What We've Been Up To ~ A Photo Tour

I haven't been spending much time on the computer lately. Tessa and I have been so busy! I try to do something with her almost every day so we can get out of the house and enjoy San Diego! I took her down to Mission Bay on her two month birthday just to relax and enjoy the weather. She really loves being outside!
As I was looking through the pictures, I found this one that I think is absolutely beautiful. Her eyelashes are to die for!

On Memorial Day weekend, we spent time with Ryan's family. We drove up to Ventura (what a nightmare driving through LA!) and celebrated Tyhler's 14th birthday!!


Since the drive up to Ventura was a nightmare, we drove home early Monday morning (like at 4:30 am!) and spent the day poolside in Rancho Santa Fe with Aunt Linda!


Isn't the view breathtaking!


We've also had a parade of house guests. Ryan's mom and sister came down just before Memorial Day and spent a few days. Molli came back down with us after Memorial Day to spend a few more days with us. Bethany came down for one evening as well. Our home cleared out for only one day before Ryan's dad came down for a few days! Our families just can't stay away from Tessa for too long!

On Sunday, my Baby Mamas group held a nanny speed-dating event where parents came and we interviewed a bunch of babysitters in a speed-dating style, where we had about 3 minutes with each girl before rotating to the next. It was a lot of fun and a bunch of great girls came out for the event! Tessa got to see her friends again. Here she is with Serenity!

Aren't they getting so big!

Ryan and I both made MAJOR changes in our lives this past week. I put in my leave of absence at work, so I'm officially going to be a Stay at Home Mom! I'm thrilled to have the chance to spend this year at home with Tessa! That means I have an extremely busy week ahead of me, cleaning out my classroom and storing all my stuff! Thank goodness for family, Bethany and my mom are coming down to help, plus we hired one of the nannies from the speed-dating event to watch Tessa while I sort through my classroom!

Ryan just got word that he'll be needed in Sacramento starting on Monday! I can't believe he's actually going to have to leave! We've been so lucky to have him here for the first 11 weeks of Tessa's life! Fortunately, his schedule up in Sac will be working four 10 hour days, so he can fly home on Thursday nights. We're going to miss him so much, but we knew this day was coming.

So as not to leave on a downer, here's a fun picture Tessa and I took one morning. She and I like to spend a few minutes in bed each morning just laughing and enjoying each other before the day begins. I obviously had not been out of bed yet, so pardon my puffy eyes and messy hair! My daughter, on the other hand, looks beautiful, as always!

Two Months!

Tessa, you are already two months old! It has been an incredible month and you have already changed so much!
• You have started to take short naps in your swing or bouncer! This is really new, and Mommy is so glad that you are starting to take some naps during the day.
• You love your Moby wrap and sleep really well when Mommy or Daddy holds you close in the wrap. It automatically calms you down.

• You went to the zoo for the first time this month.

• You have started to coo! We have short conversations throughout the day.
• Your favorite place in the house is on your changing table. This is where I take a lot of pictures and we have a lot of our conversations. I often bring you there just to make you smile!
• You rolled over from your front to your back for the first time yesterday!

• You went on your first long car ride (to Ventura) and were excellent! I think you’re going to be a great traveler.
• You went to your first Padres game! You slept until the 7th inning stretch. You really love being outdoors!

• You smile and laugh with Mommy and Daddy now! You are even getting used to the camera and have let me take a few pictures of your smile!

• You make your Mommy and Daddy proud every day!

Rolling Girl

Yesterday, at Tessa's check-up, her doctor recommended putting a rolled up blanket underneath her during tummy time, since she tends to hate tummy time! So, this morning, I did just that. Not only did she enjoy the early minutes of tummy time more, she also rolled over! We've been practicing that for about 3 days now, and she did it on her own! I'm so proud!
I caught it on video! You'll see how much she really does not like tummy time at the end of the video.

Two Month Check-Up

Tessa had her two month well baby check up yesterday. She had to get three shots and one oral vaccine. Luckily, our appointment wasn’t until 4 in the afternoon, so Ryan was able to join us! It was so hard on me when Tessa got her shots! She did really well, though. She only screamed a little. When we took her home, she was pretty fussy, so we gave her some acetaminophen and walked over to get some frozen yogurt. By the time we got home, she was asleep and slept until 2:15 this morning! She’s such a great sleeper at night!
She got a blue crayon band-aid and a pink camouflage band-aid!

Here are Tessa’s 2 month specs:
Weight: 10 pounds 12 ounces – 50th percentile (this means half of two month old baby girls weigh more than her, and half weigh less)
Length: 23 inches – 75th percentile. She’s a tall girl! Not surprising if you remember this sonogram pic:

Tomorrow is Tessa’s two month birthday, so my mom and I bought her a cute little outfit for her picture. I’m excited to compare last month’s picture to this month’s and see if there’s much of a difference at all!

Tessa's Letters

 

My very talented mom painted these letters for Tessa's room. Aren't they adorable!
T - turtle with a tutu
E - entertaining elephant
S - skateboarding snail
S - soaring seagull with a scarf and a sailboat
A - ant

Since we live in earthquake country, we have to figure out how to safely hang them above her crib. My mom's idea was to attach ribbons to them and hang them from a curtain rod. I think that should work, now I just have to figure out how to attach the ribbons or get Ryan to for me!

Tessa's Photog

When Tessa was born, I "graduated" from PregTASTIC to New Moms, New Babies. In fact, you can listen to me as a podcaster soon! Anyway, I've been listening to many of the past podcasts, and recently listened to one about taking pictures of your baby. The guest gave a lot of good tips. His main three points were: 1. Turn off the flash and find your own light, 2. Get up close, and 3. Push the button A LOT!! (which is easy with a digital camera, not so much with film!)

Yesterday I had a photo shoot with Tessa. I wanted to try out the three tips and see what I came up with. I am by no means a great photographer, and my camera is a simple point and shoot camera, so I still have quite a way to grow, but I am pretty happy with the early results! Following the guest's advice, I:
1. turned off my flash and laid Tessa on her changing table. It's right by the window for beautiful natural light, and she LOVES laying on her changing pad!(I had to play a little with my camera settings. I should read the manual, but I really hate reading manuals!)
2. used zoom, since Tessa isn't a big fan of having a camera in her face!
3. took over 100 pictures in about 10 minutes.

Here are some of the results:





I wanted to get some good angles to show her breathtaking eye color.
As you can see, I have a long way to go, but with as beautiful of a subject as I have, I really don't mind practicing!!

Just My Luck

I've been pretty lucky this week! First off, I won TWO prizes from different blogs! I won a digital scrapbook kit for my mom from The Design Girl Studio!

Aren't these cute? I think she's going to choose the green apple kit.

I also won a Passion Spice gift certificate from Baby Makin(g) Machine!

Then, yesterday I received my final lay-off notice for next school year. This would normally not be lucky, but now I get to stay home with Tessa for at least a year! How lucky is that!! (Does anyone have ideas on how a SAHM can make a little money?)
Here's a picture of Tessa upon hearing the news that I'll be staying home with her next year:

She's one happy girl!