Sick, Sick, Sick

Isn't there a limit to how many times you can blow your nose in two weeks? There should be. Any pictures we've taken of Tessa recently have her mouth hanging open so she can breathe. If anyone had been taking my picture, it would be the same. Or I might be coughing up a lung. Somehow Jake has managed to avoid catching whatever we have. I sure hope he remains successful.

Catching Flies and Climbing in Baskets

This last Friday we went to a J. Reuben Clark Law Society dinner while Tessa hung out with some friends. It had been a little while since Jake and I had been on a date, so it was nice. Plus, I'm a sucker for catered dinner.

Basically it's been gray and cold outside, which mixed with sickness is just a downer. But today....even though it's cold, the sun is gloriously shining. I'll take it. And for my friends and fam in Utah, I'll quit using the word "cold" because I know you have us beat on that one. How about "mildly chilly"? Will you take that?

On MLKJ day we stripped some falling off plastic things from our front door (the picture below is after we ripped them off) and painted it. The green paint was starting to show under the broken plastic decor, which didn't go so well with the brown paint. So, we puttied the best we could on a metal door, sanded it, and painted it Coalmine. It still looks like someone shot it up with a shotgun because of my awesome puttying job, but it looks better than it did. Only now I've noticed that all the front doors in our neighborhood have some style to them. Not ours. It's flat (relatively) and dark. I've got to find something to hang on the front.

Tessa's big thing lately (besides walking--which she's daring to more of on her own) is her Baby Signing Time video. I'm not kidding when I say she asks to watch it. She rocks her arms and "sings" and then points to the television. I'll start singing one of the songs; she'll nod and smile. She LOVES this video. It's a half hour of learning basic signs. She has down "cracker" and will sometimes do "eat", "more", and "baby". It's really fun except for the fact that songs have been stuck in my head for a week and half. I have to pull her away from the television during "her program" because she seems to think it's better two centimeters from her face. I'm just glad she's addicted to Baby Signing Time and not Celebrity Apprentice or something. :)

Enthralled with the Signing Time Diaper Dance

My side of the family won't need an explanation regarding the next picture but others probably do. There is a curse we Riches have. It's called the Rich Crack. We try our best to avoid it, deny it, pretend it skipped over us, but then one of us gets caught with our droopy drawers and reminds the rest that it's just in our blood. Too busy with Signing Time to care, Tessa embraces part of her family heritage...

And finally.... a video. Every night before bed we brush Tessa's teeth --or attempt to brush her teeth as she sucks the baby paste off the brush. We let her finish her brushing. I was trying to get out of the video, but it didn't work. Sorry.

So Close

She's getting there. For the last four nights, Jake and I have had walking practice with Tessa . She seems to not be as hesitant about the whole falling situation with both of us on the floor with her. She'll find some toy and then she'll take it back and forth to show us. She seems more interested in the toy, but she's still getting a little more coordinated each night. She gets excited with the "game", so the beginning balance is pretty hard to find. She also leans heavily to one side or tries to walk on her tip toes sometimes, which throws her off balance or results in an impressive Captain Jack Sparrow impersonation. These videos are from the 2nd and 3rd nights. Last night Tessa was trying to stand up on her own (without pulling up on something) and she succeeded half the time. The other half she face planted into the carpet --which is what happens when you just can't let go of your toy. We're proud of her. Plus, it's fun. She'll be upwardly mobile soon enough.

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Vacationing

I have needed to get some pictures up from our time in Utah/Idaho since we got home, especially with Jake's face having been the first thing people have seen on here for a while. Maybe a new post will keep Pakistani doctors from finding our blog and leaving comments about Jake's hairy face! So here they are finally.

We took a bunch of pictures right before and during Christmas, and then it's like I forgot I could actually use my camera. I would bring it places and then just forget I had it. I hate it when I do that.

We really enjoyed our time spent with family and friends. My only complaint was the cold. The snow was beautiful for a couple of days, and then my feet froze and would not unthaw the entire time we were there. We started out in Preston at my mom's, visited my dad's home in South Weber, then spent Christmas with the McBrides in Salt Lake. After Jake left, Tessa and I made the grandparent rounds again. We were also able to have several great friend visits. We missed some of you, though, so we're coming for you next time!

During the New Year holiday, I made some resolutions for myself, which I don't always do, so I'd like to share:
1. No more excuses or justifications (This one's a lifer). I don't want to explain away bad behavior. Being tired and hungry doesn't mean it's okay to be a jerk. I want to call it like it is for myself and then strive to do better.
2. Focus on a healthy lifestyle. (This was easier when it was part of my job.) I don't care about weight, I just want to feel good, feel fit, and be a good example for my family.
3. Make the most of time. I can procrastinate or waste time with the best of them. This is something I've been working on for a while and I think I've made some ground. Priorities, priorities, priorities. The constant question: Is there something more positive and productive I could be doing with my time? This one works with goal number two as well.

Okay. Thanks.

Ohhhhhhhhh. Tessa update. She has started quacking when she sees the rubber ducky. We have gotten her to stand on her own a little more each day, and we're not tricking her into it anymore. She knows she's standing. Today she clapped on her belly as I cheered her standing efforts. She laughs at her friend Hudson like he's a comedian. Sometimes she takes off her socks and uses them like pom poms. She's finally getting back into the swing of things at home as far as sleep goes. And lastly, that girl has an extremely expressive face. I think her poker face is going to be as good as her mom's.

The Bachelor Life

Well, Maren and Tessa have been in Utah and Idaho for the last week and a half while I've been at home in Texas all alone. It's been a long sad week without my two girls here to keep me company.

So to protest the unfair week and a half that they had extra of vacation, I decided to go without shaving for that time. I Kinda think the beard makes me look tough.

However, since Maren won't come near me without a clean shaven face, I'm going to shave it tonight before I go to bed.

Well, Happy New Year from me to all of our friends out there. Off to shave and to finish a little clean-up of the house before Maren gets back tomorrow.

- Jake

P.S. Being alone for that long stinks. I am excited to hold my girls again tomorrow.

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.