A Big Fat Boo Boo!

Well yesterday afternoon Berkley got her first "really good boo boo!" She was crawling around while I was on the computer and she reached for my hand and missed it and hit the edge of the computer desk straight on! The second it happened I heard a thud and she looked up and just started going to town screaming! I have never felt so horrible in my entire life! And the worse part is what those things look like when they first happen; NOT PRETTY! Of course she had a huge blue line across her forehead and a big ol' goose egg! By the evening it looked better but still not her normal beautiful forehead! (And of course Rance is graduating this Friday night, so pictures will be not so perfect!) But this morning she woke up and the swelling had gone down and it doesn't look as bad today! She is also getting her upper, left middle tooth so she is not so happy at the present time! She has also started loving watching softball with us and since the College World Series is fixing to get up and running, we are totally excited! (You can see photographic proof that she likes it; I am not making it up though I am totally going to encourage the whole softball bit!) For those of you who aren't familiar, I played collegiate softball at Vernon College for two years after I graduated high school and my sister was a member of the Angelo State Rambelle softball team, so we are a little crazy about our softball! (Oh yeah my dad also gives pitching lessons to about 30 girls around my hometown area-but we aren't partial to any specific positions or sports around here!) Oh and Berk found Thad's football the other day and she thoroughly enjoyed playing with it! (Again, we are not partial to sports around here!) But overall she is still just enjoying life and here are some pics of her boo boo!

Meadows

5/21/09...Clapping away! As you can see she is getting quite large; so large that some denim shorts that Gran and Pops bought her two weeks ago in 12-18 months have had their one-time wear!

5/23/09..."Hey dad, check this out! Hut, hut!"

5/23/09...She loves her da-da!
5/24/09...Watching softball on TV!

5/26/09...The boo boo right after the fact

5/26/09...Again

5/26/09...After the swelling had gone down but still looking blue!

5/26/09..."Mom, why did you let that happen to me?!"

5/26/09..."Surely my moo cow will make it better!"

***I will upload photographic proof sometime that Berk comes from good softball stock ("good" of course being a relative term, but I've got videos too!!)*******

Berkley is Getting So Excited!

She is getting so excited about her momma staying with her this summer that it makes her shake her booty! Here is your proof:

She is also becoming much more vocal and here she is "playing" with the doggies through the door in our bedroom:

She is so much fun right now and she gets on these spurts when she will just babble, babble, babble! She is also wearing 12 month clothes which makes me really sad for some reason! Maybe because this year has just absolutely flown by and I don't want her to grow up! :( I can't wait to get to spend the days with her this summer and am so thankful for a job that I am allowed to do that and still get paid for it! I bought my first post-baby bathing suit the other day and boy is it matronly! I had to decide which stretch marks I wanted covered so it turned out to be a more difficult decision than I thought it would be! The days of bikini wearing are LONG GONE and I can't say that it disappoints me too much; I mean look what I got from the stretch marks-Miss Berkley Tate! Anyway that was probably TMI for some of you but hey, what can you do! Any mother most likely has them except for those freaks of nature and well, after you put 52 pounds with a baby, I really expected my whole body to be a big fat stretch mark! Well hope you enjoy the videos and with summer right around the corner, there will be a whole slew of pictures and plenty of videos to accompany them!

Meadows

Not Much to Post About!

Well there really isn't too much to post about! Things around our house are busier than ever and I think this is just a taste of how busy my summer at home with her is going to be! (I think deep down Thad is a little jealous that I am going to get to spend all summer with her, but who wouldn't be jealous; aw, the joys of being a teacher!) She is getting into everything now and you can NOT with all of your MIGHT keep her in one place for longer than a couple of minutes! I must say that I miss the days where she was just laying there and not into everything and going everywhere! But she is such a joy to be around nowadays and surprises us around every turn! Last night we were in the kitchen getting dinner ready and she just walked up to me (right in front of me) and stood up! It was the funniest thing and me and Thad just looked at each other and he said, "Did she really just stand up by herself?!" I guess she got tired of me prying her fingers off my leg while I was trying to fix supper! We know that it is not going to be too much longer and she will be walking everywhere and we figure it will be well before her first birthday! I am posting some pictures on here that I have added a few "photographic touch ups" too! For any of you who don't know, I desire to be a photographer! I have always had this desire and for our anniversary Thad is getting me one of those high-tech monstrosities of a camera so I can channel my inner-photographer and of course keep all of you lovely blog readers updated with a much better quality photograph!! (There's the pressure boo, so now you really have to do it!) So anyway here are a few of those pictures and I will probably wait to get a few more days worth of pictures to update on Shutterfly! So hope you enjoy!

Meadows

5/19/09

5/19/09

5/20/09---Early morning

Those are with some extra "touches" and here are just a couple plain-jane ones!

5/20/09..."Webster it is really too early for you to be messing with my stuff!"

5/19/09..."Mom I don't want your stinkin' kisses!"

5/20/09...Miss Particular; she uses that finger to point at some of the smallest things!

We Have Been...

Well since last Sunday, I have had pink eye and also somewhat of a cold and it has just not stopped! I finally got over my pink eye around Wednesday or Thursday and then turned right back around and went back to the doctor because my throat was hurting uncontrollably, my head was pounding and my ears were ringing! Thankfully we didn't have school Friday so I didn't have to take off but man, I have felt like crud all weekend except this morning! And that just stunk because it meant I didn't get to spend the day with Berk on Friday like I thought I was going to, or go to Lubbock like I thought and not be able to eat anything besides SOUP until this morning! Which made my sister's visit a little less interesting since I wasn't really in the mood to walk around Lubbock yesterday and we did nothing but sit around all night! (We live the most interesting life,let me tell you!) But all in all the weekend has been blissfully UNDRAMATIC like I know she needed and appreciated and we have had a few great chats! Berk has also really enjoyed the time she has gotten to spend with Auntie Rach and has found a new sucker to come and get her out of her bed when she doesn't want to lay down and take a nap! But overall, the weekend has been great and here are a few updates on Miss Berkley Tate:

*she now has a total of THREE teeth; the most recent her upper middle right which showed its head this morning (she doesn't like you to see it AT ALL!)

*she has been saying the word "da-da" since Thursday (Thad definitely doesn't rub this in!)

*she climbs on and into everything

*she is pulling up with just one hand and then will let go and stand there until she loses her balance (which has been surprisingly longer than we thought!)

*she has a new found fascination with cell phones (a woman after my own heart!)

*she can clap as of TODAY!

So as you see, there are so many things happening with Berk on a day-to-day basis that it gets kind of hard to post all of it! But hope you enjoy this video and a couple pics and I am posting the rest of the ones from last week in that album on Shutterfly and also some new ones! Hope you enjoy!

Meadows

5/17/09...She is smitten with cell phones so it was only fitting that she crawled all over Auntie Rach and try and reach hers; but of course Auntie Rach didn't mind! We loved having you stay with us Rach and can't wait for little Jayden to be here! Love ya!

Happy Mother's Day!

I want to do a post to wish all of the mothers in my life a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I have been so blessed in my life to have a wonderful mother, a great mother-in-law, awesome grandma, fantastic godmother, terrific great grandmothers and so many other women who have been such a big part of my life. And it is time to think of all of the women who were once a part of my life (my grandmother, great-grandmother and godmother's mom) who Berk will never know, and it really saddens me. These women in my life are such amazing people and it is such a great privilege to know that Berk will be able to look back and see that all of them have played as much of a role in her life as they have in mine! So thank you to all of you mothers who have had such an awesome influence on me! As for motherhood itself, I didn't ever think it would impact every part of my being like it has, but man, it is one AWESOME THING! Berkley is the greatest gift I could ever have been given and I thank God everyday that she is as happy and healthy as she is! I know that other mothers in my family feel the same way about motherhood and I know of one who will soon be experiencing the sheer pleasure of holding a precious baby in your arms and knowing that it is all yours! (You know who you are! :)) I think that everyone always wonders about whether they will be a good mother or not and whether you will mess your kid up in more than one way and I can't say that I don't have those thoughts also, but I think the true testament to your motherly abilities is when that sweet angel looks up at and smiles at you or reaches up to you and you know that you are doing an A.O.K job! So, thank you so much all of you mothers in my life for all of the wonderful things you have helped me see and experience and for impacting the way I am a mother in every way imagineable! Here is picture of me and my sweet angel and I am posting tons more on the photo site of the FFA Banquet on Thursday night, our outdoor playday on Friday, softball game yesterday in San Angelo (go Rambelles!) and this morning with daddy! Hope you have fun looking through them and have a terrific Mother's Day!

Meadows

5/8/09...Playing outside! I LOVE THIS GIRL SO MUCH!! Thanks Berk for the most wonderful gift in the world; motherhood!

8 MONTHS OLD!

Well, today Berkley is officially 2/3 of a year old! (Or 8 months for those of you who are not good at fractions!) But 2/3 seems so much more "official" and it really makes her seem "old!" I mean 2/3 of something is practically all of it and it is hard to believe that she is almost every bit of ONE YEAR OLD! She is such a great baby and has been for all of her 8 months; except here lately when she has been teething! It is like we have a whole different kid while she is getting these teeth and we just walk on egg shells around her so not to make her mad! It is definitely a good thing that she has her Gran to take care of her during the day because man are we worn out on the weekends when she is having a "cranky pants episode!" (Well there are typically more than one but you get the general idea!) But she has been feeling better today since we got a prescription for the congestion and has been in a relatively good mood since coming home! We had a little play session with dad and my camera and I am going to make this a lengthy picture post to commemorate her 2/3 of a year birthday! Well tomorrow is "hump day," so the weekend is right around the corner! Hope you enjoy the commemoration of her 2/3 of a year birthday and have a great rest of the week!

Meadows

5/4/09...A little snapshot yesterday of me and Berk! And yes, those are bangs for those of you who have not seen the new haircut!

5/5/09...We call this the "dunlap" disease where your gut has "done lapped" over your britches!

5/5/09...Daddy playing with Berk! I think this is the first picture of him on here that he doesn't have a dip in! Way to go boo! :)

5/5/09...She is fascinated with the smallest things! She loves the beading on these decorative pillows that hardly ever get put on our bed! (Like I told Thad they wouldn't!) Oh yeah, she has a pretty cute bootie too don't you think?!

5/5/09...We are just a teeny tiny bit smitten with her wouldn't you say?!

5/5/09...Since Berk has been crawling and pulling up, she has had her fair share of bumps on her noggin! But this is the first real 'boo boo' that I actually caught a picture of! (The scratch at the edge of her hairline that will probably be a bruise tomorrow if you are looking!)

5/5/09...The fascination with the cat food even after getting her hand slapped! Maybe I should just let her take a bite that way she will stay out of it; or maybe that would cause a bigger problem?! Anyone ever heard of cat food addiction?!

5/5/09..."Oh mom, it's just cat food! And it makes Webster really fat so what's the problem?!"

5/5/09...My favorite picture from this photo shoot! She has been rubbing her tongue over those TWO teeth here lately and I finally caught her in the act! Who could deny her anything?! It's becoming harder for her dad and me that's for sure! :)

A Good Monday to Ya!

Hope everyone has a MAGNIFICENT MONDAY! Berkley has unfortunately not been having a great Monday; running fever, swollen gums and all around CRANKY PANTS! Hopefully by this evening she will be better and if I must say myself, I really don't mind holding her all evening if I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO! (Who can resist that cutie pie anyway!) Well hope your Monday has been swell and keep us in your thoughts as she continues to pop those teeth out!
Meadows

Monkey Business and The Wave

Here are a couple of videos from yesterday (Saturday). Now, we don't like to brag (too much) on our little girl, but we must say that she is quite the smarty pants! The first video is one where she knows the word monkey and finds her monkey and the other is of her newest thing, "the wave!" Hope you enjoy and there are also new pictures on the picture site from last night's NASCAR race! Oh yeah, I almost forgot, she now has TWO TEETH! She got her second one Friday evening and they are the middle two on the bottom row! She is going to look so darn cute with some "wittle teefers!"

Meadows

5/2/09...Here is the best attempt and capture of the two teeth!

5/2/09...Smarty pants!

5/2/09..."The Wave"-this one is a little dark but I think you can get the general idea of her new trick!