Rodeo with the Girls!

On Friday night, I finally got to hang out with my some of my friends! It's been a long time since we have all been able to get together and hang out! We went to the Houston Rodeo to see the Eli Young Band play...thanks Court for getting us all together. We were all coming from different areas in Houston so we met up at the rodeo. We had a great time! Here are a few pictures from the night!

Courtney, Me, Johanna, Danya, and Jess

I love these girls!

Jess, Me, and Johanna at the end of the night

Courtney and I
Eli Young band playing my favorite song of theirs!

All boy!!

We went home to my mom and dad's for a few days after Tanner's birthday party. Tommy wasn't able to go with us because it is corn planting season...season you ask?? Yes, might as well be 6 seasons in the year...spring, planting, summer, harvesting, fall, winter. Anyway, planting consists of LONG HOURS...trying to get the corn in the ground! Since mom and dad were already here, I took advantage of another person in the car, so mom rode with us home.... Traveling with Tanner is NOT fun!!! We had not been home since Christmas, so it was time to visit ole' NE Texas.

Tanner LOVES to play outside. It was such a pretty day Monday so we went out for a while. Here are some pictures of him that I took...he is into everything! Terrible two's have started a year early!!!

I'm all business pushing my new car!

Picking flowers

Playing on the fence...good thing it was barbed wire!!

Of course, playing in the dirt...the only spot on the driveway and he found it!

Playing with the tire on Mimi's car!

Hay Ride

Originally, we were supposed to take a hayride at Tanner's birthday party but we got so caught up in everything else we ran out of time. But since Tommy already had everything ready to go, I felt bad if we didn't use it. I asked Carter if he wanted to go on a hayride. I'm not sure that he knew what I was talking about but I guess it sounded fun to him. So he found his Uncle Tommy and asked for a "haywide." We had to take the "petting zoo" back to the barn anyway, so we all hopped on the trailer and went for a ride. Carter loved it...he kept pulling the hay up and letting it go as he repeated over and over "haywide, haywide!"

By the time we got to the barn, Dianne had already fixed the bottles for the calves. There are two that are being bottle fed right now. Tanner and Carter both got to feed one. Neither was really big enough to hold the bottles, but I enjoyed watching them. I can only imagine the trouble they will get into in a few years!

Cute baby calf, which will remain nameless...anytime I name one, it dies..booo!
Grumpy and Tanner

Here we go...notice that Kim and Brandon are on the back. They didn't appreciate the hay shower that Carter kept giving them.

Look at that face...he had bruises, cuts, and scrapes all over him. He looked like we had beat him...poor little guy! He played hard at his birthday party and was SO tired!

Feeding the baby calves!

Happy Birthday Tanner!

Happy Birthday Tanner!!! He had the best time in the Jumpy! I have to say...I had fun myself! After everyone else left, we all played in it for a while!
Tanner with Diney and Mimi

Diney and Big Pa got Tanner that cute horse. He pushed it around...I thought this picture was cute! Didn't he look adorable in his little pearl snap and jeans! I loved this outfit...too bad he got it dirty before the party even started! But I was reminded, "he's a little boy...boys are supposed to get dirty!"

A cute pillow/stuffed animal that Abby's(Robert's wife) parents got Tanner. It is really soft!
Tanner wasn't much for opening presents. The only reason he is sitting with me in this picture is because I made Tommy move him closer. He was good for the first present. We opened the second, which was a cute dump truck for outside. He was pushing it and the front popped up and hit him in the lip. Poor baby busted his lip and started bleeding. That was it for the presents...he was done! He got SOOO much...TOO much! I opened the rest of them for him! Lots of clothes, books, and toys...he is just a little bit spoiled!

Happy birthday sweet boy! Note to self...even if it is windy, FIX your hair...all of the pictures of me are terrible...my hair is a MESS!!!

Yummy...this is good! Tanner ate a pig cupcake! I didn't see any point in making him a big personal cake for him to waste. We didn't get the cute "icing all over the face" picture(since there wasn't much icing there) but at least he wasn't wired from sugar either! When his OCD mother took finally took away the top with the icing, he told me "more!"

Mom and I made the cake...she did the baking and helped me put the icing on the barn. I couldn't have done it without her! I loved how it turned out!

I originally wanted to make a cake that was a cow. Then it turned into a cow with farm animal cupcakes. Finally, I decided on a BARN and farm animal cupcakes. I searched online and someone already had my idea....BUT I do think this one turned out cuter!

Tanner and Gunner

He belongs to our friends Daniel and Courtney...they are a farming family too. I think they will be big buddies in the future! Gunner is about 7 months old now...so 5 months younger than Tanner. They live a few miles up the road...some of our closest neighbors.

Tanner and Emery...I work with Tara, Emery's mom, and we are always joking that they are meant for each other! Check out Kim and Carter in the backgroud. We had our own personal petting zoo! Tommy brought up a baby calf that we are having to bottle feed. It is so precious!

Okay, so the pictures above are in no particular order. I still haven't mastered loading the pictures in sequential order. Oh well!!

We had Tanner's birthday at our house on March 13, 2010. Obviously, it was a farm theme. I fell in love with the set of birthday decorations that I ordered offline after an unsuccessful search in Katy. It took a lot of work, but I wouldn't trade it! The day was beautiful...little windy...but beautiful and we had a really good time!

We spent Saturday morning getting everything ready! We had a swimming pool with plastic balls, a tent with a tunnel, and a jumpy for the kids to play on. What else would you need for a 1 year old's b-day party?

Funny story about the jumpy...originally I called a friend to see if I could borrow her daughter's jumpy. It was a much smaller jumpy(one for only a few kids). She told me that a kid had "taken a stick to it" so it didn't work very well anymore. So there went that idea...I really didn't want to spend the money to rent a big one because I didn't know how much we would use it! I was telling Dianne(Tommy's mom) about wanting to find a little one and she told me that she had one that we could use! I don't know why this surprised me because there are very FEW things that she doesn't have. She bought a jumpy for her church so that they wouldn't have to keep renting one with the stipulation that she could use it anytime! SWEET!!! We didn't have to pay for it and I think that they adults had more fun than the kids did!

I know that Tanner won't remember his 1st birthday, but I just wouldn't feel right about not having a party for him! I am so thankful for all the people who came to celebrate with us! We had an amazing day!!

Thankful

Tanner LOVES it outside! We took a few pictures yesterday because we finally got to play outside! It has been so nasty outside lately and the wind blows like crazy out here! We started off with no hat, but soon put one on to block the wind from his ears. I usually have a hard time keeping anything over his head...he was a good sport the yesterday! Yes, he has dirt on his face in this first picture because finds it necessary to put everything in his mouth...including rocks. :)

Recently, I have been following the journey of a little baby girl named Layla Grace who is losing her battle with cancer. I cry everytime I read the blog (http://www.laylagrace.org/) and my heart breaks for her and her family. I warn you....don't read it unless you want to bawl your eyes out. I can't imagine what they are going through as they prepare to say goodbye to their precious baby girl. My mind drifts to her little face constantly throughout the day. I pray for comfort for the family and sweet baby Layla.

One post in particular really struck me. Her mom writes about how if she had to do it all over again she would never want quite. She wants interruptions and Layla under her feet. It really made me think of how many times I have said, "I can't get anything done...he constantly is under me and wants me to pick him up." Just reading her post I feel guilty that I do have the baby under my feet. I am truly greatful to God for our health and have been reminded many times lately just how precious life is. Love to each of you reading this...may you love a little more each day!

Time flys...

Where does the time go? We are getting ready for Tanner's 1st birthday party coming up in a few weekends! Some of our friends are due in a few weeks. This time last year we were in their shoes anticipating Tanner's arrival!

He is growing up so fast and constantly has us laughing. I can only imagine when the little toot can really talk. He is running around and getting into EVERYTHING!! When I say everything, I mean everything!

• He LOVES music...he is so funny...he dances and bobs his head. Sometimes it sounds like he is trying to sing. It is so precious!


• He can say a few things...of course, he has been saying "mama" and "dada" for a while now. He can say "ba" for ball, "du" for duck, "uh-oh", and one of my favorite things is when he says "mmmmm" for the cow. He moos...so cute!


• He has learned that a RED button means you can turn something on and off. We have a little hand held back massager that he likes to turn on and off. It ends up becoming a game.


• Everything is "No" right now, complete with a head shake. Anytime you ask him a question, he answers "no". And when he isn't supposed to be getting into things...he says "no-no" as he touches it. Little stinker....


• He knows the sign language for "thank you." He did it the other day when I gave him some puffs (he is addicted to the sweet potato ones). My heart just about melted!

We are truely enjoying this stage and watching his little mind work. I just can't believe that his first birthday is right around the corner!



I wanted to take some pictures to send in his birthday invitations. Here are a few that I took.



This picture looks freakishly like a baby picture of my daddy. He definantly has some Hargrove genes!

My absolute favorite. He will hardly ever keep a hat on his head. Tommy put it on him and he kept it on for a while. I couldnt get him to smile at me but I just adore this picture! My little boy is growing up!

What a day...

I have REALLY enjoyed having these last 2 weeks off. It has been fun being able to stay home with Tanner. I could really get used to this! Even when we do have a bad day...

Tanner is into EVERYTHING. If a door is open, you better watch it. Well, today I was getting some cereal out of the pantry and took it to the counter. I didn't close the door behind me so Tanner used that chance to crawl into the pantry. We had some coke cans on the floor and he grabbed one...harmless right? That is what I thought...WRONG! He proceeded to throw it on the floor busting a hole in the can. It was like a champagne bottle that had just been opened. It spewed EVERYWHERE!! All over the wall, floor, his face, the doors! So I grabbed it away from him and took him out of the kitchen. I decided that I probably needed to wait to try to clean it up until Tanner went to take a nap, which should have only been about 30 or an hour at the max. Umm, not today...Tanner didn't go to sleep until almost two hours after the coke explosion!!! It was great fun to clean up since it had time to dry. I had to laugh...at least after it was cleaned up!!

Then this afternoon, he decided to try his little chompers on my leg. He bit the MESS out of me! At first, I didn't know what it was. I don't know if my reaction scared him or what because he cried for a little while after he did it. It hurt so bad...so I now have a battle wound on my leg. It left a little pink mark from his 4 little teeth!

I am sad to see these two weeks come to an end. Is it too soon to ask...how long till summer?