More Pictures

Ok, so I know what you're thinking...how could she possible be adding MORE pictures?! I know...I haven't really updated the blog, I've only added pictures since Tanner was born. Sorry. But those with children understand and those without will someday understand that nothing in the world is more beautiful than the sight of your own child. Even if your child isn't really that cute. (Although that is certainly not the case here. :D Ha ha) Anyway, we love our little Tanner and think he is so precious that I just can't help but show the awesome pictures we got taken about 3 weeks ago. The coolest part is these were taken in my home! The company sets up the backdrop in your house so that you don't have to go to the mall, wait in line, worry about spit up on the outfit or anything like that. It was so nice! This first picture is a 10 x 13 so it didn't completely fit on my scanner and therefore got chopped off a little bit. The bottom left says "Our Family" but that's pretty much all that is missing. Oh and I didn't bother to cut the wallets yet so I just scanned in the whole sheet. What can I say...I'm a busy mom now. :D Hope everyone is doing well!

Little Golfer

Thanks, Teri, for the Monkey

BIG yawn!

Sweet feet.

Happy Boy

The 3 of us.

My sister-in-law Maria made this really cute blanket for Tanner. We love it!

And Grandma Gardner made this baseball blanket for him.

Quick, Hurry, Do it!!!!

This is how I feel every time Tanner FINALLY goes down for a nap. "Ok, what do I need to get done in five minutes before he wakes up and realizes he's alone!?" It usually goes something like this:

At 1 PM..."He's finally asleep! Oh shoot, I haven't eaten anything yet today." (Scarf down a bowl of cereal) If I hurry I might have time for a quick shower...oh, no he's crying. (Rock him back to sleep.) If he still manages to stay asleep (this almost NEVER happens for very long unless I'm holding him) then I might wash a few dishes or throw in a batch of laundry. So this is why I haven't managed to post any new pictures or update the blog. And it's also why I'll be cutting this very short and just posting some pictures...that's all you all really want anyway, right? To see the baby! :D

Now let me add a quick note that I am saying all of this with a sense of humor. As crazy as my life has been since he was born, I am LOVING it! He is such a blessing and I would never trade being his mommy for anything! Soon I will give an actual update once things get a little less crazy or rather once I get the hang of being a mom.

Tanner's blessing outfit swallowed him whole because he was still SO TINY! I think it's kinda cute though...

Daddy-Tanner Time

Tanner is reading his first book...you can't tell but he's barely peeking at the book with his right eye.

We had our ward Halloween party this week. Nate was Ol' McDonald and Tanner was his cow.

E-I-E-I-O!!!

I truly believe he is the world's cutest baby...

...especially when he smiles!

And even when he cries.

"Okay, Mom, quit taking my picture...seriously!"

Letter from Tanner

Hi! My name is Tanner Allan Coons. I’m new around here…I was only born about a week ago. I wasn’t supposed to come for another few weeks but I decided to surprise my Mommy and Daddy and come on the day they were married, September 4. In the hospital they told me I weighed 7 lbs. and 3 oz. and was 21 ¾ inches long. Everyone said I’m tall like my Daddy.

We had to spend a long time in the hospital cause they said my skin was turning yellow. I got to lay under these cool blue lights for a long time and wear sunglasses. When they finally said we could go home, we were all real excited cause we were ready to relax and get some rest.

Now that we’re home I am really enjoying myself. Some of my favorite things to do are sleep, eat and then pee when I don’t have a diaper on. Sometimes I like to suck my thumb, too. My least favorite thing to do is take a bath and put on lotion. Dad says lotion is for girls. During the day Mommy and me take naps on the couch together and wait for Daddy to get home from work. He’s pretty cool and sometimes he even gets up with me in the night so Mom can get some more sleep. I love it when he holds me. Mom always tells me how special I am and she sure kisses me a lot. Well, I can’t wait to meet all of you! Love, Tanner

Paint Extravaganza

I just wanted to use the word extravaganza... :D. Well, only about 3 weeks to go before this little guy arrives. As it gets closer I find myself dreaming about him more, thinking about him more and of course, worrying more. I guess that is to be expected. In preparation for his arrival Nate and I painted the nursery. It had to be done unless we wanted him to be femmy. The room before was pink with flowers, butterflies and a picket fence painted on the wall. Cute, but extremely girly. I should've taken a "before" picture to post but I didn't think of it.

This was my first time painting a room ever, so I learned a lot. There are things I would do differently but overall I think it turned out pretty well. The deacons in our new ward even came and helped out a little for mutual to get a painting merit badge. They mostly did the primer and then we finished up with the blue and the stripes. I'll post another picture when the room is complete with furniture and all, but for now here is the paint job. I also found this super cute wicker rocking chair on Craigslist that we bought the other day. Call me cheesy but I have gone in and sat in it a few times and thought about rocking the baby in it.
I am so ready for him to be here, let alone to be done with pregnancy. I am huge!! Not to mention uncomfortable and running out of clothes that fit. Throughout my entire pregnancy I have tried to gain as little as possible (me and every other woman on the face of the planet). So far, I have been right on target with my goal until I went to an appointment and they told me I had gained 5 pounds in only two weeks! I was devastated but the nurse told me that it was probably water weight and I would pee it out if I just drank more. (Sorry if this is T.M.I.) So I have been focusing on drinking more water, and I went in for my two-week appointment again yesterday and I had lost 2 pounds. Woo hoo! So, I am still on target with my weight gain goal. This is what I look like as of today...not the cutest picture but I just took a quick snapshot for the blog.
Yesterday I was worried I was going into labor because my back was throbbing and so sore...I thought I was having contractions in my back but they went away so I guess it isn't time yet. It gets kinda weird at the end, though. You want to keep living life and planning things, but you don't know when the baby will come so it's just so unsure. For instance, our fourth anniversary is coming up next week. We want to make some plans to celebrate, but don't want to set anything in stone, just in case. Maybe a quiet evening at home would be more enjoyable and relaxing anyway.

Baby shower numero dos is tomorrow...can't wait!! (Thanks Karli in advance...and Teri and Liora for helping!)Well, sorry for my rambling...hope you enjoyed the pics!

Squishy Face

Here are some more 3-D ultrasound pictures of my squishy face baby. I am SO EXCITED for him to come!! He's pretty stinkin' cute if you ask me. In some of the pictures there is a little squiggly line going across his face...that would be the umbilical cord. He even looks like he's smiling a little in one of them. And I love the one right below where he has his little finger up to his mouth. Anyway, only 4 weeks to go! I can't believe it's almost here!

The Double Deuce

Well, it looks like there have actually been two weekends go by since I last posted, so today's post is quite simple:

- the weekend before last
- last weekend
- an amusing anecdote

The weekend before last was quite exciting. It involved a lot of crawling around in a 130 degree attic. Corri's brother, Gary, and his family came up and spent the weekend with us. I had to work on Saturday, but that evening we went out to dinner and then got to work. We worked til 2:00 that morning, then again all Sunday morning. We worked until about the time Corri got home from church, which was 2:00 in the afternoon. As you can imagine, there were some wiring issues that needed to be resolved. Nothing urgently dangerous like before, but things that still needed to be done. There were three switches that had no apparent purpose, but were still hot. That's not a good sign anyway, but especially when the previous owner was an apparent moron. So we capped off two of the switches and rewired the third to the ceiling fan so that we now have separate wall switches for the light and fan. We also spent quite a bit of time following wires in the attic to see where they went and to make sure it was all safe.
In addition to all that, we also ran a cable from the cable box directly to the office. Our internet was really slow, due to poor connections and a half dozen splitters. So now our internet is quick and reliable. We also re-wired a phone jack that wasn't working. Upon investigation, we found the phone wire in the attic with another wire spliced into it (in the shape of a t), and guess what the connection was made out of - SCOTCH TAPE. I'm not kidding. Scotch freaking tape. I guess the moron had never heard of wire nuts. So we put a box up there and re-wired it correctly.
Other projects done that weekend included putting in a new garbage disposal (which happens to be my favorite kitchen appliance, and the only one that I really know how to use), fixing a toilet so that we didn't have to hold the handle down for 10 seconds (yes, only 10 seconds but it seems like 20 minutes when you're actually doing it), and fixing the bathtup so that it will actually hold water. Quite a productive weekend, I'd say. It would have taken me at least a month to do what was done in one weekend with Gary here.

Last weekend, I had to work again on Saturday (only 3 more weeks of Mon-Sat). After I got off, Randall and his family came out for pizza, swimming, and other fun things. It was a good time. On Sunday we drove clear the heck out to Gilbert to buy a buffet table thing that Corri found on Craig's List. We actually got a good deal on it, so I guess it was worth the drive. Plus I got to put my truck to use.

So before I wrap this thing up, here is the amusing anecdote that I promised. Apparently the city of Glendale came and visited today when I was at work. They told Corri that there was a complaint about our yard. The rain has created a bit of a weed problem on the side of our house. I was actually out there yesterday pulling them, but I didn't get finished. Anyway, I would normally be embarrassed to share that with you, except that the Glendale representative informed my wife that the complaint was made by someone who had basically driven our whole neighborhood and turned in a list of all the houses that were unacceptable. She said she had a lot of houses to visit. Apparently the complainer is really bored or something. If only I knew who it was, I would offer him/her a job...pulling weeds.

Well if you think my house is a mess, or if you would like to come to my house and pull some weeds, go ahead and e-mail me (or leave a comment). You're reading The Nathan and Corri Story. If you need me, I'll be outside.

Baby Shower Numero Uno

I have the greatest sisters (including in laws) and mother in the whole world...don't even try to argue. :D My sister, Tiff, and my mom planned a great baby shower for me and it was so much fun. Tiff worked so hard making cute invitations and planning games and then she and my mom both planned some really yummy snacks to have. Then two of my sisters-in-law, Maria and Heidi, came over early to help get the food and house ready for the party. We invited 26 people and 22 came! I was amazed that there was such a good turnout. I was definitely feeling the love.

My cute cake...it was yummy!

This was a gift chosen for me by my 4 year old niece...so cute!

This was one of the games we played. They had to try to guess how big around I am using toilet paper. Some obviously thought I am much bigger than I really am, as you can see by the above picture. :D

And others guessed a tad too small.

And some guessed WAY too small...this is me telling Tiana that I think it might barely fit around my thigh. I think she was just trying to make me feel good! :D That's why I love that girl.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful gifts and for just coming at all. Oh, and by the way, I said "Numero Uno" because I am having another shower in the valley so people won't have to travel so far...I'll let you all know when and where. And we may be doing the same toilet paper game so if you come, you can't cheat and count the squares in the pictures. :D