Fun Park Times

We are loving getting to spend time at the park lately. Griffin's daycare has a park right in front of it, so pretty much every morning and afternoon he asks if he can go play. We also have two parks within five minutes of our house, so we have been trying to take advantage whenever possible between rainy days.

The boy loves to swing, seems to love going round and round on the tire swing or merry go round, and is quite fearless. Love it.

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Happy Birthday Charli!

We went to celebrate Charli's birthday a few weekends ago, and had a blast! We had actually had a rough morning, so I did not have high expectations at all. But we got there just in time to see a clown show! Griffin loved it. We also got to bounce in a bounce house, play in a gym, and eat goodies! It was a Scooby Doo themed party, so we even got to dress up as some of the characters. Charli's mom is so creative.

It's really fun having a kid old enough to enjoy parties. And we had a blast visiting with great friends!

I have a Toddler! Ahh!! Help!

Griffin will be 22 months old next week. The boy can tell you he is "one almost two". I mean, we almost have a two year old. Seriously.

This stage is super fun for sure. But there is definitely a new and very hard part to this stage as well. Griffin has begun full blown toddler tantrums in the last month.

And they are exhausting. And frustrating. And hard to deal with.

Just laying it out there for you. Being real.

My biggest problem right now is that he gets very violent when he is mad or doesn't get his way and begins hitting or pulling hair or pinching. It is no fun. It hurts actually.

It hurts my feelings more than anything. This tiny being whom I love soooo very much is angry and hitting me. Ouch.

It physically hurts me. And it hurts him sometimes bc he is out of control.

So, I need advice. I am well aware that every kid is different etc. but I would like to know how you handled this stage. Please!!!


At this rate- how am I gonna make it to age two?!! Haha.

Just hanging around the house

(Going to try to catch up on things from the past month!)



Griffin has taken a real interest in heavy reading lately.






Daddy got Griffin the cutest frog broom and dust pan. He loves to sweep! Ha!





There is always an Elmo party going on in this house!


Just hanging around ;-)


Not the best sharer out there!


Just eating a whole bin of eggs ;-)


"Cheese!" This boy loves him some burgers.




This is mostly a super fun age right now (except for those fabulous toddler meltdowns).

Griffin has changed so much, he is so grown up. He is talking a ton, and speaking in some sentences now (which is terribly cute!). He still loves to play with my hair, and really loves to dance. Griffin loves Elmo, balls, and cooking in his play kitchen. His favorite is playing on the swing set or at the park. He is eating really well, and some of his favorites are cheese (still this boy loves some dairy), grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, and cereal bars. Ha!

He is really into shoulder shrugs right now, which is hilarious. You will ask him a question and he just shrugs his shoulders like "I don't know mom".

This week he has started randomly calling me and Mr.Pate "mom" and "dad". Too soon.

If you ask him how old he is he will say "one... Almost two". So cute.

He knows red, blue, and yellow really well and then most of the time green, orange, pink, and white. He counts to five really well and occasionally past that. He knows his name starts with the letter "G". He loves to color.

We have been watching the movie "Air Buddies" on Netflix and he loves it and calls it air puppies. Ha! The first time we watched it, when the parents were captured he ran to the screen and said "help mommy puppy"! Haha.

In the car or at church if you ask him to sing, he will sing to the whole song (who knows what he is saying though haha). It's precious.

Everyday this kid is saying something new or doing something new. I love it. He is so fun and so precious. Love my kid.

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Hello Spring! (Weekly Happenings 3/31-4/6)

Hello Spring! Finally, today felt like Spring and it was wonderful!

This week in the Pate life:
-- Sunday was Easter and we had church, time with my family, and watched basketball. See previous post for details.

-- Uncle D had spring break this week, so he cooked for us Monday. Yay! Then we just had our regular family time with him.

-- Griffin had a chiropractor appointment Tuesday and did great. We had been in a fussy stage during adjustments, but this time we were back to normal. Woo hoo.

-- Church Wednesday. And Becky and I went to a meeting on eProcurment... Thrilling... Not!

-- Thursday was a rainy gross mess, so we treated ourselves to Chuy's. worst service ever... But yummy food.

-- Friday Haven and Broady came over to play games. We took advantage of good weather and played bocce ball and putted disc golf in the front yard. It was wonderful. Then we threw the kid in bed (ok maybe we didn't throw him, haha) and played Catan.

-- Saturday was a wonderful family day. I love that Mr.Pate has most Saturdays off now! Such a blessing. He cooked us pancakes this morning (he makes the best pancakes ever, seriously)! Yummy! Then we played outside in the backyard until Griffin fell asleep in the glider. Ha! So the boys took a nap and I did laundry (while watching Downton Abbey). After that we headed to look at vehicles and grocery shop.

-- Tonight we went to Amber & Robs to watch the U of L game. We did this last year too, and man has griffin changed sooo much in a year. I know that's what's supposed to happen, but it happens so fast! Ah!

Random Tid-bits:
** I am finally on the Downton Abbey train. Loving it. But where can I watch season 3 people? I will be ready for it pretty soon (these seasons are short!).
** I actually worked out everyday this week, which hasn't happened in a very long time.
** We have been Facetiming recently and it is a huge hit with Griffin. It's such a cool thing for family who are not here! Blessed!

Happy Weekend!