Lake Lure 2010

A Fall Day at the Neighborhood Park

Summertime and the Living is Easy

Ava covered in chocolate ice cream and who knows what else at a friend's pool party. I love the look of pure joy on her face. She is kind of a ham for the camera. (Photos by Amber Tindall: http://www.amberoceanphotographic.com/)

  

The party was a make-your-own ice cream sundae affair, and Ava went all out. This kid loves her ice cream (wonder where she got that from?)

Tessa is beginning to show her personality little by little. So far, she seems very easy-going and possibly a little shy? Obviously it's way too soon to know if she will truly be shy, but she has this cute little habit of burying her head in my shoulder or Ben's shoulder when either of us carries her, and we call it her being shy. Her big news is that she is starting to sit up unsupported and she is eating real food. She really digs carrots, sweet potatoes and rice cereal.

About a year ago, on a whim I took Ava to the pool at our Y. As we got dressed in our bathing suits and drove down there, she was really excited about the idea. Her excitement continued when she saw the pool, and I thought we were in for a fun afternoon of swimming. Well, about five minutes after we got in, she started screaming to get out. I tried everything I could think of to entice her to stay, and nothing worked. She was starting to cause a scene and I didn't want to be that mom with the screaming kid, so we just went home.

Fast forward to this summer, and Ava has really gotten into swimming. It all started with a trip to a friend's neighborhood pool (pictured above) in which she really took to the water and didn't want to leave. On our recent family vacation to Lake Lure, she loved swimming in the lake and pool. Pics to come from that trip.

Tessa talks all the time. Her sounds range from cute little coos and laughs to full-on baby growls. Speaking of laughing, I must post the video of her laughing it up. This girl can laugh, I tell you. And she is ticklish, too.

Ava's First Year of Preschool

Ava's first day of preschool, 20 months old. She ran right in the classroom without so much as a glance back at me, and she loved every minute of her first year there.

Ava's last day of preschool, almost 2 1/2. She did not want her picture taken. I can't believe how much she grew in the space of nine months.

There's Nothing Like a Baby Smile

Before I had kids, I heard a friend describe how as a new mom she spent hours, days even, trying to get her baby to smile. Like a lot of things, I had no idea what this felt like until I had kids. Tessa was about four weeks old when I saw her smile for the first time. It was probably just gas, but it didn't matter. She smiled. It was such a sweet moment. I have found myself trying to get her to go back to sleep in the middle of the night after a feeding, so tired from sleep deprivation that I cannot wait for her to go back to sleep, but when she starts smiling at me, that's it, I just smile back, not even caring if she gets more stimulated, forgetting everything else but her smile.

Sisters

I secretly hoped that Tessa would be a girl. Having two sisters, I wanted Ava to have a sister. Of course, I would have been thrilled either way. You can't go wrong as long as your baby is healthy, and a little boy would have been really fun. But I pictured two little girls playing with dolls, having tea parties, doing each other's hair -- all the things I remember doing with my sisters. And I think, generally speaking, same-sex siblings are usually closer. Again, that's just a generalization, and I know there are plenty of exceptions to that. I also think that I just understand the world of little girls better and my temperment is more suited to girls. So, there. I said it -- I wanted a girl, both times.

The day we brought Tessa home from the hospital, Ava was thrilled to meet her.

But it took no time before Ava realized that Tessa, the baby we had talked about in the abstract for months, was really here and not going anywhere. Suddenly our attention was divided and her world was a little rocked. For the first couple days she pitched a fit or two over not being able to hold Tessa the minute she wanted to, or the fact that Tessa was using the stroller that Ava had long since stopped using. She was excited about Tessa but not about having to share us or her things.

However, now that Tessa has been with us for a month, Ava is starting to grow into her role as big sister. She can't wait for Tessa to wake up so they can sit next to each other and Ava can "hold" her. It is so sweet to watch them begin to interact.

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.