FIRST MOTHER'S DAY....

MY TWO GIRLS...

(tate 21 mos, mesa 5 yrs)

What more can a mommie ask except for a little TWIRLING action from Tate!

A day I have been waiting for FOREVER.... and one that will be cherished.

LAST AND FINAL HOMESTUDY!!!

First off, I cannot believe it has almost been a years since Tate filled my arms and heart. ONE YEAR! More to come about....

FINALLY my last homestudy!

The house needs cleaning. I almost called to have it cleaned. Then it hit me.... Are they going to take Tate away because the hardwoods need some cleaning and clutter put away? The clutter is mostly toys... TOYS that are Tate's.

Strange thing about this homestudy.... They are coming after Tate is in bed. They really do not need to see the most beautiful child that has ever walked this world. I am kind of bugged because really why am I getting this final homestudy? Once again I have to roll my eyes at my agency (and homestudy S.W.) and thank my lucky stars that this is the LAST HOMESTUDY!

HELLO GUAM....

Guess who made a call to GUAM with a bill of $46.00 attached to it??!!!!

Well, it was Little Miss Tater !!!

P*E*E*P*S!!!!

Ah, nothing like a taste of your first PEEP on your first Easter!

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY.....

I saw the face of this angel....

(tate is now 19 mos old)

Life has never been happier or the same. Momma loves you, Tate YuZhu!

CALLING ALL MOMS WHO HAVE TRAVELED WITH A WILD LAPCHILD...

I am pleading for some advise from the moms out there who have traveled successfully with a 19 month old lap child. My flight is a 5 hour non-stop on a packed late afternoon flight. What started as a sweet easy baby has now morphed into a wild toddler.

I am still re-living the nightmare of dinner the other night with three spilled drinks... two on me, and a wild child strutting all over the restaurant eating ice cubes from the spilled drinks off the floor.

Oh how I wished I would have followed my motherly intuition and bought Tate her own seat. I guess the cheap inter-voice spoke louder.

TATE-ISM

Tate's language acquisition is bursting... she is saying and doing the funniest things. Here are a few that happen within the past day.

• When Tate sneezes she follows it up with a "bwess you" (bless you)



• Tate was left alone in a room with a Kleenex box. A box that proved too much of a temptation for one busy smart toddler. When I walked into the room I discovered tissues everywhere. One glance at me and Tate grabs a tissue and start fake coughing and wiping her nose. How can I not bust a gut at my clever girl?



• Tate sings along to most everything. With all seriousness, she tried opera the other day. There is nothing cuter than a sweet little voice speaking the language of a toddler singing opera.



• Tate and her Gramps have quite an act going. Gramps will sing the song How much is that doggie in the window and Tate provides the dog barking part of woof woof woof.



• Favorite word right now is "mine".... She will say this about everything around the house. Truth be told, everything is hers. Poor Mesa has just a few balls that are Mesa's. I have had to remind Tate that the balls are Mesa's and she has to ask Mesa if she will share them with Tate. Tate will now pick up the ball and got to Mesa with a one word question SHARE??? Of course, Mesa always shares with her Tate.

BUG BITES AND BENTOS

OUCH!!! Tate was attacked by unseasonably early mosquitoes. I think she must be allergic to them because of her strong reaction to the bites. So strong it had me rushing to the doctor just in case it was something more than a bug bite.



Tate loves to get little morsels of food on toothpicks... Being the smart momma that I am, I zoned in on this fact pretty fast and cracked open our Bento supplies to find these animals picks. She loves them! Notice the bug bite on her sweet finger....

This is Tate's posed smile. I am hoping this "smile" thing will be over soon. Although I love this mug of a smile, I miss Tate's natural smile.

ZOO TIME.....

Tate has started to pose for her smiles. This is what we get when we ask her to smile, including the clenched hands.


Tatie's Auntie Kelly is here from Tampa for a quick visit! The sun was out and spring was truly in the air.... How can we resists taking Nana and Aunt Kelly to the Zoo. We live only 10 minutes from the Zoo and have a season Zoo pass.

Since visiting the Zoo really is all about Tate and her enjoyment, we actually only saw a few animals but spent A LOT of time watching the baby elephant, Zuri and her momma. Zuri was so playful and adorable!

I posed her on this bronze statue. She looks like she is not too sure about this, however, she did not want to be taken off

Auntie Kelly is trying to teach Tatie how to say Rhinoceros... she is very thoughtful when she is being taught this... I think one day this hard word will leave her lips.

ONE OF "THOSE" MOMS!!!

Pre-Tate, I would go to the grocery store and scoff at the moms with kids in sleepers. Well, today I joined the ranks of these moms. Yep, I grabbed Tate in her ever so cute sleeper and headed to the local market for milk and chocolate. Necessities that are needed around Tate's kingdom. Thankfully it was early enough that the store was almost empty. Whew!

FLORIDA BOUND... a few readers have asked where in Florida Tate and I will be going... TAMPA and Orlando area!!! I cannot wait to relax (ha!) in the sun with my toes in the sand. No we are not doing the Disney World this trip.

PINK POLKA DOT TOT

We will be heading off to Florida at the end of March so I thought I better see if Tate had swimming suits that still fit. I have to pinch myself just to make sure that I am not dreaming and this bundle of loving beauty is truly part of my life. I love her so!

SWINGING INTO SPRING!

18 MONTHS OLD!!!

My sweet little cherub, Tate, is 18 months old! Gone are the days of babyhood.... Coming at me in FULL THROTTLE is Toddlerhood.... and I am loving it! Today to mark this momentous occasion we had a photo shoot with an amazing local photographer. I am loving every picture that was taken!

Check out more pictures of Tate.... What I have posted does not do her justice!

Ever since Tate's first birthday, I had wanted to have her photographed in her first birthday Tiger hat and shoes..... I am so glad I did! The enamel heart is from Norway and is a gift given to her from her Nana on the day of her blessing. This has been a family tradition with Tate being the last granddaughter to get one.

FIRST HAIR CUT

Only a SLIGHT trim to even up the fine baby flutters. I worried that this cut would make Tate's sweet little slight curls disappear. No worries, they are still there!

Thank you Tabby for your expert work rangling a wiggly 17 month old.

BAKING WITH TATE

I told momma that we needed to try a little baking, so we dug out our secret family recipe for sugar cookies and got baking.

Momma added the butter and egg and I started stirring and stirring mixing up all that cookie goodness.

Checking out the texture and flavor.

I had so much fun making COOKIES with momma, I told her that we should do this every day! Why did Momma laugh at that?

NEW HAITIAN DOLL....

The cutest girls are making these adorable Haitian dolls and are donating all proceeds to aid in the Earthquake victims.... These cutest girls are sisters ranging from 8-12 yrs old. I just love that such young kids can be so globally aware.

Tate was very interested in her new doll.... She examined it

And shared it....

My girls, Tate and Mesa (nose in view only) checking out the new doll.

Both Tate and Mesa are very excited about the new doll.....
If you want a doll too, you can go to this blog and see some of the cute dolls just waiting to go home to you...

FUNNY SIDE NOTE....

Tate found this bracelet and placed it around her ankle... she insisted on wearing this all day even when we put shoes and socks on and headed out the door.... Funny girl.

THE TODDLER SPORT.....

Of tissue tossing ... Tate has perfected it

FOUND PICTURES

Too cute not to share....

WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN....

Tate LOVES shrimp and lobster!








She had her first bite of my lobster and ate the whole lobster tail. I thought for sure she would gag on a bite of shrimp. I had to pry her hands from the empty shrimp tail. I love that she is open to new flavors, textures and tastes. A girl after my own heart.

SSSSS NOOOO.....W MUCH FUN!!!

Bundled up so snugly. Tate is wearing some SERIOUS winter boots that are a few sizes too big. She has officially become a walker within the past week so this extra challenge of heavy boots in too large of a size proved a handicap to her. I just picked her up and plopped her where I wanted her.



Her first Snow angel!!!











I pulled this sweet snow bunny up and down the snow covered sidewalks on our street. She is still learning the balancing thing and would tobble over constantly. She loved tobbling over so much I started wondering if she was falling over on purpose!