high five for Friday!

We have had so much fun this week and I felt the need to share. ;) FYI: I am staying about a week ahead in both of my classes and that is really helping on my stress level!

1. Monday we went to Splash Kingdom, which is a local water park that a church bought a few years ago. I got an email at the end of the school year saying that Caddo Parish employees got $7 off an entry so I thought it would be something fun to do. I didn't exactly know how much Beckham would be able to do, but it turned out that they had three separate "kiddie" areas and he absolutely loved it. Since it is a water park, I couldn't exactly walk around with my phone all day, so this is the only picture I got....and it was close to the end of the day, we were all hot, hungry, etc. So, he doesn't look thrilled-but trust me. He had a blast!

2. Beckham has officially mastered the rock wall to his club house. He doesn't understand the purpose of the rope, but he climbs without it, so I guess it doesn't really serve a purpose to him. We are really enjoying the outside time playing on it. He didn't really have much to do outside before so it has been a real treat.

3. Random things:

      1) We took Hannah and Kaylan to their hair appointment Tuesday and Beckham was being a total ham with these sun glasses.  He's seriously a baby model. :)

      2) Daddy caught some fish and Beckham really wanted to hold one, until he was actually holding it. Then, he didn't know what to do with it. It was funny!

     3) Beckham is officially a night owl. I mean will not go to bed before 12 every night this week. A couple of days he took a late nap, so I expected it. But, this is becoming an every night thing so I'm really going to have to get him more on a schedule because this Mama can't hang every night. Wednesday he stayed up until 2:30am....YES. I'm dead.

      4) My Mom and Stepdad are currently on their Alaskan vacation and Beckham needed to see his YaYa.

      5) Butch has an awesome garden garden this year and we finally enjoyed some fresh product. Actually everything we cooked was fresh. Butch said it was a real country supper and it was not only delicious but about 99% FREE! I'm counting things like salt, pepper, milk, etc. as things we had to pay for. You get it. :)

4. Thursday (yesterday) we attempted went to take 2 year pictures and I was so beyond excited because I was using a new photographer that I have seen nothing but greatness from....but, as I have learned, Beckham calls the shots around here- it doesn't matter what I have planned. Long story short, he did not get a nap, was a total grouch, fell asleep on the way, then had nothing to do with the pictures what so ever. Like, he wasn't exactly being bad. He wasn't throwing fits or anything, he was just exhausted. He just stood there for the longest time, wouldn't move, smile, or anything. Then, he kept wanting me to hold him, saying "Mama, hold ya." which means, hold me, Mama. It was sad and aggravating at the same time. The photographer was super understanding and we are rescheduling. This time, he. Will. Get. A. Nap.!!!!

5. Last but not least.... today we find out if my best friend, Amber, is having a GIRL or a BOY!! Tonight is her gender reveal party and I. Am. So. Excited. I totally think (and have thought the whole time) that she's having a boy! I don't know why, maybe I'm just hoping, so Beckham will have a little BFF, either way I think it's a boy. However, I really don't care. I told her the other day to stop pinning girl stuff on Pinterest because she was having a boy. She said, "and what are you going to do if it's not, miss confident?" and I responded, "love her anyway!" Which is completely true. I'm just ready to know so I can get shopping! And I know she's ready too! :) YAY!

New bath crayons!

18 month checkup at 22 months

I said in this update that we didn't make the 18 month doctor visit so here's technically the 18 month update although he was 22 months old...don't judge. I had good reason to not take him to the doctor in the middle of flu season. And I stick by my decision!

So last week we finally made our 18 month check up. Beckham at 22 months weighs 28 lbs and 6 ozs (75%), he is 34 inches tall (50%), with a head circumference of 19.5 (90%). His pediatrician was happy he was back in 75th percentile weight range since he had been in 50th for so long. She is still pushing for us to switch to whole milk, but his stomach just can't handle it. It's no fun, and not worth it in my opinion. He's not a skinny baby- he's all muscle. Beckham is seriously talking up a storm. He now says 4 or 5 word phrases. His favorite phase has got to be "Sit Mama's lap, play phone." Seriously, he could/would play on my phone for hours if I let him. And the sad funny thing is he's usually watching videos of himself. My favorite thing that he says is, "What's that about?". It's so cute. Speaking of cute, he loves to show me random things like blocks, puzzle pieces, etc. and say "Awww cuuttee!". He also loved to wear sunglasses, or any glasses actually and look at himself in the mirror and say, "too cute". I've given up trying to count how many words he says, however he has a book of 101 first words and he knows every single one (and it doesn't have most of the words that he says), so I'm guessing he knows around 200-300 words total. Our pedi was shocked when he said "sit Mama's lap, play phone" while we were in her office. She said that was a 3 year old phrase.

Although he does so much beyond his age, we are having a few issues. Namely, his bed and potty training. First of all his bed- he officially hates it. I have NEVER been one to put him in our bed, we would play in the bed but never lay down for bedtime in there. However, he wakes up like clockwork around 12:00 every night crying and saying Mama a million times. I put him in our bed the first few times and now it's an every night occurrence. I. Don't. Know. What. To Do. He usually falls asleep watching TV in the living room, so I'm thinking when he wakes up in a different place he is scared. I honestly don't know. I'm just trying to rationalize an almost 2 year old. So, we put a big bookcase with a TV and DVD player in his room and I am hoping that will help and he will want to stay in his bed. I think it's a little early to transition to toddler bed, and then I am dealing with the whole -stay in your bed- issue. I'm not ready for that!

Now to the potty issue. Okay so, he HAD a lot of interest in the potty, he even went 6 nights in a row using the potty before his bath, so I thought it was time to try to potty train. I set aside a few weeks to stay home and have some consistency. I bought all kinds of underwear, pull ups, a potty seat, all of it. We talked about how the underwear were different from diapers and big boys wore underwear. We talked about how if needed to use the potty he needed to tell me and not go in his underwear. The first day he did great. We only had two accidents and before his bath that night he used it before his bath. The next day he would have nothing to do with it. That morning I said, "let's go try to use the potty" and he said, "no". I kept asking if he wanted to go try and he kept saying no. UGH! So, I have no idea what to do about that either. I don't want to force him because he is still young, but I don't understand how we had a good first day and from then on he wants absolutely nothing to do with the potty. At. All. I'm at a loss. Therefore, we are holding off on potty training for a while, hopefully in the next few weeks he will show interest and we can make it his idea to use the potty. I just hope it's before I go back to work in August.

That's pretty much all we've been dealing with lately. He completely runs the show around here. It's undeniable. Monday we are getting his playhouse- which is an early birthday present. I'm so excited about it and can't wait to see his face when it's all put together. I opted to get it early so that we can play with it all summer and we'll have it for his birthday party. Speaking of birthday party, of course I am in full-on planning mode. I can't wait. But, I also can't believe he is about to be 2! WOW! It seems like a month ago I was planning his first birthday. :'( Anyways, that's what has been going on around here lately.

Easter 2014

Written Sunday, April 20th
This weekend has been so fun! With the exception of Butch being out of town working, it has been perfect. We have really missed him because now that he is working at home (most of the time) we've really gotten used to him being home- so it really sucks when he has to leave us. He especially hates it during any holiday. Beckham is growing up and becoming so independent, the holidays are becoming more and more fun!

On Good Friday we went to an EGGstravaganza at Beckham's BFF, Jake's house. It was so fun! We had a little lunch, dyed Easter eggs with Koolaid and then the kids hunted for eggs. They all had a blast. Even though Beckham is an only child, and the first grandchild on both sides of the family, he still plays really well with others, which I am so thankful for!

Saturday morning, Yaya, my Mom, came to spend the holiday weekend with us. She is off tomorrow (Monday) and I have to work so she is keeping Beckham. She also wanted to come hang out with us and participate in the Easter festivities. She actually pulled up as Beckham and I were working in the flower beds. I am trying to improve my grey thumb, but that's another post in itself! Saturday afternoon, we all went down to Grami's to dye Easter eggs and just visit. We ended up letting Beckham do the Koolaid eggs and shaving cream eggs (again this year link from last year). Like I said, he is so independent so naturally he wanted to do it all by himself; which consisted of him sitting on the picnic table and literally throwing eggs into the cups. It was hilarious and we all ended up pretty orange/red tinted, but the memories made are priceless! I had already planned to make a little chick footprint for Easter to give to Grami and Yaya but I didn't have a chance before so we ended up making them together Saturday night. They turned out so cute! Saturday was jam packed with fun Easter festivities. I am blessed in so many ways. 1) Beckham...of course, but 2) my Mom and Mother-in-Law get along so well! I mean I have a great mother-in-law but I am glad we can make these memories together with Beckham.

Saturday night was not the best for sleep. Beckham woke up around 1:00am crying and screaming about a big cat. It was weird. I am guessing he has a nightmare. So, I put him in the bed with my Mom and I. Unfortunately, my Mom snores like a grizzly bear so Beckham kept waking up. He finally said, "Yaya snore.....loud!". So, we got on the couch. We both pretty much tossed and turned most of the night and got littler sleep, so he did sleep in a little Sunday morning. Once he woke up and saw that the Easter bunny had left him a basket and hid eggs in the yard he was wide awake. We went through his basket and scoured the yard for eggs, which was so fun because he was really hunting for them!

Then, we all got dressed to go eat lunch at Grami's house. Beckham is such a spoiled good boy that the Easter bunny came to Grami's house too! So, again with the egg hunt. I'm guessing that since this was his third time hunting eggs he was a little over it, plus it felt like 100 degrees outside so we didn't stay out long. After a wonderful lunch, Mom and Beckham took a nap and I finished The Maze Runner (which was so good but had such a cliffhanger...ughh). We spent most of today just eating, and playing with Beckham. It was, with the exception of Butch being gone, a perfect weekend. If only I was off tomorrow it would be realllllly perfect! :D

With all of the superficial Easter festivities of the weekend I still have to reflect on the real reason for the season. He is risen! I am so thankful to believe in a God that loves me more than I deserve, who has plans for me better than I can dream, and sent his son as a sacrifice so I could live. I am so blessed beyond my wildest imagination! I thank God everyday for this beautiful life.

Easter 2013 post.

Reminiscing

written October 15
his post is probably going to be a bit random- per the usual lately.

Sunday Beckham and I went on a bit of a shopping spree. I am a self-proclaimed shopaholic....no apologies here. My hubby embraces and I am forever grateful. How did I get so lucky to 1) have such a supportive husband of my less than frugal ways, and 2) have a son that is seriously the best shopping buddy ever? Hmmm....blessed.

So, I have been dabbling with the idea of enrolling in grad school and I finally took a minute to talk to Butch about it and he was completely excited (with me). He said it was a great time to go ahead and get started and I should definitely get the ball rolling.... okay, fast forward about two-three days and I am sitting in front of my computer (the same computer that I got right before I started college in 2008) so yeah, it's a dinosaur. It literally took me 2838493 hours to enter grades, I was getting so aggravated. Then, as we were heading out the door Sunday, Butch says "get you a new computer babe." as men do, he then needed to justify why I needed a new computer (school work, grad school, etc.) which I'm fine with :). Awwww.... I was so excited!! I am the proud new owner of a Samsung 7 Ultrabook. I am obsessed. I love it so much and it has seriously motivated me to get going with all of the paperwork for grad school. So, yesterday I scheduled to take the GRE and enrolled in Northwestern. Yay! I'll update all of that later on.

Long story short- the whole point of telling about my new laptop was because I was transferring all of our 1,700 (literally) pictures from my old laptop to my new one and ran across some teeny tiny baby pictures of Beckham. I, naturally, bawled and squalled looking at how little he was. I realize he's only 15 months (tomorrow) and is still a baby, but he's really not. He rarely likes to snuggle anymore, he's just too busy. He is so smart, mobile, and growing up way too fast. As I was reminiscing at all of the adorable pictures, I had to go through this blog to see things I talked about back then. Here's a post from his two month check up and I also ran across this post from when he was six months old and already crawling, that seriously still blows my mind.

And here's a few of my favorites:

I'm obsessed with this picture because if you look at the clock in the background, Beckham was only 20 minutes old. I'm so glad we got this picture!

1 day old

2 days old

4 days old

In short, I am super excited about starting grad school, I'm sad my baby is not so much a baby anymore, and I am so thankful I was blessed with this beautiful life.

Have we noticed a pattern here?

Seriously? I have totally sucked at blogging lately, but honestly my life has been so crazy busy I've just been enjoying the ride. I absolutely love when my hubby is home from work & all I want to do is spend time with my family! So shoot me, I've been living. 

Honestly school has been going by so fast I feel like I blinked & we were already sending out progress reports! I love my job so much and feel so incredibly blessed to be in the position I am in. I truly have my dream job. No- being able to take Beckham with me would really be the dream but then I'd get no teaching done and that wouldn't be good for anyone. 

We are currently in a complete drought. Like everything around us is as dry as the dessert. All parishes within like a 2 hour range are under a burn ban because everything is so hot & dry. As I write this it is raining. They've predicted 2-5 inches which means everything will flood because the ground is so hard right now. I don't think I've heard the rain in months. It's so peaceful and calming so I thought I'd share that randomness....

Anyways- life lately..... Well Beckham is doing great- last I wrote we were having some allergy issues but all of that has pretty much cleared up. I think allergies for him will be a lifelong battle. Both Butch & I have the horribly & I'm pretty sure it's going to be the same for him. Poor thing...it kills my soul but, Louisiana heat + no rain = dust, pollen, you name it. 

Beckham is seriously talking up a storm. He says (all the words I mentioned before) thank you, tea, cookie, drink, and his new favorite.....drum roll please...... PONE yes, like phone, but just pone (like bone). It is hilarious & I knew it wouldn't be long before he said either phone or remote since those are his all time favorite things, but PONE won! Haha

Even though it's still 95-100 degrees everyday I am having a lot of fun decorating for Fall, thinking about Fall, planning outfits & things to do in Fall. I think I'm just ready for it to cool off, but Fall/Winter has always been my favorite time of year. So many great memories come with Fall and with Beckham getting older I know the season will just get better. 

I do plan on doing a Summer To Do List update since it is officially over, but it still feels like Summer around here so I just can't get in the mood to call it over yet. I'll also get some pics together to show y'all my fall decor. It's not much but I think it's pretty cute & I'm adding a little every day. 

So, blogger says my last post was 16 days ago, sorry! But here's a photo recap of the past 16 days! :)

Swimming sesh

Home with Daddy while Mama works = no clothes all day

iPad? Check. Cell phone? Check.

2nd haircut!

Uncle B got a new puppy aka Puppa

Chit chattin' at a bday party

Eatin a sucker

Being silly

Xoxo, Katie

Little River Getaway

Over Labor Day weekend we took a little trip about two hours away to Winthrop, Arkansas.... Where exactly is Winthrop you ask? I have no idea. It is the smallest little nothing town but within it lies the sweetest little community that you'd never know existed. We honestly had no idea what to expect- Butch's brothers planned the whole trip and we were just along for the ride. It turned out to be so much fun. We (Butch's parents, brothers & us) all stayed in a house/cabin thing on a golf course and a canal off of Little River. It was a gated community that sat on a golf course but was also in front of Little River, so our front yard was a golf course & the back yard was the river. It was the neatest thing ever. 

They had a pool, basketball court, tennis court, a park, tons of trails, concession stands, plus the golf course & private river. I have seriously never seen anything like it. It was only two hours away but it was so nice to escape for the weekend and relax. Beckham had a great time. He did so well on the ride to & from & was such a champ all weekend. We rode the golf cart until it was almost out of juice & Butch brought his ranger and we ran it out of gas. Literally. Riding anything is Beckham's ultimate fav. We went to the river every day, collected rocks, ate hotdogs from the hotdog stand, homemade ice cream, and cupcakes for Uncle Stevie's birthday. We played Yahtzee, Texas Hold'em & I learned a new game called Cadillac; we let Beckham run around naked & he peed on the kitchen floor (it was hilarious). We played a little golf, slid down the slide & climbed the rock wall at the park, we laughed and made tons of memories. Or as Butch said "more memories to add to the collection". 

I am so thankful I married into a family that is so easy to get along with. I don't know what I would do without my Mother-in-law, all of them really. We had such a good time, and although I was ready to get back to my comfy bed. It was hard to leave. 

Pirate ship fun!

Beckham was blessed with so many new toys at his party that he got a little overstimulated. He didn't know what to play with and was jumping from one thing to another- then got grouchy for no reason; so I thought I'd put about half of them up and take one out at a time and let him really enjoy each gift. This week I broke out the pirate ship tent! He was down at his Grami's when I got it all out together so he was surprised when he got home! It was the cutest thing to see his face light up when he saw this huge ship in the middle of our living room. 

I think Amber liked it as much as he did! She got the bright idea for me to cover it with a blanket so they could use their Mickey Mouse flashlights and read books. It was so cute & Beckham loved it!

I know this is kind of a random post but it was so fun to watch him play in this tent, tump it over, run around, laugh, laugh & laugh! He was so excited & I am so glad I waited to get this one out! 

This fun time got me thinking about how much I need to savor this time with him. Yes, I am stressing over wanting a bigger house. I want to try to get pregnant next Summer & two little ones in this house would be difficult because its so small; but at the same time this house being small keeps our family together. Literally. The living room is the center of the house and you can just about see into every from if you stand directly in the middle. I've joked all along that this is out "cottage" because of the size. But, I truly like it being small. We are sometimes forced to spend time together when it would be easy to go to a separate room if we lived in a bigger house. Don't misunderstand me saying 'forced' I don't mean it like it sounds. I'm just trying to illustrate that the size of our house keeps us close together. 

I pray that when/if we buy a bigger house we can keep that closeness & not let walls come between us both literally and figuratively. I love my family with all my heart and simply hope we keep the same values we currently have. Family comes first. And whether or not we ever buy my idea of our 'forever' house. I guess we'll figure it out one step at a time, together!