New Things

This week is filled with trying new things for Tyce and has been so much fun. On Thursday my mom came up to Reno and hung out with us. While we were out we stopped at a near by gymnastics place because I was trying to find something for Tyce and myself to do together. Since Talen has joined the family Tyce and I have had little mommy and Tyce time so I thought we should find something. Come to find out the owner of the gymnastics place was a coach that I trained under 15+ years ago and he is not only a gold medal Olympian for Bulgaria but the sweetest man. He recognized me and gave me a big hug and a tour of the gym. While we were there some of the competitive boys were tumbling and Tyce looked at me and said "Mommy I take my pants off and go do that!" (the pants off comment was because all the boys had shorts on and he thought they were all wearing big boy pants). Tyce was so excited he didn't want to leave and return for class that evening. I had to convince him that he had to go home and have a nap and dinner for lots of energy before going to gymnastics...That however backfired all afternoon! We left the gym with him crying and holding onto my leg begging to stay there. The minute he got up from his nap he said "We need to go the the gym now because I have lots of energy!" I told him we had to have dinner and of course his response was I need dinner NOW! It took a while to explain that it was only 3pm and we had to wait until class time. He was so excited while eating dinner that he was rushing and actually gagged himself and "lost" his entire dinner...FUN!!! Anway, we packed up Talen and my mom came with us because Dustin was still in court and off we went. Tyce had a blast during class and I was exhausted. He is going to be in the preschool class, but I was with him keeping him on track and from running to all of the equipment (luckily there were 2 other moms that had to be out there too!) He was the only boy and it was hilarious to see him compared to the girls who were so dainty, especially on the trampoline where the girls all bounced nice and soft and he was ALL over the place flinging himself around and flying across the tramp. The teacher kept thinking he was going to fall and I was just laughing because this is nothing compared to his normal craziness...Then she tells me that she just found out she was pregnant with a boy and she is worried - I looked at her, laughed and said "good luck!" At the end he got stamps on his feet (which he still won't let me wash off and shows to everyone who walks through the door!) and animal crackers. He has told his other grandparents they have to come watch him at his gymnastics and he can't wait to go back!
Today we are going to try another first...Swimming lessons. I will be taking him in a few hours and he is so excited to go in a big pool. I am driving him to Virginia City where one of my patients up there is teaching lesson as her senior project in the hotel swimming pool. She works as a life guard and swimming instructor during the summer so I am very excited for Tyce to learn from her.
Update on Talen - We are moving through this colic thing one day at a time. He is growing like crazy. He has gained 3 pounds already and is 6 weeks old already. His hair is getting redder and he has started smiling (real smiles, not gassy smiles). He is becoming more alert and is so precious. I can't believe how much he has changed and we are all just loving having him here. We have a complete little family now...The Lord is so awesome!

A New Year...A New Addition

Tyce and Talen Grate

Well, I have been what you would call HORRIBLE at updating this, but I will try and get back to it on a routine basis.

As most of you know we were blessed with a Christmas Eve gift - Talen Cale Grate. He was born at 3:03pm on 12/24/09. He was 19inches long and 6 pounds 5.8oz. He is a beautiful baby with a ton of red wavy hair! He definitely resembles his daddy! (I keep saying if the first acts like me but looks like Dustin maybe this one will look like Dustin but act like me!!!) Anyway, we haven't had the easiest go at it, but he is still a blessing. 4 days after I left the hospital I had to return for a procedure known as a blood patch due to severe headaches caused by a leaking epidural site. I was very thankful that the procedure worked almost immediately so that I could finally start enjoying my new son and the rest of my family. At Talen's 2 week check up they found a heart murmur which sent us straight to the pediatric cardiologist. It was found that this is a common benign murmur that should heal on it's own and we will have to recheck it in 1 year. Praise the Lord! Now we are dealing with colic - he vomits on a routine basis and is quite uncomfortable most of the time, which means little sleep for mommy and daddy! The Dr. put him on some medication and did a weight check at 4 weeks and he has already gained 2 pounds, so all the vomiting isn't affecting him (just me!!!) He has changed so much already and is so cuddly and loveable.

My boys!

Talen 1 week old

Talen 4 weeks old

Tyce is adapting to being a big brother. He wants to help with everything, BUT and it's a big BUT doesn't like sharing the lime light so he asks to go to mom's at least once a day where he knows he is the only one getting attention. We have had some behavior issues of acting out and throwing tantrums, but all in all he is doing pretty good. We have had to go to a reward system for pooping in the potty because of his reversion to a point he was hiding behind the couch to poop his pants and saying "I fine...don't look at me!" while point his little finger at us. He turned 3 in November and is going strong. He is definitely becoming a little boy. I am not sure when he got so big, but I didn't realize it until carrying Talen around. I love seeing him hold and kiss Talen. He wants to show his baby brother to everyone and unfortunately wants to pick him up, so I have to watch him closely. He is looking forward to camping and fishing this summer, as well as riding his quad that he got for Christmas. We got him a 90cc quad that has a ton of safety features so that he can learn to ride and grow into this quad. His helmet is so cute on him - it fits well, but he looks like a bobble head!

New quad riding helmet

Tyce 3 years old

Dustin is working hard. He has been extremely busy and we are very blessed that work is going so well for him. His friend from Africa was just in town for the Safari Club and he spent some time with him, which was very fun.

I am off work for a little while (until the beginning of March) which will come too soon. My heart is really to be home with my boys now...So I am in constant prayer that God will change our situation so that I can be home more and raise my boys. I love working as a PA too, so I knowGod will work something out that will allow me to do His will in both places. It's hard to believe I have been working as a PA almost 5 years already. I have recently helped open a clinic in Virginia City (just 15 minutes from our house) and that has been a huge blessing. I love working there 2 days a week and am hoping they will add more days so that I can serve that community better. I love working in the Reno office, but have enjoyed a slower pace of a small town (reminds me of Topaz).

The "new and improved" Grate Family

Time sure flies

Time is flying by... and so I have realized (and been told by many) that I haven't updated this recently.
Tyce is doing great...he'll be 3 in November and the closer we get to 3, the more often I wonder if he is going to make it to his 3rd birthday. He definitely has a strong will and a hard head (no telling who he gets that from), but God saves him by making him cute.
He is full of energy that I wish I could bottle up and use for myself. We are almost fully potty trained (not at night quite yet)! He is looking forward to a baby brother (so he thinks...I'm sure that will change when the baby gets here!) Dustin has taken him dove hunting a couple of times, so he thinks he is quite the big boy now and loves being with his daddy for anything and everything. He's still a momma's boy when he's hurt or daddy's gone, but right now he is ALL boy! Everything needs to be hammered, fixed or taken apart, shot, punched, etc... He loves fishing and camping and his dog, Echo!
Today we took him to a friends of ours birthday party (they are twins). The party was at a bounce house place and he had a blast...Ran for 1 1/2 hours solid. Ate sandwiches and cake and then came home and had a nice nap. I think Dustin had more fun that Tyce playing on all of the toys.
I am now 6 months pregnant with another little boy and doing great. No more sickness and finally gaining some weight. I am working full time - 2 days in Reno and 2 days in Virginia City. The clinic that I am working for just opened the VC site and I am the only provider there...it's a small town, so it's a lot of fun and much less stressful than in Reno. We are heading into flu season, so praying for no illness for the family this year!
Dustin is busy working and hunting. He has been on 3 hunting trips this year so far and was successful in getting a deer with his bow and arrow. He will be heading out again soon to help his dad who also has a deer tag.
We hope all is well with everyone and will try to get to this thing more often. We keep quite busy and I always have pictures to share, it's just sitting down and making the time to do it!
God Bless and we love you all!

(pics are not loading right now so will try and add soon!)

Welcome more testosterone to the Grate House!!!

No pics with the posting yet, but wanted to update all that we have found out we are adding more testosterone to our family!!! That's right, another little boy will be joining the house. I am due 1/17/09, so we are praying to NOT have a Christmas baby beause we like to have to "holiday" babies so much! The ultrasound tech told me, "That's the wiggliest baby I have ever seen!" and he's been doing it 20+ years, which to me was not the most welcome news, as that is exactly what they said about Tyce and I can barely keep up with him!!!! So at this point I am praying for A LOT more energy so I can keep up with all my boys.
Thanks for all the love and prayers!

Summertime fun

So I am trying to play catch up after have a long stretch of being very ill from this pregnancy...

Dustin and Tyce

Fishing

Feeding the deer

Deer checking out Echo's food

Deer eating Echo's food

Daddy and Tyce catching a very small fish

Daddy and Tyce shooting on trip to Wells

Tyce and Grammy Fishing in the river

Shooting the can with his pop gun

The Grate Family

Us in Wells...so beautiful

Quad riding

Playing in the backyard ...

First Camping Trip 2009

We had a great first camping trip of 2009! We went over mother's day weekend and tried out our new trailer, which was wonderful!

We left home around 2pm on Friday and made it out to Twin Lakes, CA around 6pm. We had a couple stops to make and then we got out there and found out that the camping ground we normally go to is closed. Luckily there was one campground open...Come to find out they are re-doing all the water spickets because they are "illegal" (I'm pretty sure they were legal 50 years ago when they put them in!) So, we finally found the perfect camping site and set up the trailer without any major incidence! We made our first dinner at camp and ate for the first time in our trailer.

Grammy and Pop showed up a little later and got all set up for the night. We tucked Tyce into his little mummy bag, which was so cute and he loved it! Tyce and I hit the sack and Dustin went to play cribbage with his mom in their trailer...I soon had to yell at Dustin to come and get his dog because she wouldn't stop whining. I actually threatened him that she would be bear food if he didn't make her stop!

The next morning we had a lazy kid on our hands who slept in (both mornings). Once we were all up and had breakfast, we got ready for fishing. Tyce got a lesson from his daddy how to cast the fishing rod and then we put on his life vest and off we went for the river!

Tyce caught (reeled in) his first fish with Pop and then I ran him back and forth between Dustin and Pop so he could reel in the fish, which he did. He refused to touch the fish stating that they were YUCKY! Eventually we got him to at least hold the stringer for the pictures.

We had a great time...We spent the second night teaching him the wonders of roasted marshmellows and Smores. He would much rather eat the "mellows" straight out of the bag! (Who's kid is this anyway?) We got up the next day and did more fishing until it was time to pack up and head home.

We stopped at my parents and brother's house in Topaz and spent some time with them. Tyce and Echo were well tuckered out and slept a good portion of the way home!
We are looking forward to many more camping trips this summer in our trailer!

Tucking Tyce into bed!

Ready for the day!

Fishing lessons

Ready for fishing!

Daddy and Tyce fishing

Tyce fishing (some more!)

Mommy and Tyce with Tyce's fish!

Learning to fly fish with Grammy and fishin' with Daddy

Tyce loving camping life

Time with Grammy and Pop

BIG Fish!

Introduction to Roasting Marshmellows...Can you say STICKY MESS!

Daddy & Tyce

Mommy & Tyce

Campin's Hard....

Easter Pics

Easter was a nice relaxing day for us! We went to Church, came home for a nap and then went to Grammy and Pop's for a nice family dinner. We were blessed with beautiful weather and a wonderful day together.

Handsome Boy

Pictures with mommy and daddy