Our Christmas

Our Christmas was fun this year. Tanner was a little more aware of what was going on. My dad has a santa suit, so he dressed up on Christmas Eve and came to see Tanner. When he walked in I told Tanner to say hi to Santa. Tanner just looked at him with the biggest smile on his face and said "HI Santa!". He didn't get around to telling him what he wanted because Santa pulled out a treat and Tanner got totally distracted. We'll remember to save the treat untill last next year. Here are a couple pictures of Tanner on Christmas morning. Rylee liked santa too, you just can't tell. :)

When Tanner saw this he said "Oh, I wuv it!" It was so funny!

Tanner's Granny Jeffery made him a dinosaur blanket and he got a cars sleeping bag, so I guess he decided to put them to use. He's pretending to sleep, silly kid.

Rylee had fun too. She got some cute new bows, so that's fun for me. She doesn't look like it bothers her to bad either.

We had a fun morning. Tanner's favorite phrase everytime he opened something was "Oh my doodness!". He was so excited with everything. It was fun! Jimmy had to work later in the day so we just hung out and then hurried to have a Christmas dinner before he had to leave. Tanner was ecxited to have some of his cousins to play with. He is at an age where he kinda likes to be mean and he kept picking on his cousins. My dad was checking on him and my little neice asked him if Santa had braught Tanner any toys. When my dad said yes, she said "Why, he's naughty!". We all laughed at that. It was true, he was being naughty. Maybe next year I can hang that one over him. But all in all we had a good time with my family and it was fun to see them. We did miss being with Jim's family this year. We hope everyone's Holliday was fun and relaxing and everything that Christmas should be.

So Original

These are just some more of Tanner's random places to be. I guess when your that small, why not try to fit wherever you can.

I thought this was pretty funny. He was watching a movie in his room. When I went to check on him, there he was.

For those of you who know Tanner, you know he's not your ordinary 2 year old. His favorite movie is Jurassic Park 3 and he would watch it 20 times a day if I would let him. Well, for a little change of pace and to help save my sanity, I suggested that we watch something different. Maybe Shrek or Cars or something like that. Well, Tanner chose to watch 'The Lord of The Rings'. He has now seen all of them. Well, the other day he had a something in his hand and he was talking to it. It took me a minute to figure out what he was saying but when I did, I was laughing my butt off. He was calling it "My Precious"! And he was saying it almost like Gollum in that freaky little voice. It was so funny! That kid cracks me up!

Tanner's Favorite Places

Tanner has some pretty random places that he likes to be in. This one was his favorite! The rest are just places I found him on different days.

This is a baby bathtub. Also good for a little TV watching.

This is our Christmas tree box. He fit in it perfectly. What would I do without so much variety in my day?

Our Rylee Girl

Well, we got Rylee's two week pictures taken and thought that we would share them with you all. I thought they turned out really cute!

This is one of my favorites! Her Daddy's little girl.

We were lucky to get this shot. Tanner would not hold still! I know it's hard to believe. But it turned out good. I think I'll keep them both. :)

Rylee is one week old!

Today Rylee is one week. It's amazing how fast it goes. I feel like we just brought her home. She still sleeps most of the time but is very content to just lay there when she is awake. Tanner still likes her, so that's nice. I'm not the best photographer, but I'll keep trying to get better pictures of her.

This is how she felt about our little photo shoot earlier. I thought it was a funny picture. She really hardly ever cries, but apparently she doesn't like her picture taken. Maybe she doesn't like what she is wearing. I know that would make me cry.

She looks a little worried in this one. She must not be convinced that I'm doing a good job. She has tons of unruley, curly hair that is fun to play with. I just hope it stays. She was also a little jaundice and had to be under the billi lights, but thankfully it was only for a day and then just sunlight. She is doing well now and Tanner is getting used to her being around. One little episode today though, I was doing laundry and I walked in the living room where Rylee was. Tanner was standing in front of her and I could see that he had something in his hands but I couldn't see what it was. When I got a little closer I could see that he had a squirt bottle and was vigorously squirting Rylee with it. Her whole head was soaked! I guess he thought maybe she needed a bath. I'm going to have to be careful when I leave the room. At least that was all he did!

Jim's mom came down with his brother, Matt. Well, now he is Uncle 'Mac'. At least that's what Tanner thinks. He followed his uncle Mac around the whole time they were here being his little shadow. Matt was a very nice uncle and had allot of patience with him, which I appreciate! Tanner would wait all morning for 'Mac' to wake up and his little face would light up. He would say "Mac awake!"

This picture isn't very good, but when Matt got to our house he had on his hoodie, hood on head, and some white shoes on. Well, Tanner picked up on that quick and within no time had on his hoodie, hood on head, and white shoes! It was so funny! It was all over for 'Mac' after that. Thanks for being such a good buddy!

Hot out of the oven!

Well, here is our Rylee girl. She came on Thursday, Nov 13 at 10:41 am. She weighs 7 lbs 10 oz, and she is 20.5 in long. Only about two oz different than Tanner. She has a round little face and tons of long, dark hair. I know this isn't the greatest picture. I'll do better ones later. I have found that sharing my energy between an infant and a two year old leaves little for anything else. Shocking, I know. But we are very happy to have her here. It was a very short labor and very easy so I was happy about that.

Tanner was more excited about washing his hands at the hospital than holding Rylee. In fact, as you can see in this picture, he hardly even looked at her the whole time. I was a little worried.

But this morning he decided that she might be kinda neat so he wanted to hold her and count her fingers and toes. He really is quite cute with her now. He wants to hold her all of the time and can't figure out why she is always attached to me (She eats ALOT). So far so good with Tanner. I think it is funny that they look nothing alike. But I guess it's still early and we will have to wait and see. Thanks for all of your calls and well wishes. We really appreciate all of our family and friends!

Rockin Out!

Tanner's Granny Gay and Aunt Aubrey came down this weekend and brought his cousins, Ty and Jordo, to play. Granny Gay always has the funnest ideas of what to do to help them have fun. This time she bought them a drum set and a guitar so they could have a little rock band. They had so much fun! Jordo was playing the piano but he got a little bored with it so that just left Tanner and Tyler to jam out. And beleive me, they were jammin'. They thought it was the coolest thing ever. It was fun to watch for a while, but then when they wern't looking we hid the noise makers and resorted back top some quieter toys. Granny Gay was nice enough to take the intruments back to her house. That was really appreciated! If I knew how to upload video I would because these pictures just don't do "The Band" any justice. :)

Here is another one of Tanner. The next morning he talked me into playing the drums while he was on the guitar. It was quite a site, I'm sure. Me and my big fat pregnant belly sitting on that little tiny stool. Oh yeah, I had to sit on the stool. Tanner even showed me how to play. To bad I didn't get any pictures of that. Granny Gay did, but hopefully she will keep them to herself. What mothers won't do for their children!

Tanner loves to go into the baby's room and mess with everything. The other day I caught him just chillen in the bassinet, just the wrong part! But I guess if your comfey...... He did get stuck and I had to help him out. Thats my Tanner!

Just an update: I am scheduled to be enduced on Thursday (thats this Thursday-hallelujah!) sometime in the morning. So next post I should have pictures of our baby girl! YEA! I can't wait to have her here and to be able to see my toes again. Ah, the simple things in life.

My little Dinosaur

We, well I, decided that a dinosaur would be perfect for Tanner this year since that is his current obsession. I got lucky and was able to find a costume so I didn't have to be creative and make one. FEW! It's accually a dragon costume but don't tell Tanner that. This is at our annual neighborhood halloween party. Tanner hadn't had a nap all day and he cried all the way to the park. When we got there he just plopped himself on the ground and wouldn't get up for anything. We finally talked him into playing some games, but it took some effort.

Tanner and his cousin, Annie, are pretty much inseperable. In fact, they act just like brother and sister because they are around each other so much. But they have alot of fun.I couldn't get a picture of Tanner by himself because he would not hold still. Shocking, I know. But they are cute together. Maybe it won't be so hard on Tanner to have a baby sister. He's pretty used to having Annie around. Tanner didn't do so well with the whole trick-or-treating thing. I'm sure he'll get it next year. He went to a B-day party today and they were bobbing for apples. Tanner got one on his first try and he was so proud of himself. I wish I had a picture because it was so freakin cute!

The other day I asked Tanner if he needed a nap. He told me that his dinosaur needed a nap and the next thing I know, Tanner is sneaking out of his room, shutting the door. So I waited a few minutes and then went in and this is what I found. I did not set this up! Tanner really did put the dinosaur down for a nap. He even tucked him in!

This is just a cute picture of Tanner. Everytime I get the camera out he says "CHEESE!" so of course I have to take a picture. This is a perfect picture of Tanner's little happy self. I just need to remeber this when he starts acting like he's two.

An update on us: Jimmy got a second job working weekend security at the Blue Bunny plant. Today is his first day so we'll see how it goes. He gets to eat all the free ice cream he wants so it can't be that bad. He can't bring any home though. That really stinks but it's probably a good thing because I would just eat it. I am officially unemployed! YEA! I am so excited that I get to stay home with Tanner and with the Baby. We will be extra poor, but it will be worth it. Now I can work on potty training Tanner. YIKES! Can't wait to get that over with. I will also be teniding Annie a bit so that should help Tanner with the baby transition. Just for an update, I have about 3 weeks left (if I can wait that long!) untill our baby girl comes. Everything is fine as far as the pregnancy goes, but I'm not sure my body can take anymore. I will probably end up getting enduced, but I'm not sure when yet. I just can't wait for her to get here!

One Year Older and Wiser?

Well, I'm not sure about the wiser part but I am one year older. 29 to be exact. This last little while was pretty eventfull fo Jimmy and me. Well, at least it should have been. Jim's b-day, our anniversary, and my b-day. But since we are pretty lazy we just stayed home and enjoyed being together with our little family.
I'm going to take Ashley's suggestion and do the questionnaire about my hubby. Any reason to brag!
1. What's his name? James Patrick Gay.
2. Who east more? Deffinitely Jimmy.
3. Who said I love you first? I can't remember to clearly but I'm pretty sure it was him.
4. Who is taller? Jimmy by 13 inches.
5. Who is smarter? Jimmy, and he always reminds me ;)
6. Who is more sensitive? Me by far
7. Who does the laundry? Me, but he will help if I ask him to.
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Jimmy
9. Who pays the bills? Jimmy makes the money, I pay the bills.
10. Who cooks more? I cook more, but I don't like it.
11. What meals do you cook together? If we are grilling, Jim grills, I do everything else.
12. Who is more stubborn? Probably me. I hate addmiting when I am wrong.
13. Who is the first to admit whem they are wrong? I'm usually wrong, so eventually I'll admit it.
14. Who has more siblings? Jimmy, 2 sisters, 5 brothers. I just have 2 and 2.
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I'll just say Jimmy.
16. What do you like to do together? We like to go to dinner, our only alone time.
17. Who eats more sweets? Me by far. Jim doesn't eat sweets, unless it's brownies.
18. Guilty pleasures? For me it's pedicures, for Jim it's McDonalds.
19. How did you meet? We served in the same mission.
20. Who asked out who first? Jim came to visit me when I got home from my mission, so I guess it was mutual.
21. Who kissed who first? Jimmy kissed me.
22. Who proposed? Jimmy,the cutie pie! It was the only time I've ever seen him nervous!
23. His best feature? He has a great body and he is so good looking!
24. What is his greatest quality? He is very patient with me, and I'm a little spoiled so it's not that easy :) He also loves his family and is a very hard worker. I appriciate that!

Fun In The Snow!

We decided to take a little drive to Cedar Mountain. I didn't realize that there was going to be snow when we got there! I realize that it is October and that it snow's in October but just last week it was 97* here in sunny St. George. So we were not quite prepared when we arrived and there was a foot of snow. But it was very pretty and Tanner had such a good time, so thats all that counts right? Who cares that I don't have a jacket to fit over my belly and was freezing the whole time while Jimmy was in shorts and a T-shirt and only his right ear was cold. Yeah, weird I know.

Tanner and Annie were having so much fun! Tanner kept running around saying "Snow! Snow!"

Tanner's Papa KJ was nice enough to show him how to throw a snowball and he couldn't get enough of that. He was throwing snow at everyone and then he would crack up laughing everytime. It was usually his little evil laugh. I had to drag him out of the snow several times on our way back to the car. He did not want to leave. Oh, to only have the energy of a two year old.

Needless to say, Tanner had a very good time!

On another note, Jimmy and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary last Monday. At times it seems like we have been married forever, in a good way. In the years that we have been married we have lived in four places, owned two of them, had seven different cars, have one little boy with a girl on the way and are still getting to know each other and learning from each other every day. I'm sure the latter will continue through the years. Yeah, I think I'll keep him. Jim has no comment, but I'm sure he feels the same. :)

Just Tanner

Tanner has recently become obsessed with a couple different things. One of them is motorcycles. Everytime he sees one he yells out what is supposed to be "MOTORCYCLE!". And for some reason they are always blue, regardless of what color they really are. His Papa KJ has one so when we go to his house he has to stop and admire it for a minute. We decided to put him on it the other day and he thought that was pretty cool. Some more of his obsessions are dinosaurs and shopping. We went to Wal-Mart the other day and as we were pulling into the parking lot he yells out "SHOPPING!". I guess that one can be blamed on me.

I have a stool in my kitchen because I am very tall and can reach all of the shelves. This has become Tanner's 'table' and he plays on it alot. He hauls it around the house to do whatever task he needs done. Well, apparently it makes a pretty good spot for lunch. (By the way, those are dinosaur shaped sandwiches. I thought it would make him want to eat them more but he just plays with them more) He also uses it as an acctual stool to get into the silverware drawer and get whatever he needs in there. The other day he used it to put back together his basketball hoop because he realized he wasn't tall enough to put the hoop back on. Then he used it to throw the basketball in. It's alot easier when you can reach it. Smart kid.

I am starting to get my fall decor out and Tanner loves theese little 'pumkins'. He lines them all up in a row and then rearranges them again and again. He also throws them alot. I guess tiny things are neat when you are tiny too.

I had to add this one! Tanner has had a habit lately of falling asleep in the strangest places. I went to check on him one day and there he was in the corner surrounded by his toys sound asleep. Maybe I need to start putting the poor kid down for a nap!

I'm married to an OLD MAN!

Well, that is what Jim would have you beleive. He had a birthday this past week and turned 29! He is always telling me that he is an old man so I guess this makes it official. It's hard to beleive that we are almost 30, but life goes on. Jim got his windows tinted in his truck for his birthday. Those of you who know Jim well won't be surprised to hear that his birthday dinner choice was McDonalds. In a way I was releived that I didn't have to cook but I thought maybe he would choose somewhere a little nicer. Oh well, thats my Jimmy. I asked him the night before what he wanted for dinner and he said whatever. I had to remind him that it was his birthday so he had to choose. He didn't even remember that it was his birthday! He did it again the next day at work. I guess thats another sign of getting older, it just doesn't matter that much anymore. Thank you to all of you who called. He sure loves his family, beleive it or not!

Tanner's First Haircut & Fun with Ty & Jordo

This picture tells the story of how Tanner felt about getting his hair cut. He accually sat really still for the most part but he still didn't like it. I was really not wanting to cut his pretty curls but they were getting in his eyes and every now and then Tanner would say "Mamma, hair in eyes." So alas I knew it was probably time for the inevitable. Because his hair is so curly we have been able to put it off untill now. His hair was about 5-6 inches long, but it's hard to tell with all the curl.

He's not looking so happy here either. He was trying to watch Dora and Aubrey kept getting in the way while cutting those locks. Nice, Aubrey!

And now he is really done sitting for a hair cut! The funniest part was that he kept trying to find his thumb that was under that dang cape. We finally had to get it out for him so that he would sit for the remainder of the haircut. He still has his curls! They just won't bother him so bad and will be a little more tame for me. We ended up cutting about two inches off, but I'm probably the only one who can tell. Jim also got a hair cut, but he didn't think I needed to tell you all about it.

Aubrey, Kev and the kids came to visit us this weekend. We had a good time with them and the kids had sooo much fun! It was nice to be able to just sit and talk once the kids went to bed ;). Ty & Jordo are a little scared of the dogs so it was Jim's mission to help break them of that. We had the dogs in as much as Ty would let us. Here, Jim had just given the dogs a bath so we had to keep them inside untill they dried off. Jim put up the baby gate and locked the dogs in the kitchen. Turns out this was safe enough for the kids because they sat in front of the gate and just watched the dogs play.

I have the biggest bathtub in the world so we put the boys in and let them play. And they played and played and played! It is almost as big as a swimming pool so really, it was like they were swimming, not taking a bath. The best part was that the power was out so we had to light the bathroom with a lantern and I guess that just made it all the more fun!

Cheese! Thanks for coming to our house guys! Tanner had so much fun with you!

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

The other night my Dad decided to take the kids on a horse ride. Annie and Tanner usually do things together so they went for a ride on Bud. They had so much fun! Here are some pictures of them riding around the yard.

I don't know why it took us so long to get the 'cow-hat' but luckily we had one for both of them and they thought it was pretty cool. Don't you love Tanner's curls! I hope they never go away.

Of course when it was time to get off, Tanner threw a fit. I don't know why he keeps acting like a two year old.

Tanner has been putting imself down for naps lately. I guess he knows when he is tired. Here are some pictures of Tanner sleeping. It's the only time he is holding still!

Who doesn't love a nap with Daddy?

I always have to wonder when it's been quiet for awhile. This is usually why!

I guess I can do a little update on Jimmy and me since it's been awhile. We are just looking forward to November when our little girl will be here. Fall is now my favorite season! The baby is due very close to Thanksgiving, Nov 23, so I figure that gives me a pretty good -get out of fixing Thanksgiving dinner- card. So we will see if Jimmy is having Thanksgiving dinner at the hospital, or if he just ends up with a turkey sandwich. If any of you know Jimmy, neither of these choices will do so there will probably be a third alternative. So you don't have to feel sorry for him, I'm sure he'll get his fixins. The bigger I get the harder it is to bend over, put on my pants, tie my shoes (which is why I wear flip flops) get out of bed, breath (just to name a few). I am looking forward to fall when it will cool down a little so I can be a tiny bit more comfortable. But mostly just for the baby to be here all together. I will be quiting my job at the end of October so that I can be a stay at home mommy. I am sooo looking forward to that too. Jim says that there is nothing new with him to report. He is just being modest! I have been so grateful for him lately. He is being so patient with me and my moodiness (which I blame entirely on the pregnancy) and helping me so much with Tanner. Tanner just loves him so much and can't wait for him to get home from work so they can play, watch TV, eat poppcorn, whatever the activity might be. It is so fun to see Tanner bond with his Daddy! He is such a mamma's boy that I was worried how he would react when the baby came. I'm sure we will all get through it. ;)