Howdy Folks!

The last time Wade & I went to the State Fair of Texas together, we were 23/24 years old and had been married a total of six months. So 11 years later with two kiddos in tow, the fair experience was quite different. But also just as fun!

First stop. The Texas Star Ferris Wheel. So much fun for 3 of the 4 of us.
Can you guess which one was ready for a bottle?


Next stop. The obligatory corny dog. I crave these often.
Then we were off to the section of the fair that should be called "Welcome To Sensory Overload!" Oh my. We very quickly learned that we had to set some limits on the # of games and rides. OK for Mom & Dad as well. :) Once it was understood that it wasn't a complete free for all, it became much more enjoyable. Tate's favorite game was the Skeeball with Daddy. I'm just choosing to ignore the fact that we could've played Skeeball at Chuck E Cheese for much less $$. It's about the memories, right??



And it was a full family effort at Ring-O-Bottle. Seriously...is it even possible to win this game??

And here's a video from the favorite ride...the giant slide.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And of course another favorite...the car show. Tate LOVED getting to drive the "quartervette."
Will was back to his happy self after he got his bottle.
We now often hear Tate walking around quoting Big Tex, "Howdy Folks! Welcome to the State Fair of Texas!"
My sad attempt at a picture of the two of us on the carousel. Where's Tate?


It was a quiet drive home after about five hours at the fair. A fun day for us all!

The Big Boy Bike

This summer we knew it was time for Tate to have his first big boy bike. I have no idea how he was still squeezing himself into the Cozy Coupe. And we finally made progress convincing him to use the pedals on the Big Wheel. So it was time for the next step in the world of wheels.

But at the same time, the mixture of a new baby in the house and all that comes with being 3 1/2 (who knew 2 was really such a breeze?), he has been going through some behavior challenges. So we decided that the bike would be something Tate could earn.

No judgement please on the complete lack of cuteness of this sticker chart. I went for function. :) We focused on the areas that were the biggest challenges. It took awhile to fill up the chart, but he did it!

It was a pretty fun evening going out to dinner at his favorite restaurant for chips, dip, and burritos and talking about what kind of bike he thought he might get. His usual request was for a "monster, racing, Lightening McQueen, motorbicycle big boy bike." I also loved the chance to tell him over and over again how proud I was that he made so many good choices to fill up the sticker chart.

Then we headed over to the toy store to pick out a bike. We let him choose from three that were all the same price. Amazingly, his sixth sense must have led him to choose the closest thing to a "monster, racing, Lightening McQueen, motorbicycle big boy bike." His pick was the Harley Davidson one. He doesn't even know what a Harley is, but I guess the painted flames just drew him in. The driving years sure will be interesting with this kiddo.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And no surprise, he has been loving his new big boy bike. Yes I may have gone a little overboard with all of the safety gear, but I'm hoping for no more hospital trips this year. Each night, we've been walking and riding around the neighborhood. I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with how good he does on it. Even with a fall here or there, he hops right back on. And now every time he sees a kid on a bike he says, "That boy got all of his good choice stickers!"

Looking at these pictures makes me tear up as I just can't get over how big he seems lately. Trying to savor and soak it all in. We are so proud of our Tater Tot!

Diaper Justice

How can you not think Cracker Barrel is the best place on earth?

Breakfast for dinner. Toys for kids to play with while you wait.

And a changing station in the men's restroom.

Diaper justice for all!

Will ~ 5 Months

Just typing 5 months is freaking me out a bit. I'm trying hard to soak this stage in. So very sweet.

This has been a fun (and healthy!!!!) month for Will. Well except for the cold he had for over a week, but hey, that's nothing compared to what he's dealt with in the past. And the pediatrician did have a concern which led to a spinal ultrasound for him (came back completely normal). But what is a month in this boy's life without something for us to worry about? :)

The 5 month highlights:

• SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! Yes, that deserves all caps. He's been sleeping from about 8:00ish until 6:30ish for over a week now, so I feel safe enough to declare it official. Yay Will!
• And he's finally made a little progress in sleeping longer than 30 minutes at a time for naps. Another yay for Will!
• Poor guy, the spit-up from reflux was just getting out of control. So we switched around his medicine and went to the thickened formula. Seems to help a little. Hoping that continues.
• He is the rolling machine now. He is all over the place, which is pretty funny to watch through the video monitor to see what weird positions he finds himself in the crib.
• When on his tummy, he has started pulling in his legs and scooting forward a little. I am not encouraging that little skill, because I am so not ready for mobility anytime soon.
• This guy puts everything in his mouth. Everything. Especially toes. I keep thinking we'd see some teeth by now because of that, but I think he just likes to chew on things. I still can't tell if he's a paci baby or not. He may be a random-items-I-can-put-in-my-mouth baby instead?
• His hair is slowly coming in, so we keep calling him fuzzball. But he is sporting the oh so cool small tuft of hair at the top that sometimes looks a little mohawkish.
• He is still the happiest baby ever. You can get him to smile just about any time you try. And no surprise, but big brother still gets the biggest smiles and giggles out of him.

We love our sweet, happy Baby Will so much!

The Summer of Bella Luce

This past summer will be memorable for many reasons. Some obviously not great at all (horribly scary days with our baby in the hospital), but I'm glad that we'll have some really fun memories as well because of Bella Luce.

Bella Luce is the name given to the lakehouse that Wade's parents rented for the summer. And having a lakehouse for the summer, eventually led to having a boat as well. Oh if I only had a picture of Wade's face when the boat arrived. Giddy doesn't even describe it. :)

Things started rough figuring out the new boat and finding a dock. And there were some serious "Strzwald" moments that I won't capture (good thing we can laugh about them all now!), but after all of the kinks got worked out, it turned into a great summer. I wish that I had more pictures, but at this stage of life, that task is proving to be quite challenging. So here are the few that I have.

These are two of Tate's most favorite people. He looooooves his cousins, Trip & Mary Tish. And I have to say that I have been so proud of them in how good they are with Tate. At 13 and almost 11, they could be at the age that a 3-year-old following you around EVERYWHERE you go could be very annoying. But they love it. And he loves them both.

Even the weekend Trip had his four friends at the lake, they let Tate join in the fun. In fact, it was pretty funny to hear Tate making sure the boys always knew where he was and when he would be back. "Guys! I'm right over here!"

And Bella Luce proved to be a perfect retreat for my very talented mother-in-law. This is one of her works of art while still in progress.

Tate with one his best buds, Deacon. And look there's a monster truck! Even at a lakehouse, there are monster trucks around. :)

At the beginning of the summer, Tate had no fear about riding on the tube. Somehow as the summer went on, he became more apprehensive and said he didn't want to go anymore. But one day after his friend Deacon went on the tube all by himself, he decided he wanted to do the same. So this picture is right before his first solo tubing...and wouldn't you know it...the tube caught too much water in the front and went under. Wade immediately dove in the lake and Tate promptly got in the boat saying, "I'm all done, please!" Bummer way to end the tubing experience, but he was just as happy riding in the boat watching everyone else.

A great memory for Trip is that this is the summer he learned to water ski and wake board. Way to go! Wade got in several wakeboard runs himself, and I finally (on the very last day) got in a good, long water skiing run.

Tate still talks about Bella Luce. Of the four of us, he was able to spend the most time there with some fun days of just he, Mo Mere, and the cousins. He loved every single minute. And he was very sad when I had to tell him at the end of August that Bella Luce would be closed. It was a fun summer with some great memories!

First Day of Preschool ~ 2010

This is Tate's second year at his preschool, and he was very excited about the first day today. This year will be fun because he gets to go to the Discovery class (science) along with the usual fun in his Ducks class, Chapel, Recess, and Spanish. And we're going to try out a basketball program that's once a week at the preschool.

Of course he made a beeline for the cars you can play with in his class, so there were no problems when we left. When I picked him up and we drove home, he told me that he had fun. He played with cars. It was too muddy to play outside. And he asked his teacher if he could have a turn to talk. :)

We're looking forward to a fun year!

The Random Catch-Up Post

I've had all kinds of thoughts going through my head over the last few months, but they just never make it to a well-written blog post. So for the sake of capturing our family memories (and maybe one day I'll FINALLY sit down to turn this blog into a Blurb book...if only I had an entire day to myself...hint, hint Wade), here are some random photos from the last few months to catch up on.

Lots of firsts in Tate's world. First time to play with Mommy's make-up.

And lots of Daddy/Tate experiences. The first Texas Rangers game. Wade took him to the game along with both Grandpa & Poppy. He went in with low expectations, considering it was an afternoon game right in the middle of nap time. But Tate really did great and lasted six innings. Of course the ice cream in the plastic helmet was a huge hit. And he still talks about the dot race. Since the game (and lots of Rangers games on TV), he has developed quite a wind-up pitch.

His first bike race with Daddy. Again, Wade went in with low expectations not knowing how Tate would do in the bike trailer for 20 miles. He proved to be a trooper and Wade said was often heard blaring his monster truck siren and yelling, "Go faster Daddy!"

And his first overnight camping trip. Our Wednesday night group has an annual tradition of the Dads taking all of the kids camping. This was Tate & Wade's first year to be able to go. This picture just about sums it all up.

He of course loved every minute. I'm sure being with Wade, eating Mr. Brandon's donuts made from scratch, getting incredibly dirty, and being with so many big kids were all highlights. And amazingly, Wade said Tate slept all night in the tent, even after falling off the air mattress twice.

Earlier this summer we went to a local library to hear Eddie Coker perform. Back in my special events planning days when I managed a kid's arts/music festival, he was the headliner. His music really is pretty fun. We met Kristen and her boys there and have been listening to the Woo-Woo Dance in the car ever since. This was the first time I had seen Tate dance freestyle to live music. Hilarious. The pictures don't do it justice. Just imagine Elaine dancing on the infamous Seinfeld episode. Oh, how I love this boy. :)

His second ride on a horse. This time at cousin Mallory's birthday party. He LOVED it.
And speaking of horses, I was able to take Tate to watch cousin Mary Tish in one of her horse shows (where she won 1st place!). We were all so proud!
And she's not blood-related but might as well be. Anna & Paige came for a quick visit after Will was born. Tate looooooves playing with Anna. They are separated by states and several years, but still have such a great time together. Of course, it's no wonder since their moms do too. And we can't wait to meet Baby Boy Reynolds coming soon!

And lastly, for some reason I've tried hard not to compare the boys too much. I'm know I'm way overthinking it, and it won't really do any permanent damage to compare and contrast their differences. So when I realized I had pictures of both of them in the same outfit on the same rug, I had to look and compare.

They are almost the same age here. I think their faces look similar, but the hair is so different. Although this was right in the middle of Tate's awkward hair stage when the full head of dark hair was falling out to be replaced by a full head of blonde hair. Love them both!

And there you have it, some random family updates!