Pumpkin Patch - October 2009

We went to the pumpkin patch by our house a couple weeks before Halloween. Treyden loved it! There was a kids size wheel barrow that he pushed up and down the rows of pumpkins, tractors he could sit on, and trails through the corn. Not to mention the hundreds of pumpkins. We had a lot of fun and Treyden was excited to bring home a couple pumpkins, too.

(Sorry about all the pictures! I took so many it was hard to narrow them down. These are just a FEW of the ones I took.)

Halloween 2009

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Treyden was a Utah football player (Go Utes!) and Tanner was a lion. Treyden is old enough now that trick or treating didn't take him long to figure out what was going on, so he just kept moving from one house to the next. Unfortunately he is still too young to understand why he couldn't eat all of his candy right then. Tanner was a trooper. He was sick and didn't feel good, but I think he liked being all snuggled up in his costume, because he didn't fuss at all, and fell asleep in the stroller partway through. It's so fun to have Treyden getting old enough that we can do stuff like this with him. Thanks to those who invited us to Halloween parties. Too bad the sick kids kept us from coming!



(I have given up on getting caught up on the blog, so I decided to just start from now. There might be future posts that are old, or out of order, but if I keep waiting I'll never get caught up!)

Today is a very important day...

Can anyone guess why?

It's because this little boy...

who we love dearly...

is 18 months old today!

That is not an age that is normally celebrated by most people, but we are!! Nursery here we come!! This little boy has a ton of energy and we get such a kick out of him, but trying to handle both him and his baby brother for 3 hours of church has gotten old very quickly. We have waited for this day for a long time! We love ya little guy, but...have fun in nursery! :)

(It's been a crazy summer, so I'll try to get caught up on the last couple months soon!)

Tanner's Blessing

We blessed Tanner on June 7th. Andy gave him a very special blessing. It was so neat for me to get to see so many of the men in our families up in the circle. I was pretty overwhelmed with what great examples my two boys will have of righteous priesthood holders. I'm so thankful for our families, and espcially for these two little boys!



(Andy changed out of his suit too fast, so he was the photographer and got out of being in the pictures!)

Tanner - 5 Weeks Old

Tanner keeps getting bigger everyday! He's continued to be a pretty good eater, when he's not really gassy and uncomfortable. He's sleeping good at nights, too, just getting up once usually, although he has done a couple all-nighters (which I was grateful for). I have the boys sleeping in the same room and it's actually been working out pretty well. Treyden almost never wakes up when Tanner cries. Tanner smiled for the first time at 4 weeks. He's only done it a couple times since, but they have definitely been real smiles and not just gas. I'm excited to see him start to respond a little more.

I was trying to get a picture of Tanner smiling, but this was the best I could get him to do. Just enough to show he's thinking about it, but not enough to actually smile.

Brothers - Best of Friends

So far Treyden has continued to adjust really well to having Tanner around. He constantly wants to be hugging him or holding him, which is cute, but I have to be watching all the time, otherwise he'll pull Tanner off the couch or smother him. Hopefully they'll continue to be close as they get older. The other day Treyden was standing next to the couch where Tanner was laying. Tanner was waving his arms around and would once in awhile touch Treyden's face. Treyden thought Tanner was playing with him and would just laugh everytime Tanner touched him. It will be fun once Tanner gets more interactive to see them play together.

Treyden - 16 Months

Treyden is almost 16 months! Where has the time gone? He has grown up so much in the last month or so and is quickly becoming a little boy and not my baby anymore. It's so fun to see how much he understands now. I can't believe some of the things we will tell him that he understands. He is starting to try to say a few words, although not very clearly yet. A few words he'll say are: mama, dadda, Jesus, uh-oh, night night, and Tanner (although this sounds a lot like dadda).
He still loves his blankie!

This boy is always on the go. He is constantly climbing in or or something. I'll be so glad when the rain finally goes away so Treyden can be outside more. He is too active to be in the house all day. He gets stir crazy!

Also, a tip for all the moms out there. I used to have his toys stored in baskets on a set of shelves, but I got sick of the mess. It was like a game for Treyden to pull the baskets off the shelves and dump them out. Then cleaning up took awhile to sort everything back into the baskets. I finally decided to try a toybox. I made sure to get one that was heavy enough he couldn't tip it over or drag it around and it has worked so much better! Although the toys aren't arranged as nicely in seperate baskets, the room doesn't get as dirty and clean up is so much easier, plus it's easier for Treyden to help!

If only it were mud...

Yes it looks cute, until you realize that is not mud he's got all over...it's GREASE!!! He got under the grill and was playing in the drip bucket that catches all the grease and ashes from the grill. Judging from the signs he had to have eaten some too. We were worried it would make him sick, but it didn't. Luckily Andy came home just as I was taking pictures so he could help clean up. He didn't find the whole thing quite as funny as I did, but hey, I think having a sense of humor is the only way I'm going to survive this boy!

Is this really June?

These are pictures from a storm last week. It has been raining every day for well over a week now, but the hail from this storm was unbelievable! It totally shredded my flowers and garden, too. I am ready for hot summer weather!!

This smile just makes my day!

Introducing.....Tanner Richard

Tanner Richard was born on May 12th at 1:26pm. He weighed 8 lb 2 oz and was 20.5 inches long. He has been a really good baby so far, and an awesome eater (tons better than Treyden was, thank goodness!). We are so blessed to have our 2 little boys!

At Home

We were lucky enough to only stay one night at the hospital. My mom had come down from Idaho the day Tanner was born, and it was such a blessing to have her here. Treyden was able to sleep in his own bed. We had yummy meals every night. The house was clean, plus it was just fun to have her company. My dad was able to come down for a night, too, and it was great having the both of them here and seeing Treyden play with them. We are blessed with such great family! Andy was able to be home all week, too, and that was such a blessing! He was so great to keep Treyden entertained and help in the night, too. Plus he got a lot of projects done around the yard while he was home. He set up sprinkler systems in my garden and flower beds and built a big sandbox for Treyden.

The first couple of nights were pretty rough as Tanner adjusted to being at home, but the last few nights he's only been getting up twice. Treyden has adjusted really well, too. At first he could care less one way or the other, but now he absolutely loves him and will not leave him alone. He is constantly trying to give him "loves", or shove the binky in his mouth, or "clean" his face off with a wipe, or push him in the swing, or pile toys or a blanket on top of him. I have to constantly be watching him, but I'm glad that so far he loves his little brother and isn't jealous of him.

My handsome boys!

Grandma & Grandpa Billman with the boys

Just got home from the hospital.

Treyden in his new sandbox.

The proud mom!

At The Hospital

So I went in for a doctor's appointment on Monday the 11th and was still at about 3 cm but I was 80-90% effaced. The doctor stripped my membranes and said he wouldn't be surprised if he saw me before I was scheduled to be induced the following Monday. Andy and I were both really hoping that I would go into labor that night. I had been anxious anyway, but I had gotten a lot done (grocery shopping, laundry, etc.) and it was just good timing for me. Andy was also at a good stopping place at work. Lucky for us during the night I started having contractions. By about 4:45 am they had been every 4 minutes about for about an hour. They really weren't painful so I debated waking Andy up yet, but the doctor had said if they were 3-5 minutes apart for an hour to go to the hospital, plus I know with Treyden that once my water broke I progressed very rapidly and although that was an induction I didn't want to risk the same thing happening while I was still at home. So I woke Andy up, and the first thing he asked was if he could shower first. So he showered while I got a few things ready to go. I have never seen Andy so awake and happy so early in the morning before. He was pretty excited. We took Treyden over to Andy's parents' and then got to the hospital about 6:00am. They checked me at the hospital and said that where I hadn't progressed any since my doctor's appointment the day before they were going to wait an hour to see if I progressed at all before admitting me. Where the doctor had stripped my membranes they said that sometimes you can have contractions without really being in labor. I was pretty upset about this because I did NOT want to be sent home. Luckily after an hour I had dilated to 4 cm so I was there to stay. By this point I was ready for my epidural as soon as they could give it to me. After an hour or so I got really nauseated and threw up, and in the middle of throwing up my water broke. By about 12:45pm I was dilated to 9cm and they called the doctor. The doctor came, I pushed twice, through one contraction, and Tanner was here! He weighed 8 lb 2 oz and was 20.5 inches long. I am so grateful to have such easy labors and to have 2 healthy boys!

38 Weeks Prego (2 days before Tanner was born)

Just waiting...and enjoying the epidural!




Dad giving Tanner his first bath


This was Andy's bed at the hospital. I think he was glad we only stayed one night.

Treyden getting to know his new little brother.

My mom and Andy's parents.