Our Basketball Lovin' Tater TOT

Still behind on blogs, but here's one before I forget. This is the first year that Tate has been participating in an afterschool program at his preschool once a week called TOTs. They don't play on teams or compete but learn basketball handling skills with educational components. He has absolutely LOVED it!

I love that he loves it. And I love that it's an opportunity for him to get some energy out (there's plenty there) while focusing and learning.

There was a mid-year performance at a local high school basketball game a few weeks ago, and the TOTs group was the halftime show. I know I'm biased, but these kids were all pretty adorable. It was hilarious and chaotic at times but seriously cute! We were so proud of our Tater TOT! You can tell that the big court and all of the people were a lot to take in. I think he was quite in awe. :)

But he did great. And it's pretty funny when you could tell he could see his fan club on the other side of the gym. Poppy, Mo Mere, Uncle Ford, Aunt Tisha, Trip, & Mary Tish all came to cheer him on.

Way to go Tate, and we can't wait to watch you again in a few more months at the end-of-year show!

The Blogship: How Heidi Klum Brought Us Together

This is the tale of a true 21st century friendship...blogship.

Back in 2006, blogs were the new, hot thing in my world. It was fun to have this little blip on the world wide web for reflection, pictures, and plenty of randomness. One day I was reading another friend's blog and left a comment on a corresponding post about how much I love Project Runway. Pretty soon after, I had a comment on my blog from a girl named Kelli stating that she read my comment and that she was a fellow PR fan as well. It was a fun "Make It Work" moment.

I clicked over to her blog to see that we happened to go to the same university and had many of the same friends. As I read several of her posts, I read back to when she wrote about suffering a miscarriage losing a sweet baby she had been so excited about. Many of the words she wrote struck a chord and felt very similar to my feelings after the miscarriage I had the year prior. I left a comment with just a couple words of encouragement and understanding about her heartache.

That started a good year or so worth of blog commenting back and forth. We later joked that it was such a 21st century friendship that we "met on the internet." And to take the next step, we began to meet in person and hit it off great making us "real life" friends! :)

So that takes care of 2 of the girls in the picture.

Throughout this time, my sister Shannon (also a blogger) had noticed comments on my blog from this girl Kelli and had clicked through to read her blog. From there, she happened upon the blog of Kelli's sister-in-law, Karen.

And this is where the story gets a little creepy...and funny. (love you Shannon!)

Shannon started reading more of Karen's blog. This would be appropriately called blog-stalking. Over a period of time, she happened to piece several things together realizing that she and Karen both lived in the same particular small town and moved to another same particular small town within months of each other. They also happened to both have daughters born within weeks of each other and delivered by the same doctor.

Shannon starts confessing to me that she's figured out that she has so many things in common with this girl. This girl she's never met.

And then she starts seeing Karen around town. Several times. It was hilarious every time I would get a call from Shannon saying, "I just saw Karen and her daughter, Bella!" They would even have stranger small talk. Little did Karen know, Shannon knew everything about her already.

So finally, Shannon got brave one day. She ran into Karen and just unloaded it all. Oh how I wish I could've been a fly on the wall during that conversation. "Hi my name is Shannon. My sister and your sister-in-law met from each other's blogs and then I started reading your blog and realized that we both moved here from the same exact town and we both had a baby around the same time and we both went to the same doctor, and we both..."

Karen was a trooper. Instead of running and screaming from the blog stalker, she invited Shannon and her family over to her house. And that's where another great friendship began. In fact, those two daughters born around the same time, are also best of friends.

It's such a funny and random story. But to me, it's a great story to prove you just never know how your life experiences can bring you together. I would've never wanted either Kelli or I to have to go through the pain of losing a baby, but I'm thankful that through that mutual pain, a bond was formed. In fact, several bonds and friendships have formed.

And I guess we should also thank the love of Heidi Klum and her Project Runway awesomeness. :)

Will ~ 8 & 9 Months

Hopefully Will is going to forgive me one day that his monthly updates have turned into every other month updates. :) What a fun couple of months with our sweet Baby Will! It is still my absolute favorite baby stage. I am seriously kissing on him all day long. Wonder if he's annoyed? But it's around this stage that they really start to seem like older babies and become so much more curious and entertained with the world around them. So cute and so fun!

The milestones I remember from the 7th month:

• He became a sitting pro. I think it was just a couple of days after he turned 7 months old. Now it certainly can aggravate the reflux spit-up, but it doesn't phase him at all. The other thing to be careful is big brother coming in for a hug. Still, he loves it.
• He started putting the pacifier back in on his own. Now that is a biggie in my book! Thanks to the video monitor, if he wakes up at night, I can tell if he can get to the pacifier himself. Love that!
• He also got his bottom 2 teeth. Definitely some fussier moments but not too terrible. Or maybe I've already forgotten?
• And finally we are on a much more consistent nap routine with just 2 naps a day. For the most part, he does really good of each one being about an hour and a half. And he usually sleeps from about 8:00ish to 7:00ish at night.
• He has got some crazy hair! It's coming in fast and coming in all over the place.

And for the 8th month:

• The highlight/lowlight of the month was that he got RSV and his first ear infection. I'm thankful that it seemed to be a mild case. But even with that, it was 8 days of fever and a pretty pitiful snotty, coughing baby. So sad, but we're so thankful it didn't get worse.
• Will has started talking up a storm. It's pretty cute when you can finally hear what their "talking voice" will sound like. He says da-da all the time. Seriously all day long. No ma-ma at all. Trying not to be too bitter. :) He makes the ya, ba, and all kids of strawberry/blowing noises with his mouth. He also is becoming known for his trademark fish face. Can even do it on command...funny!
• He LOVES to stand up and hold on to things. Wondering if he'll cruise around before he even crawls. He loves it. As far as crawling, still not happening. He can creep and roll anywhere he wants to go but just doesn't stay up on all 4s yet.
• And by this point, I finally got him up to 3 meals a day of baby food. He loves his morning oatmeal and fruit. Likes sweet potatoes, carrots, the stage 2 meats, and veggie blends. He does NOT like just green beans. At all. And he doesn't seem to care for the Stage 3 foods yet. (Another mommy guilt that I made all of Tate's baby food at this point. Sorry Will...love you just as much!) He also has started eating puffs and even gets some in his mouth on his own.
• I'm a little nervous to say it for fear of jinxing, but the reflux spit-up has gotten a little better. He still spits up but it doesn't seem to be near as much. I'm sure the sitting/standing and baby food are all helping. Really hoping the trend continues!
• He still LOVES his bath. Absolutely LOVES it! He knows that word, so when you say "take a bath," he gets a huge grin and starts giggling. Cute. And if you ever give him a bath, watch out, he slaps and splashes the water like crazy.
• He can do a round about wave and clap. It may be a few minutes after you say it, but eventually he'll show you his trick.
• He likes the pattycake song, when Macy barks, his animal and babies video, shape sorter, Sofie the Giraffe, the jumper, being outside, being tickled, big brother making noises, and going on walks in the stroller.

I love you Baby Will and am soaking in all of these sweet baby moments as you are only 3 months away from being 1 year old. How is that possible?

2010: My Year In Books

It's January and time to wrap up my annual Year In Books. I've been driving myself a little crazy trying to remember the books that I read. (Not counting the hundreds of times I've read Starry Safari, Curious George Plays Baseball, or Click, Clack, Moo...Tate's current favorites.) But the truth is, there aren't a lot to remember. 2010 was not my biggest year in reading. Having a baby and managing two different freelance jobs seemed to take up most of my spare time. (And there was also my 3-month obsession with Words With Friends.)

But for the record, here is my small list of books I read in 2010:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - I read this early in the year, and I'm sure by now most have heard of its greatness. Seriously one of the best books I have read in a really long time. I LOVED it! I'm not sure why I enjoy reading about that time period so much, because it's incredibly sad. But I find myself drawn to those books all of the time. This story is intense and so touching. Surely there will be a sequel and a movie made. Can't wait!

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay - The other time period I find myself reading a lot about is during WWII. Wow, I sure pick some happy years, huh? This probably ranks lower on the books I've read about that time. It's well written and very interesting. But it is seriously sad. So sad, I had nightmares about it. I wish there was something redeeming to the sadness, but there really wasn't. Kind of a downer.

Jantsen's Gift by Pam Cope - I followed it with this book, which has unbelievable redemption to the sadness. And the fact that it's a true story is pretty incredible. I would encourage anyone to read this. As cliche as it sounds, it will be life-changing. In fact, we have several friends who are going through pretty amazing life-changing experiences right now, and this book was a part of that. It will open your eyes in so many ways. From grief to some heart-wrenching, horrible things that are happening to innocent children all over our world. I hope that I will never forget what I learned and will always want to do something about it.

Parenting With Love & Logic by Foster Cline and Jim Fay - And then to the older child in my home. The 3rd year has been a doozie for us, so I was looking for anything I could get my hands on to help. As with all parenting strategies, there really isn't one across the board method that will always work. So you take pieces here and there. So far, I really like that the purpose in this one is for your child to think and eventually come up with the right solutions on their own. I have by no means perfected it but definitely found this helpful.

Heaven by Randy Alcorn - This was a book I read as part of a group study. I definitely recommend reading it with a group because on your own, it may become a little overwhelming. It's a big book with a lot of content to cover. I admit to skimming at times. But the main points that I did learn were fascinating. He writes that there isn't much teaching about heaven in most of our churches today. So much of what I read was new to me. It will answer many questions and at the same time cause you to ask many questions. Most importantly, it does re-affirm and make me look forward to what a great (sure wish there was a better word than great to describe heaven!!!) place it will be.

On my list to hopefully read in 2011:

Open

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Still Alice

The Hole In Our Gospel

Benjamin Franklin's biography

Scream-Free Parenting

Any other good ones out there?

And in case you're looking for some book suggestions, here are my lists from 2007, 2008, and 2009.

Goodbye 2010

What a year. It seems like we experienced a full range of events and emotions with plenty of ups and downs.

The best part of 2010 by far was the birth of our Baby Will. After only 8 1/2 months, he is already such an important part of this family. I am over the moon in love with him. What a joy it has been to have him with us and to see the beginning of a special brother relationship.

The hardest parts of 2010 were all pretty hard. From our friend Jenny to two patriarchs in our family, Wade's Uncle Gayle and my Grandpa Enright, we experienced loss and heartache this year.

And then 2010 included some of the scariest moments of my life so far. Driving to the children's hospital ER after being told my 10-week-old had a very serious staph infection and something called scalded skin syndrome now feels surreal. And I hope I never, ever have to go through an experience like that again. But I can't thank the Lord enough that Will came out of that illness with absolutely nothing to show for it. For that I am thankful.

And then you have to include the croup, chest xrays, spinal ultrasound, urethra surgery, spinal tap, spinal block, full anesthesia, blood draws, catheters, physical therapy, and just this week...RSV. Wowsers, this sweet baby has put us through the ringer in his short life so far.

But he his here. In fact, all four of us are here and healthy living a very blessed life. So despite the heartaches, the scares, the imperfections, the frustrations, and even the joys, I remind myself on this January 1st not to take for granted what is in front of me.

Goodbye 2010 and bring on 2011!

Christmas # 3 of 3

The title of this post really should be "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't." This was the year we were going with my parents to Shannon & Brad's in Temple to have the Enright Family Christmas. The plan was to get on the road first thing on the 26th. Well throughout the day on the 25th, Tate started with his bad asthma cough. It just got worse through the day and night, so we postponed leaving town until we knew he was OK. Then we got news that my grandmother had fallen and broken her pelvis, so my mom was by the phone around the clock. Pretty much all morning it was up in the air as to what we were going to do. Finally we all decided to get in the car and just go. So at 5:00 we arrived and let the fun begin.

Will and his 1st Christmas stocking from Mimi.

We gave Mallory & Morgan the Disney Princess Barbies. Pretty exciting stuff.
And Wade got a new Mellow Johnny's hat, which is always exciting.
Wonder who gave this onesie to Shannon & Brad's Baby Max (coming in April)?
We draw names for the adults. I drew my Dad's name. He is either the easiest person to buy for if you just get him a shirt. Or he becomes the most difficult person to buy for if you go with something different. I was PUMPED when I found this device that transfers old vinyl records to MP3 files. Dad still has boxes and boxes of old records, so I just KNEW that this may be the BEST gift ever. But no. He has one already! So he is again officially the hardest person to buy for. :)
Tate was loving the Batmobile.
And Brad got a sweater. His Christmas was now complete.
And Uncle Brad really seemed to enjoy encouraging Tate to play with the princess Barbies. Tate decided his favorite was Belle.
And a big memory for Tate was his first "cousin sleepover." They all three slept in their new sleeping bags in the same room. Amazingly, they all three also slept through the night!
And again to just prove that I was there.
The not-so-fun memory of this trip is that while we were there, Will was acting much fussier than normal. He would even fall asleep while I was holding him, which never happens anymore. Hmmmm? Who knew that Will's belated Christmas gift (and one we would accidentally leave with Morgan) was RSV. Boo.

But the good thing is that while we were there, everyone was feeling good and the cousins had a great time together as always.

And that concludes the Christmas Extravaganza.

I'm reminding myself that Christmas seasons won't always feel like this. Rushed, hurried, hectic, all of which make parenting even more challenging than it already is. But Christmas seasons also won't always be as sweet as they are at this stage. I wish it was slower. I wish there were more opportunities to learn why we celebrate. I wish, I wish, I wish. Trying hard to soak it all in and not wish it all away. I'm thankful for the Savior that was born and the blessing of wonderful family and friends that surrounded me this Christmas season!

Christmas #2 of 3

So right after lunch, we headed over to Wade's parent's house for the Strzinek Family Christmas. Tate was ushered into a bed for a quick nap. So Will got to be my photo subject while we waited for everyone to arrive. Love this boy and his baby blues!

Will, Mo Mere, Poppy, & Wade.
Later that afternoon, Tate woke up and the rest of the family arrived. Here are Tate and his older cousins, who he absolutely adores! They are so great to him, and he loves spending time with them both. I hope the feeling is mutual for many years. :) And yes, the boys are in matching Christmas argyle sweaters. Those were one of the first matching things I bought when I was pregnant and found out Will was a boy. Wade rolls his eyes a little at me, but I think they look adorable.
This picture cracks me up. Tate had just opened a present that was a duffle bag with his name embroided on it. Can you see the excitement all over his face? He wasn't showing it then, but seriously, he thinks it's pretty cool and has asked to pack things in that bag several times already.
Then it was time for the biggie. Wade's parents got one for Trip when he was Tate's age and were excited to do the same for Tate (and what will be for Will one day also). Tate had no idea, which was fun.

It was waiting out back.
Close your eyes.
Now open!
He never screamed or yelled, he just laughed and had the absolute biggest grin possible. He hopped right on and seemed to know just what to do.
Now this picture is either totally gross or hilarious. I vote for hilarious. It was freezing cold outside, and Tate started getting a cold that day. So in the midst of his pure excitement and laughter, quite the snot bubble had formed.
Time to lay down the driving rules.
Back to the fun.

The Gator was obviously the highlight of the Strzinek Christmas. But also this year the adults did a gift exchange. Wade & I ended up with a Home Depot gift card and a clothes steamer. Not too bad. Although we were totally exhausted by the time we got home, we were all thankful for another fun Christmas with the Strzineks.

Christmas #1 of 3

What a fun Christmas this year. It was Will's 1st Christmas, and I can tell that each year for Tate it gets even more and more fun. He loved it.

One thing I hadn't thought about was that this is the first year Tate could come downstairs on his own. (Yes, he was locked inside his own room last year...don't judge.) So I was bummed to miss seeing him come downstairs to discover what Santa had left. He actually stayed in his room like he's supposed to until 7:00 (normal morning rule) and then bounded into our room yelling, "Come look at the giant sock!"

Our stockings have been hung along the stairs, and I guess we hadn't talked about them much. He was quite amazed at the giant "sock" that was now in front of the tree and full of goodies. Pretty funny.

So the fun began, and he got to open (Wade has always been adamant about keeping his family tradition of wrapping stocking presents...very odd to me) the things inside his stocking.

And we probably could've stopped opening presents after the first one...a "monster motorbicycle and monster motorbicycle guy." He LOVES this thing. The Leapster and bathtub boat were the other hits of the morning.
Some fun glasses in the stocking.
And baby brother wasn't left out too much. He did get a brand new shape sorter! :)
Although he would've been perfectly content just playing with the wrapping paper and eating the bows.

Before we had kids, Wade started a fun tradition with our older niece and nephew. We would make cookies and bring them to the fire station for the guys that have to work on Christmas. Tate was excited to help this year.

And before we could blink, it was over. We had a couple of hours at the house to enjoy the new toys before we headed out to the next Christmas.

The Ginormous Post of All Things Pre-Christmas

Leading up to Christmas may be more fun for me than Christmas itself. Is that bad? I just love all of the fun activities and sights to see. So here is our December celebrating in a (kinda) nutshell.

Laura & I determined that this is now an annual activity since this is our 3rd year in a row to get together for a Christmas craft. So hard to believe Jackson & Tate are this big now. And I love that Anna joined in the crafting. The felt Santa ornaments and gingerbread cookie pops were a hit!

Sweet baby brother had to watch from the sideline as I'm pretty sure he would've been eating the glue.

Our trip to see Santa was pretty perfect. In the past, we've gone to the local mall. They have a great Santa, but the lines and the cost always made me wonder if it was even worth it. So when the place where both boys have done physical therapy said they have a free Santa AND you can schedule a time slot. Ummm, yes, please.

He was a super sweet Santa, and both of the boys did good. Tate hopped right onto his lap, and Will stared at him like he was the strangest looking thing ever. Tate told Santa he wanted a Leapster, (check!), a Batmobile (check!), and a robot (huh????). This was the first I'd heard of a robot. But Santa came through on 2 of the 3. Pretty good odds. And we got a chance for a photo with the boys and our favorite physical therapist, Ms. Carolyn. A BIG thank you to OCH for the sweetest, easiest Santa experience ever!

Next up was the preschool Christmas party. Fun, fun, fun. And it gives me even more appreciation for the hard work of his teachers. :) Everyone got to decorate a gingerbread cookie. And clearly, Tate listens to Ms. C well because after she told them not to squeeze the icing too hard, he would barely squeeze any of it out. The M&Ms wouldn't stay on. That was fine with him, of course, because he just promptly ate them all off. :) And the book exchange game is always fun as well.At home, I put up most of the decorations after the boys were asleep. But I did let Tate decorate the tree in the playroom. I put up the garland and a few ornaments up high, but he put all of the other ornaments on the tree and had fun doing it. I was pretty proud of myself for leaving them where he put them ALL in the front lower half.
For our 2nd year in a row, we had a family night of Christmas PJs, treats, Christmas music, and driving around looking at lights. We got some matchy, matchy brother pictures before (wonder how many years I'll get away with that) and then loaded up the car. One fun memory is that we happened to be driving by Tate's friend Annie's house. So we let him run up to the door (in PJs) to wish her a Merry Christmas. He's usually not nervous about many things, but this gave him some cold feet. He ran from the car to the door and back to the car probably four different times before he got up enough nerve to ring the doorbell. It was pretty funny to watch. Bummer that Annie was already asleep! We'll have to try again next year.

Next was our day at the Gaylord. We went on a weekday morning, and it was still packed. Didn't get many pictures of the decorations, but it's always beautifully decorated.

We decided to do their version of a snow hill. Not sure if I'd call it snow, but it worked. Funny thing was that when getting the tickets Wade just assumed it would be he and Tate going down the hill. Hey mister, I like to live on the edge, too, you know.

So I did the first two runs with Tate, and Wade did the second two. It was really dark and weird lighting in there, so the pictures aren't good at all. But in the first picture you can see Tate just plopping right down on tube with no hesitation. I'm standing there wondering if this is a good idea or not. Clearly, he did not inherit by cautious nature. And boy did that thing go fast for such a little "snow" hill. Lots of fun for all 3 of us. (Sorry Will, it may be a couple more years.)

You think he enjoyed himself just a little?
And with all of the pretty decorations, I tried my best to get some good pictures of the boys.
They are pretty cute if I do say so myself.

But don't let these adorable, happy faces fool you. There was plenty of this along the way as well.
And what a fun surprise as we were leaving to walk right by one of Wade's longtime friends and groomsmen in our wedding, Chad, along with his family. Fun to catch up for a few minutes!
The obligatory photo in the sleigh.
The wonder of the trains.

The Gaylord was just what we needed a few days before all of the fun began with our 3 different Christmas celebrations. More fa la la la la-ing to come.