Update on little Nate

Hi everyone! It's been about a week since I posted anything, so thought I'd update you on our lives. Nate is doing well, but is teething like crazy. I am just hoping that his little teeth take a break for Christmas since we will be out of town and out of his normal routine. He already has a hard time sleeping when we're not at home, so add teething pain to this and it doesn't seem very relaxing for mom and dad or poor baby Nate! However, we are really looking forward to seeing the Vargas side of our family, it has been over two months since we've seen them and Nate has so many things to show them! Dad Vargas has been through a lot this year, and I know he is really looking forward to our visit, and we are equally as excited to get down there and spend some time with all of them. I'm just hoping that Nate will be "nice" to everyone, he sure has been a bit cranky lately...

Last night my sister Lori and her family came by to drop off presents from the rest of my family and pick up the presents from us. Nate could not have been more rude. He didn't even smile for her, even ignored her! He smiled for his cousins who had to get their "Bay Nay" kisses before they left...but Aunt B got snubbed. Sorry Lori!! (And for those of you wondering why we call Lori "Aunt B", it is kind of a long story, but derives from her childhood nickname of "Beezer", which came from her middle name "Beth", etc. Our dad loves to create nicknames and this one just stuck...so when Jenni had the first child of our family, it was decided that Lori would be Aunt B and I would be Auntie M.) But I digress.

So Nate has had a bit of a behavior problem of late. He is not so bad yet, I just worry about how much worse it will get before he gets better. He hits, slaps, bites, head butts and is starting to use his voice a bit more to express his frustration. He mostly does this to me, but occassionally to DJ too. DJ has a look that he can give Nate that makes him stop automatically, but somehow I can't convey the same ominous look! So that begs the question....How in the world do you discipline a one year old? He doesn't understand time out...believe me, I've tried it! He doesn't understand consequences yet and just keeps pushing our buttons. All we can say is NO and redirect him, which is quite frustrating for us. I know he is just upset and frustrated that he can't express how he's feeling in words, and I try to be as soothing as possible after he has gotten in trouble. But I don't know what is getting through to him and what is going way over his head. Please pray for me to have lots of patience, because this is one difficult stage we are in right now.

All the same, I wouldn't change anything in the world. Life is good, even with all the complications and frustrations. So, Merry Christmas to you all and please take a moment during this holiday season and really thank God for your family and everything you have been blessed with this year. We are always thinking about what we don't have and what we want, and not appreciating everything we do have. It's almost a new year, so enjoy the rest of this one with those that you love. "And God bless us, everyone." Sorry....stole that from a Christmas Carol!! :)

And we're walking.....!!

Yes, I do find it hilarious that the name of this post is also a line from one of the funniest Progressive commercials out there. I like to make myself chuckle sometimes! But seriously....NATE IS WALKING NOW!!!! It was bound to happen soon, he has been cruising around for a while now holding on to whatever he could to support himself. But somehow it still shocked us when he took those first few tentative steps all alone! It was awesome. This happened two nights ago, and we are still amazed to see him toddle a few steps and then plop down on his bottom! So cute! And now our lives change again. We'll be chasing him around for the next couple of years...better get our running shoes on!

So "baby Nate" is now "toddler Nate"...although I will never call him that. We are in a very interesting and amusing stage right now. Troubling sometimes, yes. Temper tantrums, picky eating, and mood swings galore. But so amazing at the same time. It is just awesome to watch him discovering new things every day. He is so into his toys right now! For the first time he is actually interested in them. I'm sure he will be more interested in the wrapping paper and boxes at Christmas, but he will probably entertain his toys a bit longer than he has before now. It will be so fun to watch him cruising around! We can't wait to show him off to his family in San Marcos!!

Reunion fun!

I love this happy face!!!

Nate tasting mommy's apple pie. He loved it!

Just a funny picture of Bryson

Davis and Dylan...aka "the twins"

Great Grammie meeting Baby Henry...he's a big boy!!

Aunt B giving Nate his bottle before bed

Nate is curious about his Great Grammie!

Brother-in-laws rooting for opposite teams....uh oh!

Great Grammie holding Baby Nate

So this Thanksgiving we were able to get together with my mom's brother and his family. It has been over 15 years since all of the cousins were ALL together, and guess what folks?? There's only 5 of us! How is it that hard to get everyone together in the same place? Location, location, location. Melisa lives in Michigan, Jenni lived in North Carolina for years, and Carin, Lori and I have been in Texas, but far apart from each other. Texas is a big state, y'all!! And now that we are all married and have kids it will just get harder to get us all together. But for one afternoon, it happened!! DJ and I finally got to meet Dylan, Carin and Rusty's son who was adopted last year. And we all got to meet Baby Henry, Melisa and John's 6 month old cutie! Of course they hadn't met Nate yet either, so it was a great time. But mostly, we all got to introduce our new sons to their Great Grammie A. Our Grammie lives in an assisted living facility in Amarillo now, and she doesn't like to travel much...it is really hard on her at 87. But we convinced her to come and I think she is very happy that she did! I have posted some pictures of this momentous (for us anyways!) occasion. And some other pics from Thanksgiving as well. Enjoy!

And once again, these pictures are out of order and I can never get my message to appear before the pictures. Oh well. :)