Tessa at Two

Two years ago today, we welcomed you, Tessa, into our family. I can hardly believe we're already celebrating your second birthday.
  

You bring us so much joy and we can't imagine life and our family without you in it. You are funny, silly, weird, smart, and so sweet. I'm excited to watch you continue to grow and learn even more this year.

This year has been a big one for you. You learned to walk, went to daycare while mommy went back to work, moved to a new house, flew on a plane, and, biggest of all, became a big sister. You continue to amaze us with how easygoing you are and how quickly and smoothly you adapt to changes. You're cautious at first, especially around people and things that are unfamiliar, but once you warm up and are comfortable, you are the sweetest, funniest, and silliest little girl, and everyone around can't help but watch you and smile. You make so many people happy.

  Your dad and I are constantly amazed at how smart you are. You have a HUGE vocabulary and you speak in full sentences. You are very good at communicating what you want, and you usually remember your manners..."meese" and "tanks" or "tank you". You love reading stories and have many of your books memorized. You're getting pretty good at colors and shapes, and you know a few of your numbers. You love to color and play with playdough and it's so much fun watching your imagination come out. You are curious, creative, and clever and I hope I can always encourage those traits in you.

Photo credit Kathy Knelsen

You are such a sweet and loving little girl. You love your baby sister and always make sure to give her a kiss, a "nosey", and a hug before bed. You tell her "shhh" and "ok, Bylet" when she's crying. You rock her carseat when we're getting ready to go out the door and she's not happy being strapped in. I love the way you pay attention to her feelings and look out for her. I can't wait to see how your relationship grows in the coming years. And, of course, I absolutely love hearing "wub you, mommy".

Tessa, I love being your mommy. You are a gift and a blessing to us every day. You have taught me so much in two short years...about life and about myself. I hope and pray that I can always be the mama you need and deserve. I can't wait to see even more of who you become this year.

I love you forever...
Mommy

2014 Highlights

2014 has been a pretty crazy year, hence my complete neglect of this blog. I'm a little sad that I didn't get a chance to record events and experiences throughout the year, and I'm hoping that I can be a little more consistent with writing in 2015, but, well...life. You know.

We've had so many wonderful things happen this year. It's been stressful - I think more stressful than I even realized at the time, since we're not normally "busy" people. We really value and enjoy lots of down time in our lives, but things have been pretty much non-stop since we put our house up for sale back in April 2014. Despite that, it really has been a good year and we have so much to be thankful for. But I'm definitely hoping for and looking forward to a calmer 2015.

Here are our 2014 highlights:

Tessa's first birthday

These two pink lines in early March

House listed in late April...and officially sold just 5 weeks later

Our new home as of July

Packing up and moving on

Summer vacation to Ottawa

Beginning of our basement reno in August

Getting bigger and bigger...little did I know at the time, this would be my last pregnant bathroom shot

A big surprise in October...Violet Eve arrived 4.5 weeks early

8 days of the NICU life

Sisters meeting for the first time...

...and first photo as a family of four.

Getting to take Violet home, October 21.

Lots of sweet, ordinary  moments

Basement reno complete in early December...relief!!!

Violet's first Christmas

While 2014 has been good to us, it hasn't been without its challenges. Finding a new normal as a family of four, with two kids under two, hasn't been easy, but that's another topic for another post. We're almost at the three month mark, and I'm hoping that with all of the busy-ness behind us, we can settle down into a new (hopefully calmer and slower) rhythm. Happy New Year to all!