The Wacky World of Tate

Well, at a whopping almost 19 months old Tate has become quite the comedian around the house! We are constantly laughing at the new things he does or discovers. Some of his favorite activities these days include putting on Brandon and I's shoes, finding out where momma hid all the toilet paper, realizing he can hold a whiffle ball with his mouth, sticking out his tongue and trying on hats that are too small. Oh and it just so happens we have some pictures to prove it all....

18 months

Well, today Tate is officially 18 months old and I have no idea how it happened this quick. I can remember when he was first born and I'd be talking to other moms who had an 18 month old at the time and I thought I might as well be looking at a twelve year old. Their children could walk, talk, comprehend, kick a soccer ball and say words. I was like oh, no way...I'm light years away from that.

Pretty crazy because here we are and he does all that and more. I'm continually amazed by how quickly he is learning and changing and it makes me giddy to be his mom. Every single day is an adventure where I have no idea what he'll do next. Today's episode? Well, he is still trying to master running and kicking a ball at the same time and as we learned today that does not mesh well with concrete. Poor guy has a bright red strawberry on his forehead but it did not deter him from being happy and active for this photo shoot.

Palm Springs take two....

On the road again....we just couldn't wait to get on the road again. Well, we ventured back out to the desert this past weekend with some friends for a little rest and relaxation (yes, even with children). It was beautiful weather and we were all able to soak up a lot of sun and even enjoy some downtime during naps. Seriously, what would we do without those glorious nap times??

T was catching up with some correspondents on the way out....

Griffin and Tate loved playing in their blow-up race car that was technically supposed to be a ball pit but ended up being more like a wonderful play pen that just happened to come with a few balls!

We all even got a chance to leave the house and have a fancy brunch out at a nearby resort. Ooh la la.

Thanks, Romines, for a wonderful weekend away!!

Sunny Days

We have been very blessed with sunshine and warm days over the past couple of "winter" months and therefore have not been able to get enough of the outdoors. Tate would live at the park if he could and spending a lot of time there has given him ample room to work on his skills. Here you can see the fancy footwork with a soccer ball that our little athlete has started to master. Don't worry, we're not signing him up for sports.....just yet.

Sunshine definitely requires some hat wear too so T and I put on our finest for a stroll to the farmer's market.

We were also highly privileged to attend the beautiful wedding of some friends of ours in Palm Springs and somehow forgot that it was February. I'm pretty sure this dress has summer written all over it. Oh well!

Life lessons from a toddler...

As usual, Tate and I made our weekly trip to the grocery store to maintain our little family for the week but for some reason today something struck me about doing this simple task. While I, in perfect mom mode, am preoccupied by looking at my list, running through meal scenarios in my mind and dodging people who have that "I want to stop and talk to you about your baby for 15 minutes" look in their eye, my son is doing the exact opposite. He is delighting in each and every person around him. Whether he's at the grocery store, the mall, the park, Starbucks or any place that is crawling with people his take is the same: to talk to, smile at and engage each person who passes by. They could be old, young, rich, poor, black, white, healthy or sick and he doesn't care because he sees their simplest and yet most profound feature...human. God created each person alike but most of us adults at times have reverted to discrimination, avoidance or annoyance when it comes to others. Without knowing it, my 16-month-old has challenged me to see the world through his eyes and love each person exactly the same. Well, my son, challenge accepted.

Oh and one more quick side note since it pertains to grocery stores and people, I'm reminded of something that happened back when I was pregnant. As I was leaving the grocery one day I instantly caught sight of three different homeless people waiting by the exit to ask for some type of handout. Well, I was tired, hungry and my feet hurt so I quickly skirted around them and avoided all eye contact. However as I was passing by, a nice gentleman stopped to talk to the homeless man on my left and as he handed him some money he did two things that I'll never forget....first, he asked the man what his name was and then second, he referred to him by that first name and said "Don't worry, God's got you....He's truly got you." It's so true and yet so easy to forget. In the midst of this heart broken and crazy city God knows that man by his name and has him in His hands. I'm no better than that man and I'm called to see him for who he really is...someone loved by God.

Ok now I'm off to continue my day with hopefully one third of the joy of this precious boy who is so new to the world but has already taught me so much.

A Holiday Posting...At Last!

Well, due to some technical difficulties this post has been rather delayed but despite it being mid January let's take a trip back to Christmas shall we?? As usual, there's no place like home for the holidays and we enjoyed every minute of being back in the South. Tate had quite a blast with it all including walking up & down the aisle of an airplane (for what seemed like a thousand times), playing with his cousins, eating sugar cookies and seeing all of his extended family. We felt truly blessed this season and thank God for allowing us such sweet memories of Tate's second Christmas!

Tate with his Papa and Susu

Oh the thrill of Christmas morning through a child's eyes!

Tate's love of dogs quickly turned around to bite him...or, um, lick him.

Sweet times with Susu...

We also got to see a lot of Papa Peace and Shawna and were thrilled to be home to celebrate dad's big birthday!!

Tate and his Uncle Monty

Rub a dub dub...three cousins around a tub! I believe Tate was rather excited to have an audience for once.

Thanks again for hosting our stay everyone and we love you all SO much!!