Tessa - May 2012

April, April was quite a month Tessa girl.  First we started off with our conference weekend/Easter celebration with Grandma and Grandpa Hillier.  Grandma is the one who finally talked me into cutting your bangs.  I had been thinking about it for quite a while, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it because I know what a pain it is to grow bangs out.  I had talked to my friend Kasidee about it after I saw the bangs she and her daughter Bentlee had, and she said I could totally do it on my own.  Well I got brave, sat you down on grandma's coffee table, grabbed some scissors and water, and cut you some bangs.  I ended up cutting them a bit shorter than I wanted (they shrunk up more than I expected), but all in all I think I did a pretty decent job for someone who doesn't even style their hair let alone cut hair!

Here's one of your first pictures with the new 'do after you finished gathering up the eggs Aunt Lisa and Uncle Joe hid for you and Logan at grandma's house Sunday afternoon.  Grandma also found an old Hurricane Elementary School Cougars shirt of mine, and you and Logan both thought it was funny that it fit you guys and not me.

The next night we had family home evening, and our tradition is to have our lesson and then go get ice cream at Junction afterwards.  Most of the time you guys get the regular vanilla soft serve baby cones, but this time the girl asked if you guys wanted the chocolate frozen yogurt in your cones instead.  I said yes, but when I got home I realized that was probably a bad idea.  As I was pulling into our driveway Logan said, "Uh, mom, Tessa made a HUGE mess."  Yep, you sure did.  It was like you had held the ice cream in your hands and licked it out of them or something.  Your hands and face were covered.  It did make for a really good cute picture though.  I sent it to your dad who was in New Mexico at the time, and he was still having a hard time believing you were the same girl.  Those bangs make you look so much different.

The weekend we went out to Kodachrome with the Pollock side of the family for the Easter lunch and candy hunt.  You and Logan have got this figured out pretty well by now, and of course you came home with your buckets full of candy.  Every year I finally give in about a week later and just let you eat whatever is left because I get so sick of hearing, "Mom, can we have a piece of candy?"  It is fun to watch you 2 barter over the candy that you like though.  "Hey Tessa, I'll give you some Tootsie Rolls for your M&M's..."

The weather was just about perfect.  In the years I have been married to your dad it has rained, snowed, or been so hot or windy that it isn't always as nice as it was this year.  You guys played and played, sliding down the yellow hill and getting sand in your pants and shoes.

Other than the Easter celebrations, we pretty much just hung out at home and did our usual routine.  It's funny to watch you and Ty as he gets bigger.  One morning you asked to hold him and it had been a while since you had last held him, and I laughed pretty good to see how you struggled to hold on to him.  He's half your size all of a sudden!  You better watch out or he's going to pass you up sooner than later.

You can be a little bit of a diva at times, dear daughter, and I think it has something to do with the fact that everywhere you go people call you a princess.  The other day in the car you weren't minding, and I turned around and told you that you were NOT a princess and you needed to listen.  Your dad looked a little shocked that I would tell you something like that, but goodness girl, as much as I love you - you AREN'T a princess.  You sure act like one any time someone asks you to help pick up or do something else you don't want to do.  Just the other Sunday I asked you to finish your dinner before you could have a popsicle. You wouldn't do it, and things escalated from there.  Pretty soon I put you in your room and told you that you couldn't come out the rest of the night.  Sure enough when I went to check on you 10 minutes later, you were sound asleep and DID stay in your room the rest of the night.  Whether it is that stubbornness or just plain faking being tired or sick so you don't have to help Logan pick up the toy room, it looks like I've got a long road ahead of me to convince you may not be the princess that everyone thinks you are!

I love when I get a chance to sit down and play with you one on one or happen to walk by a room where you are playing by yourself and listen to your imagination as you play.  I am hoping to get you into Logan's preschool next year because of how much interest you have shown in school after we stopped going to Ms. Teresa's and also because I think the teachers there are AWESOME, and doing 2 years there would only do you good.  At the same time though it makes me feel like I am rushing you too fast.  The absolute LAST thing I want is for you to start to compare yourself to others and change who you are.  I see it in Logan here and there, and I know it is a natural thing humans do when we interact with others, but oh how I would do anything to keep you from changing who you are.

We love you so much sweet girl, even when you refuse to help pick up and especially when you tell us "ab-so-woot-wee."

Love you Sis,
Momma