December update and last post of the year

This past month Tanner graduated to a toddler bed. The first week or so went great! He went to bed and stayed there until we went to get him in the morning. Lately it has been a different story. There has been getting out of bed, wandering into the halls, turning his light on and reading stories to his stuffed lion. Needless to say, you never know what you are going to find in the morning. But overall, I can't complain the good nights far outweigh the restless ones and he loves his new bed.



This Christmas was a hard one for me. I found a special place for the ornaments in memory of my brother and really seemed to miss him this year. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, or the busyness of the season but I really wanted him around to enjoy his nephew and lend a listening ear and carefree attitude. Anyways...I know he is celebrating the birth of Christ in a much better place and still watching over us.



So...here is looking forward to 2012. Here is what's in store for our family:
1. Tyler and I turning another year older.
2. The anticipated arrival of our new son.
3. Tyler and I running Hood to Coast (a huge relay race in Oregon) in August.
4. Tanner turning 3.
5. A fun filled, energetic year of learning how to operate as a family of 4.
Here's to 2012!

3 becomes 4

Surprise! For those of you who have not heard...we are expecting another boy this February (yes, in less than 8 weeks). This Fall flew through like a whirlwind and I fell very far behind in our family blog, but I am back on board and am vowing to stay as updated as I can with two little boys filling my arms and time. Below are a few recent photos of our growing family. Enjoy!



A friend of ours took family photos for us this past month. I am amazed at how she so intricately captured our family and everything that makes us...well us. Above is me with baby boy #2.

Tanner has been very fascinated with my growing belly and likes to lift my shirt to "kiss" the baby.



Here is our amazing son. His smile brightens any day and hearing his giggle immediately brings a smile to our faces.

Here he is again...what you don't know is that the morning that our pictures were scheduled he fell down the steps and scrapped the side of his face. A few tears and a wet wash rag later, we are blessed with his amazing blue eyes and charming smile.

Overall, our family is staying busy and healthy. Tanner is in the 98th percentile for height and 75th for weight. He is a healthy growing boy who is quickly learning to talk and loves to sing and do all things active. Tyler is in the midst of coaching and his job is keeping him just as busy. I am adjusting to my new role as director and am looking forward to meeting our new son. He definitely is making his presence known and is quite active most hours of the day. The doctor says that everything looks great and that baby is healthy and growing.

Tanner Turns TWO!

It happened...Tanner turned two! We have been so blessed these last two years to daily be covered in his hugs, kisses and giggles. We had a birthday party at our house and he knew exactly what to do with all the presents this year. The part I loved is that after each gift he was so excited that he wanted to open it and play with it before moving onto the next gift.
Tanner is blessed with such great family and friends who spoiled him with all his favorites...cars, trains, books, and blocks. We can't believe he is already two but know that time will continue to quickly pass and that we need to continue to take the time to cherish each moment.

Another remodel...

So, after our kitchen remodel was complete we decided to tackle our master bathroom. The two bathrooms are about the only rooms that have not been updated since the 70's when the house was built. Mom decided to join us for the project and we figured that between the three of us, well three and half counting Tanner, we could tackle the bathroom on our own. My mom said that my Grandpa use to say "home projects take twice as long and cost twice as much" and boy was he right. The pictures go in reverse order, so you get to see the finished product first and then work your way back to see how it was when we started.



Here is the new sink cabinet, mirror, lights and faucet.

The shower and new towel rack.

We found a big mirrored cabinet to provide us with more storage but also give us a another mirror for getting ready. I love it!



Here is the newly refinished white shower, with the new pale green wall color.

We took out the old sink and replaced it with a more updated, contemporary looking one. Our old cabinet was dark and the sink matched our harvest gold colored shower. Let me tell you, I learned more about plumbing than I think I ever wanted to know while trying to install the sink and cabinet.

Here is Tanner and I trying to figure out why the water shut off valve keeps leaking and how to get it to stop. We discovered that plumbing tape is a necessary tool to have.

Here is Tyler rolling the new floor to make sure that we get a good bond.

My mom and Tyler repainted the entire room. It went from white to a pale green color. Very relaxing.


Here is the wonderful harvest gold color that the shower use to be. Tyler buffed, and cleaned the shower three times with special chemicals and then refinished it to the new white color.

Tanner was such a bigger helper through this whole process. In the picture above he is helping Tyler dismantle the old sink and cabinet and remove it from the wall. Tanner wanted to be involved in everything, holding tools, inspecting plumbing and rolling all over the new floor. Overall, it was a ton of hard work, but well worth the enjoyment of using an updated bathroom everyday.

Our completed, updated kitchen!

The final product! (no, it didn't take this long to get it done) Okay...so I know that it has been over three months since I have posted but we have been a very busy family this summer. Even though I was taking the pictures to document it all, they weren't getting put on the blog. So, my goal is that by the end of the week, I will be up to date on our family blog . Our kitchen was finished in June and we are loving it. The cabinets provide us with more space and it just brings our house more up to date. Even though it was a long process, I am glad that it was all done and am thoroughly enjoying using it. In the end, we replaced our light wood floors with darker ones, installed new honey colored cabinets, new granite countertops, new dishwasher, sink and pantry door.


Here is the updated wall color and curtains in our dining room. My mom was gracious enough to recover the dining room chairs as well to coordinate with the kitchens.


Here is the living room side of the kitchen with our new pantry door.

Here is the outside wall side of our kitchen, with our new dishwasher installed and NOT leaking. If you are ever in our neck of the woods you will have to stop by and visit to see the real thing. Pictures just don't do it justice.

Kitchen and preschool excitement

We have a functional kitchen! For the first time in a long time I actually cooked dinner and then we did the dishes afterwards. Granted we currently have plywood counter tops and our floors are two tone, but I will take it. I am blessed to have a sink that runs water, a dishwasher that cleans the dishes, and shelves to put food on in our pantry. Enjoy the latest photos of our new remodeled kitchen!




At the preschool this last week our eggs finally hatched. We have 3 ducklings and 14 baby chicks. The chicks are okay, but the ducklings are so cute and I am trying hard to convince Tyler that we really need one at the house. So far....I am unsuccessful. Here are some pictures of the babies at the preschool.

Easter and kitchen update

So, this last week we have had quite a transformation in our kitchen and feel like we are finally making some progress. Wednesday our cabinets came in and these last few days the focus has been on our floors. Here is a recent picture of what our kitchen looks like so far. I can't wait for the rest of it to come together.




We spent Easter this year with Tyler's family and are traveling up north, next weekend. This year Tanner started to understand what the Easter Egg hunt was all about. He was exciting and great about finding the eggs but then just wanted to throw them instead of putting and keeping them in the basket. Either way it was fun! Below is Tyler and Tanner's after Easter meal. We discovered that Tanner really likes Chinese food.


Tanner and his cousin Brooklyn were reunited and as you can tell, quickly became good friends. He was very into giving loves to everyone.


Grandma Carole and Tanner playing with his new pink Easter ball.


I love this kid! He gets so excited over playing catch.


Brooklyn was sitting there very nicely and Tanner quietly crawled over to her and put his head under her hand. I can't wait to watch them grow up together.


Tanner and Tyler collecting Easter eggs. As he drug his basket back to the house all of the eggs fell out and his just kept on going. If you look closely you can see a few of the eggs.


Collecting Easter eggs like a seasoned veteran.


Tanner and his Easter basket.


And here we are! The three of us at Easter lunch. Overall , the day was a success. Tanner is fighting a cold and didn't have much of a nap, but he was a trooper and didn't melt down until we got home.

Family Update

With the help of my mom taking on Tanner for a week, Tyler and I were able to take a vacation to Jamaica with two of our best friends Katie and Brian. Above is a picture of Tyler and I on our last night in Jamaica enjoying the sunset. Below are a few pictures from our trip. I added a picture of Tanner to keep everyone satisfied, but will do his own update soon. Tanner had decided that he is a big kid and can do everything by himself. Here is our Saturday morning when he decided that he needed to eat the oatmeal by himself. To his credit he did try to use a spoon but decided that grabbing fistfuls of it and shoving it in his mouth was much more effective.



Here are the four of us at dinner.


Tyler and Brian discovered shuffle board on our trip, but we still aren't sure if they were playing by the correct rules.


More shuffle board.


Katie and I at the resort.


After an entire week in Jamaica we discovered we hadn't actually sat on the beach and watched the sunset. So, our last night in Ocho Rios we sat and watched the sunset.
I have to give credit to our photographer Brian Meyer, this could be one of my favorite shots.


Another creative shot by our photographer.



We had the opportunity to take a catamaran to Dunn's River Falls and hike up it. It was so much fun! We were able to go down a natural waterslide, hike an amazing waterfall with beautiful surroundings.


On the way to Dunn's River Falls, the catamaran stopped so that we could snorkel along the reef. Here is the four of us in our snorkel gear...looking for cook fish.


Thanks again mom for taking such great care of Tanner, Sosa and Callie so that Tyler and I could take a break and focus on us in such a beautiful place. Thanks also for all "projects" you did around the house, we are truly blessed!

Kitchen Progress

So the kitchen is coming along a little slower than anticipated but we are making progress and coming into the home stretch. Here are a few pictures of what has been taking place. Below is Tanner standing where our food pantry use to be.



We left for Jamaica and came back to all of our cupboards being cleared out. Here is part way through the process.


Below is after the top cupboards were ripped out.


Here is the new wall color in the dining room and also one wall of the living room. We decided to cover the burgandy color that was in the dining room and covered it with a slate blue gray color.


Our cupboards are suppose to be installed on Wednesday and the counters should be soon to follow. This week should bring about lots of excitement and change so we will keep you posted!