Thank you for the Music

My Molly dolly is very musically inclined. She has loved music ever since she was very very young. When she was very sick her first 6 weeks of life music could always soothe her. Now, in church, her favorite parts are the hymns. She loves to flip through the hymnal, all the while singing "E-I-E-I-O" in tune with the hymn we are singing.

Any time the piano is out at our house, that's where you can find her most often. She loves to push the buttons and find the different songs. She has even figured out how to turn it on and all the way up, much to Mommy and Daddy's dismay.


I love our little musical girl!

Friday, March 22, 2013

Goodness Girl! You huge!

These Pictures were taken just days apart, both about a week and a half before I had Malcolm. I feel like I was much bigger throughout my pregnancy with him, but even the difference of two days, I feel like I grew extra huge!

Huge

GINORMOUS!

Baby Shower!

Lucky for me, I have the greatest family ever! Days after we found out about our baby being a boy, I was thrown a baby shower! We were going to go to lunch anyway, just as a girls day out kind of thing because I was having a baby and didn't really need anything since I already had everything girl. All of a sudden I needed EVERYTHING, and only had a month to get ready. My friends and family really pulled through for me and I had more than enough for our little Malcolm when he came.





I love the monkey bum!



I also got a really nice double stroller that fit the carseat on the back, and Molly in the front. Eventually it'll turn into a sit n' stand type stroller, and I LOVE IT! It's a beast of a stroller, but I love every bit of it. I had told Sarah that I wanted one for my birthday since I was going to have two babies 15 months apart, and Molly didn't show any signs of wanting to walk at all. It would be nice to have one even if she did decide she wanted to walk. Then I told her that I was thinking we were going to get one with our tax return this year. We had already gotten our crib for the new baby and a stroller seemed like the next logical purchase. Little did I know that Sarah had been very sneaky and collaborated with my friends and family to get me the exact stroller I was looking at. I had even shown this stroller to Andrea after the fact, and Andrea was super sneaky about it too. Sarah was very adamant that I wait until after my shower to see what I got, that way if I got gift cards or something like that, then I wouldn't have to foot the bill of a big purchase like that on my own. She made a good point, and I decided to wait. I was SO surprised when she brought it to my shower! And she'd had it for MONTHS before I had even told her I was considering buying one, and I had no idea! Sneaky sneaky! 

Saturday, March 09, 2013

Surprise?!

35 weeks!
FB Post Mar 06:  This baby just LOVES to surprise us! First: Surprise! You're pregnant! Second: Surprise! I'm a BOY! 35 weeks and four ultrasounds later the doc showed us all our Malcolm's parts to assure us that we'll be welcoming a baby boy in 2-4 weeks. Yup...still in shock.



 At 35 weeks we had already had 4 ultrasounds, and at each one the tech assured us that we were having a girl. We were so excited about our little Tali baby, and I was 100% ready for her. All the clothes had been washed and put away, all the bedding was ready, the carseat had been washed, blankets, the whole nine yards. I was really proud of myself because I still had four weeks left and I was ready so I could just relax for the last month.

We had so many ultrasounds because the technician couldn't see the baby's heart very well. Their equipment was a bit older, and they couldn't see all four chambers. They also thought the baby was measuring two weeks big. My doctor, to be on the safe side, sent me to the Perinatologist to check on the heart again, as well as get a more accurate reading on the baby's size. Off we went.

At the ultrasound in the perinatologist, which was located in the hospital itself, we saw the most clear picture of our baby that we had the whole pregnancy. It was fun to see actual hair on our baby's head! During the ultrasound, we were joking with the tech. We were saying that we wanted to check and make sure the baby was "still a girl" and that she didn't have wings or horns or any other sort of mutation. Secretly TR thought that would be cool though. Through the ultrasound, the tech kept looking at one area, then back to measuring, and back to that same area, then back to measuring something different. Finally, after she got all her measurements, she went back to this same area she had been checking out before. In a very shaky voice she said "Um...I know we were joking about this before..." TR's first thought was that the baby actually did have horns! She then finished with "But I'm pretty sure you are having a boy!" We just laughed. What else were we supposed to do? She then pointed out what she had been looking at, and printed us a picture of our little boy's parts and assured us that she wouldn't have said anything if she wasn't sure. She then left to let the perinatologist know that we were ready for her.

While we were waiting, we discussed what we were going to do if it actually was a boy, and we just ended up laughing until we cried. Not sad tears, just surprised tears. Lucky for us, we already had a name picked out for both a boy and a girl, so we didn't have to worry about that at all. When the perinatologist came in she was talking all about out little boy. He's measuring this, he's looking good, he's due when? I don't think she realized that we had literally JUST found out it was a boy. TR asked her to double check the boy thing, just to be sure. This time she got an angle that there was no mistaking it. There was a little penis, testicles, and a scrotum. With a laugh, she declared "Last I checked my anatomy book, girls don't have those!"

Once we got done with the ultrasound and chatting with the perinatologist, we took our shaky, giggly selves out into the hall, clutching our "It's a boy!" pictures, and called our family. They all thought it was a big practical joke and we were going to be calling them back later on and telling them that we were kidding. My mom couldn't get over it. She thought it was a joke for days. Tim and Misty thought it was hilarious. And here I was, 4 weeks to go until we met our little boy, with no boy clothes, no boy blankets, nothing boy. What an adventure!


Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Valentine's Day

FB Post Feb 14: Excited to spend the evening with the Tanner kids! Lots of fun things planned! Thanks Sarah Mathews Tanner and Johnny Tanner for going on a cruise and Annebel Meredith for going to dinner so TR and I can play the fun aunt and uncle again. They're always thinking of my best interests. ;) 

While Sarah and Johnny were on the Lansing trip this year, TR and I got to play with the kids for Valentines day! I figured TR would be working that night, so I had planned on hanging out with the kids so mom could go out to her planned dinner with Alan, Daniel, and Hillary. TR ended up working the day shift and had the night to come play with us! We made heart shaped pizzas, had chocolate strawberries, and decorated heart shaped cookies!




TR made the pizza dough, and everyone got to put their own toppings on their individual pizzas. The girls really liked making their own pizza, especially the little girls.



 Molly was already tired by the time we started in on the pizza making, but she was a good sport and sat through it.


Branson takes his pizza making seriously!

After we made the pizzas, and while they were still in the oven we decorated cookies! Thank heavens for Macey's and their delicious pre-made sugar cookies, plus their tubs of red, white, and pink buttercream frosting! It made this activity a total breeze, and oh so fun!



He's on a mission. A serious cookie frosting mission.

Daniell's cookie

Allie's Cookie

Branson's Cookie

Savannah's Cookie

Lizzie's Cookie.
I'm pretty sure Savannah and Lizzie were just trying to see how much candy they could get on one cookie, cause I told them they could eat them after dinner.

We ate our pizza and strawberries. By the time we were done it was WAY past bed time, so the kids didn't get to eat their cookies until the next day. It was so fun to play with them though!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Where's Molly?

FB Post Dec 30: I was packing up some of Molly's too small clothes when I realized I hadn't heard her in her room for a few minutes. I look and sure enough, she's not there. I search our little house and she wasn't in any of her normal spots (keep in mind she is still very quiet) and the bathroom door that is usually closed was slightly ajar. I look behind the door and find her sitting in her too small baby tub playing quietly with her tubby toys! Gave me a scare but still a very cute moment.


Sunday, December 30, 2012

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Molly turned 1! I can't believe it's already been a year since our sweet girl came into our lives! A year of growth (for all three of us!), challenges, happiness, and love. We had a My Little Pony party!


 TR and I decided that Fluttershy would be the featured pony at Molly's party. We worked hard all morning on her cake. I think it turned out pretty well!

The rest of the day was pretty chill. It was a Sunday, so besides Church, we didn't really have anywhere we absolutely needed to be. Molly discovered the kennel.

This is our version of locking her in the tower

When it was time for her actual birthday party, she wasn't so sure about everyone being there to pay attention to just her. We had practiced for days, but when it came down to it, she didn't quite know what to do with her presents.

Eventually she got the hang of it, and was very upset when I would hide the toy or outfit that she was so proud of herself for unwrapping to have her unwrap another one. 





When it was time for the cake, she didn't blow out the candle, but stuck her finger right in Fluttershy's eye. Once she found out it was cake, she dug right in! No qualms about getting dirty, she just demolished that thing.




Happy Birthday sweet girl! We love you so much! We're so so happy you came to our family and we wouldn't be the same without you!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Zoo Lights!

Last year we went with our friends to the Zoo Lights display at the Hogle Zoo, and we had such a fun time that we decided to do it again this year! This year was BITTER cold, so I didn't take many pictures. Hardly any of the animals were out because it was just so cold out. Even the polar bear was hiding in it's cave. 
Daddy Loves the walrus
 We bundled Molly up as best we could, but she was still freezing by the end, not to mention it was way past her bed time by the time we got up there. Look at those rosy cheeks!


She loved seeing all the lights though. We got to visit the seals again too, which were about the only animals out. I was glad I wasn't as pregnant this year as I was last year because it made walking around and pushing the stroller not so bad. I would have liked the extra warmth though.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Lucia

For the last few years we've been really pushing the Swedish traditions. One of the big ones, and my personal favorite, is Lucia! Lucia is the bringer of light in December. She wears a crown of lights and carries Lussekatter, or Lucia cats which are little saffron buns in the dark of night. Every year the kids get together with Grammy to make the Lucia buns, but this year it was much too late for me and Molly to go, so we missed that part. We did go to the Lucia celebration though. Lots and LOTS of yummy food, followed by the Lucia processional.

Gingerbread baby!
 Molly LOVES her cousin Allie, and Allie LOVES Molly too! They're so cute together!

Plum tuckered out!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

It's A.....

We found out that we're having a...



SISTER!


Sorry no ultrasound pictures, they weren't very good anyway. We're excited to be welcoming another little girl into our family in April!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012