Excited...

I am so excited for several reasons...here are my top ten! :)

1. College football started today!
2. Iowa Hawkeyes play on Saturday!
3. It's not so hot and fall is coming!
4. Tate took 4 crawling "steps" today!
5. Tate just learned how to pick food up and put it in his mouth...for some reason, he couldn't do that before and it's like all of a sudden today it clicked!
6. Tate pulled himself up today...I think it was a fluke because he hasn't done it since, but oh well, I am still excited about it!
7. I got my eyebrows waxed for the first time in about 11 months! This is good for me considering I used to do it quite frequently.
8. I hooked 2 friends up and they completely hit it off and are both really excited! :) (I am such a match maker! ha.)
9. We're going to visit family and friends this weekend in Muscatine!
10. I got my hair cut the other day and I LOVE it!

So that's my top ten...can you tell I am excited?! :)

Doctor visit

On June 9th, Tate had his 9 month check up and we were happy because he had a nasty cough going on for about a week. We found out that he had croup, so we treated it with Robitussin, Vicks Baths, Baby Vicks Vaporub and a Cool Mist humidifier. His cough started sounding more productive and we thought he was getting better. Well, we were wrong...he just kept coughing and coughing these last several weeks. His cough wasn't very frequent, only a few times per day he would have a bit of a coughing attack and we would also hear him coughing in the night. It hasn't been accompanied by any other cold like symptoms so we just thought it would eventually go away. Well, it's been almost 2 months and I couldn't take it anymore. I took him to Dr. Timboe to see what was going on. Tate has always been fine at the Doctor's office, but today, as soon as Dr. Timboe got near him, he started shaking from the core! It was so sad! He didn't cry, he just whined and was grabbing onto me for dear life and couldn't stop shaking. I don't know if he just got to the age that he can now remember what sometimes happens (shots!) at the doctor or what the deal was, but he was truly terrified. Anyway, to make a long story short, Dr. Timboe thinks he might have asthma. :( He's not sure, he said it may just be allergies, but right now he has prescribed some medicine that will address both asthma and allergies and we're going to give it 10 days or so and see if he's improved. If not, we're going to have to go to plan B. I just want my poor baby to stop coughing! I hope it's not asthma, but honestly I don't want it to be allergies either! I have had both and neither are fun! Anyway, if you all could say a quick prayer for him, we would appreciate it! We'll keep you posted!

Hangin' Out

Here is a video of Tate saying he's 1. It's kind of dark, so it's hard to see him holding up his finger up, but he's really getting the hang of it. Also, there's video of him reading in the tub too! It's just been a while since I posted a video so I thought I would add one.


Hangin' Out

TipTuesday is back!

Okay, for all of you who don't remember, last spring Tip Tuesday was put to rest for the summer. Well, it's back! So think of tips and post them in my comment section after reading my tip on Tuesdays! I will try to post a tip every Tuesday! These tips can be anything from making things quick and easy in day to day life to money saving tips...anything you want!

Okay, here’s a hair tip for all of you girls with curly or wavy hair:

After washing your hair, dry it with a t-shirt by squeezing the moisture out of it. Then scrunch it up with the t-shirt. Put your gel or curling product in it and scrunch it in really well. Use a diffuser on your blow dryer and flip your head over and start drying it. Don’t touch your hair with your hands after you’ve put your product in it, this will break down your product and make your curls/waves frizzy. The more wet your hair is when you start to dry it, the curlier it will be when it’s dry. This technique can make even slightly wavy hair curly!

And for all of you girls/boys who don't have curly hair and could care less about the above tip:

Homemade Pretreating Stain Remover

1/2 cup ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
2 Tbs liquid soap
2 qts water
Mix all ingredients in spray bottle. Spray the liquid onto the stain and let it sit for a few minutes. Launder as usual.

A low key day...

Lounging in his jumparoo.

Playing in his bedroom.

Reading his book (upside down) in the bathtub.

Today I woke up feeling a bit under the weather. Nothing too bad, but not feeling quite right. So we didn't do a whole lot today. I really have been working a lot with getting Tate to eat food. He doesn't eat food regularly, just his rice cereal and occasionally something from what we are eating at dinner and of course his bottles. So for breakfast today, we had eggs...and he gagged on every bite. So I gave him rice cereal. Then for lunch, we had a ham and cheese sandwich...he did pretty well with this and ate almost a quarter of a sandwich. Then for dinner, we had some raviolis and some more ham and cheese sandwich. All in all, he took to the extra food pretty well. He's such a good boy!

We moved the jumparoo into the basement the other day because he's more mobile now and it was really in the way and took a lot of his floor space up. We also feel like it's better for him to move around so he can learn to crawl and to walk instead of putting him in the jumparoo all of the time. He really loves the jumparoo though, so he gets excited when we go down in the basement and I can check my email and blog on the computer and he can sit and play in his jumparoo. Today while I was on the computer and he was in it, I happened to look over and see him leaning back in the seat and just lounging with a big smile on his face. It was pretty cute...he looked so happy and relaxed.

Tate took a 3 hour nap this morning and then another 2 hour nap this afternoon. This was good because it gave me a chance to rest and try to feel better. It didn't really work and I found myself still feeling icky this evening, but I will say, I haven't slept that much in one day in a LONG time and it was nice!

This evening Tate played in his room for a while and then he took a bath. He read his book in the bathtub, we blew some bubbles and splashed a lot. Then, he headed to bed. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow and Tate and I can get out of the house for a bit.

Slacker

I have been slacking at my blog this week. It has been a really busy week and I haven't taken a whole lot of pictures and haven't seemed to have gotten a chance to sit down and come up with something halfway intelligent to blog!

Tate has had a tough time getting these last 3 teeth cut! He still doesn't have them yet and he is in so much pain! We have gone through so much Orajel and Tylenol...poor baby! We are praying that they come through very soon!

Daddy started his new job last week and has been training all week. Tate and I have enjoyed our time together during the days and have really enjoyed our time as a family all evening when Daddy gets home. He used to work later hours and this is a nice change of pace for a while. :)

We went to the mall the other day to look at Halloween costumes and are leaning towards the turtle costume for Tate, but we have plenty of time to shop around. It was fun to see all that was out there though!

On Friday night, we went out to eat at the Machine Shed and it was YUMMY! We discovered that Tate loves coleslaw! I think that is kind of a funny thing for a 10 month old to love. We got him a side of mashed potatoes and he gobbled it down and loved every minute of it. He also liked eating the bread and some of Daddy's noodles. He always puts on a show when we go out and likes to flirt with everyone.

Saturday we had a bit of a lazy morning and then got out and about for the afternoon and evening. It was AMAZING weather and much needed. We have been getting sick of the sticky, hot conditions lately. That night, after I got Tate in bed, I headed over to my friend's house and we gave each other haircuts and chatted until the wee hours.

We all got up this morning and headed out for Cedar Rapids to spend some time with Brandon (Tate's birth father) and Aunt Sara and Tyler. It was such a beautiful day and a nice drive. When we got to Cedar Rapids, we ordered Red Robin and ate brought it back to Sara and Travis's house and ate lunch and just hung out and played with Tate. We got to give Brandon his birthday present a bit early (his birthday is the same day as Sean's!- Sept. 10) and were able to just enjoy our time with him! It's always very special and still emotional for us to be blessed with the presence of Brandon in our and Tate's life. The feelings of gratitude for him have only grown this last year and we cherish all the times we get to spend with him! We headed home around 3:45 and stopped in Newton to eat and to feed Tate. Once we got home, I headed over to Chris and Brenda's to do Brenda's hair. After that, we sat and chatted for about 2 hours!

My boys are in bed, it's 1 a.m. and that's where I should be too! This week hasn't filled up with plans yet aside from a couple of small things, but I am sure we'll find plenty to do! I will be better about blogging this week...I promise!

Also, today was my Dad's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! We love you! We love you, Brandon!

How blessed is Tate to have a "father's love" from 2 wonderful men?! It's so amazing!

I love this picture! I love how Tate is looking up at Brandon with such a sweet smile!

It didn't take Brandon long to see that Tate really likes grabbing peoples' faces!

It was such a special day!

Not blinking...

Brigg had his first day of kindergarten today...I am afraid if I blink, it will be Tate's first day of kindergarten tomorrow!

So Close...

Tate has 3 teeth on the top that are SO CLOSE to popping through. When I felt his gums this morning, I thought that one of his teeth was through, but realized it wasn't, it was just underneath the skin! You can kind of tell in the first picture that you can see white through his gums and you can also see his top tooth on the side that is already through. As you can see, they are bothering him a ton! Ha. Really though, they are. He's been a bit more fussy than usual, but these pictures were taken in the bath and he is NEVER fussy in the bath!

Just Cute...

DVD cupboard

As I have said before, Tate LOVES throwing DVDs all over the place. He could sit in front of that cupboard for hours on end! Here he is having the time of his life throwing the DVDs all over!

Happy Boy

Tate has been really enjoying a little bit more mobility. He is still not crawling (I don't know that he ever will), but he's definitely able to get where he needs to be by scooting, army crawling and rolling. He is still working on a few teeth on the top and we are looking forward to the appearance of them so that he will no longer be dealing with teething pain. He's still a pretty happy boy despite the teeth coming through!

New Routine

Today was the beginning of a new routine in our household. Sean has had the luxury of having a break from school for the last couple of months. He tends to be a morning person and I tend to be a night person. Our routine lately has been that I can stay up late at night and get my blogging, email and anything else I need to do done. It's kind of my "me" time. He has been so wonderful to let me sleep in in the mornings while he gets up with Tate and has his special time alone with Tate in the mornings. He never left for work until later, so that's what worked for us. This has been great because I do not go to sleep easily at night and sometimes lay in bed for hours before finally being able to get to sleep. It was nice to be able to sleep in when that happened! :) Well, today Sean started his new job and he had to be at work at 7 a.m, so that means that I will be getting up earlier than usual! He is only going to be working these early hours for 2 weeks and then he starts working later hours to accommodate his school hours that are in the mornings. So still, when his work hours are later, he will have to get up early for school. So, I bought some new coffee yesterday and woke up to Folgers in my cup! I definitely needed the caffeine considering I have been used to sleeping in a few hours later than 6:30 a.m.! I was spoiled these last couple of months, but it is back to reality! :) It was really nice to have my time alone with Tate this morning though, he is so happy in the mornings! Well, I guess he's pretty much happy all of the time!

I am so proud of Sean and all of his hard work! He will be done with this portion of his schooling in less than 2 years...only 4 semesters! I know that time will fly by! It's been tough on him because I know that he would love to have more time to be home without having homework!

This weekend was jam packed and I look forward to a pretty low key week. I have a couple of peoples' hair to do and if the weather holds up (looks like rain this week) I plan to take Tate for a walk around Grey's Lake sometime this week and on Thursday we may try to go to the Valley Junction Farmer's Market. I didn't want summer to end, but I am starting to look forward to the fall...football, sweatshirts, blankets, the smell of chili cooking and the feel of the breeze through the open windows! I love fall!!!!

This evening...

After our trip to the zoo, we all headed over to Chris and Brenda's for a great dinner! We had steaks, chicken, salmon, sweet corn, pasta salad, cheesy potatoes and layer lettuce salad. Not to mention our appetizers of chips with homemade salsa, and bruschetta (sp?). Needless to say, we got very full! The kids played outside in the pool and ran around. We all just chatted and hung out. It was a great finish to a wonderful day. We are so glad we got to spend some time with the family doing something so fun! It is always great to see the kids together interacting and being so cute! Tate was conked out in the car within a block of leaving Chris and Brenda's. He had such a fun-filled day that he was so exhausted! Here are some pictures from this evening! Thanks Chris and Brenda for allowing us, once again, to gather at and mess up your house! :) Nana and Papa S's grandbabies!

Brigg is going to be such a great big brother to his new baby sister when she arrives! He is always so great with Tate!

Lani is so beautiful!

A Day at the zoo!

Today was a great day. We got a break from the scorching temps and high humidity, so it was a great day to go to the zoo! We made it a family affair and Sean, Tate and I went with Chris, Brenda, Bode, Brenda's parents, niece and her husband, Al, Josie, Becky, Cassie, Brigg, Lani, and my parents. It was a lot of fun, but was still quite hot! We were actually surprised at how interested Tate was at certain things. To be quite honest, we didn't think he would care less about the animals, but he had several things that he would look at and couldn't keep his eyes off of! He did great, but towards the end of the trip, he was hot. His normally snow white face was flushed and he was getting a bit irritable in his stroller. So, we took him out and he was a happy camper again. It probably doesn't help that his stroller is black! Here are some of things that Tate especially liked at the zoo!

Here are Daddy and Tate waiting to go see the wallabies!

This emu had no fear! He just walked right up to us! Tate loved staring at it!

Here Tate is looking at a baby llama. It was less than 2 months old! The llama might have liked Tate just as much as Tate liked him! It was pretty cute!

He really loved the koi pond...I know, really exciting!

This bull was so huge! It was awesome and Tate couldn't keep his eyes off of him!

Here Tate is patiently waiting for the sea lion show to start! He was sitting on the fence like such a big boy!

Lots of pictures from the zoo!

Mommy and Tate at the zoo! It's a rare occasion when I actually end up in a photo and I am actually okay with that!

Daddy and Tate in front of the giraffes! The giraffes are definitely my favorite!

I think Brenda is doing her sea lion call in this picture. She is a pro at it...sounds just like a sea lion! In addition to her sea lion noises, she can also sound exactly like a monkey. She is full of talent! :)

Lani and Bode sitting by the Sea Lion exhibit waiting for the show.

After the zoo, Brigg said that his favorite thing was the jelly fish. I really like the jelly fish tank too! This picture does not do it justice!

The otters were pretty fun too! The kids really enjoyed being right up by the glass while the otters swam right in front of them! As you can see, Tate was really interested in the otters! Ha.

Tate had a ball sitting on Daddy's shoulders. He squeeled in delight and smacked Daddy's bald head!

Just playing...

Tate loves to know his toy box over and throw all of the toys all over the room. He doesn't "play" with half of them, he just throws them all over. He has a select few that he especially enjoys. Right now he's hooked on his new cell phone. As you can see in the second picture, he's got a million toys in front of him, but still maintains a strong grip on the cell phone! :)Tate's dream job...Daddy's Caddy! Ha.

Fun days!

I got to watch Bode for a few hours on Thursday and Friday. It was so fun being able to spend time with him and watch him and Tate interact. He is not the "Tater Hater" he once was. I think he's getting used to the fact that Tate is here to stay! He shares his toys with him and likes the fact that he is a bit more mobile and interactive now. They're pretty darn cute together!Here they are playing together.

This is Tate "singing" to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on television. He LOVES that show and when it's on, he can't keep his eyes off of the television. He sings along and waves "hello" and "goodbye" to the characters and even dances a little to the music!

Tate got this stuffed hammerhead shark while we were in Florida. I think this picture is so cute...Tate is showing the shark that he's not afraid!

Unbelievable what a difference 1 day makes!!!

Yesterday Tate walked around in his walker like a little angel. Today, I went to the bathroom for a minute while he was in his walker and when I came back in the room, all 4 chairs that we have with a table downstairs were knocked over, a picture of Tate that was on one side of the room was on the opposite side on the floor, Tate had ink marks on his face, he had a DVD case in one hand and a telephone in the other and he had emptied a box of kleenexes all over the basement. So what took him about 2 minutes to mess up, took me about 1/2 hour to clean up. I have realized that we might have a little stinker on our hands!

New abilities...

So Tate has officially figured out how to get from laying down to sitting up. He lays down on the floor, rolls where he wants to be or sometimes army crawls and then sits up to play with whatever it is he was wanting. Also, when we lay him down for naps and bed, instead of being forced to lay there until he goes to sleep, now he has the option of sitting up and playing for a while until he's ready to lay down and go to sleep. This has made for a little bit more time before he actually gets to sleep after we lay him down. In fact, we usually put him down for bed at 9:00 and he doesn't make a peep. Tonight, he decided to sit up and chat and play and even yell for us for a while. He finally got to sleep around 10:00! Little stinker! I think I preferred it when he just had to lay there until he went to sleep! :)

Getting into stuff :)

Tate's favorite thing to get into is our cupboard in our TV stand. He likes to pull out all of the DVDs and play with the bag that has our portable DVD player in it. He likes to open the door, play in it for a while and then slam it closed and do it all over again! I love this picture because he has a guilty look on his face. The other picture is just plain cute!

I'm not doing anything wrong!

Another Tooth!

Tate cut his 5th tooth today!!! The funny thing is that we were expecting him to cut his top 2 teeth next, but he just cut his top tooth that's to the left of where his middle teeth will be. He's too funny!

What's new...

We have been quite busy these last few days. Tate has been struggling with cutting teeth and we pray that his top 4, which are all very close, come in soon! He's been a drooling mess and a bit more fussy than usual.

We have been making plans for his big 1st Birthday Bash these last few days which has been fun. Although, for some reason I am not super excited for him to turn one! He is still supposed to be my little baby! :( I am sure I will get over it.

Tate is learning to do new things every day and is becoming a bit more mobile, although, he still does not show interest in crawling. He would rather roll around or do his little army scoot. For the first time yesterday, Sean went in to get Tate from his nap and he was sitting up in his crib. Before that, he's never been able to get himself in the sitting position from the laying down position. Also, Tate can pull himself up to his knees on things. He has gotten close to getting up to his feet, but not fully gotten there yet. Another thing he's starting to learn is to feed his bottle to himself. He doesn't do it all of the time, but he does it usually for the first half of his bottle and has a couple of times fed himself the entire bottle. We're also working on the sippy cup. He's getting the hang of it, but still prefers the bottle. We hope to have him completely off of the bottle by the time he's one. We'll see how that goes! :) Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days! Grandma and Grandpa Shingledecker got Tate a play cell phone and it has become his absolute FAVORITE toy! He wants to hold it and play with it all of the time!

Tate feeding himself his bottle.

Tate's new favorite face to make.

Just cute!!!

Stop telling God how big your storm is -
Instead tell your storm how big your GOD is.
--- unknown

Home

I remember when I used to hate being home. Being home to me, meant being "bored"...nothing exciting was going on. I think I got this from my dad. :) I always preferred to be doing something with friends or family, vacationing (well, I still think that is my favorite thing to do!), hanging out for the evening at someone's house, going away for the weekend, out shopping or even just out to lunch or dinner. Now, probably since Tate came into our lives, I love being home. I do get cabin fever during the days when I am home all day for several days in a row, but once Sean is home and our family is together, I love it!
I still love going away for the weekends, but now it just feels really good to get home after those trips. I used to never want to come home, I wished those weekend trips would never end. I think I feel this way now because Tate makes sure that I am never "bored"! :) Since Tate came into our lives, we seem to always have something to do, even if it's just watching him play and learn. I think that we will be entertained by Tate for the rest of our lives. I love it! I love just being a family and not "doing" anything. This is new for me, so I still have my moments when I wish we were "doing" something, but those moments are much fewer than they once were and I am starting to like it!

Pictures from Muscatine

Well, Tate and I arrived home around 6 this evening. We had a great and memorable couple of day in Muscatine. Here are some pictures of Brigg and Lani swimming, Tate spending time with his birth family and Tate hanging out with a family friend's son, Gavin!

Tate and Papa S. hanging out by the pool

Brigg doing a cannon ball!

Lani being a shark!

Tate at dinner with Brandon's family

Tate with Grandma S.

Grandpa S. tickling Tate

Tate with Gavin