Dear Sister

My sister Ashley and I have always been close with an occasional tiff every now and then, as do most sisters, but she has always remained one of my best friends (my older sister being the other). Now she is grown and has a family of her own, but I still see her as my little sister that I love dearly. While I was on my mission she was one of the best at keeping in contact with me. I loved getting her letters and packages that she would put together for various holidays. When I came home it was so fun spending time with her and living with her for a semester of school. She never ceases to amaze me. She is a very accepting person and if you are ever in a place where you don't know anyone, she is who you want to be there. She will gladly put her arm around you and will make any new person feel welcome. She is a wonderful mother and wife and her family is lucky to have her. She has a special heart for animals and always has. When she was little you would rarely see her walking around without a cat in her arms. Now her husband is in school in Yakima Washington and I miss her. I love her very much and feel blessed to have her as my sister.

I Love the Orthodontist

I thought that I would give a quick update on Bradley Ray's quest to be an orthodontist. As most of you know he has submitted all of his applications and is starting to set up interviews. Now what most of you might not know is how difficult it is to get into Orthodontics-I have heard that it is the most difficult because there are so many that want in. Now I am not telling you this to brag...Oh wait yes I am. It is really hard to get in and Bradley Ray has gotten interviews set up at Colorado, St. Louis, Oklahoma, and Arizona. I am so proud of him and all that he does. I feel so lucky to not only have married a genius, but someone so nice and wonderful. He has one of the best hearts I know and is the most patient person I have EVER met (in fact he just spent an hour fixing a project for me that I goofed up). He is always trying to surprise me and does anything to make me laugh- I think he just wants to check my teeth. So we will know where we are going by December at the latest and I will keep you posted. I love you Brad. Tanner and I are so proud of you!!

Bathtime+2 babies=cute

I think that we all have embarrassing moments in our lives that are due to our mothers, and this is Tanner's-a naked picture on our blog. Unfortunately for Isabel she is also part of it because she is just as cute. Since neither of the babies are sitting yet we had to lay them down in the bath and they are getting so big that there is not much room to spare. Poor Isabel was hit and splashed the whole time. The cutest thing about the whole bath was after when we had them in towels taking pictures. Isabel wanted to hold Tanner's hand the whole time and he did not mind it one bit. Once she got his hand she would just suck on it and Tanner was just loving the audience that they were pulling. My favorite part of the audience was Rachel. She was working very hard to keep the babies attention and not only did she have their attention, but she had ours. Now we all do this, but it is funny when you are able to capture someone else in the act because it is then that you realize what you look like all day. I wish that I knew what babies are thinking when we do this to get smiles-part of me thinks that they just want to see how long they can make us look ridiculous.

Copy Cat

Recently my sister Rachel has gotten me addicted to the Nielson story. If you have not heard about it it is the couple from Mesa that was in a plane crash and has been in the hospital recovering since the 16th of August. Well she had kept a blog and her sister is keeping up with one still and I love reading about them and their lives. They both have the best posts because they doesn't just talk about the day to day things- they share experiences, feelings, and beliefs. So, I have decided to copy her and do the same. Both sisters have such a wonderful outlook on life and without even knowing them I look up to them and admire who they are. They seem so confident and secure about who they are and I am going to try to post about the day to day feelings in addition to the day to day events- because every new thing that Tanner does is a huge event for me and Brad. I am very thankful for the examples of Courtney (cjanerun.blogspot.com) and Stephanie (nieniedialogues.blogspot.com) and am going to try to be more like them. If you have not visited their blogs I would strongly suggest that you do- it will change your life. It is always inspiring when you hear strong testimonies and see the lives of people who are really living what they believe.

Rice Cereal

Tanner had rice cereal on Saturday for the first time. I really was not excited about it because I am slightly addicted to nursing. Before we had Tanner I was planning on pumping and giving him a bottle every now and then so that he was OK if I ever left. Once I had him I decided two things, first I was never leaving and second he was not going to have a bottle. However, since I had told Brad that I was going to try it I made 2 bottles and had him give the first. The next day I was going to have Brad give him the second, but when it came time I was crying and so Brad let me give him the bottle-I cannot even remember if I ended up giving him the whole bottle before I started to nurse him. Needless to say Tanner will be nursing for some time. So back to the rice, I was just not ready for this kind of separation from him and I thought that my milk was perfectly nutritious however my pediatrician felt differently. As soon as he told me that I needed to start giving him rice cereal I was so mad and considered changing doctors, until I did some research of my own (I know I research too much when it comes to these things-don't worry my sister is making sure that I am teased for it). Here is the scoop...the Academy of Pediatrics is divided on the topic into the nursing and nutrition sides. The nursing side believes that babies should nurse exclusively for 6 months. The nutrition side thinks that there is not enough iron in the mothers milk and so they need to have rice cereal at 4 months. I decided that I would go in the middle and try it at 5 months, but then curiosity got the best of me and we tried it out. We were happy to find our that he loved it and I could not get the spoon in his mouth fast enough. By the end every time I gave him a bite he would grab my arm with his hands and feet and hold it there trying to keep the spoon in his mouth. It always surprises me how strong little babies can be. The only problem was that about 10 min after he finished eating he spit it all up. I knew that he didn't need cereal yet- we will try again at about 5 months. Stay tuned....

When One Cries We All Cry

Tanner and Isabel (my sister's baby) are so cute and funny, if one starts to cry it does not take long for the other to join in. This time it was Isabel that started (which is completely unlike her) and it just broke Tanner's heart. I thought the pictures were so cute I had to post them.

4 Months

Weight: 15 lb 50th percentile
Height:25.75 in 75th percentile
Head Circumference: 16.5 in 45th percentile

When I first had Tanner, I was sad to see how quickly he grew because I loved the stage he was at. But my mom told me that whatever age he was, it would be my favorite and I couldn't agree more. Tanner is so fun right now and it is amazing to see how much he learns every day. I have made a list of Tanner's favorite things, and although some might say that all babies love these things I never want to forget them or what he was like at this age.

1. Talking- (really it is screaming and yelling just to hear himself) I think it is the funniest thing and cannot get enough of it even though he does it for the majority of the day. I am always asking Brad if he can hear him as if there was another option.
2. Feet- I just wrote a post about his feet and it has not changed. Every time he wakes up in the morning or from a nap I find him sucking on his toes. Sometimes he will get both feet up and try to suck both toes simultaneously.
3. Snuggling- he still loves to snuggle when he is taking a nap or waking up from a nap. I love it and cannot get enough of our time together. It is so fun to get him into our bed in the morning and wake up together.
4. Ring Sling- Believe it or not he loves the ring sling now as long as he is only in it for about 30 minutes. The whole time he is in the sling he will just rest his head on me and look around. Brad tells me that this is just temporary and not to get too excited, but how can I not when I have been working for this since he was born.
5. Jumping- he loves jumping even if he is not in his jumper, which means that if you are holding him, your arms may get tired rather quickly. The truth of the matter is that Tanner rarely holds still, and we love having an active baby. Even today after his shots all he wants to do is jump despite my efforts to keep him off his little legs.
6. Messing his pants- yes he still messes his pants more than any other baby- so I guess it is a good thing he loves his changing table since he spends quite a bit of time there.
7. Binky- It seems that Tanner and I have come to a compromise. When Tanner is going down to sleep, he will take his binky, but during the day it's just fingers. So basically, if he's tired he loves his binky; if he's not, you might get a scream if he even sees it.
8. Frog- This is his favorite toy at the moment. Really I think its because its bright and there are lots of things to grab.
9. Mirror- the mirror is a sure way to always get a smile out of Tanner.
10. Crib- now that Tanner is in his crib he loves it. The only problem is that if he is not asleep when you put him in, he thinks that it is time to party, which leads to his last favorite thing at this age.
11. Mobile- when I turn on his mobile it will calm him down, and he forgets about the party he thinks he is having in his crib. I have also found that when he gets really wound up it is the only way that I can calm him down.

He is a very happy baby and it never ceases to amaze me just how good he is. I feel so blessed to be his mother and love every minute.

Just some cute pictures

I just had some pictures that I loved and wanted to post. I should explain that Tanner is not really wearing a speedo; it is a swim diaper, but it looked like one to us, and we thought it was hilarious.

Rappelling

This weekend we went up to (or down to I am still not sure where anything is in Arizona) Central to visit Brad's family. It was so much fun to relax and laugh together. On Saturday we went to some clay mountains and went rappelling (OK I didn't), four-wheeling (OK again I didn't) and had a BBQ (I did eat the majority of the potato salad). I have to say I was not expecting Glade (Brad's dad) to do both, but he did, Brad's parents never cease to amaze me- cliff jumping, rappelling, etc. (Side Note: As I am writing this post I realized that I might seem a little boring, but someone had to take care of the chairs. I am not big on heights or fast objects and I think that my husband loves them both enough to make up for my dislike). It is nice being close to Brad's family and I love the fun family activities that they always plan.

Feet

Tanner's new favorite toy is his feet. When I get up to feed him at night he will have a wet toe from sucking on his foot. I guess I won't have to get up to give him a binky. The other good thing about his feet being his favorite toy is that they are always there no matter where we go. He is so cute when he plays with them because he talks the entire time and has really picked up the art of squealing. My mom said that I was a squealer and it looks like I just may have passed this on to Tanner.

Like Father Like Son

Anyone who knows Brad knows that he loves his computers and it looks like the apple has not fallen far from the tree. Anytime that Brad holds Tanner while he is working on the computer Tanner is mesmerized and is quiet as a mouse. I think that we will definitely have to limit the time that Brad is on the computer with Tanner or else I may have another addict on my hands.