Chuck E Cheese again... and our tree!

Chuck E Cheese is quickly becoming Beckham's favorite place in the world. He has only been a handful of times but he talks about it all the time. After our Chuck E Cheese trip with Dad, Monica and Marc he was dying to go back, talking about "riding the big red dog" aka Clifford. So, Yaya came in for the weekend and we both had some errands to run in Bossier, and decided to have lunch and some play time at Chuck E Cheese....on a Saturday. It was brave, no doubt; but, it turned out fine. It was crazy busy with about 7 birthday parties happening but it was still a ton of fun. Beckham was so exhausted afterwards and we still had a few stops to make, but it ended up working out.

Over Thanksgiving break we met up with my Dad, whom Beckham calls Pepaw and had lunch and got our Christmas tree! We actually got a real tree this year which I LOVE, but it's a lot of work. I love that my Dad is really trying to be involved in Beckham's life. He usually comes over every other week or so and then he'll randomly text or call for us to go eat with him or come to his house. It's really sweet and I am very thankful for him in our lives. This is the big wheel that Pepaw got last Christmas for Beckham. He was too small for it then, but he's the perfect size now. He hasn't really mastered the whole pedaling thing yet but I'm sure it won't take him long to get it figured out.

Beckham also has a crazy obsession with TC, Pepaw's dog. I think he loved her as much as he loves Dad. haha She is seriously the sweetest dog ever. She lets him hug her, kiss her, attempt to pick her up...etc. She doesn't care one bit and Beckham loves her so much.

I will post pictures of our tree later, but it is massive. Like, too big for our living room. I didn't realize it was as large and in charge as it is, but it is really pretty. I made the joke that everyone was getting gift cards this year, because we literally don't have room for presents. I guess we'll have to make it work because we are somewhat stuck with it until after Christmas.

Christmas 2013

I'm back dating this because yes it is January 2nd and I am just now getting around to posting about Christmas.

So, Christmas this year was so much fun! I know every year will continue to get better and better with Beckham. I have a lot of family so the holidays are always a crazy but fun time of year. Christmas Eve was crazy because Butch was supposed to be home at 11:00. He ended up getting a little delayed and wasn't supposed to be in until 4:00, and then around 2:45 Beckham and I were getting ready to leave a little early because I needed to run by Brookshire's and possibly get the car washed before we picked up Daddy. I was literally pulling out of the driveway and Butch calls me, freaking out saying he is already in Shreveport. It turned out he had his time zones a little off and he was in Shreveport at 3:00 instead of 4:00. We were already on the road so he had to sit and wait for us for a little bit. Then, Christmas Eve evening we went over to Maymay and Daddy Mac to do a super fast Christmas because we had to be at Butch's parents at 6:00. We didn't end up getting there until 6:30 and guess what? I got zero pictures at Maymay's....ugh

Anyways we opened presents and did a light supper at Grami & Pop's Christmas Eve night. Beckham was somewhat over the whole 'opening presents thing' he loved the presents once they were out of the box and working but he didn't care much to open the actual presents. Then, Christmas Eve night Santa came and I was so excited for Beckham to wake up and see all of his presents! He ended up sleeping until 9:30! Whoop whoop! When he woke up he walked into the living room kind of in shock. All of his new toys covered most of our living room and it was like he didn't know what to play with first. It was so hilarious!! We stayed home and played with all of his new toys for a few hours, then we got ready to go to Grami's house for a traditional Christmas lunch. Everything was so delicious and we were all in food comas afterwards. Beckham ended up taking about a 2.5 hour nap. Then, when he woke up Beckham and I went over to my Dad's parents house to do Christmas with them. We just opened presents and visited for a few hours. Butch wasn't feeling good so he stayed home.

Then, the morning of the 26th Beckham and I headed over to my Mom and step Dad's house in Homer. We had Christmas with them and opened presents and all of that fun stuff and then around 11:00 we all headed over to my Uncle Jon's house in Monroe. We had what we called 'Gimber Christmas' which was all of my Mom's side of the family. (Her Dad, Aunt and her kids, her brothers, their wives and kids...etc) It was so good to see everyone. The last time I saw most of them was at my Uncles funeral a few months ago and we said then that we were sick of only seeing each other when someone died. So, I hope we keep the tradition alive of seeing each other more. My Mamaw was truly the glue to our family. She held everyone together and made sure we saw each other often. It is at her house in Arcadia that I have some of the fondest childhood memories, especially around the holidays. Mamaw never hesitated from hosting huge get togethers at her house. I can still remember 2 or 3 huge pans of dressing, rows and rows of pies & cakes, and Mamaw always made a huge fruit salad which was her favorite. There would be ham, turkey, every side dish imaginable and her house would always be full of people. I cherish those memories when our family was much closer and I hope that one day we can be that close again, especially now that I have Beckham I want him to know all of his family and be close with cousins like I used to be. Hopefully, one day I will also have a house that I can host big gathering in like my Mamaw did. Okay, anyways I kind of got off subject but back to Christmas. We ate and ate and then ate some more at Jon's and all of the kids (and some adults) played outside most of the day. It was a great day- I wish Butch would have been able to enjoy it with us.

 Christmas Eve

 Christmas morning

Compare to last year.

Merry Christmas!

I passed..........

First I have to say I passed the GRE yesterday and am OFFICIALLY a graduate student...whoop whoop!! I am registered for my first class and just purchased the required book! After the test I was thinking, "I'm glad that's over", but honestly it is just the beginning. But, I am excited, motivated and ready to get it going. However, I plan to thoroughly enjoy the next two weeks off from work before work and then graduate school starts. I brought home four books that I hope to read before I start grad school. Three of which are Harry Potter- don't judge me. I am amazed that I haven't read the Harry Potter series yet, granted the whole magic/wizardry theme is not really up my alley, but I have recently become more into sci fi so I'm thinking I will like them. I bought the entire set for me my classroom at my school's book fair this year.  A friend of mine is currently obsessed, so I've got to at least see what all of the fuss is about.

Anyways, we've been having a ball around here lately. I finally got all of Butch's Christmas ready for him to come home. I am so excited about it I could scream!! I can't wait for Christmas Eve, he will be home and I can finally give him all of the goodies I have been stressing over lately. I'll share everything later but just in case he's reading this- I can't give it away!!

I am planning on getting some stuff to make Christmas candy/cookies tomorrow or Monday. I will post on how all of that goes later; because, with my little helper, there is honestly no telling.

Cue photos:

early Christmas from family in Baton Rouge

I told him if he sat there and smiled then I'd give him my keys, promise kept.

December happenings

December has been so much fun so far! Here's a bunch of random things we've been doing. Beckham had late fall/Christmas pictures that turned out so stinkin cute! I've got a picture of a picture of our Christmas card, I'll have to scan some others to post here. I absolutely love them!! He is such a little baby model. Our tree is decorated, we have the cutest Santa Mickey in the front yard (didn't get any actual lights on our house this year since Butch had to leave for work). I have some cute Christmas decor around the house and back porch; I had a poinsettia for about 4 days but somehow I managed to kill it. I swear I can not keep any kind of plant alive-it drives me insane! I have been wrapping presents like crazy and our tree is seriously overflowing and I'm not even done yet! I mean, I'm about 90% done but not completely. We are having Santa pictures taken tomorrow, which I'm hoping goes well. He's around so many men with beards it should be fine. We will see. We attempted to see the Christmas train a last weekend but he was a little sick (just snotty with a cough) and when we got there the line was around the parking lot so we knew it would be a while before we got on the train so we decided to skip it this year and try next year. :( Beckham's friend, Jake turned one on the 6th so we went to his Saints theme Birthday party. Beckham was so cute and sweet to the other kids. He shared so well and we had a great time. Unfortunately, we had to take Butch to the airport that same day because he had to go back to work. But, he will be home in time for Christmas....or that's the plan! Hopefully there isn't any delays or bad weather!

Here's a photo dump.

Updated December

December 6th baby Jake Thomas Hobbs made his entry into the world!! A little early (1 month exactly) but otherwise PERFECT!! I can not wait for Beckham to meet him and become BFFs!

Beckham's first Christmas was a complete success.. I wish Blogger would let me upload pics, but for some reason it won't.

Anyways- I got two whole weeks off from work for Christmas break and I got paid! It was great. The best part was it matched up perfectly to Butch's schedule so I was off almost the whole time he was home! I was so glad he could be home for our baby boy's first Christmas....next year things may be different.  :(

So Christmas is crazy for us because we have about 7,000 families. Which is GREAT! But busy! Christmas Eve we went over to Maymay and Daddy Mac's first to do presents and see Jake! It was his first time meeting us all at once. Beckham got The Night Before Christmas book that we are starting as a yearly tradition to read every Christmas Eve. He also got tons of clothes, toys, and a Lifetime Hunting and Fishing License from Uncle Randy! After that, we went over to Grami and Pop's house to do Christmas with them. Beckham also racked up like the spoiled rotten little boy that he is! :) He got a bouncer, a push car, picnic table and slide (for this Summer), as well as about 300 outfits that Grami had ordered. As well as tonsssss of toys! Seriously, Butch and I could have not bough this child anything and he would have still gotten more than most 5 month olds! And we still had 2 families to go to! Butch's big gift was a Polaris Ranger (from the best wife ever) so Christmas Eve night we went out on a little four wheeler ride! It was cold but lots of fun.

Christmas Day we kind of laid low. Grami (Butch's Mom) cooked a big traditional lunch. It was delicious and then Butch went hunting so we just laid around and played with Beckham all day. The next day, we got up early and went to my Grandparent's house on my Dad's side. Had a nice visit and then headed to my Mom's house. She just had surgery so couldn't come see us on Christmas so we took a road trip and stayed the night with her and Grumpy. I got my first little blue box ever! Yes, Tiffany's! :) Happy girl!! Beckham got the cutest little VTech dog that you can program to say his name so it says things like "I love you, Beckham!". It's adorable and he loves it! All in all we had a GREAT Christmas!! So glad Daddy could be home with us this year and hopefully every year to come!