First Night without the kids


I did it.  Well we did it.  We had our first night away from the kids and we actually survived.  Friday night we went to Columbia, MO for a wedding and we left the kids with my parents.  I surprised myself by actually going.  Tess is only 11 weeks old you know.  I didn't have an overnight stay without Colin until he was over a year old.  I knew that the kids would be well cared for.  It was just the fact that I knew I would miss them like crazy.  And Tess is still waking up in the middle of the night for a feeding so I felt guilty that my parents would have to wake up with her.  And since I am nursing she has only had three bottles in her whole life so I was also worried that she might not be too interested in taking a bottle.  My parents said she wasn't happy with the bottle at all at first but that they were able to calm her down and eventually she took it just fine.  After that first feeding she took the rest of her bottles like a pro.  Thank you Mom and Dad for being patient with her.  I know how stressful it can be to deal with a crying, hungry baby. 

The wedding was so much fun.  The bride was absolutely beautiful (she always is).  I really love going to weddings, especially when I know that the two people getting married truly are meant for each other.  Steven and Erika are such a fun couple and you can tell that really love each other.  I just couldn't be happier for the two of them.  On top of that when the dinner being served is a steak fillet and lobster tail well that just makes everything a little better.  You also know you are at a good wedding when Truman the Tiger shows up.  We had a great time dancing and hanging out with friends who we don't get to see as much anymore.   The highlight of the night may have been the cab ride home when we had the cab pick us up from a bar, drive us to our car which was parked at the reception site to pick up some milk that I had pumped earlier in the night which was on ice in our backseat, and then drive us back to our hotel.  I am pretty sure the cab driver never had anyone request that before. 

 

Overall I am really happy with how the weekend turned out.  We got to see two amazing people get married, we got to spend time with some good friends and we proved that we and our kids can survive being apart from each other for a night. I do have to say though I was so happy to see these two when we got home.

Seeing Double

After weeks of being asked who Tessa looks like I finally figured it out.  Yesterday Colin and I were looking at pictures and videos of our family on our computer (this is Colin's new favorite pastime) and I thought it would be fun to look back at some of Colin's baby pictures.  When the pictures came up Colin kept saying "Baby Tessa"  and you know what?  I can see why he was confused. 

Here is Colin

And here is Tess

Colin

Tess

Colin

Tess

 

Yep it's official Tess looks like her big brother.  She just has more hair. :)

God Bless Tess

Our sweet baby Tessa was baptised this past Sunday.  We had an absolutely beautiful day for the celebration.  Here are some of the highlights from the day.

Tess wore a baptismal gown that has been in the Brooks family for over 100 years!  Colin was also baptised in this gown, so was I, so were all of my brothers, so was my Dad and all of his siblings, so were countless other Brooks relatives.  I think it is so cool that we have such a special family heirloom that gets to be used on this occasion.


Here is a picture of all of the Brooks relatives who were at the celebration who wore this same gown when they were baptised.

In addition to Tessa's special Baptismal gown we also had two very special bonnets for her to wear during the ceremony.  One was made from the material of the original baptismal gown.  The gown was recently refurbished.  Originally it was a gown and a slip.  Over the past 100 years however the gown started to get very worn in several places.  The best parts of the slip and the gown were used to create a new gown.  The extra material was used to create a bonnet to wear with the dress.  Tess also received a new bonnet as a gift from her Aunt Jen, Uncle Don, and cousins Nora and Luke.  We held this bonnet throughout the ceremony and it has become Tessa's own special keepsake from the day.

Msgr Jack preformed the Baptismal Service.  He did a great job with the service and mentioned several things throughout the ceremony that really made me think.  He suggested that each year on the anniversary of Tessa's Baptism that we light her baptismal candle and celebrate the day that she was Baptised.  I think this is a really cool idea!  It was especially symbolic for us to have Msgr Jack preform the service because he was actually the priest who baptised me not so many years ago.

Tessa's Godparents are her, Uncle Nat (my brother) and Aunt Julie (Keith's sister).  Aunt Julie traveled all the way from LA to be there for the special day.  Julie, I can't tell you how much this meant to us.  Thank you so much for being there!  Tess is truly blessed to have such great Godparents!

After the service we hosted an open house for our friends and family.  The service went a little longer then we had anticipated and some of our guests arrived at our house before we were back.  Luckily we have amazing friends who helped get the house ready and greeted our guests.  Thanks you Pete and Molly and Lori.  You guys are the best!! Seriously I don't know what we would have done with out you guys.  And special thanks to Tony and Colleen for taking pictures for us at the ceremony, they turned out great!

While it was a holiday weekend and many people were out of town we were very blessed to get to celebrate with our friends and family who were in town.  It meant more to us then I could ever say to have so many wonderful friends and family who came to help celebrate with Tess on her special day.  I am so sorry that I didn't get to visit with all of you more.  Trust me though when I say that you all being there really meant the world to us.  It was a day I will not soon forget and it will be one that I will be sure to tell Tess all about in the years to come.