Tessa turns 8!

Friday, June 5th, was Tessa's birthday. It's so hard to believe that my little girl is 8!

Tessa 3 weeks old

I still remember vividly the day that she was born. We were living in Missouri, Eric was in med school and he had his step 2 boards on June 5 and 6. My mom came into town. I was due June 3rd and I knew I had to have the baby before boards, so I begged the doctor to induce me on June 4th, and she agreed to do it so I wouldn't have the baby during boards. Well, I was induced on the morning of the 4th, but I had a very slow labor and at one point they took me completely off Pitosin because Tessa was in distress at which point my contractions mostly stopped(I was dialated to 7 at the time).

Anyway, poor Eric was up all night with me and 7am rolls around on June 5th and still no baby. He was so anxious, but he knew he couldn't miss boards(they were held in the basement of the hospital), so he calls my mom to come be with me, my mom comes and he heads down. Well, in the meantime, things start happening fast, and it looks like the Tessa is going to be born before 8am. The doctor delivering me (who was also one of Eric's med school teachers) calls down to the location where the boards are being held(boards don't actually begin until 8am but they had to check-in at 7) and says Eric Bass needs to get up here, his baby is going to be born before 8am and he's going to deliver her. So, he comes running up just in time for the last few pushes and the doctor lets him deliver a beautiful baby girl at 7:57am. He cuts the cord and then rushes out to make it for boards at 8am. They waited for him before they started boards. When he announced that he had a baby girl, everyone cheered. I felt lucky that I had both my mom and my husband there for the birth and Eric was so grateful that he ended up seeing her born afterall. He came back during his lunch break to hold her and find out how much she weighed and all.

Tessa 1 month old

The 8 year old birthday girl

Tessa wanted pancakes for breakfast that spelled her name just like Jarem had for his birthday a few months back.



Wow, look at those presents!



She still loves littlest pet shops

While in NY, I bought a couple of American Girl outfits and tucked them away for her birthday. She was surprised.

Jesikah wanted to spend her own money on a gift for Tessa. She bought magnetic earrings for Tessa and a grass skirt for her American Girl doll. Jesikah is helping her put them on. Tessa loved them, but I wouldn't recommend them since one of the magnets is already lost.

Look at Jarem checking out the earrings.

Tessa opening the present from Dad. Eric didn't know that I'd tucked a few little jewelry items in from Claire's along the the Kirby and Super Mario gameboy advance games she wanted. He was a little surprised when she opened it.

Jarem is interested in the jewelry too

Another webkinz! When she first opened it, she thought it was called the bubblegum dinosaur, but it's just called the spotted dinosaur. She named it "Smoothie".

Tessa's American Girl-type doll named "Katie" in her new pajamas and slippers.

Jesikah's American Girl doll ready for bed too

Tessa's 3 new littlest pet shop pets. My favorite was the whale...pretty cool!

Tessa in one of her new birthday outfits! I can't believe how tall she looks.

She wanted an ice cream oreo cake from DQ. YUMMY!

I love how Jesikah and Jarem are unintentionally forming their mouth to blow the candles too.

We went out to dinner at Tessa's choice: Golden Corral. We saved the cake for the next day since we were all SO full. The next day she also got a funny cow card from Alex about making her a pie instead of a cake but inside he gave her some money and wrote a very heartfelt note. Later in the month she is going to have a party when her grandma and grandpa come and she is also looking forward to being baptized on June 27th.

We certainly enjoy Tessa in our family. She is usually always happy and optimistic. She is the one that everyone in our family wants to play with because she likes everything and she is easy-going. We're thankful to have such a sweet and loving peacemaker in our family.