don't wake a sleeping tiger

We had a great time at the zoo yesterday, thanks for taking us Susan!  I definitely plan on getting a zoo pass, it's only $55 online for 1 year and I can bring a "guest" every time I go! I think it's a great value, especially since Sophie clearly loves it there.  Just look at her face by that turtle!  Tessa stayed awake more than I expected but was perfectly happy enjoying the beautiful weather from the stroller.

Here are some of Sophie's favorite animals, what she calls them and how she describes them:

Zebra - "stripes"

Giraffe - "long neck!"

Snake - "sssssss"

Elephant - "brrrruuuu!"

Lion - "raaarr!"

Tiger - "sleep" (he was sleeping yesterday)

Fox - "sneaky nose" (a lot of these have reference to where she learned their names on Signing Time)

Bear - "scratch"

Fish - "blurp, swim swim swim"

Lizard - "'L' whoa!" (making the 'L' run up her arm)

Hippo - "big mouth"

Alligator - "snap!" (from the monkeys in the tree song)

Rhino - "nose"

I have to share just one story from our trip yesterday.  I mentioned early that the tiger was sleeping, well he was inside and the kids were looking at him through the glass behind a guard rail.  Sophie kept yelling at him, "wake up Tiger!!" I couldn't help but notice that every time she did, a lady standing nearby would clutch her chest.  I thought she was just bothered by how loud Sophie was being so I shushed Sophie.  Then the lady said to me, "You know I would just hate for her to startle that tiger and for it to come crashing through that glass!"  I almost laughed out loud but I saw the sincere concern on the woman's face and decided it was time to leave the Tiger so she wouldn't have a heart attack.  C'mon, really?  Do you honestly think the zoo would put a tiger in a cage it could escape if it were startled?  And do you really think a 2 year old girl could startle a tiger that has probably lived in a zoo his whole life?  People are funny some times.

TV update:  We've been doing a whole lot better not watching TV during the day.  As I mentioned before, Sophie was pretty wild the first few days without it.  But she has improved A TON and doesn't hardly ask to watch it anymore, when she does I just ignore her and come up with something else for her to do.  She has been really inventive and started reading stories to her stuffed animals and taking care of her baby doll a lot.  I turn on something for her while I prepare dinner in the evening but that's really the only time it's on lately.  I'm sure it has something to do with the better weather we've enjoyed this week so we could get out more.  But it makes me feel like a better mom, I am so glad we've made these adjustments.  I really didn't think we could do it.  Thanks for all of your encouraging words!

no movies and no TV make Jessica something something...

GO CRAZY!!! (Does anyone else know what that line's from? I bet my brother Josh will know.)

At Sophie's 2 year check up last week I asked the doctor how much TV watching is ok? Do you know what she said? NONE is ideal and 1 hour a day max!! Say WHAAAAAAT??? Either I am the worst parent ever or these are unrealistic expectations.

It reminds me of an Everybody Loves Raymond episode where Ray disciplines their daughter Ali by taking TV away from her for a week. The next day Deborah says to Ray, "You know, when you take TV away from Ali, you are punishing me too!"

Sophie loves movies and TV and they can keep her out of trouble and out of my hair from time to time during the day when I need to either take care of Tessa or get something done (imagine that!). Since the doctor's we've been trying to only let her watch 1 movie a day, which usually comes first thing in the morning because she's been waking up at 5 or 6 lately and the first words out of her mouth are what movies she wants to watch. Not in the mood to play Dan or I (whoever got up with her that morning) turns the movie on and falls asleep on the couch while Sophie watches it. So the rest of the day I am made to suffer!

Sophie's driving me crazy. Every time I turn around she has destroyed something else or has hurt herself. Sophie's not very good at playing by herself, she doesn't last with her toys more than 10 minutes w/o me. Then she's at my feet whining about something while I frantically try to do my hair or clean the toilet w/o her getting injured or too loud as to wake Tessa. Yesterday we were preparing dinner and she was grabbing knifes off the counter, reaching towards the hot stove, going through the garbage and sitting in Tessa's bouncer... just complete mayhem. How do you good parents do it? How do you get everything done in one day without the help of the boob-tube?

I think it will help when the weather's a bit better and we can get outside during the day. I am afraid that the combination of a newborn and winter weather make for difficult times. The doctor recommended I "just put her in school a couple days a week." I all but laughed out loud... I guess since she makes so much money (her husband is a doctor too) she forgets that there is no way we people like us could afford something like that. I want a zoo pass. And a membership at the Children's museum.

a week of 2's

This post may be inspired by watching too much Sesame Street where they have a "number of the day!"  But we had a number of the week and it was 2.

2 months of Tessa's life. Here's her traditional "month-day" picture with the bear.  She is such a chubby chunk, and we love it!  What a mellow baby, Tessa loves to smile and talk to anyone who will listen, otherwise she'll just go to sleep. I also wanted to mention for my own journaling purposes (because let's be honest I'm not going to document this otherwise) that I've still got another 10 pounds to lose before I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight this time.  I gained 30 pounds during this pregnancy, lost 10 in the hospital, 10 more in the first week home and NOTHING since then. :)  Hopefully over the next 2 months I'll be more successful.

2 years for Sophie (see more pictures and commentary below)

2 bears go to bed with Sophie every night ("twos bears, mommy please! brown and purple ones.") She's doing great sleeping in her big girl bed although she doesn't wait for help out of bed anymore.  She also learned how to open doors this week so we've been locking her in. :) Don't judge me, sleep is important.

2 loads of laundry daily.  She may be small but Tessa makes a difference!  Especially with her going through 2 or 3 outfits a day... every time I'm changing her from a blow out I ask myself, "are the cheaper diapers really worth it?"  (I discovered that the Wal-Mart diapers cost HALF the Huggies.)

2 home-made dinners Sorry Dan, I'll do better.  It's hard to find time to go to the grocery store, plan and prepare the meals these days.  But I know I'll figure out how to do it eventually.

2 miles ran 2 times, I'm trying to get in shape to do a 10k on Memorial day, wish me luck!  It feels wonderful to be running again.

2 temple sessions (Technically, we are doing this tomorrow... but it's still a "2" from this week.)  Dan and I plan to take turns watching the girls so we both can go.  I love the temple.

2 basketball sessions with the Elder's Quorum, and no new injuries! Yeah!

2 sick parents and 2 sick kids.  We're all better now except Dan... ironically he's the only one who isn't home right now.

2 girls to the doctor on the same morning (not related to the sickness, just regular check-ups)

Here are their stats from the doctor's office:

Tessa

Weight - 11 lbs 8.4 oz (66%)

Height - 22 1/4 inches (42%)

Head - 15 1/4 inches (47%)

Sophie

Weight - 27 lbs 6.9 oz (61%)

Height - 34 3/4 inches (76%)

Head - 19 1/2 inches (93%)

BMI 37

2 poops on the potty We got Sophie her own princess potty that she used twice this week.  She probably sat on it 12 times with those 2 successes, but we'll take it!  The potty has a sensor in the bowl that will play a "royal reward" song when wet.  She's yet to make her potty sing, but we have high hopes she'll  do it someday soon!

2 sisters Here are a couple pictures of Sophie and Tess taken on Valentines day, and yes, Sophie's shirt is wet from trying to drink from a glass.  Such cute sisters, but they hardly look like sisters in these pictures do they?

Sophie's birthday continued... here's some play by play:

Dan set up Sophie's table and chairs after she was in bed the night before (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Chapman for those!) and I wrapped her presents and set them out.  When she woke up on her birthday I sang her "Happy Birthday," she surprised me with her birthday knowledge by saying, "Yeah, happy birthday cake, party hats..."  She was very excited about all of her presents and played with them all morning.  Her favorites are her new hat and princess shoes.  She has been scuffing around the house in those heels ever since.  Before Sophie's nap I pampered her by painting her finger nails for the first time, she thought it was pretty special.

Dan came home from work while Sophie was napping and so we went to the park in the afternoon.  It was FREEZING!  Sophie was the only one who didn't seem to mind the cold wind.  This first picture of her in the swing reminded me of her "pirate" picture from when she was a year old and I had to put them side by side for comparison... she hasn't changed much has she?  Just more hair.

For dinner we had Sophie's favorite: peas, chicken nuggets and fries.  While the food was baking the cake I had baked hours earlier was sitting on the stove.  It was the first time I used my new Pyrex glass pan and, can you believe it cracked in half!?!?!!  It was a loud noise and it took us awhile to figure out what had made it.  So I transferred the cake to our biggest platter... which wasn't big enough but I trimmed the cake to fit.  Sophie was mesmerized by the fire of the candle, she looks like she's in a trance.  She scarfed it down (especially the ice cream), yum yum!

Sophie was blessed with many phone calls and emails from family members, thanks guys!!  We love you so much Sophie and are so glad you are part of our family! You make us so proud and bring us lots of joy.  Hope you had a fun day on your birthday.

And last, but not least, here's video of me talking to Tessa... unfortunately I am much louder than she is since I am holding the camera but I have to talk to her or she won't talk back!  Anyway, I think she is pretty darn sweet.

So as you can see this week was 2 much fun! Oh dear, I kill myself with the corny pun... I can't help it, it's who I am.  Sorry.

my knight in shining armor

Ok so my knight doesn't wear armor... he usually wears a button up shirt, cargo pants, and a messenger bag, but he is MY HERO! I have wonderful news; after a long search Dan got a job last week working for a solo practitioner attorney!! We are so proud of him and all he does for our family. He works his tail off in law school and now at work too then he comes home and rescues me every night playing with Sophie, putting Tessa to sleep, and then lets me talk his ear off and still holds me all night long. I couldn't ask for more. I love you Dan! (Isn't he so handsome? I just love this picture of him when we were in Austria.)

eye color mystery

So when I was looking at the pictures of Tessa (in the post below) yesterday in Photoshop I was lightening one when the mouse did something funny and it was lightened A LOT. What I saw really surprised me, Tessa's eyes turned green! Dan has thought for a long time that Tessa's eyes are green but I just don't see it. I thought it would be obvious what color her eyes will be by now, Sophie's eyes were blue at 4 weeks! Tessa is almost 8 weeks old now but they still look gray to me. What do you guys think? Are they going to be brown, blue, or green? Any predictions?

more Tessa pics

Would you look at that face?  How will I ever tell her no? j/k  I know I will.  Children are truly a gift from God, I love my beautiful girls to pieces.  Tessa is so social, I love to talk to her when her tummy's full (before that, don't bother).  She's pretty laid back and predictable, which is nice.

69 degrees!!

We enjoyed such gorgeous weather this week!  Too bad it won't last, we're supposed to get snow tomorrow.  I can't wait for spring!

Here are a few pictures of Tessa and Sophie from this week and another basketball injury for Dan.  Tessa is really smiley, I don't know why I didn't get any pictures... that will be my goal for next week!  Family is the greatest joy in my life, I love you all!!

  

a fun-filled weekend

Friday night we did something we haven't done in probably 6 months, WE WENT OUT!!  It wasn't a date but it was a lot of fun.  We went bowling with a bunch of friends from our ward to celebrate a couple of birthdays.  I can't remember the last time I bowled (besides on the Wii) and I was pretty bad, but Dan faired alright.  I didn't get many pictures because after we had taken a few a guy from the bowling alley came over and told us our flashes were setting off the foul lines in the 6 surrounding lanes!!  Never heard of that before, is that even possible?  So I have these two dismal pictures.  Unfortunately, we're out of focus in the first and I couldn't use a flash in the second so it's too dark... but you get the idea I guess.

   

Dan's parents and his brother and sister-in-law came to town Friday night.  On Saturday Dan took everyone to see where he spends all his time, the law school.We enjoyed the beautiful weather in Cherry Creek walking around to the shops.  The highlight of our day was lunch at the Cherry Cricket (DEFINITELY recommend it!!!).

  That evening my parents arrived as well.  My dad got right to work building me shelves in our storage area we have off our deck.  He's such a busy body.  Thanks again Dad, they are awesome!!  Sophie was sufficiently spoiled with early birthday presents, and the arrival of her Christmas gifts we couldn't fit into our luggage to bring home before.  I'm sure she didn't realize they were hers and not Grandmas'.  She was thrilled about everything and kept running from toy to toy excitedly, not able to focus on any one thing.  She loves to have an audience watch her play too.  Her new bike may as well be an armchair the way she sits in it all day, she has been obsessed with bikes for a long time but this is her very first one!

We blessed Tessa at church on Sunday (the reason for family coming to town).  Dan did a great job, I am so grateful to have a husband who is a worthy priesthood holder.  And Tessa was an angel during the blessing.  She wore the same dress both Sophie and I did, isn't she just beautiful?  Oh I just love her so much!

Tessa's blessing day celebration quickly turned into a Super Bowl party.  It was a great game!!  (Eventhough the Cardinals lost. ) But let's be honest... I was more excited for all of the wonderful FOOD!!  I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of our lovely spread but just know it was awesome.  We had hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken patties, fries, fruit salad, green salad, jumbo shrimp, cupcakes and candy.  I had more food to make but no one was hungry enough. :)  Sophie spent as much time as she could this weekend on uncle Jason's lap, she really loves him.  In fact I know she enjoyed the company of all of our visitors.  Tessa did too... which made a nice break for me.  We are so glad that everyone was able to come visit, thanks for making the trip guys!

My parents also brought Sophie's big girl bed and assembled it this morning before they left.  Sophie wanted to sleep in it for her nap and I obliged although I was worried she'd end up playing with toys instead of napping.  She slept in it no problem.  Funny thing was when I heard her talking and went to go get her after her nap, I found her standing up on the bed just like she does in her crib when she wakes up, arms in the air waiting for me to get her out!  Silly girl, I wonder how long it will take her to figure out she doesn't need me to get out of her new bed.