Painting the New House

Many of you may know but if you don't, we are going to be moving in the next few months. We are no longer able to afford the mortgage on the house we are in since Kollin's mom moved out and we don't have that extra rent payment anymore.

So we are going to go and rent out her basement for a few years!

It is a cute house that Kollin's aunt bought and has been fixing up. The upstairs is looking awesome and they have already started on the basement where we are going to be.

It is a lot smaller than where we are now, but I'm not worried at all. I think it will be very nice and cozy.

We decided to pain our room and the kitchen/living room areas the same colors that we already have at our current house.

I wanted a new color for Tanner's room though, so we chose this.

We were going for unisex since we never know if we are going to have another baby while we are living there, and they will be sharing a room if that happens.

After it was all said and done, it dried a lot brighter than we were expecting so it's still growing on us. There is a chair rail that splits the room in half and we only painted the lower half, so it's not as bright as it could have been.

I forgot to take before and after pictures, but I'm sure I will eventually.

While we were painting we put Tanner down for a nap upstairs in Kathy's room. He was being fussy since I'm sure he wasn't happy about the new surroundings so I left the TV on for him.

I went up and checked on him and he was doing this.... 

Not even sure if he slept at all! Oh well...

Happy 4th... 3rd of July!

This year we celebrated the 4th of July on the 3rd.

We went to Great Grandma and Grandpa Richens' house for a BBQ and to watch fireworks.

 When we got out of the car we noticed that it was really leaking something. It looked like water, but had a pink tinge to it. Kollin figured out that it was the water pump or possibly a hose that came loose.

So we got it towed so there wouldn't be any further damage done. Good thing it should all be covered under the warranty!

 After we got done eating in the backyard, one of Grandma and Grandpa's neighbors came over and invited us to come over and bounce in their bounce houses they had.

The kids loved it!

And Tanner especially loved the slide.

We set up chairs and blankets on the side of their house where we had a perfect view of the North Salt Lake fireworks.

 Tanner was getting pretty fussy and squirmy before they started since it was a ways past his bedtime.

But right when they started?....

It was so nice that he sat and watched instead of screamed at the loud booms like he did last year.

Kollin had to work on the 4th and didn't get home until around 5. That was actually kind of an early day for a normal work day. But his manager was saying that he wanted everyone off by 3 on the 4th. So I wasn't too happy. Oh well.

When Tanner went down for his nap, I blew up the kiddie pool (thank you air compressor!) and filled it with water so the sun could warm it up a little.

After Kollin got home we all went out and took a dunk.

The water was not as cold as it would have been if I had waited to fill it right then.

I know, Kollin's farmer tan is fabulous!

Tanner had lots of fun splashing and soaking me.

All in all, it was a nice (mostly) relaxing 4th of July!

Discovery Gateway with Cooper

Cooper is one of our sweet little heart friends. I fell in love with his mom when I first met her at the heart mom dinner earlier this year and we have been getting together on play dates occasionally.

I am bound and determined for Coop and Tanner to be best friends. It would be so cool since they are both heart kids and will understand each other. And it is pretty awesome if they ever go swimming together they will have the same scar!

We all went to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum one day. Aubrie (Coopers' mom) has a membership and had told me that Cooper loves it so Tanner probably would too.

We had such a blast! 

On the upper floor out on the balcony area they have a real Life Flight helicopter. Cooper and Tanner were able to climb around in it and sit in the pilot's seat.

That was one memory we never would have wanted, but it was so sweet to see our two little heart heroes playing around in it.

Neither Cooper or Tanner were actually flown in a helicopter. Both of them were transported by Life Flight though. They were both transported by ambulance, and Tanner had his private plane ride to LA.

This thing is like a xylophone with wooden pieces. We sat them on top of it and let them whack away at it.

THIS I think was by far their favorite. There was this entire area where there is nothing but all of these balls and all these different things you can do with them. Some you could put in a tube and it would suck it up high above you and go down in twirling tubes.

This one you put the balls in the holes and you can see them go down to the lower level.

We had so much fun!

Daddy's Day

I am sure Tanner knows that he has got the best daddy!

He likes to go on walks with Daddy when they are both wearing skirts....

 

He likes to wear Daddy's shoes...

 

His hat...

 

and play, play and play some more.

 

We love you so much Daddy!

 

Happy Father's Day! We wouldn't be here without you.

New Car!

Kollin went to register his truck this morning and the place gave him crap for not having a catalytic converter.
AGAIN.
This happened last year as well, but apparently not all diesels come with them, and his is one of them.
This was the last straw, so he decided we were going to go trade it in and get something else.

Bye bye Beast! :(


 Hello Trixi!




So far we are totally in love. Yay!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a couple BBQs that we went to over Memorial Day weekend.

First, we had a BBQ at Grandma and Grandpa Cannon's house. It was a pretty chilly day so we all just ate inside. After dinner all the little boys started running around and having a grand old time. 

This was the first time that Tanner actually "participated" in the fun. He couldn't keep up with the bigger boys racing around the house, but he had so much fun toddling after them!

 

After dinner we all headed to the ball park to watch a Bees game and see fireworks.

 It was COLD! Good thing we had coats and blankets to bundle up in.

 Tanner got bored though.

 He was super fussy. Whenever we tried to wrap him in a blanket to keep him warm he would freak out more. Probably thought we were trying to put him to sleep or something.

There wasn't anything we could do to keep him from crying but go walk around with him. I found a little room that had the elevators in it to go to the suites that was enclosed and warmer than outside. We hung out in there for a while since he had no where to go and I couldn't lose him. Ha!

Grandpa Cannon did a pretty good job of calming him down and keeping him warm. He's got the magic touch.

 We got fed up with the cold, so we left before they did the fireworks. Oh well!

The next day we had a BBQ at Great Grandma Norman's house. It was still pretty chilly so we ate inside there as well.

After we ate the kids wanted to go and play in the backyard.

Tanner had lots of fun with Grandma Stark on a scooter and swing.

 Cousin Tiff always loves to play with Tanner when she sees him, so we let him stay outside with her while we went inside. 

The next thing we knew cousin Cory came inside saying that we weren't allowed to go outside.... So of course we did.

And THIS is what we found.

Tanner was having so much fun in that sand though. He got so much sand everywhere, but it was so cute.

Intermountain Healing Hearts 5k

We went to the 5k to support our heart heroes and angels today.
Kollin and I are not runners, but my best friend Sara ran it to honor Tanner.
(She's in there somewhere)

She ended up coming in at 6th place overall I think.
Way to go my Sava!

My favorite people!

We also got some sliding time in.

Kollin went exploring with Tanner and found a firetruck! (go fig)

There was a picnic after the race with the heart families. It was so nice to see so many wonderful families that I have already met, and also met a few new ones.
It was also the first time the husbands and fathers came to an event (at least that we've been to), so they were all probably a little overwhelmed at all of the introducing that was going on!
I'm sad that I didn't think to snap any pictures during the picnic, but next time!
All of these mommies are starting to figure out that I'm a little trigger happy with the camera. I'm such a slacker.

15 Month Checkup

Tanner had his 15 month Dr. appointment today.

I've said it before, and I'll said it again.

I love his pediatrician!

Dr. Terashima is the one that caught his heart defect, and therefore, saved his life.

Dr. Terashima was very happy with what he was seeing with Tanner. He gave him some toys to play with to see what he would do. He said it was good that he is pointing to things, kept looking at him as if for approval, babbling, saying little words and very involved with people. He says lots of those are good indicators that Tanner is not autistic.

We talked about car seat laws, eating, doing away with bottles, the results from his sedated echo last month and a bunch of other things. I love how thorough he is!

As he was reading the notes from his echo he mentioned some things that Tanner's cardiologist never mentioned. That kind of disappointed me a little that she didn't say anything at the time, but I'm over it.

He said that it was mentioned in the notes that the echo showed that he is showing a sub-aortic ridge. The post that I wrote about his different defects explain the subvalvular stenosis (sub-aortic stenosis). Well, the ridge is kind of like that, but much much smaller. It is not blocking his valve and not even affecting the blood flow at all. Phew!

I had actually read recently that a sub-aortic stenosis can come back after it is repaired and could warrant more surgery. So this information kind of freaked me out.

Given that it is just a "ridge" and not a "stenosis" there is nothing to worry about right now. And if it was something to worry about our cardiologist would have still wanted to see Tanner every 4-6 months instead of only once a year now. So I am sure she is not worried about it at all and that may be why she didn't mention it. I still would have liked to know everything that is going on with my kid though...

He got his 15 month shots today too. He was not happy about that one bit. But he did well and stopped crying shortly after. What a trooper!

He says that Tanner is growing well and all of his measurements are staying consistent. He said he is actually a little chunkier than he is tall, so that means we're feeding him good! (which is one thing I have been worrying about)

I was really excited to see how much he weighed and how tall he was. He's still growing! Yay!

Weight: 20 lbs 4 oz

Height: 28 1/2 inches

Now We Match!

For a long time now we have been getting comments on how red Tanner's hair is.

We always end up explaining that Kollin has natural red highlights in his hair and Kollin's mom also has red hair. I have no idea if it comes from me since I'm adopted, but my mom also had red hair so I'm sure he got some of that while she was preparing him to come to us when they were both together in Heaven.

Kollin and I both had very blonde hair as little kids. Mine has stayed pretty blonde and Kollin's has gone darker.

I have been saying for a while that I wished I had Tanner's color of hair.

I have actually always wanted strawberry blonde hair for as long as I can remember. 

So we decided to do something about it today.

I was really nervous the entire time on how it would turn out since it was a home dye kit that we got for about $3.

It ended up taking three bottles to saturate my abundance of hair.

But it worked!

I LOVE it!

It is very subtle and didn't turn out orange like I was worried about.

I'm pretty excited that Tanner and I have even more in common now!

My Second Mommy's Day

I love this little goofball. I wouldn't be a mother yet without him!

 I love Kollin so much. I don't even know how to put it into words. Plus he's got good taste in flowers.



Today is International Bereaved Mother's Day

I cannot even begin to understand what you have gone through.

I was given a big dose of reality when I learned that my own son needed open heart surgery in order to live.

Ever since then my mind has been in a new place.

A place of compassion, tenderness and inspiration.

I was constantly told how strong I was while we were going through Tanner's journey.

But I have seen stronger.

I can honestly say that there is nothing comparable to the strength and grace of a mother who has lost a child.

I pray that you may feel love, comfort and your angel's arms wrapping around you like a warm blanket.

15 Months Old

15 months...

1 year and 3 months old.

What happened?

Next thing I know he'll be 15 years old.

Time is just rude.

He has been coming along so well.

He now has EIGHT teeth! Well... as far as I know. That kid does not like fingers in his mouth and will chomp down hard when you try to investigate. I actually just tried and found the beginning of a molar, so 9 teeth!

He babbles a lot right now. I will baby babble back and forth with him for 10 minutes at a time. I just wish I knew what he is saying. Or me for that matter!

Some of his favorite "words" right now are "da" (that could mean anything from Dad or that), "duh" (duck), "dah" (dog), "bah" (ball, bottle or anything that holds a liquid that he wants) and "ma" (well duh...). On occasions he will say "dog," "duck" and "ball" entirely.

He is getting to be quite the expert at walking. Sometimes he even tries to run. We still need to work on that. He's been getting some bumbs and bruises along the way.

He has been doing this for a while, but I don't think I've ever mentioned it... He loves to point at everything. He is constantly pointing where he wants to go... what he wants to see... when he sees Mommy or Daddy... anything.

Weight: 20 lbs 4 oz
Length: 28 1/2 inches

We love our little Tinman so much. We don't know what our lives would be like without him. We are so happy that he was able to come to be with us and that we were blessed that he was allowed to stay.

xoxo

our little munchkin

mommy and daddy