Halloween Fun

 The day before Halloween Riley and I had some fun baking cookies while Tessa napped!  We had to make pumpkin shaped sugar cookies for her class to decorate the next day!

Chef Riley!

Cutting out cookies!

 Love this smile!

 Had lots of fun baking with my big girl!

The next morning Riley had her animal parade at school!

She was the cutest pony and had a blast!

 It's so fun to see all the cute kiddos in their costumes!

 My cutie!

 Class Picture time!

 Miss T was wearing the shirt I made for Riley last year...but as a dress!  She looked pretty darn cute and had lots of fun watching her sissy at school!

 Riley has fallen in love with Doc McStuffins on Disney and when she decided that's what she wanted to be for halloween I couldn't have been happier!  I was ready for a break from princess things!!!

I had fun piecing together her costume and finding all the perfect pieces!  I actually dressed the girls up a few weeks ago and took pics and I'm so glad I did because it was too hectic to worry about good pics of the two of them when it came time to trick or treat!

Doc McStuffins!

When we figured out what Riley was going to be I wanted to think of something clever for them to be sort of a duo and when I spotted this little lamb costume I knew Tessa could be Lambie and it would be perfect!

Is this not the cutest thing ever?

 I love the way T is looking at her big sis in this pic!

 Love my Doc and Lambie!

 On the night of Halloween we went to Hannah and Todd's for our annual trick or treating and tortilla soup!  We got the big kids together before we took off!

 And then we got the babies and mamas in too!

 Tessa, Addi, and Allie...the little girls!!!

 Lambie and an elephant...love these two cuties!

 Jason met up with us at the Trunk or Treat at the church so we had to get a family pic!

 Riley got lots of loot and we managed to get all of our trick or treating in before the rain started!

 Tessa loved riding on her Daddy's shoulders!

We got back to Hannah and Todd's and all ate a WONDERFUL meal!  It was crazy with all of the kids but it's a great crazy...I just love this stage of life!  Lots of candy was eaten and I am loving sneaking in the candy bucket...don't tell Riley! :)

A cowgirl and her partner!

 I have a lot of fun with my two girls but I love the days when the real fun just begins when Jason gets home!!!

Riley had an animal parade at school so we borrowed a cute pink pony costume from her sweet friend Ella!  Ella's dad delivered it to Jason at work and if you can imagine two men carrying around this pink pony costume and getting lots of funny looks then you hit the nail on the head!  I warned Jason that he was going to get a delivery but he didn't have any what he was getting himself into!

When he got home with the costume Riley literally galloped around the house for an hour straight...it was hilarious!  

After Tessa went to bed Jason got all gussied up and they got the nerf guns and swords out and they were "pawtners"looking for bad guys!  They were so cute and I got shot several times with the nerf guns...I guess I was the bad guy!

Two crazies!

 Howdy!

 I convinced Jason to use this "playtime" to get Riley to clean her toys up...you know to make it fun and all!  I was cracking up the whole time...he was saying things like "if you don't clean that there mess up there will be a hanging at high noon"...Riley had no clue what he was talking about but it totally worked!

Don't mess with this cowgirl!

What a fun night!

10 Months

Miss T is 10 months old and changing day by day...how can this girl get any cuter????

These pictures are getting harder and harder to take! :)

She weighed in at 16 pounds 4 ounces on her 10 month birthday!!!  She's still hanging out in the 3rd / 4th percentile and doing just fine!  I officially moved her up to size 3 diapers and they are a little big but she hasn't had any trouble with them at all!  She is wearing 6-9 month clothes and is able to get into most 9-12 month clothes too.  I have a feeling a lot of the dresses she's in now will work well as shirts next spring so I'm hanging onto them for now!

Her schedule hasn't changed much this month other than she seems to eat more and more each meal than the day before!  She nurses 4 times a day and takes a 5 oz bottle around 1:30.  She is completely on table food and loves it.  She shovels it in her mouth like nobody's business!  She started drinking a sippy cup of water with her meals too and does great with it.  I gave her her formula in it once and she didn't drink it nearly as well as from the bottle but I eventually got it down her.  We'll have to work on that over the next two months!  She has started biting me when she eats and that is not fun...and then she laughs.  Think she might be trouble???  I think we have it under control for now but we shall see!

As for her teeth she still just has the bottom two.  Four of her top teeth have been so close to popping through and it seems like any day they will but so far they haven't yet!!!

She's sleeping great and still taking two naps a day.  She usually naps around 9:30 and then 2:00...on Riley's school days I have to push her until 2:30 and work hard to keep her from falling asleep in the car but on non-school days she usually goes down a little before 2:00.  Each nap is usually an hour and a half.  She goes to bed between 7:00 and 7:30 and then she's up around 6:30 or 7:00.  Most mornings she usually wakes up and just hangs out in her crib for 15-20 minutes.  She's still sleeping in the guest room but we have plans to move her crib into the playroom until we move.  She still does great adapting to our sometimes crazy schedule and will sleep in her carseat, the stroller, or the ergo. I especially love when she sleeps in the ergo because I get to snuggle her up.

Tessa is all over the place.  We've had to adapt the house and change our habits because this girl is into everything!  She loves to play in the play kitchen, crawl all over the house, and pull up and walk with her toys.  She already knows where the playroom is and she make a beeline for it every chance she gets!  She's opening cabinets and drawers and of course putting anything and everything in her mouth.  When she is trying to move towards something that she shouldn't and I say "uh uh uh" she turns her head, looks at me, and repeats it back to me...and then she proceeds to go right for it.   She's going to be a stinker!

I think she will be walking before we know it but as for now she's really not pursuing it too much...probably because she's so fast with her crawling so she isn't too worried about other methods of moving!  When she's sitting and playing she is always in this stance where she get on one leg and acts like she wants to just push herself up and stand right up.  She doesn't have the balance to do it yet but she's not far from it!

This month has shown me how much Tessa loves babies and it has been so fun to watch!  She makes this distinct little sound when referring to her baby and she smiles and lights up and just grabs that baby, throws it over her shoulder, and gives it the sweetest pats on the back.  I just love watching her maternal instincts even at such a young age.  She loves ALL of Riley's babies so I think her big sister is going to hook her up for Christmas!

She is becoming more and more smitten with her sister every day and I just love seeing the two of them together.  Tessa is now giving hugs and kisses and every morning when Riley comes in my room she wants to lay her head on her big sissy and give her a hug.  We all love the hugs and kisses from this sweet girl!

It's so great to see Tessa finally really start to give affection back to Riley.  Riley has been head over heels in love with Tessa since before she was even born and she is such a good big sister.  But when Tessa was smaller she preferred me over her sister and Riley often got her feelings hurt.  Now things have changed and Tessa just LOVES Riley and wants to love on her first thing in the morning and is always tickled to see her and play with her and we couldn't be happier to see these girls in love with each other!

This month I left both girls with J for a little over 24 hours and went to the Women of Faith conference.  He was so excited to have the girls to himself and he did such a great job!  Of course Tessa had to go and get sick for the first time when I left her but thankfully Jason is such an awesome Daddy and he took great care of her.  She ended up with high fever and a trip to the ER but she just had an inner ear infection so once she got some meds she was back to herself.  

I just love my girls and my sweet family!

Here's the comparison pic for this month!

Super Dad!!!

A few weeks ago Sara found out that we could go to the Women of Faith conference in Sacramento with the base chapel!  It was a great deal and a great opportunity and we couldn't pass it up!

Dinner, transportation, a hotel, and a great refreshing break from motherhood!

Friday afternoon we texted each other as we packed and planned our one night getaway!

We met the men in the parking lot and sent them off with the kiddos!!!

We grubbed on some pizza and then packed into vans and we were off to Sacramento!

 Jason was really looking forward to having the girls all to himself!  I set him up and sent him an email with everything he needed to know about Miss T!

I got lots of cute pics sent to me throughout the night!

He took them out to dinner and they had a great time!

He discovered that Tessa loves lemons just like Riley did at that age!

The conference was great...lots of great speakers and music!

We got out pretty late and by the time we got to our hotel it was almost midnight and we were starving for some reason.  We realized there was an Inn N Out just down the street so we did the smart thing and got some grub!!!  It was delish!

 We finally made it back to our room and got some sleep in the wee hours of the morning!  Why is it that when we get a night away we're just having too much fun to sleep!!!!  

We had to be in the lobby by 8:20 and that came way too soon!!!

We had another great day of amazing testimonies and were totally encouraged by so many stories about how God had worked in these women's lives!

We had a picnic lunch outside with our group and went back in for more sessions.  I had gotten a few texts and pics from Jason and Tessa just didn't look herself and he said she was really sleepy!

He took the girls to Riley's soccer practice and T conked out!

 Then he took them to a birthday party and sent me this pic of her in the swings!  This girl loves to swing and he said she never even smiled so he started to question whether she was sick or not and thought she had a fever!

 Riley was having a super fun day with her Daddy...girl's got some style!

 He had gone ahead and given her some tylenol at the birthday party around 12:15 and when they got home at 2:30 he took her temp and it was 103.3....he was texting me all of this and I felt so helpless!  I didn't have my own vehicle but knew I would find a way to get back if I needed to!  He is such a great Daddy and he took the best care of her and encouraged me not to worry and stay where I was!

He put a cold compress on her for about a half hour and then took her temp again and this time it was 103.8.  Since no one from the pediatric clinic was returning his page he decided to take her to the ER.  I was pretty nervous but once again he encouraged me to stay and enjoy myself.  I'm a mama though and I wanted nothing more than to be with her!

 Riley went to play at Ollie's house...she was really sad that Tessa was sick.  Luckily Jason didn't have to wait too long at the ER and when they took her temp it was 102.6 so it was going down a bit.  Once the doc came in he discovered an inner ear infection...phew!

 Once I knew it was an ear infection and she was already feeling better after she got on the meds I finally breathed a sigh of relief!  We all ate at Joe's Crab Shack and I was able to enjoy myself!

 Jason went to pick Riley up and Tessa was already perking up!

She had fun playing with Gavin and apparently gave him lots of kisses!

Hannah fed Jason a gourmet meal and he was finally headed home with our girls!  I know he had an exhausting day and I'm so thankful for him and what a great Daddy and husband he is!  I'm also thankful for such great friends who took care of him and my girls!!

Of course after T had spent most of the day sleeping she was ready to play when they got home since her medicine had started to kick in!

Apparently she was calling me and telling me to come home...so cute!

 It was a great night away for me and I'm so thankful Tessa didn't have something more serious going on!  I couldn't wait to get home and get my arms around my girls and Jason! 

Pumpkin Fun

 I just love this time of year!

We waited until Jason came home to visit Impossible Acres and it was such a great family day!

Riley had a blast climbing the bales of hay!

Miss Tessa loved the pumpkins but more than that she loved the hay and she kept trying to eat it all afternoon!

 Pretty girl!

 Checking out the hay!

 There was a great folk band playing and Riley was totally into listening and dancing!

 When she asked her Daddy to dance with her there is no way he was going to say anything other than "yes"

 Our dancing girl...she had a blast!

 Then it was off to check out the animals!!

Sweet ducklings!

We put Tessa in the pig pen and she wasn't quite too sure what to think!!!  The piggies loved her!

 Time to brush the pony!

 Then the kitties...she begged us for one...we won that battle! :)

 We got some pictures...Riley was NOT in a picture taking mood but we still managed to get some good ones!

I just love my girls!

 Tessa is such a sweet pumpkin!

 Riley is quite the diva!

Sure love my family and our sweet time together!

After all that fun we found a great spot for our picnic dinner...I had packed us all something to eat in our big picnic basket which is Riley's favorite thing to do!  We had a yummy dinner and then it was time for a little hide and seek!

 And who wouldn't want kisses from this sweet girl?

We loaded up some tired girls and drove through Starbucks on our way home...our thing these days is the Salted Caramel Mocha...and Jason is so sweet to often let me drink the last sips of his...those are THE best!  Love that man!