Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A few random pics...

Just a regular Tuesday, having a birthday party in the basement...

Santa brought Tessa some roller skates for Christmas and in the 60 degree weather of this past weekend, we tried them out.  Unfortunately she still needs practice, a lot of it.  Morgan got some Spiderman ones too, but I think it might be awhile before he gets to try his out.
Over the weekend, our TV stopped working.  We had bought it right after we got married and it has held up pretty well, but with TV prices being so much lower, we figured we'd go ahead and buy a new one instead of spending a couple of hundred dollars to replace the bulb and color wheel in our current television.  While Nate was working with the salesman (who was a good one - we ended up walking out of there with a new sound system and blu ray player as well) the kids and I hung out by the appliances.  Ah, the little things in life.  They loved opening and closing all the washers and dryers.  Silly kids.


So come Thursday, we will have a TV that turns on again.  A beautiful thing!!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Successful Trip to the Dentist!

We had a very successful trip to the dentist this morning!  Morgan volunteered to go first, climbed right up in the chair, and let the dental hygienist do absolutely everything from counting his teeth, to polishing them, to a flouride treatment.  He can be such an easy kid, and announced upon the completion of his cleaning, "That was fun."
 Pretty impressive, huh?  Tessa wouldn't even sit in the chair at his age.
Though I will say for her FOURTH visit to the dentist, she did finally let them clean her teeth for the first time.  You have to love the influence a little brother can have.  
My mom had randomly scheduled her appointment for right before ours (which I guess makes sense since we are both teachers and had the day off) so she stayed to help watch whichever kid wasn't in the chair at the time and joined us for a celebratory lunch at Chick-fil-a afterwards.  And to top my day off with a bonus treat - I actually got Tessa to take a nap.  She has been a terror the past two evenings, so this was a nice treat, but really necessary in my opinion.  I think we threw her totally off by going to see a movie Friday night (Wreck-it Ralph) and she was up way too late and has just been an overtired nightmare.  Hopefully this nap gets us back on schedule!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The Final Birthday Post

Tessa's actualy birthday day started out great.  Nate and I filled the floor of her bedroom with balloons to greet her when she woke.  (We were a little nervous they might terrify her if she popped one stepping down, but thankfully, she thought it was very cool).  Then we arrived at school where she could choose between a tiara or a crown with a 5 on it.  She chose the tiara to wear, but held up the crown for a quick pic before Mommy left for work.
 Then around noon I got a call right as I was walking into an IEP meeting that Tessa had a fever.  Fortunately I have my plan at the end of the day, so Nate went to pick her up and dropped her off at school with me where she hung out in my room and drew on the chalkboard, fever free mind you.  She was totally fine and I wondered why the call had come for me.  The note they sent with her basically said she couldn't come back to school until she had been fever free 24 hours or had a doctor's note, so we scheduled a doctor's appointment and walked over there after school (their pediatrician is connected to my building).  The doctor deemed her in perfect health and gave a note saying she could go back immediately so were were able to have cookies with her school friends after all.
 We topped the night off with a trip to Red Robin for dinner, a favorite of both kids.  Ironically, when we got home, Tessa did have a fever.  So weird, perhaps she did have one at school and it went away and came back?  Who knows.  So after all my efforts to get a doctor's note, I ended up staying home anyways with my sweet five year old girl today.  I will say however, that they day has not been in vain.  First, I organized all the baby clothes in newborn and 3 month size that we have for Nolan and washed and dried them.  Folding about to ensue!  And somehow, today, of all days, Morgan has decided he would like to go on the potty and made it all the way to naptime with only 1 accident.  Pretty amazing from 6 am to 1 pm for my little boy who pees about every 20 minutes.  He was even telling me when he had to go and wants to wear big boy undies to school tomorrow.  I hope he wakes up from his nap and wants to keep going...
So I'll leave you with a picture from the start of our day, as it certainly was a bit better than the end of it.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Kids First Party

Tessa had a great party with her friends yesterday at Kids First.  She wanted a gymnastics party and that is what she got!  I think it was safe to say that all the kids had a great time and there were no major catastrophes, injuries, etc.  They even did pizza and cupcakes for us, so it was nice showing up with nothing but the favor.  Here are some of the highlights:
 They were told to put their looking glasses on.  Love it!
 Getting ready to to into the gym.
 Tessa demonstrating a freefall!
 Morgan stopping to pose for a picture.
 Playing with the trampoline with her friend Allison.
 Swingin' from the rope!
 Inside the parachute, where we sang Happy Birthday to my girl.
 Going over rules for the slide.
 Cake and presents!


Such a fun evening!  We y all those that came out to help her celebrate in style!  Can't believe she will be FIVE tomorrow!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Tessa's 5th Birthday!

Technically, she doesn't turn five until January 14th, but that didn't stop us from having her family party last night.  It actually worked out really well, as my brother and sister-in-law were still in town from Seattle and I don't go back to work until Monday so it made it much easier to host a party!  Unfortunately, I took no pictures with all the kids.  I was kind of running around, hosting, so only managed to get pictures of presents and cake.  But alas, here they are:

 This girl has been wanting light-up shoes for a long time.  Want no more!  Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Helmick!
 And she has also been begging for a real gymnastics leotard.  Wish granted!  Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Bullock!
 Trying out the light-up shoes.  And yes, for like the third year in a row we had her birthday on the first night of playoffs.  Good scheduling.  I also got married on the day of the Notre Dame/Southern Cal game.  Apparently I like to schedule big events on football days.
 I made her cake for the first time this year using my grandma Conte's recipe.  It was delish, and there were no leftovers.  A beautiful thing!

 My two little chickens!  Love them!
 I think I'll just try one of those sprinkles...is that okay Tessa?  Love her facial response, but she did let him take one.
 Shy when everyone was singing to her!
 Ready, set, blow!
 She did it!
 And I'll end with this one of Morgan at the beginning of the presents.  He reminded me a bit of another two year old at one of Tessa's earlier birthday parties (I think you know who you are :)  He was a little disappointed there were no presents for him.  At least his birthday is kind of coming up...
Happy birthday, sweet Tessa Rose!  We love you!