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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Baby with Glasses

No, he doesn't need glasses.  But he looks darn cute in them.  This is the Willister helping Daddy pick out some new glasses. (These were not the pair we decided on...)


Little Sir had his 18mo. check up yesterday.  He's in the 12% for weight and 50% for height.  Oh, and he was medically deemed awesome.  This morning he said "milk" (after being pestered to do so for 10 minutes...)  He's the best.


Saturday, January 26, 2013

Wildlife Experience

Last week we headed to the Wildlife Experience with a few friends.   It's basically a hands-on nature museum for kids.  Will was in heaven because 1: he got to play with "the kids" (what we call any other children), and 2: He got to run around like a wild goose.


The biggest exhibit at the Wildlife Experience is Globeology, where you walk through all the biomes on earth (rainforest, tundra, etc.).  There are lots of animatronic animals as well as animatronic people who tell you about the different areas.  The kids can do a scavenger hunt and look for various things along the way.



Here are the girls getting ready to start the Globeology self-tour.

The have lots of little interactive sections of the museum: blocks like this, lots of touch screens with information and videos about the animals, and a bunch of fish tanks (Will's favorite).


It was a fun outing with friends!  And we can't wait because Grant's sister Rachel, and her husband Matt are moving to Colorado (yay!), not far from the Wildlife Experience.  When they live so close, it just might be worth the year-long passes.


Saturday, January 19, 2013

18 months

The bubba is 18 months old.  I can't believe how fast time flies.  The most exciting part of turning 18 months is that he gets to start the nursery program at church, (read: Grant and I actually get to pay attention because someone else will be watching our kid!!)



We're so proud of our little Willister.  He talks a lot these days (although most of it is babbling).


He's obsessed with Cars and Lightning McQueen.  He carries around either the DVD case or the booklet that comes inside of it and gasps repeatedly while pointing to it until one of us turns it on.


He's super social and loves being around other kids.  He's very good at "sharing" as long as he can hold onto the desired object the entire time.


He can identify random parts of his body if you ask.  His favorites are nose (below), tummy, and...


Hair! He loves hair.


He's a pretty easy going dude.  He gets super crazy sometimes, mostly when daddy gets home from work, and he loves music and dancing.  (Dancing mostly consists of running around in circles, doing somersaults and a one-legged downward dog.  No idea where he learned that... we don't do yoga...)


He's also been climbing a lot lately.  He can get onto chairs and couches and does so often.  His favorite is one of the wingback chairs that I've yet to finish the cushion for.  It's very springy and he uses it like a trampoline.


Oh, and he loves his birdie mobile.  He ripped it down a while ago and I just repaired & rehung it.  He's obsessed... clearly.



We love our little Sir. Happy 18 months.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Quick Christmas Recap

We had an awesome, three-part Christmas.  First we spent a few days in Winter Park with the Tanner family.  It dumped a load of fresh powder the first night we were there and we skied it the next day.  Best ever.

Then we headed to Utah for a day for Robbie and Katie's wedding.  The ceremony was beautiful and the couple is awesome.  Will was a good sport despite his lack of sufficient nappage. 


And then we finished off Christmas in Denver with Tanners.  Will had fun with two of his cousins, Gwen & Kate, and we were all sufficiently spoiled for Christmas- thanks Tanners!!


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Tanner Projects

More big news.  (It's shaping up to be a big year!)  And no, we're not pregnant, Mom.  We've started a new blog!  



We're still working on the blog layout (just like I'm still working on convincing Will that Desitin is not a food...) so it's a little arcane, but we're excited to start sharing our home renovations.  We've got a little house tour up as well as a few other gems, so check it out, follow our page, and DIY with us!


Will's clearly excited about it. Almost excited as he was when he found that tube of Desitin...

Friday, January 4, 2013

Tanner Health Makeover

2012 was a big year.  We bought a house (yay!), Will turned one (cutest baby in the world), I got cancer (what a downer), I was cured or went into remission or became cancer-less... (whichever it is), we tackled a lot of home projects (some manageable, some abandoned, all awesome), and we're really happy.

However with all the health crap we went through last year, (mostly my stupid migraines and cancer), we decided it was time for a change.  A big change.  We realized that if we want our bodies to behave for us, (ya know, not puke, or grow tumors, or cause massive amounts of pain at regular intervals...), then we need to take care of our bodies a lot better.

So we developed a three-prong plan (a little history major trivia for you in that sentence...).

One: Eat to provide our bodies with nutrients instead of eating to stave off hunger or boredom.

First, we made a list of things we wanted to eliminate (or significantly reduce):
     Refined sugar
     White flour
     White rice
     Preservatives
     Pesticides

And things we wanted to eat a lot more of:
     Fresh juice
     Green smoothies
     Whole foods
     Whole grains
     Fruits & Vegetables
     Organic food (when financially feasible)

Basically we want to live on a diet that is full of nutrient-rich food.  Sugar, flour, and rice fill your stomach and taste good, but what nutrients do they provide our bodies?

So we cleaned out our pantry.  Anything that didn't fit the bill was either donated, given to a neighbor, or went into food storage (because who's going to complain about the health content of Cheez-its during the zombie apocalypse?!)

Pantry before:

During the clean out:


An excited Grant:


And everything that was left.  Pretty pitiful.  Among items that went to the basement: Goldfish, Cheez-its, Pasta, Krusteaz, Crystal Light, Granola Bars, Cereal, and any canned foods that contained unrecognizable ingredients.


The only cans that made the cut.  Some of them had sugar or salt added, but if we hadn't kept those, I think we would have only kept 2 cans... (no, not toucans... although that would be an interesting pantry item.)


We then spent a long day at Ikea and Sprouts purchasing good food and containers to store it in.  Little Willister was quite the trooper even though he was clearly not excited about either trip.

In the end, our pantry looked like this (excusing the bad flash because it was taken at night).  In the glass canisters on the left are all of our whole grains and legumes: oats, quinoa, millet, lentils, beans, brown rice.  To the right of that are the nuts: walnuts, almonds and pecans.  And past that, hidden from this picture are the cereals: Kashi Go-Lean Crunch (fairly high in sugar, but great in whole grains, protein, and fiber, and high on the Will-rated food list), some muesli from Ikea, and Life (not whole grains, but we kept it for Will).  Then below we have baking & cooking ingredients, some vegetables, and also out of the picture, the snack bin: bread, crackers, herbal tea, etc.


Then last night we made a giant Costco run.  They have lots of organic stuff at good prices.  We came home with some organic stuff: canned tomatoes, kale, applesauce, apples, carrots, bread, spinach, coconut oil, pasta, and strawberry jam; as well as foods that weren't organic, but contained ingredients that fit the bill: broccoli, EVOO, crackers, cereal, almonds, oranges, and pesto.  


We also inherited a juicer from Grant's mom, deemed "The Mothership."  We have been making green juices (with celery, spinach, carrots, etc.), as well as fruit juices (with apples, oranges, lemons, etc.)  Super tasty.

Figuring out recipes that don't include white flour, rice, or sugar has been a challenge, but we're getting the hang of it.


Two: Find natural ways to prevent migraines and utilize them to prevent relying on prescription or over-the-counter medication (aka chemicals).

We did some research and decided to purchase Super B-Complex (Riboflavin, or B-2, is known to prevent migraines), Magnesium, and Coenzyme Q10.  We also purchased some kid vitamins for Will. We were frustrated that we couldn't find gummy vitamins for kids that weren't all sugar, but made the compromise anyway. Grant already has multivitamins that he takes.


And then three: Exercise regularly so that we feel good about how we feel, and feel good about how we look.

We purchased some workout flooring from Walmart, cleaned out half of our unfinished basement, and set up a workout zone.  Will has a toy corner, but prefers to find tools on the other side of the basement, which is currently Grant's work bench.



We've been doing some of the workout DVD's we've accumulated over the years.  We're partial to Jackie Warner and Jari Love.  While we live really close to one of the town rec centers, it's impossible for us both to go at the same time because of Will.  They do have a kid-care facility, it's only open certains ours and costs $4 an hour which would add up quick.  So for now, we can either trade-off to go to the rec center or just work out at home.  Working out at home has been easier so far.  


There are also other little parts of the plan: get plenty of sleep, be consistently growing spiritually, etc. but the main bulk of it fits in the three points above.

We also haven't figured out a schedule yet: How often to juice, (because the mothership is a beast to clean),  how often to work-out and when (because if desire determines consistency... then we're probably screwed), how to manage food preparation, etc.  But four days in and I haven't taken any pain medication.  That's certainly not indicative of a miracle cure, but I feel good and I feel good about feeling good! (Get that?!)

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Looking Back. Looking Ahead.

Looking back. We had an amazing Christmas.  We spent a few days in Winter Park (got to go skiing!) Robbie got married (yay!) and then we spent Christmas at the Tanners, playing games, watching Tanner classic movies, and eating chocolate (of course).

Looking ahead. We are excited for a new year.  Hopefully, a year without cancer and migraines (fingers crossed).  Today we started the first day of a year-long "Tanner Health Makeover."  This is serious business.  Pictures will be coming to detail the seriousness.  It's serious.

Bring on 2013.