a baby and a puppy

We puppysat for a couple hours this afternoon. The cutest little puppy with the littlest puppy face. It was Callen's first time playing with a puppy, or dog for the matter. I was worried more for the dog than I was for Callen. He would be nice but then grab a handful of fur before you knew it. I think they had fun playing together. 

happy day

Callen and I had a good day. Lots of smiles and laughs. I feel like I am finally mastering motherhood. At this stage anyway. 

“Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind.”

-Howard W. Hunter

against the rules

How many times do I have to say it??? Pooping in the B.E. is NOT allowed! Callen does not listen to me and this has become a daily occurance. It never has a good outcome. 

thankful day 22- Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Holidays are much more fun with a little one. Callen sported his Thanksgiving shirt all day.

With my family out of town we headed over the the Perdue's early and hung out all day. All the Perdue's, minus Grant who is in Canada, were there, including Gran and Norman.

This year, while sharing what we're thankful around the table I said, (1) Callen (2) Tristans job, and (3) where we live. Tristan said, (1) Callen (2) a paycheck, and (3) slurpees. 

Callen slept while we ate but had his own dinner after his nap. Turkey and sweet potatoes! Thank you Gerber. 

Another awesome holiday to always remember. 

thankful day 21

Tristan: I am thankful for cars, air conditioning, and showers.

Brittany: I am thankful for our beautiful earth. The mountains and ocean, the trees, flowers, and streams. Created just for us it is incredibly amazing and breathtakingly beautiful.

thankful day 20

Tristan: I am thankful for the ocean.

Brittany: I am thankful for my brother and sisters. We are the type of siblings who actually like hanging out with each other and know everything about each other. I love that. I am so glad to have them in my life.

Brady and Kelsey flew in from Provo today for the holiday and we had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. The Tuckers are going to San Francisco Thursday morning while Tris and I hold down the fort and enjoy dinner with the Perdue's. Because our Thanksgiving won't be the normal this year we still wanted to have a dinner together and enjoy all our favorite Thanksgiving foods without all the extra hallabaloo.

And just because...

thankful day 19

Tristan: I am thankful for family.

Brittany: I am thankful for technology. Life is easier with so much knowledge and resources in the palm of your hand. Seriously, what would I do without my iPhone?

thankful day 18

Tristan: I am thankful for houses.

Brittany: I am thankful for naps. I wouldn't be alive if they didn't exist.

thankful day 17- its a big one!!!!

Tristan: I am thankful for surfboards.

Brittany: We found a place to live!! And I am more than thankful for that! Thanks to our friends, Scott and Ashley, we found this new development we love. It is not at all where we we've been looking for the last five months but we love it even more. It is a townhouse community located in San Elijo. Right down the street from the most adorable town with one gas station, one grocery store, a church, and a baseball field. Our community is surrounded by undeveloped grassy hills, is located five miles from the beach, close to all shopping and restaurants in Encinitas, and has a pool. It is more than perfect and exactly what we've been looking for. After walking through the three model homes we decided on model number three which is three bedrooms and three full bathrooms. It is three stories. Level one is a two car garage and entry way. Level two is one bathroom, the third bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living room and balcony. Level three is a landing with the laundry closet and linnen cupboard as well as the master bed and bath and the second bed and bath. We signed the purchase agreement today along with a million other papers. Our building is still in the framing stage and will not be ready for move in until April. After all the paperwork we walked through our home. It seems so surreal.

East side

 Front door

Kitchen

 View from the family room

 Master bedroom, standing on the drywall.

 North side and garage

thankful day 16

Tristan: I am thankful for heaters.

Brittany: I am thankful for cozy blankets. I own at least ten blankets and just can't get enough of them. I  need to snuggle with one every night, even in the summer.

thankful day 15

Tristan: I am thankful for technology.

Brittany: I am thankful for my education. Having a degree is so important to me. I am thankful for my opportunity to attend BYU. I loved every second of it and miss it every day. I am thankful for my knowledge of athletic training and my ability to help people.

thankful day 14

Tristan: I am thankful for baby giggles.

Brittany: I am thankful to have my mom as my best girlfriend. Living with my parents we hang out a lot and I love it. If we ever happen to be apart we call each other to see what the other person is doing. We shop, run errands, eat, cook, run, and play together. We are always cracking up about something, or someone. She is Callen's second mom and is a huge lifesaver when I need help. She is so generous with her time, love, and resources...and I am so thankful. Our favorite thing to do together is roam the isles of Target. We must go at least three times a week. It's nice to have an awesome mom.

thankful day 13

Tristan: I am thankful for Slurpees.

Brittany: I am thankful for the Baby Einstein. How would we spend our time without it? Mom needs a break and Callen needs to jump, grab, chew. Its a win win for everyone. The B.E. is a good babysitter when I need two hands or need to wear a baby out before naptime.

Warning: This is 3 full minutes of a bouncing baby. Try not to get motion sick. 

thankful day 12

Tristan: I am thankful for friends.

Brittany: Today I am thankful for my dad and his willingness to help Tristan and I in the home buying process. He works for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and knows all the tricks and tips. We would not be able to do this without him. Thank you Dad for all your time and love.

thankful day 11

Tristan: I am thankful for the gospel.

Brittany: Today I am thankful for the opportunity I have to be the Sunbeam teacher in our ward. My kids are absolutely adorable and always brighten my day. I love to see their knowledge of the gospel and their love to learn. I cannot show up to class without a snack, even though they are no longer in nursery. I have the hardest time understanding what they are trying to say. We practice pronunciation in class. My lesson is interrupted topic for a random story about their week. It is chaos but I love it.

thankful day 10

Tristan: I am thankful for sleep.

Brittany: Today I am thankful for medicine. My poor baby Callen has a cold. Runny nose, sneezing, coughing, red watery eyes, and rather lethargic. I'm glad I can give him medicine to help him feel better. It makes me so sad to not see his normal talking, laughing, wiggling self.

His old self:

thankful day 9

Tristan: I am thankful for lunch. I was really hungry and got free lunch.

Brittany: I'm thankful for where I live. Both in San Diego and with my gracious parents. It has been absolutely amazing living here in the home I grew up in. My family has been a huge help and blessing in our and Callen's lives. I don't know what I would do without my mothers help every day. And its all about location, location, location, right? Kelsey and her new man, Evan (shoutout to Evan to reads my blog, What up!?), came to visit this weekend. We went downtown San Diego for some Ghirardelli ice cream and to walk around Sea Port Village. Paradise year round, I love where I live.

thankful day 8

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY TO CALLEN!!! 

My baby is already SIX WHOLE months? Yikes. Half a year gone already. Only 17.5 more till I have to send him on a mission. I'm not prepared for this. Today, we celebrated Callen's birthday by finding a house to buy!!!! You heard right! Only issue is we can't move in until February because it is still under construction. I'll deal with that kind of problem any day. Today we were pre-approved and have reserved a plan 2 which is a 3 bed, 2.5 bath townhome. Two weeks until we are officially in contract. I'll talk more about it if we go through with it. We are wussy's when it comes down to be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

Full Callen 6 month post to come later. 

Tristan: I am thankful for blankets.

Brittany: I am thankful for baby wipes. Lesson learned today...pooping in your carseat pushes poop out of diaper causing blowout. Wipes fix all bad situations. What did I do before I carried them everywhere with me? I use them more than paper towels, and that's saying a lot.

Birthday boy LOVES the laundry room. 

6 months

November 8, 2012

Callen,

Hi love! You are turning into a big person, personality and all. Now that you are six months old I feel like I've started treating you less like a baby and more like a toddler. You've earned it.

In your sixth month:

You learned how to sit!! You are so proud of yourself. You still flop over every once in a while but you love being up off the ground.
You like to be silly. You sit and giggle and wiggle your legs and flap your arms. You laugh so much more and much easier.
You love when strangers come up and talk to you. You'll put on a show smiling,  laughing, and kicking your legs. Everywhere we go you always get compliements about how happy you are, or your eyes, or your good looks.
You went on a plane for the first time! You flew with mom, and Grandma and Grandpa Tucker from Long Beach to Salt Lake City. You did so well!
You saw snow for the first time when we were in Utah for the weekend. I made sure to bundle you up.
You are always doing something with your feet. Kicking them, wiggling them, and when you are mad you get stressed feet.
You love grabbing your toes and sucking on your big toe. It makes diaper changing rather difficult.
You love being naked. Its like playing Russian roulette with the possibility of peeing on the carpet at any second but I let you have some nakie time after your bath.
You can pull yourself up! From sitting you grab onto your crib, our hands, or our pants to stand up.
You love standing and walking. You look for hands to grab so you can stand up and you hold our hands as we walk you around the house talking and blowing raspberries the entire time.
You love to be outside. I can tell when you start getting bored inside so we go outside to watch the cars and people go by.
Your feet are hanging out of your carseat and are on the last and biggest strap adjustment.

We love you tons and tons,

Mom and Dad

thankful day 7

Tristan: I am thankful for a job.

Brittany: It's been a busy, busy, stressfull day. Trying to buy a house is giving me wrinkles and grey hair. Today, I am thankful for food. It nourishs me and gives me strength and health...but most importantly it comforts me and makes me happy. Today's indulgence was homemade banana chocolate chip muffins with brown sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top.

Tomorrow...Callen turns 6 months!! My baby is so old. I'll have to think of something fun to celebrate his half birthday.

thankful day 6

Tristan: I am thankful for a free country.

Brittany: I am thankful for the country in which I live. The United States of America. I am thankful to be free, for our modern medicine, and for what a privileged life I am blessed to live. I cannot imagine living anywhere else.

Callen and I were back to normal today, all caught up on our sleep. He woke up at four in the morning and was having a hard time falling back asleep. So, we laid in bed and fell asleep holding hands until morning. We spend some time sitting on the grass outside in the sun. It was relaxing for both us us.

thankful day 5

Tristan: I am thankful for a little baby, Callen, that makes me smile and laugh.

Brittany: Today I am thankful for my ability to run. Running is what I do for fun. Some people bake or craft, I run. Today was ones of those runs where I felt like I could just keep going, so I did. It feels rejuvenating and invigorating. The human body is incredibly amazing, isn't it?

I believe we may be entering the teething phase. With babies you never really know until it's happening. There are some signs. Increase mucus, increase drool that has become rather stringy, fussiness at night. Sunday afternoon Callen was not feeling well at all. He slept most of the day and then decided to call it a night at 4:30 pm. Meaning he was ready to start his day at 4:00 am this morning. He woke up totally happy so I couldn't be upset. We matched Mulan and he jumped in his Baby Einstein until 6:00 am when he was ready for his nap. It's been a weird day.

Keeping our fingers crossed for Mitt tomorrow.

thankful day 4

I asked Tristan if he wanted to begin participating in my thankful challenge. He agreed.

Tristan: I am thankful for Brittany who always takes care of me.

Brittany: Today I am thankful for friends. There are so many people in my life I consider my best friends. What would we ever do without friends? While living in Utah my friends became my family who I relied on more than ever. I adore friends who make me laugh, give the best advice, and always care about my well being. I cherish friends who make an effort and go out of their way for me. I only hope I can be as good of a friend in return.

(I am also thankful I found my Ray Ban sunglasses today that have been lost for the last 3 weeks. Shewoo! They were hiding from me in the back of my mom's Yukon where I checked three times.)

thankful day 3

Today I am thankful for my son, Callen. That he is healthy, happy, and all mine. He makes every day the best day ever. He gives my life purpose. I love him. 

thankful day 2

I am thankful for eternal families.

Today Tristan and I attended the marriage and sealing of two of our best friends. After the sealing their seven year old daughter was then sealed to them. She was glowing. It was one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed. Tears of happiness were present.

I am thankful for my own eternal family.

thankful day 1

I have so many things I am thankful for and want to, every day, record one thing I am thankful for. It is, however, the month of thanksgiving. 

Today, I am thankful for, my husband and eternal companion, Tristan. 

He inspires me to be a better person. He makes me smile. He provides, protects, and presides over our little family. I love him.