tate turns 6!

what a fun day we had celebrating tate on wednesday! i have really enjoyed all the prep for this year's birthday. maybe because he is so excited about it all and 6 is just going to be a fun year!

tate was due on sunday 3/25/06. i stopped working on thursday 3/16 and my mom was due to fly in from california on wednesday 3/22/06. (we lived in arkansas at the time.) the doctor saw no signs of tate coming early, so i thought it would be a wonderful week of prepping with my mom once she got here. boy was i wrong- who knew tate would come before she arrived?!

(tate was sure to come on someones bday, BTW. my mom- 3/18, my gram- 3/21, my sis- 3/23, my other gram- 3/26. he blessed my maternal grandmother with a great-grandson on her bday! i was so excited to call her and tell her they would share a bday! she forever called him "my birthday baby." she passed away in 2007, but i know she would be so proud of the boy he has become...)

so... on monday 3/20/2006 i ran a few errands. i just felt so wiped out that i quit early and went home- unlike me. tuesday 3/21, i woke up at 4am and something felt weird. i still can't describe it, but i got out of bed and waited for it to pass. it didn't.

brian was supposed to fly that morning, so i didn't want to disturb him- but i did. after while, i told him something was up and we agreed he would sleep until i needed him. at 5am, i started timing the cramps- still not realizing they were contractions! from 5-6am i sat in the rocking chair and jotted everything down. at 6am i realized a pattern and they were 2-3 minutes apart!

i went in to wake up brian and neither one of us really knew what to do and hesitated calling the doc for fear of a false alarm. then he said "call your sister!" so i called (3am in cali!) and she thought it was time! then i called the doc who agreed and told me to come in.

wow! could this be real? i think i should shower first... so we took our time getting out the door (our neighbor's dog, truman, even came in for a run through our house as we were leaving!), hit mcdonald's drive-thru for breakfast and got to the hospital at 7am.

i walked all the way to labor and delivery- still not sure it was all real! the nurse wasn't too sure either- until i started throwing up (the freakin mcdonalds!). she said that was a sign of labor and i was admitted at 8am.

it all happened so quickly from then on and less than 3 hours later, at 10:59am, tate was in my arms! he was the most beautiful baby i had ever seen (of course!) and i felt like i was on top of the world! sure, i was sore and all, but i just had this overall feeling of righteousness. (i never had time for an epidural, but the quick shot of morphine before delivery might have given me that wonderful feeling i guess! however, i do like to think it was just the pure, organic feeling that comes with being a new mom...)

anyway- here is how we celebrated this year-

tate got to pick out his bday breakfast the day before- a pink donut with apple jacks on top! served on his bday plate that ambra got him for his 1st bday!

 we quickly moved on to presents, of course-

"thanks for the new leapster game and UT hat dad!"

 macy looked on as tate opened a cool gift from auntie kristen that will let him travel the world in the months to come...

and lots of spiderman stuff from nanna, grandpa and auntie cathryn!

 before school there was plenty of time for dress up and game time!

 we decorated tate's room with balloons and streamers the night before while he was sleeping-

 macy has inherited some "party dresses" from riley that she has been dieting to wear. she got to choose one to go to tate's "party" at school! (i love how spiderman has a death hold on his sister here!)

 on our way to school with his new bday shirt and the bday wreath!

 waiting for the bus

 macy and i went to school for a cupcake party with tate that afternoon. here he is getting sung happy bday to!

 macy loved getting a cupcake too-

 can you tell she loved it?

 after school we surprised tate and met up with hailey and her boys to feed the ducks and play at the playground. then we all went to mcdonalds for tate's bday dinner.

 one last sweet treat- dessert! make a wish-

 i took tate out the day before to choose his own cupcake. his was pretty simple- vanilla/vanilla. this is the one he chose for his sister!

 "i am 6!"

 tate got to stay up very late that night playing video games with daddy. he has been wanting a video game called "skylanders" since january. he was hoping to play it with his friends at his "video game" themed birthday party. well, the lucky boy got it for his bday- thanks auntie barbara and grampy! (btw- i want some credit here. it is so hard to find- and expensive! whew! apparently it came out in november and both kids and dads are in love with it!)

 the wireless portal and 3 of the skylander characters.

 the day after tate's bday the celebrating just kept on continuing as he got home from school and 2 boxes were at our door for him!

the first was such a surprise- from his German kindergarten best friend, Niklas. the box was filled with goodies- even something for macy! but what was so special was the t-shirt they sent, knowing tate loves basketball. it is german player, dirk nowitzki who plays for the NBA!

 and then tate opened another box from auntie kristen. when he saw the fabric she used for his new fleece blanket, i think he stopped breathing for a second!

 he even let macy snuggle up on just the corner for a minute!

 brian and i were both touched by how many calls (from across the US and Germany!) and gifts tate received. plus even a few shout outs on FB! he is a lucky kid. we are lucky to be his parents!