an Angel in disguise

Have you ever met an angel in disguise? (1. a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant or messenger of God, conventionally represented as being of human form with wings. 2. a person of great beauty, kindness, or virtue.) Well, I have! This is Randi and she is our angel, minus the wings :) Randi is Tanner's birthmom. She is beautiful, amazing, and one of the most Christ-like people I have ever met. After finding out she was pregnant at 17 and deciding she wanted to give her son more than she could by herself, she placed him in our arms and gave her love to us. She got her life on the right path afterwards and married her adorable husband, Craig, in the LDS temple. Last month they had their first child together and have a beautiful family now. I love Randi so much and would do ANYTHING for her. She has given us more joy and happiness than we ever thought imaginable. I wish them the best, and all that their hearts desire! I can't help but think of her everyday as I look into my son's eyes and see her too. I'm so glad we have angels on earth.

our Prince Charming froggy

One more addition to today and finding the frog is...every night Tanner has to be rocked for a few minutes (has since birth, but we love it!) and wants to hear a story. The past few nights I've made up this story about us walking through the grass and finding a froggy who needs to kiss a princess so he can turn into a prince. In the story the frog talks to Tanner and asks him to take him to a far away land to find his princess...so, Tanner has been helping this frog find a princess to kiss and then turn into a prince! He loves the story and several times during a random moment of the day he will ask, "mommy, can we go find my froggy!?" So today when we really found a frog, he thought it was awesome!!!!

Fun adventures at our place!

Okay...it is 4:00 pm and I just showered and brushed my teeth! NICE. I'm pretty sure I brushed my teeth this morning when I woke up too, but I just can't remember. (I know I'm not the only one who's done that :)). ANYWHO...it is a BEAUTIFUL day in the neighborhood. We have been playing outside, it is PERFECT. If it wasn't for us feeding the missionaries tonight, I probably wouldn't have even showered. We have to redeem ourselves because last week the missionaries showed up and I thought they just wanted to hang out. Long story short, after I talked to them for 15 minutes and realized it was dinner time, I asked them if they had a dinner appointment?? They must surely be hungry. They looked at me with a bewildered look and IT HIT ME. They weren't out and about and wanted to stop and say hi to Jill. They were supposed to be EATING AT MY HOUSE right then and there!!!!! I about died. Apparently after Priesthood session they arranged to come over with MY HUSBAND, for the upcoming Tuesday. Big fat NO NO. Did Landon ever tell ME, the one who was going to cook the meal, about it? Of course not. So silly me feeling retarded, embarassed and on the spot didn't know what to do. Unfortunately Landon wasn't going to be home for another hour, Tanner and I had just eaten at Panera Bread, and they couldn't stay with me without Landon there. I gave them $20 and sent them on their way!!! They were cute about it all. Apparently they loved eating out too, so it was all good. ANYWAYS, now we are redeeming ourselves and trying it again. Tanner and I had fun outside today though, like I was previously saying. I decided to mow the grass for my dear sweet hubby. I like to do it! It's fun exercise and relaxing for me :) I thought I saw something from my perpipheral vision, and low and behold I did! It was a cute little froggy jumping in the grass. I hurried and caught it in a box for Tanner to play with. HE LOVED IT and kept saying "thank you for my froggy mommy!" It kept him entertained for a few hours. He wanted to feed it leaves and watch it jump, but didn't ever dare touch it. Now Tanner is in the bath and I need to clean the house a little more and await the arrival of 3 hungry men! Oh what joy. Hope you are all having a great day as well :) Oh yeah, we sent the froggy home, back to our forest in the backyard. We didn't let him come in the house and die (like someone I know did! ha ha).

The greatest show on earth...

is not out here!!!! Saturday night we went to the CIRCUS and I was so excited all day. I couldn't wait to take Tanner to see Elephants, Lions, cool acrobats and more. WELL, I totally forgot we live in Missouri now. Let's just say it was NOT the "Ringling Brothers Circus."

Landon thought it was just fine, he had no expectations. I however did, and was let down!! We had a good laugh with it all though! It was a poor mans version of a glorified talent show. Tanner even got bored. But we made up for it by getting cotton candy, peanuts and drinks, and besides the dogs and horses in the show, they DID have 3 elephants and we let Tanner ride one during intermission. I did get a little interested when an asian girl came out and bent her body in every way your not supposed to! That was cool :)

Anyways, it was fun to get out and be together as a family. I guess it doesn't really matter what we do, as long as we're together!! But I've learned not to get my hopes up with any events in Missouri, especially if the outcome results in my boys turning into hillbillies like this...

Baby book

Here is the baby book we did for Tanner. It is a little nicer with leather back, higher quality. I think it was about $50 and the other fun book below was $30. Here are a few sample pages from the book. I just LOVE this book, it is so special. We used to cry every time we read it to Tanner...so we haven't read it for awhile!! It talks about Tanner in his heavenly home before he was born, his birth mom and her family he was born into, and then his adoptive family now, us, who he will be with forever!! But his ultimate goal is to return back to our heavenly home!

Tanner's thoughts

*Tanner looked at me with a most concerning look, touched my ears with my dangling earrings and asked sympathetically..."do those not hurt you mommy!?" *This morning Tanner asked for water saying "I want some water, the sun's not sleeping." Let me preface-when it gets dark and time for bed, he says the sun is sleeping. We don't let him drink alot of water/juice before bed either, so he doesn't wet it. Thus, he put two and two together this morning when it was bright and he knew the sun was up and that it was okay to drink as much water as he wanted!! *The other day in the car I was squinting from the sun and Tanner said "mommy, don't be sad, have a happy face!" It was so cute. *It was lunch time and I asked Tanner, "do you want a hot dog or chicken?" he replied, "oh, no anks (thanks) mommy." He was holding himself and I knew he needed to use the potty so I said, let's go to the toilet and he replied "oh, on anks mommy!" Its time for bed so I told him, let's go get ready for bed, he replied, "oh, no anks mommy!" It was cracking me up!!!!!!! So pleasant with replies no anks every time...when it really wasn't an option! ha ha.

too cool for YOU

How funny...I wanted to post these pictures of Tanner and his new glasses and my sister just did a post on her blog about her boys and their glasses too! So I will post Kim's pix and mine, because they are so funny!!!!! Tanner's glasses were $1 at Target and he thought they were so cool. Ha ha. He also has another pair of NORMAL glasses that he wore to Panera the other night when we went to eat. I didnt' want him to wear them inside but he said "my eyes are hot!" He needed to shade them I guess. Kim is brave and let her little guy wear pink glasses to the store and obviously got ALOT of laughs and comments. TOO FUNNY!! Gotta love our funny kids.

GOoFy GirlS-my silly sisters

The other night about 10:00 pm to our surprise, me and my 3 sisters all realized we were on-line at the same time. We aren't with it enough to actually do instant-messaging, so we just quickly reply to each other's emails and randomly read them as they pop up! Anyways, it was SO funny and we were all being so goofy, we were laughing our heads off at each other while our husbands were asking what in the world we were doing!!!! It was hilarious. Jaylynn, my oldest sister is such a goof. I don't know where she got it from...LOL, but as you can obviously see in this picture she is the SPAZ sticking the knife in her nose!!!! I sure love my sisters. I love their wonderful husbands and their adorable children. I feel so blessed to be in such an awesome family. You are such a source of great strength for me. Thank you! Thanks to mom too, it's awesome to share our GIRL POWER!!!!! PS I love to think of this moment, and I will NEVER EVER forget our Arizona trip when we were up LATE, all sitting on the mattress on Jay's living room floor, laughing SO HARD that I peed my pants because Kim was hyperventilating to the point of near death, because she was laughing at my easter egg hunt story, and we just kept each other laughing and laughing while the tears streamed down our faces. That will FOREVER be engrained in my memory for eternity. The St Louis fancy smoke, and what's a degg is second runner up! What will be third place!!?? “We are the keepers of each other's secrets and protectors of each other's childhood memories. We are constantly learning from each other. We are each other's harshest critics and strongest supporters. As sisters, we mirror and define ourselves as women through each other's eyes." -Debra Ginsberg

a fun day

Today was a good day...it started off with Tanner sleeping in until 9:00 am (always a good thing). Landon didn't go to work until noon so he played with Tanner this morning and let me be lazy and lounge some more (okay, sleep in even longer, ha ha). Then I begged him to take Tanner into work for an hour and I would pick him up. So, like my loving husband always does, he sacrificed for me and took Tanner to his office for awhile. Tanner loves going to work with daddy. He filled the new backpack (I bought at Childrens Place for $4) with toys and books to help entertain him so daddy can TRY to get SOME work done while he's there. Here is the pep talk and Tanner agreeing that he will be a good boy!! I enjoyed my brief but quiet time at home and then headed to CALO to pick up Tanner. Then the two of us headed out to see the brand new KOHL's store, 45 minutes away in Jefferson City!!!! It opened 2 days ago. YIPPEE! I LOVE KOHLS (my new saving grace), and the driving distance wasn't going to stop me. At least we have one there instead of nowhere. The shopping was great and I had an extra 30% off coupon. Landon won't be too thrilled when he see's the receipts, but I got some great deals and Christmas gifts for people!!! Tanner was a good boy too. We then drove home, ate some chicken noodle soup and corn bread smothered in honey, and now are winding down and getting ready for bed!!!!!! What a great day! I'm very pleased. LOL.

The voice of an angel

Tanner LOVES to say prayers at night and always wants to say his own. He starts out okay but then needs help finishing, and gets a little sidetracked (it's cute). Well tonight he did it all on his own and this was his sweet prayer: Heavenly Father, grateful my blessings, my family, cars, tractors and trucks, guys building a house, a new baby sister and baby brother, mommy taking care of me, name of Jesus Christ, amen. That simply melted our hearts. I hope his precious plea was heard (and one certain part will be answered)!!!!!!!!!!

A fabulous weekend comes to an end

WOW! It has been a wonderful weekend full of doctrine, inspiration, family fun and relaxation. I'm sad General Conference is over. There were so many wonderful talks given. These men are so powerful and it is obvious they have a testimony of our gospel and Savior. They are so inspiring and I can't wait to get the Ensign and start studying their talks and applying them to my life! Meredith liked Elder Eyring, who is soooo awesome, and touched on the importance of keeping a journal about the things that happen in your everyday life that show the hand of God. Good for reflecting on, especially during trials in your life. Holly liked Sister Beck's talk, who will be a powerful RS leader for us women, and the importance of being a mother who "knows" and does less! We have to simplify and focus on the most important things. Shauna loved them all as well! I loved those talks mentioned above too, but I particularly liked Elder Condie's talk about how difficult it was for Abraham and Sarah to have children. They were 90 stinkin' years old, my word. Also Rachel and Jacob...she wanted children so bad and had to watch her sister have 7 children before her own, but the LORD DID REMEMBER her and they were eventually blessed with children of their own. That talk was very emotional for me, for obvious reasons!! But gave Landon and me hope that the Lord still remembers us and will hopefully soon bless us with more children as well. I sure hope it is before I am 90 though!!!! Anyways...I'd love to hear everyone else's favorite talk if you feel like sharing...whether you comment here or post it on your own blog. After being inside all day we needed a little fresh air and went outside for a walk and the boys snuck in a little football game. It was so cute to see them running around and playing, with daddy trying to coach and teach Tanner the techniques and rules of football!!! Soon enough Tanner will get the hang of it and then my boys will probably be history, playing football together all hours of the day!!

A good day!

President Gordon B Hinckley Oh my word...I have the chills. It is my church's (LDS) general conference this weekend where we listen to our prophet and his disciples. It is a great, uplifting, self-motivating time. One of our leaders recently passed away and a new presidency was fulfilled today...with Henry B Eyring!!!!! He is such an amazing man. What a great presidency. I am so excited. Our sweet prophet is so incredible as well. There is no doubt these men are of God.

Funny side note. I was trying to teach Tanner to say our prophets name and he called him "Gordon B Kinky." We'll keep working on that!! LOL

a funny moment

I was laughing so hard yesterday...when Tanner gets mad at anything, or me, he says "don't see me" or "go away mommy." If he is in a bad mood he doesn't like to be looked at or talked to...anyways he was mad about something and was yelling at me. He has alot of rage lately. He was MEAN and had his fists clenched, teeth grit and eyes squinting in anger and in a tight, low, anger toned voice told me to "go away mommy, go take a picture." IT WAS AWESOME. I couldn't stop laughing. That's my funny boy!

Even when it rains...it's still hot!!

You have all been saying it is cold where you are at...YUCK. It's been really hot here, even during our awesome rain storm 2 nights ago. You can't tell, but it is pouring rain in these pictures. It was fun...Tanner immediately wanted his rainboots and umbrella and asked to go run in the rain. He is so much fun!!!!!! Bundle up girls. I'm sweatin' out here for yall!!

One HOT and HUMID day...

Holy moly, Tanner is taking a nap right now...which he doesn't really do anymore! But today we went to the park and he played HARD. It was really hot and humid too, so he was worn out. We have a fun park nearby that has a ship and Tanner couldn't wait to go "sailing and be a pirate" on his ship. He loved it and kept running around saying "arrrr mateys!" He is getting so big. He says the funniest things and just surprises us. I'll have to do another post with that...!! Hope you are all having a great day as well. You're all awesome!!!

Check out that BEAT RED face and his hair is dripping wet!!