INTRODUCING

tess harper smith. she surprised us and came one month early. little nut. 

i was quite nervous when my water broke at 5am on october 20th (a. because i wasnt due for another month and b. because i was still on blood thinners [i was on blood thinners because after my three miscarriages, it was the only thing that helped me keep a baby. i was scheduled to go off of them closer to my due date]) but craig was one cool cat. im very lucky to have him balance out my neuroses.

but as soon as we arrived at the hospital my doctor assured me everything would be ok. the only hitch would be that i would have to have to go under while they performed a c-section to deliver the baby. i didnt care how the baby was delivered at that point, i just wanted us both to be healthy, safe and most of all i couldnt wait to find out the gender! aaaaaaaand one hour after going under, i came to and met my NEW LITTLE BABY GIRL. 5 pounds, 13 ounces and 19.5 inches long. 

first moment with my baby.

happy humans.

another little fun surprise that day? jocelyn came up from camas to meet tess.

the next morning, craig and i spent more quality time with our new little nugget. (we were blessed to have both sets of parents help with tagg and sully while we were in the hospital)

snuggle time. cant explain how much i loved that little pouf the nurses put on tess' hat.

always love the little white board. its where you get to see your baby's name written down for the first time for all to see!

she is such a good little girl.

that night, my parents brought tagg and sully to meet tess for the first time. i love their faces.

first shot of all five of us.

my parents are SO ecstatic to have a granddaughter!

craig's parents are pretty happy too. :)

our last morning in the hospital we swaddled tess up and took a few pictures.

i honestly couldnt be happier that i have a little girl now. i still cant believe it.

tagg and sully are such sweet brothers. cautious and curious. :) 

because tess was a month early she did have to lay on a light bed for the first week. i felt very lucky that we were able to do it at home instead of at the hospital. she loved her little light bed. 

despite being a month early, she is quite the champ. she is eating and sleeping well and loves to snuggle. her faaaaavorite thing to do is stretch. she loves a good stretch. we love her so much already and feel blessed to have her join our family!

pumpkins!

last week, the pumpkin patch opened and the weather was (and still is!) amazing so headed over to pick a few of our favorite. my boys were only mildly excited. :)

sully was a big helper.

craig was really proud of his knife skills.

after we picked our pumpkins we went through the corn maze.

then we loaded up our pumpkins to take home. but not before a few photo ops. duuuuh.

cant wait to find out if next year at the pumpkin patch i will have three little boy ducklings or two boys and a girl!.....

our first year putting pumpkins on our new house's porch. i've been waiting since last december (when we moved in) for it.

tagg looks so old and so happy.

loooooove.

halloween craft night

i have been looking forward to our annual halloween craft night for quiiiiiiiite some time. my friends and i have such a fun time picking out our favorite crafts on pinterest and getting together to make them (and eat treats. lets be honest)

hanna, kait, me, emily, amy, pom pom ghost (one of the crafts of the night) pillow and megan.

we had apples with caramel, pumpkin whoopie pies with cream cheese frosting and strong juice pop. also, the light up cat garland was the other craft of the night.

my pom pom ghost. geez i love this guy.

my friends said they were kind of over jar crafts so i made this little thingy all by my lonesome. 

a very entertaining and productive night.

scottsdale babymoon

i just returned from a weekend in scottsdale with jocelyn. and like my aunt said "i dont think you know what a 'babymoon' means", it wasnt the traditional husband and wife situation. but i didnt want to fly too far, craig and i just vacationed to southern california last month, and scottsdale (with its spa and shopping) didnt really seem like a couples thing. so next best thing? JOCELYN.

our first night there, we stuuuuuuuuffed ourselves at culinary dropout.

the next morning we headed over to our resort's spa. we got massages and goofed around taking selfies in the "quiet room".

the montelucia has a fabulous spa but it was very holistic. we had to touch this huge crystal and close our eyes to make a wish. i had a hard time with it. jocelyn loved it. :)

after our massages and close encounter with the light-up crystal we lounged around at the spa pool.

pina colada time!

the beautiful grounds.

that night we had a great dinner at blanco. all 21 dollars of it.

the next morning was more pool and more pina coladas.

that afternoon we met up with rebecca (who lives in gilbert and is so sweet and fun) to get our hair braided at a braid bar. we also had sweet tooth fairy and cafe rio. bonus.

 

 

later that night, jocelyn and i drove back to scottsdale and had ice cream at the sugar bowl. very retro of us. our friend between us wasnt feeling it.

on our last day we sat by the pool, shopped a bit and had grimaldis pizza. the perfect day.

with the perfect best friend. ok, baby! im ready... in about 6 weeks or so. :)

back to school

tagg went back to school a couple days ago. FIRST GRADE! this was also his first day at the new school since our move. he was very excited but also a little nervous. he was sad to leave his friends from kindergarten and was worried his first grade teacher would have him read a chapter book in front of everyone. ahhhh. to be six and have those kind of worries. he also asked "what grade will i start getting bullied?" (blech. im so over the term/obsession with 'bully/being bullied')

im happy to report that he had a fabulous first day of school (no chapter books and no bullying) and already has a little group to sit with at lunch and chase girls at recess.

and my baby started his second year of preschool yesterday. he was also excited to go back to school. his main concern was what kind of snack miss judy would serve. 

i have approximately two months before the baby arrives. so my main concern is how to fill my hours while both boys are in school. its a nice break to have the house/car/shopping cart to myself but honestly i really do miss these little humans.