We celebrated today...

...by going to a pumpkin patch.

When you have to take your own family picture...this is sometimes the best you can get.

Tate enjoyed the petting zoo. He would have stayed in there for hours!



Then we went to Stella's for dinner with Chris, Brenda and Bode. Tate had a Birthday Sundae.

When we got home, Tate opened his gifts from Mommy and Daddy. He got his first backpack...Handy Manny.

He also got a Handy Manny Paint with Water Book that he LOVED. He is quite the artist and had so much fun painting with water. Personally, I liked it as well...NO MESS! :)

It was a great day. Sean took the 2nd half of his day off so he could spend it celebrating Tate's birthday. Tate was a sweetie all day. It was really probably one of the best days of his life so far. He was so happy and singing in the car and when we got home tonight after dinner, he was dancing around playing with all of his new toys. He gets to bring a cake to daycare tomorrow for a little celebration they will be having there for him as well. He has had such a great birthday!

The Birthday Boy

Eating breakfast...

I think he sensed it was a special day!

Last Minute Visit

Cassie, Paul and the kids came to Des Moines on Saturday for the day. They went as a family to Living History Farms and then we all gathered at Chris and Brenda's for fun and a yummy dinner. It was a short, but fun visit. The kids had a ball and I believe the adults did too!

As you can see, things can get a bit crazy with the kids in our family...

Brigg is showing off his funny tooth in this picture. It was literally hanging by a thread and he has since lost it.

Cassie and Ayla

Oh Ayla.

I mean, seriously.

Our Sweet Boy Is 2!!!!

Two years ago today, without us even knowing, our son was born. I can't even think of the words to write about this amazing little man. He is more than we ever dreamed we would have in a child. He is the most amazing little person and we fall in love with him more every day. The last two years have brought with them the most special moments, the most wonderful additions to our family, the most love we have ever felt. We are humbled that we were chosen to raise this child. He is the light of our lives. He is full of joy and excitement. He brings to our lives such a huge amount of fullfillment. When I look into those eyes of his, my heart melts. His little voice makes me smile and his sweet smile could turn a bad day into a good one.

We knew this child was meant to be our son from the moment we saw him. It's still amazing to me that this was always the plan for our lives. Long before Sean and I met, God knew that we would end up together, He knew that we would be adopting Tate. He created Tate for us to raise. What an enormous blessing!

This day cannot come without constant thoughts and prayers for Tate's birth parents. Their unselfish love for Tate is what brought him to us. We will forever pray for a way to somehow show them our gratitude. No words can express this gratitude and love we have for them. I thank God every day for exposing me to the world of adoption, for opening my eyes and my heart to this thing that has forever changed me in so many ways.

To my sweet boy,

I love you from the depths of my soul, a love that cannot be described and that will only grow stronger. You have brought to my life a new sense of purpose. To be able to be your mommy is my greatest joy. Some of my favorite things about you are your wet kisses, your sweet smiles, hearing you call me "mommy", your cuddles, watching you dance, witnessing you with daddy, walking into your room and seeing you standing in your crib with your arms stretched out for me to pick you up, dancing with you and our "talks" while we're cuddling before bed. I could go on for days listing the things that I love about you. You are so loved and were an answer to so many of Mommy and Daddy's prayers.

I love you more than words could ever express!

Love,
Mommy

They were a hit!

Birthday Balloons

I'm not sure that Tate was more excited about anything he got than he was about these balloons! Thank you Nana, Papa, Cassie, Paul, Brigg, Lani and Ayla!

so blessed...

to have this little sweetie call me "mommy".

Growing Like A Weed!

Tate is becoming quite the "big boy". He's getting so tall and regularly wearing 2T sized clothes. He got some of those fancy light up shoes a month ago or so and I thought they'd fit him later in the winter and luckily I decided to try them on him yesterday morning because they fit great! He LOVED stomping his feet and seeing them light up. It was pretty cute. I never thought I would be one of "those moms" who let their child wear those awful shoes, but I was wrong. Seeing him get so excited about them is worth the thought of him wearing them! I stayed away from the character ones, he just got boring Sketchers, but I am sure we'll graduate to the ones with characters on them in a year or so! Oh well.

The pictures above are of Tate before going to daycare on Thursday morning. He was so excited to show Kris his new shoes!

He knew I needed that...

Since Tate is turning 2 on Sunday, I have been thinking a lot about him no longer being a baby. I have been reading my old posts from when he was born, watching old videos of him saying his first word and learning to walk and just been reminiscing.

Tonight, about an hour and fifteen minutes after I layed him down for bed, Tate woke up screaming. He NEVER does that. If he wakes up in the night, it is because he's sick or has a fever...period. So Sean comes charging up the stairs as I am already heading to his room. I knew he was going to be burning up, there's no other reason he'd wake up. So I walk into his room and he is standing in his crib, arms reaching for me. I pick him up and he lays his head on me and I soon realize he's not evenly slightly feverish. He's fine...aside from a poopy diaper. I am relieved. I changed his diaper, sit down in the recliner and he just melts into me. It was for a moment, like he was my baby again (well, except for the fact that he's 3 times larger). He snuggled in and started to snore (an awake snore...common for him). About 3 minutes later I whispered, "time to go to sleep" and he whispered back, "ni ni" and he leaned in for a kiss, I layed him down and he's been sleeping since. I don't know why he woke up, but I kinda liked it. :) I needed my baby back for a moment and I think he knew that.

This is not abnormal in our house...

It's a fact, my child is a super messy eater. I'm talkin' possibly the messiest 2 year old eater, um, well...ever! So when we feed him Spaghetti-O's, we are in for quite the mess. This is what it looked like tonight. I must say that I was actually fairly impressed with his cleanliness tonight with his Spaghetti-O's. Yes, that's right, this is actually the cleanest he's probably eaten Spaghetti-O's before. Then, he got some in his hair and that was the end.

We thought it necessary...

...to give Tate a bath after dinner.

Tate in the Tub

My loves...

I love these pictures of Sean and Tate. I love these 2 boys so much!

New Jammies

Grandma and Grandpa Shingledecker got these new jammies for Tate and he LOVES them. He was so proud to show them off to us. He couldn't get them on fast enough!

Our new laptop!