The Sweetest of the Little Things

Oh, Internet, I had this idea and I could not wait to share it, or rather her, with you!

I would like you all to meet Baby Tess. Okay, so she's almost two and can no longer really be classified as a baby, however, being the youngest in our family, to me she shall always be a baby.

So without further ado, here is the sweetie!

Ain't she cute?! What inspired my telling you about her was today while at work I phoned my Mom to ask her a question. Tessa, who badly needed a nap, wanted desperately to talk to me on the phone, so Mom handed it over. Usually when we 'talk' on the phone Tessa says absolutely nothing. I don't mean that she says something but I just don't understand, I mean there is dead silence on the other end of the line. I usually end up feeling crazy because I feel as if I am talking to no one.

But today my littlest sister was in a chatting mood. And by chatting I mean there was a full fledged, one sided baby talk ramble. She can say a few words, mostly 'MOOOOOOMMMM', the names of all my siblings and I (I'm fondly known as 'Nemie'), Dadda, Cocoa (her teddy's, puppy's and all toy's names), Miss (our dog, Missy), Baby and a few other select words. So today's conversation went mostly like this...

"Ammmenee Nemie (my name). Umnee doitmomma nee Mom s nree hfofgishh Cocoa nadnahfg dhddeeee Baby nahdhsihs Mawk(how she pronounces my brother Mark's name). Shhhhhh(I think her baby was sleeping)."

And on and on it went. I merely made confirming and affirming noises. Finally she got mad at my brother John (who turns 5 this Friday) and took her anger out on the phone by biting it, so Mom put an end to our conversation.

Tessa is truly a sweetie and man, will she be a handful as a teenager. She already has a massive attitude :) Ah, well. It makes for more stories.

This little lady will forever have a special place in my heart, for a few reasons I guess. The first being that I am the oldest and she is the youngest and we are separated by almost nineteen years. Needless to say, my relationship with her will forever be different then my relationship with my other sisters, who are all closer to my age. The second reason she will always have a special place in my heart is that the very first time I met her she was a month old, and so for a long month I longed to hold the little girl I had never met.

See Tessa was born while I was serving with NET Ministries http://www.netcanada.ca/. I was stationed at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Wetaskiwin Alberta and was far from home. The weekend my Mom had her my team and I were putting on a retreat for young people at a camp and my dad called early in the morning as I was getting ready for the day. The ladies on my team and I were in the women's public bathroom getting ready when one of the cooks (who took the call from my Dad) came in and said, "Is there an Emily Troutman in here?" One of the girls on my team shouted that is was probably the baby and we all bolted from the washroom where I got the news that little Tess had arrived, safe and sound. I cried lots of happy tears that day and was soooooo excited! The next month as I waited to go home for Christmas to visit was the longest month EVER... and then leaving after my 2 week visit for another 5 months was so very hard!

Anyway, enough mushiness! I just wanted to share this sweetie with the world!

Love, love, and prayers,

Nemie xo