The difference 6 months makes

6 months ago we went and visited Nanny Martha after a doctors appointment:



Yesterday, we went to visit after a doctors appointment again:



Wow.

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Where I Am

"Wherever you are, be all there." -Jim Elliott

I obviously don't blog very regularly as of late... Mainly because I am trying my hardest to keep my head above water in my crazy life and just be present. I don't want these fleeting moments to be forgotten or taken for granted...



I want to soak them deep into my soul.



I am quickly realizing that this little boy-

will all too quickly be grown and on his own.

So for today, I am trying my hardest to be all there with him.

(1st Pic- Griffin falling into his toy box, I missed the legs dangling in the air of course! 2nd Pic- he is all
about randomly laying down inthe middle of playing now. It's so cute! 3rd Video- he is getting into climbing! Oh boy!)

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

10 Months Old!

10 Months Old

And with the blink of an eye, my baby boy is 10 months old! Wow. It has been a pretty big month for us around here too, as you can see. He is just getting so "grown up"! 

10 Month Stats:

• We dont go back to the doctor until 12 months, but we put him on our scale the other day and he was around 18 & 1/2 lbs. 
• He is wearing 6-9 month and 12 month clothing. 
• We are still breastfeeding! He is actually finishing all his bottles at daycare, so that is exciting! 
• He is eating mostly table foods these days. His favorite foods right now are: smoked chicken (he cannot get enough!), peas, dinner rolls, yogurt, and rice cereal. He also eats pears and peaches a lot at daycare- but refuses to eat them at home! Silly kid! 
• He is great at drinking out of his sippy cup, and will also drink from a  regular cup when we hold it for him. 
• He is mainly taking 2 naps a day now. 
• Griffin still doesnt sleep thru the night. On good nights we are up only once to eat. But he has been getting his two front teeth and waking all the freakin time! Oh sleep- I cant wait to see you again one day, lol!
• He is walking! Not full time, but he is choosing to walk over crawl more and more! 
• When you pat his back, he pats your back. Precious. 
• He is now loving books and can actually sit and open the board book and turn the pages. Its cute to see him sit and look at a book. 
• He started dancing now! It is sooo cute, anytime he hears some type of music he bounces or shakes. 

We are having a blast with our little guy these days. He has a very social personality and will smile at anyone. He babbles all day long and is always on the move!! I am soooo excited about having some summer fun with my guys over the next few months. I cannot believe that he will be turning 1 in just 2 months.... oh my goodness! 

**Watch Griffin Grow Here**

Come one, Come all, Its a Giveaway Y'all!

***Update: Deadline has been extended until May 28th at 9pm CST!!***
Did someone say GIVEAWAY? 

Why yes, I sure did! Who is in the mood for something free today? The nice folks over at PrintRunner are apparently! Hip Hip Hooray for a Giveaway!

We all know there are tons of online printing companies out there today, so it can be tough to sort thru them all and find the ones with the best products and the best deals. Enter PrintRunner. They are a full service high quality printing company located in Chatsworth, California who are committed to providing great value and high quality full color printing at an affordable price. Their products range from custom stickers, to posters, to catalogs and beyond. They serve both individuals and businesses, so all the bases are covered! Ha!

Today, they are sharing 1 set of their standard stickers with one of you lucky people! The winner of this giveaway will receive the following from PrintRunner:

• Sticker Shape : Standard Stickers
• Flat Width : 2"
• Flat Height : 3.5"
• Quantity : 250
• Paper : Premium Sticker Stock
• Colors : Full Color ( 4 Color Process), Black and White
• Proof : NONE
• Ready to Ship In : 3 Business Days
• *Giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above.

Their website is pretty user friendly, so designing your custom stickers will be easy. You can either upload a design from your computer, or design your product online with them. Pretty nifty I think. You could do a special sticker to use if you have your own little business (like an etsy shop or homemade goods etc), or you could make a cute sticker to "stamp" your envelopes closed. Whatever floats your boat. 

So how do you win??? Simply leave a comment below telling me something fun about yourself. Only one entry per person will be accepted. Easy peasy. 

The giveaway will be open until Monday, May 28th at 9pm CST. 

And.... GO!! 

DISCLAIMER: Thank you to PrintRunner for providing us this giveaway, I will receive a set of stickers for hosting this. I did not receive any further compensation for writing this post, and the opinions are my own. 

Happy Mother's Day to all those Mom's out there! This year, I got to celebrate being mommy to one of the world's cutest kids alive!

After church, we spent the day lounging around our house playing with Griffin and having a ball. Mr.Pate fixed me some yummy pancakes (he makes the best, fluffy pancakes ever people) for dinner (he offered them for breakfast, but I opted to sleep longer instead, ha :D) and we laughed together watching our silly son. Griffin has been on a laying down kick lately- he will be playing and just decided to lay down like he is taking a nap for a moment, then he pops back up. He has done it at least a dozen times the last few days. Weird but cute. We literally hung out in Griff's room the entire day. Perfect day if you ask me!

I love being Mommy to this little guy, what an honor.

This cutie

- This cutie has been taking lots of steps by himself lately! He can usually take around four or five before he loses his balance and falls. He could possible be a walker real soon.



- This cutie is on a finger foods kick and will pretty much only let me spoon feed him cereal, no veggies or fruit. He is loving peas, pears, rolls, and chicken. He has also been finishing all of his bottles at daycare! Yay!



- This cutie has really started to love books. When he was younger he never really paid any attention to me reading to him. But lately he will sit in my lap and stare at the pages and even get excited when I turn the page. Precious. Just in the last few days he had successfully learned to open the board books by themselves and turn pages. Go Griffin!



- This cutie had been babbling up a storm, and saying dada like crazy, but absolutely refuses to say mama!! Ugh! He raises his hand in a Shakespearean way while he talks quite often, it's too cute.

I am loving longer days with my boy. What a blessing he is.

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone