As always I have needed to update the space forever.  The problem is, I want to take enough time to cover everything and I never seem to get a moment (an hour)  to sit down and do it right!  So this time I will give it a shot, with apologies to those people and events that have slipped my mind...

 

So, when we left off Tate had turned one and he had a dairy allergy and we were headed to Hawaii.  Well, he's still one and will actually be 15 months old on Friday!  I can't believe it - I am a Mom and have a beautiful 15 month old baby boy!  I never would have dreamed I would be so lucky :)  As for his dairly allergy this, unfortunately, remains.  We have to keep him off of all dairy for several months and then have his blood drawn again and then if it's ok, go to the clinic for an "oral challenge" which is basically the administratin of dairy in a safe environment with Doctors around in case it doesn't go well.  I have faith that he will outgrow this thing and one day be able to love cheese as much as his Mommy.  :)

 

And then there was HAWAII!  We had a fabulous trip!  We played in the sun, on the beach and at the pool with Grossmama and Grosspapa, our most gracious hosts.  We spent all of our time playing with Tate and sleeping and eating and it was the ideal vacation!  Tate did really well and love love loves the water.  We had so much fun visiting mom and Ted and look forward to a visit that they plan to make this summer when they'll spend more than just a day or two in Seattle!  We also had fun there with Carlos, Dawn and Cole who were there at the same time in a neighboring condo.  That made the trip even more fun and Cole seemed to like the Island!

 

I have been busy at Spark and Scott is working hard at Microsoft.  We had a great time celebrating Easter with the Livingstons who all came over for church and brunch.  Tate made a real showing at Easter service (see video) and he is quite popular amongs the congregation.  Things are going really well at our new church and I completed "The Way of Jesus" with a renewed baptism on Palm Sunday that was really special.  We look forward to getting to know everyone in the small congregation even better over the coming months.

 

Tate is officially signed up for preschool now.  He will start attending the Magnolia Co-op in the fall in the "1's" class which is just a one day a week short class with the parents but should be a great way to get to know other little guys in the hood. 

 

Tate is so amazing - I feel like I've said this a lot but the boy just talks and talks and it's so cute.  He says just about anything now.  He says Dada and Dayee (which are the same thing) and we hear a lot of MomMom and he even said Grandpapa last night very clearly.  He can say just about anything he can eat or drink - blueberry, cracker, wawa, baba and he amazes us with new words and incredible behavior every day.  The other day he took the magnet for the childproof locks we have in the kitchen off the table, and brought it over to the cabinet, held the handle and tried to find the sweet spot that unlocks the door.  I'm biased, but this kid is mensa for certain.  :)

 

We signed Tate up for Gymboree and he loves going to classes.  We just got Neisha a car seat for her car so she can take Tate around to Gymobree and play dates as the weather gets warmer so that will be fun.  We were honored by a request from Neish and her fiance for Tate to be the ring bearer in their wedding in June!  We can't wait to celebrate with them and to see Tate in his little tuxedo!

 

Finally, last weekend we spent the night at Aunt Dorianne and Uncle Ross's house which was a lot of fun.  Dorianne and I talked about (more than worked on) scrapbooks and Tate had a small breakthrough - he fed himself with a spoon!  I don't know if kids are supposed to be doing that at his age, he probably shoud have been doing it for a while but hey - it was fun to see!  check out the video...

 

Ok so that's enough rambling for one night.  Hope you all are well!

 

Love,

The Livingstons