Lauren Kylie Tate

Hey! We just wanted to announce the arrival of Lauren Kylie Tate to our family! She was born on Monday, July 14th at 8:09 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 3/4 inches long. She has black hair and a great complexion. So far, she has been doing great! She is eating well and sleeping well. She is already growing so quickly! Check back for more postings soon!

Love, Ricky, Melissa and Dylan

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Before

After

Our new family! How cute!

What's new?

Where to start... Life has definitely been busy around here. Sometimes I just don't know where my day went! I'm sure all of you have had those times in your life, too. I am 38 weeks pregnant and definitely feeling like it! It is hard for me to sit at the computer for more than 10 mins at a time. It will probably be just pictures after next week, too. My doctor is inducing me on July 14th if nothing happens before then. I am looking forward to seeing our little girl!
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We bought a minivan last week! I still can't believe that I'm a minivan mom with only one kid right now! (I know, I know. I'll have two soon enough!) We decided that it was time to get a second vehicle with the baby coming and Ricky starting school again in August. We got a Toyota Sienna and we love it! I'll get some pictures this weekend and post them for you to see!
One of my friends from church helped me plant flowers in the front and on the side of our house. I really love them! It looks so much better than the weeds and large bushes that were overtaking the front. Thanks Amy! I also learned a lot from her! I think we are done for this year, but I will definitely be planting more next spring.
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Last weekend, I got to go visit with my grandparents in Illinois. It was great to see everyone, since I probably won't be traveling over there anytime soon! My mom and I had a great time socializing on the car ride. Thanks Mom!
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Ricky and I got a new calling at church! Any guesses?!?! We are the CTR 5 teachers in primary. It is the 4-5 year olds, but we only have half of them. There are 9 kids in our class, so you can see why they split them up! We are really enjoying it and learning a lot from them. It will be different to be away for a month when the baby comes! They are all asking if I will bring the baby to class when I have her! How cute!
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Dylan is turning into such a big boy! He can count to 10 and he can sing a TON of songs! It still amazes me how quickly they learn new things! He comes into our room in the morning to wake us up. I couldn't ask for a better alarm clock! Some days he comes in and gives us a kiss. Other days he comes in and says, "I want a donut." Where does he come up with these things? He loves to read books and play with friends. He really likes to go outside and play, too! It has been hard for me to keep up with him and do all the activities that he wants with being so pregnant! He is taking it very well, so far! I think he understands that he's going to have a baby sister. It's really cute when you ask him were the baby is, he points to my tummy. Then if you ask him if it's a baby sister or brother, he'll say sister! I hope the transition will go smoothly! Ricky is taking off two weeks, so it should help him feel good! Another funny thing Dylan has picked up (thanks to daddy) is when you ask him what he wants to eat, he will say, "Chicken McSpicy and french fries from McDonalds." Ricky always calls the sandwich chicken McSpicy, so now Dylan does too! We don't even go to McDonald's very often! You've gotta love their imaginations! Another cute thing that Dylan started saying was, "Don't let the dragon get me." He got a dragon that walks for his birthday, and he keeps thinking that the dragon is going to get him or his toys. I have to reassure him that the dragon is put away and that he won't get him. Funny, funny!
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We took Dylan to see his first movie in the theater. We saw Kung Fu Panda and he LOVED it! He wouldn't even eat his popcorn he was so into the movie! It was so much fun, especially since Ricky is such a movie buff.
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Well, I just heard him walking down the hall, so I gotta go! Hope all is well!

We survived!

Where to begin... Dylan and I survived another week without Ricky. He had to finish his manager training in Ohio before the baby comes. We kept busy by going to my parent's house. My dad was gone on a fishing trip with one of his friends, so my mom and I got to spend some time together! It was lots of fun! On Sunday, we spent the day with mom and I started sewing a blanket. I got a sewing machine for Christmas and am just now opening it! How sad is that?!? I am hoping to get a few projects done before the baby comes! Monday, Crystal invited us to join them at the Indy Zoo. It was really nice outside and the boys had a wonderful time! The kids got to feed the giraffes. Dylan was sorta scared of them, but Landen jumped right in there! They had such long tongues!
Dylan even got to see a baby elephant! He was really excited!
Then, we went to the water play place. Dylan didn't want to get too wet, so we got ice cream. His first very own ice cream cone! Thanks Crystal! He loved every lick of it! It was really cute. He would share it with Landen, but he had to stick his tongue out.
On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I baby sat for a girl from church. We went over to Jaime's house to let the kids enjoy the nice weather one day. They had so much fun in the sprinkler and running around getting their energy out. They both took 3 hour naps that day!

Friday we went back to my parent's house for the weekend. Ricky flew in on Friday night really late, so we spent the night. Mom took a vacation day on Friday, so we went garage saling and just hung out. It was really nice to be able to just hang out with nothing to do! Dylan went swimming with grandma and jumped on the trampoline. He had so much fun! On Saturday, mom took some pregnancy pictures. We used a black sheet for the background, but I haven't cropped them yet. Some of them turned out blurry... I really don't like my camera! So, here are some of the best shots. Thanks mom!

This week I am hoping to get the nursery put together. Mom and I painted it last week, but I needed Ricky to help move the furniture. I will get some pictures when it's all done. I can't wait to see how it looks finished! We hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are!

Chicago

For Mother's day, Ricky gave me a mini-vacation to Chicago! We went on Monday and came back on Wednesday. It was the perfect get-a-way before the baby comes! We had such a wonderful time and the weather was beautiful! It was a really relaxing trip, even though we went to 2 museums and the zoo!

On Monday we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a little chilly, but nice. Dylan was looking forward to seeing the elephants all day long! We were talking about all the animals that he would see, and he was really excited about the elephants! Turns out that the zoo didn't even have any elephants! They had everything but elephants! Just our luck! We found a stuffed one in the gift shop for him, so he was happy.

Ricky and Dylan outside of the Farm part of the Zoo.They let the kids feed the cows! Dylan was so happy!
This is the jaguar. It was really cool to see all the different 'big cats' up close. They had a cougar, lion, jaguar, and tiger.

Dylan had to look at the fishes! He asks to see them every time we go to the store!
There is a black bear behind Dylan! The bear was asleep and they had a tunnel to look at them! It was pretty cool!

Here is the Rhino. Dylan was asking about seeing them today in the car! It still amazes me how much he can remember and how fast he is learning!Dylan thought the polar bear was really cool swimming by! It took a while to get him to leave this exhibit!

On Tuesday, we decided to ride the bus over to the train station and take the train to the Field Museum. It seemed like it took forever to get there, but we only spent 5 dollars for a train ticket and didn't have to worry about traffic or parking! I'm sure we saved a ton of money by riding the train, plus Dylan was so excited to ride the bus and the train! He was telling everyone he saw! It was cute!

Nap time at the museum! Dylan did great for not getting a nap! He rested for a while while we saw all of the 'stuffed' animals in the exhibit. He got to see a lot of the animals that he had seen at the zoo! It was cute having him point out all the different animals!

Watch out... the alligator is coming to get you! Dylan started saying this (not about the alligator, but himself) before he runs after you! He loved seeing all the animals!

Daddy and Dylan posing for a picture!

Dylan just before he fell asleep on the train! He didn't want to miss anything! We took a little detour on the way home to stop at a Giordano's. You can't go to Chicago without getting a Chicago-style pizza! It was really good!

On Wednesday, we went for a swim at our hotel before heading over to Kohl Children's Museum. One of my friends recommended it, and it was perfect for Dylan! I would highly recommend it for anyone with small children! They had tons of activities for children up to age 8! On our way there, Dylan fell asleep, so Ricky and I took turns getting lunch to eat in the car. He got a little nap in, which helped keep him active for the afternoon at the museum!

There was a grocery store were the children could shop for anything they wanted! They filled up the cart and then took it to the register!

Then, they got to be the cashier and scan their purchases! The scanner actually beeped when you ran the bar code across it! Dylan had a lot of fun!

They had a water works room, where you learn about all the different ways water can move things. Luckily they had aprons for the kids to wear!

They had a nature area with a cute little boat to ride! Watch out for Captain Dylan!

Dylan got to play vet for a while! He was listening to the dogs heart and then he decided that the dog needed a shot. He then put the dog in the cage to recover.

If you know Dylan, then you know he LOVED the music room! Look at his cute face! They had all kinds of instruments for the kids to play with! Let's make some music!

They had a stage where you could see yourself dancing. Dylan had to get up there and shake his thing!

They had a PotBelly's sub shop with cute little aprons. Look at our little worker! He made a nice big sandwich with lots of cheese!

Daddy got to enjoy it while Dylan drank the milkshake!

While Ricky and I rested for a while (chasing a 2 year old for 3 hours can get tiring!), Dylan played with the train set. He did a really good job of sharing with the other kids that would come up to the table. Good job Dylan!Mommy and Dylan! (He was exhausted by this point!)

Since it was my Mother's day gift, I told Ricky that I really wanted to go to IKEA. I had never been there, but had heard wonderful things about it! I was really excited and got some cute things for our house! I am looking forward to going back soon! Thanks Ricky! I had a wonderful time!

Spring time fun!

Life has been busy around here lately. I am filling in for a friend with babysitting a 3 year old girl from 8 to 5 everyday. It is different than I expected, but I'm learning a lot from it. I am hoping that it will help Dylan when the baby comes in July! I guess it is helping me learn how to deal with 2 kids! Luckily, they are both pretty good and listen to me. For the most part, they love to play together! I've also figured out that girls really are different from boys! It should be fun learning all about it! By the end of the day, I am usually beat and don't get much done!

Last week, we took Dylan bowling and he loved it! He was such a cutie! He had such a good time showing off for the group next to us! He kept calling the guy next to us grandpa! It was really funny! I guess he associates the word grandpa to anyone who looks like they are old enough to be his grandpa!

One of the cold days last week, we played basketball in the garage. I love having a house! Dylan wanted to ride his "mycycle," as he calls his tricycle. I think it's cute! He loves to play and be outside! I'm looking forward to getting a swing set for our backyard!

I was working on a project for mother's day for both grandmas, and ended up taking lots of pictures of Dylan. I thought this one turned out pretty cute! On a side note, I have a question for you...What do you think about cutting Dylan's hair to all the same length? I don't like having to pay 10+ dollars every 5 weeks to get his hair cut! I don't want it buzzed, but I was thinking with it being summer and all that it would be OK to cut it shorter! Let me know what you think!

Last Friday, we had playgroup at Columbian Park Zoo. It's a local zoo that is free (one of the few things these days!) and close to home. The kids had a great time in the petting part with the baby horses, goats, and llama. We are definately going back when the weather is better to see more of the animals. We got all of the kids together for this picture since some of them will be leaving us for good. We will definitely miss them!