Youngest intern ever!

Liam came to visit me at work today and wanted to be put to work.

Personally shredding documents.

Supervising Mommy.

Learning all about important issues facing the country.

His reaction to the healthcare bill.
Finally, he decided that a life in politics was not for him.
Off for a bottle and a nap!

And finally, Liam on his new playmat from Grandma B.

10 Months

I can't believe that my baby is almost a year old! He has started getting to the age where he wants to get into everything. Even though Eric and I lead a fairly clutter-free life, I have a feeling in the next few months we are going to have to reign Liam in.

This past week our satellite went out and we were convinced that the snow had thrown things out of wack. We even called the Dish Network folks to come out and take a look. The day they were scheduled to come, we found the root of our problem. Liam had managed to scoot his way in his walker to the wall where the cables are located and play with them to the point of throwing off the satellite. I know some of you are cringing at the vision of a baby playing with loose cables. I am cringing just telling you this story. Needless to say, we have made arrangements for this scenario to never play out again.

Liam is still only saying "DaDa," "Daddy," and DaD (emphasis on the second D). You will be happy to know that he is also working BaBa into his vocabulary. After carrying him in my belly for 38 1/2 weeks, suffering through a painful c-section, and waking up with him every two hours to feed him the first few months of his life, Mama is still not on the table. Everybody says that this is pretty common, but it never too early to lay the guilt on - just the way our forefathers laid it on to their children.

At 10 months Liam still has no teeth. His gums are swollen and incredibly irritated, but he has chosen to delay cutting teeth. Do they make baby dentures? Probably not. Possibly as a result of not having teeth, he has no real interest in finger foods. Although he has learned that the dogs quite enjoy them.

And finally...my baby is finally mobile! He has recently started Army crawling, further terrorizing the dogs. They have no idea what is to come! Here is a video.

Albuquerque

This past weekend, the Pate Fam left the cold of Dallas...for the warmth of Albuquerque?! It was Liam's first airplane ride and we were a little anxious that he would be the screaming baby that I used to shake my head in pity at before I had a baby. But he actually did pretty well. We did not buy a seat for him so he sat on my lap for almost the entire trip. Except when he was trying to wiggle his way out to chew on anything he could get his mouth on (seat trays, windows, arm rests, the adjoining passenger's book, etc.). Because so many flights were canceled the day before, our flight was completely full. And there were 5 babies on board! Crazy times.

Wandering through Dallas Love Field. Can you believe that Love Field's restrooms, even their childrens restrooms, do not have changing tables? And you can't use a stroller on a moving walkway? And you can't read trashy celebrity magazines or good books, when you are trying to keep your baby from screaming at the top of his lungs? Wow. Travel totally changes after children. Ha!

When you are teething even a nose can become a pacifier!

Liam and his Uncle David.

Liam and his cousin, Haley. My cousin Rachel (Haley's mom) and I are a lot alike - to the point of being comical. Our babies were born the same day, within hours of each other!

From right to left: Debbie, Ryan, Rachel, Haley, me and Liam.
My cousin, Debbie, was nice enough to have our entire family over for a casual lunch.

The great grandchildren of Procopio and Erma Martinez.
This was the best picture out of the dozen that were taken - quite a feat!

I regret to say that because of computer issues (I am sure that my lack of being tech savvy was a contributing factor) I lost a lot of the pictures that were taken on this trip. Eric and I have determined it would be in our best interest for me to not download pictures anymore. But there is no use crying over spilled milk so I guess we will just have to plan another trip to Albuquerque!

We had a really amazing time eating at our favorite restaurants, Dos Hermanos, Dions, The Range Cafe and Flying Star. Upon arriving back home, I was relieved to see that I hadn't gained any weight on this trip! It was great to see most of my family. I even got to see my best friend from high school, Stephanie, for a nice dinner. I was in her wedding last year, and now she is expecting her own little bambino!

Eric's parents were even in Albuquerque the last day we were in town so it was great to catch up with them. All in all, it was a really wonderful (although not relaxing) vacation. Going back home always makes me remember how much I love my family and friends!

Snow Day

When I woke up this morning, I felt like a little kid. From early yesterday morning, until last night, we received about 10 inches of snow. In Dallas! In February! Need I remind people that there have been some winters where I have worn sleeveless shirts? And that for several days in January, we hit the high 70s?

For the first time since we have lived here, I even got a snow day for work. Unheard of! Our Washington D.C. office has been closed for almost a week due to the snow, but who knew the Metroplex would get its own little Snowmegedon? I would like to think that we all remained rational, mature adults. But who I am I kidding?! You have met Eric, right? It I hope you enjoy some of our pictures.

There is nothing prettier than a fresh snowfall.

Liam watching the snow fall.

We never thought he would get to utilize the snow suit that Grandma Gladys bought him!

Liam was not quite sure what to think at first.

Daddy showing Liam snow.

The view from our backyard.

The snow was too much for one of our neighbor's trees.

The indomitable snowdog.

After Liam went down for his nap, the big kids got to play. Derek shaking down our Bradford Pear tree.

If you look close you can see both Derek and Eric under the tree.

Big boys = Big snowballs

One of our neighborhood kids, Joe, decided to get in on the action.

Now both grown men gang up on Joe.

But wait, another grown man decides to join the action.
I am embarrassed to say that all three men took Joe on.

Reinforcements were called in. Neighborhood kids 4, grown men 3.

Eric decides to join the kids team.

Tristan braves the weather to cruise in his Radio Flyer Wagon.

Much like myself, I think Gracie prefers the warm weather.

The Gragert twins take in the sights.

Going out

Last night Eric and I had the rare opportunity to go out on a date. Well...a date is sort of stretching it. My boss was being honored so we were able to attend the event. But really, it is the closest to a date that we often get these days. After all, if I can leave the house without food, drool or spit up on my clothes, I feel pretty lucky. It was actually the first "date" we had been on since before Liam was in the hospital. Our friends, the Hendersons, graciously watched Liam for us while we went out.

Proof that we own clean clothes!

After we returned home and settled in for the night, Liam started crying in his crib hysterically, which he rarely ever does. We tried to let him settle down on his own, but after we went to go check on him it became apparent that we wasn't going to. We think he is teething (he still doesn't have even one pearly white). However, we have been convinced since he was about four months old that every time he spews fountains of drool and is cranky that he is just about to pop a tooth. Alas, no tooth. However, last night he started one of those dry coughs that woke him up periodically. As a mom, it is like hearing nails on a chalkboard every time your baby coughs and there is nothing you can do!

But this morning, he woke up just as happy as can be. Knowing how much we use the teething excuse as a scape goat for Liam's off moods, it would be ironic if one morning he woke up after a perfectly peaceful night of sleep with a mouth full of teeth!

"What!? I kept mom and dad up until 2 am AND was ready for play at 5 am. Who isn't?"

If you don't have anything nice to blog, don't blog anything at all...

OK. So I am taking a page out of my friend Katie's blog. She recently wrote that while she had no obligation to blog regularly, she felt like she should. And not because anybody made her feel like she had to. It got me thinking that while I love reading friends blogs, I myself have been a lazy blogger. And it is all because I feel like I don't have anything good to say. And you know the whole adage, "if you don't have anything nice to say..." So here I am - writing about our lives, which although may not always be exciting and pretty, are still important.

Lately I have been struggling with trying to stay upbeat and optimistic. Eric was laid off a year ago and while he has applied for literally hundreds of jobs, the unemployment rate for those in the architecture/design field is around 45% in the DFW area. Fortunately, financially we are alright. Not vacationing in Cannes alright, but not lying awake at night alright. We are blessed. And yet sometimes it is so incredibly easy to forget that. Easy to forget that we have our health. Easy to forget that we have a healthy, beautiful baby. Easy to forget that we have a roof over our heads and two cars in the garage (albeit one that depending on the day of the week might be on the Toyota recall list. Ha!). Easy to forget that I have the world's best boss. And easy to forget that Eric, Liam and I have each other.

I love my husband more each and every day. I love that he dances like a monkey to make Liam laugh. I love it that he rubs my back every night. I love that despite all the hardship we have faced in the past year, he remains eternally optimistic.

We don't know what the future may bring for us. We may be in a totally different place a month from now...or maybe not. But we do know that God's love is wider than our need could ever be.