September Update

September started off with a visit from my parents when they came up to go to the Diamondback’s game with all the boys.  Tanner and Nate went and had a good time except Tanner was a little disappointed that he didn’t get to PLAY baseball and that he had to just watch!  :)  

  
Some of the girls hung out at my house until the boys could join us for dinner.  It was a fun way to spend Labor Day.  After everyone left, my parents stayed with our kids so Nate and I could go on a date for our anniversary.  Nine years baby!!! We went to the movies and had a good time.  We also celebrated Tanner’s 5^th birthday this month.  I can’t believe I have a 5 year old!  Time flies!  We threw him a Lego party and it was a big hit.  Thank goodness since I spent hours making homemade Lego decorations, piñata and cake!  He had fun and that is most important! 

 A few weeks later we took another quick trip to Lakeside for Nate’s sister’s farewell, which was nice.  She did an awesome job and shes going to be an amazing missionary.  We'll miss her for sure!  

For months now Nate’s been studying and studying for a big pharmacy exam which he finally took about a week ago.  He is extremely nervous as he waits sixty whole days for the results.  I’m praying he passes just so we don’t have to go through all the studying again! 

We’ve finally started enjoying a little cooler weather which means lots of play time at the park for me and the kids.  It’s nice to get out of the house other than to go to the pool. 

I just want to say a big congratulations to my Mom and Dad on 43 years of marriage this month!  I’m so thankful to both of them for their example on what a real-life marriage looks like.  Love you both!  Anyway, that’s about all for us this month.  We’re just plugging along and keeping busy!  Take care everyone!

I don't enjoy blogging.  Whatever...it is what it is.  But I also feel incredibly guilty that I'm not better at keeping some sort of journal about our family.  Well, tonight I had a brilliant idea.  My family has started sending monthly newsletters out so that we can stay connected with one another and I realized, I'm typing up a monthly update anyway, why not add it to the ol' blog?  

So, in an effort to dust this thing off and get it going again...that's what I'm going to start doing.  Nothing exciting, just a very short monthly recap of our family's events.  Does anyone even read blogs anymore???  If you feel so inclined, drop me a comment so I can see if I still have an audience.  But even if I'm blogging to an empty room (so to speak) I will still post my monthly updates for journaling purposes.  Here's the update for July and August.  

Well, July has been a very busy but super fun month for our family. Every weekend we've either had family staying with us or we've gone out of town. The kids have loved having so many cousins around. We had a blast with Tiff and her kids when they came to visit.  We did lots of swimming, went to the movies and to the children's museum. But my favorite part was probably meeting up with Lowell and Jeff and their families at Peter piper pizza.  We visited mom and dad in Thatcher on Pioneer Day. We enjoyed a parade, barbecue, and much cooler weather. And once again, my kids had a ball with Bryant and Alyssa, as Gary & Heidi were also there. The last two weeks Tanner has been in a summer camp called Sunshine Singers.  As you can probably imagine, he enjoyed hamming it up on stage for the performance. I got some pretty cute videos so hopefully I can share those soon.  The picture is of his 2 teachers and his friend, Monica.  Avie is just hanging out with me most days. She keeps me plenty busy and always loves singing me sweet songs. Her favorite right now is the ABC song. She also loves helping Nate with any projects he's got going. Other than that, we're just keeping busy with regular day to day life. We miss all of you and love you!

Pictures: 

1. Tanner and Monica w/Sunshine Singers teachers Miss Carrie and Miss Lynndsey

2. Tanner and Mom after Sunshine Singers show

3. Siblings! Jeff, Tiff, Corri & Lowell at Peter Piper Pizza

4. Avie helps Nate mow the lawn

5. Alyssa & Avie waiting for Pioneer Day fireworks

Hi all,

Here’s our recap for August.  We got to go visit Nate’s parents in Lakeside and attend the Snowflake Temple with his little sister, Janae, as she prepares to go on her mission to the Philippines.  It was cool to see the new video the church made for the endowment session.  We really enjoyed the cool weather, sitting around the fire with his family and playing games with his siblings.  The following Monday Tanner started preschool.  He has been really enjoying it.  He goes two days a week for 3 hours and one day for 5 hours.  On the long day he gets to take a lunch and eat with his friends, which he loves.  It’s good preparation for him to start full day kindergarten next year.  On his second day of school, I got a call from one of the other moms, to tell me a story about him.  She said, “Maddie told me after school that Spencer was being mean and kept knocking down her blocks but then it was okay because Tanner protected her and kept Spencer away.”  I was happy to hear that because at home, Tanner picks on Avie non-stop.  It’s good to know he isn’t like that at school, too.  J  Nate took the last week of August off and we did a little stay-cation.  Monday-Wednesday we stayed home and did stuff around Glendale.  We had a picnic, ate at a fancy Italian restaurant, toured a chocolate factory and went to an old-style pet store and saw lots of birds, pigs, goats, bunnies, etc.  Thursday-Saturday we stayed at The Westin Keirland Resort in Scottsdale and had a blast hanging out at the water park and participating in the activities there.  They had tons of stuff for families to do, which was great because we didn’t leave the hotel pretty much the whole time.  All in all, it was a great vacation!  

Pictures:

1. Kids worn out after 3 days of water park fun

2. Avie at the pet store

3. Giant chocolate bunny at chocolate factory
4. Tanner's first day of school
5. Avie at resort

More Tanner Stories

Forgive more silly stories about Tanner.  I have to get them down so I won't forget them. 

That kid has an INSANE memory!  Almost exactly one year ago we had the carpets in our house replaced through Home Depot.  Tanner was so enthralled with the men working as they installed the carpet and chatted with them all day as he watched.  He found out one of them was named Jack.  We haven't talked about him since then (or maybe since a day or two after).  Well today Tanner was watching a show that talked about Jack and Jill and he says to me, "Mom, did Jack and Jill come and give us new carpet?"  At first I had NO idea what he was talking about but after asking him a few questions I remembered that one of the men was named Jack and he must've thought that the other guy was named Jill.  He would have been 2 1/2 at the time and an entire year later he still remembers the name of some RANDOM guy who installed our carpet.  He amazes me.  And I can tell you that he did not get that memory from me! 

Another quick story, tonight he was helping me make dinner and as I was grating the cheese he said, "Mom, cheese is brave!"  I asked why and he said, "Cause first it gets cut like [action] and then it has to fall all the way down to the plate!"  Ha ha...so completely random.  I love that kid and his creative mind.    That's all for now.  Maybe someday I'll actually post some of the million pictures that I have stored on my phone, camera and iPad.  :)  Bye!

Easter Sunday

Well, I just walked in the door from church.  A friend of ours was sitting in Tanner's Sunbeam class with his son and had a few hysterical (albeit inaccurate) stories that Tanner had shared during their lesson.  They, of course, were learning about Jesus' death and resurrection.  Warning: these are a bit irreverent but I wanted to hurry and write them down to remember the crazy things my kid comes up with sometimes. 

The teacher showed the kids a picture of Jesus with the twelve apostles and Tanner said, "That's Jesus but those other guys are the BAD GUYS!" 

While looking at the picture of Jesus and the other 2 men on the cross Tanner told his teacher, "Those 2 guys are bad guys and after they nailed him then Jesus pulled the nails out, jumped off the cross and grabbed the bad guys and nailed THEM to the cross!" 

Later while pretending Tanner said, "You're a bad guy and I'm gonna nail you to the cross!" 

He also said, "I can't wait to DIE and COME BACK TO LIFE!" 

And last but not least he just told me that after Jesus came off the cross he "began to earn wings!"

OH MY!!!  I can only imagine what his teacher must have been thinking!  My apologies to the parents of the other children for the false doctrine my son is spreading around.  I guess I know what we'll be discussing in Family Home Evening tomorrow night!

The Way They Look Tonight

(Keep the "my blog is my journal" mindset with this one, folks...I'm just writing for myself here.  Nothing too exciting going on I just want to remember a few moments from this week.)

Tonight is one of those nights where my kids (plus the extra 2 I'm watching for a week) are sleeping, the house is quiet and I can't help but have a heart full of love and gratitude for these little blessings in my life.  And they are MY LIFE!  It wasn't a perfect or even easy day but it had enough of those little moments that make you just so grateful for the life you have.

My absolute favorite time with Tanner is bedtime.  Ha ha...like every parent, right?  But that's actually not why.  Anyone who knows Tanner knows he is wild, fun, crazy, hyperactive...all of the above.  But some nights as I'm tucking him in and he's FINALLY settling down to sleep, we'll just have these wonderful little moments together.  He says some of the most adorable things I've ever heard come out of a 3 year old's mouth.  I really need to start writing all of them down because it happens pretty frequently. 

One of the songs I like to sing to him at bedtime is The Way You Look Tonight.  If you've been under a rock for the last few decades and don't know what song I'm talking about, here are the lyrics.  Or even better you could listen to my FAVORITE version of it here while you read the rest of the story.  Ha ha...it will add to the whole mood of what I'm writing.  :)  This song describes how I feel about my children perfectly and I've gotten a little choked up a time or two as I sing it to them when I'm having one of those "I LOVE being a mommy" kinda days.  Don't make fun.

Anyway, I've sung it to him quite a few times without any discussion or anything but a week or so ago he started asking me what all the different lines mean.  So first he says, "Mom, what's awflee (awfully) low?"  So I said something like, "it means you're really sad."  Then he says, "And what's world ascold?" (world is cold)  I told him, "the song is trying to say that if I'm ever feeling sad and cold and lonely, all I have to do is think of your little face and I will 'feel a glow' or feel happy in my heart."  He seemed pretty happy with this description because he smiled really big, put his hands on my cheeks, closed his eyes and whispered, "keep singing".  So I finished the song again and left for the night.

Well, tonight I was singing it to him and he starts singing along with me...almost word for word!  I was so impressed at his memory and especially for such an adult song!  We're not talkin' Wheels On The Bus here!  After we finished the song has asked me what "never never change" means.  I explained how I love him just the way he is so he should never try to be different.  And as cute as ever he goes, "Awwwwww" as if he had just seen a cute little puppy or something.  Too sweet.  Now you can see why I LOVE bedtime with him.  I usually don't get moments like this with him any other time because he is just so BUSY!!! 

One very small moment with Avie was actually today in Relief Society. I was holding her as I was listening to the lesson and she was just talking up a storm! In her sweet little baby way. It's too bad I can't understand her because she looked like she was telling a GREAT story. I know this is nothing too big or exciting but she's growing so much, so fast, and she has become so animated and interactive lately. I was sitting in a room full of other women so I was trying to be discreet but she was being so cute I just couldn't help but to hug and kiss and love on her then and there. Nate even made a comment after church as we were trying to put her down for a nap that she was in such a good mood he couldn't even get her to settle down to sleep or take her pacifier cause she was grinning from ear to ear. He said something like, "It's hard to be mad or frustrated that she won't go to sleep when she's in such a good mood!" Pretty sure I have the smiliest baby alive!

So there you have it.  Sorry for the least interesting blog post ever.  But I know I (and my children) will appreciate it later.  And now I need to go to bed and thank Heavenly Father for trusting me with these precious babies...right after I sneak in their rooms one more time to see the way they look tonight.  ;)

Good Things Come in Threes

I wanted to do an update on my little ones while they're both in their threes.  Or more specifically 3 months and 3 years!  :)  I wrote a little about Avie in my previous post so this one will mostly be about Tanner.  He just turned 3 on Sunday!  Hopefully I'll have some more time later to post about his birthday celebration but for now here is a little something I put together to tell about our little 3 year old!  ( I saw the idea of the picture with the words on a blog I like and decided to copy it.  Here's the blog if  you're interested.)  Plus some of our newest pics of Avie.

     

Our Sweet Avie

(Sorry for the rambling...I shouldn't blog at 1 AM. :)


I posted in November of last year that I was expecting baby #2 and said that I would post again once we found out the gender.  Well...I failed to do that.  I'm hoping that everyone who reads my blog is in contact with us via another source otherwise they might be wondering what the heck happened!  If you don't have another way of keeping in touch with us than it might be because you're a creepy blog stalker that I don't know in which case please move on!  Ha ha...only joking.  But I do need to (FINALLY) write about the sweet little addition to our family Avie Gwen.  Baby Avie as she is currently called in our home. 

The Pregnancy
My due date was officially June 2nd but toward the end of my pregnancy I started having problems with high blood pressure just like I did when I was pregnant with Tanner.  I knew I wouldn't make it to my due date.  And I was okay with that.  I am a MISERABLE pregnant woman.  Plus, I had to be induced with Tanner 3 weeks early and everything worked out okay with him so I felt okay with being induced this time.  At the end of this pregnancy the doctor had me coming in twice a week (yeah, with a 2 year old and a lot of back pain) just to get my blood pressure checked...you can see why I wanted to just be induced already. 

The Arrival
On Monday, May 23rd, I went in for my regular appointment and once again my blood pressure was elevated.  And for some reason which my doc didn't understand I had about 3 times the amount of amniotic fluid than most women.  This is why I looked like I had a "beach ball under my shirt" at the end of my pregnancy.  (Yes, someone actually said that to me.  And if the person who said that is reading this I still love you! :D)  My doctor didn't know what was going on with my body and said that at this point (38 weeks) it might just be better for me to have this baby girl already!  At this point it was about noon.  He called the hospital to see if they could take me that day and they said I should check in at about 2 pm.

Once again, I got to make that super fun phone call to my husband, "We're having a baby today!"  I love that phone call.  It's my favorite.  Anyway, I went home, made some phone calls and arrangements.  Cleaned a few things, packed a few things and checked in at the hospital at 3 pm.  Yep, an hour later than I was supposed to.  And proud of it.  Ha ha!  They had started me on pitocin by 4, I had an epidural around 7 and had her at 9:03 pm.  She weighed 8 lbs 3 oz, exactly one pound heavier than her brother, and was 21 1/2 inches long.  She's been nice to her mommy right from the start...I only labored for 5 hours and only had to push about 3 or 4 times to get her here.  It was easygoing and a truly wonderful experience. 

The Name
We got her name a few years back when we were called to work in the nursery in our last ward.  There was this family that had I think 4 children all of whom were beautiful blondes.  But the cutest of all was the youngest, a 2 year old blond haired, blue eyed, SWEET little girl, Avi.  At first I thought the name was a little weird (and you might still...that's okay with me) but as I started to fall in love with this adorable little girl, I fell in love with her name, too.  And it was added to my list of names for future children.  Nate didn't really like it to begin with but since we hadn't even started thinking of having kids at that point I knew I had time to wear him down.  Over the next 5 years I kept casually bringing the name up anytime we would talk about baby names.  And I think hearing it enough, he grew to like it. 

Her middle name, Gwen, is very special.  Gwendolyn is the name of my maternal grandmother, whom I have not had the oppotunity to meet in this lifetime yet I feel connected to her still.  My mom was a mere 16 years old when her mother passed away.  Throughout my life I have heard stories about my grandma and what a wonderful and neat woman she is.  Even as a little girl I realized how important a mother is in a child's life because I heard how difficult it was for my own mother to lose her mom at such a young age.  Through my mother's stories I gained a love and appreciation for my grandma, though I knew I would never meet her in this life.  I believe that Grandma Gwendolyn was with my Avie Gwen in heaven before she came to me. 

The First 3 Months
I can't believe that it has already been 3 months since that day I first met my sweet little girl.  Time truly FLIES by when it comes to your children.  I already feel like I want to STOMP on the brakes and make time STOP for a little while so I can enjoy my children a little more.  At 3 months old Avie is a very CHUBBY, sweet and happy little girl.  She has a nice set of lungs that she does use on occasion to let us know she's upset but for the most part she just likes to look up at you and smile, coo and giggle (although her laugh still sounds mire like a grunt at this point).  She is SO beautiful and a perfect addition to our family. 

It is true what they say about every child being different.  I feel blessed that both of my kids have been pretty easy babies compared to some of the horror stories I've heard.  But just cause they're pretty easy doesn't mean they are the same.  I am learning to be a parent all over again with baby #2.  It is easier in some ways but in so many ways still challenging and exciting.  I love being a mom.  I wish I was better at it but I am trying and learning every single day.  I'm so blessed to have these 2 sweet kids to call my own forever! 

Why I Don't Blog

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about my blog and how I haven't updated it in a really REALLY long time.  I started thinking about this and truly wondering why I don't like to post on my blog.  This is what I came up with. 

I'm OCD.  There you have it.  I could go into a lot of detail as to what and why.  In a nutshell it has to do with me wanting my blog to be perfect (uniform, funny, current, chronological, witty, interesting, full of pictures, the list goes on and on)  because I'm worried of what people will think of me or my life if it's not all of those things.  And I realized that I've missed the opportunity to write down and remember so many wonderful moments because of this perfectionism.  I want to blog for ME and MY family and stop worrying about what everyone else will think.   So that's what I'm going to do. 

I thought about going private (completely private, like a journal) but decided for now I'd try to just get over this perfectionistic way of thinking so that I can still share what's going on with our friends and family.  This might seem so silly to some people.  I'm not like this with ANYTHING else but for some reason I am with my blog.  So things might be different around here.  If you start to think my blog is annoying, random, disorderly, not funny or even, dare I say it, boring *gasp*  then feel free to find another blog to read.  My feelings won't be hurt...promise.  This is going to be a place for me to write my thoughts, feelings and memories of my life, no matter how disinteresting it may be to you.  That's all for now.  :) 

If you're just here for the news you can skip to the last few paragraphs.  :)  I get a little long winded sometimes...

Heartache & Happiness

That is the perfect title for this post because it describes the past several months of my life perfectly.  My last update 6 months ago was about how I had been feeling a little blah and down in the dumps emotionally.  Well, what I knew at the time but didn’t share with the rest of the world is that it was mostly due to pregnancy related hormone changes. 

Yep, that’s right.  I think most of my closest friends and family knew I was pregnant but I hadn’t made it known to the world yet.  Unfortunately, the heartache of my life came toward the end of my first trimester.  The baby no longer had a heartbeat, even though I heard it pounding loud and clear only a few weeks earlier.  Hearing the ultrasound technician say the words, “the baby doesn’t have a heartbeat” is something I will never forget.  The way I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me is also something I will never forget.  I felt like I could cry for days. 

In the next couple of weeks, however, my mindset changed.  I no longer wanted to dwell on the loss but to understand what had happened and use the experience for good.  I knew I could only find peace if I put it in the Lord’s hands.  So I did.  I think for the first time in my life I was able to be grateful for an extremely difficult trial.  Sure there were some smaller trials in my past that I was able to look on the bright side of and appreciate the lesson there, but never anything big I had gone through.  I usually struggle to not just give up and say, “Why me???”  But my heart was hurting enough that I had to make this into a make me or break me type situation.  And I wanted it to make me. 

Finally, after a lot of prayer, I was able to see how the trial blessed our family in a strange way.  Of course it was not a blessing that we lost the baby but it brought our family closer.  It taught me that it’s okay to accept help sometimes (though I’m still working on this one).  It taught me that there are many people around me that love me and would do anything to help me.  It taught me to truly trust in the Lord and know that families are eternal. 

I know many people choose to keep these things private, and that’s fine.  As for me, I decided that I shouldn’t have to keep this to myself.  I didn’t do anything wrong, why should it be a secret?  I understand that sometimes it is easier if fewer people know so you’re not forced to have awkward conversations repeatedly.  But blogging about it isn’t forcing me to have an awkward conversation.  I can get it all out, express the pain, loss, love and heartbreak that I felt throughout this time in my life. 

I don’t know why we feel like we have to be strong and put on a happy face for the world all the time.  It’s okay to let people know you’re suffering.  It’s okay to ask for help sometimes and it’s definitely okay to not be perfect.  Why are we here if it isn’t to learn from our trials, and help others get through theirs?  These are the lessons I learned from this trial in my life and I wanted to put them out there into the universe because hopefully someone else can benefit from them.

Moving on to the HAPPINESS!  Nate and I are so excited that we’re expecting again.  I am 12 weeks today and due either at the end of May or beginning of June (I’m hoping for May :D).  We’ve already been to the doctor a few times and today we got to hear the heartbeat again (ALWAYS a relief) and see the little one wave to us in the ultrasound.  I think he was saying “Hi, Mom!  Sorry, I’m making you so sick!”  LOL.  Love having babies…HATE being pregnant!  But that’s the price we moms pay, right?  Anything for those little sweeties! 

Here’s the ultrasound from today.  A little fuzzy but you can see the babies hand sticking up and we could literally see it moving back and forth on the monitor like he was waving. 

 I say “he” just by default but we should find out in another 6 weeks what we’re having.  I’ll be sure to let you all know SOON!!  Sorry for the sporadic posting.  One day I’ll be a devoted and passionate blogger but as for now I’m just trying to get through each day alive!  :)  Love to you all!! 

Sometimes life is BLAH…

Ever find yourself feeling overwhelmed and you’re not even sure why???  I don’t completely understand this myself, yet that is how I am feeling.  What do you do when you are in a slump, feeling yucky, tired, unexcited about life?  I could use some suggestions.  (Although I probably already know the answers sometimes hearing them again helps… :D)
P.S. I know, I’m super cool for not updating my blog foorrrevvvER (Sandlot) and then when I do update it’s this lame excuse for a blog post.  But you’ll get over it.  

Idiota: Latin Word for Idiot

Nah, I just made that up.  Spanish, maybe?  I don't really know.  I just didn't want to title this post, "Hey, I'm an IDIOT!" even though that really is what I am.  I also considered the title, "Things That Go *BEEP* in the Night" but decided against it. 

I haven't been sleeping that great for a while now for different reasons.  I've been experiencing some back problems and our bed is getting old and less comfortable.  But one of the main reasons I've been feeling tired is really no ones fault but my own... 

Sunday night (or rather VERY early Monday morning) I was sound asleep until I heard an obnoxiously loud *BEEP* sound.  It took me a second to come to and realize that it was our smoke alarm.  It wasn't beeping constantly, just every minute or so to let us know that the battery was dying.  My first instinct was to smack Nate and say, "Hey, ya big lug, go take care of that!"  BUT I remembered quickly that he had to get up early and go distribute drugs to the people of America, so I didn't.  I also wondered how the heck he slept through that annoying sound!  

In my extremely sleepy state I got up and scrambled to pull the alarm down in the dark and buried the stupid thing under three pillows on the couch & decided I'd deal with it in the morning.  The next morning a friend stopped by to visit and I saw the pillow pile on the couch and remembered the alarm.  I moved it from the couch to the entertainment center so she and I could sit and visit and I intended on taking it apart once she had left.  But the thing never made a peep so I forgot about...all day long it sat quietly, just waiting for us to go to bed, get cozy and warm and fall into a deep and wonderful slee ZzzZzzzzzZzzzz........ *BEEP*!!!!!

It woke me up again!  So I repeated the same ordeal as the night before; scramble out of bed, freeze, grumble to myself as I walk to the entertainment center, try to find it in the dark, knock over a pile of dvd's...

Anyway, you get the picture.  And again I threw the loathsome, stupid thing on the couch and buried it under pillows VOWING that this time I would take care of it in the morning and I stumbled my way back to bed.  

Fast forward to the next morning....

I had just finished rushing around getting Nate off to work while Tanner played in the living room.  Nate had just left and all of a sudden I hear

*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP!

Tanner had found the dumb thing under the pillows and pressed the button to make it go off.  We were both going to be deaf soon so I hurried and grabbed it from him hit the button to make it stop and set it on the entertainment center so I could pick Tanner up since it had startled him.  Bet you can't guess what happened next......Yep, I forgot about it...again.  So basically it went like this again that night:

ZzzzZZzzzz.... *BEEP!* DANGIT!!!!!! 

So after three stupid nights of losing sleep because of my inability to just remember to take out one little battery, Nate took it out for me this morning and I am looking forward to getting a nice rest tonight.  GOOD NIGHT! 

 

First Flight

Please forgive my long windedness...I have never been known to tell a short story.  Bear with me because it is a pretty fun story. 

We had the wonderful opportunity to fly to my sister's place in Texas last weekend for under $100 round trip for all three of us.  (Thank you, Southwest Airlines!)  Tanner of course flew for free and it was his very first flying experience...and what an experience it was!!!  I have to blog about it because it was CUH!!! RAY!!! ZEE!!!!  Read on....

The flight to El Paso from Phoenix is really short...less than an hour.  And it seemed even shorter on the way over because Tanner kept us busy.  I made sure to change his diaper right before we boarded the plane but of course he had a huge MESSY blowout diaper just as soon as we took off.  The flight attendant told us we could get up and change him when the plane leveled off at cruising altitude.  So we waited patiently for 15 minutes or so.  Then we got up to change the diaper and it seriously took about 20 minutes.  I know that sounds pathetic but it seriously was up to his shoulder blades!  It was yucky! I had to change his entire outfit not to mention practically BATHE him with wipes!  Plus I was standing in a tiny little 1 1/2 foot square room.  I could tell the stewardess really loved us. 

We hadn't even left the bathroom when the pilot came on and said we were starting to descend into El Paso.  Um, what?  We've been in this bathroom the whole flight???  Granted we still had to descend for about 15 more minutes but it seemed so short.  Oh and guess what...as soon as we sat down and buckled up Tanner pooped again.  Yep!  Thanks, little man!  :)

The time we spent at my sister's was 98% perfect.  We had a really good time!  The 2% is for Sunday when Tanner threw up on me right after drinking a bottle of milk.  Then a little later we attempted to feed him again and we thought he was going to keep it down so we put him down for a nap only to find him covered in barf when he woke up.  Poor kid!  Nate was awesome and took care of him so I could still do all the fun stuff with my sister since I don't get to see her that often.  Nate is wonderful like that and he totally took one for the team.   

Now comes part two of the flying story...the best part!  We arrived at the airport to find out that our flight had been delayed two hours.  We were originally supposed to land in Phoenix around 9 PM but our flight wasn't even going to take off until 9:30!  Keep in mind Nate was scheduled to work early the next morning.  We were kinda bummed but it was still okay.  Once our plane finally arrived we boarded and flew all the way to Phoenix.

Tanner was pretty good on the flight home and didn't cry too much until we got close to Phoenix and that's when it started.  All of you who live in the greater Phoenix area, remember that super windy storm that blew through town Monday night? Imagine being in the air during that. It was so scary!  Every time a gust of wind came we would bounce so high and Tanner would just start crying and crying!  Nate was sitting in the window seat and told me when he could see the Dbacks stadium and other landmarks.  I just kept telling myself that we were almost there and singing songs in Tanner's ear to soothe him.

Next thing I know, Nathan told me that we had passed Phoenix.  About that time the pilot came on the speaker and told us that we had to circle around for a while because the winds were too strong to land right now and if it didn't clear up we'd possibly have to divert to Tucson.  We thought this was bad news but we didn't know ANYTHING yet.  So we just flew around for about 5-10 minutes and then we started going faster and climbing higher again so we assumed that meant we were going to Tucson after all.  But we were so wrong.  The pilot came on and told us that we were going to...guess where....EL PASO!!!  Where we had just left!  UGH!!  This was so frustrating.  Tanner was SO tired and I felt so bad for the poor little guy.  Not to mention Nate who had to work the next morning. 

We landed in El Paso about an hour later and a customer service rep. came on the plane and told those of us who were just going to Phoenix (it was just a layover for some) to stay on the plane because the storm had blown over and we could fly back to Phoenix.  We still had to wait a while for a new pilot because ours had timed out.  Nate and I debated just staying the night so Tanner could get some sleep but we trudged on.  Luckily our SECOND flight back to Phoenix was a LOT nicer.  Tanner fell asleep almost instantly and we were able to land with no trouble.

So, as I said before, we were originally supposed to land in Phoenix at 9 PM and we ended up getting home around 3:30 AM.  Nate was able to call in and get the day off so we all slept half the day to recover a little bit.  It ended up being a nice relaxing day as a family but we sure had to go through a lot to get it!  Anyway, thanks for reading my story.  It was fun for me to write about it and if nothing else I'll always have the memory of Tanner's first flight!       

New Approach

I've decided that my new approach to blogging will be to do just a little here and there so that I don't wait 2 months to post EVERYTHING all at once. And I realized today that I never posted our Halloween pictures so here they are. We hadn't decided what we wanted to be so at the last minute I decided we'd be face cards and I made the costumes at home using cheap supplies like paint markers and pillowcases. Nate & I were the King & Queen of Hearts and Tanner was the Jack.  :)  I am not the greatest at these sorts of things but considering my lack of artistic ability and time, they turned out okay.

Family Pictures

Trying to get a decent family picture with an EXTREMELY WIGGLY one year old can be pretty difficult.  We finally got a pretty good one that we'll be sending out in our Christmas cards this year.   

Blog? What blog???

It is so embarrassing that I haven't updated this thing in almost 2 months now. Here's a little of what we've been up to!

I bought a dresser several months ago off craigslist for dirt cheap and it's just been sitting in my garage waiting for me to make it pretty. Well I finally got around to it once it cooled off a bit.



This is the bedspread I bought online and I wanted to paint the dresser a gray/blue to go with the bedding.

So here's my before:

And after:

And a close up of the hardware, because I love it!

My Grandma gave me these nightstands when she wasn't using them anymore and we've been using them for years now but they needed an update so I painted them to match.

I'm not gonna lie, the whole thing was kind of a nightmare. I just happened to get some REALLY crappy paint from Ace Hardware so it made the whole process miserable and they didn't end up as great as I had hoped. I think the workers probably hate me because I literally returned cans of paint three separate times. So there are some flaws but I'm counting on the fact that no one will really see them that much since they're in our bedroom and I will forget about all the little flaws with time, I'm sure. Overall, I like the color and I'm happy to be that much closer to having a COMPLETELY finished bedroom!

ONE

It's hard to believe that our sweet little Tanner is already one year old! His birthday was a couple of weeks ago but I am just getting around to posting pictures. Here is a little poem I wrote in honor of the most precious gift I've ever been given.

What is it about this baby

That makes me love him so?

Is it big blue baby eyes
Or his tiny little toes?

Was it that very first sweet cry
Or that first big belly laugh?
Or could it be the way he always
Seems to fall asleep in my lap?

Could it be the rise and fall
Of his little tiny chest
As I saw in his room
When I snuck in to watch my baby rest?

Those ten little fingers
Those big baby cheeks.
The first time he walks
The first time he speaks.

All good reasons to love him so
but I really need just one
The best reason to love this child
is because he's my sweet son!

We tried to make Tanner's birthday so special but it was difficult considering he was sick! We had intended on having a few family members over and having a little intimate party but that didn't work out. But I think it ended up being MORE special because we were on our own.

I let Tanner make a mess with finger paints on a poster board and he LOVED that. And it is a great keepsake of his first birthday.

Then when daddy got home from work we went into the backyard to play bubbles! He liked the bubbles but didn't last long outside because he wasn't feeling too good. We took a video but I'm not going to show it because it ended with him throwing up. :(

Our dinner was made up of his favorite finger foods and of course after dinner came dessert! I had so much fun making this little fish & bubbles cake for Tanner.

Before:

During:

After:

We blew up lots of balloons and put up streamers and let him play and make a big mess and then we opened up his presents! I think his favorite was the blocks!

Okay, and maybe they were my favorite, too!

All in all it was a great day! It was our fifth anniversary, too, which we totally didn't celebrate because we were too wrapped up in making it special for Tanner. Oops! We'll have to work on that next year. Thanks for the cards and presents and birthday/anniversary wishes from family and friends! We love you guys!

Catch a wave and your sittin' on top of the world!

Now I understand why the Beach Boys have so many songs about surfing...because it is SO FUN!! We had a lot of fun on our trip to San Diego and at the reunion but this post is going to be part one of our vacation and devoted strictly to our surfing lesson. It seriously was one of the funnest experiences of my life. The instructor spent a half hour with us on the beach teaching us the pop-up and other important maneuvers and then we hit the water! He would push us into a wave and we would have to paddle, pop-up and then balance ourselves on the board. Nathan did REALLY good! I did ok, not great. But it was still a really good time. We're already scheming to figure out another time we can go. I can't really claim to be a surfer girl yet but at least I got a nice tan. :) Here are some of our pictures.

Our instructor saw some dolphins that he pointed out to me. I finally stood up.......only to fall again. :D Oh well.
It at first you don't succeed...pick up your board and head back into the water.
At least one of us was good at it! But he had his share of falls, too! :D Our instructor was awesome and really patient with how bad I was! But I did get up a few times.