It's Been Awhile...

We are doing well in snowy & cold Pennsylvania.
We finally moved out of our rental home and into a house & we have internet!! Cael can finally play playstation online. :)
The wrestling team is doing well and has made great strides since the beginning of the year. Currently ranked #10 and has drawn crowds of over 4,000 people.
Tate turned three on Feb 3rd. He is still obsessed with Thomas the train. :)
I am 6 months pregnant with Tate the second. :)

Hola amigos!

Hello! It's been a long time since I last blogged. I don't have Cael around to keep me company, so it seems the perfect time for an update.

Things are going pretty well, although you may not think that after my last entry. Things have calmed down considerably regarding the job change. I still occasionally hear a snarky comment or two ("traitor" was a recent one) but it is just fine and I can truly see the humor in it. And obviously, Cael is not one to dwell on things. He moved on long before I did and looks forward to his new opportunity.

In May, we went on a cruise with my family, which was sooo fun. We went to my favorite islands in the Caribbean--St. Thomas and St. Maarten. The most fabulous beaches in the world and some really fun jewelry shopping! :) It was truly great. We also visited Royal Caribbean's private island--CocoCay--and my family watched Tatey the Tate so Cael and I could snorkel. We are snorkel crazy--we could stay out all day with our heads underwater. The island had a sunken ship and a sunken airplane (I'm sure the company did it purposely) and lots of fish congregated in those areas. The neatest thing for me was seeing 3 or 4 stingrays.

Well, our move is coming right up. In fact, the movers (or should I say, "packers") showed up at the house at 8 am this morning, much to my surprise. They were scheduled to come on Monday. I had just come down the stairs with Tate, both of us in our pjs, and no contact lenses in my eyes. I answered the door blindly and let them in, releasing a good amount of dragon breath on all four. They packed the entire basement and most of the main and second floors, leaving the master and Tate's bed until Monday, when they will return. I will be ready for them next time, and I promise to have minty fresh breath. ;)

After packing is finished the movers will load our things and begin the 2-day trek to PA. My mom has graciously agreed to make the 14 hour drive with Tate, Bonnie and I. It should be fun!

Today was quite the day. In addition to the packers, I received a call from our realtor with an offer on the house--the 4th one we've had. We negotiated with them a little and luckily ended up keeping our washer and dryer. Our final price was not what we had originally hoped for but we are extremely happy to have a buyer and have the ability to move on. Even better, they want possession on July 30, so hopefully everything will work out ok and we can make it a quick sale. The inspection is already this Monday. Craziness. When I was at my parents house this last week my dad let me have his fortune cookie from his icky icky poo Chinese meal and my fortune read: "Good news is on its way." I guess so!!

Love to all!

Life in the middle of the cyclone

So...I'm guessing most of you have heard that Cael has accepted the head coaching position at Penn State University. This has caused a incredible stir (some have called it a "meltdown") here at ISU. I just wanted to share some of my own thoughts about this....

First of all, I would like to recognize how incredibly blessed we are to have had the opportunity to be a part of TWO fantastic schools with great wrestling programs. Especially during our economic times. I am grateful and I try to remember that fact as we continue to deal with the situation (or fallout) that has resulted from the decision...

I would also like to recognize that, as an ISU grad, I have loved most of my 10 years in Ames. I love the location, how safe I feel here, and, until very recently, the kindness of the fans (and the people of Iowa) towards Cael and his efforts as an athlete and a coach. I absolutely feel at home here.

That said, I am wheeling a bit from the enormous uproar over Cael's departure. I absolutely understand people being angry and upset by his decision and we both expected it to happen. And I'd like to note that we made this decision with eyes wide open, we expected a backlash, and we are not in any way, shape, or form victims.

However, this situation is certainly an interesting study in human behavior.

Today, a lady that I have met about two times at a pharmacy in town, came to my house and handed me two plastic bags full of Iowa State Wrestling t-shirts, along with a few ripped up posters from this past wrestling season. She said simply, "I won't be needing these anymore," handed me the bags, and walked off. I was so surprised that I didn't say anything and just closed the door.

Then, stupid me, I opened my laptop and looked at one of the Cyclone forums. On one 17 page thread about the situation, I read 10 pages and found maybe 2 entries that weren't full of venom and hatred. Some pretty examples include: expletive Cael expletive expletive, Cael is not a Cyclone, we hate him and his legacy at ISU is erased and ruined, Penn State is the new Iowa, we will actively root against them everytime they step on the mat with Cael at the helm; sellout can take his money and get out.

(Note: The rumor mill had it that Cael was offered a 2.5 million contract for 5 years. Seriously people, be real. This is wrestling and that is RIDICULOUS. And to think that money is what drives Cael is an indicator of how little they really know him.)

When I read these comments they took my breath away, it really hurt. Everything Cael had done at our alma mater was now tarnished, ruined. And while I expected people to hurt and be upset, I didn't expect it to be pure vitriol.

I mean seriously, people, this is a business is it not? In my (short) business experience, people move all the time, whether it is a promotion or a lateral move. It's life. Things change. No one owns you or your future and you have the freedom to make your own path, good or bad and deal with it.

So it is crazy to me that so many people had such horrible things to say...I mean, put your opinions, thoughts, feelings of disappointment out there. Make yourself heard. But the expletives? The incredibly ill wishes? Dropping your shirts off at our house? And mostly...hating someone who had an incredible career, represented our school with dignity and brought much needed attention to the sport of wrestling?? Come on. Let's have a little perspective here.

On a funny note, I think we are darned if we do and darned if we don't. ISU wrestling fans send emails to our coaching staff throughout the year expressing their displeasure with our coaching and team performance. I understand and expect that criticism is part of the job as a coach anywhere and in any sport. ISU fans have high expectations, which is great. It is just amusing that the same people who condemn Cael as the ISU coach are most likely the same people condemning him for leaving.

I am learning the hard way that you can't please everybody, and not everyone is going to like you. In fact, some people will just plain hate your guts!! ha ha ha. :) And on a more positive note, you also realize the people who really care for you. I have received phone calls and encouraging messages from people who mean a lot to me. Thanks guys, love you too!

I am so sorry if I am whining, I don't mean to. I just find it frustrating that everyone else has had an opportunity to spout off and I haven't. And, as an Iowa State alumni and Cael's wife, I feel I am entitled (oooh, liberal wording, scary) to express my feelings on the situation as well. And at least I am doing it on my blog and not hiding behind a screen name.

To end my blathering, I'd like to state that I will still always root for Iowa State and remember my time here fondly, disliked as we are. It won't harden me and destroy my views on life. As my father-in-law recently stated (and as I have repeated many times thereafter): We're not here on earth to see how we deal with the great times and easy aspects of life. We're here to see how we deal with the trying times, the times of conflict and of pain.

Big picture, people. Big picture.

Tater Ramblings

Well, the Tate man has just been cracking us up lately. He is adding words and speaking short sentences and I am amazed at his ability to pick up words. I think in reality he is right on target for language development for kids his age, but to me it is just incredible, as he is really my first experience with a child in any manner.

He is also a great mimic. For example, whenever we color with him, Cael and I write his name out for him and say each letter for him. Well today, he was looking at a magnet on the fridge that had writing on it, and he said "T-a-t-e." It was so funny! He was spelling his own name and he didn't even know it.

He is adding words constantly, and today he was looking at one of his books and I believe he said "chicken." I just adore it when he says monkey, which sounds more like "ockey." And Thomas has finally turned into "Ta-muus," rather than "Ta-bus."

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but Tate is in love with the song "Smoke on the Water" and every morning when he wakes up he hums the tune. He also hums himself to sleep this way at naptime. He learned this song because it is on the Guitar Hero game for Playstation. Well now everytime we go downstairs (another of his favorite words-"dowstairs") he points at the tv (in Tate speak, the "tb") and asks for his "song."

He is putting together really short sentences, and there are a few that I hear alllll day long: "Mommy, o cup." "Mommy where daya go?" "Mommy, where T go?" "Oh no, Thomas!"

In an interesting turn of events, Tate has given the binky up partially--during the day. He has been so nonchalant about it that I am amazed. Since he was six months old, I've been hearing from friends, family and complete strangers about Tate and his binky and that I need to take it away from him and I worried a bit because he loved it so much. But I also didn't feel the urgency that everyone else felt. His pediatrician suggested just taking the binky away during the day for now, and that at naptime and nighttime he could still have it.

So with this in mind, we decided to do it gradually. When Tate would pop it out of his mouth to eat breakfast I would whisk it away and hide it until naptime, and then a few days later I begain hiding it during his afternoon snack as well. Then a couple days ago I just started asking him to gather his Thomas engines (he sleeps with them all in his bed) and leave his binky in his crib. And to my surprise, he spits it out everytime and gets out of bed like its no big deal. During tantrums and times of frustration, he does ask for it but we just tell him it is for bedtime and try to distract him. I am amazed (repeatedly) by his ability to adapt, and I think he 100% takes after his dad!

Now I guess we will see how adaptable he is when we start potty training....and putting him in a big boy bed...oh boy. This should be fun. :)

Tate is 2!

Hi everybody! Once again, I am being harassed by my younger sister to update my blog. Sorry, I admit that I am lazy.

Tate had his second birthday (Feb 3) and it was really fun. He was very spoiled and had a good time with his cousins, Uncle Cody and Aunt Sarah, Hranac grandparents, and my cousins the Vogelaars. Tate is still entirely obsessed with Thomas the tank engine, and Grandma Debbie sent out Thomas decorations for the party, which Tate absolutely loved!! He also had a Thomas cake, as you can see in the picture.

Tate is really starting to grow up. He is putting short sentences together now, and pretty much talks all day long, even if we don't understand what he is saying. He cracks me up because all day long he says "dowstairs," because he wants to play with Thomas downstairs. It is also amusing to hear the variations of words he makes up; "please" went from "cheese" to "pease" to "wheeze." Tate is a ton of fun and is becoming more playful. He finally enjoys being tossed up in the air and being tickled by his "da-ya" and his uncles.

Tate finally likes the daycare at the fitness facility. They put a train table in the room and now he basically leaps out of my arms to go play. What a relief! It was a struggle at first. For all the fun that Tate is, he is definitely becoming more of a discipline challenge for me (and we all know what a pushover I am to start with). For example, I took him into McDonald's on Friday night before the wrestling match to sit down and eat together. He got mad at me in line because I wouldn't put him down while ordering, so he hit me and head butted me in the lip, which split and bled. Unreal. I also had to remove him from the play area at Jordan Creek after warning him repeatedly about not pushing the little girls over. The resulting tantrum was very embarrassing! However, Tate is very sweet for the most part and we love that little pumpkin.

Cael is doing well, in the middle of the wrestling season, so things are busy, but we get to be with him a lot more now than during the summer, so that is nice. ISU wrestles Tennesse-Chattanooga on Friday and then travels to Missouri for a match on Sunday.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Howdy Everybody!

Hello all! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! We sure did, although getting to Utah to have Christmas was quite the challenge! :)

We booked our flight out of Omaha, so we had to drive 2 1/2 hours to the airport, which is usually fine, but this time it just added to the length of our troubles. After boarding the plane, they made us get off due to an "incident" in Denver. Which happened to be the Continental plane that went off the runway. They closed Denver for an hour or two, and when we finally made it there, our connection to SLC had departed without us. It was getting late (10:30 pm?) and there was a 3 hour line of people in the same situation as us. Rather than sit and wait, we chose to go to a nearby hotel and sit on the phone for 2 1/2 hours so we could relax and Tate could go to bed. The lady we spoke to had no idea why they directed us to her, and she had to clear our rebooking with her supervisor, which took another 45 min. But finally we were rebooked to SLC at noon the next day. So we finally made it to SLC, wearing the same clothes that we started the trip with. :) It's funny now.

We had a great time, really just spent time at Debbie and Steve's house and enjoyed spending time together, but we did make it down the canyon to visit grandparents. It snowed buckets while we were there!

Tate was spoiled rotten for Christmas, as if he wasn't already! ;) He received about 5 different variations of Thomas the train, a DVD collection of Thomas the train, Legos, puzzles, trucks, cars and car tracks, and a Batman trike that he dances on and scoots around the house on. He also received a funny gift from Sarah and Cody and the kids: a Mr. Potato Head dressed up as Darth Vader, and his name is: "Darth Tater". Hilarious! I think he will be busy for quite awhile with all of his new acquisitions.

Cael's wrestling team had the National Duals this past weekend, and they placed 3rd. Which isn't too bad except they are capable of winning anything they compete in. They head to Oregon St this weekend to wrestle and then they are back and have Oklahoma and Oklahoma State near the end of the month. Which Uncle Cole has promised to drive back for.

Tate's 2nd birthday is coming up soon! He is definitely getting into the "terrible" part of being 2. When we got home from the Duals, he was absolutely rotten. Throwing himself on the ground and kicking and screaming like I have NEVER seen him before. Normally I would think he just needs to adjust back to being with his parents--he spent the weekend with his loving, indulgent, wonderful grandparents--but I truly think this is just a sneak peek at what 2 is all about. We went to have dinner at Wallaby's and he screamed and bawled when we tried to sit him in a booster seat, and for the first time ever, we actually packed up our food when it came and left the restaurant!! Then he did the same thing when we got home and tried to sit him in his chair. Unbelievable. I am officially overwhelmed. ;)

Hope all is well!

The One and Only Tate