Grandpa Enright

At the end of September, I got the call that my Grandpa Enright had passed away at the age of 86.

Even though we lived several states away, he was just about as involved of a grandparent as you could be with that much distance. He was always interested in our school activities and even though I never continued the family tradition of competitive swimming, I think it's neat that both he and I shared a love for journalism. I have many fond memories of him coming to Texas or us going to California with fun activities in both places.

And I will always remember that he braved the freezing rain one December evening in West Texas to attend my college graduation. Probably not where a California native wanted to be.

Although I wish that I had been able to see him recently and introduce him to his 2nd great-grandson who was also named after him, I'm thankful that he was in great spirits and very much himself the last time we were there.

My sister & I were fortunate to be able to fly to California to be part of the services to honor his long and full life. I loved hearing so many stories of his childhood newspaper routes, his lifelong devotion to CAL football, his many travels, and his time in the Army. I've grown to appreciate and understand the significance of his service during WWII much more as I've grown older. He was in a very famous part of the war's history with the group that liberated the prisoners of war from the Bataan Death March in the Philippines.

And very much in true Grandpa fashion, a couple years ago he began handwriting his life story. It is absolutely amazing to read the things and stories he remembered. I can't remember what I wore yesterday, but he could recall the score of several CAL games he watched as a kid and who scored the winning touchdown. We are all so thankful he took the time to do this.

I have now lost two of my grandparents. It's such a sad twist of fate that right when we can appreciate them the most and better understand the hardships and trials they went through is when we lose the opportunity to spend time with them. We will all miss him, but are so thankful for the memories we have.

An early memory from one of my trips by myself to California during the summer. Grandpa & Colleen took me to Carmel and the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. See the love for his granddaughter that he wasn't even embarrassed to be seen with me in my lovely '80s attire.

This video is definitely a keepsake. Grandpa came to meet Tate a few weeks after he was born. We were at my parent's house and put the video camera on record as Grandpa held him and we all talked. Of course I don't enjoy hearing myself talking in the background, but I love getting to go back and watch moments like this where you can really see his sense of humor. He got some of the biggest, earliest smiles out of Tate.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Trip to California in 2007 for the CAL season opener (and a big win).

Our last visit with Grandpa in July 2008.

One funny memory I have to record and remember is that the priest forgot to do the eulogy during the memorial service. Awkward. The family member that was supposed to speak just went ahead and walked up to the front after the priest had dismissed everyone. Unfortunately the pianist didn't see him walk up there, so she just kept on playing. Finally after several minutes she looked up and stopped playing, and then he did a great job sharing many good memories. I later told my parents that I could just hear Grandpa saying, "Well they really fouled up my funeral!" :)

His burial service was later that afternoon at the National Cemetery and was very moving. As a retired Colonel, he received full military honors complete with Taps on the Bugle and Amazing Grace on the bagpipes.

And a trip like this brings with it sadness, but it ended for us with a wonderful surprise. My cousin went into labor several weeks early, so I was able to meet my 2nd cousin (? not sure the term), Audrey. She is a beautiful little baby, and Amy did a great job enduring 48 hours+ of labor!

And the night before we left, the "original 4" had a nice dinner together @ Scoma's.

Jackson & Tate

Will & I headed out to California last month to tag along while Wade attended a conference. Tate had 5 fun-filled days with his MoMere & Poppy. Famous quotes we keep hearing by Tate from that stay are "Only grandmothers take you to Target to get toys." and "You can only say na-na-nu-boo-boo to Trip." He had a great time.

But the first day we were gone, Tate got to go to his first ever sleepover at a friend's house. He and Jackson have known each other since they were both in the womb. Laura and I worked together for several years @ the AHA and were pregnant at the same time. The boys were born just 3 months apart. So they have "grown up" knowing each other and getting together for regular playdates. There was a scheduling issue last minute that put Tate without a place to stay the first night. Laura was so incredibly gracious to have Tate over even the day before she was leaving town!

It started off in a bizarre fashion when right as I was packing up the car and Tate was bouncing off the walls with excitement to go to Jackson's house, all of a sudden he was in tears saying his side hurt when you touched it. Freaked me out! This kid rarely ever complains of something hurting. And he was in pain. And in tears. Two hours later, the diagnosis was gas. Wow...really.

So finally we were off, and Tate was back to his normal not-as-gassy self. Here are the pictures Laura sent from their jam-packed, fun-filled 24 hours. I have to say that the bar has been set high but we can't wait to return the favor and have Jackson over.

So glad they obviously had such a fun time...which even involved Laura & Mike finding Tate by himself dancing around with Blue Bear at 3:00 a.m. AND Laura having to take 3 kids into the Chick Fil A bathroom for a round of #2s. Now that is what you call a true friend! :) Thank you Manes Family!!!!!

Halloween 2010

Halloween festivities started with Tate's preschool Costume Parade. Since his Halloween costume was very similar to what he wore on Western Day just a few weeks before, we looked through the dress-up clothes to find something else to wear. Yes, he was Dale Earn... Jr. Or #88 as Tate calls him. Oh boy, do you know how much control I had to let go of to be OK with him dressing up as a NASCAR driver? I was pretty proud of myself.

He loved wearing this and LOVED the helmet.
Of course, it was quite a task getting all of the kids in the class to look and smile for a group picture. One funny story was when I showed up, the little boy in the racing costume was standing by him. Tate had quite the look of awe in his eyes and said, "Mommy, look a monster-racing-motorbicycle driver." I'm pretty sure he was drooling over that boy's costume.

So then on Halloween, we continued the tradition of enjoying a pumpkin pizza.
The bummer of the day was that our camera died. On Halloween...not good timing. So some of the pictures are from my phone, and then my friend Melissa saved the day by sending me some of the pictures she took that night.

So here is our Cowboy Tate. Oh boy, did he love this costume. Especially the cowboy hat and cowboy boots. They are a regular clothing item of choice around here now.

And I had the most adorable puppy costume for Will. But in true unpredictable Texas weather fashion, it was a very warm Halloween (followed by a very cold day after Halloween). So that costume wasn't an option. Will sported the pumpkin jammies and horse bib to support his cowboy brother.
I think this may be the cutest picture ever of Tate with his sweet ballerina friend Jaycie. Love it and great job Melissa! :)
Tate absolutely loved trick-or-treating this year. Almost too much. He was pumped up, and it took awhile to reign in some of that excitement. But overall it was a fun night with several of his sweet friends and their sweet moms and dads.
And this attempt at a group picture with 7 kiddos turned out pretty good, I think.

Will ~ 6 & 7 Months

So the big 6 and 7 month marks have already come and gone. I look at him just about every day and wonder how in the world he is already getting this big. What's next...college??!! :) But this really is my favorite baby stage. I just kiss on him all day long...so cute!

• In the world of sleep, he is doing great and sleeping 10-11 hours each night. We still don't have him on a timed schedule throughout the day, but he definitely has a pattern to his day. I don't need rigidness, but I need some predictability. Now the length of naps or what time of day they happen can look different each day, but there's a pattern or routine of sleep, eat, play, sleep. So for the 2nd child, I'll gladly take that.
• His naps have become a bit more consistent. There are still two or three (depending on how much we're in the car) a day and usually one of them is a good 1 1/2-2 hours. The others are usually short little 30-minute naps.
• And with the crazy month of October, I got a little behind in starting the baby food. Woops. But finally on his 7th month birthday, we celebrated with rice cereal. He didn't care for that very much but has seemed to be tolerant of squash and pears so far. Little does he know that I've got a serious goal to help make him a good eater. Hoping he cooperates.
• I'm surprised that he isn't closer to crawling yet, but at the same time, totally fine without mobility for now. He still pulls his legs in a lot to scoot up and will roll all over the place.
• And I'm still surprised no teeth have broken through. This kiddo puts every single thing in his mouth. (I'm becoming a little crazy in my radar for scary, small objects lying around.) Still no teeth.
• His fuzzball head is slowly turning into a real head of hair, but I still am not sure what color to use to describe it. Sometimes it looks blond, brown, or even at times a little strawberry.
• He's been discovering his voice and the volume capabilities it has. It's pretty cute to hear him babbling, "roaring," and making the funny strawberry noises.
• And he's at that fun stage of beginning to really recognize people and get excited about seeing them. The squeals come out and the legs start kicking when he sees his Daddy each day. And despite the constant in-his-face, you can tell that he adores his big brother. Tate gets most of the giggles and smiles from Will. I have to say, it comes in handy in the car as they already entertain each other.
• This past month, he got to experience his first plane ride and trip to California (maybe one day I'll get caught up on this blog and post some pictures), and he did great. Seriously such a go-with-the-flow baby.
• He's been back at our favorite place for physical therapy to work on the slight tortecollis a little more. But we're thinking that might be just about over. And we took him in for an evaluation for a cranial band (for the flat spot on the back of his head), but it was minor enough they didn't think we needed to move forward. The reflux is maybe getting a little better with the thickener we're using. Maybe. That's all in health news. Oh wait, there was the random 102 fever that resulted in blood draw, catheter, and several tests. All coming back negative. Just a virus. He keeps us on our toes!
• He still LOVES going outside, plays with baby toys more, has started enjoying his jumper more, loves being held in a standing position, but isn't crazy about the Bumbo.

We already can't imagine our family without Will in it. He brings us true joy!

Western Day

Tate was sick last year on Western Day, so he was pretty excited about it this year. And I was pretty excited about the $6.99 clearance shirt I found at Janie & Jack. :) And oh my, this kiddo is in LOVE with his cowboy boots and hat now. Good thing since those were critical pieces in the upcoming Halloween costume. It was a fun day with a pony ride, goats, a donkey, a turkey, and other animals I'm sure I should know the name of. Our preschool does a great job of making it a fun day for everyone.

Fall Festivus

Being out of town a scattered 12 days of the month can make things a little hectic. This is my favorite time of year, and I don't like that feeling of not being able to keep up, but it is what it is. And I do have some fun photos to prove that fall and October were adequately celebrated.

First we started with a trip to the local nursery to buy our fall pumpkins.

And of course we wore festive clothes.
Most years we make it to several pumpkin patches. This year it was just one, but it was definitely our favorite one that we've been to every year. Hard to believe these pictures as I remember bringing Tate here his first year. Now at almost 4, this place is heaven as he has so much room to just run to his heart's content.

And sweet Will is always a happy camper in the stroller.
The best of our attempt at group pictures.
The best of our attempt at brother pictures.


And my poor kids are completely unaware that you can paint or carve pumpkins. The furthest we've gone in that area is Mr. Potato Head pumpkin decorating.
But seriously isn't that cuter than pumpkin guts everywhere?
And we had to continue the torture...I mean the tradition.

Tate's first Halloween ~ October 2007 ~ 10 months old:
Will couldn't be left out.

Will's first Halloween ~ October 2010 ~ 6 months old: