2016

Hey all!

What a whirlwind this year has been! Today is June 1st. How are we almost halfway through 2016 already?! It seems a bit crazy to me. Anywho:

My Mill Mill is 7 months old! He is scooting right along (literally) and is SUCH a sweet baby. He is rather large, still 99% in all categories minus the head circumference, which was about 75% at his 6 month appointment. He just popped his first bottom tooth! And the second one is really close to coming through as well. He LOOOOVEES to eat. Not just mama's milk, but all kinds of regular food too. He could not be more different than his brother who only ever wanted mama's milk and really didn't start liking real food until he was about 10 or 11 months old! Miller can already down an apple sauce packet, eat half a banana, and a few pea crisps, all in one sitting! I feel like he may have the Hidalgo food gene. As in, he just likes to eat! He certainly does love being with his Mama and seems a bit apprehensive in larger crowds. He is fairly laid back and seems to be acting a lot like his Dada. It's funny how one's kids turn out more like one parent or another. The three year old Tate is probably a lot like me, as I'm sure most people would agree. He's "wild" and somewhat aggressive, a bit bossy, but also super loving and touchy-feely. I was a lot like that as a child, very hyper and full of energy, plus Tate has the boy hormones! He is getting a lot better at playing with other kids his age, and certainly plays very well with older kids. He loves to play with Jack, Corbin, Eli & Ella (from daycare) and Ms. Ky when he's at my work. We are in the process of picking a preschool for him to start at part-time in the fall. We are all very excited!

Brandon is working hard at Nissan and has been able to spend a  lot of extra weekends at home. He did work last weekend during Memorial day, but gone are the days that he has to work every other weekend! I know he would probably like to work more often, but I can tell he loves being home with his two boys. He really is an amazing father. Tate will often say to Brandon "you're my best friend!" or just to anyone in general "dada is my beeeeest friend" They really are two peas in a pod.

I'm still chugging along at the park, working about 25 hours a week. Tate and Miller stay with Ms. Angie while I work and it's all been going pretty well. We're anticipating summer camps and I've already been on 3 kayak floats so far! Water levels are low so we're hoping for some good rain before next week!

Can't think of too much else to talk about other than my kids and work. HOWEVER, something amazing just popped into my head....in less than 3 weeks I will be heading to Tulum, Mexico for a mini-vacation with my friends Charlotte and Jill! We are celebrating Jill's 30th birthday and I am SO excited! Looking forward to seeing the Mayan ruins and just lying on the beach. Brandon is also looking forward to the water but not to lay by it. He's ready to fish it! Wahoo. We are both in need of a little time away. Hopefully we can take a family vacation this fall. We talked about a camping trip in the Smokies....we shall see!

I will leave you with a bunch of pictures of my babies! Love to all!

Pregnancy is Fishy

Hello! I was trying to be "clever" as I thought of a blog post title. I wanted to post some pictures from our fish fry and also chat a bit about my pregnancy..... I do entertain myself too easily at times...

Moving on! We had a fabulous summer shindig and really enjoyed getting to spend some time with our family and friends (though not long enough, that's for sure!) It was a very laid back party, and even Brandon was in bed by 10:30!! (What?!) The fish turned out to be SO delicious. He used a couple of different batters that were all very tasty. He specifically grilled some Red Snapper for his favorite person ever. With the leftovers, I made myself a yummy wrap with avocado, zucchini, tomatoes, honey mustard, and of course, the fish and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Brandon took the leftovers to work the night after the party and he said his guys were very happy! He also fried some hush puppies and red potatoes that were great as well. So as you can tell, I was a little more obsessed with the food this year since I had to abstain from adult beverages ;) Also, our fancy friend Colleen asked my mom if she could bring anything and my mom suggested a dessert. She then shows up with like 4 boxes of goodies from this local bakery here called Julia's! You can imagine my excitement. It was all SO freaking good and I enjoyed every single bite of the fabulous baked treats....

Check out some of the pictures that were taken at the fish fry

My favorite people!

Thanks for bringing the delicious desserts Colleen!

Cheeeeese!

Sweet SIL and niece Kait

Grill master and his helpers

Liesel playing with the chirrens

Adorable!

So I haven't had as much time this pregnancy to record my progress, but so far it's been quite the experience! I will often tell people how different this pregnancy is then when I was preggars with Tate. First off, I had actual morning sickness the first trimester. It was not pleasant. Secondly, I've had charlie horses and I never had those with Tate. They hurt like hades. Thirdly, I've had heartburn off and on since the second trimester. It's a drag. And finally, I feel baby Miller move SO much more then I felt Tate move. I've read that can happen in second and third pregnancies. It's so crazy though. It feels like a little minion is goofing around in my belly......ha! Also, the hormonal imbalances seem to be a bit more apparent this pregnancy.....not sure what all this means but I have a slight feeling baby Miller and Tate Tate are going to be quite different people! That's okay, my hope is that they will get along well then! Only 10ish more weeks to go, then I guess we will find out!

Thanks for reading friends! Love to all!

Updates!

Good Morning!

I honestly cannot believe how fast this year is flying by! Half the time I literally forget what year we are in....! It's been a great one so far, and I have really enjoyed spending time with my sweet family and friends. We have had some exciting news! Big boy Tate found out he was going to have a little brother!

This picture was before we went for the ultrasound which is why he has on the pink suspenders.....obviously we had to change them to blue when we found out he was going to have a little brother!

And we have a name! We have decided on Miller Beckman. I really like the name Miller because it is not common and is also a last name (like Tate) :) Beckman is my mom's maiden name and I have always loved it. I really wanted to use a family name so when Brandon suggested Miller as a first name, I thought Beckman fit well with it. Names are a big deal so I'm glad this part is over!

We have decided that Tate and Miller are eventually going to be sharing a room so we are leaving the guest bedroom as is and a little later, Brandon is going to build bunk beds. I'm definitely happy with this choice as this will be less work on the front end. I'm thinking whenever they outgrow their bunk bed, we'll talk about separate rooms.

Photo Recap of our summer:

Tate participated in his first Small-Fry Tri, an adorable special event put on by my department at Old Fort Park. Kids ages 2-6 run around, hop on a bike for a few minutes, then run through sprinklers for their first "triathlon" Even though he was feeling a bit under the weather, he seemed to enjoy it, especially the biking part :) 

We also took Tate to his first Renaissance Festival at the castle off 840. I'm not sure what happened to all my photos from that day, but we had a great time with the Barrett's and will most likely be going again next year! They ended up hanging with out with us after the festival, so Jack and Tate got some naked backyard playtime in that evening (always fun) ;)

Our biggest trip this summer though was probably our trip to California for my Granny's 90th birthday party. Tate got to meet all his Hidalgo family and really had such a great time! We loved it. To see all the photos I took from that trip, click 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzMprjztS-mVfjFNVnpRTHJ5OWNlMkhKQl9oeE14TjljbGM0b2gxRUlXZHdLcUJwSFNrdXc&usp=sharing

Tate's first plane ride. He did great!

Meeting his (Great) Granny for the first time. So amazing!

Such a fun time in San Fran at the coolest science museum ever, the Exloratorium

On the ferry headed towards the city!

My awesome family! Wouldn't have this picture if it weren't for the lady in the middle :) 

California was great. And the rest of the summer has just been filled with working and fitting in some extra playtime! My department's summer camps are over for the season, so work is slowing down a bit. Brandon was on day shift for two weeks during the plant's shutdown so that was really nice!

Our garden has been doing very well and we have enjoyed some homegrown tomatoes, okra, and bell pepper. I especially have been loving the heirloom tomatoes. They are delicious!

Since this post has literally taken me 3 days to complete, I am just going to finish with some pictures. Holy cow, life is busy. But I love it!

Happy Summer!

4th of July at the Smyrna Fireworks

Peace out my friends!

April Showers

Hello!

The Jordan's have an announcement! 

Baby J # 2, due October 10th, 2015! We are all very excited :) Tate wore his Big Brother shirt Saturday to share the news with my family.

We had a great Easter weekend with friends and family. Brandon, Tate, and I met my mom at the Base Saturday morning and Tate did his first Easter egg hunt. He seemed to enjoy it. He found a winner egg and got to take home an Easter basket, plus a bunch of candy. I think his main meals were candy Saturday and Sunday. We are changing that starting today!

This cracks me up

Love my little fam

We spent the night with my parents in Estill and went to church with them Sunday morning. My sister took Tate out after the children's sermon and played with him in a room with a bunch of toys. She said they had a good time.

After church we got back to my parents and started making Easter lunch. It was delicious! There were about 20 people at my parents house and we all ate our weight in ham, turkey, ribs, potato salad, mac and cheese, broccoli casserole, deviled eggs, and a whole bunch of dessert! Healthier eating starts back today! (Well, after we finish the leftovers)

Tate wore his Big Brother shirt again Sunday to share the news with Brandon's family. We went over to the Rahn's after we ate at my parents. They were all very excited to hear that Tate is going to be a big brother :) We love both of our families very much and are so lucky to have them in our lives!

Here is a link to a few more photos from Easter. 

https://plus.google.com/photos/105432140085685799924/albums/6134661554185343137?authkey=CLTqoJORu8ONdA

Hope everyone has been enjoying spring and the recent sunshine. Until next post, adios!