More Christmas!

We got to celebrate Christmas once again yesterday with a visit from my brother Grant, his wife Amber, and their adorable little girl, Finley. It was a short visit, but we had so much fun watching the little ones open their gifts and play together.

Colorado Christmas

Yesterday Tessa had her first trip to the mountains...We went up to celebrate Christmas with Mom & Mike and all of their kids and grandkids. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing all the snow (even if we couldn't take part in the skiing this year!)


Here is our adorable niece Finley and our sister-in-law Amber (holding Tessa)!

Photos of the day...

John and I took a few minutes today to do a little photo shoot with Tessa...she is quite the poser already! Little girls are so much fun to dress up (and she is yawning in that first photo, not crying)...but they're pretty cute in just their birthday suit too!

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Ok, I'm only a day late...not too bad! We celebrated a wonderful Christmas yesterday at home - Isaac really enjoyed opening presents, even if they weren't for him! He seems to be adjusting great to having his new little sister at home. Today Isaac went up to the mountains with Grandma & Popo, giving John and I a couple days to relax at home with Tessa. Enjoy the photos!

More photos!!

I got a little more time today to upload a few more photos....today Tessa is 5 days old! We went back to the doctor to get her jaundice checked...she still looks like she has gotten into the self-tanner, but her test results were not so far above normal that we need to do any photo-therapy at this point. We just have to take her back on Friday so that the doctor can check her again. She has gained 2 ounces since we brought her home on Sunday (which is good because she eats all the time!) Other than that, we are just trying to get some sleep wherever we can!

Here is Tessa with her big brother and Popo.



Sunday evening we had visitors - my cousin Cindy and her two boys, Trey and Brody. Here we are with all of our kiddos!



Isaac really loves his little sister. He gets especially excited when she squeals (and I do mean squeal! This little girl has quite a set of lungs!)



Here you can see her orange face! She has quite the color right now - it should go away pretty soon!

We're home!

We came home from the hospital around noon yesterday - it's so good to be home! Even though it wasn't fun climbing the stairs to our room, it was so nice to sleep in my own bed! Tessa has been great - she is just eating and sleeping...and even let us get quite a bit of sleep last night. She has a little bit of jaundice, so we went to the doctor this morning to have her checked. She hasn't gotten worse since yesterday, but we have to go back one more time tomorrow morning to have her checked again.

Isaac is also doing great adjusting to his little sister at home. And of course, having Grandma and Popo here to help out has been such a blessing! Here are some pics of us coming home from the hospital yesterday with our little chrismas present! I'll try to post some more photos tomorrow...

Check out the new slideshow!!

Hello from the hospital...It's not quite 7am, but I'm awake, starving and just waiting for breakfast service to start so I thought I would upload a few more photos of Tessa's first couple days in this world. Click on the slideshow to the right to see the images in a bigger window. Tessa had a great night last night, sleeping for about 5-6 hours! She is such a good baby, she only really cries when we have to wake her up to feed her. We will probably stay here until tomorrow (Sunday) morning to give my body a little more time to heal before we go home. Thank you to everyone for you emails, phone calls, and well wishes!!!

-Erin

Now Introducing Tessa Mable

Our family was graced today by the blessing of a little girl by the name of Tessa Mable. Tessa was born this morning at 10:58 AM and quickly made her way into our hearts. As you can see from the pictures, her big brother has already developed a soft spot for her. She weighed in at 7lbs 12oz and was 20-1/2" long. She has dark blue eyes and looks like she may have the start at being a blondie! Mother and child are doing great. We hope to be coming home from the hospital by Sunday.

Tomorrow's the big day!

Welll - it's finally here! Tomorrow morning we go into the hospital for the c-section and to meet our new baby! I'm sure that I won't sleep much tonight. I thought I would post a final photo with my big belly - here is one of Isaac helping me make frosting last weekend. That kid REALLY likes to help out in the kitchen. Maybe he'll be a chef someday and I won't have to cook anymore!

Anyway - we'll try to post some news and pics of the new baby as soon as we can. (and if we can get the wireless internet to work in the hospital!) I'm sure we'll have our hands full with the new baby, but I know there are many of you waiting for that first photo!!!

More snow!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! Last weekend we had a fresh batch of snow, and even though it was extremely cold, John and Isaac bundled up to play in it for a bit and try out Isaac's new sled - although I think he had much more fun crawling around in the snow!

Holiday Lights Parade

This weekend we enjoyed the Holiday Lights Parade here in our town. The weather was actually really nice (it was before our cold front came through and sent us into the negative degree territory!). Isaac had a great time! I couldn't decide which photos to post, so here are quite a few!

Our last weekend as a family of three...

This will be our last weekend as a family of three. As much as I've tried to prepare him, I don't think Isaac has any idea of how much his world is about to change in the coming week. Our plans for this weekend include just relaxing around the house, spending time playing with Isaac, and if the weather permits, watching our town's annual "Holiday Lights Parade" on Saturday night. Speaking of lights, John got this shot of the lights on the tree outside our kitchen window the other night. The tree lights look pretty festive with the snow covering them!

Isaac and his little friend Jasper....

Here is yet another photo of Isaac and the "kitty". Jasper's new spot to nap is right in front of the refrigerator. (There is warm air that comes out of the bottom of the refrigerator that makes it nice and cozy...) The other morning Isaac brought the kitty some of the Christmas ornaments from the tree to play with. As you can tell - the kitty was VERY excited about this!

One week to go....

The doctor's office called me yesterday to let me know they want to schedule my c-section for next Thursday...instead of Friday. So, we get to meet this new little baby one day sooner! If all goes as planned, the 18th will be our new baby's birthday! We're scheduled to be at the hospital at 8:30 am on the 18th and will go into surgery at 10 am. Please keep us all in your prayers as we anxiously count down the next seven days!!!

Cookies

The other day I made Christmas cookies during Isaac's naptime. He was excited to have such a treat when he woke up from his nap (notice the crazy bed-head hair!)



We've been teaching Isaac some sign language since his speech is a little slow in developing and he is really picking up on it quickly and loves to learn new signs. It's a great way for us to be able to communicate with him and vice-versa. Here he is making the sign for "cookie". (which he learned VERY quickly!)

Playing in the snow

Most of our snow melted this weekend with our warm weather, but here are a couple photos of Isaac playing in what was left of it on Saturday. (His laugh is really funny - so if you have speakers, turn them up to hear the sound!)

37 weeks!

We went to the doctor today for my 37 week check-up and everything went great. Nothing is happening yet...which is ok with me. They're going ahead and scheduling my c-section for the 19th - so unless this little one has other ideas, that will be his/her birthday. In other news, we got quite a little snowfall last night and today...about 7-8 inches and it's still coming down. We were only supposed to get 1-3 inches, but they underestimated a little bit! Anyway - we're enjoying the winter wonderland and are happy we got the outside Christmas lights up the other day when it was 65 degrees!

I finally captured the "real" smile on camera!

After weeks and weeks of the "cheese" smile I finally captured the "real" Isaac smile on camera! He was so preoccupied with destroying the tower of blocks that I built that he forgot to say "cheese". They say that toddlers love repetition and boy - was that true the other night. I think I built that tower of blocks about 20 times and each time he knocked it over it was funnier than the last! I love that laugh!

Trimming the tree

Last weekend we put up the Christmas tree...while we were setting it up, Isaac was more interested in the box it came in. He even tried to get Daddy to climb inside it - he didn't quite fit! Once we got out the decorations, however, Isaac got excited. As you can see from the photos - he's quite the little helper!

Potty trained!!

I didn't think it would happen before the new baby arrived, but Isaac seems to be doing great at the potty training. He is still wearing a diaper/pull-up at night and naptime, but during the day he is doing really well and it has been over a week since he's had an accident! Here he is demonstrating his multi-tasking skills - using the toilet and brushing his teeth!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this year! The 3 of us celebrated with a nice quiet day and our first turkey...here are a few pics!

Reading time

I haven't been too great about posting photos this week...but here are a couple of Isaac and daddy reading last night. We're looking forward to a quiet Thanksgiving at home tomorrow with just the 3 of us. Wish me luck with the turkey!!!

Little helper in the kitchen

One of Isaac's favorite things to do when I pick him up from daycare is to help me make dinner. When he sees me getting things ready he pulls up a chair to the counter. Last night I gave him some measuring cups, some bowls, and some dried pasta while I made soup - as you can see, he was taking it very seriously - transferring the pasta from bowl to bowl with the measuring cups. Who knows...maybe he'll be a chef when he grows up....

Sittin' in the sun

John took this picture a couple weekends ago. After the cat gets his breakfast, he likes to take a nap in the sunny spot by the front door. Unfortunately, this is also the time of day where Isaac wants the cat to play with him...