Blessings

Our family is growing. Look how cute we are outside of our house. Did you notice the pretty flowers behind us? This past weekend my sister had a little baby shower for me and Lauren. It was really nice to have all of my family here to see our new house and Lauren. My aunt and cousins were able to make it over here from Illinois, along with all of my family. And since everyone was already here, we did Lauren's blessing at church on Sunday. My mom made the cutest dress ever for Lauren. Thanks mom! I really love it!


Dylan with his cousins Brayden and Landen by the lake outside. Dylan really loves his cousins. Brayden, Madeline (my cousin's little girl) and Dylan walking back to our house. They fed the fish and ducks in the pond. Dylan would be out there everyday if we let him!

My family all came for Lauren's blessing.
Look at how our family is growing!

Dylan was being really cute in the tree! I still can't believe how big he has gotten! I guess part of that is comparing him to Lauren.My precious little girl!

We took some pictures of Lauren with her pretty blessing dress. Here are some of the best ones.



I think she looks a lot like Dylan in these pictures! She is growing each and every day. Thanks to everyone for helping us out. We really appreciate it.

August already?!?!

Lauren sleeping on my lap. She seems to sleep best if someone is holding her!

Such a sweet little girl!
Can you tell she loved her first bath?!?!
Big yawns!
My little baby is sitting up already! J/K I can't believe she is already 3 weeks old! Time sure does fly! Once thing settle down, I will post more pics. Dylan got a cold and started weezing this morning. I really hope Lauren doesn't get it! We are trying to get some sleep as Lauren changed her schedule to being awake at night. Hope everyone is doing well!

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!