Snow Day

On Saturday we had another load of snow dumped on us. I'm trying really hard to enjoy the winter weather, but I've got spring fever. I want to be outside enjoying the nice weather, going for bike rides, having picnics and planting flowers. However, mother nature isn't cooperating. Luckily this snow didn't last long- not even long enough to get church cancelled the next day. It was melting that afternoon when I finally got Tanner out to play in it. Chris was at drill this weekend, so Tanner and I went over to Nanny and Papa's house to play. We got bundled up and I stuck Tanner on the sled. He loved it. Nanny went outside with us to watch and we took turns pulling Tanner Here is a really short video of Tanner on the sled. (Don't mind that I don't know even know the date in the video.)

Oh and YES- Laura that is your hat he's wearing. Somewear between our house and the car we lost his hat, so we had to borrow one when we got there.
Tanner first setting foot into the snow. Sidenote- this kid loves his snowboots. He will wear them all day long. He brings them to me in the morning and he will wear them over his sleeper. Its so funny. Tanner on the sled He was really enjoying himself on the sled until he got dumped and face planted into the snow. He sat up and his whole face was covered in snow. If I had been thinking I'd have snapped a picture, but instincts took over and I ran to help him get his face cleaned off. Here is a picture after we got most the snow off him. He wasn't happy with us at this point. Anyways I'm making the most of the snow for Tanner's sake. He seems to enjoy it and I love watching him play in it.

Redecorating and Reorganizing

I realized I never got around to posting pictures of my house after I got the decorating bug. Maybe I've been watching too many TLC home-decorating shows, but I really felt like my house needed a little sprucing up.
So I started with the area above our entertainment center. It use to have a small photo collage that, according to what I've learned recently, was placed way to high on the wall and I felt like it just wasn't a good use of space.
So I changed it to this....

It was fun to find a new way to use a lot the things I already had around my house. But I did get to buy a few new things too.

Then came the huge wall behind our long couch. After making some new throw pillows to try and brighten up the hand-me-down couch, I decided to make another picture collage. However this one would be large enough to fill the wall space I needed.
We had lots of pictures to choose from because we have an awesome photographer. Check her out here- www.lifeasaphoto.blogspot.com
I bought a few new frames and used lots of ones we already had and went to work.
This was the final product. Sorry you can't see the pictures all that well.

Here is a close-up of the pictures- love Jamie soo much! Don't mind the Christmas tree lights reflecting in the photo.


Then I started on my entry way. I'd seen these panels on one of the craft blogs I follow and I loved them. So after a JoAnn's trip to get the fabric and a Home Depot trip to get the wood, my sweet husband and I started working on this project.
Here is the final product hanging on our walls above the entry way table.



Then yesterday my oh-so-sweet husband picked up some metal shelves for me at D.I for 10 bucks. Not bad!
He put them in the garage for me and I immediately knew what they would be used for. My craft desk has been overflowing lately and its been getting worse and worse. So I went to work organizing all my craft supplies.
My desk looked like this when I started this project

Now my craft shelves look like this- so much prettier and easier to find stuff.

I seriously couldn't be more excited about this. And I love my husband for seeing these shelves and thinking of me. It really is the little things that make me SOOO happy.

So anyways- there is a little peek into my home. I'm excited to start planning Tanner's "big boy room" and possibly, depending on the gender of this new baby, a new nursery! YAY!

Tanner's Big News

I'm about 13 weeks and feeling really good. The nausea is over, my energy is back and I'm able to enjoy being pregnant.
My tentative due date is Aug. 12th. My ultrasounds say I'm a week further along then my date, so I'll be due around Aug. 12th. Which means Tanner and this new baby will be just under 2 years apart. Tanner's birthday is Aug 24th. August will be a busy month.
We couldn't be more thrilled and can't wait to find out what we're having.

Tanner's Terrible Tumble

It finally happened. It seems like no matter how careful you are, at some point your child is going to take a pretty good fall. Tanner's time was up- he tumbled down my parent's stairs yesterday.
Chris was watching him go up and down the stairs and he said he turned around to count how many stairs they'd gone up and a second later Tanner was falling. He said it happened too fast for him to catch him. We think he fell about 8 stairs. It wouldn't have been so bad, but my parent's stairs are only carpeted in the middle and then they have wood on the edges. Well Tanner's face caught most of the fall on the wood. His poor little cheekbone!!!
Here's his face a couple hours after he fell- the bruise looks funny because I put some lotion on him after his bath and its reflecting the flash from the camera- you can still kinda get the idea.

The day after. Now it's turned purple instead of bright red.




The bruise doesn't look half as bad in these pictures, but his little face really is sad looking. It makes me want to cry every time I look at him.
Our little guy was pretty tough though. I think it scared him more than anything. I know my heart was racing a million miles a minute and I couldn't stop shaking afterwards. I heard him crash down the stairs and I ran to get him, but Chris had already scooped him up by then. I snatched him away from Chris and immediately started trying to calm him down. He only cried for about 1 minute and then he just sat on my lap and snuggled.
Then after dinner he tried to conquer those dang stairs again. Too bad for him, I wouldn't let him anywhere near the stairwell for the rest of the night. Maybe next time we go over to my parent's house we can work on stairs, but we're going to take a little break for a while.

Park, Snow, Park and More Snow

We've been having some bizarre weather lately. We had a few snow of the year and it was freezing after. Then the next week it warmed up. When I say warm, I mean in the high 40's. So after being cooped up inside the house for so long, Tanner and I had to stretch our legs. So we grabbed Chris and headed to the park.
Tanner had so much fun and Chris and I love playing with him and watching him play. He's such a funny kid and very determined.
He climbed up the big slide all my himself.

But once he got up there he got a little scared.

So Dad went down the slide with him to show him how it's done. After that Tanner loved it and he wanted to go down the slide over and over.

He also really enjoys the swings.

Even though we looked bundled up, it actually was really nice weather compared with the weather we had earlier.


Then we had another RANDOM snow storm. This time we got about 5 inches. It was enough to play in so Tanner and I bundled up again and braved the cold weather. Unfortunately, it was a dry snow and didn't pack well. But Tanner had fun for a little while.



Then he was ready to go inside for some hot cocoa. He loves hot cocoa and its one of the few words he'll say at the correct time. He'll drag me into the kitchen and point to the pantry, where its kept and say "cocoa, cocoa". Its actually pretty dang cute.

Then this past weekend it was almost 70 degrees. Crazy!!! Tanner and I met some friends at the park and we played there for almost 2 hours. Tanner loves the park. He really loved the merry go round. It was his first time and I almost couldn't get him off it.



We've been having lots of fun and staying busy. Between church, playgroup, volunteering, and the normal day-to-day stuff we are always up to something. Supposedly there is another ice/snow storm on its way- should be here Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll see.

First Snow of the Year

We woke up to snow this morning for the first time this winter. Granted, it was only an inch, but it was white. Tanner and I had to explore first thing this morning. We threw on our coats and snow boots then ran outside.
Here is a video from this morning- try to ignore my "cold" voice-I'm still sick and I sound yucky.

Here is Tanner this morning- he was kind of weary of the cold, white stuff at first.


Then at lunch time, when Dad got home, we got bundled up for real and went out to the backyard to play.
Tanner loved eating the snow. He'd grab handfuls and then take very tiny, careful bites. It was pretty funny to watch.


Then he had to share his snow with Dad. Yum Yum!

He also enjoyed stomping around in the snow.



I know this is a pretty pathetic snowfall, but it was the first one of the year and we had to play in it. Hopefully more is on it's way tonight.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!

We kicked off the NEW YEAR with a BIG SURPRISE!
My sister Sarah got engaged!!!
It was so cute. Her boyfriend, Johnny, flew out on New Year's Eve and surprised her with an engagement ring. It was really sweet and she of course said yes!
They are planning on getting married in April after their winter semester is over. I can't even tell you how excited I am. She asked me to plan her wedding. I have very little experience planning weddings- my mother-in-law planned most of mine, but I'm THRILLED! My Dad is going to give us a budget and the rest is up to Sarah, Mom and I. SO MUCH FUN!

Anyway here is the rest of our new years story. We got home on the 30th but our luggage didn't. We went over to my parent's house that night and said hi to everyone. All my family was home from college so we were all together for the first time since summer. It was so fun. Then we went home and Tanner had somehow gotten sick again, so he slept (well tried to sleep-he was coughing all night) in our bed. The next day we got up at about noon and went back over to my parents. We were still tired from our early morning flight and long day of traveling, but we wanted to get all the time in with my siblings that we could. Our luggage arrived around 3 and that was a relief.
That night we started our party. Sarah had no idea that Johnny was on his way to the house, so we were all trying not to spill the beans.
We went into the living room to have Christmas again, because we still had gifts to exchange and we had left all Tanner's gifts home.
Tanner passing out presents. They actually all went straight to me- not that they were for me, but he loved handing them all to me.


Dad and Tanner opening one of Tanner's presents


Then right in the middle of present opening Dad tells Sarah to run down to the basement to get a present he'd hidden for Mom. Sarah went downstairs and found Johnny. We were all anxiously waiting for her to scream in surprise but there was nothing but quiet. Turns out they were both so nervous they could hardly stand, let alone scream in surprise or joy. When she came back up to the living room she had a ring on her finger and a fiance in hand. It was a pretty great surprise.
Seriously- how cute are they?



Earlier that day Sarah had busied herself by making two delicious pies. Then we made some appetizers and drinks. We celebrated their engagement and the new year with fun, food and games.
Tanner even stayed up to ring in the new year. (I know I'm a bad mom- but he was having so much fun). Chris took Tanner to bed around midnight and I stayed up to play more games. I finally went to bed at 3 and boy was I tired.
Right after the ball dropped

Tanner trying the sparkling cider- It was not a favorite!

The next morning we met some friends for breakfast and then the men of the family spent the day doing man things, like shooting and watching "True Grit".
It was a great New Years and I know this year has so much to offer.
I wont bore you with my goals for the new year, but I have high hopes for myself, my marriage and my family.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!