koenandtessa

We LOVE the BEACH!!!

2009-07-09T22:42:00.002-04:00

RUNNING down the beach

2009-07-09T22:41:00.002-04:00

Tessa drawing at the campsite

2009-07-09T22:38:00.000-04:00

Sleepy munchkins in the bike trailer

2009-07-09T22:37:00.000-04:00

Nantasket Beach and Camping at Wompatuck State Park

2009-07-09T22:34:00.003-04:00

Had a great 4th of July with the kids and a bunch of friends at Wompatuck State Park and Nantasket Beach. Poor little Tessie started teething like CRAZY and kept saying, "Boo boo mouth, boo boo mouth!" It was a rough couple of days. Running around at the beach and going for bikes rides were the highlights from the trip.

Outdoors!

2009-02-24T22:33:00.003-05:00

Here are a few photos of Koen & Tessa enjoying the back yard in the snow!

Sledding at Bretton Woods

2009-02-24T22:22:00.004-05:00

We spent a few days up in New Hampshire at Bretton Woods with some good friends and we took Koen & Tessa out sledding. I think they were freezing but they seemed to have a good time...

Our munchkins are getting big!

2009-02-24T22:20:00.003-05:00

Recent photos of Koen & Tessa

2009-02-24T22:15:00.004-05:00

Lots of Developments

2009-02-16T18:02:00.010-05:00

Ok - it's been many months since we have posted ANYTHING to the site but 2 kids under 2 is clearly keeping us very busy!

Lots of new developments for both of them...

Koen is speaking in full sentences "Mommy, I want to stay upstairs and play". and he is only 21 months old." "Take Mommy to the choo choo station". He says Readville & Corporate Center (my train stations). "There's a tractor trailer Mama", "City bus". I was telling my sister Stella that he talks so much but he is not projecting yet, so we don't always hear what he is saying, except when he is being a Hippo. He loves to make the roaring sound of a Hippo. When we were in DC last fall, we saw Hippos and elephants and they love to make those animal noises all the time, nice and loud.

He and Tessa are so polite right now. Koen will hand something to us when he is done with it and say "thank you, Mama". It is very sweet. Who did he get that from?? When Mama (Lisa) tells him that they are going to the grocery store, he says "Go to Stop & Shop, Mama". If we keep the radio on in the car while driving with the kids we miss half of what they are saying so we now have to turn off the radio. Tessie (her nickname) has monologues in the car. You can't always understand what she is saying but a lot of times she will say Mama, Mommy, Koko, Nana and Papa over and over again and she likes us to respond back and say Tessie.

Little Tessa just started to walk in the last few days. Tonight she took about 6 steps before she grabbed onto me. I can't believe she is finally doing it! It will be amazing once she is really walking too.

In the last month, she has increased her vocabulary 10 fold. She is a complete parrot now, and loves to say all kinds of words. If Tessie burps, we say, "What do you say" and she will say "Moose Me" for "Excuse Me". She also says Wuv Wu instead of love you. It is adorable!!! We will probably post some video to facebook with her talking and walking soon. She is the absolute best hugger. When you ask for a hug she wraps her tiny little arms around you and squeezes. We just love it.

Her sense of humor is amazing. She likes to laugh and loves to clown around. The two of them are going to have a blast together once they get a little bigger.

I can't wait for the weather to get just a little bit warmer so we can get these kids outside!!! They can't wait either.

Leaves - Fall clean up

2008-11-02T09:39:00.005-05:00

Tessa was taking a morning nap, and Lisa was outside mowing the lawn. I went out to help rake, then Loni came out with Koen and he headed right for the pile of leaves. Here are a few of the photos...

Major New Development

2008-11-02T09:33:00.003-05:00

Big News! This morning when I was changing Koen's diaper he started to pee just a teeny bit. So, I decided to take him into the bathroom and have him stand on an upside down laundry basket in front of the throne. Sure enough, after a little suggestion, Koen peed in the toilet!!!! I am so proud of him!!! I have tried on several occasions prior to this morning to get him to try it, but either he hasn't had to go, or he just wasn't sure what to do. Hopefully Mr. Big Boy will want to try it again! Time to buy a stool for the bathroom.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2008-11-01T12:11:00.006-04:00

Koen is a mouse and Tessa is a butterfly. Tessa was a little more comfortable in her costume than Koen. Spencer is behind us on the right in the family photo.

SLEEP!!!

2008-11-01T12:07:00.003-04:00

Last Monday and Tuesday night the kids were up half the night. Thankfully, Lisa switched their naps around and it seems to have worked! The last 2 nights both kids have slept through the night!!! Hallelujah!!! I hope it stays that way. Cross your fingers!!!

DC!

2008-10-20T06:49:00.005-04:00

At the WWII Memorial on the Mall.

DC Trip

2008-10-20T00:01:00.002-04:00

About to post a few photos from our long weekend in Washington DC. Koen was so cute he kept saying Washington, DC when we asked him where we were going on the airplane with the accent on the D C! It reminded me of this summer when he would say P-TOWN emphatically. Hopefully this downloading will work.

Fall Weekend photos

2008-10-19T23:53:00.006-04:00

A day at the Dedham Pumpkin Festival with the kids, and a day at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln.

Time flies by...

2008-10-19T23:29:00.002-04:00

I have been meaning to blog for forever, but something always comes up, like sleep! There are so many stories that need updating. Koen is counting to 7 and sometimes to 10. That seems so amazing and advanced to me, but what do I know... He has been speaking in 3 to 4 word sentences for the last couple of weeks - i.e. "Where papa go?" "Mama lay down now". He is putting more and more words together every day. Tessa started to say Mama last week and she can copy us when we say Tess Tess. I have tried to get her to say Koen, but she 's not there yet.

One development that has been extremely frustrating is Koen's disinterest in getting his picture taken. Posed pictures are no longer an option. I know that it is totally normal at his age to be independent and not be told where to be or what to do, but come on! Work with me!!! As a result, I have struggled to get good photos of him actually looking at the camera and smiling.

We have have been on quite a few outdoor adventures lately and I can count on a few fingers the numbers of pictures that I would qualify as acceptable. I will keep working on it.

Way overdue

2008-10-19T23:17:00.008-04:00

Some photos from Tessa's Finalization on 9/16/08... Tessa and Kristine in pink. The four of us with Judge Cohen and our attny Joyce Kauffman. The four of us (before Koen's haircut). :-)

Tired munchkins in Bermuda

2008-09-22T20:59:00.002-04:00

We are trying to take a few family photos each night so maybe we will have our holiday card photo done. Tessa and Koen are tooooo tired in this one.

Beautiful Bermuda

2008-09-22T20:50:00.002-04:00

We arrived safely in Bermuda Saturday evening after a 5 hour delay at Logan due to a fuel leak in engine number 2! Yikes! It smelled really bad on the plane before we were asked to deplane so I am glad they found the source of the problem. They told us they were flying a part up from Atlanta and that it would be in Boston by 1pm then they would fix it and we would be on our way by 2 or so. Well, luckily they got us a new plane and we took off at 2pm. Koen and Tessa were very good about the whole thing, but I know they were WIPED because they fell asleep right before we got on the plane then didn't get a nap for the rest of the day!

Pru and John (Wendy's aunt and uncle ended up staying in Boston so we got Unit 20 (Begonia) all to ourselves!! It would have been a little tight with 4 adults and 4 kids under five in one unit! What a nice surprise.

Tomorrow we are headed to Hamilton on the ferry. Apparently the buses are not stroller friendly so we need to take the boat.

Breaking News!!

2008-09-15T21:26:00.002-04:00

Little Miss Tessa is crawling on all fours now! She just started today! Looks like she might lose the army crawl and just switch to regular crawling. Yeah!!!

Tomorrow morning is the finalization at the court in Canton. Wish us luck.

Poor Koen has a severe case of diaper rash and intestinal issues. We are praying that he is better in time for Bermuda (we leave Saturday) otherwise we are all staying home!

Hopefully we will have some photos to post from the finalization tomorrow.

Words from the kids

2008-09-06T21:19:00.005-04:00

Koen's mastery of the English language it pretty amazing. He knows about 70 words including bulldozer, motorcycle, police car, tow truck, strawberry, the list goes on and on because he copies everything we say. Tessa is now getting in on the act and she can say "Uh oh", Duck, Moo, and dada. We encourage her to say mama but she is not there yet.

We now ask ask Koen "Are you ready for night, night?" and he replies "No". We ask "Are you sure?" and he says "YES". He is really able to communicate quite well now.

Although Tessa is not crawling on all fours yet, she gets around the house by slithering around on the floor like an army soldier in the fox hole. She got from the living room to the office all by herself tonight!

Tomorrow we are going to Houghton's Pond for our first "meet-up" play date with 6 other families like ours. This should be fun for the kids to run around together. Hopefully we all get along and plan other dates soon.

I got the call!!

2008-09-02T22:27:00.003-04:00

Our lawyer, Joyce Kauffman, called today to say we finally have our court date to finalize my adoption of Tessa!!! Guess what day it is scheduled for... My birthday, September 16th! Do you think they planned it that way? Couldn't think of a better day to legalize my parental relationship with little miss Tessa! Great day to have a party!!! Cross your fingers all goes well.

Koen!

2008-08-29T22:15:00.003-04:00

Koen's favorite part of the night was running away from Mom!!

Tessa at the Common

2008-08-29T22:13:00.002-04:00

Tessa watching the passers-by.

Koen at the Boston Common

2008-08-29T22:11:00.002-04:00

Koen was dying to jump in the pond at the Common, but his Mom's wouldn't let him.

2008-08-29T22:10:00.003-04:00

Miss Tessa practicing her clapping.

talk, talk, talk

2008-08-29T21:49:00.003-04:00

It is AMAZING how much Koen is talking now. Lisa was very disciplined about making sure Koen "used his words" instead of grunting and whining, and he has really done well. He's like a parrot copying everything we say. I have to really watch my language now, because we might just hear something unexpected out of his mouth! It was pretty funny the other day, because we were saying look at the butterfly, and he copied us, as usual, except he said butfly. It was pretty funny!! He can say strawberry, Spencer (Nana's dog), and of course, Tessie Tess. He has no fear of just repeating everything we say.

Tessa is babbling alot, and she just recently started clapping. Lisa recorded it on her cell phone video and sent it to me, but I don't know how to download it. Arggh!! If you ask Tessa what does a cow say, she will reply "MOO". She just turned 9 months and it is TOOO cute. As far as crawling is concerned, she is almost there. She gets up on all fours, and moves around but I wouldn't call it crawling yet. She'll probably be crawling in another month or so.

The four of us went to the Boston Common last Sunday night to walk around and give Koen a little exercize and fun. It was an incredibly beautiful night and we all had a blast. I plan to post a few of the photos shortly.

Lisa and the kids are at the cape now, and I am headed down at the crack of dawn tomorrow. It should be another beautiful weekend.

We can't believe Koen and Tessa's cousin's Miles and Christian started school on Thursday!!! They are such big boys in kindergarten now. We will blick our eyes and Koen and Tessa will be there next.

the last few...

2008-07-23T23:28:00.005-04:00

Koen and Tessa with Lisa's Dad Mario also known as Papa (accent on the second pa - according to Koen) and one of all the cousins (Koen, Anna, Melissa, Anthony, Clara, John, and Tessa)!!

A few more...

2008-07-23T23:25:00.004-04:00

Our friend Michele took these pictures of Koen and Tessa at a recent pool party at Lori & Jim's house.

How they've changed...

2008-07-23T23:15:00.004-04:00

A morning at Houghton's Pond with the kids...

WE'RE BAAAACK!!!!

2008-07-23T22:21:00.002-04:00

So four months is not that bad when you are trying to hold down a crazy job, keep up with household chores, and take care of two children, right?

I keep getting subtle hints from my friends... Hmm... last photos on the blog are from EASTER!!!! Any chance you will get to that soon??? Well, here I am trying to get things going again.

The kids are fantastic! Koen is so big now. He has been walking since he turned one, so he is quite an expert now. Tessa is sitting up and getting more interactive by the day. We continue to work on rolling over with her. She's pretty laid back and not in too much of a rush, but what a smiley girl she is!!!

We spent almost a week at Scraggy Neck with the kids, and although Koen had a rough time sleeping, in general it worked out great to be at the beach everyday. The week after that, Lisa and the kids spent the week at her parents house with her cousin and 4 children (11, 9, 7, 5) and her other cousins son who is 8. It was complete mayhem, but Koen and Tessa had a blast playing with and getting to know their cousins. You could tell that Koen noticed when they left. :-( Too bad they live in Upstate NY!!

The Easter dress

2008-03-23T23:10:00.003-04:00

I had to get another shot of Tessa's Easter dress.

Mornings at home

2008-03-23T23:04:00.003-04:00

Lisa is such a trooper. Koen and Tessa are always ready for breakfast at the same time and no one wants to be left out.

First Easter Photo!!

2008-03-23T23:02:00.002-04:00

Our first Easter as a family!!! A beautiful but COLD day.

Updated photos of Koen and Tessa

2008-03-23T22:55:00.005-04:00

Smiley kids!!!

Where does the time go....

2008-03-23T22:37:00.003-04:00

Well - A month and a half later and I finally make time to BLOG! The kids are huge! Koen had his ten month appt. last week and he is 25 pounds and 2.3 oz, and 30.5 inches long. The Dr. said he looks great but watch out for the high calorie table food. I thought she was referring to us, but she was talking about little Koen. :-)

Koen started crawling in the beginning of January and on March 8th, he stood on his own!! He has done it several times since then, but he thinks it is really funny and won't do it on a regular basis. I guess it will take time for him to get comfortable with his balance.

Tessa is like a new little girl. She is much happier than she was as an infant. She SMILES all the time now, and only has crying fits occasionally. Koen and Tessa really like each other, but they are too small to play together. Tessa rubs Koen's head and Koen grabs Tessa sleep sack. It is cute, though, cause thy do smile at each other often.

We brought both kids to church today and they did great. Koen slept through most of the service on Lisa's shoulder, and Tessa relaxed until she fell asleep towards the end of the service. I couldn't believe how PACKED the church was. The ushers were pulling out folding chairs so everyone had a place to sit. I thought maybe it was because there was a brass quartet or because we sang Handel's Alleluia Chorus at the end of the service, but I guess it was because it was Easter. Since Michael (our old neighbor) is the minister, it makes it that much easier to get there on Sundays.

Back to the kids... Tessa has been protesting Belly Time, but she is improving rapidly. She loves to stand on her feet now, and she is getting really strong. Lisa has gotten her to laugh out loud, which is adorable. I need to get that on video soon. Koen's favorite place is Gymboree. He gets to crawl and climb all over the place, and play with other kids his age. I wonder when he is going to start walking....

Sick kids...

2008-01-31T20:08:00.001-05:00

We have two sick kids on our hands. Koen went to Gymboree for the first time on Saturday, and sure enough, three days later he had a fever and a head cold. Did I mention that there were 2 little twin girls hacking away at the Saturday morning class? That should be forbidden! Poor little guy. Miss Tessa had her 2 month check up yesterday at the Dr. and had her 3(!) immunization shots and drink (which she just about choked on), and today she had a fever she couldn't shake. Lisa ended up driving all the way up from the cape with Tessa today to the Dr. and sure enough her temperature was back to normal when she arrived at the office. Bummer that gas prices are through the roof!

I am sure this is the first of many colds/fevers/shots for the kids, and we'll just have to get used to it. Everyone else does, right?

Koen has been crawling now for a couple of weeks, and he is dying to walk. He is very comfortable standing up and holding on to the couch or anything else he can get his hands on. My prediction is that he will be walking in the next month.

A snow photo

2007-12-16T23:01:00.001-05:00

One more of Tessa

2007-12-16T22:58:00.000-05:00

The BIG DAY!! Friday, December 21

2007-12-16T22:42:00.000-05:00

Friday is the big day!! Lisa and I will be in court on Friday morning with Koen for the finalization hearing. Assuming all goes well, which is what we expect, Koen will be legally ours!! The past 7 months have been an absolute dream come true. Koen couldn't be a better baby - we are so lucky.

Please email us if you would like to join us at the hearing. Family and friends are all welcome. :-)

Major Meltdown

2007-12-06T14:43:00.000-05:00

Little Miss Tessa had a ROUGH night last night. She screamed at the top of her lungs for a very long time! I think the garlic and sausage on the pizza Lisa ate must have gotten to her. That was the first night that Tessa couldn't settle herself down. We thought we might end up at the hospital, but luckily we gave her a little Mylecon and she finally settled down. Today Lisa had chicken soup for lunch. Hopefully that will alleviate some of Tessa's intestinal distress. Poor little thing.

Koen was such a trooper through it all. Eventhough Tessa's crying woke him, he was able to mellow out and go back to sleep amidst the screaming. Thank God!!

I have to remember... "Sleep is overrated".

Tessa with Nana

2007-12-06T14:28:00.001-05:00

Back on Track!

2007-12-04T22:11:00.000-05:00

Wow - what a week. A new baby in the house AND Koen!! It has been absolutely wonderful, but absolutely crazy! Like Lisa and I have said before, we wouldn't have planned it this way, but we feel so blessed to have these little munchkins in our lives.

Little Miss Tessa is a champion sucker just like Koen was at birth. Fortunately she has latched on to Lisa without much of a problem. The first few days were touch and go, but now she is doing great. It's strange not to have to mix formula and wash bottles in the dishwasher almost every day. The $ savings will be great - especially being on only one salary.

The kids had their Dr's appointments today - Tessa her one week appt. and Koen his 6 month appt a little late. He is 23.5 pounds and 28.5 inches! Turns out Tessa's length measurement at the hospital was a little off. She is 20.5 inches instead of 21.5 inches. We thought that sounded kind of long for such a peanut. Believe it or not, 20.5 was Koen's length at birth too. So many similarities!!

It feels strange to say "the kids". Who's kids? Our kids? I still can't believe it all came together. I guess eventually it will feel real.

You probably won't believe this, but Koen has been standing on his own for a few seconds here and there. He got an Elmo table from a friend and it requires that he stand next to it to play with it, and he is really getting there. I wonder if he will skip crawling and just go right to walking....

I need to figure out how to post photos!

She's here!!!

2007-11-27T21:09:00.000-05:00

After a very long day and night of labor yesterday and this morning, Miss Tessa Elizabeth arrived by emergency C-Section at 11:57am today. We tried to like heck to get her out the usual way, but she was in fetal distress and the Dr's wanted to get her out asap. Thank god she is healthy and safe now.

Believe it or not, her weight is 6 pounds 14 ounces - the exact same as Koen! We couldn't believe it. She is 21.5 inches, one inch longer than Koen.

Tessa is doing fine now, and sleeping like a baby,

The staff at MGH were wonderful. We had two fantastic nurses, Maureen and Joann - so incredibly nice and compassionate.

We are both wiped now from being up for 40 hours. Hopefully we will get some decent sleep tonight.

Photos to follow soon.

Progress

2007-11-26T22:47:00.001-05:00

Lisa is now 3 centimeters dilated!!! and she hasn't asked for the epidural yet. Go figure! The baby's head is very low, so we are hoping for a speedy arrival, although she is not technically in active labor yet. From the pictures Kristen sent, it looks like Koen is having a blast at their house. We miss him SOOO much!!!

Stay tuned...

Note to readers - The post time for these blog entries is on West coast time. So addd 3 hours to the post times that show up on the screen.

Action!!!

2007-11-26T15:59:00.000-05:00

We finally have some action! Lisa has mild contractions 5 to 6 minutes apart!!! Keep 'em coming!!!

Vitamin P

2007-11-26T10:56:00.001-05:00

We are finally here at the General, and they just started the IV with Vitamin P (also known as Pitocin). Let the fun begin!!!!

O M G!!!

2007-11-25T22:56:00.000-05:00

No - The baby has not arrived yet. But today I had an O M G moment. We were just about to leave to go to the cape for the day (to shut down the house at Scraggy Neck) and Lisa noticed that Koen needed a diaper change. I said I would go take care of it, as somehow she ends up with most of the changing. So I brought him upstairs and started to take off his Franz outfit (grey sweats with a grey turtleneck onsie) and my cell phone rings. I pick it up while I am changing Koen. As I am talking, my fingers feel wet when I pull up his onesie. OMG!!!! Let's just say I thought our little Koen was immuned to massive explosions. He's not! Many parents warned us about the "all the way up the diaper" incidents. I kept saying "Oh that doesn't happen with Koen - he doesn't do THAT." Well - I guess things change, babies get bigger, and we are probably in for many more "explosions". Thankfully, Lisa rescued me and helped me with the wipes, washcloths, and soap. OH MY GOD!! I never knew someone so little could expel that much!!! Good thing he's such a cutie patootie.

Tomorrow morning we head out to Mass General (aka MGH, The General) for our induction appointment at 9:30am. I am hoping Miss Tessa arrives safely, quickly, and easily. We just can't wait to meet her!!!

More to follow soon...

p.s. Can the Pats pull it off tonight??

The 26th it is...

2007-11-24T19:48:00.000-05:00

I have resigned myself to the fact that little miss Tessa is in no rush to come out - can't say I blame her. With all the energy I spent HOPING that she would arrive sooner rather than later, I could have probably cleaned up my home office, or maybe finished the basement, or cleaned up the garage. That didn't happen. Just a lot of thinking... What if....

We did get her and Koen's room ready, though, organizing her clothes in the new dresser we ended up buying. Their room has really come together now. All we need to do is add a few pictures on the wall, and I think it will look finished - for my standards at least.

So - as far as Lisa is concerned, she WAS crampy yesterday and this morning, but as usual, she feels "fine" now. Why does she have to feel fine? Can't she just go into labor already!

Lisa and I helped our friend Liz with a mailing today, and Sofi decided to sit like the Queen of the house in the box of envelopes. I was afraid to get her out once the mailing was done, cause I knew she might just wack me with a paw and a claw. We took a picture of Sofi's cross face before we managed to coax her out. I was saying/hoping, "This photo was taken 6 hours before the baby was born." If only that could be true. It's been 6 hours and we are still home with Lisa feeling "fine".

Patience...

The full moon

2007-11-23T15:42:00.000-05:00

Well - Still no baby yet, and Thanksgiving has passed. Now I am hoping for the full moon which is tomorrow! Lisa has been feeling crampy and has had indigestion the last couple of days. I am pretty sure that means something is up - or down as the case may be.

This Thanksgiving was the best ever as far as food is concerned - Nothing burned, no overflowing cake pans, and no dry turkey. A major success! The only thing wrong was... NO Homemade APPLE PIE! Steffie and Sue went out foraging for one for Mario and all they came back with was a small hostess apple pie. Before we had a chance to split it 9 ways, Mario had scarfed it down. That was really ok though since we had, let me see, 5 other dessert options; brownies, ice cream, chocolate dream whip, Gregory's Octopus cake, and pumpkin pie.

After dinner, Gregory and I went for a walk down towards the water with Koen in the stroller. We had to do something after gorging ourselves at dinner. It was 60 degrees out and the almost full moon was rising on our walk back to the house - just spectacular. Koen fell sound alseep on the way back and I stayed on the porch with him so he could nap a little. While he was sleeping I got a cool shot of the moon. If I can figure out how to do it, I will post the photo.

Cross your fingers we head to the hospital in the morning.

Can you believe?

2007-11-21T22:09:00.000-05:00

I had to drive BACK to Dedham from the Cape tonight because I forgot to leave my Mom her Swedish cell phone for her trip to Sweden. Knowing my luck while I'm up here, Lisa's water will break and I'll have to drive like crazy to go down and get her and Koen. Well the good news is that I found the phone AND the charger without a problem, which is a miracle.

Lisa felt a little cramping earlier this afternoon, but she is "fine" now. Maybe the full moon on Saturday will help the baby out. My latest prediction is the 24th or 25th. I do believe in the connection between the lunar cycle and the cycles of the body.

Mario told us tonight that he wants Lisa to hold off until the 29th (haha) which is his birthday, but Lisa said "Are you crazy? NO WAY, JOSE!!!" She is hanging on by a string.

Little Koen is as sweet as ever, but his cheeks are really rosy from teething. His 2 bottom teeth broke the skin a while ago and are quite big now, and I am guessing his top teeth will be heading down soon. It is absolutely fascinating to watch a little human grow from day 1 on... Gotta get the video recorder out tomorrow.

We Wait.....

2007-11-21T11:52:00.000-05:00

I never knew this parent thing would require SO much patience. We thought it was a long wait for Koen, but waiting for the safe delivery of baby number two has been unbelievable, We thought for sure she was arriving by C-section on 11/9 - at 39 weeks. Then we found out she was head down - Yay!!! Since then it has been 12 long days and the induction is not scheduled until Monday the 26th! another 5 days away.

No contractions yet but Lisa is feeling less comfortable by the day. I am so thankful that she is able to do this for us, but I feel bad that she is the one that really feels bad.

Thanks, Lisa!!