Blessing Day

We were able to bless Tess on Sept 25, 2011. We had been looking forward to this day for a really long time. I wanted to plan the perfect day and celebration for her. Plans were coming together and as family started to arrive that weekend, I found myself sick in bed with chills and a fever...not in my plans! I should know by now that my life doesn't go according to my plan, but boy was I mad that I was feeling pretty lousy. (sidenote: I ended up at the ER bright and early Monday morning with a temperature of 105...tests showed I had a kidney infection and was back to myself later that week). Luckily all of our family was here to help, and I wouldn't have survived if my mom and sister-in-law hadn't just taken over. 

This was such a special day for us. Since Tess was born back in February, I always had this day in the back of my head as my goal to get to. Most days sitting in the NICU watching Tess with too many tubes coming in and out of her and the monitors going off way too many times in just minutes, I wasn't sure we would ever get to this day. But it came and it couldn't have been more perfect. Dave gave her a beautiful blessing and Tess was angelic. We were so happy to have lots of our family make the trek to Boise to share this wonderful day with us.

Some highlights of her blessing:

• Remember the circumstances of your birth and the miracle that you are
• Recognize Heavenly Father's hand in the early days of your life.
• Take knowledge and remember you are a chosen daughter; use this as comfort during trials
• Remember your life has purpose and meaning
• See with your spiritual eyes
• Remain worthy, pure and virtuous
• Find joy in life
• Know Heavenly Father's love for you and that He has watched over you and allowed you to be in our family

 

{I wish I looked a bit more alive in these pictures!}

{Grandma Johnson loving Tess}

 {Snuggled between Grandma and Grandpa Johnson}

 

{Cozy with Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen}

 

 {Cuddling with Grandpa Nielsen}

  {Four Generations: Great Grandma Nielsen, Dave, Tess and Grandpa Nielsen}

A couple of the NICU nurses that we came to know and love were able to make it to Tess's blessing. We loved having Sonya and Lauralee celebrate this special day with us. These women are angels...and so is the rest of our NICU family!

{Sonya and Tessie}

{Lauralee and Tessie}

{Grace holding Tess-better practice because she will be our baby sitter someday}

{The kidlets enjoying lunch together}

{The whole gang}

A big THANK YOU to my parents and brother and sister-in-law and their crew and the entire Nielsen clan including Grandma Nielsen (who came from California) and the Doughty Family for coming and supporting us on this beautiful day! 

And thank you Tess for being born and blessing all of our lives. You've taught us all about faith, hope, prayer, priesthood, love, and miracles.

 We love you and are grateful you are forever in our lives!

Mini Motorcycle Girl...

I saw this jean jacket at Old Navy and had to have it! Good thing it was on clearance. And doesn't it look cute with those legging? She's my mini motorcycle girl! Her cute little faces just kill me. Can't keep my hands off of her!

Tess is becoming more aware of everything going on around her and loves to be in the mix of everything! When she gets older, she's not going to let anything get past her! It's so fun that Tess is starting to communicate with us through her expressions. We love this little peanut!
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hyde Park Fair

Boise has a lot of summer and early fall fairs and festivals. They are so much fun. There is a lot of talent in area and I look forward every year to going to Art in the Park and the Hyde Park Festival.  Art in the Park is huge and brings out all of the artists to showcase and sell their wonderful pieces. Hyde Park is a scaled down version of Art in the Park and is a more "hippie" celebration. It's great for people watching! We got out to both this year. Dave and Tess were so patient with me as I was drawn to every jewelry booth there was!

 
{Tess all nestled and cozy}

 

Goodbye Les and Isabella!

Today was a sad day as we said good-bye to our friends Les and Isabella. They are our friends who bought the very first house that Dave built. Les got a job transfer to Virginia so they are headed back east. We only knew them less than a year, but they are great people and will be missed!

They have quite the story. Isabella is from Brazil and Les is from Louisiana. They met in Japan where Les was stationed with the Air Force. They met and were transferred over to Mountain Home, Idaho at the end of summer 2010. When they got here, they got married and went house hunting. At the time, Dave was building his first house and met them one Sunday afternoon as they were driving around the neighborhood. Dave had gone outside for something and saw them driving around so he started talking to them. He found out they were house hunting and took them over to the house he was building. They came over to our house after where we visited for a few minutes. Isabella spoke only a bit of English but was fluent in Japanese and Portuguese. She was so excited that Dave spoke Portuguese.

Things came together and they ended up buying the house. We were so happy for them and their new life they were starting together. After getting settled in their new place, Les and Isabella were able to bring over Isabella's two teenage children, Musashi and Atsumi who were still in Japan. Dave was great at getting Musashi involved in Scouts and Atsumi even went to a few Young Women activities. We were pretty bummed when they told us they were moving. We wish them lots of luck and happiness in their new place and hopefully we will see them again soon!

 

 

 

Hanging with Daddy

Tess is such a lucky girl to have such a superstar of a Dad! It's nice to have Dave working from home. He gets to have a little "Tess Time" when he takes a break from all the phone calls and wheelin' and dealin' he does each day. He is so patient with Tess, is great at changing diapers (although he likes to leave the poop ones for me) and is the best cuddler! And Tess loves her Daddy!

 

Dave loves to play the piano for Tess and she loves it too. We hope we are laying the foundation for a concert pianist...or violinist! Guess I should start practicing for her.
 

 

Photo Shoot with Dad

These are some of our favorite photos that Dave snapped with Tessie. She is 7 months old here (3 1/2  months adjusted from her due date). We were trying to get them at 6 months, but man, it's hard to get everything done on time with a baby!

One of my favorite things about Tess is her pleasant disposition and I think these pictures are perfect at capturing it (except for the one where she is crying at the end). I love her little mouth and her sweet sweet smile. We often talk about her rough start with life and how challenging it was. But seeing these pictures, we would do it all over again...not that we want to. It's amazing to see how far she has come in just a few short months of being home. We are enjoying every minute of it!

 

First Family Vacation!

So we went on a family vacation...a family first with Tess. I had a severe case of cabin fever since, oh, July. We kept Tess home for pretty much the entire summer. We didn't go out much...I didn't take her shopping or to do errands. I was sure she would catch something just by people looking at her. So going on a little family vacation was a big step...a coming out of sorts. We had talked about going somewhere close over Labor Day but didn't make solid plans until one afternoon Dave surprised me and said that he had reserved a little cabin up in Donnelly, just outside of McCall. Hooray!!! I was so excited!

What we didn't know was how much stuff we would be taking for our lil' Tess. Wow! The Pathfinder was packed to the hilt! We wanted to be prepared for anything and we were (except for the fact that we left a crucial part of her pack and play at home...so we had to makeshift a bed for her out of the recliner---rookie parent mistake). But we had everything else! (I'm sure we will get better at figuring out what items are "must-haves" for traveling and what we can do without).

Tess did great in the car. She slept most of the way. And lucky for us, she slept like a champ in her makeshift bed (I was a complete wreck hoping she wouldn't roll or fall out of the recliner...Dave assured me she was too little to do that). We got some much needed sleep that night and slept in the next morning...and Tess let us. It was heaven! We didn't make it out to town until later that afternoon (we forget everything takes ten times as long with a baby), but it was so nice to just move at a snail's pace and relax!

{Tess's bed that Dad made especially for her.}

{Reading with Daddy}

{Pooped out...literally}

We visited our favorite dinner spot in McCall that night: Ruperts. We went there for our first anniversary and fell in love with the delicious food and the tasty desserts. It was just as good this time as it was then. Tess was the star of the night as she was the cutest girl in the restaurant. We met a woman there who had a daughter that just gave birth to a baby boy a few days earlier. I think he was around 10 weeks early or so. It was great to share our story and offer a bit of hope to her and her daughter.

We also went for Tess's "first official hike" in the mountains. She was a trooper! She loved being snuggled close to Daddy and looking around discovering all the beauties around her. I was a nervous wreck that she would be attacked by mosquitoes (she's pretty sweet), but she didn't get one bite. Phew....

{Boulder Lake...it was a beautiful day!}

 

We also took Tess out to church this weekend for the very first time. The McCall ward was crazy crowded with visitors there for the long weekend. Don't worry...I shielded her from every sneeze, cough and glance...and I had plenty of anti-bacterial gel! I'm glad to report that she didn't even get sick...phew!

 

It was a wonderful weekend getaway...just what we needed!