The Wedding

My gorgeous sister and new brother-in-law Mark!

This weekend we went out to California for my sister's wedding!  We are so happy for Katie and Mark!  They are so cute and so good for each other!  I have been a little apprehensive about the trip because we flew from SLC to Reno and then drove from Reno to Sacramento (4-5 hours total trip).  I had no idea how Tacy would handle all of it.  My little sister, Robyn, came down from Rexburg, Idaho and flew out with us Thursday morning.  It was nice having three adults to one baby.  Well after getting through security (thank you to the patient TSA agent as I struggled to get the stroller, carseat, diaper bag through the x-ray and almost forgot to take my shoes off too) we then waited a bit in the airport to board.  Tacy was happy the whole time!  Then on the flight, Tacy loved our stewardess.  She sat on Robyn's lap (who was in the aisle) and watched the stewardess go through the safety routine with complete attention.  The stewardess loved it and kept smiling at Tacy.  

Tacy in the pool!

The flight did go well, we gave her a bottle for take-off/landing and it was over before we knew it.  She fell asleep during our drive to Sacramento and only woke up when she had a poopy diaper (which sadly ruined the outfit she was wearing that I had picked out for my sister's rehearsal dinner).  We showed up just in time for the rehearsal.  Golly, it was hot!  We went from cold and snow to the 90's!  Tacy just wore a onsie and luckily rehearsal was pretty quick then we went off to my new brother-in-law's parents house for the dinner. His parents had a pool and I took Tacy over to it and took off her shoes and socks and stuck her feet in.  Boy did she love it!  Her poor cheeks were bright red from the heat so I'm sure the water helped her feel better.  We stood her on the top step of the pool and she kept trying to sit down in it.  The dinner was very nice and yummy and Mark gave a great speech at the end.  I was impatient to get to my parents because it was 8 something by this time (9 to us) and poor Tacy was tired.  She was champ and was just a little fussy but I wanted to get home fast.  However, we had to drop my aunt off and take surface streets to get home so it took a LITTLE longer than I would have liked.  Tacy passed out pretty quick once we got her bed up and fed her.  

sisters! And Tacy

Friday was the wedding.  Tacy slept in until 7.  Brad went golfing with the guys that morning while I showered, curled my hair, and waited for my mom to hurry up and get back so Robyn, Mom, and I could go over to Katie's to get ready and support her while she got ready for her wedding.  Brad got back before my mom which was nice so he could bathe her and I didn't have to worry about bringing Tacy to Katie's.  Katie's apartment is so nice.  It was fun having all of us girls together to get ready.  Katie had her hair and make-up done at her apartment so we watched her getting ready.  I did Robyn's hair and the other 3 bridesmaids had gotten their hair done that morning.  Once Katie was ready we all put on our dresses and left for the vineyard (Old Sugar Mill) for our pictures.  It was 99 that day and so hot, thank goodness Katie's event planner was great at making sure we had plenty of water and the room we stayed in while waiting for pictures and flowers was nice and air conditioned.  Katie looked absolutely gorgeous.  It was fun taking pictures.  We did it in this old warehouse and we had to climb over re-barb to get to the spot of concrete where the photographer wanted to do pictures.  My mom was laughing at all of us girls trying to not trip while walking through sand and over re-barb in heals.  

getting ready at Katie's - Morgan, me, and Robyn

When we took pictures with the guys (Katie and Mark did a "first look" picture thing before the wedding) Brad, Tacy, and my dad showed up.  So Brad got Tacy all in her cute outfit and she took some pictures with the whole wedding party.  Pictures were so much fun and from the ones of I have seen my sister looks so beautiful.  Katie got really nervous for walking down the aisle for the wedding so I kept trying to calm her down and told her to just look at Mark.  Between me, Vanessa (her maid of honor) and my dad Katie made it down the aisle smiling.  She looked amazing and her and Mark were so cute.  I was so happy I could be there with her to help support her.  The ceremony was nice.  No kids were invited except for our 4.5 year old cousin, Brady, who was the ring bearer and Tacy (since she is Katie's niece).  Tacy decided to start talking during the ceremony.  She loves to talk.  I felt bad for Jon Wilson (the pastor) but Katie told me that she thought it was fine/cute.  I figure Tacy just wanted to get in on giving Mark and Katie some marriage advice.

It was another long day/night for Tacy.  I told Brad that I wanted to at least stay through dinner.  By that time it was 8pm and Tacy was tired.  I was sitting at the head table with the bridal party and Brad was sitting with Tacy with my family.  I took her so he could eat and we walked around the head table.  Tacy flirted with the best man and then kissed/tried to eat her Uncle Steven's arm.  She was so tired.  But everyone said that she was so cute and she really was being so great.  After dinner (right before toasts) I told Katie we had to leave.  Thank goodness my sister is so awesome and told me that was fine (we had talked about it before).  We said bye and drove home.  I'm sad we missed the toasts and speeches.  I'm also sad I missed Mark's sexy dance because I hear it was pretty funny to watch.  Oh well.  

Saturday my dad made an amazing waffle breakfast and then the whole family went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo.  It was another hot day, the lines were long, and with the baby Brad and I decided to not go on any rides but to just walk around to see all the animals.  We watched the dolphin show (Tacy loved watching the dolphins jump), we saw elephants, lions, a cougar, snakes, tigers, a walrus, penguins, a sting ray, and sharks and fish.  Tacy loved the sharks and fish because it was in a dark room with a conveyor belt you road that had the tank all around it.  Once of that conveyor belt you could go stand by some windows to watch the sharks and fish swim.  Some of the fish swam by really close and Tacy loved it!  We had covered Tacy in sunscreen and had her in her stroller.  The poor kid was so hot and tired.  She drank so much water this weekend (she is now so good at drinking out of her sippy cup).  By 2:30 she was huddled back in the far corner of her stroller to try and stay out of the sun.  So we decided to leave.  The rest of the family stayed and we went home, gave the baby a bath and put her to bed.  I think she went to bed at 7pm (so 8 Utah time) that night so her earliest night.  Tacy is a trooper!

We flew back Sunday and Tacy slept on the flight.  This was amazing because she has not slept in anyone's arms since she was 4 months old.  Poor kid.  She was so amazing this trip even with her late bed times, the heat, and her tiredness.  We are so blessed to have a great baby.  She was so social too, she warmed right up to everyone and smiled so much at strangers.  We love Tacy Lou and are so grateful we were able to go and be at Mark and Katie's wedding!

My whole Cramer family!

Almost Ready

So the past week or so I have been hunting for a navy dress for Tacy to wear to my sister's wedding this weekend.  Unfortunately it is spring so most things with navy also have bright pink or yellow.  I was about to give up when I found a navy and white cute striped dress at Carters.  I love that store!  And it was 50% off so bonus!  Then I had the fun task of trying to make her a matching headband.  Silly me to think I could just whip up a felt navy flower and smack it on a headband.  Ha ha.  Navy felt does not exist.  In fact, there really aren't that many navy fabrics.  So I pinterested and found some fabric flower designs, searched fabric stores, and found a fancish navish fabric.  The flower is made and attached to elastic.  We also bought Tacy cute little white sandals this week (for the wedding, church, etc) so Tacy is all ready for this wedding!  

hard to see, but this is the headband

I had two tests this week in school and they both sucked.  One was just a predictor test for the NCLEX (nursing board test) and it said that I have a 94% chance of passing, so not bad.  The other test though, well that was bad.  The two tests were back to back days, so I did not get to study for the Friday test as much as I would have liked, but I did go through all of my notes and made some additional notes to quick study.  With my last minute cramming I didn't have time to shower the morning of the test, so it was a ponie tail day (which normally isn't bad but it was picture day at school).  So after a horrible test (the class average was 79%) we then had to take group and individual pictures for our dump graduation program.  Every girl had makeup on and their hair done except me and one other girl who forgot.  Beautiful.  Oh well.  

This graduation is such a joke because we are just getting a certificate of completion and a pin (yes a dumb pin saying LPN and OWATC - the school). We are crossing a stage to be "pinned" while our picture is showed.  The nursing coordinator wants to talk for a long time and have some dumb program from the sounds of it.  I don't really want to go, but I have great classmates who have convinced me to.  Afterall, it is a step to get to my end goal.  On a good note for school, all my papers and assignments are done!  I just have 2 more tests and 2 quizzes left.  The last test happens to be on my birthday (happy birthday to me). 

Example of Tacy not sitting still

Other than school, Tacy is rolling a lot now.  She still doesn't roll to get anywhere far, but she will easily roll off our bed (we usually put her in the middle when we are getting ready) and changing her diaper is now a fun challenge for us and hilarious game for Tacy.  She also just started doing this army crawl thing yesterday. She rocks onto to one (like her right side) and then reaches forward with her left side and pulls herself forward a little.  She will then roll onto her other side and do it.  It's slow but it helps her go forward to get to a tablet (the best motivation to get her to move).  

The position that Tacy takes when she is looking at someone

We have started to look for toddler car seats for Tacy and have truly discovered how small our car is.  I didn't think a civic was small, then we had a baby.  Now a toddler car seat really makes that back seat seem small.  While we were trying out car seats at Babies R'Us Saturday night, one mom walked by and laughed while totting her baby and toddler son.  Brad asked her for any advice and she told us "get a bigger car"  She said that they started with a Jeep and even that was small.  She was driving a Honda Odessy.  For now we have no way to afford a new car so we will deal.  Eventually we will get something more roomy, but both Brad and I would like to avoid a minivan.  They may be roomy, but I feel too young to settle for a bus.  

8 months already!

I can't believe Tacy is already 8 months old!  I started my OB/Peds clinicals, so last week I followed the Transition nurse and got to go in on 4 deliveries (2 c-sections and 2 vaginal) and hold 3 babies as we assessed them.  It was fun and newborns are so cute.  One baby only weighed 9 pounds less than Tacy did at birth and I kept looking at him and wondering how Tacy had gotten so big!  No worries though, as cute as babies are, we are not going to be having another for a while cause Tacy is enough.

Tacy loves to play the real piano now.  She has learned how hard she needs to hit the keys to make noise.  She loves pounding on tables so pounding on the piano is also very fun.  Brad recorded her playing yesterday and she even started talking/singing while playing.  The movie is on Facebook if you haven't seen it yet.

playing with daddy's head during general conference

Tacy has learned how to worm her way out of our laps the past week.  She arches her back and slides down to the ground.  It is funny to watch when someone is trying to hold her and she twists, turns, and wiggles her way out.  It's bad though when we are trying to buckle her in her car seat or let her lay in her swing and she can just about wiggle her way out of them.

enjoying the sunshine and the grass

Tacy is getting better at standing balanced.  She pulls herself up to stand when she is playing the little piano (which has bars to grab to pull herself up), but that's it.  As for tummy time, she still only rotates around in a circle or will roll occasionally to get to something.  No crawling.  She will stick out her belly and rock back and forth on it, reminding me of a see-saw.  It's funny to watch and I guess good since we are not ready for  mobile child yet.

Standing so big on the couch, playing with the pillows, and watching the cars drive by

Tacy is now wearing 9 month clothes!  The onsies are a little big and some of the pants are huge, but for the most part they fit her okay.  6 months still work but they fit her perfect, so we knew it was time to get out the bigger stuff.  Tacy has been eating 6-8 ounces before she goes to sleep at night and all last week she would wake up 2-3 times in the night because she was hungry.  She is now back to sleeping through the night thank goodness.  I will try to weigh and measure her soon to see how much she has grown.  

Easter Weekend

Easter Family photo

So school gave me a spring break (Friday - Monday).  I get every Monday off in April, so it really only felt like I got Friday off, but oh well.  I have not had a spring break of any kind since high school so I will take what I can get.  We had planned on going to visit our friends in Vernal Utah, but those plans fell through Wednesday (March 27th).  So instead we spent Easter at home with Brad's family.  Not the exciting getaway we were hoping for, but it worked out because Tacy has been sick with a cold.

I have a test tomorrow, but I wanted to have some fun this weekend.  So instead I pinterested.  I finally made a spring wreath, I made Tacy a new headband, and I finally made my first pinterest food (homemade reeses easter eggs - except I made balls).  

sporting her new headband

We also bought Tacy a cute Easter dress thanks to all the Easter sales this weekend.  

We had a family Easter egg hunt on Sunday after church.  Tacy and I found her eggs pretty fast.  Brad's dad has way too much fun hiding the adult kid eggs really hard though.  Through the help of Brad and Sam I eventually found my egg.  We did have a yummy Easter dinner with most of Brad's siblings and his grandparents.  My reeses PB balls did not look pretty but they sure tasted delicious!

studying outside with mom

So with all my crafting and taking care of a sick baby I did finally write up my presentation for Wednesday.  I have studied some...it's all right, it was Easter.  We were able to enjoy nice sunny weather and are currently having a fun thunderstorm (no sarcasm, I do love thunder).  

Tacy in her Easter dress

Kisses

No kissy picture, but still a cute one hanging out with Daddy.

Tacy has begun giving kisses.  Lately when she is tired she gets really slap happy (yes she gets that from me).  She will laugh at anything and sometimes nothing at all.  Then she will grab your face (by your hair if you have long hair like I do), pull herself to you, and plant kisses all over.  Her kisses consist of an open mouth and sometimes a wiggly tongue - she loves this because it makes me laugh.  When I'm putting her to bed and I have finished singing to her she will do this and then we just kiss each other over and over again resulting in both of us giggling.  It's so cute.  Luckily, she usually goes to sleep pretty quickly after I lay her down, so I can enjoy her cute giggles and kisses.  

Today Tacy's cousin, Grant, was over and her grandma was holding both of them.  It was nap time for Tacy and she started cracking up at who knows what.  Grant just kinda looked at her.  Then she started reaching over to him and doing her lean.  She got to touching his face and that's when I knew she was trying to plant kisses on him (they were each on one of their Grandma's knees).  So Grandma Taylor helped Tacy to get close enough to Grant and she planted a kiss on his cheek.  I wish I had my camera cause it was so cute, even though Grant was still looking at her funny (most likely cause he just woke up from a nap). 

Tacy loves playing with her sippy cup, not really drinking from it

Other than her kisses, Tacy has taken to always having her tongue hanging out of her mouth.  Gosh, I sure hope this tooth (teeth) pop out soon!  Tacy still only really does stationary rolling begrudgingly   She is never happy when we leave her to roll herself off of her tummy.  Oh well.  

I took my comprehensive final and got a good solid 86% so not too bad, granted there were some I argued about (like that diabetes is not a sudden onset disease).  Oh well, but after taking it I was ready to just go take the NCLEX and get this thing over with....but I have to wait until May when we have finished OB/Pediatrics.  

We started OB/Peds last week and I do like it a lot.  Granted, it making me seriously contemplate if I will ever have another kid....somethings are just better to not learn about.  Oh well.  It is entertaining and fun. 

Brad and I are getting ready to sign up for a few summer classes (I need a dumb psych 101 class for my RN and he needs another chem and physics class for grad school).  Yay, and I love that the cost of 3 classes is more than my entire LPN year of nursing.  Ain't that just wrong.  

having fun in the cart at Sam's club

In the mean time, I'm excited for Easter this weekend because we are going up to Vernal to spend it with some friends and get away.  I'm slightly nervous as to how the road trip and sleeping away from home will go for Tacy....so it might be a LONG weekend, but we have got to get ready for a California trip the first weekend in May (might as well try a shorter trip first).

I keep trying to actually make things I see on Pinterest, but lately my problem is that I cannot find the stuff I need to do a craft, like the right wreath or the right color lace trim...lame.

I have made one t-shirt headband for Tacy this weekend, I read 4 books the past week, and I wrote 2 papers this weekend as well.  So not to shabby for being a mom and full-time nursing student. 

Severe bedhead - this is what happens when you sleep too close to your crib bumper!

The Face Eater

Tacy has taken on a new favorite thing to do: eat mom's face.  Typically she does this when she is really hungry and I'm having a hard time deciding if she is fussy because she is tired, hungry, or wants to move.  By this time I have usually put her on my lap to try and console her and she turns to look at me, grabs my face, pulls herself close to me so we are face-to-face and either eats my face or my hair.  It's a good attention grabber that's for sure, not to mention really funny.

She's not teething at all

Other than eating faces, Tacy says Dada all the time now: while playing, when she wakes up, when she is supposed be going to sleep, etc.  It is cute and really funny.  

Finally, Tacy has discovered her feet and loves to grab them and try to eat them.  It can be helpful when I am changing her diaper.  But she now pulls her socks off and is really showing off her flexibility to mom and dad.

This girl cracks me up so much.  We keep trying to work on getting her to drink out of her sippy cups, but she does not like water, even with a little juice mixed in!  She is so stubborn!  Talk about major payback for me (although I still believe she gets some of it from her Dad too!)

Having fun on a ladder at Joanns with Dad

Teething fun

7 month photo shoot!

Tacy is officially 7 months today!  I can't believe it.  She is getting bigger every day (in my opinion at least).  At her 6 month appointment she was 16 lbs 7 oz and 26 3/4 inches long.  That puts her at about the 50% for both weight and height.  I feel like she has gained a lot of weight since this appointment.  Tacy is now having food twice a day.  She loves bananas, apples, strawberries, pears, peas, carrots  and green beans.  

Poor Tacy is definitely teething now.  She has always been a drooler, but now she is like a fountain.  Drool just pours out of her mouth each time she opens it.  She puts everything in her mouth or always has fingers in there pushing on her gums.  She also loves to feel everything now.  What I mean is that whatever we put her down on to sit, she feels the material (ie: her play mat, the chair, the carpet, the blanket, her crib sheet..)  You hear this funny scratching sounds from her closing and opening her fists on the fabric.  It's pretty funny especially when she is supposed to be sleeping.  

Now that she is sitting so good, she gets to ride in carts and she loves it!

Tacy loves paper, table paper, mail, envelopes, mom's homework, etc.  She is an excellent sitter now.  She only falls very occasionally.  Now if only she would roll over when she falls/tips over then we would be great.  She keeps trying to reach for everything, so she has a pretty far reach.  She has had to develop this skill because she is good at throwing her toys too far away from her.  It's funny to watch her play with something, and get so into shaking it all over, and then have it fling behind her/too the side/ too far in front etc.  She then tries to stretch to get it or moves on to another toy that is closer to her.

Tacy still loves standing and will take steps.  In the walker she now will go forward (before she only would push herself backwards).  Rolling and crawling are still not something she is interested in.  She will move her legs on her tummy and stretch her arms out, but she won't put weight on her arms or try to coordinate to get herself somewhere.  Overall, she can play independently for a while, until all of her toys are without her reach.

I have 2 tests this next week for adult health and then we start OB/Peds and I'm excited.  Granted I am in end of semester mode and really would love a break...but oh well.  

I love the days I have off and can just play/spend time with Tacy.  I love watching her play and seeing all of her smiles, hearing her baby babble, etc.  I love her so much!  We are working on drinking from sippy cups. Tacy can get the liquid to her mouth, but then she typically spits it out, making her even more wet then she was from her drool.  So we have been going through a lot of bibs, thank goodness for water proof ones.

loving some naked time

I get to have another root canal (this will be #4).  I told the dentist how much I hate my teeth and how hard I try to keep them clean.  He told me that I have great teeth but he thinks it's my funky roots that are causing the problems.  He showed me that my roots don't go straight down but go to the side, which is what he thinks is causing all issues.  Fantastic.  Thank goodness for a nice tax refund to help pay for this tooth.  I'm ready to pull them all.

The sun is finally coming out and the snow is melted!  Too bad all the grass looks horrible and it reaks of mud.  But at least Spring is almost here!  I'm so excited and so is Tacy!  I keep telling her that soon she will get to see pretty flowers and her grandpa's big garden.  I'm looking forward to it!

Tacy's new passion: piano playing!  She pulls her self up from sitting to play