A little pink plus sign...

...made it's appearance on an at home pregnancy test a few weeks ago, and after my first doctor's appointment today (and a lot of fatigue and nausia) ...it's official! Baby Tate #3 is on its way!

In answer to the questions I am sure you are asking...

The due date is January 30, 2008

Yes, it was planned

Yes, they will only be 22 months apart (we were going for 23 months, but one month is nothing to complain about)

Yes, we have to get a bigger car

Yes, we are aware that we only have 3 bedrooms in our house

and

(this on is for you, Mom) No, we are not getting rid of one or both of the dogs!

So there you have it - big news is rampant at the Tate house! There has been a lot going on with garage construction, which explains my absence from the world of blogging, so I will post more about the latest happenings soon!

Bad Mufflers and Pickled Limes

The other day...
Morgan: (hearing a car go by outside) "There's a tractor outside"
Seth: "Nope that wasn't a tractor."
Morgan: "Was it a truck?"
Seth: "No. It was just a car with a bad muffler."
Morgan: "Oh."

The next day at lunch with Grandma Becky...
Morgan: "I got some new cars from my friend Ian."
Gma Becky: "You did?"
Morgan: "Yeah, I got a Bobcat and a police car with a bad muffler."

Apparently loving all things white trash runs in the family! Seth gets pre-order forms for local demolition derbys in April each year and insists we have to send it in the earliest date they allow so we get "good seats". We all have white trash outfits (although mine is more cowgirl than white trash) - even Chloe. I did manage to "lose" Seth's Billy Bob teeth when we moved from our apartment though!

Tuesday night we went to Grandma Colleen's 80th Surprise Birthday party (Happy Birthday to Grandma!). We had a nice sit-down dinner at a country club and the WHOLE family was there (she has 7 kids who have kids, who have kids, so it is a big family).

As we were chatting and eating our dinner, Morgan went to take a drink of root beer from his champagne glass. As he looked around he noticed that most of the brown drinks had a lime on the edge of the glass (the country club said ours was the first party to ever go through two bags of Diet Coke syrup - we have a lot of hard core Diet Coke drinkers in the family). Morgan decided that he wanted to have a lime too, but alas our table only had brown drinks of the Dr. Pepper persuasion, so he saw the pickle wedge on his plate and decided that it would work. All of this, while the rest of us were chatting away, paying no attention to what he was doing.

As Morgan popped the pickle wedge onto the rim of his glass and started to drink, my mom walked by and burst out laughing. When I realized what she was laughing about I tried to get a picture of Morgan drinking root beer from a straw out of a champagne glass with a pickle wedge on the rim.

Moral of the story - if you don't have a lime wedge, a pickle wedge will do! Also, taking a giant family picture before dinner is not a good idea. Taking it after serving chicken fingers with BBQ dipping sauce to the kids for dinner - also a bad idea. Best idea - have everyone cry, frown or try to leave if you want a uniform family photo!

Big News

After a more than 6 month application process of worrying and wondering, Seth got the news today that he has been accepted to the DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice - it is basically like a family practice doctor with a nursing/patient-focused approach) program at the University of Utah! YAY!!! This is the first year for the DNP program there, and it was very competitive to get in, so we are very thankful to be a part of it!

I am so proud of my wonderful husband for all that he has accomplished and for the wonderful man that he is (and so cute)! He is such a phenominal nurse and I know he will be a great doctor too. I know we are in for a tough road ahead, but I am so grateful to be on it with Seth!

I love you sweetie! Congrats!

A Little Seed

For the past couple of months Morgan has gotten really excited about testimony meeting. This morning he asked me if he could talk in the microphone and tell how much he loves Jesus (I don't know how he comes up with this stuff - the last testimony meeting was a month ago). I reminded him that this is called "bearing your testimony" and asked him to tell me about testimonies as a refresher.

I hoped he would forget this testimony notion by church-time since I was flying solo and had my hands full...alas, three testimonies in, the begging started, "I want to bear my testimony, mom," over and over again. Finally, when the pleas were heard by the row in front of us (sorry Jess), I decided to try and dissuade him without killing his entusiasm. "Don't you want Daddy to hear your testimony?" "How about bearing our testimony next time?" Nada, so I surrendered and said, "After this lady is done, you can bear your testimony."

Then I proceeded to prep him (as any good PR lady would) by asking what he was going to say...

"I love Heavenly Father and Jesus . . . I love the scriptures...my favorite story is when Jesus breaks the bread."

Sweet, simple, and the seedling of a beautiful testimony! When did he get so old?

When the lady finished, Morgan darted with exitement for the podium and I followed, but when he got to the front he got a little stage fright and didn't want to talk, so I verbalized his itty bitty testimony. The second we sat back down, he wanted to try again . . ."Next month," I said, "you can try again next month." (Seth - you better get next fast Sunday off!)

All Kinds of Kisses

As I was putting Morgan to bed tonight, he wanted to give me all kinds of hugs and kisses. It started with 'big hugs' and 'little hugs' and it turned into 'big kisses' 'eskimo kisses' and 'butterfly kisses'. (sidenote: eskimo kisses are when you rub noses, butterfly kisses are when you quickly bat your lashes against someone's cheek) My mom used to give me butterfly and eskimo kisses before I'd go to bed, and doing the same with Morgan brought back some sweet memories!

Also...I got my dishwasher unloaded and reloaded without taking a nap...at least it's a step in the right direction!

Wanted

I am looking for my former self.

The me that
...was patient and calm with her kids
...had enough energy to load and unload the dishwasher without needing a nap
...could create a long list of reasons why she's happy and blog about it
...used a lot fewer cell phone minutes
...didn't have a dirthole for a backyard!

Don't get me wrong...the garage and the yard and the garden and the patio will be worth it, but construction, rain and ultimately mud doesn't agree with me! So, if you come across my former self, or any clues that may help me find her, let me know (my family will thank you)!

Woo Hoo!!!

... for David Cook!!! (I will say that David Archulatta was AMAZING last night, though, and I have been a BIG David Cook fan from the beginning - well, middle!)

I can officially end my American Idol strike. I used to be a huge fan - voting for the entire hour + (and during the show, since the lines open for the EST broadcast) - and then came season 5. Yuck! Not yuck for the season, Katherine McPhee, Chris Daughtry and others were quite amazing and I have their music on my zune, but the fact that Taylor Hicks won was appalling and horrible. I am not prejudiced against gray hair or older guys, I am prejudiced against crazy weirdness, awful dancing, and sub-par singing. The day he won was the day I started my American Idol strike. I didn't watch a single night of season 6, I haven't voted once, and I have even kept my David Cook Fan status in the closet after his amazingness sucked me in while flipping through channels mid-season.

But tonight, the universe is right again - there were 2 viable contestants to choose from and the best superstar won. Yay! I love it when things make sense! Also, I must mention that not only is he a rockstar with the most amazing voice ever, David Cook is so sincere and real! I love that he was fighting tears - so cute! So, season 8 - watch out - 'cause this girl is back! The voting, the commentary, and the agreeing with Simon ('cause he is almost always right). Plus, they are coming to SLC - maybe I'll drag my kids along and audition! HA HA!

Happy...

...because the central air we had installed a few weeks ago is officially blowing cold air throughout my house. (This is a pretty big deal since this required moving a power meter, getting numerous inspections, and scheduling with the power company...and I almost died of the heat yesterday - ok, I'm exaggerating, but the heat makes me very grouchy)

...because my tilted, siding-lacking, dark and doorless ginormousity of a garage is coming down -tomorrow!

...because Seth and I are not tearing the garage down

...because we can still take a sledgehammer to it if we want (and we want) ...until we get tired and then we can quit

...because the plans for our new garage came in yesterday

...because a new garage means a 2nd freezer so that I can start eating ice cream again

...because I have 100 lbs. of rice to get me through the shortage (which is WAY more than we will really need, aren't you glad you have us as friends?)

...because I now have wood blinds installed in my kitchen, bedroom and living room

...because I made the cutest recipe box you have ever seen today (don't you think?)

...because we had pizza for dinner - no cooking and no cleanup

...because The Office season finale was hillarious (and a much needed break from the day of vomit)- we watched it again Sunday - I think we may watch it again tonight

...because I could continue this list - but I won't!