Daddy Daughter Fishing Trip

 Jason has been fishing with a buddy from work, Chris, for the past few months.  Chris has a great fishing boat and they go out on the delta and have a ton of fun!  

Jason has been wanting to take Riley out and she has been begging to go so they guys decided this would be the day!

Tessa and I sent them off and they couldn't wait to hit the water!

 Riley reeled in some fish and did a great time listening and learning from Chris and her Daddy!

 She had a picnic on the boat with her Subway lunch!

 Reeling one in!

 How cute is her Barbie pole next to the guys' fishing poles!

 She even got to drive the boat...it looks like she might be going a little too fast!

 Her Daddy took her for a treat after their big day of fishing since she was such a good girl on the boat!!!

What a fun Daddy Daughter Day!

Mom's Night Out!

 So...the movie Magic Mike got quite the hype!  

Jason and Ashley's hubby Tim had been texting and joking about seeing it together for several weeks before it released.  Tim always teases Jason about seeing chick flicks with me and so they had fun hyping the movie up!  Ashley and I thought we would surprise them with a date night and go see it but when Jason found out he wanted nothing to do with it...so we made it a girls night!

We started the evening at BJ's with drinks and dinner!  

Hannah, Nicki, and Ashley

 Sara, Me, and Hannah

 All of us mama's!

So..the whole experience in the theater was nothing like anything I had seen before!  Pretty much every seat was filled and it was 99.9% women and it was LOUD!  We saw one guy walk in and the whole theater erupted in clapping and screaming! HaHa!

When the movie started there was so much screaming you couldn't even hear anything!  Shortly after we realized something was wrong with the sound and you couldn't hear the talking parts very well.  We went and told the theater staff and they said they were working on it...it was really annoying.  About 30 minutes into the movie it gets stuck on this one part and just keeps repeating, repeating, repeating.  It was all messed up!  Well that put everyone into a tizzy and the theater was out of control...booing, yelling, etc.  It was pretty funny!  We were all pulling out our iphones and videoing the chaos!  Then of all people they sent in a 19 year old boy to announce that the movie would be out soon!  When he was trying to get everyone's attention some ladies started cheering and yelling "take it off...take it off" and then it was contagious and the poor guy was red in the face and didn't quite know what to do.  It was the funniest thing I had ever seen!  Eventually he was able to tell us the movie would be back on shortly but I'm sure that was either the best day of work or the worst day for him!

The movie was really funny and the dancing was AMAZING!  There were some dark parts that I could have done without but it was entertaining and we all had a great time!

6 Months

 Look who is 6 months old???

 This sweet girl!

So here is what is going on with Sweet T!  She weighed in at 12 lbs 6 oz on her 6 month birthday and when we went in for her 6 month checkup a week later she weighed 12 lbs 8 oz.  Back at her 4 month appointment she was in the 5th percentile for weight and doc said if she didn't maintain that percentile we'd have to possibly look at supplementing her.  I knew she was falling in the percentiles because I weigh her every couple days.  I was right..she didn't even make it on the growth chart for this appointment :(  I've tried not to stress too much about this because she is a HAPPY baby, she's doing all the right things developmentally, and she sleeps great.  There is nothing concerning in her behavior at all...girl just can't gain weight and she'll appreciate that when she's older!!!  For now he wants me to feed her a small bottle every time after I feed her and see if she can't put on a little more weight.  Her head and length measurements are increasing just as they should (about 25th percentile) so it's just some lbs that she needs.  I have a small stash of frozen milk so we'll start with that but he also gave me 8 cans of formula (he was referring to it as muscle milk..haha) and I'll have to start using some of that as well since we'll be traveling in a week and I can't travel with my frozen milk.  I'm totally fine with putting her on some formula..I can't believe I made it this long without having to supplement.  We'll see how things go and if she starts to put on weight a little faster...for now I'm loving my little bean!!!  She's starting to grow out of the 3 month sleepers and is fitting a little better in some of the 3-6 months clothes.  She's still in size 2 diapers!

 She's still sleeping great!!!  She sleeps 10-12 hours at night...usually going down around 7 or 8 and sleeping until 6:30 or 7:00.  Shortly after she turned 5 months she started rolling over in her bed so I thought it was time to get her out of the swaddle.  We tried it one day and it just didn't work....she kept rolling over on her belly and getting ticked off about it.  So I decided not to mess up what was working and I put her back in the swaddle with both arms out and I put the wedge back in her bed to keep her from getting on her belly.  She can roll over both ways but in her bed she just immediately gets mad when she gets on her belly rather than just rolling back over.  Silly girl!  For now her routine is to have her legs swaddled, have her Wubbanub, and to be laid on her back at bedtime.  She likes to roll on her side and quickly gets herself to sleep!  She's mainly napping in her bed now...she hasn't been in the swing in a long time.  She of course naps in her carrier when we are out and about but she doesn't stay asleep well in there unless we are driving.  She often times falls asleep in the car and then as soon as I go to get the carrier out she pops up wide awake and with a huge grin...it could have been 2 minutes or 30 minutes...it doesn't matter!  Thankfully she always wakes up happy and she just goes with the flow.  When we are home she takes 1-2 hour naps but being the second child that doesn't always happen!  She usually gets at least one good nap in her bed every day and sometimes when we don't have a lot going on she'll get all three naps in there.  I think she's starting to work on losing that third nap but we'll see!

 I started feeding her solids this month since she did so well with her rice cereal all last month.  I started her a little early just to see if it might help her gain a little weight but it didn't really bulk her up.  She has enjoyed most everything she has had and I have made all of her food and it's been so fun!  We have a great farmer's market by our house with fresh produce and that's what I have used.  I still have just fed her once a day, in the evenings, and she has had apples, pears, bananas (not her fav), avocado, zucchini (her fav veggie), carrots, mango, and cantaloupe (hated it).  I have just been mixing her cereal in with whatever she has for dinner and sometimes mixing the foods up too.

She started sitting up really well earlier this month and now she's a pro.  I can sit her up with some toys and she's very stable.  She still topples every now and then but it never bothers her!  She still loves to stand and sometimes when you go to set her down it's hard because she won't bend her legs...silly girl!  She has also started really giggling and I love it.  She still chooses when she's going to have a giggle fest.  One day Riley and I got her going and then all of a sudden she just stopped.  She was still smiling and loving all the tickles but no more giggles.  It's a trick she just likes to pull out of the bag when she chooses...maybe signs of a girl who likes to be in control?? :)  She's scooting and rolling all over the place...changing her diaper is tricky!  She doesn't move far but she sure does move!  She is quite vocal...always making some sort of noise and most of the time it's her favorite high pitched squeal that could break glass!  The nursery at church doesn't take babies until they are 6 months old and we had to skip church this last week because she is just too loud.  They have a family area but it's so distracting and it just seemed like we were physically there but not mentally so we're ready to get back to church and let Tessa squeal away in the nursery!!!  She's not getting any teeth yet but is gnawing on everything so I'm sure they are working their way down.

She is just a joy!  Her smile lights up a room and your day and she gives out smiles all day long!  Riley is so sweet with her and many mornings wants to pretend that it's her baby.  That is fun but when Riley plays pretend she's serious so sometimes I have to step in.  The best times are when Riley gets her baby Sally and we play moms together.  She feeds Sally while I feed Tessa...sweet times with my girls!  Riley is so excited to see Tessa in the morning and Tessa is excited to see her too!  Riley still wants Tessa with us all the time and I love that! 

Here's the comparison pic of my two girls!

 

Our Little Build A Bear

So there are some fun positives to having a teeny baby! 

One day Riley and I had the idea of putting the Build A Bear clothes on Tessa and seeing if they fit!  They totally fit her and they were SOOO cute!  We couldn't stop and just kept changing her into different outfits...she is so laid back so she didn't mind it all!

Here she is...our little Build A Bear Tessa!

First she was Rapunzel!

 Next she was an angel...oh and what an angel she is!

 And then she got to wear a fancy dress...ready for a night out on the town!

Such a cutie!

A Rapunzel Party

 Tahlia had a Rapunzel party for her 4th birthday and Riley had a blast celebrating with her!

Here's the oh so cute Rapunzel cake!

 Riley came in her Rapunzel dress and one of her two Rapunzel wigs!  This girl likes to do things big!

The girls had a tea party outside and it was so cute!

 Here's the Birthday Princess Tahlia!

 And this guy?  He's such a good girl dad!  Jason sported a Rapunzel wig in front of all of Riley's friends and they thought it was soooo funny!  Someday he won't get away with these kinds of things but for now he gets cool points!

By the way in this picture this is Riley arguing with him and making sure he knows that he is NOT Rapunzel!

Tessa got to play too!! Tahlia's little brother, Lochlan, is only a month older than Tessa and they had fun playing on the playmat together!

The girls were playing so well so we were able to stay and have dinner with them as well!  Tahlia's dad is in the Australian Air Force and is part of an exchange program so they have been in the US for almost 3 years!  They are such a great family and we will sure miss them when they go back "down under"

Tennis Time!

 Riley got to take tennis lessons this summer and it was so fun!

I wasn't sure how five 4 year olds learning tennis would go but they really did great!

Here's the girls ready to hit the courts!

 Coach Tom was GREAT and he made is so fun and understandable for them!  First they went around checking out all the lines and learning what they meant!

 Then a little game of freeze tag to break things up!

 First he taught them some swings using just their hands...sort of like giving him a high five!

Then he handed them rackets and they were so excited!

 This was a game called Jail Break...if the girls didn't hit the ball over the net they had to go to the other side and be in jail.  They could get out of jail by catching a ball.  Riley did great and never wound up in jail!

 Learning the backhand stroke!

 My little tennis girl!  She did great!  This was a casual set up and I knew Riley would only get to go for a few weeks before we left on our trip but it was worth it and hopefully we can pick it up again when we get back!

Tessa stayed in the stroller so the likelihood of her getting hit with a wandering tennis ball stayed at a minimum!

Father's Day in Monterey!

 Jason is an AWESOME Dad and for Father's Day he wanted to go on an adventure!

We decided Monterey would be a great weekend getaway and when we scored a suite at the Navy Postgraduate School the trip was a go!

We left Friday afternoon, hit Inn N Out for dinner, and got into Monterey later that night.  Tessa slept most of the way seeing that we left close to her bedtime.  She woke up for the last 30 minutes of the ride and wasn't too happy but we pushed on so we could get there and get settled!  

The Navy school is nice...I love the buildings and the architecture!

The suites are great because there is a kitchenette (with a Kuerig coffee machine), a living room with a pull out couch, and a closed off bedroom.  It was the perfect setup for two little kiddos!  Riley had her own room in the living room on the pull out couch, we had the bedroom, and Tessa's little pack 'n play fit perfectly in the closet!  We got in and got the girls settled and got some sleep!

Saturday morning we went to breakfast at a place called Great Awakenings that we recommended by some friends!  We sat outside with the great crisp morning weather and had a delicious breakfast!

Me and my girls!

 Jason and his girls!

 Jason was really looking forward to boogie boarding with Riley...it's something he always loved to do at the beach and wanted to share that experience with her!  The water in the Pacific is FREEZING so we knew she'd have to have a wetsuit!  I had found a place that rented wetsuits and boogie boards so we set off to get all of their equipment!

The shop had recommended Carmel Beach so we headed over there and got a spot on the beach...the weather was picture perfect and the water was SO beautiful!

 

Riley quickly got her wetsuit on and was ready to hit the waves!

 These two had a BLAST boogie boarding!  Riley was a champ!  Tessa and I would occasionally walk out to watch her do her thing and one of the first times I watched I saw a wave knock her down and I thought "uh oh...tha'ts the end of this" but she got right up and went right back to catch a wave...she was so tough!

 Tessa had fun relaxing on the beach like a bathing beauty!

 Me and Sweet T!

 This was our set up at the beach and it worked out perfect!  We could warm up some water in the baby pool, Tessa took a nap in the pea pod tent, and we had shade from the umbrella!

 The girls playing in the pool while we packed everything up!

 We took the boards and wetsuits back to the rental shop and then went to a great place for burgers!  Riley had totally passed out in the car but managed to make it through dinner and then we went back to the hotel to all get some rest...it was a great day but we were all exhausted!

Sunday morning we headed to the wharf and had some breakfast crepes on the pier...it was so fun!

 Father's Day with his girls!

 There were some vendors just off the wharf so we strolled through and got a few fun things!  Riley got some new feathers in her hair and now she tells everyone "I got them in Monterey"..haha!

 We headed up to Jack's Peak to do some hiking and Jason found the perfect walking stick and got it all ready for Riley!

 She's all ready with her hiking stick!

 Tessa hiked with me in the Ergo!

 Riley loved this hike and the views were great!  She was our "hiker leader" and told us about every species of animal and type of tree...she knew it all!

Her and Jason even pushed a tree over...they are so strong!

 After hiking I cashed in on some one on one time with Riley which was much needed!  We went paddle boating and I had the best time with her!

 She couldn't quite reach the pedals so that was a bummer but she helped me do the steering and she told me where to go!

 After paddle boating we went to Dennis the Menace park where they had all kinds of great play equipment!

 Wheeeee!

 This weekend was just wonderful!  It was a great chance for us to getaway and just have some quality family time!  Most of all it was a great Father's day for Jason!