I feel like I'm falling for Fall :)

Time  needs to slow down. I have spent most of the day today getting hugs and kisses from Tanner. He has been very lovey lately and I LOVE IT! He wraps his little arms around my neck, squeezes real tight and then pulls his head back and gives me lots of slobbery kisses, sound effects included! ;) He is one sweet little guy. He even loves on his sister and cuddles up with her on the couch to watch tv. When he wakes up in the morning and Kenzie isn't up yet he runs straight to her room (he literally runs) and climbs in her bed, cuddles and yells at her to wake up! She responds with "good morning Bubby!" Only Kenzie can call him Bubby, that's what she calls him and doesn't let anyone else do so. Tanner is starting to say more and more words, picking up on sign language and can communicate like a champ. He says: ball, mama, dada, bapbap (papa), nana, up, out...he signs: milk, all done and more. He can point to his belly button, mouth, teeth, nose and eyes if you ask him. He knows who everyone is, so if I say "Tanner, go give this to ____" he takes whatever I give him and gives it right to that person. He makes a barking noise for every animal still, we're working on that. :)

We took a trip to the Springs Preserve a couple of weeks ago with some friends. The kids had a lot of fun and we got to see a bird show, Tanner was impressed with the birds flying over our heads!

 

 

 

Tanner Kenzie and Lily

 Fun at the Mall

We are enjoying this amazingly cool weather lately. It is really starting to feel like fall now. We are getting ready for Halloween, Kenzie picked out a Minnie Mouse costume and Tanner is going to be a Vampire/Dracula. He is extremely difficult and won't wear a hat or anything on his head for that matter. We are painting his hair black and got him a cape to wear! :)

San Diego Zoo

We took a trip to the San Diego Zoo the end of September. It was a lot of fun, the kids really enjoyed it! :)

Kenzie being a flamingo

It was Russ' Birthday and they spelled his name Ross, lol!

Kenzie and Nana with a Gorilla

Tanner checking it all out

Kenzie wasn't cooperating with picture taking

Kenz and Tanner with Nana and Papa on the tour bus

One year and 2 weeks

 Tanner has be ONE for two weeks now. You never expect a lot of change after they turn one but Tanner is starting to pick up on A LOT of new things!

• He waves hello and goodbye
• Signs "all done" and occasionally "more"
• Says: up, go, mama, dada, nana, baba, meow(like a cat) but he kind of says it backwards, ruff(when he sees a dog)
• He knows what "light" means and looks up when you ask him
• he's getting better at listening when I say "uh-uh, no no, out" when I don't want him in something/doing something/going  somewhere
• he is starting to understand and really play with his toys
• He weighs 22.3lbs (65%) height 30.25" (67%) head 18.75" (89%) at 12 months old

We are having issues with Tanner drinking milk so this whole "weaning" off a bottle hasn't been happening. He is so stubborn and won't drink milk and/or formula out of a sippy. He drinks juice and water just fine out of one though. I am slowly mixing milk in with his bottles and not warming them in hopes that he will get used to this stuff. I am so over washing bottles! I have never liked putting them in the dishwasher like I do with sippys so I hand wash and microwave sterilize them regularly.I even have the sippy tops that go on his bottles and he just looks at me like I'm crazy when I hand it to him. I tried adding a bit of nesquik to his milk at dinner last night and he just threw it on the floor. He eats dairy with no issues, it's just plain old milk that causes him to spit up...a lot. It is not fun.

Kenzie is the same old Kenzie, always pushing things. I am wanting to start her in dance and/or gymnastics this fall to give her something to do. We'll see how that turns out.

We are all excited to be going to the San Diego Zoo at the end of the month, we are making a long weekend out of it. We want to try and see some friends of ours and go to the beach as well.

 

It's almost been a year...

My little boy is going to be ONE in 17 days....it's completely bittersweet. I love watching him grow and become his own person. He is learning things at lightning speed these days, picking up something new every day. Some days I want him to be my helpless little baby still, needing me for everything. He needs me less and less, which makes me sad that I'm not needed as much, but happy to know he's growing into his independence with ease. We are getting close to getting rid of the bottle, he is partially on whole milk so formula will be gone soon too!! I am definitely not sad about not having to wash bottles and no more formula to buy. After he turns one we will slowly take away the binky with our goal for it to be gone before he is two, it worked out perfectly with Kenzie so I'm hoping he will be the same.

Tanner still only has his two bottom teeth but his top ones have started to cut through. I'm hoping they will be in for his first birthday pictures! I love those tiny little baby teeth! He is starting to pick up on sign language, right now he says "all done" and we are working on eat now. He claps his hands and stomps his feet when we sing "If You're Happy and You Know It" but doesn't care for the 'shout hooray' part. By that time in the song he's lost interest, haha. He absolutely LOVES his big sister, even though she takes toys away from him, pushes him down and teases him. He is learning how to get her back. He pulls her hair and hits her in the face with some NO encouragement from mom and dad ;) haha. They play "run and chase" as Kenzie calls it. They run all around and Tanner screams and laughs, he thinks it is the greatest game ever. When Tanner wakes up in the morning Kenzie always asks to go in his room and play with him, so she goes and gets in his crib with him and they play and laugh for a little while. It is so sweet, I love their relationship right now.

Kenzie is a little spitfire. She definitely keeps us exhausted and wondering why we even had kids on our toes. She has been very defiant lately and I'm beginning to see that the next year is going to be very interesting....let's just say that the "terrible two's" weren't so bad compared to now and what is coming with being 4. Wow. I can't believe my little peanut girl will be 4 in 4 months!! Yikes!

In June we took a trip to Disneyland with the kids, the first time for both of them. It was a very enjoyable trip, we went on a lot of rides with fairly decent wait times and the kids did great. We also had out yearly Family Reunion in Big Bear the last weekend in June. Other than the venue being a bust we had a great time, I love my family.

I don't feel like uploading any pictures this time around. Plus I can't find my camera, surprise surprise, I am always misplacing that thing. I am officially a blond now, no more dark hair for me. It's been almost 4 years since I died my hair dark and it stayed dark until recently. I still need some highlights to finish it up, right now it's dirty dishwater blond, very close to my natural color, so it needs some pep! Finally my kids look like they actually came from me ;)

We are planning a trip to the San Diego Zoo in the early fall, end of September or beginning of October, and I am really excited to go! I know the kids are going to love it.

Walking, weight and more walking

Tanner is WALKING!!! I started to convince myself that he would NOT be just like Kenzie and start walking at a ridiculously young age...but I was way wrong. 9 months old today! Wow, I cannot believe my little stud is becoming a little boy, the baby in him is slooowwwllly starting to fade and it makes me sad. This is the part I want to last forever, the part where he needs me and wants only me. One thing that is completely different between my two munchkins is that Kenzie has ALWAYS been Miss Independent, doesn't want or need me for anything....which kind of hurts my feelings at times but I know she loves me and she's 3. Tanner on the other hand cannot be away from me if we are in the same room. He will go play with his toys and then crawl back over to me and touch my face or arm to say "hey, I'm here mom!" It's too funny. He is textbook "mama's boy" fo reals over here.



I love my kids so much it's freaking insane. Kenzie never fails and getting my blood boiling and Tanner can annoy the shit out of me with his constant "clingy-ness" but I would not change a thing about being a mom to these kids. Some of Kenzie's recent "sayings":

• "Daddy, when I was a baby, I used to pull your beard like this...see!"
• "When I was a butterfly, I used to fly up in the sky like this...see!"
• "Oh my goodness, see, that's what Shirley Temple says!"
• "See look, I am holding up four fingers, that means I am four years old...see!"
• "See with your eyes mom, see it, with your eyes?!" (she says this when I'm not really paying attention!)
• "Peanut butter jelly sandwich with NO jelly mom"

I could go on and honestly I die laughing so many times a day at what she says I lose it all in my brain. She is one funny kid and she definitely got that from her dad, and maybe it's a lefty thing, lol! She did get her head stuck in a little wooden stool the other day and I would've taken a picture but I'm sure it would've been considered child abuse or something like that. I couldn't stop laughing the whole time I was trying to get her out and luckily Tanner was napping so I got her out pretty quick! That girl, she is a riot. Naughty most of the time, but funny as shit.

So I have been having a HORRIBLE time trying to lose all this Tanner weight. It's been miserable the last nine few months. The one plus is that I am not gaining....but I'm not losing either which is equally shitty. My life is  completely different this time around, I know, and I heard after the 2nd it's harder to drop the weight, which I am finding to be true for me. After Kenz I was wearing my pre-preg jeans within 2 weeks of her being born. This is so not the case now. We have been taking nightly walks in hope to spark some weight loss and get my fatness some motivation. I am going back to blond, which I haven't been since I was pregnant with Kenzie 4 years ago. I am halfway there, it's a lot of work to get my box-dyed brunette-ness back to a golden blond so we are doing it in steps! :) I need a change. I need to feel like myself again and not just a mom. I need my identity back!!!

 Kenz was messing around in the bathroom and smacked her eye on the TP stacker...typical!!!

Just a quick update

I can't believe how fast time has gone by since Tanner was born. I swear it was just yesterday I was complaining about being pregnant and now he is 8 1/2 months old.

His dad bought this hat for him

This little dude is trying so hard to walk. He pulls himself up, stands without holding anything and can balance himself for a while before falling down. He is "cruising" all around on whatever he can and likes to walk with the assistance of one of his push walkers. I am almost positive I will have a walker in the next few weeks, right where his sister was. Kenzie was a full on walker at 9 months old. Tanner loves to eat. So far he hasn't had any kind of reactions to food so he gets anything and everything...within reason of course! His absolute favorite is fresh fruit in his mesh teether, yogurt and black beans.

Black bean face

Silly girl

Kenzie is a.....I'll be nice and just say she's a handful.Sometimes I swear she got switched at birth because this seriously cannot be my child. I thought the "terrible two's" were bad and boy was I WRONG! Three's are bad worse ridiculous HORRIFIC! She is sassy, bratty, naughty and just plain difficult but at the same time she is sweet, witty and such an outgoing and VERY smart little girl. Lately she just pushes it. I'm hoping it's just a phase and that she will snap out of it soon, I really can't take her being mean to her brother, at least until he can fight back ;)

I am so ready for summer. The kids LOVE being outside and in their little inflatable pool.

Catching up!

It's been quite a few months and I figured it's about time to update!

Tanner is now 6 months old! Can you believe it? Because I can't. His personality is starting to come out, he is such a sweet baby and loves to cuddle and be held. He is definitely a Mama's Boy. He acts like it is the end of the world if he can't see me. He has been sleeping through the night for a while now so tonight I am going to put him in his own room in the big crib instead if the pack'n'play beside our bed. He is HUGE. He's not chubby, he's big. He was 27" and 17.6lbs at his checkup last week.He does have the biggest head though, a whopping 17.75 inches, that puts him in the 90th percentile for his head, 50th for his weight and 65th for height.He sits like a champ and is showing interest in crawling....with A LOT of encouraging from me! :) He eats solids and LOVES his fruits, especially pears.





Kenzie is too smart for her own good. She can spell her name, say the alphabet, count 1-20 and she can also count by ten's (10, 20, 30 and so on.) She remembers EVERYTHING, so if you mention something to her she WILL NOT FORGET IT and she will bug you until you follow through or find something else to distract her with. She loves to watch Team Umizoomi, Tom and Jerry, Dexter's Laboratory and Powerpuff Girls.She is sassy, energetic, seriously funny and makes us laugh until we cry on a daily basis. She has been day potty trained for 5 or 6 months now and actually woke up dry this morning! She was taking swim lessons for a few months and is an awesome swimmer now. We took her out because A)it's freaking expensive B)She kind of hit a plateau and started goofing off in class C)They "moved her up a level" but she wasn't taught anything new. So all in all we decided it was time for a break until summer time.

Eating a Mum-Mum

 

 

 

Blue tongue!

Love my kids<3