#2 is on the way!

We found out on August 1st that we would be having another Shular baby come into this world. We were so excited that Tate will be a big brother. We decided not to tell anyone until we went to the doctor the first time which was August 26th. This was a hard secret to keep especially from out parents. I ordered a "big brother" shirt for Tate to wear and surprise our parents. The day we got the shirt in the mail we could'nt stand it anymore. We decided to tell Abbie first. I called and invited ourselves over for dinner...yum mom's lasagna! We get in the door she noticed the shirt first off. She was super excited! We went to moms next and she noticed the shirt as Tate was walking up the porch stairs. She couldn't believe it! We decided to pick some veggies from the garden so we called Gram and Pap to come over and pick some of the okra that was going bad. They came over and hung out for quite awhile before noticing the shirt and of course they were super excited too! Dad found out since he kept Tate at our house the night of our 10 year reunion and we continued to call other family and friends after that weekend since it came out at the reunion festivities. We are really excited to add another life to our family!

Smith Mountain Lake with the Streets

In the middle of July we decided to crash the Street vacation at Smith Mountain Lake. My Aunt and Uncle have a condo on the lake and everyone was gathering together. Tate rode his first jet ski very slowly between Travis and I. We ate good and had lots of fun. We visited the Smith Mountain Boat Dock because my Aunt kept talking about the "big" fish. WOW! These things were huge and there were so many. We had a great time feeding them lots of popcorn. The last night we were there we all got in the boat and rode to the Mexican place to eat. Glad we could crash the party!

See what I mean...Big and lots of them...

First trip to Dollywood

My Birthday fell on a Monday this year and Travis and I happened to be off for the July fourth holiday so we decided to do something fun for us and Tate. Tate has never been to Dollywood so we decided to make a day of it. I don't know who was more excited Travis or myself. One thing about parenthood that I love it showing your child new fun things in life. Well this day was full of them. When we got there we decided to go straight to the Country Fair. We rode the elephants and the tea cups together. What a blast! What I wasn't ready for was for Tate to ride some rides by himself...sounds absurd at 21 months! On the contrary Tate was able to ride the Bubble Bees and the Ducks all by himself...what a big boy! We also made our way up to the carousel and the last stop was the famous steam engine train. By this time in the day Tate was wore out and actually fell asleep on the train. What a great and memorable birthday!

North Myrtle Beach 2010

This year we decided to go to the beach in June. This worked out better with our busy work and summer schedule. The Stewarts were supposed to go with us but God had other plans so we still decided to find a place and go ourselves. Our reservations started on Sunday so we decided to drive to Greensboro to visit with Derick and Scarlett which worked out great for us. It cut the trip up and Ray and Carolyn were there too. Tate slept most of the trip to the beach and on the way home...something about the car that wears him and myself out. We stayed at Baywatch and had a one room place that was just right for us this year. It had lots of pools that Tate grew to love. He started jumping in by himself while we there. He was fearless. He also loved the sand and waves. Every morning we would go down to the beach and play in the ocean puddles. These were cold at first but the sun would warm them up throughout the day. Travis and/or I would follow Tate as he wandered down the beach. Around 11 or 11:30 Tate was spent and ready for a nap and a hotdog. He would eat and be out for 2-3 hours. Travis and I would take turns on nap duty (but I have to say...I got more beach time...thanks Trav). When he woke up we would go down for a couple more hours and end up in the pool. Every night we would find some good place to eat and yes Travis did talk me into seafood two nights. One of them we drove to Calabash and the other one was the buffet Travis has been talking about for months. I am so glad we went and got to make some Shular memories together!!

Tate's 18 month pics

We got 18 month pictures done in early May at the Botanical Gardens in Knoxville. These were sort-of a spur of the moment thing but really turned out well. Below are some we took ourselves before the shoot. We used Travis's Radio Flyer wagon as a prop and had a great time.

Papaw Mike's Birthday 2010

Dad's name is Papaw Mike to Tate and Izzie. This is hard to get used to...calling everyone by their "new" names but oh so much fun. Dad picked to go out to eat for his birthday so we ventured to Outback...YUM! Tate and Izzie were all over dad he could barely eat. Tate evened sneezed in Dad's salad and dad said he lost his appetite. I am sure it was a sweet sneeze! Later in the evening we went and played on Izzie's new swing set. She got this for turning 3. We had a great time!

Izzie Turns 3

Izzie Beth is 3! Izzie had a party at the Bouce House this year. Tate loved it this year because he was big enough to bounce on his own. He found a favorite spot and wanted to do over and over. Izzie got a load of presents and did so good opening her presents. Everyone got a ball as a party favor. You know Tate was in heaven. You can tell Izzie Beth is loved!