Happy Monday!

I'm really enjoying my Mondays (and Fridays) off from work and getting to spend them with these 2 little ones. Don't get me wrong - it's still "work", just a different kind! Here are some photos from this past weekend.

We tried to get some photos before church, but Tessa was hungry and wasn't willing to pose without the binky in her mouth!

I love this one...Isaac is trying to help Tessa get her hand in her mouth. Not that she needs much help with that these days...but it was so sweet!

Little dancers

Last night we went over to Cindy & Jackie's to visit, have dinner and let the kids play together. Isaac had so much fun discovering Trey's toys...here are a couple videos of the 2 boys dancing. I couldn't get the second one turned, but it's so funny to watch I thought I would upload it anyway. Enjoy!

So much for spring!

We woke up to snow this morning and it kept going all day. All the news stations are calling it the "March Blizzard" (they're always so dramatic!). Isaac finally got to go outside and play in it when John got home from work.

Like father, like son...Here is Isaac helping with his own little shovel.

All that gear makes it a little hard to walk! Isaac was looking at these photos with me as I uploaded them to the computer and he said "Me crash! In the snow!". As you can tell by the huge smile on his face it didn't bother him one bit!

Scratch test

Yesterday was Isaac's annual visit to the allergist. We were not surprised to find out that he is still allergic to peanuts. The photo above shows how they do the testing. They scratch his skin with a small amount of whatever they are testing him for and if it swells up with a welt that means he is allergic to the substance. The good news is that we tested him for a bunch of other types of nuts, fish and shellfish and he only tested positive for the peanuts. In the photo you can see all the marks on his back so that they can identify which scratch is which substance. The peanut one is the lowest red mark on his back. The other 2 that are red are a "histamine" which is a sort of control scratch since everyone swells up with this. He was such a champ through the testing. After they scratch his back we have to wait 15 minutes to see what happens. As you can imagine it is really hard to keep his hands off his back since some of them are quite itchy. Here we are trying to "dance" and keep his mind off the itchiness!

Meeting Parker!

Last weekend Tessa and I made the long drive to Kansas to meet the newest member of our family - Grant & Amber's new son Parker. (Isaac and John stayed at home for a "boys" weekend!) Here is a photo of the cute little guy at 10 days old. Look at that all that hair!!

Here's a pic of me being a proud aunt!

What a difference 3 months makes! Here is Tessa at 3 months old and Parker at 10 days old.

Finley is already a great big sister. She really liked posing with the babies. Hard to believe that these 3 were all born within 11 months!

3 months

I can't believe it's been 3 months already since Tessa joined our family. It really does seem like she's always been a part of our lives. She is such a content little baby and (though I'm afraid to write it in case it might jinx me..) is now sleeping almost 10 hours straight at night. When she's awake she really likes to be part of the action and I can already tell by the way that she looks at him that her big brother Isaac is her hero.

Here is a full-body shot....look at how long she is. I can already tell that she's going to have a hard time finding tall size pants like her mommy.


I love this shot. I wish it had sound....she was making all these "oohh oohh" sounds and was working so hard to keep her head up and look at me that she couldn't really control what her mouth was doing so she was making all sorts of funny faces!

Note to self...

...don't eat chocolate chip cookies while nursing baby.

(Checkout her little double chin! You would think she was the one who's been eating cookies!)

Bedtime

Without a doubt, Isaac's favorite part of bedtime is book time. Lately he is really into all those "Little Golden Books", most of them leftover from his daddy's childhood...the longer the book, the better! Last night Tessa got to join in the fun - I love this pic of daddy and the kids!

Welcome to the world Parker Joseph!!!

Today my brother Grant and sister-in-law Amber welcomed a new baby boy to their family - Parker Joseph. Everyone is happy and healthy - the little guy weighed in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces and is 19 3/4 inches long. We're so excited for them and know that Finley is going to be a great big sister. Here is a first photo from the hospital. Hopefully we will get some more photos to post soon. Congratulations Amber and Grant!!!!

Brownies!

Last night after dinner I let Isaac help me make brownies. Well...the extent of his helping was really to just lick the bowl with a little spoon that I gave him.

Somehow the spoon didn't do a good enough job...I think he must've learned this from his daddy.

There's that pink hat again!

I took some photos of Tessa in this hat when she was just a couple weeks old...she is starting to finally grow into it. I guess I should take photos of her in it every month or so until she grows out of it to show how big she is getting. Last night before her bath she weighed in at just over 11 lbs.!

Today is our new nanny's first day. We are doing a couple trial run days before I start work on Thursday. So far, the kids are adjusting just fine. Isaac is so excited to have a playmate (she has a little 16 month old boy) that he doesn't even care that I'm just upstairs in my office!

Sometimes 2 isn't so terrible...

Sometimes naptime is tricky - I like to read Isaac some books before he takes his nap and I usually try to get Tessa to sleep first so that Isaac and I can have a few minutes alone to read. But yesterday Tessa decided she needed to eat right at Isaac's naptime and she was doing that cry where she started to hold her breath - not something that is fun to listen to. So, I told Isaac that he needed to be a big boy and read himself a book and then go to sleep. Bless his heart - the little guy just said "Ok Mommy". I took Tessa downstairs to feed her and when I went back up to his room to check on him here's what he looked like. You know, it's times like this that make me forget all about those 2-year old temper tantrums!

Here's a smile for your Wednesday...

OK, it's more like a silly little grin, but I love it anyway...I might be a little biased, but isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen???

Counting our blessings...

Last night before bed, John and I were talking about a situation that makes us realize just how lucky we are to have these two little kids in our life. Our friends, Telissa and Juan have adopted a little girl from Guatemala and along the way have encountered every obstacle imaginable that has kept them from bringing their little girl home. They are in Guatemala right now, trying to get that last judge's signature so that they can bring Mariela home in time for her second birthday. I can't stop thinking about these two today and how much patience and perseverance they have had in their nearly 2 year journey! We're praying for a miracle today so that their family can finally be together!

King of the pool

This weekend Isaac got to go to the pool on both Saturday and Sunday. He's getting quite brave and independent in the water. I hope his little sister ends up liking the water as much as he does!