Update

Finally, I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The worst weeks of work are over - although there's been drama on top of drama. I was considering on posting the next edition of "worse week ever part 2" to explain last week, but decided it could be summed up with one more day:

1. Rushing into work in the early monring at the last minute (leaving Tanner with my 80+ neighbor - which we said we would NEVER do),
2. Only to find out it was for no reason AND get the news from HR -
3. Team member was currenly in ER after driving home from a Happy Hour,
4. Forgetting I took the DART until I couldn't find my car in the parking lot,
5. When I finally got to my car, realizing my car wouldn't start cause Ileft my lights on.

But no worries, I still made it to Book Club!

The BEST news ever, Tanner has a new full-time nanny, who came very highly recommended. Her name is Grandma! And I can't tell you how thrilled/ecstatic I am. Finally, I can rest in peace nowing he's in good hands...

Random

Did you ever try to find your car and forget where you park? While it might be hard to locate in a shopping mall, parking in front of someone's house is usually a given. But apparently not.


Last Sunday, our neighbor came to ask if we have a Honda parked in front of our house. We DID have a Honda parked there, but when I glanced up, it was no where to be found.


My first thought - who would steal a car in front of my house in the middle of the afternoon! But then the neighbor informed me that it happened to be "rolling" slowly down the street. It made it halfway down the street, but luckily no cars were in it's way so we were able to easily rectify the situation and bring it back to it's original position safe and sound.

Birthday Wishes

For Anthony's birthday, he sarcastically asked his parents for a Xbox 360. And this is exactly what he got.

In my opinion, it's the best one ever!

Now a Wii - that one you might be able to persuade. But we really don't have any time for tv, let alone video games.

I won't say how old cause yes, I'm technically olders. But who's counting.

Just my luck

Today I can an email stating how the company is re-vamping their maternity program. Instead of giving 2 weeks, they are giving you a total of 8 weeks. That's in addition to the standard short-term disability of 6-8 weeks. So, you automatically get 14 weeks of 100% paid leave when you have a baby - no matter what.

But OF COURSE it didn't go into affect until AFTER I had Tanner. Granted, I took over 16 weeks w/him, but I used two year's worth of accumulated time off to do so.

But then on the other hand...having another baby never looked so good! And the thought hasn't even crossed my mind since I have little Tanners!

What's up doc?

Tanner is our very own little Bugs Bunny - who has recently discovered a passion for chewing on carrots. He was getting very exciting and anxious while chewing on it - that he practically gagged himself. Here's the intense look he gets on his face when he gets into it.

It appears that Tanner is finally teething. I can see the little white buds forming on his bottom gums, but nothing has broke the surface yet. I'm hoping this is why he hasn't been sleeping the greatest lately. But other than that, he is my happy, cheerful baby!

PS - And no, he is not stashing away any carrots in those cheeks of his.

Tax Time

Just for the record, this is NOT why I decided to have Tanner!

But it sure did help this year when I went to do my tax return. While I'm use to paying out thousands, this year I was relieved when I found out I would actually be getting thousands back in return. $7K big ones.

So despite the fact that the economy sucks and most likely all company bonuses will be nilch - and despite the fact that the dental school is charging the students $4K a year to rent equipment that they already charged them $20K to buy...

Today is a great day!

Yes, it's true, I'm a tax accountant so I thrive on this stuff. And if just so happends that I was able to utilize practically every deduction and credit out there - retirment contributions (401K and IRA), child tax credit, childcare credit, education credit, charitable contributions, sales tax deduction, home mortgage interest and property taxes. Finally!

And I actually learned something new. Remember last year how the gov't sent out the stimulus checks to supposively stimulate the economy (which apparently didn't work as intended)...

Well, Tanner hadn't been quite yet so I was thinking I just missed the extra $300 that would have come had he been born earlier. But nope, I diodn't miss a thing, I'm getting the addition money back on my return. Imagine that! So if your income was too much last year and you didn't get the rebate...or if you had a child in 2008...this may mean more good news for you too!

Yes, I'm crazy busy this time of the year, but if you have any tax questions, feel free to ask! I LOVE saving people money - especially at the govt's expense. But hey, it is such a small price to pay to live in such a great country. I'll gladly pay taxes any day!

Splish Splash

After getting totally drenched and having more water out of the tub than in the tub, it occurred to me that Tanner has finally outgrown the infant tub we use to give him a bath in the kitchen sink.

While he's always splashed and had a good time playing in the water, this brings it to a whole new level. He'll just keep kicking his legs and the water goes everywhere. Anthony tries to tell me I just need to put less water in it [he's the clean one in the fam], but he's having so much fun - I just can't resist.

Tanner loves the tug boats. They are soft and squishy and he loves to chew on them. And he likes to lift the cup of water and drink a few sips - or should I say gulps. Except he got a whole mouthful and nearly choked himself.

here's a video if you want to see for yourself the cuteness:

7 Months!

In the blink of an eye, one more month has passed. And Tanner is now 7 months old! And he's bigger and better than ever.

• Mastered the art of sitting up and playing with his toys. He'll occasionally lose his balance and fall over - but he never cried - even when he hit the wall or his wooden toy box - which made us think he'll do it on purpose to get to his stomach. But alas, he is human and finally cried one day after bumping his head of an office chair.

Smiles when you look at him. It's the best present when we come home. And he still usually smiles with his tongue sticking out - this is his signature smile. He usually giggles when you play peek-a-poo with him, toss him upside (yes, he likes to hang upside like a monkey), and sing him my special song.

Tanner is obsessed with his sippy cup. While I still nurse him, his ped recommended letting him drink 1-2 oz of water to pass on the fluoride for strong, healthy bones. I wasn't sure how he would do with it, but he absolutely loves it and drinks from it quite well - although he'll sometimes get too much and drench himself. Any time I need him to be quite and quickly (like at church during the prayer), I give him this and it works like a charm.

• Still no teeth, but I'm not complaining. If you only saw the iron clench he made on the sippy cup, you would be scared, very scared. I have to tug it out of his mouth after he gets ahold of it. But we'll cross that bridge when that day comes.

• Tanner still loves his baby food. It's hard to say what his favorite is cause he seems to eat it all. He use to open his mouth wide and wait for you to land it in his mouth as he made these cute anxious sounds of excitement...but now...he is already trying to grab the spoon on every attempt and makes feeding him quite the messy challenge. We usually fail and end up giving him a bath after his dinner.

• Survived another cold - this time without getting an ear infection. Both Anthony and I had the same thing and were miserable. But for Tanner, you would never had none if it weren't for his runny nose and - oh wait - here's come another sneeze - aahhhh chuuu!







• One night he was crying as we were trying to get him to go back to sleep, I swear I heard him say ma-ma-ma-ma. We once again tried the cry-out sleeping method but failed after 10 minutes. He was getting so worked up and it sounded like he was yelling for me. Who can turn that down?? Anthony keeps reminding me his first word is going to be da-da, but I can still pretend, right?



• Tanner also likes to grunt. I don't know if this is a boy-thing or what, but he grunts when he's tired, not happy, not feeding him fast enough, or pretty much he wants your attention. I hope this is just a phase and will pass, but we will see.



• Growing like a weed. I always try to buy clothes one year in advance when they're on total clearance. But as I was buying 24M and 2T clothes for next year, it just didn't seem possible that my little Tanners could really be that big in one more year. But Chels kept re-assuring me that he's a big boy and now doubt will need the bigger sizes. Considering how he's already starting to transition from his 9M to 12M clothes, she's probably right. But still...

Open wideTanner likes to play with a clean toothbrush just for him while I'm getting ready in the bathroom. I get it wet and he loves the water and the texture on his gums. Now I just hope he still enjoys it when he actually needs it.

Now if only I was as photogenic as Tanner...

Happy Bday to Grandma!

A party and special ballerina "dance" just for her. This is what Tanenr has to look forward to when he's older being the only boy of 7 grandchildren.

Maniac Mondays

This is how my morning started...

When I try to feed Tanner before heading out the door, he refuses to eat. And I think too myself - this is not my baby - he usually at least is always somewhat interested. Especially when he sees me. Sometimes I think he only thinks I'm for eating rather than playing with too.

Anthony was sick last weekend and of course passed it to Tanner and I. While I've been complaining and moaning all the time, Tanner has seemed rather unaffected except for the runny nose and occasional sneeze. So I haven't thought anything of it until he refuses to eat. Then I notice him playing with his ears and think - oh yikes! it must be another ear infection - maybe I should take him to the doctor. But a few secods later I realize I'm just paranoid and he's acting fine so I resume by getting him ready and head out the door.

So now that my mom is moving away, I've started using a friend to help watch Tanner 2 days a week. She lives 15 mins out of the way, but still def worth it as I LOVE her and does a great job w/Tanner.

A few minutes from Rebeca's house, Tanner coughs and then a second later spewing all over the place. I have no clue what to do - do I turn around, pull over, or just keep driving since I'm almost there. But I keep driving - but still clueless.

When I get to her house to change him and clean him up, I realize he's also having issues on the other end and completely exploded his diaper. I guess this is normal though. And the change of clothes I set next to his diaper bag at home never made it with me. I dress Tanner is an extra outfit from her littl girl Sara. She tried to look for a neutral one, but to no avail. And just for the record, Tanner still looks cute w/yellow flowers and ribbons.

What to do? I felt like turning around and go back home, trying to call a doctor to get an appointment. I thought for sure Rebeca wouldn't want to watch him with him being sick, but her daughter was kinda sick herself so she reassured me she didn't mind. So in the end, I just decided to lay him down for a much needed nap to see how he did. And then I headed to work and traffic was horrible (triple the amount of time cause of the rain). Almost two hours later, I was finally at work. And I had a ton of stuff to do - but no one wants me to bore them with that.

I thought I would have to head back at lunchtime to pick him up...but I finally got a break. Tanner was in a great mood and back to scarfing his food down. Just a random fluke.

At dinnertime, I come home to eat dinner, play with Tanner & put him to bed, then head back to work for a few hours. And of course my security badge doesn't work so I wait an extra 15 mins to have someone let me in. But it's quite and no one is bothing me and I finally get to work...

I've never been a big fan of Mondays.

Board Scores

Before Anthony can practice on real live human patients, he has to pass the first National Board Dental Examination.

On school on Monday, he found out several of his classmates - some who even took the test AFTER him - had found out they had passed. And ever since then, he's been checking the mail frantically. Yesterday was the worst cause he got home from school early (due to the "ice storm") and yet the mail never came. When I told him not to worry about it and surely he would pass, he told me I'm only saying that cause it wasn't my own test I was worrying about and that if it were my test, I'd be freaking out too.

Really - I think he spent more time checking the mail than he did studying for it.

But today, alas, the mail came and delivered the much anticipated letter. And what did the first line read "Candidate has not completed requirements for the national board certificate." What?!? [we later found out this just means he's not a dentist until he takes the Second test - obviously!]

You have to keep reading for the good stuff. Of course he passed!