It's been awhile!

Hello!

Long time no blog. I've been wanting to start blogging again on a regular basis, and I think I'm ready to make that happen now. I've been posting less on Facebook, and lately it is a form of social media that I do not enjoy. So I decided I will keep my family and friends updated on this instead. My goal is to post twice a month. We shall see. So here goes!

We are loving life with our crazy child! I say "crazy" in the sweetest way possible ;) He is officially a toddler now, so anyone who has had toddler children knows what I mean! He is so sweet and funny one minute, and then turns into godzilla the next! Even the pediatrician said something about babies at this age and how they are a bit bi-polar. I know not all children are this way, but Tate does have his moments! I think part of it has to do with the fact that he can't express exactly what he wants to say. He's not really talking yet. He is really vocal though, just not verbal. The only words he says are Mama, Dada, and Uh-Oh! But I'm not really worried. I know some children don't start talking to 2 or even after. We communicate sometimes through sign-language. He frequently signs More, Hungry, Milk (which just means thirsty), and Dog. So I know he can communicate. He also understands us fairly well. Like the other day, I bought a huge bag of popcorn (the healthy, non-GMO kind ;) ) and we had some as a snack as soon as I brought it home. The next day I asked him if he wanted a snack, 

Me: Do you want applesauce?

Tate: (shaking head) grunts no

Me: Do you want stringcheese?

Tate: (shaking head) grunts no

Me: Do you want turkey? 

Tate: (shaking head) grunts no

Me: Do you want popcorn?

Tate: (nodding head) squeals with delight

He also leads me around by the hand and points at something that he wants to play with/do. He got playdoh for Christmas and now brings me the little containers if he wants to play with it. He also takes my hand and leads me towards a door and puts my hand on the doorknob like he wants me to open it. This happens most often at our bedroom door in the afternoon when Brandon is sleeping (he is still on third shift) Tate wants to play with Da all the time so I normally just say "Da is sleeping" and sign sleep. Normally he understands, but he can be quite persistent. So I think he is developing normally. He loves to play outside, even in cold weather. He likes to play with Kenzie the dog and has just recently started playing fetch with her with a tennis ball. Sometimes he lets go of the ball too quickly and bounces off his head! It's very funny. 

So all in all he's a pretty happy kid. I could probably write a book about him, but I'll limit these to a few paragraphs ;) 

As for the rest of my little fam, the most exciting news I have is that Brandon is going back to school! He starts classes at MTSU on January 20th. He actually just took his writing placement test this morning, and is meeting with his adviser this week to register for classes. Of course he will only be part time since he still works full time at Nissan, but he already has about 40 hours from Nashville Tech. so that will help. He will be studying Mechatronics Engineering which is a brand new program at MTSU and luckily it's a lot of what he already does at Nissan, programmable logic controls and mechanical/robotic things/stuff. I am so excited and happy for him! 

As for me, nothing new to report. I am still happily employed with the city Parks and Rec dept and love it (for the most part!) No job is perfect, right?!?

Okay, I think that about does it! I'll end with some photos of some of the major events for us in 2014. Love to all! 

Tate turned one on March 16th!

My 10 year high school reunion was in May! We had a fabulous time!

My dad's 70th birthday party was in September, we had a blast celebrating him!

My friend Meg's wedding was at the Memphis Zoo in May! Awesome!

My parent's annual Bonfire in October was so fun like always

Tate cheesin' sometime last summer

My friend Erin's wedding in Charleston was in September and it was so fun!

My friend Charlotte's wedding was in October. I LOVED it!

First family vaca to the beach, Hilton Head in Sept. Had the BEST time ever!

Tate saw the Trains at Cheekwood for the first time

Tate was a dinosaur for Halloween this year :)

Playing Catch-Up!

Hello Friends and Family! SO. I realize I haven't written a post since Tate was about six months old. I apologize! I believe I mentioned in the last post how I feel about blogging. I love reading other peoples blogs (sometimes) and I really love that our friends and family can keep up with OUR family through my own blog (mostly) but what I REALLY love is spending time with my people: My husband Brandon, our family, friends, and kid.

*(and sleeping) I do not prioritize enough time in my day to blog regularly. HOWEVER, I do see the advantages.....so here goes a catch up post (through photos!)

Tate was a giraffe for Halloween! Here he is with Batman Corbin :) This is the baby of our next door neighbors Ryan and Jessica. He was born about five months after Tate (early August). And him and Tate love spending time together. They went on my work's Not-So-Haunted Hayride this Halloween. I hope this becomes a tradition for the future! Ryan and Jess are the best neighbors anyone could ever ask for (seriously). They are SO down to earth and for real the easiest people to get along with. They are the ones whom I mentioned a very long time ago when we adopted our pup Kenzie. If it weren't for them, we would not have that little black and white crazy hyper terrier dog that we call our 1st child :) As you can obviously tell, they are the BEST neighbors ever!

 

This next picture is of Tate playing with his BFF Jack. Jack is the baby of MY bff Hallie. Hallie and I have been friends since the 7th grade. She and her husband Neil live in Bell Buckle and are teachers at Webb. Jack and Tate LOVE playing together. We all recently dined together at the new Chipotle in Mboro. (It was DELICIOUS!) It makes me SO happy to have her close to me, and for our babies to be friends.

  

Brandon is for sure a "baby person" And everyday he stays at home with Tate while I work (which is not very often) I often think how great he really is with kids. Maybe we should role reverse and I work 60 hours a week ?! 

 Tate LOVES being outside. We still go on as many walks as possible!

 We celebrated my mama's birthday at Tony's Mexican restaurant in Tullahoma. It is one of the BEST Mexican places in middle TN (we are quite partial to their guac) and I'm pretty sure Tate had his first taste of refried beans there ;) He also had a little taste of ice-cream cake!

Thanksgiving this year was a whole lot of fun! Tate got a little taste of everything we ate. He still loves beans, bananas, avocados, and cheese the most. Oh, and scrambled eggs!

I recently celebrated one of my dearest friends Charlotte B. Hutson's engagement! (Soon to be Charlotte Brinkley! LOVE how that sounds!) I absolutely cannot WAIT to be apart of her big day! I freaking LOVE weddings! And speaking of weddings, I am SO excited about the ones Brandon and I will be attending in 2014! May, September, and October ;) Beautiful times to exchange vows if I do say so myself!

So, Tate definitely enjoyed his first Christmas. We had such a good time opening his presents from Santa, Grandma & Grandpa, Nana & Papa, Aunt Dev, Aunt Winky, and Uncle Dub. He is truly a very blessed little child, and we are surely a very lucky family. Sometimes times are tough, and sometimes I get frustrated and upset with life. But when I really sit back and allow myself to realize how amazing my circumstances are, I can only feel thankful and happy. I am alive and well and have been given the absolute BEST friends and family a girl could ever hope for :)

Till next post! (Hopefully before Tate is a year old!) ;)

-NIKI

6 (3/4) Months!

Hello!

So surprise surprise, I am again late in writing my monthly posts. On the 16th of THIS month, my child will be SEVEN months old! Oops!

ANYways, at least I am writing something I suppose. I really don't think I am meant for blogging. This is honestly just a way for our out of town friends and family to keep up with us and Tate man ;) As I type, I am currently thinking of other things I should be doing, such as folding the towels that have been in the dryer for a day and a half now. (I was never really good at laundry, even pre-Tate)

HA! So. Back to our current lives. Tate is just a growin' and a growin'!

He is crawling all over the place. Our house is sloowwwllly getting baby-proofed, but it's been a little difficult so far. We have a sunken in fire-place AND living room, so both of those things have been challenges. He is very quick on his hands and knees!

He had his 6-month check up and shots about a week ago. Brandon had to take him by himself because I couldn't get out of work :/ But he said Tate did okay! The doctor also mentioned that it was a little early to be having the crawling conversation; normally that's an 8-9 month appointment subject! SO. I think I have a bit of a determined child on my hands. Just this evening, he pulled up from his knees to his feet on our step stool in the kitchen. He did it about 5 times in a row before he got it, and then just stood there like....what next?! I was like child don't you even think about walking!

Brandon and I adore him and just love spending as much time with him as possible. We hope that at some point in the near future, Brandon won't have to work such long weeks and hours. We are thankful he has his job at Nissan, but some days it's a struggle. Thankfully we have several great babysitters for Tate man :)

He is starting to eat more everyday but still isn't a huge fan of solids. His favorite though so far is avocado and surprisingly, he doesn't really like sweet potato or applesauce. Maybe he won't have such a strong sweet tooth like his mama! Either way, I am going to try to add a few more items to his menu to encourage him to eat more solids! 

He is also still waking up once at night. I know it's probably my fault. I will admit, he sleeps in the bed with me sometimes. A big NO-NO as far as "sleep training" is concerned, I realize this, but honestly I sleep better when he sleeps with me! So now we're going back and forth from him sleeping in his crib all night to coming into the bed with me after he wakes up once. I realize it is going to take me working with him for him to stay in his crib all night, and it will be easier in the long run, but sometimes I just like sleeping with him. I don't always have 9-5 hour days, but when I do I honestly just like sleeping with him. It makes me feel like I am spending time with him. I've thought a lot about this and for right now, this is working for us :) 

 

 

Last weekend I got to be re-united with these girls for the UT/GA in Knoxville! It was SO much fun. We really did have such a great time. It was a nice getaway although I did start crying in the middle of the hotel parking lot Saturday night because I missed my Tate man! (A bit of alcohol may have been involved, however). I think maybe we should have just been away for one night, but oh well, we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

We got to tailgate and drink beer and sing rocky top :) And although the game was such a heart breaker, I'm still proud of the Vols and will always root for my team!

So sad story but I have no recent photos of Brandon and I. We did celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary in September but instead of doing anything fancy, we got a new fancy blender to make Tate's babyfood. Hahaha. The life of a mama and dad! We are trying hard (kinda) to budget our monies and this just made the most sense to me! 

ANYways, I think that about sums up our life right now! Until next time, which I hope is sometime before December! Thanks for reading!

5 Months!

HOLY COW! Every month I totally intend it do these posts around the 16th, when Tate is actually turning however many months. This month it obviously did not work out that way. In fact, it was my baby app that reminded me on the 16th that he was 5 months old in the first place. I was at work and immediately thought I was a bad mama because I forgot. What made me feel a tad bit better is that Brandon didn't remember either, or my mom....haha. Soooo, either way I made up for it by spending every single minute of my time with Tate on whatever day I had off work that week. I ignored the dirty house (which is hard for me to do) and the only place we went was the grocery store. I even carried him in an Ergo carrier that someone is lending me while we grocery shopped. It was a great day and although I know Tate could care less if I remember it's his "x month" birthday, I still want to be able to wake up and think about him first, rather than work or bills or upcoming commitments. I've always loved staying super busy but I am starting to realize that I can't do everything all at once, and be a good mama at the same time. It's definitely an adjustment and a slow one at that. I am technically working 3 part-time jobs, and Brandon works an average of 60 hours a week. SO, we are slowing learning to adjust our schedules and our mindset to becoming good parents. I can't complain because we both have jobs we love so we'll just keep on truckin' until we find the right balance :) ANYways, Tate man is the best baby EVER and I love him sooooo much! The rest of this post will be photos :) 

He LOVES this swing!

He also love his Grandma. She's the best babysitter ever :)

We are home like every other weekend now :)

We had such a good time celebrating Jack's 1st Birthday!

Until next month friends! Take it easy! 

4 Months Old!

Hello everyone!

On the 16th of this month, Mr. T turned 4 months old.....time is passing by rather swiftly! He is starting to do so many new things all the time. He LOVES turning himself over from his back to his stomach. He hasn't quite mastered from his stomach to his back yet, but he's working on it! 

He also laughs and smiles all the time! If someone smiles at him, there is a good chance he will smile back. He is also making the cutest little laughs, especially if you talk in a funny voice to him. He loves it. I know I sound like a total dork when I talk to him, but I guess babies just love it! He holds his head up so well now, and can put all his weight on his legs. He basically stands up on his own, we just hold him for balance. He can't sit upright quite yet, but I can tell that is going to be happening pretty fast!

He is wearing 6-9 month clothing and size 3 diapers!

We had his 4 month doctor appointment on the 22nd and he had to get his second round of shots :( He cried a lot harder this time than last, but he only cried for about five minutes. It was heartbreaking though! But surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be. The doctor said everything looked good with him and that is he an "awesome baby". Thanks Dr. Eastham! (We love this doctor a so much!) 

We have gotten into a fairly "normal" routine I think. Our normal right now is a lot different than the typical family I think just because Brandon works night shifts like 6 or 7 nights a week and I work 2 different part time jobs at different hours everyday. Hello craziness! But most of the time it works out well since our babysitter, Ms. Shannon, lives super close to my park in Murfreesboro. Here is a picture she sent me the other day of Tate man holding his own bottle :(

So far he is doing really great with our babysitter and we feel super lucky to have her! She is an amazing mom to her own two children and really does treat Tate like one of her own kids. You can tell she is a natural "mother" and caretaker which makes me feel so much better about taking my baby boy to her :) She also breastfed both her kids so she is familiar with using breast milk in a bottle. I pump at work everyday and then give it to her to use. We have a good supply going in case I ever get sick or drink the occasional beer (or 4) so it's been working out well!

Another cool thing Tate is starting to do is make a lot of different noises. He whimpers, whines, screams, and "talks" It is SO cute. I try to get a video but as soon as I start it he notices the damn shiny apple on the back of my phone and is like mesmerized. He is super observant and really seems to notice everything around him.  It's the cutest thing ever when he turns his head at whoever is talking. I love it!

 

So as much as our lives have changed and things are totally different than they used to be, Brandon and I are so happy to be parents to our little baby Tate. I know it sounds corny but he has made our lives complete! :) 

Thanks for reading and until next post, take it easy friends.