Precious Moments

We've had lots of precious moments over the last week or so!

Grandma and Grandpa braved the weather and came to hang out for New Years day

We had dinner at IHop and lots of fun during their short time here :)

 We had lots of fun dog-sitting Apple and she seemed pretty fond of Miss Tessa during her stay ;)

Parker always helps take great care of Tessa!
There's just something about these two these days.  Parker can turn Tessa's cries into laughter almost immediately.  I'm so incredibly thankful for the bond that these two share!

Tessa got an evening of pampering over the weekend.  I cut about 3 inches off her hair and we even took the time to round brush blow dry and style :) I've never done all that before and it was lots of fun
(for me anyway ;).
I'm not sure it's quite Tessa's definition of 'pampering', but she humored us! 

It was so worth it to capture these incredibly beautiful and natural pictures of her :) 

Look how BIG she is!!

We are so grateful for what glasses, headbands and cochlears allow for her....but man does her natural look make me long for perfect hearing, eye sight, head control, and complete physical independence. 

 It didn't take long before the ponytail was necessary,...just ask Darin! ;)

But this man is so sweet and (fairly) patient with my requests to 'try' different things.  Holding Tessa up and steady during a round brush blow dry was no easy task.  Then being ask to hold her up even longer and more steady while I tried to style and then take pictures of the cuteness in front of me... no.easy.task.

There's probably a reason why I don't try different things too often...most of the rest of the evening was spent imagining Tessa up walking and playing around.  Wondering what all she would be doing as a typical 4 1/2 year old little girl.  When she isn't wearing all of her 'gear' it makes me wonder what life would be like for her if she didn't need any of it at all.  A natural part of this imagining is sadness, but God is so faithful to turn that sadness so quickly into joy and celebration for exactly who Tessa is and the fact that we are the ones that get to love her, care for her, and pamper her :)

And then tonight this happened!

One of Tessa's very first intentional hugs.

This has got to be one of my most favorite pictures of all time now.  Darin was carrying Tessa to load her up in the car so we could to head to the store.  On his way out the garage door I heard this very excited "Aww" come from Darin.  He was grinning from ear to ear and said that Tessa had her arms clutched around his neck hugging him the whole way to the car.  When he opens the door to put her in and I saw those smiles on their faces, I of course grabbed my phone!

And oh my goodness, the moment captured is the best.

I truly think Tessa could tell by her Daddy's voice how excited he was about what she was doing.  She didn't want to let go...I don't think either of them ever wanted her to let go ;)

I still can't believe I caught the moment on camera.  I could sit and look at this picture all day.

A first hug around the neck...such a precious moment...one we will never forget.

~Whitney