House Hunt

Well, it's official. We made an offer on a house over the weekend and it was accepted. We are so excited. We absolutely love the house and think it will be a perfect fit for our family. We have been looking at houses since last November, and seriously looking this whole month. We've looked at around 75 homes, and are thrilled to have finally made a decision. We actually were pretty interested in another home just last week, but neither of us felt completely settled about it.

The home that we are buying now was only on the market one day before we saw it, and we moved quickly! We just happened to find it at the right time, and we knew it was the right home the minute we stepped inside. We thought we would check out the ward before making an offer, but on Saturday morning Troy and I woke up feeling so good about it that we didn't want to wait. Our realtor didn't think it would last through the week and he was probably right. It is in great condition and far exceeds our list of requirements. We are going to be closing in 30 days which means this will be a very busy month. We consider this home to be an incredible blessing for us and it will be so nice for Troy to not have to commute anymore. We are excited, a little nervous, and completely grateful to soon become homeowners.

One of my favorite features is the master bed and bath. Among my other favorite features are the pantry (I just kept opening and closing it because I was so excited), vaulted ceilings, and an unfinished basement for lots of storage space.

Little Fishie

Blake and I took a local mommy and baby swimming class. We went everyday with 9 other moms and babies for the last two weeks. It was basically more for fun than to teach Blake real swimming skills, but we both enjoyed it. We sang songs, splashed, kicked, and tried to attempt blowing bubbles. Blake is such a water boy. Even when the water was chilly, he could care less and was happy to be splashing around. It was a really nice break for me too because it has been in the 90's here everyday.

Dear Blog,

Here a few updates on my recent happenings.

My mommy started feeding me vegetables. So far, my favorites are squash, sweet potatoes, and green beans. My mom thinks she is pretty good at feeding me but I know how to do it better.

In fact, I would prefer my mommy's vegetables altogether. They look way more fun, especially in that chilled bowl. I'll just lick up any salad dressing remains I can get.

I'm getting really good at sitting up all by myself. Unless I decide I want something that is not right next to me, then I topple over. Don't my parents understand that they should just put everything that looks like fun within my reach?

This is my new favorite place to play. I'm really good at hitting the buttons that make the toy say, "cow," "vaca" (that's Spanish), and "mooooooo."

We go back and forth to Salt Lake a lot while my mommy and daddy look at houses. I have been a really good trooper. Look how happy I am after hours of being carted around! That's right rents, you owe me for this one.

Well, that about wraps it up. Love, your favorite blogger.

Boating

It was finally nice enough to go boating today. We have been itching to go on Troy's parent's boat for a few months, and it has been cold or rainy almost every weekend. It was such a great day. I forgot how much fun it is to do water sports! It was also Blake's first time boating (if you don't count when he was in my tummy).

He slept sweetly in his Grandma's arms. The combination of the sun, the rocking of the boat, and some sunscreen that he rubbed into his eyes made him very drowsy. The poor little guy's eyes were watering all day.

While Blake slept, Troy wakeboarded. He is getting really good at jumping over the wake. He is pretty serious about improving his boarding skills, to the point where each season he refreshes his knowledge with these 10 hour long wakeboarding instruction DVDs. When we were in Lake Powell with some friends last year, he watched segments of the DVDs in between boating sessions on a laptop in our tent. He hasn't yet refreshed this season, but he commented many times today on needing to watch them again. He is a very serious wakeboarder.

I prefer wakesurfing. It was really fun to get up on the board again without being concerned about my unborn child. I had to be pretty careful last summer, but I was experienced enough that I never crashed. I just sunk into the water when I got tired. Now that I'm back on my game, I think I need some wakesurfing DVDs to improve my sport as well.

Troy's dad was amazing at surfing today! He really showed me up. He was curving left and right and making it seem effortless. We also had many laughs about his "updates" to the boating equipment. We discovered that over the winter, he had literally taken every piece of boating supplies (life jackets, gloves, boards, etc.) and written "TANNER" and his phone number in green felt marker across them. It was the big joke of the day. There was not a single item without our name very visibly written across it. We can now be certain that we will not get our boating equipment mixed up with anyone else's, nor will we ever be able to sell it on ebay. At least we can be confident that items will be returned to us if they ever get lost.

When Blake woke up, he was all smiles.

He must have been pretty parched, because he went nuts over my water bottle. He just kept reaching for it and licking the bottle until I gave him a sip, which he promptly spit all over himself.

Life jacket time!

It was actually more like a straight jacket. He couldn't bend his legs, move his neck, or move his arms past his sides.

Some stud drove the boat...

...and then Blake helped him.

Blake also went for a cruise on the bow.

We can't wait to go out on the water again. Troy thinks it is the most genius idea ever to take Blake on the surfboard with him. He seriously sees absolutely nothing wrong with this. We have an ongoing debate about the safety vs. very-dangerous-most-crazy-idea-ever status of this idea. So, will you please tell Troy how it is just not right to pull an infant behind a boat on a surfboard? Thanks.

Six Months

Is my baby really a half year old? Blake is a little goofball and his personality just keeps getting more and more fun. I am having a hard time believing that he will be a year old in six more months.

At Six Months...

Blake grabbed the doctor's mustache and tried to eat his stethoscope at his appointment.

His favorite toy is still paper. He goes crazy whenever he hears it or sees it. Then, he chews on the paper and gets it soaking wet.

Some things that make him laugh are throwing him in the air, tickling him under his chin and on his tummy, snorting, blowing air on his face, making his feet "dance" and pulling his feet to his face, wind, singing, whistling, rolling him around on the floor, standing him up and then letting him drop onto pillows, and nibbling on his fingers.

He is finally sleeping through the night. He usually sleeps from 8pm to 7am and I couldn't be more thrilled. It's only been consistent for two weeks so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. He also rolls over constantly in his crib. I knew we were in trouble when I heard the aquarium music one night at 3am. He still knows how to turn it on, and scoots around till he can get to the button. Troy thought of a genius solution for his constant rolling issue. He now sleeps on the other side of his crib on the changing pad, which has just enough edge so he can't roll or get to his aquarium. We save the rolling for when he is awake and he sleeps better than ever.

Blake's favorite book is At the Farm. My friend Kristen gave it to him (she just moved out here - hooray!) and he goes into hysterics every time I make the animal noises. He especially likes the chicks going peep, peep, peep. Is this an indicator that he is already into chicks?

His hair is under control. It no longer sticks up on the top of his head. It was pretty cute while it lasted, but now his smooth lying hair just proves what a big boy he is! His flat spot on the back of his head is also rounding out a little. He has always had a preference towards his right side, and we've been working really hard to get him to like his left side and keep him off his back when he is awake. It looks like he will probably not need to wear a helmet to shape his head, which we are so happy about.

He figured out how to get his toes into his mouth and he loves to slurp on them. He also prefers to have no clothes on and then he can really get the slurping going.

Blake loves to eat cereal and will be starting other solids soon. He knows when the food is coming and opens his mouth as I am bringing the bowl over. After he has eaten all of his cereal, he slurps up any remains that are on his bib. I barely have to wash him off because he usually gulps up every last bit.

He is still incredibly mellow and more adaptable than I give him credit for. He probably would have been a great third or fourth child with his laid back personality, but maybe our future children will also be like him.

He loves the grass. He stares at it, grabs it, runs it through his fingers, and tries to eat it. It is a great tool to get him to stay on his tummy for extended periods of time.


Blake is so curious about whatever we have or what we are doing. I let him take a sip of my water once, and now every time I have a glass in my hand, he instantly opens his mouth and starts slurping.

He loves to squeal and tries to sing whenever I am singing. It is a slight problem when he decides to sing during the hymns at church because he is still a little tone deaf (we're working on that).

He can sit up on his own! Well, almost. If his balance is forward he can do it, but he topples over easily if he leans back. He is always learning new tricks and I know the next six months will be just as exciting as the first six months. Happy Half Birthday, Blakers!

Feeding the Ducks

It is so much fun to see Blake discover nature for the first time. He could touch the grass for hours and loves to grab leaves and flowers. It is hard for me to get his attention when we are outside because he is so engaged in his surroundings. We took him to the duck pond over the weekend to feed the ducks. He couldn't "throw" the bread very far, but he did stare at the ducks gobbling up their food. Then, he propped himself right up on his dad and gazed at his surroundings. It was really sweet.

Teach and Preach and Work as Missionaries Do

Today is my little brother's one year mark on his mission. He is serving in the South Korea Busan mission. He is becoming fluent in Korean and is teaching the gospel and English classes to the wonderful people of South Korea. We miss him but are so proud of him and his decision to go on a mission for two years. Happy one year mark, Elder Nawshie (as the Koreans pronounce it). One more year to go!

Jorden opened his mission call at our apartment.

Where in the world is Busan, South Korea?

Found it!

Ready to go...

I got to put Jorden's name tag on in the MTC because our parents were in Michigan.

Recent baptism of Su-Min Jung.