Second Cousin for Tate in a Week!

Calvin (formally known as Cooper) Charles Hess was born to Brandon and Calli Hess on Tuesday morning. We went and saw him on Tuesday night at the U hospital. He is such a sweet little boy and is a miracle baby! He was supposed to have so many problems and there were so many scares in the pregnancy...we are so grateful he is here and healthy! We had fun visiting with Aubrey and Bracken (their other kids) in the hospital. Bracken kept calling Tate, "Baby Tape," and was obsessed with holding him. He just turned 3 and is such a funny little boy! He kept saying, "Baby Tape..he so cute." :)

(I only have one picture of the baby because I had a traumatic experience- I dropped my camera in the parking lot of the hospital and it broke. So, I have experienced PTSD and cried. I am only now able to blog again....)

One more thing....Happy Birthday Calli (Friday)! We love you!

Preppy Baby

Welcome to the World, Trey Hess!

Nathan's brother Darren and his wife Julie had their fourth child last night, Trey Hess. He is the 14th Hess grandchild and Tate's closest cousin. We went up to Ogden yesterday to see the brand new baby. Tate had fun seeing his cousins and kept giving his cousin, Jennica, hugs. It was pretty sweet! There is another baby on the way that should be here on Tuesday and another later this summer- all boys! Tate will have three cousins his same age to play with!!!! These pictures were taken when little Trey was just about 35 minutes old. He is such a sweet little boy

Wii Fit and Other Fun Stuff

We are so excited because we got our Wii Fit yesterday in the mail. For those of you who don't know about the Wii Fit, it is awesome! It is a little balance board that weighs you, tells you your center of balance and is used for over 40 fitness activities. Yesterday, we did step aerobics, push ups, hula hoop, skiing, running and a bunch of other fun stuff. I am hoping that this will motivate me to work out!! (That is the plan, anyways!)

Also, here are some cute pictures of Tate that I have taken over the past week. Such a fun baby boy!

Tate's New Toy

On a Walk When the Weather Was Actually Nice (not 40 degrees and raining like today)

He is Getting so Big!

A Big Milestone for Tater Boy

Tate made his first trip to the mall yesterday!! Yes, it was very exciting!! My mom took my sister and I shopping and Tater Boy came along. I am ashamed to say he is almost 8 months old and had never been to the mall. :) He was so sweet and cute. I had to watch him while shopping because he was trying to eat the clothes on the lower racks. I doubt anyone shopping at Banana Republic wants baby drool on their clothes!!

Poor Jazz!!

Nathan and I went to the Jazz vs Lakers Playoff game last night. It was quite the experience!!! I have never heard that much noise in my whole life! We had really bad seats (cause we are not rich!!), but we got to see the pre-game and most of the first quarter from the 8th row from the floor. It was awesome to see the players so close. We got to view the almighty Kobe Bryant from a few feet away!! Sadly, the Jazz could not make it happen and they lost the game. It was alot of fun and a late night for us (well, mostly me!).

PS- These pictures were taken with my cell phone and do not do our first seats justice. My little camera decided to break and erase all pictures.

Our first seats...

Our REAL seats...

Happy Mother's Day!!

This is a tribute to all mothers, especially our mothers. Mothers are the best and I don't know what we would do without them! Nathan's mom has seven kids, 13 grandchildren (3 more on the way) and she is one of the most thoughtful people I have ever met. I don't know how she keeps up with everything!! We sure do wish she lived closer and we could see her more often! My mom is wonderful and does so much. She just graduated after a long hard road while working full time (and also part time!). She loves Tate and is a great help with him. AlSO, she supplies Tate with his Baby Gap wardrobe (she works there!!!!). What can I say? I love moms and I am so grateful for our moms!!!!

I had a WONDERFUL Mother's Day. Nathan made it so special and was so sweet. Tate (Nathan) got me the cutest mother firgurine that I will keep forever to remind me of my first Mother's Day!! We also went to my mom's house for a Mother's Day/ Katie's Bday celebration. It was alot of fun and Tate enjoyed hanging out with the family. Also, I spent the whole weekend working on a birthday cake for Katie (more for my own practice and experimentation). It turned out ok and I was just happy it was not a disaster. It was my first attempt in working with Fondant, making Buttecream Icing and doing anything other than a box cake. It actually tasted good too, which I felt like was a huge accomplishment!

Soooo big!

Tate seems to be growing bigger everyday. Sometimes, we will look over at him and we can't believe how big he is! He still hasn't mastered (or even really attempted) crawling. He does love to stand, jump and stomp his little feet.

7 Months Old Today!

Tate is 7 months old today. Can you believe it? He is such a wonderful little boy and we love him so much!! I didn't know you could love such a little person so much! It has been a wild and action packed 7 months. Tate is more fun than ever. He loves to roll all over the house and discover new things. He is working on crawling, but doesn't quite get it yet. He is interested in everything and wants to touch everything he sees. He loves to play with paper. It is his favorite toy! :) Tate loves to say MaMa and DaDa. He says MaMa when he is tired, hungry, or needs his diaper changed and he says DaDa when he wants to play. Isn't that nice? I guess he knows already what our jobs are with him!! He loves to imitate any sounds or faces anyone makes to him. He recently started talking in a really really high voice because I guess that is how I talk to him. He is more aware of strangers and anyone who isn't his mom or dad. He stares at new people (or someone he hasn't seen in awhile) and tries to figure them out. After a few seconds, he stops staring and smiles and plays with anyone. He is SUCH a sweet boy and I can't imagine being happier. He has made our lives so much fuller. He cracks us up everyday and I am so excited for all of the fun milestones coming up. I am pretty sure this kid will always keep us entertained. I guess he takes after his parents........

Hives and an Orange Goatee

Interesting title, huh? This title describes our week with Tate and new foods. On Wednesday of last week, we were all set to change Tate from his Hypoallergenic fancy formula to a still fancy, but a little less expensive, sensitive formula. He acted fine while he was eating it and seemed to like it. Afterwards, I was watching him to see if his tummy was hurting. He was a happy boy and was playing on the floor babbling. After a few minutes, I noticed that he started to get a rash around his mouth and that his ears were really red. He was especially wiggly so I took off his pajamas. His body was COVERED in hives! It was so scary! Then, after a few more minutes, his ears were swollen (picture Will Smith on Hitch) and his face had hives as well. I was so scared that his throat was going to close up, but he seemed to be fine. As soon as the Pediatrician opened (among the longest 10 minutes of my life), I called and they wanted to see us first thing. By the time we went to the doctor, the Hives had gone away. It turns out that Tate has a Milk Protein allergy. I didn't even know that lactose allergy and milk protein allergies were different. I am learning so much with this little baby..... So, Tate has to stay on his fancy fancy formula until he is 1 year old and will most likely grow out of the allergy. I guess the Nutramigen formula (which sparks a comment from the cashier EVERY TIME I buy it about how expensive it is- like I am not aware!) will be around for awhile longer in our house. It is worth it though not to have any more scary allergic reactions!!

Then, the orange goatee.... Tate ate Sweet Potatoes today for the first time. He loved them and seemed happy to eat something with flavor. He was much happier throughout the meal time than he is with Rice Cereal. I don't blame him. I tried the Sweet Potato baby food and it was good. I would eat it! Here are some pictures from our morning:

Before we started....

Let's give it a try...He's not sure about it yet.....

He likes it!!

Tate in the Tub

I realized today that I hadn't taken a picture of Tate in the bathtub since his first bath. Tate loves being in the tub and he loves to try and lick any water that falls down near his mouth. Tate's hair is only growing in the center of his head (like a mohawk), so we like to have fun while shampooing his hair. He seems to enjoy it!!

All Clean!! (Thanks to Jaci for the cute towel!)