July Little Things

July turned into a crazy month for us.  At 3 weeks the Dr okayed Tanner to fly to Utah.  So, James drove with the 3 big kids while Tanner and I flew.  It was supposed to be a quick trip, but turned into a long trip.  James ended up flying home and the kids and I ended up staying for 6 weeks!!  A lot happened in the 6 weeks.

TJ turned 3 and had his traditional pancakes. 

We went for several bike rides...with James doing most of the work.

There was lots of piano practicing pounding.

Tanner really liked racing cars.  I think that was his first real smile.

We had some last minute cow costumes.

TJ went for a few motorcycle rides.

Hannah liked playing dress up with Aunt Becky's fun clothes.

Tanner was blessed.

I had somewhat matching outfits for the kids and had hoped to get a picture of them all together, but by the time I was done taking Tanner's photo TJ was covered in mud.

There was lots of time spent at the nearby parks.

Grandpa reading to the girls. 

There was lots of fun at the 24th of July parade.

Tanner was fussing while I was changing his diaper (yes- his diaper changing station was on top of the dryer at Grandma and Grandpas).  TJ found a toy and climbed up to try to play with him.

We visited Park City with cousins.  The Olympic Stadium was lots of fun.

We also went for a hike at one of the ski areas.  I wasn't very prepared...all 3 of my kids had flip flops...but they were troopers.

Sofia was the flower girl.  She loved picking flowers.

A selfie with me and my boys....Tanner's just hiding under the carrier.  He was also a trooper.  He went a couple of hours without eating until we made it to the top.  Hooray!

TJ still hadn't learned to go to the bathroom standing up.  We had at least 3 attempts to go to the bathroom on the trail....all 3 unsuccessful.  As soon as we got to the bottom and he had a toilet he went immediately.

Back in Logan we went to visit the temple.  I love letting the kids touch the temple.

 Here we are sending kisses to dad who spent 4 weeks as a bachelor back in Arkansas!!

Tanner Newborn Pictures

I think newborns are hard to photograph.  And I'm not the best photographer.  But I want pictures of our babies as newborns.  And I'm too cheap to hire a photographer.  So.....I take a ton and hope at least one turns out decent.  Here are a couple that I liked.

I think he looks a little freakish in this one, but I wanted one of James holding him.

Hannah Turns 7

Hannah's birthday was pretty quiet.  Tanner had just gotten home from the hospital and we weren't planning anything too exciting, but she was okay with that.  It was Kid's Day on the square downtown.  We didn't know anything about it, but decided to give it a try.  Turns out it was pretty lame, but at least we got out of the house!

I baked the cake but Hannah was in charge of decorating it herself.  She had requested something fancy and rather than try to get stressed out trying to make it look nice I let her do it herself.  She had several willing helpers.

The cake did not turn out the way I would have wanted, but she loved it.  It was yellow, had cats, and she was happy to have done it on her own.  It was a good lesson to let them do more themselves and not force my standards on them.

It was pretty low key, but I think she had a good day.

June Little Things

For the first 2 weeks in June I split my time between Tanner at the hospital and the kids at home.  Tanner spent the 2 weeks hooked up to lots of machines

 and a good chunk of time looking like this:

Between pumping sessions and trips to the hospital we managed to make some homemade popsicles.  Naturally, TJ needed his floaties for the little 4' inflatable pool we set up.

The kids did come visit Tanner in the hospital.  The day before he was scheduled to come home the nurses let us sneak all of them in to hold him without any wires.

Here they all are together at home for the first time.

The Saturday after my mom left James was working at Imagine and I tried to venture out to do something fun with the kids.  We went to the Botanical Gardens and it started to rain right after we got there.  By the time we made it back to the car it was pouring.  Once we got home they played in the rain for a while.  It wasn't quite what we had planned, but it worked out well.

Here's a little family time.

TJ was being the dutiful big brother and pushing him in the swing.

We invested in a bubble machine (we were trying to find anything relatively inexpensive to do to make life around home more fun).  They loved it for about a day or two.

Tanner got lots of cuddles from everyone.  And he doesn't seem to mind the uncomfortable looking position.

James just climbed up the tree to cut off a few branches.

He's growing and looking less like a freakish newborn every day.  Hooray!

The girls built a temple out of the blocks.  They begged me to take a picture and send it to the Friend magazine.  They still ask me every month if their picture is going to be in the magazine.

June was a long, hard month.  Trying to balance the older kids with the baby wasn't easy.  They were bored from being stuck at home and I was exhausted.  But, we managed to survive.