Recent Visitors & More...

Tessa just had her 4 week doctor's appointment yesterday. She weighed 8 lb 14 oz. and was 21" long. She's getting so big! I wish I could just freeze time and make her stay this little for a long time. It's hard because I can't wait to see how she'll look and act when she's bigger but I really don't want her to grow up too fast. Kids tend to do that you know! We have been spoiled with visitors since Tess was born. My parents came up from Utah- Grandpa Kevin and Grandma Marianne. It was fun to spend some time together even though it was a quick trip!
I love this picture of my dad and Tessa...

The grandparents with all four kids...

I just love this picture of Ed and Tessa. It is still so funny when I hear Ed say things like "Hi my little princess" or "Hi, pretty girl". I am sad though because her first "real" smile was at Ed yesterday. I have been trying so hard to get her to smile at me for days and Ed talked to her and she grinned at him...TWICE! No fair- I do the hard work all day and he gets all the rewards!

Look how big she's getting!

I love her so much! She has been so much fun to have in our home!

This is one of her most favorite places to be... on her daddy's chest!

Talen is still completely in awe with his baby sister! He still kisses her at least 50 times a day. I thought the novelty of a new baby would wear off but they all still fight over holding her and kiss her tons.

She looks comfy doesn't she??? Poor girl!

I seriously can't get enough of this little girl!

Great Grandma Bev holding Tess and playing a Nintendo D.S. game with Talen

My Aunt Judy and Uncle Mark came up to visit from Utah for the weekend. We had so much fun just enjoying the company. Aunt Judy is like my second mom and my kids call her Grammy Judy so it's always fun when they visit.

I thought this picture was precious!

The whole gang minus Ed- darn it- somebody had to take the picture!

So cute!

I can't believe that a month has already come and gone since Tessa has come into our lives. I just have one question- how come a month of pregnancy never goes as fast? I am afraid that I'll blink and she'll be 5 or 10. I feel so blessed to have 4 such beautiful, sweet kids. They are my light and my life and I am thankful to be their mom! Now- if only I could figure out a way to keep them small for just a little bit longer!

Talen's Pictures...

We had Talen's pictures taken when we did Tessa's. I feel like a bad mom- I haven't had professional pictures taken of him since he was 2 1/2... Yikes! But these are so cute they make up for it (crossing fingers). What a handsome little man I have!

Think he's gonna be a lady's man when he grows up or what?

Tessa's New Born Pics... Love Them!!!

We had Tessa's pictures taken when she was a week old. I think they turned out so cute!! She's a pretty cute baby if I do say so myself :) There were just too many cute ones to choose from so here's some of my favorites....

How cute are these pictures????

Spoiled Girl...

This baby of ours isn't loved at all- can you tell? She has been so much fun to have in our home. We all adore her and can't get enough of her! Her brothers constantly want to hold her! We actually have to set a timer so that they can each get equal amounts of time holding her. Tess had her two week check up yesterday and she is exactly back to her birth weight at 7 lb. 10 oz. I thought she would be a little bigger but we're happy she's gained weight and is doing well. She has a cyst on her gums that has to be removed when she's about 8 weeks old. I am NOT looking forward to that at all! She will have to go the hospital to go under general anesthesia and we are working with a great ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor who will do the surgery. Poor baby- they said the hardest thing about the procedure will be her i.v. and the anesthesia- not the actual procedure itself. Still- as a mom you never want to see your baby have to go through anything like that! I am still crossing my fingers that she'll get Tray's skin coloring!
I love this picture! We're now pretty sure that Tessa will have blue eyes like her big brother Tegen. Although I don't think they'll be as light blue they are a deeper darker blue almost like charcoal grey. They're gorgeous though!

Okay- I don't look so hot here but I had to throw one of me in here too!

She's gonna be a daddy's girl....

Wow- she actually got to lay on the floor without being mauled for a minute ;)

Talen is still the most obsessed with her. The poor girl gets smothered in kisses by her big brother Talen all day.

She's so cute and so much fun! We are all thrilled to have her here with us! She is still a perfect little baby too. She still doesn't cry and most nights she will do a 4 to 5 hour stretch before waking up to eat. She is definitely a precious gift straight from Heaven and I am enjoying each and every moment with her!

So proud of my brother Kris!

I am so proud of my little brother! He was a task force hero of the month for all of North Iraq! What a serious accomplishment! Even though we miss him more than words can say and we pray daily for his safety we are SO proud of him and his willingness to serve our country. Way to go little bro!

Funny little sayings from Tray...

Tray is 7 almost 8 and sometimes he says the funniest things. He keeps us all on our toes and keeps us laughing- here are just a few of his recent sayings...

-My mom stayed at our house for a couple of nights with our kids while we were in the hospital and my boys and her were talking about age- like when Tessa is 5 Tegen will be 15 and things like that. Anyway they asked my mom how old she would be in 10 years and she said 60 and Tegen and Talen claimed how old that was but Tray just looked at her and waved his hand and said "Nanny- you don't look a day over 30!" How funny!

-Ed and I said something that apparently was rude in Tray's little mind and he said "You are guys are so insulting." Insulting? How old is he?

-Instead of actually saying just kidding he says "J/K"

-He has been saying "'cuz that's just how I roll" for a couple of years now.

I love how witty Tray is- we sure love you buddy!

Tessa...

PICTURE OVERLOAD!

Well we are home from the hospital and doing great. Tessa is slightly jaundiced so we had to go back to the hospital to do a blood test because she almost had to have the bili-lights for jaundice but thank goodness we narrowly escaped that! Talen had to have the biliblanket and it was a huge pain in the you-know-what! So we were very thankful that she didn't have to have it. She has lost almost 10% of her weight and came home weighing 6 lbs 15 oz. although you wouldn't know it by looking at her chubby little cheeks. Otherwise she is completely healthy. This was our last night in the hospital. Our hospital does a Stork Dinner for the parents. It's a nice gesture of them. We had sparkling cider, a nice salad, chicken, corn and some yummy cheesecake.
I love this precious little angel so much already. Each time I have a baby I am overwhelmed with how much you can instantly love each one of them so much. She has captured my heart. She is so absolutely precious. She hardly ever fusses. She doesn't even get very mad when we change her. I have to say I am LOVING having a girl. She is so much fun to dress up ;) This is when we came home on Sunday. How cute is she?

This was her first bath and she hardly even cried. Our boys would scream whenever we got them naked but she just stretched out like she loves it. It's so funny. I guess she's loving being able to stretch out after being so cramped up in my belly!

Look at those chubby cheeks... I could seriously just kiss them all day long- oh wait.. I already do that!

We can't decide what color her eyes are going to be... sometimes they are blue, sometimes brown. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Doesn't this look comfy? We had to take her to the hospital for her blood draw and this is how she looked when we got home. Silly girl!

All she does is SLEEP! She is so good! I truly hope she stays so mellow. Her first night home she was awake the whole night! She just wanted to be held so we were thinking "ah oh"! Her second night home she only woke up at 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. to eat so I'm hoping we're on the right track. Only time will tell!

Her brothers love her so much! Talen holds her about 50% of the time. If he is home he wants to hold her. He will even do 45 minute to hour long stretches of holding her which is pretty amazing for a 5 year old. Her brothers adore her and I think it is so cute. Can you imagine when she is a teenager with 3 super-protective older brothers? The poor girl will never get a date!

We have had so many visitors and SO many people bringing her presents. I am overwhelmed with just how lucky and blessed we are to have so many awesome friends and family! I know that everyone is just as excited as we are that our precious little angel has finally arrived!!! Thank you so much to all of you! We sincerely appreciate every one's generosity and love!