Tate boy - 2 mos 11 days

Hi Tate boy.

Hi Mamma.



How's it going? What are you up to these days?

Oh, pretty good. I've just been sleeping and snuggling and cooing.



You've been smiling a lot too. Why won't you smile for me when I get out my camera?

It makes me nervous. I'll give you a little smirk.



What about that big sister of yours? Are you guys getting along?

Yeah, she makes me smile. She can squeeze a little hard so I have to watch out. Oh, here she comes now!



You guys are the cutest kids I ever had.

Thanks Mamma.

1 month + 4 days

Tate turned one month old on Friday. Its only fitting that I am few days late on this post cuz you know...I have a one month old so I'm late for everything. Some random thoughts about this past month...



Tate is a pretty darn good sleeper. It was rough the first week or so but now he only wakes up once during the night. That is pretty amazing and I'm so thankful.

Dividing my attention between Marlie and Tate has been really challenging. I knew it would be, but that doesn't make it any easier. Its kind of heart breaking to watch Marlie adjust to the new normal. Its also really hard to keep my cool when she is too rough with Tate. I'm trying to breathe deep and be patient with her.

However, Marlie can be really cute with her new baby bro. When he cries she sings "Jesus Loves Me"...very loudly...to calm him down. Its really cute and also kind of maddening.

Baby car seats are even heavier than I remember. I hate the way it digs in to my leg when I carry it.

I love Tate's legs. They are really soft and his knees are wrinkly.

Breastfeeding consumes so much time. So...much...time.

My husband is amazing.

Friends and family have been making us dinner a few times a week. I cannot explain how helpful it has been. I cringe when I think about cooking dinners again.

I love my mom. She is such a good listener and encourager.

I'm trying to live out my goal for the year to take it one day at a time. Some days I am successful.

My body is starting to feel pretty healed up. However it doesn't look that way. Very few clothes fit and I look 6 mos pregnant. I know its early, but its hard not to let it get to me.

I don't know if its the hormones or what, but throughout the day I flip flop from thinking "Oh my gosh I can't do this." and "Oh my gosh this is so wonderful."

Today I saw a glimpse of the sweet relationship Marlie and Tate are going to have as he grows. They snuggled together as Marlie talked and he listened and watched. And then she wrapped him up like a burrito, head and all, and we had to have a little talk about that but whatever...it was cute while it lasted :).

Tate Hill

Tate likes to snuggle. He nuzzles his head up under my chin. He loves to eat. He gained over a pound in one week. He is a really sweet, easy going baby. He has a fussy time at night sometimes and cries and cries. Sometimes I cry too. His cheeks are so squishy. His skin is really soft. His hair feels like velvet and I like to feel his head wrinkles.

Of course I've been taking photos of him when I get the chance. Here are my favorites from the past week...







And this one will promptly be put on a large canvas...



Marlie is such a loving big sister. She smothers Tate slightly. We are working on it :). I love these shots from the hospital...



I'm trying my hardest to soak in every moment and to enjoy these early days of Tate's life. I know it will all go too fast even though that is hard to remember during those late night feedings.

Marlie is 4!

Thanks for all of the sweet comments! We are settling in at home. Trying to find our new groove. Getting to know little Tate. More on the new guy later though. Today is Miss Marlie's 4th b-day. I cannot even believe it! A few weeks ago we went out to take her 4 year photos. It was a short photo shoot since I was huge and slightly immobile, but I love the few shots we did get.







And my favorites, that were totally unplanned...



And a little look over the last 4 years...


Happy 4th b-day Monkey Pants! Love you to pieces!

hello Tate

Tate Hill Duggin was born on Wednesday night at 11:06. He is a big boy, 9lbs 6oz and 21 inches long, but still seems tiny just like I thought he would. He has big sweet cheeks and we are in love, of course.



We were all set to welcome him on Thursday morning at a scheduled c-section, so imagine our surprise when my water broke Wednesday night while we were getting Marlie ready for bed. I still had a c-section, just with a little more excitement :).



We are snuggling and soaking up every newborn minute. Welcome to the world little Tate!

dear baby boy

Dear baby boy,

We are all anxiously awaiting your arrival. Its really hard to believe that you are all snug inside me now and very soon will be out here where I can hold you. My belly is very big. They tell me you are a big boy but I bet you will still seem so tiny.



That is your dad in the background there. He is working from home today because he is super great and takes care of me. Your starting to wear out my legs a bit so he wanted to be here to help today. You are going to love him just as much as I do.

And just wait till you meet your big sister. She is wonderful. She might squeeze you a little too hard at times but you'll get used to it I guess. She asked me the other day if you two could have bunk beds someday. You have a while to think about it, but I think it would be pretty cute.

Can I tell you a secret? I'm a little nervous. Its been almost 4 years since I was a mom to a newborn. I don't know if it is quite like riding a bike. I guess we will find out. I think you will be pretty patient with me.

I wonder what you will look like. I can't wait to see your face.

I love this little family and I can't wait for you to become part of it. See you very soon. Love, Mama

baby boy's room

I've been slowly working on baby boy's room over the last few months and it is finally finished. I LOVE the way it turned out. I wasn't sure if it was all going to come together, but it is just what I wanted. I wanted a clean, modern room with bright colors. The first thing we did was take an old dresser we bought from craigslist and turn it in to a snazzy bright changing table....



I got the crib at Ikea this fall. The bumper was made for Marlie's crib and I got the crib sheet at Target. I LOVE the crib sheet, it pulls everything together...



On the biggest wall I painted some black frames after seeing this wallpaper. Honestly I wanted to do the whole wall, but I just didn't have it in me. I like the pattern I ended up with though. I put some favorite photos up and had Marlie draw some things for the frames.





I also painted a few canvases for the room, two of which are on the frame wall. I wanted to do some simple colorful drawings that represent our neighborhood...



The third canvas hangs over the bookshelf which is also from Ikea. The lamp is from Target, the baskets are from Home Goods, the vintage red trunk used to be Shane's. And the bike print is from these ladies on etsy.



I loved using a few of Shane's old toys in the room. I've been holding on to these baseball guys for a while in case we had a boy someday. The cute owl pillow is from this etsy shop.



There you have it, and just in time. Today my leg decided that this baby is just too dang heavy to carry around anymore and sort of gave up on me. Seriously...I was home alone and had to crawl up our stairs. It was sort of funny only not. So, here I lay. I'm hoping that a good night's rest will do the trick but something tells me I am going to be gimping around until this little man comes. I can't wait to meet him!