Happenings of S&L: November 2014

Hi Friends,

It's really been too long, and the sweet baby of our's doesn't give me much time to sit and write about all of the happenings in our family. I will just say that motherhood has been a learning curve, but one that I am so grateful for in my life. Tess is almost four months! She has become quite the squealer these days. She has definitely found her voice and she loves to squeal and sometimes scream. She is getting stronger and stronger each day and is rolling from her belly to her back. She loves to blow little spit bubbles with her tongue and she is all smiles. It's been so neat to see her personality more and more, she really is a person (not just a sleepy baby)!

The answer to the question "Is she sleeping through the night" is NO! I don't expect my little 3 month old to sleep without feedings at night. She is improving, if that is what people are wondering. She has slept in her pack n' play for four hour stretches, but usually ends up needing to be put back to sleep. I value sleep too much, and I usually end up putting her in bed with me and rolling over to get some shut eye myself. I eventually want to stop doing this, but I am not ready for the transition yet because I know it will mean less sleep for me and more time helping her back to sleep. This WILL happen, but I don't know when.

Since my last post, Tess was blessed by her dad with a beautiful blessing. Her Jensen grandparents were visiting us at the time and they got to be a part of her special blessing day. She also had her first experience on a plane bound for Utah for a quick trip to attend her great grandpa's funeral. We didn't have time to see many friends and we were sad about that, but grateful to be with our family members! She did great on the plane and slept most of the way there and back to Indiana. For Halloween, we dressed Tess up as our little strawberry. She was adorable!

I love to sing to Tess. She instantly gets a HUGE smile on her face and starts to "sing" along with me. She loves when I sing the Bingo song. She especially likes when I take a letter out and click my tongue instead of saying a letter. She is curious and observant of lots of sounds. I like to imitate animal sounds for her. It was slightly embarrassing to hear myself try to sound like an elephant. I'm glad I was alone at home for that one! She also loves the song 'You are my Sunshine.' I sing that to her every day because it's true. She is a big ball of sunshine.

We go on walks and I am excited to help her become a little nature girl. I love spending time outside, and I think she does too. I run with her in the stroller and she is busy taking in everything around her until she gets too tired, and falls asleep.

Lee loves to pick her up and dance with her. She gets really excited, waving her little limbs all around, as she dances with her daddy. It is so precious to watch and I love this daddy daughter dance that I get to witness each night when he comes home from work.

Here are some pictures of Tess.