Tessa Elise Is Here!

Tessa Elise entered the world on Feb 8th at 6:37 pm. She weighed 9 lbs, 7 oz and was 20 inches long, exactly the same as Ava. We are thrilled to have her join our family and can't wait to see what her personality will be like.

I'm Not Tired, I'm So Happy

It is incredible to watch Ava grow and learn new things every day. She's in a very inquisitive stage and talks a lot. She's very interested in her little sister (who is still on the way, more on this later), and she talks about "baby Tessa" all the time. She loves to go through Tessa's baby clothes and try to put them on, and she often talks about all the things in the house that belong to Tessa, such as her crib, changing table, car seat, etc. It's impossible to keep her out of Tessa's stuff, which can be a little frustrating from an organizational standpoint, but at the same time, we're so glad that she's interested in her sister and recognizes her as part of the family (well, as much as she can before they actually meet). I can't wait to see them interact; I think Ava will be a great big sister.

Celebrating Ava's second birthday was a lot of fun. We invited a small group of friends over and fortunately, the weather in early January was warm enough for the kids to play outside a little. When we sang happy birthday to her, she got this huge grin on her face and sort of swayed back and forth. She was thrilled with the attention. We could kick ourselves for not getting it on video.

After several hours of partying, once everyone had left, when it was well past her naptime, we asked Ava if she was tired. She responded, "No, I'm not tired, I'm so happy" with this big grin on her face. It was a sweet moment.

Some pics from the party: