Take me to the B&B

Thursday was Donny's last final and last assignment EVER! Yay!  I know he has lots more work to do before he is completely finished, but it is such a huge accomplishment to get this far.  I wanted to do something special for him, I got him a present and planned to take him to dinner and a movie......LAME. Because I had no idea he had a way way way better surprise in store for me.

Thursday morning as Donny was walking out the door to go to his final he says, "Oh yeah....two things you need to do today, pack an overnight bag for you and one for Tate." Immediately I got super excited and just couldn't wait until Donny got home. I couldn't stop thinking about it all day, just waiting and waiting and smiling and waiting.  When he got home he still wouldn't tell me where we were going. He even had me thinking Tate was coming with us.

So we dropped Tate at our amazing friends' house (side note, Tate had so much fun he didn't even want to come home with us when we came to get him and didn't ask for us once while we were gone) and we were off. We drove for about an hour and ended up in Red Wing, Minnesota.

It felt like we were so far away in the middle of farm country. It was lovely!

We stayed at the Pratt-Taber bed and breakfast. I loved it!!! Loved it!!  It was so perfect.  Our room was beautiful and blue. My favorite.  Deb the Innkeeper was so sweet and nice (and also a nurse).  She made us mango juice and cheese and crackers when we got there and had brownies waiting for us when we returned for the night, and an amazing breakfast.  I don't know why we have never stayed at a bed and breakfast before.  It was amazing, just fabulous!

Friday morning we couldn't sleep in so we decided to get up and go for a run up to memorial park. It was beautiful (a lot up hill! I'm definitely sore today!).  Awww it was the just the revamp I needed, and I'm know Donny need a re-boost as well.

Donny is so sweet, thinking about me when he's had so much on his mind.  When I gave him his present he was genuinely surprised that I even thought about getting him something.  He's amazing and he has a way of remembering things that I say I would love to do.  He's the best! Oh and Donny will be disappointed if I don't include his highlight of the getaway!

Fire and Ice

Tate is becoming his own little person. He's always been packed full of personality (this we have always known). I guess it's just him being able to express it more. He has a sense of humor that is so great. He can tell a joke with just a few words and a sly smile that makes us laugh every time. This boy is fire and ice! I tell you one minute he is sweet and gentle and funny and smiley and the next he is throwing a huge tantrum and throwing things and hitting and kicking. It's truly amazing. I can't complain very much, though. I knew we would get at least one fireball. After all, I was warned that Donny would get his payback! (I'm just wondering what I did to deserve it!) From what I hear, my sweet even-tempered Donny was the same way...maybe worse! Tantrums that put holes in the walls and windows and a sense of humor and a sparkling personality. I think I'm in for the long haul folks with this one. But if he is truly anything like his Dad, I'll take a few years of the tantrums for him to be anything like the guy Donny is. I have to tell myself everyday "he won't be like this forever!" He's a good boy, just more energy than he knows what to do with right now. He makes me smile and laugh and feel appreciated everyday. One of his new things that he says every time I do something for him or give him something he says, "thank you mom!" It's so so cute! I LOVE YOU TATE!

Florida Fun

Tate and I spent 5 days in Florida with Gammy, Grandad, Aaron, Kens, and Maycie.  We had so much fun. It went so fast, we weren't quite ready to come home yet. Tate is starting to talk so much!  He was loving being with Maycie.  He wanted to do everything she did!  He became frustratingly independent over this trip! Wanting to do everything for himself.

Tate and Maycie love Grandad. He's just the best to snuggle! He also tells the best stories that even held Tate's attention.

Saturday we went to Coco Beach.  It was overcast, but nice and warm. Tate freaked out when the sand went into his flip flop and touched his feet.  We thought he got stung by something or stepped on glass with the scream he let out.  It took him a while to warm up to the sand and water.
This is how he started out

By the end he was soaking wet, had sand in every crevice and had a giant smile on his face!

Monday we went to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. It was so fun. I haven't been to a Disney theme park since I was a little girl. I loved taking Tate. I know he is still quite small, but he loved it. He had so much fun on the rides. He was wide eyed and just taking it all in. When each ride ended he wouldn't want to get off, he would say "ride, ride, ride mom!" He loves Woody! We didn't want to wait in the very long line for the real taking pictures with them. Tate wouldn't take his eyes off them.

Tuesday we went to Sea World. I just love Sea World! I love the atmosphere and that it's a little more slow paced and more relaxing than Disney.  The roller coasters were awesome as well.  I tell you what that Kensie is a machine when it comes to riding the roller coasters! While the rest of us were suffering from motion sickness she was always ready to immediately go again!

All in all it was a fabulous trip. It was so nice to be together. Living far away is hard, but when you don't see each other for a while it seems manageable. Then you spend time together again and remember family really really is the best! It's awful to go apart again.  I miss them all so much already.  We had so much fun!  

Can't Keep This Little Guy Down!

Well, leave a couple of boys together for a week and a half, and of course one of them is gonna end up at the doctor's office. Tate and Eli have been having so much fun together, and on my last day of babysitting things got taken up a notch. I already showed the picture of Tate getting wedged trying to jump from the dresser to the bed. Their newly discovered adventure was jumping from the couch onto the pillows on the floor. They both started off pretty tentative, but as you can see from the clip below, Tate worked himself up into a state of reckless abandon until it seemed that his goal must have been to clear the padded pile entirely.

They had fun with it for a while, but eventually Tate missed his target completely and landed with one leg directly on the floor. He started screaming and crying really loud, so I ran and picked him up. Looked at his leg, no bones poking out of the skin. The crying lasted for a minute or so until he calmed down and started repeating, "Jump. Again. Jump. Again." The crying was the loudest, however, after I told him that the jumping was over.

After he woke up from his nap he was walking around the house like a peg-leg, using only the heel on his right foot. His little foot was a also a bit swollen and hot. So, we took him to the doctor's office.

He was so great at the doctor's. He sat perfectly still while she examined his leg, and was motionless, holding the little lead vest over himself to get the x-ray. Fortunately, we came away with a clear x-ray and just a wrapped leg; nothing broken. All in all, I think it just added to the adventure for Tate. I think now the problem is going to be finding a way to keep him from jumping off the couch, cause clearly a near broken bone didn't do the trick!

Happy Easter!

Saturday night I sat Tate down and tried to explain Easter to him. He understood Jesus and repeated it back to me. His face had an interested expression, but I'm not sure how much he really got....until I got to the Easter Bunny part. I said "Now you have to go to bed and sleep the whole night, and if you are a good boy the Easter Bunny is going to come in the house and hop around and leave eggs for you to find and because you are a really good boy he is going to leave you a basket full of presents." When he heard the word eggs and presents his face lit up and a huge smile spread across his whole face. I said "Would you like the Easter Bunny to bring you presents?" He smiled and said "Hesss (which is yes) presents!" Oh man he is precious!!! When I put him in his crib to go to sleep he just kept saying "Bunny..presents..bunny..presents"






Donny and Tate got Nerf guns in their baskets and had fun shooting at each other, Tate needed help with the trigger though.



I'm baby sitting a little boy in our ward this week and Tate had so much fun with him today. I was out in the living room while they were playing in Tate's room and I hear Tate start to wine which I ignored cause he does that when he gets frustrated with a toy or Lego's. So I kept doing what I was doing (he wasn't crying) and then he starts grunting and says "Mom...I stuck! Mom...I stuck! Hep...Hep!" So I go in there and this is what I find...

Conference weekend

We had a very enjoyable conference weekend. I must say conference is a whole different experience with a Toddler. I didn't get to hear all of it, but what I did get to listen to was great. Everything said was true and refreshing. I love conference.



It worked for a few minutes to tell Tate he could have his binki if he sat with Daddy. They are so adorable!

We had such a great weekend just hanging out and spending time with friends. Ahh life is good.

Case of the Munchies

Tate recently discovered that he could open the pantry and he is loving it! This kid never stops eating. Donny and I were laughing today talking about letting Tate eat all day long, just to see if he could do it. He is a bottomless pit! The cereal and tortilla chips are on the bottom shelf and that is his favorite thing.



Isn't he just too cute?! Oh man I love him in this hat! He loves wearing this one. It is powered by awesomeness after all. He likes to put it on himself and it is usually on sideways.







Yikes! I love him so much!