Tessa Jayne

I am sitting here typing with a little squishy baby in a sling. We had our Tessa Jayne on Tuesday, March 29 at 11:40 am. The time has flown by and I have been meaning to do a 'great huge post', but it's just not going to happen. It will have to be a 'short ok post'! Some of these pics are cell phone pictures and not that great. But it gives you an idea of who she is. My friend Joni came to visit yesterday and shot some super sweet pics of Tessa. I can't wait to see them and share them with you.  (:

This is super fuzzy cell phone picture just after she was born. I love it even though it's fuzzy because of her nose. She does have a big nose (just like my brother haha), but it's so swollen here and I love the wrinkles on the bridge It makes me smile. 

Hours after birth in our room. All dressed in clothes and cuddled up. Already at a few hours old she knew that she hated socks, hats and her arms swaddled. She must be a Van Dyk! (:

Labor was good and  I am so thankful that I didn't need to be induced. We don't know how much she weighed because the scale was wrong in the delivery room. She weighed 7 lb 15 oz on that scale and at the 24 hr mark she weighed 8lb 6oz. That is not really possible. So we are thinking that she weighed 8lb 8oz-ish. I should pick a number and stick with it. (:

We laughed and cried with joy when she was born. We were super crazy thankful, but she also looked exactly the way we pictured. It was like we ordered her from a catalog. I think she looks a lot like my brother, Grace and Micah all combined. We could have dropped her at the North Pole and she would have fit in well with the Eskimos. Her skin was so dark, her cheeks were HUGE and her eyes squinty. Her head was full of crazy black hair.  It's still thick, but has thinned a little bit.

A week old at Walmart! (; This is her Eskimo look with the big cheeks and slanty eyes. She often flares her nose holes too. It's rather funny! 

She was the froggiest baby I have ever had. Her legs were always bent into this position whether we were holding her or she was just laying down on her back or belly. As she gets older she is straightening out a bit more. One of the docs at her check up appt asked if she was a breech baby because her legs naturally bent in a very strange position. 

She lifted her head off of my shoulder 20 minutes after she was born and her eyes connected with us very early. She is very observant. She is constantly stretching and moving her arms and legs. She is so active and gets bored easily. When we go for a walk - the bumpier the better. When she is in her bouncy seat, rocking isn't good enough, she likes the kids to wiggle it hard. In her swing  - the higher the better. She cries when I turn the hair dryer or vacuum OFF and sleeps when they are on. It works well that roads are awful here - she loves the sounds and bumping in the van. She is a crazy one and I am wondering if she might give me a run for my money! (:  Oma says that since she stretches and moves all the time and the fact that she likes stimulation makes her strong and smart. I am going with it (: (If you know my Oma, that line will makes you smile.)



It's been a transition to go from an extremely ordered structured house, where I was in charge of what happened and when, to a house with no schedule. We have a little monkey that needs to be fed when she needs to fed and when she has a fussy time, things stop for me. Truthfully, at times I feel a little overwhelmed, but every week it's getting a little better and I think my standards have had to change and that is OK. Things aren't so structured, ordered or clean! (:  I am looking forward to when school is done. We only have a few more full weeks of school. After that we will just have to finish up a few things.



I can't count the number of times I spontaneously laugh or cry when I pick her up and smell her little head or feel her snuggle even closer to me when we are cuddling. I call Ken numerous times every day to point something out that I find irresistible. It's kind of like I am a first time mom. I am so thankful to have her. We all adore her. She is a mama's girl and I love love love it! Grace didn't love to cuddle and was very independent. So it makes it even sweeter that Tessa loves to feel me close and will even put her hand on mine when she falls asleep. I have broken all of my rules. I comfort nurse her. She sometimes goes to sleep in my bed. I sling her all day if necessary. I let her fall asleep on me instead of putting her to bed drowsy. I used to think that all of these things were nuts. She has turned me upside down in my thinking or has just melted me and made me soft.  Schedule will come in good time. (:

Grand Rapids is very much home and we have been taken care of so well with meals and love. It has made me fall even more in love with this place and our church family. But it's been a bit different having a baby away from family. My mom came from Friday- Tuesday after she was born. That was so so nice. At two weeks, we went to Canada as a family to Brampton because Ken was preaching. On our way through, we had an evening coffee with our Pennings family. But it was so short - a drive through really.  My sister has met her for only an hour or two. It's a little hard in that way. I want them to see her changing and growing! (: I can't wait to bring her to  St Thomas church and share her there.

This is one of my faves right now. I think this was also about 2 weeks. Isn't it nuts how different she looks picture to picture in last three even though they were taken all about the same time. This was after a bath and I didn't do her hair. You can't see the pink on her undershirt, so she looks a little like a boy. But we all laughed because she looks a bit like Turk on Tarzan. I adore this picture. She is super spunky and she has shiny eyes. I see her personality here. Joni got one similar to this look and I can't wait to see it! (: 

More later. Maybe when we find a schedule. (: