The Livingstons

Tate's best friend is an empty Mickey Mouse pez dispenser.  He loves him - and he pronounces him meh ee mowse.  He asks for him when he gets up in the morning and especially when we get in the car :)

 

So much has changed around here but Tate remains a constant source of love and laughter for us.  He is more amazing by the day - we can't believe all he can do and say now!  He talks incessantly.  Half babble, half words.  He can say just about anything by repeating what we say, but it's the more proactive use of words that blows us away.  He let's us know what he wants by saying things like "blueberry", "keys", "up up", "night night", "bees" (which means blankey), "wa wa" (water) and lots of others I don't have time to type here.  It's a joy to communicate with him in new ways every day.  Right now we're working on our please and thank yous and I think he's slowly starting to understand that he's going to need to incorporate those :)

 

So getting caught up...  We celebrated our birthdays in April by taking things easy.  Other than seeing Dave Matthews (with the Dali Lama which was very cool) we were at home.  Our favorite thing to do is have a day at home together with nothing on the agenda so we can relax and let the day happen spontaneously.  We've landed in this great zone where Tate is on a predictable schedule and we have the flexibility to really enjoy him without stressing about what's supposed to happen next. 

 

Sadly, my uncle Werner died the 2nd week of April.  He had been fighting lung cancer for the past couple of years and got to the point where there was nothing more anyone could do to help him.  It was a mixed blessing but a sad time, especially for my Mom and my Aunt Suzie. 

 

Grandpa Paul came to visit in late April and we had a great time - especially going to a pizza party at Qwest field with some of the Seahawks!  We got a special tour of the whole facility including the team's locker room, the press box and the field!  Thanks to cousin Natalie for inviting us!

 

May has been busy for us - we started with a trip to Twin Falls to visit Scott's Grandfather (who will be 98 in July!) which was fun but Tate got the flu while we were there. Fortunately he still got in some time with Papa and we had a nice visit.  The following week I got whatever Tate had and I was a wreck.  I even missed the Mother's day celebration with Judy, Carroll, & Dorianne down in Auburn.  But Scott and Tate went and had fun.  Then two weeks ago we celebrated all of the Livingston birthdays happening lately over at Jeff and Cristy's.  It was a really hot day and the kids had  great time playing in the water in the back yard while the adults enjoyed brunch.  Tate is a real water baby.  He just loves to be in it and cannot be stopped from getting in it if it's anywhere nearby.

 

Last week we went down to Arizona to visit my Grandma, Marguerite (whom Tate calls Gram Pete).  We actually started the trip by visiting our friends the Chitwoods and had a great time.  Anne and Matt have a 2.5 year old (Allison) and a 1 yr old (Ryan) and Tate was in heaven playing with those guys and all of their toys!  Ironically the weather was pretty rotten - overcast, cold and rainy but we did our best to battle the elements to get the kids out to the pool anyway.  Tate was shivering but he had the best time ever and was VERY upset when I tried to get him out to warm him up!  The visit with Gram Pete was wonderful and she and Tate got in some good bonding time.  We found a little water park near Gram Pete's house that we went to as well and Tate loved that too.

 

Now we're back home but today Tate and I took Scott to the airport - he is in the air right now flying to India.  I'm not excited about this at all (very sad) - I hate him being so far away from us but it's only for a week, right?  We're going to have to send him lots of pictures so he doesn't forget about us :)

 

Hope you are all well!

Dawn

 

 

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

 

 

As usual I can't believe how long it has been since I updated this space.  So much has happened!

 

First and foremost Tate had his first birthday!  We celebrated on his birthday with Kelly and Charlie, Katie, Josie, Choo Choo Bob and Jane Ann.  We also went to meet the PEPS friends that day at the community center and had pizza!  Tate had a fun day and Scott and I just stood in awe of this amazing boy who is growing up so fast!  The next day was his big party and since the Seahawks were playing we had a Seahawks theme.  The whole Livingston family came over along with the Self family, Neisha, Sean and Julie & Ken Cox.  Tate was so lucky to have all of these people over to celebrate AND they brought him some fun presents!  He was a happy boy and we had a nice day.

 

A couple of days later I decided to try giving Tate some whole milk to see how he liked it and unfortunately he had a really bad reaction to it - got disoriented, kept touching his ears and throat, got red hives and became instantly lethargic.  I found out later that this was an anapylactic reaction to the milk and that Tate has a more severe dairy allergy than we realized.  This is really scary for us.  We went to get his blood drawn at Children's so we can get a baseline of his antibodies and can monitor those to see if he will grow out of it over time.  In the meantime it is getting difficult to find fun new things for him to eat because no dairy is somewhat limiting but we're working on it!

 

Another big milestone in Tate's life happened recently - he got is first haircut!  He was so great about it - he totally behaved and I have to say it looks so cute!  It makes him look older like a real toddler now but it's darling.

 

The day after the big haircut we got the news that good friends Ron, Kim and Henry Preston welcomed the newest member of their family, Georgia Jill on Thursday the 24th.  Needless to say Tate and I (Scott was out of town) rushed right over to the hospital to meet the little princess.  Welcome baby Georgia!!

 

Tate is so much fun - he is walking everywhere including up the stairs.  He doesn't go down them so well but we'll get there.  We had some friends over whose daughter, Ainsley is Tate's age and they had a bath together and it was the cutest thing I've ever seen.  We are loving the new addition on the house - Tate got new closets put in that should help us get better organized.  He's also talking a lot.  He says Mama and Dada and he says book - it just doesn't sound like book.  and he says "wow" and "hello"

 

I'm busy working these days and so is Scott.  We are settling into a routine and it's working out really well.  We have also officially joined our church - Queen Anne United Methodist.  We are really enjoying services there and I joined a small group called "The Way of Jesus" that I"m enjoying very much.

 

We had a fun time watching the superbowl - what a game, huh?   Now we're planning and looking forward to our upcoming trip in March to Hawaii!

 

Hope everyone is doing well :)

 

Dawn, Scott & Tate

It was Tate's first Christmas and what a wonderful holiday we had!  He shined the whole month of December and was never lacking for love or attention :)

 

The big events started early this year - with the annual Preston holiday party on December 8th.  That was a great time as always - we got to see lots of friends that we don't get to spend enough time with the rest of the year.  Neisha came over and spent the night with Tate and they had a fun time.  She ended up staying the whole next day so Scott and I could go to the Seahawk game which was fun.  We're going again on Saturday to the home playoff game and Grandpapa is coming over to babysit for Tate.

 

Then on December 11th we flew to Denver which was suprisingly eventful.  In the middle of our filght there was a loud noise, the plane shook and we started descending.  A little scary... turns out we blew an engine and had to divert to Salt Lake City for several hours before we could get on another flight to Denver.  But we arrived safely and dropped Tate off with Grossmama and Grosspapa so they could watch him while we went to Mexico for 4 days to cousin Erik's wedding.  We flew to Mexico City on December 13th and had a real adventure trying to drive our rental car to the hotel which was about 2.5 hours south of the city. 4+ hours later we pulled up and it was worth it because it's a beautiful spot.  We had a great dinner at the Hotel Cocoyoc compliments of Aunt Linda and Uncle Paul and I spent the next day relaxing by one of their 5 pools while Scott and the boys played golf.  Then we headed out to the reception spot - La Finca Guadeloupe which was about 30 mins south of Cuatla.  It was another adventure trying to find that place but again we made it.  I ended up going to sleep at 7:30 that night and sleeping until the next morning.  The grounds of the reception area (which is where the whole family stayed) were truly beautiful.  Jesica (the bride) chose a very special spot for the wedding.  The wedding itself was in a church in Cuatla and it was beautiful as well.  The reception lasted.... 11 hours.  Oh yes - it was a long one!  The mariachi band didn't come out until after 1am!  It was a great time and we're glad we we went.  Flying home the next day was another adventure but we made it and I couldn't wait to see Tate because I had been missing him so much!  

 

Tate had a great time with Grossmama and Grosspapa and when we got back we all had a great few days together.  Mom had a holiday party so that was fun and then we shopped and went out to dinner and just relaxed.  Then we went over to Dad and Sallie's which was also very laid back and relaxing.  BIG NEWS - Tate took his very first steps on Friday December 21st!!  It was very exciting.  He hasn't progressed beyond about 5 steps yet but it's a big deal and he's very proud :)  Dad and Sallie's house was decorated with the traditional huge tree for Christmas and we ate lots of great food and had lots of time to visit.  Grandma came in on Sunday and got lots of Tate time too.  Christmas Eve was spent at Grossmama's house with Darren, Dawn, the kids and Dawn's sister, Heather and her family.  It was really nice and Tate was one tired boy afterwards!  Christmas day was very nice as well with a big turkey dinner around 3:00 and then mellow time.   Overall it was a great great trip!

 

It was nice to be home to Seattle and to our "new" house with Tate's new room.  He gets baths in his own bathtub now and likes his room.  He can climb all the way up the stairs by himself (with someone close behind to catch the occasional mis-step) and he's a happy happy boy.  On Saturday the 29th we went down to Aunt Dorianne's house for the Livingston Christmas dinner and celebration which was a really nice family time and Tate got lots of amazing new toys and clothes!  He loves them and has a whole host of new things to play with now.  The cousins, Amy, Matthew and Anna got lots of fun things too and everyone played all day long.  THe next night we hosted the annual Livingston, Cox, Williams holiday dinner at our house.  We had 14 adults and 7 kids here - it was a full house but it was still a really nice time catching up with friends.  Then on New Year's Eve a few friends came over to our house for a mellow New Year's gathering.  Ron, Kim and Henry came over along with Lisa, Troxel, Uncle Ross and Aunt Dorianne.  We had fun playing Rock Band in the basement.  Ron has a real knack for singing. 

 

And now we're caught up.  What a busy time!  but a great time and I'm a little sad it's back to the grind now.  But we look forward to another great year in 2008! 

 

All the best,

Dawn, Scott & Tate

I can't believe it's finally done - Tate has a new room and bathroom and he has actually slept in there for two nights.  He seems to like it and it's much easier for us having him upstairs with us. 

 

We celebrated Thanksgiving last week with Mom & Ted, Carroll & Judy and Dorianne.  It was a really nice day, complete with a turbo kick session with Dorianne and everyone got to try out the new game, Rock Band.  I like the drums, Scott has gotten really good on guitar.  And the turkey turned out ok - I think it may have been a little dry but it was edible.  Tate loved his first Thanksgiving especially because Grandma Judy brought him a new toy - his first Thomas train.  It makes noises and the front light lights up too. 

 

We're getting ready for Christmas by decorating the house.  Scott is working on the lights and I'm trying to throw up some things around here to make it more holiday-esque.  We're not getting a tree this year, sadly, because we'll be in Denver and Mexico for such a big part of the month so it really doesn't make sense.  But we're having our neighbors over for cocktails next week and it will be good to have some Christmas stuff up.

 

Tae has 4 teeth and he's working on a 5th.  He's growing so fast.  He motors around all over the house now, and he can walk as long as he's holding on to something.  He can climb up the stairs and I'm pretty sure he would make it down them if we let him, albeit with a concussion since he tries to power straight down.  Ond day he'll have to fall so he gets a feel for depth and starts to take some caution.  He eats more all the time and a bigger variety of stuff.  We think he may have some weird allergy thing going because he can't do yogurt or cheese but we're hopeful he'll grow out of that.  He is having some separation anxiety, getting upset whenever he is left alone and I'm pretty sure he now knows what he means when he says "mama".  He seems to say "Dada" too but that one is harder to understand. 

 

So we're heading to Denver on the 11th to drop Tate off with Grossmama and Grosspapa while we head down to Mexico City for Scott's cousin Erik's wedding.  That should be a great time - then we fly back to Denver on the 16th and stay there until the 26th.  I'm hoping we'll see some old friends while we're there and get in some snowboarding. 

 

I hope everyone else is enjoying the holiday season!

 

Dawn