Splash Park

A friend of mine posted about a splash park in South Salt Lake last summer where she took her girls. Ever since then, I've been thinking about taking our kids there to play and cool off. Having the baby has postponed a lot of things we've wanted to do this summer, but last week we finally made it to the splash park! We took our cousins and Nana with us so they could enjoy it too!

Here are all 4 kids playing in the water.


These water guns were a big hit. Hailey loved the Nemo one.


The whole park had a farm theme - this "water" tractor was a lot of fun!


Zach loved standing under the waterfall falling from the water tower.


Hailey and Branson spent all of their time together. Those two are inseparable when we get together for play dates.


Zach also loved the water spraying up from the ground.


I loved that they had a dry play area as well. Every once in a while the wind would pick up and make the water a bit cool, so the kids would play over on the dry area for a bit and warm up. I loved the barn theme, so darling!


My kids were thrilled to pose for this picture, as you can tell from the look on Hailey's face! But the tractor was cute and I wanted a picture of them together.


We were lucky to get there in time to get a picnic bench under the pavilion, so the adults and baby stayed out of the sun. More often than once, the kids would come back to sit down, dry off, and get a snack.

Zach and Ashton - best friends.


Hailey and Branson - best buddies.


Tate even had a great time. He loves being outside and is always really good. It was a bit difficult to hold him since it was a bit breezy that day, so he spent a lot of time laying down in his stroller or in his car seat.


Yep, we all had a great time and can't wait to head back there again! Thanks Nana, Aunt Shell, Ashy, and Brans for coming with us - we have so much fun with you!

Smiling!

I have tried in vain to get pictures of Tate smiling. Seems like every time I get him going, then grab the camera, he seems to focus on that rather than me and the smiling stops. He's been smiling for over a month now and I've tried numerous times without success.

I got close a couple of times


And then finally last Monday I caught a few pictures and some video while my Mom was making him smile.






Nothing like the smile of a new baby to lift your heart! Tate is such a cutie and his smile just melts my heart! I LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY!!

Two Months Old!

That's right! On August 3rd, our little Tate turned 2 months old!

Where has the past 8 weeks gone? Seems like just yesterday, we were bringing Tate home from the hospital and now he's already two months old! He's grown so much - check out all the chub!


Of course being two months old means we also went to the two month doctor appointment. This appointment is both exciting and dreadful! Exciting because you get all the fun stats about how much the baby's grown, but dreadful because it's the first time they get their shots.

At two months, Tate's stats are:
Height = 24 1/4", 90th percentile (this is + 3 1/4" since the 2 wk appt)
Weight = 14 lbs 11 ounces, 97th percentile (this is + 2 lbs from 4 wks)
Head Circumfrence = 39.8 cm, 50th percentile

The shots weren't great - are they ever? Anyway, the only good news is that they now have one of the 4 vaccines as an oral option, so instead of 4 shots, we got 3 and an oral one. As good as that sounds, 3 vs 4 shots really isn't any different to a 2 month old. He cried so hard, it almost made me cry! But with some help from his brother and sister, we had him calmed down pretty quick. I swear this is one of the hardest things to do as a parent - shots stink! But I realize their importance and that the little hurt is better than the diseases that the shots prevent.

I can't believe how much he's grown in not only his physical stats, but also in other ways. Here are some fun things about my little angel:

- I love all of the the chub on my little boy. I love to see the rolls on his thighs, belly, and arms. He also has some really chubby cheeks! They are so darling and I can't get enough of looking at his little chubby face.

- Since his name is Tate, his dad calls him Mr. Er Tot - or Tate-er-tot. Hailey has picked up on this and started calling him Mr. Ru Tot - close, but not quite. It's been cute and fun to hear her call him a little nickname - even if it is a little off.

- Tate just started smiling a few weeks ago. His first smile was on July 13th. It was a little one and so cute. In the last few weeks we've progressed to full mouth smiles. He is so darling and it melts my heart when he smiles at me. He's also started cooing and I love it! He especially likes to coo at the kids when they are talking to him.

- At two months he's already outgrown his newborn and 0-3 month clothes. I can't believe I have already had to box up some of his clothes that are too small! He's now wearing 3-6 month clothes and they aren't that big - I'm sure we'll be through those before I know it!

- Tate loves to bath. You can almost hear him go "aaahhh" when you put him in the tub. He always smiles a ton and loves to kick his legs and splash the water.

- He's tolerating his binkie. This may not seem like that big of an accomplishment, but considering that the other two kids wouldn't EVER take it, this is a big step for us. We're hoping that as time goes on, he'll like it more and more, but for now, we're content to have him take it when he's tired to help him get to sleep.

- Tate's been sleeping really well once we got past about 5 or 6 weeks. He slept through the night (which to us is 8 hrs) the night of August 1st, just this past Sunday night. Right now we're averaging around 7 - 7 1/2 hours per night, which we are more than happy with. Usually he'll eat and then go back to sleep for another 3 - 3 1/2 hours, so he's definitely a good sleeper.

- He likes to lay on his back and kick his legs. There are times when he would rather lay and kick than be held. This is especially a good thing so that I can get a few things done during the day. Of course there are times when it's the other way around and he'd rather be held than lay down - those times are less productive, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

- Tate loves to watch the ceiling fans in our house. We have one in our family room and one in our master bedroom and he loves to lay on the floor or bed and look at them. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the fans have dark wood on the blades and are a dark contrast against the white ceiling. But whatever the reason, he loves to watch them, especially when we get them spinning.

- He loves his Mom! This is my favorite thing, he loves me to hold him or rock him or just be able to see me. There have been times when someone else is holding him and he's crying and all it takes is for me to take him and he quiets right down. It's so fun to see him recognize me and know that he wants me to hold him.

- He also loves his brother and sister. He is always looking at them and trying to find them when he hears them talking. They have loved him a little bit "too much" at times, but he is very tolerant and just thinks they are the best! They are always kissing and loving him and they can't see to get enough of holding him.


- Zach told me the other day: "I don't love Tate just a little bit, I love him a WHOLE LOT!" He's so excited to share his room with Tate and although I'm sure that sentiment will change soon, it's cute to see him all excited about rooming with his little brother!

- Zach also told me that Tate's chubby and that we just love chubby babies don't we Mom? I had to laugh - chubby babies are so darling and we definitely love them at our house - but we love one particular chubby baby the most!


- Hailey is always trying to teach Tate things. The other day she was teaching him how to talk - now who would have guessed that??? Our little chatty Kathy is teaching someone to talk. But it's very cute to see her making sure that she teaches him things that she thinks he needs to know. Honestly, with all the talking she does, he probably doesn't need to talk and probably won't for quite a few years!

- She is constantly showing Tate things - like pictures she's colored or a toy she's playing with. She always wants him to know what's going on and to see everything.


Yes, there have been quite a few changes in just 2 short months and it's been fun to watch Tate grow and learn new things. We just can't imagine how we ever got along without him!

Tate's Baby Blessing

We blessed Tate in church on Sunday, August 1st. It was a really special day and we had almost all of our family here to share it with us.

Tate was a really good boy considering I had to wake him up and get him fed early in order to get us to church early to meet everyone. He was really good before church started and even up until Jeremiah got a few sentences into the blessing, then he started his little whiny cry - I couldn't help but smile at my very vocal son. The kids were all laughing since it sounded like he was crying "mama!" Yep, each of our kids has cried or screamed during their baby blessing, good to know that Tate is keeping up that family tradition!

He wore a blessing outfit that his Uncle Jon and Uncle Bubby wore when they were blessed. I love the idea of using outfits that have been worn by other family members, it makes it so special and I'm excited to pass this down to him when he has his own children. He looked so cute in the little outfit - it was a 3-6 month outfit, but barely fit - I had to stretch it a bit and lay him on his stomach to get it buttoned up in the back. Boy, do we have a chubby little boy!


These pictures are so darling and you can really see the fat rolls around his stomach and on his little thighs! As you can see after being woken up early, he was tired decided to sleep through these pictures.


Our first family picture with little Tate.


My favorite thing to do at the house after the blessings is take pictures of everyone who came with the baby.

Here's Tate with Great Grandma Downs.


Uncle Jon and Aunt Holli - their 4 kids were there too, but were busy playing so I didn't bother to interrupt them for a picture - they were having so much fun.


Uncle Bubby and Aunt Afton.


Aunt Kylie and Uncle Jedd.


Great Grandma Bybee.


Uncle Brian and Aunt Michelle - their 2 kids were there too, but again having too much fun playing.


Nana and Papa Downs.


And of course Nana, Papa, and Uncle Troy Hawks. We were so excited to get a family picture with them while they were here.


We missed Koa and Talen who live in Illinois; Josh, Jessica, Kaylen, Gavin, and Kirsten who live in Indiana; and Uncle Taylor who's on his mission in Oklahoma; but we thought of you all on this special day.

And we couldn't leave out this fun picture of the girls all "dressed up." As you can see, they were having so much fun together!


It was such a wonderful day. Jeremiah gave Tate a wonderful blessing and we are so happy to have had so many members of the family with us - some of whom traveled a long ways to be here. Thank you all so much, it really meant a lot to us to have you all here - WE LOVE YOU!

Nana, Papa, and Troy Visit

Since we had Tate's baby blessing on the 1st, Nana, Papa, and Troy came from California to be here. We were lucky to have them with us for almost a full week. They took the kids to the park, played catch, went bike riding, took them to lunch, played games, and did a whole bunch of other fun activities. The kids had a blast with them here! Since we've been pretty much confined to the house with a new baby and it being so hot, I think they were itching to get out and do something fun.





We sure had fun with them here. The kids were all upset yesterday after they left and cried for a bit. They had so much fun and we all were sad to see you leave. Thanks for coming, we sure had a great time!

24th of July!

We had a very fun and exciting 24th of July. We decided to have the local members of the family down for dinner at our house (Nana, Papa, Awa, and Jedd). We had bbq'd pork steak, watermelon, and rolls. It was yummy! My Dad gets us the best meat ever and we were all licking our lips (and almost our plates) by the time dinner was done.

Doesn't this look delicious?


As you can see, we are all chowing down happily and even having seconds!


After dinner, we did some fireworks that we had bought for the kids. It was nothing like the BIG SHOW Uncle Bubby did on the 4th, but the kids were happy. Hailey was a little bit afraid of the sparklers at first, so Jedd was nice enough to help her out.


It wasn't long until she got brave enough to try on her own and after that, didn't want any help from anyone!


Zach had so much fun running around, spinning his sparkler to make a circle, and writing his name. He's grown so much, seems like not that long ago he was the one afraid of the fireworks!


Yes, they loved that they could do the sparklers all by themselves.


After that we lit off a few of the other fireworks we had, Tate and I even made it outside to enjoy the sight. Unfortunately, my camera is simple and doesn't take great pictures in the dark, so although Awa and Jedd took some great ones, they were all too dark to post. But my thanks to them for taking the pictures of the fireworks, I really appreciate it!

We had a wonderful day and so much fun with all of you here! Thanks for coming down and spending the afternoon and evening with us!

He Looks Just Like Baby Jesus

Bath time for Tate at our house is a big event. Not only do I have to try and control a squirmy, wiggly 7 week old who's slippery when wet, I have a 7 and 4 year old just bent on "helping" in any way they think they can. I've resorting to bathing him in the sink lately since everyone can see and I have better control of Tate as well as the other two - it's a lot harder bending over the bathtub.

The other day as I was drying Tate off with his baby towel on the counter, Zach looked at me and said "Mom, Tate look just like baby Jesus!" I didn't understand exactly what he was saying until I realized that all swaddled up in his hooded towel, he looked like baby Jesus lying in the manger all swaddled up. He's seen Tate swaddled in blankets, but I think the hood made all the difference. I thought it was such a cute comment, so I wanted to get it recorded on the blog so I didn't forget. Here are some pictures of our bathed and towel swaddled little boy.






Too cute!