My little chick-a-dees

Dean and I went to First Monday in Weatherford on Saturday. While we were there, we couldn't leave without getting Nate his first cowboy hat. Nate loves to put hats on and take them off. Pirate hats, cowboy hats, baseball caps-he even puts tupperware on his head like a hat!

For the past week he has been driving me NUTS! I have had this pleurisy still and recently found out I have asthma. I had been diagnosed with exercise induced asthma before but now it is asthma. Not sure if there is any other term for it. My doctor says as long as I manage the asthma, the pleurisy should go away. I pray it does because it wears me out! Well, that and chasing Nathaniel. There are some days I can barely get out of bed it hurts so bad. If you know anything about this, please educate me. My grandad has really bad asthma, but he didn't get his until he was 57, so I would really like to know how to deal with it better. I am still working out, just taking it a little bit easier. Anyways, between that and Nate getting 5 teeth at one time-yes 5 teeth poor guy, I have been pooped! He is growing up way too fast. I have even contemplated having another lately, then talked myself out of it! Well, here are some pictures of my little man in his hat!

One day I was watering my plants and I noticed a bird nest that had some eggs in it. Well, for the past couple of months I have watched the eggs hatch into little baby birds. I have never had a bird nest on my front porch before so this has been a treat for me. Of course, I have taken pics of them since they hatched anticipating blogging on them. I wonder if they know they have made it to the technological world? It is also amazing how much these little fellas poop! And how awful it smells! Ok, so the pictures are backwards-chrocologically but here ya go:

This little bird flew out of the basket when I went to take a picture. I was in the office on the computer when I heard them squaking, so I decided to see what the fuss was. I guess they all had got out of the nest and were apparently learning to fly. Guess this little guy is learning early! And look at that hair-looks like Nate's bed head!

Here's a picture of them in the plant-a jew- i believe?!

Here is a pciture from about 2 weeks ago. They actually look like birds here. So cute!

Here they are a few weeks ago. Pretty ugly huh?!

Happy First Birthday Nate

Momma, dadda and Nate

Daddy and the birthday boy

He wanted to tear it apart rather than sit on it and play like it was made to do. He likes to "fix" things. He is such a boy!

He was not shy at all-he dug right into his cake

He was so excited to put a hat on-he loves to play with hats

I LOVE this picture of Nate. I think it captures the way he felt on the inside about that cake! Look at those lips!

To the left is my hand holding a "1" up. Nate will hold his hand up in the 1 position and then proceed to clap and jump up and down.

Jim and Mendi Carlson

Pete, Gabby, Jess and Olivia Garcia

Colin and Nate

Heather, Avery and Sadie Berry. The 16th is also their dad's birthday.

PaPa and Nate

Braden, Jodie and Olivia

Jodie did this mural for Nate. We have a chalkboard wall in our kitchen for kids to draw on.

Nate's cake Mendi made

Mendi made this cake especially for Nate to dig in to-and he sure loved it!

Saturday we celebrated Nate's first birthday! That morning, it was pouring rain so my friend Jodie called me and said" hey why don't we have it at your house since it is raining". Being the stubborn person I am, I said "no, we are going to have it at the park. I paid for it, so I am gonna use it". Well, Dean and I decide to go to the park and check things out. I started walking-in the rain no less-on the sidewalk and as I got closer to the pavilion-oops I slipped and thankfully caught myself. So I kept walking thinking I would get more traction under my feet. Well, no this is not going to end up with me on the sidewalk face down. I did not fall-to your dismay-but I did humble myself and decide to have the party at my house.

My house was a wreck, but I have a wonderful friend-Jodie-who came over and helped me pick the house up! Thanks Schmode!! The party turned out wonderfully. My friend Mendi made the Elmo cake-which was really yummy too! Nate had a great time playing with his friends, tearing into his gifts, and making a mess with his first taste of cake-which he loved BTW. Thanks to all the family and friends who made it. It was such a special day for Nathaniel and Dean and I and we are so happy you helped us celebrate.

It is amazing. Now that Nate is one he loves to throw fits?! Have the terrible two's started early? I am not liking this fit thing. What happened to my sweet adorable little baby? Maybe it is one of the four teeth breaking through on the top? Maybe it is Nate not getting what he wants? Maybe it is me at my wit's end sometimes? But I do love that little man with almost all my heart.

Here are some of Nate's favorite things and words he is saying. We did a short video of Nathaniel where we asked him on his birthday some of his favorite things. We will do this every year to see how he has changed. Here's a list:

Favorite food: milk of course

Favorite toy: Jack-Jack and his baby(puppy he sleeps with)

Friends: Jack-Jack, Braden, Colin, Corbin, Caden, Dylan, Sadie, Olivia, Gabby(most of these are mommy's friends kids)

words he is saying: mamma, dadda, jack-jack, hey, hello(sounds more like whoa), boo, ball, bubba(universal name for my nephews), look(sounds like woo)

Mothers Day

This past Sunday was Mother's Day and it was my first day to celebrate being a mom. I love my mom and grandmother dearly. Mom's teach you how to be compassionate and selfless and serve others. I now know that that same duty has been passed down to me and I pray that I will teach my children the same good qualities my mom and grandmother have taught me. I am so blessed to have my mom and grandmother still here with me!

Here is a picture of my maternal grandparents with Nate, Colin, Chandler, Corbin and Caden. I think it was Caden's nap time but he was partying so hard he just wouldn't go down!

This is 3 generations:Me, my Maw Maw, my mom and my sister (Dit). Notice Caden between my sister and mom.

I love the candid shots-Jason grew up with women and now he is still in a house with all women. He is so lucky!

Me, Mom, April and Jason


It got up to 90 degrees on Friday so I got the kiddie pool out-thanks Dad and Vicki-and let the boys "swim". Nate was so excited. He loves having his cousins over to play!

Nate adores Caden. They are about 1.5 years apart.

Water baby!

Nate loves this pirate hat. He will try to put it on his head and when he finally gets it on right, he jumps up and down and grins from ear-to-ear!

These two like to look out the wimndow at all the passer-bys. Squirrels like to tease Jack-Jack.

He is such a happy boy!

Me and my family, my brother and his family, and my sister and her family.

My sister and her family.

Dean, Nate and I.

A year ago

Oh my! Time really does fly by. I guess it would slow down if I was bored, but I am in no way bored! Nate keeps me so busy. So busy, I forget some of you actually want to know what he is doing these days :) Last Thursday Nate started walking. He still prefers to crawl-as this is much easier and faster-but he is taking steps now. Dean and I-and a few others-have been working with Nate trying to get him to walk. But he is like his momma-he will do it when he is good and ready! It is so amazing that a year ago-on the 16th-he was making his appearance in our lives. I never thought I would aadmire and love him so much. Dean was going to go to school starting this summer for a principal's certificate, but he is waiting until next year and that means he will probably be home more thsi summer. That makes me happy because we will be able to travel a little and visit some of his family and friends. Nate's first birthday party is next weekend and though I have bought most of what I need for it, I still have a bit to get and I think I will be a little overwhelmed-with him turning one and all. Besides walking, Nate like to talk and smile alot. He says momma, dadda, jack-jack, ball and some other words that I can't quite understand yet. I have a playdate here at my house almost every week and I think really enjoys playing with kids that are his size-as opposed to Dean and I! His cousins come over about once a week and that is a blessing for me because they keep him entertained so I can get some things done.

We started him on whole milk last week and cut his bottle down to 2 a day. I am dreading taking the morning and bedtime bottle from him because he loves those-as I think all babies do. If you have any suggestions as to how to wean him from those bottles, please share! I hope all is well your way. Until next time...

Discipline

Ok, so apparently, I have another blog out there. and as I do recall I started a blog when my friend Tanya started hers so I could post comments to her blog. So, I blogged a couple of weeks ago and I could not find my post anywhere on this blog, so if you would like to view it, here is that link. And I am sure this is not the last time I will do this. I am still trying to figure out how to get rid of that blog.
http://holmanhouse02.blogspot.com/


Nate has really been changing in the last couple of weeks. He really likes to throw fits now and he has foiled me a time or two into thinking he was truly hurt. One instance was that he tried to go out the doggy door-which he tries just about everyday. Well, he has learned that he can touch the doggy door, look at mommy, get a reaction, touch it again, look at mommy, get another reaction, then try to head outside only to get a swat from mommy. He does not mind the swat so much as being told 'no'. From the beginning, humans have been disobedient-look at Adam and Eve. I am definitely seeing that now in Nate. Is it a bad thing, yes, sometimes. But I see the positive in it. I have been given the role as a mother to a defiant child, to rear him as I see fit. It is the most rewarding and toughest job I have ever had. I always think too much and I do this alot when I am disciplining Nate. I think, "If I do this or that will he turn out to be a felon?" Ok, so sometimes I am irrational, but I do know that the Lord has called us to discipline our children. And we discipline not because we want to punish our kids-although I am sure it has crossed our minds-we discipline because we love our kids and we want the best for them. This reminds me of my childhood and the way my dad was with his disciplinary actions. I always though he was too harsh and he was no fun because he would never let me do anything I thought was fun. Now, I am so grateful he loved me enough to discipline my disobedience. I can not imagine if he did not care in the least bit how I would live my life. So, thanks Dad.

I think it will be no time before Nate is walking. The last couple of days he has been standing on his own for a few seconds. No steps just testing the waters. Well hopefully this will post to the right blog...until next time!

Blogging

So, I have a few friends and family who have started blogging. My initial thought was, "Why would I want everyone to know about my life-and what do I have to say that is so interesting?" Well, obviously I think I DO have something interesting to say, or I would not have started this thing. Ok, so I am sure I will not update this as often as I would like, and some may not catch my sarcasm through the computer, but needless to say, I am blogging.

Spring Break

Well Dean, Nate and I went on a "Tour of Texas". The plan was to leave Azle by 8 am on Saturday so we could get to the lake house by noon. Yeah, when you have a baby you are usually late. Now being late for me is a no-no. I hate when people are late and therefore I hate being late myself. Well, this was my fault. I forgot to have the car inspected and then Dean noticed we had a nail in the tire. The nail made me think of my sister's wreck that happened two years ago at Spring Break. Thank the Lord, they survived and are here with us. So, we HAD to get the tire fixed. By the time we left it was noon, but the car was good to go. We arrived arounf 4 and my uncle made us homemade tacos-YUMMY! We woke on Sunday and went to see the Llano bald eagles that haave nested int he same spot for three years. There is a book out that documented the birds for three years. It is very interesting because usually when Eagles nest there is a male and a female. Well these birds are different, there are three adult eagles-two female and one male. Although the male only mates with one female, the other female would come back every year and help the two make their nest and feed the young. Did you know that eagles mate for life?? Guess they say their vows :)

We saw the nest-which is about 8 feet wide. It is pretty large, then we headed to Fredricksburg and had lunch and stopped off at my dad and stepmom's land. Nate rode a tractor for the first time with his PaPa. He loved it. That evening we drove to New Braunfels to stay with some friends and headed to the Snake Farm and the Alamo on Monday. The Snake Farm was featured on "Dirty Jobs" on the discovery channel recently. It is a great place for learning. They have many exotic and domestic animals-plus a petting zoo. Although we didn't tour the Alamo, we did get Nate a shirt and went to a small museum across the street that excavated the land under it and found many old artifacts and the museaum depicts a replica of the old fort with an audible explanation of what went down at the Alamo. FYI the Alamo is one of Dean's favorite places. After we left San Antonio, we headed to Pleasanton and left Tuesday for Corpus Christi with his foster parents and nephew. We went to the aquarium and had a too-short visit with some college friends, ate some fresh seafood and let Nate go into the ocean for the first time. We got to the beach and Dean put Nate's feet into the water. Next thing I know, Nate is crawling into the ocean-literally! We had to strip him naked he got soaked! He had a great time doing it. Dean's foster sister aand husband made us a wonderful dinner and we went back to Pleasanton that night and the rest of our trip we spent around Pleasanton visiting good friends and family. We had such a wonderful trip and we are so grateful for all of Dean's family and friends. Thanks to all who hosted and took the time to make us feel welcome. We love you all. Til next time....