Standin' Up

Chloe has started to pull herself up to standing! This age is so exciting and so scary at the same time. She has a budding personality and gets happier and sweeter every day!

Yesterday, she and Morgan were playing in her room and she was standing playing her piano. I explained to Morgan that Chloe might fall at any time, so we have to be careful that there is nothing that could hurt her and be ready to catch her. He immediately went and got his stool and moved it to where she could sit down on it instead of falling. I told him that if she did fall the stool might hurt her, so he replaced it with her giant stuffed Elmo so she could fall on something soft. He is such a good big brother - maybe the second child doesn't have it so bad after all!

Christmas Catch-Up

We have had such a whirlwind holiday and just like this picture from Christmas morning, in a state of constant motion! The holidays have been filled with family, friends, food, fun and – of course – a visit from the magical man in red!

Chloe in her Mrs. Clause dress

This year – with the help of very flexible families – we tried something new. We spread out our holiday celebrations so we could do our gift exchanges with each family while our kids were happy, excited about opening presents, and not overwhelmed. We spent “Christmas Eve Eve” (Dec. 23) with my Mom. John’s kids (my step-siblings) joined us for a yummy dinner and gift exchange and Morgan got a TMX Tickle Me Elmo – we laughed until we cried!

Me and my two brothers, Michael and Stephen - all in true character!

Christmas Eve morning we went snowshoeing with my little brother Michael and Chloe loved it (it was her first time)! Uncle Michael carried Chloe, Seth carried Morgan and I just tried to keep up with the dogs! So much fun!

After snowshoeing we went to my Dad’s house. We had a casual lunch and opened gifts and then went to visit Grandpa Bell. It was nice and laid back and Morgan loved getting candy canes off of Grandpa’s tree.
Then it was home for naptime (and last minute gift-wrapping) – the key to any good day! After naps, we were off to the Tates for dinner and gift exchange with the whole family. Everyone was there except Seth’s oldest brother and his family (missed you guys) and we had a great time acting out the nativity (not your traditional acting) and unveiling our joint gift to the parents – a super comfy leather couch! When we realized it was 10 PM (way too late for Christmas Eve if you ask me!) we quickly headed home for bedtime so Santa didn’t miss our house!

Morgan loved his cars - especially when they would go crash!

We woke up to a living room FILLED with presents – Santa went a little overboard this year, just like he does every year! We heard Morgan stirring in his room at about 7:15 AM, but he had pulled everything out of his closet, so he must have been up long before that. He was so excited when he walked in the living room and found the shake and go crash track with cars that go crash! Morgan did not want to look at anything else or open any presents – he only wanted to crash cars – for the next 2 hours! Chloe was captivated by her Sing-Along Stage – she was also content to look in the mirror and clap for herself – until she caught sight of Morgan’s crash track in her mirror and then she went straight for the cars until one of them crashed into her head.

Totally happy to play with their new toys from Santa!

At about 11 AM we headed for Grandma Tate’s and then to Grandma Colleen’s where we got to play with cousins and eat breakfast – twice – then back home for naptime! This year Seth didn’t have to work Christmas, so we actually got a Christmas nap…YAY! On Christmas night, we carried on our tradition of having everyone over to our house to see what the kids got from Santa, eat yummy food, and watch funny movies!

All wrapped up with nowhere to go!

So there you go – our Christmas travel log (and we haven’t gone to see Grandpa Checketts or Grandma Bell yet). I can’t complain though – we really have the best of all worlds – we get our own Christmas celebrations at our own house, we are surrounded by family, and this year we finally figured out how to celebrate with everyone and enjoy every second of it!

Babysitting

Chloe got a doll for Christmas and she loves it. If anyone takes it away from her while she is holding it, she bursts into tears! Today, Morgan wanted the doll but didn't want to get in trouble for taking it from her, so he said, "I'll babysit dolly!" and then took it from Chloe. It was so funny and surprisingly, there were no tears!

Excitement of the Season

I love how excited Morgan is about Christmas. He loves to talk about how Santa is coming to our house and bringing him "cars that go crash". The other day we were at Target and we went down the aisle of hot wheels cars. He pointed to them and said with a proud satisfaction, "Santa is going to bring those to my house."

He really loves the decorations - especially the lights. Every night when he says his prayers he thanks Heavenly Father for "christmas lights in my room".

Last night Seth and I wrapped lots of presents, so when Morgan woke up this morning he saw a BIG pile of wrapped presents in our living room. The look on his face was priceless (if only I had my camera). He went through each present and wanted to know who it was from and who it was to. He kept asking which ones were for Daddy. He had to make sure Daddy was taken care of even though he was at work. So sweet!

Christmastime truly is magical and I think this picture illustrates that magic!

Family Pictures

I haven't posted anything in a while because we have been too busy doing the very things that need to be posted. I don't have time to catch up right now, but here is a start.

Christmas cards - I love to get Christmas Cards and I love to send them, but I have this crazy little quirk in me that thinks I need to do some big extravagant handmade card for everyone I know. It also thinks our Christmas card should include a family picture (as long as I am not pregnant) including kids and dogs. Now, I don't expect this of anyone else, just myself.

So, we tried to take our own family pictures. We considered getting them taken, but weren't fast enough to actually make it happen. The picture below tells more about how painful this was than I could ever do with words, so here you go. LOL!

This is pretty much our life - even when it is all falling apart, Seth and I just look forward and smile - it gets better from here right?!

It did get a little better - here is the end result!

Missed You - The Rest of the Story

The very day I wrote about Morgan's cute little "missed you" moment, Seth was working. When he got home from work, Morgan ran up to him and said, "I missed you Daddy!"

"I missed you too buddy!"

"NO, I missed YOU Daddy!"

It went back and forth like that a couple of times, and the sweetest part was - I knew they really meant it. Morgan really does miss his daddy when he goes to work - I am so glad it is only 3-4 days a week!

Missed You

While naptime is certainly a blessed time in our house, I am always excited to see Morgan when he wakes up. It is such a fun time because he is usually in a GREAT mood and ready to play. Lately, when he wakes up I say, "I'm so glad you woke up! I missed you while you were sleeping!" It makes him happy and he feels a bit better about the whole nap thing!

This afternoon when Morgan woke up from his nap, he came upstairs, saw Callie and said, "I missed you Callie." Then he saw Chloe and said, "I missed you Chloe." Next was Roxy, "I missed you Roxy." Finally he went around giving big hugs and kisses to everyone. What a sweetie!

Tate Ladies in Red

Chloe is like a little doll. She lets me dress her up and tote her around, and then when I squeeze her close she smile and giggles. Of course, she poops and eats too, but dolls these days are high tech! I love having a sweet little girl and she is ALL GIRL at least for now!

New Pictures!

I have been a major slacker about uploading pictures lately, so I have renewed my commitment to post pictures more regularly. In the meantime, as of last night we are up to date with pictures on our Smugmug site, so go ahead and check it out for pictures of Chloe, Morgan, Seth, Callie, Roxy and even a couple of me.

Visiting Santa

Today we went to see Santa in his Sugarhouse House. I love it there because it is so cute and festive and Santa is so sweet. Their prints are pretty cheap, but even better, they let you take your own shots if you want! We got some darling pictures of the kids!

I love celebrating Santa. It is so much fun and so magical for children (young and old). I love telling Morgan about Santa and how he brings us presents just like the wise men who gave gifts to baby Jesus. I love the Jingle Bells and the fluffy white beard. But most of all, I love the twinkle in Morgan's eye when we talk about how Santa's going to come to our house! I still believe!

Fascination

Chloe is fascinated with Christmas! She loves the lights and shiny ornaments and especially the tree. I uploaded this picture from our camera today and just fell in love with this shot of her! This was taken the first day we set up decorations and she immediately went directly for my little miniture trees and the lights on them. What a sweet fascination!

Wise men still seek him

It amazes me how sweet and inncent little children are. Tonight as I was loading Morgan into the car he said, "Look, a big star." I had to do a bit of sleuthing to get to what he was trying to say to me since there was not a single star in the sky, but finally I realized that he was looking for the star of Bethlehem.

We have been talking a lot about the birth of the Savior and have been refering to the Star of Bethlehem as the "big star". We even put up a bunch of little stars and one BIG star above our nativity. He loves everything about Jesus and loves to think about when he was a baby.

Are we looking for the big star in a starless sky? My sweet little boy has certainly reminded me that amid the Christmas chaos, I need to focus on seeking "the BIG star".

Shhh! Use your Quiet Voice.

Morgan is going through the yelling phase. He speaks in a screaming voice all the time. As such, I am constantly reminding him to "talk in a quiet voice".

Today, Chloe was crying and Morgan went over to her and started rubbing her tummy and saying "Shhhh" with his finger to his lips. The he would say "Use your quiet voice Chloe." Apparently it is sinking in - now if we could just work on application!

Christmastime

Our halls are decked our tree is trimmed! (It is still a bit chaotic around here, but the living room looks cute!) Morgan has been loving the process of getting out the Christmas decor. This is the first year he really gets it and he is SO excited for Santa to come to our house. Today we heard a car go by and Morgan ran to the window. "Santa's coming to our house!" he cried. He loves looking at the baby Jesus in the nativity and on our tree and his new favorite songs are "Frosty the Snowman" and "We wish you a merry Christmas".


We went to pick out a tree for FHE this week and we got such a beautiful one. Morgan helped me get the decorations on the tree today and we had so much fun! He was so cute trying to get the tiny little hooks around the big branches!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The Power of Association

Last week we went to see the lights at temple square for FHE. On our way there, the car next to us was swerving all over the place and I said, "That car is scaring me!" (hoping that Seth would get the hint and switch lanes or speed up to get away from the scary car). "That car is scaring me, "Morgan repeated from the back seat, "AAAAHHHHH!" We cracked up. He didn't just repeat what I said, but he internalized it and added to it, very appropriately with a scared scream. We giggled the rest of the way there!

The lights were beautiful - as usual - and Morgan loved every second of it. We watched the Nativity and went up to see the Christus. It was so fun to see Morgan's little face light up as he pointed out Jesus in every nativity. Chloe was a bit chilly since she did not have a coat yet, but we layered her and wrapped her up in my scarf and I think she was okay.

GRATITUDE

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd take a little trip down memory lane and create a list of the things I am grateful for using the letters in the word gratitude like I did in elementary school (come on, you know you have done this people!).

 

Grandparents (mine and my kids)

Really cute kids

Amazing husband

Time with my family

Ice Cream (Snelgrove's Burnt Almond Fudge – mmmmmm)

TV shows like The Office, Scrubs and Elmo's World - on DVD

Uncles and Aunts – otherwise known as brothers, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and beloved babysitters!

Dear friends

Everyday stuff that makes me smile

 

Of course, there are many other things I am thankful for, but they just don't work with the letters. It is fun to see what you can come up with though – take a shot at it if you get a chance!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Chloe is such a sweet little lady and a happy part of our lives! She is growing up so fast and learning so much, even without the one on one attention she deserves. She is doing the elephant crawl - on her hands and feet, making sounds, giving the most beautiful smiles and eating regular food like a pro!

I love how she just hangs out happily (as long as someone is in the room with her) and how she plays with her brother. I love how much she loves her puppies - especially pulling their tails. I love that she wears pink and that her shoes are so much fun to buy. I love that when we finally get time just the two of us she is in heaven! I love that when I come in the room from being away for a few minutes or a few hours she gets all excited and I secretly love that when I turn around to leave the room again she gets upset - even if someone else has got her! She is my precious little girl...and there's just nothing like a little girl!

A Colorful Life

Morgan has mastered his colors! Red, yellow, blue, green, pink, black, white, orange and occasionally brown. Now just about everything he identifies in our world comes with a qualifying color description. No longer is it, "I want another binki, Mom." Now it is, "I want a blue binki, Mom." No longer is it, "Look Mom, a truck!" Now it is, "Look Mom, a yellow truck!"

With this newfound mastry of the color wheel, Morgan has become quite the artist! He loves to color for hours - with lots of colorful crayons/markers/chalk/etc. Who knows, maybe he will become my little scrapbooking buddy after all - assuming I ever get a chance to scrapbook again. Until then, at least our lives are filled with color!

Curious George

Since we just got new floors and it is getting to be winter, I decided I just might start a "no shoes in the house" rule. So yesterday, I took Morgan to get some slippers that he could wear around the house to keep his little toesies warm. At first he wanted Lightning McQueen, then Elmo, but we finally decided on Curious George. From the second we got the home until he went to bed, he wore those slippers around our house.

Chloe got in on the action too...she was so intrigued by them that she even crawled over just to get a closer look!

Hot Mommy

Today while I was getting ready I heard Morgan yelling from the kitchen and I could not figure out what he was saying. Finally, I was able to translate..."Mommy is hot!" Seth taught him this phrase the other day and got such a kick out of him saying it over and over. Morgan wants to be just like his dad. Well, Morgan, if you keep it up, you will make one girl very happy some day! Until then I sure am glad to have you as my baby boy!

Time for a Good Laugh

I was just uploading pictures that I took yesterday and this picture made me laugh! Hopefully it makes you laugh too!

I love that Morgan is stealing the show! I love Chloe's cute outfit from Grandma Becky! I love the look on Morgan's face! I love that even though I was going for a cute little posed picture of Chloe, I got a great candid of the both of them! Yep...these are my kids...this is my life...and I love it!

Finally Finished

Well, it is official, the floors are done. We are still working on some finishing touches - base molding, transition pieces, and choosing rugs, but the major stuff is done! Here is a finished photo of our living room. I would have taken one of our bedroom, but it isn't quite all put together decoration wise! The floors look just the same though.

Here is a picture of what we found when we pulled up the carpet...

Yep...that's right. That is a slat made of concrete! It actually doesn't look too bad here other than the concrete slat, but it was awful! Good thing refinishing the floors wasn't in the plan!

Sweet Siblings

Morgan loves his baby sister. This week we have been working on installing our new floors and have been pawning our children off on family and friends for their safety and our sanity (thanks again to all of you who have been on the receiving end of this deal). Friday night, Morgan got to sleep at the Tates and Chloe stayed home since I am her food source.


Before Morgan went to bed he told Grandma Denese, "I want to go to my house and see Chloe." He stayed, but when we were on the phone with them the next day we heard Morgan in the background saying, "I want to go to my house and see Chloe. Where's Chloe?" When he finally came home later in the afternoon, the first words out of his mouth were, "Where's Chloe?"


And the affection is mutual. The second she heard Morgan's voice, Chloe smiled this giant grin and started giggling! Since we were still working on the floors, the two of them sat next to each other and played together for a while. Morgan wanted to keep his arm around Chloe and she was content to sit cuddled up to her big brother! They have the sweetest little relationship... here's hoping it stays that way!

Here they are sitting next to each other on the floor. Morgan kept sharing sweedish fish with Chloe - just a slight choking hazard! Can you tell that we were a little preoccupied with getting the floors done since they are both still in their jammies at 5 pm?

Quick Thoughts

I have been blogging like crazy lately, and I know I need to slow it down a bit, but my kids are just so darn cute, I can't help but share the cuteness!

This morning I pulled out the road map rug that I got for Morgan at IKEA (the link will give you a visual). He was so excited to drive the cars on the road, and make them crash into my cars of course. He was identifying all of the landmarks and he said, "Where's the temple, mom?"

Unfortunately, this particular road map rug does not have a temple on it (nor does any that I have ever seen). Luckily, it did have a castle on it, so I told Morgan that the castle was the temple (they are about the same right?) Now his little town is complete, ice cream shop, Uncle Stephen's football field, Morgan's house and the Temple.

Apparently something is getting through to him. What a sweet little spirit!

Sideline Rugby

Yay! Aunt Tif is going to the regional qualifying tournament with UVSC's rugby team and possibly on to nationals! We got to go see Tif play rugby yesterday down at UVSC and it was so neat to see her out there! Seth loved that he got to see a rugby game since it had been a while, I loved watching Tif do something she loves and learning a little about how rugby works in the process, and Morgan's favorite part was playing sideline rugby. After watching the game, I am not sure how I feel about him playing real rugby...it looks a little precarious for my taste, but he was so cute playing with Seth on the sidelines.

He started by running down the field kicking the ball (a little more in the soccer arena than Rugby, but whatever) and then Seth taught him to tackle. Whenever Seth had the ball, Morgan would "tackle" daddy and make him fall down. A couple of times Seth was too busy watching the game to realize that Morgan had just "tackled" him, but Morgan didn't give up, he just backed up and did it again. Here is the cutest video clip ever! Watching Seth play with Morgan made me so greatful for such an AWESOME husband who is such a good dad.

Here is a picture of Morgan when he missed the ball and went rolling over it, don't worry no owies. It looks like he is doing some fancy footwork though!

And one more video of him kicking the ball. Based on this, I am definitely putting him in soccer this spring!

MUSIC

I love music! Ever since I was itty bitty, I have loved to sing and still do. I go through periods where I do it more and periods where I don't do much singing at all, but I always love it! Music really touches me, in fact, making it through sacrament without getting teary during at least one of the songs is quite an accomplishment for me.

That said, I am very excited to announce the addition of music to our blog -- FINALLY (wow, it has taken a long time to get it working). You will note that this is very chill, hangin' out music, which is what I want and need to hear when I am blogging, so that is what you get to hear too :). Jack Johnson is one of Morgan's and my favorite things to dance to in our living room. Colbie Caillat is one of my most recent favorite musicians to listen to. Every time I need to calm down, get a mood boost or just need a good smile, I pop in Colbie and it works like magic!

Hope you enjoy the musical addition (even more because it doesn't blare at you when you first come to the site, you get to start it on your own!).

Good Morning Mommy

Now that Morgan is in his new room, he is so much better about sleeping. It used to take me up to 3 hours to get Morgan to go to sleep for naps and sometimes even at bedtime. Since the move downstairs there has only been one incident when he didn't go right to sleep and even though he was awake he still didn't get off of his bed - amazing since all of his toys are in his room.

This also holds true in the mornings. I have told him numerous times that he is welcome to get out of his bed in the morning and play with toys or come upstairs and get me, but when he wakes up he just sits in his bed and yells "Mommy, I wake up!" until I come downstairs and say good morning. Usually, when I walk in the room I say "Good Morning Morgan!" and he replies, "Mommy, I wake up" with a giant grin and little bit of laughter in his voice, but this morning, before I could even say Good Morning, Morgan smiled at me and said "Good Morning Mommy!" It melted my heart (particularly after being up with Chloe numerous times and not having a very "good" morning)!

Yesterday, Morgan and I ate lunch together after Chloe went down for a nap, and it was the first time I was able to actually sit down with him and eat lunch in the last few weeks. As we sat there dipping our apple slices in caramel - yum! - and chatting and giggling about silly things, I remembered why I love being a Mom (and I sure needed the reminder after this crazy week)! I love just hanging out with my little buddy.

And I certainly can't leave Chloe out. Last night after Morgan went to bed, I put her on the changing table to change her diaper and she looked right at me and started giggling and grinning. Maybe she was just extra ticklish, maybe I looked funny, or maybe she was just in a silly mood, but whatever made her laugh, it was another sweet moment to remind me about the joy of motherhood.

Parenting has its ups and downs, good days and bad days, long naptimes and shorter ones, but all in all, when I think that I get to be Morgan and Chloe's mommy forever, every morning is a pretty good morning!

October Pictures Posted

I have been kind of a slacker this month about updating our smugmug website with everything we have been up to, but they are up! Check them out here.

Who knows..maybe you'll find yourself in some of the pictures. Happy browsing!

The Tate Halloween Zoo

Here are some picts of our cute little Morgan the Monkey and Chloe Kangaroo. Since I was a slacker and didn't put together costumes for Seth and me, Seth got creative yesterday morning and decided to be a zookeeper, so I followed suit! Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures of the whole family together, but here are the cute kids!

Morgan and Chloe were so lucky to get to see all of their garnd parents (and even a great grandparent) on Halloween. We went to lunch with Grandpa Mark, had pumpkin breadbowls, soup and witch finger breadsticks with Grandma Becky, Grandpa John, and Grandma Colleen(Morgan loved that the breadsticks looked like witch fingers), and then we Trick or Treated at Grandma Denese and Grandpa Tate's house where Uncle Collin scared little Morgan.

Afterward we went to trunk or treat and Morgan got to see all of his buddies in their halloween costumes! Happy Halloween!

Project Mayhem

All of you that know me well, know that I always have to be busy with something . As if family, home and a little bit of work, aren't enough to keep me busy, I have to take on major home remodeling projects too! In the last three weeks I have started, finished and am mid-way through a number of projects. I finished an armoire to hold the TV in Seth's and my room, I stripped and repainted a dresser for Morgan's room, I sewed a duvet cover for Chloe's comforter, I finished the couch that I recovered a while back, I painted two tall chair/stools, am almost done recovering a rocking chair, and almost finished painting another rocking chair. In the meantime, my kids have probably not gotten the attention they need...good thing Seth has had about a week off.

Now that we are through most of these projects and we have everything in the house pretty much where we like it, Tuesday, I decided that instead of getting our carpets cleaned upstairs, we should just pull it all out and replace it with wood-type flooring. So, yesterday we went to all of Morgan's favorite stores...Home Depot, Costco, and IKEA to compare flooring options and ended up getting the IKEA flooring. It is "curing" in our house and we are all set to install it next week! So much for ever taking a break! I have to say, though, I really have come into my element...I love refinishing furniture. There is such a sense of pride (and little bit of OCD nitpicking) when you see furniture in your house that started so unattractive and you made so beautiful! :) Here are some pictures of the finished results.

Boo at the Zoo and Halloween Fun

We went to Boo at the Zoo with the Manwarings on Saturday, and WOW - was it ever a zoo! That place was so packed that we had to park a block away from the back entrance and there were so many people I was worried one of the kids would get lost! CRAZY!

Despite the crowds, we really had a fun time. Morgan and Mason had fun looking at the animals and thought it was pretty cool to be all dressed up in their costumes. They looked so cute. They got to trick or treat a couple of times, but we were not patient enough to stand in all the lines. They got a string cheese and a couple of small candies and that was plenty! Chloe slept in the stroller the whole time in her little kangaroo costume, tail and all. Here are a couple of picts of the kids in their costumes.

The LCD screen on our camera broke a couple of weeks ago so we haven't been taking as many pictures as we should. It is such a pain to look through the optical viewfinder - back to the dark ages! I know Ruth took some cuter picts of Mason and Morgan together, so I will have to get them from her and post them.

After Boo at the Zoo, we went to Grandma Colleen's Halloween Party. The kids decorated dirt cupcakes, mini ghost cakes, bobbed for donuts, made paper pumpkins and wands (which the boys used as swords) and went trick or treating to the older cousins who were hiding with candy around Grandma's yard. The kids were decked out in their Halloween garb when we got there, but had their costume tops off within the first 30 minutes!

IKEA

I know I have posted about IKEA before, but it seems appropriate to do it again. Morgan loves IKEA. I can't figure out why because every time we go it is a long trip, and he isn't potty trained yet, so he doesn't get to go to the play area. He even knows that yellow and blue are the IKEA colors because every time we see IKEA or Best Buy, he says "IKEA".

Regardless, it is one of the top three stores he asks to go to (Costco and Home Depot are the others - maybe I have just trained him to get excited when we talk about these stores since they are stores we frequent and I always get him revved up before we go.)

We have made quite a few trips to IKEA in the recent weeks, while we have been redoing Morgan's room, refinishing furniture and doing various other upgrades in our house. The last time we went, Seth came with us and we started with cinnamon rolls - YUM! Here are a few of the cute little Morgan moments at IKEA.

Here he is in the basket filled with pillows! He loves it when Seth comes with us because only Daddy would throw him into a basket of pillows!

He really loves the kids section of IKEA - which means we spend the longest time in there. This bed looks a lot like the one we got him, so I think he just felt right at home. I think the thing that really makes IKEA fun for Morgan is the ability he has to try everything. Everywhere we go he loves to try out the beds, couches, chairs, toys, etc.

Sleepover

Morgan had his very first sleepover last night! He has stayed over at Grandma's houses before, but never with "friends" at our house. Since they didn't have school today, Aunt Shanae and Uncle Collin (Seth's youngest siblings) stayed over at our house in Morgan's room. Shanae took the top bunk and Collin took the lovesack. They had to go to bed pretty early, even though it was "staying up late" for Morgan (They went to bed at about 9:45).

Here is a picture of the three of them this morning watching Veggie Tales.