Baby Name Poll

Our baby boy is scheduled to arrive into this world on April 6th...we are still trying to decide on a name for our little one! Emma Grace's preference is Archie Coco but even I can't give into that one! We want something different but not wierd...keep that in mind when you are voting!! Thanks for your help!!

Help us choose a name for our baby boy...these are just a couple of options we are looking at...tell me what you think!

• Corbin Tate
• Cohen Tate
• Braxton Tate "Brax"
• Greyson Tate
• Harris Tate "Tate"
• Emery or Emory Tate
• None of the above...they all stink!

View Results
Create a Blog Poll

She will wait...

and on the 6th day, with loud trumpet blast, she will welcome her new brother into the family. And he will be called..."Archie Coco". Just so you know.

Christmas milestones and new things for a New Year.

It is hard to believe that we are fast approaching another Christmas to celebrate the birth of a savior. IF you want to break it down further, this is my 34th Christmas, Ashley's 29th and Emma Grace's 4th. Together, we have over 67 years of experience celebrating this wonderful time of year. We aren't even the most experienced when it comes to the number however, for some strange reason, people like to puff up their chests when they tell you how much combined experience they have doing something. Well, we have something even more to be excited about. We are adding another to our growing years of experience. For those of you who do not know, we are having a boy in April. This is our reason for not getting the cards out on time, if they get out at all. It is also the reason that we haven't done most of the stuff that we want to do this time of year like be with friends and family more. I am not sure where this is going so bear with me.

The new baby is a gift. This is the time of year for giving gifts. The thing about kids is that this gift never stops giving. We are fully funded in gifts from Emma Grace. She never ceases to amaze us on a daily basis...in fact, she hardly ever ceases. Having another child will just grow that all the more. We are their recipient and we are blessed.

So without further adieu....revealed in amazing 4D technology....the reason this Christmas and New Year is going to be extra special....God's new longterm gift to our family....

Oh baby brother (or sister), where art thou?...

Its no secret, at least to those who are close to us, that we are pregnant. Well, Ashley is anyway. I always thought that when couples stated that "they were pregnant" that is sounded sort of wierd. Some older generations attempt to include the male in the process of pregnancy which everyone knows that after "it" happens, then its all about the woman from that point on. The great thing about this is that I am excited and perfectly alright with it being that way. This blog is in no way about me though, the dad, I just wanted to take a moment to stand up for all expectant dads across the nation and let you know that I am there.

So without further a due, I am officially announcing to our blog friends and anyone who happens across this post, that I am officially dropping the phrase,"we are pregnant" and replacing it with the more acceptable phrase, "Ashley is pregnant and I still get to do all the things I was doing before".

Emma Grace is excited, as far as we know, about having a baby around. If you catch her at the right moment she will tell you to be quiet because the baby is asleep. She goes back and forth between wanting a brother then a sister and sometimes one of each. She has even told us that she is going to be a "big sister -and- brother". Not sure what that means but to her I am sure its her way of reminding us that she is okay with sharing the reservation with someone else.

Jesus, the unseen dinner guest.

we were sitting at the dinner table (a few weeks ago) the other night eating hamburgers of which emma grace has never eaten much less tasted before. she is destined to be a vegan much to my dismay. we prepared our plates and sat at the table as a family as we always do. we blessed our meal and began to eat. emma grace decided that she wasn't going to eat her specially prepared hamburger...tiny meat, lots of cheese, lots of bread. we went through the whole ordeal of bribing her, telling her "big girls eat hamburgers and they get dessert if they do" to trying to just get her to stick enough of it in her mouth to hopefully change her view of how good hamburgers really are. None of this worked and we were at our wits end(a bunch of other things happened during this time that if your a parent would push you to the brink as well). ashley gave her final ultimatum and basically told emma grace that she just had to try the burger and if she didn't like it she didn't have to eat it...one would think that this would be a deal that a 3 year old would agree to.

no, instead she looked at ashley square in the eye and said, "no mommy, jesus told me i didn't have to eat hamburgers"

this pretty much ended that.

Did you see how fast those birds flew? -or- tricking Emma Grace for her own good!

Sometimes as parents, we choose to be upfront and honest with our children. Yet there are times when we know we need to protect their emotional side so that they won't dwell on things that seem impossible in their mind. Such is the case with the bird nest that is nestled neatly in place in one of our bushes. Two weeks ago it almost met its demise from the business end of my hedge trimmer. It was then when I discovered that this nest contained 4 eggs and a mother that really had it in for me. Well, being the person that is always looking for ways to educate E.G., I said to myself, "cool, robin eggs,...I can bring her out here every day to watch them progress into eventual baby birds."

A few days passed by and I found the perfect time to show her the eggs. We walked out there and looked at them and she was amazed instantly. She wanted to tell everyone about the eggs. She couldn't wait to see them the next day, and the next day and the next....nightly ritual. I was patting myself on the back b/c I had found something that we would remember for a long time or at least until Ashley found something better like a new bicycle. I am not a expert when it comes to the development of baby robins as far as how long it takes for them to hatch so I am thinking, "anyday now"! We will be there to see them into this world. In the period of two weeks, two of the eggs disappeared. I was a little discouraged but I figured even squirrels like something different for breakfast every once in a while. Besides, there are still two left. Well, a few days ago, we were looking at the eggs and one of them had a tiny hole forming in it. I was super excited and Emma Grace was too. I told her, "just a matter of hours, days until we see some baby birds". She ran inside and told Ashley. We looked at them the next day and the hole was a little bigger and two days ago it was even bigger. I could actually see something that looked like the side of a bird...kind of what you would figure you would see.

The only problem for me was why was this taking so long? On national geographic you can watch an egg go from being laid to hatching in about 30 seconds. Well, one more day I held on to hope then I observed something taking place. I saw movement and then I realized what that movement was. There was another natural phenomenon taking place. It seems that the birds had died and as a result the movement of decomposition was taking place. I couldn't bring myself to tell E.G. about what had happened but I knew that until I could think of something I would have to play out our ritual at least one more time. Now I am faced with that part about protecting her emotions. I told her yesterday that the birds might hatch overnight and be gone the next day because these birds are born fully grown. That sounds clever until Go Diego Go sells me out and teaches her that all birds begin as eggs and then babies and they can't fly at first and so on and so forth. So, in the morning, if I can remember...I will have to get rid of the eggs. I do not want to have to make up another story like...how the flies on the nest "are just there bearing gifts for the new mom to be" or "rotten egg smell? I don't smell any rotten eggs".

Hopefully this is the first of many new discoveries for her but the last time I have to reach into a nest and throw some eggs away all while telling her that they just hatched and left. What a let down for her and the mother robin.

Emma Grace performs: "The Lord's Prayer"

Emma Grace can say the entire lord's prayer. We have known she can do this for a while but then one night at the dinner table she put it to music. I am not sure if she is trying to sing the common version that you hear at church all the time but it is cute, funny and makes us smile.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tiny Dancer

Emma Grace had her ballet recital 2 weeks ago. This is a video of that moment. She has been taking ballet classes for the past 8 months or so. I have never been able to really get her to show me at home what she was learning. Most of the time it was me asking her to show me what she does at dance class followed by her spinning around and falling down on the floor in a fit of laughter. Well, the day of her recital arrived and I was eager to see what she had been learning. I am not sure this movie proves that a then 2 year old can be taught to be the next Anna Pavlova, but the performance no matter how simple, proved to me that she is determined to do her best. I think I see a star in the making.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Emma Grace is 3!!!

Let me start by saying I know its been way too long since we have updated the blog. The year has gotten off to a great start and we are all doing very well! Now on to the important stuff! Today is Emma Grace's 3rd Birthday! I can hardly believe my baby is 3. It just doesn't seem right! My parents always told me that time flies and your children grow up before you know it...well they were right! It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital. Emma Grace has always liked sleeping in her crib and never tried to climb out of it...for that reason we have put off getting her a big girl bed. Well today is the day! She went to school this morning and we took the crib down and put her new bed and bedding up. When she came home she was very excited and said she loves it...we will see if she loves to sleep in it! For some reason the fact that she is 3 has been very emotional for me. I think it is a definate turning point when a toddler becomes a child. I stood in her room last night and cried because I knew that I wouldn't ever see her sleeping in her crib again (I'm crying right now just typing that)! However, there are advanages of having a 3 year old. She can potty by herself, wash her on hands, somewhat dress herself. All things that come in handy! We are leaving Sunday to go to the beach for a couple of days...when we return I will post pictures of her birthday party and our trip on our flickr site...Be sure to check them out!

Emma Grace sings her favorites...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I am constantly amazed at the ability of a 2 year old and though she is my 2 year old and I am biased, I never realized that I would be amazed so often.

Merry Christmas

It has been awhile since Ashley said that we would do a proper blog update so here it is. We have had a wonderful Christmas season so far and have done a lot more than we usually do. We have been to several Christmas parties and performances at our church. We went and rode the Pink Pig and Emma Grace told Santa what she wanted for Christmas. That all started out really rocky but turned out great. To bad the pictures I took of her on the Pink Pig turned out underexposed so we will not be posting any of those today. We hope all of you who read this (and even if you don't) have a wonderful Christmas. Here is a video and a couple of pictures of our Christmas.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Helping with the lights.


Getting the stockings "ready"


Hanging an ornament


Dad is not doing it right...or I am getting tired.


I want this and I want that...

New Pics

To see new pictures of Emma Grace click on the flickr link on the right of the screen. We are leaving for the beach in the morning...we will do a proper update when we get back!

Table talk with Emma Grace and other ramblings.

So much has been happening around here, or so it seems, that we have neglected our blog and figured it was time for a bit of an update. We have had a roller coaster summer and it has brought me to his point. Ok, maybe roller coaster is a bit extreme because our summer has flown by relatively quietly. We have visited places and we have spent time with our families and friends doing various activities that mostly centered around Emma Grace. We took her to the Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences. This was basically a short day trip in which we spent quality time together and visited some educational/historical places to try to enrich Emma's already well rounded personality. She had a great time looking at the dinosaurs and looking at the various exhibits which had a lot of hands on stuff for her to play with. It was a good time.


We visited my(Ben's) sister and brother in law and our new nephew who was born in July. He came early but is doing great now. That was a fun road trip to Birmingham and back. I think for me the most amazing part was that Emma Grace slept from the time we left their house and did not wake up till we pulled in our driveway.

We are still trying to sell our house. That is all I will say about that.

We are going to Charleston in October and possibly to Florida at the end of October. Then we are planning on going to Disney World in either December or January. That is still up in the air. Crazy, I know. But there is a method to this madness somewhere.

That is all for now. Here is a clip of Emma Grace now at the dinner table where she entertains us with her sometimes witty yet innocent view of her world. I thought this summed her up pretty good. Really, it was the cutest thing that I could pull off the video that didn't include applesauce falling out of her mouth.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July as we hope all of you did. We started the day by attending the local parade in downtown Griffin. It was Emma Grace's first parade and she had a blast. Later that afternoon we went to a friends house to swim and cookout. It was a fun and relaxing day. Here are some pictures from the day...

My Tribute To A Wonderful Lady

Ben's Grandmother Grace Trotter passed away on Friday, June 15, 2007. She was a wonderful grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved her family more than anything in this world. She treated me as family from the first moment I met her, and even though I only had the privaledge of knowing her for eight short years she had also become my grandmother. I remember the first time Ben took me to meet her she was very excited (as she always was to see her favorite grandson) she told Ben to hold on to me because I was a good one. He told me that on the way home and I just remember how special that made me feel. She had a way of making you feel special and loved. She loved Emma Grace and loved to tell anyone who would listen about her wonderful great-grandaughter who just happened to be named after her. She loved to tell stories...sometimes you had heard them before but you didn't care because you just enjoyed listening to her and her adventures. Grandmother had some vision problems that caused light to bother her so she always had on a sun visor wether it be day or night inside or out. Emma Grace and I made a sunvisor the other day and when I took this picture of her all I could think about was grandmother and how much she loved her little Emma Grace.

Video Update...

We had a great vacation...Emma Grace woke up better the day that we were suppose to leave and thankfully Ben and I never got sick. The Lord was watching over us. I will work on uploading some pictures from the vacation onto flickr but for now here is a video of Emma Grace saying her bedtime prayers and some random clips from vacation.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Emma Grace turns 2 and gets the stomach virus...

I can't believe my baby turned two yesterday. She is getting to be such a big girl. Unfortunately she did not have the best birthday...she has had the stomach virus since Sunday...making this the 5th day. Hopefully she is better...so far so good today...keep your fingers crossed! We are scheduled to leave in the morning to go on vacation so please keep us in your prayers. Despite the unfortunate birthday Emma Grace did have a great party this past Saturday. The theme was a beach party...she loves being outside so it was perfect for her. We had a sandbox, a fish shaped sprinkler, and a slide/climber. She and all the kids had a blast. To see more pictures of the party click on the pictures to the right.

ING Georgia Marathon and Half Marathon

I did it! I ran my first half marathon yesterday...13.1 miles. We had a great time...our goal(which we made at mile 8) was to come in at 2 hours or under but my official time was 2:02:58...just over our goal time...if you would have seen the last 3 miles you would understand why! It was a great course...lots of scenery...just a lot of hills! I did learn one very important lesson during my run...I don't EVER want to do a Full Marathon...those people are crazy(excluding my awesome running buddies who have done multiple marathons)! Here are my results along with my friends results.

ASHLEY TROTTER (Half) | Bib #14012 | GRIFFIN, GA - USA | Age 27 | F
START 10K FINISH
7:06:28 AM EST 59:48 2:02:58
TIME Chip Time: 2:02:58 Clock: 2:05:45 Pace: 9:22
Place Overall: 1969 Gender: 689 Division: 207

ANGELA HILL (Half) | Bib #12150 | GRIFFIN, GA - USA | Age 44 | F
START 10K FINISH
7:06:27 AM EST 59:49 2:01:53
TIME Chip Time: 2:01:53 Clock: 2:04:39 Pace: 9:17
Place Overall: 1817 Gender: 627 Division: 143


AMANDA FRANKLIN (Half) | Bib #15552 | GRIFFIN, GA - USA | Age 34 | F
START 10K FINISH
59:49 2:03:09
TIME Chip Time: 2:03:09 Clock: 2:05:57 Pace: 9:23
Place Overall: 1986 Gender: 697 Division: 288


STEPHANIE MILLER (Half) | Bib #13516 | GRIFFIN, GA - USA | Age 34 | F
START 10K FINISH
7:06:28 AM EST 59:50 2:03:10
TIME Chip Time: 2:03:10 Clock: 2:05:56 Pace: 9:23
Place Overall: 1983 Gender: 695 Division: 286


SUSAN SCANLON (Half) | Bib #14227 | GRIFFIN, GA - USA | Age 37 | F
START 10K FINISH
7:06:27 AM EST 59:50 2:03:11
TIME Chip Time: 2:03:11 Clock: 2:05:56 Pace: 9:23
Place Overall: 1985 Gender: 696 Division: 287

Emma Grace Counts to Ten

Here is a video clip we took of Emma Grace tonight counting to ten. As you can hear she is not real sure what comes after six and in between eight...so she just makes something up. Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at onetruemedia.com

Bedtime Chat

Check out this video of Emma Grace talking and doing animals sounds while getting ready for bed...Also check out the update with pics underneath.

Make photo slide shows at onetruemedia.com