Hello from Kansas!

Just a quick update to let you know we are having a great time in Kansas. Tessa is getting to meet lots of her "Kansas family" and I am getting to spend lots of quality time with the kids. Here are a couple photos from the past couple days!

Weekend

Here's some photos from that past week. We are on our own now...Oma flew back to Chicago on Friday. We're having a great weekend so far - we went to the rec center for some pool time this morning and now are packing for our trip to Kansas. The kids and I are spending the week there while John does some traveling for work. We are excited to introduce Tessa to her family back in Kansas!

Isaac reading on the sofa



Tessa in the bath (that girl loves the bath!)



Isaac and Daddy being silly



Isaac wearing Oma's gloves and scarf (he found these and put them on himself, and said he was going to make "snowballs"!)

Sleepyhead

Here is Tessa in her nightgown...all ready for bed. Can't you just smell that yummy baby smell just by looking at this photo?

Serious stuff

Isaac has been really interested in holding his little sister lately. He takes it really seriously - as you can tell from the photo. It doesn't even seem to bother him when she cries. He just shushes her and tells her to be "happy".

Sunday photos

Today we had a really nice Sunday at home. The weather was beautiful (60 degrees!) and we went for a walk and to the park to play. Here are some new photos of Tessa and Isaac...in the one of Tessa in the swing, Isaac is trying to kiss her!

Loving brother...

Today Isaac wanted to hold Tessa for the first time...he actually came over to me in the chair where I was holding her with his arms out and said "baby". He held her for quite a while (for a 2 year old) and wouldn't even let me take her back when she started crying! I can already tell he is going to be a protective big brother!

Yes....we're still here!

I know...I've been little behind in updating lately. Things have been quite busy around here and it seems like every time I sit down at the computer to upload some photos I get interrupted! This post has taken me about an hour to finish....so if it seems a little scattered, that's why! Here are some photos from the past week. John got back to traveling this week with a trip to Fort Myers, so it has been a real blessing to have Oma here to help out! He gets back this evening and I know we are all looking forward to it! Tessa is 4 weeks old tomorrow - I can't believe it, and Isaac is continuing to be a great big brother. On Sunday at church he was telling everyone "my baby!". Oh, and the picture of Isaac is him wearing John's shoes...he thinks 2 things are hilarious right now - running around naked and wearing "grown-up" shoes....since I can't post photos of the first situation, I'm posting the shoe photo! Enjoy!

Oma's here!

Last night John's mom, Alice arrived to meet her new grandaughter and to help us out around here for a couple weeks since John has to return to work. Both Isaac and Tessa were happy to see her and we are so grateful that she is able to come help us!

First bath

Last night Tessa had her first "real" bath. We had been waiting until her cord healed and finally decided to try it out last night. One she got over the shock of being put in the water she loved it!

New Tessa photos

Just thought I would upload a few new photos of Tessa. She is now 2-1/2 weeks old and turning out to be quite a content little baby. She is sleeping pretty well, just getting us up about once a night to eat and she is becoming more and more alert during the daytime hours. I had my first post-partum check up today with my doctor and it seems that everything is healing nicely. It will still be several more weeks before I can lift Isaac's 32 pounds, but I have graduated to driving and lifting Tessa in her carseat! Hope you enjoy the photos!

Happy New Year

Well, it's official...another year has passed! 2008 was filled with wonderful memories and I look forward to many more in 2009.

The first day of the year was a mild one for the weather. We took advantage of the 50 degree temperature to walk to the park. Here are a couple photos of our first day of 2009.