My Child, You Have Been Blessed

Since I'm on the "blogging-two-months-or-more-later-than-the-event" kick, I figured it was high time to record Tessa's first big day (other than being born and the day she learned how to suck on my boobs properly).

Tess was four months old when she got blessed. We wanted to do it the same weekend as Ted's graduation to minimize traveling, and as it turned out, it was a perfect arrangement, because both grandfathers and an uncle were able to be in the circle. They were joined by two of our great friends, Adler and Jamal, and the husband of another great friend, Chris. Here she is sticking her fingers through the beautiful blanket Grandma Becky made for her.

She's our child, so something was bound to not work out right.

My Aunt Marilyn wanted to hold her, but by the time we got to this point, she had drooled through her dress, so we had to strip her. And at such a young age!

I loved Ted's blessing for our little offspring. I didn't know what he would say, but he told me he had been thinking about it a lot. Unfortunately, I can only remember a few things, which I want to write down before I forget them all.

• He blessed you, Tessa, to be a good older sister to any and all younger siblings your parents deem fit to give you.
• He mentioned what a joy you are in our lives, and there's no other way I can describe what a light you are to us. You ARE a joy - an absolute delight!
• He talked about your middle name: how you were named after your mother and your grandmother, and that his hope for you is that you will develop your talents as your namesakes have before you, and to give of yourself with a ready smile.
• He blessed you with a sense of humor, which you will definitely need.
• And my favorite part was when Daddy blessed you to have patience with us as your parents, since we're first timers. It hadn't occurred to me that you might need that admonition until he said it. I have a feeling you're going to have to deal with a lot of double standards growing up, and I shudder to think what you might divulge to your Primary teachers about us, but just know we'll be doing our best and that you have the most mellow personality for the family's trailblazer.

I apologize for the obscenities in this photo. I tried to cover them up, but they were out of control! The woes of nursing...

As we were taking our photos, Tessa started sticking her tongue out more and more. My dad usually subscribes to the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" camp, so we caught this moment on camera. Real mature, Dad. You're not going to win a fight with a 4-month old. I've tried.

A word on her dress. I bought a different dress (on sale!) for her blessing - a sweet little white eyelet lace dress with ruffled sleeves, not too frilly (I'm not an ostentatious sort of person). I told my mom I had purchased a dress for her (on sale!) and was very excited for how darling she was going to look in it.

A few days later, my mom pays me another visit and has in her hands the dress I was blessed in 32 years prior. I had no knowledge she still had not only the dress, but a blanket that I was nuts for during my formative years. The woman is a vault of many secrets.

So, not only was this a cute little dress, but it was handmade for me by my dad's nurse, who has been at his side as a medical assistant and friend for decades. She'd been through all the births of my 5 older brothers, and was almost as thrilled as my parents that they finally managed to birth a girl. So she got her Catholic butt onto a sewing machine and made the sweetest little dress you ever did see and gave it to my parents as a gift for the Mormon blessing. Suzette, thank you a million times over. Once again, you made an adorable baby even more so. Did I just call myself adorable? Yes. At one time, I was. And I have the pictures to prove the matter. If only we had a scanner...

I wanted to take this next picture to recreate a moment at my own blessing. If we had a SCANNER, I would have posted the actual picture (my mom was looking pretty smokin' hot, as usual). I was wearing the dress, sitting on Mom's lap, and both sets of grandparents were on either side. Of course, since my parents are classier than Ted or myself, they didn't have questionable nudy portraits of David and Venus behind them. Totally forgot those were there, but hey, Hav! Your legacy lives on! (They now reside in our guest bathroom, so come visit!)

The whole reason I remembered to blog about this day is because lately, Tessa's been drooling a lot more than usual. She's doing the same tongue-sticking-out that she was doing all afternoon on her big day, and I recalled that the drool baths resulted in a new tooth sprouting beside her first one. I got suspicious and pulled her top lip up and what did I see? Six tooth-shaped bumps on her upper gums, red and tender, but not causing too much pain, apparently. Just copious amounts of saliva. Which, on a baby, Ted says, is basically filtered water. So stay tuned for any new teeth news.

A word to Tessa.

My dear, sweet girl. I haven't stopped loving you since the second I felt you dance upon my womb in response to a chocolate overdose. Every day with you has been two big scoops of Oreo ice cream with chunks of brownie and banana on top. And your kisses are my whipped cream. I can't get enough of your smiles, your face pats, earring grabs, or nose sucks. My hair is still falling out from hormone shifts, so it doesn't help that you want to grab it and eat it, but I just laugh and let you because it makes you so happy. I love seeing your huge eyes take in the world, and I love that you look to me and your Dada as your safe havens when you're scared or lonely. I can only hope that never changes. I will love you for always, and I hope you love me right back, because we're stuck together for a loooooooong time.

Lots of hugs and raspberries,

Mom