Life is good!!!

Life is good! I don't know if it's due to the nice weather, or slower schedules, or what, but things around our house seem to finally be falling into place and getting to be a little easier. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I'm thinking we've got it pretty good! (Knock on wood --I'd hate to jinx myself!)
Tanner is showing so much personality lately and he's so goofy and sweet, maybe it's him just making us laugh and relax more. I know I'm a little biased, but I think he's pretty close to perfect and every day I'm thankful for him! Mike's been happily keeping busy working around the house and in the yard, so he's been in a better mood too. Winters are always hard on him since he loves to be outside so much, and this one was especially hard! So when spring and summer comes, you can see a huge difference in his mood. And I love all the green trees, flowers, and grass, and all the baby animals, they always lift my spirits! Plus, when Mike gets working on the house, I love seeing the end results!
Right now, he's repainting the back entry way and stairs to the basement. He's only done part of it and he's going to work on the stairs today, but already it looks so much better back there! After that comes the deck! It can really use a new coat of stain and new lattice at the bottom. The deck has settled since we built it and has caused the lattice to warp and break. And of course, he's been working on the grass, seeding, fertilizing, and spraying weeds. It's a man thing, I guess!
I've got all of my flower pots planted, my perennials all popped back up, and I've weeded around them, so now I can just sit back and watch them grow. Also, I've been going to work out a lot and I'm starting to see a difference in my clothes and myself, and that always feels good. I still have a few pounds to go to get back to my preTanner weight, but I'm definitely closer than I was.
So all in all, I'm very thankful for all of our blessings and all the simple things in life that make all the difference! And especially for all our friends and family (especially our little TanMan!) who can affect our lives in such positive ways!

Tanner's Latest Trick

Last week Tanner figured out that he could close the top on his toy box, and then very quickly figured out that he could get on top of it!! Here he is doing his happy feet victory dance on top of it, with his healthy belly stickin' out of his PJs for all to see!

This one totally cracks me up! He has this book about a duck who doen't want you to tickle him, (but he really does!), and Tanner loves it and loves to get to tickle him. So here he is sitting on top of his toy box, reading his book, tickling the duck!

One of the other things he's figured out lately is how to get into the drawers of my dresser. So, yesterday I caught him in my underwear drawer, taking all of them out, and putting them in the dirty hamper, and a few of them ended up as a hat on his head! I would take one off his head and he would reach into the drawer and pull out another one and put it on! One year olds can be so entertaining!!

Tanner's got tubes!

So we went this morning to get tubes. We got to St. Joe around 6:45, he went in for surgery at 8:00, was out by 8:15, and we got to leave at 9:00, so it's a pretty fast process. Tanner got to pick out a Procedure Pal, so he got a stuffed yellow elephant named P-nut, and he hugged on him a lot while we were waiting, and he played with my cell phone a bunch (he found things I didn't know my phone did!). He got changed into his gown and he was too cute! I forgot my camera, but I took some pics on my phone that I can show people. Then he went with the nurse to surgery, and we went to the waiting room to wait. By 8:15, the Dr. got with us and said he did perfectly and that they found some ear glue (his words, I'm sure there's a more technical term!) in his ears. Basically, it's a thick, sticky substance deep in the ear that doesn't come out without a procedure like this, so they got all of it out and that should help a lot. If it had stayed in there, it would have affected his hearing and slowed his speech development, so I'm already glad we did it!

Then we went to eat at the Waffle House, and then to Target for a few things. Then we rushed back to Maryville so I could go to work at 11:00, while Mike stayed home with Tanner. Then I had a dentist appt. at 3:30 that lasted til 5:00, and when I got home, Mike said "I think Roscoe's sick'! So then I ran him to the vet real fast, and got some stomach meds and some anti inflammatory pills. So I am finally at home and I need to eat some supper and do some laundry, so I better go! Man, I hope the rest of the week isn't this crazy!

New PJs

Tanner got a bunch of new PJs the other day when we went to KC and these I think are my favorites!!! He just looked like such a big boy in them! Anyone noticing a theme lately?!

When all that energy runs out.....

Tanner is so full of energy these days, but eventually it has to run out, as you can see below!This is Tanner playing away at about 9:00 the other night.

And at about 9:15!

The Games Little Monkeys Play!

Tanner is keeping us thoroughly entertained these days! He's just an ornery little boy, and it is so funny to watch him get into things! And lately, he's packing the food away to make sure he has plenty of energy to play with! We kept track the other morning: I fed him yogurt for "breakfast", then he got into Lori's candy bowl and ate a bunch of it when she wasn't looking, then went to Abby's and had a "breakfast" of toast, then he got into to a box of raisins, and they are his favorite, and Abby said she wasn't even going to try to take those away (not that he would let her!), and then Josie had a granola bar that he wanted some of, so she shared with him! And this was all before lunch, which I'm sure he ate plenty of!

He eats like a wild little monkey! Normally, he's a very good eater, but he started eating while we were making supper the other night, and he got bored waiting for us to finish our dinner, so he started playing with his noodles! Of course it was sooo much fun! And we went straight to the tub after supper!

See! He hangs around like a little Monkey!

He keeps getting out my exercise bands and putting them on like boas! I think he needs another little boy or two to play with at daycare!

He got into the closet the other day and thought it was sooo much fun to push the door open and play peak-a-boo!

Hangin' with baby Jake!

Matt and Shelly brought Jacob over the other night while they went to the hospital, so Tanner got a little play date! He didn't really know what to think of another baby in the house, but he got used to it pretty quick and they played together fairly well. He just didn't really love having to share Momma's attention with someone else! Jacob got comfy here in no time, and was a perfect little angel!