A holly, jolly Christmas

 

We had a grand ol' time celebrating Christmas with Mima, Kory, Aaron, Jessica, Tammy, Dave, Klarissa and Klysen! Oh, and our K-9 family, Tommy, Lola, Greta and Max. Pretty sure Tessa loved every minute of it (minus a few barking episodes and being told she couldn't go home with Aaron, Jessica and the pups). She was thrilled with all the gifts, both from family and Santa. She must have been on the nice list.

Christmas Eve Mass was eventful — We sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, heard an Indian Christmas carol, and saw fireworks afterward. A moment that our entire congregation will remember, though, was when Eric was praying with his eyes closed and Tessa said during the silence: "Wake up, Daddy!" Snickering ensued.

We hope you all had a very, merry Christmas as well!

Strep strikes again {edited}

 
Tessa stayed home on Wednesday, and I took her to the doctor yesterday because she has been coughing a lot and complaining of a sore throat. She has strep throat again — the third time in two months. When the nurse did the throat swab, Tessa coughed up blood. It was awful, to say the least. She's on two different antibiotics for 20 days. Her doctor recommended she see the ENT specialist, so he can determine if she needs her tonsils taken out. The nurse set up an appointment for us, so we'll probably see the doctor who did her ear tubes. However, we pray it doesn't come to that. {It came to that. Tessa's adenotonsillectomy is scheduled for Dec. 28.}

She's such a trooper through it all. Ever since she was a baby, it has been difficult to tell when she's sick because she's in good spirits despite how icky she feels.

Christmas kickoff...with Mima & Kory!

On our way to Falls Park to see the Christmas light display! Tessa sang
"Old McDonald" most of the way.

Tessa loves this snowman. We had to drive by it 17 times, and then she had to say goodbye. And she wished him a merry Christmas. He was quite spectacular. Anyone have a spare 10 foot lighted snowman we can borrow?

Kory sings Christmas carols for Tessa. She enjoyed it. Really. We all did.

The popover debacle. The oven mysteriously turned to 500 degrees on the clean mode and locked the oven door. We thought we were doomed. But then...

...after Tessa told us to wait and let the oven cool before we tried to open it again, we had popover perfection!

Every time I tried to take Tessa's picture with Kory, she would flash this pouty face. I am not Tyra Banks, and we have no hopes and dreams of Tessa ever appearing on "America's Next Top Model." Good grief.

Giving thanks

Tessa loves reading with her godparents and cousin!

I have about 47 pictures of Matt with these two kiddos in his arms at various family gatherings. Poor guy – Tessa wouldn't give him a break!

The whole gang

Baby Thomas' first Thanksgiving!

John & Tessa play wonderfully together.

I heart Shutterfly...and deals!

How do you like our 2010 Christmas card? I know what you're thinking: "My — Eric, Jess & Tessa sure have changed this year!"

This is just one of hundreds of beautiful holiday cards — that I have trouble deciding on — available at www.shutterfly.com. Shutterfly, being uber generous, is giving away 50 **free** holiday photo cards when bloggers mention the promotion in a post. Heck, yes. Sign me up. {Hence this post.} I heard about it through one of my co-workers, who doesn't have a blog but also loves a great deal.

Next to www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com, Shutterfly is one of my favorite websites. {For different reasons, obviously.} It is the best site for digital photo/video storage and archiving, invitations, announcements, cards, stationary, etc. In addition to ordering prints, I've used Shutterfly for pretty address labels, and I even made a photo book for Grandpa Bill. {Shutterfly is great for gifts.} I know many of you use it, too.

The past two years, we've sent photo Christmas cards that we ordered through the photographer who did our family session. Since we opted to go a different route this year, we weren't going to send photo cards, but now, how could we not? {Thanks, Shutterfly!} Here's a sampling of Shutterfly products:

Precious.

You might be seeing this in your mailbox this Christmas season...with a different family, of course.

Shower those you love.

So pretty.

Who doesn't love a good mug?

You're invited to this little girl's birthday party!

Ooo, look at this cute Valentine's card!

So, fellow bloggers {and family and friends who are inspired to start a blog to get this great deal}, I hope this post benefits you in some way. And, just in case you feel like reading this was a complete waste of your time {although I find that hard to believe}, here's a picture of Tessa to make it all worth while. 

Merry blogging to all, and to all a good night!

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

For a while now, Tessa has been repeating things we say (anyone remember this?) ... usually it was immediately after we said them. But her elephant-like memory is shining through to a greater degree — for better or for worse.

Last night, I said "no" to her about something, and she responded with:
"You don't say 'no' to me, Mommy."

Uh, excuse me, little girl?

After explaining parent-child roles and breaking it to her that Mommy and Daddy have all authority and ultimate control (yeah, I know, good luck with that, right?) I'm hoping she got the message. She ended our little heart-to-heart with:
"Sorry, Mommy, I said 'no'."

I'm sure she'll conveniently forget this conversation ever happened. Once she can read, I'll refer her to this post.

We had the first parent-teacher conference for her 2 room last week. Tessa is doing very well. Her teacher's only issue is that she often has to say, "Tessa, you're not the teacher."

:)

We saw this coming.

T-Babe's two-year stats

Height: 35 1/2 inches (60th percentile)
Weight: 30 lbs., 4 oz. (76th percentile)

She is becoming more child-like every day. We can now make the switch to 2 percent milk. (I cannot imagine anyone choosing to chew drink whole milk.)

Tessa the Tiger: A Halloween Tale

The happiest tiger we've ever seen

Tessa with her friends Katelyn, the candy corn witch, and princess Brianna

Tessa the Tiger and Sam the Frog among their daycare friends

Tessa & cousin Amy trick-or-treating
The costumes they make these days sure beat the cheap plastic masks we had as kids. Wow. I sound old. Pretty sure we walked uphill both ways while
trick-or-treating, too ... in 10 feet of snow.

Tessa liked handing out candy more than getting it. At each house, she would say "Thank you" before "Trick-or-treat!"

This photo really doesn't need a caption. :)

Hairstylin' skillz

No, I did not do this. Eric didn't, either. One of Tessa's teachers is the talented one. When I pick Tessa up from daycare, it's fun to see what new 'do she's sporting. It's hard to believe she sits through the process. She sure doesn't do well when it's time to take them out. I should have Maggie come over to do that part, too.

Fall Fun