Tanner New Born Pictures

The other day Mom and I had fun taking pictures of Tanner.  He was pretty good!  We didn't get many open eye shots though :)  Thanks to my great friend who helped me edit them!

I know it's only been a week, but everything about these two boys are totally different!  I think Brady looks more like a Merrill with my personality, and Tanner looks more like a Tryon with Wills personality.  

Tanner at one week

Brady at tone week

New Born Tips- Bath Time

I figured I should start typing up the tips I have learned with having a new born a second time.

Bath Time. You aren't supposed to give them a regular bath for 7-10 days because of the umbilical cord and circumcision. Only sponge baths! I swear, sponge baths are TORTURE for both infant and parents. It's difficult to keep the water the right temp, keep from getting peed on, wipe down infant, soap up infant, then wipe down again, while infant is crying because “hello, it's cold! I don’t care how warm the water is you are using, it's still cold when you leave the area.” I mean, even if you use warm water, it's STILL cold because baby isn't covered in it. So...this is my tip learned the second time around.

1. Usually I place a thick folded up towel in the bottom of the tub anyways so it's softer and warmer. This time... (I did not get doctor approval, so do this at your own risk) I poured warm water enough to soak the towel and leave a few puddles on top. This allows baby to at least stay partially warm on the bottom side without getting umbilical/circumcision regions wet.

2. I usually have a dry rag over circumcision to keep from getting sprayed (I do this with diaper changes too). I started using wipes but they are so cold it increases risk of getting sprayed.

3. I then have a pitcher of plenty of warm water at the right temperature and multiple rags. This allows me to place warm rags over chest and legs while sponging infant up and still keeping them warm without having to keep the water running.

Baby was SO MUCH happier! No tears from baby or parents for putting them through the torture again! ALSO, baby was quite enough to not wake up brother from nap! Wahoo!  

Baby Boy Merrill

Tanner Walter Merrill

June 23, 2014

7:53PM

7 lbs 14 oz

20.5 cm long

His face is blue from bruising

My first bath.  I may look calm now, but that wasn't the case then.

Birth Story

This is my birth story, so feel free to scan through the images if you don't want to know the details.  I will never know :)

  

 I had been having small contractions off and on for the past week and a half. The past 2 weeks she had been dilated at a 2.5 and 80% soft. I kept waiting for you to come hoping you would be here by your due date so you could be 3 weeks old before going to a family reunion.
  Monday had been pretty boring, and I was tired. While big brother Brady was taking a nap, I did too. I woke up around 2pm feeling like you had kicked me really hard. So I want to the bathroom, then laid down again. About 10min later it happened again. Brady woke up from his nap and came to lay with me, and I continued feeling the contractions about every 10min. After eating snacks, while I was reading to Brady I was noticing they lasted longer then 1 ½ hours, and seemed to be getting a little stronger. Around 3:30 I decided to start timing how long they were. They were lasting an average of 30 sec. Dad made it home from work about 4:30 and I was still feeling them the same timing, maybe a little bit stronger. We ate dinner, gave Brady a bath, I took a shower, finished packing and decided to go ahead and drop Brady off at Grandmas because they seemed consisted and getting stronger.
  We got to Grandmas around 6:30 and laid Brady down to bed. By then they were getting strong enough to hurt, and everyone once in a while they would only be 2 min apart, or last 40-50 sec. After puking up dinner and starting to feel a little shaky, we decided they would probably admit me to the hospital and headed over there. Sitting the the car is so BAD! Luckily they were more 3-4 min in the car, but were lasting 40-50 sec,

very uncomfortable in sitting position though. We made it to the hospital. We got to the hospital at 7:25pm. After having to pause 6 different times to tolerate a contraction, and telling multiple people “NO! I don't WANT a wheel chair” We finally made it to the room. By then the contractions were still only 30sec apart but coming every 1-2 min.
  After changing, and surviving another 2 contractions, I jumped on the bed and they checked me. They told me I was dilated at a 9 and was calling the doctor. Really, I was at a 10 but they didn't tell me and want to scare me. I was worried because I was starting to really get the urge to push and didn't think I could hold the urge for 15min. They asked me to try, but if not it was ok to push. They tried twice to get an IV in but contractions were coming to quick that they didn't succeed. After trying twice, with the next contraction my water broke. Soon there were 4 nurses in the room busying around. They were great while I was very demanding that it was hot and I needed something to drink. Will was great to let me squeeze his hand till it almost fell off. After my water broke it wasn’t' more then 2min later I decided I really just had to push no matter what they said. Since the doctor wasn't there, I didn't get any local anesthesia and I felt this immense burning. Lucky the head was stretching me out a bit so I didn't tear. Pretty soon with the next push out came a head, followed by the rest of him with the next contraction. 7:53PM Baby Boy Merrill was born! (not more then 30min after pulling into the parking lot). 7 lbs 14 oz. 20.5 cm long. Head 13cm. His face was pretty purple and bruised because he came so fast.

  Nurses said baby was doing fine, I got to hold him for a bit before sending him away to be washed up. I was still having some intense contractions because I hadn't delivered the placenta because they really needed the doctor to be there for that because I tore a little bit. It was a very LONG 10min waiting for him, but I survived.

  Will was lucky enough to dodge more and squeezing (because he was watching out for baby) while the doctor numbed me up for stitches, lucky there was a nurse willing to sacrifice her hand :) While Doctor Besse was stitching me up, we went over our 6 names for baby boy. Baby frowned at 3 of the 6, so we took those off the list. We asked baby about the next 3, and he was ok with 2 of them. Mommy liked Tanner better than the other name, so we called him that for a little bit, then tried the other name. Baby decided he liked Tanner better. And that’s how we cut our list from 6 names we couldn't decide on to Tanner! We love the name Tanner Walter Merrill and he looks just like a Tanner to us. We couldn't be happier!

  Tanner was born with his tongue tied, so we had that clipped the day after we got one. 1. because he was very painful to nurse and couldn't quite get a good latch all the time, and 2. Tanner reserves the right to stick his tongue out at his brother if he so chooses, and since his frednulum was all the way to the tip of his tongue, he never would have had that opportunity.
  After about 1 ½ hr in the delivery room they transferred us to post-pardum where we got to enjoy our time with him. We didn't discharge the hospital till 9pm Wed night because Tanner was getting jaundice and had to be under the lights for 12hours. Since he was really bruised he had increased risk of Jaundice, and had trouble coughing up some flam because it didn't get the good squeeze of the birth canal. Unfortunately this meant lots of heal pricks with painfully long time to get enough blood out of him. We had to continue this procedure Thursday and Friday morning at the Doctors office until his levels got high enough for Insurance to cover Home Health. After one day on the lights at him, Tanner was finally able to discharge from the blue lights! We all were so happy! We have learned through many different nurses that not EVERYONE knows how to get blood from a foot...they just like to cause babies pain because they never learned the right way.

Brady liked to try to poke Tanner in the eye, and loves to go over rand watch him; but isn't too big on wanting to hold him, or learning how to be soft yet. We are working on being “soft” and when Brady feels like he wants to hold him, we will defiantly let him, until then...let him look on :)
  I am so grateful that we made it to the hospital in time, and for all of my family's help, and churches help in bringing in meals. I have been blessed with quick healing which helps me continue doing my daily stuff around the house and helping Brady learn and grow while keeping track of Tanner too. We are so blessed to have these 2 little boys in our life!

*Disclaimer:  Yes, I did deliver him all natural...I thought I did that with Brady, but apparently local anesthesia does a little more then I thought it did.  I love the fact that I can calm myself to not need an epidural, but next time local anesthesia before the crowning would definitely be more comfortable :)

Brady gave me flowers when I got home.  Love them!

Updates!

So much has happened the past couple months it's CRAZY!

Brady:  He is finally walking!!!  He started about 2 weeks ago and LOVES going anywhere and everywhere.  It has finally warmed up outside most days to where we can go out and play for 30 min to 2 hours.  He gets so mad when we have to go in, or it's rainy and cold so we can't go out.  Sticks are his favorite along with his golf ball.  He is still learning how to climb up/down the hill without falling and has attempted to climb our chain link fence twice... lucky he hasn't made it too far!
He has learned a couple new tricks.  With everything blooming his nose has been a waterfall!  Will taught him about a month ago to blow his nose!!!  BEST TRICK EVER!!!  One night after Will helped him blow it, Brady stole the Kleenex from him and started walking out of the room... we followed him... he took it and threw it away!  Then started clapping!  He throws away all his Kleenex's the past 2 weeks and sometimes will throw away other stuff when asked.  We didn't even teach him that one!  Oh, and always pats his chest with a big smile and then claps his hands.  SO CUTE!

He is getting sneaky too!  Every once in a while when it's getting close to nap time Brady will go throw a toy

The other night it was bed time so we walked into his room and as I went to grab his blanket and pacifier to rock for a bit before bed he RAN away from me!  When calling him back he kept running!  He thinks it's the funniest thing ever to run away when you call him now... It's cute because he still falls and giggles so much when you catch him.

in his crib... or he will find his diaper bag and pull out his extra pacifier (he only gets those for sleep time)

Charisse:  I have started working from home 10hrs a week as a personal assistant.  I LOVE it!  It's nice to give me something productive to do during Brady's naps while earn a little extra cash.  I still work 3-4 hrs on Sat.  as a PTA.  I am getting bigger each day with 2 months counting till baby two!

Will:  Still keeping busy at work and learning new things.  He is now scout master over the Deacons and has been getting ready for a bit Camping trip this weekend.  He is enjoying getting to go camping again... even though it is tick season :(  yuck!

Family:  WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!  We were so blessed to put our house on the market and have it sell within 6 weeks!!!  We are very excited to pay off all debt except our Omaha mortgage, and have some extra

cash to get things we have been needing for a while and get a good kick start into finishing up our basement.  We are so sad to lose that house because we liked it a lot, but the time was right to sell it and when we move back we will need something larger.

Freezer Meal Tips

Hey guys!  I'm sitting here 11 weeks from my due date with another boy on the way.  I started thinking about getting freezer meals ready and decided to type up my Instruction list, and Tips in case anyone else was interested in the way I get 15-20 freezer meals done. I"m not going to say 4 hrs, because it's a lot of prep work, THEN 4 hrs the day of :)

This is my first time making freezer meals with my sister!
We learned lots and continue making them in separate states.

1. Pick what meals you want to use. If you want to do the same meal twice, put it on the list twice
2. Make a grocery list of EVERYTHING on the list. (you make exclude spices/seasonings if you know you have plenty of that)
3. Check your pantry for any items that you may already have and take them off the list.
4. If you have extra time to prepare, search the adds for sales.
5. Make sure there is plenty of room in your freezer to store finished meals, and in your fridge to hold the fresh food
6. The day before: I go shopping for EVERYTHING on the list so I can start in the morning.
7. The day before: I write the recipe name, ingredients to add the day of, what to serve it with, and cook times on a zip lock bag. Then put bags in the order of my list of recipes.
8. Day before/morning of: Make sure sinks are empty, dishwasher empty, all counter tops are clean and ready to use
9. Day of: Start by chopping up ALL The veggies and placing them in separate containers.
10. Add veggies to bags
11. Add seasonings, and other ingredients to bags
12. Add meat to bags
13. Place all bags flat in freezer, I stack them on top of each other horizontally instead of vertical and use one whole shelf for them.
14. Make a list of all the meals you made and place on fridge. Cross off as you use them so you know what you have and don't have. Place stars 1-5 after eating the meals rating them so you know which ones your family liked, or which ones didn't work out so good freezer version for next time.

Tips:

*If you pick meals with similar ingredients such as meat and veggies it is easier overall... but it also means you have a lot of similar meals your family might get sick of.
*You may want to buy the meat ahead of time and put it in your fridge/freezer (depending on how soon ahead of time) to get it for cheaper
*I like to order my chicken from Zaycon Foods (https://zayconfoods.com/refer/zf9551). It gives me a set date to make all my meals, and it comes in 40lb case of chicken, easy to divide up between bags.

*If you have extra time, organize the recipes in order of meats (if you have a large variety), then veggies (starting with the most common ones used first)
*I know it takes time, and gets kind of messy, but I make sure I cross off EACH ingredient off the recipe so I am SURE I put it in. At the end I double check to make sure everything is crossed off.
*Meat: Sometimes the recipe calls for 6 chicken breasts, and we only eat 2, I only put two in. OR I put the meal into two bags and use it as 2 meals with 4 breasts total.

Resources:

This list and tips I have gotten from a variety of websites over the years and from my personal experience. Here is a list of some more of the specific websites I got ideas from.

http://happymoneysaver.com/making-50-freezer-meals-in-one-day/

http://happymoneysaver.com/making-50-freezer-meals-in-one-day

http://creativesavingsblog.com/from_my_kitchen/freezer-cooking/choosing-freezer-cooking-recipes/

http://www.thismomsheart.com/2012/02/freezer-and-once-month-cooking-tips-and.html

http://www.jamimclaren.blogspot.com/2013/02/freezer-cook.html

Vacation in Arizona!

We just got back from a week vacation to Arizona.  It was crazy to think we moved away just under 1year ago.  We LOVED the warm weather, and visiting with family and friends.  The point of the vacation was to put our house up in Mesa for sale because the renters lease was up.  Just because we are selling it does not mean we won't be moving back to AZ in a couple years, just not to that house.  It's easier for us to sell it now while the market is going up then deal with fixing up after renters and finding renters each year.  We were so blessed to have great renters that didn't give us any problems and had minimal work to do to get the house up for sale.  If any of you know anyone looking it's 3bed 2 bath 833 S. 33rd Place Mesa, AZ 85204. 

Brady LOVED meeting all of his family...again!  He easily wrapped them all around his finger with his smiles, noises, and laughing.  He loved playing out in the rocks and dirt (something we haven't done in NE because it's too cold), and took some time to adjust to the grass.  Brady was introduced to oranges and they are his new favorite.  We brought some back with us and if he sees us eating it, he will scream till he gets his and  gobble it down.  Will worked on the house, and in our spare time we visited with family and friends and went shopping to stores we missed.  Here some some of my favorite pictures from AZ.

Doesn't show in the picture but he loved crawling inside/outside the whole time.  I LOVE his hair in this one

Grandpa was one of his favorites

Pure joy!  First experience on a real bike outside.  Thanks Aunt Camilla!

Ready for a morning walk... this is the one and only time he wore a jacket

Playing with his friend in the gravel

Driving Grandpas Jeep

Playing with cousins

Fun with more cousins

Just hanging around outside.