2 Weeks

 At his 2 week check up he weighed in at 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 21 inches long.  (Up from his birth at 7 pounds 13 ounces and 18 inches long).  Not sure if that's actually possible that he grew 3 inches in 2 weeks!  Maybe they measured wrong at the hospital?

Emily loves this little guy!

Tanner

These are some of the first pictures we got with his little eyes open.  He's 8 days old.  Prior to this most of the time he decided to open his eyes were late at night and we were way too tired to take pictures.  :) 

Three Days Old

 He's so tiny!

 All 5 kiddos.

Sneaking in as much baby time as she can before getting ready to leave for the play.

First Visitors

The kids have been so excited to meet their little brother.  And they've all been campaigning for the name Tanner!  (The other option was McKay).  We called grandma right after he delivered and she went to check the girls out and bring them over to meet him!  The girls had dress rehearsal for the play at 5:00 so we were worried they might not get to come see him but it worked out.  They arrived so quickly we were still in labor and delivery and they came up to meet their new brother!  They were so excited and cute!  The girls were of course delighted.  The boys were super excited but were a little unsure of everything.  They were really quiet and kind of took it all in.  They were a lot calmer than I expected which was nice :)  and they were so cute as they watched every move he made and had lots of questions for us.

Emily and Tanner

Kelsie and Tanner

Grandma Peterson, Matson, and Tanner.

Matson didn't wasn't interested in holding him but he wanted to get right up in his face and check him out.  He loved him!  Carter was interested and watched everything but kept his distance and didn't want a turn to hold the baby or touch him.  I was surprised because he's actually been the one that's been the most excited.  But, he wanted to take it in and check things out first.  It was super fun to have them come right away to meet the baby and I loved seeing their cute reactions to their new brother.  They were so excited and sweet with him.

Tanner

Tanner James arrived at 1:00 p.m. weighing 7 pounds 13 ounces and measuring 19 inches long.  I was induced 2 weeks early to hopefully avoid another overly large baby with shoulder dysotia complications.  I was surprised by how small he was but it was really nice and he was just perfect!  When he came out they gave him to me for a few minutes but I was dying to know how big he was.  When they took him to the scale he started SCREAMING.  The whole floor had to have heard him.  He was throwing quite a fit.  The nurses said they hadn't seen a baby scream like that in a long time.  It was super cute but I was kinda worried. :)

 When he was born we both took one look at him and said, "he looks just like Matson".  He really was teh spitting image of him when he came out.  Turns out he even has a stork bite in the same spot as Matson did.

 He calmed right down when he was with me and has been the most mellow baby.  He sleeps, looks around, and eats, and barely makes a peep.  I fell in love the minute I saw him.  He's so sweet.

Tanner, mom and dad

Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day 2014! 

 

This and the one above are favorites from a little photo shoot I took of the kids on Valentines Day. 

 

 Kelsie and Emily made Penguin Valentine boxes!  The greatest part was they went to the basement, found a box they liked on Pinterest, made it, and came up to show me!  Super awesome that they can do this stuff on their own now!

All the kids with Great Grandma Hansen and Grandma Peterson.  They came to visit us and brought yummy Valentines treats. 

Winter Highlights

Here's some of our winter fun...A cousin movie night with Kandace's kids.  All the kids showed up with their new blankets from Grandma Peterson and were super cozy!

 

 The boys love their new castle set and have staged quite a battle ground.  And I'm just so happy that Carter is actually playing with toys once in awhile!  It's rare for him!  Matson loves all little knight, superhero, army figures and could sit and entertain himself with them the whole day!

 Proof that the youngest are SPOILED!  John always tells me the youngest one is spoiled rotten and I didn't  really believe him until I was in Hobby Lobby with just Matson the other day.  We were checking out and rushing to get Carter from kindergarten.  He asked for a pack of Oreos at the checkout.  They cost 1.69 for a tiny pack of Oreos.  I have NEVER bought a treat for my kids at the check out counter in my life.  Matson was delighted as she skipped out of the store.  As I loaded him into the car I realized this never would have happened with the older kids.  But when it's the youngest and he's the only one with you...well it seemed perfectly reasonable.  Ya, the youngest are spoiled!

Carter got his FAVORITE book at the Book Fair.  Creepy Carrots!  It's super cute and he reads it over and over.  He had told me all about it because the librarian read it to him.  He told me they had it at the Book Fair and said that was the book he wanted.  I happily agreed having no idea that the book only came in hard back at the book fair!  Sheesh!  I was in parent conferences with Kelsie when John and Carter came out of the book fair.  John informed me that the book I promised him was a $18 hardback book!  John and I felt like we'd been robbed!  Carter is still delighted with his new book and thinks that he bought Mrs. Jennings (the librarians) one and only copy.  He feels pretty important!  He even wanted to see if she could sign it for him.  :)