Tanner Life

2011-03-05T14:35:00.002-05:00

What's on your DVR?

I'm just curious, flipping through my own, what is on your DVR? So, chime in to comment and let me know. Here's what's on ours right this minute:

Sweet Home Alabama - free Starz, a favorite movie
Monsters, Inc. - free Starz
Imagination Movers - (5 episodes currently, it varies as we save and watch a few times & delete)
Confessions of a Shopaholic - free Starz
Yo, Gabba, Gabba - 6 episodes (varies according to what we save, watch, delete)
The Proposal - free Starz
Sesame Street - 52 episodes (all of which have been watched oodles of times each, oodles and oodles)
Best Places - About Disney
Dear John - free Starz
Disney Holiday Magic
Disney cruise line
Walt Disney World Resort
Samantha Brown's Disney
Disney on a Dime (all of these have been saved for years, we watch them over and over ;)
Something to Talk About - commercials and all, a true favorite been saved since we got the DVR

Here is what is usually on there until I watch it and delete it.

Days of our Lives
Parenthood
Grey's Anatomy
Private Practice
Army Wives
Brothers & Sisters
Teen Mom &/or Teen Mom 2
16 and Pregnant

What use to be on there that I deleted from the schedule:
Survivor (this was the first season I let it go)
Bachelor (over it)
Biggest Looser (I just don't have time to keep up with it too)

2011-01-03T12:44:00.004-05:00

A chatty 19 month old.

Cole has been jabbering and babbling from very early, just like his Mommy. He’s always talked in the car more than anywhere and he even talks in his sleep. We wondered if we’d ever be able to understand him. On the way to his 18 month check up we came up with approximately 20 words he knew, we felt pretty good. I know that boys are later talkers than girls.

Something happened a few weeks ago, just before Christmas. One day he was saying about 20 words and wouldn’t try new ones, no matter how much coaxing we did. We’d beg him to try new words and repeat things over and over to him. He just looked at us. Then .. Something clicked, a flip switched, a light came on. I don’t know, but one day the boy started saying everything! He’d repeat what we said and started saying words randomly on his own that we had no idea he knew.

Case in point. We walk through our basement to get in and out of the house, right by the lawn mower which he loves to ride on. He has been saying “b” for ages for everything, anything. As he points and says “b”, one of us would say “lawn mower” and on we’d go. Then one night we walk through the basement and without hesitation, he points and says “mon mower”. Andy asked “Did he just say lawn mower?” So Cole repeats “mon mower” as if to say, “Duh Daddy, yes that’s what I said.”

Cole’s current word list that grows daily.

Momma - Dadda - Mommy
Daddy - Bye Bye - Hey
Hi - Hat - Bubble
Ball - Drum - phone
Dawg - Mon mower (lawn mower)
More - Wawer (water) -
ABBY (all caps, yes) - nite nite - E mo (Elmo)
Din do aur (dinosaur) - greeps (grapes)
Bewies (strawberries) - Mimi - Papppy
Jack - Miiike (Mike) - bang
Cracka (cracker) - ice - rice
Grss (grass) - Nanny (Granny)
hot - g daddy (Grand Daddy)
no (snow) - ain (rain) - Bock bock (chicken)
ur ple (purple) - bue (blue)
Llellow (yellow) - up - down
Pane (airplane) - uh oh - all done
All gone - tra tor (tractor)
book - Duck - woo woo (train)
doo da (guitar) - Pee pee - poo pee
baby - BATH (all caps!)
old - bite (to eat)
Buzz (Buzz & Woody) - apple - oww & ow
O wl (owl) - yeah, yeah, yeah
box - fsh (fish) - open
jump - dabba dabba (as in yo gabba gabba)
Whoa - ole (Cole) - uck (stuck)

And the list goes on. Just when I think I’m done, I add another one. I don’t know if this is the final list or not, it changes continually ;)

aww wee (which is what he says when he hugs someone or something)
Aaaa choo (when he’s making fun of someone for sneezing ;)

Along with animal sounds: bock bock (chicken) - which is also his word for chicken - oof oof (dog) - ee ee eee (horse) - eeeeee (elephant complete with arm raised for trunk) - ggrrr (dinosaur, tiger, lion, bear ;) - ack ack (quack duck) - bzz (bees which was a first sound from a favorite book and surprised us) -

“budden budden” for cars, trucks, etc..
“woo woo” which is his sound and word for train

He also has an extensive list of baby angry words. We don’t know what he says, but when he’s mad, there’s a lot to say. It usually begins and ends with Mommy/Daddy (whomever he’s mad at) with a whole list of angry jabbering and finger pointing in between.

And a last note on talking, he also whispers. If it’s super quiet in the morning or at night, when he’s nervous about something. He jabbers and whispers, it’s quite the hoot!!

Steven Curtis Chapman - FAITHFUL

2010-09-02T21:40:00.000-05:00

I am broken, I am bleeding
I'm scared and I'm confused
But You are faithful, yes, You are faithful
I am weary and believing
God please help my unbelief
Cause You are faithful, yes, You are faithful

I will proclaim it to the world
I will declare it to my heart
I will sing it when the sun is shining
I will scream it in the dark

You are faithful, You are faithful
When You give and when You take away
Even then still Your name is faithful
You are faithful
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You are faithful

I am waiting for the rescue
That I know will surely come
Cause You are faithful, yes, You are faithful
And I've dropped anchor in Your promises and I am holding on
Cause You are faithful, God, You are faithful

I will proclaim it to the world
I will declare it to my heart
I'll sing it when the sun is shining
I will scream it in the dark

You are faithful, You are faithful
When You give and when You take away
Even then still Your name is faithful
You are faithful
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You're faithful
So faithful

When I cannot have the answer
That I'm wanting to demand
I'll remember You are God
And everything is in Your hands
With Your hands You put the sun and moon and stars up in the sky
For the sake of love You hung Your own son on the cross to die

And You are faithful
Yes, You are faithful
When You give, when You take away even then
Great is Your faithfulness
Great is Your faithfulness
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe
You're faithful

When You give, when You take away
Even then, still Your name is faithful
You are faithful
And with everything inside of me
I am choosing to believe

You are faithful
You are faithful

2010-08-24T21:09:00.008-05:00

15 Months Old

Dear Bloggie, I am sorry you are neglected. Blame Facebook. Love, Monica

Can't believe our little Stinkey Pete is 15 months old, time flies!! I have no idea what he weighs, but when I carry him very much I would bet on 100 pounds. Ok, maybe not, I'm just wimpy. He's solid though and getting taller for sure. I can tell by his clothes!

He wears size 2 or 2T shirts b/c if they are smaller and washed many times his belly shows! He wears size 12 shorts still, but finally the 18 months aren't falling off either. His little legs are so short, bless his heart I think he's just stuck with that problem like his Momma. He wears size 4 diapers still, size 5 night time diapers because he is SO wet in the morning.

Speaking of night. He's still sleeping around 11 hours, we are so thankful. You never know how much you missed sleep until you start getting it again. Every few weeks we'll have a night where something goes wrong and he wakes up for one reason or another, but we are blessed with a great sleeper now. We still do hold him until he falls asleep at night usually. He takes one nap that is usually 1 and 1/2 hours - 2 hours typically. He has 2 or 3 stuffed animals, a few books and a soft toy that stays in his crib. When he wakes up he will play for a good 15-30 minutes in the morning. That gives me time to hear him playing on the monitor and get myself together before getting him.

(Junk food, the only category of food he loves other than fruit. Takes after his Momma ;) He has just discovered cheese puffs in the past week or two, needless to say they are a hit. He was sitting in the high chair, in the living room watching Sesame Street while I did something?)

Cole says: "HEY" (in all caps, his favorite word) "mama" "dada" "ooof oof" (for all dogs, he LOVES dogs) "oooo" (means moo for cows) "ba" (ball) "ca" (car) "bu" (bubble) "zzzz" (for bees that are in two of his farm books) "bab" (baby) "cacka" (cracker) Then everything else in the world starts with "b" it's his favorite sound obviously and along with a bunch of rambling and chatting, there's a ton of "b" things he mumbles about. He chats the most in the car, but he's generally chatty.

He knows and can correctly use the sign for "more" when he's eating.

(One of the things that makes him seem so grown to me. Watching his Daddy cut the grass. He watches the entire time. When Daddy disappears from the front, he knows to go to the kitchen windows to see him cut the back. THEN he knows he gets to ride!!)

His favorite things are first and foremost OUTSIDE. He'd live outside full time if we'd let him. He screams when he thinks he's going out and doesn't. He walks to all doors and points out while fussing. If he sees anyone putting on shoes, he gets his and immediately grabs hold of your legs and wont let go. He prefers just to walk & run around outside, but also enjoys riding in/on his "cars", wagon, playing with his golf clubs, going up and down his slide (tiny one) and swinging. My Dad, Grand Daddy (aka: Grumpy) takes Cole to ride on the golf cart at their house every day that he's there, he drives ;) That is a favorite. He has sat on the tractor, but never with it running. He LOVES just looking at it. He now rides with his Daddy on the lawnmower after the grass is cut too and loves it!

His other favorite things are bubbles (he likes to walk around holding the no spill kind and actually blew a few the other night finally) He loves anything that he can ride on or in. He has a large car inside, plus 5 things here to ride on and 4 at my parents. He has a jumpy zebra animal at both houses too. He loves to be on something and going. We hear the "brrrrr" car noise continuously all day, every day. He spends most of his time on something like that. He loves cars, tractors and trucks. He likes remote controls, phones and his one favorite thing he couldn't live without is BOOKS! His Momma is a proud woman. Seems my reading and love of books has officially rubbed off. He loves, loves to be read to or just look and and talk about books. He also loves anything that sings like his Elmo Live, our Veggie Tale Larry that sings and an Easter bunny that sings and dances. He now likes to dance to music too!

(Cole has now discovered golf, much to his Daddy's delight. These are clubs that Daddy's best buddy Larken and his family gave Cole before he arrived. We got them out a few weeks ago and he adore them, see the smile? He plays with them inside and out. He whacks everything, the blue club is his favorite and how has packaging tape around it b/c it was broken and he had a fit. He does know how to hit the ball now, of course it goes flying and sometimes he claps ;)

Cole still loves Sesame Street and we've seen last seasons 35 episodes 100Xs each, at least! I can't wait for a new season. We have several Elmo DVD's and watch those as well. Sesame Street and Elmo are the only thing that officially get him to stop and watch on his own. Other than that we watch Dinosaur Train and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse some. Then Veggie Tales & Hermie the Caterpillar and friends as well when I need him captured in the high chair or pack n play for something. (while playing or eating a snack)

(One of the funny random things he does that we didn't show him, he just knows to do. He shut his door when he gets in his car, cracks me up that he just knows that.)

He's been coloring for quite a few months now. He does pretty well not eating the crayons for the most part. He likes to see the colors show up on the page. Normally that's saved for in a restaurant, but we've colored at home some recently too. Just this past week we tried painting with water colors. He really enjoyed it though got frustrated after a few minutes and wanted to get wild with the brush.

Cole got to ride on his first "coin car" this past weekend at the mall. He rode in 2 little cars and of course loved it. He flung our hands away when we tried to get him off, like we knew he would. We expected a total meltdown, but thankfully were able to distract him before we drew a crowd.
Cole has a huge thing for girls, older or younger. He doesn't care! He loves baby girls and kisses them given a chance. He loves little girls and blows kisses to them no matter where we are. He notices them in stores, restaurants, church, it doesn't matter. He loves teenage girls, waitress, women in stores. If they don't pay attention to him, there will be a HUGE amount of "HEY" shouting until they do!!

We're still struggling with eating. He has good days and bad days. We have tried so hard to get him to eat mostly "big people" food, but it's a constant struggle. He loves fruit and will eat any "real" fruit. His favorites are bananas, raisins, strawberries & mandarin oranges. He will eat cut up grapes, dried cranberries, applesauce, pears and peaches. He will eat french fries from most places. He likes the cheap variety of rice in a bag, "rice sides". He likes waffles, pancakes, cereal bars, grits and toddler/baby cereal still. Everything else is totally hit and miss. Sometime he will eat a few bites, sometime he wont. If it's a bad day, he wont even taste anything. He simply sticks his tongue off and let's it fall back off. No amount of bribery, playing, teasing, airplaneing, threatening, forcing. etc.. will help. It is a battle of wills. Chicken, peas, beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, noodles of any kind, toddler meals, grown up meals, you name it. Sometimes he will eat a bite, sometimes he wont. Thankfully he loves milk and drinks only milk, chocolate milk and water. He's growing and healthy, so I try not to worry too much about it. He eats when he's hungry and I was a super picky eater as a child too. (Seems that's worn off, ha!)

Cole can correctly point to his nose, eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, teeth, hair, belly and (unfortunately, blame it on Daddy) his "boobers". Ugh..

(Cole, in Pappy's lap. At Mimi & Pappy's pool with his cousins. What a mess trying to get 6 kiddos anywhere near each other and still, in the pool no less, at the same time!)

...
I love the little things that make him seem so grown up. I love how you can point to something or ask him to get it and he brings it to you. (ball, car, book) It cracks me up when something rolls under the couch and he lays on his belly to look for it. We always get a kick out of him imitating us with sneezes or coughs. He has a big "aahh ahhh boo" production that his a hoot! I love how he knows to hold up his arms one at a time for putting them in a shirt, how if he's holding something he knows to switch hands while we put an arm in. I love how he can point to what he wants and shakes his head no if you don't guess correctly. I laugh when you mention changing a diaper and he heads to his room and changing table/dresser. (One day Granny was going to change him in the floor and he took the diaper from her, walked to his room and looked at the table. What was wrong with that woman?) If you mention brushing his teeth now he runs to the bathroom and points to his teeth. He likes to play peek a book everywhere, behind chairs, doors, etc... There are so many things that shock us daily and remind us how he's growing up and how smart he is.

We couldn't be more thankful for the little guy and the fun he brings. We are blessed beyond measure. We are praying for God's will in adding to our family now. We have been officially approved for adoption again since July and will continue to pray that God brings Cole a baby brother or sister, how he sees fit, if he so chooses. (and I certainly hope he so chooses!)

2010-04-02T19:52:00.001-05:00

2010-03-06T08:29:00.024-05:00

What I've been doing . . .
Written by : Cole

I have been very busy the past few weeks. I learned to crawl and I can do it really fast. It makes my Mommy say "no, no, stop" alot these days. It's really funny when she says that and I laugh at her, then she grabs me and puts me back in the pile of toys in that big room where the TV is. I can go back to where I was very fast though, Mommy is just silly. See that rug with bowls on the other side of the table? They belong to that furry guy that says "ruff ruff" really loud, he stays locked in the room with Mommy & Daddy's bed a lot these days. Mommy says he's "old and grumpy", but I LOVE that guy! Oh those bowls, one has WATER in it. Have you felt of that stuff before? I like to play in it, but that makes Mommy say "no, no, no, no" a lot. Then I have to change clothes. Sometimes she puts the bowl far away, but when I'm lucky she forgets!!

See this guy? Granny calls him Grand Daddy, but Mommy calls him Grumpy. He is a very funny guy. He calls me Peanut. He will do ANYTHING I want, I just have to show him or let him know. If I fuss, he takes me on walks anywhere I want to go. I love this guy!!

These are whatcha call balloons! Have you seen them? They are wonderful. I had some at that Disney World place, but had to leave them behind. A few weeks ago Mommy bought me three of my very own. I love them so much and spend hours playing with them. They are so neat. If you shake that ribbon, they dance!!!! When they get squishy, I can squeeze 'em some and they make a crinkly sound. They are not floating very good anymore, so yesterday Mommy took me to a very special store she calls "dollar tree" and bought me two more!

This is my "turn that light off" face. I'm not grouchy at all, I like mornings. I can now stand up in my bed and bang, bang, bang on the rail there until Mommy or Daddy come get me. I give 'em a big ole smile. The light is bright when they turn it on though and then Mommy flashes that picture thing in my face, so I'm NOT grouchy... I just can't see Lady!!

*Edit: My Mommy said to tell you that the bed is lowered now from when the photo was taken. This was one of the first few days I learned the trick of pulling up on my knees in there. Now I pull up on everything, I don't like to sit down, ever! I stand in my bed and bang bang on the top. Mommy says that soon it will be lowered again.*

I made these Valentine's for Granny, Grumpy and Great Grandmother. Mommy put squishy white stuff on my hand and I didn't like it at all!

This is my loot from Valentine's Day from Mommy & Daddy. Those blocks are so fun for Mommy & Daddy to build towers with, then I get to knock 'em down. The God Bless book has pictures of me, Mommy, Daddy and Granny & Grumpy in it! I have my own music and a book about Noah and a silly monkey.

This is one of my favorite toys and me being a guy they call "Colezilla"

Sometimes I like to help Mommy with the clothes. I don't know what she does, I think she just puts 'em in piles and plays with them.

Guess what I found this week??? It's wonderful. It's in that purple room where I take a bath. It has water inside, makes a swirly swooshy sound and has a shiny handle on it. I really like this thing. When I found it Mommy went crazy "no, no, yuck, gross, COLE". I don't know what the fuss was about. Since then though, I can't find that thing anymore. There is a door that keeps me outta there.

This is a great thing, it's a window door. It use to have a curtain on it and I yanked that thing down a few times, it was in the way! Finally Mommy took the hint and left it off. Now I can see my other furry friend, her name is Millie and she loves me. She licks me when I go out there, I like to watch her. When I bang on this window door though, she runs down the stairs. I think she's a little scared of me.....

This is when Mommy & I roll and roll in the floor. She tosses me around and tickles me, I like it alot. Then she grabs that flashy picture thing, as always.....

I went to this guys birthday, his name is Tanner and he's my cousin. He is WILD, he is gonna teach me alot of stuff...I just know it. He just turned 2. (I snuck a bite of cake at this guys party, shhhh don't tell anyone though)

At that guys birthday, they had bubbles. I get bored when Mommy blows them. At this party though, they had them EVERYWHERE. Like a machine... I like that a lot. I want one of those machines. I like parties.

This girl is Layla, she is my cousin too. She is 4 now and she use to like to hold me really tight and want me to be still. What is SHE thinking?? She had a party too, I love parties! I think she may try to tell me what to do when I'm bigger, good luck with that girl! She wanted a mermaid outfit for her birthday, a tiara and a game. She gave her "order" to my Mommy, she even told her where to shop. We "hooked her up" and now she is a beautiful mermaid!

This guy is Jack, he's my cousin too and he's smaller than I am. I like to touch his hands. Everyone says "gentle, gentle, easy" when I head for him, I don't know why. He's a tuff' guy, I wouldn't hurt him. I see him on Sundays too, he's in my Sunday School class with those sweet ladies who kiss kiss kiss and love love love me. They NEVER put me down, but shhhh don't tell Mommy that.

I have found the coolest things in the big room where we eat. They are spoons. BIG GIANT spoons, I guess they are for a giant. No giants live here, so I play with them. They bang, bang stuff and I like it. One day I took one with me all day. I even took it to the bathtub because I wouldn't let that thing go!

Oh yeah and we went to the mall to see the picture people. I love the mall, I have a cool ride and everyone waves, smiles and talks to me. I "flirt" Mommy says, but I'm just a friendly guy and want to spread the love. The picture people girls were so funny and they said I was "so easy" and happy, they don't know I'm use to that picture stuff. I just smile and Mommy snaps away. It's no big deal and makes her happy. They also took my clothes off and took NAKED pictures of me with a tub and my bath toys. Can you believe that?? Surely Mommy wont put those here for the world to see, how embarrassing!

As you see we're busy at our house. We also had white stuff fall from the sky AND we go to a place they call they park that I LOVE alot these days. I'll tell ya about that later. It's time for a nap right now..... Thanks for stopping by.

2010-02-11T19:33:00.015-05:00

Bath Tub Fun

Who else would take over 50 pictures of playing in the tub??? Me!! Cole had an ingrown toenail that came off, got infected and caused all sorts of craziness last week. He's been on meds and last week had to soak 3 times a day in a bath with Epson salt. We're soaking once or twice this week and he's grown to love it more every day. He was already really enjoying bath time, oppose to the screaming fits he'd have the first few months..... but now he just loves loves loves bath time!! He plays with toys, bangs on the side of the tub b/c it's loud and he loves noises, splashes with his hands and kicky kicky kicks like crazy!! It's fun to watch and play with him, so this afternoon I brought the camera along for fun!!

So I wonder what this fishy tastes like?
Hmmm, tastes like chicken Mommy...

And hermit crabs, I've always wanted to taste one of those.
Yep, he tastes like chicken too.

A puffer fish you say?
Sure, I'll bite....
Yep, tastes like chicken.

Sea horse = chicken

Penguin,
you guessed it.

Duck, uh huh ... you're right
(thanks again Ms.April)

Pruney baby toes

Sweet little hands hanging on to the sides

Mommy this bath tub stuff is so funny!!

Ok people, you've had your fun.
Privacy Please!!!

2010-02-08T20:05:00.003-05:00

Cardboard Testimonies

Have you seen these? I recently saw these videos on youtube, along with tons of others, that churches around the nation are doing. What a movement, what a testimony, what a brilliant idea. I am overwhelmed when I watch them and they always move me to tears. They are a little longish 8ish minutes or so, they are so worth your time!!

My cardboard testimony ---

We wanted to be parents for almost 10 long years, we thought God might be saying "no" to parenthood.

God was saying, "Yes, wait, my timing is perfect" and Cole is 8 months old!

.............what is yours...............

2010-02-07T09:49:00.003-05:00

8 months

Who can believe we have an 8 month old?? Where did the past 8 months (or 17 months for that matter) go?? We waited for 10 long years for Cole to arrive and now his first birthday will be here before we know it!! People always say that time flies faster when you have little ones, we'd never have believed just HOW fast! The memories of waiting so long aren't far from my mind, so I always send out prayers for others who are waiting too. Memories of being pregnant seem like they were yesterday and how could it possibly be that long ago that we brought home the itty bitty 4 lb & 14 oz bundle??

At 8 months old....

Cole weighs 21 pounds!!

He wears a size 3 diaper, though not for much longer! He wears size 9 month clothes, the 6-9 months are mostly too small. He wears 12 month jammies and one piece outfits. He's torso is long, his legs are short like his Mommy! His belly is now hanging out of my favorite little striped sweater *sigh*.......

He eats food 3 times a day, still just jar baby food though. He gags when we attempt any kind of finger food or table food. He usually eats 2 jars of food at lunch & supper. At breakfast he has a very large bowl of cereal with a jar of fruit mixed in. He is drinking about 24-30 ounces of formula a day. He drinks juice mixed with water out of a sippie cup from time to time, more for fun than any other reason. Occasionally he will munch on his "food mesh munchie bag" with something inside, not often though.

A few of his favorite toys are his music, mirror, lights contraption from his Mimi & Pappy for Christmas. He loves to laugh at himself in the mirror and now knows how to make each musical instrument work on the stand. He loves the Lightning McQueen ride on car that his Grand Daddy (aka: Grumpy) got him for Christmas too. He will just sit on it and push the buttons for sounds, holding the steering wheel as long as you will sit with him! He loves his little bowls and uses those for toys as well. He loves anything that rattles and he can shake to make noise, he likes banging things together or on the table, wall or floor. He loves a little phone that came with the Lightning car, it has a clicky button on it. He still loves his giraffe and well, just everything he can put in his mouth. He's still totally in awe of his Elmo Live that Santa brought, it was a fantastic choice Santa!! He likes to laugh, be bop his head and put his hand in Elmo's mouth while he talks or sings.

Cole is finally back to sleeping at night again. The month of the sickies really did a number on his sleep schedule, but just the end of this past week we have gotten back into our routine of not waking up during the night. If he does, it's usually early around 9:30 and only for a few minutes. Otherwise he sleeps from about 6:30ish - 6:30ish!!

Cole usually naps 2-3 times a day. If he takes a long nap, an hour or longer, then the other nap is short and it's just 2 for the day. If his naps are short, 30ish minutes, then he usually takes 3. Just the last two weeks we have started making sure that all naps are in his bed, his pack n play if he's at Granny's. He had previously taken naps in the swing and being held often, especially on the weekends when he & Daddy napped together. Granny liked to hold him and he & I napped together in the afternoons sometimes too. We've discovered he naps much better in his own bed, now that he's use to it. (Wasn't so easy in the beginning, lots of waking up and crying!) He also sleeps better at night now.

Cole loves to be on the go. He likes to people watch and flirt. He typically enjoys shopping or going out to eat. He can now sit in a high chair or buggy (shopping cart for those of you not from the South ;) with his little seat protector. I'd highly recommend the Eddie Bauer one from Target that has little strappies to attach toys too, what a life saver!

Cole doesn't mind riding in the car during the day usually. If he's hungry or tired, he will cry himself to sleep. He will look out the windows, "talk" and play with the toys on his car seat. He can now pull the "jitter bug" toys down himself and likes to hear the noise and watch them jitter back up again. He HATES riding at night in the dark though, he screams until he tires himself out and to sleep.

Cole loves outside, walks to the mail box, riding in the stroller and looking at trees. We can't wait until it's warmer and we can spend more time outside!!!!!!

Cole has two walkers now, one at his Grandparents and one at home. He can RUN all over my parents house in the one Grumpy bought him. They have hardwood floors and he's all over the place!! At our house, with the carpet, he's much slower. He can get around, but doesn't love it yet. He will scoot around the kitchen and play while we eat supper though. He likes to bang cabinet doors that have child latches, so they only open half an inch. He banged so hard yesterday he ripped a knob off. *sigh* Life with a boy huh?!?! He rotates between that and playing in his high chair with his toys when we eat or cook.

Cole likes to put a paci in his mouth to bite on randomly. He was never a big paci baby, he would take it in stages. When he was teeny tiny he'd use it, but over time it became more of a last ditch effort that didn't often work. Now he has a few scattered in toy boxes and he will take them out on his own to chew on when he wants. I think it makes his gums feel better, rather than for a sucking on comfort thing.

He has started be-bopping his head around like dancing and it's the cutest thing ever!!

He now babbles Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma a ton!! In the beginning I think it was more of babbling sounds than actually for me. I do think now he knows it's me, but sometimes it's hard to tell. I've heard him babble Da-Da-Da-Da a few times, but Andy hasn't heard it yet. Same thing, we're not sure if he associates it with his Daddy yet or not. Other than that, he babbles, grunts and yells a ton. He will let out some huge squeals and yells if you aren't talking to him and he wants attention!!

He loves bath time now, good thing with those 3 times a day soaks this week. He likes to have a tub full of plastic friends. He loves to kicky kicky kick and splash splash splash!! There is a toy attached to his tub that he's discovered makes a loud banging noise when he hits it against the side of the tub. He loves that!!! He also cracks us up when he lays back, propping his head on the edge of his tub and kicks his legs up to prop on the outside. He looks like a play boy and it's a hoot!! He use to prop one arm behind his head to lay there, OH MY!!

Our newest fun trick is that Cole is crawling. He has been rolling where ever he wants to go for a few months now. He could get anywhere fast. He was also caterpillar crawling, backwards! He hadn't really mastered creeping at all.... ever. Before we knew it last weekend he got up and crawled a few times in a row. He would do it randomly. Suddenly in the middle of this week, he figured it out and would get up to go anywhere and everywhere. The last two days his speed has taken off and he's literally all over the place. Yesterday I had to put an ottoman in front of the stairs, we bought a gate and his Daddy hasn't put it up yet. This morning I've already had to shut the door to the guest bedroom and bring him back from various places tons of times. Our son is now VERY mobile!! Life is changing~

Above are pics of Cole crawling, fast straight for the stairs!! Him sitting in a cardboard box that Ms. Terry sent him a new Sesame Street quilt in. Him with the new quilt. He's munching on animal crackers in the mesh bag chewie. His New Years 7 month picture, his 8 month old picture. Him pulling toys from a box, one by one. (He'd take one out, examine it. Throw it over his shoulder and keep digging. So funny!!) His car and sitting in a box of toys, just to contain him a few minutes while we played!!

2010-01-09T10:37:00.022-05:00

2009
Year in Review
Part 1
Jan. - May

If you read my previous post below, you know I decided to do a year in review post. I started with June-December first, blogging backwards. That's me. Now the blogs will flow in order though, see... I had a plan. 2009 was the most amazing year ever with the last half of a pregnancy and the arrival of our cutie patootie Cole!! What a year, what a year!!!!! We are blessed beyond words~

"God is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine" Ephesians 3:20

January
January 6th was a much anticipated day as we went for our sonogram to find out that little Cole was going to be little Cole, a boy!! Such an awesome day! I went to preschool, beyond excited. Came home to meet Andy and we were off. We had the sonogram, got the exciting news and then wouldn't tell a soul. HA! We went to eat supper and then went shopping, all the while telling our friends and family that baby was safe & healthy, but we weren't sharing yet. It was nice to savor such a big secret for a few hours. By the time we arrived to my parents house that evening, my Momma was angry... he he he.....

We took this picture to post....here of course!! And on FaceBook as the "big reveal"!!

And just a few days later we packed up and headed to Disney World!! What else would you do to celebrate finding out you were having a boy?! We spent a week at Port Orleans Riverside and had an absolute wonderful "last just us" Disney visit!!

February brought Valentines, which I didn't document with pictures obviously.

It also brought shopping

And our sweet Layla turned 3

March came and the weather started to warm up

There were consignment sales to visit and bargains to be bought! (The swing where Cole naps now as I type)

My belly grew and grew

And our sweet great nephew turned 1, Tanner

April brought .. "modified" bed rest - YUCK!

I don't have a picture to accurately display the boredom that became my life on and off during April. My blood pressure went up, my body swelled like a balloon and I spent a ton of time in bed. In theory, time in bed sounds fun huh? When you're stuck there and told to stay put...not so great!

The person who really enjoyed my bed rest, Gizmo. He spent 2 months in heaven saying "this is the life people". He was so confused when we came home from the hospital with another person and bed rest came to an immediate end. Matter of fact we didn't see much of the bed for awhile.....

There was also our first baby shower by Andy's work family

We had farmer day at preschool-

I finished the curtains I made for Cole's room, with help from Momma since I was stuck in bed a ton of the time.

Easter came

May arrived ...and so did Cole!!

In May my belly got huge, but turned out our little Cole wasn't as huge as I thought.

My sweetie hubby bought me a wonderful Mother's Day present. I'd loved my old "Beastie" Durango very much, a favorite vehicle for me. (That's saying a lot if you know me ;) So he arrived home with this surprise!

The kids at school and the Mommies had a baby shower for me. It was so much fun!

My teacher friends had a shower for me!

My friends had a shower for me and some of my "babies" from Pre-K years pass came!!

The weather warmed up and much time was spent sitting beside Mom & Dad's new pool. There are NO pictures of my huge self out there beside the pool, but believe me it was a 'whale' of a sight! (Though it wasn't for months later that I finally got to get in it!)

The school year came to an end and we said goodbye to our muchkins. There were 2 weeks at home resting and wondering when our little man would arrive.

On a Friday, not any different from previous ones, our lives were about to change. What became an afternoon of running by Babies R Us (where we were actually buying something pink for the little sweetheart we thought we were going to adopt when she arrived in the fall) and a routine doctor visit, turned into much more. Next thing we know we are seeing baby Cole on a sonogram, being sent to the hospital for observation which turned into being admitted by the time we arrived. We checked in, made phone calls, panicked because suitcases weren't yet totally packed and then realized this roll of "ready or not" and "you thought you had plans - ha" roll of parenthood was arriving even before we thought!

On the Saturday evening, May 30th @ 6:45 PM....
Our little Raymond Cole Tanner made his appearance into the world!!

We fell in love even more and became parents!!

2010-01-07T19:35:00.038-05:00

2009 - A year in review - Part 2

I saw on my friend Anna's blog that she was doing a bog carnival, 2009 a year in review. Although I'm not participating in the carnival, you can go here to see everyone else's link to their year in review. I thought it would be fun to look back .... Wow, it's overwhelming now that I've started. What a year..... it seems like a dream!! Since it's already way pass when I'd planned to be in bed... I'm giving you part 2, the second half of 2009. By the time we arrive to June, our precious little Cole has arrived and we are leaping into parenthood with full force! Leave it to me to blog in reverse order! Enjoy.....

In June we began getting use to the idea of being parents. The much awaited dream & prayer, now a reality. It's much different in life than in theory! It was a month that was gone in the blink of an eye, it's all a blur and I have to concentrate on what happened. I blame that on lack of sleep!! That first month was hard, I wont lie. It was a dream, it was fantastic, it was all I'd ever imagined and we couldn't have been happier!!!!!!! I'm just stating the facts that the first month of getting to know each other and getting use to life with a newborn comes with challenges. I'm sure for Cole getting use to life on the outside was no picnic, he has been a wonderful baby though. We are so very blessed, in ways we couldn't begin to count!!

Cole came home from the hospital, in preemie clothes that were bought by his cousin Aimee. He was truly a boy with a closet FULL of clothes....and not a thing to wear!! He was so much smaller than we'd have ever imagined!!

At a week old he had his first photo session and what was his last photo session with that first little tooth! He was born with a tooth, you knew that...right?! Not 5 pounds and yet a tooth, we'd never heard of such. Bless his heart, he had to have it pulled. It was very wiggly and could be knocked out and swallowed with a bottle very easily. I can't stand going to the dentist and he was much braver than me, who was huddled in a corner close to passing out!!

Cole met so many awesome people that have waited on him a long time and love him very much, including (but not limited too) his cousin Layla and his Great Great Aunt Reene!! Our house was full daily of people coming to meet the little one, it was a precious time with family and friends. I value that time and those first meetings and cherish them in my heart always. You only have that "first meeting" once, ya know?!

We had a ton of firsts, including (but not limited to) a first bath! It was a nightmare.....for ALL involved, no one enjoyed that for sure!!!! (This picture is the epitome of what we all felt and I'm so thankful that tonight, at 7 months old, Cole loves bath time and sits in there splashing, laughing and playing the entire time!!)

We took a LOT of pictures....

and we hung out at Granny & Grumpy's pool!!

In July we celebrated the 4th ...

We left the world of swaddling behind....

And became a free bird.
(Because he never stayed swaddled, his arms always ended up like this anyway!)

We spent time with Great Grandmother.

In August we practiced sitting in the Bumbo seat, a great great invention!!

We took our first trip to the beach with Granny & Grumpy!

Where we spent time hanging out & Cole spent time admiring ceiling fans and sleeping in all our favorite places to eat.

There were LOTS of naps.....

Mommy enjoyed some much deserved and needed time with a book in the sun.....

And playing with the sweet baby boy too!!

Back at home,
We acted silly....

And we pitched some fits too...

Mommy finally decided it was time to take Cole to church and leave him in the nursery while we rejoined the world of Sunday School again. It was such a comfort to see the smiling faces of Ms. Cooper & Ms. Hollingsworth who have been in the nursery all MY life.. I'd have never been able to leave him in there otherwise! Thank heavens for church family!! Plus, we LOVE our Sunday School class and having Glenn for a teacher, who was my youth minister for awhile.

And we spent some lazy days hanging out before Mommy went back to preschool.

In September we took our annual trip to the Smokey Mountains, Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge!! It was Cole's first trip and the absolute best way I can think of to have spent my 35th birthday!!

While floods destroyed so many lives around us, we were thankful for the safety of our own home and the shelter it provided. Although we had very minor water in our basement and had to replace carpet downstairs, it was nothing compared to the total devastation just miles from our house. Our Austell neighbors lost so much! We were thankful to be together, dry and spend a few days "stuck" at home together! (The roads were so flooded you couldn't get out to go anywhere, in any direction!)

We watched Sesame Street & ate on our giraffe.

In October we took Cole to the fair for the first time, one of my favorite things to do in the fall!

We bought Cole his jumpy entertainer, which was one of the top 5 purchases we've made!! (With all those links Andy said it looked like baby jail)

I tortured Cole by dressing him up to take pictures, his Daddy claims no responsibility and apologized profusely!

And we headed out to take Cole on his first trip to Disney World, which led into November....

In November what better thing was there to be thankful for than our own silly turkey! By then Cole was almost 6 months old and absolutely cracking us up with his personality coming out so much!!

We got together after church one Sunday with the Tanner gang and took a picture of Mimi and Pappy (one of Andy's brother & sis in law) with all their Grand babies, plus Cole!

We spent one Saturday morning in the leaves in the front yard!! With the beautiful fall colors and this cutie pie ... well, it was a perfect combination if I do say so myself!!

December and Cole's first Christmas was wonderful, full of fantastic memories. There was Cole meeting Santa for the first time at the mall, he loved the big guy!

There's Cole meeting Santa for the 2nd time at Uncle Mike & Aunt Faye's church. He was amazed with Santa's beard that time!

Though not a fantastic picture, it's the my very first homemade (in Sunday School anyway) ornament of Cole's on the tree and that is something special folks!! Yes, his look is WILD~ I have waited on my own little one's ornament to add to our tree for 10 long years and this one is worth it, his little wild look and all!!

I saw this pose on a friend's hubby's website a few years ago, I knew SOMEDAY I'd take this same shot of my own munchkin! I found the jammies on clearance last year (or year before now I guess) and was able to pull them out for embroidering a few months ago. Andy helped baby wrangle while I got this shot in front of our tree. *sigh* I love it!!

Loving our newest Tanner addition, our newest great nephew, little baby Jack!! He is precious!

And finally, the last one. Finally being able to see the wonder through the eyes of our little Cole on Christmas morning, he could not believe that Elmo was right there in his house...talking to him, singing and moving all around. He LOVES Elmo Live!! I think his face says it all huh?!

2009-12-04T20:08:00.017-05:00

6 months old

Who can believe that Cole turned 6 months old last Monday?! (I started this blog weeks ago now and just had to fix that to "last" Monday, good intentions and all that) In some ways it seems like ages ago that we brought the tiny bundle home and had no clue what to do with him. In other ways I can't remember a time before he was part of our lives. He grows and changes week to week in ways I can't believe. Here are some random things about our 6 month old.

Cole weighs 18 lbs and 4 oz - a far cry from his 4 lbs and 14oz when we brought him home!

Cole's daily menu looks something like this:
7:15 (on the dot) he gets an 8 oz bottle
8:30-9:00ish - his baby bowl full of cereal (different kinds) and a container of fruit (different kinds) mixed in
10:00ish - 8oz bottle
12ish - a container of fruit & a container of veggies (he doesn't always eat all the veggies)
1:00ish - 8oz bottle
4:00ish - 8oz bottle
6:00ish - container of fruit & about half a jar of a baby food "meal" (tonight it was turkey & rice) he doesn't love it yet, so only eats about half
7:00ish - 8oz bottle

Cole's favorite foods are bananas and sweet taters. He loves all fruit OTHER than peaches, he will not eat those! He refuses to swallow them, ever. Not a bite. I love peaches, so I will keep trying. He doesn't like green beans, but you can sneak a bite down him here and there. Carrots & peas he will eat, as long as he gets a fruit bite in between. Squash he likes pretty well and sweet taters he loves, loves, loves. He loves apple flavored cereal best, he isn't fond of oatmeal at all. We went to the stage 2 foods this week and he is loving the fruit mix choices. There were so many!

He has 2 naps usually. We did well with the first nap being about an hour and the second being 2 hours for quite awhile a few weeks ago. Then somehow over Thanksgiving he decided he wouldn't take long naps any longer, ever. He's been taking only 2 naps that are about 45 minutes each and that's making him super tired and in bed a little earlier. He's a very good sleeper and typically sleeps from 7-7:15, regardless..... I said typically note. There are nights that he wakes up, usually b/c he's flipped on his tummy and it scares him, either late night or early morning. He usually goes back to sleep with a snack 2oz bottle though. (I know we shouldn't get him back to sleep with a bottle, but it works and who can argue with that?!) That happens very rarely now though.

Cole's favorite toys are his giraffe, thank you to a student's family from last year. You can get them at Baby Gap or online and he loves it to pieces. They're pricey $19.99, but worth it. He has been able to hold it on his own since he was very little b/c it's light, a soft rubber material that obviously feels good on his gums b/c he knaws on it to death!

He is currently loving rattles now that he shakes the devil out of them. A big favorite are links and we have them everywhere in our house. Every room, chair, nook & cranny, all bags (including my purse) have links in them. He loves his taggie blanket (so glad Layla & Tanner didn't like it and it was passed on to him) and plays with it a ton. Then again, he likes most of his colorful spit clothes too....but he loves tags on anything. If he finds a tag on a stuffed animal, he will chew and suck on it until it's drippy wet.

He loves bowls, his little plastic bowls he eats out of are tons of fun. He likes any toy that "crinkles", that's his favorite noise I think. We recently bought some of those mesh bag feeders where he can chew on "big people" food, ice chips, fruit, frozen fruit, cookies, whatever... through the bag. He goes back and forth between loving it and having no interest. (as I type he's gnawing on it with ice chips and loving it) We've also started giving him those messy "biter biscuit" cookies in the mesh chewie and just earlier today, on it's own. (OK, no more on his own b/c he choked on it and took a few years off my life earlier this week!)

He loves being in his entertainers. He loves, loves the giant jumpy Baby Einstein one that we bought him. We debated on the big ole contraption that jumps and are so glad we chose it. It's big and bulky, you can't really move it from room to room. But....one of his favorite thing is jumping (you'll know if you hold him) so this was perfect!! He also loves the exersaucer we borrowed from Macy Kate. It's light and easy to move from room to room. It typically "lives" in the bathroom where he stays when I am getting ready in the mornings, I think b/c he's not in it very much it stays new to him. I highly recommend everyone with a little guy or gall, borrow one from a friend to have in the bathroom or kitchen as something new and different to do.

Since Cole was little he's enjoyed "kicky" time. That's what we say when he lays down on a blanket in the middle of the floor. He likes to "kicky kicky kick" and boy does he. He's always liked his back best, much to his doctors dismay. . Now that he's a rolly polly baby though, he doesn't stay in one place long! He rolls from one end of the living room to the other in minutes. He is playing with the Wii, eating Christmas presents and getting too close to comfort for Gizmo. (Who wants to be close and watch him, but has no desire to be grabbed and nibbled on) He can scoot super fast on his back, like an inch worm. He can't figure creeping or crawling out for anything though. He lays on his tummy and kicks - arms straight out by his side - face into the ground - looking very much like a fish out of water. Both his Daddy & Grumpy has suggested he might be a fantastic swimmer.

Cole rolling away- he can get away so fast by rolling.....

Cole likes his bed and will play there with a toy if I need to run throw clothes in the washer or dryer. He lays there in the morning talking to himself and rolling around for about 15 minutes before I go get him. It's fun to watch him on the video monitor. (one of the BEST baby products we own) He has been sleeping there since he was 2 months old and it couldn't have been easier or a better choice.

Cole had outgrown the swing we had, so it's now retired to the basement - soon to be stored at my parents house. He is loving the one we bought for his Grandparents house though. They never used it (he's rarely put down there, imagine that) so we brought it home. He likes to spend a few minutes watching cartoons in it or taking one of his naps there. He's always liked to swing, since he was just 1 weeks old.

Cole loves lights! He loves ceiling lights, lamps, Christmas tree lights and Disney World (and the mall) fascinate him! He loves music and anything on TV with music catches his eye. Ceiling fans are amazing to him, he notices them everywhere we go. If they aren't on, he looks at us with a "are they broke?" look on his face. He is crazy friendly and doesn't meet a stranger. One our mall outing to see Santa a few weeks ago the boy schmoozed women left and right. Younger women, older women, didn't matter to him. He laughs, smiles, bats those eyelashes and coos like crazy!!

He's a talker and makes noises from the second he wakes up, until he's out for the night. He grunts, growls, coos, babbles, squeals like crazy and we keep thinking (5 times now) that he has said "Hey".... seriously? Could that be his first word or does it just sound like that? I'm thinking he is going to be quite the little talker, I don't know WHERE he would get that from??!!!

Cole absolutely loves Sesame Street. We've been watching for quite awhile. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't sit still and watch from beginning to end. It is his favorite thing on TV though and we have about 30 episodes on DVR that we watch over and over and over. NO ONE was more thrilled they started their new season in November than me!! I forgot how much I loved the show and how very educational it is, I've become a huge PBS fan..but that's another blog. Cole's favorite by far is Elmo. The voice, the red, the eyes...loves him! And when we play with Elmo Live in the store....oh my stars! Christmas is coming.... Other things he will stop from time to time to watch are "Super Why", "Dinosaur Train", "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and "Praise Baby" or "Baby Einstein" DVDs... Oh and "Price is Right" with his Granny!

This picture was in September, but it shows him totally involved in Sesame Street!!
He doesn't fit in his little Bumbo anymore, he throws himself wildly out of it.

Cole's favorite color is red, it really holds his attention. He wants to go all the time and will go to anyone that is standing up! He loves outside, trees are so very interesting. He likes to ride in his stroller now that he sits like a big boy, just be sure you keep moving. He likes to be read too and sits with big eyes listening. He loves doggies and likes to watch Gizmo & Millie to see what they are up too. He likes bath time now and is beginning to really splash in the tub!

He's now grabbing anything and everything within reach. He latches onto anyone's glasses with a death grip. He will grab for your neck and leaves wounds, he's all boy. He will put your finger in his mouth to test out his new tooth if you aren't careful. Yeah and he has a tooth now! We say a "first tooth", but since he was born with one....I guess that's not technically accurate. His Daddy tells him that he can keep this one for a little while. Thankfully so far, teething hasn't been a huge issue. He chomps on things more and more, pulls his ears a little more, but generally speaking it hasn't been too bad.

(you're suppose to see his tooth inside the little heart, may be hard to see here)

So there you have it. We sit in marvel daily at how much he's changed from the itty bitty baby we brought home in June. We hold our grea nephew, baby Jack, and are certain "Cole was never this small". (though Cole was 2 lbs smaller) It's crazy to think about, a miracle every day! God has blessed us with loaning us HIS precious gift, we are grateful and blessed!!

2 weeks & 6 mths

There are always more pics than you can stand to look at on Facebook, check them out!

2009-11-28T19:58:00.011-05:00

Disney Day 4
EPCOT

We decided for a first on the Tanner Disney trip and we made it to EPCOT before it opened, matter of fact about 45 minutes before it opened. We sat outside on a bench wondering why the other people were in standing in like, needing to be first? When they opened the turnstile we were able to get inside and then wait for the official "rope cutting" by the characters near the water fountain. It wasn't a big deal at all. What was neat, was that there were no lines in the character connection. Cole had slept the entire time we were waiting to get in, so we were anxious to see what kind of mood he would be in when we woke him up for something so different.

We decided to head straight to meet the characters and see what Cole would think. We only waited behind about 4 people and it took only a few minutes. I had waited a long time for my own little one to meet them and was so very excited. Would he laugh? Would he cry? Would he care??

It turned out he loved them! First up was the big guy himself, Mickey Mouse. Cole was a little shy at first and just starred and starred. He smiled and reached out for him after a minute.

The second one was Minnie and Cole absolutely loved her. He reached for her nose and tried to give her a kiss. (Ok, more like he was probably trying to take a bite out of her nose...but what's that minor detail worth?)

Donald was our least favorite and took up the least amount of time being interactive. We looked back at the pictures and all the other characters were so involved in playing with Cole and the pictures were of them hugging us or something. Donald was all about, here I am and it was kind of strange.

Pluto was fun and Cole loved the big ole doggie. It reminded him of his Millie & Gizmo at home.

Goofy was last and played Peek a Boo as we walked up, it was so fun. Cole really liked him. As we walked off when we were done Cole kept looking back over our shoulder for them.

We gave Cole a bottle and Daddy went to get fast passes for Soarin'. Then it was time for riding the Imagination ride and seeing Figment. He is one of my all time favorite characters and rides. I was one of the people who had a fit in 1999 when we went on our honeymoon and saw they tried for a brief moment to take Figment out of the Imagination ride, what were they thinking?! Thankfully, they fixed that pretty quickly. There have been periods on and off where you could meet him and I loved that. Currently though, he's not out.

Then we went to the Land where we rode the boat ride. (My friends girls call it the vegetable ride, so funny and I like that) It's also my Dad's favorite, Andy & Dad rode it one year over and over while Mom & I did other stuff one year. Anyway.... Cole found it....relaxing...

Then Andy & I took turns on Soarin' and holding a sleeping Cole. We had lunch in there too. Soarin' is one of our favorite things in 'all the world' these days. Then we ventured over to let Daddy ride as a single rider on Test Track while Cole & I shopped a little.

Daddy & Cole checking out the jumping water!

After that we decided to call it a day and head back for a nap time.

We had dinner reservations at Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's a very neat place to visit, with the animals just outside the doors. It was dark early though and we didn't get to see them this time. They have night vision goggles, but we've never been able to see animals through them. While it's a neat resort, it isn't on my list of places I want to stay.

Boma is very good though and we had a super awesome waiter. When I learned that my favorite, butternut squash soup, wasn't on the buffet that night ... I was sad and the waiter ended up coming back bringing us both a bowl. How sweet was that? I have tried every brand of butternut squash in the stores, ordered it several places and there is the only place I like it. It tastes like a piece of pumpkin pie, that's melted. It was so sweet this time I almost couldn't eat all of mine and couldn't touch Andy's. (Which had been my plan ;) Anyway, it was super sweet of our waiter. We were always a little nervous about trying it and it's "African theme cuisine", but there is a huge variety to choose from and it's very good. I do recommend it to people often.

Cole ended up sleeping all the way there, through dinner and all the way back. Poor baby probably thought we'd never left.

2009-11-26T15:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving from the Tanner family!
Andy, Monica & our own little turkey - Cole
Granny & Grumpy Rakestraw too....

2009-11-12T19:49:00.007-05:00

Disney Day 3

Swimming

Sunday was going to be our hottest day there, 90 degrees again. We couldn't wait to spend the day doing nothing and going swimming. It would be Cole's first time in the water other than dipping his toes this summer at my parents pool, he wasn't amused as a newborn.

(Shout out to the Howells. We'd planned to meet Jason, Jill and the kids for lunch. It takes so long to get Cole ready, load up and get somewhere...then return... We decided we'd just have to skip this time. I wanted it to be a nothing kind of day and getting ready to head out with a little one is anything less than an easy run out to lunch. We love yall and hope we can get together next time. I wanted Cole & Davis to meet each other.)

We went to breakfast in our hats and play clothes, then came back for long naps and nothing-ness. Then we put on bathing suits and were off. We went to the big pool (the themed one) first for about two hours. Andy grabbed lunch from the quickie place and we ate at the picnic tables by the pool, it was perfect. We sat by and watched everyone while Cole slept. Then it was time to take him in the kiddie pool and it was so funny. He didn't know what to think. He splashed a little, watched everyone and tried to decide if he liked swimming or not. He had a little girlfriend who kept coming over to tickle him and he really liked her a lot. He loves other kids, he wants them to talk to him. If they don't talk and smile, he doesn't understand and looks so hurt. We saw that happen a few times, he'd watch kids and wait...then look at us like "why aren't they talking to ME?"

After spending some time in the kiddie pool we went back to "our" pool in "our" section of Riverside. There are about 6 pools in the entire resort. "Ours" was right beside our room, we sat out there a few times every day and evening. We played in that pool too! Then it was nap time again for everyone!!

We had reservations for Biergarten @ EPCOT that night, but decided to cancel those and eat right there at Riverside. We've eaten at Boat Wrights there in the past and really liked it!! It was one of our favorite meals this trip too, so much we went back and ate the exact same meal another night. Prime Rib for me and Voo Doo Chicken for Andy, we had pecan pie with ice cream for dessert- yummy~

2009-11-11T20:00:00.012-05:00

Disney Day 2

Magic Kingdom, Halloween and O'hana

We decided that we'd spend our first day at the Magic Kingdom, of course! We had bought matching shirts back in January on our trip, just days after finding out Cole was a boy. It was very exciting to put on our cheesy matching shirts, love it!!

Cole was amazed from the get go with things to look out, a speedy tram and a monorail....all before we got in the park! We stopped at the ticket do hickey to get Andy's free 5 day hopper through the military appreciation and mine was $132 (would have been 99, but I added hopping....then we didn't hop....no biggie though) We could have got them at Shades or a base and saved on paying tax, but with buying just my ticket so cheap...we didn't bother.

-you'll notice Cole is using my burp clothes that I made and blanket just for the trip, I'm such a geek...had his name and a mickey embroidered on one so we can keep it and know where we were his first halloween-

We arrived and walked down Main Street with our very own little boy.....amazing!! We had our picture made, imagine that and headed off towards Fantasy Land. We got fast passes for Peter Pan although the line wasn't too long. Then we headed towards Small World which we are pretty sure was Cole's favorite. He sat wide eyed and mouth open through the whole thing. His head was going back and forth, back and forth!! Then we gave him a bottle while watching the Small World boats go through. It was time for Peter Pan which he also seemed to enjoy, though it was dark so he wasn't as comfortable in there.

for the record...i stick my big toes up like this and Cole does too.....

We walked through Liberty Square and then to Adventure Land where we saw one of my all time favorites, The Country Bear Jamboree. I love, love that show!!! We both know the entire thing pretty much by heart. Then we headed to the Tiki Room, but little man just couldn't hold his eyes open a minute longer. He slept right through. He slept in the stroller while his Momma and Daddy ate ice cream. (Dole Whip for Andy & then....well most of my Coke float for Andy too) Cole woke up and we went to Tomorrow Land and got on the People Mover (TTA, whatever they call it these days) It's always a favorite. They are working on refurbishing Space Mountain so it was all covered up in there. We thought Cole might have had enough for one day and decided to head back to rest.

Cole and Mommy on the people mover

After resting we had reservations at our all time favorite place in all "the world", O'hana at the Polynesian. Oh my stars! If you haven't eaten there, you MUST! They bring out all sorts of starters to share family style at your table. (Asian noodles, steamed veggies, BBQ chicken wings, the best salad ever (honey, lime dressing of some sort...could be my favorite part) and coconut bread..seems like I'm leaving something out)Then they come around to your table with meat on skewers right off the grill: pork, turkey, steak and then...grill shrimp. They are wonderful!! They brought us shrimp and more shrimp, finally giving a whole HUGE enormous skewer full to just us. It was crazy and yummy. Then for dessert they bring hot bread pudding with vanilla bean ice cream....banana foster caramel like sauce to pour over. Oh oh oh...it is so very yummy!!

People that hear me talk about our Disney eating obsession...but my kids wont like it, wont sit still, whatever. It's Disney folks!! They are there for entertaining your kiddos, never fear!! While Mom & Dad are chowing down, there is entertainment at O'Hana. There is a lady who teaches hula and you get a lei, she sings a song and kids slow dance with their parents, there's a kid parade and limbo and then coconut racing. The kids hit a coconut with a broom around the restraunt. Your kids will not be bored! The room overlooks Bay Lake, the other resorts on the monorail line and there is the castle in the background. Can you go wrong?? I told one family about it who ate there at night as Wishes (fireworks program) started at the Magic Kingdom and there little boy was asked to turn off the lights in the restaurant for the show, they pipe in the music and everything!

I had big plans of taking Cole somewhere for Halloween all dressed up. It was 90 degrees Halloween Day in Disney World...there was no way that he was wearing a fleece like Mickey outfit. People were dressed up all day though and we saw some fantastic costumes. People are So creative!! They were trick or treating at the resorts and everywhere else it seemed, pretty neat. We ended up going back and taking a few pictures of Toot dressed as Mickey and then pretty much called it a night.

2009-11-10T19:00:00.010-05:00

Cole's First Disney Trip
Officially Day 1
We arrive

I've dreamed for so long of taking our own little one to our favorite place on Earth, Walt Disney World. Finally last week, that dream came true! I had a lot of people say to me "He's too young, he wont remember it, what can you DO with a baby?" We've been going and doing for 10 years now and taking Cole was something we couldn't wait a day longer to do! So off we went....

We decided to leave Thursday evening about 7:30 after a day of work for both of us. Andy gets up about 5AM and I knew he wouldn't be able to drive as far as we both wished. Still, we knew any further down the road we could go, would make life easier on Friday. Cole had his last bottle, was in his jammies and we were off.

We made it to Valdosta around midnight and found a room at a Comfort Inn & Suites. I have to say it was one of the most comfortable beds ever. It had a feather topper and was queen size, the softest sheets. Ooo La La.... They didn't have cribs or pack n plays, so Daddy was lucky enough to spend the night in the bed with Wild Man! I hear it was quite the night of wild kicking and flinging himself around. When I woke up Andy was on the opposite side of the bed from where he started. Seems a little bitty guy takes up a big ton of room.

Cole in Valdosta in his jammies

We woke up about 7, had our free breakfast and were off again by about 8:30. Cole went back to sleep and woke up a few hours into our journey, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel to give him a bottle and change his diaper. (Just like our mountains trip that I didn't blog about) You can't beat a Cracker Barrell for their comfy rocking chairs and clean restrooms. We got a cheese & cracker plate, extra pickles and sweet teas to go. Cole had to have a little entertainment for about an hour so Mommy crawled between the seats and wedged herself between the mountain of stuff to entertain the doodle bug. Crawling through was quite the sight I'm sure....

We arrived, checked in within a few minutes (people, pre-check in online for Disney...takes you one minute to grab your resort room keys while everyone else waits in line) and unpacked. Our room was fantastic. It was right beside the parking lot, a pool (there are a bunch at Port Orleans Riverside) and laundry area. (Which we used every other day!) Perfect, perfect location!! It was our second time there and it has become our favorite I think.

Cole finds a "not so" hidden Mickey in our room!

----Side note here to say Riverside is awesome! Check out the January blog for pictures around the resort. It is located along the river and very pretty. You can rent boats, ride the "river cruise" to Downtown Disney or just enjoy the boat traffic. The table service restaurant "Boatwrights" is very good and the quickie service place has a ton of selections. The bar area, which is entirely family friendly and not your typical "bar area" at all, is so much fun. More about the wonderful night with Mr. Piano man later. There is a store, of course. There's an acrade and a big ole lobby. You can take a carriage ride from right there or just visit the pretty big ole horses. The walkway to Port Orleans French Quarter is a wonderful easy walk. You can use the pool and all over there as well. The "main" pool at Riverside is cute with the slide and all, a kiddie pool and the area is really neat. There's a fishing hole where you can cane pole fish, a huge play ground and they have story telling by a camp fire at night. There are 5 or 6 pools located between the other buildings and they are pretty big as well, with laundry facilities at each of those areas. There is the "mansions" section, where we've stayed both times. "Think Gone with the Wind and Tara" Then there is "alligator bayou" which is more... cabin like. It's the only resort that "techincally" holds 5 people, there's a trundle slide out bed. It's a beautiful resort with tons to do right there"------

Anyway.... we had supper at the quickie resort location. I had yummy turkey, mashed taters and veggies. Chocolate cake for dessert, gotta love the dining plan. Andy had a chicken caesar salad and oatmeal raisin cookie. Yummy~

Then we hopped on the boat (another reason Riverside is so neat) and headed downtown. It was the first time we've been by the Tree House Villas since they have reopened, sure would be fun to stay there. Our friends, Amber & Jonathan, stayed and said they are super neat. The 10ish minute boat ride is a nice way to get from place to place for sure!!

Downtown Disney was PACKED and there were kids in costumes everywhere. It was still the night before Halloween, but they had trick or treating at tons of locations and boy the kids were out in droves. We met my wonderful friend Terry and hung out awhile. We walked around the World of Disney, lines were way too crazy to shop though. We took some pictures, visited a bit and got scared to death by a magician. (He came out of nowhere and talked into a microphone, making poor Cole cry like crazy. The only real time he cried all week and it was because of the surprise factor, the man came out of nowhere)

By then the crowds were crazy, Cole was tired and we called it a night.

Terry, Cole and Me

Andy, Cole & Me

2009-10-27T20:33:00.000-05:00

Guess who leaves for Disney Thursday?

2009-09-02T16:41:00.007-05:00

Temper

You've seen the pictures, but here they are again... with a few more just for fun. My son, has a temper. It's just a fact. He came into the world screaming.....

Exhibit A

Granted most babies come into the world screaming. I wonder if 3 months later they are all having outbursts randomly just to see what Mommy & Daddy will do?!

He's had these outbursts randomly from time to time since he was about a month old. Typically you know one is coming if he's tired or hungry. That's when babies are supposed (suppose? Supposed? I don't know!) to cry, I completely understand their need to communicate this.

Exhibit B

His first bath. Let's just say it didn't go "swimmingly"!!

Ok, just kidding. I know, I know. He is allowed to scream through his first bath, it's scary!!

Exhibit C

What you don't see here is that he was laying there playing with me, all smiles. 1/2 a second later this is what happened. He gets bored with me and instead of politely saying "Mommy I'm really tired of that toy you are dangling there and that little voice you are using, please let me have alone time" ... He goes nuts!

Speaking of nuts...

His Daddy says he "nuts up" or is "nuttin' up" or he's had a "nut up"...... Daddy's words.....

Exhibit D

This time we have all the photo evidence.....

He's laying with Daddy playing happily, talking, smiling, just enjoying boy time.....

But wait a half second later we have it coming.....
(Yes, I see the bib.... )

And there it is, seriously folks this was all in about 2 seconds.... he goes from smiles to purple in minutes!!!!!!!

You want to ask.... are you sure he's not hurting? Maybe it's a tummy ache? Maybe he's really tired? Maybe he's growing and needs more to eat?

People - HE JUST GETS ANGRY!

A few weeks ago I was sitting on the couch with him, Andy was cutting grass. Cole had eaten a bottle, burped and all was right in the world. Within seconds he went bonkers on me. I thought I'd hurt an arm picking him up wrong. I hugged him, he screamed. I laid him down to be sure his arms & legs moved, he was fine. I tried to lay him on his tummy, his back, rocked, swayed, bounced, talked, sang, jiggled, swaddled, unswaddled, changed his diaper... I was ready to go get Andy and say SOMETHING IS WRONG.....

Instead... I decided to take him to our bathroom and put him in his bouncy seat, turned on the exhaust fan (b/c doesn't every baby like that noise? mine does) And within a second, he went from that face up there.... to a seriously happily smiling, babbling baby .... no joke!

His Daddy holds him and dances around the house like an Indian (feather, not dot ... I know not politically correct, but I needed you to get the picture) and he chants. Cole usually stops crying. Me... nope I go for naked time in the floor (Cole, not me!) , Cole loves being naked. Or I go for the bouncy seat and exhaust fan in the bathroom! Sometimes laying in his big bed with the mobile will do the trick. *sigh* Whatever works right??

*Had to come back and add the little sweetheart also holds his breath when he's angry. Turns pretty shades of purple and you have to blow in his face to get him to breath again, fun huh?! HE HE HE*

.......

And if you don't believe me... Feel free to ask Amy McFarland Houseworth, her sweet sister Cathy, either of their children and wonderful Ms.Dian. THEY didn't believe it either, even said that... until he showed them that wonderful little temper last week. Had to make believers outta them! .... Or his Granny & Grumpy, he doesn't just do these little fits for us...he lets everyone have a shot. Mimi, Pappy and some cousins got a taste yesterday too. Yes, we want everyone to see the little love bug at his finest.

Yeah you know this post was written in fun. Although he does have a huge temper, the thing is you never know when it's coming, there are no warning signs. He is absolutely the sweetest and happiest baby in the world 99% of the time. I wouldn't even say he's a fussy baby, he just has a few moments. He smiles at everyone, loves to "talk" all the time, laughs out loud and is the sunshine in our lives!! (temper and all)

2009-09-01T16:36:00.007-05:00

Fall

I absolutely love fall. Summer is fantastic and I love being home, vacations to the beach, lazy days in the pool with a book, flip flops and a good tan. None of that can top the warm fuzzies that fall gives me though!

I love the smells of fall. I pull out the apple and cinnamon candles, open the windows and smile. I enjoy the last few smells coming from the grill and leaves burning in people’s backyards. Ah, fall….

I love the sights of fall. I love the hay, corn, scarecrow and pumpkin displays in yards. I love the leaves when they turn bright shades of red, orange and yellow. (Shhh, when I say that it sends Andy into a tizzy because he’s the one who ends up raking them and we have soo many! The leaves from our entire cul de sac blow down our driveway and stack themselves waist deep a few times before it’s all said and done. I digress…..)

(Our front yard in 2005 I think? Grand Daddy's last birthday here with us)

I love the tastes of fall. I love to make pumpkin pie and apple tasting at school. I love that the mornings are cool enough for me to enjoy coffee again.

I love the events of fall. I look forward to arts & craft shows, college football season and the weather just right for me to play golf again.

I love school in the fall. I love getting to know my new little friends. I love the smell of a new box of crayons. I love our apple unit with poems, painting, crafts, tasting and graphing. I love when we explore pumpkins, roast pumpkin seeds, everyone wears orange, we have scarecrow day and visit our pumpkin patch.

I love when we get to camp in the fall. We head to the lake and get that perfect camping spot. We can set up the camper in no time, we have it down to a science. I love sitting in a chair and watching boat traffic, feeding the ducks, watching the sun come and go, taking a walk and saying hello to all the camping neighbors. I love the smell of a fire and roasting marshmallows, make mine just a smidge dark please! I love seeing the deer, watching squirrels and life slowing down for a few days. I love playing board games at night and spending time just us away from it all. I can't wait to take Cole camping. (I guess it wont be so quiet huh?!)

Don’t get me started on how much I love the fair? I have no idea what it is about it that gives me the warm fuzzies. I don’t get on the rides there anymore, but love to see the smiles and hear the squeals of those who do. I love to see all the twinkly lights at night. I love the greasy, fried, fattening food and it’s always such a hard choice on what to get! I love visiting the farm animals and even walking through the handmade trinkets. I like to see who grew the biggest pumpkin and what the winning flowers are. (and some years we make it to the state fair in Perry which is a huge fair on steroids, oh my I’m in hog heaven then!)

The mountains, we absolutely love the Smokey Mountains. Fall is the most wonderful time to get up to Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg, TN. We usually make it sometime around my birthday weekend in September. We ride the chair lift, eat at our favorite places, walk down the main strip, go outlet shopping, maybe take a "short" scenic drive, eat Karmel Korn (yes I spelled it right), get taffy for taking home, visit the nature center for a walk in the woods or watching the movie out there, riding the tram to the Ski Lodge and maybe seeing the bears. Oh and eating at a pancake house or two. The only times I crave pancakes are when we're there and it's sort of "law" that you must consume pancakes while in the mountains. Mmmmm....... Perfection!!

(our annual picture in 2006,we get one made every year :)

I can’t wait to be the one taking pictures of a certain rolly polly baby by a big honkin’ pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. I’ve waited on that a very long time! There are so many firsts that I know Cole will never remember, but they do OUR hearts so much good, I can’t stand it! J

For so many years Halloween broke my heart and cute munchkins ringing our doorbell, dressed in their attire, would break my heart and make me cry. This year we’ll be spending Cole’s first Halloween at the Happiest Place on Earth. We’ll have our own cutie pa tootie dressed up and enjoying the lights of Main Street. We wont be handing out candy at our front door, but will be eating dinner at our very favorite restaurant in all the world, O’Hana! I can’t tell you how excited I am!!

Fall is the beginning of the Holiday season where we gather to give thanks with our family and friends, followed by Christmas and OH How I LOVE Christmas!

So as todays high only reached 71 here in HotLanta, the stores have their scarecrows out…. I smile, take a deep breathe and say “Welcome Fall! Welcome my absolute favorite season, it’s good to see you!”

2009-08-31T06:46:00.015-05:00

What’s Up - Mommy hood - Busy - What I’m learning

Those are all options for this blog‘s title. I can’t believe I now go so long without rambling here. For those (3) readers that pop in here, keep in mind I post pictures on Facebook all the time. You can always go there to see the cutest baby on the block! Otherwise… here is what I have (or haven’t) been doing lately.

-I did change the blog layout to get ready for my favorite season! (another blog on that to follow) !

-I have not read through my ever growing pile of books stacked in the guest bedroom. I have read all the Dr. Suess books we own at least 10 times each, the Veggie Tale books we have about 152 times each and most other books in Cole’s faves (meaning they rhyme) collection a few hundred times.

-I have caught up on my DVR shows during late night feedings and found some strange shows I can't live without. I have been watching (or listening to) Little Einstein DVD’s and any cartoon that has music! I have not watched a single thing in "real time" in months!

-I have not been staying up late to play online. I have been going to bed before the sun goes down! (because at some point during the night I’m up with the moon…and a sweet baby… for an hour or so)

-I did not get a better tan, read all the books I took, go shopping (for more than an hour) or see a movie while at the beach with our family & my parents. I did have a dream come true taking Cole on his first vacation, take turns with everyone inside playing with Cole while the others enjoyed the beach, finally finish reading one book I took & watched our sweet boy sleep in all our favorite restaurants in Panama City.

-I have been watching Cole gain weight and grow like a weed the past 3 months. I’ve watched him grow into and then back out of clothes at lightning speed.

-I have laughed until I cried, the good kind, daily at Cole’s antics, silly faces and listening to his Daddy talk to him.

-I have learned how to type, write, read, get ready, unload the dishwasher and many other fun things while holding a squirming baby.

-I have learned that one itty bitty baby causes more laundry than should be possible. (of course part of that is also OUR clothes because we’re peed or barfed on a few times a day)

-I am learning that being a morning person isn’t so bad. If Cole will continue to sleep 8 or 9 hours at a time. I can handle going to bed at 9 and getting up at 5. Who would have ever thought that I’d say I was thankful to sleep until 5 or 6AM????

-I have learned that singing or talking to a baby in the backseat can sometimes keep him calm. I’ve also learned the routes everywhere around town that will avoid the most amount of red lights. (he hates to stop moving)

(in the carseat on the way to the beach where he had his Daddy & Granny in the back to entertain him! his Mommy gets car sick, yuck!)

-I’ve learned that 3 hours in my parents pool while they love on Cole is something to be so thankful for on a summer sunny day. It’s good for everyone’s soul.

(and since I refuse to post a picture of ME in the pool, here's one of Cole's Daddy & Grumpy)

-I’ve learned that when Cole holds his breath, turns red (and then purple) and shrieks at the top of his lungs…it’s not because he’s hurt, sick or dying…he just has a temper!!

It is not irony wasted on me that he is wearing a bib that says happy, no siree!!!!!!

-I’ve learned that if you take 100 pictures at the time while holding the camera slightly beside your face and making silly noises….you just might get one good picture out of it. (you were right Wendy)

(or at least a fun picture) he he he..........

-I’m learning that the best laid plans are just good ideas when you have a baby.

-I’ve learned to put a paci in and pat a baby back to sleep without ever opening my eyes.

-I have figured out that Cole is 100% fascinated with the bathroom exhaust fan and hair dryer. He will sit entertained in the bouncy seat for me to get ready as long as these things are all running.

-I have learned that you better keep an extra container of formula in the cabinet at all times.

-I have learned that if Cole’s grouchy the mobile in his big bed will almost always make him laugh. He loves those guys floating over his head!

-I have figured out how to pack a diaper bag for any foreseeable (or not) events!

-I learned that a degree in child development would not help a single second when I brought my very own newborn home from the hospital. I learned that having my own baby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week was nothing like babysitting or working in daycare with other people's babies for a few hours a day. I learned real life is nothing like the book says!

I am learning that although Motherhood is much harder than I ever imagined, it is also more amazing than my mind (or heart) could have ever fathomed!! And I am learning that daily, I have a lot more to learn!!!!

2009-07-27T09:42:00.003-05:00

There is a blogger in our "blogging world" that everyone knows and loves. Her "real" name is Jennifer and her bloggy name is "McKMama". She is a gifted writer, amazing photographer, a Christian warrior and the Mommy to 4 little munchkins. Her youngest has been fighting SVT (a very irregular heartbeat) since before he was born. They never thought he'd be born and make it in the first place. He is here though and he is a precious little guy. He has been in and out of the hospital several times. He is there again right now and this is about as bad as he's been. Things aren't looking good for him. For a little boy doctors said would never be born alive though, he's a fighter. God can do anything and I'm praying for a miracle. If you'd like to read more about Stellan, click here. If you don't have time, please say extra prayers for a little boy named Stellan and his precious family. As I sit here with my own little one napping by me on the couch, my heart breaks for a family watching their baby sturggle like this.

2009-07-22T18:32:00.003-05:00

Way back Wednesday

My friend Janelle does 'way back wednesday' and I thought I'd follow in her trail this week. I am so bad at blogging now with facebook so easy to use and so many friends and family members on there. The bloggie is neglected, I'll try to do better.

Here is a picture of me with my Grand Daddy in 1977, I was three. This was Christmas and he'd bought me a doll. We were tight, always were. I have a 2part huge long tribute post to him click here

I miss him bunches, he's looking down on us from Heaven for sure. It breaks my heart that Cole will only know him from pictures and memories, Grand Daddy LOVED LOVED LOVED babies and kids and they LOVED him back!! Having his own Great Grand Baby would have thrilled him to no end.

Andy & I say that Grand Daddy is the reason God sent us Cole. Grand Daddy has been in Heaven on the phone with God (Grand Daddy's favorite form of communication was the phone and he called me every day of my life pretty much) and bugging God to send us a baby. That or sittin' in rocking chairs with God telling him the same thing.

He would have loved Cole so much! They would have been so close. Breaks my heart I say~

And here we are a few Christmas' ago. Still sittin' with him and he was still buying me toys for Christmas. I loved it as much as he did!!!

2009-07-10T07:55:00.010-05:00

Pictures at Target

Let me start this by saying, things that may seem so mundane and normal to you.... are so huge and exciting to me. Keep in mind I've been watching friends (and strangers alike) take their little one for pictures for 10 years with jealous eyes. So... to have last night arrive and take our own Little Toot for pictures was quite the landmark event in the Tanner house.

I am mad at myself for not going when he was tiny, but what can I do now? I take SO many pictures DAILY (bless his heart) that I hate to spend money getting 'em done too often. Plus, my best friend since childhood, shout out Amy, is a professional photographer. She has been trying to bring her studio to our house for weeks, but life (lives an hour away, surgery, 3 kids and travel) have made it impossible so far. I was lucky she got to visit and meet him the week he arrived. I finally made the decision to get on it and make an appointment before he turned 6 weeks old, which happens tomorrow. Where does time go???? (I've been a Mommy for 6 weeks, Holy Moly)

Anyway... there are dozens of places to get 'em done, as you know. For me it ended up being all about being close and easy to get too after Andy got home from work. So off to my favorite Target we went. I was very pleased. They offered tons more options than I went for. Cole being a little guy and not able to "pose" too much, she had many ideas. I opted to skip the traditional newborn "mushy" shots. I can't stand (no offense to those who have them, they are just SO NOT us) those pics with parents staring lovingly at baby, baby on naked shoulders, yadda yadda. They are sweet, but so not us. So... we didn't take a ton.

I really liked the lady who took them, she seemed to have a creative spirit (wether or not she was following the script) and she was very friendly. She was great with Cole and I enjoyed her. Target offered tons of options for printing, tons. She showed me how to work her computer to edit the pics how I wanted, make my own layouts and price the entire thing as I went. Was nice to have control. However I could have spent HOURS playing with them and Cole was finished shopping with Daddy. ---- He was WONDERFUL for the pics, played right along. What can I say, he's getting use to it. Then he & Daddy went to look at golf stuff, match box cars and bought an icee... then they took another stroll b/c I was still playing....then they come back DONE. I wanted to edit more and ran outta time. I think it could have been Andy done more than Cole..anyway, I digress.

The prices are about average to what other studios offer, it does take a week instead of printing on site. You can view them online, I had an email by the time I got home with the link. They are little low resolution view shots, but that's great to see what they did. Plus you can order more from online and they even hand you a sample sheet. It's not pics per say, but just printed like a screen shot on regular paper. Again, nice to look at and at least see what you ordered b/c you forget.

Now... I would have loved a professional session away from a "box store", but again.... I want them done often and can't afford that. So.... eventually... for now I'm happy.

Who can talk so much about pictures other than me?

I also didn't want him in a pastel blue or white baby outfit. It's so not him. He's a little tough guy and doesn't even own a "baby boy" outfit like that. So I chose this little green & white outfit that fits him well and I thought would work just fine.

I'll stop rambling and show ya a few favorites.

Ok, more rambling-
I also wanted at least one picture of us together. I didn't really want a "formal"ish portrait of any sort. I wanted it to be kinda fun and playful. So... I went with a football plan and am SOOO glad we did that. I think it's adorable. The little jersey was from a lady Andy works with and if we wouldn't have put it on yesterday, he never would have. It's already really too small (didn't think I'd ever get it back off, oops) He is growing so fast! Again, we didn't need a huge variety and I sure didn't need more options to have to choose from. So we only took a couple. I think they are a pretty perfect representation of us though! (only thing better would have been a Disney picture and don't think we didn't talk about it, but we're going in a few months....so I resisted)

So... enjoy our Little Toot and newest baby Bulldog!

2009-07-04T21:56:00.006-05:00

Happy 4th of July Yall~

Hoping you enjoyed a beautiful day filled with good friends or family, good food and good times. Hoping you took time to thank God for our country, freedom and those who fight to keep us free!!

2009-07-01T07:16:00.003-05:00

What does he weigh?

I'm taking votes on what Little Toot will weigh today at his Dr. visit. I have people voting on facebook and will give ya a chance here too. He weighed 4 lbs 14 oz at birth. Two weeks after that he weighed 5 lbs and 8 oz. That was a little over two weeks ago. He's eating about 4oz at a time typically and about 7 times a day. The picture is of him earlier this week. We're finally wearing our cutie newborn clothes instead of preemie, yipee~ He was seriously the one to say "Mommy, I have sooo many clothes in my closet and not a thing to wear!"

Proceed in voting in the comment section, prize to follow for winner here and at facebook. (Once someone has picked a weight, please don't chose the same one again)

Do it quickly because I'll close voting and have a winner later this afternoon.........

2009-06-12T11:15:00.006-05:00

10 Years

Wow, all I can say is Wow! I would have never imagined how awesome the past 10 years would have been.

I would have never imagined how much I could love someone even more than the day I married him, but oh how I do love him more! I would have never imagined that it would take us so long to have kids, but wouldn't trade the journey for anything! I would have never thought we'd spend so much "just us" time before kids, but am so thankful for every single minute of it. (despite how hard it was to wait) I would have never imagined after signing up with our adoption agency that I would get birth, ever, but here I am 13 days after doing just that with the little one here to prove it. I would have never thought Andy would be the "baby hog" at our house and yet here we are with him never putting Cole down.

I can't begin to say how much I love Andy more every single day. People have always said "I love him more after seeing him become a Daddy" and I can now attest to just how true that is. Seeing Andy stand by me for the birth, which he swore he might not be able to handle, made me appreciate him even more. Seeing him change dirty diapers and jump from being soaked while I lay helpless in a hospital bed, made me love him more. (and cracked me up) Watching him feed, burp, change and gaze into Cole's face every day the past two weeks...make me love him more.
Catching them on the couch sleeping together, looking like twins 40 years apart, make me love him more. Hearing him talk to Cole continuously, makes me love him more.

Sometimes I think my heart is going to burst!

10 years of being married to my best friend on Earth, I am so blessed! A lifetime to look forward too, how much more can a girl ask for?

I blogged about our wedding and marriage last year (click here) and am even more amazed at our journey today. God is so good!!

Ecc 4:9 “Two people are better than one, they can help each other in everything they do”

June 12, 1999

June 12, 2007
8 yr anniversary cruise

April 2008
Birthmom letter photos, on our way to becoming parents

September 27, 2008
My birthday and already parents-in-the-making,
but we didn't have a clue.
In Gatlinburg.

Easter 2009
Getting so close to welcoming Cole

June 10, 1999
Almost 10 years to the day and here we are, family of three.
At my parents house.

2009-06-08T18:47:00.005-05:00

Cole meets his cousin Layla.

We've been waiting on this for quite awhile, actually so has Layla. She has talked about him for quite awhile,though not thrilled he was going to be a boy from the get-go. She wouldn't have much to do with her baby brother when he arrived a year ago, but then just 4 months later seemed to love on her other cousin Trey a little more. She has become such a "Motherly" little thing and has changed so much. She came in the door saying she wanted to touch him, he was in his swing. I asked her if she wanted to hold him and she was in the chair in a second flat. She held him FOREVER and was so very gentle and sweet. She talked about his little hands and his little feet, wanted to know why he would make noises from time to time. Her Mimi & Mommy both asked if they could take him and she'd say "Maybe I'll just hold him"...... I think she'd still be here with him if it weren't for the fact that he peepeed straight through his clothes and on her, yikes! Bless her heart!!! He says sorry and I'm sure they will have many adventures to come!!

2009-06-06T14:49:00.002-05:00

In need of some cutie entertainment, you've come to the right place!!

2009-06-05T08:22:00.002-05:00

First doctor visit

Yesterday, Thursday, was Cole's first visit to the doctor. We had TONS of trouble finding someone who took our Tricare insurance, I spent hours on the phone earlier this week. Thankfully the group we found is actually the one who checked on him in the hospital and although they are in Kennesaw, it didn't take us long to get there. They are super and we're thrilled.

For those in the area..... West Cobb Peds, on our side of town wont accept Tricare Prime. That is where we were going to go, they told me during my first phone call they did. Ugh! However; we are going to their flip side East Cobb Peds, who do accept it. Go figure. Insurance, business, I don't get it all.......

My doctor anxiety kicked in, worrying about him. He did great though and I think he's pretty relaxed about new things. We were surprised at how calm he was with the big "look over". He had only gained 1/2 an ounce and that isn't enough for how tiny he is. We are turning the feedings on "high" and filling him up!! We can already tell that by patiently getting more in him, he is more restful longer. We go back next week where I'm sure he will weigh more!!

I have to say the first "outing" where we packed him in the car seat (literally with blankets on each side, he's so tiny he gets lost in it!) was really amazing. Out we went diaper bag and baby in hand. One of those little things you envy seeing other people out and about with THEIR babies for so long. Sounds little, but if you've waited... You understand just how "big" the "little" things are!!

2009-06-02T14:57:00.003-05:00

Cole is here!

No time to ramble, but thought I'd try to throw up a few pics super fast.

Raymond Cole Tanner
arrived Saturday, May 30th @ 6:45 PM
4 lbs 14 oz 18 & 3/4 inches long

Mommy & Cole on Sunday

Daddy, Mommy & Cole
headed home on Monday

Cole hanging out at home
Monday night

2009-05-18T09:06:00.004-05:00

Millie....
Silly dog

Let me tell you a little more about our Millie girl. She is absolutely the pickiest (is that a word) thing ever! She has issues with pills, see below explanation. She also has certain kinds of food she doesn't like and treats that aren't her favorites. She's not one of those "eat anything" doggies.

Week before last we had roast, taters & carrots for supper ... twice. We had leftovers and decided to give Millie the little that was left after that. She is obviously not a veggie lover. She ate the meat out first, naturally. Then she picked out the taters. Finally she picked up the carrots, one by one. She would swoosh them around in her mouth and spit them back out. It was absolutely hilarious!!

I'm not talking about letting them fall out of her mouth here and there, the girl was SPITTING them out all over the place!!

She'd pick them up again, like .... "are they any better if I try again?".... then spit them out again.

They were on the stairs, under chairs and by the door. It was a hoot!! So... she's not a carrot lover.

She has all sorts of skin itchy issues and we've been given her all sorts of medication her entire life. She is NOT to be tricked any longer. She refuses to touch peanut butter with a 10 foot pole. She knows peanut butter means a pill is stuck somewhere in there. She wont touchy sticky cheese, there's a pill to be found. She wont eat a bite of cookie, meat, whatever until she has taken it apart and sniffed it completely. Andy tries it all. He ends up resorting to holding her mouth, throwing the pill down her throat, holding her mouth closed and rubbing her neck so she swallows. (and she's still known to spit one back at him randomly ;) Thankfully she's also the sweetest thing EVER and would never bite him, despite the pill torture. (He will be well trained for baby)

When we started bringing leftover cake home from showers, he got the idea to put some icing on the pill and try that. Who doesn't love sugar, right? It worked! She stopped sniffing it to death and taking it apart, she will eat icing immediately. So.... butter cream icing is the key! Well, what happens when you run out of leftover cake??

You start adding butter cream icing to your grocery shopping list..... for your dog!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-17T15:07:00.009-05:00

Cole's Room!

Well, finally after almost 10 years of planning.... I think we are finished in Cole's room!

Here is looking at the crib, toy shelf, verse I finally painted (though a little crooked ;), tree we got all done, verse Lindsey painted and curtains too.

A little closer of part of the verse, picture on the wall and inside the crib. He will sleep in our room in the travel crib for awhile, so for now .... the new stuffy fluffy friends can hang out there. Thanks to family & friends for them!!

Perfect verse, that has been a favorite for years, that Lindsey painted. I couldn't love it more. The colors are so perfect and the fact his name is in there is so awesome!!!! ((Love ya and thanks chickie!))

Another direction-
laundry basket with his name can be for toys or whatever too. Fabric comes off frame to wash. Love it! ($7 at Marshalls ;) Initials I painted are there left of the window. I need to add pics in the frame on the wall.....

Looking at closet & door. Another bag from the $1 spot at Target that I had his name and a doggie put on.

Behind the door. Nursing cover us, hats, sling and diaper bag ready to go!!!!!

Closer of stuff on shelves.
One basket has bibs, one has mittens/socks/hats and the other has burp clothes. Containers have paci's and other has paci clips. Piggie bank with UGA and name, diaper caddies and goodies galore.

Looking in the closet that is packed. Clothes in both directions, plus drawers in dresser are crammed full ;) What can I say? Toys on top shelf are ready for Christmas!

Curtains I made. Mom helped me finish when I was stuck in bed. I had the plan for years to do the patchwork thing and it turned out perfect. I knew this way I could add pink or blue. I am so in love with them!!!

Now all we need is Cole!

2009-05-12T07:56:00.003-05:00

First 'almost official' Mother's Day

(Someday I will totally catch up blogging, someday. Meanwhile, let's talk about Mother's Day)

If you know Andy & I very well, you know about our trading vehicle obsession. My Dad owned a used car lot most of my life and well, I had different vehicles all the time. Funny that I meet Andy who has the same obsession, with no excuse! Let me throw in here we are BOTH on our 14th ;)

It's technically "my turn" to trade at our house, but the thing was..... I loved my Durango. I traded the bug (which I also loved) for it 3 years ago and have shouted from the tree tops that it was by far one of my top favorite vehicles of all time. It was a 2003, in very good condition and the most comfortable thing to drive/ride in. It was huge to haul my "stuff" to and from school and it already knew it's way to Disney World & Port Canaveral and back.

We have been talking about me trading for one a little newer, but I was so content that we decided there was no reason. We put brand new tires on my "beastie" and all was well. On Friday night we had a discussion that although newer would be fun and nice, mine was great to hang in there until a new year.

Saturday morning Andy takes it to get the transmission serviced, so it'll be all ready for hauling around a new baby. Meanwhile I talk to my brother in law on the phone (who has the same vehicle obsession and had just traded trucks AND bought a camper without telling his wife last week!) He, randomly, says "how do you know Andy wont come home with a new transmission, wrapped in a new vehicle. (After all Andy traded twice without telling me, came back once from a work trip to Arkansas in a new truck, on our anniversary) I assured Mike that we'd talked about it the night before and Andy wouldn't do it this time.........

Naturally, an hour later Andy pulls back in.......without my Durango!

He tells me that I am going to make the best Mom ever (he is so sweet) and he wants me to have something newer and better to start my Mommy job and driving around a new baby (or babies). So he traded for a beautiful 2007 Durango. It is a little bigger than the older one, taller which makes getting in & out quite an adventure at 9 months preggers. It is so pretty, red is my favorite color! It's soooo perfect, even more so than the other one. My Dad even looked it over and said "So you got a brand new one" It is so perfect inside and out. I am thrilled with my much newer "Beastie" and so very thankful for a sweet, sweet husband!!!!!!!!!! I'm a blessed, blessed woman!!!

2009-04-29T08:38:00.002-05:00

Out of Order....Ugh..... I started the baby shower post and didn't publish on Monday, so if you've seen the school Mom's Day one...... Scroll on down to catch up with Andy's office shower too...... Two new post (and we wont count this as one!)

2009-04-28T15:47:00.009-05:00

Mother's Day Tea

I haven't blogged in ages and have so much to say....... I put so much on Facebook, but really enjoy blogging as well. So.... here's a recap~ Carpal tunnel took over my right hand, who knew that happens in pregnancy sometimes? It is better this week, but the only thing that sets it off is ..... typing! So that's why the lack of blogging posts, I promise to go back and catch up.... Slowly, but surely. I have been on bed rest, a modified plan, since last Tuesday. The blood pressure wasn't pretty at all. I was given permission to return to preschool two days this week. So.... I jumped back in "the deep end" with going back for our Mother's Day Tea!!

The bulletin board has our "Mom questions" on it and it's one of my favorite things to do with the kids. I do it for our Donuts with Dad as well. I love sitting down and just chatting with the kids, it's a hoot! Here are some of my favorite things.....

How old is your Mom? 50- 4 - 15

Why did God make Mom's? to drive us to school, so they can tuck us in at night, so they can have more babies

What makes your Mom happy? me!, huggin' her, when I behave at school

What does your Mom do while your at school? goes to the bank, just lays down and rests because she walks at night, she goes to Target, she works and makes money selling girl scout cookies

When does your Mom look pretty? in her dresses, when she wears her make-up, in her pajamas, I like the way she looks - I just like to stand back and look at her

I love when my Mom? takes me to get ice cream, flies kites with me, tucks me in and reads to me at night, is nice, fixes my toys when they are broken

They also drew picturs of their Mom's. The Mom's had to guess who was who-

Our tables looked like this. The hats we made (they painted them last week) are on the chairs. Gifts on the table and some flower die cuts thrown out for fun. We were going to make something cute out of our napkins, but that didn't happen.

The wrapped things are mugs/cups. I wish I had a picture of them!! I die cut "MOM"with my cricket machine and put their picture in the "O" Then they made finger prints yellow that I turned into bees and green caterpillars. They were then laminated and put into the mugs. So cute!! Oh wait, I have one from last year. I'll post it, just a different color scheme. This year I had pink/green/yellow/white scrapbook paper, pink letters & yellow & green critters. It matched the other "stuff".

It was SO GREAT to be back after being gone a week. I missed my "babies" like crazy. Their hugs, silly stories and smiles absolutely make me feel better instantly! "My Mom's" become my friends every year and I love hanging out with them as well. Some I've had 2 (or 3) times and they become some of my best friends inside and then out of school as well!! I'm so thankful for the amazing "Mommy friends" I've made over the years! They becoming email buddies, lunch/dinner friends, couple friends for Andy and I, Disney traveling buddies, camping buddies and in many cases the best friends ever!!

It was great to be back and the kids already knew I was at "home resting to take care of your baby". So they were really sweet. For now, I'm on the every other day plan. After a day with them (and a nap ;) my blood pressure was just great, so I look forward to Thursday and finishing our year together!!!!! (2 more weeks!)

Speaking of said parent/Mommy become friend, here is one to show how cute the hats look!! :) My awesome friend Andrea (who gave me permission to post this) with her son, M. (I"ve had two of her kiddos) She is wonderful and I love her dearly! Aren't the hats adorable?????

2009-04-27T07:58:00.024-05:00

Andy's Office Shower

Disclaimer: I know, I am soooo far behind in blogging. I have to retrace some and catch up. So, "live from my bedroom" because I'm on "modified" bed rest..... I bring you back a few weeks to the shower at Andy's office!

The people Andy works with are absolutely fantastic. He spends so much time there and traveling with them too, that they are an extended family to him. They have been waiting on us to become parents right along with everyone else. There are two wonderful girls there that are also pregnant and they, along with Andy.... talk "baby" every day. The stories I hear of them "educating" him are so fun. They threw us our fantastic first shower!!

You also have to remember that I have spent years (and years - 9 to be exact) avoiding baby showers at all costs. I skip them whenever possible, making up all sorts of excuses. (true) If I "had" to go, like you nieces I love & adore, it was usually to sit in the back and shed my own jealous tear or two. So this day of OUR first shower for OUR baby is more than I could ever explain!!!

They had adorable decorations....... the balloon that floated in our ceiling for 2 weeks and is still inflated! I think it's too cute!!

Maggianos for lunch, HOLY COW....... ((2 kinds of salad, one had chicken. Cheese ravioli (which I ate for days at home too...) Veal ravioli, spaghetti, bread and two cakes))

Great games.... we played the "don't say baby" pin game, win loose or draw baby style (hilarious) and measure Monica's belly with toilet paper......

Andy's onesie, such a cheater!! It's Ok, cause my team still one!!! :)

They were so sweet & generous with lots of fun baby gifts, soooooo much fun to open! (especially with Andy there too!) Here's a few~

After gifts we cut cakes. Can you believe Andy was cutting right through the little baby booties, ugh!! Boys~ I had to fuss at him, of course someone caught it on my own camera! :) ... and then we made up ;)

Just a sample of the friends there, notice all the men have their phones/black berries in their hands! I have tons of group shots, but wont post 'em all.

The wonderful hostess', they are sooooo sweet and thoughtful. Sgt. Fields, on the left, is having a baby girl in the fall and Sgt. Martin, on the right, is due a few weeks following. (not sure if he's a he or she's a she yet)

All the goodies at home, we just love looking at them. So much fun!!!!! It was a fantastic day shared with Andy and I enjoyed it sooooo much!!

2009-04-13T09:31:00.006-05:00

Happy Easter

We had a wonderful Easter and hope you did as well.

It started with Easter baskets for a family of 3!!! The Easter Bunny (much to my shock) had left a basket for Cole, how sweet is that???? Andy's basket is one he's used since he was little and the brown bunny inside has always remained in the basket, neat tradition. (I always got a new basket) I love using the same one and have been since we married and "he" bought me my first one! I look forward to continuing the tradition of "your basket is yours forever"......

Our day continued with an awesome church service in which this song makes me practically weepy. I can't control myself and am thankful for a Savior who LIVES and blesses me daily!!!!

We came home for a photo op and getting ready to head to (one of) Andy's brothers.

Lunch, egg hunt and fun times with Mike, Faye and the gang!!

Followed by watching the last few hours of a great Masters!

Great day, great day!!

2009-04-10T15:34:00.001-05:00

It's Friday, but Sunday's a comin'

2009-04-07T08:36:00.001-05:00

Give Away

My friend Janell is having a give away, go here and introduce yourself to get a chance. What have you got to loose? :)

http://janellscraps.blogspot.com/

2009-04-04T12:53:00.002-05:00

Cole's Room

...truly a work in progress....

Who would have thought we'd be just a few months away from meeting our son and still not be able to sit back and say "his room is totally complete"? Especially since we have been working on it for well over the past year and a half, well.. 9 if you count the years of picking up this and that!!

Mom & I had bought Winnie the Pooh stuff for baby's room years and years ago. Then I ended up selling it and starting over a bit when we decided to head towards adoption. I "had" to stick with the Pooh theme because of ALL the stuff I couldn't part with and my "mini" obsession with the old fluffy bear myself. I've still sold stuff on Ebay about 3 times, given Pooh stuff away and have way more than I can ever find room to store.

I did really like this new Pooh we chose and that the colors could be added to as we went. Pink or Blue, either way. Finding out about little Cole made it all the more fun. I had painted my (very shaky) trees on the wall this summer and then last weekend I talked (begged, pleaded, nagged) Andy into using the stencil and adding the little blue birds to the wall. I'm thinking about gluing on a button eye, but haven't decided. (thanks to Shelley for the idea) I'm also considering adding a "sew on" look border between the colors, like a painted on "quilt stitch" kind of thing. Again, thanks Shelley and we'll see.....

Last weekend he also replaced the curtain rod and I am going to finally make curtains this week while I'm home for spring break. I bought several kinds of material and they will be sort of like a patchwork quilt. He also hung up the coat/bag rack behind a closet door. I didn't take pics of all around the room again this time, but I will. Oh and (he was so helpful) he also hung up the letters that spell Cole! We knew we'd never get them straight (nothing I do is straight) so we went with the crooked look from the get-go. Saved a huge headache and I like them that way!

I'm also still talking family into helping me paint a Bible verse on the wall along the line where blue meets brown. I think we've finally chosen a verse from my favorite three. You'll have to check back to see when I update pics again.

A few weeks ago I finally decided there was no way I could live with the book shelf we had in there. It was so tall and Cole would be 15 before he could reach the top and it wasn't fitting for me. So I got this super cute "square" shelf at Target. I like the baskets or no baskets idea and I think it can be useful, pretty much forever.

Eventually it will be done, meanwhile there is nothing I like more than going in there and sitting. Organizing things around, shuffling through the closet, sniffing baby lotion. People asked when I started this room over a year ago "don't you feel like you are jinxing it" or "doesn't it make you sad to see baby's room, with no baby". I never felt that way though, ever. To me it's always been the spot where someday, somehow God would send out little one. I trusted his plan and "prepared" for the blessing I knew he would send. Granted at the time I thought adoption was the only we'd he would bless us. Praying with faith we'll call it. Look at us now....................... A baby in my tummy, under my heart due in just 9 weeks and a hopeful heart that adoption will also play a part in our family story!!

2009-03-31T17:11:00.004-05:00

Growing, growing, growing!

I worried so much in the beginning when I wasn't actually gaining weight and this past doctor visit, well.. let's just say the doctor said "we don't have to worry about that anymore now do we?" Ooops! (However most of it was a huge swelling problem that I have gotten a little more under control this week) Anywho-

My friend Wendy said I should take pics weekly and she is right, I wish I would have. At 31 weeks today though, it's a little late for that. I've taken pics of me here and there, but I wish I'd have taken this same pic each week. Here we go though, at least 3 stages to compare. Thanks Lindsey for letting me borrow clothes, including this cute shirt! I thought it would be fun to have the same shirt on in each picture.

16 weeks

21 weeks

30 weeks

2009-03-23T15:59:00.005-05:00

Crafty Initials

I love to paint, I'm TERRIBLE at it, but I love it. I have a sister in law and two nieces who do great work. Me, not so much. I have the shakiest hand in history. I get carried away and add and add and add, until ugh.. it's an overwhelming mess!!! I played with these all weekend, added stuff, painted over it. Glued stuff, took it back off. Anyway, this is what I ended up with. (I know, the T is crooked in this pic, sorry it's fixed now)

Raymond Cole Tanner in case ya forget the initials. They are hanging on the wall, done!

R - stitching on left is rub on, then paint squiggle. stripes are pathetically mine and shaky. shoulda used something for edges i know, such is life. buttons glued on and few painted dots

C- painted stripe, painted dots with pencil eraser, glued on button hands, want to write a verse or quote in the top right corner, but can't make it look decent so far, painted over it a few times

T- painted dots & squiggle, glued on ribbon

2009-03-22T10:44:00.002-05:00

29 Weeks
March 21, 2009

Here is an updated picture. As you can see, I'm looking rather huge all over. Strangely enough, not really my belly. Anyway, there ya have me in all the glory.

The fun news is that last night for the first time ever, Andy was able to feel Cole kicking. It's been so frustrating for a month saying "seriously, you can't feel THAT?" He was wiggly all day yesterday as I cleaned and organized at home, but then last night he was super still. That, as typical for me, sends me into a panic. So I ate a sugary snack and still, nada-nothing-zilch. I prayed and decided to trust God and get some sleep. Then.....right as I got super comfortable and still....he woke up!!!! So finally last night in Cole's gymnastic routine right before I was drifting off to sleep, Andy got to feel him a few times!! He says it's still super soft to him, funny it doesn't feel that way to me! It was exciting though!!

2009-03-14T06:38:00.005-05:00

Casey Hannah Tanner

Sometimes, life is just hard. Ya know? Here's the thing before I get started, you're either a dog lover and you will understand my rambling post this morning...or you are not and you wont.

If you are a dog lover, you understand. You understand that our furry babies ARE our babies and are spoiled rotten. You understand that if they are sick or in pain, we can't rest until we know they are better. You understand sleepless nights worrying about them. You understand the need to buy them treats, get them presents from Santa, be sure they have comfy pillows for sleeping on, taking their picture constantly and talking to them like they were human. You understand when we let them sleep in the bed, lick us in the face and cuddle on the couch.

You understand why when Casey didn't make it until day light this morning, why my amazing and big hearted husband was outside at 4AM burying her in the dark, in the rain.

You understand that for the past 4 hours I have cried until you'd think I would be out of tears. You understand why I am heart broken our little Cole wont get to be licked by Casey when he comes home from the hospital or wont get to throw the ball for the smartest lab ever. You understand why for the rest of today and probably the next few, things will be really hard at the Tanner house. You understand because you've probably been down this road yourself.

We'll be fine, life goes on. We are waiting on our son to join our family in about 11 weeks or so. We have so much to look forward to and we are blessed beyond our imagination. Ephesians 3:20 says "God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine" and man that has come so true in our lives. We would have never thought this time last year that I would be pregnant with our baby. God's plans are way bigger than ours. We have two (sometimes three) furry friends who need us to love on them as well. I know there are greater losses going on in the world, I know there is sickness and death. I know people face things much bigger than what we face this moring. However; that doesn't mean that we wont take time to think about and miss our wonderful sweet chocolate lab, Casey.

Casey had Andy's heart, way before I did. He tells me the story of going to pick her up from Bowden, she was a country puppy! She lived inside for two and a half years and was loved by Andy, his brother Mike & his Momma like crazy. I hear about her puppy years of peeing when excited, sleeping in the bed and being able to clear a room with a toot!

Before Andy & I got married, he went out of town one weekend and left Casey with me at my house. I decided to let her sleep inside, in the bed with me! Morning came and Ms. 70 pound lab refused to get out of bed. I had to shake her and push until I got her off. That girl, that girl.

When Andy bought his first house, he & Casey moved in. They fenced in the back yard where Casey turned into an outside dog, she was fine with that and loved the outdoors. She welcomed Gizmo & I with licks and tail wags when we joined the family.

She was an amazing big sister to Millie (our part black lab) and they have been inseparable since Millie came to our family, via the Easter Bunny in 2000. Millie doesn't like baths, quite frankly she's terrified and cries the entire time. One summer day as Andy gave the girls baths on the driveway, Casey came to Millie's rescue and licked her (and the soap) the entire time. We think she was trying to comfort her baby sister. She was patient with Sport, the bird dog, who lived with us just a few short years near the end of his days. (He was very old when we got him, though still quite... um... frisky in his old age.) She has always been patient with Gizmo as he nipped at her heels and barked at her contstantly, she just ignored the pestering little brother.

That girl has cost a fortune in Pet ER visits and sleepless nights over the years. She had seizures for a few years, that would scare us to death. We eventually figured out it was the kind of heart worm meds she was on and changed them. She liked to eat anything and one time it was rocks, that was a ER visit where they wanted to do emergency surgery, we skipped the surgery and the rocks came out all on their own a few days later. (ugh) We had her camping once and had to rush her to the ER because she got very sick and turned out her stomach had flipped upside down. Thankfully with total rest, everything went back to normal. That girl was nothing if not one for keeping us on our toes. We wouldn't have it any other way though!!

Growing up with doggies, both of us, we've shared we heard both of our parents say "We're never having another dog again" when one passes away. It's just too hard to deal with. If you are a dog lover ... you've probably said it yourself. Yet there you sit with a lovable critter on your lap even now. It's hard, loosing someone you love is hard, but the ride is so worth it.

I've often said if Andy had to choose between Casey & I, I'm not sure where I stand. They have loved each other more than words and that's Ok. You know how it is with first loves and all.

Andy with the girls in the back yard. Lovingly we referred to them as "fatty" (Casey) and "big ears" (Millie) Everyone has to have a nickname, right?

Me with the girls in the front yard. Casey saying "throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball"

The girls hanging out in the back yard, Casey always with a ball close by.

2009-03-05T15:32:00.004-05:00

More mystery mail

I have to say that I love getting things in the mail. I have a wonderful friend Terry who sends me things from time to time. I've posted my "pickle picture", when she found out I am pregnant she sent a jar of pickle's. Then she sent Andy a pack of hot wheels to start off his collection for Cole, she didn't want me to have all the fun. She sends various crafty goodies to share with my kids from time to time and it's so fun.

Then there was the mystery envelope that appeared shortly after I started talking about my pregnancy. It contained an adorable striped maternity shirt, that I wear a bunch. I've posted a picture and thank you on here, as well as facebook. I've yet to figure out who it came from. No note, no return name & addressee. How fun .... and mysterious.

This week, we received a mystery box in the mail. It was addressed to both of us and again, had no note, name or return addressee. It was full of precious baby boy things and we loved taking them out one by one. The outfit has boats and is too cute, blue paci and you can't have enough of those!! There is a great frame for growing up pictures and a cute toy piano that has a mirror and plays all sorts of games & music. Then there is a box with blue & white baby washcloths and the cutest blue duckie with white polka dots you've ever seen. (He's my favorite, he makes me smile!)

So.... once again, if you are my mystery mailer. Thank you, I'd love to tell you personally! We appreciate your kindness and getting things in the mail is SO MUCH FUN!!

Update: My wonderful BFF from elementary school, April McLane Albritton, sent the package! We have a ton of crazy, crazy memories together and now.... we are cousins by marriage. (I think, is that right?) She & Andy are 2nd cousins, such a funny thing. We went to school together from elementary through high school and I love her dearly. I finally remembered she lived in Perry and sent an email, sure enough it was her!! So shout out to April, you're super sweet and I love it all!!

2009-03-02T18:55:00.005-05:00

Tanner's 1st Birthday!!

2009-03-01T10:04:00.004-05:00

Happy 1st Birthday Tanner!
We love you!!

2009-02-17T14:14:00.005-05:00

Thanking the Lord,
Valentine's Weekend
and Registering Galore......

My first exciting news is that I passed the glucose test. If you read my previous post (see below) you know I've been a basket case worried about that thing. They let me know today I passed and not just passed, but it wasn't even close. It may look like a tiny miracle to some, but to me it was HUGE. Just a reminder God cares about it all and he's got me in the palm of his hand. Insert *sigh of relief* here!!

This weekend was Valentine's Day. I have chuckled with friends over the last week when we say "are you doing something romantic" and we all laugh, yeah right. Those days were gone with saying "I do". Seriously though I don't need roses that will die, chocolate that will break my face out or expensive gifts to remind me that Andy loves me. Thankfully he's a man who isn't afraid to remind me 100Xs a day if I need it and I'm so blessed. (I did get a box of chocolate and sweet card) Our Valentine to each other was our $200 deposit for our Fall Disney Trip, Cole's first official trip (outside the womb - he he he)!!

We decided to make the most of our icky weather Saturday since we were stuck inside anyway. We went to Babies R Us to register!! It was so much fun! Thanks for your advice a few posts back, it helped. I will confess to you here, because you're going to find out eventually right, that we have 15 pages worth of stuff!! Yep, 15 is what I said! We decided it was better to go ahead and put it all on there, you never know. Plus, we get to buy whatever isn't purchased at 10% off if we've registered for it. The place was crazy insane crowded, we spent almost 2 hours in there. Andy was a trooper and truth be told, had as much fun as me I think. I'm pretty sure there are some things on there that I don't know about, maybe I should go look at it more closely.

We got a $10 gift card for registering and I bought two sets of onesie shirts. One set is cowboy print that I absolutely adore and it will match my cowboy blankie I'm making. The other set are little cars & things that match a blankie I bought there a few months back!! I spent under $1 ~

We had our Valentine Supper at Ippolitos, good stuff. It wasn't our original plan, but we'll get to that. It was close to Babies R us and it was fantastic. We'd eaten there a few weeks back after a doctor visit. Great Italian place if you've never been, over across from Town Center, check it out.

I had a coupon (thank you Misty) for Gymboree, so I "had" to stop on the way home! The clearance stuff was 20% off the clearance price and then my coupon was an additional 20% off the total of that. Wowie Zowie, good deals. I got some super cute stuff, pictured below. The monkey blanket I had way before Cole was a possiblilty which is so fun and the little monkey hat our niece Ruthie bought for Cole. So it was fun to find monkey things to go with it.

Sunday was filled with church, lunch (where I was about to beat the door down because we were there early and they hadn't open the door yet, can't keep a preggo hungry woman out I tell ya) and then a quick nap. Followed by "Shopoholic" movie with my awesome friend Misty!!

Monday was a school holiday & Andy was off too, yipee~ We went to I-HOP for breakfast and decided to register at Target. It was empty in there on a Monday morning, so it was fun!! We came up with 6 pages worth in there, even though Target's baby section isn't that huge. What can I say? Target is my favorite place and we registered for some things at both stores. (That was the right thing to do, correct? I figured most people wouldn't make it to Babies R Us)

Monday night we went back to our original plan for Valentine's which was Sapparo for Japanese, yummmmmmm...... Funny because everyone else ate out over the weekend. We were the ONLY people in the entire restaurant last night! We had the place and our chef to ourselves. It was fantastic though, good times!! We now have one on our side of town, if you're near Hiram/Dallas there is now one on 278!!

2009-02-14T11:41:00.005-05:00

My Friday the 13th

When I went to the doctor last week I was anticipating them saying it was time for the glucose test and she surely didn't disappoint. It was time. I decided to go yesterday and prepared a few days before trying to really watch what I ate and stay clear of sugar. I'm not sure if it helped or not, we'll see. I got there relatively early and got the "red" fruit punch flavor. I have to say that after all the talk of "it's horrible", "hold your nose", "it's so sugary it makes ya sick"... blah, blah, blah. I was surprised to find it tasted a lot like Hawaiian Punch to me and I liked it just fine, nice and cold no problem!

I had a book to keep me entertained and the hour wasn't really that bad. They took blood and I was on my way. My biggest fear in all of this is failing and having to do the long test. Not because I'm afraid of having gestational diabetes mind you, I'm afraid of the test. I'm afraid of fasting for 12 hours, going there to sit for 4 more. I MUST eat the second I get up in the morning. I'm known to eat an appetizer cracker or fruit before I have time to fix actual breakfast. I get a headache, sickie and such if I wait long at all. So, the thought of not eating is what has me terrified. Nutty huh?! I have to wait until Wednesday to find out if I passed the 'ole test or not. My doctor office uses a Lab Corp location right behind their office and I have to wait until the results get back to the doctor. So lots of prayers said and we'll see what happens.

Moving on......

Then I went shopping!!

I picked up lunch on the way and headed to the mall. If you've heard me mention the mall at all in the past handful of years, you'll know I hate it. I use to love the mall, shopping, window shopping, whatever. Andy & I spent 'a many a' evenings going to eat and then just walking around the mall. The last few years I've gotten old and crabby I guess and have no desire to walk around aimlessly fighting crowds and unruly teens. I go only when necessary.

The necessity arrives when no where carries very many maternity clothing items anymore. What is with that? Where are we suppose to shop? So I headed to the mall to Motherhood for some much needed garb.

Meanwhile I'd seen one of those handy American Cookie Company stands and was already dreaming of a cheesecake brownie!! I use to love those things and couldn't wait. Or a pecan chewie cookie or piece of cookie cake or ... maybe one of all!! (after all I'd watched the sweets and deserved a treat right?) I dreamed of my goodies and came out of Motherhood only to find the Cookie Company there only takes Cash? What are you, kidding me? Who carries cash these days, sadly never ever me! I was heart broken. I asked the little teeny bopper, are you SERIOUS? They were.... and on I went, without a beloved cookie.

I did take another few minutes to run in Baby/Kid Gap. Trouble I know! I can't resist clearance racks and found the cutest shirts ever. The blue onesie, blue plaid shirt (how cute is it?) and the orange shirt with fake blue one underneath were all $4.99 each!! A bargain for sure!! All denim was buy one get one 1/2 off and I ended up with 2 pairs of jeans, 2 sizes. They're precious! And then I found my way to the (not on sale) summer swim wear. I found swim trunks, a swim shirt & hat that match and are too fun!! With my parents pool getting water in it on Monday and a for sure Disney trip in our future, I couldn't wait to buy those fun things!!! The afghan in the background there is one my Mom made.

I escpaed the mall and headed to Joann's, oh the joy of a craft store! I spent an hour and a half roaming around and looking. I ended up with yarn for another blanket, I'm already about finished with one. The colors I bought this time match the swing, stroller, etc.. stuff I want so I thought that was fun. I also got material to make two little blankets, so fun! I love the monkeys, the green & brown is adorable. Then the retro 70 style cowboy material was too awesome to pass up!! I also walked out with letter's to spell "Cole" and a few other random small items. I love that place, good thing I don't go over there often!!

I decided to call it quits shopping before I found more trouble and headed back home, via a stop at my parents house. Where we sat outside a little bit and enjoyed the last few minutes of wonderful, glorious, warm sunshine before the clouds came in.

My Friday the 13th was wonderful, not scary a bit!! And now a long 3 day weekend with Andy at home for it all, good times I tell ya!!

2009-02-12T14:35:00.002-05:00

Happy Happy Birthday Layla & Steve (aka: Pappy)!!

2009-02-06T09:54:00.009-05:00

Saturday @ Sea World

-The longest Disney trip report ever comes to an end -

There are many wonderful perks that we are blessed to enjoy through the military. One of our favorites on the side of fun are the great deals we get at Disney & Sea World. Busch parks offer free tickets to active duty military persons and their immediate family once a year. We didn't use our Sea World day the past two years and were very excited about going this time!!

Growing up I always loved Sea World almost as much as Disney. I dreamed of being a "Shamu trainer", though I never have liked to actually swim. (I'm a lay on a float kinda girl) The Shamu show makes me cry, always has. I have no idea what it is about the beautiful creatures and music, but it gets me every time!! It absolutely amazes me at what they've done to the park over the years, it's sure come a long way. I'm not just talking about the addition of thrill rides, though "Kraken" is fantastic!!! (and they are building a new coaster now) I'm talking about the way you can pet & interact with the critters, the beauty of the park and the feel of it all. It's an awesome place!!

Though I need to add here that the interaction goes and comes. When we were there a few trips ago you could walk up to the edge of the new beautiful and huge dolphin area and pet them if they came up. The staff was there to call them up with whistles from time to time. Andy & I both got to love on a few dolphins and even throw a basketball to play with one guy. It was absolutely awesome. They have changed it to a money maker now though and I was disappointed. You can't get to the edge of the area unless you pay to feed the dolphins, otherwise you're a fence behind just to view. Why does it always have to be a money maker??

We plan to make it to their sister park Discovery Cove eventually where you can spend the day interacting with critters: swimming with dolphins, snorkeling with fish, etc.... You reserve a day and they only allow so many into the park each day, it looks amazing! They also now have a water park and it looks fun too. (I did a dolphin interaction on my first cruise with "the girls" years ago, so amazing. We talk about doing one again on a cruise, but it's always so expensive and we've never broken down to do it.)

We started off visiting the Sea Lions which absolutely crack me up. I could sit on a bench and spend hours watching them!! I love how they bark and beg for you to feed them fish, so funny! (Watch out for the birds though, b/c they will snatch the fish outta your hand in a flash!) The sea lions were swimming, sunning on the rocks and a few were cuddling or fighting. Fun times......

Look at this little guy with his Mommy soaking up some sun. So sweet!!! How can you not love them?!

This guy made me laugh out loud. He was hanging out on the rocks, with his head soaking in the water. Absolutely hilarious!! He stayed that way the entire time we hung out to watch him!!!

We were not impressed with the dolphin show at all. It was the first time ever I walked out of a Sea World stadium saying "are you kidding me?" They have really "fluffed it up" with people flying through the air and swiming on things, it's way more of an aerial "people" show than a dolphin show. I would have rather watched them swim around the tanks on their own than watched the people flying through the air. It was a sad let down!! This was the few minutes that the dolphins were actually out there swimming.

We thought it was interesting that there are currently 6 females Orca's (killer whales) at Sea World and 2 babies, but no males. I need to research a little online. I wonder if they have recently "lost" the Daddy Shamu? (Amber, do you know??) They had a hard time starting the show because a Mommy and baby were hanging out in the "big tank" and wouldn't go "back stage" for the trainers. It was neat to watch them swim around and do their own thing though and have the trainers just talk about them and their natural behviors, rather than a planned stage show. Eventually they got Mommy & Baby to do a few things and she was spinning around in this picture like a "break dancer" while baby was saying hi! So funny!! The show went on soon after this. My favorite show is the night time Shamu show though, but this time we didn't stay all day and missed the after dark show.

We didn't get to see "Clyde & SeaMore" and if you are a Sea World regular, you know them! The sea lion, otters and walrus are absolutely hilarious in their show. We just couldn't get it all in and I can't handle all day in the parks right now. We did also see the Pet's Ahoy show and we love it, it's a favorite. The entire show is all sorts of pet critters and it's a hoot!! (dogs, cats, pigs, birds, ducks, etc...)

We visited the Clydesdales, they are always amazing. Andy loves when they have them out and all hooked up to the wagon, but they were just hanging out while we were there. Andy has become such a horse lover and it's exciting since I grew up with a horse when I was young. If we ever get out with some property, we're for sure going to be horse owners!! He's been reading horse books, we love horse movies and he loves visiting them anywhere! How adorable is my husband? *sigh* He's so good to me, I'm so blessed!

The new Artic area of the park is really awesome. You can do a "walk through wimpy" way to get in where you sit down and watch a short 5ish minute movie first before you get to the animals, we've done it both times because I'm wimpy. The other side is a ride motion simulator and those things make me SO sick!! Once you get in though, it looks like you are at a research station in the Artic, great themeing. The aniamls in there are awesome and again, I could spend all day watching them. Here is a clip of the walrus, you can not believe how huge they are unless you are standing there comparing yourself to them. It's unreal!!

We love Sea World!

2009-02-05T15:07:00.002-05:00

Yipee for great find @ Marshall's

I have been looking for a little table for baby Cole's room. I wanted something to go beside the rocking chair and there isn't a lot of room there. I had a lamp that needed a "home". I want a CD player/clock/radio for in there and a little spot to put this or that. I've been looking for weeks. In my Ross/Marshall's extravaganza last weekend, I found this little beauty. It is perfect!!!

It is an adorable green color that matches a color in the bedding perfectly, though it doesn't show up very well in the picture. It has the two little baskets perfect for storing this or that. It can be used for a night stand in the future when the bed is a toddler bed or full bed. It can be easily painted and the baskets can be changed or taken out totally. I am thrilled, thrilled I tell ya!!

2009-02-02T16:21:00.002-05:00

The baby registry essentials 101

So I put a notice out on Facebook asking for help in registering for the essentials for baby Cole. I am so excited and want to go do it in the next few weeks. I have read several "what you must have" sections in books I have and devoured my baby gear book for months on end. Now I need to be sure I have a complete list of things a first time Mommy can't live without. So, help me!! Give me your first 3-5 (whatever) thoughts of things I must register for. Then if you want to throw out a "waste of money" item you didn't really use, let me know that too! Let the buying advise begin!
(Never fear I'll give you a chance to spread your motherly advice in months to come)

2009-01-23T10:59:00.000-05:00

Friday at Disney

I never did finish up my trip report and we know how I like to ramble about that, so here goes.

Friday Andy decided to play golf @ Osprey Ridge, his favorite golf course @ Disney. He made reservations for a tee time and was off. He use to feel super bad about leaving me for a few hours and I've assured him how much I want him to enjoy playing. I have spent the days at the pool, at the park by myself or with friends there or this time just hanging out at the resort.

He said it was the best time he's had so far playing there and he's been playing for quite awhile now. He loves this course, says it's just really beautiful. He's played with a variety of really nice people and this gentleman was wonderful. He was actually a deaf man from Michigan who also comes all the time to Disney with his wife, he and Andy had a lot in common. He had a great day & early afternoon!!

He always tells me about the wildlife on the courses. It's very common to see deer & wild turkey, we see them when we stay @ Shades of Green all the time. We've seen gators & otters both pop up in lakes and streams around the entire Disney complex. On the golf course he's ran across raccoons from time to time, even trying to get food out of the golf cart!! This time they were warning people to watch their keys, cell phones, etc... and to not leave those in the cart either or raccoons would get those too. Pesky critters, so funny!!

While he was gone this time I was very lazy. I spent time online updating the blog, catching up on blog reading and junk. I walked around some winding pathways at the resort, wondered through stores and had lunch. It was a nice morning of laying low and resting. I would have loved to have had some hot sunshine to sit outside with a good book, but it wasn't in the cards for that Friday.

Here is a little tour around Port Orleans - Riverside. It was our first time staying there, all though we'd visited on several occasions. We have stayed at it's sister resort, Port Orleans - French Quarter twice. We love exploring the different resorts and seeing what they have to offer. This one is going on the favorites list and we're trying to book it again for the fall.

What I love about Disney resorts is that there is typically a ton to do just there alone, with the moderate & deluxe resorts anyway. This one offers cane pole fishing in a little pond, there are 4 quiet pools located throughout the resort and one large "theme" pool. There are paths to explore, gazebos, fountains, etc... There is a large playground and bar/grille near the pool area. They have a boat that will take you to the other Port Orleans resort or to downtown Disney and it's a nice little boat ride there and back. (Try it sometime from downtown Disney if you need an afternoon of something fun and free to do) There is an arcade and a few stores, like all Disney resorts. This one is one of several that offers carriage rides at night, though we never did do it. It looked fun and we stopped to visit the horses each night.

There's the fact you never have drive your car if you stay on Disney property, though we often do. If you choose to drive to a park, you get to park there free. The extra magic hours alone are enough to get me to stay there. The 3 hours in the evening when the parks are open to only Disney Resort guests are fantastic. You can often do more in those 3 hours than in the entire day at a park. The parks all rotate and one park is open 3 hours late and one is open an hour early every day. Then there's the general "magic" and feel of staying on property. I know, I know.. The thing is ... you either "get it" or you don't when it comes to Disney magic. I love the feel that the resorts give you from the time you wake up until you go to bed. I love the wonderful cast members that are so friendly, always smiling and really seem like they care about the job. (If they don't, the sure fake it well and earn their money) The silly towel animals from time to time in your room. The TV channels that play non stop Disney cartoons, Disney Radio, Disney Cruise & Disney Vacation promos, Resort & Park info and the regular "Disney tour" channel. I love those!!

So there ya go, are you sold?!!

A random view up the river towards the sister resort, Port Orleans French Quarter. You can take the boat there or it's about a 10 minute walk. Andy ran there and back on his morning runs.

This is the area where the shops, quickie place to eat, Boat Rights restaurant, shops, arcade, marina, etc... all is. There are tables and chairs outside, rocking chairs, very nice!!

This is the big "theme" pool. It's pretty cute with a slide and all sorts of "South decor". It's very large and has tons of seating all around, a very large kiddie pool and hot tubs.

We stayed on the "Magnolia Manor" side. It was suppose to resemble "old Southern mansions" . There were gazebos and fountains in between the buildings. The rooms (which you saw earlier) were sort of old Southern decor in style.

The other side is the "Alligator Bayou" with it's rooms more rustic in decor. Log style beds, quilts on the beds, etc.. We liked the looks of those rooms better, but we still loved where we stayed. This section is very popular among families of 5. It is the only "regular" (non-villa) resort that offers a pull out trundle bed for extra little munchkins. Very convenient! (So are the fridges in the rooms there) The Alligator Bayou does NOT have elevators and are 2 story buildings, just in case that is an issue for anyone thinking of booking. (see pics on www.allears.net)

As with many moderate resorts, this one can be pretty large to get around. We were thankful for our wonderful room downstairs and right in between the parking lot (easy for going places in the car & unloading, packing) and only about a 5 minute walk to where the "stuff" is. I know, from experience at other resorts, that you can get pretty far away from the "stuff" and it's quite a hall to get to eat and back, to the buses and back, whatever.....

This is looking at the main "stuff" area. You can see the boat that goes to the other resort & downtown Disney, the building where we ate, bridge to Ole Man Island (where the pool and all is) etc.... The marina has those small sea racer ( Mickey) boats, medium size Boston whaler type of boats or pontoons to rent for fun. There is also a bike barn that rents bikes and/or surreys for up to families of 5.

Very pretty and homey feel kinda place. Can't wait to go back!!

2009-01-16T12:18:00.006-05:00

Introducing:
Baby Raymond Cole Tanner

If there is one thing we've accomplished on this trip, it is officially naming our baby boy. We had chosen the name Raymond Cole 9 years ago when we were just talking about starting out family. Raymond was Andy's Dad's name and we love it. Cole was my MawMaw's (Mom's Mom) maiden name and we love it too. Over the years our list of names we like grew, but we kept coming back to this one. We really love it and plan to call our little guy, Cole!

Baby Cole meeting Mickey with his Mommy, I'm thinking he wont remember this one.

Our first official Disney shopping for baby Cole. His first blue "from Disney" t-shirt. (I say from Disney b/c my sister in law already bought him a Mickey shirt and I bought him a Mickey sweatshirt from Target!) We are getting blue shirts that match for our trip in the fall, imagine that! Cheesy huh?! I can't wait for cheesy!! Then his Daddy bought him his first "ESPN" shirt from the ESPN store too! You knew there had to be golf clubs in his future, Andy is calling him "my little golf buddy" already! We thought the Mickey clubs were quite appropriate!

This was the 30 minute stop at the Carter's Outlet before we ever got out of Georgia. Yikes!! We really got some GREAT clearance deals though!! (My sister in law is screaming "stop shopping" as she reads this!)

But in our defense.... see.... We had to prepare for that beach trip with the Tanner clan this summer!! He will be ready!!

2009-01-16T11:53:00.004-05:00

Monday & Tuesday

We left rather late in the morning on Monday to travel down. I was very worried about how many "extra" stops we'd be needing to take with my pregnant status, it's always been pretty bad. Yikes!! Leaving later in the morning seemed to be the best choice because we didn't see traffic at all, ever, the entire drive!! We did stop a couple million times, what can I say? Even with those stops, a 30 minute shopping spree @ a Carters Outlet & lunch @ Shane's Rib Shack.... we still made it in 9 hours. Just an hour longer than normal and most of that was shopping & lunch. That was exciting!!

We arrived and checked in at Port Orleans Riverside without problems. It's the first time we've stayed at Riverside, though we've visited a handful of times. We stayed next door @ Port Orleans French Quarter twice. (Once being our honeymoon and once being our big two week vacation) This deal with pay for 4 nights, get 3 free is really an amazing deal!! It comes with a $200 gift card, we are on the dining plan and we bought one set of tickets with the deal. We just can't pass up a good Disney deal and are beside ourselves that there is an AMAZING military one this year as well!! (If you are military, ask for details!!) We can NOT WAIT to come back in the fall with our son!!

Tuesday we slept in, ate breakfast and went to Downtown Disney. We looked at the new "T-Rex" restaurant which is really quite neat. It's almost "just like" Rainforest Cafe, with a dino twist of course. Such a great place for little boys to enjoy!! We look forward to bringing our own little one back! They have a build a bear location, that is build a dino! We walked around, shopped some and visited the new "make a t-shirt store". It is super neat where you pick your t-shirt style, size, color and then decorate. You can choose from hundreds of characters or Disney logos, then add your own text. You have the ability to change the font, color and style of wording as well. I had intentions of making a t-shirt, but at the time didn't have a piece of information I needed. Then we ate a light lunch @ Rainforest!! We love that place for a few minutes to rest and they always have yummy food choices.

This picture was from the Lego store. That place is so neat and I expect a ton of legos are in my future!! We were cracking up at the Dad's building lego cars & racing them with their kiddos. One group of kids were begging their Daddy to come on "let's go" and he was still busy racing his car over and over.

We came back for nap time before our dinner reservations. We love going to visit the Animal Kingdom Lodge and seeing the animals. This trip it was coooollll at night after we ate though and we were sad that all the animals were in for the night. They have special "night vision" glasses out there for you to see the animals at night, if they are out. We'll have to try again in warmer weather. We ate at "Boma" for the first time there and LOVED it!! It's on the list of faves now too. It's a buffet with tons of choices. I was a little leery of what was on the menu with the African cuisine, since I'm such a "plain food" kinda girl. I found TONS of things I loved though and we'll for sure go back!!

2009-01-16T11:30:00.004-05:00

Wednesday @ EPCOT & Hoop De Doo

Baby gets to visit EPCOT! We ate breakfast & headed over to EPCOT for the first half of the day. We were excited to see that crowds were super light. We got a fast pass to Soarin' and then went to visit Nemo & Friends. We tried to visit with Figment, but he wasn't around and "Journey into Imagination" was down. :( Andy went to ride Test Track as a single rider and I shopped and walked around. We walked around for a bit and then had lunch. We headed back for Soarin', which is truly one of our favorite if not TOP favorite ride these days! We walked around a little more and checked to see Imagination was still down. We rode Space Ship Earth wich is so cute with the new "personal" little videos at the end, what a cute touch!!! I decided 4 hours was all Baby and I could take without a nap and we headed back for rest time!!

If you haven't been to Hoop De Doo before, you really must go!! It's one of our favorite things to do and places to eat now! The food is fantastic, probably the best in the entire resort for us "plain food" kinda people. Fried Chicken, BBQ ribs, mashed taters, baked beans, a pan of cornbread & salad. All you want, brought in buckets and slammed on your table, giving you a slight heart attack!! The show is so quirky, country and a darn hoot!! It reminds us of something that should be in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge in the mountains with it's total hillbilly flare! The cast is very small, only 6 people. It is a really cute show though and you will laugh, a ton!! People of all ages can appreciate the show. There is audience participation with clapping and singing along, it's a rowdy and fun evening!!

The show is at the Campground and visiting there is an adventure in itself. You can get there by bus (you have to take two), drive (and then take the internal bus) or boat. There is so much to see and do there if you have extra days to visit. They have horse back riding, trails, Mickey's Back Yard BBQ, movies on a big screen outside, wagon rides & carriage rides. It's a HUGE and really neat place!!

This is a video of the "dessert song". They are singing about the strawberry shortcake which is about to be delivered to the tables. We were seated near the back which are still great seats b/c the characters come into the audience continually. Last time we were at the table next to the stage. The video isn't great b/c of where we were, but you get the idea. The building is kind of like the one that houses the "Country Bear Jamboree", cute cute cute!

2009-01-16T11:06:00.008-05:00

Thursday @ Magic Kingdom and Chef Mickey's

This picture isn't my "typical" small world photo. Though, I took tons in there. What can I say? This one is special for our niece, Miss Layla. Girl... it seems we ran into some of your friend George's family members. We thought of you!!!

This would be Andy Lee covering up MY score on Buzz. Frankly, b/c I kicked his rear!! He didn't want proof!! My score was 999,999 seriously. His was somewhere around 72,000. I am the champion!

If this looks like an odd angle, well... it is. They have a crane up there taking the lights off the castle and thus, we have a view trying to avoid the crane!

Chef Mickey's is always just fun and we like the buffet there. You can't go wrong with turkey pot pie, mashed taters, cheesy hashbrown taters (you see a pattern here?), baked chicken and desserts out the wazoo. Those were just my favorites! Plus all the character friend time you could possibly want. Contemporary is still my favorite resort, strange as that may be because it isn't the most "themey" for sure. I still love it there and am thankful for the two trips where we got to stay there!!

Thursday was fun! We got up, ate breakfast and were off. Does that sound like we got an early start to you? We didn't. It was late morning before we made it to the Magic Kingdom. Riding the monorail over is absolutely one of the things that just makes me smile!! We rode Haunted Mansion and then got a fast pass for Peter Pan. (Which no matter what always has the longest wait of anything there.) Then baby reminded me I was already in need of lunch. We ate and headed to Tomorrowland for Buzz and People Mover. (Ok, so they try to call it TTA now, whatever) Then back to Fantasyland for Mickey's Philharmagic (I love that), Small World, Snow White and Peter Pan. We walked around a little and headed back towards Main Street. We shopped some and fought the crowds already gathered for parade time. Yikes!!

Edit: Let me come back to add. When I say fought parade crowds, that was the ONLY time we saw crowds! The average wait for anything, even in Fantasyland where they tend to be long was about 15 minutes. This is one of the least crowded times we've ever seen and we are going to remember this week to visit again. Yes, it's cooler than normal. If you don't want to wait in hour long rides while melting though, it's a GREAT time to be here!! ((Unlike New Years and President's Week which were NIGHTMARE crowd status where we saw parks closing due to insane crowds!))

We headed back for my nap time, with all intentions of returning in the evening for a few more things. We wanted to do Pirates for sure and Tiki Room was also on the list. It was Spectro Magic night and that is one of my absolute Disney faves & must sees!! However; it didn't quite work out that way. Chef Mickey's took longer than we imagined, not because we weren't moving along either. (And no, it wasn't b/c I was waiting on characters. I was willing to skip a few.) It just happened. By the time we were done and with the Magic Kingdom closing @ 8:00. It just wasn't possible for us to get back over there and have any time left in the park. We knew we'd fight crowds on Main Street again to get in and out of the park, around parade time. We eventually decided it just wasn't worth the effort and gave it up.

We came back here and wondered around for a bit, amazed at the 20 or so kids in the pool!! (It was in the high 40s by then!!) Cold is always a relative word it seems......

2009-01-11T19:29:00.002-05:00

We're Off!! We're leaving in the morning to take baby boy Tanner on his first Disney Trip. He might as well get use to it. One thing is for sure, he wont require any luggage or extra planning at this point! We'll be there for 6 nights and all we have planned is our favorite places to eat!!!!! Stay tuned....

2009-01-10T10:28:00.010-05:00

A look into our exciting week!

Baby @ 6 wks. Ya gotta look close! It was such an amazing thing that day to hear Ms. Sonogram say "there's somebody home!!" Already with a beating heart, the whole little being was beating. It was amazing!! (October)

Baby @ 18 wks. Wow, such a miracle! We were able to see all HIS little bones and organs. She said he looks perfect. He was moving his little hands around, opening and shutting his mouth while we watched!! (January 6)

Baby BOY PROOF!! From this view we had a nice hiney shot!!

We were so excited on Tuesday to finally KNOW for sure that baby is a baby boy! Andy is of course beside himself. We went to eat and then shopping!! It was amazing to walk in a store for the first time in my life buying things for OUR SON!! We've been buying "one in pink and one in blue" for so long now, I can't describe what knowing is like!!

These are the things we got in Tadpoles, my favorite consignment store!!

This is the "loot" from Babies R Us! I can't wait for him to have the little stuffed doggie and always be able to say "my Mommy & Daddy bought this the day they found out I was a boy". Watching Andy pick out the golf clothes was so much fun, he's excited about his "little golf buddy" as he calls him.

We also bought my parents a sports piggie bank to take to them in order to let them know. I'd called them right after we left the doctor office to tell them we knew, but we weren't telling them yet. Mom wasn't pleased she had to wait. Three hours later when we showed up at their house she came running out the door fussing at me to tell her!!

My kids at school had voted on Tuesday on what they thought I was having, I forgot to take a picture of the full vote. Here is the "boys side" though. All the boys & one girl voted for a boy. They were excited when I told them for sure and one little friend kept telling everyone who came in our room "Ms. Tanner is having a baby brother"! So funny!!

My wonderful friend, Shelley, decorated my door! Everyone is so excited to share the experience with us and it's been so much fun!!
I have now put all of the "pink stuff" into two (very large) plastic boxes. It will wait to see if we are chosen to be the parents of a baby girl or boy through adoption. It would be fantastic to have one of each eventually, but it will be just as amazing to have two brothers grow up together. We will wait to see what God has planned for the Tanner's!!! His plan is way bigger than ours!!!

What a week!!
We thank God for his blessing!!!

2009-01-06T20:27:00.001-05:00

2009-01-05T09:28:00.005-05:00

Boy or Girl
-go over to the right to vote-

The excitement builds. I couldn't sleep last night because I am so excited!! Tonight & then tomorrow will be even more exciting. How in the world do you NOT find out? Two of my greatest friends (Amy & Amy that would be both of you) drove me NUTS by not finding out. I will melt tomorrow if for some reason they can't tell for sure, yes I've been warned by some of you. (Misty) I have been given advice to drink a coke & eat a candy bar (Andrea) or to at least drink something sweet (Molly & Aimee). Andy says he's pouring a Mountain Dew down me in the waiting room. He is about to burst even more than me!!

Yesterday (after church and before lunch, when you go early you have to spend your extra time somewhere) I lost him in Target and he turned up on the aisle that houses Hot Wheels. I should have known!! :) The man still has his box of 100s from when he was little. He says that if it's a boy he is starting his sons collection immediately. As we walked away he said "or Barbies I guess". LOL!!!!

Will there be pink dresses with matching bows, tea parties, ballet lessons, pink and purple rooms, waiting to meet a Princess, art projects, friend drama and prom dresses in my future?

Will there be jeans with holes, train sets, dirt pies, football practice, army men, bathroom humor, waiting to meet a Super Hero, building with blocks, black eyes and fast cars in my future?

It's so very exciting. I had a moment of panic last night (I've done so well this 4 weeks though) and told Andy ... "there are horror stories of waiting to see your baby only to see that something might be wrong". I have to confess that it terrifies me. I know in my heart that God is in control though and no amount of worry will change his plan. Andy said "and what if there is, what can you do?" Followed by "there are so many more great stories though". I commit to being full of faith tomorrow, I pray God gives me only happy thoughts during this exciting time and I trust God who IS in control!!!!

So as excited (and as much as I keep talking about it) to find out if we are having a boy or girl. Know that in my heart the most important thing is that we have a healthy baby in there! I pray every day (over and over) that his or her heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and other organs are all doing their jobs and stay healthy and strong. I pray for their senses: for their eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands & feet. I pray for their health and safety, their future and happiness. I pray these same prayers (and others for them and their birthmom) for our baby through adoption that we also hope to meet this year!

For now the excitement is more than I can stand. I am itching to go shopping today and then just take back some stuff later in the week! I have stayed home all last week from shopping because I'm so drawn to the baby section. This weekend when Andy & I went out, it was soooo hard to not buy everything I picked up. (Those sales are hard to resist) I whined to Andy yesterday "I just want to go to Babies R Us soooooo bad!!!" He assured me we could go if I promised to by only neutral stuff....and so I wait! Tomorrow though, tomorrow I will be there... in the evening.... after our 4:00 appointment.... I will go in there with excitement like that place has never seen!!!

2009-01-02T08:33:00.016-05:00

Looking back at 2008

Looking forward to 2009

2008- We completed our paperwork and were officially approved for adoption on May 28th. While waiting we got the surprise of a lifetime when we found out I was pregnant. In the words of my Mom “You’re WHAT?”!

Approved!

2009- Will be the year we become parents, we couldn’t be more excited. We hope & pray that if it’s God’s plan, we will be the parents of two little ones by the years end!! Continuing being active with adoption!

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2008- We spent time at Disney in January, took two cruises, spent a week at the beach with family and took a weekend trip to the mountains in the fall. (Which was Baby’s first vacation, but we didn’t know it then!)

Disney January 08. This is one of my favorite pics of us ever.
It's so "us"!! Taken ourselves, truly relaxed & thrilled to be on a 9 night
vacation to our favorite place!!

In Belize on one of our two cruises in 2008.
Both were absolutely wonderful trips!!

In Gulf Shores with part of the Tanner clan this summer.
Eating at Lulu's & taking one of our famous "self portrait" shots.
Andy is forever making faces and I end up taking tons of pictures.

2009- We look forward to our last “just us” Disney trip in January. We plan on heading back to the beach with family for a week, little one (or little ones) in tow! We are also talking about taking little one (or ones) to Disney around Christmas!

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2008- Andy went to two schools; one in Boston & one in California. While Bostom was cold and miserable in the winter, he was able to spend two afternoons soaking up the sights of San Fransisco and he loved it! He spent some time at various locations on weekends, including the traditional Fort Stewart around Savannah.

Andy's home away from home when he was in California, looks cozy huh?

The seals that hang out on Pier 39 in San Fransisco. Amazing huh? He called me and I could hear them "barking" on the phone, so neat. (and it made me cry b/c he was doing something amazing and new that I wasn't there for)

2009- Andy’s schools are done for the foreseeable future, yippee! He is moving in March to the Chief of Staff office where life should be easier and travel almost non-existent. We’re excited! With a little one (or ones) on the way, it will be nice to have him home all the time. (although him traveling on weekends here and there isn’t that horrible compared to so many whose family member is deployed)

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2008- My parents sold their house, fought regulations out the wazoo and finally got their new house built and all moved in before Christmas! (1 & ½ miles from their previous one and still just 13 miles from us)

Parents all moved in....

2009- They will start the pool in January after even more legal hullabaloo and a court date, but it should be all done and ready to go by spring! Mom bought a bassinet for the baby (or babies) and is looking for more of her own “baby stuff” too!

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2008- We pretty much completed the nursery! (other than waiting to know if we have a boy or girl, details..)

One view of the nursery, I can't wait to add pink flowers or blue birds
and their name on the wall in just a week or two!!!

2009- We look forward to bringing baby home! Now we wait to see when we need to add a 2nd baby bed in that room and prepare a 2nd baby room too!!

************************************************************************************

2008- We welcomed two new great nephews into the Tanner family, within 4 months! Plus added a sweet niece through marriage.

Mr. & Mrs. Luke Tanner

Layla keeping her brother Tanner & cousin Trey straight.

2009- We look forward to seeing what God has planned for our entire family in the coming year! Mark, Trisha & Trey are moving to Savannah and following God with a Faith that I hope to learn from.

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2008- I lost some weight, gained some weight, lost some weight, gained some weight, well… you get the idea. By the fall I was not able to wear most of my “regular” clothes, though it was a welcome sign!

16 week baby bump

2009- It really makes me smile with each pound I gain now and as my belly grows a little bigger week by week. It makes me feel secure that little one is growing just like he or she should in there. I see the “yikes, I need to loose weight” returning in late summer.

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2008- It was really an amazing year for us. I know people are truly suffering with the economy, loosing jobs and making huge sacrifices. I thank the Lord for the security of our jobs, the comfort of our home and the ability to still be able to travel and do some of the "extras" we enjoy. We are truly blessed, thankful and appreciative for what we have. We have the love of the Lord, an amazing family and we have each other!

We set goals for the adoption process and really got things done in pretty amazing time. I can't begin to explain how awesome it was when we got the final approval and it felt like such a beginning of something so big. We are just as excited about that process today as we were when we began!! We feel so good about open adoption!

I had a fantastic summer that Andy was able to take time off for and enjoy much of as well. I went to the lake with my parents twice a week, spent one day a week at my brother & sister in laws pool and read a ton of books. (Finding a new favorite author Jodi Picoult, thanks Dawn!) It was a lazy summer, just perfect!!

It was a year of huge surprises and huge anxiety. I am not sure I have ever been as surprised as the day I decided to take "the test" and realized I wasn't going through early menopause (like I questioned about with Dawn), but was pregnant! Shocking Andy, then our family and friends was absolutely so much fun! (I'm not sure who my favorite surprises were: Andy, my parents or Aimee) I have to confess that worry took over and clung to me like a bad cold I couldn't shake. I spent way too much time in my first trimester absolutely terrified that something would go wrong. I read way too many sad stories and googled way too many "what ifs". There is a certain danger that goes with too much information at your fingertips. The 1st ultrasound @ 6 wks. was breath taking to see that little beating heart, but it really didn't ease my worry for the following months. Hearing the heartbeat again at 14 wks with Andy by my side, a wonderful doctor who was so assuring and the 1st trimester behind us ... was like a big sigh of relief and a celebration of sorts. I have prayed and prayed that I would trust God, after all this is his child and totally his blessing. My sister in law said in conversation over Christmas that fear is basically "a lack of faith", she's so right! I'm working on it!

2009- It's going to be a year of blessings, family and change around our house! It'll be the year we become "Mommy" & "Daddy", it makes me cry just to say that! (Hopefully we'll become Mommy & Daddy twice over!) It's going to be a lot of sleepless nights, more worrying about what to do about this or that and I imagine some sheer terror at the job of parenting that awaits us. It's going to be much more than that though. It's going to be a year we experience more joy and amazement at God's miracles than ever before!! It's going to be a year of first smiles, first giggles, first time rolling over and first Holidays with little ones!

It's going to be a year of family like never before as we rely on them for answers & help, sharing the fun and love of a growing family. It's going to be a year of travel like we've never experienced with a little one (or little ones) with us, it's something we've looked forward too for so many years!! It's going to be a year of faith like we've never known as we can do nothing more than try our best and ask God to help us become the best parents we can be.

The future at the Tanner house is bright my friends and family, stay tuned to see what God has in store!!

2008-12-26T15:14:00.008-05:00

We wait, plan, shop, decorate......

and it's over so fast!

We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you did too! I do know that I "hurried" it along some as I continue to look forward to what next Christmas will be like.

Christmas Eve Breakfast @ Mike & Faye's, one of my brother & sister in laws house. It's always a great morning to hang out and spend time together, Mike & Faye are both yummy cooks too!!

Before we headed to my parents house, we stopped for a picture in front of the tree. I still didn't have a part to my tripod at this point (Santa brought me a brand new tripod though) and we had to work on getting a shot of us both. Of course Gizmo gets in too....

Later we headed to my parents house to go out to eat with them, Longhorns was yummy. Before we left their house though, another photo opportunity. Again, it was quite complicated without a tripod. We aren't in the "best pose", but it worked. Man, my face is looking quite large in this one. Yowie- Thanks Lindsey for letting me borrow all the clothes, they are coming in quite handy and seem to fit more each week......

Christmas morning is always one of my favorite times to just "be" at our house! Santa comes, we look at our goodies, Andy makes breakfast, then we hang out and "play" with our new stuff. Santa visits Andy at the living room tree (the night before) and me at the dining room tree (early that morning) and we are such big kids!! We are working on a plan for next year~ ... and I consider it quite brave to put a picture up of myself up here, without make up, straight out of bed, that's a brave (or crazy) thing to do my friends......

Santa visits Andy and leaves: Wii Fit (thank you my little elf for helping), a floating golf mat thingy for the pool (it's sooo cool), a book, a few movies, Wii Sports Party, a running shirt, a watch, a CD and variety of stocking goodies.

Santa visits me and leaves: a silver charm bracelet with 2 new charms (not in the picture), a tripod, a new UNO game, a calendar, a planner, a baby book, "Horton Hears a Who", "WallE", an ornament that is a digital photo frame (so neat) for baby pictures, Wii Chicken Shoot, Play Doh (b/c I play with it in the car) and stocking goodies! My favorite part is always my letter from Santa, so much fun!!

We played games and watched the Disney Christmas Parade all morning. We examined our goodies and went to my parents house for sandwiches about 1:30. It's the last year we are leaving our house and I can't wait until next year when everyone has to come our way to see what Santa brings the munchkin (or munchkins we hope and pray). We all went down to visit my Grand Mother for a little while together. Then we returned home for a nice long nap, watching a movie, followed by a late night of Wii Playing!! (Andy got tons of games from my parents too, so we had a lot of games to examine!)

We really had a wonderful Christmas season and CAN NOT WAIT until next year!!! For now though, it's over. Time to start stacking up the piles of stuff, finding new ways to organize and consider taking down decorations. It always seem so sad and empty when the trees are gone, I'd leave 'em up all year if I could.

We have big things to look forward to in the new year with a sonogram January 6th when we find out if he's a he or she's a she!! Then we are taking our last "just us" Disney trip, January 12-18th and we are so excited about that. It will be so much fun to enjoy our "us" time and know that our next trip will be to show our favorite place to our favorite new little person. (or persons!) Big things await the Tanner family!!

2008-12-23T10:18:00.006-05:00

Tanner Chirstmas

If you are on Facebook (and who isn't these days) you've seen these. Just in case though, I'm posting a few here too.

Here are the munchkins last night at our Tanner get together. I couldn't love these three a bit more than I do, no kidding. They melt my heart, how cute are they?! Great niece Layla, great nephews Tanner & Trey. Pure joy I tell ya!

(yes, even when she was later crying b/c she was so tired she couldn't stand it and saying "I don't know, I just cry".......)

We only did munchkin gifts this year and we were surprised when we realized they'd bought gifts for our munchkin as well. Warmed my heart people!! Here's the little one's "loot"!!

I even saved all the tags that said "NEW baby Tanner"!!

Our niece Trisha paints the cutest stuff. She made this door hanger that has awake babies on one side and sleeping babies on the other. It's so darn sweet & cute!!!

2008-12-14T13:14:00.004-05:00

Surprise in the mail

Okee dokee, I love a good surprise! Especially the kind you aren't expecting that just show up and in the mail, even better!!!!!!!! So I was shocked yesterday when this little package arrived for me with an adorable maternity shirt! I love it!! It's perfect, fits good now with room to grow! I wore it to church this morning!

The fact that I don't know who it's from is cracking me up. I have racked my brain to no end trying to figure out who we know in Virginia. I've searched through my Facebook friends trying to find someone from Virginia. I've reversed address searched the address on the package, to no avail. So.... who are you? I'd love to personally thank you! If you aren't going to confess, then accept my public "You're so sweet, that was a great surprsie! I love it and thank you!"

Here I am, 14 weeks & 6 days preggo. Just 1 pound gained, but sure feels like more! I'm wearing only maternity pants & jeans, quickly outgrowing my PJs! I'm having an issue with shirts: too big for my own, but not big enough for maternity that are usually huge at the bottom. Strange stage.... My friend Amy said "oh yeah... fun stuff, you're not looking pregnant and people just say ... hey she sure is getting fat" Mom & I went shopping for clothes Thanksgiving week, I've bought a few things on Ebay and borrowed some too! (Thanks to Aimee for my 1st pair of life saving preggo jeans & Lindsey for a bag full of things I can't wait to wear! Yes, they fit!!!)

Another mail surprise from a few months back.....

Just for the record, Terry- Andy thought the shirt was from you! He said you probably stopped and mailed it on your way to Florida just to trip me up. I assured him yall weren't headed to Florida this week and that you would have mailed from home.

For those of you who don't know my funny friend Terry, this is what she sent me right after she found out I was pregnant. Matter of fact she was one of the first to know about it and about our adoption plans, she's always around when I'm dying to spill my guts though not telling "everyone" yet.

2008-12-13T11:20:00.005-05:00

A Very Special Bear

Most of you have heard me already ramble about my doctor's visit yesterday. What can I say? It was such a relief to hear that little heartbeat and have the doctor say that I was having "a textbook pregnancy".

I have spent the last 8 weeks since seeing & hearing that little heartbeat (@ a 6 wk ultrasound) worried to death about hearing it again. Yesterday, to our sheer delight and answers to many prayers, the second the "microphone" touched my tummy our little one's heartbeat was loud, clear, strong and I dare say happy! Andy was there to hear it with me and I think he was in utter disbelief at how amazing it all is. Hearing and seeing for yourself just can't be put into words! (as many of you know)

I didn't see "my" doctor yesterday, but another from the practice. As much as I adore my doctor, and I really really do, I dare say I loved this one just as much. (if not more) Which is exciting! He was/is wonderful! He knows first hand the feelings of taking many years to get pregnant. He has experienced being a parent biologically and through adoption. He's "been in our shoes" so to speak and really understood my crazy anxiety more than others might. It made me feel fantastic!!

He was excited with us as we shared that we are continuing in our adoption journey as well as with this pregnancy. We're just waiting for God to send us our little blessings both ways!! We hope daily our phone will ring from a birthmom who has chosen us!!!! Our excitement for adoption and our huge desire to adopt is absolutely no less great than it was last December when we made our official decision!! This pregnancy is such a huge surprise blessing and our desire to have little ones grow up together is overwhelming!!

Our niece, Aimee, told me about this fantastic idea about a build-a-bear. I went there a few weeks ago and purchased an "un-stuffed" bear and a recorder do hickey where you record your voice, message, whatever. I took the little recorder yesterday to the doctor visit with us. When we heard that little happy heartbeat, I recorded it on the do hickey. Then we went to the mall and put it in the bear's paw and stuffed the little bear! Now all we have to do is squeeze his little paw and hear that happy heartbeat anytime we want!! It gives me the complete warm fuzzies and I (pathetically) admit to not being able to let him out of my sight!

We know that "every good and perfect gift is from above" (James 1:7) and we can't wait to continue to get to know this little one! We look forward to being parents in any way God chooses to bless us. Who knows how many little ones we'll have at the Tanner house next Christmas?! We couldn't be any more excited!!

We look forward to January 6th when we get to go back and find out if he's a he or she's a she!!

2008-12-05T14:51:00.002-05:00

Monica needs...

Stepping away from Christmas for today and following in Lindsey's footsteps yet again. (It's becoming a habit my friend) She actually found this on another blog, so I'm not the first to copy -cat. Anywho..... Go to google and type in "your name needs". Of course I searched for "monica needs" and here is the first 10 things it appears google thinks I need. Hmmmmmmm.......

Monica needs...new holes in her skin
(what? um...... no thank you)

Monica needs...a bicycle master plan
(he he he, that just makes me laugh. what exactly IS a bicycle master plan? are we saying i need to ride more? have you seen me on my bike and how clumsy I am?)

Monica needs...another dress washed
(no really they are all nice and clean, b/c frankly I haven't worn a dress in ages)

Monica needs...volunteers
(yes, for preschool all the time. this is true)

Monica needs...more friends
(well sure, new friends are nice. i have some great ones though)

Monica needs...new PR
(what? is my public relations needing a little work?)

Monica needs...a stylist
(lol, oh that is fantastic. true, i probably do. since all i currently wear are maternity jeans and sweatshirts for the most part)

Monica needs...to get a job
(I have one thank you and i wouldn't trade it for the world)

Monica needs...some highlights
(I agree and would love 'em, but i can't afford 'em.)

Monica needs...a 4th of July parade
(sure, how about a Christmas parade though b/c I'm planning on seeing one tomorrow)