An Apple A Day

Tate has discovered that he likes eating apples.

Like "a big boy."

Not cut in slices.

It's the simple things in life.

Will ~ 11 Months

It is seriously causing pain every time I pull out his monthly shirt to wear. There's only one left...his 1! Soaking it in. Soaking it in.

Our sweet Will has had a fun month. We are seeing more and more of his personality and his funny quirks emerge. Love it!

• He has a funny laugh, which my sister likes to point out that it sounds like my "courtesy laugh." It does have a little Beavis & Butthead to it as well.
• A few times I've heard him try to say "woof" or "quack." He LOVES when I read animal books to him and make the animal noises. Although I'm not sure anyone else would understand, I can tell he's also trying to say bye-bye and night-night. He says Mama a lot. :) And he says "beeee" all day long. Would love to know what that means in his head.
• He is still a pretty happy guy, but he is showing us more and more when he doesn't like something. Usually that's when he has to get out of the bath and changed, put back in the car seat for 20th time on one day, or when he is exhausted. There are some serious cries and even some thrashing. Doesn't happen a lot, but watch out when it does.
• Teething = not fun for Will. He already had the two bottom teeth, and this month, a top front tooth came in. That did not make for a happy baby. And I can tell he's starting to bite on a lot more things. Like my fingers. Hoping we don't have a biter on our hands!
• He is pulling up on his own a lot more. He loves to stand up, but he hasn't figured out to move his feet from the stationary position. And when he pulls up in his crib, he hasn't figured out how to get down.
• Still not a full-blown crawler. But he has perfected his creep/twist/swimming move and can get most anywhere he wants to go. It seriously looks like he's swimming on the ground. And with this skill, he can now find the smallest speck of dirt on the ground. He seems to enjoy the challenge of getting those.
• Oh boy, Will enjoys dropping and throwing things. He does it with a completely serious face, which can be funny. Although it's not funny when the pacis are being thrown across the room.
• He got his 3rd ear infection. No talk about tubes yet, but we'll see how things go once sick season is over. We have learned that Will does NOT like taking medicine.
• Wade is forbidden from cutting his hair anymore. Will has got tons of crazy flyaways, which Wade likes to use his electric razor and trim up. We had a partial mohawk on our hands after the last time. Yikes.
• He is a cuddler. I LOVE it! He will nuzzle his little head on your shoulder and make some funny noises. So cute.

Enjoying this last month so much before the big 1. How is that possible?

35...Really???

Guess I'm going to have to change the name of this 'ol blog at some point.

It floors me that it's been over 6 years since the first post. And it all started with my impeding 30th birthday. I couldn't believe I was about to turn 30 back then. And now, I can't believe that I just turned 35. We're starting to round up to 40.

As I say with most birthdays, I'm not walking around all Debbie Downer because I feel old. I'm walking around wondering how in the world I'm 35. That used to sound and seem so OLD. But I don't feel old. Surely I don't seem old. Right? :) I guess this paradox will continue for many more years.

Year 35 started off great. I woke up on my birthday morning to these lovelies picked out by my 3 guys.

And later that evening (following a fun birthday trip to the pediatrician), Wade & I headed out on a birthday Date Night. Last minute, I asked our babysitter to take a picture of us outside*** because we rarely get pictures of just the two of us.

And the evening included one of my all-time favorite meals...Spiedino Di Mare. Yum!

And right at this moment, I'm enjoying one of my birthday presents from Wade. A house to myself. Yes, that sounds pretty wrong asking for everyone to leave me alone for my birthday. But after way too many overwhelmed moments of me complaining I could never get anything done (*** like change out the winter wreath maybe?), Wade decided to take off with the boys to give me 24 hours at the house. By myself.

Quiet + No interruptions + Productivity = Pure 35-year-old bliss.

My Irish Eyes Are Smiling

So the family legend is that way back when, my great-great-great (I think??!!) grandparents came to America from Ireland changing their last name from McEnright to Enright. I could have that wrong, but that's the story I'm going with for now.

I'm not sure what percentage of Irish heritage that makes me, but on St. Patrick's Day, we pull the Irish card and act like the day is all for us Irishmen. Not sure Tate ever really got why in the world the day was special or why in the world I was making everyone wear green.

But a good excuse for a fun day and our 2nd annual green pancakes & eggs dinner!

When you ask a 4-year-old to smile at the camera, here's what you sometimes...usually...get.

This year, Tate even got to help make the green-themed dinner.

Will got to join in the green fun as well.

An Old Irish Blessing:

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours!

Tate @ 4 1/4

Never got around to posting this when he turned 4, so now this is the post about Tate @ 4 1/4 years old followed at the bottom with the annual video Wade makes for each birthday. This has been quite a year for Tate. As I watch the video, I can see how he's grown and is slowly (although it seems fast) transitioning from this toddler/preschooler to a kid. A kid!

And for my memory bank, here are the tidbits of Tate @ 4...and 1/4:

• This boy loves sports. Loves all of them. Yes, Sportscenter is on the TV most mornings, but I'm not convinced that we have pushed this interest on him. Certainly, I haven't! :) I think that is just the thing that he enjoys. He loves playing and loves watching. Most days, he can be seen wearing either his Cowboys or Rangers jersey.
• If you've been around him much, then you know, he has a ton of energy. He wakes up and is ready to go. In fact he was waking up so ready (early!) that we started a new rule. No matter what time he wakes up, he can't come downstairs until 7:00 am. It was a little tricky at first, but he's done really well the last few months.
• He is definitely a people person and typically knows no stranger. He will have shy moments, but I think he does that more because he thinks it's funny. Many times someone will start a conversation and before they know it, Tate has told them pretty much everything in his current train of thought.
• He loves going to preschool two days a week. Even though he is a talker on most occasions, it is tough getting details out of him as to what he learns each day, so I try to be sneaky about it. But I know he has learned a lot this past year. He counts to 30, knows all his letters and most of the sounds, counts to 10 in Spanish, and is working on being able to write all of his letters. He is not a fan of coloring and does the writing as fast as possible just to get it done. We're working on that, but he has definitely made progress in the last couple of months.
• He has quite the memory. What's interesting is what he remembers, which is usually the places we go and the people we were with. It's making me think more and more that his love language is quality time.
• He is a Daddy's boy. If there is ever an option, Wade is always the preference over me. Big picture, I'm extremely thankful for that and know how important that relationship is. But some days, it can be frustrating for me. But it's not too surprising because as I predicted even before we had kids, Wade is the fun one. :)
• He LOVES his brother, and the feeling is pretty mutual. I've been pleasantly surprised that there hasn't been any outward or obvious signs of jealousy. He is so excited to see him every morning and tells anyone who is around that this is his brother, who he usually calls "Willy Jack." And a sweet friend from preschool told me that he was called up on stage at Chapel and asked who his best friend was. He said Will. Melt my heart.
• This past year has definitely been the most challenging as far as discipline goes. At times, extremely challenging. Listening, showing respect, obeying, using good manners...you know all of those fun things. We try so hard to be consistent and to discipline in a way that helps him learn to make the right decisions for himself. It's exhausting.
• As far as toys, he still loves his monster trucks and also now his "monster motorbicycles." He just recently started getting into superheroes (preferably Batman and Spiderman) and is often talking about who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. He likes Legos, the Batcave, any ball, riding his bike and his Gator, and any and all cars. Wow, could he be any more of a boy? Although I will say, he has a good time when he's with his two girl cousins and can just as enthusiastically join in a game of playing Barbies. :)
• And he is still a picky eater. This has been an area where we decided to pick our battles. It wasn't worth every meal becoming just that, a battle. He eats a decent variety of food. He doesn't eat junk all day, and he takes a daily vitamin. I'm sure not everyone would agree with our methods, but it's what is best for our family for the time being. The favorites still are: peanut butter sandwiches, milk, cheese quesadillas, beans/rice/guacamole/queso burritos, bananas, noodles and chicken from Pei Wei, waffles or bagels, freeze-dried strawberries, yogurt, and any and all desserts.

I love this boy with my whole heart in a way I didn't know was possible. At times, he makes me want to pull my hair out in frustration. And then at times, he has me laughing hysterically. You get to experience all emotions with this kiddo.

I love my 4-year-old Tater Tot and can't wait to see the great things that year 5 holds for him!

Tate's Big Day

I am a big fan of birthdays. Not the getting older part, but the being celebrated part. I've always loved birthdays and love getting to celebrate the people I love. So on Tate's birthday, we had a fun day planned. The morning started with some serious bedhead hair (looking circa 1982 Flock of Seagulls) and donuts on the "You Are Special" plate.

And thanks to a pretty great Groupon I had bought earlier, we had a fun birthday surprise for Tate...a tour inside the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. To say he was excited when we pulled up to the stadium is an understatement.

When we went inside, we started in the gift shop. And with his birthday money from grandparents, he bought a foam finger and Tony Romo & Jason Witten figurines (which didn't leave his hands for about 2 weeks).

And while there, you have to pay homage to the great Tom Landry.
Then we headed on to the field. He was in heaven. We did the self-guided tour, so you can stay down on the field as long as you want. I think we played on the field for a good hour. At the last minute, we had to bring Will with us, but suprisingly, he did great as well.
There were kicks, throws, tackles, and lots of just running around.

Wade's biggest disappointment of the whole day was that the big blue star wasn't in the middle of the field. They had just hosted a college game the night before, so it had been removed. Pretty sure Wade will want to go back just for that photo opp. :)



I showed off some of my kicking skills.


I love this one.
And Tate also loved going into the locker room. He thought it was pretty cool that Romo & Witten's lockers were by each other. During any Cowboy game, Tate's yell is "Throw the ball to Witten!"
It was a great morning for our family. I have to say that I even enjoyed it. If that Groupon ever comes up again, I'm going to buy a bunch. Well worth it. And it's well worth seeing our little man having such a fun time!

Then after a good nap at home, we had a family birthday dinner at our house. We were sad that Mimi & Grandpa couldn't make it, but it was another fun night to celebrate our 4-year-old.

Trip. Poppy, Tate, Mo Mere, Mary Tish, and Will.

Baseball party the day before. And Dallas Cowboys football dinner on this night. Notice a theme? He is a boy after his own Daddy's heart and already has quite a fondness for any and all sports.

Tate doesn't embarrass easily, but when he does...this is his "I'm embarrassed face."

And this is the evening that Mario Kart entered our lives.
It was fun having Aunt Shannon, Mallory, & Morgan in town for the birthday dinner.
And the big hit of the night was the birthday present from Uncle Ford & Aunt Tisha. A remote control monster truck. Trip got it set up outside and "drove" it in the front door.
Think he's just a little excited?
One more final birthday post coming about the 4 year old.

Tate's 4th Birthday Party

I better cover Tate's birthday before it's time for Will's birthday. Way back in early December was Tate's birthday party. A sweet friend of his from church, Parker, was born on the same exact day, so since they have many of the same friends, we had the party together.

Both Tate & Parker are quite the baseball fans, so that made for the perfect party theme and invitation. Are these two 4-year-olds not the cutest?

It was a fun party with lots of kiddos, pizza, Amanda's very impressive giant glove and baseball cupcakes, video games, air hockey (Tate's favorite!), and fun.

Funny enough, it seemed that it was mainly dads that brought the kids to this party. Pretty sure they enjoyed the game room just as much. :)

This kid loves him some air hockey. I mean LOVES it.

Once the party was over, we headed home to open presents.

Tate always LOVES being with his friends and had such a fun time celebrating with all of them!