Trey update

Trey is 10 months old and just keeps growing.  He is super fast at crawling, almost walking, and is popping teeth and eating like crazy.  Let's start with mobility.  I think Tanner will be in for a big surprise when Trey actually walks by himself.  He currently will walk around any piece of furniture available, behind his walking toys or when holding onto someone's hand or any body part for that matter.  When standing up he will let go of his support and just stand there for a while, but has yet to just take off across the room.  Trey has taken one or two clumsy steps between people but I would bet that right around Christmas he will start walking on his own.   Trey's two upper outer teeth have broke through and it looks as though he has fangs.  His two upper middle ones are close to breaking through. Trey basically is eating everything we eat with a few exceptions.  He loves fruit, just like Tanner as well as cottage cheese and yogurt.  There isn't much that he won't try and on most days you can't keep enough food in front of him.

Here is Trey's great smile that we get to see numerous times throughout the day.

In attack mode...this is basically how Trey kisses.  Mouth open wide in full slobber mode.

Trey has discovered numerous looks in his short life but this has to be one of my favorites.  His bright blue eyes coupled with and innocent break of a smile brightens my day and melts my heart.

Overall, Trey is a happy kid.  Even on days where teething is tough and sleep is hard to come by we get to see numerous smiles and hear lots of giggles.

Trey had a bird's eye view and stayed dry in the backpack while we were exploring the pumpkin patch.

Many days and nights at our house are spent racing our "cars".  With Trey's newfound mobility Tanner likes having the competition.

Tanner update

What can I say about our energetic, funny, independent, loving little boy who is not so little anymore.  Tanner turned 3 this October and has definitely taken to being a "big kid".  We have no worries about potty training anymore, he can dress and undress himself, pick out his own clothes and likes to have choices with most activities that are taking place in our household.  He is not afraid to express his opinion and just wants to be included in everything that is going on.  He loves to help in the kitchen, and is thoroughly enjoying his new playroom.

Lately, Tanner has been into pirates and this was right before he fell asleep with the pirate patch on his eye during a long road trip.

Our  son is quite the character.  He loves to have costumes on and decided that this mustache made the outfit.

Tanner is still taking swim class and loves the water.  He is now swimming across the pool basically on his own and has learned how to roll over to his back to get his breath and then continue swimming.  He is also working on diving.

This is Tanner outside in the pouring down rain.  One afternoon as the rain was coming down in buckets he declared that he wanted to go outside and play.  On went the rain boots and rain coat and he splashed around in puddles as Trey and I watched from inside the house, warm and dry.

Tanner with his new gold clubs on his birthday.

Tyler and Tanner at the pumpkin patch.  Of all the nice dry days we had this Fall, we chose to go to the pumpkin patch the one day it rained...hard.  We had fun anyways and found some great pumpkins.

Here is Tanner with his own pumpkin.  He worked very hard to clean out the insides all by himself and then dictated the design of the face as I helped cut it out.

7 months

So, I keep making promises to keep up on the blog and I keep failing.  So, I am just going to say I will do my best.  Instead of trying to play catch up, I am beginning at 7 months and updating from there.  Here is Trey at around 7 months.  At this point he has been fully mobile from about 6 months.  As you can see he is pulling himself up on everything and on the move. 

 Trey is full of smiles and giggles.  His squeals and laughter fill the room.  Trey tries hard to keep up with big brother Tanner and is so intent on being involved in everything.

Below is the one picture I was able to take with him sitting still and not falling off the chair.

Camping Trip

I am vowing to not give up on this blog, so here is the first of a few updates from over the summer.  Towards the end of June we were able to take a family camping trip over to Lake Billy Chinook.  We spend four days out on the boat and playing at the campground.  The boys did great traveling and sleeping in the motorhome.  The weather was perfect and we had an amazing time.

Our family out on the boat.  Trey was not thrilled about wearing his life vest but he handled it and enjoyed being out on the water.  Tanner love being in the boat but was not sure about when Tyler or I were wake boarding or tubing.  

This was our method for keeping Trey out of the sun.  The boat has a top on it but this picnic food tent and blanket seemed to be the best method for keeping him cool.  He slept like this, in his bouncy chair most the time while out on the boat.

Trey getting his nightly bath.

This is what camping is all about...dirt!  This is also how Tanner spent most his time.  Every time we turned around he was laying in the dirt playing.

After playing in the dirt, Tanner had a perfect handprint on his face.

Grandma Mary and the boys.  Tanner was singing to Trey and Trey was giggling at his older brother.  A big thanks to my mom for helping out with the boys so much, especially out on the water so that we could get some wake boarding and tubing in.

Once again Tanner playing in the dirt.

Our campsite.  We were blessed to be able to bring my mom's motorhome and all of us stay in it.

Tanner helping Tyler get ready for wake boarding.  Tanner's didn't necessarily like us being in the water while the boat was "moving"  but loved pulling the rope and pulling us into the boat when we were done.

Tyler's Aunt, Uncle and Cousin came and had dinner with us one night and met Trey.

The fun water shooter that Tyler bought Tanner.  He had a blast spraying the water and Tyler when he was in the tube.  Our first camping trip was a blast and we can't to take the boys on more adventures!

We are moving!

Tyler and I decided to begin looking at houses a while ago but were in no rush to buy just any old house. We had decided that we needed to find "the perfect" house in order to move or close to it.  Well...just out luck, we found it!  We had quite the list of requirements for our next house and this one met each and every one of them.  Here is a preview of the house.  We won't be moving until sometime in August but the current owners were nice enough to let us take some pictures.

This is the bonus room upstairs.  We will use it as a family room.

The master bathroom.  Yes, that is the shower with two shower heads.  I am not sure how I feel about not having a door and one might get added quickly.

The dining room and kitchen.  I think I am most excited about having a walk in pantry so that I can actually buy in bulk at Costco and have a place to store it all.

Downstairs "office".  We will be turing this into the kids playroom.

The living room.

I will definitely post more pictures once we actually get moved in and settled.  The great news is that we now have a real spare bedroom so anyone who wants to come visit is more than welcome.

4 month update

I am running a little behind on updates but Trey is now 4 months old and is already trying to stay up with Tanner.  At his 4 month check up he weighed 14 lbs 13 oz and is 26 inches long.  This puts him in the 50% for weight and above the 95% for height.  Looking back he is pretty close to Tanner's measurements at this age.  He is eating and sleeping like a champ and is overall a happy little guy.  He tracks Tanner wherever he is in the room and I haven't figured out if this is a new line of defense or just entertainment.  They definitely love each other and we can't wait to watch them grow up together.  Trey is rolling over and is attempting to crawl.  He rolls and turn and slithers to get where he wants to for short distances, but I don't think full crawling is that far off.  He loves singing and watching Tanner dance and is learning how his own voice works be screeching and making all sorts of fun loud noises.  By the end of the summer we might be in trouble with these two running around.

Swim Class

With summer comes swim lessons.  Tanner has been in swim lessons since last summer without a break but last Monday was Trey's first swim lesson.  Having Trey's swim class first and then Tanner's right after really showed how far Tanner has come in regards to swimming.  Tanner is so confident in the pool and is really swimming using his arms and legs to get places.  Trey is just experiencing the water and loved splashing and singing but wasn't too sure about actually going under the water.

Below is a video of one of Trey's first swims of the summer.

The below video is of Tanner diving for toys at the bottom of the pool.  He just recently decided he wanted to wear his goggles.  Tanner reminds me of my brother Matt preferring to spend more time underwater like a fish rather than swimming on top of the water.

Our happy boy under water!  Tanner enjoys just handing out under the water.  Anytime we go under the water he just hangs out for awhile instead of swimming back up to the surface like he is suppose to.  Tanner wishes he could have swim class everyday.  I guess I can't really blame him.  Hanging out in a 90 degree pool everyday would be my idea of a good summer.  Between spending time in the pool with our boys and out on the river in the boat, I am excited for summer!

Fun on the river

With as much as Tanner loves the water, we decided to invest in a boat and create family memories.  Here are the boys checking out the boat before it was in the river.

If you can't tell, Tanner is a little excited about being in the boat on the river.  He kept saying 

"GO FAST!" He and Trey did great on the boat and we can't wait to spend many hours on the river this summer.

Tanner decided he needed to help drive the boat.

Grandma Mary with both boys on the boat.

Horses and ATV's

For awhile now Tanner has been asking me when he could ride a horse and when he could ride a motorcycle.  Well, thanks to some special people my little boys dreams came true on our last trip up North.

Tanner has been very intrigued with taking Trey's picture.   He walks around the house saying "Cheese, Smile!"  

Here is Tanner and Grandpa Mike on the ATV.  Last time we were up North, Tanner would not even sit on so when he asked to climb on and ride, Grandpa Mike jumped at the opportunity.  Afterwards, Tanner kept talking about how he rode a "motorcycle".  There might be a little bit of country in him.

Grandpa Mike finally met Trey and it was love at first sight.  Trey enjoyed watching Grandpa Mike and checking out all of his fun toys.

Grandpa Mike and Grandma Linda had a big surprise for Tanner...his own ATV.  There was no hesitation on Tanner's part and he thoroughly enjoyed riding it all over the property.

While up North we were able to spend time with our good friends.  Here is Nayeli and Jaclyn with Trey.  Nayeli was helping with Trey in preparation for her new little sister Selena.

When they weren't helping with Trey, Tanner and Nayeli spent their time chasing the chickens.  

And here is the highlight of the weekend.  A big thanks to Cousin Cassidy for sharing Ziggy with Tanner.  Auntie Beth took time out of her busy schedule and walked in the ran in order to make Tanner's dream of riding a horse come true.  Cassidy did such a great job of showing Tanner how to feed Ziggy and where to hold on.  Needless to say, Tanner is still talking about when he can ride Cassidy's horse again.

Here is our little cowboy.  It was great to see everyone up North and we can't wait to make it up there again.

Three Month Update

Wow...three months has gone by so quickly and I have not kept our blog up to date.  So, here we go...Trey is growing like crazy and I can't believe how quickly time is passing.  He is now rolling over and attempting to crawl, though luckily he is not getting far yet.  The giggles and smiles come all day long and Trey is completely amused by his brother, Tanner.  Tanner can be in his face, making silly sounds or dancing all around and Trey just giggles and smiles at him.  Trey loves singing, blowing bubbles, and Tanner.  Overall, everything is going great and we couldn't be more blessed with this amazing little boy.

Motherhood

My journey towards motherhood began many years ago growing up on the farm surrounded by my family.  It was there that I watched my mom, aunt and grandma, mother with confidence, humility, grace, and humor.  I learned what it meant to be a woman of God, a loving wife and a competent mother from these woman.  As I grew older I began to watch my cousins get married and have children of their own.  When you thought I wasn't watching I was.  I witness the journey of motherhood as Lori, Lisa and Beth raised their families and allowed me to be participate in their children's lives.  I then married into a family where I gained a mother in law, grandmother, and many aunts who all demonstrated the importance of tradition and bringing ones' unique style to this journey of motherhood.
As I take time to reflect on what Mother's day really means and as I was honored and pampered by my own boys, I realize that I don't tell these important women enough the impact they have had on making me the mother I am today.  Each of you...Mom, Aunt Kit, Grandma Katzenmeier, Lori, Lisa, Beth, Carole, Grandma Reitha, Aunt Darlene, Aunt Kristi, Aunt Michelle, and Aunt Becki, have all played a vital role in making me the mother that I am today and my boys have you to thank.
By opening your homes and families to me, you allowed me to gain knowledge and experience regarding this amazing job of being a mom.  I won't say that it is always easy or even enjoyable but there is no other way I could imagine my life.  Each day brings new challenges, joys and lessons to be learned.
Before I sign off I want to acknowledge the amazing young women that I get to go through this journey of motherhood with.  You have been the reassuring words I needed in time of crisis and the shoulders I could lean on when my strength has lessened.  I am so blessed to be discovering mother hood with such great support through amazing friends.
I am sure that as life gets busy and May soon leaves us for summer, I will once again forget to tell each of you as often as I should how important you are to me and how much I have learned from you.  So, please know that I thank and praise God for each of you in my life and that you have taught me more than you will ever know.