Random Thoughts from a Mommy

• I can't believe THAT came out of me!
• What if his skull seals up too soon? Why is there a green vein in between his eyebrows? Why isn't his hair even? Is that thrush? What if he can't hear out of his left ear?
• This little guy melts my heart
• I wonder what it looked like when Tanner first came out of me. It's not very fair that Jeremy got a better view of it than I did.
• Gosh, I thought I loved my husband before, but now I really love my husband. How amazing that our love created this little person- an entirely new person that wasn't here before!
• When can I have another one?
• There's no way I could have another one soon.
• All I do is breastfeed. Seriously, I JUST fed him! How am I ever going to do anything else? Is this what being a mom is like? If so, this is not really what I signed up for.
• I love his bum. I love his cheeks. I love his bellybutton. Ah! I love the creases in his hands. Oh my goodness, what a little miracle!!
• Okay, it's obvious that he looks like me, but only because of his coloring. People can't see what I see. There is so much of Jeremy in him! His face shape, his 4 dimples, his ears, his facial expressions. What if he turns blond and starts looking less like me? Hmm. I guess that would be cool for Jeremy. Hmm. No. I want him to stay like me.
• I swear! If that pacifier falls out of his mouth one more time....ugh!
• What if he didn't get enough to eat? He's going to be cranky in ten minutes, and then he won't sleep at the right time, and then he won't be on this awesome schedule he established. And then he'll cry even more. Oh wait. I guess he's fine. Okay, okay, just relax. He's fine!
• Wow. My kid is seriously SOO cute.
• When someone asks me how many kids I have, I can say "I have a son." Oooh. That sounds so savvy, mature, sophisticated. "Yes, sir. I have a son."
• I wonder if he could still fit inside my belly now.
• Does he remember anything from being with Heavenly Father? Does he remember that he used to be floating around in a dark bag for 9 months? Does he remember anything from his birthday? What is going on in that little head of his?
• I am so glad I delivered naturally, without an epidural.
• Is it normal for babies to be this patient? My kid is SO easy going and patient. God must have told him to teach me by example.

Labor Day Weekend Trip

We took the opportunity to visit Utah and Colorado for a week! Tanner got to meet more of his great-grand parents, aunts and uncles. It was SO much fun! Here's a video of the highlights.

Special note to all the grandmas- Just click on the triangle in the video below, and it will start. If it doesn't work for you, or you want to see it bigger, then click this link: Labor Day Weekend 2011

High Five! Our 5th Anniversary

We celebrated our FIFTH wedding anniversary on Aug 25!! It's pretty amazing to be married that long.  At the time, Tanner was only two months old, so we had to celebrate a little differently than anniversaries in the past.

The day began with a special message on the mirror from Jeremy. Later, I received an email from him stating that I had a special assignment. I had to study 8 different pieces of artwork and make up my own description/caption of them. The assignment had to be completed before that evening, but I had no idea why.

For our special dinner, Jeremy brought home Thai food, and I surprised him with a unique Thai setting at the dinner table, complete with Buddha, candles, Thai silk, real dishes and real silverware! (we usually eat with paper plates and forks since we don't have a dishwasher). Jeremy checked my "homework" and said I passed with flying colors. Then, Taryn came to babysit Tanner while Jeremy took me to a surprise event...

The Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach is an art show where actors recreate famous paintings in a life-size exhibit. (Hence the homework assignment, which included paintings at the pageant). The actors are dressed in clothes and body make-up that make them look exactly like the original painting. Then, with sets, props, and lighting, the actors stand as still as possible to create a live, but completely still- image of the original work. It was amazing!! Each "piece" looked completely authentic! The show included recreations of over 20 works, and also had narration, pyrotechnics and music by a live orchestra. We also enjoyed art exhibits by local artists. We had so much fun that we only took one picture:

It turns out that every blog post I've made on our anniversary has included a list. So here's a list for this year.
9 Ways that Having a Baby Affects Your Marriage:

1. Instead of going to bed together at 1:30am, you wake up together at 3:30am 
2. Instead of gazing forever into your spouse's eyes, you spend forever trying to get the baby to gaze into your eyes
3. Instead of arguing about who will take out the trash, now you argue about who will change the diaper
4. Instead of acting like a natural athlete or musician to impress your spouse, you now try to act like a natural parent to impress your spouse
5. Instead of criticizing poops, burps, and farts, you are praising poops, burps and farts  
6. Instead of competing with ESPN for your spouse's love, you are now competing with your spouse for your baby's love
7. Instead of wanting to improve your marriage for your own sake, you want to improve it for your baby's sake
8. Instead of just kissing the best looking adult ever, you also get to kiss the best looking baby ever!
9. Instead of participating in sophisticated conversations with your spouse, you both participate in nonsensical conversations with your baby.

August Photo Journal

In addition to the Baby Blessing and Disneyland, here are some other things that happened in August!

 MomR, Tanya and Desha stayed a few days after the blessing. We went to Crystal Cove, shopped, ate out, etc. Desha helped me a lot with dishes, laundry and taking care of Tanner. I have such an awesome big sister!!

 Desha also took a bajillion photos of Tanner. Here are two of them! (above and below)

 Jeremy and Desha found out that our camera has a smile feature. I guess it can identify if you're smiling. So they are testing it out here.

 Jeremy thought Tanner looked cute in the laundry basket. But Tanner got pretty mad about it.

 We try to go outside a lot so that Tanner can get his Vit D each day. This is our front common area.

 I show Tanner how to play with his toys everyday. Some of them he LOVES to watch and touch, and others he could care less about. We also read to him A LOT. I've been collecting children's books for years, so it's awesome to finally read them to my own child!! Tanner can sit and focus through 1-3 books at a time. His favorites are Goodnight Moon, Brown Bear Brown Bear, Animal touch and feel (he mostly looks at the bold words), It Looked Like Spilt Milk, and he especially loves the illustrations in Drummer Hoff.

 This is Tanner's view of the spare room when he is on the ground.

Tan Man loves the swing and his boppy pillows. He is such an easy-going baby. He is really easy to calm. He will suck on anything. He takes a bottle and the boob really well. He does fine with formula if I have to supplement. He'll sleep on or in anything, and he does great with babysitters!

Actually there is one thing he doesn't like very much- tummy time. He still thinks that he has to search around for a boob when he is on his tummy. Funny guy.

 He started smiling at us at 5 weeks. He smiled tons for Papa Robertson and GramZavoral. Now he smiles up a storm for Jeremy everyday before he leaves for work, and he smiles for me after his feedings. At 7.5 weeks, he started cooing to us. Now he coos and sings and talks TONS to us. It is the sweetest thing!!

 He was born with the left side of his head flat. The Dr said it was pressed up against my belly for a long time. You can tell how that's affected his hair growth and his ears. Above is the flat side. Below is the normal round side- it has less hair because it rubs against things more than the flat side.

 Spit up. It happens.

 See how his leg compares with my foot? My shoe size is 8.

 Tanner LOVES his daddy. And Jeremy is SO good with Tanner. He was a natural dad from Day 1!

Disneyland Baby

Tanner and I got to spend an afternoon at Disneyland with my friend Taryn! (She got us in for free) We rode on "It's a Small World" and the "Jungle Cruise." And I finally got to get my fix of the best drink ever: Dole Pineapple Float. Yum! So now when Tanner complains that he's never been to Disneyland, we have photographic proof that he's been there, on August 19, when he was 7 weeks old.