Bate Family

Jacob's 3rd Birthday

2011-04-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to win a gift certificate to Jumpin Jacks bounce house. Obviously, I used it for Jacob's birthday. I mean, I'm sure all my friends would have loved to celebrate my birthday at a children's bounce house and all, but I figure it was best suited for Jacob's. I decided at last minute to cancel the cake I ordered for Jacob, and attempt making my own. Following are a few pictures of his party and the cake. Enjoy!

It only makes sense in Jacob's head...

2011-04-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

So as I'm tucking Jacob into bed tonight, he feels the need to point out that the sun is still out. In his mind, this means that he doesn't have to go to bed either. We have had many a talks about this. When summer comes the sun stays out all night, it doesn't go to bed, but he still has too. He refuses to accept this concept. Anyways, as he's pointing to the sun and giving me his three year old logic as to why I need to let him stay awake, I remind him that the sun doesn't go to bed. His response? "Oh...I GOT IT! The sun doesn't go poop anymore!" "Um...WHAT?" "Mom! If the if it doesn't get dark then the sun doesn't poop in the toilet." "Uh...goodnight child. I love you."

Chloe's 1st Birthday

2011-04-19T22:04:00.001-07:00

Okay, well its no secret I've been gone for two years now. I have lots of pictures and stories I could show, but I'm going to start with the most requested. Chloe's 1st Birthday! I didn't make as big a deal out of it as Jacob's. There were a few reasons behind that, one being I realized on my second child how little they truly remember. Due to that I decided to save the money till she does remember. After much thought I decided I would put the most work into the cake. (well actually I decided to do cupcakes) That will be the most memorable thing to a first birthday...right? Yeah, maybe with Jacob, but NOT Chloe. She HATED it! It was really sad. I spent several hours on her cupcakes all for what felt like a complete slap in the face. :) Regardless, I loved how they turned out. I got the idea from a friend and also borrowed some decorations from her! Okay, enough chat on to the pictures...

Crazy weekend with Kyle and Natalie

2009-05-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

Mariners game

playing in the rocks at Olive Garden

Kellie Pickler and Taylor Swift with Natalie

2009-05-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

2009-05-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

In the Polar Bear cave at the zoo

The bear was real impressive...NOT

Mom, Lily, Tyler, Jacob and I

Jacob "posing" if he sees the camera he squints as hard as he can to prepare for the flash

sugar rush

Fun in the Sun

2009-05-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

2009-05-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

Easter...the best attempt we got at his outfit

Gilbert House with Jacob's buddy Braeden.

This is his favorite thing to do! He brings the wagon up to us and signs please until we give in!

2009-05-20T15:11:00.000-07:00

2009-05-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Ran into cousin Grace at the store

Sitting on his truck backwards

At home before our move...trying on Uncle Kyle's watch

helping mommy make brownies

My crazy hair

MIA...

2009-03-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

Missing in Action...I have been gone lately and have no promises as to when I will be back on consistently. Moving is crazy! I am currently staying at some good friends house until Saturday when I fly out. My Dad comes tomorrow night, helps me with repairs on Friday, takes me to the airport Sat., loads up the car and leaves Sunday morning very early to catch the ferry on Monday! Whew...the craziness of it all. We have had movers come and go. Cleaned the house, taken care of LOTS and LOTS of errands and paperwork and legal stuff on base. It feels like it will never end. However, I know soon enough it will! I look forward to Salem and some rest; however, am dreading leaving Anchorage. It's always hard to say goodbye to good friends! :( Jacob is being quite the trooper! Today is the first day all week he has been with mommy. He has been at a different house most of the week and just travels around with his play pen! He has LOVED playing with his buddy Levi so that makes me feel not quite so guilty about leaving him all the time. Anyways, needless to say, life is crazy and I haven't been online much and cant guarantee when the next time will be! Thank you to all for your prayers during this time. Please pray for my dad as he has come down with the flu right in time for his trip up here! Also, continue to pray for Jacob and his flexibility during the remainder of the craziness!

Jacob Walking and Playing Video!

2009-03-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

2009-03-16T23:04:00.000-07:00

So I realized it's been several days since I've updated, and I promised matt I'd be better. I don't have pictures right now, but here's what we've been up to...MOVING. It's so crazy around here right now. I have 3 piles going (some physical and some in my head). The movers come Monday and everything in the house will be packed and I won't see it for at least 2 years. Ahhh...how do you pack for that? I have a pile of stuff Jacob and I will need in Salem, and a pile for things needed in Oklahoma. I feel like I've been as productive as possible with a rug rat running around. :) Saturday I have several friends coming over to help take apart all of our furniture and what not. Starting Saturday we will be staying with the Stokes family for a week till we leave for Salem. In the mean time there is still lots to do! Sell our house (please continue praying as I have a possible bite, but not looking great), get Jacob his shots, disconnect our utilities, finish packing and dropping everything off where it belongs, I need a new military ID...anyways, you get the drift. Lots to do! I know it will get done, it always does...I just don't know how. :) Please keep Jacob in your prayers during this time. He doesn't seem to handle change very well and knows something is up and definitely is letting me know!

2009-03-11T00:57:00.000-07:00

Jacob was trying to kill the mouse (fake) with a spoon

Jacob was so excited to be able to sit up here, he isn't allowed on ours, he sat here for at least 20 min! He's so funny!

Levi and Jacob learning how to share :)

Jacob's first bite of a cinnamon roll

2009-03-11T00:38:00.000-07:00

I don't have a lot to write about, but I have a few updates and funny stories. :)

First, we only have 13 more days till the movers come and 18 more days till I move. This comes with mixed emotions. Last deployment I had good friends, but we weren't as close as we are now. Obviously that happens with time. I've been busy every night with someone, which makes it that much harder to leave. On the flip side, I'm super excited to be with family and reunite with old friends! Please continue to pray for the sell of our house. It is listed by owner currently, but is going on the market with a realtor on the 24th.

I mentioned a few posts back about my grandma's husband having cancer. He has gotten significantly worse. :( This is a really hard thing on the family. He went from having several months to a few weeks. Were hoping I make it down there before he passes away.

Jacob is walking like crazy now! He thinks its so fun! He really likes the praise he gets for it as well. If any of you know my son, you know he will do ANYTHING for praise! Tonight for dinner Kyle and Natalie were over and we bbq'd salmon. Jacob ate more than Natalie! It was so funny. We made it with a lot of cajun seasoning...so it had bite! The kid loved it! He never ceases to amaze me! I am going to have quite the grocery bill someday! Matt is not a cheap eater (asks for steak at least once a week) :) and Jacob is following in his steps. Luckily, in Alaska the fish is free....so eat on! Another funny...yet not so funny story about Jacob. Biting...you heard me...biting! How could this be funny? I thought the same thing! I have NEVER found biting humorous...until today. (isn't that horrible) Jacob laid his head on my shoulder and all of a sudden I felt him chewing on my neck. It tickled SO BAD! I squealed and started laughing hysterically! Which...as stated before, Jacob loves reactions! So of course he thinks its funny and proceeds to do it. I was trying so hard to put on a straight face and say no...but first, it tickled! Second, he would bite me and then laugh so hard I'm sure he pee'd his pants! I've never seen him laugh so hard at something! He thought it was the greatest thing ever. Anyways, eventually he was trying to bite my arm, leg yada yada. I sternly said no, put him down for a nap and smiled as I walked away! I'm hoping he forgot about it cuz he hasn't done it since. I know its absolutely horrible and I cannot allow my child to think its okay to bite...but if you know me at all when I think somethings funny I can't stop laughing! Moments like these I always pass him off to Matt and let him take care of it while I go to another room and laugh. Where is Matt in times like these!?! :)

I have heard from Matt a few times. He is doing good. Just found out tonight that he will be staying with his platoon for a while. He is very excited about that, as he was not ready to leave them.

Yesterday we went to my friend Renee's house. Her son Levi is 6 months older than Jacob. They had a lot of fun playing together and we had fun hanging out together! It's nice to let the boys play and have opportunities to work with them on sharing! OH YES, one more story...
So, we were making a spinach salad of sorts. (It has lots of other things in it too) We had all the other stuff ready and were putting spinach on our plates when Renee pulled out a FEATHER! Isn't that gross! I just about lost it! My stomach was so queasy! A bird feather in spinach! Needless to say, we emailed the company and both have a new distorted view of spinach. It may be a while before I can eat it again....a looooooooooooong while!

Well, that's all for now. I'll put a few more pictures up of the last few days. Enjoy!

2009-03-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

Jacob decided to help mama make some cake. I gave up and gave him his own bowl of brown sugar to play with.

Ravioli "fun" for lunch :)

Jacob Walking

2009-03-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

This is a short clip of Jacob walking. He had been doing this for about 20 min. He thought it was the greatest thing. Walking to me then racing back to the chair (while cheering for himself) and doing it again. Every time I'd say do it again he'd get super excited. Catching it on video was not easy! As soon as he would see the camera he would drop to his knees and try to get it. Please excuse my annoying voice :) Obviously I was holding the camera while cheering him on (you may want to turn down your volume). It's sideways, sorry about that also. Don't know how to fix it.

some pics from this week

2009-03-05T23:12:00.000-08:00

Jacob is going to be walking any day now! He started taking steps a while ago but preferred crawling. Lately he has started preferring to stand and walk rather than crawl!

How far is half a world?

2009-03-02T03:16:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is. I am 13 1/2 hours ahead of my wife and son, countless miles away, and still wrapping my mind around being deployed again. So far, my journey to and through Afghanistan has included a stop in Leipzig, Germany; Manas Air Force Base, Kyrgyzstan; Bagram Air Force Base, Afghanistan; FOB Salerno, Afghanistan; and I am in temporary holding now at FOB Sharana, Afghanistan. Let me just say that I hate living out of a duffle bag! I have still about another month before I will have a permanent home.

Following FOB Sharana, I will move to FOB Khushamand, where I will replace the unit currently living there and will train my replacement, the young 2nd Lieutenant who is taking over my platoon. I know God has a plan for all things, but it is frusterating to have trained my platoon this entire last year, developed relationships and trust with each of them, and then to have them taken away from me as soon as we deploy. It is a very hard thing to do, but again, God has a plan.

In a couple weeks, after I have trained my replacement, I will move back to FOB Salerno where I will wait for further instructions. I will be going to another job where I will be living in the midst of a major Afghan city. While there, I will be running a joint operations center with the Afghan Army, Police, and Border Patrol, along with other Special Operations Agencies. Essentially, it will be much like my job in Iraq, just on steroids. It should at least be interesting, and will keep me on my toes.

I miss my wife and son terribly and think of them all the time, praying for them daily. I sleep with a little monkey that Jacob got for his birthday. It is almost exactly the same as the monkey Liz and I gave him for Christmas from Build-a-Bear, so he has his, and I have mine. I think of him every time I look at it. I also have with me the memory quilt Liz made for me for our wedding. It has nine pictures of our dating and engagement. Just a taste of home.

Overall, after a week, I am doing well enough, but again, it's only been a week and I haven't started my job yet. I've been mostly just working out, reading, watching movies, and relaxing. Things may change soon enough. I want to thank everyone for their continued prayer support. Liz did an amazing thing for me, and many of you are participating. She organized a prayer group, where every hour of every day, someone is praying for me, and that is a very comforting thought. Thank you.

Anyhow, I will write more and post pictures soon.

In His Grip,
Matthew Bate

2009-03-02T00:33:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from tonight. Uncle Kyle and Aunt Natalie came over for our "usual" (usual minus one person :(...daddy) Sunday Dinner...

So Strong...

Jacob thought it was hilarious to slide across the floor on his belly

"I got your hat"

How many times can you hit your head and be okay?

2009-03-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was quite entertaining. Not the best entertainment, but humorous now. Let me start at the beginning...

Last week my uncle emailed me asking for prayer for a little girl at his church who was 1 and fell out of her crib. They thought she was fine, but ended up taking her in and finding internal bleeding. Friday night I got a follow up email asking for prayer for the family as she had passed away. I was absolutely taken back! I CANT IMAGINE loosing Jacob right now! I thought...I wonder how high her mattress was that she could get out? Jacob could never climb out of his. (never say never right!?!) Seriously though, Jacob's crib hits him mid chest. How do you get over that? Well... Saturday morning I wake to...THUD...followed by intense screaming. I look at my video monitor and don't see him. I still didn't think anything of it...my contacts are always fuzzy first thing and I looked as I ran out of bed. I run into his room and HE IS LAYING ON THE FLOOR BALLING! Are you kidding me? How did he manage that? I seriously can't figure it out still. I have no side bars on the crib that he could climb on. Jacob does have an extremely strong upper body (due to his father thinking its funny to make him do pull ups on the shower rod). So my guess is this...Jacob likes to throw his paci out and then try and look for it. He probably threw it out and then while looking for it pulled himself up and flip....the rest is history.

So we calm down, eat breakfast and he seems fine (Although I have no clue what to look for). Bathtime it is. So I get him in the tub and he keeps standing up, normally not an issue. I tell him to sit down and as he does...flip...his feet fly out from under him and he's on his head screaming again! REALLY!?! Seriously child is there a magnet in his head pulling it to the ground? Yet again, he seems fine after the tears clear. NAP TIME FINALLY! I put him down for nap and watch him like a hawk on the monitor running downstairs panicked a few times. I don't want him falling again. After nap I brought him upstairs and my friend was here. We were getting ready to leave to go to Fur Rondy. I went to grab a diaper real quick and I hear Jacob racing across the room. I turn just in time to see him fly toward the gate....the gate I hadn't closed! From that moment it felt like slow motion...I scream JACOB NO! Fly across the room thinking seriously again...DIVE on the ground just in time to grab his final foot as he falls down the stairs. SERIOUSLY CHILD, DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH? I actually started laughing at this point, the whole day seemed so unbelievable. I had Melanie take a picture of which I will post. :) The rest of the night was fun. We went and saw fireworks. Jacob "played in" or touched the snow for the first time and went to Red Robin for dinner. Our friends (Jacob's godparents) Kyle and Natalie came over after and fixed the crib. So no more worries! If Jacob gets out of this one he will be old enough to know better and not only will reap the consequence of a fall...but a spanking to follow it up. ha ha such a twirp he is!

Today, Sunday, has been another hard day. Jacob fell apart at church. The nursery worker brought him back to me twice! He has always loved the nursery and it has never been an issue before. That was hard to deal with. It really is pointless to be at church when you have a child that is unhappy and you're alone. We finally got home and went down for nap and he woke up in a bad mood. He wines like crazy! I was so frustrated and thought, grace isn't working! Everyone says, "Keep giving him grace, he has a lot going on!" But what do you do when grace doesn't seem enough...drugs! ha ha I gave him tylenol. Maybe he has a headache from his head being thrown at the ground or he is teething. Unfortunately, the wining only stopped for a bit. All that being said...I started thinking. I wonder if the Lord ever thinks that about me? "Grace isn't working!" I wonder if I ever put Him at His wits end like Jacob does me? It's kinda funny how having a kid can put a different twist on the way you think about the Lord. My only question is this...does he resort to drugs? If so....WHERE ARE MY DRUGS????!!!!!!!

A little bit of everything

2009-02-28T00:11:00.000-08:00

The last two days have been a nice distraction. Melanie has been coming over with Eli and hanging out. We've been cooking together and just having fun. It's nice not being alone all the time! Jacob loves watching Eli play on the floor.

Jacob is still having a rough time. I can't figure out if he's teething, missing Matt or both. I just know that our afternoons and evenings are rough. Please be praying for that if you think of it!

I finally got around to some much needed errands and cleaning today. It's a nice feeling! I also received several cards and a birthday present from my mom in the mail. I've had a headache for two days now (I think from lack of sleep), so it was nice to have some positive things today!

On another note, I got an email from my Dad last night. My grandma's husband of 10 years has been having some health issues for a few months now. It just started with a general cold that he couldn't fight. Next thing you know he has fluid in his lungs and is having several tests ran. They haven't been proactive in treating or diagnosing him so I guess I figured it was nothing. I was wrong! :( I don't remember the exact term for what he has, but they have only given him a little time left to live. They have planned a trip to the beach in May and are hoping that he is still around and well to take that trip. Please be in prayer for them and the family during this time.

I'm still numb to the hole thing. My grandpa died 2 months before I was born and my grandma married Al ten years ago. I have never thought of Al as my grandpa, but I have always loved him as family. He has been so good to my grandma and made her so happy during their time together. I truly can't imagine being told my husband is dying. How do you handle that? How do you spend your last days? What do those conversations look like? How do you mentally prepare to bury a second husband? So many questions run through my mind. I've never dealt with death before, and I don't really know how I'll handle it. The one thing I do know is this...Al does know Jesus and soon will be out of pain and sitting by His side! How amazing is that? Can you imagine knowing that in a few weeks/months you will be sitting with our King? Another thought I can't wrap my mind around. It seems so surreal. I did talk to my grandma today and she said, "God has given us a wonderful 10 years together, and I thank Him for that. He is good!" What an amazing woman of the Lord! I hope that if one day I'm told my husband is dying that can truly be my heart. With all that being said, please be praying for everyone during this time. I really dread having to deal with this for the first time without Matt. It will be hard, but I will be down there and with family!

Single Parenting...

2009-02-25T22:18:00.000-08:00

Boy oh boy was today a day! You know those days where you can't wait for your husband to get home so you can pass over the kiddo say, "here ya go!" and leave! TODAY WAS THAT DAY! One problem...that requires your husband coming home. grrrr Jacob is definitely having a hard time with Matt being gone! He did fine this morning, but wouldn't sleep for his afternoon nap and the rest of the day was a mess! For the sanity of both of us I decided to get out of the house and go to the mall. That was okay for a bit, but he eventually got tired. Thankfully, my friend Melanie met me at the mall and Jacob calmed down for a bit. Her husband is deployed as well and we both had identical problems today! It was nice to be able to vent and walk around for a bit! We had dinner plans with some other army wives tonight, obviously that wasn't possible with two cranky kids. So we ended up at Round Table Pizza in the mall. (where we got an extra free pizza out of the deal!) After I came home, played with Jacob for a while, gave him a bottle and now he's in bed! I truly thank the Lord that I don't have a kid who is characterized by this! I know that this is him having a hard time with change. So if you think about it, Please pray for an extra amount of grace for both Jacob and I right now!

On a side note: Matt texted me tonight and is in Afghanistan. He is in classes all day and that is as much as I know about him! Praise the Lord for safe travels!

Well, I'm off to utilize this time and get some cleaning done (another thing that has to change...can't wait for Matt to get home to do it!).

Matt deploying and Jacob

2009-02-24T00:22:00.000-08:00

(On our way to drop matt off)

As many of you know Matt left yesterday for Afghanistan for 12-15 months. This time seemed harder and easier than last. Easier because I have an amazing son to help keep me side tracked. Harder because I had to watch Matt say goodbye to Jacob while he had no clue what was going on. He has been looking for daddy all day and doesn't understand why he hasn't come home(the pic on the left). It breaks my heart! He was a good boy all day until about 5:30. Around the time he expected to see Matt. At that point he fell apart and the rest of the evening was horrible! Jacob is not characterized by tantrums! We've had one in his first year of life. UNTIL TODAY! Oh my word, the whole evening he fell apart if he didn't get his way. I've decided to give him a few days of grace because he is not characterized by this and there is big change! However, I so hope this doesn't continue, I hate spanking him!

On another note, Matt made a dvd of himself reading several books to Jacob. I played it today for him and he LOVED IT! He stared at the tv the whole time with a huge smile! We watched Matt read some Clifford story about farm animals. If any of you know Jacob he loves animal sounds! So the rest of the day if he saw an animal in a book, on the fridge, on tv he would attempt to imitate the sound! He can't talk, but he has the voice inflections down! It was so cute!

I was able to talk to Matt today. He is very tired and is in Krgyzstan (sp?) now. He has no clue how long he'll be there. Sometime between today and Friday they will tell him to get on the plane and from there he will head to Afghanistan where he will be stationed. Please keep Matt and all his soldiers in your prayers this year! I will do my best to keep you all posted on how he is doing and where and what he's up to!

Attempting the blog world...any advice???

2009-02-24T00:18:00.000-08:00

Okay...so with all the moving around we do I get lots of questions. This will be my attempt to keep people updated on our life and so forth. I've never been good at this so no guarantees! However, with that being said, does anyone have any helpful advice on how these things work