Fore!

When is something deemed a passion? I’m not sure if you can classify it as that yet, but Tate seems quite passionate about golf these days. It started when he discovered Trip’s old plastic golf clubs at Poppy & Mo’s house. Then Mimi & Grandpa got some for their house as well. And then we gave in and did the same. So pretty much wherever he goes, there is a small, plastic golf club awaiting him.

And recently, he discovered that there is a TV station that plats golf 24/7. Oh my. “Watch golf, please?” is a frequent request. And a frequent request/demand of mine is “Don’t swing the club inside the house.” Poor little golf club has seen its fair share of timeouts.

He loves the sport. He loves playing it and watching it…and can now even recognize Tiger Woods. Wade’s parents live on a golf course, so he got the chance recently to “play” golf where the big golfers play. He was in heaven.

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And I have to admit, he may be pretty good…as far as standards for a 2 ½ year old go. Wade traded his golf clubs for cycling gear several years ago, but I do remember that it isn’t the cheapest of hobbies. We may need to start saving now.

Shuffle Away

A month after the move, the IPod docking station is finally set up at its little home by my computer desk to serenade me while I work, blog, or Facebook. I don’t make many playlists. I’m a Shuffle Songs kind of girl and like to be surprised. So just for fun, here are the first **20 songs when I shuffle away.

Call Me ~ Blondie
Big Girls Don’t Cry ~ Fergie
Can’t Stand Losing You ~ The Police
Bust a Move ~ Young MC
Ob La Di, Ob La Da ~ The Beatles
The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything ~ VeggieTales
New Soul ~ Yael Naim
Let’s Go Crazy ~ Prince
Hallelujah-Your Love Is Amazing ~ Brian Doerkson
Sweet Caroline ~ Neil Diamond
Sister Christian ~ Night Ranger
Flood ~ Jars of Clay
If You Love Somebody Set Them Free ~ Sting
Everlasting Love ~ U2
Chasing Cars ~ Snow Patrol
Drive ~ The Cars
Dance With Me Tonight ~ The Wonders
My Sharona ~ The Knack
In A Little While ~ U2
Who Am I ~ Casting Crowns

Now it's your turn. What are your first 20 Shuffle Songs?

**Disclaimer: The Veggie Tales and Beatles songs should give a little hint that my IPod has been heavily influenced by the husband and child. I am quite shocked, though, that no Celine or JT songs came up. That would much more fully represent what is called my musical taste. :)

I Wanna Dance With Somebody

It is officially the weekend, so here are some things to make you smile:

I think today was the "tipping point" of this viral video, so I may be a little late in the coolness factor. I still can't stop watching it. Wish I was that brave.



And since I'm in a dancing mood, here is a video I got from one of The Marketing Twins. I love babies doing funny things, and I love dancing. What a perfect combo. You're welcome Evian.



Now I'm on a roll and had to look back awhile to find a dancing video that I LOVED. I saw it on several blogs and possibly watched it 572 times. I would pay serious money to be there and see it in person. And I'd pay even more serious money if I could dance like that. For now, I'll just pretend.



Although no matter how much of a dancey-dance mood I get in, there will never be a You Tube video made of when my sister & I taught ourselves the Soulja Boy dance. I can guarantee that one. Too bad, though, because it may have possibly been the funniest thing...ever.

Surely you're in a dancing mood yourself now. So where should we plan our surprise, organized dance?

Tate ~ 2.5

Around the last week of May, I realized that I couldn’t keep saying that Tate had just turned 2. The truth was and now is that he’s already 2 ½ and is closer to 3 than he is to 2. How did that happen?

What a difference half a year makes. I looked back over the post from when he turned 2, and I can tell such a difference. He is still uniquely Tate with his strong-willed, loud, usually-friendly, energetic personality. But he is also so much more of a kid.

(At Mallory's gymnastics birthday party. He looooved the rings. Can you say sweat?)

We have dialogue now. I still have to translate some of the things he says, but most people can understand him. He speaks in pretty full sentences and is able to communicate most of what he needs to. It’s so simple, but also so amazing to see develop. He says the ABC’s, counts from 1-20, and knows most of his shapes and colors.

After about 1 ½ years, we stopped going to the Gymboree classes in May. It was a great experience for us both, and Tate loved going. But he had come to the point where he most enjoyed flinging himself across the floor mat. Do I really need to pay for that? (For ages 9-24 months, it is so great, though.)

He is still all boy in the fact that if it involves a car or a ball, he’s all over it. He’s bordering on obsessed with golf, but also loves to play soccer whenever possible. He still enjoys watching sports with Daddy in the mornings on SportsCenter. (It’s all laughable since I’m the furthest thing from the sporty type.)

He has become much more patient with his trains and can play forever with them. Even just a few months ago, he would get really frustrated with them and wasn’t able to link the pieces back together. That has improved, and it makes us all happier.

The past few months have been trying for all of us as we have been tryng to figure out the discipline stuff. Hello tantrums! It’s so interesting to see what does and doesn’t motivate him to behave. Another reminder that we are all created so uniquely. :)

We’re in the process of finishing up his big boy room complete with big boy bed…crazy! And we read the Potty Book often and have purchased the Elmo Potty DVD. Slowly warming up to the idea over here. In no hurry, though.

He loves being tickled, playing “Superman,” chasing/harassing Macy, singing Happy Birthday, swimming, “shaving” with Daddy, trying to ride Trip’s old tricycle (feet still don’t reach), and being with family and friends.

Tate continues to be a pure joy for us and one that we’re forever thankful!

(At his first-ever movie to see in the theatre. They were showing the movie Cars...his absolute favorite! I was pretty pleased that we only had to leave once for a little talking-to.)

(On Trip's old tricycle. He still can't quite pedal, but he likes to act is if he's riding it.)

Gulf Shores ~ 2009

Way back when (pre-moving, storm, surgery, etc.), we had a great family vacation to Gulf Shores. Better late than never.

This trip was a first for us in many ways. It was the first trip with us, my parents, and my sister’s family where we weren’t visiting family on the West Coast somewhere. Don’t get me wrong, we love seeing everyone there, but we had never taken a family trip like this before.

This was also our first long car ride with little kids, our first time to rent a condo, and our first time to Gulf Shores. Considering that there were so many firsts, the trip was overall a pleasantly surprising success!

Here's Wade's "What are we thinking driving across three states with three kids two and under?" face as we start the trip and are all pulling out of the driveway.

The drive there was a lot longer than the drive back. Getting stuck in 5:00 traffic in Baton Rouge on a Friday was not fun. But overall, the kids really did great in the cars. My parents took their car, and we rented a Suburban. It was snug, but there was just enough breathing room to not be too miserable. Having to lean over the seat to pick up dropped Hot Wheels 100 times is another story.

The best surprise of the trip was the condo. When you’re renting online, you just never know how things will be in real life. Even after a 16-hour car ride and arriving at 11:00 p.m., we were all giddy, excited to find such a nice place. The bad economy has resulted in pretty great rental rates. We had the entire floor to ourselves, and the elevator opened up right into the foyer. We kept saying we felt like we were on MTV Cribs.

So for four days, we had pretty much the same routine. Wake up. Breakfast. Go out to the beach. Dig. Splash. Build sand castles. Swim in the pool. Lunch. Naps. Dinner. Play some more. Repeat. Vacation is the best!

Brad was the obligatory buried-in-the-sand guy. My parents seemed to really enjoy doing that for some reason. :)

Tate still talks about the beach and the beach house. He absolutely loved it! He wasn’t crazy about the area where the waves crashed, but he loved being in the sand and being out in the ocean with Wade. His favorite part was the little tide pool areas. Perfect combo of splashing and digging without the scary waves!

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During the kid’s naptime, my sister and I had several attempts at a relaxing kid-free sunbathing afternoon on the beach (complete with SPF 50, floppy hats, and some beach food).

Dinner out at Tacky Jack's

And the three kids together had so much fun. Smart-sister Shannon brought the big tent, which provided lots of entertainment while we were inside.

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And when it got too crazy, we just let them run up and down the huge hallway and throw beach balls at Grandpa.

While there, we also had family pictures. There is something about those Gulf Shores sandy-white beaches that just make the pictures so pretty.

Tate's heaven on earth = a car and dirt.

And extra points if you can tell what movie I’m reenacting. (Hint – “No one puts Baby in a corner.”) The gauzey white shirt and white crop pants reminded me of her…I just couldn’t help myself.

We all had a great time together. Goodbye Gulf Shores…until next time!

Seriously???!!!

Eat Mor Chikin ~ Cow Appreciation Day

The most it’s been is probably 4. The average is 2. That’s about how many times a week we venture out to Chick-fil-A. When you’ve got a picky eater on your hands and the only saving grace for some form of meat is their nuggets, than that’s where you go. For fast food, it really is good. We are big fans and wanted to join the fun for Cow Appreciation Day at Chick fil-A.

So during a quick trip to Temple to see Shannon and the girls, we donned our cow costumes (made in about 10 minutes total!!!) and got free food. Seriously…all 5 of our meals were completely free. The things we’ll do for free food. I heart Chick-fil-A even more!

Here is Tate asking…”Now why am I in a dress?” My answer was “For free food, of course!”

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And maybe the 105 degree heat today is melting away my common sense, but here we are. The ONLY time in my life it’s OK to be acknowledged as a cow. Yep, those are garbage bags. We had to work fast. And yep, those are bathing suit cover-ups underneath…only the classiest duds for us Enright girls!

And it’s not a complete CFA (that’s what we call it around here…when you have a toddler, you have to spell a lot of things instead of saying it…or else you’ll get asked about it 1,000 times) experience without trading in your Kid’s Meal toy for ice dream…free again!

Cows 4-Ever!