Tessa Turns Two!!!!

Happy Birthday Tessa!

Tessa turned 2 yesterday so we had a little party for her that included a few gifts and a "bababug cake" as Tessa calls it.

She's been into ladybugs lately, so I thought it was a cute idea.

She seemed to like it too - how it looked and how it tasted.

She blew out her candle on the first try and it was funny because we had to relight the candle for Abby to get a chance to blow it out, but after two missed attempts, Tessa leaned over and blew out the candle with such ease like she was saying, "See Abby, this is how it's done."

And what happens when dad is left home with the girls? They make yummy treats to eat, and Tessa decides to see how well chocolate pudding works as a full-body lotion. Good thing you're super cute Tessa to get away with stuff like this. :)

We love you sweet girl!

Our New "FAN" Club

We have enjoyed having Tyler's parents here for a week. Marilyn was a great help in loving on Aubrey and in entertaining the older sisters. Lee was an awesome help for completing some of Tyler's to-do list around the house including fixing Tyler's car and installing light fixtures/fans in four of our rooms.

If any of you have been in our house, you may have noticed the big void in our entryway. This tiny light fixture that you can barely see in Tyler's hands is what came with the house, and we heard the same question over and over again, "how will you change that light bulb?" Renting a 16-foot ladder was the answer, but luckily it was only for once. I couldn't even get the entire ladder in one camera shot. This was one huge ladder.We changed that tiny light for a fancier chandelier.

It is definitely more pleasing to the eyes.
Our new fan club consists of 3 new fan/light fixtures. One for the master bedroom:

One for the guest bedroom:

And one for the girls' bedroom: (pink of course, however, the fan blades are reversible so if the girls ever grow out of pink, the other side of the blades are blue.)

And can I have a blog without a cute picture of the girls? Of course not, so here's one of Abby and Tessa and how they like to play these days. I wonder what people think when they see them playing without bikes but with bike helmets? :)

Finally, I forgot this cute story when Aubrey and I were in the hospital. Tyler took Abby and Tessa to Build-A-Bear, so they could give something to their new baby sister. They made Hearts (fitting since it was 4 days before Valentine's Day). They each were able to pick a heart, kiss it, and put it inside Hearts which makes me tear up every time I think about it - so cute! There's also a music box in Hearts so it sings a song when you push one of the paws. I thought it was an adorable gift from the girls that Aubrey will always have to be her own.

Introducing Aubrey Jeanne!!

Aubrey Jeanne is finally here!!!

She joined our family on Tuesday, February 10th, at 3:40 am. She weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long - by far the largest of our three girls.

Here she is with the proud papa. As you can see, she has super dark hair, and lots of it. And what do Abby and Tessa think of their new sister?

.

.

They're amazed by her. (Can't you see this being like the front of some Hallmark card?) It's so funny! :)

Abby loves to hold her,

and so does Tessa.

It will probably change, but for now it's funny that I have a blonde, brunette, and black-haired child.

Would you say Tyler's outnumbered or what?
Some of our most memorable experiences of this birth would have to include the hospital accomodations. We delivered at the Baylor Medical Center in Frisco and it's more like a five-star hotel than a hospital. One of the reasons we decided on Baylor was because we heard of their celebration dinner - steak and lobster. Here's Tyler's dinner. That's right - they bring dinners for the dad too - every meal. He chose steak and chicken and I had chicken and lobster. And check out that chocolate cake. It was huge and oh so yummy!
And our other experience - finding out what "code black" means in a hospital. For us, it meant the severe weather sirens have gone off so take your baby to the OR and join all the other new mommys and daddys. So of course we had to wear caps on our heads and booties on our feet. We stood around for about 15 minutes before returning to our rooms, but with the bad weather we were experiencing, it was quite the adventure.

We couldn't have had a better birthing experience overall, and we're just so happy to have Aubrey as a part of our family!

Understanding Tessa

So, we're in the stages of Tessa's life where she adds new words to her vocabulary every day. She repeats just about anything you say which helps us understand what she is saying. But every now and then she'll come up with a new word on her own that takes us awhile to figure out what she means. It's fun yet exhausting at times. Here's a list of new words and their definitions for your pleasure.

Pitabuta cup = Peanut Butter Cup

Nap = Snap

Schtep = Step

Et's Goooo = Let's Go

Supa Dupa = Super Dooper

Wheyaoo = Where are you? (to the tune of Scooby Scooby Doo)

Banky - Blankie

Ig Ock = Big Truck

Ock = Sock

Mees = More (We've concluded that she says "mees" for more because it's more and please combined)

Mack = Milk

Rice = Water (we try to have her repeat after us to say water every time, but it still comes out sounding like "rice")

Here are some other funny things that Tessa has said:

Mom: Tessa, are you ready to take a nap?

Tessa: Nope.

Mom: Are you ready to go downstairs or not?

Tessa: Not

The girls were sitting at the table for dinner when Abby was being her usual loud self. Tessa turned to her and goes, "Abby, Shhhh" complete with her finger over her mouth. Hilarious.

So we had dinner at our friend's house last week where Tessa got to do makeup with Abby. But then later in the night, Tessa got into what she thought was makeup on her own and came down to show us her new face.

Apparently she had found some ink that is supposed to be used for body tatoos. It's like war paint, but pretty funny. Luckily with a little scrubbing in the bath that night, it all came off.

And not to leave out sister stuff, one of the newest activities the girls like to do together is make "snow angels" in the house. Tyler and I decided they should be called "dust angels" or "dirt angels".

At least they play together!

The Best Game Ever!

So I've been wanting to do a blog about this since Abby's birthday. About six years ago, before Tyler and I had kids, we found a game for our friend's daughter that we purchased for her birthday called Pretty Pretty Princess and it is seriously the best game ever invented. It looked like this:

If you haven't ever seen this game, you go around the board landing on places to get jewelry of your color. To win the game you have to be wearing all the pieces of your colored jewelry plus the crown. Girls of all ages love this game and the best part is seeing dads play. Ever since our first experience with this game, we have purchased it for our friends who have daughters in the 4- to 5-year-old range. And from that first purchase, I knew as soon as we had a daughter old enough, we would buy this game for her. So when Abby celebrated her fourth birthday last month, I was so excited to get it. Here's the one we bought, one of their newer Disney versions because we couldn't even find the original in our stores:It's the same concept just using Sleeping Beauty pieces instead of generic. Surprisingly, as soon as Abby unwrapped the present, she goes, "YES! Pretty Pretty Princess!" She knew what it was and I didn't even know we had talked about it with her. Needless to say, we play the game about once a day, and with Tyler too if it's in the evening. I wish I had a picture of him playing with us because this is truly how you know a dad loves his daughters all dressed up with earrings, necklace, bracelet, ring, and crown! But in a close second - we have cool Uncle John. He'll play Pretty Pretty Princess with his nieces!

So final comments - if you have a daughter, you NEED this game! It's seriously the best game for any girl. Show your princess you love her! That's all I have to say. :)

Family Photos

I made winter dresses for the girls again this year. They're simple and unintentionally big enough for them to grow into, but they're at least wearable. I luckily got Tyler to dress up with us early one Sunday so we could take a few family pictures. I wish I could put a disclaimer that I was 7 months pregnant when these pictures were taken. This is why we only take professional pictures every OTHER year - the year I'm not pregnant! :)

Christmas in Utah

So, I was sitting on my porch swing this week enjoying the sun and warm breeze of a Texas December day while my kids played with chalk when I realized how funny it was that a week before that same day, we were doing this:

We were in Utah and there was a lot of snow. What a difference! But while we were there, we did everything you can think of doing in the snow like attempting to build snowmen (the snow didn't pack very well),

Sledding down a hill made by Tyler himself. All the cousins loved this kid-sized hill and it was well-used during our stay,

Trying to walk in the snow, but as you can see, it was quite deep,

and of course, snow angels.

We had a great time while visiting family in Utah and continuing the many Christmas traditions. Here are but a few:

On Christmas Eve, we always ride the hay wagon around town ringing bells and singing carols.

Then we have a talent show. Here is Tyler's leaving pose after his jingle bell clogging talent, which was a surprise to us all.

Grandpa always plays his guitar to the 12 Days of Christmas, and this year he let Abby and her cousin Anna help a little.

And what's Christmas Eve without matching pajamas? Especially when 8 out of the 9 grandkids are girls!

That meant for a lot of screaming, but also a lot of having fun. We drove this year to Utah, so it was our first driving family vacation. The kids did well and we only had a few patches of bad driving conditions, so overall it was a good experience. We loved being with our family and really enjoyed the week vacation together. We had a great Christmas and hope you did too.