Baby Shower, Pool, Ice Cream and Bubble Baths

Life has been pretty busy around here lately as we try to finish getting ready for this baby to come. Busy- but WAY FUN. Tanner has been SO GOOD these last few days. Maybe its all the extra attention he's getting, but whatever it is- ITS WORKING. He's been a gem.
On Thursday, my good friend Leslie Kingrey, threw me a baby shower. My mom hosted it at her house and we had a great time. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! This little girl is totally set in the way of clothes now. SO MUCH CUTE PINK STUFF!!! The shower was a lot of fun and I think everyone had a great time.
Here are a few pics.
Decorations




Leslie and my Mom

Me, my Mom and my sisters (Minus a much missed Sarah)

Goofing off before the present-opening started

Lovin' the PINK

The awesome photo book Julieta made! She's amazing!

Kind of a group shot


Then on Friday, Tanner and I met some friends (Amy Murphy and Sandy Taylor) at the pool. These girls are twin sisters who I've known pretty much my entire life and it was so fun to see them again- since it doesn't happen near enough!
Tanner in a life jacket in the big boy pool

After the pool, I took Tanner to get an ice cream cone from DQ. It was a huge cone and he finished the entire thing. Needless to say, he didn't eat much dinner that night. But it was fun to spoil him and he pictures make it totally worthwhile. Seriously- even covered in ice cream he's cute.



Saturday Chris and I decided to load up with Tanner and drive up to Springfield. We stopped in Harrison and Branson on the way and I got some more last minute baby things. We took Tanner to his first "Play Place" at McDonalds. I don't have any pictures because my brother had borrowed my camera, but just know Tanner had a blast!

Then today Tanner finally graduated from bath time in the sink at Nanny and Papa's to bath time in the tub. Not just any tub though. Clark and Tanner got to take a bath in the jacuzzi. It was awesome. When we turned the jets on we almost lost Tanner in all the bubbles. He loved it! Clark was safe in his Uncle David's arms. He wasn't crazy about all the bubbles, but he was a good sport.
They played for almost an hour in there and when it was time to get out, Tanner said a tearful goodbye to the bubbles. "Bye Bye Bubbles"
I'm pretty sure he will never be able to take a bath in the sink again- I mean really- you can't go back to the sink after having a jacuzzi bath.
Love these two little backsides.


Love this little face



Covered in Bubbles- Where is Tanner?


Pretty much- I'm SOOO ready to have this baby. But until she decides to come- I'm spending all my time enjoying my little boy. I'm worried about both of us- and how we are going to handle sharing the attention. Tanner has been the center of my universe for so long- its going to take some major getting use to. So until that time- he will continue to be the center of my universe- and we are dedicating the next week to "FUN FOR TANNER". Wish us luck!

How to Train your Toddler to sleep in a Toddler Bed:

Because we just recently finished making this transition- I can now say I'm an expert. NOT! I'm not going to lie, this was one of our hardest transitions yet. Tanner was a remarkably easy baby, so I had a feeling that toodlerhood wasn't going to treat us as kindly.
Don't get me wrong. Tanner is a great kid, but he's got a little too much of my stubborn nature in him. He's really trying to push the limits lately and try my patience at every opportunity. Of course, me being pregnant and hormonal isn't a great combination either, but somehow we are all managing.
So anyways, on to the much anticipated instructions.

Step 1: Introduce your child to his/her new bed
Allow them to figure things out on their own and explore the new concept of freedom. (Tip- don't do this right before bed. Give him/her some daylight hours to explore and let the "newness" wear off by bedtime" WHOAPS. Of course I converted Tanner's crib to a toddler bed right before bed and surprised him with it. He was super excited. So excited that he didn't want to lay down. He just wanted to climb in and out of his bed.

Step 2:Put child to bed in new toddler bed
Then wait and watch as he/she climbs out of bed for a few hours trying to decide how important sleep is and how long he/she can survive without it. (if you are like me you are pulling your hair out by this point)


Step 3: Get woken up by your child coming into your room at 3:30 am
Of course he/she is wide awake and asking for their favorite movie (in our case it was "Bolt") and your brain is hardly processing anything because its 3:30 am. But you make yourself and your huge pregnant belly climb out of bed and explain to your child that they can't watch their movie because its the middle of the night and they need to be asleep.
Step 4: Put your child back to bed in his/her toddler bed
then watch as he/she continually climbs back out to try and play.
Finally you give in and put your child in the crib in your room- because you can't keep your eyes open any longer. Then you climb back into bed, only to have the baby in your belly wake up and start playing the drums on your ribs. (Your awake another 1 1/2 hours.) But your toddler, admitting defeat, finally falls asleep again.
Step 5: Repeat the Process again the next night
However, this time you make a pallet on your child's floor next to their bed and sleep on the floor the entire night. You prevent your child from escaping their bed, but the next morning you wake up aching all over. Only one escape attempt and your start feeling like maybe this is possible.

Step 6: Repeat "Step 5" for the rest of the week
Alternate who gets to sleep on the floor with your husband to avoid the back ache every morning.
Step 7: Remove your pallet from the floor and sleep in your own gloriously soft bed
After 5 days of laying on the floor next to your child's bed, you decide to give sleeping in your own bed another try. Success! Your child sleeps from 8:00 pm to 7:00 am- only waking up once at 6:00 am- for two nights in a row.
You start to believe there is an end in sight and stop hating your life so much.

p.s. If there is some simpler way of making this transition- PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME!!!
I dread ever doing this again!!!

Time with the Fam

With Gram's funeral on Friday, we had family coming in all week. Although the reason for the family reunion wasn't happy, we were still able to enjoy each other's company and get in some quality cousin time.
The funeral was really beautiful. Everyone spoke well and the musical numbers were wonderful. I,of course, was practically in tears the entire time- but it really was amazing the number of people whose lives were touched by Grams and her kindness.
Everyone has been so wonderful- and I can't express my appreciation for all those who have cared for my family this past week. The funeral home employees were especially kind. They took into our family's every need and anticipated everything. They took care of everything from the visitation, to the flowers being transported, thank you cards, sticky notes for dishes that need to be returned- they even had water bottles for everyone at the graveside dedication. It was such a comfort to not have to worry about all the details of the funeral.
After the viewing at the funeral home we all met up at Gram's house. The Aunts had decided that each grand-daughter should pick out a piece of Gram's jewelry to have to remember her by. We didn't really realize how much jewelry Grams had. By the end I think each girl had atleast 3-4 jewelry pieces and a couple scarfs. It was such a fun way to end the night. Each piece of jewelry held memories and it was fun to reminisce about Grams wearing each one. Now each time I wear a piece of Gram's jewelry I can think of her.
Some of the jewelry laid out on Gram's bed.

My cousin Shannon, my Aunt Jan and my sister Sarah admiring a necklace.

More jewelry and in case you can't tell who that is in the background with the belly button sticking out- thats me...

After the funeral we all hung out at Grams house together, chatting and eating.
Later we snapped a "few" family pictures...
All of Gram's grandkids

The grandkids and spouses (minus a few spouses)

The Whole family that was able to come for the funeral.

The Drake Family- Don't mind that my child wouldn't turn around for the camera...

Everyone was leaving at different times over the next two days, but we were still able to fit in a movie- we saw Harry Potter. (it was pretty good) Plus the girls got mani/pedis and the boys went out to eat Korean food. (My toes look awesome- by the way) It was fun to hang out with everyone.
We are planning on a big family reunion for the 4th of July next year- so that will be awesome. I just love my family and its good to know that although we've lost our sweet Grams, everyone is still willingly to make the effort to get together.
I'm grateful for that the family I will be spending eternity with is so awesome!

Goodbye Grams

My heart aches as I type this, because even the simple act of composing this post makes my Grandma's death more of a reality.
Yesterday morning around 5:30 am, my sweet Grandma passed away. I was fortunate to get to be with her until the end and during those last few hours of her life a peace settled over me. A calm feeling that caught me entirely off guard.
A peace born from the knowledge that this life isn't the end. Grams is now with her sweetheart. She is happy, whole and healthy. She isn't suffering anymore and for that I am immensely grateful.
I'm grateful for the simple doctrinal truth that "FAMILIES ARE FOREVER"
I had the sharing time lesson today at church and the title of the Lesson was "Families are blessed through sacred temple ordinances" This lesson took on a whole new meaning for me. I'm grateful the prophet Elijah restored the sealing power to Joseph Smith all those years ago. I'm grateful that my Grandma and Grandpa took advantage of those temple blessings and were sealed together, that my dad and his siblings were sealed to them and that I am sealed to my parents as well as my husband and sweet son. We truly are an eternal chain that can never be broken and this gives me more comfort than anything else.
My Grams was the most stylish, classy, sweet, honest, empathetic, loving, compassionate, sweet woman I have ever known. No one was better at making you feel happy when you were down, beautiful on your worst hair day, or more loved just because you are you. She always knew just what to say and just how to say it. And because she said it, you knew it was true. She didn't take slack from anyone and she always expected you to give life your best. She taught me to take pride in my accomplishments and to never be afraid to try new things. So much of Grams shaped who I am- or most of the time- showed me who I wanted to become. She touched the lives of so many people. You couldn't meet her and not love her. She had a way of making new acquaintances feel like old friends. I'm so grateful for the example she was for me.
I don't know how I can possibly fill the void left in my life because of her death, but I'm determined to figure it out and to smile again. I will smile everyday - because Grams wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Fourth of July Fun

I Love the 4th of July!
We had so much fun yesterday! Growing up the 4th of July weekend was always packed with canoe trips, days spent skiing/tubing on the lake and awesome food and fireworks. So I've developed pretty high expectations for this holiday.
I wasn't disappointed this year either.
We woke up and watched a movie with Tanner yesterday (He is soo into "Toy Story" right now) then we packed a picnic lunch and headed over to Blanchard Springs. It was beauitful weather and the drive was gorgeous. When we got there it was about 11:45 am so we ate our lunch and then jumped into the river.
Tanner mostly liked sitting on the shore and throwing rocks into the river, but he floated with us a little bit. I can't even tell you how nice it felt to float on my stomach. Incredible!
Anyways.. Here are "few" pictures from our Blanchard Springs trip.
Running into the water

Little Stinker

Tanner and Mom

He loved my floatie. Little thief- everytime I would go to get on it- he'd come over and say "Peeaze" and want on. And I can't say no to him when he says please..

chillin' in the chair getting ready for a snack.

About 2:00 pm it started to get a little crowded at the swimming area so we decided to head home. We drove to our house first and picked up some dry clothes and fireworks then headed to my parents house.
Then we filled up the kiddie pool for Clark and Tanner to play in. I also hooked up Tanner's "hopscotch sprinkler" Tanner had a blast- he loved running back and forth between the pool and the sprinkler. Clark took a little longer to adjust.
Tanner also mastered his squirt gun and had a great time shooting water at everyone around him.
Seriously- look at this kid


Seriously- squirting everyone- not even Clark was safe

Tanner and Uncle David

Clark watching Tanner run on the hopscotch- he had to see how it was done.

trying to get a drink from the sprinkler

Eventually we got Clark in the pool, although he never warmed up to the sprinkler.

After a while Papa came out and set out a HUGE slip-n-slide. He used some painter's plastic and we covered it with water and soap. It was so awesome. I didn't get to play on it- for obivious reason- but I got some pretty good pictures of the action.
Uncle David catching some air

Papa and Uncle David showing the little boys "how its done"

Tanner on the slip-n-slide
Ready, Set, GO!
Going, Going- Gone!

"That was AWESOME"

"Come on Papa, lets do it again"

Even Clark gave it a try...


After everyone was thoroughly exhausted from the slip-n-slide we ate dinner on the back porch. It was such a beautiful evening. We ate ribs, cinnamon baked apples, green beans and potatoes and garlic bread. SOO GOOD.
Tanner really enjoyed it.

After cleaning up- it was time for fireworks. There aren't a whole lot of fireworks that Tanner is old enough for yet...but he got to do lots of sparklers


Here's Tanner throwing the snappers on the ground so they would pop

and here is Tanner trying to figure out how they work..

He even did a Roman Candle- with help from Uncle David.

Then we just watched our neighbors- everyone had their own show going on- so there were fireworks going off left and right.
Tanner and I watching the fireworks

Tanner and Dad watching the fireworks

Tanner really liked the fireworks this time- he kept saying- "Whoa" over and over. It was adorable.
Tanner clapping for the fireworks

Squatting down to watch the fireworks..

My little family- getting ready to grow in about 5 1/2 weeks...


Then we ate cake and played dominoes- all-in-all, an awesome 4th of July.
I'm so grateful to live in this country and enjoy the freedoms we take advantage of everyday. God Bless America!