Friday, October 29, 2010

Happy 4th Birthday Tanner!

I have been editing a post about Eric's 5 year anniversary of his cancer diagnosis, but haven't been able to finish it yet. Pictures have been piling up that I needed to get posted, so I wanted to get a quick post up and I will get that post up soon.
These are a few more of the pictures my friend took of Jared. He is getting so chubby!

I need to get some new pics of Jared up. He has changed a lot since these were taken.
We went to the zoo again. Aubree and Tanner got to ride the carousel. I love Tanner's face in this pic.


Here is my first picture with all of our FIVE kids. I still can't believe it. At the time this was taken we had a 4, 3, 2, 1 and 5 week old.
Who needs a sister when you have Tanner. Tanner is getting really good at playing with Aubree. He has started playing house, Polly Pockets, and dress-up.
Last Saturday, Tanner turned 4 years old! He has been waiting for this day forever! He was so excited to have it finally here and especially excited for his cake and being sung to. Tanner requested a spider cake and I couldn't find our food coloring, so he got a white spider. Once he blew out the candles he gave the cutest smile ever.
I love the look on Tanner's face here. He loves attention.
Spider cake #3.
This is my sister Sara. She is my angel. I really don't know what I would do without her. She just graduated from nursing school and is looking for a job. I am so thankful for her unselfishness and her willingness to help us out. She takes so much stress off me and that in turn helps Eric to be able to not stress about what is going on at home and is able to focus on school. It is also nice to have another adult around to have conversations with since Eric is gone, an average of 15 hours a day. Thank you Sare!
The kids all dressed up for Tanner's birthday party. Aubs was Snow White.
Trav didn't want to wear his spiderman costume, but wanted to be a pirate. I love how he is wearing the eye patch.
Tann the morning of his birthday with his pirate goods and new shirt. He loves being a big boy and telling people that he is four. It is fun to have two 4-year-olds for a few months.
I need to take more pictures of Jared. This was the best one I could find. He is 6 weeks old now and getting chunky. I love it!
Sara and I (mostly Sara) made a pinata for Tanner's party. He loved hitting it and all the kids loved the candy and toys. It only lasted th
rough a few of Tanner's hits.
Happy Birthday Tanner! You are such an awesome little boy! Tanner is so full of personality and love. He is always going and is such a smart boy. We are so grateful to be Tanner's parents!
In between Jared's feedings, since Sara is around, I am able to take the older three kids out and around Seattle. We made it to the Children's Museum this week. It was really fun. Princess Aubs!
Picture in front of the Jack-o-Lantern. (Most days I let Aubree dress herself) Trav didn't want to wait for me to take the picture.
The kids loved the art room.
Tanner making a masterpiece.
Travis could spend hours painting like this.
Love this picture of Trav. He looks so old.
Tanner's favorite part was the mini grocery store.
All three kids in the "fire engine."
There was a really cool fountain right outside the museum that was choreographed with music.
Who needs a doll when you have little brothers. Andrew actually loves it when she pushes him around in her stroller.
We attempted carving pumpkins again this year. None of this kids wanted to help clean them out except for Andrew (Tanner has a spoon in his hand). Andrew was throwing the seeds all over. I just realized I still gotten a picture of all of our finished pumpkins.
Trav would rather color than help us carve.
I let the kids paint some of the pumpkins instead. They liked that more.
We hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Our little Andrew turned 1 on Tuesday.
These pictures are in reverse order of Andrew's first year.
Andrew now has 8 teeth. His front two were the last two to come through, so he has looked like a tarantula. I was hoping they wouldn't be through for Halloween, so he could be a vampire.
We had two family birthday parties for Andrew. One when Eric could be there and one on his birthday. He wasn't sure about the blowing out the candles, but he loved devouring his cupcake.
Andrew has the best blank stare. His eyes are so dark and round, and he has the longest eye lashes. Oh, he is so cute!
He loved making a mess with his cake and ice cream.
Andrew weighs just over 23 pounds and is 31 inches tall.
Andrew has the best smile and laugh. He is so ticklish and when he laughs, it is the best deep belly laugh.
Andrew fits so perfectly into our family. Aubree, Tanner, and Travis each have such a cute relationship with him. They will each play on their own with him getting him to laugh so hard. Andrew brings out the best in each of his siblings.
He is crawling all over and walking along stuff, but isn't walking yet.
Andrew was sealed to our family March 27, 2010.






We are so grateful to have Andrew in our family. He is such a nice boy and we are so blessed to be his parents. We don't have any contact with his birth parents, but we are eternally grateful.