9 months

Tessa is growing up so fast! I can't believe all she can do now. At her 9 month appointment she weighed 13.3 lbs and was 26 1/2 inches tall. Making her officially below the charts for weight and 20th percentile for height. We also learned that she has a heart murmur but we'll find out more about it when we go to a cardiologist on the 17th. Hopefully it's ok and not a big deal. She loves to crawl all around, pull herself to a stand, and walk around furniture. She loves to go swimming, on walks, swing, and LOVES animals (especially Nana's dogs and the ducks at the lake). Tessa decided to make a lot of changes in her little life right at nine months. One night she just up and decided not to nurse anymore! She wouldn't take a bottle with breast milk or formula either. We were a little worried what could be wrong but after a week and a half of not drinking any milk she changed her mind and starting taking formula from a bottle, but was done with nursing. I guess she just thought she was too old for nursing. During the week she wasn't drinking milk she taught herself to sleep through the night though!!! Yahoo! From 8 pm to 7 am! It has been so nice to finally get some sleep. Thank you everyone for all your suggestions, many of them helped. Since she's been taking formula she's been putting on a little more weight too. I guess I just made skim milk :). Our little peanut is cute and happy as can be. We just love her so much and she makes everything so much more fun! Here a some pictures of her at 8 and 9 months.

Tessa nuzzled in the flowers at the temple

Playing in her saucer

She loves to ride around in the laundry basket like a ride!

Playing with toys

Playing in the sand

First time swinging!

Making a mess eating cornbread

Bath time

Tired after a long walk

A much needed May update

I haven't posted anything for awhile so here are some things we did in May....

Kim and I decided to have a little fiesta for Cinco de Mayo and it was so much fun! We just hung out, ate Mexican haystacks, and cracked open a pinata.

Our little family

The girls

Tessa looked so cute in her little Mexican dress!

One night we went bowling with Mitch, Janna, Lindsay, and Ryan. Janna and I dominated the game. She killed everyone the first game and I bowled my highest score ever the second game. It was a lot of fun!

Check out that form

Tessa with Mitch and Janna

High score of 160! Are you serious! (Mitch calls me Mom)

We went back to Nebraska in May to visit family and attend my sisters graduation. Congratulations Paige on graduating high school and Nick for graduating college! Tessa took her first plane ride and did great! It was so much fun to see all the cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. We can't wait to go visit again, hopefully it's sooner than later!

We're off! Tessa on her first airplane

The cousins

Great Grandpa Williams

Great Grandma Williams

Tessa loved having the cat around

Paige's graduation

Grandma Sue taking good care of Tessa

Watching some B-ball with Grandpa

Tessa had so much fun hanging out with family all week! We miss everyone so much!

I realized I never posted Tessa's beautiful 6 month pictures that Bobbie took. I'm so lucky to have such a talented mother-in-law. I just love all of these pictures!

NO SLEEP... NEED HELP!

As I laid in bed last night listening to Tessa scream already for the second time at 3 am, I thought to myself "I need to ask other moms on my blog for help because at this rate Tessa may never sleep through the night"! So to all of you wonderful moms out there that had babies who didn't sleep at night I need your advice. Here is what we've been currently doing for about 3 months consistently. Around 8:00 each night I put her in her pj's and sleep sack, turn on her mobile with soothing music as well as a sound machine with rain. Then we turn out the lights and I nurse her for about 10 minutes. She pulls off and rubs her eyes which is my cue to burp her and put her in bed. She rolls to her side and goes to sleep, she doesn't fall asleep nursing. She usually sleeps for a good 4 hours or so but then the waking up starts! My doctor told me at her age and weight there should be NO problem for her to sleep at least 6 hours straight without eating. So if she wakes up before the 6 hours then I let her cry it out. Sometimes it lasts 10 minutes other times it lasts an hour. I've learned that if I go in and turn her mobile back on and lay her back down on her back (she's usually sitting) she goes back to sleep faster. If it has been 6 hours when she wakes up I do go nurse her and she usually eats a little and then goes back down quietly. Either way though she has been waking up on average 3 times a night. I seriously don't know if she's going to ever sleep through the night. It's so hard not to give in and go nurse her because I know she'll go right back to sleep but I have been staying strong. I only let myself nurse her once during the night. I just feel like I've been trying the "cry it out" for so long and it's not working! She doesn't nurse before her naps and goes down fine but only sleeps for about 45 min. I'm kind of over the nap thing though, I just care about getting some sleep at night!
So please leave me any advice that you think might help. Oh yeah, she also doens't suck a binky. I've been trying to teach her how to but she's just never liked them. I thought a binky would maybe sooth her like nursing does, but no luck so far with that either.

Also if anyone has any good ideas on making traveling easier, let me know. We're going on a plane next week with her! Yikes
Thanks for your help!

6 months

I just realized that I never posted about Tessa's 6 month check up. So I guess it's better late than never. Everything went pretty good except I learned that she had an ear infection! I felt like such a bad mom not knowing but she had been acting fine. Luckily she got over it quickly and is healthy as can be now. I can't believe how much she's changed and grown. She weighed 11 lbs 11 oz and was 25 inches tall. Putting her in the 3rd percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. She's our little mini girl, but we just love her to death! Some of the things she loved to do at 6 months includes; playing in her saucer, eating baby food, splashing in the bath, and sitting on her own like a big girl! She has also recently gotten her first two teeth! I hope that explains why she's been so fussy! I hope this teething stage doesn't last TOO long. Here are some random pictures taken during her 6/7 months...

She absolutely loves dogs, especially Ellie!

Such a big girl standing on her own

So excited!

Silly face!

I just love this sequence of pictures Bobbie took of Tessa eating so I wanted to share them.

St. George

Last week we went to St.George to visit my mom and grandparents who came in from Nebraska. It was so much fun! I just love being outside and having it be so warm and sunny. I desperately want it to be nice it Salt Lake. We went golfing, swimming, and on walks every day. It was Tessa's first time in a big pool, she did great. She wasn't sure what to think at first but then began splashing and smiling. Summer is going to be so fun with her. She loved playing outside in the sun. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Reading with Great Grandma

Out to lunch

Tessa loves trying to drink from cups

She LOVED being in this backpack!

I just love this face!

Me and my grandparents ready to go swimming

We decided to swim in the indoor pool because it was nice and heated

Tessa swimming with Great Grandpa

Getting warm and cozy

We are obsessed with the rubiks cube, including Tessa

Playing with rocks

It was so fun to golf again since I couldn't last year