Summer time update. Soaked up as much family time with Eric as possible in June. Eric and I were caught a few nights away at the Driskel in Austin and left the kiddos with Grandparents . Much needed little escape. In and out of Austin alot this summer. Did the McCoy reunion. Had a mini reunion cookout in Brad and Sandra's backyard with Eric's best buddies from highschool, " the 4 horsemen", and their families.Back in Texarkana some highlights were taking the top off of the Jimmy with the kids in back Sonic drinks in hand and enjoyed an evening with the familiy at a firework show in town. We also enjoyed some awesome BBQ that Eric's brother Kevin grilled. Kevin, Tonya and Avery came in from Kansas and our parents came up from Austin to celebrate Tate's 1st and Eric's 33rd birthday in early July and see Eric. Food, family, fireworks, church. Great time! A week later Eric left for North Carolina to start training for his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. Eric leaves NC to Afghanistan this week and he is ready to get this started. The kiddos are doing well though Nate misses daddy and finds this all a little confusing. Nathan proudly wears Eric's dog tag around his neck and is always willing to show it off. He understands Daddy is working far away and will be back but has no concept of time. The kids and I have started our fall routine here with preschool, church, and just daily living. Adjusting and trying to adapt to this temporary change in our family dynamics and all that comes with that has its challenges. But we are just plugging along. That's it for this brief and very incomplete update but I just have a hard time (really lack of it) keeping up with blogging. Enjoy some our summertime family photos and please keep Eric and his saftey in your daily prayers these next 9 months or so.

My sweet dog is driving me crazy!!! As if a 1 and 2 year and a deploying husband wasn't enough I decided to get a dog. Yes I am a dog person but what was I thinking???!!

June

Updating... Tate is almost 1 year old. He is standing alone now and cruising but it wont be long before he walks. This kid is very passionate about his feelings and when he is happy he is very happy and when he is upset he is very upset.. he's great though. He wants so badly to keep up with the bigger kids and loves being chased. I finally weaned him this month. Nate is definitely a 2 year old! He is carrying on conversations now and enjoys the hiding game. Nate loves cars and monster trucks. Both boys love being tossed around and playing with their daddy...

Eric is getting ready to go to North Carolina to begin training July 8th in prepartion for Afghanistan come Septemberish. We have greatly enjoyed having Eric home this past month and have been able to go to Austin and see family too. While in Austin Eric and I were able sneek away for a few days together on a mini vacation. A very needed few days might I add.. we stayed at the historic Driskell Hotel, ate some good food, and relaxed. All the while the kiddos stayed at the Dodds where they had a great time playing with their cousins Ian and Mackenzie and visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Now back in Texarkana we are just trying to wrap up lose ends and get Eric packed up. We are planning to celebrate his 33rd birthday and Tate's first together here in Texarkana with Brad and Sandra and my parents from Austin and his brother Kevin and his family and possibly a few friends. It will be alot of fun to have their company to celebrate the holiday, birthdays, and to say goodbye for a while. The kids and I will be eagerly waiting to see him again as we are going to miss him GREATLY.

We got a new dog. Izzy from the SPCA. She's a Welsh Springer Spaniel mix. Cute and very sweet.

Me.. just along for the ride. One day at a time. I'm a busy, tired mom and wife but a VERY blessed one.

Horse, Hair, Happiness and More

September we went to the Rodeo/Fair in town. So fun!!! We went with some friends who have a son, Sammy, just a little older than Nate. So the boys were driving buddies on the car rides. And the petting zoo was quite entertaining as Nate made animals sounds at each different pen. Seriously, I'm sorry people, but my kiddos are so cute! Nathan said YeeHaw the entire time he was on the pony. If the pony rides weren't cash only I think we would have done that the whole time we were at the fair! Nathan had a blast and I think Eric had just as much fun.



Mommy and Tate at the fair as spectators of the fun.



Ready, Set, Go!!!



Moooo!



At 23 months Nate got his first hair "trim". He has beautiful golden curls! I love it but I must admit it needed a little shaping. He did a great job as Joey worked fast and Nate was pretty distracted by the ocean creatures on his apron.




Nate got a tool set from Brad and Sandra for his birthday and her he is drilling (working) on his Lightening McQueen Car



Nate and his birthday cake. Not sure what to think of everyone singing to him.


Over the past few months we've had visitors. Last weekend Brad and Sandra came up to see us, to watch the big Longhorn vs. Sooners game and celebrate Nathan's 2nd birthday!!! Golly, time just flys! Nathan is at such a fun age now. Everything is so exciting and he soaks up everything. We have a routine we've used with the Nathan since birth that works like magic. To put him down for bed at night after usually reading, Nate turns out his light, mom or dad turns the lamp on, he pushes the music button of lullibies on, tuck him in, prayers, goodnights plus all the hugs and kisses, out the door we go. Well when I was putting him down to sleep for a nap the other day I was not quite as elaborate in the rountine... I did not say a prayer. I put him in bed and he hopped out, I started getting a little irritated as I kept telling him it is nap time, lay down ect. but he kept getting up. He was telling me something of which I was not listening because mommy was very eager for his naptime that day too. What he kept saying was God, God, God. But I put it together when he folded his hands together beside the bed and said God again. This is one of those moments that warmed my heart. As a mother and Eric as his father we are doing exactly what we should be. It was encouraging as parenthood is not always such a glamorous job. Way Cool!

Tate slumbering away in Grandma's arms



Justin and Karissa



So my sister Karissa is engaged. She is engaged to a guy she has been dating for almost 5 years and they are planning to be married December 19th of this year!!! Justin is a great christian man with a good head on his shoulders and we are just thrilled! Can't wait to officially have him as my brother-in-law and he is going to be an awesome Uncle. So there is excitement in the air as the marriage date approaches and wedding plans progress. Yippee!!! What an exciting time! We love you both!

Juicy

So last Friday Tate went in for his ~2month well baby visit and guess how much he weighed...? 15lbs and 4oz. He is definitely not starving... the Pediatrician described him as "a juicy breast fed baby". I thought that was a cute way of saying he's a big boy!

So Good and So Sleepy

Okay, so I went a little crazy sharing the pictures but aren't they so cute!! (That isn't up for debate) Things here are really good. We are adjusting to life as the four of us. I feel like there is never a moment of rest but I am so glad to have these two little boys. Nathan is a great "big" brother. He is so sweet. He wants to hold Tate, he helps by putting in his pacifier when it falls out, shushing Tate when he is upset, alerting me when he spitsup, throws away dirty diapers ect. All the while he is just 23 months now so we also are dealing with all that comes with that age too, like testing the limits, constantly getting into stuff,ect. Tate was a really fussy baby at first, alot more so than Nate was BUT he is doing much better now. We have developed our routine. He does not sleep through the night yet which is tiring but he will sleep for good stretches at a time and he goes down easily. Now if I could just get myself to bed much earlier that would be helpful. Eric still works like crazy BUT he is having a fantastic month at work. We are doing well and God is good. Hope you enjoyed this very brief update. Now I gotta go get some sleep while I can!

The Dodd Brothers.

Mommy and the boys

Daddy and the boys.

Tate as he sleeps. So precious! 1.5months

Tate at 2 months and finally I captured his darling smile

Nate is all boy! He loves frogs and isn't scared to pick up all kinds of creepy crawly things... "Sorry frog".

Nathan in the brownie batter. You pick your battles. Give the kid a chocolate covered spoon and he will then be distracted enough to quite hovering at my feet so I can finish in the kitchen.

Nathan

Baby Boy is Here!

Tate Erickson Dodd
Born July 7th
8lbs 14oz and 20.25in

Everything went pretty smoothly and quickly. The Doctor broke my water about 2:30pm and I had Tate by 5:51pm. I got my epidural about 3:15 which I was happy to get. Within about 10 minutes after my water broke I had my first good contraction and from there on they quickly magnified with intensity. We had some issues with the epidural as it obviously wasnt taking care of all the pain after about 30 minutes of crying the anesthesiologist came back to my rescue adding something new to my pump. He explained something about the baby's position being so low that the pressure was causing the meds not to circulate as they should.? Anyway, he fixed the problem and then from there on out life was good. Tate was born with a head full of dark hair. He has a rounder head and face than Nathan and his skin is darker. I think he is going to have blue eyes. We'll see... Eric was a great help for me during the delivery, my Doctor is fantastic, and the hospital staff was so sweet I actually really enjoyed my stay in the hospital.. I think I would have stayed longer it they would have let me. :) The second time around having a baby is definitely easier I'd say all around. We are all adjusting to life with our newest addition. Nathan like to give Tate lots of "Sugars" as he says and I have to watch him like a hawk as he can love his brother too hard. ect. Tate is a beautiful baby I'd say and are happy to have him with us!

Sorry these pictures are all out of order I am not the best at this. And I will write more later just trying to get some pictures out for family and friends.