Tessa’s blessing weekend

Last weekend we blessed Tessa at church. My parents flew in for the weekend as well as the fabulous Whitney all the way from Seattle. The lovely Sarah drove up from IL, and since we had those two together again we had ourselves a girls night with all our besties at the Cheesecake Factory. It was tons of fun to chat and catch up with everyone. Even better were my amazing parents who took all 3 girls to Culver’s so I was child free!! We pretty much spent the whole weekend eating…not so good for my plan to drop this baby weight, but so delicious! I stayed up waaay too late every night talking to Whitney, who was still on west coast time. So good to talk to her about any and everything, just like old times. Sure do miss that girl!

Derrick gave a very sweet blessing, accompanied by my dad, Matt Vanderpool, Mike Spencer, and Greg Patten. Tessa didn’t make a peep during the blessing, and threw up a field goal sign when she was done. Someone should have gotten Derrick and my dad a stool! Look at these giants! This picture makes me laugh.

This, believe it or not, was the best family picture we got that day. None of the girls smiling, but at least 2 aren’t crying. Bad job posing on my part. Should have had my mom sit back a little…no she is not 6” taller than my dad. HahaIt was so fun to spend time with these girls. They are some of my absolute favorite! And my girls were completely obsessed with Whitney. They still talk about her and wish she were here. So do I! Monday my mom, Whitney and I all went and got pedicures to finish out the weekend. It was sad to see everyone go, but we all had a great time together. The only thing that could have made it complete is if Grandma Callister could have come out too! Tessa’s still a dream, and we are so in love with her. I can’t think of one thing to complain about with her! Keep it up, little sister!

2 months!

This little girl continues to be the sweetest thing. The time is flying by and I am trying to hold onto it as tight as possible. I feel like she is so big, yet she still remains our smallest babe to date. At her appointment she checked in at 9 lb 3 oz (10'%) and 22” (34%). I mentioned to the doc that she only poops about every 4-5 days so he did a rectal exam on her. SADDEST THING EVER. She of course started to scream and cry while the doctor put his pinky up her tiny bum. He said her rectum was indeed a little tight so he proceeded to stretch it out a little with his finger. She hated this even more. I wanted to cry with her. He said it would help her poop and if it didn’t to come back in a couple weeks and he would do it again. Noooo! Seriously, it broke my heart. She cried like I had never heard her cry before, she was inconsolable. Finally I nursed her to calm her down, only for the nurse to come in and give her shots! What a hard day for my little Tessa. But, she did poop the next day and has pooped a little more frequently since then so I guess it helped.

She’s been going to bed between 7 and 8 most nights and will sleep until 12 or 1, then again until 5 or 6. Can’t really complain. Some nights she only gets up once. She is the world’s fastest nurser (which I didn’t think was possible considering how fast my other two ate) but she is literally done eating in about 3 minutes per side, if I even give her both sides. She is content to hang out in her swing or bouncer, and loves to be held and snuggled. She likes her pacifier to fall asleep, but won’t really keep it in if she’s just hanging out. She does pretty good on her tummy, and will tolerate it for awhile before she starts to get ticked, unlike Summer and Hannah who screamed the minute I put them on their tummies.

She never lost any of her hair and it usually is standing up in the back no matter what I do.

She starting to coo more, which I think is adorable, and the smiles are coming more frequently, which I ADORE. It’s like she is finally starting to acknowledge me, the person who is at her every beck and call. And for that I thank her!

She’s totally my favorite child these days. Probably because she doesn’t talk back or get into fights with her sisters. She is just so darn lovable I can’t even stand it.  

If every baby were like Tessa we’d all have 20 kids, I’m telling you. We love this kid so much!