Tennysen's First Halloween

Tennysen trick-or-treated at her Aunt Jacque and Uncle Kevin's house. The costume lasted about 5 minutes...

Somehow she didn't mind a candy bucket on her head though.

A little update on all the Wermers

Hi everyone! I know that once again it's been a while since the last post. I guess when I started this blog, I thought there would be more to post. There's just not. It makes me wonder how these reality shows have so much content to cover...our lives are just very routine, I guess. Anyway, here's an update on all the Wermers:

Todd: He's busy as always. He's still doing the Recovery ministry at Summit and that is going well. He's doing great in school. I'm so proud of him! He's been taking classes on Children's Therapy and this current class is on the Family System. He's learning a ton...even though...when he comes home from school, I ask him what he's learned and he says "nothing." I know that's not true though because I watch him in talking to the college guys he's been hanging out with or with a couple that's just about to get married, and I can tell he's learned a lot. He's going to be a great therapist. He's got a break from school coming up really soon so we are all excited about that.

          He's loving keeping Tennysen on Fridays. Tennysen's sitters have a bunch of stuff going on. Katie had her baby this weekend so she'll be taking care of Greyson for several weeks and adjusting to being a mom (Congrats, Katie and Luis!), and Jacque is going on vacation with her family, so coming up, Todd will have Tennysen a lot more. I think he's looking forward to it. Tennysen love Todd so much. She loves to stare at him when he's in the room. There's a good chance she'll be a daddy's girl.

Jenni: I've just been working and trying to figure out this whole "working mom" thing. I think I'm adjusting but I just hate that I work and when I come home, all I want to do is play with Tennysen, but there's dinner and there's sterilizing bottles, and there's trying to keep my house clean and laundry and making sure bills are paid...it's a lot. I can't say that I enjoy it...I really want to be present with Tennysen when I get home and not thinking about all there is to do. I guess I'm not completely adjusted, huh? I do love being a mom though. I thank God so many times a day for Tennysen. She is such a blessing.

          I've been sitting in with Todd on some premarital counseling sessions with some friends that are getting married in July and that's been enjoyable. I think even counseling another couple strengthens our marriage. We just don't have time any more to be mentored the way we used to be, and things like this give us an opportunity to reflect on our relationship which is so important. I can see how that can be put on a back burner if we aren't careful.

Eli: He is still so sweet, but our schedules don't allow time for us to play with him like before. I feel really bad for him. And it's too hot here to go on walks--it's been so miserable. Eli barely wants to go outside to use the bathroom. He goes outside and wants to come right back in. I don't blame him. He's got a birthday coming up though on July 5th. He'll be 7. I can't believe it! He still keeps his distance from Tennysen. Occasionally, he'll be walking by her and will quickly lick her head and keep walking. I guess he's hoping we wouldn't notice, but I do. I think he likes her, but we've told him "no" so many times in the beginning that he thinks it best just not to interact with her. I really fear for her toys as she gets more active. Eli likes them and it's work to make sure they are always out of reach.

Mischa: She's doing well. She's been great with Tennysen. She's been so patient. She sits with me when she can, but she's adjusted so well. I'm very proud of her. She is very routine-oriented and her little routine has been altered lately but she's taking it all in stride. She's really caught me by surprise.

Tennysen: She is amazing. She's talking a lot and she's loud. A friend asked me why we can't just take Tennysen to the movies if we want to go. That's why--she's loud, but it's really cute. She's laughing more and more. She laughs at a bunch of quick kisses on her cheeks or belly or feet. She smiles all the time. She's such a happy baby. She's sleeping through the night and has been for a while. She's kind of perfect. She rolled over for the first time this week. She's been working on that for a while, but she couldn't quite get her right arm out from under her until this week. Now she's a pro at it. She's starting to like toys. Last week, she started holding onto her toys and this week, she's grabbed her toys a couple of times to put them in her mouth. I'm not quite sure if it was a coincidence but she did it nonetheless.

        We have her 4 month appointment this week, so we'll get to see how much she's grown and I think we're going to talk about starting her on solids. Crazy!! She's really precious. We love her so much. Here are some pictures of our little blessing:

Aunt Keri came for a visit. 

She loves sitting up these days.

Happy girl!

We got her first pettiskirt in the mail yesterday. She was trying it on. 

Not a great picture, but she loves her Bumbo. It helps her get better at sitting up.

She wants to help hold her bottle. Miss Independent!

She loves this position. She can lay like this for a long time. 

Thanks, Katie, for this picture. She's so precious!

Long Time, No Post

Wow! I can't believe it's almost been a month since my last post! Since the last post, Tennysen is talking up a storm. Sometimes it seems like she's actually having a conversation. It's precious! I have some videos, and I've tried to post them on the blog, but there's always some error. I'm NOT technologically savvy, but I'll be working on that. She's growing SO fast. She's sleeping 7-8 hours at night which is amazing! She's so smiley--she's such a happy baby. We are SO blessed!!

I've gone back to work full time. This is my 2nd full week back. I was dreading it so much, and it is hard, but not as miserable as I anticipated. I miss Tennysen a lot. I definitely don't feel like I see her enough. I cherished every minute with her this past weekend, and I'm so excited that I have a long weekend coming up so I can spend more time with her.

So I had my first Mother's Day this year. And the day before that, it was mine and Todd's 6th wedding anniversary. Todd planned all these surprises ahead of time, which if you know Todd well, you know that that is not typical, but planning ahead was just one of the ways that he made me feel special that weekend. He was so sweet!! On Friday afternoon, he set up a photo session with a professional photographer so we could have our first family pictures taken. I'm sharing some of those below. Then on Saturday, our good friends, Kevin and Jacque, babysat Tennysen for us to go to a nice dinner and a movie. It was very nice, and I really felt cherished. I hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Thanks for coming to visit, Grandpa Lyle! It was fun!!

Tennysen and the Royal Wedding

I have been very excited about the Royal Wedding this week. Todd has been making all kinds of fun of me, but I couldn't wait to see THE DRESS! I wasn't about to get up at 4AM though, so I was taping the wedding on 2 channels so I wouldn't miss anything.

Tennysen has been sleeping great the last several weeks. She's been waking up to eat once during the night but then goes right back to sleep. However, last night, she woke up at 4AM to eat and would NOT go back to sleep. The ONLY explanation for that is that she wanted to watch to Royal Wedding, so we did.

Thank you to Todd for humoring me for this picture.

The dress did not disappoint. It was beautiful and timeless. Loved it!!

Happy Easter!

It's been a while since the last post. Our days have been pretty much the same...just watching Tennysen grow and change. I did go back to work last week. That was SOOOOOO hard! I woke up the Sunday of my last full week at home and I was so depressed. So I tried to enjoy every minute of that week with my sweet Tennysen. Then the next Sunday was the day before I actually went back to work. I cried a lot. Even though I was only working 2 days that week, it was still so sad for me. I feel like I'm going to miss out on so much. As it turns out, the anticipation of going back to work was much worse than actually going to work. The days went by fast and I knew Tennysen was in good hands: Todd kept her on Monday and our friend, Jacque, kept her on Tuesday. Jacque loves Tennysen so much...it's so sweet, and Tennysen loves Jacque, so I'm so glad she'll be watching Tennysen a couple of days a week when I go back full time. The other days our other friend, Katie, will be watching her. We are very blessed that she'll be with friends. If I had to take her to a daycare right away, I think I might die!

Tennysen is so big. She has her 2 month check-up this Thursday, so we'll find out how much she weighs then. She's really starting to interact with us. She'll hold our gaze for a long time. She smiles a ton. She's started making all kinds of noises which I LOVE. It's so fun watching her change, and it's all happening so fast!

She and Todd had like a 10 minute conversation last night at dinner. It was precious!

It's Tennysen's first Easter, and my parents and Keri came to town to celebrate. The Easter bunny (aka Aunt Keri and Great Grandma Verna and Grandma Pam) visited Tennysen and gave her some fun presents. She had the cutest little dress. It was fun to see her all dressed up and out of a onesie. I hope everyone had a great Easter. I hope you enjoy the pictures. We miss you all!!

No, Tennysen, I don't think you can be any cuter. 

Quality time for Todd and Tennysen.

Grandaddy and Tennysen

Todd and Tennysen in their Easter best. 

This picture needs some cropping (i.e, no flip flops!), but otherwise, our first family Easter picture. 

Chillaxin'

Tennysen is supervising me cooking dinner. 

I'm playing dress up with Tennysen. She was surprisingly cooperative. 

Tennysen's firsts

Well, it's been a few weeks of firsts for Tennysen since the last post. She's taken her first bottle of formula, been on her first road trip, stayed in her first hotel, spent the weekend with Grandaddy Mark and Grandma Millie, met a whole bunch of SC family and friends, had her first official bath in a bath tub, and tonight, she went to church for the first time. Here's some pictures to commemorate some of her firsts:

First time taking a bottle & the first time Todd got to feed her. 

First time meeting Aunt Laura.

First time meeting Ellie. She's only 6 months older. Hard to believe!!

First time meeting Great Grandma Verna.

First time meeting Great Grandaddy Thurman. He's so funny!!

First bath in the bath tub. Look at that belly!!

First time in her sweat pants.

First time her poopy diaper came out of the diaper and the first time she pooped all over Grandaddy.  She was waiting for me to get all the diaper changing supplies out. She was surprisingly happy though. 

First time Uncle Joseph held her. It only took him like 4 days!!

First time at Aunt Keri's apartment. This is such a cute picture!!

Hard Lessons

Well, it's been another hard week. I can't wait to write that it's been an easy week. I have 3 more weeks until I go back to work at least part time, so I really needed to start getting Tennysen on a routine. Yesterday afternoon, I got up the nerve to put her in her crib for a nap.

Up until yesterday, I would hold her or put her in her swing and let her sleep. She did not like being in her crib, and that was so hard for me. I needed her to sleep though because she was so exhausted. She had been fussy all morning and hadn't slept much--rocking her hadn't helped, her swing that ALWAYS works wasn't working, she wasn't hungry, her diaper wasn't dirty, she wasn't running a temperature...I was out of ideas, so it was time to start teaching her how to put herself to sleep. By the way, I had this same kind of day on Tuesday and I felt like I was losing my mind. Something had to give.

She stayed in her crib for 2 hours. She honestly didn't really cry that much. It was a lot of grunting and just some crying. I know from the video monitor that she did sleep some, but when it was time for her to eat again and I went in to pick her up, I just started crying. I was afraid she felt abandoned for those 2 hours alone in her crib by herself. Looking at her sweet little face, I felt so much shame!

Thank goodness for friends and family...who aren't hormonal. I had some great encouragers yesterday who talked me through it, and even though it doesn't make it easy, I know I've got to keep doing this. Good sleep is vital for my little Tennysen, and when she can't choose sleep on her own and she's fighting it, I've got to help her. Hopefully these hard lessons for mom and baby will pay off in the very near future--predictable nap times, a well-rested baby, and a sane mommy.

So she's in her crib now and she's doing great...not asleep yet, but not fussing. Hopefully it'll be a better day today. Here's our precious girl:

She loves her activity gym...for a few minutes at a time at least. 

This was after her morning feeding. She was exhausted from her tough day yesterday. Side note: She does actually wear clothes. Pictures may not often portray that. A Tennysen tidbit: She's super hot-natured, so she's often only sporting a diaper.