Noah and Danica

Four Wheeling

2010-06-06T21:39:00.001-05:00

Birthday party at Nana and Papa's

2010-04-30T10:44:00.000-05:00

Twin's Birthday Party

2010-04-30T10:43:00.001-05:00

We had a pool party for the twins at Country Inn in Cedar Falls

Kids love boxes

2010-04-30T10:42:00.001-05:00

Tormenting the cat

2010-04-30T09:55:00.001-05:00

Nana dragging the twins around

2010-04-30T09:53:00.002-05:00

Picture Day

2010-03-06T15:32:00.016-06:00

Well, we had the kids' pictures taken this morning for their upcoming birthday. (12 days away!! Where has the time gone?) The day started out ok - we decided to have a family picture taken first, and these turned out pretty well.

After that, we tried to get some pictures of them standing with the "1" block and some balloons we brought along. Noah did really well with this, but we soon learned that Danica was not going to play nicely today. We couldn't set her down and walk away without her throwing a fit and start running back to Mom. We got some pictures that turned out OK, but she was either in mid-stride or starting her departure.

Then, we changed them into some different clothes, and tried for sometime to get some good pictures of them, but once again Danica was being a challenge.

We managed to get some taken, but only by having Carrie lay down and they sat on her leg. Uncropped photo:

Finally, it was time to get out the cakes. We brought along a white disposable tablecloth which drastically aided in cleanup. Danica didn't want anything to do with her cake, even after we dipped her hand in it so she could taste it. She ran away.

So, we slid the cake over to her, and she started praying, "Please God, don't make me eat this cake!"

Meanwhile, Noah realized the candles were pretty tasty, and then decided the whole thing was pretty good.

Noah got so into his cake, pretty soon there were chunks flying.

To this, Danica said "I'm outta here!"

Noah thought, "Well, if she won't be eating her delicious cake, I guess I can have both."

Even as we were done with the pictures and starting to clean up Danica and the rest of the area, Noah was still sitting in the same spot eating all the cake that hadn't been picked up yet. I'm still curious as to how much he ate - each cake had about half of it missing, and I'm sure there wasn't a whole cake's worth smeared on everything.

All in all, even with Danica being such a pill, I think we got some pretty good shots. See some of the best ones in the previous post.

Birthday Pictures

2010-03-06T15:31:00.001-06:00

Kids entertaining each other

2010-02-15T23:19:00.000-06:00

Noah and Danica messing around after dinner

2010-02-15T23:18:00.002-06:00

Danica Being Silly

2010-02-15T23:18:00.001-06:00

Noah Bouncing Around

2010-02-15T23:17:00.001-06:00

Sleepy Noah

2010-02-15T23:15:00.000-06:00

Danica's Funny Face

2010-02-15T23:13:00.000-06:00

Sleepy Heads

2010-02-15T23:08:00.000-06:00

New Year's Eve

2010-02-15T23:06:00.000-06:00

Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma's

2010-02-15T22:58:00.000-06:00

Christmas at Nana and Papa's

2010-02-15T22:44:00.000-06:00

Bathtime at Nana and Papa's

2010-02-15T22:28:00.001-06:00

1st Christmas!!

2010-02-15T22:26:00.000-06:00

Christmas Outfits

2010-02-15T22:12:00.001-06:00

Nice hair

2010-02-15T22:08:00.001-06:00

Misc. pictures

2010-01-20T23:47:00.000-06:00

Halloween costumes

2010-01-20T23:40:00.001-06:00

Halloween shirts

2010-01-20T23:26:00.001-06:00

A black cat at Halloween seems appropriate

Jack o Lanterns

2010-01-20T23:19:00.002-06:00

I didn't think I would be able to carve these and make them look good, so I just used a Sharpie :-)

Fall Pictures

2010-01-20T23:16:00.001-06:00

Carrie and I took these at the Iowa River in Steamboat Rock, and at a pumpkin patch outside of Steamboat Rock.

Messy Marvin

2009-09-01T10:12:00.001-05:00

Spoon Fed

2009-09-01T10:10:00.001-05:00

Pictures

2009-09-01T09:24:00.001-05:00

Twins twins

2009-09-01T09:23:00.002-05:00

Roly Poly

2009-08-28T12:04:00.001-05:00

More pictures

2009-08-10T13:38:00.000-05:00

Holding Hands

2009-08-06T14:38:00.000-05:00

Supplies

2009-07-20T16:06:00.002-05:00

At a can a day... we need to have plenty on hand!

Swingers

2009-07-20T15:56:00.002-05:00

Noah Playing

2009-07-08T22:47:00.001-05:00

Danica Babbling

2009-07-08T22:44:00.000-05:00

Staredown

2009-07-07T22:26:00.003-05:00

4th of July

2009-07-07T22:07:00.003-05:00

Noah and Danica ready to head to their first 4th of July fireworks show in Iowa Falls. Notice her matching toenail polish. They did really good at the show - both staring at the sky the whole time.

Twins, twins and more twins

2009-07-07T21:50:00.002-05:00

Carrie's sisters Crystal and Cathy

My dad and uncle holding Noah and a cranky Danica

Squirmy Wormy

2009-07-07T21:29:00.001-05:00

Danica likes to squirm in her sleep

Baptism Gifts

2009-07-07T21:26:00.001-05:00

Gift blankets from Auntie Crystal's neighbors

Baptism

2009-06-29T22:08:00.000-05:00

Noah and Danica's baptism, June 28, 2009.

3 month pictures

2009-06-19T22:11:00.000-05:00

Chubby thighs

2009-06-18T22:56:00.001-05:00

Baby Camouflage

2009-06-18T22:53:00.002-05:00

Smiley

2009-06-18T22:52:00.002-05:00

Sleeping Angels

2009-06-18T22:51:00.000-05:00

Someone's bigger!

2009-06-18T22:49:00.002-05:00

Bottle Duty

2009-06-18T22:39:00.002-05:00

Just part of our daily preparations. By having 14 bottles ready, you're not washing bottles all day!

More pictures

2009-05-31T17:13:00.001-05:00

Dueling Babies

2009-05-30T21:52:00.002-05:00

Video of Danica

2009-05-28T00:28:00.004-05:00

Danica giving her Indian war cry

Video of Noah

2009-05-28T00:07:00.002-05:00

Noah being goofy

2009-05-28T00:04:00.003-05:00

Bath Time

2009-05-28T00:01:00.002-05:00

Nursery Pictures

2009-05-27T23:49:00.002-05:00

We finally got the names hung up that Carrie and her mom made. I think they turned out pretty cool!

Superman Pose

2009-05-18T22:44:00.002-05:00

One of these things

2009-05-14T22:12:00.005-05:00

Is not like the others... see if you can figure out which one!

Size comparison

2009-05-14T22:09:00.003-05:00

Baby Shower

2009-05-14T22:04:00.002-05:00

Pictures from a baby shower held by my sisters April 25th.

Update

2009-05-14T21:54:00.002-05:00

Wow, it's been a while since I've put anything on here. I guess that alone says how busy it has been around the house. It seems that if one isn't awake, the other one is. We still don't have the sleeping thing down perfectly yet... we still pretty much spend every night in the living room, Carrie on the couch and me in the recliner. Hopefully soon as they keep getting bigger they will start to sleep better at night. It is hard to believe that they turned 8 weeks old this past Wednesday, but as big as they are getting, it makes it seem real. We don't know for sure what they weigh, they were last weighed about 2 weeks ago and Danica was 7 lb 5 oz., and Noah was 8 lbs 4 oz. I would guess him to be pushing 10 pounds now, and she is in the 8 range somewhere. He definitely seems more than 2 pounds heaver than her. He is starting to wear 0-3 month clothes now, and she isn't going to be in newborn much longer.

Artistic Photos

2009-04-20T22:19:00.001-05:00

Carrie's and my attempt at being artistic photographers.

Tessau Twins

2009-04-20T21:07:00.001-05:00

I think I mentioned before that Noah and Danica were the fourth set of Tessau twins. I thought I would take a moment to post pictures of the other sets. I will go oldest to youngest. (Sorry Dad!)

Roy and Ray Tessau
Parents - Emil & Emmi Tessau

Matt and Brian Tessau
Parents - Craig & Linda Tessau

Nathan and Nicholas Tessau (Noah in the middle)
Parents - Eric and Angela Tessau

Noah and Danica Tessau
Parents - Geoff & Carrie Tessau

One month old!

2009-04-18T09:25:00.001-05:00

Well, it sure doesn't seem possible, but as of 5:11 and 5:12 p.m. today, the twins are a month old. I can definitely tell that they have grown, they seem so much bigger holding them now. They are both out of their preemie clothes, and wearing Newborn now. I don't think it will be too long before Noah will be too big for NB and into 0-3 month, and I'm sure Danica won't be far behind that. We have a couple weeks worth of NB diapers yet though, so hopefully they don't outgrow them before they used up!

April 15th

2009-04-15T18:59:00.003-05:00

Well, today is April 15th. This day has many meanings for us right now. Most see it as tax day - which reminds us that next year at this time, we get to claim two extra deductions! But for us, today is sort of bittersweet. April 15th was the original due date for the twins - so they are officially full term today. They are also 4 weeks old today, which is just impossible to believe. But one year ago today, we had a miscarriage. I remember the emotional roller coaster were on at that time. We had just found out we were pregnant about 5 weeks or so prior, and had just told our family by giving them Easter eggs with pacifiers and booties in them, and had just begun to accept the fact that, after 3 years of complications and trying, we were finally pregnant. In fact, we had just bought a pack of diapers the night before. Carrie was following a website which said how big the fetus was each week, and at the time of the miscarriage, it was the size of bean. I was calling it lil' bean whenever I asked Carrie how she was feeling.
After learning about the miscarriage the next day, we began to feel like we were never going to get pregnant. We went through a bit of a depression for a month or so, trying to cope with the loss of the baby we didn't get to meet. Carrie bought a memories bracelet, and had the inscription read "Lil' Bean".
Now, a year later, we are doubly blessed with our beautiful twins. As my sister said, God gave us one baby for this pregnancy, and one for the one we lost. Finding out that our due date for the twins was the same day as our miscarriage was odd. It did emphasis to us that God does everything for a reason. If we didn't have the miscarriage, we never would have had the twins. It is with keeping this in mind that we remember that we need to put our trust in God, and know that he has a plan. Lil' Bean is in heaven watching over the twins, and some day we will get to meet the child that God called home before we had a chance to know him/her.

RIP Lil' Bean

Happy Easter!!

2009-04-12T10:57:00.000-05:00

Carrie's Boys

2009-04-11T23:10:00.000-05:00

Stare down

2009-04-11T23:09:00.000-05:00

Tuckered Out

2009-04-11T23:08:00.001-05:00

3 Weeks Old

2009-04-08T17:52:00.002-05:00

Sorry it's been a week since any updates... it has been a busy time as you might imagine. We are starting to get a system down with this whole parenting thing. Carrie and I do a bottle assembly line twice a day, getting 6 bottles ready by putting in a drop-in liner and 3 oz. of water, then getting 6 servings of formula measured out into those little formula storage containers with the separate compartments. This helps out a lot when you have a baby in your arms and need to get a bottle ready, you can pretty much do it one-handed.
Danica is still not the greatest sleeper - wanting to be held for the most part. We try to avoid starting that habit, but some nights we just want to sleep so I end up laying in the recliner with her asleep on my chest.
I will try to get some more pictures uploaded soon.

Papa and Nana Nimerichter

2009-04-04T23:06:00.000-05:00

2 weeks ago

2009-04-01T14:20:00.002-05:00

It seems impossible to believe that it has been two weeks since Carrie called me to tell me that the babies were coming that day. It didn't help that one of those two weeks were spent living in the hospital, but it still doesn't seem right to think that the twins are already two weeks old. Before I know it, they will be a month old and soon after that we will be having a birthday party.

Mommy and Daddy

2009-03-31T22:12:00.002-05:00

Noah and Danica pictures

2009-03-31T22:02:00.000-05:00

I said no cameras!!

2009-03-31T09:21:00.000-05:00

Just Hangin' Out

2009-03-31T09:20:00.002-05:00

Carrie & the twins

2009-03-27T22:53:00.002-05:00

Basket o' baby

2009-03-27T22:52:00.001-05:00

1st Doctor's Appointment

2009-03-27T22:37:00.002-05:00

Noah and Danica had their first checkup today... Everything went well - they are both gaining some weight. Danica is up to 4 lbs 7oz, and Noah is at 5 lbs 7 oz (he lost some weight in NICU). In the pictures they are bundled up ready to go in their hoodies, Carrie's mom posing with Noah, and Danica on the scale.

Grandpa and Grandma T.

2009-03-25T20:33:00.003-05:00

This was actually the first time that Grandpa and Grandma T. were able to hold the twins, since the night they were born when they came over they were under a heat lamp to help them get acclimated to the room temperature.

First day home

2009-03-25T16:28:00.002-05:00

So far - so good. We made it through the night pretty well. Noah got a bit fussy for a while, I think it was a bit of circumcision discomfort. Eventually we made it through the night, and they have been sleeping most of the day. Bailey the dog and Stashy the cat have left them alone. Bailey doesn't even know they are here really, and Stashy just sits on the back of the chair to peek into the bassinet. Kind of a boring update I know, but there hasn't been that much happening really.

First encounter with Bailey

2009-03-24T17:50:00.002-05:00

He started out a bit curious, but in the end he didn't really care. I'm sure that will change once he realizes he won't command quite the amount of attention as before.

We're Home!!!

2009-03-24T17:45:00.000-05:00

Packed up and ready to go!!

2009-03-24T17:19:00.002-05:00

Wireless!

2009-03-24T13:54:00.001-05:00

Completely wireless! here are Noah and Danica on their way down to have their pictures taken.

It's Official!!

2009-03-24T12:14:00.002-05:00

We are going to be going home today! Not sure what time yet, as we still need to get Noah's pictures taken and his circumcision, and Danica has a checkup at 3:15, but tonight we sleep (or more accurately don't sleep) in our own beds!!

No word yet...

2009-03-24T10:20:00.001-05:00

Still no official word on if today is the day we get to go home.

Sign at school

2009-03-23T19:40:00.001-05:00

When I went in to school today, this was on the wall outside my office. I thought it was so cute, I had to share it. Thanks AGWSR Middle School!

I never thought Hootie could make me teary-eyed

2009-03-23T19:22:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow?

2009-03-23T19:16:00.002-05:00

Well, they started giving us some forms for photos, and for a hepatitis shot, so it almost looks like they are planning on a tomorrow release. They haven't come out and said anything, but it looks possible!

Noah gets a bath

2009-03-23T19:15:00.000-05:00

Not a happy camper

At least one more day...

2009-03-23T09:29:00.002-05:00

The doctor was just in, and said that she would like to see him eating 2 oz. at each feeding, so she would see where he was at tomorrow. Right now he is eating right at 1.5 oz or so. It is odd that they have that requirement, because Dani was only eating about 1 - 1.25 oz when she was released. She is just now getting up to 1.75 to 2 oz at a time. I guess though he is considerably bigger, so I suppose he should be eating more.

Fun night :-)

2009-03-23T09:20:00.003-05:00

Somehow, we managed to get Noah and Danica's feeding schedule staggered by two hours, exactly the opposite of what we wanted. So, last night was spent trying to get them to eat at about the same time. Noah's schedule is pretty rigid, as he is under the hospitals authority. So, we had to somehow adjust Danica's feeding time by two hours without starving her or getting her thrown off schedule with what the hospital calls "snacking". I think we were able to do it, with minimal sleep until 4 or so. I think we succeeded, because at 8:30 this morning, we were each feeding one at the same time.

Noah

2009-03-22T21:35:00.002-05:00

Some video of Carrie holding Noah

Danica Eating

2009-03-22T21:19:00.001-05:00

Finally getting around to getting some video off the camcorder...

No real news...

2009-03-22T20:42:00.002-05:00

Noah might get released tomorrow, he might not. If I were a betting man, I would probably lean more towards Tuesday at this point. There are a few tests yet he needs to have before he can leave, and they haven't said anything about any of them yet. He also needs to get his pictures taken, car seat assessment, circumcision, hepatitis shot, and some other stuff that they haven't brought up yet either. This makes me think that tomorrow isn't going to be the day. Honestly, I don't want them sending him home until he is 100% ready to go home - and if that means he is here an another day or two, then that is what needs to happen. He is eating good at this point - their goal was to get him to eat 1.5 oz. at one time so he can make it four hours between feedings, and he is doing good with that so far.

Blue and Pink

2009-03-22T11:44:00.002-05:00

IV is out!

2009-03-22T11:11:00.001-05:00

They just pulled out Noah's IV, so he is completely independent! Only monitor wires left!