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

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving week. Jake's parents and little brother flew in last Tuesday morning, and we had such a nice visit. Besides just hanging out and enjoying each other, we had some Texas BBQ at Dickey's and played at the park. We went to see The Bee Movie (yes, with Tessa. My mother in law said she thought Tessa would be just fine. I guess I'd never really thought about it. She was fine. She watched most the movie amid going from lap to lap and munching on snacks. Yay!).
We had a lovely Thanksgiving meal and redefined the word "relax". I ate too much pie and unfortunately enjoyed every minute of it. Jake didn't let me forget one tradition he married into. When I was 19 and my brother was 17, we had Thanksgiving over at my sister's house. When we were nice and stuffed to the brim, we couldn't just go around and say what we were thankful for like Grandma D wanted us to --nope, not like nice normal families do. My brother instead punched me in the belly. (Not hard, folks, but it doesn't take much to create serious discomfort in the abdominal area when it's packed too tight) Needless to say, I wasn't going to take that without a fight, so it resulted in a stomach boxing match with both of us groaning and laughing (Grandma was appalled). I think that's a big reason why now I am a little more careful about eating too much on Thanksgiving, not because I just shouldn't, but because it hurts more when you get punched. Every year someone starts the punch war, which usually ends in a truce....and then after a few more punches and groans/laughs, a real truce.
Anyway, on Friday we had a pretty big day. We went to the Fort Worth Zoo --which I love. It was cold, but worth going. We enjoyed On the Border food later on and then made our way to McKinney for the Dickens of a Christmas festival on main street. I love that downtown McKinney, too. Tessa did not sleep much that day, but she did so well and seemed to have a lot of fun, especially when she got to sit at the restaurant table with us in a booster seat. Big girl. My hands stayed busy keeping her hands from yanking everything off the table... which got easier once I tied her to the seat with Jake's jacket. :)



We were so grateful that Jake's parents and brother were able to join us for Thanksgiving. Thank you thank you thank you thank you. I know Tessa loved it as well.
On Sunday, my good friend Katie and her family (from Utah) were able to come for dinner. That was so much fun. They were staying with family in the area and made sure to come visit us. I was grateful for that too. Semi off topic for a second....I wanted to make soup and have it in bread bowls for dinner, but neither Walmart nor Albertson's carries the bread bowls. What in the world?! Are they more popular in Utah, or have I never really thought about it before and shopped for them? We ended up getting frozen dough and doing our best to make the bread bowls. It worked just fine, but now I know what I'll do differently next time. Anyway, it was nice to have a friend who has known me for so long see where I am and get a feel for our life here. Plus, good people make good company.
I have been slowly but surely getting my Christmas set up. I have to have a strategy this year for my decorations, especially with two babies in the house who like to dump EVERYTHING on the floor. It's getting there. Tessa was enthralled with the decorations when I started to get them out last night. It's such a mess to have to practically empty the closet to get to the Christmas boxes, but she sure didn't mind.

Finally, Happy Birthday, Ashley! Twenty-nine for the first time! We'll see if it continues. :)

No Christmas Music until AFTER Thanksgiving

A couple weeks ago Jake and I were in the mall where Christmas had already taken over. Jake said, "Have they no respect for Thanksgiving?" The answer is no. Thanksgiving doesn't sell. Nobody, except me, will pay to have their kid's picture taken with a turkey. The end. There has been Christmas music on one radio station for at least a week. Whatever......Well, I, for one, am excited about Thanksgiving. Christmas comes soon enough. Let's take this one holiday at a time, people. Jake's parents and little brother are flying in on Tuesday morning. Yay! We're very excited to have them come. Also, I get to take my china out again this year.....the leaves are finally changing.... I love it.
Nothing earth shattering happened this week, except for my dream about a space shuttle falling into the atmosphere and exploding right above Dallas. THAT was not a normal dream for me. Jake has been upping the study time for finals and has been working on a paper about the WTO and economic development. Blech. That's been one I haven't asked him to talk to me about. I've been reading some YAF Stephenie Meyer, enjoying cooking more than usual, and trying my best to get to know my neighbors. It makes me sad that I don't know the people who live around us. We don' t have "cup of sugar" or "chat while doing yardwork" neighbors --or even neighbors who know our names. I don't know how much that can change, but I'm working on my end of it. Slowly, but surely I'm building up some nerve.
We only took one picture this week:
Her hair is starting to hang in her eyes, and I'm just not interested in a haircut right now so we've started the piggy tail stage. We had a great time this week going on walks and to the park and library with Hudson. Those two babies keep me busy, what with throwing socks in the garbage can and singing songs --I always feel like I'm laying down some serious rhythm when I start reciting "Peas Porridge" with the both of them clapping and bouncing. I'm glad Tessa gets the chance to hang out with a friend during the day time. She's not AS possessive of her things as she was a month ago. I realize that could change with the development of the word "mine" not too far off.
We send out our love to the Johnson family.
Okay, to those reading this.....what is your favorite fiction book? I'd like to know. Seriously. I want to know what you would recommend. It's time for a new book. Just FYI: I have a bunch of favorites...but three I can think of right now would be Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, The Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver, and Milkweed by Spinelli.

Beat It

When Tessa is having her dinner, I sometimes choose a random CD for her meal music. Last night's was Michael Jackson's History. We had a fun post dinner boogie. I love Michael Jackson. Yes, I know he's a freak. I know. But no one, in my opinion, can outperform the 1980's Michael Jackson....however, I can't promise anything beyond that decade. I just have to remember him as he once was.
Anyway, I thought we could all use a flashback to the MJ glory days with Beat It....you know, when gang members could get away with wearing the ever fashionable sweatpants with accessorizing chains and one dangly earring. Michael Jackson brings peace to the streets in this video through his sage advice, "It doesn't matter who's wrong or right. Just beat it."
I dedicate this song to my brother. I can remember him as a three year old gettin' down in the living room to this song.