Almost Wordless Wednesday- 1 Year Ago

One year ago today I wrote my first blog post.  What an amazing adventure this has been! 

What!?! Smiling during tummy time?

I don't know what happened to the baby that despises tummy time.  This baby certainly isn't him.  10 whole minutes of tummy time without screaming!  Score! 

My favorite!

Our Favorite Things 0-3 Months

When I first found out I was pregnant I began reading other Mom's blogs online.  Most of them I found through thebump.com.  Several would make posts of what their favorite things were baby-related.  I loved to read these because I would check everything out and end up buying them, too.  And honestly, most of our favorite things are things I saw on other blogs.  So I am going to jump on the bandwagon and post our favorite things, 0-3 month edition.  Maybe someone out there can see what has worked for us and find it works for them too!

Nighttime/naps:

From day night 1 we used swaddle sleepsacks for Tanner.  He loved them. We religiously used the Halo Fleece Sleepsack up until he started to wiggle a lot.  After that we used (and still do) Child of Mine by Carters Fleece Sleepsack.  And since the weather is getting warmer we bought another Halo but in cotton. (We cut the swaddle off because Tanner rolls in his sleep and I wasn't going to use it).  

The only picture I have of Tanner in a sleepsack.  I need to do better, haha.

I love this nightlight.  It is portable and the colors are not too bright.  I can easily see to change Tanner's diaper in the middle of the night without waking Nick up or making the room too bright, so Tanner falls asleep better afterwards.  We like the blue color.

Tanner slept in his crib one night.  And it was the night I slept in his nursery with him so Nick could have uninterrupted sleep for his big checkride. But every other night he sleeps in his Pack n Play right next to my side of the bed.  I absolutely love having him in the room with me (that's another post for the future...).

We had a ton of pacifiers when Tanner was first born.  A bunch of different kinds, too.  But my kid is picky like me.  He will only take the Mam Pacifiers.  Any other kind (even the one he was so attached to at the hospital) he will just spit it out immediately after I give it to him.  I don't mind, they are really cute. I am going to eventually try to have him take a paci only when he sleeps.  I don't know when I will start that though.

When Tanner naps during the day, and especially if it's a little warm out, I use the Aden and Anais Muslin Swaddle blankets.  These are incredible!  So soft!  They are also large enough to be great swaddles. 

Nursing:

I couldn't have made nursing successful without my boppy.  I'm sure I would have gotten very frustrated.  It really made it so much easier.  This is also another topic for a future post...

Hank likes the boppy, too.

For the life of my I can never remember what side Tanner last nursed on.  I have a hair bow that I switch back and forth on my wrists, but I forget if I actually switched it.  I blame mommy brain.  So I use the Baby Log on my iPhone.  I only use the feeding log, but it also have a diaper and sleep log in it.  I love it because I can remember what side I nursed him on last and at what time he ate.  It allows you to time the feedings as well, but I don't.  I just push the start/stop button to get the start time.  It also have a spot for a bottle and how many ounces he ate.  

I could count on 2 hands how many times Tanner has taken a bottle, and it's been over a month since his last one.  But I'm glad I bought the Breastflow bottles.  They are made to sort of resemble a boob so the baby doesn't get too confused going back and forth from the boob to the bottle.  

My mom bought some Prefold Cloth Diapers and sewed cute fabric onto them.  These are wonderful!  We have them laying around the house, everywhere.  Tanner spits up after every feeding so it's good to have close by.  They also soak up so much.  

Diapers:

These Carter's Lap Pads are really nice.  We get poop, pee, spit up, you name it on these things.  They are waterproof so I don't have to worry about pee getting on his changing pad or on the pack n play sheet.  I just throw them in the washer/dryer and they are ready to go again.

Once Tanner's umbilical cord stump fell off we began our cloth diaper adventure.  We started using prefolds, since Tanner was much too small to use the OS Pockets.  We used prefolds and a snappi.  And to keep him dry we used Thirsties Covers.  They were wonderful!  They have gussets on the inside of the leg holes and it kept poo from leaking on many occasions!

Now that Tanner is bigger we are using pocket diapers.  We LOVE Smartipants.  They are great.  They have an opening at both ends of the pocket so the insert can agitate out in the wash, and you don't have to pull it out.  I love the colors also, especially the black and bright green (Tanner's favorite).  We have some Kawaii also, but Tanner's thighs haven't been chubby enough yet for those to fit.  Although, I think they are now.  We may be trying those today. :)

Big items:

This Graco Duo is a swing with a detachable bouncer.  I probably would be a more cranky momma if we didn't have this.  He naps in the swing and hangs out with us in the bouncer.  Nick and I couldn't enjoy dinner without the bouncer.  Tanner knows there is food around and he always fusses at meal times.  So Nick usually will bounce him with his foot while we eat.  Works 98% of the time.

One of my absolute favorite baby items we have is the Baby Jogger City Mini stroller.  We have the car seat attachment on it now, since Tanner is still a little small for the main seat.  But it's awesome.  It has large wheels which makes it a nice "all-terrain" stroller.  Once the car seat attachment is off, it has a cover that pulls way down and blocks a lot of sun, with little windows so I can keep an eye on him.  It also reclines.  But the best part has to be the ease of folding it up and opening it again.  You can do it with one hand.  Amazing!

Baby Wearing:

I love baby wearing.  It is so nice to be hands free to do things around the house, or shop.  And Tanner loves it too.  We used the Moby from day 1.  It holds the baby in a position that they are use to from being in the womb.  It also covers their head and keeps unwanted touches from strangers away.  We are still using it too.  Tanner just sits in it in a different position.  It is a little tough to figure out at first, but I'm a pro at it now.  It is pretty warm, though.

The Ergo Sport is what we use out and about.  It fits really well and is comfortable.  It also is cooler than the Moby.  And since it's a little more "Manly", Nick doesn't mind wearing it.  We used this during our trips through the airport and had no problems.  

Toys:

Tanner is just now starting to reach for toys so there aren't too many things in this area that he loves, yet.  But if you remember my post from yesterday, Tanner loves his Sophie Giraffe.

My friend, Justine, made Tanner a little taggies blanket.  He loves it.  He's always holding it, chewing on it, and sleeping with it.  

The Oball is great, too, because it's light and Tanner can easily pick it up.

This Activity Mat has been something we haven't been able to live without.  Tanner use to just lay there and stare at himself in the mirror that comes with it.  But now, he's able to play with the toys.

This car mirror is my favorite "toy".  I can see him while we are driving anywhere.  I think he can see more through it too, so he's occupied.  I know this will be a lifesaver once we are ready t make the 9 hour drive to San Antonio in a couple weeks.

Tanner is changing so much already and it makes me sad.  But I know things will be completely different in 3 months.  So I'm planning on doing another post like this when he turns 6 months old.

Sophie

While I was pregnant I contemplated over and over on whether or not to buy Sophie. Sophie is this "amazing" squeak teething toy. If I didn't know any better I would have guessed it was a dog toy.


It has tons of great reviews online and mothers I talk to on a daily basis all love her. Problem is, she's so expensive. I couldn't imagine spending $20 on a squeaking giraffe.


But, I did. I bought it at the end if November and put it in Tanner's Christmas stocking. And I'm so glad I did!


Tanner loves her!

Big Move!

It seems like every time I post I say something about how busy we've been.  Well, we are still busy.  VERY busy.  Our plans have changed as well.  Originally I was going to drive down to San Antonio with Nick today to be with him while he is going through Pilot Instructor Training.  Well, Nick is in Texas, and Tanner and I are still in Oklahoma.  


On a whim I walked over to the housing office the other day to check where our name was on the wait list for a larger house.  Amazingly one was available!  I told them how I really didn't want to drive the 9 hours down to San Antonio for a while and then have to drive back and pack/move by myself while Nick was still in training.  They agreed and offered us a 4 bedroom/2 bathroom house just one street over from where we are now!


So when Nick got back from some training down in Florida, we tried to pack up as much as we could.  He was so amazing and did so much.  He wasn't feeling very good and he still moved furniture and big, heavy boxes all so I wouldn't have to do it alone.  


Most of the house is packed.  I have the things I am bringing down to San Antonio with me once we switch houses all together, minus the things I use daily.  We have hired movers to come move the big stuff and the boxes.  Everything is in the garage, so it should be easy for them to load up the truck.  I'm hoping it doesn't take them longer than 4 hours, or I will have to pay them overtime.  But really?  We're moving one street over.  Shouldn't take 4 hours...


The big catch?  We can't move in until April 10th.  So I've got 3 weeks to get the rest of the house packed up and cleaned before we can move and then drive down to Texas to be with Nick.  There is an extensive list of things we have to do to the house we are currently in (cleaning-wise) before we can leave.  I really, really hope I can do most of it while Tanner takes naps during the day the next few weeks.  He's been a little needy lately, and it's really hard getting anything done.  


And since this blog was full of text, and no pictures, I'll make it up to you and post an adorable video of Tanner talking to me.  


Click here.

Vacation

We moved to Oklahoma in July of 2010 from North Carolina.  Every holiday it seemed like we could never make it home, whether it be because of pilot training, or me working in health care and never getting those types of days off. Or because of being 9 months pregnant or having a newborn.....

So when Nick graduated, and Tanner got a little older we figured it would be a great time to finally go home to visit family.  We got up at 1:45am on a Tuesday morning to drive to the city to catch our 6am flight to NC.  We had Tanner and our cat, Harry, with us.  (We can only have 2 pets while we are in an apartment in San Antonio, so Harry is going to live with my parents.  He's much happier there anyway.)

Harry loves his new cat tree!

This was Tanner saying goodbye to Harry.

Our flight to Atlanta went very smoothly.  Tanner was a complete angel.  I fed Tanner on take off (to make sure his ears popped) and he slept the rest of the way.  Harry had to be put on a separate flight from Atlanta to Greensboro because there were human organs being transported and  guess having a cat on board could cause problems.  He only got home about 2 hours after us.  

The first place we went to once we got home was Prissy Polly's BBQ.  There is NOTHING like NC BBQ.  We miss it so much.  While we were home we were able to eat other things that we only have in NC/or don't have in OK.  Biscuitville, Terry's Deli, Red Robin, Cagney's, Don Juan's, and Qdoba were a few of our favorites.   

That next day Nick went to our old high school and spoke to a few of the JROTC classes and visited our JROTC instructor and a few of our favorite teachers.  While he did that I had my hair cut.  I had probably a foot cut off and donated to Locks of Love.  I absolutely love my hair now!

We visited Nick's mom's work, and my dad's work.  We went to the shooting range, and to Target and Kohls.  I got to see my sister and nephews, and have my mom's cooking. Nick also got to work on Thumper some with my dad.  Thumper is my dad's '69 Mustang Fastback with a 408 stroker. It was an amazing time!

Thumper

That Saturday Tanner met some of his extended family.  His great-grandma, great-grandpa, and his great-great-grandma on his mom's side.  And a bunch of other family members.  It was a very long day, but I'm glad he was able to make so many people smile.  We also have some great video of it all.  

My dad with Tanner at the airport.  Tanner was getting ready to poop here.

Tanner and Uncle Don.

Tanner with his Great-Grandpa Barber.

4 generations.

5 generations.

Tanner with Great-Grandma Barber

On Monday we flew to Tampa to see my Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt.  We only had about a day and a half there, but it was amazing.  The weather was beautiful and it was great to show Nick a few of our favorite places. We also ate at Sonny's.  :)

Out on the pier in Tampa.

Mom, Grandma Chenault, Tanner, and me with downtown Tampa behind us.

We finally made it home late Wednesday night.  Tanner did so well on all 6 flights.  I already miss it so much.  But with Nick being done with pilot training and me not working right now, we can probably make it home a little more often than every 2 years. 

Tanner is people watching at the Tampa Airport.  

Passed out on the plane.

I'm hoping we can make it back to Tampa to stay a little longer.  It's like a second home for me and there is so much more I want to show Nick.  And come on, it's Florida!  Coming back to Oklahoma and not having that salt water smell in the air, and no palm trees anywhere is a little depressing.  

Tanner's schedule did get completely screwed up, though.  He's no longer sleeping 6-7 hours at night now.  More like 1.5-2.  He also got a little fussy there at the end of our trip, but I think waking him up from naps and teething didn't help that any.  

3 Months!

Tanner is already 1/4 of a year old! This is crazy to me!

I really think he's starting to finally fill out a little bit.  He use to sleep 6-7 hours straight a night, that is until we went home to NC for vacation.  Now he's up all night.  He's been wanting to eat every 2 hours around the clock for the past 72 hours or so.  But I read on a facebook group I am a part of that when babies start to learn new skills, they will wake up in the middle of the night more often.  

He is definitely doing more things now.  He will reach for toys.  He puts them to his mouth now, too. He also loves to hold on to his blankets.  He's very fascinated by his hands, and still tries to suck on his thumb. 

He even giggled at his daddy once!  I can't wait to hear that often!

He absolutely loves to be involved with everything!  He wants to sit where he can see everyone.  He  even prefers to stand sometimes.  He is very strong and can bare his own weight.  I wonder if he will be an early walker like his daddy.  

Now for some pictures.  He's been a little fussy today so I will have to try to take a few more pictures later.  

(Also, I have a lot of ideas of posts I want to write, so stay tuned!) 

Big Yawn!

He is so strong!

Sleepy boy

He loves his blanket!

Spring is here!

The temperature is beautiful today (minus a little chilly breeze).  I wanted to play with the camera a little more today so I set up a blanket outside and an umbrella and snapped a few pictures of Tanner.  I really think he enjoys being outside!  

Of course, he is still obsessed with his hands.

I LOVE this picture!

Just because one thumb doesn't cut it...

Someone was jealous because we were all outside.