Happy Birthday Lucas!

We are so excited to announce the birth of our sweet little boy; Lucas James. Born at 11:44 AM. He was 7 lbs 2 oz and 19 inches long. I was scheduled for my c-section on Aug. 23, but as my little boys like to do he came a bit early. I woke up this morning to take a shower and get ready for church, but as I went to turn on the shower my water broke. We turned our attention from church to getting to the hospital. We sent Tanner off with some friends to church and hurried to the hospital. At the hospital we checked in and the nurse quickly confirmed that we were going to have a baby. My doctor showed up shortly there after and we prepped for the c-section. To my utter surprise and delight, my previous nurse, Kelly, was there for me. It was so nice to have her beautiful familiar face there to comfort me and help me through. I soon was in the OR and Lucas was born at 11:44. For being 3 1/2 weeks early he was a great size. We are utterly thrilled to have him here and excited for our family of 4 to begin. Thanks to all our family and friends for support.

Big Boy Bed

Since Lucas will be here very soon we needed the crib vacant. Which meant that Tanner needed to be in a bigger bed. It's been officially a week since Tan's been in his toddler bed and I am more than happy to report that the transition went super smooth! He loves his bed and is doing a good job at staying asleep in his bed. Let's hope it continues. Thus here's a picture of my sweet boy in his new bed.

Grace & Danny

One week ago I had the privilege to be apart of a special moment for two incredible people. I've known Grace & Danny for over 10 years and I've watched their love grow. It was very special for me to see these two vow and commit their lives together. I'm so excited for this next journey they are on. I love you guys! Sorry for the bad pictures... camera phone.

Carlsbad!

With the extreme need to escape the heat we journeyed over to California. Justen's parents rented a beautiful condo 2 blocks from the beach and kindly invited us. (We can be a bit of a handful with a toddler ;) We spent 5 wonderful days relaxing, eating, playing at the beach, eating, taking walks & bike rides, and eating. (Did I mention we eat.... I guess that's what you do on vacation). Tanner LOVED the beach. Anytime someone said the word, "beach" he'd run to the back door and cry to go to the beach. We spent countless hours digging Tanner holes. All he wanted was a hole in the sand with water. He made Justen dig almost constantly. Tan loved to chase the waves. He'd follow the water out and would run toward shore when the waves came crashing back in. We had an amazing time and were sad to come home to the heat, but will treasure the wonderful memories. Thanks Mom and Dad; we had a blast!

Sitting in the big hole.

Court's sandcastle. I had to take a picture real quick before Tan destroyed it.

Trying to get up on the boogie board.

Not working out so well.

Please Dad, no more

Relaxing!

All tired out from a fun day at the beach!

So much cooler in 3D

We were lucky enough to see Lucas in 3D this week. Tanner came too early before we could do our 3D ultrasound. It was neat to see our sweet little boy up close. I can hardly believe he will be here sometime within the next 2 months. I do want him to stay in a little bit longer than Tan. (Tan was born about 2 weeks from now... and I'm not quite ready for that). Here are a few pictures of Lucas.

18 Months

Tan man is 18 months today! I can hardly believe that my little boy is now grown up. He has become such a sweet and independent toddler. The past few months I have worried about having two kids because Tan has been such a handful, but recently he's responding to us much better. He definitely has a mind of his own and does things his way. He is SUPER active! (we are surprised there hasn't been any broken bones... although a severely sprained index finger did send us to the ER one night.) Tan's vocabulary has grown tremendously. He understands a ton of things we tell him. We have to be careful about what we say. You better not say, "swim swim" or "outside" unless you mean it because he'll hold you to it. He constantly says, "mama, dada, and ball." He's been saying more and more words, however he usually resorts to pointing at whatever he wants. We love our little Tan Man and we know he'll make a great big brother! We are so excited to watch you grow and learn so many things.

Water Fun

Tanner recently has shown a huge interest in playing with water. He loves to splash around in his little pool. His favorite though, is playing with the hose. It's not even "summer" yet, but I have a feeling we will be spending lots of time in water. Here are a few a pictures of Tanner's recent water ventures.