Tanner Ross || 10 months

baby!! 

as we're rearing closer and closer to becoming a one year old, I'm trying harder and harder to hold on to these baby days. this boy is growing at lightening speed and there's no sign of him slowing down.
my precious tanner boy.
with the biggest, toothy grin (a whole seven teeth in there!!).
Brandon and I are always saying how his smile is just the biggest, happiest smile we've seen. it's so hard for me to capture it in a picture! he'd much rather smile at us than our phones ;)
it's been a big month these past 30 or so days.
baby boy's first Easter and then about 10 of those days were spent prepping for and being in hawaii.
so this  month went by FAST!!! and was so FUN!!!

age: 10 months

stats:

25lbs 2oz

birth: 8lbs 2oz  --  21 inches

2 days: 7lbs 11oz

12 days: 9lbs 1oz

1 month: 12lbs 4oz  --  23 1/2 inches

2 months: 15lbs  --  24 inches

3 months: 17.4 lbs  --  (from the scale at home)

4 months: 18lbs 13oz  --  27 inches

5 months:  20.4 lbs  --  (from the scale at home)

6 months: 21lbs 2oz  --  28 inches
7 months: 22.8 lbs  --  (from the scale at home)
8 months: 23 lbs  --  (from the scale at home)
9 months: 23 lbs 15 oz  --  30.2 inches

clothes: 12-18 month

diapers: size 4

Tanner name sign // Quincyjeanart

banner // hooray everyday

the boy gets it. gets it all.
he's COMPLETELY aware of his surroundings and will not handle being left out.
he's progressed with foods quicker than harper did and that's mostly because he is 100% aware if he is given something different than the rest of us. he's quick to vocalize his opinion and let it known that he better be getting some of what's on my plate too.
meal times had gotten quite stressful with shouting and yelling. as soon as I let him feed himself more and he mastered his new skill better... it has made allll the difference!!

sleep had gotten good! just one night wake.
then more life happened and rocked that boat. a cold and then traveling and being away from home for eight days threw it all off. we're working our way back to good again-- and hoping that sooner than later we'll get there!!

new things!
--learned to drink from a straw
--we've ditched the zippy for both naps and night sleep
--tooth #7! (5/5)

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
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oh sweet boy how I never want to forget this fun stage you are in.
you're into everything and exploring is what you do best.
harper is your best companion. where ever she is and whatever she is doing. you want to be right there with her.
you love your daddy so big and light up with those sweet baby blues and your huge grin the second he walks in.
but boy oh boy you're such a mama's boy too! and I love every once of it.
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♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

P H O T O   D U M P:

9 months

8 months

7 months

6 months

5 months

4 months

3 months

2 months

1 month

birth

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

Tanner Ross || 9 months

N I N E.

and looking mighty fine ;)

this is a big one!! the morning I woke and realized he really is a nine month old now... the first real thought I had... it's really go time on birthday party planning!

for the last nine months I've literally had the thoughts about what we would be doing for this little guy's birthday party. but nothing serious (as far as theme) has stuck with me. ((until recently!! I've settled on the theme and am so excited for it!)) the added challenge and reason for having this on my mind from day one is largely due to the fact that his and Harper's birthdays are the SAME DAY. 

that makes for things to be double the sweet. double the joy. double the celebration.

birthdays for these two-- I've got my work cut out for me!

to thrown ONE party that suits both tanner's first and harper's third is going to be so fun, but no question it's gonna be a challenge and I certainly have lots to do until then.

anywho. here's our sweet tanner boy being all big at 9 months old!!

we love him so and his personality is just the best.

age: 9 months

stats:

9 months: 23 lbs 15 oz  --  30.2 inches

birth: 8lbs 2oz  --  21 inches

2 days: 7lbs 11oz

12 days: 9lbs 1oz

1 month: 12lbs 4oz  --  23 1/2 inches

2 months: 15lbs  --  24 inches

3 months: 17.4 lbs  --  (from the scale at home)

4 months: 18lbs 13oz  --  27 inches

5 months:  20.4 lbs  --  (from the scale at home)

6 months: 21lbs 2oz  --  28 inches
7 months: 22.8 lbs  --  (from the scale at home)
8 months: 23 lbs  --  (from the scale at home)

clothes: 12 month

diapers: size 4

Tanner name sign // Quincyjeanart

banner // hooray everyday

9 month things:
--more teeth!! #storyofhislife. numbers five & six came in this month. (3/20 &3/21)
--man can this boy giggle and give the belly laughs! it's the best and such a highlight in each day to hear that sweet + contagious sound! between harper and I we'll do anything we can during our days to get those laughs out of tanner!
--crawling everywhere. pulling to stand on everything. climbing stairs. he is on.the.MOVE.
--with crawling then came pulling to stand. so... down went the crib! brandon went ahead and lowered it all the way being that this boy is so tall and we'd likely have to be adjusting it down again in no time.
--balls! this little guy is such a boy! he loves to play with balls and is starting to throw them too. it's fun to see the differences between him and harper as a baby cause this is one thing that she never took a big liking to.
--here and there he's been giving loves and it's the absolute best. leaning his head in to mine and on occasion giving a big wide open mouth kiss. seriously the BEST and melts my heart.
--favorite foods: avocado, raspberries, whole wheat bread, string cheese, kiwi, yogurt
--sleep: hit or miss. sometimes one night wake up. sometimes three night wake ups. I believe teething and changes developmentally have a lot to do with it. naps though are so solid! he's pretty consistent with a 1-2 hour nap twice a day (around the hours of 9-11 & 2-4).


P H O T O  D U M P

love you baby boy!! and all the joy you bring to our family!!

8 months

7 months

6 months

5 months

4 months

3 months

2 months

1 month

birth

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

bedtime routine

first off. WHY in heavens names do children get alll their highest energy right before bed!??

brandon and I tackle all this together (he's the BEST). an awesome hubby and daddy who's so hands on.
with harper and tanner being in different stages, there are some parts of our bedtime routine where they're separated and some parts that overlap together.

times are 'ish' of course because babies and toddlers certainly don't follow the time on the clock ;)
we do baths every other night. so if it's bath night we try to get that tackled and done right after cleaning up from dinner. (we shoot for dinner around 5:30). depending on what our day is like we sometimes will try to swing putting harper in the shower with one of us, or I will try doing baths during the 'after nap-before dinner' time. just to get them out of the way!

it all begins to go down at... 

6:45pm -- wind down time. chocolate milk (carnation instant breakfast) + a show

*tanner plays/hangs out/reads with brandon or I during this

7:15pm -- upstairs for books. we let harper choose three books and as long as tanner is tolerating it, we try to do this all together (sometimes he's over it and we just need to continue on with getting him ready for bed and put down earlier)

then we go our separate ways. one of us takes harper and the other takes tanner.

7:30/7:45pm -- tanner: lavender essential oil in the diffuser. chamomile foot massage. zipadee zip. lullaby music on. nurse. paci. down to bed. 

7:30/7:45pm -- harper. potty. wash hands + face. brush teeth. then all the attempts to procrastinate with being hungry, thirsty, blah blah blah ;). as we get through that it's lullaby music on (both kiddos have monitors in their rooms that play music and we've been using it since harper was about 8 months old. she still likes it and asks for it, so we still use it). sing songs, hug + kiss goodnight, and we're out the door.  some nights it's as simple as that & then some nights she'll put up more resistance. want us to stay in longer, or gets out of bed a handful of times once we've left, or just try any procrastination she thinks might help her from having to go to bed ;) we try our best to be consistent and keep our "no" meaning "no".

we shoot for bed by 8pm. tanner is generally down by then no problem. but two and half year old harper... ;) sometimes we hit that. sometimes we don't get there until 9pm. big, deep breaths on those nights. and sometimes we're in between there ;)

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

our table || feeding baby + toddler || nuby giveaway

meal times are quite busy now with having two kids to feed. with toddler snacks in between there, it's like I'm feeding kids allll.day.longgg. which quite literally, I kinda am. cause when you also add in nursing the baby...

BUT hello, I love food too, so I get it ;) and being a dietitian, I try so hard to be giving my kiddos wholesome, healthy food that is nutrient dense.

tanner is now eating three meals a day so when it's time to eat for harper, it's also now time to eat for tanner. so that makes for me spending A LOT of my day in the kitchen. I honestly don't mind much, cause again, I'm a dietitian (I've actually still got that active license even as a stay at home mama now) ;) so food is where it's at for me!

feeding two babes who are at two different stages can seem tough. like there is so much food to prep. I try my best to keep it simple. 

here are a few things that we do & a few food ideas that we've found to work well.

(keep a lookout- I'm planning to do a post on 'meal' ideas for each age here in the near future) :)

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Tanner: (age 8 months):

for my ease, tanner eats when the rest of us eat. I also believe it's important to include everyone at meal time (even the baby). so much can be taught just through them watching us and I try my hardest for all meals to be eaten at the table with the tv turned off.
this guy likes to be able to chew (gum) ;) his food so purees are out. giving him small, bitesized pieces is what he's been liking best.
each time tanner eats I try to have it include either a fruit or veggie paired with either some dairy or a whole grain.
simple foods that have been working well as of late: avocado, raspberries, banana, kiwi, whole wheat bread, whole grain cheerios, string cheese, plain whole milk greek yogurt.

how cute is this 'bear plate'!! nuby is one of my favorite baby brands. I've mentioned their sippy cups before (in our 7+8 month favorites) and how they just DON'T leak!! they have so many other great products too, like this sure grip miracle mat. the fun colors, and the bear shape of the plate will bring more fun for tanner as he gets older too. and I just know the suction holding down the plate will become so wonderful as tanner enters the 'throwing everything on the floor stage' ;)
(we'll likely have to get ourselves another shape of the plate being that the ears of the bear make it a little big to suction tightly to our particular highchair tray). it still does the job for what we need now!
and I can't get over the cuteness of the bear face :) harper loves it too!

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Harper (age 2.5):

harper is a good eater and always has been. I am ever so thankful for that!
there have certainly been exceptions, but she eats all meals at the kitchen table and when it's meal time, that's what we're there to do. we try to limit the playing and distraction around her. of course we still try to make meal time fun and enjoyable, but also keeping it focused. harper eats whatever brandon and I eat. I don't make special food for her.
common foods:
--breakfast items: eggs, toast, fruit, oatmeal, peanut butter toast, greek yogurt
--lunch items: sandwiches (pb&j, turkey&cheese), meat + cheese + whole grain crackers, cucumber + carrots, apples, breast meat chicken nuggets
--dinner: whatever I've made for dinner that night. that's what we all have :) too much variety and things to mention here!

snacking:
harper generally has a snack between breakfast and lunch and then sometimes after nap, before dinner. depending on what time she wakes and when we're eating. I try to limit any snacks after 4:30pm.
--common snacks: string cheese, granola bar, whole grain goldfish, popcorn, cut fruit, carrots or pretzels + hummus, apple sauce pouch (from costco with no added ingredients), 'milk pouches' (from target), chocolate milk (made with carnation instant breakfast)

this nuby snack n' sip cup is fun for harper. she loves her 'owl cup' so much. and it makes it fun for her to drink (even just plain old water) ;) out of it. and to make it extra fun for her, I can fill the top of her cup with her snack. her favorite to fill it with is goldfish :) but it's also just as easy to add in some cut fruit, whole grain cereal, or dried fruit. it's fun for her too, so it makes eating a healthy snack that much easier. and the best win for mama- it does not leak!

I've teamed up with Nuby to give away one of their cute bear character sure grip miracle mats! head over to my instagram (@brittneyhjelseth) to enter! giveaway runs tuesday, march 28th through friday, march 31st. the winner will be announced by monday morning!
open to US residents only.
**I received these items for a review, but all opinions are my own :)

xoxo
-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

Tanner Ross || dedication day

at church on sunday we had our sweet baby boy, tanner ross hjelseth, dedicated to the lord.

it was such a special day for our family.

a handful of pictures here from tanner's big day spent with family :)

passed out for a late morning nap as soon as we got home. big morning for him!

 once he woke, he was ready to enjoy all the company downstairs :)

our sweet tanner boy.

we are blessed to be your parents and are ever so thankful to god for entrusting you to us. we pray that you will grow strong in your faith and always keep close to jesus. may you become a man who knows the lord and never strays. 

thank you, lord for blessing us with our sweet boy.

we love you with all we have baby boy!!

xoxo- mom + dad

xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth