chunka lunka's photo shoot

i pulled out the camera yesterday because tanner was looking cute and chubby (as always) and rolling around on the floor. . . enjoy!!! :)

our trip to the drs

Both boys had their checkups this morning - Bryce, his five year old checkup, and Tanner is four-month-old checkup.



Bryce: 40 pounds, (25th percentile for weight) and 44 inches tall (50-75th percentile for height) He grew FOUR IINCHES this year!!!!! (Shall we call him, Mr. String Bean?) He had four shots today - everything he needed to start kindergarten in the fall. He cried a little, but handled it like a champ. (and was rewarded with chocolate afterwards - a spoonful of sugar really DOES make the medicine go down!)

Tanner: 20 pounds, 5.5 oz (97th percentile for weight!!!!) 26 inches long (75th percentile for height!) (Thats my chunka lunka!) Had two shots - hardly even cried! Amazing!!! He fell asleep as we were checking out, and Bryce headed to school.

With Tanner's height AND weight, he has officially outgrown the infant carrier, so I will be off to Target this week to buy new booster seats for Bryce, so that we can turn his current convertible-seats back into carseats for Tanner. UGH!!! The biggest pain will be that when Tanner is asleep in the car, we can't just pop his carrier out of the car and take it in the house. And shopping will be interesting, because he can't quite sit up in the cart yet.


We can start giving Tanner rice cereal whenever we want - I'm not in any hurry. Not sure when we'll try it . . . she said it probably won't help him sleep better, but we could try if we want. He goes back to the dr in two months, and Bryce goes back next year!

And because I didn't want to leave you without a picture, here's a recent one of the boys - I know it looks like Bryce is smooshing Tanner, but really he's not. Tanne flips over SO quickly now. . .and this was the one time that he figured out that when his neck gets tired, he can turn his head and LIE DOWN. . .why he hasn't done it again, is beyond me. He'd rather cry and get frustrated and wait for us to flip him back over (so that he can do it all again.) :)

this one. . .

As promised a few days ago, THIS ONE. . .

* . . .usually turns our coffee table into a war zone of Lego guys, football players, knights, or dinorsaurs, as seen.

* . . .is sporting his new Hot Wheels watch (his first watch!) in the photo in front of Nana's Christmas tree.

*. . . thinks some of his favorite Christmas gifts were his new football, new soccer ball and net, basketball, and Football Guys (seriously one of the coolest toys I've seen in a long time!)

* . . ..has acquired the fine art of bathroom humor, now that he's started preschool - "poop head" and "pee pee face" are among the phrases we are trying to remove from his vocabulary.

* . . . .is still reeling from a full month of present-receiving. It's going to take some time to reign him back in, and he thinks that every day he should still be getting more STUFF.

* . . . wants to go to Toys R Us and buy more Star Wars Legos. (See above statement for clarification!)

* . . .seems to be the only child at his preschool who is totally unaffected by the crazy cold weather we are having. He is still happy to run around, and wants to take off his coat, despite the fact that its 40 degrees, and everyone else is shivering. (Daddy's boy, or what!?)

XOXO

remembering poppop

how it's possible that i am doing this again, is beyond me. . . .

Poppop.
He used to play hide-and-seek with me, at my dad's restaurant. (When it wasn't opened, of course!)
He bought me pink Mickey Mouse sneakers.
We had ping pong championships in his basement. In the basement where he stockpiled enough canned food to feed an army. It was always chilly and damp down there, but there were always treasures to find. I always came home from Nene and PopPop's with treasures.
He and Nene came to Florida every Christmastime.
And he always put a box of chocolate eclairs in the refrigerator after he arrived.
And slipped money in my hand or pocket. (And said "Shhh, buy yourself something nice.")
He could be gruff. And impatient - but never with me. He was a teddy bear. Big and warm and sweet. And when he laughed, his whole body shook. It was a big wonderful chuckle that I can still hear.
He loved his grandchildren and great grandchildren with all his heart . . . and children LOVED PopPop. There was just something about him.
Sweet PopPop, we will ALWAYS love you!!!
XOXO

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/app/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=138180889

happy new year!

this one . . ..
is rolling onto his tummy.
(and doesn't know what to do once he gets on his tummy!)
loves the hat that Nancy made him!
is such a smiley little thing!
loves his big brother.
wasn't a huge fan of the COLD weather in North Carolina!
needs to start SLEEPING at night!

Will share about THAT one (the big brother) soon. (that report will include Legos and a sassy mouth!) ;)
Just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year.
We're home from North Carolina, and trying to regroup and unpack.
It's been a strange Christmas/New Years week to say the least, but we had some fun this week, and we are praying for a beautiful new year. Hugs to all of you!!! I'm hoping to start getting some more December pictures up soon. . .now that it's January!!!

the old buzzard

we lost the old buzzard tonight.
we called him Grandpa Grumps.
but he wasn't all grumps.
if he liked you. . .you were "a keeper".
bryce.
buzz.
grumpy.
dad.
he had many names,
and twinkly eyes.
he used to stand on the porch and watch the thunderstorms roll in.
he believed in Murphy's Law.
he liked having his back scratched.
he used to take us out on his boat.
Tugboat Annie was one of my favorite places to play, when i was little.
he hollered at the newscasters on television.
he loved to watch football.
he talked politics with anyone who would listen.
he did crossword puzzles every day.
he always raised a glass, when his picture was taken.
he started a little fire in the fireplace every night, no matter the weather.
his walks around the block were like clockwork.
some of his quirks were his own.
some of them were because of Alzheimers.
(like meeting my bryce a dozen times over the course of an evening.)
"Oh, a great grandson?" he'd say, "I didn't realize I had any of those!" and he would tell us again about how the kids used to tease him because of his name. ("Not to worry, the kids don't know who Fannie Brice is, these days.")
he met tanner (a few times) on Thanksgiving.
Tanner won't remember.
(Grumpy didn't either.)
But I do. I will always remember.
I will remember how pleased he was to see a smiling baby on his back porch.
I will remember his kiss on my cheek.
and I will remember him.

Merry Christmas!

It has been such fun getting everyone's Christmas cards in our mailbox. We love seeing the photos and the sweet cards. We aren't sending out Christmas cards . . .so here is my attempt to thank each of you and say, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! We are so blessed by our friends, and our family, and we love each of you - whether you live down the street, or across the world.
Big big Christmas hugs. Stay warm and cozy, and have a wonderful holiday week!!
XOXO

today

just a quick one of the cuties, amidst the holiday craziness!!!

xoxo

Bryce's birthday weekend

The day we got to Orlando, to celebrate Bryce's birthday, we had dinner at T-Rex, at Downtown Disney. This was before it started raining . . . Then we got to SeaWorld the next morning, and it started raining. . .
and raining., . . .and raining. . .
(this is the boys having lunch. . .getting out of the rain)

This is the boys on Bryce's first roller coaster ride!!! It's a kiddie one, and Bryce wasn't sure about it - but they did ride it TWICE!!!! (in the rain. both times.)

Here are the boys on the "teacups" . . . . .in the rain.

And I swear, this dolphin is smiling at my little boy.

(And I'm pretty sure my little boy is smiling at him!)

It was a wet but good day. There aren't any pictures of Tanner, but he was comfy and cozy in his stroller, draped with a big clear garbage bag to stay dry.

playing catch up. . .november edition

A few cute photos from November. (Trying to get caught up here, people!!!) :)

tanner and daddy out on annie grannie's dock, on thanksgiving

bryce and annie grannie on thanksgiving.

this is what tanner's hair looks like if we dont comb it when he has a bath. it is super curly on top! so funny! :)


hello pudge!

Bryce and his dolphin friend

I have a new video of Tanner "talking" that I've been trying to upload all afternoon - but it wasn't working. Just realized its too big. So I will try to fix that, (or just do a new one) but in the meantime, here is an AMAZING video of Bryce at SeaWorld. The dolphins in the underwater viewing area were AMAZING on Friday. Totally interacting with the people down there. Bryce had SUCH fun with his dolphin friend!!!! I'm so happy we were able to catch it on video!!!

I promise - Thanksgiving, Bryce's birthday, SeaWorld and a Tanner video to come.

One day.

Hopefully one day SOON. :)

XOXO

He's FIVE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYCE!!!!

we've celebrated in orlando at Downtown Disney, at SeaWorld (in the pouring down rain) with breakfast at Gigi and Doobie's this morning, and now we are celebrating at home. Bryce just opened his presents, and later on we are going to decorate our gingerbread house, and make Rice Krispie Treats for schoool tomorrow. Tonight Bryce's birthday dinner choice were Daddy's cheeseburgers, french fries and carrots. So that's our big birthday plan!!!!

OXOXOX

a turkey for a turkey

Here's our little turkey, with his turkey. Bryce and I made this hat together while we waited for dinner to be ready on Thanksgiving (which was delicious, by the way!)

updated the christmas lists just a bit . . . link is on the side!!

will be back with thanksgiving pictures by tomorrow!! :)

xoxo

a quick tanner video :)

Mimi took this video of Tanner this morning. He never "talks" when we have the camera out, but we keep trying!!

XOXO

a (quick) message from bryce

Bryce had his Thanksgiving feast at school today, and came home with his complete costume that he's been working on. An Indian shirt, feather headdress, and noodle necklace! The kids each came up with Indian names, and Bryce decided to be Running Wolf.

So here here is, Chief Running Wolf, with a very QUICK Thanksgiving message for you!!!

Bryce's creative beauties!

Bryce made this sign for Eric on his birthday. . .he wrote all the letters of "Happy Birthday Daddy, Bryce" allll by himself. I just told him how to spell the words. I was totally impressed. This was the first time he said "How do you spell. . . ." with the intent to write words (without being prodded to!)

During the Letter P Week at school the kids made these CUTE CUTE peacocks!!! Seriously - how cute is this!!!????

And here is a pumpkin projects they did, also during P Week, when they learned the little rhyme about "5 Little Pumpkins" I love the smiley faces he put on each pumpkin. I think I will be pulling out this piece of artwork every year at Halloween time!!!

Just wanted to share his cute work!!! I am going to try to take more pictures of his projects - it takes up a lot less space to save photos of everything, than the real thing. (Of course I am keeping a lot of it - but I just can't keep it ALL. . . sniff sniff!!!)

XOXO

Cutie pie. . .goofy pie

I got a few sweet pictures of Bryce as we were sitting outside, but really the way I won him over was to take some crazy pictures of him. After a few minutes, he decided it was really funny to do crazy tricks, and then see the pictures I took of him. I will spare you most of them. Most were blurry, or not so entertaining - but Bryce thought it was HILARIOUS! He would jump in the air, and make a crazy face, and then run over to see the photograph.

He is definitely our little HAM!

XOXO

ulterior motives

So I asked Bryce if he wanted to sit outside this afternoon, read some books and enjoy the PERFECT weather. Really I did want to do all of those things . .. but I also wanted to take some pictures of the boys!!! Bryce cooperated fairly well, and so did Tanner! I even got some smiles! Check back tomorrow to see Bryce turning on the charm.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC!!!!

Finally, he's old like me!

Happy Birthday Eric!!!

We love you!!!

XXOXOXO

See?! I told you!

I told you I am working hard to be a very good blogger. (It's not too hard when I sit down and make a morning out of scheduling out my posts, and editing photos!!!) So if you'll remember, these photos were taken before we left for the zoo, last Thursday. Thankfully Tanner slept through most of the zoo. Bryce got lots of candy, and played in the bounce house. Most of the animals are not out for the event, but we did get to see the baby jaguar eating a pumpkin! Plus we got to see the giraffes, and all the snakes and frogs in their tanks (yuck!)

before-the-zoo pictures

It's almost impossible to get good pictures (or any pictures at all) at the zoo, for Spooktacular. It's dark, crowded, and I have pretty much given up! So I decided to catch some pictures before we left! Here is one, and you can check back tomorrow for some more - I have my post all prescheduled and ready to go!!! (See what a good blogger I am!?)

XOXO

Happy Birthday Mimi!!!!

Happy Birthday to Mimi!!!!

We love you and miss you and can't wait to see you soon!!!!

We'll eat some cake, just for you, today!

Love,

your bestest buddy, your littlest buddy, your favorite daughter and her favorite husband ;)

XOXO

the firefighter at the parade

Here's our little firefighter at school this morning! The kids had their costume parade, and Bryce totally lucked out . . .his class was the start of the parade, and he is the lineleader this week, so he was the VERY FIRST person in the parade!! He looked super cute, of course!!! :)

Later today the kids are having a party in their classroom, and making english muffin pizzas for lunch. They also painted Tshirts that they put on after the parade. I can't wait to see him after school! We went to the zoo last night, and I took a few pictures before we left. . . check for them in . . .well, probably a few days. (I could say "later today" but we all know that won't happen!!!)

XOXOXO

ho! ho! ho!

i started the birthday/christmas wishlist! i'll let you know as i add more to it!

http://bryceandtannerswishes.blogspot.com/

a little baby video!

Tanner was being smiley and talkative a few days ago so I tried to catch him on video. Of course once the camera was out, he was totally NOT cooperative. But he's sweet and cute and especially if you haven't seen him in person yet, you'll enjoy him just the same!

tanner's two month checkup

14 pounds (95th percentile)
i forget how long he was, but in the 90th percentile!
three shots
one oral vaccine.
crying so hard that no sound came out.
the doctor said he looks perfect!
he flirted and smiled at the nurses and doctor.
a big long nap.
all in all i think we are doing okay!!!

XOXO

This one. . .that one. ..

This one. . . .
*is still LOVING school.
*is writing his name.
*has been to three pumpkin patches, and two fall festivals in the last few weeks!
*is working to use kind words and make good choices! (and being rewarded with time on the Wii!)

That one . . .
*is in size TWO diapers now.
*has the biggest chub rolls in his neck! (I mean, WHAT neck??)
*sticks out his tongue and blinks his eyes when its cold outside, just like Bryce used to do!
*is going for his two month checkup on Wednesday (and will probably get a bunch of shots!)
*is smiling like crazy!

Those two. . .
*are making life wonderful!!!!!

one is better than nothing, right?

here's a quick picture of bryce at the pumpkin patch this past weekend. annamaria and her girly girls came to town and FINALLY got to meet Tanner!!! We took all the playgroup kiddos to the pumpkin patch in their costumes, to get some cute photos. (I'll have more. . .I promise.)

The boys are both doing well!!! We have all managed to stay healthy so far this season, and we have enjoyed some COOL weather this week! We have plans to go to the Fall Festival at the church where Bryce's preschool is, on Friday night. And next week we will go to the zoo for Spooktacular! :)

I better go eat some lunch while Tanner is asleep, before we go to pick up Bryce from school!!!!

XOXO

the first smile shot!!

I worked REALLY hard to get a picture of Tanner smiling!! It's not a great photo, but at least you can see the sweet SMILE this baby has!!!!

I will get the pumpkin patch pictures up soon. I WILL get the pumpkin patch pictures up soon. I WILL get the pumpkin patch pictures up SOON. (I think.)

XOXO

Six weeks and counting!

Tanner is six weeks old now!! This week he has definitely started SMILING more. We got an occasional little smile in his sleep, those first few weeks, but this week we have been seeing more and more REAL smiles. . .so of course we are being typical crazy parents and acting like total nuts, doing anything we can to try and win a smile. He is also starting to grab onto my shirt and hair sometimes too. This is the first week we have really seen him learning new skills and doing some cool new stuff. (And he LOVES his pacifier now too!)

Yesterday at school was "Wear an orange shirt day", because Bryce's class was learning about the letter O this past week. (They ate orange Oreo cookies for snack one day, and learned about lots of letter O words!) We had already planned to go to the pumpkin patch after school, so the orange shirt was perfect. Tanner decided to dress in orange too, for the occasion. I am working on pictures from the pumpkin patch (although I seem to have had some camera malfunctions - WAHH!) and I will get them posted later this weekend!

XOXO

the zoo

We had a FEW days that felt like fall around here. . .those days are gone again, but we took advantage of the cooler weather last week. After school on Friday we took Bryce to the zoo. It was Tanner's first trip to the zoo, and believe it or not, it was the first time I had been, since before I got pregnant! I was either too sick, or too swollen and uncomfortable to go when the boys went over the past few months.
There are a few new babies at the zoo. . .the giraffe, who is SO big, and SO small all at the same time! Also a new baby jaguar, and the cutest of cute - two BRAND new baby squirrel monkeys, riding on their mamas' backs. (One of them was only TWO DAYS OLD!!!)

And proof that OUR little baby really was there. . .here he is. He slept almost the whole time we were there. He was awake to see the lion, and Bryce was so cute, he said "Don't worry Tanner, the lion is behind glass. He can't hurt you!!" How cute!!

We will go back to the zoo in a few weeks, for their annual Halloween "Spooktacular". It's basically trick-or-treating in the zoo!!! It's a ton of fun, and we've gone the last two years.

Good morning little ones!

Our bed . . .it seems to be the gathering place these days. I am noticing a lot of our pictures have taken place here lately! It's where we sleep, try to sleep, watch TV, feed tanner, read books, snuggle, drive cars, build Legos, and pause for a photo op. Here are my two sweet boys a few mornings ago, enjoying a few moments of peace before school and the morning craziness.

Celebrating survival!

Today is an important day. October 1st. . . I said all along, while I was still pregnant, "If we can make it through September, we can make it through ANYTHING." Well. . .guess what?! WE MADE IT!!!!! Bryce started school, and Tanner made his grand entrance. And we survived. There were a few days that I wasn't so sure we would, but we did. With many thanks to a lot of YOU for carrying us (or dragging us) through, but especially to Bryce and Tanner's most wonderful grandparents. . . .my parents and Eric's parents have been so very wonderful and helpful and provided just what we have needed at every moment we needed it. It seemed one or many of them were saving the day an awful lot during the month of September (and the last few days of August!) We are so grateful, saying "Thank you" just doesn't seem like enough. . . .but . . . THANK YOU.