Sea World

We went to Sea World today and had a really fun time. The weather was perfect, the park was empty, and we were able to see everything. What more could you ask for?

Tessa enjoyed Sea World much more than Marine World we took her to in Japan. She was able to really look at the animals and watch what they were doing. She would get really excited and scream or clap her hands. She made sure to wave to each animal and blow them kisses good-bye.

Just about to enter

We fed the dolphins and got to pet them.

Touching real shark teeth

Tessa loved watching the sharks swim over her head.

The fish is bigger than Tessa.

Tessa wanted to hug the manatee :)

Tessa is waving hello to Shamu!!!

She sang and clapped her hands throughout the entire show :)

Wow!!!

She is giving you her Fish Face

Peek-A-Boo

Daddy and his horse

Tessa loves Dippin' Dots as much as Mommy does :)

She was really into the polar bears

Leaving the park with the new purse Daddy bought her... of course!

We had such a good day. We are glad we got season passes so we can go whenever we want. It will be fun to see how Tessa reacts each time she goes. This time she loved the sharks, penguins, polar bears, and Shamu. I wonder what it will be next time :)

Mommy's Old

I turned 30 on Saturday, and am still in shock that I am no longer in my 20s. Oh my!!! I have been making fun of DJ since he turned 30 in August but now he has been teasing me :)

I had a wonderful birthday. I got to spend the entire day with my wonderful husband and my cutie pie Tessa. Then later in the day most of my family came over to celebrate. Everyone was there except my sister, bro-in-law, and my nephew Keegan (they are moving in a few days and needed to get organized). I even got to see my Aunt Sherry from Chicago! We had an interesting time trying to go out for dinner. I guess eating out around us is a popular thing to do. Poor DJ had to go early to get our name in at a new restaurant that just opened, but that plan backfired as well as the backup plan. So to make a long story short we ended up picking up take out and headed for home to spend the evening there. It actually worked out for the best because we were able to relax, talk, and the kids got to run crazy. It was nice celebrating with everyone! But next year I get to redo my 30th (not being prego) and celebrate it again... ha ha

Thanksgiving

We had a very busy Thanksgiving this year. We started the morning and most of the afternoon with Nana, Papa, and Uncle Ryan Houlton at Nana & Papa's new house. Tessa had fun playing with her new toy. A Giraffe Tunnel!!! She entertained herself crawling through the tunnel non-stop. She liked it so much we could hardly get her to leave it to eat some lunch. Nana made a delicious meal and the cutest desserts, turkey cupcakes (minus the cup part... she couldn't find the muffin pan so she turned it into individual cakes).

Then we drove over to my Aunt Carol & Uncle Jim's house to spend the rest of the day and evening with my family. We had a very good dinner with way too much food to eat, and Tessa had a blast playing with all of her cousins. She even got a belated birthday gift, a Winnie the Pooh airplane push toy, that she will not stop playing with still :)

This year Thanksgiving was wonderful because we got to spend it with all of our family. It was also very nice just being around our families again. Plus we were stuffed with yummy food and desserts all day long :)

Tessa's Birthday

We finally got our camera cord so I can post the pictures of Tessa's 1st Birthday!!! But when I went to get the photos I realized I didn't have too many on my camera. So these are the best I got.

On her actual b-day we were still in Japan. We had a great time celebrating as a family. We spent the day going to a play place (similar to MyGym), out to eat, and Tessa had her 1st b-day cake :) She loved that part and swallowed the piece... ha ha. She was not happy when Mommy took it away so she wouldn't get sick.

Her 1st Birthday Cake

Swallowing her cake

Then just a few weeks ago we got to celebrate her birthday with all of our friends and family here at home. Tessa had a ladybug party with a huge jumper (that Daddy picked out). We had lots of fun seeing everyone.

Ladybugs... Ladybugs



The enormous Jumper


Auntie Jenny & Tessa

Opening her presents

Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween this year. Last year she was just a few weeks old to do any of the fun stuff... so we made up for it this year. Tessa got to enjoy going to the pumpkin patch, dressing up, and trick-or-treating!!! Tessa was a little crab/lobster this year. Seeing that we weren't sure we were going to be home for Halloween I had to find Tessa a costume in Japan. Her "costume" was one of the few choices. The funny thing is that it really isn't meant to be a costume. It is a normal outfit!!! Yes the poor Japanese kids are dressed in outfits like this for no reason at all... poor kids :)

We started with going to the pumpkin patch. At the pumpkin patch there was a petting zoo with a ton of different animals. Tessa had so much fun looking at all of the animals. Her favorite part was chasing the rooster around the farm... poor bird was scared to death!!! She got to pet bunnies, roosters and guinea pigs. We had apples, carrots, and lettuce to feed all of the animals. She thought the goats were funny and she can't wait until she is big enough to ride the ponies :) We will definitely have to go back next year so she can ride the ponies and go on a little train!

Picking the perfect pumpkin

Where did Tessa go?

Look at me!

I want this one :)

The Poor Rooster

Petting the Big Mama Bunny

Feeding the Animals

Then we went to a festival the night before Halloween to trick-or-treat and see some of our friends The Burns and Thomas Family!!! Tessa got to play with John and Tyler.

She kept her hat on all night!!!





Trick-Or-Treating with Daddy

Then on Halloween we went up to Grammy and Gramps and went trick-or-treating with our family. Tessa got to see all of her cousins and aunts and uncles. She was so excited to play with them. Halloween was so much fun :)

Trick-Or-Treating

All of the Cousins

Getting into all of her candy!!

We Are Home...

For those of you who do not know!!!
We made it safe and sound, and surprisingly everything went really well. Tessa was the best girl in the world and the airline we flew was awesome. Tessa played and ate snacks on our first 2 hour flight. She had a blast looking out the window and never once cried.
Then when we got to Tokyo we had a 3 hour layover which was during her normal nap time so we weren't sure how it was going to be. But our airline was wonderful! Our plan was we would go to the lounge to drop off our luggage before we ventured out to let Tessa walk around and get some energy out. When we asked them if they would hold our luggage behind the counter they did even better. They gave us our own room where we could keep everything with plenty of space for us to relax and eat. The best part was that Tessa could wander all over and we even had our own TV. It was perfect! Tessa was able to spread her toys all over, climb everything, and scream without bothering others (that's probably why they gave it to us). It was the perfect space for her to get all of her energy out before our long, long flight. So needless to say, Tessa didn't sleep at all! So when it was time to get on our 11 hour flight home, Tessa was exhausted and slept through takeoff and woke up about 1 1/2 hours later. Perfect little nap:) Our seats were great and Tess had plenty of room on the ground to crawl around down by our feet. She had a little play area set up for her. The bummer was that she didn't sleep the rest of the flight until we were getting ready to land :) But she never threw a fit and only fussed a little here and there. Thank you!!! And the best part of the entire trip was that our airplane landed an hour early :) That never happens! We can't even tell you how excited we were to hear that news:)

Once we arrived it took us a few days to get back on track. Poor Tessa didn't know where she was. It took her awhile to adjust to her room, figure out where her toys were, and figure out who these new people were. But she has done it and her sleeping is back on track. We really only had 2 bad nights. Our first night home she slept all night long because she was exhausted, but the next two were a little rough. The first of the two she woke up around 2:30am starving and ready to play. She didn't go to bed until 6am. The next night she was up for a few hours too. But after that she has been sleeping. We actually have to wake her up in the mornings... ha ha! We are so lucky to have such a great sleeper :)

One thing is for sure, being at home is amazing!!! Seeing our family has been awesome and we can't wait to see all of our friends.

PS: I have so many more posts but through the crazy packing in Japan I left my camera cord in the apartment so I can't download my pics. I need the pics to do my other posts so I have to wait until the cord gets sent out to us. So keep checking back :)

Happy Birthday Tessa Girl!

Tessa is 1!!!

Oh my how fast a year goes by :)


At the Hospital


1 Month


2 Months


3 Months


4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

* Pictures of the Big 1 Year Old will be coming soon. We are waiting for Daddy to come home so we can celebrate together! :)