. I try constantly and you just refuse to eat it. We're working on it, but I'm not real sure how to go about MAKING you eat good stuff!!

*obsessed with choo-choos (which you call doo-doos). You yell choo-choo a lot in public but since it sounds like you're screaming DOO-DOO!!!!!!!!!! we get a lot of weird looks :)

*still liking football, but not quite as obsessed with it as you used to be. You still get excited and yell, "BOOBALL!" whenever you see one, but you don't talk about it constantly.

*entranced by the TV. You would sit and watch all day if I let you. I'm ready for it to be summer if for no reason other than to le you outside! You always pick the outside if you can, but when it's cold, you like being a couch potato.

*so silly! Lately, when I've been asking you for kisses, you just go, "Muuuuwah" and make a kissy face without actually kissing me. Like you just can't be bothered to give kisses. You want to sleep with 3 books--your prayer book, your train book and your animal book. You have just started saying, "Yeah!" when we ask you a question or when we say your name. Also, whenever we tell you to do something, you say, "Otay!" You say both words with such enthusiasm that we laugh almost every time you say it.

*the cutest little thing. Except you're not little anymore :( It's hitting me more and more every day that you're going to be TWO YEARS OLD in just 2 short months. How did that happen?!? Even though you're getting bigger, I see little things about you that will always make you think of you as my baby. Your right ear is still wrinkles and has a mole right on your earlobe (your only other mole is on your tooshy!). And your eyes are still the gorgeous blue color you were born with that everyone said you would lose and you never did.



*so grown up. You want to do everything yourself. You always go get your step stool or a chair if you want to reach something. When you get hurt, you don't want cuddled. You hold your hand out and say, "NO! NO, NO, NO!" You try to put your own shoes on (unsuccessfully). You have just become so independent and I know it's only going to increase.

*in LOVE with Mickey Mouse. I think we're going to do a Mickey themed birthday party. You have to know I love you if I do that. I am so anti-Disney that it kills me to buy Mickey Mouse stuff, but it just makes you so happy that I have to do it!

*still in love with your sister. I thought maybe once the newness of her wore off, you would start ignoring her or be mean to her, but you haven't. You love her so much. You're always patting her or kissing her. You run to get her paci when she cries and wipe her mouth when she spits up. You are the BEST big brother a girl could ask for.

Tommy, I can't believe you're almost TWO! I love you so much, little boy. It's so fun to watch your personality come out and learn a little more about who you're going to be some day. You keep us on our toes. Just when I think I'm going to have to run away from home to stay sane, you do something exceptionally sweet that brings me back to sanity and the realization that you all are more than I could dream of. I love you, Tommy!!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Shift work

If you follow me on Facebook, you already know that Nick is FINALLY back on 1st shift! Yesterday was his first day back and it feels like a little slice of Heaven already. This last weekend was SO amazing!

When the kids woke up on Saturday morning, my whole body groaned. And then I remembered......we could actually wake up as a family and have the whole day together. Usually, we wake up as Nick is going to sleep. And then we either have to leave the house and find something to do (which is REALLY hard with 2 kids) or we have to try to be REEEAAAAALLLY quiet at home (which is REALLY hard with 2 kids). Trying to keep them quiet always had me super stressed because I felt like Nick wasn't sleeping well, but at the same time, the kids were just being kids. They don't understand right now WHY it's important to be quiet.

It's so nice to come home from work and have the whole evening together rather than just watching and waiting for 8pm to come around. I dreaded seeing him get off the couch to go get dressed and get his boots on. I felt like dinner was always rushed and play time was rushed and hang out time was super short. Every night after Nick would leave, at some point, Tommy would walk around the house and say, "Daaaaaaad!! Dad!!! Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!" Kinda sad  :) Then I would have to try to get Tessa to sleep without Tommy waking her up 500 times.

Thank God, my mom came over almost every night. Here's a little shout out to nanas around the world--THANK YOU!! My mom was (and still is) awesome. She's there whenever I need her and gave up a lot of her own personal time to hang out with me and my kiddos so I wouldn't be too lonely. Last week, she stayed the night a few times.

The first time, she was already here and I went to put Tommy to bed. He kept pointing at the corner and I asked him what he was pointing at. He said (without hesitation), "Dosts!" At Halloween, Brooke had ghosts hanging in her tree, so he knows what they are. Creepy. I begged my mom to sleep with me ;) And being the good mom she is, she did!

The second time, she had left my house around 10pm. Tommy ended up getting really sick and Nick was working. His fever got high and I got nervous. I do okay when someone is with me, but I hate being alone with my kids when they're sick. I feel like I can't give my full attention to the sick kiddo if they're both awake and I hate making big judgement calls by myself. I was thinking about taking Tommy to the ER, so I called my mom at 1:30am and asked her to come over. And she did. And she said, "Thank you for calling me." (Told you she was awesome!). While she was on her way over, Tommy puked all over me (disgusting) but seemed to feel SO much better afer that and his fever broke, so she just slept with us again.

But I digress. It's been almost a year to the day that Nick went to third shift. It was right after Thanksgiving last year that he switched shifts. This Thanksgiving is going to be SO much better than the last one! I keep trying to remember what we did last year and then I realize I was in the ER the whole time for my kidney infection and didn't get to see Tommy for more than an hour. Sad day. But this year--I'm NOT pregnant (YAY!!!!), I will NOT have a kidney infection and my hubs will NOT be sleeping all day!!

Thank you God!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Home

The room is a mess of loud children, streamers, art projects and birthday cake. The weather is cold and the wind fierce enough to drive everyone inside for the day.

I can see him wandering in the sea of legs and balloons. I'm watching him, every step he takes, but he doesn't know it. He's bound and determined to get to the balloon he wants--the orange one. He's scared and timid to be among so many strangers, but the temptation to have what he wants overcomes the fear of the unknown.

His little blond head is bobbing up and down, in between jeans and winter coats and metal chairs. I can tell his confidence wavers momentarily as he looks up at all those who are bigger than him. But he's on a mission and nothing is going to stop him.

He's so lost in catching the orange one that he gets farther away then he intended. He's only 40 feet away, but to a toddler, it might as well be a million miles. I see him finally reach what he's been chasing after. He bends down to grab the balloon, looking furiously over each shoulder to make sure nobody else was going to dare steal it away from him.

As he realizes that his prized possession is in his hands, he turns with a victorious grin to share his triumph with me. And even though I can still see him, he can't see me. I can see the panic rise up in his eyes--if I could hear his heartbeat, I know it would be racing.

He looks frantically in every direction, searching the crowd to find a familiar face. I see the grin start to crumble and know that in a matter of seconds, there's going to be tears. He starts walking through the crowd, his steps quickening with every movement. He holds the balloon close, a lifeline to something familiar and good. As the tears start sliding down his cheeks, I stand quickly to go to him, catching his attention. My heart breaks for him as I recognize the feeling of being lost, if only for a moment.

His eyes meet mine and everything inside him relaxes and knows that he has found home. My heart quickens at the thought that I am his person. I am the person that makes him feel warm and safe. He runs to close the distance between us and lets me lift him into my arms. I treasure the few seconds that he is still and holding me as tightly as I'm holding him.

It doesn't last long.

After a few moments, he's begging to be let down and ready to explore again.

And the prayer of my heart becomes one that God himself prays for me--that I will always be home to my children. That they will always know I am a constant and steady presence in their life and that even if they venture away from home, I WILL be here waiting for them, my heart beating in anticipation of their arrival.

Jeremiah 24:7-I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Forever



For as long as I live, THIS....................

........is how I will remember him. As a tiny, little boy...... on a lazy Saturday morning..... dressed in dino PJs.

I love you, sweet boy.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Company picnic

At the beginning of October, Nick had his company picnic. I was SO not excited to go. The weather was pretty bad that morning and I thought we were going to get out of it. But then of course it cleared up right before and turned into the muggiest day of October :)

It ended up being pretty cool (as most things I'm dreading usually do!). It was at Eberly Farms. They have a petting zoo.........
Tommy LOVED the horse. He kept feeding it and wanting to pet it. But he was a little scared too. He's never been so close to an animal so big!


They also had a swing set that he was obsessed with. Swinging is his favorite thing to do!


The pond was a big hit too! He loved throwing rocks into it.

It provided a VERY scenic backdrop for a few of my all-time favorite photos with my FAVORITE little girl!!

The last thing we did before we ate was go on a hay rack ride. It was the last one of the day and I was glad we got on it. I thought Tommy would love it. And he did......for about 5 minutes. And then he wanted to stand up and walk around. He was SUPER mad that we wouldn't let him, so he decided to throw a full blown tantrum consisting of body stiffening and screaming. I thought about telling everyone he had seizures to try to avoid the embarrassment, but once he started screaming, "NOOOOOO!" I figured the whole seizure option was out :) The hay rack ride lasted about 15 minutes, of course. He finally stopped screaming for the last 5 minutes of it. It was a loud, but beautiful ride!

We finished off the day with grilled hamburgers that were pretty tasty and both kids fell asleep on the way home. It turned out to be an almost perfect fall day!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Halloween 2012

I was super excited for Halloween this year. Last year, Tommy didn't have a clue. But this year, he LOVES candy, so I figured he'd be all about it. We decided to make him a Denver Broncos football player and Tessa a Broncos cheerleader. I should've known better. When we carved pumpkins a few days before, he was NOT excited. At all. He LOVES making messes, but would not touch the pumpkin. That was my first clue that Halloween would not go well.

  Although Tessa was her normal, smiley self the whole time!

 My first mistake on our Halloween extravaganza was not actually trying everything on together before Halloween night. I had a little Broncos jersey for him and then I bought some navy blue sweats with elastic in the bottoms and was going to pull those up so they'd be short like football pants. Then I bought tall white socks for him to wear. We also had some black face paint we were going to put under his eyes. Tessa was just going to wear a Broncos onesie, white skirt and orange hat. Sounded good enough.

Tommy usually sleeps from 5pm to 7pm for his nap. Nick and I decided to just drive to Brooke's and get the kids ready there and then trick-or-treat in Towanda. We got there at about 5:15pm and Tommy was still awake. So Nick took him for a short drive so he would fall asleep and hopefully not be grumpy. He did fall asleep, so we all ate dinner and got Tessa ready. At about 6:30pm, we decided to wake him up.

Epic fail.

He was SO grumpy. He cried and whined and screamed and hit. I was trying to dress him and it was a fight the whole time. I finally got his clothes on and started putting his face paint on. Yeah. He hated it. He smeared it all over his face and it made it look like he'd been beat up. Then, we tried wiping it off with a wet cloth and it would NOT come off. It took a good 10 minutes to get it off and he was furious by that time. Plus, his sweats were too big, so they weren't staying up at mid-calf, so he just kind of looked like a kid wearing Broncos clothes rather than a football player :) Tessa's skirt was a little too small, so she had a little muffin top (which is MUCH cuter on her than it seems to be on me). I had also tried to make her some pom-poms from a pinterest idea.......nope. Didn't work out. But they still looked cute!


We packed them up into the car and drove to Nana's. My frustration level was at an all-time high by this point. I was SO excited to see him have fun and when he acts like that, it just ruins everyone's night. I was hoping getting a treat at Nana's would cheer him up.

Nope. We knocked on the door, he ignored Nana and the treat bowl and went straight for his toys. We let him play for a minute, but Nick had to work that night, so we were on a schedule and needed to make the rounds before we had to head home. We picked him up to leave and he FREAKED. OUT. I was thinking then that we should have dressed him up like a devil because he was acting possessed. He stopped crying once the car started moving. We got to Grandma and Papa's. And he started crying again. Wouldn't talk to Grandma. He finally straightened up a little when Papa came out to say hi. Thank God.

We decided to leave Tessa with Grandma and take Tommy to a few houses. He finally got in to "good mood" mode and was walking around dragging his candy basket behind him. He had to be held most of the time, but as long as he wasn't crying, it was fine with me! He would only say "Trick or treat" after somebody shut the door. It came out sounding like, "Tick teet!" He got very excited about it after he realized people were giving him candy!

We picked up Tessa Grace and headed over to Hannah's to say hi for a bit. We got the one picture of the whole night where everyone was actually happy. Then we headed home and Daddy went to work and Mommy hid the candy. It started out horribly, but I'm glad it ended up better. Here's to hoping next year is FUN the WHOLE time!