Christmas 2008

I wish I could bottle up the sweetness from Christmas this year. The perspective of a 2-year-old was just priceless. I’m sure future years will have their own benefits, but I just loved Tate’s wonder and awe of all things Christmas. He never caught on to the time concept of when Christmas was, so it was quite the surprise and excitement to see presents under the tree. He isn’t in the “I want” stage (although I know it will come), so he was happy with anything and everything he received. Pure sweetness.

Santa was gracious enough to take a picture after he left all of the presents under the tree.





Purple, white, purple, white, fight, fight, fight! Why do pictures of ornaments looks so pretty…or am I the only one that thinks that?

As you can see from the video below, we are in the major car stage right now. Who needs the big presents when all you really want to do is color the car coloring book…right now…“puuuuuuuuuuuulease.”

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And this is after Tate pulled Lightning McQueen out of his stocking. The car never left his hand the entire Christmas morning. He quickly learned how to unwrap presents one-handed.

And yes that is a kitchen for our little boy. I’m training him now so that he’ll be a great husband one day who can cook!

Still holding the car.

This was the second year in a row (maybe a new tradition?) for a Christmas Day family game of Scrabble with my parents. They all humor me one time a year and play. I’m not that great (maybe because I only play once a year), but I love that game. I was pretty excited about my biggest word of the game...even if it didn’t help me win. Congrats Dad!

That evening we had the Strzinek Christmas at Poppy & MoMere’s house. This picture is in the car on the way. He just looked so big to me.

The wagon was a hit!

This is 1 of the 3 Nerf dart guns Trip received that he was beyond excited about. Will I ever understand boys? :)

Tate & Mo

Our niece and nephew are 9 and 11, and they think pretty much anything Tate does is hilarious. Tate, of course, enjoys being the center of their attention, so it makes for some fun times. They are really sweet and patient with him, and he adores them both.

Our third and final Christmas celebration was a few days later at my parent’s house with my sister and her family.

And I'm sure my Mom will be calling me about this video, but I couldn't not post it. Oh the lengths we will go to for a cute picture of little kids. At least it worked!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It was a “Cars” Christmas.





The present that provided the biggest reaction and excitement of all was the little basketball hoop from Aunt Shannon and Uncle Brad. Tate was pretty excited about it. And the truth is, all of the adults had a good time enjoying it as well.

This picture was after he had played and played and played, working up quite the sweat. So it was time for a shirts vs. skins game.

And the biggest Christmas miracle of all, my Dad somehow managed to get a tripod/timer picture of the entire family with everyone looking at the camera.



I am blessed beyond anything I could ask for with incredibly loving family and friends. I hope I can keep that feeling of gratitude fresh throughout the new year.

Christmas Warm-Up

We are 2 down and 1 to go of Christmas celebrations. Until then, here are some highlights from all of the fun leading up to the big day.

The kick-off to holiday festivities was an Enright family trip to the local Gaylord for Christmas photos of the grandkids in the cute outfits Mimi bought for them. Unfortunately, about 10,000 other people had the same idea that night. Just a tad crowded. The second picture cracks me up and you can see it was way past time for us to go and call it a night.




I had no idea what to expect from the Santa visit this year and so I was pleasantly surprised that it went well. Tate gave him a high-five, said "Hi Santa!," and then looked petrified at the photographers screaming at him to smile. Don't they realize that is the exact opposite way to get a kid to smile?



We also made the trek out to the train exhibit at North Park Mall. It did not disappoint, and we were all 3 pretty impressed. I think Tate said “Bye-bye, choo-choo” the entire drive home.

And this is a good representation of most pictures we try to take of our energetic little guy.

And our annual Christmas Eve tradition is dinner and an early “Spirit of Christmas” present with the Strzineks. It was fun to put both leaves in the dining room table, so that all 9 of us could fit. I even dusted off the old china for maybe its 5th time ever to be used.

Everyone joined in to decorate a gingerbread house and Christmas cookies. Wade had the neat idea to take them to the local fire station that night to spread a little holiday cheer to the poor guys and gals that had to work that night.

Merry Christmas

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy. It is for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you.

He is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Celebrating 2!

Life seems to be moving at fast forward speed. So finally here is the recap of the celebrations of Tate turning 2. I’ve always had a thing about birthdays (or any special occasion) and like to make the day as special and fun as possible. Life can’t always be that way, so why not make sure you have a few special ones?

Tate’s birthday was on December 5, and we started the day with a fun first. A local mall has a huge carousel that Tate has seen and watched with awe several times. He’s never really known that I was holding out on him by not letting him take a ride. So we may regret the decision every time we go back there, but it was a fun birthday memory. We were able to share the fun with Aunt Shannon, cousin Mallory, Janell, Alex, and Addison. Ironically, Tate was the one that was a little timid at first, but then he enjoyed the rest of the ride.

Later that night my family came over for dinner, cake, and presents. After searching online for hours (why????), I finally found a good slide climber that I hopefully won’t have to worry about him injuring himself too bad on. He was pretty excited about the slide and then very sad when it was permanently moved outside to the backyard after spending a week in the living room. Despite the runny nose and chapped cheeks, I think he really enjoyed being sung Happy Birthday to and eating cake, of course.

Later that weekend we had his party. I’ve taken him to a weekly Gymboree class for over a year now. He loves that place from the fun music to the dancing, singing, slides, and room to run around as much as he wants. He and his friends seemed to have such a great time, although I think everyone (kids and parents) was pretty wiped out when it was all over.

It was a long weekend, but a special one. How is it possible in just two short years to love someone so much?

And in case you haven’t seen enough pictures of my child :) , check out the super sweet video here that Wade put together.

We Survived!

We all survived the White Rock Half Marathon yesterday. This year it was a family affair with me, Dad, Shannon, Brad, and Brad’s mom, Sharon, all entering the big race. Plus my superstar friend, Janell, did the full marathon!

Not so great weather conditions seem to follow me. When I did the full marathon in Kona, it was blazing hot. When I did the half marathon last year, it was freezing cold and raining. This year, it was humid with 20-30 mph winds (as you see by Mallory’s flying hair in the picture). By the time me and Shannon finished, it was almost 80 degrees*. Will I ever have a partly cloudy/sunny in the 50s kind of race day?

When you’re walking all 13.1 miles, it takes a long time, but I was actually pleased that despite the insane winds I came in 8 minutes faster than last year at 3:18.

One thing I was not so pleased with was the new half marathon route. They started everyone (full and half) at the same time, which made traffic horrible. Then the half route finished the last 5K on the Katy Trail. What a downer. You couldn’t see where you were or where the finish line was, and it was eerily quiet. That’s not quite the motivation you’re looking for as you finish. But we survived!

Way to go Dad, Shannon, Brad, Sharon, and Janell!

And a big thanks to my friend Tara for lending me her persona for the day after my little registration problem. As people shouted “Go Tara!’ I had to remember that they were cheering for me. It was kind of fun being a Tara for the day.

*As true with all Texas weather, just wait awhile and things will change. At the same time today as we finished yesterday, it was 30 degrees outside!

Thoughts & Cookies

• If you know Tate well, you know that his food preferences change every day. Literally. He’s never been a big fan of cheese. Until today. He likes brie cheese! Who knew? And who knows how that will work with the grocery budget?
• I’ve loved getting all of the Christmas cards in the mail and am hopefully about to get ours sent out. If you’re on our list, please know that Tate does smile. Just not if it involves his mother's unrealistic expectations for that perfect family picture. :)
• You may have read about my unfortunate mistake of somehow forgetting to sign up for the half marathon I had been training for. I’ll protect some privacy here, but just know that I’m in. I’ll just be answering to a different name that day. Pray for good weather on Sunday!
• Tate’s birthday and party were so much fun. I’m still collecting pictures and will post soon. How is it possible that I have a 2-year-old? I still feel like I’m a brand new mom figuring everything out.

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The Christmas festivities have been in full swing lately. The other day, Tate got to make his first ever Christmas cookies with his friend, Jackson. I think he eventually got the hang of it and had a good time. Although, his favorite part may have been shaking the maracas/sprinkles bottles. And yes, one of them didn’t have its lid on. Woops…sorry Laura! Still a lot of fun!

Eyeing the sprinkles...

See, he does smile!

The final product. (It's a reindeer.)

To my sweet little boy,

How is it possible that you are already 2 years old? I hear other parents say it often, but it’s so true that the time since you’ve come into our lives seems to have gone at warp speed. It seems like just yesterday that the doctor placed you in my arms at 8:10 p.m. on December 5, 2006. While at the same time, it’s hard to even remember what our life was like before you were here. Time goes so fast, and I hope I can savor every minute I’m given as your Mom.

This second year of your life has definitely been a year of firsts for you. You started army crawling, standing, crawling on all 4s, cruising, and walking. Yes, all in less than a year! And now, we have to clear everything out of your way as you run full-speed ahead most anywhere you go. You have worked so hard this year to learn all of these new skills, and we are SO proud of you. It has given us true joy to see you discover this new world of mobility. It has seemed to make you much happier as well.




As strange as it is, I’ve learned a lot about myself as your mother, as I’ve learned more about you. It confirms to me that God makes us each so unique and different. Your personality seems to be more similar to your Daddy’s compared to mine. But I love that about you and appreciate so many characteristics that I know will be such important strengths for you as you grow up.

You have become quite an enthusiastic, social, and outgoing little boy. Most of the time when we go out to dinner or go to a store, you find a way to say “Hi!” to anyone and everyone that walks by. Sometimes you keep saying it over and over until they finally turn around to acknowledge you.

You also have a lot to say. Sometimes it’s in your “Tateish,” but each day you’re talking more and more and recently you’ve started putting two words together pretty regularly. There are still some things you say wrong, but we can’t bear to correct it because it’s too cute. When you see a bicycle or motorcycle, you will say “Go, go, go, Daddy.” You started that this year after watching a bike race with Daddy. You can spot them in a heartbeat and say it every time.

And speaking of your Daddy. You LOVE your Daddy. I know you love me too, but you definitely have a unique bond with your Daddy. You get so excited to see him when he comes home every day. It might be because he’s started taking you to get Krispy Kreme donuts every Sunday morning.

We learned very quickly that you are a true explorer. You don’t sit still much at all and love to check out anything and everything that is around you. It’s sometimes a dangerous combination with your boundless energy and high pain tolerance. It’s rare that there isn’t some kind of bruise or scratch on you somewhere. Sometimes we think that you think you can physically do the things a 5-year-old can. That’s hard for me to balance letting you try things while making sure you don’t get hurt. Thank goodness most of the times you fall, you’re pretty quick to bounce right back up and keep going.

My favorite part of the day with you right now is actually right before you go to bed. Daddy gives you a bath and gets you dressed in your PJs. Then I get to rock you in the chair and sing Jesus Loves Me with you. Then we say a prayer. You put your cute little hands together and then we say thank you for all of your favorite people…and sometimes for football as well.

Things you love: watching SportsCenter with Daddy, playing with any ball, playing with any car, reading books, playing outside, swinging, your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, your cousins, your friends, milk, Chick Fil-A, Chipotle, blueberries, yogurt, guacamole, rice, beans, throwing your food, finding the moon, swimming, bath time, Gymboree class, going to church, fun music, Sesame Street and Elmo, the Backyardigans, Macy, trains, fire trucks, jumping on pillows, and taking 3-hour naps (keep it up!).

Things you don’t like: trying new foods, being constrained, holding hands in the parking lot, sleeping past 7:00 a.m., getting your diaper changed, and when I stop to talk with people.

You truly bring so much joy to not only your parents but to others as well. I can’t put into words how thankful I am for this gift God has given me. I hope and pray for wisdom every day so I can help raise and prepare you for your wonderful future that awaits.