A Special Visit

My parents, now known as Nana and Papa, came to visit for President's Weekend. We had a great time with them, and Tanner loved being with his grandparents. 

 Friday night was my school's open house. It's the biggest day of the year, takes weeks of preparing, hundreds and hundreds of people come to it. Mom and Dad flew in 30 minutes before it started, so we met them at the open house. Jeremy brought Tanner and they all toured the place while I greeted families in the music room. Tanner was quiet during the hustle and bustle, calmly watching everyone around him with wide eyes. A few minutes after closing the doors and talking with just the 5 of us, Tanner started singing and playing tons. DadR played the metallophones and Tanner sang and sang! This type of personality is one that we continually notice about Tanner. He is very quiet and observant in public, waiting until he's just with family to be animated and silly.

 On Saturday, we had a big breakfast at the house. Then Dad and Jeremy went golfing. Mom and I went to the Orange County SWAP meet. We had a lot of fun! I found lots of baby clothes, each $1 a piece.

I tried getting pictures of Tanner's eyes. They are looking more gray. Brown in the center, then olive green around the middle and then dark blue around the rim.

 I love the rolls on the back of his knees. Tanner was playing with his Nana in this picture.

 On Sunday, we went to church. Tanner made the biggest poop explosion of his life all over Mom's dress during sacrament meeting. So Nana and Papa took Tanner home to clean up. That was perfect because Jeremy and I could teach our sunday school lessons without worrying about what to do with Tanner. After Sunday lunch, we enjoyed the afternoon at the tide pools in Carona Del Mar. It's part of Newport Beach.

 I truly think that this is the perfect way to enjoy Sunday-observing all of God's creations close up.

 This time, we saw a big group of giant starfish (below). They are each about the size of a Costco cheesecake. We also saw THREE sea slugs in three different locations. Dad spotted the biggest one. It was hazel green and brown, about the size of a new bag of baby wipes (the refills). They were all eating the grassy sea weed. Sooo amazing!!

The rest of the weekend was spent visiting at home, playing games and taking lots of pictures of Tanner. Results of the photo opp soon to come...

Tanner Time

 Since we both work full time, we try to make the most of every minute that we're with Tanner. This makes it harder to get things like cooking, cleaning, studying, dating, and errands done because we just want to be with this little guy. Here's a few pictures taken this month.

 Jeremy has to pay close attention to the grocery ads each week to see if his Hormel deals are being advertised and to see what his competition is doing. Tanner is getting really good at helping Jeremy get rid of the ads we don't want.

 This is Tanner in my blue pants that I wore when I was a baby.

 Yah, Tanner spends a lot of time on our bed. He plays on it while we get ready for the day. The bed is also the best place in the house for rough housing. Tanner loves to rough house!

 TanMan is getting better at jumping in his jumper!

 We still manage to get to the beach every now and then for evening walks.

 We ate out with some gift cards. What a view!

 If we stand Tanner up against things, he can hold himself up for along time!

 He's also getting on all fours and rocking back & forth. On Monday, Feb 20, he took his first 3 crawling steps!

 He's eating more and more! He really got excited about his green food one night. I think this is green beans, but I'm not sure.

Favorite Things

I know that life isn't about things, but there are some things that truly make life a lot better. Here are some favorites that I've splurged and gotten myself in the past few months that make such a difference in my life:

• crock pot liners. it's a bag you put in your crock pot so that you don't have to wash the thing when you're done
• garbage bags with the loop handles. it's definitely worth the extra 3 or 4 dollars. 
• snack bags of Fruits & Nuts mix from Costco. they're healthy, filling, and yummy.
• pacifier clips. we now have 3 or 4, and i'm so glad.
• humidifier. i grossly underestimated what a difference these things can make. we sleep much better when this thing is on- even if we aren't sick.
• candles. just cheap ones that make the room smell yummy, and the little flames around the room make us feel more classy.
• cutting boards that don't stain. i was sick of having a stained cutting board, and one day i thought "what am i trying to prove by keeping this piece of junk? there's no harm in just getting a new cutting board." so i got new ones on amazon with our gift card money. so worth it. it's amazing how having an updated kitchen tool motivates me to cook more.
• real baby thermometer. we went through 3 cheap ones from Target and Babies R Us. total waste. they take forever to get a reading under the arm or in the mouth, tanner always struggles, and i could never get the same reading twice. but now we have the same kind our pediatrician uses- Thermoscan. it takes the babies temp via the ear. it's totally changed my life because i don't have to put off taking my child's temp. no fights or struggles, no wondering if it's accurate. 
• memory foam mattress pad. jeremy got us this because our cheap foam was bunching up on us all the time. even though it's just a pad that you lay on top of your normal mattress, it is sooo comfy. definitely worth it.
• clean towels. now that i do the laundry pretty much daily, we have more clean things. and that's nice. the higher water bill is worth it.
• neosporin. jeremy suggested i use it on my chronically dry, cracked hands. i've been caking it on before bed, and it's made a huge difference!
• a proper bag and tote. i switched things up with my purses and bags, and it makes such a difference to have a bag that can stand up and stay open on it's own! literally, this has changed my life. i can find things easily, i can get ready for the day faster because i don't have to keep adjusting the purse while i get all my stuff in it, i know exactly where my phone and chapstick is. wow.
• plenty of chapstick. jeremy and i can't function without chapstick. and we are always pining through the house for a stick. so now at the store, i don't hold back when it comes to chapstick. the more, the merrier.

Monster Truck Rally!

Jeremy got us tickets to the Monster Truck Rally at the Anaheim Angels stadium. 

IT WAS AWESOME!

I have to admit that we were a little nervous of what to expect. Neither Jeremy or I had ever been to one of these things. I totally expected there to be a bunch of white men with tons of tattoos and wife beater shirts, all smoking, drinking, and yelling obscenities the entire night. But we were pleasantly surprised to see the stadium filled with your typical, clean-cut, orange county families. And yes, it was FILLED with families. Who woulda known?

 Tanner wore his special ear muffs that dampen loud sounds. In fact, almost every kid was wearing them. I'm glad, too, because those trucks were LOUD.

 I also dressed him in these cute blue corduroy pants that I wore when I was a baby. I think I waited too long to put them on him cuz they were almost too small for his chubby legs. But doesn't he look super cute in them?

Tanner loved watching the giant trucks. You could see his eyes and head following the trucks around the stadium, and then if they did a big jump or crash, he would give a delayed reaction of surprise.

 We got to see the trucks race, and then they did a freestyle competition. We also saw a bunch of beat-up cars race around the track and crash into each other. Super fun... for us anyway. I don't know how the drivers felt. But they seemed excited.

 We got there at 8:00pm and left at 9:30pm. Tanner got a little droopy eyed, but he stayed awake for the whole thing. I was sure he would have a hard time, but he didn't give us so much as one complaint the whole night. He fell asleep as soon as we got in the car and slept as usual during the night. I'm really glad we didn't waste money on a babysitter. It was really fun to have him with us!