Who needs a housekeeper?

No need for me to hire a housekeeper when I've got Tater!

Lately he has been helping me water the plants...

Mop the floors...

And feed the dogs...yes, chocolate syrup :-)

Busy, busy, busy. He is SO much fun at this age, learning and mimicking something new every day. I'm on the lookout for a little broom, he is obsessed with the broom, but it is huge. But, it's really hard to find a mini broom, anyone know where I can find one?

Beach Baby!

I feel like I have SO much to post, but, I'll just start with Tater's 1st Vacation! He was a maniac! He had a blast! Everyone LOVED him. He charmed them ALL! Mommy needs a vacation, from her vacation, that is how much time was spent watching over him like a hawk! No, I'm just kidding, I did get some R&R too :-) Let's just say no where we went was even slightly baby-proofed...NOTHING! Our hotel was in concrete heaven and was built in the 50's, but we did our best and he stayed safe...shew!

Tater LOVED the beach...after about 3 days. It took that much time to "warm" up to it. After he did, he had waves crashing in his face, sand up to his knees and a BIG smile the whole time. It was so cool to experience all of this with him. I have been to this same beach/hotel since I was 7, so there are LOTS of great memories and to share all my favorite things with him there, was priceless. We joined 55+ of our family members for one week of beach bliss. David and my cousin won the annual paddleball tournament once again :) (long story, but it's a HUGE deal in our family & they don't win unless David is there...ever, so when they do, they really rub it in) They've actually gone so far as to have a dinner show we attended announce them as the winners! There is a trophy and everything, with names engraved...silly, but funny too.

Tater has grown up a lot in two weeks. Being with him every second of every day, I could see some big changes. He has started saying his first real word (other than mama & dada), actually associating it with something...Ball. David thinks its ironic, I think he's crazy. No hunny this doesn't mean he is going to be a star, although he might be ;) He's mimicking everything we do, also started saying PaPa, he's getting around on those two feet pretty well and has developed quite the personality, can we say determined & persistent? Wonder where he gets that from? :)

Well enough chatter, here's some pics of our trip. I took over 1000 pictures (I know crazy, huh?) so these are a few of my favorites.

He's not stupid...wherever this suitcase is going, I'm going with it!





Notice Tater laying on the ground :-) Center of attention.

And...the 2010 Paddleball winners :-0 See I told you there was a trophy, there are 10 years of names engraved on it.

Tater, his g-ma & his great-great aunts. These are my g-ma Ann's sisters. Spending time with them this week was as close to be with my g-ma as I could get. It was wonderful, they are very special & they adored Tater.

Not crazy about the sand or ocean, he warmed up eventually.

The Fab Five, can you tell they have been in the sun all summer?

Tater kept pushing David's face towards mine, over & over, it was cute.

And last but not least...my favorite picture. Loving the sand & all.

Going to the beach, woo hoo!!!

I've just completed like oh 10 loads of laundry (ok I'm exaggerating a little), cuz I got to pack! We haven't had a vaca since before Tater was born and I couldn't be more excited. Tater & I are going early with my mom & nephew and then David and the rest of my family will meet us in a week to head to the BEACH!! It's SO fun. 20 years or so at the same location, same hotel, same family (+ or - a few people) and lots of fun, fun, fun! Seriously, there are about 55-60 Italians and then there is us...from Missouri :) If you didn't know, my g-ma was Italian and has 6 sisters, ALL there families live in NJ, except us. Somehow my g-ma let my g-pa talk her into coming back to his "home" all those years ago. However, we have maintained a pretty tight relationship and look forward to this time of year. I am super excited for them to meet Tater, he is going to charm them for sure. I'm sad too, cuz it's the first time we have ever been without my g-ma and well it's just not fun.

I'm hoping and praying Tater does well on the airplane and the lack of structure in our schedule from day to day. I also hope he doesn't get sick and that he is the happy-go-lucky-baby I know. He is going to experience so many new things...sand for one and many other things he's going to love. I am seriously going to be on overload taking pictures & video.

I'm also trying to prepare myself to not be a freak everytime my baby falls. Yes, he's walking, but not real good and the hotel we are at is like concrete heaven. ugh. Would it be too protective if I just make him wear a helmet? :-) No where we are going is baby proofed...at all so I'll be on my toes 24/7.

I better get to packin' I don't have a lot of time and I have to work tonight! Leaving town is a sure-fire way to drum up business in the real estate department...seriously. Luckily I have a back-up person!

Sweet little boy

I meant to share this in my last post, but forgot. I think it's precious, daddy of course, well he's a man, you'll understand when I tell you.

I think I mentioned we're taking a swim class with a few friends. Well on our first day, the teacher lined up a bunch of toys along the edge and had the kids "scale" the wall and choose their favorite. Tater chooses a baby doll, awwww. There were ducks, frogs, rings, boats all sorts of stuff, but he wanted the doll. So fine. Well he is in the pool with his daddy and the baby doll, hugging the baby, patting the baby and giving it kisses, just loving this little doll. It was so sweet. I think it shows that he has a sensitive side.

Then at church last Wednesday, there was another baby doll, and he went right to it and gave it a hug and loved on it. However when we went to pick him up from the nursery, the baby doll was in the sink of his workbench while he was building with his tools, so there, he's defiantly a boy!

Oh and I thought I should post a few pics of the two new post birthday toys Tater got. One of which is Taters new "ride." A brand-new 2010 red Cozy Coupe! He loves it, but isn't the best driver. And he got a new water table to play with outside, also a lot of fun!

Hugs, awwwwww.

Kisses, so sweet.

Uugh, not again!

Tater has once again, had a fever now for FOUR days! I'm exhausted and need a break! He really has no other symptoms other than being tired and run-down, so we and the doctor decided we'll just wait a couple more days to see if it doesn't go away. The dr. suggested running a couple of tests, but we both agreed that we didn't want to go that route quite yet. So we just wait. Tonight he has been feeling pretty good, we'll see how tomorrow goes.

I've got lots of pics to post. Just haven't had enough energy to download them. I'm behind on making his 9-12 month photobook and haven't even touched his first b-day pics yet. Heck, I just ordered his 9 mth pics from the photographer the same day I had his 1 yr. pics taken. I think they turned out so sweet, I'm really anxious to see them. Oh well, better late than never.

Tater with his new Cozy Coupe car is adorable and he has started saying "Uh-oh" all the time! It's precious...really. Except it's a little hard to get the "oh" out sometimes :)

Well, just thought I'd post a quick update. Good nite!

Happy 5th of July!

Since I missed posting on the 4th of July, Happy 5th! We had a wonderful lazy weekend. It was the first long weekend we've had in about 6 months where Tater wasn't sick! Woohoo!! We shopped in Branson, went to the Farmer's Market, helped Grandma & PaPa build a fence, played outside & slept! We were pretty low key for the 4th. For the last 16 yrs. we have spent the 4th with my nephew b/c it's his b-day, but now some family dynamics have changed so for the last couple of years, we haven't been at a birthday party. So this year we had my parents over for some delicious steak & crab legs, fresh tomatoe & mozerella salad and homemade blackberry cobbler. Yummy!! We shot a few fireworks off and called it a day. Tater loved the fireworks, just kept kicking his legs and talking lots while watching them. Tucker on the otherhand hated them. Poor thing shook like a leaf and couldn't relax. It was actually quite sad.

Today we went to our first new water class with a couple of our friends. Daddy was able to go since he was off today and I think it's going to be lots of fun. Tater is the youngest in his class, but is already very advanced with his water skills since he's had a couple of classes before. So that's what we get to do everyday for the next two weeks :-)

Hope everyone had a happy 4th! I must say, I love fireworks, but am so happy to be sitting here not listening to them. It was really sounding like a war zone in our neighborhood.

Birthday Fun!

What a great few days it's been! We celebrated Tater's b-day on the actual day, June 23 with a small party with just a few family members. Here are some pics from the day.
Tater hanging out with Wiley before the party. He uses Wiley as a foot rest :)

Birthday hat I made for Tater. See my cake creations in the background? Yummy!

Tater's little cake. The big one was just like it, but well, bigger!


Look at the mess I made!

Then we had a BIG party with all our friends and family on Sat. It ws so special to have so many people come to celebrate such a special little boy!

These are the take-home favors I made for Tater's friends. They were soft & yummy!

Cake #2, not made by me, but it turned out awesome and was delicious!

Another cake for Tater. And another mess for mom! Overall, two cakes = 4 baths!

Next year, I think we'll just go to a park or something. It was really fun, but not a party meant for every birthday. We are blessed & now are parents of a ONE year old. Wow.