Today I put together these place cards for Thanksgiving. We'll be having an intimate group of ten this year (which is probably good cause they were more work than I expected). That's WAY different than we're used to, but it should be good. I'm just excited to enjoy good food, good company, and a chance to really think about all the many blessings we have. We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving too!
This week Tanner had his first visit with his new pediatrician for his 9 month checkup. He's totally healthy and doing great! We felt a little bad because we kept telling him before we went that he didn't have to have any shots this time, but when we got there they said they'd give him his flu shot this visit. Oops! Good thing he's too young to understand. He took it like a man and didn't even cry!
So here's his 9 month stats:
he weighs in at a whopping 18 pounds 8 ounces
and he's 27 1/2 inches long (we have a tall, skinny guy on our hands)
And of course this post wouldn't be complete without a picture or two (or three)!
Hopefully someday he'll forgive me for posting naked pictures of him on the internet! ;)
In honor of Thanksgiving season we made our "Thankful Turkeys"! I'm pretty sure I've convinced Dean to participate in this somewhat silly activity every year so far. And I think that secretly he likes it! In all seriousness though, we have been thinking a lot lately about how truly blessed we are. So, here you have it...
(Notice my turkey looks different cause I'm a girl! Also that Dean is thankful for "physics"! Of Course! And we upgraded this year from the usual hand traced turkey. More work, but they turned out cute!)
Ok, so I realize this is almost 6 minutes long, and most of you don't really care enough to sit that long and watch footage of our place, but if you do, here is a video of the trailer. I know I already posted a million pictures, but sometimes it's easier to see how it all fits together on video. So, if you want to check it out here it is...
Disclaimer: I was carrying Tanner while I was videoing, so it's definitely not the best quality. But I tried!
Tanner is pretty much on the go ALL the time these days. I feel like all I ever do is chase him and pull him out of things he shouldn't be getting into. He's mastered crawling and climbing up on EVERYTHING, and he has NO problem getting up any of our stairs. We're sure it won't be long until he takes off running. But he sure is FUN! Here's a few pictures from today...
Shoes are more fun to eat than to wear!
He's a smiley boy!
"Check me out, I can crawl!"
"Yes, I am pulling on the cords I'm not supposed to touch!"It's amazing how having a kid makes you feel more like a family. This is Dean and I's third Halloween since we've been married, but it felt so different this year having Tanner with us. We had so much fun doing some of our own family traditions. Of course we carved pumpkins. We fixed Navajo Tacos for Halloween dinner. We had to listen to all the songs from "Nightmare Before Christmas" (a family favorite). And we LOVED dressing Tanner up to go trick-or-treating. Obviously Tanner's a little young for candy, but we thought this would be a good excuse to go down the street and introduce ourselves and meet all our new neighbors. It turned out to be so fun. Everyone was SO nice and excited to meet us. They were all so friendly and we're happy to live here. We also really liked trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's, and at Great Grandma and PapPap Furin's. Tanner even got some things he could eat! And man did he appreciate that! We hope you all had a great Halloween too!
Here's our pumpkins all lit up
Here's Dean with the little monkey and our pumpkins
We're just about ready to head out trick-or-treating
Tanner had NO problem getting his treats out of this bag - I guess he'll do fine at Christmas!
Our monkey with his Great Grandma and PapPap Furin
Grandma and Grandpa Nelson with Tanner monkeySo around here high school football is more important than Halloween, so lots of the townships decided to push trick-or-treating to Thursday night to avoid conflict with Friday night football games. We had some confusion as to which night we were supposed to trick-or-treat and for a while we thought it was Thursday, so we panicked and rushed to carve pumpkins before trick-or-treaters came. It turned out it wasn't Thursday night, so we were relieved when our pumpkins were done with plenty of time to spare. We had a lot of fun carving them together with our little family. Tanner enjoyed eating cheerios and watching, and he REALLY liked the pumpkin we carved for him. You'll have to check out the next post about Halloween to see them all lit up!
And you can't have Halloween without roasted pumpkin seeds! Yum! They actually turned out even better than usual this year.
think they're in charge around here, but really we all know the boys call the shots. Dean's the cyber school coordinator at the high school and has made himself indispensable as the go-to tech guy as well. Andrea loves being a stay-at-home mom, hanging with Keaton all day. She does her best to keep up with the boys and is Activity Days Leader at Church. She volunteers with the PTA and blogs in her "spare time."
is nearly 18 and is halfway through his freshman year at BYU. He's pursuing a degree in Chemistry but changes his mind often. He has pet snails in his dorm and is working on a podcast in his spare time. He also loves to cook and is enjoying his independence.
is 15 and in 10th grade. He plays the trumpet and piano and participates in the school musical every year. He can't wait to turn 16 and learn to drive and is enjoying being the oldest now that Tanner's away at school.
is 13 and in the 8th grade. He plays saxophone in the school band and continues to take piano lessons. He rocks the school musicals, plays on the boys soccer team, serves with NJHS, and a million other clubs. His mischievous smile keeps us all on our toes, and he is best known for his scavenging skills, bringing home all sorts of "treasures" he finds at school.
is a big 10 year old and rocking the 4th grade. He's the lone Nelson at the elementary, but handles that like a champ. He plays piano and is always talking our ears off. He's smart as a whip and loves playing soccer.
is almost 3 and absolutely full of energy. He loves music and sings all day long. He is smart as a whip and has an impeccable memory. He's adored by his big brothers and gets into EVERYTHING.
