The One and Only Tate

ISU vs. Iowa

Howdy all, just relaxing on the couch so thought I'd post on the old bloggy.

ISU wrestled Iowa last night, at Iowa. It is always my least favorite dual of the year, and even more so this year because it was at Iowa. The environment is a tad hostile, but luckily, the wins we had helped to keep the Iowa crowd from getting too frenzied and obnoxious, although there were Iowa fans picking a fight with my friends. Iowa State ended up losing 20-15, meaning if we had won one more match, we would have won the dual. ISU is perfectly capable of winning more matches, so hopefully we will meet Iowa again and stick it to them. Iowa set the dual meet attendance record--15,955 people, I believe. That is seriously about how many people (if not more) attend Nationals.

On another note, Cael, Tate and I will be traveling to Utah for Christmas. We leave the 20th and return home on the 26th. So hope to see you, all Utah Sandersons! :)

Not much else going on, just watching a movie and trying to figure out Christmas presents for the kiddies in the family.

Later! :)

A Few Ramblings

Hello all! My little sister Ann has been bothering me to update the blog, so here goes. Not a ton has been going on, mostly buying Christmas presents online for everyone and staying up too late watching movies with Cael.

Tate is being as funny and cute as ever, he is really starting to jabber alot. He is a pro at saying "hi dada" as well as "hi clock" "hi cat", etc. Today was funny, as Cael got home, we greeted him at the door as he came in from the garage. Tate said, "Hi dada, it's cold." He also asks "Where did dada (Thobas, caca, cat, etc) go?"

Tate is obsessed with "Thobas cuck" (Thomas the train) right now, and I am very excited for Christmas because he will finally get his own "Thobas." He also loves cars and trucks and is really proving to be quite the little boy.

I recently joined a fitness club in Ames, which I love, and I use their daycare service for Tate while I exercise. This has been disastrous so far, and I typically only leave him in there for 30-40 min! Today when we got to the door of the daycare, he started bawling before we even got in the door. Ususally by the time I peel him off of me and head for the door, I am trying not to shut his fingers in it as he screams, and then I hear a loud thud as he slams into the door bawling. The last few times have been hard to leave him, but when I returned, he has been playing happily with Thomas the train and is actually mad that we have to leave, so that is good. Now if only we could get him to be ok with me leaving.

The pictures in the slideshow are from my birthday when we gave Tate some cake. As you can see in one picture, he slid my plate over to his and helped himself to my cake as well. ;) Cutie!

In other news, ISU wrestles Iowa this weekend in Iowa City. Should be exciting. They are the defending national champions and ranked #1, while we are #2. I read an article that said they had already sold over 11,000 tickets as of Tuesday. They are trying to set the all-time attendance record, and Cael believes they will. I am not a Hawk fan, and I really don't care for the Carver arena atmosphere--I am usually very annoyed listening to all the Hawk fans tell Cael to "SitdownSanderson!" Check this out from the last time we wrestled in Carver-Hawkeye: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjBRpmraIHk Oh well, wrestling is a heated sport. I will be sporting cardinal and gold proudly on Saturday!

Hope you are all well!

ISU beats UVSC

Hi everyone! We got home a little while ago from ISU wrestling's first dual of the season against UVSC. ISU won 39-0. It was really fun, but I had Tate so I didn't get to pay attention to the wrestling as closely as I would have liked to. I know that "cuncle cyla" had a pin that they didn't call but I think he ended up getting a major decision.

What I was surprised at was how well Tate did. But I bribed him...with a Dum Dum sucker, a Kit Kat (from Halloween), and a bottle of water (which he just loves to drink from). And gma Debbie came through with some really cute trucks as well! :) I don't expect him to be that good everytime, I am sure at some point the thrill of Dum Dum's will wear off.

I added the picture of Cael above to this post because I just love love love it and I've been waiting for an opportunity to post it. It was from NCAA's, not tonight's match, and he was fired up!

The big, bad 30

Yes, it's true. I'm now 30. :P My bday was nice, it was on a Sunday so we didn't do much. But Cael surprised me with a huge piece of chocolate cake from Red Lobster and a piece of Wally pie from Wallaby's. Woo hoo! My mom came earlier in the week and let us go to dinner and a movie in Des Moines while she watched Tate and spoiled him with a new truck. Fun fun! :) Sorry, my birthday is less than exciting. ;)

later all!

Halloween 08

What a fun Halloween this year! Tate was old enough for us to do a few trick-or-treat things! He was a monkey this year, a costume I picked after he saw it at Target and said "eee eee ahh ahh." Too cute!

We went to our church on Wednesday night for Trunk or Treat, where members pull their cars in the parking lot and the kids go around to everyone's trunk for candy. Very fun! Tate didn't get what was going on at first, but by the end of the night he was pretty good--he found the missionaries and helped himself to a few handfuls of candy while they laughed at him. :) He was also (always) happy to see his cousins Kade, Tylar and Mason.

On Halloween, we went to the Ames mall with Tara, Jo, and Sarah (all the wrestling coaches wives) and went around to each store to trick or treat. Tate kinda figured out what was going on this time after experiencing trunk or treat, but now decided to throw multiple tantrums because he wanted more than one piece of candy from each place. And he was sweating like a madman--his costume was pretty heavy even though he was only wearing a diaper underneath! Anyway, we had a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, we were at the mall so long that trick or treating was almost over when we got home and we ended up with a bag and a half of leftover candy!! I kept the lights on at home for a long time, but there were not many kids left trick or treating. And each one that did come got four pieces of candy. ;)

Later!

Tatey is almost 21 months

Hi all! Just took some cute pictures of Tate and thought I'd give an update on him. He will be 21 months on November 3rd and he is still quite the character!! Tate is currently obsessed with trucks and cars and Thomas the train. He is talking quite a bit, and runs around the house saying "cowas" (Thomas), "cuck" (truck), "gow" (ball), "compkie" (pumpkin) and "ha ha ha (ha ha ha, from a book). He spoke his first sentence the other day, "Where did the ginky (binky) go?" and he has expanded it to include other things as well, "Where did T (Tylar) go?" We are trying to teach him to say please and he says it about 1 in 50 times, so it is kind of interesting. :) Other fun words include "ca ca" (grandpa), "grawa" (grandma). He also says the names of two of his uncles, Cole and Cyler, and despite all our urgings, he won't say Uncle Cody just yet. He has figured out how to say Casey, Cael's assistant coach, though, goofy kid.

I took Tate to Target to have fall and Halloween pictures taken and it was miserable!! Grandma Debbie was there with me to witness it. Tate walked into the studio and pretty much started throwing a tantrum. He would not stay in one place and was obviously a tad overwhelmed by the situation. Many times he tried to run out the open door that I had prayed they would close. He would not smile and spent most of the time laying on the ground pouting. He snapped out of it for a few pictures but really melted down when we put his Halloween costume on him--a monkey suit (he says "ee ee ahh ahh" so cute!). He literally laid on the ground and bawled. They took one photo of him crying and then we stopped trying to take pics.

We finally got him out of the studio and suddenly, he turned into angel child! He was smiling and laughing, talking out loud, cuddling me and playing peek a boo with my hair. I could have cried. And of course, all my anger and frustration melted away when he turned happy. Smart and manipulative at 20 months!! He knows how to charm his mommy!!!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures, pardon the few where his head is cut off, sometimes I have to look directly at him and make a face or screech with him to get him to smile and I end up missing half of his face. :)

Later all!

E'town visit

Howdy all! I went to visit my mom and my sisters a few weekends ago in Estherville. Ann and Isabelle came back from San Antonio, and Christy and I are only a few hours away from E'town, which made it easy.

The kiddos are sure growing up fast!! Caitlyn, Maddie and Izzy are all crawling and are all over the place. Tater has graduated from running to climbing on furniture and whatever else he can find. All the kids were great and so cute! I have to admit, sometimes I think I have it rough with the terrible two's starting a little early, but after being with 9 and 10 month babies, I realize that there are definitely some advantages to Tate's age--he can play very independently, pretty much feed himself, and I don't have to carry him everywhere. Not that the babies aren't wonderful too, they are just a little bit more hands on work. :)

I posted some pics of the visit and noticed that we didn't even bother to do a group picture with my mom, sisters and our kids, or even just mommy and baby pics! We need to get it together!!
Anyway, it was a fun visit and it was awesome to be with everyone. :)

Later all!

A Close Call

Ok, had a close call tonight! Cael and his team went to Cedar Rapids today for their team retreat. They are camping at a farm and tomorrow morning they are going to work, on a home, I believe, to help those affected by the floods earlier this year. Cael did something similar a little earlier with his assistant coaches and said there was still a ton of work that needed to be done in the area. Great service project!!

Anyway, my mom and dad are on a mini-vacation in the area golfing at various golf courses and staying in Ankeny. They invited me to come to Ankeny and have dinner, so Tater and I headed over. We ate at Chili's and I had a delicious chicken taco and a half and then I quit eating because I was breathing fire, and it didn't go away for at least 45 more minutes. My mom and I headed to Pier One, and then to Target...and somewhere in this time, I lost my wallet. I didn't realize it was gone until I got home and went in the house with Tate and my diaper bag, which felt unusually light. (Seriously, my wallet weighs like 10 pounds by itself--I keep a ton of change and Cael, Inc. receipts in it--not money.)

So I searched the bag, then my car, the trunk, and Tate's stroller, and started to panic when I couldn't find it. So I called my mom and after retracing our steps I came to the conclusion that I might have left it on the top of the car as I strapped Tate into his car seat to go to Target. I called Pier One and they searched their parking lot to no avail--they were really nice about it!! :)

So I was talking to my mom again, and I noticed a police car gliding slowly past our house...it kind of creeped me out. A few seconds later, the doorbell rang. I am such a ditz that I was trying to figure out what he could possibly want (can't believe I just admitted that) when my mom got excited and thought he might be there about the wallet.

Right she was!! Someone found it in the Target parking lot and turned it in to the Ankeny Police Department!!! The Ankeny police then called the Ames police and gave them my name and address. The policeman was really nice and gave me the info. I called the Ankeny police and they were also awesome--they drove my wallet over to my parents hotel and waited in the lobby for them!!

The best part is that the policeman gave my parents the name of the man who turned my wallet in, and his number. I guess they had talked about the fact that Cael Sanderson was my hubby--I carry a picture ID of Cael from when he was at Fargo in 2002, loves loves loves the photo, he is so cute--and the policeman mentioned the guy was a fan. So I plan on calling him tomorrow and thanking him and giving him some sort of signed Cael memorabilia!! I am so glad, it makes it so much easier to show my gratitude!! Not many people in today's world would return my wallet, much less drive it to the authorities to ensure it got back to me. Awesome, awesome, awesome!!

Tate's surgery

Tate's surgery this morning went great! We got to the hospital around 6 am, and had to talk to 100 people before Tate actually went in for the procedure, but it only took about 40 minutes. I really thought it would be more difficult for me, but Cael is so calm during stressful times--he was relaxed and a little excited, he couldn't wait for Tate to be able to hear better and not have to deal with constant ear infections. His attitude wore off on me, which was wonderful!! We waited in a patient room and watched Fox News, which was also an entertaining distraction. Tate was pretty inconsolable when they brought him back to us as the anethesia wore off, but I have never been more happy to see my crying baby! :) We went home and had breakfast with Gma and Gpa Hranac, and put the little fella to bed....and we went to sleep too!

When Tate woke up from his nap, he was much happier, more like the old Tater. :) He had a good day and dealt with having ear drops put in twice really really well! He was back to his old self...until 7pm! Then he got a sudden burst of energy and was running all over the place, laughing like crazy, and playing with Cael and I. It was awesome! He was being a little goof, running full speed at us--Cael is strong enough to lift him right up above his head, I am not, and Tate was loving it. Tate was so rowdy I was worried that he was going to tear his stitches on his ear! Anyway, I am glad he had the surgery and am incredibly relieved that everything went well.

In other news, Tate finally figured out how to say "Uncle Cyler." He's been saying "Uncle Cole" forever, and he finally figured it out. He even said it when Uncle Cyler was at the house. But today at lunch he was repeating it like crazy. He loves his red-headed uncle!

I posted some pics of Tate from today, as you can see, he was in great spirits only a few hours after surgery. The pictures of him in his diaper (at the end of slideshow) are from earlier but I love his goofy smile so I included them.

Later all!

Tate getting tubes Thursday morning

Hello all! Just an update, Tate is scheduled to get tubes tomorrow morning around 7 am. They are also removing his "external ear lesion" at the same time, so he will only have to be under anethesia one time. While I believe that both procedures are necessary, I am not looking forward to it!!!! Tate is my little pumpkin, I am trying not to cry everytime I think about it!

In other news, Cael returned safely from a speaking engagement in Singapore last night. He made it to our house at about midnight, after an 18 hour flight just to get back into the USA. Then he had to go thru Milwaukee to get to Des Moines. Things went well for him, which is great! Cael had a first class ticket, and he said his chair reclined so it was like sleeping on a bed. He was also able to watch a bunch of movies that I don't think have been released on video yet. Cool!

Lastly, for those of you who are aware of Cael and my obsession, The Office returns tomorrow night. We are so excited!

Later all!

Fishun'

Howdy all! We are back from our fishing trip in the Boundary Waters (Northern Minnesota for those unfamiliar). We had a pretty good time--we basically go to an outfitter in Ely, MN, and buy a permit, rent a boat and chart a course through the lakes for fishing and camping. It was kind of cool driving the boat back through the lakes--one side of the land was Canada, and the other was the US.

This year we did it right--we rented a motor boat and didn't have to portage it ourselves. To portage means to carry the boat over land. (Last year we had to portage with a motor boat. We had it propped up on two wheels, but that didn't necessarily help. It was unbelievably difficult, and at one point I thought for sure Cael was going to get seriously injured by our runaway boat. But miraculously, the boat steered itself right into the lake and about all we had to do was jump in and take off.) Anyhoo, there was one portage this trip, but for $12 each way, a lady would prop the boat up on a trailer and haul it across the trail for you. It was awesome!

In the boundary waters, camping is actually pretty cool--there are designated campgrounds set up in different places--they have an area for building fires and a bathroom area, complete with toilet seat and privacy. We picked a pretty big campground, with lots of flat area and lots of places for Bonnie to explore.

Unfortunately, we did not have the best luck fishing. The last few years have been that way, and Cael and I have come to the conclusion that the best way to do it is to cross the border into Canada and fly out on a float plane, which is what we've done a few times.

However, Cael did catch a few fish the first day so all hope was not lost. When I caught a Northern the next day, I was pretty much satisfied and considered it a successful trip.....then a day or so later, as Cael was baiting my hook, I kind of told him I didn't care to fish anymore that day (I always bring a book and I was totally absorbed--I will sit on the boat all day and read), and he told me just to cast my line. So I cast it behind me, without even looking or paying attention, and I landed the biggest stinking fish of my life!!! (With the exception of the Alaskan halibut, but come on.) I caught a monster Northern that felt like a rock!! He fought me for a few minutes but eventually gave up and I got a few pictures of Cael with it. A little while after that, I caught a pretty big Smallmouth Bass. That was awesome! The Smallmouth fought harder than the Northern! By that time Cael was ready to fish all night to get one bigger than me!! I did actually feel kinda bad because I could care less if I catch big fish--I just go on the trip to chill and read. But Cael said he is glad when I catch fish--he feels like he catches it because he does 75% of the work--he sets up my pole, baits the hook, gets the fish off, etc...ok ok, maybe he does 90%--love him for it!!

Anyway, a few interesting things...we had to get up and move our tent at 3:30 am one night. The wind was blowing so hard that one of the tent walls was touching us as we lay there. And it was incredibly loud.

Tate ended up getting sick and we decided to go home on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Well, it started raining on Tuesday, but we still packed up and got ready to go...and as we started back, it really started to come down. We got to a point where we could see the rain ahead of us and we toyed with the idea of just sitting tight until the rain passed. But we went forward, and it was crazy! In the words of my little sister, we were stuck in a "torrential downpour." It was insane! And just as we got to the portage, we saw lightning. The lady told us it would be in our best interest to get our boat across and keep moving because it was only supposed to get worse, so we did, in our little metal boat. The rain on the last part wasn't coming down as hard but it was pelting us--we thought maybe it was hailing. All the while, Cael is not wearing his rain gear and is soaked to the bone, yet he is still laughing and hootin' and hollerin' from the back of the boat. It was pretty funny. :)

And when we finally got all the way home, poor Tater was not doing great. :( His ear infection returned while we were gone and just totally wiped him out. My mom said all he did the whole time was lay on her lap, which is totally out of character for him. Even when he has been sick at home, I can never get him to just sit in my lap and relax. He stopped eating almost altogether and was just drinking tons of milk. We changed his antibiotic, but then he developed bad side effects which included a rash from head to toe. Unreal. He finally ate a real meal today--I gave him about 30 choices and he ate!! Mac and cheese, a crumbled granola bar, cocoa pebbles, and cinnamon bread! Hallelujah! Hopefully he will continue to get better, but we have an appointment to see and ENT next week to talk about tubes in his ears. I have never seen him so wiped out so if tubes will help, I am all for it! Wish us luck!

Tate at 18 months

Hi everyone. Thought I'd say a few things about Mister Tater at 18 months, but I guess he is almost 19 months! Well, as cute as he is, I think the terrible twos are starting a little early. He is a little moody and gives lots of people dirty looks--he seriously scowls!!! It is a cute face but no way to treat the people who are smiling and talking to him! Silly goose!

Gma Debbie and Uncle Cole came for a visit, and Tate had a great time! He loves them both, and he even knows how to say "cul Cole," meaning "Uncle Cole." Those are the first two words he has tried to put together! Go Tater!! Last night was the funniest, Cole was laying on his stomach in the living room and Kade, Tylar, and Tate were basically playing dog pile on him. Too cute!

Tate is definitely having a hard time learning to share. He gets very frustrated when his cousin Mason, or even his favorite person, Tylar, tries to play with the same toy he has, and he often takes toys away from Mason!! Last night Tate was crying just because Mason was standing next to him in the bathroom as I filled the tub up for his bath! And poor Mason, he is just a sweetie and trying to play where everyone else is! Little does Tate know that he is picking on his future best friend!! And Mason is getting big--if Tate doesn't watch it, Tate might be getting tossed around by the little fella!! :)

Tate has a book by Sandra Boynton that goes something like this: "Red hat, green hat, yellow hat, oops!" Basically it shows 3 animals each wearing a different colored hat, and the last animal is a turkey wearing the hat wrong. So it says "oops" under the turkey. Well, Tate has been read this book so many times that he knows where to say "oops"! It was hilarious when he started doing that!

He also likes a cartoon character called Caillou. Caillou is on IPTV, for those of you who have cable and are not limited to public broadcasting! He loves to sing Caillou's name and dance during the song at the beginning of the program. Too cute!

Tate is really starting to talk--his list of words is getting longer and longer. Also, it is unreal to me when I ask him where something is ("where's the elephant?") and he points to it. So cool!! Most recently he has been interested in umbrellas. I would love to hear him say that!

Today something funny happened--I was cooking dinner in the kitchen (there's a first time for everything, people) and Tate was standing by the tv watching Baby Einstein. I heard a knock at the front door and knew that Cael was home. Apparently, though, it scared Tate! He took one look at the window, saw someone standing there, and started bawling and running into the kitchen. He obviously didn't recognize it was Cael, and while we comforted the scared little pumpkin, we were giggling about it. :)

Well, come September 3rd, Tater will be 19 months! Time to get him into the photo studio and pray he will smile a little for the photogs!!

Back from San Antonio

Howdy y'all! We are back from our trip to San Antonio! We had a really good time visiting Anner, Tyler, and Izzy, and of course, their "cat" Louie. They have a great, spacious house and the Tater tot was running all over the place.

Cael, Bob and Tyler played a lot of golf--one day they played 36 holes! In the incredible heat and humidity! Unreal. But I think they enjoyed themselves, so that was great. After their day of 36 holes, Mom and Bob were kind enough to watch the kiddos so Cael, Ann, Tyler and I could all go do something without them. We wandered down to the riverwalk, which is just so awesome! Basically there is a small-ish river running through an area that is lined with hotels, businesses, and restaurants on either side. It is so neat. We stopped at Rita's and had some Mexican food right next to the river. It was great! We also got to see the outside of the Alamo, which was also great--so much smaller than you would imagine!

We went to Sea World one evening and saw Shamu the killer whale do all sorts of incredible things. Most impressive was the performance Shamu and a trainer did together--the trainer was literally standing on the tip of Shamu's nose, holding onto her fins, and hanging onto Shamu while she jumped almost completely out of the water. Pretty sweet. We also stood next to a tank with dolphins who swam inches away from our hands and caught the end of a show with seals and a walrus. Shamu was far and away the coolest!!

We had a great time! Loved seeing my sister and her family. We flew into Omaha on our way home, so we decided to stay overnight and go to the zoo the next day. Well worth it!! Besides being inexpensive, there were so many great animals and exhibits. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!! Cael and I both loved the gorillas. So huge and impressive! I personally think they are so human-like it is eerie. There was a really fun exhibit, Kingdoms of the Night, that was underground and featured tons of nocturnal animals in very dim lighting. Tate didn't really display too much excitement until we got to the aquarium. Then he was just fascinated with all the fish and did not want to leave. Next time, I think we can skip the whole zoo and just let him check out the "ish". Or maybe we can just go to the local pet store. ;)

The only downfall of our whole trip was that Tater started getting sick on the plane ride out to San Antonio, and kind of battled a bug the whole time we were there. He ended up having pink eye, and today his doctor confirmed that he has a double ear infection. Poor buddy!! He sure did well during the trip, considering he must have been feeling pretty icky. Little angel!!

Anyway, we are home for a little while. Cael is planning to do his annual fishing trip, I think at the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota, during the last week of August. I believe I will get to go with him and Tate will be getting spoiled by Gma and Gpa Hranac. Talk to you later!

Grand Canyon Cowboy

I love this picture!! This photo is of Steve Sanderson (Cael's dad) going through Lava Falls in the Grand Canyon. For those that don't know, Steve has been a river guide (he drives the boat, entertains us all, prepares food, etc.) in the Grand Canyon for quite sometime. You can just barely see Steve and his hat peeking out above the water. I'm guessing the orange speck to the right is Steve's helper, maybe one of the boys?

Lava Falls is a gnarly rapid. I think Steve said there were about 13 other people on his boat in that picture--but they are in the "down and in" position, which is why you can't see them. It means get low in the boat and hold on!! On our trip, we stopped before the rapid and got to walk along and look at it before we went through it. I was sooooo scared when I saw it and I was wishing for a way out! But it was fun and Steve did a great job getting through it.

Our Cataract Canyon trip we just did was really fun, but there were no rapids like that!! There is nothing like the Grand Canyon!

Back from PA and Cataract Canyon River Trip

Hello all! I haven't posted for a little while because we haven't been around much! We just got back yesterday from a camp in Pennsylvania. Tate and I were lucky enough to go with Cael and hang out while he worked the camp. We had to stay in the dorms, but Tate was amused by so many things, so it wasn't hard to stay busy. And we got to see Cael a lot more than I expected, so that was really awesome! The people out there were really nice also, so it was cool. However, the plane ride home was a nightmare with Mr. Tate. He was just tired and cranky and he threw a few fits and screamed a little. But boy oh boy is he glad to be home!!!!

Before we went to PA, I joined Cael and his team on a river trip in Cataract Canyon (southern UT). I left the Tater man with my mom and had a nice break. I really had no expectations going into the trip, so I really had a good time. I just relaxed, swam, ate, read my book, and hung out. Cael also had fun but was a little disappointed because there weren't big rapids like in the Grand Canyon, but seriously, what could compare to that trip?

I would like to share some stuff about the trip though, so here goes:

-The first couple days were basically a lake bake--there were no rapids or fast moving water at all, we just floated. But the water was so awesome, and we got to jump in and float a bunch. We stopped at a few different areas and got to check out old Indian graneries and petrified wood.

-On one of the lake bake days, I was floating in the river and i swam over to the boat where Cael was dillydallying, and grabbed his leg and pulled him in. I'm a real stinker. The next day, we were all on the boat floating down the river, and I was sitting on the edge of the raft. Cael reached down and tapped my back, and into the water I went! He felt bad and helped pull me back in, but I made it difficult because I was laughing so hard. He swears it was an accident. Hmmmm...accident or revenge? You decide. :)

-Our second night camping we had the most awesome campground--huge, open, with almost a white sand beach. The interesting thing was that in the areas where there were trees, there were TONS of spiders hanging on the branches! It was one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen. I guess the park service in the canyon has been trying to get rid of a non-native tree growing there, called tamarisks, so they released tons of these little green bugs (beetles?). So we were all guessing that the spider population just exploded with beetles to eat!! Interesting what kind of effects something like that would have the area.

-The third (and final) day was our day of rapids. I think the guide told us there were 38, but it didn't feel like that many. Still fun though! There was a big rapid named "Satan's gut" which somehow, Cael's wrestlers managed to turn into "devil's butt". Sorry, I like immature humor. :)

-There was a rapid called Repeat. We literally jumped out of the boat before the rapid and floated through it. I made Cael hold my hand, I was so scared. Basically, you bust through the middle of the waves and swallow a lot of water. And I could not figure out when to breathe and when to hold my breath! But it was over quick. The hard part was after the rapid--we had to swim as hard as we could through the current to get to the left side of the river so we didn't get swept downstream. I don't remember a time when my arms and legs have been more tired than that. About three of the wrestlers got swept down a bit and the boat had to bring them back up. I am a dummy, though. When we got to the shore, we climbed back up the rocks and jumped into the water and rode the rapid again. My heart was beating so hard I could hardly breathe. What a rush!

-On the third night, our camp site totally sucked. We basically pulled up to a rocky ledge with barely enough space to fit everyone's cots. There was a rocky ledge hanging over us, which freaked me out too. Once it got dark, a ton of scorpions came out and were crawling around. It was crazy! I was seriously having a hard time not feeling like there was something crawling on me.

I had a great time! Well, hope you are all doing well! Cael, Tate and I are heading to San Antonio next Thursday to visit Ann, Tyler and Izzy. Momo and Bobo are going as well, so it will be lots of fun! Shopping, golfing, Sea World and more!

Our Trip to Lincoln

Howdy! We recently returned from our weekend in Lincoln, where Tate and I attended Miss Isabelle's baptism. It was really fun! We got to see Anner B-nanner, Christy, Tyler and Dan, Gma and Gpa Hranac, and the adorable trio of little girls!! I got to hold lotsa babies, and I was so excited because they are all finally at the age where they really respond to you, so I was getting smiles from them!

We spent a lot of time at Ann's in-laws, which was nice except Tate thought he could run the household. Jeesh! I never knew how difficult it is to keep a handle on a toddler in a non baby-proofed home! I was seriously following him around constantly because he wanted to grab EVERYTHING he saw. But he was being pretty cute. Tate found a dog toy--a rubber shoe--and after I put it on his foot, he would not take it off! What a goof! He was also crazy about Izzy's balloons and he was just crushed when he let go of his pink balloon outside and it flew away. :(

It was great to see everyone!

Tate and I are heading to E'ville tomorrow. I am going to fly to Utah on Friday and meet Cael and join him on his river trip in Southern Utah. Tater is going to stay with his wonderful Gma and Gpa in E'ville. Talk to you all later!

Estherville in July

Hello everydude! Just a little update. The Tater and I have been in E'ville (commonly referred to as Esther-smell, among other things) for a few days to break up the time while Cael is in California and Utah for wrestling camps. A big thanks to Mom and Bob for putting up with the three of us (Bonnie is here too) and for feeding us and playing with Tate while I sleep half the day away. It is nice to have the company.

I put some photos of Mr. Tate up from our visit here--some of them are from early in the morning in Gma and Gpa's backyard and some are from the baby pool in E'ville today. And, yes the lady holding his arms in the water with the really ugly, long and stringy hair is me. I know, I need it cut dangit!!! It was such a fun visit! I can't believe how much he really liked the pool! Tate tried to walk (well, run) in the water and didn't realize that it was a bit harder to move in water. As a result, he had a few face-first moments into the water, but he never cried! He just got up and kept playing. It was too cute!! And even though his lips were turning blue, he was pretty upset when Gma and I made him leave. We will definitely be going back to the pool!

In other exciting news, (ha ha) Tate saw a cat outside tonight and pointed to it and said "cat"! I was so excited! He kept pointing and saying it, so I think he has the word cat pretty cemented in his mind now. Tate was following the cat around the yard trying to get close enough to touch it, but I wouldn't let him. We don't know where that cat had been! Plus, they are not the friendliest of creatures. We are definitely dog people!!

Also cute, not sure I ever mentioned it, Tater has been saying "eio," from the Old McDonald song. At first, he was saying "eiei" but he's moved on and added the "o" sound. So cute!! And tonight, Cael was talking to him on the phone, trying to get him to say a few of the words he knows, and Tate was actually responding (saying clock)!! It was so sweet!!

Well, hope everyone is doing well!!

Tate is 17 mths today

Mr. Tate turned 17 months today, July 3rd. Wee hoo! Time sure flies when you have a Tatey Tate. I love the pic of him, doesn't he look just like his dad?

Not much is going on around here, Mr. Tate had spaghetti for dinner tonight and succeeded in dumping the bowl on his head. He was covered from head to toe in spaghetti sauce. It was pretty stinking cute. But it sure made him stink too.

Grandma Pat came last night to watch Tate and gave Cael and I a night off, so we went to Red Lobster--where I ate an entire basket of cheddar bay biscuits by myself--and then to the movie Get Smart. It was pretty funny! I can always tell if a movie is truly funny (I seriously think everything is funny) by how much Cael laughs out loud. And he laughed out loud quite a few times.

I just started the process of painting our upstairs bathroom. After 6 years of living here, I finally got sick of the lovely chartreuse color the original owners picked out. This room is TINY but it is still a ton of work! Eeeek! But it will be worth it!

Anyhoo, hope everyone is doing well!

Cael's Ride with the Blue Angels

Hello all! Thought I would share the pics of Cael's ride with the Blue Angels and a little bit about his ride. He does not have the time to write this himself, so I am doing it for him! :) He got invited to ride with the Blue Angels in Davenport, IA, as part of an air show. I think he was really excited to go!

Cael said when they took off, the plane went straight up in the air--you can kind of tell that from one of the pictures. I kinda get sick thinking about it! :) The plane did all sorts of tricks, like flying close to the ground, going upside down, etc. They told Cael he needed to flex his toes and lower body so his blood would not rush into his lower body and make him pass out. Crazy!!

Cael said the only time he really felt queasy was near the end before they landed. But he assured me that if he were the pilot of that plane, a little queasiness would not keep him from taking out some terrorists. And thank goodness for that.

Does he get to do some awesome things or what?? :)

Tatey the Tate at 16 months Part II

Ok, I have more cute Tate stuff to add...

We went to Red Lobster for Grandma Debbie/Cael's birthdays with Cody, Sarah, the kids, and Uncle Cyler. I was kinda worried about Tate sitting in the high chair for a long time because he gets a little antsy, but Tylar decided to move her chair and sit by him. And HOLY COW did Tate turn on the charm after that!!!!!! What a silly goose! I think he was laughing and talking through the whole meal. Of course, Tylar and Gma Debbie were laughing at everything he did so he just kept getting sillier. He had macaroni and cheese all over his face, in his hair, and on his hands. He kept trying to put his grubby hands on Cael's shirt and Cael kept moving his arm out of Tate's reach. Tate would crack up and keep trying to do it! He knew exactly what he was doing, the little tease!!! Guess he inherited his dad's ability to tease??!!

Tate has a new habit of picking up either of our cell phones and he puts it right to his ear and starts jabbering in it. Think he's seen either of us do that??? He very recently started doing the same thing with the remote control. It is so stinking cute.

On a grosser note, Tate just yesterday started dipping his binky into Bonnie's water bowl and putting the binky back in his mouth. Icky!!!!!

And tonight, finally, Tater started using the word dada (and really knowing what the word means)!! It was so cute! He kept saying it through dinner, bathtime, and then when I was putting his pjs on, Cael came in and Tate pointed at him and said "Da Da!" Too Cute!!!!

I think everyday he changes and grows up a little bit more. I hope I'm not boring people with these little tidbits, but to a first time mom, these moments are just the best!!!! We just inflated his first pool, in the shape of a frog, so I hope to get it outside tomorrow, so I will take pics if he is enjoying himself and post them!

Tatey the Tate at 16 months

Hello all! I thought I would let everyone know how Mister Tate is doing at 16 months. He is quite the fun little man, I think he grows up a little every day!! He still has red hair and a temper to match it.

Tate is walking like a madman. He didn't really start until April/May, so he was a little behind, but I feel like he picked it up really quickly and he is moving so fast now!

Tate loves loves loves his cousin Tylar!! He follows her around and shrieks with delight when he sees her. He also loves his cousin Kade, but Kade is often too busy to pay much attention to him. I think when he gets a little older he and Kade will have lots of fun. Tate has grown to be very jealous of his 10 month old cousin Mason, and has resorted to head butting him and even growling at him!!! It is the craziest thing I have ever witnessed and we have to watch him when they are together.

Tater loves playing outside and will throw a tantrum anytime the sliding glass door opens and he does not go through it to the backyard! He is turning into such a little boy--today he ate his first bug, which totally grossed me out. We were at the rec today before wrestling camp, and he was playing in the sand (at the end of the long jump). He stuck his tongue out and licked the sand! Disgusting!!

Then we went to Dairy Queen and he was loving the chocolate Oreo blizzard I got, but he threw a fit when he could not use both his spoon and my spoon. Stinker!

Tate has three words:

clock (says it like 'got')

balloon (says it like 'goon' or 'boon')

fish (says it like 'iss')

Overall, he is such a sweet little punkin and we love him like you couldn't believe!!! Tate will be 17 months on July 3rd!

It's Wrestling Camp Season!

Wrestling camp season is upon us. During June and July, Cael spends the majority of his time at the Lied Rec center. He will also travel to Utah and California for more camps. It is really a great thing, but it sure is tiring! Last summer, Tater and I used to go over the 80+ degree rec and sit and watch Cael during the sessions because it was the most we would see him!! And Sarah and the kids did the same thing because Cody was always working too!

Ahhh, well, I guess we will make it through again this summer. Hopefully Tater and I will get to go to the Utah camp in July!

Annie Makes A Face

Ok, ok, ok, so my lil' sister Annie b nannie is going to kill me for posting this picture but I just love it!!! I was looking through my pics and found the photo--we were going through the airport getting ready to fly to Utah for our wedding--2002--and I think el Bobo took the photo.

It's funny because Ann is RIDICULOUSLY photogenic. It is seriously not fair. But this is just too cute!! And I'm not sure her husband, Tyler, has ever seen her flair her nostrils, so I had to post it for him.

Love you Anner!!!

Tate's Visit to E'ville

Okay, so this is a little behind, but I was organizing some pictures of Tate and I found some from when he stayed in E'ville with Gma Patty and Gpa Bobo while I went to Las Vegas with Cael. In April. Gpa Bobo was very naughty and tried to get Tate to wear a yicky Nebraska hat. I can't even post the photo that shows Tate with it on for a split second. The horror! :) However, being a true fan of the cardinal and gold, he threw it off.
Funny, when Tate is at home, all he wants to do is run around the house with Cael's ISU hats on!!! That's our boy!!!

Howdy!

Hey everyone! I am feeling the pressure to create my own blog for our little family. Everyone I know has a blog, including my two sisters and my sister-in-law. So I figured I better join the fun! In such a funny mood, I gave the website the name "Caelly" which Cael and I would be called if we were celebrities. Ahh, it must be late at night. :)

We are back from a vacation in Telluride, Colorado, which was really a relaxing time. The area may not have tons to do, but it is absolutley breathtaking. We spent our time walking around, hot tubbing, watching HGTV, and trying to figure out where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes live.

Tater the tot had a great time hanging out with his cousins Kade, Tylar and Mason. He even learned a new word, "clock." Which is actually about his first word. He says it much more than he ever says momma or dada. Huh.

Anyhoo, I will do my best to keep this up to date, but we all know how great I am at communication, so we'll see.

Buh Bye!