Holiday Season

Well our Holiday season started off with Thanksgiving at the Braun house. No-one took any pictures but most of the Braun’s were there and we had a good last Thanksgiving in the house I spent most of my life in. My parents are building a new house and next year Thanksgiving will be in the new house. The next day we got ready and after Tess’s morning nap headed to Lampasas where Clayton’s great aunt and uncle live. There were only a couple of us going this year so we all got to stay at the house. Tess met her first big dog, Maggie is a lab mix and Tess was her first little human to meet also. Tess loved all the open space and enjoyed her time outside, she would get upset if someone was outside and she was not invited to join them. She was able to climb on the mower and tractor and had tons of fun. We had a fun weekend out in the country.

 

Our first cold snap rolled through before Christmas and Clayton and I decided to give Tess one of her presents early. We bought her Legos in a Wagon. She likes the Legos and Daddy and she played on the floor for a little while. She loves it when he gets on the floor with her, she jumps all over him and sometimes you have to brace yourself because you have no clue what exactly she is going to do. We also bought a new tree this year; since she gets into everything we bought a little tree so we would have some Christmas spirit in the house. No ornaments but it did what it could for its size.

 

Clayton put her in the empty wagon after she had dumped out all the Legos, big mistake. She didn’t want to get out. He pulled and pushed her around for a little bit and then we played the clean-up game and she put her Legos in the wagon so she couldn’t get in it anymore

 

Anadarko always has a Children’s Holiday party and Santa and Mrs. Claus come and take pictures. You bring an unwrapped toy to benefit a different charity each year. Last year we went but Tess was only 6 months old so she didn’t really know what was going on, this year she knew what was going on. Tess and I went upstairs to drop off the gift while Clayton waited in the Santa line. Right when we got out of the elevator she saw Frosty which scared the crap out of her, well Frosty could tell he was not wanted so he moved on and we could drop off our gift and pick up a gift bag which included a bear and from the pictures you can tell she didn’t want to put the bear down. Well we got to Santa and we had some Stranger Danger so I had to get in the picture with her.  It turned out ok, just hopefully one day she will get on Santa’s lap for the picture taking.

Clayton had Christmas off this year so our plan was to spend it in Dallas, which meant we had to do Christmas with the Braun’s early. My parents bought Tess a table and chairs which she loves; she eats all her meals at home at her table. Matt had brought back a bunch of stuff back from Thailand and Diana bought her all kinds of clothes. She didn’t understand the whole present thing but she did understand the tissue paper thing. She loved picking the tissue paper up out of the bags and then moving on to something else. My mom also got Tess a name puzzle; my daughter has acquired her mother’s love for puzzles. It’s a little ridiculous.

 

I had to work on the 23^rd but after work we headed to Dallas to spend Christmas with the Harris family. We had a lot of fun and saw a lot of family. Every day we were there we did something or saw someone; we needed a vacation when we got back. On Christmas eve we were supposed to see Grandpa Conn and Vicki but that didn’t work out so we stayed at home and Granny and Paw Paw came over to see Tess and eat Chinese food. It was the calm before the storm. Tess got up early the next morning and was ready to open presents. Granny and Paw Paw came back over to open presents with us. Tess again really doesn’t get this whole present thing, we all tried to get her to open things but she just wasn’t into it. I tried to open her stocking with her but she would get one thing and stick with it and then Mona tried to get her to open her Bouncy Horse and she kinda just looked at it. So we let her do her own thing and I opened most of her presents.

 

Tess got on her Bouncy Horse and bounced for a little bit but it went downhill very fast when she tried to get off. She fell forward and has yet to get back on her horse. She brings it out like she is going to get on it but she will then just leave it alone. So who knows? 

We had breakfast and Tess went down for her nap. After lunch we went to the park to run out some energy, it was cold and cloudy but other than that a nice day. She went on the swings and down the slides and I think we ended up on the big kid side of the playground but she loved it. The next day we hung out with the cousins and she ate some pie with her Paw Paw Kevin. We had a fun time but needed to get home and back into our daily routine.

Tess got a Plane from her Great Grandparents but was deathly afraid of it on Christmas and would not get anywhere near it. Well when we got home and she saw Mom looking ridiculous riding it around she decided that it can’t be that bad. She rode it around for a little bit but I don’t think she is convinced that it is not scary.

This year has been pretty cold in Houston so we have done a lot of hanging out in the house. It has been pretty much torture for Tess. She wants to go outside and then when she gets out there she realizes it’s pretty cold and that she wants to be inside where it’s warm. It’s a lot of Mommy please entertain me since we can’t go outside. We try to go outside every day that the temperature is reasonable outside.

 

We had to get out of the house on one of the cold weekends so we went to the boat show. One of the exhibits was a boat that kids were building and you could put your name in to win the boat. I thought Tess would be too small to try it but they said that Clayton could help her and she could do it. So they had to drill a hole and then screw in a screw. I think the noise that the drill made while screwing in the screw scared her a little bit but other than that she did a good job.

 

Like I said early Houston has been cold this winter and we have had a couple of Ice days. Well Tess and I were home one Tuesday, Daddy had to go to work and keep the city safe. We actually got some sleet/Ice stick around for most of the day. Then the other day on the way to work it started snowing. Every once in a while this happens and Houston doesn’t know what to do but it feels like we haven’t been this cold in a long time.

 

Well that was our Holiday season in a nutshell. Tess keeps growing and learning new things and sometimes she is too smart for her own good. She shows a lot of personality and both Clayton and I can see us in her, its pretty scary. I will leave you with the best family picture we will have for a while.

Lately...

A lot has happened in the last 6 months so be prepared for a long post. I was recently diagnosed as an epileptic and spent some time in the hospital and at home. I should have probably used that time to update the blog but I forgot and used the time to rest and be lazy.

Tess has grown so much in the past months that it is crazy. She loves to “read” her books. I put read in quotes because her version of reading is either flipping through the book at a very fast pace herself or getting you to turn the pages for her. Her pace is so fast that you can barely even see what the words are on the page. But at least she likes books; she loves to point at pictures and shout out her version of what animal or object they are. She is getting a lot better and is learning more words each day.

My dad taught Tess how to get down from the couch and she pretty much has perfected it and doesn’t need anyone’s help when she wants down. This scares me a little because she will sometimes try and use this technique while trying to climb down from our bed which is a lot taller than the couch and she doesn’t realize that she has more of a drop.

 

For the longest time Tess would only say Daddy, even if we asked her to say other words. She now has a pretty good vocabulary for her age but there are still times that she only says daddy, especially if he is at work.

 

During my time off we were able to go to a couple Astros games and even went to the Texas State Fair. My parents share season tickets to the Astros and Tess enjoys watching the other team score and even sometimes being able to sit in her own chair. It was pretty hot when we went to the State Fair so we thought if we stepped inside and watched the dog show it would be better, we were wrong it was hotter inside but she was a trooper and was content once the dogs came out and did tricks. Eventually we will have to teach her not all dogs are nice.

Also while I was in and out of Hospitals this year Tess had opportunities to stay with the grandparents more. My parents have stairs in their house and she loves going up and down the stairs. She thinks they are her personal playground. I am just glad we don’t have stairs because I would be constantly going up and down them.

Around Halloween we went with some friends to ZooBoo at the Houston Zoo. This was Tess’s first time at the Zoo and it started out a little cold but it ended up being a really nice day. Tess enjoyed the time she was able to walk around on her own; there were a lot of people so she was in the stroller most of the time. We took a picture on a bench and there was this cute little girl that was not ready to move on from taking pictures so she decided to stick around and take one with Olivia, the girls and I until she realized we were not her family and then she bolted. The girls were looking at her leave when we got a picture of just the 4 of us. Overall it was a good day and something we will probably do again in the future once she gets older.

 

We have a routine where she always carries her daycare bag that holds her cups every morning. She will walk out the door in the morning and then wait for someone to help her get down the big step and then she will walk to the car. it throws her off if she doesn's do her routine in the morning. One night after daycare we went and ate at Rudy’s and usually she wants to be with Mommy but this time she wanted to walk out with Daddy so I had to take a picture of Daddy and her walking out since it doesn’t happen very often.

 

We have a dog door and one of the times I was in the hospital we had a new animal join the family. When Clayton came home one day to check on the dogs we had 3 instead of  2. We had a dog I guess somehow get in the backyard and wonder into the dog door. She currently resides at our neighbor’s house and seems to like the new digs. It was funny because our neighbor Danny had been looking for a dog and this one just popped up, guess it was meant to be.

As Tess gets older she shows more and more of her personality, and we are starting to realize how much trouble we are in for. Most of the time she will do something and we will laugh at her and she will continue to do it. We have had to catch ourselves a couple of times because some of the behavior we don’t want to be repeated so we try real hard not to laugh and ignore her so she just drops it and it resolves itself. That doesn’t always work out how we want it to.

 

We have had a lot of time to hang out around the house. The weather has not always been the best on the weekends. We still try to venture out to get Tess out but it doesn’t always work out that well. She always seems to find something to get into around the house or someone to climb on. She has tuned into TV quite a bit, as much as I hate it she loves Sponge Bob Square Pants. You should see her face when it comes on. She knows the song and dances to it, until I try to get it on video and then she stops and stands completely still.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My parents are in the middle of buying a new house and at one of the model homes there were little kid homes in the back and it took Tess a little bit to warm up to them but after she did we couldn’t get her to come back inside. She loved looking out the windows and waving at the people that were coming outside. She really wasn’t too keen on sharing her house but I think that will come with time.

I will leave you with a picture Tess took of herself.

 

Someone is a year old...

Tess had her birthday party the weekend before she actually turned 1. We did a Ladybug theme and my mom helped me make her cute little shirt.








A lot of family was able to come, we didnt get a picture of everyone but here are a couple of family members.




Tess was a little apprehensive at first and then she started seeing some familar faces and loosened up. She walked on her own the day before her party so it was cool that everyone got to see her walk.

She had a lot of presents to open but since she gets caught up in the paper and boxes we thought it was better to open them and then show her was she got. We have yet to open and play with all the toys, thats how many we had.

At the time of her party Tess was not so sure about sweeties. I had to get her jump started and feed her some cake. She kind of fiddled with the cake but really just picked at it and then was done. She will eventually learn how good cake is.

                   

12 Months 

On Tess's actual birthday we took her to Chili's for dinner and dessert. She does like ice cream, which made her daddy very happy.

 

 

Warren, Tess's boyfriend at daycare stopped coming because his dad was transferred out of country and his mom was going to stay home with him. This is the last photo of the two of them. She did pretty good, it was like he was never around.
 

While Tess was at my parents one weekend she tried to escape from her makeshift inclosure. This seemed like the best option.










Tess loves the iPad, the only problem is that she hits buttons that she shouldn't hit and then gets mad. But other than that she loves playing and watching and sometimes just holding it.

We were at Rudy's one night and she started playing peekaboo... and I had to get it on video.

 

Here is little helping Lexi out...



 

11 Months

Well i guess i should update the blog since my baby is already 15 months. The month of May was a pretty busy month for all of us.

I had my first mothers day, and Clayton had to work. I already knew what my present was so it wasn't a big deal. Tess and I stopped by the station after church and hanging out with my parents for a little while. She decided to dump all the cheerios out of her snack cup as I am trying to get us both ready for church. When we got home she was in a playful mood. Overall a pretty good first mother's day.

Also on Mother's day Tess started to walk on her own as long as there wasn't a big difference between two objects or two people

 

About once a month my mom will take Tess for the night and let Clayton and I have a free night to do anything we want. She had just started walking but she still needed something to hold so under the table was the best place. We picked her up at a baseball game, my parents split season tickets with three other families.

 

Clayton and I redid our Master bathroom this year and his dad came down to help with the sinks. The NRA conference happened to be in town so we got up Saturday morning and head into town. There was this vendor that thought she was cute so he gave her a water gun, she carried that thing around and would not let anyone take it. As you can see, the convention wore her out and she passed out in the car.

 

Lexi has loved Tess from day one, I look back at pictures and Lexi seems to be in every picture. Well Tess has realized that she can play with Lexi and it has been entertaining ever since.

 

She has also learned how to tease them also.

 

Guns vs Hoses

The HFD and HPD soccer teams had the chance to play each other after a Dynamo game back in April. Clayton was really excited because they were actually going to be playing on the field of the BBVA stadium. Clayton and I hadn't been to the new stadium so we were pretty excited to watch the Dynamo. The seats we were in first were hot so we moved over to a shady area and it was a lot better. My family also came out to the game and stayed to watch Clayton play after the game. The Dynamo tied but HFD pulled out a win.


The guys all got together before the game and took a team picture. Both sides played well but in the end there could only by one winner. HFD put it all out on the field and you could tell they all really wanted to win the game.




Clayton played the first 20 minutes of the game and then ran the sidelines for the remainder of the game.  Here is the only action shot of Clayton, he didnt really touch the ball that much. For most of the game HFD was playing offense.
 

It was not surprise when in the end the Fire Department won the game.

 

1st Haircut

Well my mom and Clayton convinced me that it was time that little miss got her haircut. I was not ready for this but I have to admit my child has a lot of hair. She was born with a full head of hair and NEVER lost any. If you look at this picture which was taken a couple days before the cut you can see her hair is a little out of control. I gave in and let the hair stylist that cut my hair give Tess her first haircut.

We had to be worked into the schedule so while we were waiting Tess decided to dance a little. This was the beginning of her dancing career, but the only time she allowed us to get it on video. Sometimes when she doesn't think we are paying attention you can see her moving to the music but the minute she thinks you are watching or you want to try to get it on video she will immediately stop.

 

 She did really well, she sat on my mom's lap the whole time and just looked around at all the people that had gathered to watch.

 

 

 

 

 I really didn't know how she was going to react since we usually only mess with hair at bath time. That is the easiest place to get a comb through her curls.  

 

 

 

This child cracks me up; I love how everyday her personality shines more and more. She is looking straight at the camera and giving the cutest look possible. These kinds of looks make me realize I am in for trouble when she grows up.

 

 

All Done! She looks good and it actually gave shape to her hair and reduced the frizzies which is going to help come summer. I still can't believe my child needed a hair ut at 10 months.

 

10 Months

I can't believe that Tess is almost a year old. This time we go a little smarter with our pictures and taped the paper to the wall. She was still able to pull it down but we got in some cute pictures. I think she looks so big in these pictures. I think she got taller overnight and we have officially grown out of 6 month pants, they have become capris. She is mostly wearing 9 month clothes. She maybe small but she is pretty consistently moving along her 25th percentile curve.

We have mainly stayed around the house this month. We have visited Daddy at the station. One of the guys that Clayton works with was growing out his hair and since Tess has some pretty ridiculous hair some days they needed to take a picture together. They both have since gotten a haircut. We bought Tess an actual high chair since she is getting more and more into eating more than baby food. She usually is pretty pumped when we put her in it because she knows snacks are on their way. One of my friends from work has two little boys; one is around 3 months younger then Tess but is already wearing 12 month clothes so she gave us this really cute frog sleeper. Tess was modeling it before bed one night.

 We try to get out and watch Clayton play soccer on Sundays. This was one of the last games and a cold front had come in the night before. So we bundled Tess up and headed out to the field. Mona and Kevin bought her this cute go pod and she loves being able to stand up and look all around her. As you can see she went from seriously watching the game to playing in a matter of shots. I love this girls personality.

 

Speaking of personality I love playing with this girl in the mornings. She is usually in such a good mood.

In the mornings now she gets to eat her Cheerios. She gets so excited and when you finally give her some she usually grabs a couple and throws her hands up in the air to celebrate. Here she is at daycare one morning pretty pumped to be having some cheerios

We tried to go to the zoo one Saturday but it didn't work out and we ran errands instead. On our way we stopped and ate at Zaxbys a new chicken place by our house and Tess was in a playful mood. She kept sticking her foot out, she would put it on the table till I moved the high chair and she couldn't reach it anymore. At least she has already learned to point her toes. She ate some chicken and had a lot of fun at lunch.

For Christmas Mona and Kevin gave Tess this walker thing and we put it together one weekend and she took off. She had gotten pretty good at walking around with it. Once she actually gets the courage up to try walking without holding on to something she is going to take off.

One morning while I was getting ready for work Tess was lying in bed drinking her bottle. She started holding the bottle with one hand. This was the first time I had seen her do it and since then she usually tries to hold the bottle with one hand unless she is really hungry. Well before I know it she is going to be 1. I cant believe how time is passing by so quickly.