Spring Time Part 1

Spring time has been a lot of fun. We have emerged out of our post-partum/winter hibernation.  We have been enjoying yard work, family gatherings, Greg's and Miriam's wedding, Jenna's music performance, Easter, Spring Break excursion with Grandma Hughes and Wendy, our first hike of the year, and a family vacation to California (and DISNEYLAND!) We have so many pics from Disneyland that I am going to make a "Chatbooks" book about it. Tanner is now 8 months old and is the past month in a half he got 2 teeth, learned to scoot, then started doing the butterfly swim across the floor, then starting crawling, then starting pulling himself up to stand, and started climbing.  He started sitting up on his own somewhere in the middle of that.  He is a very mobile baby!

Dying Easter eggs for the neighborhood hunt

Ivy wearing her mask at the Doctor (she had Bronchiolitis/RSV a couple times this year)

Easter baskets and outfits

Easter Sunday

Cute cousins at our monthly FHE

Afternoon fun while waiting for J to come home from school

Cute baby mid-feed baby smiles

 The girls asked to take silly selfies!

Annual Spring Break excursion with Grandma Hughes! This year we went to The Museum of Natural Curiosity, and Aunt Wendy came too!

Jenna has really picked up on reading this year! And I love seeing her read to Ivy.

Ivy has decided not to take regular naps anymore, but sometimes she will still fall asleep in the car, or in our arms. :)

Our super fun, beautiful weekday hike in Herriman up at Rose Canyon/Yellow Fork Canyon! It was soooo much fun! The girls LOVED exploring!

I got to snuggle Tan-Man during the whole hike and loved it!

Ivy hiked the whole time! It was about 1 mile. The girls seem to get a surge of energy whenever we are in the mountains. So fun!

Cool tree that looked like a cage

Tan Man looking up at me. He's so sweet and precious.

"Look Mommy, I'm a Daddy deer!"

Tanner is 6 months!!!

I cannot believe it has been 6 months since Tanner was born! It does not feel like it's been that long!!! He is such a sweet, happy, joyful addition to our family!  He is my little buddy. He gets to come everywhere with me and I love it! The girls adore him, especially Jenna! Ivy has been taking more and more notice of him lately too.  Every morning, Tanner and I snuggle in my bed and wake up slow after Daddy has gone to work.  Then, Jenna comes in my room and plays with us and entertains Tanner while I change Ivy's diaper. Then we all go to the kitchen for breakfast.  Ivy usually asks to hold him or goes to tickle him or gives him a binky, etc. or even just lays by him when he's playing on his mat with his toys.  Daddy gets to hold him a little bit after work. When Tanner sees him, his eyes are fixed on him pretty much until Andrew comes over and gives him attention. They are a sweet pair.  Tanner is a very sweet, smiley, mild mannered baby.  He likes to be held a lot. He likes to be in an upright position. He likes to stand and push his feet against things whenever anything is near his feet so he can stretch out and be in a standing like position.  He only cries if he's getting hungry, tired, or is uncomfortable, usually due to his reflux.  He has silent reflux. It took us a while to get him diagnosed because he has had all of the symptoms of reflux, but without spitting up.  Through some research I found about silent reflux, which basically means the acid comes up into his esophagus but then goes bcak down.  He fits all of the symptoms, not taking a full feeding because he seems to be in pain, arching a lot, not sleeping well, a mild constant cough, etc.  Poor little guy!  Once we figured it out, the Doctor had us start rice cereal a little early, which definitely helped, but then symptoms started to worsen again, and then they put him on an acid blocker medicine as well.  Which also seems to be helping. Despite the reflux he is still a pretty happy dude.  He is wanting to eat about every 3 hours. He was waking up every hour up until a couple of weeks ago, and now he probably only wakes up about 3 times in the night.  His body is starting to register an earlier bedtime so he is going to sleep for the night at around 8 ish or 9 ish instead of like 11. He also has figured out how to roll on his side to sleep.  When I put him in his crib, he likes to roll to his left to fall asleep.  He also used to want to sleep being held all night.  But he has been sleeping in his crib more and more I think because he found such a comfortable position! That started within the last couple of weeks as well.  He used to take short 25 min naps but now his naps are getting longer.  Usually about 45 min long with one long nap during the day which is usually around 1.5 hours, sometimes longer, sometimes a little shorter.  His body is just adjusting and figuring things out.  He is starting try to sit up.  He has tried avocado, banana, and applesauce.  When he isn't arching from reflux he is actually quite the little snuggle bug.  And he likes to give very big, wet kisses. :)  He is a great eater! He is still nursing and takes a bottle great too! We love our little guy and are SOOOO grateful to have him in our family. He is such a blessing. We are so thankful he is healthy and strong, and that he is growing well and his reflux is getting better.  He is such a strong, sweet, beautiful baby!
Here are his 6 month stats:
Height: 25.98 inches (21%)
Weight: 15 lb 2.9 oz (9%)
Head: 17.17 inch circumference (58%)

Happy and playing

Comfy and cozy sleeping

Tanner is 4 months!

Tanner turned 4 months old on the 12th. It is hard to believe it has been 4 whole months since Tanner was born! We love and adore him SO much! He is very sweet, mild mannered, and CUTE! He gets a lot of attention when we go places for how extra cute he is. 😊 He has a big smile, likes to give kisses already, makes lots of happy squeal noises, and while Andrew was playing with him on Sunday, the 10th, he laughed for the first time! He has laughed a few times since then too. He really likes when we make Donald Duck type noises, He is so cute!!! He can roll from his tummy to his back. He likes to sleep in my arms, in the swing, he sleeps in the carseat without a problem, and is sleeping at in the pack n play for most of the night. He takes short, 25 min. naps and usually one long one during the day and still wakes up a lot at night. He and I get our best sleep at the beginning of bedtime, and then after Andrew goes to work and Tanner and I sleep snuggling before the girls need me to get them breakfast. Tanner is our smallest baby. He is 7th percentile for weight and 13th for height. But the doctor said he is staying consistent with his own growth pattern so he's doing great! Ivy talks to him in high pitched voices. Jenna plays with him every morning while I get Ivy out of bed and change her diaper. Tanner is very smiley in the mornings when he wakes up and Jenna loves it and calls it his smiley mood. Andrew is enjoying that Tanner is starting to be more and more playful. Last week Tanner would put his face towards the crook of my arm then face me again and I would say "peek a boo". He did it over and over, it was so cute!
I feel like I have been able to hold, snuggle, and really soak him in for which I am so grateful! I would LOVE to do it even more but with taking care of two other kids, a husband, the house, bills, etc. I am pleasantly surprised at how much I am able to snuggle him. I am SOOO grateful. You never regret holding your babies too much, only not holding them enough. I am happy I get to hold him and enjoy him so much. We love our little guy and are SO grateful for the TREMENDOUS joy he brings into our hearts, our home, and our family. Our sweet little Tan-man.
These pics are from the night of Jan. 11th.

Sucking his fingersGiving Mommy kisses!

Squealing/smilingJust chillin'

 The common faces of Tanner!

Snow and Winter Happiness

It snowed quite a bit in December!  We have introduced Ivy to playing in the snow (last year it hardly snowed at all).  The girls and I made a small snowman from the first snowfall and then one day when Andrew got him early, they made a big snowman!  The day after Christmas we all went sledding.  It was a little rough at moments, because we had an unsure 2 year old, but she got the hang of it and we all had fun!
I have been able to be in more pictures lately.  I asked Andrew and my sister to snap random pics of me with my kids lately because I am usually behind the camera.  But I want them to have proof that I was there playing with them too!

Wendy started snapping pics one day while I was playing with Tanner, I'm grateful she captured these. They are pretty common interactions. :)

Selfie! Snuggling my oldest and my youngestI put in some candid shots of Andrew with the kids too. It's fun to capture natural interactions for memory's sake,

Ivy was a little unsure of the snow

Our tiny snowman

 Much larger snowman!

Sledding!

Girls playing with Tanner and their baby dolls

Ivy and Tanner timeJenna and Tanner                                                                                                                                  time

One of my favorite pictures ever

He's just so fun and cute!

She plays with these puzzle pieces so much! She likes to build things with them. This is a train!

Andrew took a pic during one of our snuggly naps. My favorite thing!