Horseback Riding

The other day, Alex took Tessa to ride his cousin's horses. Well, his cousin's husband's horses. Anywhoodle, she came home and told me all about it. She told me how she rode the horse and then it went up in the air, which scared her and Jonah, and they cried together, because "they're just kids!" (direct quote from her). But she had a really fun time and Alex got some cute pictures. So here they be:

Tessa and Bella on the haystack-this little girl has more hair than Tessa does, and she isn't even 1 yet!!

Tessa and Jordy.

Tessa and Jonah. She is holding onto his waist...she's so outdoorsy.
You can tell how excited she is-which is funny, because she only gets excited when she sees Stone. Or chocolate.

Dino Museum

Sometimes I get nervous that Tessa is too tomboy-ish. I know that's a bad worry, but I do. I just really want her to be girly, because I don't do sports. Or dirt. So when Alex pushes Tessa to play soccer or go hiking, it totally freaks me out. I try to squash those ideas as soon as I can, so that she won't start to like things like that. That being said, she really likes boy stuff. I can't help it. She likes trucks and she likes dinosaurs. So I figure that as long as she looks really girly while liking these things, I'm ok with it! So I took her to the dinosaur museum today (don't worry, I dressed her in a cute little blue number with her "pretty shoes". So we were ok.) For the most part, she loved it. I think it's because she got to go with her cousins, and not because she's interested in fossilized trylobites. Here is my documentation:

Stone and Tessa waiting on the rocks. They just have these rocks spread out all over the place. Kids love it.Zach came too. He loves getting his picture taken, just like the big kids.Rubie, Sophie, Tessa, and Sebastian. I'm thinking there was something weird with the flash. Or Sebastian developed a creepy eye while I was taking this.Tessa and me in front of the Jaws exhibit. (I know, right? Why is there a model of the shark from Jaws at the Dino Museum? I wondered the same thing.)

Anyway, that was our fun trip for the day. It was definitely special since yesterday her fun trip of the day was to go to Wal Mart. She hates Wal Mart.

Kung Fu

So Alex was cleaning out our closets tonight and found this robe that my mom gave me a while ago. Actually, Tessa must have found it. So she put it on and then came downstairs to show me how to "fight the peoples" (direct quote from my 2 year old). Apparently, she knows Kung Fu.

Also, as most of you are probably aware, I watch a lot of television. Especially since we have TiVo and Comcast On Demand. So I've been watching Mad Men on our on demand, and every episode is brought to you (or me) by Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, starring Brad Pitt. Well, Tessa has caught on to Alex's not so secret obsession of Brad Pitt. So she learned who he was. He'll come on the television, and Tessa will say "there's Brad Pitt," like she knows him. And she does this without fail every single time it shows his face. So the other day I was trying to get her to tell Cailey about it, and she decided to tell Cailey the name of the movie that he's in as well. No, I did not teach her to say it. She just picked up on it. So I guess I'm not allowed to watch TV with her around anymore...I know, poor me, right? Even though we told Tessa that we can't say that word, we make her say it for everyone. So I immortalized it by putting it on film. Again, this is my 2 year old...

And so it begins...

Potty Training. I'm not going to lie, I've been dreading this moment since Tessa was born. Or since she turned two. But mostly since she was born. I just had no idea where to start or what to do, so I've been putting it off-but I figured when your kid tells you every single time she needs her diaper changed, something's gotta give. AND going through a million diapers a day isn't too much fun either. A few months ago we tried it for a day and it was like I had told Tessa Hannah Montana was dead...she freaked out. For realsies-screamed, cried-the works. So we decided it wasn't the best time. So yesterday, we decided to try again. And it's like she's a different little girl-she was super excited about her pull ups (they have princesses on them), she didn't have an accident all day, and she even told me once or twice that she wanted to go potty. So we'll see what happens. I'm thinking a week and she'll be done...I kid. I'm sure it'll take longer. No accidents yet, but it's only day two. I just figured everyone would want to know....hence my post.

Tessa with her pull ups. She is showing me how big she is. Or she's dancing...you never can tell with this one.

Also-Saturday Alex, Tessa, and I got to go to the Park City Arts Festival with my sisters' families and my dad. This is the only picture I got, but it was fun! Look closely and you can see that I'm trying to hide Sebastian...I was trying to make it strictly a couples shot. Not that I don't love the kid...I just have a lot of pictures of him. Sorry Ces. And Sebs.