Party Time

When throwing out ideas for Beckett to choose from for party themes for his 4th birthday party, he ended up choosing two.  Luckily there is a line of plates, cups, etc. for...Lego Star Wars!  I knew the theme enough in advance, and Pinterest had an infinite amount of examples and ideas, so we went all out for this party.  Thanks to everyone for making it such a special day and enduring the intense heat wave that hit us that weekend!

(favors)

(Star Wars food)

(pool noodle Light Sabers)

(Death Star - Piñata Cake)

(little bro eats some cake)

(plate-lickin' good)

(best friends at the photo booth)

stop growing up

This little man is turning (hold your breath) 4 tomorrow.  Holy cow.  I still feel like just yesterday he came into this world.  Thinking about memories from before he was here seems like a whole other lifetime ago.  Rather than drone on and on about him, I think I'll just list a few things that describe him at this age...

The boss, sweet, loving, sassy, know-it-all, lego maniac, "wipe my face!"-neat-freak, big brother, newly acquired Star Wars fan, bike rider, sneak-thief of treats from the kitchen, daddy's boy.

1 year

2012 started off with the absolute high of our sweet Lincoln joining the family.  A few weeks into being a family of four it seemed that we were hit with continual sickness and ailments for 2 months.  It was really really hard to adjust to two kids, nursing a non-stop eating machine, and being indefinitely sick.  If Lincoln was not the angel/happy-go-lucky/easy baby that he was I think I might have given up on life for a while there.  But we made it through, and now I can't believe it is a year later.  Watching my second baby grow has flown by.  Newborns are so precious and fun to cuddle, but I absolutely love the 1-2 year age.  A little about our one year old! (come Sunday):

He does not have quite as many words down as brother did at this time, but some of his other motor skills seem to be ahead of big brother...he can drink from a straw, climbs/dives off things like a champ, and loves to see how things work/fit together.

Anytime his big brother is playing with him or hugging him, he is in absolute heaven.

He makes himself laugh in his rear-facing carseat at random.

He can walk, a little, when he wants to...but he still chooses speed crawling over walking.

He says da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba, ball (bah!), num-num, Beckett (kett-kett), and light (iiight).

He LOVES food.  Eating is his absolute favorite activity.  If he could eat 24-7 he would!

He is a bruiser...not much fases this kid.  It takes a lot for him to cry about being hurt.


We love you so much Lincoln Odell, and are so blessed to have received such a sweet spirit into our family.  It is such a joy being your mommy.  Happy 1st birthday sweet boy!

the happs

You know it's been too long between posts when your husband notices you haven't put anything new up in a while.  The truth is, most of my posts include pictures of my kids, and with increasing cell phone camera technology, I am doing terrible at pulling out my real camera to take any pictures.  I leave all the picture-taking up to my husband with his iPhone.  It seems like the best pictures make it onto his instagram.  Luckily, we have iCloud with photo stream, so I can steal some of his shots and share them with you on here.

Jeremy's birthday present from me...his very own corn hole set (which he chose to make himself rather than buy online).  We painted it all patriotic-like for our 4th of July festivities.

Lincoln fell asleep one day in the fading afternoon sun while swinging. 

 Our super hero obsessed 3-year-old with his Captain America mask and felt shield made by Greema.

Mr. Smith goes to Washington!  Jeremy just returned from Washington D.C. yesterday from his orientation/training for his fancy new job at Booz Allen Hamilton.  We are beyond blessed and excited for this new chapter, and for seeing all his hard work come to fruition even in this challenged economy.

 Husband visiting the Lincoln Memorial.  We named our Lincoln after him because he is actually a great^3 (or something like that) uncle on my mom's side.

What??

Remember that one time that I had my sweet little Beckett boy three years ago?  I cannot even believe it.  We are even more in love with him than the day that he came into our lives, and it really is true...what they say about not being able to remember a time in your (married) life when your child was not with you.  Our little man makes me laugh every day.  He constantly amazes me with how funny, sweet, and smart he is.  He is the life of the party, and coincidentally loves parties of all kinds.  He is the most wonderful big brother, and I feel a special bond with him as we are both the oldest siblings.  I wouldn't take back all the pressure I felt as the oldest with my sisters watching my example, and I hope he's ready to carry that burden too because I think it will make him a better person.  While he occasionally chooses to rebel, he is generally very obedient, and I am grateful.  He is so much fun.  We love you so much Beckett!  Happy 3rd Birthday on Friday!

lately

I haven't taken any pictures in a while, so I've felt like I have nothing to post about...but there has been a lot going on...

Beckett turned 2 on Wednesday!  Time goes too fast, but he is so fun at this age.  He is talking up a storm (as he has been for almost a year), but now he is starting to form sentences.  People are always so amazed at how many different things he knows the names for, concepts of, and how to say.  He not only repeats everything we say, but he is really absorbing everything too.

We didn't want to do anything big like a party this year, so we just invited a few people to join us to see Cars 2 on Saturday.  Beckett has been to the movies before and done great, but that wasn't the story on Saturday.  He watched a lot of the movie, but wanted to run around and be anywhere but in his seat.  I got to see about 70% of the movie, and loved it!  Pixar and John Lasseter never fail to get it right.

The boy is doing so well at going to sleep (when we're at home anyway) in his big boy bed without a pacifier (hasn't asked for one for weeks now and doesn't ever try to take other babies') and without crying or leaving his bed.

We are heading to Mexico in a few weeks with my family, and to avoid getting scolded at the border  (even though a kid can still get back to the states with just a birth certificate), we got Beckett a passport.  It took a few tries, but he gave us a great forward-facing, smiling, slightly cheesy picture to use.

We returned to being a two-car family.  It is nice to have the option to leave the apartment any day of the week.  Now I have no excuses for not getting grocery shopping done.  Haha.

turning 2

In less than three weeks our little man is 2!  I cannot believe it.  Some of his grandparents and GG pooled together for this swingset because he is OBSESSED with phwings (swings).  He loves it!!!  Thank you dad and Abby & Jesse for helping us put it together!

The boy is 1!

Sooo......this post is about a month late, but oh well.  For Beckett's first birthday we threw him a pool party.  It was the perfect day...except that Beckett woke up super sick and miserable.  

He managed to smile in a few pictures anyway.  

He loved his presents...especially the books!

Strangely, he wanted nothing to do with his cake.

This will definitely not be the case next year.

Happy Birthday!...

Gramma Shell!  I won't tell you how old she is, but I will tell you she is the best!  Hope you have a wonderful day mom!  Beckett loves you too!!

Happy Birthday to the ground!

Twenty five is old.  This video helps me feel better about it though.  (Sorry in advance for the curse word at 1:47  and how it gets a little crazy at the end, but it's my birthday and I love it!)



The moral of the story is...You can't trust the system!

Happy Birthday my Love!

Jeremy...you are 24 today...the few months when we are different ages bother me...mostly because you always bring up how old I am and how on big milestones in our life together I am a year older (wedding, baby's birth, etc.). I am so glad you were born! Happy birthday and hooray for these months when we're the same age! I love you!!!

G.G.

I have not been a very diligent blogger lately. This is because I don't do a whole lot besides sit around and wait for the baby to come, go to the doctor, eat, sleep, and repeat over the last few weeks. I figured anything I had to write on the subject of being bored and uncomfortable would be pointless because everyone could probably already guess that that's what I've been doing in my last (but more likely second to last) week of pregnancy. Well father's day is Sunday, and I have had a present for Jeremy hiding in my closet for a few months now...I am so excited to give it to him (I promise to show you later). My grandma also gave Jeremy an awesome father's day/birthday present early...
This baby has a 40 GB hard drive built into the camera which gives us about 10 hours of filming in the highest quality. Grandma is the best ever...not because of the things that she gives us or all the outrageous amounts of her money she spends on my sisters and I, but because she cares about us so much, and leaves no room for us to doubt her love. When she feels like we really need something, she doesn't rest until we have it. She's taught me a lot about selflessness in how she chooses to spend not only her money on her kids and grandkids, but also how she spends her time on us (and doing service for the church and others as well). Thank you grandma for worrying about us so much and seeing that we had need for a device to film our new baby. You are the best!

Andrew's Accordian Magic

What you missed if you weren't at Arica's birthday bash at Ruby's on the Pier Monday night...

Happy Birthday

...to the best mom ever!

Arica

Happy early birthday my sister. I miss you, so I decided to spend some time with you through video and created this new version of it...it's straight and our laughing is gone and now there's new music that you've probably never watched in combination with it before. Enjoy!

Birthday

Today's birthday was nice and started with a little breakfast in bed. Then I had to study for a while and go take a test.  I came home to 23 balloons and some precious flowers from my husbee.  I got some phone calls from family which are always the best. Then jeremy and I went out to lunch at Mimi's Cafe.  I came home and checked my e-mail, secretly wishing for something entertaining to be inside.  Abby came through with this fancy paint project you see here...she's amazing.