Christmas Time

Tanner's first Christmas was crazy!! We celebrated with Tommy's extended family on the 20th. We ate fajitas and the rest of the family played "fight me" Christmas. I don't usually take part in that because I never end up with something that I want. Tanner got his first Christmas present from Tommy's cousin Tammy.

Monday night, we had Christmas with Tommy's family. Tanner got a lot of little toys, clothes, and books! Tommy went ahead and gave me my Christmas present from him. It was a Cricut. I didn't ask for it, he just got it for me! He saw it on an info-mercial on TV one late night when we first got Tanner home and thought that I would enjoy it. I haven't gotten a chance to play with it much yet!

We made the trip home to NE Texas on December 22nd for Christmas. Although, it isn't very often that we made the trip, I love going home! It's gotten harder since Tanner joined us! A 4.5-5 hour car ride is not fun with a baby! We hung out with Mom and Dad the few days before Christmas. Tommy and I did make a trip to Longview where I found a pair of black boots. Since I have been looking for some for a LONG time now, we went ahead and got them. I am spoiled...I will admit it, right here, right now! We got Tommy a Carhart Jacket to work in....more on his present to come later! Kim, Brandon, and Carter came over to visit several times! We celebrated Dad's Birthday on Christmas Eve. Mom cooked steak and baked potatoes and we played board games. We even got DAD to play Apples to Apples with us. Surprisingly, it didn't take much convincing!

Christmas morning we opened presents. Tanner was really tired (because he refused to sleep when we were home) so I opened his presents. I was hoping he would be more like the night before when he got into one of my presents. We laughed at him because he tore every single little piece of wrapping paper off that box. Too bad he wasn't in the mood Christmas morning. Mom always hands out the presents Christmas morning and I didn't think Tanner's stack was going to quit growing. Let's just say, when everyone else was finishing their own presents I was still opening Tanner's. Spoiled little monkey!!!

Mom always cooks breakfast pizza Christmas morning! It is SOOO yummy! I don't think that she quit cooking the whole time we were there this year! She had so many treats and goodies. Tommy was in heaven with all the deserts mom cooked!

Mom and Dad got Tanner a tent with a tunnel. We took the tunnel out to see what he would do and he loved it. He crawled back and forth through that tunnel, laughing and giggling!

Kim and I got the boys matching Christmas PJs without knowing it. They were so cute Christmas morning. I tried to get them to sit still long enough for pictures but they weren't having it. I thought this one was so cute though! They sure do love each other!

Christmas morning before we opened presents! Too bad Tanner isn't looking at the camera and I don't have "real" clothes on!

After opening presents at Mom and Dad's, we made a trip to Mt. Pleasant to have Christmas with Dad's side of the family. We didn't have the traditional Christmas meal this year. We had Mexican food, which was wonderful! As usual, we had a great time!

Tis' the Season...

Wow...where does the time go? This year Christmas has snuck up on me. Usually, I am a lot more prepared than I am this year. I usually have everything bought long before I did this year. In fact, I'm still not really finished! Geez!

I am really excited that Tanner is old enough his first Christmas to "open" his presents. He has already started on one that is under the tree. He keeps on going to that one present and tearing the paper a little more each time.

Speaking of Tanner: He just turned 9 months old on the 12th! I cant believe it! He weighs almost 21 lbs and is almost 30 inches long. He just got his third tooth (one on the top) last weekend...teething is not fun with him!!! He has perfected his crawling and is working on walking by himself. He will take a few steps and then he will either sit down or fall down. He is getting more brave as he lets go of things. He has quite the temper and doesn't like to be told no. I had to laugh the other night as Tommy was telling Tanner "no" (a word that he is getting used to). He was getting into the Christmas tree, as he was standing holding on to the coffee table. Tommy said, "No, Tanner!" And Tanner just looked at him and proceeded to try to get the ornament that he was after. After no luck with just the word "NO", Tommy reached over and grabbed his arm. Tanner looked at him, braced himself with his other hand, planted his feet, and was pulling against his daddy, grunting as he did so! OH MY GOODNESS! I couldn't believe it...he had never done that before! So needless to say, I think that we have our hands full with him. He inherited my stubbornness!!

A few things that he enjoys most of the time...depending on the day...:-)

*eating things by himself, especially avocado, peaches, yogurt

*crawling FASTER as he goes somewhere he is not supposed to...especially the fridge

*soft stuffed animals, he buries his face in them and laughs!

*mimicking noises

*Morelli, my cat...I guess it is his cat now :-)

*chewing on any and everything!

*being outside

*music...his new thing is bouncing when he hears a song. It is so precious!

These pictures (except the 2nd one) were taken at Thanksgiving at Nana's house. We went to Mt. Pleasant with my family and had lunch. We put up Nana's Christmas tree while we were there. My Nana is such a sweet lady!

NYC-The Top of the Rock

We decided instead of going to the Empire State building and waiting in the LONG lines, we would go to the Top of the Rock instead. Of course, before we went up, I had to check out Rockefeller plaza and go see what was going on at the Today show. We didn't get up early to go when they were outside, but we did get a glimpse of Al Rocker through the window. It was pretty neat since every morning of my maternity leave was spent watching the TODAY show.

I am so glad that we did get to go to the top of the Rock! I wish that pictures could capture the beauty and amazing views that we saw! We were 67 stories up and could see a lot of the city from where we were! I really wish we could have gone at night too. We stayed up there a while and went to each side of the three viewing floors. My favorite view was of Central Park.


The Statue of Liberty from the Top of the Rock. This is as close as we got. Next time we go back, I would like to go there!

View of Central Park...AMAZING!!

The Empire State Building

New York, New York

Tommy and I were able to take a trip to New York City at the end of October. We were chosen by the bank that we recieve the farm loan from to go and learn about the Farm Credit Bank. I have always wanted to visit NYC and this was a great opportunity. We basically got an all expense paid trip to NYC and Washington DC. Even though it was not at the best of times due to school, I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

It was the first time that we had ever left Tanner...I say "we" it was more "me". I had NEVER left him overnight, so leaving him for several nights while being hundreds of miles away was really tough! Tommy had been away from him a few nights one time when I was visiting my family. I cried like a big baby but I knew that we needed to get away. It was our first big trip since our Honeymoon 2 1/2 years ago.

We left on Sunday morning and caught an early flight to NYC. We arrived around 11:30 and I got to experience my first ride in a cab...ummm terrifying!!! We got checked into the hotel and took off. I will try not to go into too much detail because I would write a novel, but I must include the following story.

Once we dropped our stuff off at the Roosevelt Hotel, we took off to explore the city. There were several touristy things that was on my MUST DO LIST. One of the main things that I wanted to do was go to Central Park. We were on our way using my phone to guide our way, and we came upon St. Patrick's Cathedral. This was also a place that I had to visit due to the recommendations of several people. I could hardly stand my excitement as I awed over the beauty of this amazing building. By this time it was about 1:30 in the afternoon. I decided that we MUST go in...we were right there and who knew if we would make it back to visit. We were looking for an entrance...now here I must interject...if my husband were telling the story, he would say that he told me as I was looking for an entrance to "look down there at the sign" because he remembered that it was Sunday. I, however, do not recall the story that way. When he said, "look down here," I thought he was talking about the other entrance. We were right in front of one, so I didnt see the need in going to the next one. I watched as several other people made their way into the cathedral. So, "Honey, people are going in here. Let's go." So without stopping me, we made our way past the man at the door who was dressed in a suit (should have been a warning sign) and into the church. Here is where it gets interesting....as we enter this beautiful building, we notice that it is FILLED with people, all who are kneeling down. Welcome to our first MASS!!! Who has church at 1:30 in the afternoon?? Us Baptist get out at 12:00!!! So by this time we are already in the church, too late to turn around. So what do we do?? We go sit in the pew and kneel too! The priest was at the front...forgive me because in my embarrasment I do not know exactly what he was doing. I do recall saying the Lord's Prayer, which of course we both knew. I do have to say that we were not the only ones who had interrupted mass...there were tourists there with shopping bags...at least we weren't one of those people!! So as soon as they started going to the front for communion, we jetted out of there. Holy taledo...First, I was so embarrassed...second, I guess God was reminding us that we skipped out on church. However, I did get to see the church and we actually got to go back and visit when they weren't in the MIDDLE of mass!!!

The fountain in Central Park that is in all the movies. I'm sure it has a name, I just dont know what it is. I took a hundred pictures at the fountain!

The leaves on the trees were amazing. Tommy saw on the news that we went at the "prime" times to see the leaves on the trees! Central Park was amazing and one of my favorite places in NYC!! I want to go back!!!

Smilin'

My sweet baby boy at 6 1/2 months old. If you look really close you can see his two bottom teeth. He got one on Memorial day and then the other one a week later. He is a pretty happy baby and smiles at anyone that will smile at him. He is getting to be a lot of fun. Tommy and I have really enjoyed this stage.

Tanner is in to everything. I can only imagine when he starts crawling. He is very close to crawling. He will get on his little knees and just rock back and forth. I think he will start crawling soon and it's going to be over from there! For now, he is perfecting his army crawl!

Cousins

I know that I have gone out of sequential order, but I just have to share these pictures. When we went home to visit(the Canton trip), Carter finally decided that he kind of liked Tanner. Most of the time, he just calls him "baby." They had a good time together. I think Carter was a little jealous that he didn't have his Mimi and Grumpy all to himself.

Tanner set up like he was a big boy...he really looked like he was driving around!
Of course, we had to make sure that they both got to ride in the car. Carter got to sit in the back and he thought it was pretty special!

Carter thought it was a good idea to push Tanner around in the Bumbo. They both look really enthused, don't you think?!?

Go Bulldogs!

We took Tanner to his first football game on August 28th. It was the first game ever held at Waller's new $18 million stadium. Nicest high school football stadium I have ever been to...you would think we were state champs. As far as I know, that has NEVER happened!

Since I am ususally the photographer, I have to ASK to have my picture taken with my sweet baby!

I liked this picture even though he wasn't looking at the camera!
One of Tanner's favorite places to be is on his Daddy's shoulders! He is too cute sitting up there like a big boy! Check out that press box...and I teach in a classroom with a moldy, leaking bucket in my ceiling. I'm leaving it at that!

expensive delivery

These pictures go with the previous post...they wouldn't load earlier!

Memorial Day...a day to remember

Okay, so its been a WHILE since I have had the time to update my blog. Oh how I have missed it! I so enjoy seeing my friends blogs and seeing what is going on with them. Time sure can get away from you SOOO fast!

So a story for all...( this is long but document worthy)

Tommy and I went to Canton the first weekend in September. Mom and Dad kept Tanner so we had a little time for ourselves. We didn't really go looking for anything in particular but we came across a deal I couldn't refuse. I have been looking for a dining set for a LONG time now. We have had Tommy's from IKEA that probably cost $50! I wanted something that was really sturdy and just hadn't been able to find something that I really liked. While in Canton, we happened to stumble upon a table with 6 chairs and a bench, solid Oak and all for $700! If you know me, I love a good deal. So we debated for a little bit on whether or not to get this table. How are we going to get this thing home if we do get it? So I called my mom and dad to see if we could borrow their trailer. They said yes, so we went ahead and bought my beautiful new table.

Monday rolled around and it was time to head back to Waller. At this point, I have to throw in that Tanner had been fussy and I found his FIRST tooth breaking through the skin Monday morning! So we loaded the trailer, the car was PACKED down, and we took off. We got between Henderson and Lufkin and the trailer started shaking so Tommy pulled off figuring we had a flat. He was right and luckily, we had a spare! So Tommy changed it and we were off. No big deal!

We made a pit stop at his Great Aunt and Uncle's house and made sure everything was tied down. We decided to go the "backway" from Lufkin to Huntsville. Picture driving on a LITTLE two lane highway with NO shoulders through the Davy Crockett forest...I'm talking backwoods! The trailer started shaking again! Are you kidding me??? So we pulled over and I looked...it looked okay to me until Tommy pointed out the big bulge in the tire. There wasn't really anything we could do so we took off again...almost to Groveton. Pretty much as soon as we starting driving the tire blew out...what are we going to do??? We pulled that poor trailer with MY FURNITURE ON IT the rest of the way to Groveton. Surely there would be a tire shop there, right?

We finally get into town and I spot a tire shop and was very hopeful they could help. The sign in the window said "CLOSED"!!! What??? Being Memorial Day, most of the town was shut down...including the one shop that we needed! We pulled in to their little grocery store parking lot that was a stone's throw away form the teasing tire shop. Tommy told me that he would stay with the trailer and wanted me to drive into Huntsville to Tractor Supply and get some trailer tires. "What time do they close?" I asked. He told me 8, as he unhooked the trailer from my car. Tanner and I took off down the road and just before I was going to turn off to go to H-ville, I saw a sign for Crockett. I decided that was going to be quicker and thanks to the iPhone, I was able to find the number to call and see if they had the tires. "Yes ma'am, we have the tires but we close at 5 tonight." So here it is 4:45, I am 30 minutes away and Tanner is supposed to eat at 5! I cried as I asked for a manager...I guess he felt really sorry for me because Tanner was screaming bloody murder in the background. He told me to "bring that baby and come on." I flew, I really don't remember anything about that 30 minute drive except for singing to my crying baby! I get there, get the tires and $270 later, I was on my way back to rescue my poor husband on the side of the road.

As I pull up to the trailer, I see that Tommy already has the tire off and ready to put the new one on! So get gets the tire from the front seat of my car(there was NO other place for it) and goes to put it on. End of story, right??? Nope, their 5 hole wheel doesn't match our 5 hole wheel! At this point, we just had to laugh. Here we are in this little town with a teething baby, a closed tire shop across the street, and 2 hours from home. Tommy calls Tom to come rescue us. He is going to bring a trailer to save us...only it has 2 flat tires too!!! Seriously?? So finally, Tommy's mom's cousin, who lives in Lufkin, calls a mobile tire service to come rescue us. Only they have to come from Nac. Finally the poor guy drives up, after driving an hour, and within 20 minutes he was finished! So over 4 hours and a ton of $$ later, we were back on the road! So needless to say, my good deal of a table ended up having a pretty expensive delivery fee!!

I could have written this story "in a nutshell" but then you wouldn't have felt my pain!!

Sweet baby

Little red cheeks...

This one is my favorite! I love that little smile!!

I love baby feet!!

These shots are from one of my MANY "photography sessions" the little man has had to endure...and many more to come! Summertime heat prevents us from going outside too much! With this TEXAS heat, it doesn't take anytime for his little cheeks to start turning red. Tanner LOVES the outdoors so I am ready for it to cool off. I took him outside a few days ago during the evening. I played with my camera and these are a few shots that I took.

He will turn 5 months next week! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. He is really growing into his own personality and I am loving it! He is a little stinker and I can already tell he is going to get into EVERYTHING! He wants anything that is in your hands. He is fascinated by phones especially. I guess he likes that they light up or somthing. He loves his walker and can really get around these days. The other day I had all my Scentsy testers out on the floor smelling them. I had them in neat little piles of ones that I love, I like, and I dont really care for. I ran into the kitchen for something and came back in the livingroom. Tanner had walked his little self right into the middle of all my nice piles. Those testers were EVERYWHERE!! I had to laugh...I'm imagining things yet to come!

He is starting to roll. He can roll from his back to his tummy. We haven't yet managed to get all the way from our tummy to our back. He is trying but can't figure out what to do with his arms. He is still not a big fan of tummy time but he is getting better! Before we know it he will be crawling all over the place!!!

Crazy...

Okay gang...so I have officially gone crazy!!! I mean, what was I thinking starting two in home businesses in one week, when school is about to start, not to mention that I will be teaching a new grade level, and on top of all that I am a NEW mom!!! (what a sentence :) ) So what are my new businesses you ask??? Well, first, I decided to join Mary Kay as an Independent Beauty Consultant. I signed up not really knowing what I wanted to do with it. Tommy's cousin, Amber, had a facial party and I went so that I could be a Ginny pig. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed myself and the product. Then his other cousin Jackie, who drives the famous Pink Cadillac, gave her spill on what a great company Mary Kay is....which it truly is...and I was sold! So I ordered my little starter kit and a few more products and I am set to sell!

So the very NEXT day after signing up for Mary Kay, my friend Johanna called and was talking to me about these candle things that her sister had and then she saw them in Canton. SO I got online and checked Scentsy out and it was all over!!! I had seen them before at a booth at a county fair but was too busy to check them out. So I looked at the website and decided to find out more. You see...you have to sign up under someone else. Well, since I didn't know anyone that sold Scentsy that was a problem. So I called a lady out of Waller and wasn't really impressed. I wanted to find someone who I could talk to about it and get the information that I needed. I ended up randomly choosing a girl from Katy and called her. So I talked to her about 45 minutes and decided that I really wanted to sign up under her! She was very nice we had a lot in common, and she was very helpful. Now remember, the day before I signed up for Mary Kay...spent the money and everything. So hummm...how do I ask my husband about this?? If you know Tommy, that part was pretty easy. "So hun, I found these really AWESOME candle thingys that I want to sell...what do you think?" Of course, you know me, I couldn't stop at that...I had to talk about them to him, show him what they looked like, express my excitement over and over :) His response, "Go for it! You can use the stuff yourself if it doesn't work out." Maybe he said that just to shut me up...hehehe. No really, he is such a sweetie!! So all day today I have been working on my Scentsy stuff...in between diaper changes, feedings, changing clothes... I know you are dying to see the Scentsy stuff yourself...so without further suspense (I don't know how to spell the other word that is supposed to go here....adue??) here it is: www.scentsy.com/samanthapaben .

So I am your one stop shop...WONDERFUL Mineral make up??? I got it. Fun body washes, perfumes??? I got it. Wrinkle creams that work??? I got it. The famous Satin Hands?? I got it. CUTE candle warmers to make your house smell good?? I got it. Car scents?? I got it. Room sprays?? I got it. As you can see, I've got more than you could ask for :) So next holiday or birthday, you just LET ME KNOW!!!

Everyone may need to prepare for me to get shipped to the nuthouse!! But hey, I need some excitement and newness in my life...ummm the newness I might have overdone!!! :)

Working with Daddy

Climbing in!

Tommy and his little buddy!

Tanner was ready to go!

We just finished with corn harvest!! Hooray!!! I can not tell you how excited I am that it is finally over. For those who aren't familiar with this time of year, corn harvest is a lot of work and seems to take FOREVER!!! During harvest, Tommy works very LONG hours, not getting home until after dark. Therefore, he only saw Tanner and I for a few minutes in the morning. This summer was especially hard for me because I had Tanner all by myself all day long. Tanner tends to be a very needy baby so he can wear you out in a hurry. According to my mom, he comes by it honestly. She read me a quote from my baby book the other day, "Samantha loves people and loves to be held. She has a very quick temper." humm...I guess I am getting pay back for all the headaches I caused Mom and Dad!

Anyway, they were harvesting the field that is closest to our house. Tommy sent me a text message, "When you get a chance, could you please bring T down here. He's been begging for a ride in the combine." So I got the little stinker ready, complete with his overalls and cap. I took him to the field and watched them climb in the big combine. Tanner looked so little in that big ole tractor. I came back home and didn't really know what to do with myself. I was weird being home with out Tanner here. My alone time was very short lived because I went to pick Tanner up about 30 minutes later...it was about his nap time. Tommy said that he didn't hardly make a sound the whole time they were riding. He just looked around soaking it all in.

We are very fortunate that Tommy has a job that Tanner can go with him sometimes. I know as Tanner gets older, Tommy will be able to take him to work with him more often. Let me tell ya...Tommy can't wait! Tanner will be driving a tractor before we know it...don't tell his daddy I said that! I am so glad that we have a place that he can run around and experience life in the country. Not many kids have that opportunity anymore. God has blessed us in so many ways!!!

First bites

When we took Tanner to the doctor for his 4 month checkup, we asked when to start him on solids. Dr. Nelms told us that he was ready. I was really hesitant to start for some reason and really didn't want to start solids until he was six months old. However, he has been REALLY into watching us eat so I figured what the heck. So I fixed his rice cereal and we had to set the stage. Of course, before we fed him the cameras had to be ready to capture his first bites. Tommy had the video camera and I had my new camera ready to go.

They say that when babies first learn to eat the will spit a lot of it out. Well, not this baby!!! He was eating it up!! He kept grabbing the spoon for more. I fed him the majority of it but Tommy had to take a turn feeding him too! It was fun for us to watch him experience his first food. I am looking forward to seeing his reactions to other foods! Let's just hope he has MY eating habits instead of his daddy's. Either way, I think we have an eater on our hands!!

Four Months

Yesterday, we took Tanner to the doctor for his 4 month check up. Tommy took off and went with me. I don't like to take him by myself! I was anxious to see how much he weighs because my way of weighing is not that accurate...getting on the scale, weighing, and then weighing holding Tanner. I knew that he was getting pretty heavy but didnt know how much he would weigh. He weighs 19 pounds 2 ounces! Whoah big boy! No wonder my arms are getting stronger! He is in the 95% for his weight :) We know how to grow 'em big around here on the farm! He is 26 inches long too! All in all, he is just a BIG boy!

The doctor told me that at 11 pounds babies can sleep through the night...umm...we hit that 8 pounds ago! I guess Tanner needed to hear that because he slept ALL the way through the night last night!! AND I slept all the way through the night...that hasn't happened in over a year now! He has only slept through the night a handfull of times and every time has been at my parent's house. Even then, I would wake up to check on him! I was pumped this morning that I got a FULL nights rest! I just hope that Tanner makes a habit of this, but I am not getting my hopes up just yet!!

New Camera

Okay, so I am new at this...the pictures were supposed to go AFTER my post...I will get better :)

I got a new camera for my birthday/anniversary/any other holiday :)!!! I have been wanting one for a long time now, but those that know me know that I don't like to spend money!! I bit the big one and with much encouragement from my sweet husband, I bought a really nice one!! He kept telling me that it is an "investment" that we will have for a long time. I have to keep telling myself that because I have had buyer's guilt for the last few days :)I had played with one of Tommy's cousin's camera and had fun. I was tired of missing Tanner's cute smile due to the delay on my camera. I really like my little Cannon but I was ready for an upgrade. I got a Nikon d60 and I am pretending to be a real photographer since it has the changeable lenses. I have had so much fun over the last few days playing around. Of course, my main subject has been my little man, Tanner. He thinks I am the paparazzi. I think his first word may be, "cheese." Here are a few of my masterpieces!!

Getting Started

So I have been wanting to start a blog here recently but thought it would just be one more thing to keep up with. I thought since we have friends and family spread all over God's creation, it would be a good way for us to share our lives. I am going to do my best to keep it updated but with Tanner that could be pretty hard. He just turned 4 months old the other day and is constantly changing. I hope through this blog I will be able to share his milestones as they come. I hope that life finds you all doing well!!