Yes, we're still here!

Sorry it's been so long since our last post; we've been busy and were out of town last week for Easter.

It was Josh's birthday on the 15th... we didn't do too much to celebrate since Tate still can't go out in public. Avery and I picked up some balloons for him and we ordered takeout from Speak Easy. I even made him seven layer bars (his favorite). In case you're wondering, they turned out much better than my cookies. :)

Tate is doing well. He hasn't been weighed in a few weeks now, but he seems to be growing. He's even getting a double chin and some little rolls on his thighs. If you ask me, there's nothing cuter than a chubby baby! His neck strength and control are also getting better. He still does what I call the chicken peck at times (bobbing his head), but we've definitely noticed improvement over the past few weeks. If someone has never held Tate before, I always warn them about his floppy neck. People usually respond with something like "Oh, I know. I've held babies before." If either Josh or I have said this to you, it's not meant to insult you. Tate just doesn't have the neck stability of a typical infant and we need to be somewhat more careful with him than we were with Avery. I'm learning that in the process of looking out for Tate, I may offend others. Please know that it's never intentional!

He had a big Easter weekend meeting new family members. He got to meet grandma Janet, auntie Taylar, uncle Derek, uncle Travis, and great aunts and uncles Jill, Ray, Laura and Mark for the first time. He's now met all of his aunts and uncles except his uncle John who is serving in Iraq. John will be home this fall or winter sometime so Tate will get to meet him then. We're anxiously awaiting his return!

Avery is doing well too. She had a blast with Easter this year. Although it felt strange to miss church on Easter (because of the no crowds thing for Tate), we had fun spending time with both of Josh's moms and brothers and other extended family. Avery dyed Easter eggs, had two egg hunts, and got very spoiled by the Easter bunny. She's even convinced that she saw the Easter bunny outside Grandma Janet's house.

Josh spent most of his weekend at the WCHA Final Five hockey tournament. He and I usually go to all five games together. That was the plan for this year (we were going to take the kids too), but after Tate was born our plans changed. Although I was bummed to miss out on the games, I got to spend time with Terese (my brother Jeff's girlfriend) on Thursday, Janet and Taylar on Friday, and Linda on Saturday. We asked Terese to be Tate's godmother, so she and Jeff will be Tate's godparents. But back to hockey. Jeff went with Josh to one game and Travis (Josh's brother) went with him to the rest. Josh and Travis don't get to spend a lot of time together and are both OBSESSED with Gopher hockey, so they had fun. Tate also watched his first Gopher hockey game a week and a half ago. Check out the picture of Tate and his friend Mallory watching the game. I'm not sure if Tate can even see that far yet, but he enjoyed looking at Mallory. She's a cutie!

Not much else is new in the St. Louis household. Tate has his speech eval on Thursday so I'll update again then.

P.S. Josh and I just want to say a quick thanks to everyone who has reached out to us since Tate's birth. We are so appreciative of everyone, but especially those people who have been through the birth of a child with special needs. It's so helpful to have you as resources and support in this adventure!