Ticker Change

So I had my weight loss ticker set from my start of WW on Memorial Day but decided to change it to reflect weight loss since my last day of pregnancy....because it wasn't showing the full amount of 'baby weight'!

And hey I think that number looks alot more impressive :)

Dedication Day

Tessa was dedicated this morning along with 2 other new babies in the church. Our church doesn't do infant baptism so this is just sort of an introduction to everyone and prayer.

Tessa followed her dedication by promptly making alot of noise and demanding to be taken to the nursing room. Note to self- the cry room is NOT sound proof once they reach a certain decibal level.

finally...pics from our CA trip!

Pictures of our flying adventures which went REALLY well!

We had a nice hotel room with a kitchenette and living room. We hung out there alot while Jeremy worked.

I think she's telling me the hotel sheets are alot cleaner than the ones at home

We ate a few of our favorite CA restaurants we missed. Yes that's a chopstick in her hand

We spent a day with my friend Stephanie who works at two hotels on the ocean in Sausalito. It was a beautiful day if not a little chilly...which is normal for Northern CA. No bikinis up here!

The Pelican Inn where Steph works, and below a room inside

.....which is walking distance from Muir Beach where Tessa saw the ocean!

..and horses!

And this is what the Golden Gate bridge looks like most mornings....

We also spent a day with our friend Diane from our old church. She loved on Tessa and threatened to steal her. At her house we saw Hayden's old wiener dog girlfriend Abby

Tessa Speaks

I tried to post from Youtube before but it won't allow embedded links...confusing to figure out. Any techno people out there know what I mean?-- how do I tell youtube I want to embed my movie?

Anyway, click this link to hopefully see a video of Tessa saying hello! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQIaS0QelOs

3 Month Pics

*Jeremy is still holding CA pics hostage. I'm waiting for ransom demands*

Well we can't really afford to do the formal portraits some folks do at 3, 6, 9 months but I think this one below taken by mom is pretty darn good. This will be her official 3 mo portrait :) I will try to remember to do a Ducky pic tomorrow as well. Enjoy!

Tessa at 3 months old

big bow headed baby- handmade by our friend Traci

family nap time on the bed

Hoopin'

Mom was around yesterday and we went to Weight Watchers. I have lost 14.2 lbs since Memorial Day. That's about 35 total since the day I delivered Tessa ( about 15 lbs of which was baby, placenta, amniotic fluid)....so only 5 more lbs of baby weight left! Then the rest of it is all mine :(

But the funny thing is even though I'm almost to my pre-pregnancy weight my old jeans are nowhere near fitting. My tummy is all mishapen like a deflated tire. Ew.

So to tighten up the tummy, Mom introduced me to something yesterday...the fitness Hula Hoop. It's a regular hula hoop that's weighted with water (2lbs) so you just hoop during commerical breaks and it's supposed to be great for your abs. Who knew? Apparently it's all the rage. We went to a store called Hoop De Loop, check it out....http://www.hoopdaloop.com/

Happy 3 Month Bday Tessa!

*disclaimer- still waiting on CA pictures from Jer- if you really want them feel free to harass him via email*

I can't believe 3 months has passed. It seems like it's going fast but then again I can hardly remember her not being here. Just think at this moment 3 months ago I was recovering in the hospital bed and Tessa was in the NICU...wow!

Well at 3 months old Tessa is pretty awesome. Her favorite things are:

-- Smiling at Mom and Dad, especially in the morning

-- Sitting in her walker and looking at the toys

-- Staring at the ceiling fan

-- Being held up on her legs and holding her head up herself

-- Making squealing happy noises

-- Taking a bath in the big tub with Mommy

-- Riding in the car or stroller

-- and SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!

**disclaimer #2- I plan to take a 3 month Ducky picture today but don't know how to put in on my computer until Jeremy gets home Friday. Basically he's my IT guy because I'm incapable of doing things with electronics like uploading photos, scanning, fixing the ever sketchy satellite dish, etc...**

Look what we bought today at Target. Can't wait to try it out!....

Back Home Again

** disclaimer- yes there are pictures from our trip but they are being held hostage on Jeremy's computer which is at the moment on an airplane again. Stay tuned**

Well we had a great trip to CA last week but are happy to be back home in sweltering humidity of the Midwest. Tessa did great on all of the plane rides. She mostly slept and was chill....like a giant car read. I was nervous about nursing her on the plane and around town in CA but we are old pros now. Most of the time people don't even realize what I'm doing.

Jeremy worked all week and Tessa and I mostly hung out. We had a nice little apartment style hotel room with a kitchenette, and it was so nice to have a maid and not worry about cooking, cleaning, gardening or dogs. How relaxing!...and great to spend time with Tess without a big to-do list looming overhead.

We saw some of our old friends- spent most of Sunday with Dean and Diane (our old minister and his wife) catching up and realizing how much we missed them! While at their house we saw Hayden's old wiener dog girlfriend Abby who was sad we hadn't brought him along.

Tuesday Jeremy took Tessa and I to see Stephanie- my old co-worker and friend who now lives in Sausalito. She works at two different bed and breakfasts along the coastal highway north of San Francisco. So we drove up there- beautiful! We saw the ocean, stopped and shopped in a little beach town, found a mysterious hidden hippy comune, vistited her workplaces, and landed in Sausalito again for dinner at one of my fave restaurants- E&O Trading Co.

The rest of the week was mostly spent relaxing, shopping, driving around to see our old haunts, and visiting restaurants I've missed.

So we're settled back in and Jeremy is off again on another business trip. Today I am staining our new outdoor rocky chair and painting bookshelves for Tessa's room. Speaking of her- she just woke up in the other room and is screaming so I better run!

Pictures coming soon!! :)

The Princess and the Countess

Today while dropping the dogs off to be dogsat in NV we saw one of my oldest friends Melissa and her kids. The Princess(Grace) and Countess (Tessa) are almost exactly a year apart. I can't imagine Tessa being this big!!

We leave tomorrow for CA and Tessa' first plane ride. Lots of fun things planned. Wish us luck and stay tuned for pics!

And for some fun perspective- Here's July 2007

And March of 2001!

(Look there's my goal weight! :)

Another New Toy

....well not 'new' but new to us! It sure is nice to have older cousins :) Here are some pics of Tessa with her newest discovery- her walker. She mostly likes to look at the toys but her enjoyment only last 10-15 min max (enough time to do dishes)

I wish I could say we had an eventful 4th and have pics to show but no. Still recovering from our colds, Jeremy and I stayed home, made zucchinni muffins for our neighbors and shot off about 10 minutes worth of fireworks in our driveway.

To answer any questions on whether she's actually walking in the walker, see below....

Hayden would like to remind everyone she's not the only cute one around here (Yes he spends about 80% of every day under a blanky)

Tessa Smiles

Trying to capture a clear picture of a baby smile on camera is like trying to herd cats. Here is an example of what I mean....

She Did It!

Tessa slept through the night last night- yay! She went down at 10pm and instead of waking up at 3 or 4 to eat like normal, she made it all the way until 6am. Yes that's 8 hrs!

Too bad Jeremy and I couldn't thoroughly enjoy this evening of sleep. We were both tossing and turning and blowing our noses, as we have both caught a bit of a summer cold. This is my first illness since Christmas and I've got to say being sick while pregnant is easier than being sick while breastfeeding! Mainly because doc said no to any nasal decongestants because it will dry up my milk. So I get tylenol and plain Claritan and that's it- and frankly it's not enough! :(

Luckily Tessa hasn't gotten sick so she's happy and smiling like normal. Yesterday I captured a great series of pics of her doing her morning smiling and cooing routine and Jeremy's computer somehow ate them! So no pics today :(