Tanner's Quiet Books

I just finished Tanner's second quiet book and I thought I'd post the pictures.
Here is the cover for the new book. The button is actually velcro- I just loved the button.


The first page is the "Old MacDonald" page. Inside the barn there are three finger puppets, a pig, cow, and a chicken.


The second page is the parachutting kid. He can climb back into the plane too.

The third page is a treasure box. It has a padlock and key. I thought it'd be so cute to lock some fruit snack inside.



The fourth page is the "Monster Truck" and the tires come off so you can change them out.



The fifth page is Tanner's mailbox- it opens to recieve letters and the flag goes up and down when things get mailed. Tanner's mailbox is currently accepting postcards- 2 X 3 1/2 inches.


The sixth page is the "Build a Burger" page. The burger is on velcro so you can take off the toppings you don't want and build your perfect burger.


The seventh page is the "Rocketship" page. The rocketship follows a ribbon to the moon so its doesn't get lost in space.

The eighth and ninth pages are the race track pages. The mud puddle/oil spill, stop sign and flags can be moved around the track. The car races around the track and through the tunnel.


The tenth page is "You scream, I scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!" The differnet flavor scoops are on magnets so you can pick your flavors and the number of scoops.

The 11th page is a shapes matching page. The shapes are all snaps so you can mix-and-match until they fit.


Tanner's first quiet book I made was all based on scripture stories. Here are the pages from the first book.

The first page is "Noah's Ark". The ark unzips and there are a bunch of finger puppets inside.

The second page is the "temple" page. Its a puzzel that Tanner can take apart. The third page is the "Tree of Life" page. The "fruit" is magnetized and can be put into the fruit baskets.

The fourth page the "Tower of Babel" page. Tanner can intertwine the differnet strips. The fifth page is "Joseph and the coat of many colors" the colors velcro off so he can match them later.

The sixth page is the "moses in the bulrushes" page. Moses' basket can be tied. THe seventh page is "Peter fishing" . He can count the fish and put them in his net.

The eighth page is "david tends the sheep" He can count the sheep.

If you guys have any other ideas for quiet book pages, let me know. I love making these things. Someday when I have a little girl- I'll be making another one. I have a few really cute ideas for a girly quiet book- but I could always use more.

Birthday Week

Last week was ridiculously CRAZY!!! Awesome, but crazy!
Monday we celebrated my 23rd birthday and I had an amazing day. My sweet husband made me breakfast, then my sister Laura and I went out to lunch together. Her birthday was on that Wednesday, so we bought each other lunch. We ate SO MUCH sushi. We were both kind of sick after, but so worth it!
That evening Chris took me out to dinner while Laura watched Tanner. We ate at the new Thai place in town. It was delicious and we're excited to have a new yummy restaurant.
Chris gave me my birthday present the night before my birthday. He gave me a three-day getaway. We haven't set the dates yet, but we're thinking July. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle being away from Tanner for 3 days...but it will be fun. We're going to "Big Cedar Lodge" in Branson. They have horseback riding, jet skis, a spa, and lots of other stuff. Those are just a few of things I'm excited about. It was such a romantic gift- I love my sweet, thoughtful husband.
On Wednesday my Mom and I threw my sister Laura a surprise 18th birthday party. And it actually was a surprise. She had no idea. Since it was St. Patrick's day we had a green party. EVERYTHING was green and I mean EVERYTHING. We had a chocolate fountain with white chocolate dyed green, green punch, green cupcakes with rainbow toppers, guacamole, and a fruit rainbow to dip in the green chocolate. Anyways, it was a huge success!
Tanner got his birthday hat stuck on his face at Laura's party- and a good mom would have fixed it for him right away, but I couldn't stop laughing and grabbed my camera.
Yeah- don't judge, you know you would have done the same.

Laura and her friends at her surprise party. Oh and yes that is an awesome hat we got for her- it lights up and is AWESOME and really tacky! And her shirt says "tickle me for luck"

Laura's rainbow cupcakes. The rainbow was made of airheads that we sliced up and bent to resemble rainbows and we colored the frosting green.

Fruit rainbow

Table setting- minus the green chocolate fountain- I was so sad when I realized I didn't get any pictures of it. But use your imagination- it was awesome!

Laura, Mom, Dad and Tanner at her 18th birthday party.


Tuesday and Thursday I worked and Friday I took off because I was exhausted from my busy week. Now after a restful weekend, I'm ready to face the new week. Tomorrow Laura and I are heading to Springfield to find her a prom dress and I want to go to JoAnn's. So big day- hopefully Tanner will be a good shopper.
Here are some pictures from the past week.
Tanner in his new sweater vest- got it for $2.98 at Macy's. Score!


Tanner and I went to Laura's track meet last Thursday. It was a beautiful day and we busted out some more of Tanner's shorts. I love his little fat legs in shorts.
Aunt Laura and Tanner practicing his walking...

Sweet face in his floppy hat. He has such fair skin that whenever we go out in the sun I have to put a hat on the boy.

Tanner and his tongue. He recently re-discovered his tongue and now he shows it off to EVERYONE. Its really funny.


Tanner and I went to the park again this past week. We had a play date and once again Tanner was enthralled with the rocks. Unfortunately- he discovered the rocks could go in his mouth this time, so that was the end of sitting in the rocks.

Oh and this picture cracks me up. I was folding laundry and Tanner was on our bed and to make room for the clothes Chris put the laundry basket on top of Tanner. Priorities right? Anyways, It was too funny. Tanner didn't know what to think. He just laid their staring at us, like he was thinking- "GET ME OUT OF HERE"

And this is what happens when Tanner tries to stay awake for more than two hours at a time. I looked up to find Tanner like this in his highchair, trying to drink his bottle...


I love this kid. He makes me laugh and smile everyday. Everyday I have to work I just miss my time with Tanner. I mean seriously- falling asleep while sitting up and holding his bottle. SO FUNNY.

Fun in the Sun

Finally- SPRING IS HERE!!!!!
For the last 4 days the weather has been A-mazing! I can't even describe how happy the sunshine makes me. Tanner and I have gone for a walk almost everyday and he is really learning to love the outdoors. Chris was gone this past weekend for drill and when he got home on Sunday we took Tanner to the park, met some friends there and we all played.
It was so fun to watch Tanner explore his new enviornment. We first went for a walk on the trails they have around the park and Tanner slept through all of the walk.

He finally woke up when we met our friends at the playground.
This is Tanner just waking up from his nap and wanting to snuggle with me. He has really turned in to a cuddle bug.

I took Tanner down the slides and he didn't really register what was going on, but he smiled and humored me. I- of course- had Chris taking dozens of pictures. Here are a few of our favorites.
Tanner and I after our adventures on the slides

Such a happy kid!

Me and Tanner- bear on the slide. He didn't really know what to think- but he liked all the attention he got when we got to the bottom of the slide.

Tanner and his Dad at the park. I love my boys!


This is Tanner and his beloved rocks. He honestly spent about 20 minutes just playing with these rocks. He didn't try to eat them at all. He'd just pick them up and then drop them, and pick them up and drop them...

Even when I tried to pick him up--- he just leaned over to get the rocks again. MUST. HAVE. ROCKS!

Giving my sweet boy kisses

Tanner sitting with his Dad, gnawing on his fingers. This is pre-rock playing. Don't worry.


We played at the park for about 2 hours and I can't wait to go back. I want to see if the rocks are still captivating to Tanner or if it will be old news to him by then.
I've been getting to dress Tanner in alot of his summer clothes lately and that has been so fun. I just love his little fat legs in shorts.


More of Tanner in his overalls and floppy hat.

More summer clothes...Thanks Aunt Sarah!!!!


Also- I am working on another "busy book" or "quiet book" for Tanner for church. The first one I made was all based on scripture stories, but this one is just fun activities and boy stuff. I've been having so much fun making this one for him. The entire project is so overwhelming that I forget how much fun they are to make. I can't wait until he is old enough to actually get to use it. I realize it will probably be a few years until he actually uses them, but I have to make them now, while I still can- because I'm pretty sure once we have another baby, I really wont have time for these kinds of things. As it is, I only get to work on this "Busy Book" a couple hours each night, after Tanner goes to bed. So its taking a while.
But pictures are coming soon I promise. As soon as I finish- I'm going to JoAnn's this weekend to get the material for the cover and then I should be done. YAY!

Also- I altered some of my own clothes this week. I have about 3 long-sleeve shirts that the arms have shrunk too many times in the dryer and now the sleeves are too short- and I hate pulling them up- so i just cut off the sleeves and shortened them. I love my new shirts. It's so fun to feel like you have new clothes when you really didn't spend any money.
My old long sleeve shirts.

My new shirts. LOVE THEM!

I also took one of my sisters old sweaters and turned it into a sweater vest for Tanner. It was hard and its not perfect, but its my first time so I'm hoping I will get better.
My pattern and the big sweater....

His new sweater vest...


Chris has always been really helpful with Tanner, but as Tanner gets older its even more fun to watch the two of them together. I love to listen to the laughter coming from the bathroom during Tanner's bath- Chris and Tanner are both laughing so hard it makes me smile. Since Tanner is eating vegetable and fruit now, dinner time is alot more fun for him. Chris was helping out and feeding Tanner for me while I made dinner the other night, and when I looked up, this is what I found.

Probably not the best idea to let a 6 1/2 month old feed himself, but both Chris and Tanner were having such a good time, I couldn't say anything. Needless to say, I have to presoak all of Tanner's clothes now, because dinner time is so MESSY!


Tanner loves his swing so much. He is such a happy baby- I feel so blessed. Here is my happy boy in his swing.


I'm leaving on Friday for Relief Society Retreat with Tanner, my Mom and Grandma and thats exciting. I'm going to get to go to JoAnn's and spend my birthday money- so watch JoAnn's- HERE I COME