Crazy Windy

Tate LOVES his spaghetti!!!

Yesterday my new nephew was born!! I have been there to visit my sister in the hospital for the other 4, but I am missing number 5. :( But with the help of amazing technology and my sweet mother-in-law I was able to Face Time her today! Not quite like holding the baby but as close as Iowa can get I guess. He is adorable! I am so excited for their family.

 After Tate's rough wake up from the late nap, we had a wonderful evening. It started with some 27 mile an hour winds that resulted in some apartment remodeling; simply hanging Josh's flannel sheets from childhood across our sliding back door and clipping them all on with binder clips. Tate thought this was the most fun game ever. He hid behind the sheets, used a pillowcase like a gunnysack, and played peek-a-boo with our building materials. He even adopted a pillowcase for a hat for about 10 minutes. When we had hung everything up he started bringing his blankets into the kitchen to play with there. Apparently bedding is much more fun in the kitchen. Who knew? Then we moved to the front room where we proceeded to climb in and out of buckets, give Josh short synopsis of all our adventures, and play a four keyboard piano like Ray Charles. Tate sure has soul when he jams. He is even capable of being his own band. His belly plays the piano while he leans over his musical table and plays the trumpet and the drums with his other two hands. What an amazing little man!

An Early Morning

It's amazing how many times in a day I find myself playing with Tate and thinking, "I always want to remember this." And then I sit down to blog and can remember thinking that, but not what Tate was doing. Oh well. This morning Tate was up at 5 a.m. That's a little early even for him. We were both ready to get out by 8, easy. So we tried to go shopping, but found that most places wouldn't be ready for us until 9 a.m. Those lucky souls who get to sleep in. Since we were already out we headed to the grocery store; we get 24 hour success there. At Hyvee they have shopper in training carts for little tikes. Tate was in heaven pushing ours until I put blueberries and bananas in, then he thought he should eat them. Upon me telling him no, he decided to help load the cart. When he didn't win at that, I ended up carrying him while leaning over to push our little lime green cart. What a sight we were I am sure. After finishing at the grocery store we still had 15 minutes to kill before anything else opened. To enjoy the 60 degree rainy weather we took a walk, inspected the side walk, looked at the store walls, relocated our car, and sat and watched the rain. It was an adventure. The worst part is the store we were waiting for didn't even have what we wanted!!! But the morning did wear Tate out and we both enjoyed a wonderful mid morning nap.

Here are some pictures of our afternoon festivities.  (I couldn't figure out why Tate always had his mouth open in a state of stupor until it hit me, he can't breathe through his stuffy nose!)

A Night in Nauvoo

 Last night we took a mini family vacation to Nauvoo. Third time is truly the charm. The last two times we've planned to do it, plans have fallen through, but we finally succeeded! In the off season there are some pretty nice condos in Nauvoo that you can stay at for $50 dollars a night. They are 2 bedroom/2bathroom and perfect for two families. We went with some friends and swapped babysitting while we went to the temple today. It was brilliant, except for the part where Tate was up from 2 a.m. to 4:30. But we lived... Josh may need a couple extra naps this week from one night of bad sleep. There is a reason moms take care of the babies in the night. If not the world would not be able to handle all the tired, low-functioning men. We did stop at Culver's on the way home which brightened everyone's mood. Tate even blessed our ice cream so I'm sure it was a healthy choice.

Yesterday morning one of my dreams came true... I am now the owner of an SLR camera!!!! And it's even red! My first subject I ever photographed with it was the Nauvoo temple! Here is my favorite shot from my 2 minute photo shoot poking out the car window as Josh drove slowly around the temple.

Tater Tales - Thankful for Food

As we were eating dinner tonight, Josh shoveled in his food, commenting that he had to make sure he got to eat between all the prayers. Tate's latest and greatest skill he has acquired is folding his arms for prayers. Now that he knows we fold our arms for prayer, we pray a lot more often. Sometimes 15 or 20 times in a meal and randomly throughout the day. My gratitude for many things I had not previously thought of being grateful for has increased as I look for more things to pray about. My favorite part is the resounding amen, and if you pray to long he will try to cut you off with it. It's a good thing he eats so much food, that way I can actually eat all mine between the prayers. I love my little man!