Mother's Day at Grandma's

So, let's see . . . a few weeks ago was Mother's Day and since I've been behind with uploading my pictures and posting, here's the dish.

After church we went to the farm for lunch with Grandma Lori.  And I just realized I didn't get any pictures with Grandma Lori on Mother's Day, sorry Mom.  Mother's day was beautiful outside.  Chad and Brittni were there, so while Tate took a nap we all lounged around outside, got some sun, played with the dogs and enjoyed the day. 

Mother's Day at Nana's

Mother's Day was such a gorgeous day a few Sundays ago.  We spent the entire day outside, which was perfect for everyone, especially for that special little boy that made me a Mom.  After nap, we headed up to Iowa Falls to spend the evening with Nana Molly.  We played outside some more, had supper and planted flowers with the cousins and Nana. 

We also attempted to get some pictures suitable for framing with Nana and the grandkids.  Tate wasn't interested, so Papa tried to help.  Here's how that went:

 

Nana and girls smiling.  Drew staring, and Tate upset.

Nana and girls still smiling, Drew doing ok, Tate mad.

At least everyone has their eyes open.

And finally. The girls holding on to their smiles and now BOTH boys have had enough! hahaha

This kid was a lot happier with a bit more freedom and space.  Just strolling with his favorite Papa!

Let's go guys

Owen & Tate, finally friends

     The Tuesday after Cami's graduation, I hosted a "thirty-one" party at our home.  My college roommate, Christina, came up with her son Owen as the consultant.  It took all night, but Tate and Owen finally warmed up to each other after all the crazy bag buying ladies left.  They took a quick bath together, as you can see below, Owen seemed happier than Tate about it.  Got their jammies on and talked about the traffic and weather.  It'll be fun to watch these kiddos grow up together.

So obviously, we can't tell what goes on in the minds of babes, but wouldn't that be the best invention ever? Some type of translator for their babble.  But since we don't have such a device, we have to imagine.  So after taking these few shots, this is what I imagine their conversation went like:

Tate:  So, like I was telling you in the tub, if we try to push on this door really hard, maybe we can get out of here!

Tate: Push really hard with your hands. . .
Owen:  You mean like this?
Tate:  Yeah, feet too!

Owen:  Wait, wait, wait. . . if we get out of here, we don't get milk before bedtime.

Tate:  Ah crap!  I forgot about the milk.  Man!
Owen:  It's ok Tate, we'll try again another day.



If anyone else had any comments or "conversations" they imagine, I'd love to hear them.  Especially from Christina.

Cami's Graduation

     I'm a bit behind with the posts...  So, let's go back to the beginning of May.

     The first weekend of May was Cami's graduation from Coe.  She received her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing!  Yay for Cami!  Now she just has to pass her boards, no problemo for that smarty pants.  So anyway Saturday was the pinning ceremony that the nursing program does just for the nursing grads.  It was a much bigger "to-do" than when I went through the ceremony 6 years ago.
     That afternoon Mom & Dad helped Cami pack up while I rested.  (I had my appendix out the Thursday before, all things considered, it went pretty well.)  Then that evening we went out to eat, then hung out with Cami and some of her friend at the old Piano Lounge in downtown Cedar Rapids.
     Sunday morning we headed to Coe for the graduation ceremony, because of the threat of rain, they moved the ceremony indoors, which was a crowded, warm mess of people.  But Cami got her diploma, it was signed and all the hard work at Coe is done for Cami Kay!  We celebrated with Cami at Biaggi's then Aaron and I headed home to love up our little boy.

Quack quack went the little yellow duck. . .

    Once again, our neighbors, have provided us with entertainment and farm animals for Tate to chase, touch and hold.  Last week we found our neighbor kids outside with 3 recently hatched ducklings.  The ducks were adorable to say the least, all yellow and black and fluffy.  They followed the kids around like they were their mother, except Tate.  Tate followed chased them around the lawn.  Since we're not quite ready to commit to a pet while living in town, this is a great distraction for little man Tate.

Chasing Sadie

     On an evening visit to the farm, Tate and I decided to take a walk down the road with the dogs.  Tate loves any animal he can get his hands.  Lucky for us, not so much for my parents, they have three dogs living at the farm right now.  Sadie (a dog my Dad got for his 3 kids), Benson (Chad's dog) and Chewy (Brittni's ankle biter) are among Tate's best friends.  All four of them have learned how to get along fairly well and the dogs no longer lick Tate into the ground when he's outside. 

Although I took this picture with my camera phone, I absolutely love it.  Tate was jabbering and hollering the whole way chasing the dogs down the road.

Kimono boy

    Naked time is a favorite for the little man living with us.  So, to be discreet and comical I wrapped Tate's blanket around him like a little kimono and let him run around awhile before bathtime.  I don't know if it was just the feeling of no diaper or the kimono like wrap, but Tate thoroughly enjoyed his little wrap.