Tanner the Tiger- He's GRRRRREAT!

We went to the circus last month and Tanner had a great time. Bailey was mostly indifferent. She didn't care for all the loud noises but besides that she happily sat on my lap for the majority of the time.
Here are the kids before we left for the circus. Bailey is super excited and she has no idea why!

My parents came with me because Chris was out of town and they brought Julieta and Clark. It was really fun.
Tanner had to get use to the loud announcer and the weird clowns. (I think my kid was the only one not laughing at the clowns- maybe he is more like me than I thought. I've never liked clowns.)

During the halftime break I took Tanner to spend the $5 I'd given him for the circus. I thought for sure he'd want to buy cotton candy or some kind of snack with his money, but he saw the face painting booth and everything else ceased to exist.
He picked out the design he wanted and then held so still while the guy painted his face. I mean- he sat on the big stool all by himself and hardly moved a muscle. Which is pretty amazing considering he's a VERY busy two-year old.

Tanner "ROARING"- seriously- this kid cracks me up!

He loved the way he looked in the mirror and immediately started growling at everyone in sight. I was dying- he loved his face so much. He told everyone that walked past that he had his face painted. "Paint, Mom, Paint!!!!"

Because I can't go to a circus/fair without eating cotton candy, we grabbed some on the way back to our seats and then settled in for the second half of the show. Tanner devoured our cotton candy and cheered for the different acts. It was fun to see him enjoying himself and I'm really glad we went even though Chris wasn't able to come with us. I didn't want Tanner to miss out and luckily my parents came- I couldn't have done it without them.
Yummy cotton candy!

Cheering for the different acts

Even now, weeks later, Tanner tells me about the time he had his face painted. He remembers and that makes it worth it to me. I love making memories with my kiddos, but its even more fun when it becomes a memory for them as well.
Tanner roaring and poor Bailey covering her ears- she did not like all the loud noise. haha

Spring Fun

Since spring here has been consisting of almost 80 degree days, we've already busted out the toddler pool. With no complaint from Tanner, he was super excited about it. Although at first he only wanted to blow bubbles in the water.


Then he asked me to get with him- that lasted about 5 seconds- then he wanted the whole pool to himself again. (Don't mind my scary white legs)

Bailey LOVED the pool. She splashed and played until she was so tired she practically fell asleep in my arms when I got her out and dried off.

My 25th Birthday

I turned 25 last month. Not gonna lie- I feel a little old. And although it may not have been the best birthday ever, we celebrated later and it turned out great.
On Sunday we had a big Barbeque at our house on the back porch. The weather was perfect, Chris made a delicious dinner and the cake was just what I had asked for. (Funfetti)
Thank you to my wonderful family and friends for making it a special event!
Tanner and I blowing out my birthday cake candles

Julieta and I and her sweet baby belly

birthday party fun


Bailey enjoying some diet coke

Yummy cake

Me and my sexy husband

Me and sweet boy

Then the next weekend my awesome Mom took me and Bailey up to Springfield for the weekend. We shopped all day Friday. I'm pretty sure she was exhausted by the end of the day. She was the best Grandma ever and watched Bailey so I could shop without kids. HEAVEN!
Then that night, as if we weren't already totally exhausted, we went and saw the 10:00 pm showing of "Hunger Games." It was so awesome! Yeah, I took Bailey because we were out of town and it was late enough that I knew she would sleep. It took me about 2 minutes to get her to sleep and after that she was out for the entire movie. GOOD GIRL! We fully enjoyed the movie and made it back to our hotel by 1:00 am.
The next morning we went to a stake relief society activity in Branson, which was pretty good. Then more shopping, lunch and we headed home.
Bailey was an awesome shopper!

It was such a great weekend. I'm hoping it becomes a tradition.
Luckily I have an awesome husband who was willing to keep Tanner all weekend. Not that Tanner minded- He's totally Daddy's little pal.
Anyways, that was my birthday. It was fun and I feel blessed to be surrounded by such loving people. Thank you everyone!

Up Up and Away in a Plane

Tanner is completely obsessed with planes since our trip to Oregon. Every time we see or hear one we have to watch it until its no longer in our line of sight. The whole time Tanner is saying "Up Mom, Up!" and if I don't respond right away he just keeps saying it. "Yes Tanner, we went up in a plane and then we came back down" "Yeah- up and down. Down see Mimi" or "see Nanny" depending on his mood. But he for sure remembers our trip. He loved the planes!
Our kids did fantastic on the flights. Granted I totally drugged Bailey with Tylenol, but it worked and it was an easy trip.
Here are the kids hanging out in the Miliary lounge at the Denver airport during our 2-hour layover



We flew in Monday and got to Mimi and Grandpa's about 10 pm. Since it was midnight our time we were exhausted. Unfortunately the kids woke up at 5:45 Oregon time- 7:45 AR time. I was literally dragging my feet all day that day) We went into town to get a few things and then met Chris' entire family for lunch. Tanner had so much fun with his two other boy cousins who are the same age as him. It was hysterical to see them all together. After lunch we took the kids home for naps and just explored Mimi's house. My in-laws have about 26 chickens- you can bet Tanner loved chasing them all around.
Enjoying the nice weather and Mimi's house


Chasing Chickens

That night was pretty relaxed, another family dinner and complete chaos with the 6 grand kids all under the age of 3. We had fun chatting and watching the boys play and taking turns holding each other newest babies.
Here is the run-down for those of you who don't know our family dynamics. There are three Herb boys. They all got married within a year of each other. Then a couple years later, all three wives had baby boys within 3 months of each other. Two years later all three wives had babies again within 4 weeks of each other. So there are 3 2-year old Grandsons, 2 baby granddaughters and 1 baby grandson. My poor in laws just can't catch a break. Their grand babies never come one at a time...they just triple each time. But it makes family get-togethers really fun.
The next day we just hung out with Stephanie and her kids. Mimi watched the two older boys and Steph and I did a little shopping. Real low-key but fun day.
Here is Bailey's favorite place at Mimi's house

Little boys on a 4-wheeler ride at Mimi's

Thursday Chris packed up Tanner and left to go to the Cabin with his Parents and our nephew Chase (Phillip and Stephanie's 2-year old son). So while the five of them took off for the cabin, the daughter-in-laws and the babies headed off to the outlet mall. We had a great time and found some cute stuff. That night Bailey and I stayed with Stephanie and Phillip at their house.
The next morning we loaded up and drove down to the cabin too. It was a four-hour drive and the babies (Bailey and Conner) did fantastic. They slept almost the entire time, just waking up to eat. AWESOME.
We stayed at the cabin for the weekend and it was a very relaxing time.
My in-laws gorgeous cabin

The little boys had sooo much fun. Tanner shot his first gun, rode a tractor, played in the hot springs and the hot tub, played in the dirt and later the snow. It was crazy. The days were packed and those little boys slept hard at night.
Here is Bailey taking her beloved bath in the huge sink at the cabin. SHE WAS IN HEAVEN

Daddy-daughter time at the cabin.

Mommy and Tanner time

Steph and I picked up a couple of toy guns for the little boys. Tanner loved it soo much!

Look at his aim

First time shooting a gun- you know I saved the shell casing from that one

At the hot springs

My kiddos and I at the springs

Then after three days of sunshine at the cabin, the morning we packed up to leave it started snowing. So we bundled the boys up and let them play for a bit.

Little twit- through a snowball at me right after I snapped this picture

Sunday we drove back and had a family dinner that night.
Monday we went into town for the much needed JoAnn's and Taco Time run.
Tuesday we mostly did laundry and then we had family pictures taken. BTW- my kids were total terrors- Tanner flat out cried almost the entire time. So ridiculous. After pictures my inlaws threw a surprise party for my birthday. Everyone pitched in and helped make dinner- it was SO delicious! I opened presents and then we all indulged in a very decadent 4-layer chocolate cake. WOW!
This is the only decent picture I got to the 3 newest babies.

From left to right: Bailey (7 months) Conner (6 1/2 months) Maureen (6 months)
Here is one of all three toddler boys- smooshed onto the rocking horse.

Tanner was relieved to have it all to himself later

Then we had to say our goodbyes. We woke up at 5 am the next morning and packed up our bags. By 5:00 pm we had landed in Branson after another uneventful day of traveling.
I can't believe how quickly the trip flew by. We had so much fun but next time we will have to stay longer. We are already missing our Oregon family!