Washington 2015: The Journey

My aunt Susan asked me a few weeks ago if I wanted to take a road trip with her to Washington to visit my grandma. Of course I said yes. I am very glad I made the trip even though it was really hard with three kids under the age of three WITHOUT Jason. Luckily I had a lot of people willing to help with the kids. Susan and Lily were special lifesavers.

Loading up the van

All loaded up and ready for a great adventure. Cooper and Tessa are in the middle seats, Bennett sat in the back with Lily and Audrey.

Coloring during the drive.

On the road

 We stopped for the night in Baker City, Oregon. It is the halfway mark on the journey. There was a restaurant that had a toy train traveling throughout the building while you ate. The boys thought it was awesome! 

Bennett thought the mac and cheese was so delicious he was double-fisting it.

Cooper watching for the train.

Enjoying our meal

See the train?

There was also a cool scene in the front of the restaurant that the train traveled through.

Our motel room the first night. I had no idea that there were even rooms available with three queens. But we were able to find one both on the way there and back so apparently they are more common than I thought.

The sleep set up

The next day we stopped at a park in Yakima to get some wiggles out.

Tessa

 Bennett and Cooper with Lily

Tessa checking out grass for the first time. She thought it was a fun texture.

July 2015

This has been a crazy busy month. But boy has it been fun! Here are the random pictures from July.

This picture is showing off Tessa's hair. I had brushed her hair down that morning after her bath. By the early evening her hair was sticking up anyway.

Cooper riding the bike.

The boys checking out their new sprinkler

Apparently I wasn't giving Cooper cereal fast enough...

The boys have been having some rough nights lately and often end up in our bed by morning. We need a king sized bed...

Cooper has been so cute with Tessa lately. He will get down to play and talk with her when he sees her on the floor.

Because of the rough nights, sometimes the boys will sleep in a little longer than normal. Bennett slept in until about 11:15 am this day!! By the way, he is in Tessa's crib because he prefers to sleep in there rather than his own bed sometimes.

Tessa enjoying Piglet's tags while we were shopping with Crystal.

Tessa is so mobile these days that I often find her under the bed or her pack n play. She was quite distraught and was desperately trying to comfort herself by sucking on her fingers. I was pumping at the time so I couldn't immediately save her.

Kaylee wanted to hold Tessa and Cooper insisted on climbing up into the chair as well.

Bath time! Kaylee and Jaxon were using the boys' bathtub and so the twins got to use ours. The lighting was kind of fun with the water they were dumping on themselves so I had to take a few pictures. Cooper is on the left in all the pictures and Bennett is on the right.

Tessa really enjoys playing with toys now. It is so fun to watch her discover the world around her.

Strawberries! Our strawberries are doing WAY better this year than they did last year. These were all picked in one day.

Cooper is so cute with Tessa. And she adores her brothers. It will be so fun to watch the three of them grow up together.

My dad made his famous chocolate cream of wheat "Glory" twice while he was here. Lucky for me, the boys are not the biggest fans of it, but they did eat some this morning.

Tessa smiling and playing with Grandpa.

Cooper and I were really tired one day so we snuggled up on the couch and took a nap.

Again with the tender Cooper/Tessa moments.

All three kids hanging out in Tessa's room on the floor.

Hobo Dinner casserole. SO YUMMY! Basically it is tinfoil dinner in your oven.

The boys (Cooper pictured) love to brush mine and Tessa's hair.

Cooper was stacking animals. I thought he was pretty creative.

 I was downstairs with Tessa updating the blog and Cooper got quiet upstairs. When I checked on him I found him wiping down every surface he could find. I love that my boys love to clean. :)

The boys are getting more and more independent. It is totally adorable and makes some things easier for me. But it also means that my kids are growing up, and I am not sure how I feel about that. 

Here is Bennett getting his toothbrush ready to brush his teeth.

Jason and Tessa napping

Tessa made me laugh because she heard a noise and this is the position she froze in to figure out what it was.

Tessa's Week of Milestones

Tessa had a very busy month for milestones. One week in particular she hit a new milestone nearly every day!

 On July 9th, she got her first ponytail.

July 18th she got up on her hands and knees for the first time. After a diaper change she was fighting me to roll over so I finally let her (even though she was buck-naked). It was then that she got up and even started rocking back and forth like she was trying to get somewhere. I got pictures and a video, but since she was naked, I thought I would save her the embarrassment in later years and show you the picture of the next day when she was fully clothed. You're welcome, Tessa.

That night Aunt Crystal even taught her how to drive!

 July 19th her first tooth broke the surface. July 20th her second tooth followed suit.

Side note I would like documented: This is what Tessa does when you try to hold her on your hip. She pushes against your body like she is trying to stand. Very cute but frustrating. Because of this, I tend to hold her facing outward instead of in.

July 21st we were sitting on the bed and I noticed that Tessa was sitting in my lap without back support.

So I set her on the ground and she sat in a tripod position for a small amount of time before she fell over.

July 22nd I captured this video of Tessa moving forward trying to get to a toy.

This picture was taken on July 23rd, but I think she might have started doing this the day prior. I don't remember. But she is now doing yoga. Pretty impressive considering 5 days earlier was the first time she got up on all fours for the first time!

By July 24th she is basically a full-on crawler.

This girl is bound to do great things with her determination and skill. Since day one when she was already able to lift her head off my chest only being an hour old she has been impressing us with her mobility. (It really shouldn't be a surprise to me since she was so incredibly active and STRONG in the womb.)

We love this girl!