Having a Ball

Weston had his second birthday party a few weeks after Benson was born. I can't beleive my little man is 2! He is getting so big and I don't know where the time went. For his birthday we had a ball themed party at the park. It was pretty much all things Weston! Food, family, friends, the park, and balls! He could not have been happier. We planned to have Benson's blessing the same weekend, so my parents and Casey's mom were there to make it even better. Thanks to everyone that came and for all Weston's new stuff! He now has the best ball collection :)

The sweet stuff. I made a football cake and basketball, soccer, and baseball cupcakes.

The very happy Birthday Boy "Papa" making sure the kiddos didn't wander into the street

It was a nice relaxing time just hanging out with friends and family

Weston blowing out his candles. We practiced for his big day and he did great!

Enjoying his cupcake
We even had a party crasher. This kid was one of the guests at the party next to us, but the more the merrier, right? :) We let him have some cake.

Opening presents. More Monster Trucks from Mom and Dad.

Everyone playing with the toys afterwards

Grandma's Visit

At the end of March, Casey's mom came to visit and help me out. Weston again enjoyed being read to and going on a lot of walks. He definately loved all the attention and I appreciated having her here and all the help she provided. I was feeling more up to it, so we got to go out a little more which was nice too.

At the playground. Weston really likes to swing.

While Weston was swinging, a little girl asked me to babysit her two stuffed animals. It was kind of funny, but I was glad to help :)
After a great lunch at the Boudin Bakery with Casey (one of my favorites), Casey's mom took Weston on a train ride. He absolutely loved it! They are offering free train rides one day a month for the summer, so we'll be taking advantage of that.

Brotherly Love

Weston loves his brother and is always smothering him with hugs and kisses (literally) :) He has adjusted to having a baby brother pretty well, but he can be a bit rough sometimes. We figure it will just make Benson tougher. Anyways, we didn't want Weston to feel left out with all the attention Benson was getting being the new baby, so we got Weston a special present for when we came home from the hospital. He liked his new Monster Truck better than his book, but that was to be expected :) Weston and Benson got Big Brother/Little Brother shirts too, so of course we had to take pictures. Weston got his shirt from Casey's mom and Benson got one from both my Mom and Charity. I just love them!

Weston and his presents

Unfortunately, Weston does not like to smile for pictures, so this is the best I could get :)
Our little Benson. We took these pictures around his 2 week mark and he weighed in at 9lbs 2oz. His doctor was very happy and we're just so happy to have him in our family!

Mama's Visit

A few days after I had Benson, my mom came to visit. She read Weston books, took him on walks, and I got to take a few naps. It was nice to have her here and we even got to celebrate her Birthday with her, which was fun. Towards the end of her visit, my Dad ended up needing to come near here for work, so we got to see him too and they drove home together. We also went with the Squeeze Inn with them, which was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. I have now been to three. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming to visit. We love you!

"Mama" reading books to Weston Our visit to the Squeeze Inn

They are known for the crispy cheese around their burgers. It was pretty good, but I didn't think it was worth the $7 for the burger.

Vote for Casey

Before I start updating about all the fun we've been having lately, I want to announce that Casey is running for the Placer County Auditor-Controller position.

The election is June 8, so we are counting down the days and hoping and praying for a win.

If you want to know more about the position and why he is running, see the articles about Casey that have been in the local media, or if you would like to make a donation, you can visit his campaign website. You can also show your support by becoming a fan on his campaign facebook page.

If you live in the county or have family or friends here, please have them vote for Casey.

Every vote counts :)

My 3 Boys

Just a few pictures of my 3 handsome boys the day after Benson came home.

The morning after. Weston found some graham crackers we had brought home from the hospital and decided to have a morning snack.

Relaxing and watching some TV. Aren't they cute? They both just love their Daddy :)

Here's the story...of a baby named Benson

Everything started the night of my birthday, March 4th. I thought my water was leaking, but I knew it hadn't broke since I already experienced that with Weston. I wasn't having any contractions so we decided to hold off on going to the hospital because I did not want to be sent home. Around 5:30am on March 5th I was having contractions every 30 minutes and was spotting, but by the time I woke up, they were gone :(

Around 10:30 they started up again, but were really irregular, but I thought we should go to the hospital, so Casey came home from work, Jason came and picked up Weston and we were off. I got checked in and was dilated to a 4/5, but they said my water hadn't leaked or broke, so they sent me home to walk for 2 hours. I couldn't believe it. I thought being dilated to a 4 was shoe-in for admission, and I was almost a 5, but no go. Casey and I went to In-N-Out for lunch, then home, and I walked around our living room and kitchen (it forms a circle) for 2 hours. I also ate some pineapple because I've read before that it might help :)

Around 2:30pm we left for the hospital again. I had been having contractions every 5-6 minutes while I was walking, but on the drive back, they had stopped. I was sure they were going to send me home. We checked in again, I was put in a room to be checked, and right after they had hooked up the equipment to monitor the baby I had a huge contraction and my water broke, which means automatic admission. Thank goodness! My labor and delivery nurse (Liberty) came and took me to my room around 4pm and asked if I wanted to have a doctor or midwife to deliver Benson, and I opted for a midwife because I had heard such good things. My midwife's name was Morning Waters. Doesn't that just seem to fit her profession? I thought so. Then it was time to talk epidural. The nurse and midwife were both saying I could get it whenever I wanted (and thought I should get it soon), but I said that I wanted to wait as long as possible. They said that they would see how much I was dilated and then I could decide after that. By this time (4:30ish), I was dilated to a 7 and I thought that was good enough, so the anesthesiologist came and gave me my epidural (5ish) and I was in heaven. My nurse told me to take a nap for an hour and then they would come back and I would start pushing because she was pretty sure I would be ready by then.

At 6pm the nurse came to check me and said I was dilated to a 10, so she went to get the midwife. The midwife checked me again and said it was time, so they got everything all set up. Around 6:25pm I started pushing. I pushed 3 times and he was born at 6:31pm. This whole experience was night and day compared to Weston. Quick, easy, and drama-free. I loved my labor and delivery nurse, Liberty, and my midwife was great too! I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I felt great and we felt so blessed to have a healthy little boy with us in the room until we left the next day.

Afterwards, we got set up in my new room, Charity brought us dinner, and Jason brought Weston to meet his new brother. Weston was more interested in the room than his brother and was more than happy to leave with Jason afterwards. He just waved goodbye to us and left. He loves staying with Jason and Ashley and being able to play with Paisley all day long and we love that he loves it there :) I felt like I could have left that night, but I was definately ready by the next morning. Unfortunately, they didn't want us leaving until Benson had been there a full 24 hours. Casey was a little antsy and bored out of his mind all day, but it helped that our friends, the Nartkers, came to bring us lunch, that we had ESPN, and that we had wireless. We just watched basketball all day long, watched the baby episode of The Office, and checked our email. Our nurse was very prompt about getting us out at 6:31, which was nice. From the hospital we went to go pick up Weston, had dinner at Jason and Ashley's, then it was home to enjoy being a family of four and we couldn't be happier :)

Introducing...

Benson Jay Tanner

March 5, 2010

6:31pm

7lbs 14oz*

21in*

We're all doing great and enjoying the new addition to our family!

*Both his weight and height were exactly the same as Weston.

All My Bags Are Packed and I'm Ready To Go

Well, I have one week to go and I couldn't be more ready. I have a bag packed for Casey and I, Weston's bag is packed, the carseat, clothes, and the rest of the baby stuff is all washed and waiting, and I even have some meals frozen in the freezer for Casey to heat up if we need them. The only thing we have to do is decide on a name, but I think it will be easier when we know we have to decide. At my Dr's appt on Tuesday, the doctor said I was a "good 2" and it would be nice if he came this month since we already have one March baby and my birthday is on Thursday, but we'll see. Cross your fingers for us! I saw this commercial on TV the other day and was able to relate, especially since Casey always makes fun of me when I spill something on my belly. Enjoy!

A LOVE-ly Valentine's Day

We had a great Valentine's Day weekend. It started on Friday night when Casey got home. He sent Weston and I to get the mail because he said he had a headache and when we got home there was a trail of petals leading to the bathroom, which was decorated with flowers, candles, and candy. My book was sitting on the side of the tub with some sparkling cider, he had relaxing music playing, and I got to take a nice bubble bath while he made dinner and took care of Weston for a few hours. It was a very appreciated and much needed break for me. I love my husband! On Valentine's Day, I did my yearly tradition of hiding Valentine's Day cards where I knew Casey would find them throughout the day and as usual, I centered most of our celebration around food. Charity got to join us for dinner and dessert and then we watched the Olympics (which have been dominating a good majority of our time lately). We also gave Weston two little books about colors and one about the ABC's which he liked. All-in-all, it was a great weekend and I'm so glad that there is a special holiday set aside where I get to show my family I love them!

Breakfast. Egg in a hole, strawberries, and a strawberry-banana smoothie. Dinner. Chicken Piccata, asparagus, and sparkling cider.

Casey thought I should be in a picture with my dessert, so here it is. You can see the beautiful flowers I got and the candles from my relaxing night.

Dessert. These are called Chocolate Clouds and I found the recipe 8 years ago with the intention of making it for Valentine's Day someday. It was actually really simple, so I don't know why it took me so long to make. The hardest part was making the chocolate bowls because the water balloons kept popping, so I think I'll use regular balloons next time.

Weston enjoying his own bowl of chocolate mousse.

Monster Jam

At the end of January we went as a family to Monster Jam. It was the first time we've had the box all to ourselves and it was pretty nice. I wanted to go because my Dad used to take us when we were younger and I always had fun. I still remember one time when Grave Digger lost control jumping over some cars, lost a wheel, it rolled off into the wall, and made a big hole at Jack Murphy Stadium (now Qualcomm). Arco Arena didn't have as much space to work with, so it wasn't as cool as I remember it, but still fun. Weston loves trucks, so I thought he would like it too, which he did. He was a little frightened by the noise at first, but we kept the glass closed so it wasn't too loud and he was fine after a few minutes. Now he calls all of his bigger trucks "Digger" because we pointed out Grave Digger the most often.

Whenever he would watch, he would plaster his face to the glass like this.
Grave Digger. The star of the show.

Weston found the ice by the end of the night and was highly entertained by it as well.

Twinners

A few weeks ago we went on a walk one morning. It was pretty chilly, so we got all bundled up in our sweats, sweatshirts, etc. Weston had just gotten this outfit from Casey's dad and loves to wear his BYU beanie. Casey just happened to pick a very similar outfit, so they were my twinners for the morning :)

We have a nice little duck pond close to our apartment
Weston decided he was hungry while feeding the ducks. Luckily the bread we took wasn't too stale :)

Christmas

Merry Christmas! :) A little late, but that seems to be how I roll lately. It is one of my New Year's Resolutions to be on top of my blogging though, so I'm definately working on it little by little. We had a great Christmas up in Vancouver this year at Casey's Mom's house. I love Christmas and I especially love getting together with family and celebrating our Savior's birth, which we did a whole lot of. Thankfully, my husband was on top of picture taking this year, so we have pictures to document it. Thanks to everyone for our great presents and well wishes! I've seen that most of you had a great Christmas already, so I hope you enjoy the pics from ours :)

Our family picture. Actually getting our Christmas card out this year is another one of my new goals :)

Our family walk with a Humane Society Dog. Nate often takes them out for walks and gave us the idea to go as a family.
The kid's Christmas party put on by Grandma. They also made Christmas necklaces and ornaments.

Preparing the Christmas Eve meal together. We had an assortment of cheese, meat, crackers, fruit, veggies, and dip. It was delicious!

After dinner we acted out the Nativity Story. We drew names to find out our rolls and then picked out our outfits from Nate and Misty's dress up boxes. Weston was our little shepherd. I just love this video. As I mentioned above Weston was a shepherd and Casey's mom was a sheep, so naturally Weston felt the need to do some herding.

Everyone in their costumes. Casey was Joseph and I was a Wise Man.

Family bowling time. Charity gave up a lot of her turns to let the kids go.

For lunch one day we went to the Blueplate Diner. It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, so of course I wanted to go. It was pretty good, but it was small and popular, so that meant a lot of people, little seating, and they actually ran out of their specials. When we got home we had Weston open a present that we didn't want to transport. It was a scuttle bug bike and you can tell from his reaction that he was excited.

Out of Africa

Casey went to Angola for work at the beginning of December. He was given the opportunity because he speaks Portuguese and that is what they speak in Angola. They didn't have any freedom, had to do everything together, and were heavily guarded the whole time. Here are a few of his favorite pictures from his visit:

He had a layover in Frankfurt, Germany so he went to the famous Christmas Market. The office where he spent most of his time.

One of the many bodyguards watching over them. They had to have bodyguards with them 24/7 because Angola recently went through a civil war. Most of them were british and have some impressive resumes, including guarding The Queen, General McCrystal while in Iraq, the Spice Girls, etc.

Downtown Luanda. Casey said the place is a dump, but is one of the most expensive countries to live in because they import everything. Dental Floss was $11 and the building you are looking at costs $6,000/month to rent an apartment. Crazy, I know.

Poverty - people just threw their trash down the hill. Trash was everywhere.

There is a ton of traffic and there are almost always people in the middle of the road trying to sell random things to drivers: Christmas trees, pants, belts, toys, etc. This kid is selling toilet paper.

This was my favorite picture because to me it just screams Africa with all the bright colors. On the weekends, Casey and his coworkers would go to a local beach that Casey said was kind of gross, but he brought home a lot of pretty shells which weren't lacking there.

The little boy looks so cute just hanging on his mom's back

Some of the food. They had steak at every meal and a lot of seafood. This is Casey's lobster lunch. You would think that Casey would be in heaven since he is such a steak lover, but overall, Casey thought the food was disgusting.

The only picture we have with Casey in it. One night they went to a churrasco for dinner. One of the best meals they had.

A Snowy Visit

At the beginning of December Weston and I went to Utah to visit my parents. Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of pictures, but we had a great time none-the-less. We were there for a week and went to their Christmas ward dinner, enjoyed looking at the snow, seeing my sister and brother, and hanging out with Mama, Papa, and Jonas. One of my favorite things was playing games almost every night with my parents and Jonas. I am a huge boardgame person and this just made my day! Weston really liked playing with my parents dog, Pink, or terrorizing her I should say. He had a hard time not being able to go outside very much because it snowed a lot of the time and was 20 degrees. Casey kept saying, "just let him play in the snow, I'm sure he would like it," so when we were at my sister's, I let him go outside and 10 minutes later he was at the door whining to come in because he was so cold. The worst part was the flights to and from Utah. We had layovers both ways for the first time and being 6 months pregnant and having to carry a 1 1/2-year-old part of the time or bend over in our seats to get him snacks, etc. was a little uncomfortable. Weston was great, but it was a little long for both of us, and I think I'll stick with direct flights from now on.

Weston in the dog's bed. I wasn't a huge fan, but he thought it was funny :)