Growing up

Oh boy...Tanner is growing up so fast it seems! He's doing and saying new things everyday! What a thrill to be a parent and watch your child grow and develop just as God created him too! Tanner has been signing the word "milk" for awhile but he has now added 'eat' and 'more' to his signing vocabulary. He plays peek-a-boo and blows kisses - too cute! He waves and says 'buh-buh' (bye-bye). "Daddy" comes out like 'Da-da-ee'! Tanner also says, 'uh-oh', 'Mama', 'Hi-eee', and most everything new is "WOW". If you ask him how old he is - he'll put up one finger (sometimes on both hands!) and if you ask him what a doggie says - he'll say 'hm-hm-hm-hm'. It's so cute and precious to hear his sweet little voice!


He loves to get a 'ride' in the laundry basket!





When I saw this photo - I thought it made him look older and it hit me that Tanner is no longer a baby - he's a little boy.

Thanksgiving Day!

This Thanksgiving was Tanner's first that he could eat with us (last year he slept in his car seat while we had our dinner at the Czuk's!). So this year was exciting for us to share our meal with him! He loved it! He had a bit of everything!! Turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, squash, applesauce, jello and a roll! I think he was plenty satisfied! Unfortunately, we don't have any photos of him eating....but we do have some of him while we were at Uncle Dennis and Aunt Sheri's house!

Here is a photo of him hanging out with Uncle Scott before we ate:

And here is Aunt Sheri reading to him!

Tanner LOVES books!

Tanner being silly - trying on cousin Kyle's glasses!

Luke is Here!

Tanner's BFF (best friend forever :) has arrived!!! Luke was born at 3:30am on November 1, 2007! He is just so adorable and precious! We are so happy you are here Luke!

Sleepy boy

I got to hold him!

Big Pile of Leaves!

Tanner went to Poppa and Nana's house on Wednesday and got to play in a big pile of leaves at their house! He loved it!

Funny Face!

One evening, Daddy was on the patio grilling our dinner and Tanner was inside. However, Tanner wanted to be outside with Daddy so he was trying to get as close as he could.......

Kalamazoo Nature Center

Nana and Poppa came down to Kalamazoo recently and we went to visit the Kalamazoo Nature Center! It was our very first time and it was really fun! They have an indoor area to walk around that has lots of Michigan exhibits (animals, reptiles, fish, plants, birds, etc - some alive and some stuffed) plus a bug exhibit and a indoor tropical rainforest area too! Plus they have multiple hiking trails. So we walked around inside a bit and then went for a hike outdoors - it was an absolutely gorgeous fall day - sunny and mild. We hiked to the Kalamazoo River and then back. The ground was just blanketed by yellow leaves - it was so pretty!

Here are some photos from our visit!

Tanner and Poppa:

Tanner and Nana:

Tanner loved riding on Poppa's shoulders!

Beautiful fall day!

The four of us with a golden forest in the background!

Michigan Lakeshore

One thing we really love about Michigan is all the lakes and the miles and miles of shoreline! Last Saturday, we went to Lake Michigan to see the lake again for the first time in about 5 years! It was great - and if we used our imaginations, we could pretend we were standing at the Pacific Ocean again! :) The day was perfect - sunny and mild. It was pretty windy though so we had sweaters and jackets on while we were by the water. We went to South Haven and walked the pier and then went back into town and ate lunch and walked around a bit. It was a great day!

Little Explorer

Tanner is quite the little explorer! He loves to crawl around and get into things - lots of things! Some that are good and others that aren't. Well - our little explorer discovered something exciting the other day and I caught him on camera!!

The funniest thing about it was that the whole time he was unrolling the toilet paper - he was saying 'nah no nah no'!! Like he just knew it was something he wasn't supposed to do! :)

"Look what I found!"

"It just keeps coming and coming!"

"Let me just get this last little bit here..."

Tanner is One!!

Tanner turned one on October 13 and we had a big bash to celebrate! It's hard to believe that a year has already gone by but it's been a wonderful year! Tanner had lots of fun at his party! He didn't 'get' the unwrapping of gifts part but we figure it will be the last year that he doesn't get into that! Daddy made a super cool birthday hat but Tanner didn't like it much (probably had more to do with the straps under his chin than the actual hat). He did like his cake though. I put a whole piece on his tray and he picked it up and put the whole thing in his mouth and just sucked on it! :) Was pretty funny to see!

Here are some photos of the big day!

Mama showing Tanner how to rip open that package!

Tanner got a little help from Ella (20 months - on the left) and Elise (2 1/2 - on the right)

Drum cake and maracas!

Tanner eating his cake!

When Fall is like Summer...

...you spend it outside!!!

We've been blessed with some really, REALLY nice weather this fall! It's been in the 70's this week still! :)

About a week or so ago we were playing outside and Tanner discovered something really fun.....

Oh wow - look what is under the grass!

Look Mama - DIRT!

If I stick my finger way down there - I can get a good clump!

This is so much fun...am I allowed to do this??

First Things First...

So - I'm sure you are all itching to see birthday photos but first things first! I haven't been good about updating the blog lately again...sorry about that! We've had a bummer thing happen - our storage unit with all our stuff got broken into and we lost a bunch of items - so we've been busy figuring that situation out. Yuck!

However, we have some super cute photos to share with you!! A few weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch (Gull Meadow Farms in Richland) and introduced Tanner to pumkins and donuts! :) It was a gorgeous day - we had a great time! We'll have even more fun in the coming years - they have lots of rides and games for toddlers and older kids!

Here is Tanner sitting amongst the pumpkins!

Look what I found Mama - a STICK!!!

Our little pumkin:

A pensive moment:

Picnic Downtown with Nana!

Last week Thursday, Nana came down to Kalamazoo to visit! We went downtown and had a picnic in the park and then checked out the library and browsed the shops! We had a great time!! It's such a blessing to be able to spend time with family again!


Here we are having our picnic!

Nana can always get Tanner to giggle!

Thanks for a great day, Nana!

Summertime Fun!

Tanner has been loving the backyard at Grandpa and Grandma's house! He is always happy when we go outside and if he is being fussy inside - we just go outside and he's happy! He loves to sit in the grass and just play with it and with any leaves or sticks he finds. One of his favorite things is his cool new pool!! And he's discovered the joy of eating dirt...yikes!

Tanner loves the flowers and plants scattered along the deck!

This is his new sitting position! You'll find him more on his knees these days than on his bottom!

Here he is studying a flower (a zinnia, I believe!).

He is SO happy when he's outside!!!!

Whew - what a whirlwind!

Hi Everybody!

First of all - so sorry it's been over TWO months since we've updated this! Where does the time go?

Well - our lives have changed dramatically since the last time we posted. In what we've been calling a chaotic whirlwind - we've up and moved our family over 2000 miles away to Kalamazoo, Michigan. We left Portland in the middle of August. I flew home with my Mom and Tanner and then Steve, his Dad and brother-in-law drove the moving truck and car home. Since then, we've been trying to acclimate to life in the midwest - it's quite a bit different than the west coast!

There is a lot we miss about Portland - our friends, our church: Imago Dei, the amazing beauty of the Pacific NW, and lots of other unique things about the city we lived in for over 4 years! But we realize that there is a place for us here in Kalamazoo right now. Plus it is very nice to be with our Michigan family and friends again!

I had some great photos of Tanner 'helping' with the packing and such (inside a moving box and crawling into empty cupboards) but they are saved on our computer which is in storage. But we have some photos to share so you can see how our little guy is getting bigger! In less than a month he'll be one!!!!!

Here we are with our friends; Tim and Anna Czuk and their kids; Eliana, Kaspar, and Acacia. This was taken in front of our apartment when they came to inherit some of our houseplants! We miss you guys!!

Steve and Tanner taking a walk on Powell Butte - this was our last visit to the Butte before we moved. We used to go for walks up there almost every day since we moved to Portland - we certainly miss that!

Here we are in front of our apartment the day that my Mom, Tanner and I flew to Michigan. Our apartment is the upstairs unit (with the fan in the window).

And here is Tanner and I at the airport right before we flew to our new home:

Steve, his Dad and brother-in-law stopped at Mt. Rushmore on their trip back to Michigan:

Tanner and I by the truck the day after they arrived - this is in front of Steve's parent's home, where we are living for the time being.