Happy New Year!

Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow.

15 Peppermints 'Til Christmas

"And there are lots and lots of things for us to do."
My favorite part of that peppermint song was always the words and actions for "pick a purple tie for Uncle Lou." Poor Uncle Lou.
We have been trying our best to get Christmas organized and finished here before we take off for Christmas in Salt Lake. It's fun, but sheesh. Jake is down two finals with two to go this week, and then we're off!
So these are our pictures we got from JC Penney's. I just took a picture of the actual pictures, so they're really dark here, but you get the gist.

This week my heart fell into the pit of my stomach. I ran some errands and was trying to get a little bit of Christmas shopping done. I went to my bank ATM machine to make a deposit and to buy stamps. I made sure to get my receipt on each, and then I was off and running with Tessa to get the other things done on my list. About an hour later, we were at the register in TJ Maxx when I realized my debit card was not in my wallet. I LEFT IT IN THE ATM MACHINE! Who does that?! Me. Now, it's not like we've got a fortune in our bank account, but we certainly don't have a fortune outside our bank account to make up for it either. I thought I was going to be sick. I immediately called the bank and told them what happened and said I'd be there as soon as I could. I handed my daughter off to a friend and frantically drove back to the bank. A lady in our ward who works at that bank calmed me down, assured me I wasn't a total idiot, and let me know that no other purchases had been made on the card. She cancelled the card and told me that the machine probably sucked it back in and shredded it. I'm now waiting for a new check card in the mail. I was fortunate it wasn't worse. Sigh.
We had a bit of a storm which finally blew most of the leaves off of our tree. Our front yard was covered. Since there was some sunshine the next day, I went out while the babies were napping and raked up twenty piles. The whole clean up the yard project turned into a four day progressive job since I needed help getting the leaves bagged and we had so many things going on between us. The rain didn't exactly move things along. Finally we forced time in to finish it up and just made Tessa watch us from her blanket laden stroller.
I thought I would have a break from creepy crawly bigger in Texas bugs since it's December. Naw. I found these two friends next to each other while scooping leaves into a bag. At least the cold has slowed them down.

We had a fantastic and busy Sunday. We enjoyed church and came home to get immediately started on the traditional Christmas treats. We needed to have them done by that night for Jake's home teaching families. We realized we weren't going to finish in time when we had to stop and hurry to get dinner ready for the missionaries. That's when we came up with a plan. Feed the missionaries and then coerce them into a service project of stirring caramel corn and making and frosting sugar cookies for us. That's what we did. What troopers.

Tessa update: So far we've only been able to trick her into standing. She'll only do it when she has no idea. She was very interested in holding a box the other day, and it gave her a false sense of holding on to something stable. So, she stood for a few seconds until she figured it out and then squatted to sit. Tonight I had the Elmo's World DVD babysit Tessa so I could vacuum the house, and I caught her enthralled enough not to care about hanging on. She's getting there.

She'll say, or just mouth, "Ho, ho, ho." It makes me laugh every time. I think she is starting to associate it with our Twas The Night Before Christmas book.

And last and least....here is our AA center picture. I was fanning myself with the tickets. I think I'll just stand and smile next time. There's got to be a limit to my spazziness.

Merry Christmas!

Go Team!

I decided I need to find a t-shirt for myself that just says "Go Team!" As long as a game has opponents who are pretty well matched up, I honestly don't care who wins. ......unless one side is being a jerk. So, the "Go Team!" shirt could be my show of support for everyone whenever I attend a game. I'm on the lookout.
We were given free tickets to the Jazz vs. Mavericks game for last Saturday night and went with two other couples. I don't know if I've never noticed, or if I hadn't seen downtown Dallas at night, but it really is pretty. It was my first time to the American Airlines Center, which is a very cool place. We had a blast and watched the Jazz struggle to keep up with the Mavs --which was just impossible that night. And as much as I love my little Tess, it was also really fun to be on a date with Jake. She never even knew we were gone.
There hasn't been anything huge this week, just some nice visits with friends and some really crazy weather that can't decide on warm or cold. Jake has his first final tomorrow. And other than that, we are just trying to make the most of the Christmas season here before we head for consistently freezing cold Salt Lake.

Tessa is not in the best mood today, but I should get a picture of her up anyway:She just got up from her nap and was not happy when the granola bar we shared was gone. I think she threatened to hit me with my shoe right before I took this picture. It was a very menacing shoe shake. "You get me more granola, or you'll be sorry!" I especially like the nap hair and the refusal to let go of the wrapper.I couldn't help it. I started laughing. Then she started laughing, and after a few goldfish crackers, the world is now right again.

Happy 1st Birthday, Tessa!

Okay, backing up to Friday... We got Tessa's 1 year picture and a new family picture done. We went to JC Penney's. Why? Because we have COUPONS from there. I hope I never have to use a reason like that again. Jake strongly suggested that next time we head somewhere else. The appt. was for 4:40. The place was packed. Hot, sweaty, and filled with impatient people. We finally got into a studio at 5:20. We started with all three of us. Mr. Photographer put us in a few different positions, counted to three each time, and then when he was completely finished with the number of pictures he could take of us, he asked, "Is there a way to get her to smile?" He didn't even try!!! She was sitting patiently in my lap or in front of me the whole time with her mouth hanging open, staring at Mr. Photo who didn't even care to attempt to get her to look pleasant. So...onto the Tessa solo pictures. Mr. Photo immediately asked if we would get behind him to get her to smile. Sure. No prob. He took a couple pictures of her sitting and then wanted to know if she could stand on her own. Not on demand, not yet. So, he found a crate for her to hold onto while standing. She was excited and kept leaning down to swipe her hand around the inside of the crate, meanwhile Jake and I were dancing around in the background to get her to look our way. After a couple more shots, Mr. P looked up at me and asked if she would be able to hold a sign that said, "I am 2."
I responded, "But she's only one."
His slow and irritated answer - "It's a small sign. It says I, then has the letter M and a 2." At that point, my face twisted in every direction trying to figure out if I was missing out on some joke or if he was serious. I don't think he liked my "seriously, pal?" look, so he hurriedly said, "We've got a birthday cake she can hold."
"No thanks. I'd rather just have her in the picture." Done and done.
Forty more minutes and other background stress later, our pictures were uploaded for us to choose from. Meh. They'll work.
I'm grateful I got to go to the temple that night. I needed it.

Saturday morning I ran the ward 5K! And, I made pretty good time for me. Jake even ran most of it with Tessa in her stroller. Yay, Jake! I didn't expect him to do that. Our ward is awesome.
Afterward we went to the first birthday party of the little boy I watch during the week. She teaches gymnastics at the school where I used to teach so she was able to bring some mats home to fill a room where all the babies and toddlers played. I want a room filled with mats.

Jake and I decided on Sunday afternoon we should have the birthday cake and presents that evening since Jake still had to deal with school most of Monday. I made Tessa a funfetti strawberry jello cake with Cool Whip on top. We forgot to take the cake out of the pan before we poured the liquid jello on it and then I thought I could write her name with the food coloring tube in our cupboard too if I just did it lightly. It's a good thing she won't remember this cake. It wasn't cute. At least it tasted good. With grandparents on cell phones, we sang a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday and let her dig in. Oh, and the birthday crown was a last minute attempt to cover the awesome nap hair for pictures. I don't exactly win the prize for this party, but my little girl had fun --which is all that matters.

TL McBride Stats:

12/03/06
weight- 9lbs. 1oz.
height- 20.5 in.
approx 90th percentile for both






12/03/07
weight- 21lbs. 13oz.
height- 30 in.
approx 70th percentile for height and 55th for weight