Happy New Year's! 2013

I had to work New Year's Eve, but Bobby & my boy came to give me a kiss! Bobby took the kids to his sister's house for a LaRose party, but it ended up getting over early because his niece got in a car accident. She was okay luckily, but the car was not :( So, Liv ended up going to her friend Bella's for a sleepover & the boys came to say hi to me since they were in Layton. We got these NYE sparkling ciders & party-wear, so I posed Tater in them the next day :)

So cute! Lil party animal!

 

Christmas Morning (or afternoon ;)

Sooo, this post is so belated due to the fact that I could not upload pictures to my blog for the longest time. All of a sudden tonight it started working! Yay! Let the blogging begin!

 

 

Livers with her presents.

We didn't get her until 1pm on Christmas. She was anxious all day :)

Going to list them so we can remember & laugh years later at what she thought was cool ;) jk:

 

Kindle Fire

 (Liv was soooo excited about this! She just asked for the basic kindle, bein the sweet girl that she is, but they had these on sale Cyber Monday & since she is the bestest girl, we sprung for the bigger one. She was so appreciative & thanked us a million times. Such a good girl :)

purple case for her kindle

purple rhinestone earbuds for her kindle

Justin Bieber calendar (gotta love the Biebs)

annual scrapbook made with love by jen <3

stocking stuffers: shave gel, hairspray, her beloved toothbrushes ;) (inside joke), scented zebra wall plug in, gum, headbands.

 

Tate actually did have fun ripping the paper off his gifts. To be honest, he really only got a few things from Mom & Dad. With all the hand-me-down toys from Katy Lythgoe Morgan & bein spoiled

                                     by Grammy & Poppy, he really didn't need much.

He LOVES this laugh & learn puppy. It was rated really high so I thought I'd give it a try. It was a hit! It's prob his fave :) we also got him a little xylophone (splurge from the dollar spot @ Target;))

and the CUTEST car keys with remote. I should've taken a pic because they are darling! They are the cutest colors: pumpkin orange, eggplant, turquoise, & burgundy. They have a car horn, a garage door opener, an automatic start, & a little flashlight. So cute :)

 

 

After opening presents we headed in our jammies to Grampa Bob & Gramma Sandi's. All the families & kids were there which is tons of fun! SO fun I forgot to take pics dangit! They gave each of the TWENTY-FOUR grandkids the sweetest hand-written notes & $20. I'm saving them for their scrapbooks:) Thank you SO much guys! We love you SO much & are blessed to have such wonderful grandparents & family like you!

Xoxo

Loves for Tater from Gramma

 

Our little fam :)

 

Grammy n Poppy with the Grandbabies

 

Poppy & the boys. They all got matching ties from Aunt Tessie, Uncle Zach, & Dakota.

SO cute! Thanks guys!

Instead of presents to eachother, we pick a needy family to give to, which was so much fun to shop for. Thanks Old Navy for having killer deals! We were able to make our money go SO far. I had to go shopping on a day I didn't have Livers, but her & Bella helped critique my work & wrap all the gifts. Thanks girlies! Sweet Liv also gave some of her own money to go towards it. She's the best girl!

The rest of the money we put on a money tree for Lindsay to buy school supplies & other supplies for the children of Ghana, Africa. She is going on a 15 day trip there with her mom. Janet (her mom) has been working with these kids & their community for a few years now. We are SO proud of & excited for Lindsay to go. How rewarding!

 

Christmas was extra wonderful this year with our new addition Mr. Tate. We are so blessed in so many ways. We have healthy, beautiful children,  Bobby & I both have loving parents & families, we have a warm home, we have great jobs, we are able to pay our bills, we are blessed with wonderful extended family & friends, & we are enjoying our little family so so much. Thank you everyone for being a blessing in our lives! We love you!

Most of all we are thankful for the birth of beautiful baby Jesus, the man he grew up to be, & for giving us the opportunity to come here & experience life.

Xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Christmas!

 

Mommy n Tater at Grammy n Poppy's

 

At Nannie's Christmas Party at Mountain Ridge. They always do such an amazing job!

 

Thank you card for Grammy n Poppy. It ended up being VERY cute! Quite a bit of work, but cute :)

 

I took Tater to see Santa Claus right before Gramma n Grampa's Christmas Eve party. He was SUCH a good boy! I wish Santa was smiling in this pic, but it is still SO cute!

 

 

I wish I had pictures of Gramma Marilyn & Grampa Bert's Christmas Eve party. It was so much fun. Gramma seriously puts in a TON of time & effort for this party. We had pizza & hot wings, we played games, did a white elephant gift exchange ( I received the "cat butt air freshener" I sent to Zach on his mission. He's kept it this long! Very odd, because my brother is the cleanest un-cluttered male you will meet! Gramma & Grampa put together a "family fun package" for everyone with popcorn tubs, treats, movie gift cards, & a restaurant gift card. Tater got a little boom box, & Livy got some cute hello kitty jammie pants that I love also :)

Thank you SO SO much for all your time, effort, & fun-ness Gramma & Grampa! You're the best & we love you so so much!

 

Kind of Christmas Eve with Grammy & Poppy (celebrated early)

Since Gramma Marilyn hosts her annual Christmas Eve party (which I totally suck & forgot to take my camera to!), Grammy n Poppy did their Christmas Eve a week early. It was SO much fun! Thanks for all the gifts, dinner, fun, & family time! We love you!

 

Grammy readin the kids "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer."

She gave them all magic reindeer dust to sprinkle in the yard so the reindeer could spot our houses, carrots for the reindeer, & cookies for Santa. What a fun Grammy!

Houston "loving" on Mae :)

Tessie & sweet Kota

 

Daddy & Tater.

With his other FAVE toy. It's a hand & finger puppet with jungle animals on it: zebra, monkey, tiger, antelope, & giraffe. It is so cute & he LOVES it. Mostly to eat, but he loves it just the same :)

Maelee's super-cute wagon with her name on it.

She was a little sensitive tonight, but she looked SO cute in it!

Liv with her combat boots she wanted so badly. I really don't think I've ever seen her that excited (except when we told her she was gonna be a big sister:)). She also got bedhead products that she loves, an earring holder, nail art supplies, & tons of stocking stuff. SPOI-LED girl!

Uncle Ryfry & Aunt Linds posing with Kota in his new sweet ride!

 What a perfect gift! This wagon is so cute & comes complete with a canopy, matching body pillow, & his name on the side of it! He loved it! It is awesome!

 



Mommy n Tater

Love this!

Tearing the paper off his presents. Likes it, but I'm sure next year will be much more entertained with it :)

Pretty Grammy n Tater

Liv's annual musical number. This year we were delighted to hear the accapella version of Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe"

She is so talented & brave!

Way to go girlie!

Christmas Village

 

 

Tate's first outing to Christmas Village!

 

Bobby's feigned excitement

By my favorite Vintage Cupcake Store

Momma wanted him bundled good!

I was sooo excited Bobby agreed to go AND was a good sport about it! It was fun!

Christmas fun with Liv

Here are a few of the Christmas crafts & fun that Liv & I have been doing:

We've made tons of sugar cookies & frosted them. We made this cute paper straw wreath, we made
ornaments for our tree, & I made Tater's first stocking. Fun fun fun :)

 

 

 



Tater is 4 months!...and almost 5 mths by the time I finish this post ;)

 

 

 

 

    Baby tate is 4 months old!

What's new with him....

1. He wears 6 month clothes.

2. He is barely able to fit in size 2 diapers. Tryin to get through this last case :)

3. He weighs 15 lbs. 7 oz. & is 26 inches long. He is in the 54th percentile for weight (yes I know everyone's shocked ;)), 78th percentile for height, & his noggin is still 30th percentile. He took his shots like a champ too! AND the hour & a half wait at the doctor's office. Mommy's fault, I always get the late afternoon appts.

4. His favorite thing is to stand up on your lap or chest while you hold his hands. He loves to be so big & tall!

5. He jibber jabbers all the time. It is so fun & cute! I LOVE his stories!

6. He has a growing affection for his sister. She is always so good to hop in the backseat of the car & calm him down when he is upset. She is a great help with him, & he always has a smile for her :)

7. He has been a little off this month to be quite honest. He was going through a growth spurt a time or two, where he wanted to eat every two hours, & he would actually take naps. These spurts passed, and now his range is between 2-3 1/2 hrs again, even during the night. He still doesn't really nap. 15-20 minutes if he takes one, & once in awhile he will sleep for an hour & a half (but I truly think it's only because he is just plain wore out at that point!). We think he is afraid he will miss something. I've never seen a LITTLE baby fight sleep so hard. He is a little funny to watch sometimes, trying to force those eyes to stay open. He is still gorgeous, amazing, wonderful, & so so much fun...just a bit challenging :) I really think it's only hard because I've gone back to work. Bobby works a lot, & is still a great daddy. He helps when he can, but working nights is tough stuff & I try to let him sleep as much as he can. I have to say though, we are a pretty dang good team together, taking turns when we need to. I'm not complaining, I'm just journaling Tater's progress so I remember, & can somewhat know what to expect when I have another baby :)

8. I swear he gets bigger & cuter while I am gone to work! He grows so fast! (You'd think it would be exhausting work, bein a growing boy, but he manages just fine ;))

9. Grammy & Poppy saw a full-fledged tantrum while they were tending him. Now they know we're not lying ;) jk. Tate is so cool & chill alot of the time though, that I'm sure it IS hard to imagine.........

Now that Tater is almost 5 months old...

10. He learned to roll over this last week! December 7th. Since then he is a rollin maniac. He mostly goes to his left side, but can roll from back to tummy, or tummy to back. It is so fun! He loves it. I think he likes the new point of view.

11. This week we also started rice cereal. It was funny. Bobby was on video camera, Liv on the regular camera, & my camera phone. We were all ready, and... it just dribbled out of his mouth. I guess I expected him to do more. Out of about 10 tries he played around with 2 of them, working it around in his mouth...I tried again the next night & he did seem a little more interested, opening his mouth & working it around in there more. It is so fun to watch him do it, but it does make quite a mess :)