My big girls!

Ever since she was born, Tessa instinctively understood the difference between night and day. She started going 3 to 4 hours before waking up for feedings (which since day 1, I was able to do lying down, and she has always gone right back to sleep), to 5 hours in between, and now a couple of days ago, she slept for 8 hours straight! I woke up for our normal feeding time, wondering why she wasn't awake, but hey, I wasn't about to complain! And I enjoyed the rest of my night's sleep! Tessa is SUCH a good baby! I feel so blessed that she's mine!
And Siena continues to be an awesome big sister. I had a bottle of milk for Tessa. When I turned around, Siena was trying to feed it to her! And then I mentioned that Tessa needed a diaper change. I left the room for a second to get an outfit for Tessa to wear, and when I came back, Siena had Tessa's diaper off and was trying to put the new one on!
Now if we can just get Siena out of diapers! We are always talking about the potty, and almost every day, she asks to go on the potty, but she has yet to do anything on the potty, besides wipe and flush. She's very good at those 2 things. Now if we could just get her to do 2 more things on the potty ;)
A couple pics to enjoy.

Girlified

BEFORE

See, she likes it!


AFTER




The infant cars seat Siena used was blue striped. I got so many people complimenting my cute "boy" as a result, and got so sick of it! I thought I would probably get a boy this time around though, so I wasn't too worried about it. I never imagined I would be lucky enough to have 2 girls! So this time, I decided to take it into my own hands and girlify the thing. First my amazing and extremely talented childhood friend Erin made the adorable canopy for me. (check out her website.She will truly inspire you!)
Then I realized it wouldn't be that hard to sew a little cover to hide the blue seat insert. I like to be craftsy, but you should know that I'm generally a bit hesitant to do anything that required the use of a sewing machine. I just have really bad luck with them! Somehow that mini spool of thread you put in underneath always gets stuck in the sewing mechanism or a big bunch gets stuck in the fabric, causing the rest of the stitching to get loose and ends up being one huge mess of thread that I have to cut off and start all over, just to have the same thing happen.
Miraculously, that never happened while sewing this project!
Which really IS a miracle, considering that that is exactly what happened the next day on the sewing machine after gaining the confidence from this creation, when I tried to fix my pajama bottoms after ripping a huge hole in (from butt to the back of my knee). How's that for a run-on sentence?!
Anyway, long story short, I am very proud of myself for this experiment gone right. And no nobody had an excuse to tell me how cute my little "boy" is!

The Vegas Reception

A couple of days after the wedding, Thad flew to Seattle to meet the people in the office he will be interning with this summer. Actually, he originally bought the tickets because he had some interviews set up there, but after he got offered the exact position he really wanted in the tri-cities area, he decided to change the focus of the trip!
Meanwhile, since my husband was out of town, I decided to go to Cedar City to hang out with my sister, and so she could help out with the little Tessa baby. We had a god time, then decided to head farther south to the open house for my mom's wedding in Vegas. It was so good to see so many friends that we haven't seen in a decade or so (at least for me). Such wonderful people there!
I ended up staying a few extra days in Cedar City again on the way back to help watch my nephew Jairus in the evenings when my sister was in her massage class since her husband was out of town on a business trip.
We all had a great time. Jairus is just 3 months younger than Siena. they have a love/hate/love relationship. Jairus has this fascination/unhealthy addiction to hair: namely, pulling hair. So he pulls her hair, she pushes him down, he pulls her hair again, she pushes him down again, etc, etc, etc. You get the picture.
Well yesterday, after we got home, apparently Siena was really missing Jairus (and not used to not having her hair pulled for so long), she started pulling her own ponytail, then said "Ouch! Let go, Jairus!"
Well, my sweet husband got me the most beautiful flower bouquet ever when I got home from being away for a week and a half. He knows my favorites are sunflowers with purple iris. This is the bouquet gave me.
Have I ever mention what a stud my husband is?!?

Johnet's Wedding

Janet + John= Johnet

My mom got married a couple of weeks ago! We are all so happy for her, and have NEVER seen her so happy! She married a pretty amazing guy, John Updike, who I am proud to have for a new father, and so excited for my daughters to have a wonderful role model and grandpa. They dated for over 4 years, so we were all so happy and relieved when they took the plunge. I will try to post more pictures when I get access to them.

My Basking Beauty

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Tessa is a little jaundiced, so I decided to go the natural route to help clear it up. I stripped her down and set her in front of a window to get some natural sun rays. I was afraid she would hate being naked, and that she would be uncomfortable. She sure proved me wrong. Turns out, tess loves naked. And who can blame her? That's how she's lived the past 9 months in the womb.
And I had to throw another pic of the proud sister and mom in there too.

Tessa: the story

Here's the story of our little Tessa, formerly known as Cora. We have been calling her Cora since we found out she was a girl in the ultrasound. Then on Sunday, (The 21st) I got really sick with a bug. Lots of puking, diarrhea, etc. I kept down 1 saltine and a half a bowl of chicken noodle soup all day. We decided to wait it out by watching a movie: Oceans 11. Julie Roberts' character is named Tess. And something just hit me: Tessa. Her name is Tessa. I like the name Cora. I LOVE the name Tessa. So it's a last-minute change, and we are all trying to remember and get used to it.
Anyway, I was feeling better by the next day. Good thing too, because that night, I went into labor at 10 pm (March 22). Contractions went from every 30 minutes apart to 20 minutes to 10 minutes apart by 1:30 am. I was so hungry from all the work I was doing, I got up and ate 2nd dinner. By 3:30, contractions were so intense, I got up again and sat in the bath for a while, which helped. By 9 am, they were every 8 to 11 minutes. They continued that way until 11:30, when they got to every 6 minutes. At that point, we were heading to the car for the hospital. By the time we got to the car, they were every 4 minutes. During the 10-minute car ride, they were every 2 minutes, and I will just say that we are SO lucky we made it to the hospital! It's a good thing we were planning to go natural, because there was definitely no time for an epidural at that point. There wasn't even time for the mandatory hep-lock (major blessing there, with my irrational needle-phobia!)
So we got to the hospital at 11:45. I barely made it through the front doors, when I was overpowered by a major contraction and fell to all fours. Thad was parking the car. There were a bunch of people in the waiting room who were all staring at me as I was on all fours. I called out with the biggest smile I could muster "That's ok, you can stare!" I got a few chuckles, then someone came busting out with a wheelchair for me. I couldn't talk through the next contraction to even give the nurse my name, but fortunately she knew what to do.
Thad was there for me, as always, coaching and comforting me during the hardest parts. My new to-be sister, Caroline, is trained as a nurse, and served as my doula. Both did AMAZING jobs!
We were in the hospital for a grand total of 37 minutes before Tessa was born. I pushed for about 10 of those minutes. Her head was out in 2 pushes, and shoulders/body in 3 more.

Stats:
TIME: born at 12:22 pm, March 23, ON HER DUE DATE, and my mom and brother Danny's birthday! That makes 3 generations of March 23rd birthdays in my family!
HEIGHT: 20 inches
WEIGHT: 8 lbs, 7 oz
APGAR: after 1 min:8; after 5 min:9


She is a sweet, good-natured little girl, but she already has a well-developed wail, and will let you know if something is not right. Siena is LOVING having a little sister. We let her hold Tessa for a couple photos, and now all she wants to do is hold baby Tessa.

Enjoy the pics :)

Announcing the arrival of Tessa Adaline Garlick

story and details to come...
but here are the basics:
I went into labor last night around 10.
Had her- naturally, of course-- today at 12:22 pm.
She weighs 8 lbs, 7 oz.
No complications. We are happy and healthy.
Enjoy the pics :)

Fabric brooches & hair bows

For those of you who haven't heard, my mom is gettin' hitched! She got engaged to John Updike a couple weeks ago, after 4+ years of dating. He is a wonderful, and we all couldn't be more thrilled! This only hitch is that we don't have a ton of time to plan it. The big day is coming right up (April 10, Thad's birthday). So all the girls have been running around trying to find dress suits (mom's request) in pastel/spring colors ("not the obnoxious ones", she says). So since we aren't wearing anything matching my fabulous sis and I decided to make fabric brooches/hair bows for all the ladies and girls to wear to pull it all together. We had a great time burning fabric to make the petals, then sewing them all together, with a pearl in the middle. After the first one, we got a little innovative (read: lazy), and figured out that we could attach them all together with a simple safety clip.
What do you guys think?

Getting Creative in Cedar

So I went down to Cedar City one last time before Cora arrives to visit my sister Melissa last week. We got a little creative (maybe my version of nesting?), and made somebeautiful cake stands (her idea) and record bowls (my idea). We made the cake stands from thrifted platters, a goblet and an ice cream serving dish. Just washed and glued. For the record bowls, you just heat an oven to 200 degrees, place a record on top of an upside down oven-safe bowl on top of a cookie sheet for 7 or 8 minutes. Take out, place record in bowl and shape.
We got everything but the glue at D.I., and had a fabulous time creating together. Here are some pics. Thad's giving a nice booty shot in the first pic ;)

Coose me!

Last week, Siena started saying "coose me" when she burps, toots, or even hiccups or coughs. She's started saying it for other people who forget to "coose" themselves when they do these things too (mommy would never forget to say "excuse me" ;) .
It's so cute, and sounds almost like "kiss me."
But somehow she knows that sneezing is different and will tell herself and others "bless you" when there's a sneeze.

Jame and Hon

Siena has been calling me Jamie for a couple of months now. But just recently, she discovered that if she can shorten "mommy" to just "mom," she should be able to shorten "Jamie" to "Jame". So now I am usually just "Jame."

Every day when I get home after Thad, I apparently open the door and call, "Hey hon!"
I wasn't really aware of this habit until last Friday when I walked in the door, about to call, "Hey hon!" when Siena beat me to the punch! She called out "Hey hon!" and went running into her daddy's arms. The next day, we were playing downstairs. When Thad walked in, she called out "Honey!!" and went running to him, so happy. It was quite precious!

(no wonder she gets so confused whenever I refer to her as "Honey.")

-Jame and Hon

Happy Valentines

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My sister Melissa came to visit this weekend, and we had a great time celebrating Valentines together. She and I slaved for 2 and a half hours making "Mormon" tiramisu Friday night for our fancy dinner on Saturday. It turned out really good, but I'm still not sure if it was worth 180 minutes. But we had fun together, so no complaints :)
For the actual dinner on Saturday night, we have a tradition of Thad making an awesome seafood dinner. He made his famous salmon (although we ALL agreed it was his best salmon ever, and I'm not sure if it could EVER be topped, by anyone, anywhere! It was THAT good!) And he made king crab, pulling all the meat out of the shells for us, and some great scallops. We also couldn't get enough of his asparagus (he had to make extra for us after we were all done), and the rice pilaf added a bit of color.
Along with the gorgeous roses from Thad, some nice Valentine chocolates, and Thad's placemat I made him with hearts on it with the words of 101 things I wrote up that I love about him inside the hearts, the ambience was complete.
We finished the night by watching a great movie together (The Blind Side).
Then tonight for actual valentines day, I made 7-layer bean dip, that we ate with candlelight. So romantic ... ;)

Our little ladybug

If you know Siena, you know she is addicted to ladybugs. This may or may no be related to her mommy calling her "my little ladybug" (started by a nurse in the hospital when she was first born), and buying lots of ladybug toys, books, etc, which are all Siena's favorites. So when mom found this ladybug mask at Ikea, she was pretty excited about it. Siena didn't mind it either.

Siena Made Up

So around Christmas time, Siena got in to grandma's make-up. Mistaking the eye liner for lipstick, she made quite the show. She isn't looking so happy here because she knew she was in trouble when we found her. We couldn't resist taking a picture and laughing hysterically, however.

Visiting in Cedar City

I had last Monday off of work, so Siena and I (and baby Cora in utero) all went down to Cedar City to visit Aunt Melissa, Uncle David and cousin Jairus. We had a marvelous time making delectable meals, going to a baby shower, frequenting the dollar store (more of a tradition, really),playing games, and seeing “The Music Man” a local small town childrens performance. Siena has this new thing where she likes to call me "Jamie", so during intermission, she went up on stage (she didn't see me following right behind her). As soon as she got on stage, she scanned the audience and started shouting for me: "Jamie! Jamie!" In public, really! Pretty funny, I have to admit (even if I don't love the idea that she calls me by my first name).
And, as it turns out, Siena and Jairus are TWINS! Real twins, I had them both! haha. You’d be surprised how often we’re out in public and people actually ask us if they’re twins. (Come ON people!) Siena saw an old Asian guy in the dollar store and started calling “Dadda, Dadda” You can imagine her disappointment when she realized her mistake. We hope to go visit again soon, since Jairus and Siena have become such good friends (When she’s not hitting him, and he’s not pulling her hair).

Power Smoothie

When my friend Mel came to visit a couple weeks ago from Illinoise, she introduced me to this incredible smoothie. Siena LOVES it, and now we don’t have to stress over her eating their veggies. We probably make it 2-3 times a day. Here’s a picture and a basic recipe:

1 big carrot

1 handful spinach

A few berries (fresh or frozen, any kind)

1 banana

2 spoonfuls Orange Juice Concentrate

1-2 cups water

Blend until smooth

I’ve also added frozen peaches, apricots, grapes, orange, and anything else I feel like. Spinach was on sale last week, so I bought a bunch and froze it in portions. Try it. You won’t be disappointed.

Siena and Mommy

Here are a few pics of Siena and Mom together over the past few months. Notice the new earrings and bracelet Siena had me make for her today. She is turning into just as much as a jewelry girl as her mommy is!