I know,  I am a week late, but things have been a little busy around here. But, I did post twice last week, so at least there was something.

On Christmas Eve we stopped by my grandparents’ house and saw the whole Tate side of the family. It was great to see people and talk to others who are far away. Brit had a great time with his second cousins, and loved his truck from cousin Morgan.

Hanging out with Grandpa Jim…

He’s been loving the doggy and horse sounds, and pushing it around.

We then continued with tradition by having dinner and Christmas stories at my aunt Teri’s house.

Teri with Kaylee, Mom with Brit

Sometimes cousin Kaylee is a little scary

Our family. It keeps getting bigger!

Teri and Craig gave us an amazing picture of the Sacred Grove.  On the bottom it says: What happened here changed the world, let it change your life.”

We love it, and hope to be able to bring it home soon. Silly airplanes aren’t equipped to handle baggage like this.

Brit opening his Christmas Eve pajamas. I think he liked them. They have snowmen, polar bears and penguins on them.

The food and desserts were amazing as always. I loved the apple pie, and Pumpkin Praline Torte too. This is Brit decorating his first cookie for Santa.

It was so fun getting everything out and ready for Brit’s Christmas morning.

Christmas Day is coming soon!

Oh, and you may have noticed my hair is a bit shorter in these pictures. It’s true. It’s chopped off. It’s never been this short in my life–except when it was growing when I was a baby. I’m liking it. There was a getting used to stage, but I’m happy with it. I have no idea what exactly prompted me to go so short, but it just kind of happened.  Thanks Shae!

Welcome to the family Ethan! My sister Shaela got engaged on Tuesday and we’re really happy for them. No, there is no date yet. Yes, they’re just enjoying being engaged so far.

Ethan was thoughtful enough to let us know his plan–but my sister had NO idea! So, the rest of us drove up to Temple Square to see the lights and see them afterward. He asked her while they were on a carriage ride. He was almost thwarted a couple of times, but in the end it worked out–obviously. For more details, check this out: EthandandShaela.com

It was bitterly cold, so we bundled up and checked out the lights.

This is kind of fun…

Get me out of here! I’m so hot.

The new Fam…

Pretty lights and the Temple. So beautiful…I love it at Christmastime.

White Christmas, Winter Wonderland, Frosty…all appropriate descriptions for our Utah experience this year. It’s snowed on several days and it is several inches deep.

After arriving three hours late from Cali–yes, I love 3 am!–we had a nice relaxing day and got settled in. Brit loved the tree of course, and was really good about not touching the ornaments or presents too much either. He’s very timid about it until someone tells him it’s ok.

Monday it began dumping. I had an orthodontist appointment early and the roads weren’t very fun to drive on. When I got home we bundled Brit up in his coat, had, mittens and his aunt Chezney’s baby boots and ventured outside into the falling snow.

Getting dressed for the cold. He’s happy so far.

Not quite sure what this stuff is…

But, Daddy likes it, so it must be fun! Cool!

This looks like a ball, but it’s cold. Interesting!

He did really well and seemed to have fun, so we’ll deem the venture a success.

Joy and wonder

Every time we turn on the tree Brit lights up too. He loves looking at the ornaments. Thankfully he’s also been really good about not playing with the presents or ornaments that he can reach.

We’ve been pretty busy this week getting everything ready for Christmas and our trip to Utah. I can’t believe Christmas is just a week away. I feel like I haven’t done anything “holidayish” this year. I’ve been trying to read my Christmas stories, make sure the tree lights are on but I haven’t made any Christmas treats or anything. My excuse is that I’ll do it with my mom when I get home because she likes doing those things too and I’m the only one who likes to do them with her, but I still feel like I’m not doing enough to bring in the Spirit of Christmas.

On another note–Brit’s been “out” as long as he was “in.” He is 40 weeks old this week, 9 months old. It’s amazing. The whole pregnancy seemed to take so long, but it seems like his life has gone by so fast already. I love watching his grow and change all the time. Especially now, he does new things every day. He’s still a little guy. At his doctor’s appointment these were his stats:

28 inches tall, 17 pounds, 17 inch head. They didn’t give me the percentages, but I did them online at home, and he’s in the 5th-10th percent for weight and head. That means he’s only gained a pound since last time! Though, this kid eats! The doctor didn’t seem concerned about it though. Interestingly, he did say Brit can soon eat almost everything. Still no honey and a few other things, but he can have dairy and eggs, even milk. That’s right–the thing doctors everywhere say they can’t have till they’re 1. I asked him about it when he said he could eat yogurt and cheese. He said it’s fine, it won’t damage him and won’t likely make him allergic. He said they may be changing the guidelines because waiting longer to introduce foods may be causing more allergies, not preventing them. We’ll go slowly on that one though.

Some fun things he’s doing:

Turning the pages when we read a book

Raising his hand in a fist–he does this quite often. We think it’s kind of a “hi” or greeting. He always gives a big cheesy smile when he does it.

Big cheesy smiles–these are quite frequent these days. He scrunches his eyes and shows his teeth. He has 5 of them now.

Walking–not by himself, but he walks along everything and with the help of his beloved musical train (thanks GG Tate) he walks along as it rolls

Blabbing–seriously. It’s blah, blah, blah all the time. Sometimes he throws in a Ma, Da, Yeah or Hey too. I think his first word may be “yeah” He does say it, but I don’t think he knows what it means…so I haven’t counted it yet. Same thing with Mama. He says that when he wants comfort, but I don’t know if he really knows it’s me yet.

Eating by himself. He doesn’t like to get his hands slimy, so unless it’s a dry food, forget it, but he’s getting really good at getting everything into his mouth when he picks it up.  And he reaches for the spoon now too. Yay–we’re in for some messy feedings soon.

Crawling–bye bye Army crawl. I’m a bit sad to see it go. But, he’s become proficient on all fours now, and boy does he go. He has quite a quick little shuffle.

On a me note: Ah…the spa. My friend Kristie and I went to Burke Williams for mani/pedis at the high-end uber spa for our birthdays. We enjoyed talking while getting worked on. It seriously took like 2 hours! Then we relaxed while we finished drying, and enjoyed a quick visit to the eucalyptus steam room. So nice and fun. Alas, having a baby who wanted  me before going to sleep necessitated a reluctant departure. I think I know what I’m asking for for our anniversary.

And, we got our family photos! They turned out beautifully and we’re going to have a hard time choosing from all the others. Thanks Tawni!

Oh, we pulled off a good one this week! You should’ve seen the look on Grandma Sheri’s face when Brit and I showed up on her door Wednesday night. It’s been planned for weeks, but she had no idea. She was thrilled, of course, and we were too.

We drove up on Wednesday, and Brit was so good. We stopped a few times–to visit Grandpa in Las Vegas and to meet Lexie in Cedar City, but there were only a couple other stops, until the last 30 miles or so. Then he was about done. But, as soon as we were at Grandma’s he was just fine and happy.

We may have a virtuoso on our hands. He’s a natural…

Thursday we visited my friend Charlene and her 3 adorable boys. They’re so sweet and fun. I’m so excited for her to be having a girl next month–finally! Bummer we didn’t get any pictures.

Friday we went to Great-Grandma and Grandpa Tate’s house and Brit got his Christmas present early. Needless to say…he loved it! It plays lots of different music and has fun activities. Now he’s pushing it and walking around.

Just chillin’ with Grandma and Chezney. He likes cartoons. This is new.

Saturday was the real reason for our surprise visit; the surprise party for Mom and her twin sister Teri. Mark designed the invitations, set up a website, and plans were made. The ruse to get them out of the house and back was a birthday pedicure. The house quickly filled up with family and long-time friends, waiting patiently to yell SURPRISE! Only problem was, the salon seemed to be in no hurry and they were an hour and a half late returning! They suspected something, but thought it would only be family. Hahahaha, they seriously underestimated us.

We had a lot of fun. Here are their traditional Snowman and Teddy Bear cakes…though usually they’re in the actual shape.

They did manage to blow out all their candles. Happy Milestone Birthday Moms!

All the kids…if you didn’t notice, we’re next to our “twin”

Britton and Lexie sitting in a tree…

This is their first meeting. I think it went quite well. They’re already holding hands though…we could have a problem.

Thanks for letting us stop and hang out for a while Ange! It was great to see you, and adorable Lexie. Brit really needed the break too–both times!

Brit was an angel on the way home as well. We stopped over in Las Vegas and he had a rough night. So, the next morning he slept almost all the way home! He looked around everywhere when we arrived. It was like he was trying to remember it or something. Mark came home for lunch, and we were both really excited to see him. I think he missed us too…apparently it’s boring here without us.

Brit is now babbling constantly. Bababa, mamamam, yeah, ddddd, blablabla. He’s made noise before, but not like this. It’s fun copying him and trying to get him to say other things too. He’s got a lot more balance and he can sit down now after he pulls up, and is also taking little steps.

We’re having fun getting ready for Christmas and reading Brit stories. He’s also become fascinated with a porcelain Santa bank that I’ve had forever. When he sees it he leans toward it and gets really excited. I have no idea why it’s become his favorite thing, but it’s funny to watch.

      I know, it’s like a week after Thanksgiving and I’m just getting around to posting about the holiday and everything that went with it. But, better late than never! This week has been so busy, with something nearly every day. But, unfortunately not a ton of pictures to go with it. So, I’ll just have to be really descriptive.

Thanksgiving. What a day. We are very thankful that we had family to visit. We went to my great aunt and uncle’s house in Orange County and had a wonderful time visiting with them, their friends and granddaughters. Brit had a great meal of finely chopped veggies and turkey. He loved the turkey! And, apparently he likes spices because the veggies were from those I put into the dressing with the seasonings on them. 

One of our “appetizer” desserts were some Bliss Cakes…well, that’s not the real name, but that’s what I call them. They’re bunt cakes that are so soft and moist and delicious that it’s a blissful eating exprerience. They come in a few sizes, but we got baby ones. I’ll let you know when you can buy them on a regular basis and you can enjoy some bliss too! Thanks Krish and Cam for selling them…

Also, we’re grateful for the Gospel we have in our lives to help guide us in this tumultuous world. We’ve also been blessed with great, supportive friends. This is obviously the short list…

Friday was my “golden birthday” I turned 28 on the 28th! I can hardly believe that I’m closer to 30 than 25. I certainly don’t feel 28…I hope I’m saying things like that when I’m 88 too. Thanks to the wonderful birthday wishes. Thanks to Facebook, I’m more loved than I thought.  That birthday feature is great for that.  Mark made a wonderful waffle breakfast, and then after naps etc. we went down to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Brit loves fishies and I like it too. We had a great time seeing everything.

And, as you can see, Mark’s camera phone rocks, while mine struggles…oh well. Yes, we forgot the real camera. I think that’s the first time ever.

He hated being in his stroller because he wasn’t up high enough. For dinner we went to Gladstone’s on the water. As soon as we walked in Brit fell in love with the balloons they had. Our waiter brought him one and it was quickly his favorite toy. He gazed at it in awe as we raised and lowered it and moved it around. So fun! This is him at home:

We even got a family picture because the restaurant was doing “free” photo cards. Yeah, the picture was little on a big thing with their name and info. But, if we wanted a 5×7 of just us, it was $15 or 2 for $20! Seriously? Then it was home and I received my birthday gift I spontaneously requested: and Ebelskiever pan. They’re Danish filled pancakes that are sooooo good. My stepmom used to make them for us and I loved them. Now I have a pan of my own. Yay!

Saturday afternoon we went down to Laguna Beach for family photos by my friend Tawni. Yes, we went down to Orange County 3 days in a row. Thank goodness for cheap gas! The beach was beautiful, with rocks and tidepools and a gorgeous sunset too. I can hardly wait to get the pics back. From the couple I saw on her camera they’re going to be great! It was really good seeing her and her little family again. Her daughter Sofia is 2 and absolutely adorable, and her hubby Nate was a helpful “assistant.” Mark got some great shots of the sunset too.

Sunday we set up our Christmas decorations. I love it getting everything out and decorated. It just makes it feel like Christmas to see the tree and pine boughs and stockings. I am really excited to start sharing our traditions with Brit too. He’s stayed away from the tree for the most part, but there are a couple of low ornaments he can play with.

And, on Wednesday Brit and I drove up to Utah to surprise my mom for her birthday. And boy, did it work. She was completely shocked and thrilled. Sadly, in the darkness of the doorway she recognized Britton first. I guess we’re doing a pretty good job of keeping up to date with his pictures!

On our way, we stopped to see my friend Angie and her adorable baby girl Lexie. She and Brit will make a great couple one day. We got pics, but alas, they’re not uploaded yet. Cuteness to come…