Our Father's Day

We had a good day today despite the fact that Sean worked from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m.. :( He had an hour long break at 4:00, so Tate and I went and visited him and we all went and ate at Pancheros for a super early dinner. We had a mini Father's Day celebration and gave Daddy his gift. Then Tate and I headed to Target and came home and played all evening. We read 1000 books and played with cars and balls. I let Tate stay up a little later than usual until Daddy got home from work so they could spend a little bit of time together. I got some cute pics and a video. Hope everyone had a great Father's Day!

Here Tate is waiting for Daddy to come out for his break in the lawn at his work.

Tate was so excited that he got to stay up late and wait for Daddy to get home.

Can't you just see his excitement?!!!

Tate lovin' up on his Daddy.

Here are Daddy and Tate doing the motions from Little Einsteins...one of Tate's new favorite shows. You put your hands way up in the air and say, "Blast off!!!"

Here is a video of Daddy and Tate doing the motions for Little Einsteins. For those of you who haven't seen it, the Little Einsteins have to "pat pat pat pat pat" to get Rocket revved up to go and then put their hands in the air and yell "blast off!!!". It's cute to see Tate doing it along with the show. At the end of the video Tate is doing some dancing as usual. You can't really tell in the video but there is an interactive song that is on that he's dancing to. It says to stomp your feet (which you'll see him do in the video) and then STOP (which he also does in the video). It just cracks me up. The instant we say, "dance" he starts to break it down...it's so funny! He has some serious moves that I need to capture in video sometime. This video is kind of dark and he doesn't do some of his "signature dance moves" in it. I'll work on a brighter video of him dancing sometime soon. :-)

Little Einstein

Do you think he's teething????

Tate is constantly chewing on anything that gets near his mouth and is drooling more than ever. Sean was lifting Tate upside down over his head and I was taking pictures. When Sean flipped Tate over and I snapped the picture, I realized Tate had grabbed on to Sean's shirt in his mouth mid flip. I just thought it was funny!

Tate might be a little dramatic...

Every time I tried to get a smiling picture of him, the red light on my camera went off before it took the picture and he reacted with this face...

Happy Father's Day, Sean!

This boy ADORES his Daddy! Whenever Tate is with Daddy, he is sure to be smiling, laughing and squeeling in delight. He can't contain his excitement when Sean walks in the door from work. He could just play on the couch with Sean for hours, or push cars in the hallway with him all day long. Tate knows, whenever Daddy is around, fun is to be had. Not only that, but Sean is often the one Tate runs to for comfort when he's hurt (or just being dramatic) or when he wants to be held. When Daddy is at work and the phone rings, Tate perks up and says, "Da Da!" It is so amazing to watch them interact....to see the love pouring out of both of them when they are together.

Sean, I couldn't have hand picked a better companion to be the father of my children! You jumped in whole heartedly from day 1 when we decided to be parents and Tate grew in your heart just as deeply as he grew in mine. You have never hesitated to do any of the "duties" involved in parenting (except that weird phase that you refused to feed Tate cereal) :) and have always given Tate a love that only a father can give! I cannot wait to witness the bond that you have with Tate grow as time goes on. I know that he will learn so many amazing things from you through the years (hopefully not any more of your dance moves though...just kidding! :)). You are such an amazing man and I am so happy that Tate has such a great, hard working, loving, devoted role model to call Daddy. We love you more than words could ever express!!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Thoughts about my dad...

I remember when I was younger, I read somewhere that women tend to marry men that are like their fathers. I thought, I don't think that I am going to marry someone like my father. I will prove that statistic wrong. Not that I didn't love my father or think he was a great man. I did and DO! It's just that I was a teenager when I heard this and in my eyes, my dad wasn't "cool" like the type of guy I would have wanted to marry. He was my dad, he was, well...old. :) I was not the easiest teen either. I went through "a phase" of what many might call making "bad choices". My father was the one that was disciplining me and scolding me and I just was not going to marry a man like that! For gosh sakes, he should have let me do whatever I wanted, right?! :)

Well, fast forward several years. I still don't always make the right choices, I still may not be the easiest child in my parents' eyes, but I DO recognize now that my Dad is in fact, one of the "coolest" guys I know! I am so proud to call him my Dad. He is truly the hardest working man I know. He gives, gives, gives and then gives some more. He can tell a story better than anyone else. He will give a stranger the shirt off of his back. He can make the most serious person laugh until they pee their pants. He isn't the most vocal person when it comes to his emotions, but it doesn't matter...his caring, loving heart is something that speaks loudly through his actions, and actions definitely speak louder than words! Even when he doesn't agree with my choices, he is always a support to me...sometimes reluctantly :), but I know he will always be there for me no matter what. What girl wouldn't want to marry a man like this???

Turns out, Sean IS in fact a lot like my dad in many ways. The traits that Sean has that are like my dad's are the traits that I love most about him! Funny how things change in just a few years.

Thank you, Dad for being such an amazing father! Happy Father's Day! I love you!!!

A Birth Father's Love

This day cannot go by without thoughts of Brandon, Tate's birth father. Brandon is such an amazing person. He has an amazing, deep love for Tate that cannot be denied. The moment we met Brandon and the impact that meeting had on our lives will be etched in our memories forever. There are no words for the gratitude we have for him. The gift he gave us...wow. We think of him every single day. We thank God for him every single day. We will never be able to repay him. No matter how hard we try to express it, he will never know the love we have for him. Tate is able to see first hand the love that Brandon has for him...what a gift! Still, 20 months later...we are simply amazed. We love you, Brandon!

This boy LOVES books!

He might be up to no good...

Brusha...Brusha...Brusha...

BRUSHING TEETH

Tate loves to brush his teeth. He doesn't like me or Sean doing it for him, so after this video was taken, he had a freak out while we brushed them for him. As long as he's holding the toothbrush, he's happy. It's become part of his bedtime routine. After we brush his teeth, he walks into his bedroom saying "nigh, nigh" and "puppytag". He sleeps with his brown puppy and his taggie so that's what "puppytag" means.

Flood Watching

On Friday, we decided to go check out the flood at it's crest. We loaded up in the van and went down town. We put Tate is the stroller and walked down to the edge of the water. People were all over the place just walking, checking things out and taking pictures. It was like a carnival! Tate was in awe. I think he might have thought we were in Florida. ;) Anyway, we drove around and took some pictures. The second picture is of a building covered in plastic and sand bags. At the time, I just thought it was funny because it was literally several blocks away from any flooding. I made a comment to Sean that the owner may have gone a bit overboard with precautionary measures...so I took a picture. We laughed.

Well, it wasn't so funny today when we found out that in the middle of the night, a levee broke and that whole area is completely flooded! So I was wrong. The business owner did the right thing! It's crazy that the roads we were just driving on yesterday are now under about 6 feet of water!

Tate was pointing and saying, "woeeeeeee!"

This building is now flooded.

Tate just hangin' out as we drove around gawking.

I'm in trouble...

These last few days, Tate has been "acting up". I can't seem to figure out why or if it's just the start of a phase. I feel like he may be hurting or teething or who knows what, but he hasn't been acting like himself and by the looks of his soaking wet shirt, he HAS to be teething. Now I don't know if this is why he's been "acting up", but it's one theory.

He hits...only Sean and I though. I suppose this is a good thing. I mean, I don't want him hitting ANYONE, but if it's anyone, it's probably best it's us. He has been having serious tantrums that involve running around in a circle flailing about, screaming, hitting himself in the face and head and then either hitting his head on the wall, sink, chair, oven, door...pretty much whatever is near him or if nothing hard (that could hurt him) is within reach of his head, he will fall to the floor on all fours and just hit his head on the floor. Seriously...it this normal?!!! When he does this, I just try to walk away and not give him any attention because I think that's what he's seeking. When he hits or disobeys, we are really being super consistent with time out and it seems to work about half the time. I will continue to be consistent with that, but it is really hard when I go to get him out of time out for hitting me and I bend down and say, "Tate, you were in time out for hitting Mommy. You need to use gentle touches, we do not hit. You are a good boy, but that was a bad choice. I love you" and when I go in to hug him or pick him up from his time out chair...what does he do? He hits me HARD right in the face. Seriously, I know I am sensitive, but when he hits me with anger in his eyes...it breaks my heart! I can't help it. I have so much more heart break in the future I am sure. I am in trouble.

TGI Almost the weekend! :-)

I can't wait for the weekend! My day off on Tuesday was a little tease for me and now I long for another day off! The flood waters keep rising here...it's actually pretty terrible. Although, it is extremely bad in Cedar Rapids area. So sad! We are actually the fortunate ones.

Mom and Dad, Cassie, Paul and the kids are coming on Saturday. We look forward to hanging out with them. Sunday is Father's Day and Sean has to work. :( Boo. Tate and I plan to go meet him on his lunch and go out somewhere though. Then on Monday it's back to work. Boo again! Monday evening though, Brandon (Tate's birth father) is coming to visit and see Tate. We are really excited to get together for the evening. It's been since January that we've seen him!

Hopefully we'll have some fun pictures to document the weekend!

Nothing much else to report here.

Flood of 2008

Sean went downtown to take some pictures of the beginnings of the flood here in Des Moines. It's sad to say, but this (so they say) is just the beginning. Apparently the river is not going to crest until Sunday and will be at least 5 feet higher than it is in these pictures! These pictures don't even show the magnitude of this flood. I know that it is even worse in other areas of Iowa. It is so sad. We will try to get more pictures of it this weekend. With the continuing rains and water coming down to Des Moines from the north, who knows how bad it could get. They say that it is worse than the flood of '93. We are praying for the rain to subside.

A Family Day!

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to take a personal day to have some family time since Sean and I work opposite hours. Yesterday was the day! We went to the zoo in the morning and then went home and Tate took a nap while Sean and I just layed around and relaxed. Then, when Tate woke up, we went to run some errands and ate supper at at the new Chipotle in West Des Moines. Eating there solidified the fact that I like Pancheros 1000 times more! It was yummy though! :) It was such an amazing, relaxing, fun-filled day! We were blessed with perfect weather and had a wonderful time just being together as a family!

Tate and Daddy at the zoo.

They currently have an elephant exhibit. Tate loves elephants, so he was amazed...although, for some reason, his favorite animals were the otters. He was SO excited about them and kept saying, "woooooeeeeee odduh!"

He also really, really loved the aquarium!

You would think we could have managed to get at least one good picture of Tate and Mommy, but no, this is the best one. Tate has this new thing that when we are taking pictures, he wants to press the side of his face against mine, hence, the "lazy eye" in this picture.

And it seems that every time we manage to get a decent picture, it's blurry!

Red Letters: Living A Faith That Bleeds

I just finished reading this book and all I can say is, "WOW", it was very convicting and inspiring. It is a MUST READ...an easy read and a quick read. Here are a couple of excerpts that especially stood out to me...

"Why don't we act? Why don't we choose to make a difference? One reason is because we are afraid. We spend most of our time trying to protect what we have, fearing what would happen if it went away. When we do this, we become shackled to our possessions. In essence, we limit our range of motion. We can't reach far enough to offer compassion because our arms are too busy holding on to all that we own."

"Jesus is interested in what we are doing with our compassion and acts of mercy. He doesn't care about how religious we appear. If our Christian faith doesn't manifest into something that helps the life of another human being, it doesn't mean squat to him."

"For many Americans, life is defined simply by our "stuff." By the house we live in and by the car we drive. By the diploma we hang on the wall and the size of our bank account. But we weren't created so we could simply amass wealth and influence. We were created for something more. To live for something bigger than ourselves."

Seriously...read this book!

Rain, Rain Go Away...

We woke up to a pond in our basement. :( Luckily our basement is primarily used as a play room and most of Tate's toys are plastic and weren't hurt by the water. A book was ruined and a few stuffed animals got wet, but we threw those in the dryer and they are fine now. We have shop vac'd and soaked up tons of water with towels, we have fans going like crazy so the basement is a wind tunnel! It's amazing how much it has dried up since this morning. The problem is that there is much, much more rain in the forecast this weekend and next week. We have never had water in the basement here before, so hopefully it won't happen again, but with the way it's been raining and flooding around here, I have a feeling this might not be the end of it.

20 months!

Honestly, I am in shock that 20 months have gone by since Tate was born! Am I dreaming? I must be because I feel like we have the most amazing son! Love isn't even a big enough word to describe what I feel for him! He has changed Sean and I in ways that we never dreamed we would change. He has made us realize that we can be "those parents" that maybe should be doing things a different way, but can't because our son knows how to "work" us. We never thought we'd be "those parents". That's because we never knew the type of deep love we would have for our child or the way that a simple smile from him can make us do almost anything he wants us to! :) Okay, maybe this is something we should work on, but we feel like he's turned out to be quite the amazing toddler so far!

Though parenting has been a strain at times...parenting Tate has brought Sean and I closer together than we ever knew we could be. We love being his Mommy and Daddy! Still, when Tate cuddles into me, or when I hear his sweet little voice or feel his little hands touch my face, I have to pinch myself that he is my son...that God has allowed ME to be his Mommy! Watching Sean with him gives me so much joy! He is such an amazing Daddy and Tate adores him! Still, to this day, we will look at each other and say, "I can't believe he is our son!"

So it's been a while since we have had a "family photo session" done by my long armed husband who's great at pointing the camera in just the right spot! :) So here is our most recent family photo! See, who needs professional photographers?! ;)
Love is just not a big enough word...

For Nana S.

If it were up to Nana S., ALL children would have to wear helmets from the age of 1 to 3. This is for you, Nana...Tate being "safe". See, he is even obsessed with buckling up! No need to worry, Nana! :)

HMMMMM.....

Is Tate golfing or skiing????

Uh Oh

I made the mistake of letting Tate have his first taste of French Onion Dip. He kinda liked it...

Playing Cars

Tate is becoming a true little boy! He loves playing with his cars...it's one of his favorite things to do. He likes to sit in the hallway with Mommy or Daddy and wind up his cars and send them racing down the hall so that we can turn them around and send them back to him. As you can tell in the first picture, that is Tate's hamper overflowing with clothes and bath towels. Like I said in my previous post, I NEED to do laundry!

A whole lotta nothing...

Not a whole lot to write about this evening. I am tired and can't believe it's only going to be Wednesday tomorrow! I feel like this week is DRAGGING! Ugh. We have been SO busy at work. I have gotten a headache every day for the last week. The rain gets me down...I just want to see some sun! I can't believe it's already June, I am afraid summer is going to fly by too quickly this year. I am drowning in a heap of dirty laundry. It seems that unless I spend an entire day doing laundry, it will never get done! I have been trying to chip away at it, but for some reason it feels like we dirty as much every day as we wash. It's a never ending battle...laundry is something I have never been to fond of or too good at doing. Okay, so enough of my whining...

I am off to bed! Hopefully I'll wake up on the right side of the bed tomorrow and have a more up beat post!

Eventful Weekend

I love this little person so much it hurts!

We had a pretty nice weekend just being at home! On Saturday, while Sean was at work, I was trying to get some much needed laundry done and Tate was "playing" amidst the piles of dirty clothes. I turned my head for about 15 seconds and Tate managed to find a crate full of old, rusty tools hidden back in a corner in a little room off of the laundry room. I heard a thud and then screams...terrible, painful screaming. I ran into that little room to find Tate with a hammer in his hand and blood gushing from his mouth. I had no idea where the blood had come from and he wouldn't let me look, so I just let him get calmed down before I checked out the damage. The problem is, it would not stop bleeding! Finally, after about 5 minutes of gushing blood, it slowed down and I was able to see that Tate had sliced the left side of his lip from the outside edge all the way to his gums. I couldn't tell if he knocked a tooth out or anything because he wouldn't let me look. He ended up with a cut, fat lip and then today, when I was changing his diaper, he was laughing and I saw that he chipped a big chunk of his front, left tooth. :-(

After that whole fiasco, we headed to the grocery store (gotta love Aldi!) and then came home and he helped me unload groceries. This is his new favorite thing to do. He is so proud when he hands me something and I say, "thank you, Tate!", it's pretty sweet. We then headed over to Chris and Brenda's for an evening of grilling, and out door fun. :) The kids played, Tate loved the sand box and ate some sand as an appetizer, we had SUPER YUMMY homemade salsa, burgers, hot dogs and chips and pumpkin bars for dessert (compliments of me...aka, Hy-Vee). The boys then got baths and headed to bed and we stayed up and played cribbage. The girls whooped up on the boys as usual and we called it a night around 1 a.m.! I am tired today(notice the super hot picture of me above...I am pretty brave for even posting that!), but have managed to get some more laundry done and some pictures taken! Here's to another week flying by!

I love his faint dimples!

He has just started playing with his Diaper Champ...icky!

Bode and Tate being silly in the bath...

This is just funny to me...I totally cut his head off, but it's still funny! That fat part on the top lip, left side is where he cut his lip.

This is Tate acting "surprised"...