Man's Best Friend

This is the story of Tucker and Rusty...

Rusty is our 9 year old Weimaraner.  I bought Rusty for Dustin as a Christmas present the first year we started dating, our senior year in high school...well actually my Granny bought him, because I didn't have any money back then!  He has literally been mine and Dustin's baby since then.  Rusty has been with us everywhere.  All of our moves, every house we've lived in, and a part of our lives since Dustin and I have been together!

Rusty has always been the center of our attention...so needless to say once we had Tucker, we knew things would be different for him.  We didn't know how he would respond once we brought Tucker home, because he is so high energy and gets so excited!  Much to our surprise, Rusty pretty much ignored Tucker.  He really paid him no attention at all, maybe because he knew he was now going to be THE baby of the house.

We almost had to force Rusty to acknowledge Tucker in the beginning...and showing Tucker any sign of affection/attention was out of the question!  Can we say jealous?!

As the days went on though, Rusty came to accept that Tucker was going to be living with us and we explained to him over and over that they are brothers. 

Also, as the days went on, Tucker became more alert and started having play time, rolling over, and becoming more active and Rusty was right there watching him learn and grow.

Tucker then started to crawl, roll, and even roll into Rusty.

Rusty, who we sometimes refer to as Eeyore, will occasionally moan and if he could talk, would probably be saying, "Oh bother.."

Just look at his face, don't you think that's what he would say?!

Tucker, on the other hand, LOVES Rusty!  Seriously, he cannot get enough of him.  Now that is he is crawling, he follows Rusty all over this house.  He just laughs, smiles, and makes all kinds of noises trying to talk to Rusty.   When Tucker first started to laugh, Rusty was the one who made him laugh the most!  You would think Rusty is the funniest thing ever!  

So now that Tucker is pulling up on Everything, this includes Rusty.  Rusty is not a very big fan of this...I try to tell him though that Tucker is learning and he needs to be patient with him.  We'll see how well he listens.  

For now though, Rusty is slowly starting to love Tucker more and more every day that goes by and Tucker thinks Rusty is the greatest and funniest thing he has ever seen!   I'm sure as time goes by and Tucker begins to drop more food on the floor Rusty will feel the same way!

Teething time...

Once again, it's been teething time for us.  Tucker got his first tooth around 4 months old and has since cut a total of SIX teeth!  That's right, six teeth in 8 short months :(   The first four weren't so bad...a little fussy, but nothing too extreme.  These last two...woo, well these have been quite the ordeal!  They are the top two teeth on the right side.  His front large one and the next tooth beside it.

With all this teething, come lots of symptoms which include, but are not limited to (I just sounded like a warning for a pharmaceutical commercial haha)...Fussiness, congestion, nasal stuffiness, sleeplessness, restlessness, and gum sensitivity.  Those are the main ones we are dealing with over here!  Poor Tucker boy.  I quickly called for reinforcement...

First on the list...is Camilia.  

Camilia is a homeopathic medicine which contains some great all natural medicines that help to soothe painful gums and irritability.  It comes in single liquid doses that look like this...

You then just twist off the cap and squirt the whole amount into the baby's mouth.  You can repeat this every 15 minutes as needed.  Safe for children 1 month and older.

Second up...

Homeopathic teething tablets made by Hyland's Baby.  Dissolvable tablets that help to relieve restlessness and wakeful irritability due to teething and 100% natural.

I love both of these medicines.  First off, because they really work.  Tucker seems so much better after I have used them.  An added benefit to these, is that they are homeopathic/all natural...which makes me Very happy!  Whenever possible, I try to avoid true medicines as much as I can.  Of course, if needed I will bring out those.  With these teeth, I have had to add some Infant's Advil every now and then too.  

And lastly...

for all the stuffiness and for his runny nose.  I use the tried and true cool mist humidifier.  I swear by a good humidifier!  It truly can work wonders!

Plus, I add these vapo pads for babies that smell heavenly!  They make Tucker's room smell like Rosemary and Lavender and help him to not be so stuffy...love em'!

So...when the teething time gets rough, it's nice to have things that actually work and can make our sweet baby feel better.  I have been trying to get a picture of the teeth for all you readers, but it's been near impossible!  Tucker makes it pretty hard to snap a picture of his new pearly whites :)  Those new teeth have been very mean to him, but he's quickly getting back to his happy self!  Thankfully!

Pulling Up

Tucker has been crawling and on the move for almost 2 months now.  It's been really fun chasing him everywhere!  It really is so exciting watching him explore and discover all sorts of new things.  He has recently added a whole new element to this though...pulling up and he is in full force pulling up on anything he can!

It started out something like this...

And that was only the beginning!

His GiGi then gave him a piano for Christmas and this is when it all started.  This piano is what made him discover this new adventure of standing and pulling up.

And then it happened...

And he was so proud!

He plays on this piano all day long.  He's probably training to become the next Beethoven, or that's what I think! :) 

He is on a mission all day long trying to find the next best thing to help him stand and to pull up on!

Eating Starfish...

And he loves playing with that baby in the mirror too :)

This also happened...

So Dustin and I spent Saturday morning lowering his crib mattress.  And then I realized that with me being a whopping 5'1" tall, it has made for quite the challenge of getting him in and out of there, especially when he's sleeping!  No one ever tells you about these things...when you are at a height disadvantage you just have to figure them out for yourself :)

We are doing our best at making sure Tucker is staying safe while learning to pull up on all these new things!  And with each new milestone, we are having so much fun!  Needless to say, it's been pretty busy over at the Vann household.  

Which makes for tired Baby and Daddy...

and Mommy too!

In the meantime, Tucker boy will just keep playing his piano and training for his first big solo performance!

Review Time!

I like products that work, are efficient, make life simpler, and most importantly save us money!  So...when I find things that fit into these categories, I like to share so others can enjoy too!

A little backstory...
I am pretty neurotic when it comes to photos and photo storage.  For example, I have all these great pictures on my iPhone.  Dustin gave me my newest iPhone the day before Tucker was born.  So...literally my pictures on this phone start at day # 1 of Tucker's life.  With that being said, it's always made me a little crazy that something is going to happen to my phone before I can back these up or have them printed.  Which is one the reasons I love Facebook and Instagram for picture sharing and storage.  That way if anything ever happens to our computer, phones, etc...at least they will always be there on a site and we can access them from anywhere.  Also, as much as I love how digital/technological everything is now when it comes to pictures...it still makes me a little sad that lots of my pictures never get printed because of this reason.
That was the backstory.

One day I happened to stumble upon the Postal Pix app and I am SO glad I did.  It's an app designed specifically for the iPhone for printing pictures and then they mail them to your door!  It's awesome.  All different sizes of pictures available at great prices.  The quality of the pictures are great too.  The other cool thing is, if you choose to print any photos you've edited in Instagram they are printed in 4x4 squares and look sort of vintage, which I love!

Like this...

Another Instagram favorite hanging on the fridge now, thanks to Postal Pix

So...I ordered all the pictures that I hold near and dear to my heart, off of my phone, starting with Tucker's first days up until recently.  The app makes ordering super easy, very affordable, and delivered to my door within just a few days!  Now all those pictures I worried about losing are tucked away safely.  I don't know about you, but our pictures are some of our most prized possessions!  Here are a few of my favorites over the past 8 months of Tucker's life.  Enjoy :)

 Tucker's 2nd day in this world.

First time to the Beach.

First time to Pensacola...look at how little he was!

I could go on and on, but I'll stop now...those are some of my favorites so far though!

When I find things I enjoy, I love to share...so I think I am going to make this review thing something I try and do weekly!  Be on the lookout, because you might just find something you really like! :)

Let's talk Baby Food...

Before Tucker was even born, I knew I wanted to make his baby food.  The main reason for this is because, I want to know exactly what he is eating, without any additives or ingredients I don't know about. By making his food, I know he is getting pure, fresh, food with nothing extra added.  With all of the weird ingredients in food these days it just scares me.  Food is just not as simple as it used to be in the old days!  When I was pregnant, I was so careful about anything I put in my body.  I wouldn't even eat McDonalds! (watch Food Inc. and you'll never want to eat it again either!)  So...now that Tucker is here, I want to be just as careful about what is going into his little body.  Call me crazy, but I think, because our food has changed SO much is one of the many reasons there are SO many new diseases, sicknesses, disorders, etc...which led me to make all of Tucker's food.  And I love doing it, it's fun!

It starts out like this...

Today I just happen to be making Tucker some Asparagus and Butternut Squash.

I also added a little mint to the Asparagus and Green Beans, which he loves :)

I start off by peeling and chopping whatever vegetables or fruit I am making that day.  And put them in the Beaba Babycook to steam and puree them.  I Love the Beaba, because it does both steaming and pureeing!  It's super easy to use and I highly recommend it to anyone!  I make a variety of different foods with the Babycook.  Some of Tucker's favorites include Zucchini, Sweet Potatoes, Pears, Mangos, Peaches, Plums, Apples, and Green Beans. 

After I've pureed, I then transfer the food to whatever I'm going to store it in.  I usually store Tucker's food in one of two things.  The Beaba flower or Green Sprouts cubes. These guys...

The Beaba flowers are great for freezing!  Simply put the food into the flower and freeze..when you are ready to use the food, it pops right out in perfect 2 oz. servings.

Then you just heat and serve!  Pretty neat, huh?


I use the Green Sprouts cubes more for when Tucker is at school and then also when we are out and about.  The cubes are like reusable baby food jars!  I can also label them for when he goes to school.  They are great too!  So instead of Gerber jars, this is what I travel with :)

Like I said before, I love making his food!  It doesn't take a lot of time and it's very cost efficient as well.  I also, love knowing he is getting fresh food chalked full of nutrition!  When it comes time for Tucker to eat, I microwave to warm it up or if we are out I just serve at room temperature since the food has usually been in the diaper bag.



My main goals when feeding Tucker are to make sure he is healthy and happy...

And I think so far...my mission has been accomplished!

Tucker's Dedication Day

"Start off children on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

Proverbs 22:6

Tucker's dedication was this past Sunday at our church, Church of The Highlands.  It was a very special day filled with lots of prayers for our Tucker.  As hard as it is to comprehend, because I really can't imagine anyone loving Tucker more than I do, God does.  God is love.  If it weren't for him I wouldn't even be able to experience this incredible love that I have for Tucker.  I am thankful that God entrusted us to be Tucker's parents, more thankful than I have ever been before in life.  I Love this little boy more than any words could EVER express!

I pray that Tucker will grow up to become a bold man of God.  I pray that Dustin and I can help him become this.  I pray that we can guide, lead, and teach Tucker exactly the way we should and help him to understand just how great the love of Jesus is!

We Love you Tucker Boy! :)

Prolonging the Inevitable...

Websters defines inevitable as...
unable to be avoided, evaded, or escaped; certain;necessary.


I'd say I'm pretty good at prolonging this.  I wait until the very end, until there is no other option, in some areas of life.  I've debated on whether to even share this post, because this has been such a tragic subject for me, hence the prolonging of it! 


A little backstory...before Tucker was born, a sweet co-worker handed down to me this Beautiful cradle that she had.  She told me, "it'll be great for when he first comes home to have by your bed, just for those first nights when he needs to be next to you and Dustin."  I was so thankful for this thoughtful gift.  She even had the bumpers custom made out of this beautiful Chenille, ivory fabric.  See for yourself...

So, when Tucker came home this is where he slept.  And this happens to be the place he still sleeps 7 months later!  First off, let me say this is not just your average size bassinet or cradle.  It's essentially like a miniature crib.  He still has PLENTY of room and loves this thing!  And I know he loves it, because he has slept through the night since he was around 8 weeks old people!  In the early months, any time anyone would mention moving him to his crib (or big bed as I refer to it) I would think..."I just can't yet".  I would respond with, "He is sleeping so well in the cradle, why mess up this wonderful routine we've established?!"  And then I would quickly end the conversation by saying something like, "I am going to let him start sleeping in there very soon" and then I would change the subject :)


So here we are 7 months later and I have Majorly prolonged the inevitable.  How do I know this you ask?  Well, because Tucker woke me up 2 mornings ago up on all fours peeking over the side of the cradle.  How else do I know?  (The next reason may be the reason I was hesitant to post this, but I'm a blogger now and I want to be able to share these new adventures in parenting...so here it goes.)  Tucker also just rolled off of our bed for the first time ever last night!  Which of course, makes you feel like the worst parent ever!  Thankfully, he sustained no injuries and is still the happiest baby I know.  Although, I am going to take these two things happening two days in a row as signs from the Lord that it is time.  Time for the big bed and making this this transition inevitable, unfortunately!


I know Tucker is going to do great with the transition.  He's napped in his crib and sleeps well pretty much anywhere we are with a little white noise on in the background.  It's not like he has to be in that cradle to sleep through the night.  As for me during this transition it will be a little sad, which is why I have been prolonging the inevitable.  Tucker is too mobile now though.  If I had it my way, I would have him sleeping in that cradle until his legs were hanging over the edge, but I cannot risk his safety and him falling out of the beautiful cradle for my own selfishness of me wanting him to be next to us.  So...as of tonight, I am putting our video monitors to good use as he sleeps soundly in his room right next door to us.  Wish us luck...well I guess just wish me luck, because it looks like Tucker is doing just fine already :)