Tanner is starting to walk

Tanner has taken a few steps here and there but tonight he did it a few times in a row and we finally captured video of it. The video is a little dark but we wanted to get it posted. (Better video coming soon)

Halloween

Tanner had two costumes for Halloween this year. He wore one on his birthday for our small group Halloween party and then another on Halloween night.




Here is Tanner in his chicken costumes. He crawled all over in his costume and actually left it on for most the night.

Here he is with the the hood of his costume on.

Here are the boys in their costumes the night of Tanner's birthday. A cute dog and a monkey.

Tanner turns ONE!

We ended up having two parties to celebrate Tanner's first birthday. We cannot believe that our little boy is already one year old. Here is a mixture of pictures from both parties and when he opened gifts on his actual birthday.


Tanner and Daddy opening gifts on his birthday. He was very excited to see what was in each bag and thought that the paper was part of the gift as well.

Tanner and Daddy opening gifts at his birthday party down here.

Tanner in his birthday hat and ducks gear.

Thoroughly enjoying his cupcake, making sure he didn't miss a single crumb.

Such a happy boy! Tanner enjoying his pizza and smiling for Auntie Katie and the camera.

Here is the gang! This is two of my best friends from back home with all of our kids.

Tanner enjoying another cupcake. He didn't hesitate one bit when I gave it to him. He knew exactly what to do with it.

I think Tanner ended up eating the entire cupcake and licking all the frosting off his hands.
Overall, he had a spectacular birthday and we were so blessed to be able to spend it with so many of our family and friends.
Here's to celebrating the next year!

Pumpkin Patch

On our trip up north to have an early birthday party for Tanner we were able to visit the pumpkin patch with my good friend Jaclyn, her daughter Nayeli, and Grandma Cathy. We had so much fun with the kids and Grandmas, we really wish we lived closer. Here are some snapshots from our morning together.



Tanner and Nayeli added to the Fall decor. They sat so still on the pumpkins which were loaded into the back of an old truck.




These two received a wheelbarrow ride out to the pumpkin patch from Grandma Mary. We were impressed that they didn't even try to crawl out. They seemed to really enjoy the ride!



Tanner and Nayeli LOVED the animals. Both of them were trying to climb into the pens with the animals. It was so cute to watch them together watching the animals.



The kids and the proud Grandmas!



Our son the scarecrow! The first picture we took like this was great but then he tried to stick his head through the hole which made this picture even better.
Overall we had an amazing time with amazing friends. We can't wait to watch Nayeli and Tanner grow up together!

11 months

Tanner is a growing boy! 11 months old and he is into everything. One of his new favorite places is under the dining room table. He likes to go under there and look out the window into the backyard.




We ended up with great weather for first trip to the pumpkin patch. Tanner loved the train ride and he even found a pumpkin his size...which he thinks is a ball and throws around the living room. Here is a picture of Tyler and Tanner with the pumpkin they found.



Another new favorite place of Tanner's is the dishwasher. I find it sad that I have to do dishes secretively or else I get a "helper" everytime I open the dishwasher door. The other day he actually managed to pull the entire drawer out and put it on the floor.



Here is a picture of Tanner watching the animals at the pumpkin patch. He really wanted the donkey to come over and see him.






Here he is at 11 months...what a character! We can't believe that he is almost a year old!

10 months

I know this is really late...our lives have been a little busy, but I made a promise that I would get it updated. So here is the first of many updates all at once.
During August we had the chance to go to the fair and Tanner loved the animals. He was very upset when one of them tried to eat his shoe but loved "petting" and watching them.




Tanner has decided that he doesn't really need naps. But Tyler and I think otherwise. This picture was taken when he was throwing a fit (not our son...right?) about taking a nap. He cried and cried with Tyler and the next thing we know, he is curled up on Tyler sound asleep.



And here is his 10 month picture. He is so mobile and active that he didn't want to stay in the chair. As you can tell from his face he definately has a great personality and we are seeing more of it everyday. Tanner's new favorite game is to stand next to his toy box and pull all the toys out and put them on the floor. He is trying very hard to communicate and makes noises all the time.

A couple of videos

We finally captured a good video of Tanner swimming. This was taken of Tyler and Tanner swimming last week during class.






Here it is...Tanner crawling! This is is about 2 weeks after he figured out how to crawl on all fours. I can't believe how quick he is! Everyone said that time would fly and that he would grow up fast...I believed them but didn't realize how fast it all goes by.

Summer Fun!

This last month we have been keeping ourselves busy with fun activities. We were able to spend a couple of days at the beach with the Gregg family. While at the beach, Tanner and I went on an awesome run, we watched salt water taffy being made, and spent time on the beach.

We also spent a few days up North. Here is Tanner and Grandpa Mike with Grandpa's new toy.
We loved spending more time with Great Grandpa Katzenmeier and Grandma Mary.

Here is Daddy and Tanner at the beach.

I added this picture just because I liked it. Auntie Katie and Uncle Brian were over for dinner and Auntie Katie was cracking up with how big Tanner opens his mouth for food. This picture perfectly captured it.

9 months and mobility

We have lift off! In just a few shorts weeks Tanner has gone from slowly army crawling to speed crawling on all fours, climbing over and up anything, pulling himself up on everything, and walking behind his car. I know that I am late in getting this 9 month post up but it took me this long to get him to sit still long enough to take the picture. The above picture is him banging on the back door wanting to get outside. He crawled over, climbed the step and then stood himself up...all while making sure I was watching.

Finally, here is his 9 month photo! It took alot of tries to capture it without him falling out of the chair...or crawling out of it. The doctor says everything looks great and that he is growing and healthy. He doesn't have any teeth, which I am thankful for and he loves to eat most all types of food. We feel so blessed to have such a happy baby boy in our life!

More Swim class

Tyler was able to come to swim class with us last week so we were able to take more pictures. The picture above is Tanner and I working on rotating in the water and swimming back to where we came from.


Tanner and Tyler were able to go on some swims together.

We discovered during this swim class that Tanner swims with his mouth open and his tongue out, which is pretty funny to watch.

Tanner loves the water so much that we bought a small pool for him to play in at home. He can't "swim" in it but he loves crawling around and splashing. Below is a short video clip of Tanner and I swimming together in class. It is really close up but if you look closely you can see his arms moving through the water.

Swim Class...underwater photos

Tanner and I have been taking swim classes for a couple of weeks now. This week we took some underwater photos. The picture above is Tanner and I on a swim together.

Today in class Tanner was loving floating on his back. Any time that we weren't swimming we were floating around the pool together.

Tanner about to come out of his swim into a back float.

Tanner coming up towards the surface after a swim.

Tanner's new talents...

Tanner is showing off new talents daily. I tried to capture some video, so enjoy!

4th of July

For Tanner's first 4th of July we weren't sure how he would react to the fireworks so we decided to keep it more low key and our neighbors graciously allowed us to join their celebrations. Tanner enjoyed watching the kids get all excited. He liked the fireworks and did amazingly well with the noise.

Our Trip Up North

This trip up North was filled with lots of activity and a little bit of work. Our family was putting in hay so we were recruited to help. Here is a picture of all the cousins before hay we started putting in bales.

Our traditional picture of all the grandkids and great grandkids with Grandpa on the hay wagon. We had so many cameras snapping that we figured we were bound to get a decent picture of all of us.
Grandma Mary and Tanner hanging out in the barn while the wagon was being unloaded.
After we put in our hard owrk of putting in the hay, we were able to spend some time playing with Grandpa Mike and his hot rods.

We also were able to spend time with two of our favorite people Jaclyn and Nayeli. We had an amazing morning walk along the waterfront and then hung out at the park. I thought this picture was way too cute not to post. Tanner rolled himself into Nayeli's lap and she wrapped her arm around him. They stayed that way for quite awhile. Overall our trip North was a success and we had fun spending time with family and friends.

Summer Fun!

Tyler is a huge Cubs fan but never had the chance to see a live game. Well...we finally saw one and he was able to share the experience with Tanner. With Cubs gear on we made the trek to Seattle to watch the Cubs play the Mariners. Above Tanner was being silly for the camera. Once the first flash happens he turns it on and smiles pictures.

Tanner and Tyler before the game starts.

I think this is one of my favorite pictures.


Tanner experienced his first rodeo this past weekend. He loved watching all the animals and paid most attention to the calf roping.

Uncle Brian decided that Tanner needed to taste the kettle corn because it was so delicious. Tanner stuck his tongue out and licked all the flavor off of it.