Neighborhood Fun

The neighborhood seems to be filled with little girls now. Ellie has made good friends with some of the kids near us and it's really fun to watch them all play. The other kids are all younger than Aeryn so she goes in phases where playing with them is fun, and others where she'd rather not.

Ellie and J were making "paint" by grinding up sidewalk chalk and mixing it with water.

Aeryn and A were just talking about something or another... probably mythology or books.

These are most of the kids that live in our immediate 2 buildings. Ellie had ridden her bike while Jim went running and didn't want to take her helmet off. Once she gets it on she will just leave it on for a few hours while she plays other things rather than put it away. We aren't sure why, but it is good for a little laugh.

There are some good climbing trees around, and evidently they are also good at catching the climbers who fall from their branches. Ellie's pants saved the day! She was literally suspended by her britches, which fortunately didn't tear.

Oregon Coast

On spring break we typically head to the coast. At least, when we stay in town for the week that is. This year we were extremely lucky and had near perfect weather. Temperatures were in the 60's, with clear sunny skies. The wind was pretty extreme, but we haven't ever been there when it wasn't. The kids had a blast, as always.

I stayed at the car to feed Tate and by the time I made it out to the water, the girls were already wet past their waists. They don't hold back when it comes to water.

Kick-splash water fight! I'm pretty sure Ellie won this one, in part because of strategic time-outs when Aeryn was closing in on her.

We made sure Tate was quite bundled up and I think we succeeded in keeping him warm. He did not appreciate the wind on his face though.

Jim was determined to have Tate get his first feel of the ocean, despite the chill. He had fallen asleep and didn't even flinch when his toes touched the water. I was quite surprised actually, even though he is extremely mellow and good natured the Pacific is still rather cold.

We tried to get a pic of everyone's feet together, but didn't organize it well enough to fit in the frame so it's just the kids here. Aeryn and I can share shoes now though so her feet can just count for both of us.

My loves. Part of me wishes I was in the picture too, but I really like having one of all my favorite people, especially one that gets genuine smiles from them all. It was a wonderful day. 

Our {3} Kids

Seriously, our kids are the best. Really, would you expect us to think any less? This spring break has been so fun. The best part for me has just been seeing how much the girls love Tate. He is by far the most entertaining person in our home, and they would hang out with him every single second if we would give them greater autonomy with him.

We had Tate's blessing scheduled for the first weekend of Ellie's spring break so that she would be here when it happened. Most of our family came out and it felt like half of sacrament meeting was filled with our friends. I'm not going to lie, I stressed about it like nobody's business and had an anxious pit in my stomach all morning the day of. I felt like I had pared my goals down to the bare minimum and I still couldn't keep it organized. That is a story for another day (I'm still a bit tense about it), but the one thing that I most regret is not getting a family picture outside the church. As soon as we were home people started changing clothes and scattering so it wasn't just that we didn't get a pic at church, we didn't get any pictures at all. I don't have a picture from Aeryn's blessing day either and it's one of the things I have always regretted. As it is, I have more pictures of myself on my blessing day than either of my babies. Considering the advances in photography since my infancy that just seems wrong.

To make up for this I declared that today would be a make-up picture day. I instructed everyone to wear the same clothes they did for his blessing and we were going to get a pic after church and all would be well. It was a grand plan, until Tate had a little hunger prompted meltdown five minutes before church was out, I forgot his tie and shoes (because the point was to recreate it exactly), and as soon as we were home the comfy clothes came out before I even realized it and there was no hope of getting a family picture - at church or not. In consolation I took a few pictures of the kids all together. It isn't all of us, but it's the three of them and that is at least something.

It was surprising how cooperative the girls were. Usually one of them is cooperative while the other is distracted, but I think having Tate there made it easier for them. This kid better get used to smooches - the girls are constantly trying to kiss him.

I'm a pretty sappy parent and I'm constantly thinking about how I will never be able to get any moment back. I take way too many pics with my phone and try to memorize every little thing. It may be a sickness. I want to remember the girls with this little baby as he is now because I know all too well that this phase will pass extremely quickly. Before Ellie comes back for the summer he will change so much. He rolled over a few days ago and it was extremely challenging for him, but then today he rolled twice in succession and it looked almost effortless. That's quite a good accomplishment for 2 months old, who knows what he'll figure out next.

These little people make our lives quite fantastic. I want to keep them forever.

New tricks

In honor of being eight weeks old, Tate decided he was ready for some new tricks. Granted they probably aren't exciting to anyone other than me, but this little cutie has been sleeping through the night and no longer wants to be swaddled! He's two weeks ahead of Squirt on that milestone, not that it's a competition or anything (except that he is a Davis, so it probably is).

Correction: mom refuses to swaddle because he squirms so much the blanket somehow ends up wrapped around his head.

When Aeryn was a baby and I studied sleep training methods I learned that "technically" sleeping through the night is defined as 6 straight hours. By those standards Tate has been doing this off and on for a while, but since as parents we tend to define "sleeping through the night" as how it impacts our own sleep habits, I can say it's unofficially official now that he goes 8 hours between feedings and I am able to sleep undisturbed between 10 and 5 (though I don't really make it to bed at 10). 

Isn't it amazing how significant the little things are? It's so much easier to enjoy life with a baby when you consistently get some sleep.

Meet Tate

I had grand ambitions, of keeping this updated daily so our family could keep up on life with our new little guy, but I find that I'm too preoccupied loving on him (and trying to make sure I shower, eat lunch, and other such things) to get around to it. It seems we are finding our groove though, so with any luck the tides are turning.

We love having this little guy in our family. If you know us IRL, you have likely seen these pictures on facebook, but as a brief overview of the last few weeks here is our little Tate:

2 Hours 

1/8/14

8lbs. 4.8oz.

21.75 in.

9:22 a.m. (It was a long night!)

Three Weeks

Four Weeks

One Month

Six Weeks

Seven Weeks

Some little details about Tate:

He is a great sleeper.

His favorite song so far is We Will Rock You by Queen.

He already has more sports apparel than I have owned in my entire life.

Diaper changes are his least favorite thing in the world, which is a bummer since they happen very, very often. 

He will go from perfectly happy to having a complete meltdown in 1.2 seconds once he realizes he wants to eat.