Ready for bed

Since I'm posting about Tanner, I thought I'd share another cute picture of him . . .


He wouldn't get into bed to read stories (that night he'd chosen Flat Stanley, and he wanted to read the first and last chapters, which are his favorite. Those are the parts where "he gets flat and he gets blowed up (where his brother suggests they stick a bicycle pump in Stanley's mouth and pump him up like a bicycle tire - I'm afraid Tanner is going to try it some day!).") until he had his bike helmet on. I never did figure out why he had to have his helmet on!

Too bad he won't wear it when he's riding his bike or his scooter. Occasionally he will wear it outside, but he won't let us do up the straps, because then it's "not so comfy!"

Ever wonder about plastic in the oven?

Have you ever wondered what would happen if your 3-year-old fills your oven with plastic Tupperware because he's "baking cookies" and then you forget about them and then turn the oven on to heat dinner? We haven't, but now we know the answer!

We decided to be thankful for 2 things - a fridge full of leftovers, and the fact that my next couple of dinners didn't need the oven, so we had a few days to figure out how to get all the melted (and cooled) plastic cleaned out!And second - it was only 2 bowls, and the rest of the oven was filled with the broiling pan (or whatever it's called). He's had other days where he has completely filled the oven with as many plastic bowls as he can fit in there . This was just the first time I forgot to take them out before I turned the oven on!
At times like this we just remind ourselves how much we wanted him in our family and how much we love him. Especially since he showed no remorse - he just thought it was "so coo-ool!"

Tanner's Favorite Book

Tanner loves stories, and loves being read to, and he also likes routines, especially when it comes to books. He gets on a kick and wants the same 2 books read every day at nap time and at bed time (he'd love more, but I've had to limit him or I fall asleep before I finish reading!) Currently, and it has been this way for at least the last 3 weeks, his 2 favorites are "Frank was a Monster who Wanted to Dance" and "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." Like I said, we read these books at least twice a day, but sometimes more (I think the most I've read it is 5 times in the same day, and 3 of those were right in a row)!

Knowing Tanner, this should come as no surprise that this is his favorite page:



And every time we read it - even when we're on the third time of a triple-header - he points out that Frank's eye has a plug on it. And he's delighted by that fact every time. I worry that Tanner now thinks his eyeballs are connected with plugs and cords! Oh well, in his world that is a good thing!

What does Tanner do all day?

I've had several people ask me what Tanner does all day now that Kiersten is in school I thought this picture captured the essence of our days together pretty well . . .


He loves to collect everything in the house he can find with a cord and "plugs" them into the couch (we try to encourage him to plug things into the couch instead of pulling out the "childproof" outlet covers and really plugging things into the wall). Then he "reads" the time on the clock - somehow it's always "40-clock." He likes me to sit down on one of Kiersten's chairs while he does my hair with the curling iron (and sometimes he likes to do his own). He also likes to make me pancakes on the griddle (for that he needs the "flipper" (spatula/pancake flipper) and real plates from the kitchen). He also likes to take left over pancakes or a piece of bread out of the cupboard(he never asks, he just climbs up on the counter and helps himself to whatever he'd like) and put it in the waffle iron to make "wavvles."

I'm not sure how my blow dryer, the vacuum and the carpet cleaner didn't make it into the picture - they are every day staples.

And how do I spend my day? Why playing pretend with Tanner and then trying to get him to clean up his mess, of course! It's no wonder I'm exhausted every day. :)

My Rugged Outdoorsmen

Mother's Day weekend our ward held it's annual Fathers and Sons Camping Trip (officially called the Aaronic Priesthood Restoration Commemoration ). Nate and Tanner had a blast, of course!

Nate will have to come back later and fill in the details, since I wasn't there. All I know is that when he came home and I was looking at the pictures on the camera I started to freak out when I came to this first picture. I couldn't figure out what on earth had possessed Nate to give Tanner a rifle. Then I looked a little closer, and realized that it was nothing to worry about; it was just the tent poles. Nate was offended that I would assume he let Tanner play with a gun.


Even though I wasn't there, I could still tell Tanner had a great time , especially when it came to setting up the tent. He was right there in the middle of all the action, and I'm sure he was a great "help" to Nate; just like he is to me every day at home when I'm trying to get things done!

I just love sleeping children!

I'm Ca-ca!

In the last couple of weeks, Tanner has developed his own name for Kiersten. I don't even know exactly how to type it . . . the closest I can get to what it sounds like is "cu-cu," as if you were saying "cup" but forgot the "p" at the end, and repeated yourself. Kiersten loves that he now has a name for her. (He's been saying "Mommy" and "Daddy" forever, and he calls himself "baby" but he hasn't had any sort of a name for her, until now.) But, when she calls herself Tanner's name for her, it sounds more like "ca-ca." She goes around the house saying things like, "Tanner, Ca-ca's here." or "Look, it's ca-ca!" Nate and I just laugh- she has no idea what it sounds like she's calling herself!

It's bad enough that Tanner has a Whinnie the Pooh ball and notebook that he loves and when he's looking for them he walks around the house calling out, "Pooh!" Or, when Kiersten finds them, she says, "Look, Pooh!" which always gets me running. One of these days I'll learn!

On another note, Tanner's speech therapist is pretty convinced that he's caught up enough that he doesn't need therapy any more (he's got more than 50 words and he's starting to put 2 words together), so we're down to just once a month.

Why do I bother boying toys?

This is Tanner's favorite way to spend the day . . .
He can go all day without playing with a single toy, as long as he can have the vacuum! He takes the plug and "plugs" it into the end of the attachment and he's ready to go.
Unfortunately I can't use this to my advantage. He won't play with it when the vacuum is really on, so I still have to go back and vacuum. But, thankfully if I need him to be occupied while I get something done, I can say, "Tanner, go vacuum the family room," and I can count on him being occupied for at least 10-15 minutes!

Easter Pics

I finally got a picture of the kids in their Easter clothes - yeah!!! I had hoped to do it the week after Easter, but Kiersten was very adamant that she was not going to wear her Easter dress that week, but she was going to wear what she wanted to wear. Thankfully Grandma asked her to send her a picture of Kiersten wearing her Easter dress. So Kiersten was a little more workable the next week! (We've even figured out how to do sponge rollers in her hair for Saturday night so she's really easy to get ready - we do 3 pony tails - one on top, that stays in on Sunday, we just add a bow, and then one above each ear - that way the curlers don't get in the way while she's sleeping. Nate can even do her hair on Sundays if he needed to, although he looked a little green when I told him that!) Thankfully Tanner isn't nearly so picky - he'll wear whatever you put him in. He did think it was pretty neat to have a tie like Daddy has. He walked around all day saying, "tie" and holding up his tie for us to see.

'Lella!

Not too long ago we were at Payless looking for shoes for the kids - they needed it all: church shoes, summer sandals and tennis shoes. Tanner had absolutely no interest in trying on any shoe . . . that is until Kiersten found this pair of light-up princess flip flops. When she showed them to Tanner, he was smitten - he fell instantly in love with them. He wore them all around the store, walking and stomping because these shoes light up with each step he'd take. (I think he figured that the harder he stepped, the more it would light up!) And, of course, they were twice as big as Tanner's feet, so he had a hard time keeping them on. It was quite entertaining. Unfortunately, this discovery didn't help our shoe shopping mission - he still wouldn't try on any of the pairs of shoes I wanted! I ended up guessing what size to buy (and I think I bought a little too big) on one pair of church shoes and then had to carry him out of the store crying as loud as he could, "'Lella! (Cinderella!)" and "light!" But really, Nate would not have been pleased if I had spent $18 to buy Tanner a pair of light up princess flip flops that were 6 sizes too big!

Laughing and Jumping

This post is really for Grandmas and Grandpas and anyone else who might care. (Don't worry, we won't be offended if you don't watch the videos - we won't even know!)

We thought this video was a pretty cute shot of Tanner laughing and jumping, over a light-up bouncy ball that . . . bounced!

I was going to post a couple of other videos, but apparently the files are HUGE and either won't load, or will take all night, so I'm not going to post them. They weren't that great anyway! :)

Planting our Garden

I don't think that planting our garden is all that exciting, especially since we haven't yet figured out how to grow things in Arizona and most everything dies before the end of the summer, but I just had to share since everyone else seems to be buried in snow and cold weather!

Yesterday we planted the flowers in the front yard and today we planted some vegetables in the back yard. (I start small, and once those are in the ground I can go back and get more. I've had too many plants die before I can even get them in the ground because I bit off more than I can chew!) Tanner loved his "vo-vel" and he liked to scoop dirt out of the flower bed and onto the sidewalk. Once he missed the sidewalk, and poured a shovelfull of dirt right down my pants! Kiersten quickly lost interest in digging and planting, but she loved to water the plants once they were in.

My hope with planting earlier this year than we have in years past is that they'll survive longer - they may only make it until June this year, like they usually do, but that gives us 4 moths to enjoy them instead of the usual 2 1/2!

Tanner speaks . . . a little!

About a week and a half ago we had a speech therapist come out and evaluate Tanner to see if he had a true speech delay. I was warned ahead of time that he had to have at least a 50% delay to qualify for speech therapy, and I didn't expect him to do that poorly. Turns out he did! According to this speech therapist, an 18-24 month-old child should have 50-100 words, and Tanner has about 15.

However, in the days since the speech therapist came Tanner has added several words to his vocabulary . . . several of which are pretty cute!

-"ba-lee" is "please"
-"nut-nut" is "night-night"
-"lee" is "lid" (like for pots and pans)
-"dee" or "dee-dee"is "CD," "DVD" or "movie"
-"hovel" or "vo-vel" is "shovel" and "watering can" (but sometimes watering can is "bubble")
-"bow" is "ball," "bowl" or "computer" (Nate's laptop, and I have no idea where that came from, except that's what Tanner says as he points to the laptop!)
-"hoos" is "shoes"
-"yeah" is "yes", but it's never just said, it is usually yelled as loud as he can with all the excitement and enthusiasm he can muster, even if I'm asking if he wants green beans for dinner
"-lella" is "Cinderella" - yes, my little boy doesn't say car or truck, but he recognizes Cinderella and calls her by name!
-"hoo-ey" means that he has a stinky diaper (I said "whoo-ey" once when changing a stinky diaper, and that's stuck ever since)
-"wah" is what he says when he sees a dog; I think he's trying to bark

I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can think of right now.

Christmas Eve

This is the first year we've celebrated Christmas by ourselves. There are several things we've really enjoyed about it, but we have also really missed being with our family. However, thanks to technology, we've been able to participate with our families - my mom read her favorite Christmas story to us over web cams, and we got to watch Nate's family perform the traditional Nativity story via a live broadcast over the Internet. In between those events, we've had our own family things too . . .

Kiersten decided that for an "activity" we were going to act out the Nativity (she used to confuse "activity" and "nativity", but I think by now she usually gets it right!).

Here she is pulling out all the things she's collected over the last couple of days to use for the "activity" or Nativity or whatever it was we were doing!

Tanner was far more interested in giving Daddy (and everyone else!) kisses than getting for his role as the lone Wiseman!

Our Nativity telling started with the Angel Gabriel appearing to a very pregnant Mary and telling her that she was going to have a baby and that she should call his name Jesus.
" And she brought forth her first-born son . . . " (I didn't mean to time the picture just so, it just happened, and it's the only one Tanner was in, so I had to use it!)

Here's Mary and Joseph admiring their baby Jesus who is laying the the manger (which is really the stable to a Nativity my mom bought for the kids in the Phillipeans!). (Keep in mind Kiersten chose everyone - including Joseph's - costume!)

Our telling of the birth of Christ ended with the visit of the shepherds (my shepherd costume consisted of a Christmas hair bow and the white sheep on my lap) because our wiseman had moved on to bigger and better things!

After our re-enactment of the Nativity ended, we had my Grandma's bread pudding - I didn't expect Kiersten or Tanner to like it (I remember not liking it as a kid, but now I love it!). I was right on one count - Kiersten was interested in it only long enough to determine that she didn't have the nut and win the prize. Tanner on the other hand couldn't get enough of it; I think he ate as much of it as I did!

Kiersten and I ended our Christmas eve festivities by putting together a plate of cookies for Santa. (We even had fun decorating the plate together, although it did get a little stressful when she and I had VERY different ideas about which font we should use to say "Cookies for Santa." Thankfully, in the end, she saw the light, and I prevailed!
We've had a wonderful Christmas Eve, and look forward to more family time tomorrow, and I'm off to bed so Santa can come visit our house!

Mommy's Little Terror

I am constantly amazed at the differences between Tanner and Kiersten. I know some people will say it's the difference between boys and girls, and while that may be some of it, I am firmly convinced that a big chunk of it is the personality they come with! Tanner is a much more creative problem solver, takes a lot more initiative to gets what he wants, and is much more independent than Kiersten ever was.

Two days ago I left him alone for two minutes while I went to the bathroom and when I came out I discovered that he'd brought a small play chair in to the kitchen from one of the other rooms, pushed it up to the counter, pulled the phone charger off the counter (in case you don't know, he LOVES plugs) and let himself into the garage and found an extension cord Nate has in the garage (it is usually up where Tanner can't reach it, but since we had the ping pong table out over Thanksgiving, it was sitting on the ground) and plugged the phone charger into the extension cord. And I was only gone 2 minutes!

Later that afternoon when I had gone into the other room for less than a minute to put laundry away I come out and find that Tanner has pushed a kitchen chair over to the counter and has climbed up on to the counter and is standing on the counter playing in the box of pens, scissors and keys that I keep out of the reach of little hands. When I come out he proudly shows me a set of keys he's found in the box, and gets mad at me for picking him up off the counter!

And then yesterday morning I had a pan of cornbread sitting on the stove waiting for me to make the main dish for our Relief Society dinner which is tonight. Here is the sight that greeted me:

Tanner pulled a chair over to the stove and was helping himself to cornbread.

Maybe I ought to start by getting rid of all the chairs in my house. You don't think anyone would mind always having to sit on the floor, do you? It may not solve all my problems, but it might slow Tanner down some!

Oh well, it's a good thing we think he's pretty cute, especially when he smiles at us or who knows what would happen!

Picking Pumpkins

Our clubhouse had pumpkins for the kids to choose. Since Kiersten had chosen "her pumpkin" the day before on our fieldtrip to a farm with a pumpkin patch, I told her that the pumpkin we chose this time would be Tanners. Since it was going to be Tanner's, Kiersten was very insistent that we choose a smaller one than she chose the day before! And since we'd walked to the clubhouse with the kids in a stroller, I was only willing to cart home one pumpkin.

She was pretty funny that morning - she wanted to pose on all the different pumpkins. Tanner, on the other hand, didn't want his picture taken at all, and was only happy when we left him alone to do his own thing.

Halloween Happenings

I had decided I wasn't going to do much for Halloween this year. Kiersten had plenty of dress-ups and old costumes that she was sure to find something she liked. And, I had this cute pumpkin costume that my aunt had sent me for Kiersten when she was about 18 months (but we'd never used because I'd already made her a bumblebee costume) that was going to be perfect for Tanner. But then I got this really cute Halloween scrapbook page that was titled "Pumpkins and candy" and I thought it would be so cute to make Kiersten a candy corn costume. So we got looking at pictures on line, and she decided it needed to be a Candy Corn Fairy, complete with wings and antennas. And of course, it had to have a tutu, because as far as Kiersten is concerned, it can't be a Halloween costume without a tutu!

Halloween seemed to last almost a week and a half this year at our house . . . We picked out pumpkins on the 22nd and 23rd (don't worry, there's a post and pictures to come on that!), Nate and Kiersten carved their first pumpkin on the 23rd for our Ward Party and Trunk or Treating the next night. They did a great job and carved Snow White's face. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it! They even won the pumpkin carving contest at our ward party . . . it helps when you're the only entrant!

Here they are getting ready to leave for the Ward Halloween Party and Trunk-or-Treating. Nate had to hold Tanner's hands so he wouldn't take off his hat!


Then on Tuesday Kiersten got to dress up again, for her Halloween party in dance class. Aren't all those princesses, witches and fairies so cute?


Then on Wednesday they dressed up for trick-or-treating at the Library for Storytime.

Thursday was the Halloween party in preschool, which we moved inside the church becasue it was "so cold" outside (it was "only" in the mid 50's!); that's also why Kiersten has a long sleeved shirt on - she didn't want to get cold!
One of the many fun activities at our Halloween party in Preschool was a donut eating contest, but they couldn't use their hands. Many of the little girls had seemed to have a problem grasping the concept, but not Kiersten - she just dived right in!


Then on Halloween, since we had another pumpkin that needed carving, Nate and Kiersten decided to carve a second pumpkin. This time they just did a cute face on it. Kiersten loves to help and poke the holes so that Nate has something to follow when he cuts out the design.
Tanner just loves to poke and touch everything!

And finally it was Halloween night and they got to go trick-or-treating. We went over to our friend's house and went with them. Their daughter, Savannah, borrowed Kiersten's bumble bee costume.

Tanner at 1 Year (and 3 months!)

I'm not sure where this summer has gone, but somehow almost 3 months had passed since Tanner turned 1 and I still hadn't taken him in for his 1 year pictures.

A week or so after I had these pictures taken, I took him in for his 15 month check-up. The doctor asked me how many words Tanner was using, that a stranger would be able to understand. I hesitated, trying to think if there were any. I think he misinterpreted my hesitation because he told me to "just estimate . . .10? 20? 30?" I started laughing and told him I was trying to think if there was even 1. Kiersten didn't even really start talking until she was 18 months , and he thinks my 15 month old little boy would be using 30 words? Tanner may not use many words, but boy he sure knows how to get his point across with pointing, grunting, and tears!

And then a few days after we picked up the pictures that I'd ordered, Kiersten decided that I hadn't cut them apart quickly enough, so she took matters into her own hands. When I got out of the shower one morning she came running in the bathroom and said, "Mom, I have a great idea. Let's cut these pictures apart." I explained to her that those were special pictures and that Mom needed to be the one to do it. She left the room dejected. I later discovered that she went and cut them apart anyway and then didn't tell me. It was a good thing she was in bed later that night when I discovered her handiwork. I think one picture off of each sheet can be salvaged; all the others show signs of having been cut by a 4 year old.

A Month on Vacation

(WARNING! This is a pretty long post, although it is mostly pictures. We did a lot in the month we were gone!)

The kids and I spent from the middle of July to the middle of August in Utah visiting family. Nate got to join us for the first part, and the last part, but had to go home and work in the middle (someone had to pay for all the shopping I did!) We had a wonderful time, got to do lots of fun things, and see tons of friends and family.

Actually, anytime I travel with children, it isn't a "vacation," it is a "trip." It is only a vacation when no children are involved! So this was really a month-long trip, and only a couple of days of vacation!

We started out the trip with Nate's youngest brother's wedding (thankfully they chose to get married weekend Nate was going to be in town so he got to be a part of it!). Here is our family in front of the Provo Temple, waiting for them to come out.

This was the first time in who knows how long all the Larsens were together. Here are Kiersten and Tanner with all of their Larsen cousins.
Tanner and Angie at the fountains at the Gateway (in SLC). Kiersten wanted nothing to do with the fountains and was perfectly happy staying in Tanner's stroller watching from a safe distance.

We also headed down to The Farm at Thanksgiving Point where spent a couple of hours with my brother Todd, his wife L0ri, and their two girls, Brooklyn and Savannah.
Kiersten was more than happy to feed the animals as long as she could throw their food at them and they stayed on their side of the fence. She would not let them eat out of her hand, and she didn't like it when they came "begging" for more!
Kiersten was pretty brave and rode the ponies a couple of times. We even got Tanner on for a few feet before he decided he was done.
We had fun swimming with Grandma (who figured she didn't need to go past her ankles with Tanner!), and my aunt Leslie and and her youngest, Lexie (who showed me her very impressive triple twist jump) and Mitchel out in Grantsville.


One night when several of us were at my Mom's for dinner, Tanner decided he'd had it with his high chair and was joining Kiersten and Brooklyn at the big kids table. (I suppose it's all relative - before we know it, the big kid table won't be good enough and they'll want to be at the adult table!)

Nate and my dad arrived just in time to catch the last day of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. Kiersten was really excited to actually be able to inside a temple and see where people get married.

Then we headed out to a family reunion at a ranch outside of Heber. It included my dad's Dad, all of my dad's siblings (and their spouses), all of their children, and all of the childrens' children (there were a few people missing, but most everyone was there). The ranch we stayed at had lots of things to keep us busy, such as horseback riding - Brooklyn and Kiersten are suited up and ready to go. (Yes, they made everyone wear helmets and life vests in order to go horseback riding!)

And Kiersten actually riding the pony. I was proud of how brave she was - she rode the pony 2 of the 3 times we walked out to the stables for her to ride.


They had archery, but I think mine were a little too young for that one!

Tanner enjoyed the paddle boats so much he fell asleep sitting up on my lap. Kiersten never wanted to ride in the paddle boats with Nate and I, always with Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandpa found a new friend. But, unfortunately for Grandpa, Tanner wasn't into making friends - all he wanted was a chance to play with Grandpa's laptop that was out on the bed.

Then we left the family reunion a little early (Wednesday night instead of Thursday morning) so that Nate and I could get ready for a backpacking trip I had been lovingly coerced into going on. Nate told me that it would be only two or three miles each way (it ended up being more like 7, although we didn't carry our packs for all of that), relatively flat (we had between 2 and 3 thousand feel of elevation gain, most of it in a half mile or so), and he would carry an air mattress for me (but the pump was too heavy, so he was going to blow it up with his mouth).

Anyone who knows anything about backpacking laughed at me and my pack! In Nate's defense, he did carry most everything else since I had the big, awkward, heavy foam pad. I wish I could say I slept wonderfully on it, but. . . well . . . , I'm sure I slept better than I would have without it!

Nate and I at Amethyst Lake. It was really pretty, and unfortunately a little chilly! (Unfortunately a cold, windy camping trip was not on my itinerary when I packed.)

It was a fun hike and we enjoyed spending time with Nate's brothers Dave, and his wife Juli, and Greg, and his new wife, Lexi. As much as I enjoyed it, I was certainly glad to get back to a shower and a real bed!

We finally loaded up the car (somehow with more than we brought out - I guess I did more shopping than I thought!) and headed home. We did make a slight detour up Kolob Canyon (part of Zion's). We did make Kiersten use the outhouse before getting back in the car and continuing on our road trip home. She was not excited, because she HATES public restrooms because they all have either automatic flushing toilets (she's so scared of them flushing while she's going that I have to hold my hand over the sensor the entire time she's in the stall) or they are exceptionally loud ( at least in her book, so I have to wait until she's out of the stall before I'm allowed to flush for her). She was delighted and more than happy to use the outhouse once she discovered that they don't flush at all!

While we had a great time, we are all glad to be back together as a family and home, sleeping in our own beds!