Cyclones, Hawks, and Friends

Today we had to cheer for the Cyclones AND the Hawkeyes!! I have to admit it--I let Tate put on his Hawkeye shirt for Daddy! JK!

So, does Tate make a cuter Hawkeye or Cyclone?

This made Daddy proud....

Tonight our friends Nick, Ash, and Reagan came over and brought pizza and the babies got to play. We had sooo much fun. Tate gave Reagan a ride on his 4-wheeler! They were sooo cute!

AND we were back at the doctor today. This was the 12th time at the doctor in the month of December. On top of the intestinal junk, we've also been fighting an ongoing ear infection. Since Tuesday Tate has had a high temp and won't eat or sleep. We had more blood work today and he got his 3rd shot of antibiotics in just 2 weeks. This month has been rough and we think it's probably time for tubes. We will be going to the ENT this week to see! I just wish this poor baby would feel better soon! He's been so miserable!
So needless to say, we were thankful to have friends over for a nice change of pace and some good company!

Thanks for reading! Happy New Year!

Holiday Fun

Tate was blessed with a wonderful FIRST Christmas! Let's just say he was very spoiled! His grandparents and aunts and uncles spoiled him like crazy.

Here's how we enjoyed Christmas:

On Thursday, we headed to Emmetsburg. We spent a few days with my mom and dad and Marc, Amanda, and Kenna. We enjoyed lots of great food, Christmas Eve mass, and some extended family members.
It was sooo cozy at my parents and with the view of the frozen lake it looked almost like a white Christmas. 

Tate enjoyed all the attention and was in a great mood even with a terrible cold! Good Boy!

Grandpa and Grandma Siemers

A little relaxin'!

Uncle Marc and Amanda

Ready for church

On Christmas day we got up and enjoyed Santa's gifts. After a wonderful Christmas meal (thanks to my mom), we headed to Creston to enjoy time with the Taylor's.

Ryan, Janelle, and Kayson greeted us at Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's. We opened more gifts and played. Jean Ann had a bunch of good food too.  Blair and I are blessed with moms who sure know how to cook. We NEVER go hungry!:)

Grandpa and Grandma's living room was full! We let the boys open their gifts and play. After they were all snuggled in for the night, the adults got to enjoy opening gifts and chatting! We enjoyed that sooo much!

We thought the highchair would be a great way to 'contain' Tate!

The Birthday Boy, Kayson!!

I'm bummed that I didn't get more pictures at the Taylor's..what was I thinking? I guess we were tooo busy playing! :)


We were very blessed in 2011 and can't wait to see what's to come in 2012! One thing's for sure--we'll be celebrating a first birthday! Yikes- it makes this mommy sad!

Happy Holidays!!



Sick baby...

Poor Taterbean has been sick for over 2 weeks now with not only an ear infection, but also a terrible intestinal infection. It all started 3 Fridays ago with extreme vomiting and has continued for 2 solid weeks. We've been to the doctor 8 times! Ugh. They've run lots of tests and he had a couple rounds of antibiotics (both orally and shots). Poor baby was down to just 15 1/2 pounds! Today I took him back for a recheck and he still has the ear infection and is still fighting the intestinal junk (10-15 dirty diapers per day). We started soy formula today and will continue a strict diet.
I hope this poor baby gets better soon. We are sooo thankful that he's been in great spirits!

Now for a happy note.
We got to celebrate Christmas with the Taylor family this weekend...the whole clan. We had a great time and Tate was spoiled! On Sunday, we helped Kayson celebrate his third birthday! We can't believe he's 3!
Enjoy the pictures!!

...AND Tate is 11 months old.

And this next picture is just plain cheesy and it's cracks me up! This is typical now whenever we pull out a camera!

Thanks for reading!!! Merry Christmas!

Santa is coming to town...

We had a visit from Santa tonight!! Look at Tate's reactions! It was a hoot!

No too sure what to think!

Checking him over...

...and now they're buddies!

We owe a big thank you to 'Santa' and look forward to many visits! Thank you, Santa! We love you!

Turkey Day and Christmas #1

We celebrated Tate's first Thanksgiving in Omaha with my parents and Marc and Amanda! We had such a great time. Tate loved the food and his favorite was the turkey bone that Grandpa Tim gave him.

On Saturday we went to St. Joe, MO to visit Aunt Maagie, Susan and Ashlei, Jimmy and Diana! We had an awesome lunch and celebrated Christmas. Tate loved it and was thrilled with his new toys!

We are happy to be home again and look forward to getting ready for Christmas! Let the decorating begin. I can't wait to see how Taterbean does with the tree! Christmas is going to be sooo much fun this year!

Thankful this Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!
I know that I have SO much to be thankful for this year. It's amazing...each year I find myself having more and more to be thankful for. I remember last year at this time I was thanking God for the active little baby boy that I was carrying.
NOW I have that little boy and he's the most amazing thing. He has made it so Blair and I aren't only a couple but now we're a family. What an awesome thing.

Each year I have my students talk/write about what they are thankful for. Now it's my turn...

Here's my 'thankful list'-

I am thankful for....
My family- My awesome husband, little boy, my parents, my brother, my inlaws, and extended family.
My friends- I have such amazing friends that support me and let me 'vent' whenever I need to. :)
My job- After getting 'pink slipped' last spring, I'm very thankful to have my job. I get to spend 180 days a year with 3rd graders! They are a joy (most days...hehe).
My house- It's warm, cozy, and safe!
My Health- So far, so good this year! :)
My Faith- God, my support, because without Him I would have nothing. He's everything!


This Thanksgiving we will be doing lots of traveling. Tonight we will head to Omaha to visit Marc and Amanda in their new house. We are soooo excited to see it! They've been working very hard to make it their home.
Saturday we will head to St. Jospeh, MO to see Aunt Maagie and the rest of the gang (Blair's mom's family)! Then we'll head to Creston to Blair's parents so we can see his grandparents and Grandma Ann!

Happy, safe traveling!

Martina :)

10 Months!!

Our little man is 10 months old!! I can't believe it! Seriously, I know people say it all the time but WHERE DOES TIME GO?

He is still on the go...busy, busy, busy!

He has a new fasination with the kitchen cupboards and tupperware. He can have a cupboard emptied in record time. But, hey-it's cheap entertainment! :)

Other BIG news...

Blair's Grandpa has been sick and gave us all a scare. We are happy to report that after lots of praying Papa Dick seems to be on the mend. He was in the ICU at Methodist in Des Moines, but he's making major improvements. In a way it didn't surprise us--he's such a strong (stubborn) guy! :)
We love you Papa Dick!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Handsome Boy

Tonight I caught Mr. Tate in one of his sweet moods. He was showing off and enjoying some "treats" with Mommy. I love this little man!

Here's a little video....

Long Overdue...

Happy Fall!! It's been forever since I've taken the time to update our blog. Our computer crashed and it took forever to get it all up and running again. I had to reupload all our pictures...ok, so enough excuses...it was time for an update! :)
These Taylors are great! I can honestly say that I love teaching third grade. Blair is enjoying West Marshall's successful football season. And for Tater-he's just a little wildman and so much fun.

Tate is 9 months old. He may be small but he is mighty.

Taterbean update:
is 16.5 pounds and 27 inches
has lots of 'tricks' (patty cake, so big, bye-bye)
is learning some sign language (more, milk)
just had his first ear infection
is a terrible napper and some days will sleep no more than 30 minutes total
sleeps from 8:30-6:30 (most of the time--don't want to jynx it)
is turning into a mommy's boy
is starting to DISLIKE baby food and wants more and more table food
is pulling himself up and will walk behind his push toys
crawls 60 mph :)
is still obsessed with the bathroom...silly boy

He's truly so much fun right now. He's such an awesome little boy and he continues to amaze me every single day!

Thanks for reading! Enjoy a few pics!

Love,
Martina

It's been awhile...

It's been such a long time since I've posted. Our HP laptop crashed and we are still in the process of getting it fixed. I don't like to put pictures on my work computer, so I don't even have any pictures to share!
We've had a great start to the fall. The weather has been beautiful and we've been enjoying ISU tailgates and West Marshall football games.

Tate is a little "wildman", as I like to call him! He's so much fun. We go on the 18th for his 9 month appointment! I can't wait to see how big he is!

I hope to share pictures soon!

God Bless!

Busy Mommy, Daddy, & Baby!!

Well, it's that time of the year again!! We are BUSY and trying to get back in the swing of things!
Blair and I are both back to school and football practice is well under way. Tate started at his NEW daycare. So far things are going great there, and we are very thankful for Deb, our wonderful daycare gal (who lives 15 steps from our door)!

Today was my fourth day of school. I have quite the class of kiddos, and I'm now remembering some of the BIG differences between third and sixth graders. For example...keeping our hands to ourselves and following the smallest of directions! Thank God they are cute! :)

Anyways, Tate is really the busy one! He's on the move!!!

Today we got our first 'boo-boo' at daycare...
A skinned chin (Deb said Tate thinks he can walk along the fireplace ledge..)

Honestly, this picture doesn't do it justice! Ouch!

I have to share this next picture because this is where we always find him...in the bathroom, playing with the vent. If he goes MIA, we always know where to find him! haha!

Makes me laugh everytime I find him there.


And I have to share this last picture because he just looks adorable...smelling good, and all ready for bed!I love this little stud-muffin!

Thanks for reading! I hope you're having a wonderful week!

7 months old!

Taterbean is 7 months old today!

Here's what he's been up to....
-He's on expert crawler
-Loves pulling himself up to everything
-Stands in his crib and 'yells' for mom or dad in the morning (this is the best because he's always so happy in the morning)
-He isn't a big eater....couldnt care less about food, but eats 4-5 oz every 4 hours (and NOT an oz more) and has fruits in the morning and veggies in the evening. We are also starting 'puffs' and he's starting to get the hang of them!
-Does "Patty Cake", bye-bye, and dances! Also, shakes his head no-no when he's done eating!

Here is a picture from today! Getting soo big!

Love you Taterbean!!

Good bye summer...

Well, it's time to kiss this summer break good-bye! I can't believe we are preparing for another school year. Things are going to be so different. This year I will be teaching 3rd grade at Colo-NESCO.....28 of those little angels, might I add! I'm looking forward to a fresh start, but I know I still have lots to do. I've been spending lots of time in my classroom, so I can use my inservice days to worry about curriculum. Wish me luck! This year I don't have to worry about coaching volleyball, I decided that school and Tate would be plenty. We'll leave the coaching to Blair! :)
Yesterday we went to the State Fair and met Kay and her family. We had such a great time. Tate did great!! He was so good! I think he just enjoyed all the people watching, just like his mommy! I hadn't been to the fair in 16 years, and it was just like I remembered! I couldn't wait to try some good food, so I got the first thing I saw.....A philly cheese steak! I was scared that if I didn't get it, I wouldn't find that stand back. That was a mistake, because I found like 30 other things I would've rather had! Lesson learned!! :) We never found the red velvet funnel cake, but we enjoyed a regular funnel cake and some salt water taffy!! Anyways, it was a great day, the weather was perfect, and we got to enjoy lots of calories!
Tate is finally sleeping better too, so Blair and I are feeling a bit more rested as well! We thought he had an ear infection, but the Doc said he was good to go and told us to let him cry it out. He was waking up 2-3 times a night for the past 2 weeks! So, the first night he cried for 22 mins..it was brutal for this mama, but it has seemed to help. He's been sleeping since!!! (Knock on wood)

Well, that's my Taylor update for the evening! Thanks for reading!

We have a crawler...look out!

Look out!! Tate is on the MOVE!!! He is officially a crawler. It's kind of an awkward one leg crawl, but it gets him from point A to point B.

Exhibit A:

He has also figured out how to pull himself up. I walked into the living room last week and this is how I found him...

At least he was in his toys this time :)

We decieded that we better hit up the big Story County Fair. It was fun to show Tate the animals and he even reached out for the sheep and goats! He's just like his mama...he wants to show sheep too! Oh jeez, lets hope not!

I'm sad to say that our summer break is coming to an end! I can't believe it. Blair and I both start school on August 15th! Here's to another week of freedom....

KC Trip

We enjoyed a busy, fun, HOTTT weekend in Kansas City with the Taylor's...Mike, Jean Ann, Ryan, Janelle, and Kayson. We had a great time. We played, swam, shopped, and dropped (I say that because this girl was pooped today).

So we headed out Thursday night and stayed the night in Creston. We got to see Blair's Aunt and Uncle and had a nice visit. We got up Friday morning and headed to Kansas City. Thanks to Papa Mike for riding in the back...Tate made it most of the way without many tears. Tate has grown to HATE riding in the car, so the entertainment was much appreciated.
Friday night we had dinner at Shawn and Nate's and enjoyed catching up with some family.
Saturday the guys played golf in the morning and we stayed back and swam. Later that day, we met for lunch and did lots of shopping! Our plan was to hit up a Royals game, but declined that option because of the heat.
Sunday we went to St. Joe to meet more family members. We had a nice dinner and did more swimming!
We pulled into Nevada at 9:30 and called it a weekend! :)
Thank you Mike and Jean Ann for the great time...we are so lucky!

Here are a few pics from a great weekend!

Lookin' good in the pool! ha!

Aunt Nell and Taterbean

I have a feeling this could be the first of many 'cousin baths'

Tate and Aunt Maagie

6 months

Taterbean is 6 months old! We can't believe how fast the time is going. He's getting more and more active. He's rolling and rolling, scooting, and sitting up. We know that any day he'll be crawling.

We've also started food. So far he loves squash, sweet potatoes, and apples. He HATES peas! ha!

So here is his 6 month update:
14 lbs 12 oz (9th percentile)
26 in (37th percentile)

Doctor Nau says he's one active little man and we better get ready to baby-proof the house! :)

Aunt Nell took Tate's pictures last night. We did all outdoor pictures. I can't wait to share some samples! She did a great job. Thanks Aunt NELL! :)

We struggled this month...he was on the go and didn't want to pause for one second! This is the best Mommy could do!


Happy Friday!

Life's a Beach! :)

We LOVE the lake...or should I say Tate loves the lake! We spent last weekend at my parents' house in Emmetsburg. It's so relaxing, and Tate enjoys the fresh air AND the water.

Enjoy!

This picture was taken just before he decided to nose-dive in the water!

Gma and Gpa! Happy 4th!

Ready for a walk!

Thanks for the swing Grandpa!

Aaah..Summer Fun!

It's time for a Taylor update!! I'm happy to report that we are having a great summer. I'm loving the stay-at-home mommy role. I could do this forever.
We've been spending a lot of time with family and friends on the weekends. Infact, I can't remember the last time we were home on a weekend. We've been in Emmetsburg at my parents and last weekend we were in Creston with Blair's family.
We celebrated the Taylor family reunion last weekend. We got to see some family, played a little golf, and spent lots of time outside. It was a great way to introduce Tate to his extended Taylor family. We even learned that Tate was the youngest one with the 'Taylor' last name there and Grandpa was the oldest. We thought that was pretty special.
This weekend we are heading back to Emmetsburg to enjoy some time at the lake. We are praying for beautiful weather! :)

So I have some pictures to share! As you can see, we've been very active this summer...

Loving the pool from Grandpa Siemers! Thanks Grandpa!

First campfire at the lake...

All dressed up for a wedding

Swimming with Daddy!!

Hanging out with Papa Mike and Kayson

We've had lots of play dates with some great buddies..

June and Tate (June didn't know what to think of this wild man)

Reagan and Tate (We had a fun sleepover--check out our jam-jams)

Isaac, Grace, and Tate (Triple trouble!!)