2011 IN A NUTSHELL

I didn't get a Christmas letter our so here is a late condensed version of the past year. It's amazing all that happens in a year! I'll start by a little update on each of us.

Chris

• Graduated
• Got excepted to an accelerated nursing program in North Dakota
• Shot a dear with his bow
• Became a dad of two
• Decided that North Dakota wasn't the best idea for the family so he gave up his spot.
• Continues to enjoy being an EMT/Firefighter

Becky

• Spent the whole year being pregnant
• Can now brag about being tough because she had a baby with out and epidural
• Mastered the art of making chocolate chip cookies
• Is still trying to master the art of being a mother of two and maintaining a perfectly clean house

Carter

• Qaudrupeled his vocabulary
• Was potty-trained
• Consumed over ten pounds of sugar
• Became a big brother
• Learned his colors and how to count to three
• Got his first kiss
• Discovered that anything can be fixed with tape

Kayden

• Was born
• Learned how to eat, sleep, and poop
• Can sleep through the night
• Started giggling and tries really hard to carry on conversation we just don't understand it

I have someone for you to meet

Kayden Mark Tanner

Born October 1, 2011

6 lbs 1 oz

We are so happy to have this cute little guy here! He is a very calm baby and we've enjoyed every minute that we get with him

This is our little family of four heading home from the hospital

Carter was very excited to meet his little brother

A Little Bit of A Lot of Catching Up

I know it has been so long since I posted and I know there are many cute moments and pictures that I wish I would have put on here but I will just catch you up on the last month!




Happy Cinco De Mayo! Chris and I made this cake for the fire deparments Cinco De Mayo party it was lots of fun and the cake was a learning experience!



That is right Carter is now potty trained! If you look close you'll notice that he is just like his dad. The hunting regulations are his favorite bathroom material. He has now moved up from the little training potty to a normal toilet which is so much nicer! Our next goal is to teach him how to go by himself so that I don't have to take so many trips to the bathroom!

Presenting my litttle old man. Isn't this a funny picture! He really looks cute in his new suit but I just need him to hold still long enough to show his potential!

Last weekend we attempted our first fishing trip of the season. We heard that palisades was really low so we threw in a cooler and a grill and our fishing stuff and rushed up there. We got to Pallisades at about seven o'clock only to find that it was still completly frozen! We made the best of it and attempted to fish below the damn but the water was too high for our skills. The good news is that even though we didn't catch anything and we were almost completely frozen, we ate some really good elk burgers:) That was my favorite part!

This is just a sample of Carters new stage. He loves to dress up in hats, gloves, and coats. He also now has an opinion about what pants he should be wearing. So if you ever catch him at home he usually looks pretty funny.

2010 HAPPENINGS

CHRIS'S 2010 HAPPENINGS


Chris has been very busy this year as always! He's been cruising right along through his schooling and now only has four classes left! Hurray!!!!!! After he graduates he'll be applying to a nursing program to get a second bachelors in nursing. Not only has he been busy being and exceptional student but he has also been working as a medical supervisor at the plasma center and a volunteer firefighter/EMT for Jefferson county. On top of that he has been having fun with all his many hobbies (his hobby list grows every year!) One of those hobbies is hunting and he did very well this year. Chris was able to get a deer with his bow and an elk with his rifle! Even though I feel like we have been cutting up meat for the past four months(cause we have) I am grateful to have two freezers full of meat! Above all these wonderful achievement Chris has an even greater achievement that I must mention and that is being an amazing dad and wonderful good looking husband! Carter and I just love it when his is home! He seems to know exactly what to do to make us all happy.





BECKY'S 2010 HAPPENINGS


As for me I have been busy enjoying life! I have a calling as the second counselor in the young woman's and I love it! I also have been working about two to twelve hours a week as a medical assistant at the local doctors office to try and keep up my medical skills. I have also worked at a few health screenings around Utah. I really love working as a medical assistant and as a health screener, but not as much as I love being a mom. Working has really helped me realize how many important things I do and how much Carter needs me and I need him. So I was able to work it out so that I only work as a fill in. That way I can still keep up my medical knowledge but I only have to leave Carter here and there instead of two days a week. I absolutely love being a wife and mom nothing is more satisfying. Each day is a great adventure! I would like to mention one other achievement this year. As many of you know I have never been able to drive a standard....well last year we bought a standard car and after a long frustrating year I think I can finally say that I am a good standard driver!


CARTER'S 2010 HAPPENINGS


Out all of us Carter has been the busiest this past year! He has been busy growing up! He has gone from baby to boy. In the last year Carter has learned to walk, climb everything, take everything apart, sleep in a bed, put his shoes on, eat real food and feed himself, throw fits, say at least forty words and understand most of what we say, he has also learned that sugar is the most important food group, that saying please will get you almost anything you want, he knows what most of the animals are including deer, elk, and fish ( elk is his favorite animal) and he has learned that if you look at the grocery store lady with puppy eyes she will give you smarties. I just can't believe how much he has grown this past year! Carter is so much fun. He really does spoil us by being so easy going and so cute. Some of the things Carter loves are: playing outside, riding the four wheeler, playing with his cars, emptying my kitchen drawers, hiding from me ( he will shut himself in a dark closet and wait for over fifteen minutes for me to find him), splashing in puddles, shooting bugs with rubber bands and helping his mom.


It's always fun to write the annual Christmas letter. It's a great opportunity to be able to look back on the adventures, trials, and wonderful blessings that each year brings. If I were to give this year a main theme it would be family. This year seemed to be full of so many opportunities to gather with all our family. Through family reunions, big family events, welcoming in new family members and saying good bye to loved ones we have had many wonderful opportunities to grow closer to our ever growing family. I think that has been the greatest gift that this year has brought us. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the spirit this season brings as we celebrate his birth. Thank you all for your love and support. Each of you have touched our life in your own special way! love, The Tanners

Bup=Bug

Just wanted to quickly give an update on Carter and all the new things he is doing. He is so busy and growing up way too fast. He is really starting to chabber a lot. Here are some of the words he says starting from most used to least : Bup(bug), mamamamama (mom , more, and I want that), cuck(truck)or cack (tractor), Dad, pla (plane), bap (ball), cock (drink),gog (dog), cca (cat), ps (please), ssss(snake), dodo(thank you). Those are the main ones the rest of the words he can say he only says when it's absolutely nessesary. You may have noticed that Bup is his favorite word that is because he loves bugs!!!!!! He spends more than have the day chasing bugs it is pretty much the first thing he says in the morning bup that is because there is usually atleast one fly in his room when he wakes up. When he spots a bug he does one of three things he either tries to blow on it, touch it, or kill it with a newspaper, hot pad, or his favorite mode of killing flies is trying to kill them with a rubber band (he learned that from his dad) anytime he finds a ruber band he sets it up on his finger and pulls it back than points it towards the ceiling or the wall. It's pretty funny! Carter also likes to watch out the window for trucks and airplanes! When we are driving in the car Carter can spot every single truck we pass so pretty much the whole time he is pointing out the window saying cuck cuck cuck ( he gets that from his dad too.) When Carter isn't chasing bugs or watching trucks and planes he is climbing. Carter is a very detrmined little boy and if he wants something he won't quit which is why he can climb everything! He climbs on boxes, chairs, tables, and he can climb up onto our bed (which is a very hard task) He loves to climb up on the table and help himself to a drink of water it makes him feel so big! My favorite thing that he loves to do is dance! He can dance for an hour straight. He will spin and spin until he falls on the ground and when he tries to shake his hips it is sooo funny. Bonnie caught it on video so if I can figure out how to put it on here I will. One last funny thing about Carter is that he loves four wheelers, motor bikes, and snowmobiles! Everytime he hears the motor bike or fourwheeler he begs for a ride and he will sit still and watch alticity with his uncle Blaine for thirty to forty minutes! Any other show only keeps his attention for like five minutes! ( for those of you who don't know what alticity is, it is just a movie of people snowmobiling and doing tricks.) There is no doubt that Carter is all boy!!!!!

I'm a mom and I love it!!!!!

The last few months I have been thinking a lot about what a privilaige it is to be a mother. I have had a couple things happen that have changed my perspective and I thought I would share them with you and hope that it will help you the way that it has helped me. One of the experiences was a job offer. A few months ago I got a call from a doctors office wanting me to work for them. It was very tempting because I really want to keep my medical experience up so that if I ever was in a sitiuation that I needed to provide for my family I would be able to. When I started thinking about the possibility of working three days a week it broke my heart! I realized I would have to give up a lot of time with Chris and with Carter. I thought of all the things I would miss all the things I would have to share with someone else things like, morning cuddles, first words, outings, even potty traing seemed like a terrible thing. I was suprised that there were so many daily things that I get to be apart of as a mother that mean so much. As I was concidering this I had another experience that I will talk about next that helped me make up my mind and turn down the offer. A few weeks later I got another job offer from another office that was only eight hours a week instead of thirty. I decided to take it. I didn't realize that leaving Carter two days a week four hours at a time would still be hard, but it is! My first day of work I left Carter with the best person possible (his grandma) I knew he was in great hands but it was still hard not being there when he woke up and having the reassurance that he was fine. He happened to be sick as well which made it worse. After I got off work I couldn't wait to see him. When I went to pick him up he was even sicker. His eyes were so goopy and he just looked miserable so I took him to the doctor. I cried all the way there! I kept thinking that I was such a horrible mother because I wasn't there to take care of him and I just let him get sick. I loved him the rest of the day! The next experience has impacted me more than anything. On July 9th a little girl fell into the Rigby canal and drowned. They life flighted her to the hospital and were able to revive her. She lived for a couple more days then passed away. I followed every step of the story, you see the parents of this child were my age and there little girl was just a couple months older than Carter. So the story hit very close to home. I cried as I watched them hold her hand for days in the hospital praying for a miracle. I cried when I heard the news that she passed away and I have been so touched by the things she has posted on her blog since the accident. She has reminded me what being a mother is all about. Here is one of her qoutes that touched me "To all the moms out there I think you are simply amazing. I don't think we realize how much we give up, and how much we love doing what we do for our children. To revert back to only Patrick and I to think about is difficult. It's painfull to wake up to silence and not hear Preslee call out "mama." I miss long stroller walks and reading her books. I miss the tender moments I had with her saying her nightly prayers right before bed. I even miss the tantrums thrown in public :) I miss everything about that little girl. Again, it so hard to back to being consumed with myself, and not Preslee.......That's what being a mother is all about, it's service. That's why it brings so much joy. So tonight when your having a bad day and the kids are on your nerves, realize how much different you would be with out them" That hit me hard, yes being a mom is hard. We give up our time, our sleep, our freedom, our perfect figures, and most of all our heart. I love being a mom! I want to take this amazing mothers message to heart and enjoy every minute, every hug, every tear, every mess, and every memory. I've learned to play more and frett less. When Carter wakes me up earlier than I want to I smile so happy to see him looking at me in his crib knowing that he is still with me. I know he won't be little long he is already growing up so fast I hope I don't miss a minute of watching him grow up becuase I am distracted or stressed over something insignificant.
I hope all you moms that read this have been touched just a little as well. To all you future mothers know that you have so much to look forward to! Keep loving and enjoying every minute of being a mother. It you want to read the story that I was referring to here is the blog address: patrickandashley.blogspot.com

Food for thought

I realized that more than half my pictures of Carter are pictures of him eating! He's a pretty cute little eater! Here is a collection of my favorite food pictures!

This was taken about a month ago when Carter first started spoon feeding himself oatmeal!