Creston

I feel like spring  weather is starting to get here and this weekend we got to enjoy a little of this nice weather! We went to Creston on Saturday for Grandma Janis' birthday party. The whole Taylor clan came to Mike and Jean Ann's…even Grandma Ann came. It was so nice to see everyone and Tate loved playing with all his cousins. The food was so yummy! We ate so much and had a nice time visiting with everyone.

Before all the company arrived on Saturday, Papa Mike took everyone (Kayson, Cora, and Tate) to the fire station. Tate's been wanting to go check out all the fire trucks. He was in heaven!! He's been talking about it ever since! 

Every night when we put Tate to bed he asks me to tell him a story. The stories always have to be about something that has happened in his past. The stories we always tell usually have something to do with Papa Dick's farm but tonight when I was tucking him in he said, "Mommy, tell that story of that time when we went to the fire station with Kayson and Cora." haha! As if it was so long ago! :) Even though it happened three days ago it's like it's this story from way back when and he loves hearing the same stories over and over. 

Anyways, on Sunday we celebrated Easter with a yummy lunch and an egg hunt. Grandma and Papa even gave Tate a 'big boy' basketball hoop for outside. Tate has turned into quite the little basketball nut, and this was the perfect gift. We had to come home on Sunday and put it together. After a failed nap and a trip to the hardware store, Daddy finally got it put together. It even started raining and he continued to shoot and shoot. He was filthy and looked like he had eaten dirt by the time we made him come in for a bath. I know that basketball hoop is going to get lots of use this summer!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend-

 

Fire truck!!!

The boys giving Core a ride!

Colby and Tate

 

Easter baskets!

Daddy working on the basketball hoop...Tate waiting patiently.

 

Playing in rain!!

 

 

 

Weekend Get-a-Way!

This past weekend we got away and headed to Minneapolis! We had a great family of 3 weekend! We needed it! Things have been very crazy around here. Poor Blair has been swamped with his grad work. He had a few days off from teaching, so he was able to get some school work caught up…we thought it would be the perfect time to get out of town. Blair and I both have good friends from back home that live in the cities, so we thought it would be perfect to catch up with some of them and just have some family time.

We headed out on Friday when I got home from school. We stayed at my friend, Bridget's house on Friday. It was fun to see her house and we just ordered pizza and cheered on ISU.

On Saturday morning, we got up and headed to the Mall of America. Tate rode some rides with Daddy, we went to Lego Land, had lunch, and did a little shopping. Then we headed to our hotel to do some swimming and relaxing that afternoon. That evening some of our friends came to the hotel and we had supper. It was fun to see them. Gabe and Gretchen have Everleigh. She is almost one, and this was the first time we got to see her. Also, Zach and Pia joined us. It's been a long time since we've seen these Creston folk! :)

On Sunday, we went to Ikea and stopped at the Medford outlet mall.

I'm so thankful we had such a nice weekend AND we were home in time to cheer on the Cyclones Sunday evening.

Here are a few pictures from my phone:

Our weekend

We had a wonderful weekend! The weather was awesome!
Yesterday Mike and Jean Ann came and we all went to the ISU basketball game. It was so much fun and it was a great game. Tate loved it, but towards the end he started to get sleepy. Pretty soon he crawled up on my lap and crashed. It was so loud in there. Everyone around us was shocked that he was sleeping through all the noise!
After the game, Nana Jean and Papa came over to the house and played for a bit. Of course, Tate had to play basketball with them.

 

 

 

 

 

This morning we went to church and then came home to have a big breakfast. After Tate's nap this afternoon, we played outside. It was beautiful! We rode bikes, played with the neighbors, went to the park, and went on a couple walks. Now I'm officially ready for spring!

Baby Taylor is doing great! We are about 27 weeks! It's going so fast.  I'm feeling very large! :) Baby Girl is growing! :)

Baby Taylor Update

On Friday, I decided to take Taterbean with me to a doctor's appointment. We were heading to a play date afterwards, so I thought I'd be brave and give it a try. He did really well, and I know that Dr. Gessner loved seeing him. She even made him come into her office for some candy and explained to him that she was the first one to ever hold him!

Baby is great and I feel great! It was about a a five minute routine check. Her heart rate was in the 140s.  Tate covered his ears the whole time when we were listening to her heart beat. He said, "That is too loud." haha! I disagree…I think it's the best sound in the world!

We are currently 23 weeks along. We don't have a name yet, but have a very LONG list. We can't seem to agree on too many. The joy of being teachers- every time one of us mentions a name it's sparks a memory of a student one of us had in a previous teaching year. It's funny how one school year with a feisty student can make you dislike a name. Isn't that terrible of me? But on the flip side, I got Tate's name from a first grade student I had during student teaching. So it isn't all bad.

Anyways, we have a little time to figure out a name! In the meantime, I'm going try to avoid giving into the temptation of buying pink. I have this addiction to Etsy and can't stop searching for girly things! I'll probably end up with the biggest tom boy ever. I'm ok with that, I remember tromping around the farm in pigtails and rubber boots, and I still wore pink every now and then.

:)

Let's go Broncos BABY!

Well, today is the Superbowl and I have a very nervous hubby! :) We are having some neighbors over for a small party. The basement is all rearranged and ready to go for a Broncos party. We even had to move the couch from upstairs down there so we had plenty of room for people to sit.

I'm excited for an evening with friends and lots of munching. 

Anyways, I decided that it was probably time to put a baby bump picture on here. Today I am almost 22 weeks! I feel great! Baby Girl is starting to get more active and I feel like I'm growing like crazy! 

 Let's go Broncos, Baby! :) 

3 Year Stats

We had Tate's three year appointment and pictures this past week! His appointment went well, and luckily he didn't need any shots! He is 34 3/4 inches tall and weights 24.2 pounds. He's in the 0 percentile for weight and height. The good part is that he grew three inches from last year. Dr. Nau was very happy about that!
On Saturday, we got his pictures taken. We even decided to do a family shot since it will be the last time as a family of three! They turned out ok. He was a wild man, so I'm glad we got a few keepers! :)

We are having the hardest time getting this little man to eat supper at night. I think we've tried everything. Tonight he was at the table for almost an hour before he finally gave in and ate a little bit. The little stinker has turned into a garbage gut. He wants everything that's NOT healthy! At least he eats pretty well for Deb at daycare. Thankfully, he still drinks milk and loves fruit, yogurt, and cheese. He likes his dairy! :)

Here are a few pics from the weekend:

 

 

A 3-Year-Old

I can't believe that our Taterbean is three!! How is it possible? We had such a fun time this year celebrating. On the Saturday before his birthday, we had a small family birthday party. He picked the theme this year and went with John Deere. It was pretty cute- a perfect theme for a little boy!
He had such a blast and was spoiled like crazy.

Playing tractors with Kayson

Cora taking Tate for a spin

Impossible to get a good family picture, but this one is pretty funny

Godparents

Tate the referee

Getting spoiled

On Tate's real birthday the three of us celebrated by going to his favorite restaurant, Hickory Park. How could he not love it? Grilled cheese, ice cream, and they sing to him! :)

Hickory Park birthday treat

We have his three year appointment this week and I can't wait to see how much he's grown.
 But for now, this is what's Tate's been up to:

-LOVES tractors of all kinds and has farm shows daily. The sweetest part about it is that he always mentions Papa Dick when he plays with his farm things. So precious.
-Is also into Disney Cars and Planes. He loves watching the movies.
-Has been working on letters and sounds but sometimes he's just not interested.
-LOVES books. Some nights we read for an hour before bed. He is such a good listener!
-Has been very into his daddy. In the month of December, Blair was less busy because of winter break from his classes. Tate took advantage of this, and now usually chooses Dad over Mom.
-LOVES to sing and dance. If it involves music, he's hooked. I love riding in the car listening to him sing his little heart out.
-Is getting used to the idea of have a little sister. He often talks about her, and asks when she's going to get here. When we ask him what we should name her he always replies, "Baby Tate." I always tell him that I can't have two Baby Tates and he just says that he's not the baby anymore! :)
-Is obsessed with his cousin, Kayson. It's funny because he wants to do everything like Kayson, but sometimes when they're together they fight like crazy. Most of the time they play pretty well together though.
-Is excited that we visited a preschool. He will most likely go to preschool two days a week in the fall. The only problem is- he thinks he's going to ride a bus. I don't know how we're going to break it to him that there won't be a bus quite yet! ha!