18 Months!

Today my little boy is 18 months old! That's a year and a half!!! Where on Earth did the time go! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home and doing all the newborn stuff. Now he is a walking, talking, eating, laughing machine! He has grown so much in the last few months and everyday is a new experience, challenge, and memory! He is the coolest kid I know (kinda partial) and just amazes me every single day!

Future Daytona 500 winner!

Tanner had his 18 month well check yesterday so here are his stats and what he's been up to lately:

*Weight- 22.2lbs
*height- 31.5in
*Head- 49cm
Still kinda puny, but he is a least on the growth chart so I'm not too worried

*Favorite Food: mac n' cheese, blueberries, Greek yogurt (or gogurt like he likes to say), beans, turkey
*Favorite toy- cars and toilet paper (who would have known toilet paper would lend hours of enjoyment even with a toy box FULL of toys)
*Favorite show: Super Why
*Favorite song: I'm Sexy and I Know it and Tattoos on This Town
*Favorite place- OUTSIDE! We practically live outside! Good thing it's warming up.
*Best Friends- Daisylou (dog), Audrey and Braylon!
*Favorite Book- Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Tanner is definitely a ladies man and can be found blowing kisses to women on a regular basis. I may have my hands full when he is a teen!

At our well check the doctor was very impressed with Tanner's vocabulary. This kid talks non-stop! I have always kept a log of his words and he knows over 50 words! Now, not all words are pronounced correctly, but I can understand what he means! Maybe all those months being in my belly while I taught kindergarten really did pay off!  My dad is working really hard with Tanner to teach him Spanish. He wasn't very successful with me or my brother, so I think Tanner is his next project! It's going really well and he knows six Spanish words so far (agua, frio, luna, lenya, borrega, leche). He is also trying to put sentences together and sounds so cute!

Some of my favorite words he says are: gunkle (uncle), kicky cat (kitty cat), dindor (dinosaur), cock (clock haha), and Daaddlulu (Daisylou).  My favorite sentence is: Gunkle baboy (uncle's a bad boy) and he even hits his hand to really emphasize it!

My parents live down in Corrales, NM which has a very small town feel. They live on over an acre of land and have a huge garden and tons of animals. I love that Tanner can experience that small town feel even in the midst of Albuquerque. He spends his days chasing chickens, feeding cows, riding tractors with gwapa, and playing in the dirt. Because he is around so many animals all the time he is getting really good with his animal sounds! I love when he crows like a rooster, just not in the middle of Mass!

Well 18 months have passed and I am still in awe of this kid! God has blessed me with the most amazing miracle and I thank him for Tanner everyday! This boy has changed our lives and shown us what true love really is!

We love you Tan!

My Rock

This has been a rough week for me.  I have decided to start the long journey to getting my TAC surgery and hopefully start trying for a sibling for Tanner next fall.  I had an amazing consultation with a Dr. in Chicago (because only one very inexperienced doctor does them here in good old NM). After talking with him and emailing a few times I KNOW he is the doctor for me. I have a sense of calm and know I will be in the best hands. The dilemma you ask? Well that would be insurance and the run around between them and my doctors here. My doctor is pretty much blowing me off and insurance can't even start process with out her approval. I am frustrated. Even with her approval, there is no guarantee that insurance will cover this surgery. I am so mad that people who have no idea what it is like to almost lose a child are the ones determining if this surgery is a "necessity"! It is to me! I don't want to have another kid in the NICU or God forbid have to bury a child because they don't think fixing my screwed up cervix is a necessity!  I love being a mom and I don't feel that doctors or insurance should dictate whether or not I can have another one or how I go about having one. I have a feeling I am going to have the fight of my life on my hands here shortly. been

That being said, I am pretty much an emotional wreck. I have, however, seen an amazing side to my husband. He has been my rock these past few days and I wouldn't be able to go on this journey without him. His kind words, a touch, a  hug right when he knows I need it most made me fall even more in love with him. He was the strong one during our issues with my pregnancy, I leaned on him while Tanner was in the hospital, and now again he is there reassuring me and promising that everything will be alright. This journey we have been on has been tough on both of us and sometimes I wonder who he leans on since I am the crazy, obsessive, needy one. I wish I could be as strong and have as much faith as he does. Again, he is pretty awesome!  As if that wasn't wonderful enough, he continues to get up each day and work so hard so that I am able to stay at home with Tanner. He never complains and is always worried about me and whether I need a break. He is an amazing cook, and even more amazing Daddy and my best friend in this world. I thank God everyday for bringing this amazing man into my life. I am one lucky girl. Now, I just need to believe him and trust that God has a plan for us and that everything really will be okay.

My rock, my friend, and my love!

Defiance

My son has begun the stage or phase (please God let this be a phase) of defiance! He is so stubborn and strong willed. My patience each day is wearing thin and I am pretty sure that if he went to time out for everything he did the kid would live in the corner! Funny thing is that I was reading a friends blog and her son (also born on July 27th) is doing the same thing. Birthday coincidence, probably not, but more than likely just part of being 18 months old. It seems like Tanner looks for my reactions to his naughtiness, so I have been trying to keep a straight face. NOT WORKING!  I really try to pick my battles and really only get tough on him when he is doing something that could kill him. Still not working. He looks at me, I try to correct behavior, he looks at me again but this time with a smirk, and then continues doing what I just told him to stop doing! God really did make babies cute for a reason.

See what I mean! He is lucky he's so cute!

Here are some examples of our day to day lately:

Exhibit A: Tanner please stop pulling Lulu's tail. Look, smirk, pulls again! Lather, rinse, repeat. Second time equals time out. He usually stays, but stares at me with that smirk! Hard to keep the stone face!

Exhibit B: Please don't climb on the couch and try to run back and forth across it. I take him down and he climbs right back up!!! ARG!

Exhibit C: While at car rental place my son decides to grab key and try to shove it in electrical outlet (now he knows that those are "hot" and he can't touch, but the show off wanted to get reaction from the guys in the office). Time out for Tanner and no more keys, but then the tantrum ensues!!

There are so many more instances, but I am tired! I don't want to be the constant nagging mom, but I also want a child to listen to me! From what I've read and from talking to my mommy friends, this behavior is pretty normal and they will eventually grow out of it, but I feel like a bad mom and like his behavior is a result of bad parenting! I know I am a good mom and I am doing my best, but I really wish kids came with a manual pertaining to just them!

Now this may sound complainy, but believe me we have way more good days than bad. Even the hard days are days that I thank God for! I love being a mommy more than anything in the world and am so blessed to have the most amazing, funny, adorable kid, defiant and all!

Mr. Defiance himself!  

Our Day In The Park

The weather today was so nice that I decided to put down the feather duster, forget the over flowing laundry basket, and get outside with the little man!  We left our house and headed down to one of our favorite running spots and decided to get our workout on.  Tanner wasn't too excited (that's a lie, it was me who was dreading the run),

(My feet weren't too excited about this either, but I really surprised myself with how well I did! Maybe Jillian kicking my butt is paying off!)

but I promised him we would take all of our old (omg when did that expire) bread and feed the ducks or quack quacks like Tan likes to call them.  Before we left I set my bag and Tanner down so I could run and find my shades only to come back and see this

Yup, my clever kid opened the bread and because this mom never feeds him, he resorted to eating stale bread. All he was missing was the water and he would know what a prisoners life is like.

This stale bread is so much better than that egg you tried to feed me mom!

After our run we headed to the pond and the ducks swarmed us. Maybe hunger was in the air today!  Tanner had a blast throwing bread to the ducks and making duck sounds! Then some bully ducks got in on the action and swarmed us again splashing us with what I am pretty sure is disease ridden water. I am pretty sure we are now infected with some sort of deadly virus from that putrid water!

All the quack, quacks!

AFLAC! This duck is always at the pond and is so friendly!

Would love to know what is going through his mind sometimes!

After our bird feeding we headed over to the playground. Tanner has recently discovered a new found freedom and loves slides. He hasn't quite mastered how to use them and I fear many casts in my future because this kid knows no fear!

Thanks for catching me mom!

I had such a good day with the little guy today! Days like these are the best! Hoping we can make this more of a habit. Sometimes I get caught up in cleaning and making sure the house is perfect. Well today it isn't, but guess what? I had a PERFECT day and I think Tanner would agree!

Love his smiles!

Until our next adventure. . . 

Small Victories and One Huge FAIL!

I've been doing really good with my New Year's goal of working out on a more consistent basis.  Not quite seeing the results yet, but am very motivated.  I am, however, getting a little tired of Jillian yelling at me and the weather is so hit or miss with being nice and then the next day freezing so I decided to head back to the gym. This time I had my little handsome man in tow.  It would be his first time ever in daycare and I thought he might cry, but I never expected to be called and walk in to see a boogerlicious, hyperventilating, mess of a kid! My heart broke!  The ladies were so sweet and told me this is common and to come in everyday for a week and it should get better.  I know it probably will, but is traumatizing my kid worth looking good at the pool this summer. . . actually yes (okay I know I sound like an awful mommy right now), but I really, really want this and want to FIT in it!

But the logical side of me says daycare may not be the answer. I guess I will have to be a little more creative with getting active. Maybe gym after daddy gets home, or very early in the morning before daddy goes to work (yuck).  I guess for today I will stick to verbally assaulting Jillian and pray it warms up soon so our long runs can resume!

My running buddy! 

As for my very small victory. . .  Tanner is napping in his crib as I type!!! He hasn't even sat in the thing for months!!! After a HUGE scare last night (as in Tanner falling off our bed straight on his head) we decided it's time for his eviction notice from our room.  We are going to start with naps and hopefully with some divine intervention this will lead to night time in his room too!

Exxon Val-Dean

Last night our house was the site of a massive oil spill! As I was trying to be super mom, cleaning, trying to get a decent meal prepared and watching (ok maybe praying that the pantry would occupy the little ones time which would actually lead to occupying the rest of my night) Tanner, the incident occurred and BP couldn't even be blamed.  This one was all Tanner, well maybe his not so bright Mama. I heard a weird noise, but didn't turn around as the chicken I was trying to burn cooking was not as easy as I thought it would be. Finally, I hear UH OH and what I turned around to see was more of a What the **** did you do! The ENTIRE bottle of veggie oil was seeping across the kitchen floor and my son (with the biggest smile on his face) started to stomp and splash in the oil!  Morgan was working late so trying to salvage dinner and stop my kid from busting his gourd was not so much fun!

I had to find a way to clean up the mess so I pulled out every rag and old towel we owned and tried soaking up the mess. I also remembered my 7th grade science project about birds and oil spills and thought maybe some Dawn dishsoap  would do the trick! A few burned chicken breasts and lots of elbow grease later my floor was clean, or so I thought. Moment of truth came when I let the dogs in to eat. Poor things all went sliding across the floor and into the wall!  The hubby got the call to pick up his own dinner and the little man and I called it a night, a very long night! So, on my agenda today and for as long as it takes, is to find a way to clean the slick, if you walk to fast you may bust your head, floor. I know I say this A LOT but Tanner is lucky he is so darn cute!

And sadly the pics from this glorious night won't upload so just use your imagination folks! Believe me it was not pretty, but the smile on Tan's face was actually pretty priceless!  Definitely a page for the scrapbook!

The New Year

Well the new year has started out pretty darn good!  Tanner and I have been having some great cuddle time watching our favorite morning show Good Morning America and then switching over right at 9:30 so he can hear the theme song to his show Dinosaur Train (which he watches a whole whopping 3 minutes of)!  We have been doing a lot of baking and cooking. Our latest endeavor was red velvet cake balls. Yummy, but now this mama needs to make a trip to Jared to get her ring cleaned! Red velvet stuck in diamonds looks pretty tacky.  The weather has been so nice and that is definitely helping with the working out goal I set. We've done really good so far and need to keep it up with all the baking we have been doing :)  Sadly, we have also been hit with a case of the lonely's (don't know how to spell my made up word).  Our good friends are on vacation and soon my mommy friend will be starting work. I'm happy for her, but will miss our let our kids beat each other up so they have a good nap days! I'm sure we will find something to pass the time (other than cleaning) and I am happy to announce that this mama is officially looking for a part time job! Don't know what I want to do yet, but I am excited to start looking!

One a different note, I am so excited and nervous for tomorrow! January 5th has been really good to me and I need the good luck to rub off tomorrow! Five years ago tomorrow Morgan and I had our very first date. First of many amazing days over the past five years! Tomorrow is also a very important day for our future! I have a phone consultation with an amazing doctor in Chicago who may be able to help me carry another baby to term with a procedure called a TAC.  He is one of the best and I really, really want him to do this surgery! This surgery is my hope and could give me a shot at having a safe, full term pregnancy in the future! I pray that insurance cooperates and that Morgan and I can soon have a less stressful pregnancy than we had with the little man!  Think good thoughts for us please!!!

12 Goals for 2012

I hate resolutions!!! I always break them about two weeks in and then feel crappy!  This year instead of resolution making, I am going to try and accomplish 12 goals. Kind of like resolutions, but without the long word and added pressure!

1. Make my marriage more of a priority.  Sometimes being a mom and all that comes with it (cooking, cleaning, working, etc) doesn't leave much time for my relationship with Morgan. I want to make him a priority and really show him how much I love and appreciate him! More date nights are definitely needed!

2. Make more time for the Lord. Church has been on a back burner and I am really missing it.  I haven't been so fulfilled with my current church, so in the next few months I want to try out other churches to try and find a better fit for our family. I need to make God more of a priority too because without him I am lost.

3. Find a part time job! I am ready to get out and be more than just a mommy! I'm not quite ready to jump back into full time, but part time would do us both good. I hate saying this and it sounds so mean, but I really need to "miss" Tanner. I don't feel like I am an effective mom right now and long for just a little more in life.

4. I want to try and cook one NEW meal a month.  Pintrest is amazing and will help a lot with this. Sometimes I feel like we are in a rut when it comes to dinner ideas. I am sick of spaghetti! Hopefully I can add some spice into dinner haha!

5. I really need to get back to the gym. Working out at home is hit or miss depending on when Tanner decides to nap for longer than 20 min, so I think the gym is the only way I will get a quality workout in, at least until it warms up and Tan and I can start running again!

6.  I want to travel to Chicago to get my TAC procedure done by Dr. Haney hopefully this summer sometime. I am scared, but this surgery gives me hope of having healthy, full term babies in the future.  If everything goes as planned we would like to start "trying" for baby number two next Fall!!!!

7. I really want to work on potty training when Tanner turns two. My hubby and I have a deal that we can start trying for baby number 2 after Tan Man is potty trained and after the TAC. Two kiddos in diapers would break the already broke bank!

8. I want to spend more quality time with my grandparents. Morgan and I both recently lost two of our grandparents and I really want to spend as much time and show the living ones that I have, that I love and appreciate them.

9.  I want to learn to sew!  I am asking for a sewing machine for Mother's Day and I really want to start being more crafty!

10. Blogging more consistently! I don't know that I'll blog every day, but would like to do more than two posts a month like I've been doing lately!

11. Finally finish Tanner's first year in my scrapbook!!! Poor kid is going to be 20 by the time his first year is done at the rate I'm going!

12. Be the best mommy I can be. I want Tanner to know how much I love him and how blessed I am that I was chosen to be his mommy! He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and he deserves me at my best!!!

      Hopefully I can  accomplish all of these goals! I am going to try my best! Here's to a great 2012!!!