prettiest in the spring.

love all of the spring colors - in our yard.

i want ( i need ).

"i want"

i say this often. too often. it's probably very annoying. especially to the husband.

let's face it, it's difficult to stay up-to date on the newest trends (clothes, phones, computers, decor, etc..). this is even more difficult once you enter me - tessa - small budget. crap.

so a lot of these "i wants" don't happen unless there is THE BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR, or it fits in g's complicated spreadsheet ( enter invested $ vs. resale value [ it's some engineer thing])

i'm sure we don't have time to talk about all of that. but, basically i just really want a nice gold necklace. i wanted a monogrammed B necklace in honor of the Best Baby Boy Banks - but, then thought... i would either have to add a letter or stop wearing it because of baby #2 (long ways away).

so, here's my latest 'i want'. 

strike one.

i knew that dating, marrying and having a child with a red-head would bite me at some point in time.

that was this weekend.

i feel terrible. horrible. not a word can explain how bad i feel about banks' first AND LAST sunburn. ugh.

i mean, we weren't in the sun but an hour or so, and i made sure he had his 'sun hat' on the entire time. everyone kept telling me sunscreen wasn't an option until 6 months so, that didn't even cross my mind. 

it wasn't even hot out. but, apparently that didn't matter. in the words of a red-head "you can get sunburnt if it's cold outside". so, i have my first bad mom strike. banks' rosy red cheeks are a constant reminder of strike number one. 

so  you can bet we won't be out in the sun anytime soon, and if we are it'll be after month #6 so we can lather up in some sunscreen.

this guilt trip sucks!

i'm still happy and cute, even with red cheeks!

too much. too fast.

i cannot say this enough. babies grow up too fast. 

i was certain one post a month would cover banks' new adventures in this crazy world, but this is my third post on month #4. this just can't be true.

our little one has a tooth! well, that was last week. this week he has tooth #2! my, oh, my!

we also tried cereal this week. i wouldn't say he loved it or hated it, but was rather confused as to what it was. he would move his tongue around trying to see what this strange substance was, and then just open his mouth as wide as could be and it would all fall out. so... i'm not really sure how much he actually ate, but it was an experience nonetheless. 

tonight i said 'hi banks'... and i'm seriously telling you he said 'hiiiii' in the cutest, most precious voice ever. so sweet. 

he's loving his new bouncer and his giraffe we have named eddie (ed for short). ed and simba (his orange (b's favorite color) lion). 

due to the lack of milk supply, we've had to supplement with formula the past 2 weeks, but i'm still pumping during the day and nursing him in the evenings. i think the kid has put on a good 2-3 pounds in the past two weeks - i'm almost quite certain i'm starting to think formula could be linked to America's obesity issues. seriously.

he is acting like he wants to crawl and holds himself up for split seconds, before he falls back to the ground. that's okay though. i'm not ready for that. the thought of being pregnant again makes me gag, but i already miss my baby - don't worry it'll be awhile, but it's difficult to understand what people are saying until you actually have a child - life flies by. 

although it makes me sooo sad to see banks grow up so quickly, each stage seems to be more fun. i'm sooo excited to learn of banks' personality. so far, i think he has an A+ status.

lovin' on daddy!

his grandma julie is his bff.

push ups!

what is this stuff!?

banks, bode and hadley  havin' a talk.

got those toes!

still loves bath time!

car shopping.

let's face it. this doesn't happen often.

car shopping.

but, it's happening. the ole' dinosaur just isn't cuttin' it anymore. plus, after two summers without AC and the record breaking summer temperatures we endured last year, i think g money should invest in something that rides a little cooler. especially since his summer days consisted of being windblown and drenched in sweat when he returned home from work each evening. he was like a little boy running around in his tighties trying to cool off after a 120 degree marathon home. yea, i don't think we need that again. plus, with him picking up banks from daycare each day, we have to have air conditioning. so it's for the boys.

being the nice guy that he is, g is taking the G6 - so he'll be "flying so high like a G6". yep. sure will.

this leaves me, well g has had a lot of input too, to pick out our "NEW" vehicle. new, as in, new to us, since the babes doesn't really agree with buying brand new vehicles.

so this brings me to my title. assistant director of marketing and sales. yep. that's what i do. what i don't do is play games with people, lie, steal, smell like a burning cigarette, wear jersey shore'ish' chains, bad mouth competitors and basically suck. 

i've now been actively looking for a new car for about 3 days and would happily pay someone to get the job done for me so that i don't have to talk to another idiot.

it's one thing or another.

the first place we went (i will leave this unnamed) was actually a pleasant experience. seriously. nice guys, easy to talk to, not sleezy, etc. I could handle this. I even took a car home to test drive and was considering  a buy. YES. a buy!  that was until i did some research on the car and compared it to dealership #2 and realized it was clearly $2k - $2,500 overpriced. We really didn't like the amount of miles on the car either, so that car is out. Dealership #2 had a car that we were just stopping to quickly look at before we needed to pick up banks from daycare. I was upfront and told the guy, we want to see THIS ONE CAR, and WE ARE NOT BUYING TONIGHT and I HAVE A SON TO PICK UP IN 30 MIN. So, after showing me 3 cars that I didn't ask to see, he said he couldn't find the one I wanted to see and  then offered me a deal on car "a tonight only special" that I wasn't even interested in. I was beginning to think I was talking to a deaf salesman as he clearly was not hearing what I was saying. So, he said, I will find the car that you want to look at (they couldn't find the car because he said salesman hide the cars so that they can sell it to a customer that comes in and get the commission. they hide the good cars so no other salesman can sell them. WTF??) ... continuing... so he said to call a couple of hours before we came the next day so that he could have the car cleaned and ready for us to look at. G called at 9am (they open at 9) and said we'd be in at 11:45 to look at the car. We show up and he shows me the same car that I said I wasn't interested in the night before! Really? Really? I'm tellin' ya a hearing aid or two would really help these guys out! So, then he said well the one you wanted to look at is red, not black. i told you wrong and it sold this morning. So, basically, he could have told me this over the phone, but instead told me indirectly, to take off work, come see a car I already didn't want and tell me the one I wanted was sold. Cool beans.

I was a little frustrated as I left and they were offering cars left and right as I walked out the door. 

10 minutes later.

G gets a phone call. 

Now they want to offer us a crazy deal on a brand new car. I just don't get it. 

Basically, car shopping sucks. and I'm really ready to find a car and buy it from a really nice guy.

The end.

got milk?

it's here. first mama problem.

i don't 'got' enough milk for this kiddo. ugh. frustrating.

he's chowin' down a good 12-15oz of milk each day at daycare. having a job where you are in and out of meetings on a daily basis makes it tough to keep up with a strict pumping schedule, but i do my best. i'm just not sure what to do. 

i started taking fenugreek - some herby thing that is supposed to make your milk supply increase - and it helped a bit. then i got sick. milk supply down.

so for all the mamas out there. HELP. any suggestions appreciated before i have to go spend an arm and a leg on formula that i don't really want to give to the babes.

thanks in advance.

pray for more milk!

a few more 4's.

he's changing so fast.

i gotta update before month 5. so here's a few more facts on the 4's.

we made it through 4 mo. shots. wooo hooo!!! poor kid. i must say that 4 mo. shots are much worse than 2 mo. shots. i mean at 2 months banks wasn't smiling (except for when he had gas) or laughing. at 4 months he talked the whole way to the dr., was as happy as could be smiling and laughing away, and then the shots came. the saddest expression took over his cute little face and screams with TEARS. yes, tears - he didn't have those at 2 months either - ran down his face. Ugh. so hard. he was a champ though (as usual) and once the shots were done, he was simultaneously done crying. but, for sure. month 4 shots -  you suck.

big kid weighed in at 14lbs 14 oz (50%) and 25.5inches (90%). Head circumference is still a bit small at the 25% ranking - you're your dad's child. indeed. small-headed man.

you are loving your feet. yep, you found those toes and love to play with them.

we made our first trip as a family. to manhattan. yes. weird. the jayhawk family went to manhattan for easter. craziness. we saw where uncle dennan lives and where he hangs. pretty cool stuff. we even saw the easter bunny .... and you smiled! :) proud mama, i was.

manhattan obviously didn't like the crimson and blue fam too much, as i got sick saturday night, so no partying in aggieville for this mama. so basically easter wasn't all that great because of your mom - sorry! we did manage to get you all kinds of goodies - so i hope that made up for it! you were a champ in the car - slept the whole way up and back. 

basically, i just love you to the moon and back!