My Sunshine

As I nuzzled my sweet Baby Tate in the hospital as soon as I was allowed to really hold him following my emergency C-section I quietly sung 'You Are My Sunshine' into his beautiful little ears.  From that moment on that early evening, July 23, 2009 he has been my sunshine.  Every night since, I have sung that song to him as I put on his diaper and get him ready for bed.  Every. Single. Night.

You are my sunshine, 

my only sunshine.

You make me happy

when skies are gray.

You'll never know, dear, 

how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away.

Sometimes I've cried, sometimes I've smiled, sometimes recently I've had to stop and tell him to stop kicking mama, but that song always brings me joy and warmth to my heart and soul.

And to my heart's surprise about 3 weeks ago, Tate started joining in as I sung him this song.  No warning, no notice, just his sweet little voice making this special song a duet.

Listen...

I'm in tears of awe, joy, love, happiness and pure contentment as I watch this video of Tate.  

He is truly my Sonshine.

The Second Birthday Celebration!!!

Tate had a great time at his birthday party on Saturday...actually I think he had a pretty wonderful day.  We spent the morning just hanging out in our pajamas.  He still doesn't sleep in much to my dismay, but he's content to hang out  and watch videos of himself on my iPhone on my bed while I try to snooze a bit longer.  (6am is soooo very early).  Christian managed to rise around 8am and join in the lazy Saturday morning.  We opened Tate's gifts from Christian's parents ...Tate didn't quite get the whole birthday gift unwrapping idea though.  Aunt Lindsey came by after her 10 mile morning run, and wished sweet Tate Happy Birthday.  So, the four of us just played for a while.

After lunch and a nice nap for Tate it was time to head out to the celebration venue...Gymboree!  I invited a few of his little friends from daycare, as well as two of my dear friends' and their new little ones, and a couple other friends of Tate's from our Music Together class who we now have playdates with once in a while.


Our teacher for the party was Nikki and she was awesome!!  There were 11 kids in total...an 8 month old, a 5 month old, eight 2 year olds and one 4 year old (my nephew).  The following pictures and videos are only mildly indicative of the fabulous time that was had by all the kiddos!!

Ready for a ride!

Balancing act!

Playing on that log is one of his fave things at Gymboree!

Tons of giggles!!!!

My awesome friends Teri and Kristen with their sweet babes!

Blowing out the candles!

No cake for Tate...just Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream!

Aunt Lindsey and Papa!

  

After the party celebration, Christian and I brought Tate home to wind down a bit.  He had a bit of dinner, but was really wound up and excited.  Christian gave him his bath (their little ritual when Christian is in town..so sweet),  I read Tate some stories and into the crib he went.  Grandmommy and Papa came by after dinner out and babysat, so Christian and I could go out to celebrate Tate's birthday ourselves!  We had some yummy margaritas at El Tiempo, then headed off to Vincent's for a scumptious Italian dinner.  








It's still so surreal to me that I have this little boy in my life.  Five years ago I couldn't have imagined I would be a mother, a mommy, a mama!   Three years ago in July I was anticipating Christian coming over from Berlin in August to spend time with me so we could get to know each other and see the RE together.  Two years ago Christian had flown over yet again to be here for the birth of sweet Tate.  One year ago, Tate turned one and had been walking for 2 months.  And now he's 2 years old.  730 days old.  (well 734 days old today!)  I pray we have thousands and thousands and thousands of more days together.


So, Happy Happy Birthday my sweet, loving, generous, kind, beautiful Baby Tate.  Words cannot express how very much I love you.  But like I tell you every night after 'Good-Night Moon'...


I love you
As big as the sky
As far as the moon
And as long as time. 

Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today, July 23, 2009, at 3:13pm Tate Christopher entered my world.  I was 41 years old and had waited my entire life to meet my child.  


Having this little person in my world for the past 730 days has brought me more joy than I could have ever imagined.  His laughs, his tantrums, his joys, his quirks, his mannerisms, his simple Tateness brings a smile to my face and to my heart that I could never have dreamed possible.  


I love being his mother.  I love when he runs up to me when I pick him up at daycare.  I love how he wants me to kiss his boo-boos.  I love how when he's upset he seeks me out in a room.  I love that I'm the only on who can calm him when he's beside himself with exhaustion.  I simply love him.


And I know he loves me.  He loves burrowing his head in my shoulder after bathtime to get some nuzzle time.  He loves sitting in my lap when we're on the living room floor playing.  He loves climbing all over me when we're laying in my bed together on a Saturday morning.  He loves holding my hand as we walk up and down the stairs.  In a million ways Tate shows his love for me.


As we continue our journey together as a family, I'm excited, scared, enthralled and hopeful.  I want his life to be all that he needs or wants it to be.  I want him to always know how very much he was wished for and hoped for.  I want him to realize that though our family may not be the norm that it is our norm.  I want him to know that Christian gave all of us a great gift...the gift of life and family.  Because Christian is part of our family now.  We are striving to figure out what place we all have in each other's lives, and it's been an amazing experience thus far.


So, Happy Happy Birthday Baby Tate!!  These two years have flown by, yet I can barely remember what my life was like before you came into that hot July afternoon.  You are loved beyond measure.


Always,
Mommy

Family Reunion Recap!

Last Thursday, July 14, Tate, Christian, Lindsey my parents and I flew to Hampton, Virginia for my family reunion.  This reunion celebrates my father's mother's maternal side with my great-grandmother Josephine Johnson as the matriarch.

Ready for take-off

Lindsey, Christian, Tate and I flew into Richmond, Virginia and rented a car while my parents flew into Baltimore, Maryland and rented a car as well.  We met up with them in Yorktown, Virginia at my Aunt Jean's house, my father's second sister.  Lindsey would be staying with them for the duration of the trip.  Christian, Tate and I then drove into Hampton to stay at the host hotel for the first 3 days of the reunion.  As always, travel causes everyone to have meltdowns and irrational moments, but surprisingly, they were few and far between for us.  Tate did great on the plane and I even got to sleep for about an hour while he napped for an hour and a half.  The nights in the hotel didn't go nearly as well.  He would sleep in the pack 'n' play for about 3-4 hours, then cry upon half waking and I would put him in the bed between Christian and I where upon we would be kicked and prodded for a good 60 minutes until he could re-settle.  As Tate has never been a great sleeper even at home this didn't surprise me in the least.  However, for Christian it was horrendous as he really values and 'needs' his sleep, but he persevered as well.

Friday morning, we had breakfast and ran into many, many family members checking in.  Tate and I then drove to Yorktown to meet my parents and Lindsey to go visit my mother's mother's grave in Newport News.  Oh how I loved my Grandma Lynch.  Just thinking about her right now brings tears to my eyes and how much I miss her.  She was the only family member, the only one, who ever routinely visited us here in Houston.  I think I can count on one hand maybe one and a half the number of times anyone else be it cousins, aunts or uncles visited us down here since we moved here in 1976.


My Aunt Alice, my mom's youngest sister, met us at the grave site and we laid flowers on the grave of my dear grandmother.  As we walked around and read the tombstones of the many buried at Denbigh Baptist Church, I saw a host of my ancestors.  Such an amazing sight.

My precious grandmother

Our Ancestors

Tate and his Papa!

My sweet mommy and my Aunt Alice

Lindsey and I

Tate and I returned to the hotel and picked up Christian, and we headed to Buckroe Beach in Hampton.  There was a fabulous playground that the three of us played on and then we let Tate have a blast in the water.  This child of mine loves loves loves any type of water!!

All he wanted to do was get down and swim!

Loving the water!

Once back at the hotel, we joined the family for the meet and greet after getting checked into the reunion.  Some of the family was participating in a Zumba class while the rest of us looked on in amazement at their stamina and energy.  My wonderful Aunt Brenda was the host of the entire reunion and led us through a wonderful evening of fellowship, fun, laughter, tears, hope and so much joy.  For the first time I allowed Tate to stay up past his bedtime and he ran around a bit with his cousins.  There are 5 them who are all within 9 months of age of each other.  Everyone called them the 2009 baby cousins.  They were so super sweet together.  Tate was a little unsure of running around without me right beside him, but once he saw the others playing around he did join in a bit.  Christian and I took him up to bed around 9pm, and being overtired he really fought going to sleep, but he finally did.  I ran back downstairs while Christian stayed with him to say good night to my family and enjoy some last minute festivities.

Those pants are killing me!

They did it!

Trying to convince the baby cousins to hold hands

Saturday morning we loaded up for a huge day of fun!  Our first stop though was to pay homage to my grandparents, Geneva and Willie Cunningham, my father's parents.  Geneva's mother was Josephine Johnson from whom all of the celebrants descended from.   Christian, Tate and I joined my parents, sister, a few aunts and cousins at their grave site.  Also there is my late Aunt Kathryn, my father's oldest sister.

Sleepy boy

 We then headed to the house where my father grew up with his 8 brothers and sisters...a 3 bedroom house.  5 girls in one room, 4 boys in the other!  Family photos were taken in front of the house.

My 2nd cousin Kim and me

In front of my grandparents' house.  I spent many a summer vacation in that wonderful house!

All the cousins (grands, great-grands and great-great grands)

My 2nd cousin Kisha's little boy Emmett and my sweet Tate (they're about 4 months apart in age)

]

6 of the 7 remaining Cunningham children

From here, Tate, Christian and I ventured to Williamsburg for a couple of hours going back in time.  Colonial Williamsburg is fascinating, and I wish we had actually had time to really tour the area.  We had a bite to eat while Tate slept and then continued on to the family picnic.


In Toana, right near Williamsburg the picnic was in full swing.  Burgers were being eaten, volleyball was being played, swimming was done by the little ones and gossiping was in being done in earnest.  It was loud, raucous, festive, fun and love filled.  We had an amazing time!

Hanging in the pool with Aunt Lindsey

So much fun!

The 2009 baby cousins!!

We motored back towards Hampton around 7pm.  Surprisingly, Tate didn't fall asleep on the way home; this did not bode well for his sleep that evening.  He finally fell asleep around 830, but again had a restless night, but was up smiling bright and early Sunday morning.  Despite the fact that Christian and I were exhausted, we managed to hold up quite well and have learned that communication is definitely the key.  There were definitely moments where we could have really lost our tempers and once or twice feelings were actually hurt between the two of us.  But we are always able to come together and talk things through.  If we didn't both solidly believe that honesty was going to be the most important thing in our friendship/relationship second only to communication we would never have been able to get to where we are today or even have helped me have this beautiful baby boy.


Sunday morning we took our time checking out of the hotel.  We decided to forgo the 747am, yes you see that right, 747 am church service and hang out in the room.  We then grabbed some breakfast on the go and headed to Virginia Beach.  


Once in Virginia Beach, we were so excited.  It was a gorgeous day, we were all in great moods as the weekend had been so much fun, and we were thrilled to have some time to just be.  Tate had an absolute blast as did Christian and I.

Tate LOVED that huge slide!

Enjoying the sun!

My mom and her cousin Osteen!

We returned to Hampton that afternoon and picked up my mom to go have a cook-out with her extended family which mostly included cousins.  My father and Lindsey could not be torn away from the Women's World Cup Soccer match in which the USA ended losing in PKs to Japan, but they joined us later.    

Sunday evening, the 3 of us stayed with my Aunt Brenda and her husband, my Uncle Melville.  We ate leftovers, relaxed and enjoyed some down time.  As the evening wore on we convinced my Aunt Brenda to get some rest like her great-nephew who was asleep by 715.  Uncle Melville then took the opportunity to school the German Christian in the ways of Black American music...they listened to some great soul, awesome R&B, fabulous jazz and some amazing blues.  Christian's iPod is now full of some great music!!

Monday morning we headed over to my Aunt Jean and Uncle Chuck's.  Good-byes were said to them as well as my parents who were staying on for a few more days.  Lindsey, Christian, Tate and I returned to the Lone Star State satiated with amazing fellowship, familial love and support and happiness.  It was a blessed trip.  Though I always tell myself it's ok that my family is so far away and that I have nothing in common with them and that I don't know them I am always blown away by how much going back to a place where I have never lived feels like going home.  It's so true what is said about family...I am living proof.  Blood is thicker than water.  


Here's to all the Johnsons, Alfords, Hamiltons and Cunninghams who came before me.  Thank you for making my life possible.  Tate is truly a very lucky little boy.

Josephine Johnson - my great-grandmother from whom all who attended the reunion are descended from.  Much love Grandmother from me to you!