Tagg, Obama and the Utes...We Are On A Roll!

Happy Halloween!

Boo! Our Little Monster-Alligator-Dragon (depending on who you asked) had a great first Halloween. Kind of. It's really not as much fun, apparently, when people keep putting you in a hot dragon outfit that you've almost grown out of (note the highwater sleeves!) and dragging you around town so people can see how cute you are, stopping only for 8 million photo opportunities that you refuse to smile for. Hah! Take that, mom and dad! I'm no show pony - or show dragon. Maybe he'll like it more next year, when he can actually appreciate the fact that everyone we know is giving away FREE CANDY!

We went to Sean and Chery's annual Halloween party as a prince and princess (Tagg was the little dragon who slayed us...get it? he didn't get to go to the party - past his bedtime!), although Scott's outfit was notably missing a big giant sword. And armor. Alright! It was technically a Muskateer outfit but hey! At least he didn't have to cart a stapler around all night like I did, just to keep her top together. Cheap piece of .... Thank goodness for the lifelike wig, which really made the outfit. There were so many great costumes, but my favorites were Marc & Becky's beer maiden and the keg, the Wizard of Oz group, and Tiff's Lara Croft - the cheapest costume ever!

Since my costume failed to survive party #1, I ended up throwing together a Hippie Love Child costume for actual Halloween day - out of stuff in my closet. Sad but true. Now Tagg is "Puff the Magic Dragon." How cute is that?! The best part? I went to vote in that outfit! You should have seen the looks! One woman actually asked if it was my real hair. Uh yeah. And I often put flowers in my hair and wear flip flops when it's 45 degrees out just to cause a stir!

Three for Three!

Three months old, three trips to Lake Powell! We went to Powell last week to celebrate Scott's birthday (October 23rd). The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we had a great beach on a little island all to ourselves.

We built sandcastles for Tagg (he is not into them yet, but we had fun!) and decided we better test out his cute little board shorts before he grows out of them. He was so dang sandy after the picture with the castle, we almost had to dunk him while he was on the wakeboard but thought better of it when his feet hit the water. He never cried, in spite of that look, so we think he's a natural! He's be throwing tricks next summer for sure. Scott was such a proud papa! This picture is now his screensaver.






Tagg has been an awesome boy, as always. He loves to play songs for mommy on his puppy playyard. He'll play with it for hours and his little arms and legs just get going like he's doing crazy jumping jacks.

He took to sleeping in his crib like a champ and usually goes 6 to 8 hours at a stretch. Although Friday night he had his first sleepover at Gramma and Bompa's house so mommy and daddy could have a date night. They were all excited to play with him - so of course he sacked out at 7:45, slept till 3am and then went right back to bed till 8! That makes it easy to take care of him for sure!

Tagg went to his first Jazz game with us last week. He slept through most of it, which was pretty impressive considering they won and it was LOUD. We're getting excited for Halloween to get here. It's going to be a squeaker if he can still fit in the costume we got for him! Look for pix next week!

A Blast From the Past

When Tagg was 6 weeks old, our fabulous friend Chery who is an incredibly talented photographer did a little photo shoot for us. We finally hooked up this week to get the pictures and it's amazing how much he's changed in the past month!! More fat rolls. More dimples. More chins. Not more hair.


Look at that form...he's a natural!

That was the only day he got to wear his little baseball outfit - which says "Dad's Team" on the front. He grew right out of it!


Not only was Chery sweet enough to do all these fabulous photos for us, she and Shawn even fed us dinner. You don't get that kind of treatment at Kiddie Kandids and we think the pictures are way better! We are so fortunate to have such generous, talented and loving friends!

Of course, not every shot was perfect. ;-) Usually when Tagg's pulling faces, it's more like Elvis, not Groucho Marx!

What you don't see are the behind-the-scene shots. The ones where our patient little man had a binkie stuffed in his mouth long enough to calm him down, mommy yanks it out, - snap! - , quick! put it back in before he gets really mad. And sometimes we just weren't fast enough.

He was really good the whole couple of hours, even though we were changing his outfits and blinding him with the flash! He didn't even pee during the naked shots, and believe you me... that is unusual!


You are an awesome guy, Tagg! We love you!!

(Sorry about the bum shot...kind of.)

The Newest Ute Fan!

Start 'em young...that's how we Utes roll! At the ripe old age of 9 weeks, Tagg Davis went to his first U of U football game. Well, technically he just made it to tailgating but it counts! He was sporting his school colors and may have been the youngest fan there, although we did run into another little 16-week-old named Easton in the same exact outfit! They were pretty cute and we promised to hook up again in 18 years or so when they're in the game, not the stands! We emailed pix of Tagg in his Ute gear to Papa, who was in California at his 50th reunion. Tagg actually enjoyed the game, through his eyelids mostly! We told him later that they won. He said "ooo."

Tagg had his 2 month immunizations on Tuesday. He did pretty well but, due to a little fever and sore legs, he was not a happy boy that evening - at Grandma's birthday dinner. Woops... bad timing! The good news? He was 12 lbs 13 oz - holy cow! - and 24 inches long. We're amazed! He's just getting so big, you can practically see him growing every day! He's very evasive about being photographed with a smile on his face, but it's not for lack of trying! We must take hundreds of pictures of him trying to catch that cute baby grin on film and this is about as good as it gets. Sneaky little guy!

He's so strong. Pushing with his legs, almost rolling over, and definitely lifting his head up. We were pretty impressed that he's able to use the Bumbo (funny little infant chair) already but he seems to like it. For a minute or two anyway! He's also starting to smack at the toys on his playmat so he can hear the doggie song which usually makes him smiling. Of course, every time he does it, Morgan comes over to check it out and give him a little lick on the head!

With all this activity, sometimes a little guy gets worn out...and so does mommy!

Who's the Coolest Baby?!

Tagg Davis, of course! Tagg spent his 2nd birthday (in months, that is) with his 2nd trip to Lake Powell. What a cool dude!! The weather was gorgeous so we cruised the lake a bit. Tagg loves riding in the boat... more than he likes these cute little sunglasses!

Mommy and Morgan did a little sunbathing while Daddy and Tagg chilled out in their beach chairs on the lanai - also known as the front deck of the boat! - sporting their fancy shades.

Daddy started teaching Tagg how to drive the boat, explaining all the controls to him and how to watch for shallow spots. Morgan likes to hang out where she can keep an eye on her baby and she thinks his little chubby toes are pretty fascinating!

Tagg is smiling pretty often these days and there's just nothing more endearing than his little grin. He also has his serious face, his Elvis face, his squishy face...we're getting to know them all! He's getting pretty good at getting his fist in his mouth too, and sometimes even just the thumb. He's figuring out where his tongue is so he sticks that out at us whenever he sees fit.

One other bonus from having the baby is that we get to watch the sun come up over the lake during his morning bottle. It's so absolutely stunning! But nothing really compares with our little man! Happy birthday, big boy!

I guess we should tell you about our adult life every once in awhile, ay? Boat sales dropped off after Labor Day as expected. We're hoping the economy takes a turn for the better after the elections! Or sooner. That would be good too! The good news is that Scott gets to spend some extra time with Tagg, which he loves. Lisa's liking her new job at Control4. There's lots of work to be done, but the people are super nice and family oriented. Plus, we get to have our entire house automated so we can get familiar with the product so that's cool! Even if it means we might have to finally get rid of the VCR!

We are still in contact with Tagg's birth family, lots of emails and a few calls here and there. They are so nice and it's always great to hear how they're doing. Tagg's birth parents are going to homecoming next month and they've promised to send pictures. It's still a little awkward at times trying to figure out how this all works but we're very lucky to have such wonderful people to share this journey with. Tagg is a lucky, lucky boy to have so many people to love him - as are we all!!

So When We Say "Big"...

11 pounds 4 ounces, baby!! That was Tagg's weigh-in this week. What is that... almost double his birth weight? And he's got the fat rolls to prove it! He has graduated to bigger diapers, bigger bottles with bigger nipples, and all of his bigger clothes. It's amazing when you look at how much bigger his feet are, or note the fact that he no longer fits lengthwise on Lisa's lap. He's such an awesome baby. He's already sleeping about 4 hour stretches at night and has even pulled a couple of 5+ hour nights. Everyone says we're so lucky, and we know it! That might also explain why we have so many pictures of him sleeping!

It's been a good week, lots of firsts as usual. Tagg is holding his head up by himself and loves to look at ceiling fans, lights and blinds. We don't know why. He just decided that he likes baths, unless Morgan is giving them! (she likes to kiss his head when he's crying...she loves her baby!) He smiles more every day, especially in the morning, but it's still not the big, full-on grin and laugh we're always watching for. He loves it when we play his I Love You bear...it never fails to stop him mid-cry. He's getting pretty good at getting his fist in his mouth and sometimes even his thumb! We don't really want him to be a thumbsucker, but you still have to be proud that he can do it!

We had our first card night with the fam this weekend and Tagg got to use his namesake cards which helped mommy kick everyone's butt! While Scott was delivering a boat to Arizona, Tagg and mommy went to the Farmers Market and bought fresh peaches, raspberries, and big, giant zucchini so Nana can make her famous chocolate-zucchini cake (sounds gross but pretty tasty). We also went to Porcupine Grill for dinner - technically Tagg's second trip there but his first on the outside! We have such great memories of meeting his birth family there for the first time. We reminisced about how much fun we had with them, the evil desserts, and the tears and laughter we all shared...the beginning of a beautiful journey together started at the Porcupine! Whodda thought!
Nana and Papa were able to spend some quality time with Tagg this week, playing cards and barbecuing outdoors. He's been spending lots of time with Auntie Leese who has been taking care of him while we're both back at work.

This weekend Tagg got to go on his first hike to Cercret (pronounced Secret) Lake at Alta Ski Resort. In a few months, there will be 7 or 8 feet of snow right where we're standing! He loves to hike...although if I could fall asleep while someone else carried me up a big hill to a pretty little lake, I might like it more too! ;-) After our impressive hike (uh...45 minutes. There were grandparents with canes doing this one!) we went to Oktoberfest at Snowbird to celebrate our German heritage. No baby lederhosen involved, thank goodness, but Tagg does a natural chicken dance with his little crazy arms! The leaves are just starting to change in the mountains and none of us are quite ready for winter, so we're planning to make the most out of the autumn months and be outdoors as much as possible. Love to all!