Thursday, August 31, 2006

What a CUTE Mommy! Believe it or not, this is PROGRESS! =) Just check a few pix down and you'll see how many bags/boxes were crowding the room...the Mommy has made progress! (no, she's not nesting yet, you'll know the day she nests...not only will our house and lives become organized and prepared, but she'll likely re-organize a couple of states) =)Now, just for the record, the TOILET works. And by works I mean it flushes whatever you drop into it WITHOUT LEAKING from anywhere! (and believe me, there are PLENTY of places for it to leak from!) The vanity and sink however, well, those are just placed there. There is SO MUCH prep work for something like a vanity to go in that is nearly insane...not quite...but man it sure is close. So, that HUGE list isn't finished yet, but man...
wow...today was completely insane.

work, of course, then baby apt @ 3:45 - went GREAT! Noah is JUST the right size and the doc even said that Andrea could stand to gain some weight, not like "go put on a few pounds," but it would be okay if she did.

We learned all sorts of neat stuff today too!
  • you can get an epidural up to 9cm dilated! =)
  • the doc can monitor Noah's heart rate via internet/pager/phone! whoa!
  • we can call the doc anytime during labor that he/she isn't there & we feel uncomfortable
  • we have GREAT pediatricians to choose from, but she recommended picking the one who had the best office staff, since that's who we'll deal with mostly
  • They would, as a rule, allow Andrea to go to 41 weeks w/ even talking of inducing or water breaking or anything (as long as everyone's healthy)
  • 42 weeks is up to Andrea & how she feels
  • they don't break water as a rule, unless pregnancy is NOT progressing
  • our delivery Doc will do the circumcision for us
anywayz, after learning all that, it was also great to learn today that you don't have to have anything but your vehicle registration to go to the VET. I never knew this! I had the little paper anyway, but thought that was interesting... But, "the ball and chain is coming off" according to a quick googol news links.
Andrea got the accessories all ready to go on the pack and play today. Setting up the biggest part, the pin, you see here, was the quickest and easiest...Andrea set up all the little whistles and bells it has...wow! LOTS!

Musical mattresses
So, from the guest room, this frame and headboard goes down here...
in the Grandparents' Suite. Then, the box & mattress off our bed comes down here to go on it.


Here's the NEW one! Samsclub has a labor day sale on mattresses... pretty good prices comparatively speaking. Layin' on it now, feels quite nice...we'll see in the morning ;)

Finally, after picking up mattresses, the new 6" thick pre-hung door for the closet of the Grandparents' Suite, and some more material for the basement, I got home, moved tons of mattresses around (Thanks ZMan and Mikey) and I even got to mow the entire yard! FUN!
Then I got the compression fittings on the pipes...WITHOUT burning up elements in our water heater ;) yay! I even got the toilet thingy cut off and sorta leveled...tomorrow is:
  • Grandparents' Suite blinds
  • razoring the glue off the floor where it got put out too far
  • Flooring transition
  • bathroom door
  • door knob
  • shower curtain
  • shower heads
  • Caulk next to tub on floor
  • baseboard
  • vanity
  • faucet
  • lighting
  • vanity switch
  • accessories on walls
I'm already tired just thinking about that stuff! man! ;)
Well, this mattresses is feeling REALLY great, so I rekon I oughtta go sleep test it now ;)

Sunday, August 27, 2006

The Baby Shower to end all baby showers!
Yes, Andrea and all the others got clean =) It is so evident that those who love give. God, the first and greatest lover of all, gave, gave, & GAVE some more! So many people gave so much to make such a wonderful baby shower for Andrea, Noah, & me! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

It was a busy day in the life of a Tanner today.
  • Baptized Aaron Brockman between 1st Service & Sunday School! YAY BROCKMANS! (good example big brother!)
  • Teach Sr High Sunday School
  • 2nd Service KIDS CHURCH! 'bit of a change in format today as our object lesson for Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled," was a BRUNCH! We had the KIDS come hungry today and we all experienced what it felt like to be hungry together - then we ate a GREAT brunch and played on the new playground together! REALLY fun! =) Check out the pix on the GCC Blog!
  • Baby Shower (hi to family & stuff)/food/TMan home
  • Pre-Marital Counselling
  • Glue for basement bathroom linoleum
  • Sayin' Hi to the family after baby shower
  • Gatherin' the REST of the stuff for layin' linoleum
  • finally layin' linoleum! =)
  • dinner
  • glue & roller'd the linoleum
  • saw all the baby shower stuff (that had to have taken 45 minutes!)
  • finally got to bloggin' all this crazy stuff! :) BUSY DAY! =)
Here are some of my favorites from today:
From left to right checkin' out my first linoleum job ;)





Knee deep in loot! What a VERY CUTE 35 week pregnant wife! That's right! Less than FIVE WEEKS 'til the boy comes out to say HI! ;)


Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Here are some more finished lookin' shots from the Grandparents' Suite, the Storage Room (Thanks Leland for the AMAZING shelves PAINTED and EVERYTHING!)

The first door hung in the basement! (entrance to the storage room)


Check out that Grandma & Mommy makin' the little boy's room look good for him! =)
You can't see the baby boy's bed b/c it's so redneck rigged that you'd laugh it into oblivion. However, you'd also ask us to make you one. So, we'll save the controversy and just say, Noah is going to be a little bit redneck, and a LOT BIT safe! =) that baby crib has about $27 in it now. (and I've even got most of the plywood left over!) :)

that's right, the walls are even painted and the crib, changing table, and shelves are all up! OH, and the chest of drawers! =) So far, we've got $64 in the entire room. I'm quite proud. So far, Andrea's even happy w/ how it looks w/ how little we've poured into it! I'm sure Noah will cost plenty, so we've enjoyed saving $$$ where we can...and spending it all sorts of other places...like 20billion dollars for a stinkin' door! (not really, it's just amazing how expensive pre-hung doors can be for what they are) =)

Well, we're nearing 100 basement pictures now...and some of them are Noah's room too...but it still counts...trust me ;)

Monday, August 21, 2006

WHEW! Here goes nothing! =)

Dad and I got started on the flooring okay. We soon figured out that "it's not rocket science." However, we'd probably both admit that it's not easy work - there was a reason that kneepads were for sale in the hardwood flooring isle =)


There's the Little Wife helping hold down the wood while I knock the ends together. Apparently you do NOT need the special little tool to do that. YAY!

Here are a few shots of the progression of the floor being finished up.
(lookin' in from the storage room / bathroom area)


(lookin' back towards the Den, bathroom, storage room L to R)

Meanwhile, up in the little boy's room...
Look @ that little lady go! =) Such a hard workin' mommy! WOW! What a lucky little Noah to have a Mommy who wants his room to look nice.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

There's the fan up and running! We REALLY needed that for the flooring job - light was critical to seeing where the wood was completely snapped in or where it still needed to be pushed a little more. (click the pic) and check out the trim job that Andrea's dad did on the window and the little water shut off valve door! NICE lookin' eh? :) You'll also notice the paint job that her parents did in there. The previous pics only had primered walls - here's the final coat.

There lies the padding and some of the wood for the floor...oh boy...what a job...
Last shot of the primered bathroom & the paint color trimmed in above the tub and along the ceiling. Here's the finished paint job in the bathroom (with dad waving around the corner) :)

Epoxy on the storage room floor. Primered walls - no more paint for this room as it's zoned STORAGE! =) BIG Shelves to follow upon completion of the baseboard and the 5 day drying limit for heavy moving on the expoxy.

Well, my Mom and Dad just left tonight around 9:20 and we put in a good day and a half down there AND up stairs too! YEAH! That's right, Noah's room got some attention! =) He's finally kicked mommy enough that she decided that he can have a painted room too! Not really, he's been a
very good boy, still! I hope he's not getting all his good behavior out of his system. =)

More updates on the grandparents' suite to follow...

Thursday, August 17, 2006


40 Days and 40 Nights.
That's how much sleep we've got left (according to Noah's scheduled due date). =)

Today was the first of Mommy's weekly appointments leading up to the delivery of the boy. Noah is still growing like a good boy should, though Mommy hasn't gained any weight in the past two weeks! (I think that deep down she's enjoying that a tiny little bit) However, Mommy's concerns were calmed by the Doc when she said "You're right on track for weight and his size." Noah's heartbeat was in the 130's today. It's really amazing how strong and much more slow it sounds compared to his 20-something week heartbeat that sounded so quick and tiny! What a GROWING BOY!

The Fisher Grandparents just left today after putting a very large dent in the amount of work left to complete the grandparents' suite in the basement. And tomorrow the Tanner Grandparents arrive to hopefully put the finishing blows on the Grandparents' room. This week has been the most noticeable strides made down there w/ ceiling texture, primer, paint, floor epoxy, baseboards, & window trim all installed.

Satan is working in ceiling fans now. Apparently he's got a new scheme called "remote controlled" fans. Our encounter w/ that devious scheme was unfortunately a costly one. It cost us FOUR hours of jacking w/ the stinkin' thing. Apparently you can have EITHER the remote OR the two switch operation. NOT BOTH. DIE FAN DIE! (it's going back tomorrow - evil fan!)

The new fan is up and running. It took a WHOLE 45 minutes to put it up. And believe it or not, it's ready to roll!


Here are some pix of what's happened w/ the basement lately. Hopefully the fan will have blades 2morrow & a floor will be installed in the bedroom too! WAHOO!

ceiling drying up in the grandparents' room. no ceiling fan here yet! ;)
This just sorta gives you an idea of what kind of progress was made by the Fisher's these past few days!
Storage room ceiling drying. That texture gun got me textured too! =) Ahh well, it did a good job! ;)
This is the last look @ the beautiful Green Board in the bathroom! It's all primered, textured and painted now! =) Ready for the flooring!

Leland, painting the inside of the closet for the Grandparents' room. Finally got that 6" wide door ordered for that opening too! MAN! that's the most expensive door in our whole basement! =) Boy do I learn a lot of things doing this! =)


Well, I'll get some more pix up here later. maybe tomorrow before we start in on the floor and stuff. For now, it's time to enjoy a COMPLETE NIGHT's rest! God-willing, only 30-something left of these! =)

oh, and if your blog view doesn't look like it does @ the top, you should download and be using Firefox.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

So, for those of you wondering, including myself, HERE is what HAPPENED this SUMMER! =)

June 5-10 VBS! If you're not ready now, you ain't NEVER gettin' ready!
June 11 - VBS Teacher Deco Day & last touches in the gym
June 12-16 VBS! WOW that was FUN! :) finally uploaded the pictures!
June 17 - early AM cleaning following the closing program
June 18 - Welcome VBS visitors to GCC & KIDS Church for the First time
June 22 - clean up VBS! (yes, it actually happened over the course of 12 hours)
June 24 - July 2 - Texas - Mexico Mission GREAT Pictures here! and more on the GGC Blog
July 3-7 - Tanner Family Vacation w/ Mom & Dad Tanner in Gulf Shores, AL
July 8 - Fisher Family Reunion in Salem, IL
July 9-14 - Scenic Hills Camp Intermediate II - Grant's Week - WICKED FUN! (still lookin' for pix of this)
July 15-20 Hilton Head, SC & Savannah, GA (The Official Babymoon) pix here
July 22 - "Prepared Child Birth Class" LAMAZ!
July 23 - Sports Shorts Fishing @ Patoka Lake! WAHOOO!
*** GET WICKED SICK HERE ***
July 24-28 CIY @ Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL
July 29 Drew & Jessica Pommert's reception in Salem, IL
July 30 KIDS Church Field Trip day to Southeast Christian Church (learned BUNCHES of stuff!)
August 1&2 Wright-Patterson AFB & the National Air Force Museum FREE! just me and Dad
August 5 - our FIFTH Wedding Anniversary! WOW! (also, Olney, IL married one of my best High School Friends, Greg Keller to his wife, Laura)
August 6 - the First Curriculum I ever Wrote launches in KIDS Church - no one died and the KIDS even SMILED! (I threatened 'em - it worked) :)
*** Able to Kiss my Wife again here *** whew! =)
August 10-12 The Summit - hosted @ Northside

maybe more pix later...and some commentary...maybe...I'm TIRED! :)

and the books...oh WOW the books! and the PODCASTS! WOW! SO MUCH TO LEARN!

This Summer's Reads:

Fictional Nonsense
White - Christopher Whitcomb

Stuff that's making a better Husband/Daddy/Minister
Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller - wow...I need to read that again...or @ least the folded over pages - the very appropriate tagline REALLY Describes this book: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

A Tale of Three Kings - Gene Edwards WOW A GREAT book on leadership. Thanks Jess & Drew!

A Life With Purpose
- the Biography of Pastor "Richard" (as GCC staff refer to him) Warren. This dood clearly plans more things than I think 4 Star Generals ever even dreamed of planning! This guy is a plan-o-matic w/ a Holy Spirit Turbo built in! WOW! It is truly unreal how purposeful his entire life has been. Inspiring to try to do life that way!

Confessions of a Reformission Rev - a GREAT book about how BADLY screwed up we can be and God can STILL squeeze something GOOD out of us! :) A Mark Driscoll stand up bit IN a BOOK :) FUNNY book, nothing too new in terms of ideas really...just a really stick to your guns sorta guy :)


Stuff on the night stand
Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistable Communication - Andy Stanley I was priveleged to hear Andy talk @ the Summit (linked above) yesterday, and got this book @ the same time - WOW! Written like Lienconi's GREAT books on teams and it's even LONGER and MORE applicable to something I do EVERY WEEKEND! =) YAY!



In The Bullpen
On the shelf:
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
This is just the COOLEST thing. I've read SO MANY illustrations that I've heard the "big names" use! WOW! Apparently I stumbled upon one of the books that "they" read. ;) GREAT book so far! Didn't realize how much organizational stuff would be in here! hmph. OH, and I HAD it on my wishlist...'til I found it in my office! Cool! FREE BOOKS! :)

Seven Practices of Effective Ministry
Seven Practices of Effective Ministry


On the wishlist:
The Next Generation Leader: Five Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future
The Next Generation Leader: Five Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
this is like scary cool...from what I hear it's not completely conclusive proof, but puddin' enough to be proof that we usually know in the first gut instinct what needs to happen! WOW!

Any good military biographies out there...haven't seen or heard of much, and Amazon doesn't seem to want to find it...wierd...

anyway, on to the podcasts:
Mars Hill - Seattle - mostly Mark Driscoll stuff

North Point Community Church - Andy Stanley

Mars Hill - Grand Rapids

and some of The Vine every now and then... podcast on bottom left


Wednesday, August 09, 2006

okay, that counter can't REALLY say 48 days! no WAY! I swear we just found out we were pregnant!

48 days is certainly sounding very much like a month and a half, even moreso, it sounds like less than seven weeks! Oh boy!

It's definately hitting me that a little tiny life is going to come into our home and sleep in his little bed w/ all his little everything, or should I say, little poopy everything!

Maybe it's God getting me ready for Noah, but sleeping sure isn't as easy now, I just lay there and wonder what he's going to need and how I'm going to figure out what it is that he needs. The scary part is that the easiest things to figure out are the things he needs while he's still unable to TALK! He's going to get older too! So begins our quest to become parents, even before he's here...I can now see why there are so many books and journals and doctors and psychiatrists!

It certainly changes the way we're looking at everything now. Before the summer started, it changed the way that I looked @ how I planned a summer full of youth ministry. It was basically, Andrea/Noah can't go to that (for whatever reason). Now, it's Chris/Andrea/Noah will have to travel w/ a CARAVAN (literally and figuratively) to all of these places so that Noah can be safe and healthy and stuff. Oh BOY!