Yep, I'm here

Here's an update about our month, and then I swear I'll get better about blogging.

• My little genius somehow knows how to spell BATH, or at least knows what spells B-A-T-H. Everytime we try to spell it out so Joel can go get ready for work in peace, she takes off for the bathroom, saying "Bath. Bath. Bath. Bath. Bath. Bath," and trying to climb in the bathtub. Luckily it's a deep tub or she'd be in it with the water on.
• Joel is still working plenty of overtime every week, which limits our time as a family. 
• Tessa is obsessed with her baby. At least 15 times per day we wrap her baby in a blanket, she gives it hugs and kisses, and puts it "night night". But she doesn't like her baby sleeping for long, because sooner or later she's back with the blanket and the baby, asking for it wrapped again.
• We've been having a sleep regression the last few weeks. Every night between midnight and 1, she wakes up crying. I'll let her cry a few minutes but usually end up going to get her. She falls back asleep easily in bed with me/us, and will sleep on top of the comforter at the end of the bed until morning. I realize I should let her cry, but mama needs to sleep and get up for work so this works best for everyone, at least for now. 
• I'm harboring a clean freak. Every time she sees trash or empties a package, she obsessively needs to find a garbage and put it in the "trash." Every time she sees crumbs she tries to get the broom out of the closet and sweep it towards the central vac. 
• We've been in our house for 2 months now and there is still nothing hanging on the walls. We'll have to change that.
• We got a new kitchen table! Joel's parents bought us one for Christmas and it finally came last week. It's bigger than our last one and seats more people, but looks smaller and fits in the small dining room so much better.
• Tessa is a monkey. Seriously. She loves to climb onto the couch and sit like a big girl. She loves to sit at the table and sit in adult chairs. 
• She passed her 15 months appointment. She was 21 pounds, 12 oz (just under 25th percentile) and 30.5 inches long (60th percentile) Her iron levels were back to normal so we can just do regular flinstone vitamins instead of that yucky poly-vi-sol crap.
• My stomach is still bothering me, and with no solid answers, it's frustrating. Oh well.

Live and Learn

I tried a new recipe tonight. By recipe, I mean I threw some random crap on top of some stuff and cooked it to see what would happen. I'm a mad scientist in the making.

I had gotten some free boneless ribs thanks to couponing ($2 off any ribs, wait for a sale=4 pounds of free ribs!) I've never eaten ribs in my life, and Joel has only had them on the bone, but he certainly had never been a part of the cooking process.

So, I grabbed some spices, a couple random sauces, and the ribs and I threw it all in the crockpot. When I say random, I mean random. Adobo, garlic powder, ketchup, chili paste, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and teriyaki sauce. Oh, and a pound of carrots I'd frozen earlier in the year. Threw it all together, and turned the crockpot on low. 5 hours later, I had cooked ribs that smelled delicious. I took a bite. The flavor was ok, but it was so.farking.salty. Wow. I guess that what happens.

I took a few bites, then faked a stomach ache and excused myself. Joel was a trooper, and either didn't want to say anything negative, or actually liked them. I'm not sure which. Tessa wouldn't eat it, so she got a hot dog and some cheese cracker sandwiches. I'm now eating Mike & Ikes. Next time, we'll try a different recipe, maybe one that someone else has had success with.

Here's to a new year!

We had a very busy Christmas week with so many different families (6 different Christmas celebrations I think!) By Christmas day, we were down to our last one, and were kind of relieved that the whirlwind week was coming to an end. Tessa, of course, got spoiled rotten. What I wasn't expecting was for us to get spoiled as well! We had so much fun with everyone, especially my brother and his family from Denver. We've already booked a flight in March to go visit. It'll be Tessa's first airplane ride!

christmas is here!

We have been busy bees around the house getting everything set up in our new home! The Christmas tree is up, there are ornaments on the top half of it (Tessa is destructive), and I've already baked a batch of Christmas cookies. I didn't go all out with decorating this year since I figured I should spend time unpacking boxes instead of hanging a wreath, but we're still feeling the Christmas spirit.

I decided to buy Tessa an Ergo baby carrier for Christmas this year. It's really more of a gift for me, but I use it for her. We tested it during the sugar cookie bake-a-thon which turned into naptime for Tessa. Joel likes it too he's decided. She's also getting a couple puzzles, a few books, some clothes, and a stocking full of little goodies. Oh, and these. <---My favorite gift of all.

Official Business

 With Joel still working copious amounts of overtime weekly, I have had a lot of time to myself. I've stumbled across a few websites that have kept me entertained (Pinterest being the main one!). I came across this article and found it funny, fitting, and very true of Police officers. I copied it here in case you don't want to follow the link.


When do you really know that you are a police officer? Is it when you realize that you find humor in other people’s stupidity? Or is it when you know for certain that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, “Boy, it sure is quiet tonight.” Is it when you’ve left more meals on the restaurant table than you’ve eaten, or when you come to the knowledge that discussing human dismemberment over a meal is a perfectly normal thing to do? Maybe it’s when you feel good when you hear someone say, “These handcuffs are too tight.” Here are 25 ways you can be pretty reliably sure that you’re really a cop.
1.) You have the bladder capacity of five people combined.
2.) You have restrained someone and it was not a sexual experience.
3.) You believe that 50 percent of people are a waste of good air.
4.) Your idea of a good time is a “man with a gun” call.
5.) You conduct a criminal record check on anyone who seems friendly towards you.
6.) You believe in the aerial spraying of Prozac and birth control pills.
7.) You disbelieve 90 percent of what you hear and 75 percent of what you see.
8.) You have your weekends off planned for a year.
9.) You believe the government should require a permit to reproduce.
10.) You refer to your favorite restaurant by the intersection at which it’s located.
11.) You have ever wanted to hold a seminar entitled: “Suicide: Getting it right the first time.”
12.) You ever had to put the phone on hold before you begin laughing uncontrollably.
13.) You think caffeine should be available in IV form.
14.) You know anyone who says, “I only had two beers” is going to blow at least a .15
15.) You find out a lot about paranoia just by following people around.
16.) Anyone has ever said to you, “There are people killing other people out there and you are here messing with me.”
17.) People flag you down on the street and ask you directions to strange places...and you know where it’s located.
18.) You can discuss where you are going to eat with your partner while standing over a dead body.
19.) You are the only person introduced at social gatherings by profession.
20.) You walk into places and people think it’s high comedy to grab their buddy and shout, “They’ve come to get you, Bill.”
21.) You do not see daylight from November until May.
22.) People shout, “I didn’t do it!” when you walk into a room and think they’re being hugely funny and original.
23.) A week’s worth of laundry consists of five T-shirts, five pairs of socks, and five pairs of underwear.
24.) You’ve ever referred to Tuesday as “my weekend.”
25.) You’ve ever written off guns and ammunition as a business deduction.

Joel applies to at least 20 of these.

We Moved!

We are in our new house! I'll post on that on another date. But for now, enjoy some Halloween 

pictures. Tessa was a cow. She hammed it up really well.

 Grandma has her by the tail. You can tel

Family Pictures

 We recently wend to Des Moines for Tessa's 1 year pictures and some family pictures. She refused to walk around because she was too busy eating the leaves, tree bark, mulch, grass, etc. She was so curious. We got very lucky with the weather and the wonderful Nuzum Photo got some great shots!

Birthday girl!

Friday was Tessa's birthday, and also her 1 year check up at the doctor. Everything with her looked pretty good. Grandma Laura got to show her off to a few patients (Joel's mom works at the clinic we take Tessa to, FYI). She showed everyone how she was a big girl, walking every where, emptying the drawers of the exam table, and climbing up into a chair.

One thing we've learned about this girl, she is so curious about everything and is totally fearless. The first few times she figured out how to get up on the couch (after we realized she'd been stacking pillows up for a boost), she dove headfirst off it. What can I say? She wanted down and she figured it out. Finally yesterday she realized it was probably a little easier to turn around and hang her feet over the edge and slide. Much faster and less rug burn.

Anyways, back the the appointment. She is a whopping 19 pounds, 10.5 ounces, which is right at the 25th percentile. Those of you not versed on percentiles, it means that 75% of children her age weigh more than her, and she weighs more than the other 25%. Get it? She is 29 1/2 inches tall, which is the 50th percentile. She's still long and lean, just like her dad. I would be thrilled if she were built like him. He is tall and naturally skinny. For an analogy on the body shape differences between Joel and I, see Sesame Street.

I am Ernie and Joel is Bert.

Needless to say, I hope she gets at least some of Joel's features, height being one of them. So anyways, Tessa got 3 shots this round. She got her Hib vaccine, her flu shot, and the chicken pox vaccine. You can tell she's opinionated because she cried more when she got held down than when she got poked. She was fine once I picked her up, and she ripped her bandaid off before it was done bleeding. Sigh. That's my girl.

She has had some more trouble breathing, being very wheezy with a phlegmy cough. We've done a couple breathing treatments with her and that seems to help. She may have asthma, which can be a very big deal. However, I have asthma and have learned to manage it well. I convince myself I'm fine when I'm not, but I know better than to leave without an inhaler. But if we do come to the find out that Tessa has it, we'll be more diligent with her.

Today is her party, so I'll be sure to report back. We spent most of yesterday cooking, cleaning, and decorating for it. I tried not to go too overboard with it.

Happy Birthday!

Well, the first year is over. We made it. We have a walking, talking, climbing toddler with an attitude. We went from this:

to this:

 

She's doing a lot of this now too:

 

It is so fun to see every day what she learns, figures out, and changes her mind on. She has more personality than she knows what to do with, and too much energy for her own good. She is fearless, full of life, and oh so entertaining! We love you Tessa!

Tessa and GG

We went and visited GG a few weeks ago. Actually, like a month ago. I just found the pictures though, so I figured I'd post them. My grandma Wilson is awesome. So awesome. She grew up on a farm, farmed her whole life, and now is suppressed with city living. By city I mean sprawling metropolis of 600 people.

She is so frugal and I can't help but giggle at her sometimes. We went out to lunch, and she washed the styrofoam takeout box so she could reuse it. Her entire deep freeze is filled with yogurt containers with various items. We always joke that she saves 4 kernels of corn in her yogurt container and freezes it so she doesn't waste anything. Everytime we visit, she's defrosted some cookies for us. Yep, defrosted cookies. At one point she had freshly baked them, but it never seems to be the day we're visiting.

We love spending time with her, and she loves the company. So, we had a day off and decided to make the hour long trip to GG's house. Tessa had a blast, as usual. GG pulled out the baby butler, which looks like a death trap but is really just an old skool high chair type thing.

Tessa was her usual happy and silly self, which made GG very happy. We got a few good pictures and had fun playing cards with GG. We knew it was a big deal we were coming because she cancelled her usual plans of cards and lunch with "the girls" to have lunch and cards with us.