11 Months

Tate is now 11 months old.  SLOW DOWN TIME! 

Your favorite toys are your big barn, guitar, balls, and empty boxes.  You haven't been playing very well with your toys.  You would rather go around the house and pull stuff out of drawers and cabinets.  You like to wave to people.  When we want you to wave you don't do it but usually out of the blue you start to wave to people.  You have turned into a chatter box but have yet to make real words.  You are very close to saying baby and dada.  You have 6 teeth and do not like to have your teeth brushed.  You still do not sleep well.  You are only waking up about 2 times a night which is an improvement but now you will not take naps.  You still do not eat well.  You only want to eat meat and grains.  Your favorite foods right now are hamburgers, french fries, pizza, and animal crackers.  You eat most meat dishes that we eat.  Sometimes you will take a bite or two of banana, broccoli, sweet potato, and green beans.  You usually eat 3 or 4 eight oz. bottles a day.  You still refuse to hold your bottle and you refuse to drink formula out of a sippy cup.  You will give yourself water out of a sippy but you can't figure out how to tilt it up to drink out of it.  You are a speed crawler and crusing the furniture.  You have stood on your own a few times for a few seconds.  You are wearing mostly 18 month clothes, size 4 diapers, and size 5 overnight diapers.  You have decided that you are afraid of everyone and have terrible separation anxiety from mom and dad.  You cry when we put you down or leave the room.  You like to snuggle now which is wonderful!

Projects

I made these texture cards for Tate the other day.  I also made a sponge ball.  Darn Pinterest!

We had to resort to crying it out because Tate was waking up nearly every hour.  We have been doing it for a week and it is the most terrible thing ever.  It is not going well.  Tate will put himself to sleep right away but he still wakes up 2-3 times a night and has a hard time going back to sleep.  I am not sure if it is gas or something else that bothers him.  He will not nap now either.  Hopefully these sleep issue are resolved soon.  I am tired!

Best Feeling

My friend will be having her first baby is just a few short weeks and I am super excited!  The day I had Tate changed my life forever!  The moment I heard him cry and then looked into Brett's eyes was so overwhelmingly wonderful.  Then I got to meet him for the first time.  What a joy!  It was definitely the best moment of my life so far.  I love my little family. 

Tate was good in town yesterday.  He just thought it was too fun to wave to people, until you told him to wave and then he refused to do it.  Today it is finally RAINING!!!!!!!!!! 

Update

Tate has not been on antibiotics for a while and we switched bottles and he has been a lot less gassy.  He has recently decided to be a momma's boy and wants to be held all the time.  We haven't been doing much of anything.  We are going to get groceries today since we are out of milk.  I lead a pretty exciting life.

He is sucking that thumb more and more.  :(  I lost the battle with the houseplants and they now live with my mom.  ALL Tate wanted to do was eat potting soil. 

Baby Pics

Look what else I found...

Brett around 11 months



Tracey around 11 months



Tate around 11 months

I think I see a few similarities!

Prom

Today is our school's prom so what better excuse for a walk down memory lane! 

When I was a sophomore, I got asked to go to prom by a senior.  My friends got to go too so it was fun.  I think the prom was in the HS gym, the meal was in the cafeteria, and after-prom was at the parish center.  By far, my favorite parts of prom were always dress shopping and getting my hair done!

 My junior prom was very interesting.  My date was a friend from my class.  There was a girl from a nearby town that showed up to prom looking for him.  From what I remember, they had to have the cop show up to the high school so she would leave.  Again, prom was in the HS gym and the meal was in the cafeteria.  The food was bad and so was the music.  It was not very much fun.  After prom was out at a conference center and it was loads of fun! 

 My senior prom was a crazy adventure!  My date was another friend from my class.  Long story short, he got suspended right before prom so he could not go.  At the time I was DEVASTATED!  There was only one other girl who did not have a date for prom.  He could not get a refund on his tux so he still picked me up and took me to church and to prom.  Prom and the meal were in the grade school gym and after-prom was at the parish center.  We met up again later after after-prom and got some breakfast.  Despite having no date, prom and after-prom were fun.  We learned how to sqaure dance.  My dad was my partner. 

I wish I could have a prom redo now that I have found the perfect date!  Oh what fun Brett and I would have.

 At Brett's school they went to prom all 4 years of high school.  With the addition of some out of town proms, he has been to 7 proms in all!  These are his prom pictures I could round up at our house.

Homebody

This was one of my favorite books as a kid.  It is about a cat who decides to stick around a run-down, abondoned house because "home was home and that was that."  Eventually someone fixes up the house and the cat warms up to the new owners and has a great home.

I wasn't always going to move back here.  I was going to dive into the world of food science.  I had a great job offer from Hormel but I would have had to move to Iowa.  The summer of my internship my grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy.  It was super hard to be away.  I am a nurturer and a worrier so I needed to be there to help my mom take care of my grandma.  I decided that family is more important than any job or amount of money.  I knew by moving back here that I would sacrifice some things but gain other things.  Growing up, most of my cousins lived right down the road and all of my grandparents lived nearby.  We got to see our family all of the time and it was wonderful. 

It hasn't always been easy but so far it has been a great decision.  My children will know and love their family and appreciate their farm heritage.  I get to stay home and be a mom and Brett gets to see Tate more than he ever would if he had a different job.  We are only a 2.5 hour drive or less from most of our immediate family.  It is hard sometimes to find time to visit everyone with the busy farm life but we do try.  I feel like we have our priorities straight and hopefully when we look back 20 years from now we will know, without a doubt, it was the right thing to do.  I guess "home was home and that was that" so I am not going anywhere!