I want to be a GOOD person- just some thoughts, goals, & venting on this rainy day

I just heard this song "I ain’t as good as I’m gonna get But I’m better than I used to be". I'm not perfect by any means but I try to be a good person & thinking about how I can always improve is uplifting & motivating. I want to be a good mother, a good wife, a good sister, aunt, daughter, granddaughter, niece, a good friend, neighbor, a good Christian, a good coach, a good photographer, a good housekeeper, cook, a good leader, a role model, and overall just a GOOD person.

Rules for me to live by:

1. Be optimistic. Say positive things. One of the things I hate the most is hearing someone always point out the bad about EVERY thing. You may think bad things but you don't always have to say them. Am I sometimes negative? Absolutely. Do I want to be negative less often? Absolutely. I notice when I'm around people that are so positive and I wish I could be around people like that all the time. I wish I was positive all the time. But I can work on it because I think that's one of the first steps to being a GOOD person. A handful of people I am thinking of now that stand out all have one thing in common- they're Christians. This wasn't the point of my post but I just realized it. One is a friend's mom who is a Christian, one is the mentor teacher I student taught with at a Christian school, the other is a student at a different Christian school, one is the bible study leader I had last fall, & the others are a part of my MOPS group at Central Baptist Church and are all Christians.

2. Don't judge people. Am I guilty of this? Every day. But I can try to be better at it & especially not voice judgmental opinions to others. BTW we're not perfect either so don't expect every one else to be.

3. Forgive. Unfortunately this one is a tough one for me. I wish it wasn't but forgiveness is a struggle. However, if you don't forgive you just relive it over and over. It's better for your heart to forgive and it's better for your relationships to forgive.

4. Communicate. This is something I had to learn. I learned through life (especially teenage years and up) that in order to have good relationships you have to communicate. It's not always fun to tell people how you feel or hear how they feel but if you want to keep a good relationship it's a must. I know adults that don't communicate well and we wonder why the divorce rate is 50%? It's not only marriages either. It's all relationships. If you want to have a good relationship with your child then TALK about things. TO THEM.

5. Be happy with your life. Look at all your blessings and don't focus on what's missing, what might have been, or what could become of the future. Love the now. Remember happiness is something we create.

6. Be a Christian. Pray daily & talk to God about what's on your mind. All I can say is I can become a better Christian and I want to & then there's people that aren't, don't plan to, and you can tell they aren't from being around them for a half hour. I want people to be around me for a half hour and know I have some Jesus in me. PLEASE- get some Jesus in you & let's both try to be GOOD people. It's never too late to start.

That's all for now. That's plenty to work on and live by for now. :)

My 2012

In 2012 I am going to do a better job of saying my prayers every night and teaching Tateym about God. And we WILL attend church more regularly. This is going to be a challenge since Jc & I are not morning people but we can do it.

I want to do a much better job of making a menu on Sundays, grocery shopping on Sundays or Mondays, and COOKING! No more eating out all the time.. Friday nights only as of right now.

Justin and I started P90X yesterday morning (2 days down, 88 to go). I am hoping for us both to be healthy and in great shape at the end of 90 days! I am tired on not wearing cute shirts.

Be OPTIMISTIC! I can't stand when people that are always complaining and pointing out the bad in every thing. I don't want to be that person.

Be productive, not lazy. I have made a cleaning schedule and a schedule for teaching Tateym. STICK WITH IT DAILY!! Get out there and take T to the park and to do activities when it's a pretty day. A day off to stay inside and be lazy every once in awhile is fine.

Socialize in 2012. We've taken friends dinner, invited friends over for dinner, and have gone out to dinner with friends. We have so many friends that we only see every once in awhile. Get together more often people!

TRY not to spend as much money.... I need to limit myself on wants vs. needs. We need to pay some things off and put a lot in the savings account.

Love my husband. Yes I do love my husband every day but after having kids your attention is always on them and not so much each other. And unfortunately with volleyball and photography we hardly spent any time together last year. I'll make an effort to make time just for us. That's the best thing we can do for T as well.. she needs parents that love each other and I really really love him! I love spending time with him! So now we need to find and make that time!

2012 can be what you want it to be! What you do this year is up to you. You decide on the level of your happiness by choosing your attitude every day. The people that are the happiest don't have everything but they are thankful for everything that they have. Yes I am talking to myself as well. A few months ago the preacher said something simple that really made me think.. It was something along the lines of.. if you're unhappy flowing through life, you don't have to be, get out of the boat and make a change. So that's what I'm trying to do. Something simple my bible study teacher said that stuck with me is that if you don't plug in the lamp it will not shine. You need to plug in with God every day to work as well. She said she knew that sounded corny but it's so true. Having a bad day? Bad week? Plug it in! If I spend a few minutes praying I will have a better day. The days I went to bible study were the best. I hated getting up and going in the mornings (& getting T ready really) but I was in a great mood for the rest of the day. By going there I realized how lucky I am to be a believer & to know I'll be in kingdom of heaven one day & I realized how much I want to raise Tateym & my children to be believers.

2012- you WILL be a great year! Because I WILL make sure of it! :)

2012 will bring us:

- Niece Saylor turns 2

- Justin's 28th bday in April
- a NEW niece in April

- Niece Kelsey's sweet 16

- an exciting, fun-filled spring and summer

- Tateym's 3rd birthday in August

- my 27th bday in September (what?!?! this must be wrong. I literally just checked this with a calculator. That's when you know you're old. I could never understand how my parents forgot how old they were.. I already can't remember my age.)

- our 6th wedding anniversary in September

- a great volleyball season

- the best Christmas ever

- and hopefully, maybe, POSSIBLY baby #2 ;)

Kid + Donuts = Mommy shops - Potty X 2 = Zero (Mommy goes home)

I woke up this morning with one thing on my mind. Target. Despite how my husband probably feels about it I usually head to Target about every 2 days.. sometimes every 3 days.. sometimes twice in one day. Well I hadn't been all week because I'm trying to keep up with the many new changes I'm trying to implement into my daily routine (New Year's resolutions galore) so my Target list has gotten too long.

First thing I must do is stop by Shipley's donuts. Justin and I start P90X on Monday so I need to squeeze in every ounce of sugar (i.e. the cake I'm making later today) I can before I have to actually try to start losing weight next week. And it's two fold actually.. because the donut holes will keep T busy in her seat in the cart so I can shop without hearing, "I NEED out!" I inhale my two glazed donuts and 2-3 of T's holes, arrive at Target, and hand T the bag of the remaining donut holes. She's happy & I'm off. I get the boring stuff on the list like vitamins and body wash, then head to the fun stuff like clothes and decorations. Everything is good. T sees a stuffed Dora (as in the Explorer) and I give it to her to hold while we're there thinking I can put it back before we leave. I go down that aisle later, distract her, and throw the Dora on the shelf without even looking at it. "Mommy wait! My Dora!" Hmm.. Ok didn't work.

Now it's time to see what is left in the Christmas decor. I see 90% off and lots of stuff I'd want. Donuts and this in one day?! I'm a happy girl. Just as I get there and start digging through 20 cent ornaments I hear, "I have to go potty....." "Ok, let me get just a few more ornaments." "I HAVE TO GO POTTY" "Ok, ok" So I walk from the back corner of Target to the front corner of Target only to walk in the restroom door and hear T say, " I don't have to go potty." "What?!" Well I make her try. Someone in the next stall passes a little gas so like lightning I throw my hand on T's mouth knowing she's going to giggle and say TOOT! She got a smirk out and I distracted her. In the end she did NOT potty. So after washing our hands and getting back in the cart we head back to the opposite side of Target to the Christmas spot.

There's 4-5 other people there now so I feel like I'm at a garage sale and I need to get in there and get the good stuff before it's gone. I grab about 3 things when I hear, "I need to poop." AHHHH!! "Why didn't you go when we were there? Ok, just a sec." "I need to poop, I need to poop, I need to poop, I need to poop, I need to poop." Everyone looks at me and smiles. I give a little half smile/giggle smirk and get out of there. Needless to say I didn't get to finish shopping today. If you go there and see the pinecone cluster balls with glitter on them THEY ARE MINE. IF there are any left. I'm going back for them Monday when T is at Mother's Day Out! I head to check out to realize my card is on the console in the car. I forgot to put it back in my wallet when I got the donuts. I ask the sales guys Ben if I can run and get it from my car. That dang Dora doll is on the pile of stuff to be checked out (Yes I can say no at times to T getting toys at the store but today is NOT the day for that fight). T realizes we're leaving without it and starts crying bloody murder. I'm running out the store pushing her in the cart to go get my card. I'm sure to people in the parking lot I looked like a crazed shop lifter running out and frightening her toddler. I get the card and go back inside to pay.

Ben scans Dora and gives it to T so that madness is over. I ask Ben how much the pine cone cluster is and he points out that it's missing a pine cone or two. I explained that I didn't care, it was the only one I could find at the time. It's only 1.50, I'll take it. Ben says, "Wow this Christmas stuff is going to go fast now that it's 90% off." Thanks for the reminder Ben. I said, "I know, I would have looked through it longer if I didn't have my daughter with me." He says, "You know how to solve that? You get a slurpie and some popcorn when you come through the door." He doesn't think I know that & haven't done that a dozen times?? I have a 2 year old. I've figured that out already. Poor guy is just trying to be nice though. I answer, "Yeah well she already went through a bag of donut holes." I pay and start to head home. A lady walks up behind me and Ben looks at her cart and then me and says, "Oh look, more of the pinecones!" She had about 6 of MY pine cone clusters in her cart. Gee thanks for pointing that out Ben. We head home and T still has yet to actually poop.

Tateym & Mommy's 1st week of "homeschool preschool"

I feel that Tateym (now almost 2 1/2 years old) needs some structured instruction throughout the day. She's not at the baby stage anymore where I constantly have to be hands-on with her but at the same time she needs something more than just play all day. She becomes bored and wants to snack and watch tv. So I've decided to do a small, short, no pressure curriculum with her daily. It starts tomorrow so we will see how it goes. Each "lesson" is only up to 15 minutes to keep her attention- after all she is 2! I am curious to see if this is enough time or too much time for what I have planned. This is definitely going to be trial and error, but I can make needed changes for the following week. I am hoping she sees this time as fun time with Mommy but she'll also be learning. :) I am putting that expensive Early Childhood Education degree to use! Below is our first week's curriculum. This by no means meets any TEKS criteria.. I decided on a theme for each week and went with it.. The first week's theme is "FARM ANIMALS" and the bible theme is "God Made it All".

Monday, Jan. 2
READING TIME: (9-9:15am)
Read books-
1. Farmer Duck
2. F is for Farm
3. Moo, Baa, La La La
LITERACY TIME: (9:15-9:30)
Sing ABC Song
Letter A- Recognize and Find A's (She already knows A but we're going thru all the letters)
Practice writing a T
MATH TIME: (9:30-9:45)
Count the farm animals. Put numbered animals in order of 1-9. Then feed the animals that number of beans.
SOC. ST./SCIENCE: (9:45-10)
Discuss what is a farm, barn, farmer, and what animals are on a farm. Look at the Search and Find Book Farm Page to see what we find on the farm. Do (draw/decorate) page 1 of our book: Pigs like mud.
LANGUAGES: (10-10:15)
Pig- Learn the ASL sign for pig. Act like a pig.
BIBLE: (10:15-10:30)
God Made All Things. Read Page 1-3 in her Bible Book. Prayers. Discuss what God made the first 7 days. Draw a picture showing these things.
MUSIC & ART: (10:30-10:45)
Sing Old McDonald Had a Farm & Wiggle Those Piggies (on toes).
Color the Barn and Animals.

Then we'll do outside play, inside play, lunch, nap, snack, tv time, dinner, outside play, etc. (9-10:45am is the only structured time.)

This is our first day's plan.. other fun highlights for the week include:
- Counting using magnetic ducks.
- Finishing our book with these pages: Cows give milk. Sheep give wool. Chickens eat corn. Ducks like water.
- Signs for cow, sheep, horse, duck, and chicken as well as pig.
- Finishing 7 coloring pages of what God created.
- Working on verse: In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1
- Lots of fun songs such as Animals Around the Farm (sung to Wheels on the Bus), Five Little Ducks, etc.
- Art projects such as painting a pink paper plate pig face, making a sheep from cotton balls, painting a chicken using stamps, etc.

Tateym at 23 Months!

Last month with a 1 year old!! :( :) I have mixed feelings about that. I am definitely sad that I don't have a baby anymore but I am loving this age! I love that she can talk now, she's so much more independent, & I feel I can actually have a conversation with her with her understanding pretty much everything. And she can go fetch things for me.. lol.

She is not only putting 2-3 words together but she's starting to say sentences as well.

Phrases we hear most often from her:

- I love you Mommy, I love you Daddy AND I love you too Mommy, Daddy, Nana, etc.
- Hi, I'm Tate!

- Tate's house, Aunt B's house, Nannie Papa house, Papi house.

- I'll be riiiiiiight back!

- I'm ok! (when she falls)

- You ok? (if someone else falls)

- T for Tate
- Gaggie NO! (Maggie) or Pop Gaggie (Stop Maggie)

- It boke (broke)

- Where are you?

- Boo!

- It's me!

- Knock Knock

- Thank You

- You're Welcome

- Momma play. Daddy play.

- No (Word she doesn't want. example: No bath. No pee pee potty.)

- Excuuuse Meee!

- Where'd Tate go?

- Oh wow.

Other words we hear most often:

- Names: Momma, Mommy, Dada, Daddy, Nana, Papa, Aunt B, Susie (Saylor), Helsey (Kelsey), Uke (Uncle Luke), Papi, etc.

- Character Names: Mickey, Ninnie (Minnie), Susie Duck (Daisy Duck), Ducky Duck (Donald Duck), Melmo (Elmo), Goofy, Foofa, Muno, Plex, Toodee, Brobee,

- Snack, milk, juice, snack, eat, pee pee, poo poo, night night, bath, outside, play, baby, uh oh, no, yes, hi, bye bye, etc.

- She can identify all numbers 1-9 and will say them all other than 1 and 7. She can say them and has before but chooses to skip them or not say those numbers.

Tateym Kayte will be 2 in just 10 days!!

Tateym at 22 Months!

Miss Tateym is a big girl now!

She can identify all her colors and she can say all the names of the colors other than orange.

She can identify numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9 and say most of them.

Typical counting sounds like.. 2, P, 2, P.. 8, 9, 10!

We started swim lessons 2 days ago & she's doing great! Every time we are getting ready to go she says, "Hippo Pool!" because we have 2 kiddy hippo pools in our backyard. Then she says, "Aunt B! Helsey (Kelsey), Suzie (Saylor), Uke (Uncle Luke)!" because usually when we get our swim suits on we're going to swim at their house.

After I clipped her finger nails I let her play with the clippers for a minute. She went to Justin and "clipped" his toenails and then "clipped" mine. Now she has an interest in my finger nails and feeling the different lengths. She's already had 2 pedicures (just toenails painted) with Mommy at the Nail Salon.

A few fairly new words and phrases:

We're Home!

Here you go Momma (or Dada)

Gaggie (Maggie) MOVE!

Apple Juice.

Excuse Me.

Hello (person's name).

Hi, I'm Tate!

Beaty Beat Beaty Beat Clap Clap (Song on Yo Gabba Gabba).

Ready? Go.

Love you/I love you (My favorite)

Tate's House or (person's name such as Papi, Nana, Papa, Aunt B)'s House!

No no Tate.

Still loves Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse, & now Sesame Street as well. (T.V. shows, books, characters, toys)

She's a genius with technology- especially our iphones and ipad.

For some reason she is terrified of loud noises- our neighbor's loud car (every time he leaves or comes home she runs to me crying), dogs barking, trucks, airplanes, and even the bath water coming out of the faucet or my phone ringing. It's like this happened over night & I have no idea why.

She's still a picky eater but giving new foods a try every once in awhile.

Does not like: washing her hair, must meats, loud noises, when people are leaving/going bye bye, when her cup is empty (we're learning not to get mad and throw it on the floor)

Does like: fruits, cheese, juice, Yo GG, Elmo, Abby, Cookie Monster, Micky & Minnie Mouse & friends, going outside, riding in the car because she gets to watch tv, tickling Mommy, swimming, swinging, going on walks, coloring, putting things into other things (crayons in box, jewelry in box, things in a purse, etc.), make-up, being chased, animals, snacks, bubbles, giving love, family.

Tateym at 21 months!

Tateym is 21 months! Only 3 month until my little girl is 2 years old!

She is talking twice as much now! I'm sure I can't list them all but here are some words that she is saying regularly: Momma, Mommy, Mom, Dada, Daddy, Dad, Maggie, Tate (what she calls herself), Nana, Papa, Papi, Aunt B, SaySay, Kelsey (said twice now), GG, puppy, kitty, fish, hippo, giraffe, monkey, rhino, duck, pig, piggy, teeth, ball, balloon, hop, march, ice, eyes, keys, light, night night, eat, off, up, out, cookie, snack, milk, juice, shoes, sock, pink, blue, purple, yellow, green, black, apple, uh oh, up, thank you, pool, baby, baba (bottle), Yo Gabba Gabba characters: Muno, Foofa, Plex, & calls the show "Ba Gabba or Ba Gabbug", Mickey characters: Minnie (Ninnie), Mick or Mickey, Puppy, Duck, and goofy, book, bubble, bee, two, nine, Elmo, hat, bunny, bobo, yummy (or um), eat, Ming Ming (wonder pet character), hi, bye bye, bow, choo choo, tickle tickle, twinkle twinkle, circle, star, heart, bug, yes, no, no no, Abby (Sesame Street character), ding dong, knock knock, book, stop, the end (when reading a book- sounds like uh han).

She's putting 2 words together now. She just said, "Uh oh Momma.. Tate bobo." She got a bobo because she was climbing on the coffee table. She is a climber! I've already taken her off the kitchen table this morning by 9am. She's very active and rarely slows down. She hops, marches, runs, climbs, can kick a ball hard, throw, do a forward roll all by herself, & jump.

Makes these sounds: Moo, back (chicken), quack, tweet tweet, elephant noise with arm extended like trunk, monkey noise, eigh or neigh for horse, pig noises, bark (same little snort she's always done), vroom vroom (car/truck), chugga chugga choo choo, ssss (Snake)- this is what she told us she found in her potty- gross.

Knows colors! First learned pink and blue. Then purple, green, and yellow about the same time. Red shortly after. Now can say black and recognize orange and gray but doesn't say those.

Knows some shapes! Can say and recognize circle, heart, and star and can draw a circle.

Loves Mommy's makeup and purse, writing with a pen, bubbles, Daddy's Ipad, snacks, juice, cheese, reading books, watching her dvds or shows, and animals!

It's amazing how she knows how to work Justin's Ipad 2! She can unlock it, scroll through to find her icon, click on it, choose which app she wants, and plays with the app. She knows exactly how they work and how to exit it, etc. She went to give Justin a hug then other day when he got home but then saw the Ipad and went straight for that! Her favorite is the animal app (or piggy is what she calls it), but there's also Cat in the Hat book, nursery rhymes, piano, etc.

She got her first pedicure the other day (toes painted) with Mommy, Brandy Chappell Turner, baby Dayton, and Mrs. Chappell. She also had her first sucker there!

Knows body parts: head, hair, eyes, nose, teeth, tongue, ears, chin, cheeks, belly, belly button, arms, elbow, hand, fingers, legs, knee, foot, toes, hiney (her bottom), back.

Loves the shows Yo Gabba Gabba & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Also loves her Elmo dvd. She'll have a Yo GG birthday party in August for her 2nd bday.

Does not like: going to sleep, rinsing hair in bathtub, most meats and veggies, having to put on panties, pullup, or shorts after going most of the day naked waist down.

She's naked waist down most of the day because she's been potty training. She's pretty much potty trained (after 3 days) but when she has on a pull up she'll just go in it and has acccidents in panties. If she doesn't have anything on she'll go sit on the potty herself!

The funniest potty training event: One day she got the potpourri bowl off my shelf, emptied it out, and peed in the bowl! Oh my! Let's just hope she doesn't do that at someone else's house..

Her hair is getting long and her bangs will need cut in about a month or so.

She went to the Waco zoo and the Circus last month. The elephant and lions were a hit and the zoo and the elephants and puppies were a hit at the circus.

She picks her nose a lot and sometimes eats it if she doesn't think I'm looking. Gross.

She's wearing a size 7 shoe & 18-24 month or 2T clothes

Cookies, crackers, and chips are all called cookies.

Maggie still sounds like Gaggie.

Tate (what she calls herself because she can't say Tateym) is such a fun little girl! I love this age and how she has her own personality and opinions. She's such a joy to have and be around- what a fun silly little girl and a blessing to our family!

Tateym at 19 Months!

Tateym is a busy body who likes to climb!!

3 favorites things at the moment: make-up, bubbles, & books.

Favorite tv shows: Yo Gabba Gabba & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

New words: Minnie (sometimes sounds like Neenie), PaPa (she's said it before but says it regularly now), milk, bug, bunny, No (great- I was dreading this one), knock knock... etc.

She's now using the potty 2-4 times a day! She doesn't tell me when she needs to go so I'm putting her on every once in awhile. She gets 2 mini M&M's each time she goes and really looks forward to these! She reaches for them right when she sits down, but she only gets them when she goes.

She can now open doors! Including the front door which is now dead-bolted all the time.

Tateym at 18 months!

I am a little late in getting this posted. Big surprise!

At 18 months Tateym's words include: Mama, Mommy, Dada, Daddy, Maggie (sounds like Gaggie), Nana, PaPa, Papi, puppy, juice, book, up, out, off, yuck, duck, kitty, piggy piggy, tickle tickle, clock, tree, shoe, truck, baby, bye bye, uh huh (yes sound), un uh (no sound), outside, who's that/what's that, eyes, ice, uh oh, eat, cookie, snack.....

Animal sounds: her special doggie noise, moo, meow (sounds like ow- more like a real kitty sound actually), Bac bac (chicken sounds), niegh or eeeigh (house sounds), ooo ooo ooo (monkey sounds- I have no idea how to spell that out), quack quack like a duck but does the hand signal more often, tweet tweet (bird).

When she gets hurt she goes to every one in the room to kiss her boo boo & then it's magically all better!

She is climbing even more lately! Now trying to get on top of the coffee table, entertainment center, our big bed, into big chairs, jump on the couch, and now she like to try to balance on things! She will stand on her Little Peoples house, in windowsills, etc. just to give Mommy a heart attack.

Has lots of hair! She can wear 1 bow on top of her head or 2 piggy tails in the back. It's slightly past her shoulders with a few curls.

Now more than ever waves, kisses, & throws kisses when going bye bye. When I was packing our things this morning she said, "Gaggie..." knowing that I'm about to go find Maggie and put her in the kitchen. Then Tateym waves to Maggie and throws her a kiss every time we leave the house or go outside.

Loves Wyatt! He escaped the other day so when someone brought him back to the house he got to stay in the living room for a few minutes. T hugged him, laid her head on his back, laid down beside him when he laid down, shook his hand. Loves loves loves all dogs.. well most animals. I can't wait to take her to the zoo soon.

Says "burr" and shakes when the wind blows.

Hears birds when even I don't notice the bird noises at first and says, "tweet tweet!!"

Looks for her shadow on the ground when we're outside. She loves to wave to her shadow & see it wave back. This is a big thing right now! The most fun is when Mommy, daddy, & Tk are on a walk and all of their shadows wave back.

Is infatuated with Mommy's makeup. She mainly likes to put on lipstick or chapstick and then put the lid on and off.. on and off.. Twice now she's gotten into the dark eye shadows and given herself a beautiful makeover.

When you ask her where her freckles are she points out the 2 on her ankles.

Still enjoys reading books! We read TONS daily. There's a few that I have memorized. The funny thing is I think she does too! I'll turn to a page and she recognizes it. We were reading If You Give a Pig a Pancake yesterday. There's one page the pig starts dancing and as soon as I turned to that page she started dancing. There's several books she does this with.

She is starting to flip through and look at the pages herself occasionally.

LOVES playing outside. Walking down the street to hear the dogs, riding in the wagon or stroller, driving her 4 wheeler, swinging, climbing on her slides/playset, blowing bubbles, sidewalk chalk, etc.

Announces when things are hot! Food, candles, lightbulbs, fire.

Smells flowers, her hands after washing them, but sometimes blows out of her nose instead.

Can unlock Daddy's Ipod by sliding over the lock.

Slowly trying new foods: pizza, corndogs- which she loved and eats now- yay one new meal I can feed her. Also eating more and more chicken- Chic-fil-A & Panda Express rice and mandarin chicken. Also ate pigs-in-a-blanket this morning for breakfast.

Tateym at 17 Months Old!

Tateym Kayte is the sweetest, cutest, & coolest kid ever! I'm a little biased. Here is what she is doing at 17 months old...

She can say: Momma, Mommy, Dada, Daddy, puppy, Nana, juice, yuck, duck, out, eyes (sounds like ice), ice, shoes, hi, hey, puppy, baby, fish, hat. Answers Uh huh (yes) & un uh (no).

Has said: Wyatt, outside, Kristy, PaPa, bye, thank you, up,

- Knows some sign language: more, milk, & is learning how to sign "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

- Knows animal sounds: Cow, owl, sheep, dog, & makes the quack quack with her hand for what a duck says.

-Knows who she is & how old she is. Points to herself when you ask where is Tateym? (sometimes covers her eyes to play peekaboo) and holds up one finger when you ask how old she is.

- Know body parts: head, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, lips, chin, cheek, elbow, legs, hand, feet, toes, knee, hiney.

- Likes to put on lipstick, makeup, deo, & lotion. This is something she just learned from seeing Mommy do it.

- Loves Books! She is actually sliding her finger along the lines and sometimes sits and "reads" to herself. She points to each object to count them with me. She has 2 baby's first 100 words books & she can point out just about every object.. apple, banana, orange, fork, spoon, lemon, clown, dog, cat, cow, horse, turkey, chicken, lamb/sheep, goat, duck, leaf, house, couch, tree, pig, cup, potty, baby, clock, keys, tv, etc. She has a collection of alphabet books & when she gets the M one she says Momma because I said M /m/ like Momma.

- Favorite animals it seems: dogs, cows, & ducks.

- Favorite foods: cheese & all fruits.

- Other foods she eats well: green beans, weiners, mac & cheese, grilled cheese, carrots, yogurts, jello, crackers, cookies, raisins, pancakes, eggs, toast, etc. She is finally starting to try more meats too! It may be only a 3-4 bites but it's better than 0.

- Loves to go outside & on walks (in wagon, in stroller, on her little 4wheeler, walking herself).

- Loves electronics. Daddy's 2 phones, the laptop, kindle, and remotes are the best!

- Loves tv a little too much! Yo Gabba Gabba stops her in her tracks any time! Love love loves it because they sing & dance. Also likes Wonder Pets, Fresh Beat Band, & Jack's Big Music Show on Nick Jr.

- Music lover: likes to dance several different ways (bouncy, twist, head bob), claps after anyone (us or on tv) is finished singing a song, & hums. She actually put both hands over her ears when someone was signing on American Idol.. not sure where she got that but it was funny.

- Knows Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Row Row your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, If You're Happy & You Know It, Ring Around the Rosie, Head Shoulders Knees & Toes. (She does the motions)

-Cleans: has 2 vacuums of her own although she likes to push the big real one, has a mop that she "mops" the kitchen & dining room with, & wipes tables and things with a rag or kleenex. Also pulls clothes from the washer to the dryer. She'd love to help with the dishwasher but I won't let her. She must have learned these things from Nana. lol

- Still likes being chased, to tickle everyone, taking a bath, swinging, giving dogs treats, putting on shoes and socks, talks to Nana on the phone (sometimes I call her & sometimes she'll pick up a phone or random object & say Nana, Nana, Nana)

- Has such a guilty look when she's about to do something she's not supposed to.. like climb on my ladder bookshelf, get my candles, try to get toilet brush, etc.

I can't believe how much she KNOWS! Knows how things work & what they're supposed to be used for.. like the makeup and deo I mentioned, shampoos of course, where plugs go in the wall, she takes her diaper to the genie.

- Sometimes gets smell in or blow out of the nose mixed up. Majority of the time she's correct when she blows her nose, blows on hot foods, smells socks or flowers, but occasionally mixes them up.

- Still has 12 teeth but I think she'll get 1-2 more fairly soon. Getting lots of hair although still doesn't care for bows. If I do 1 on top she takes it out but sometimes I can sneak 2 in the back. :)

- Sometimes favors Mommy or Daddy a little more than the other. Some days when Justin gets home she won't go to him at first.

- Lays down to change her diaper for us MOST of the time. The other times are a battle.

- Went to her first MOPS meeting. Mommy was so nervous to leave her for 2 hours. She cried some & wouldn't go to anyone. They put her in a stroller to calm her and she wouldn't get out until I came for her! I went to peek in and check on her & everyone else was sitting at the table having a snack while TK was pushed up to the table in the stroller. Haha! I HOPE it gets better next time. Meetings are every other Thursday from 9-11am. I enjoyed my mommy meeting though. (Focuses on being a mommy, wife, & Christian).

I hope I didn't bore you. This is mostly for my personal record of Tateym at 17 months! :)

Tateym at 15 Months Old!

At Tateym's 15 Month Well Check she weighed 23 lbs. (50th percentile) & was 33 inches tall (90th percentile). Tall & thin girl! She now has 12 teeth! 4 front, 4 bottom, & 4 molars. Finally getting hair too, although it's mainly just growing in the back so it looks like a mullet. Words she says or has said: Mama, Dada, Daddy, Maggie, Wyatt, out, outside, yuck, duck, Nana, PaPa, thank you, hi, hey, bye, baba, moo, & she may have said three & bubbles? Other sounds: dog barks (and her special dog talk), un huh (yes), uhn uhn (no).

Things Tateym LOVES:

-BOOKS! I would say right now she enjoys books more than toys. I could not even guess at how many books we read a day.. which is great! She has started to "read" to herself too. She is great at pointing out objects on the pages.

- Clothes & Shoes. She likes to put on new clothes, is always bringing us shoes to put on, & likes to try to pull socks on and off. At night when she has pjs on she'll bring us clothes and shoes to put on over her pjs. She is currently wearing a red Christmas nightgown with a long sleeve Mickey Mouse shirt over it.

- Going outside. Walking around, playing on slide, going for walks or wagon rides or in the stroller. She points out the moon, birds, etc.

- Baths! I ask her if she wants to go take & bath and she takes off running to the bathroom.

- Being chased

- Dogs! Especially loves to be licked by dogs.

- Technical things/Electronics. She can hit buttons on the laptop that brings up things I didn't know existed. She would play with electrical outlets all the time if we would let her. They're covered but she takes cords and tries to plug them in anyway. She knows how my laptop charger plugs in and can do it correctly. Loves all phones & now talks to people, listens, then talks. She's learning how communication works.

- Nick Jr. - Her doctor said about 30 minutes of tv a day but she's getting more than that right now. She especially loves Yo Gabba Gabba, Jack's Big Music Show, & The Wonder Pets.

- Coloring and writing. She just has to be watched very very carefully when she has a crayon. She has colored on our bedroom door, dishwasher, kitchen tilee, my wallet, and a few toys.

- Drinking out of adult cups & glasses, straws, water bottles.

- Climbing. She can climb up on the couch, in the dining chairs, on the coffee table and entertainment center if she's really fast when we're not looking, out of the bathtub, on toys.

She also:

- Plays pretend. Likes to cook, eat, and drink with her play toys and with Mommy's kitchen bowls and spoons.

- Still sucks her thumbs, especially when she's sleepy.

- Shows signs that potty training is getting closer. She'll sometimes grab her wet diaper, walk bow legged when it's wet, and will pull TP off the roll and wipe herself over her pants.

- Pulls her bow out her head! Then most successful I've been is when I put it in when she was sleeping. It was in her about 2 hours before she found it and pulled it out.

- Likes to brush her own teeth rather than you do it for her.. she likes it but it's a battle too.

- Was NOT a fan of the real Santa in the mall! Only a fan of the Santas in our house & the 7 foot one in the yard.

-Has selective hearing (hears what she wants to hear)! I can call her name, ask her to look & she won't.. but if I say Bye or Do you want a bite? she turns to me immediately!

- Still picks up every tiny little thing off the floor and ground and usually puts it in her mouth. I was hoping she would be over this by now!

- Bubbles! Bubbles in the bath, bubbles you blow with a wand, and she has a bubble gun.

Cute things TK is doing now:

- waves bye bye when people leave, even when we grab our keys or purse she knows we're leaving so she starts waving and blowing kisses. At basketball games when people start walking down bleachers she waves or when we get up to leave a restaurant.

- Gives Mommy shoulder massages and likes to receive them too.

- Hugs & kisses babies, toys, cousin Saylor, us.

- Likes to do High Five, Down Low, in the Hole, Too Slow! Now when I hold up a one (finger) she thinks we're playing this game.

- This little piggy went to the market. Loves when I do it on her feet and wiggles my toes to do it to me too.

- TICKLES! The new favorite. She loves tickling us, Santas, the huge blow up Santa in the front yard, Maggie, stuffed animals, etc.

Knows body parts: Head, hair, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, tongue, hands, legs, feet, toes.

Tateym's 2 favorite foods are ALL fruits & cheese. Also likes bread, green beans, yogurt, animal crackers, lots of breakfast foods, mac & cheese, grilled cheese, and does not like meats!

What Tateym is up to at 12 months old

Tateym at 12 months old.......

- is starting to RUN around

- says Dada, Daddy (that's the newest word!), yuck, out, byebye, & what I think is eat? most frequently. She has also said PaPaPaPa a few times lately. She quit saying MaMa and Nana for some reason?!

- loves to explore!

- has a motor that runs non-stop!!

- likes to climb on or up anything she can

- loves to open and close anything she can (doors, drawers, toys)

- loves to put things in and pull things out (of cabinets, bags, diaper bags, toys)

- turns the light switch on and off and then laughs

- finds little pieces of leaves, dirt, or junk on the floor and then looks at me and runs off to hide behind furniture because she knows I'm going to take it away

- plays pretend: gives play bottles to babies, herself, us, cousin Saylor, stuffed animals, Maggie, and anyone else she can find.. stirs spoons in bowls and feeds babies and us.. pushes her baby in a stroller.. takes animals for rides in her car.. rides the horsey on anything she can get on and ride

- likes to play peek-a-boo, chase, go on wagon or stroller rides

- loves bath time and cries when it's time to get out

- starts to suck her thumb and bounce herself up and down when she gets sleepy.. sometimes starts to sing to herself like Mama

- is learning body parts. She consistently points to ears, feet, and head when asked and sometimes nose, hands, eyes, and belly (still working on those and more)

- surprises me with how much she knows! She got her shoes one day and tried to put them on my feet, got my makeup bag out of my purse and started rubbing the brushes on her face, points the remotes to the tv (sadly she's done this since about 10 mo. haha),

- waves Hi and Bye Bye but also blows kisses every time we say Bye Bye

- yells at the parent that walks out of the room, "EEEEEE"

- copies how I play with Maggie (hitting the floor, stomping my foot at her, chasing her, etc.)

- still gets totally freaked out by men! We were in Home Depot tonight and she was having a blast walking by herself down the aisle. A man started coming our way and she turned around and ran to me.

- loves to hug, kiss, and cuddle. Today I watched Tateym & her twin friends Macie & Marlie and Tateym would come up and give one and hug and kiss and then go back to playing. A little while later she would go to the other one, hug and kiss, and go back to playing. It was priceless.

-is waking up several times during the middle of the night crying and making her Mama exhausted the next morning!

- LOVES LOVES to brush her teeth. Which also bringing me to the point of......

- is Miss Independent! She wants to brush her own teeth, feed herself with the fork or spoon, brush her own hair, etc. I'm thinking she's too young for this apparently she's a big girl!

- "dances" or should I say bouncing up and down to music :) too funny

- loves to drink out of a real cup or glass! and is actually pretty good at it

- puts real and fake cell phones up to people's (and babies') ears

- pulls the toilet paper roll or tears off a piece to "blow her nose"

- drops what she's doing to go see Daddy when he gets home

- runs her fingers of her lips and Mama's lips to make silly noises

- thinks she's pretty funny!

- can step into her shorts or pants! I think this is pretty impressive. I hold the shorts out and she balances herself and steps in one leg at a time.

- Can put a bib on (minus the velcro) and take it off. She finished a bottle and took her bib off and gave it to me. I thought, "Wow. My baby is grown up."

- enjoys car rides so much more now that she is facing the front and can see us :)

- can kick a ball and can roll it to me using two hands

- can more frequently identify or go get objects such as ball, bottle, baby, Freddie (her stuffed frog), cup, shoe, Maggie, Wyatt, family members, the lights, puppy, hat, etc.

- is starting to realize she's getting hair and playing with it more often

- messes up what Mommy clean up :)

- loves fruit and fruit juice

- gives us bites of her food & throws food over the side of her highchair to Maggie

- likes to get behind curtains and walk away as if the curtain is her veil

- keeps us entertained, exhausted, laughing, & happy, and is unconditionally LOVED!!

Tateym's 12 Month Pics with JoJo

I am very behind & have neglected my blog so I'm trying to play catch-up! Here are Tateym's 12 mo. JoJo pics! The last ones we're going to do... unless I decide to do them each year on her birthday! Look at how much she's grown since 1 month!! Lots more 1st birthday pics coming soon!

Tateym is 11 Months Old! On July 20th

Tateym is 11 months old already!

Only one more month until she's a BIG ONE YEAR OLD!

Here's what Tateym is up to lately...

- WALKING! She still crawls as well (especially when she's in a hurry... much faster at crawling!) but she's getting much more braver and walker a little more every day. Sometimes she looks a little drunk or starts giggling so hard she falls down but she's doing a great job at it!

- Most of the time now she refuses to eat from a spoon. She thinks she's toooo big for that. Needless to say she's eating mainly fingerfood and Graduates or 3rd jar baby foods when I can get her to eat it.

- Is sucking her thumb more often now......

- Yells OUT! to Maggie

- Said Hi.

- Said what i thought sounded like Maggie.

- Still "talks" to the dogs in her doggie language/noises

- Loves to open and close things (cabinets, drawers, doors), put things in and out (diaper bag, my purse, toy baskets, etc.)

- Makes tons of silly noises and faces :)

- Likes to play with Mommy's belly button

- plays peekaboo

- LOVES to be chased

- blows kisses in the air (without the hand)

- Gives kisses and hugs & knows what those words mean

- Holds up 1 finger when we ask how old she's going to be

- She's getting more hair!

- Has 7 teeth (4 on top, 3 on bottom)

- BITES! Ouch.

- Tries desperately to play with Maggie. She crawls up to her and head-butts Maggie ??

- Calls her Nana (my mom) by herself on the phone pretty regularly. Every # has a speed dial but she only pushes my mom's #.

- LOVES wagon rides and swinging outside

- LOVES swimming and baths. She actually kicks and "swims" in the big pool.

- Has been caught climbing the bookcase.

- Waves bye bye when she or someone else walks out the door or if she seems a truck.

- LOVES her Nana - chooses her over Justin and I all buy 1 time.

- Likes to ride the little horsey

- SNEEKS over the the fireplace and entertainment cabinet & then looks back at me and starts giggling when I see her. The word NO makes her laugh! Not quite understanding the meaning of that word yet..

- She's more lovable and cuddlier than ever! Such a sweet girl. :)

10 Months Old! On June 20th

Tateym is already 10 Months Old!!

Here is what she is up to lately:

- crawling faster than ever

- loves to be chased
- walks well and fast along furniture, with push toys, and holding someone's hand
- has taken steps by herself!! 2-3 steps at a time, so it shouldn't be much longer before she's walking
- says dada (all the time), mama, nana (my mom), baba, and lots of babbling and noises. She says "E" and the B sound and T sound a lot now. She also whispers "What's that?" as she points to things, pretty often now! I'm sure she's heard that phrase hundreds of times from us so now she points and says it.
- wrinkles her nose up and snorts a funny face like mommy taught her
- shakes her head back and forth to daddy.. he taught her that one
- LOVES peekaboo and starts it up by herself sometimes. She puts blankets over her head or hides behind things
- hides behind the recliner and giggles when you find her
- hits things she likes (which isn't great because she really likes her baby cousin Saylor)
- has started to pinch mommy & daddy's neck when we're holding her
- has started doing kissing lips. I throw kisses in the air to her (without the hand) and she has started doing it back. It's adorable! She doesn't "blow" out she sucks her lips in so sometimes it looks like fish lips.
- likes to eat her shoes when she wears them
- LOVES to open and close things (especially doors and drawers). If I'm holding her and just stand in front of the pantry she'll open and close the pantry door until I walk away.
- looks back to us before she does something that she's not supposed to. We haven't baby proofed a cabinet in the living room so every time she goes over there to open the door she'll look at us first. We'll say No and she'll open it and smile.. If we put our hand on the cabinet door or on whatever she's not supposed to have she'll move our hand
- is about to graduate from her carseat to a big girl carseat
- she's very very persistent.. if we move her away from something she'd crawl back to it about 100 times if we let her and didn't get tired of going to get her. There was a vase on the floor at someone else's house and her only goal while we were there was to get that vase.
- she loves to unload or pull things out of something. She has 2 baskets of toys in the living room and she'll pull everything out of each basket. She really loves to pull things out of her diaper bag or my purse too.
- has started throwing temper tantrums when she doesn't get her way. They don't last too long.. she gets distracted easily.
- has her own language for talking to the dogs! If she sees Maggie in the house or hears her or Wyatt bark she starts her doggie-talk, which is a raspy growl. She does it randomly also but definitely uses it to "talk" to the dogs.
- she's about 29 inches long and weighs a little less than 20 pounds.
- is a PRO at her sippy cup!
- is doing much better with 3rd jar foods and finger foods. Some table foods she has had include: pancake, blueberry muffins, strawberry, watermelon, banana, chicken, hamburger meat, tortillas, corn, peas, carrots, rice, popsicle, Eggo waffle
- LOVES to swim and take baths. She actually kicks around in the big pool.
- patty-cakes/claps
- waves Bye-Bye! even if Maggie is going outside to potty, Justin walks outside, someone leaves the room, or if she sees a car or truck pull up or drive by she'll wave bye bye
- really really wants to play with Mommy's laptop or any of our cell phones. She thinks our phones are way cooler than the ones she has.
- sometimes refuses to be spoon-fed.... that's for babies obviously.
- goes to bed around 9:30-10:00 and just this week has started sleeping in until 7:30-8:00. For a long time we were getting up anytime between 6am-7am. She naps 2 times a day. The morning nap is 1-2 hour and the afternoon nap is about an hour. I try to get as much done then as possible!
- LOVES to ride in her wagon and be outside. LOVES to swing outside also.
- LOVES to ride the little horsey. She'll come get on your leg and start riding it until to start singing the song and shaking her up and down yourself.
- LOVES to go see Wyatt and giggles when he tries to lick her.
- eats ANYTHING & EVERYTHING on the floor. We've pulled out grass, leaves, 1 bug, and 3 stickers that Maggie had pulled out of her hair.
- gives sweet sweet hugs to us and her baby dolls
- bites! She made my mom's stomach bleed
- is very very scared of men! She's even hyperventilated a few times around men...
- thinks seeing herself in the mirror is funny
- has 6 teeth!
- is absolutely adorable and perfect in every way!! We couldn't be more thankful for a such a sweet baby girl!! She is constantly making us laugh. I just can't believe she'll be one in two months!

Snacks

I looked over at Tateym one morning and saw this..

Below: Her first time to have a biter biscuit. She made a huge mess but loved it.

Below: Her first time to have the dried fruit snacks. She wasn't so sure about those..

Puppy Love

Tateym loves Wyatt & Maggie! Though I'm not sure the feeling is mutual with Maggie.. Tateym tries to play with her by hitting her, pulling her hair, and following her around. Maggie just growls at her. Wyatt is in a dog run now (thanks to Justin, my dad, and Justin's dad) so we can use the backyard without getting covered in dog hair and dog drool. Our backdoor doesn't look like this anymore either:

Peekaboo Maggie!

Wyatt was being a huge baby when it was raining and barking like crazy late at night so we put him in the laundry room. Of course Tateym loved this, it was her indoor zoo.

When we go see Wyatt in the dog run he jumps up on the fence and Tateym giggles like crazy! It's so cute. She's really going to love him when she gets older.

It's Summer time! Aka Watermelon time!

Tateym and I shared a little watermelon out on the deck one day. Another reason I love summertime!! It was her first time to have watermelon and I think she's going to love it like Mommy does! Notice she's even wearing a watermelon outfit :)

9 Months old! On May 20th

I know, I know... I am so behind on blogging. I have neglected it since I started my photography business. It's called Vintage Charm Photography and I don't have a website YET but I have a facebook page.. so if you are a facebooker check it out! I know our distant friends enjoy seeing our sweet girl grow so I will make sure that I find time to blog much more often!!

Here are Tateym's 9 month photos with her friend JoJo! Look how big she is getting: