My Men

These two guys are the loves of my life!

Today Kipp went snowboarding all day and Tanner and I really missed him. When Kipp is away it makes me realize how amazing our family time is. My favorite times are when we are all together.

Kipp is such a great dad and he loves to play with Tanner. He's a fun and loving daddy. It is hard for me to believe that Kipp and I have almost been parents for 1 year. I think we are doing a pretty good job!

Pictures in order:
Daddy and Tan on vacation last summer.
Daddy throwing Tan in the chair. Every time Tanner laughs out loud.
Hanging out at the beach.

Emily, I'm calling you out.

I just wanted to add this cute new picture of Tanner!

Secondly, Emily Harvey Rocky! You have some nerve. Leaving comments on my blog and not even letting me see your blog and learn about your life. Come on give me a break, let me in Emily.

Happy LOST night everyone. I am counting down and I can't wait to see what happens! I'm going to get my Lost On tonight!

Breakfast Time

My favorite parts of working part-time is getting to spend so much time with The Boy. We always have lazy mornings where we both stay in our PJ's till noon! We read and play for an hour or so then we head downstairs for breakfast. This morning I had finished a box of my favorite and Tanner really wanted to try some too.

My empty box became his new toy for the day. He held it and chewed it until it ended up on the flour. After breakfast he got down on the ground and pushed the box all around the kitchen. I don't know why he loves to do that. Usually it's Kipp's cell phone that he is pushing around.

If you want to be in show biz like your Godfather JJ, turn the box around! Come on kid.
On a side note he is taking more steps every day! One here and two there, then he falls to the flour! What a big boy.

MVCC

An amazing woman from our church passed away last week. She had been a faithful servant in our church for 22 years. Michael and Mark both came to the service on Saturday. I think it had been a few years since we have been at MVCC together. The service was beautiful. All week I have been reminiscing about all the people who have influenced me over the years. I have loved growing up at Mission Viejo Christian Church and I love the memories that I have from there.

Uncle Michael was here for a day and a half and we squeezed in some family time. On Friday night my mom made a great dinner and we all hung out together. Michael is hugging Tanner, India, and Jafta.

Michael and Tanner are ready to read a bed time story.

My Buddy Carson

Tanner and his buddy Carson. They fist meet last summer when they came down for Jen's birthday. We are so excited that they are coming down again in March! Tanner will be 1 and Carson will be 2 1/2. My hope is that they will be life long friends.

Matching outfits are the key to any good friendship!

We are looking forward to our Disney Play Date! We love you friends.

Look how much Tanner has grown in 6 months.
Oh APPLE!

ROCK BAND

Our first Band Practice! We went over to Derek adn Jackie's to have our 1st practice. It is important for Kipp and I to raise Tanner in a musical household. (Shout our to Jen and Kristi!) Well Tanner likes to rock out to Jack Johnson and High School Musical 2 soundtrack. But we also want him to sing and play music so we gave him a little practice.



Tanner loved singing along as we were playing the music.



Hey buddy you may need to take that Paci out first.



Peace, I'm out!

Birthday Breakfast

Happy birthday daddy!


We are out front and Tanner loved looking at the ducks. We went through a lot of bread and duck food. The ducks were glad that we came.


Kipp's 30th birthday is this Monday 1-21-08! We had a surprise Birthday Breakfast for him this morning. Jafta is helping him blow out his candle.


We went to a cute place in HB called Alice's Breakfast in the Park. Jafta, India, Tanner, and Haley are hanging out with the Grandparents.
Right outside there was a big pond with a bunch of ducks. We had so much fun feeding them. The little kids and the big kids loved them too!


Here is the whole gang after a great breakfast. The light is a little bright but I love how our friends and family are all together loving Kippers! What a great day. Kipp felt very loved. He also loved opening his gift from all of us, a brand new surfboard.

My Little Helper

Tanner's favorite game is picking things up and handing them to me. The other day we were home together and Tanner opened our pantry and started handing me EVERYTHING! I snapped some pictures and let him play in his new found space. He looks so proud of himself.

One thing that Kipp and I try to do is to have a nice family house rather than Pee Wee's Playhouse. So we clean up his toys every night when the kid goes to bed. Now Tanner has a new spot to hide some of his toys. He knows right where to go to open the door and find his toys.

A Day At The Beach, in January!

Tanner is 10 months old now and it was time for his first surf lesson. Daddy can't wait till he is up and riding. We went to the beach with our good friend Derek. Tanner is wearing his Lifeguard shirt just in case the boys needed help in the water. Tanner climbed on Kipp's board then Derek and Daddy gave him a few pointers. I'm sure it won't be long before he's out there with them.


Once the boys were in the water we played on the blanket for about 2 minutes. In my head we were going to sit on the blanket, read, snuggle, rest, and play. Like I said, we stayed on the blanket for 2 minutes. Sometimes I forget that this kid is 1/2 Kipp. We spent the next hour or so crawling on the sand. Tanner loves to pick up things that he knows he shouldn't play with and hand them to me. As he crawled around he handed me trash and other gross things that were left on the beach. Every time I would say, "Thank you Tanner, you're right we don't play with that."



After our walk/crawl about we went back to the blanket and had a snack. About that time Tanner realized that it was an hour and a half past his nap time. So I packed up his stuff and put him back in the front pack. We slowly started back up the hill.

It was a beautiful day in January! Tanner wore his warm hat but the sun was out the whole time. Kipp usually goes surfing every Saturday and it was fun to be a part of his weekly routine.

One thing about this kid, he loves to sand!
We hope one day he will love the water too!

Tanner's 1st Step!

WOW! We are so excited! Kipp's parents came over to play with Tanner today. Grandma made us a great meal! Grandma and Daddy had given him a bath and he was hanging out in his cute PJ's. He was holding onto the couch and and he turned to look at me. Then he stood up, which he has been doing lately, and took a step! I KNOW! He will be 10 months old on Monday. He is such a stud. While I am giving a T update he has 3 top teeth and 2 on the bottom. He is the apple of our eye!

Cousins and Christmas

Here are a few pictures of Tanner with 2 of his 4 cousins. We spend Christmas day at my parent's house and Mark and Kristen were there with the kids. Once we go there I changed Tanner so he could match Jafta and India. It was such a fun Christmas watching the kids open their gifts. I gave India a baby princess doll and I think Jafta liked it more than India. Here are a few cute pictures of the three youngest Howerton/Lyons!

Jafta's 3rd Birthday Party

December is a busy month with 3 birthdays in our family, Christmas and New Years Eve. Yesterday was Jafta's 3rd Birthday and we all went to Pump It Up! For those of you new to the kid birthday party scene it is a place with several jump-houses set up for you to play on. Jafta was super excited for his party. He jumped his little heart out, along with India, Tanner and his little friends. It was so much fun to sit in one of the bouncers and watching Tanner and India crawling around and laughing. After an hour of bouncing we went in for some snacks and cupcakes. Jafta sat in a blow up chair as we all sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him.

Jafta loved his balloons. He had red, blue and Spider Man balloons!

India also got a chance to sit in the birthday chair. She is almost 15 months old. Check out their blogs that Kristen has set up for them on my links. Also Mark and Kristen are in the process of adopting another little guy. Read about it on the Bringing home Kembear link.

Christmas Time

Merry Christmas everyone! It's the most wonderful time of the year. We were so excited for Tanner's 1st Christmas. He had three chances to celebrate with our families. This is the first time with Tanner's Aunt Kelle. She was here before Christmas for a few days. She and Aaron spent Christmas in Kansas so we were so happy to have her here for a few days.
Somethings never change. Here is Kelle and Kipp just like many years in the past.

Kelle loves her baby T. and why wouldn't she! She is given him snuggles as he wears his I love Daddy shirt. We had such a good time at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Candy Cane Kids! Kelle gave me this top and I had to put it on to match Tanner!

Every year Glenda reads us a story before we open gifts to get us in the spirit. Well this year she bought Tanner a book and she read it as Grandpa, Tanner and the rest of us listened too.



This little guy is our favorite gift!




MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Look Who Turned 30!

So yesterday was my birthday! 12-21-77 So I turned 30! How fun. Maybe now people with think I am a grown up rather than a babysitter when I'm out with Tanner. I had such a great day! Tanner and I played at home and had some good times together. Then I went to Burke Williams for some me time! In the evening Kipp had planned a dinner for me, our families and some friends. It was the perfect day and I felt so loved. I was also blessed by phone calls form friends and families that live far away and that made me feel super special.


I am wearing my new birthday jacket thanks to Derek and Jackie! Thanks guys I love it! Looks like tired Tanner is again wearing moms favorite outfit!

Having some birthday cake with Kristi and Shannon. I'm glad that Jafta was there to help me blow out the candle and to eat some of the cake. His birthday is in a few days so he is just getting ready.

My beautiful friend Elise left her boys at home and come out with us. We have been friends for 12 years and now it is fun doing the mom thing with her.

Kipp family came up from San Diego. Kelle is in town for a few days from Boise. Aaron was finishing up the week teaching his High Schoolers and couldn't make it. It was great to have Kelle there and she has loved getting some Tanner time this week. Please look at Tanner's shoes, yes they have lobsters on them! I know!

To me my family is like a party in a box. India and Tanner sat by each other the whole meal. They are best friends. Every now and then Jafta would come over and give them kisses while telling us how soon Christmas and his birthday are. It was also my parents wedding anniversary and they loved spending it with our family.
Michael and Jodie are staying up in Washington for Christmas and they were missed.
It was a great birthday and I love being 30! I love my life! We have this amazing kid that we are crazy for, Kipp makes me laugh every day and we life in sunny So. Cal close to most of our family! Here's to another 30 years!

There's a Panda on the Sanda

Here is a cute family picture with Tanner in a Panda outfit (thanks grandma)! We are in San Clemente by the Pier. I love the way the light from the pier look reflecting on the water. I love when it gets dark earlier. We had a fun family day together just hanging out and we topped it off with dinner at Fisherman's.

The Happiest Place on Earth???

So Tanner was not super excited to see Minnie and Goofy. He loved looking around at all the lights that Disneyland had to offer. Then as soon as we stood by Mickey's friends the water works started! He was not a big fan. Poor guy. I wonder how he will be when we see Santa next week.



There's a smile on the boy!


Grandma and T waiting for the parade to start. You can see the Christmas tree in the background!




After a great night at Disneyland we said good night to the castle. I thought it looked so beautiful. We watch the parade, rode the new Finding Nemo ride that I loved. The sub ride was my favorite as a kid so I loved going on it new and improved. Then we saw an amazing firework show that Tanner couldn't stop looking at. Saying bye to the castle was a perfect ending to a perfect night. Tanner was asleep before we had left the paring lot!