Going to the chapel...

And they're (Andrea and Ryan) gonna get married...


Today by cousin Ryan got married to Andrea. The wedding was in Nashville, so we were able to head down and join the party. They got married at Scarrit Bennett Chapel, which was gorgeous! Wish I had taken a picture, dangit. Anyhow, Griffin did really well during the ceremony (thanks to some icebreakers!) and was calm and quiet.



During the ceremony they had a cool personal touch I liked. The Pastor had asked each of them to send him a summary of their feelings for the other one and he read them today for the first time. It was sweet and a neat personal thing.

The reception was at Houston Station and looked great. It was pretty much bedtime so I figured Griffin would be a mess, but he didn't do too bad. He loved dancing, and also found the photo booth props... Haha!



It was a great night away with my loved ones. Wish we could do it more often.

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Mother's Day 2013

We had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend this year. I started it off Thursday by having a massage courtesy of my boys! (Thanks babe!) It was glorious. I spend all day promoting and booking massages, and rarely get them myself. So it was truly the best gift ever.
Friday we headed to Lousiville right after work to see Grandma, Papaw and Uncle Ed. It was a gross rainy drive for sure. But our new van has a DVD player, which we decided to use for the first time. Griffin loved it. Uncle D rode with him in the back.
We went out to eat with Grandma and played for awhile. Then headed to bed. Saturday morning we got to play with Papaw some before he had to go to sleep (he is a baker and works nights) then spent the day with Grandma and Uncle Ed. I love how much Griffin loves all of them and is so comfortable with them, even though he doesn't see them super often. It's a blessing really. I would hate for our short visits to be wasted with "warming up to them" time. He just runs right to them and loves all on them! Yay!
We drove back home late Saturday night and went to church Sunday. After church and lunch we headed to Gallatin to surprise my mom (or at least try to surprise her). My sister and I had planned to cook my moms favorite foods and surprise her when she got off. She had no idea we were coming down. She ended up going to her house first, where Mr.Pate and Ashley were helping my dad with something. So she was surprised but I didn't get to see the face. Oh well. She was still thrilled we were there and it was an awesome laid back visit with my family. I feel like every time we go to Gallatin there are a million things going on so we never just hangout. What a blessing quality time is.
We love our families so much. So glad we got some much needed time with them!

And a shout out to the Mom's in my life, I couldn't be more blessed!
My crazy momma:



My crazy mother-in-law, who treats me as her own:



My crazy Becky, who adopted me as her "darling daughter" a decade ago:



- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

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