New Website!

Kestrel Design finished the Hild Landscaping website and it looks great!  They were very professional and easy to work with. Shonn put a ton of time into specifying what he wanted for the site, and I think it looks great. I would TOTALLY hire him. :)

Check it out:
www.hildlandscaping.com

Meeting Colin!



What, mom? We're just talking!

Beckett: So, what's good here?
Colin: Oh my.

PLEASE let me hug you!

Let's shake hands!

 Beckett and I got to have lunch with Miss Krista and her little guy, Colin, today! It was such a treat to see her, and of course to meet Colin. He is such a doll, all smiles and sugar. He was content the whole time in his pumpkin seat, making eyes at me. :) Beckett was very interested in him and wanted to hug and squeeze (and maybe eat) him. They were cute together. I wish I had more time to spend with Krista - everytime we catch up, it's like no time has passed. She is a great friend and has been a big part of my life.

Monical's Reunion

Eric, Joni, Carrie, and I met for lunch at Monical's yesterday. Carrie and Eric aren't in town very often, and even though Joni and I both live here, we rarely see each other. It was really nice to catch up with each of them and hear about all the great things they are doing. Eric is in New York City, in anesthesia school. Carrie and her husband, Jeff, own a dental practice and work together there. Their two kids, Evy and Michael, are growing and as cute as can be. Joni is an OB Nurse in Decatur and her two little ones, Hayden and Julia, are also cutie pies! Hayden is in kindergarten this year! I love the fact that we graduated in 1997 and we are still friends. Our other close friends, Katy, Angie, Casey, and Paige, had hoped to come, but weren't able to make it. We did see our old janitor, Joe, though!

Arts and Crafts

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to do it as a way of capturing Beckett's handprints at his first Christmas. It was fun! I laid out wrapping paper on the tile and put some paint onto a plate. He smashed his right hand in the green paint, looked at it, looked at me, looked at in again, and laughed. He kept smushing his fingers together to feel the consistency - he is defintely in the curious exploration stage, so each new experience is a wonder to him.  I had to pick him up to get the handprints on the canvas. It turned out pretty cool.  I still have to write "Beckett's First Christmas Tree - 2011" at the bottom, and then the masterpiece will be complete. :)

Daddy s Little Guy.wmv

Mini Hunter

Shonn is training Beckett to help him hunt... This year, Shonn "harvested" two deer; one during shotgun season and one with his bow.  He has really become interested in hunting...so much so that he made this video with Beckett one night before Christmas when I was at school for the Christmas program. I guess Beckett saw Shonn do it and then started trying to mimic him, so before bathtime, Shonn decided to get it on video.

 Oh my.  The things guys do... 

But I must admit, it is pretty cute!

Christmas Eve at Grandpa Kracht's

It's hard to believe I'm still blogging about Christmas, but we really packed in the events!  I have some wonderful video to add to this post, but the pictures are a great start.

Beckett loved Katie, and she was really good with him...She got a little jealous of the attention, or at least that's what we thought was going on - you'll see what I mean later on...

"The Brick" got his nickname from Grandpa K, and he wore this special Grinch shirt just for Grandpa.  (It's one of Grandpa's favorite movies.  He LOVES the part where the little dog gets antlers and has to pull that ginormous sleigh.)

Clara loves Beckett and she told us, "You're lucky I only have one good arm, or I'd really be spoiling him."  She spoiled and loved him enough as is!

She was playing the mouse game.

Shonn loves Gpa K's Indian Lamps. I might get him some for Christmas next year.

Hi!

Beckett's favorite present!

Okay - this is what I was talking about earlier... Anytime I had Beckett on my lap, she would come over and sit on my lap, too!  It was hilarious! Grandpa really got a kick out of it.

SMOOCH!

Love it.

Speed Zone

Shonn and I had a Beckett relay tonight!  In the past two weeks, Beckett has suddenly started pulling up and walking much more independently.  Tonight he took it a step further, basically running down the hall.  In this video, Lexi couldn't even get out of the way fast enough for our little Speedracer.  How did this happen?  He's turning into a little boy! 

PS: Thanks for the dino, Grammy and Gramps!

Christmas Morning

Here are the cute pics from Christmas morning at our house. Shonn got Beckett his first ride-on John Deere tractor, which he LOVED. I got him the piano, as you know. We were joking that we're pretty sure this is the combination for a well-rounded little guy. :) 

Meet our Musical Farmer the Charmer...

He was so happy from the first moment he woke up. I love this picture!

"Look at me, Dad!" 

"Wow...I'm actually moving!" 

"And now it's time for a musical break."

"Mom, the flash is disrupting my chord progressions." 

"Time for a story break!"  Shonn read a Nancy Tillman book to him. 

"That was FUN!" 

Shonn surprised me with a new computer that is small and easy to move around. It also has a webcam so I can skype.  I'm so excited to get it set up!  I got him some new Zig Tag shoes, which he loves, some shirts, and a jacket embroidered with our company logo. It turned out great, except the colors were a little different than I planned.  It still looks good, though, and I think he liked it.

We had so much fun on our first Christmas morning with Beckett...It's hard to remember what it was like without him!

Kracht Family Christmas

Christmas Day, Shonn, Beckett, and I went to my mom and dad's house to celebrate with GG, Mandy, and Levi.  We made it over there around noon, and the orders were to wear our comfy clothes...so we did!  We spent the day lounging, laughing, and eating in our pjs.  We had such a wonderful time!

Mandy came home around midnight on the 23rd and spent Christmas Eve at Grandpa Kracht's, so we were very happy to see her when we got there.  It was also the first time we met Levi, and he was so kind and thoughtful.  He has an easy laugh and fit right in with our crazy crew.  It was a much-anticipated introduction, as Mandy and Levi have really become serious and she cares for him so much.  I could easily tell how much he cares for her in return.  It was sweet to see her so happy!  Dad, of course, had a wonderful wood fire blazing so we were snuggly warm, and mom had all kinds of snacks out when we got there.  GG was helping mom in the kitchen by snapping the fresh green beans for our holiday dinner later on that evening.  The only piece missing was my brother, who we missed terribly.  We got some cute pictures of him with Uncle Bob and Aunt Nancy at their daughter, Janet's, gorgeous house.  (He was standing in front of a 25 foot Christmas tree looking elfishly cute.)  I just wish he could have been with us, too, but I'm glad he is so happy and was with UB & AN.

We had a GREAT day.  Here are some highlights! (Okay...after the upload, I'm realizing it's a lot of "highlights".  Oh well!  Your baby only has one first Christmas!)

Beckett and Aunt Mandy are reunited and pick up right where they left off...Snuggling!

The reindeer hat was a present from GG...He looked so cute, and he tolerated it for awhile...

...and then... 

Here is Mandy and Levi helping with dinner preparations. Well, Levi is helping. Mandy is laughing because Levi is cutting the butter into slices for everyone to use more easily. I thought it was nice! 

Gramps is distributing his famous salad. It was awesome - TONS of carrots, celery, tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, lettuce varieties, and about 15 dressings to choose from.  Note the large bowl...the salad will be lunch for a few days, I have a feeling!  (And it's on the CAVE MAN DIET!) 

Mom always sets a beautiful table with her china.  The crystal is also taken out for Christmas!  Now that's a birthday party fit for Baby Jesus! 

Before we ate, we had a toast to "Remembering Christmases past, hoping for Christmases in the future, and enjoying the gift of the present.  Thank you, Lord, for your many gifts, but mostly that of your Son!" 

Here you can see Mandy and Levi! They were only home through the 26th and had to catch a flight back to Tampa.  They are such a cool couple.. In two weeks, they leave for Brazil.  (More on that below...) 

Check out this feast fit for a King! 

Again with the mashed potatoes... 

I got to be the present elf! 

Notice Beckett doesn't get too far away from Aunt Mandy's squishes...

I like this picture of Grandma and Mom. I feel like it shows the ease of their relationship - they get along so well and have good talks.  They are very good for each other!  I see a lot of my relationship with mom mirrored here.  This is Grandma's first Christmas without Grandpa, and I'm sure it was very hard for her to be without her love.  I am SO happy we got to have her with us - Beckett loves her, because she tries to come over on Wednesdays to be with him and mom at the same time.  She is really, really good with him (lots of practice?) and he is fascinated with her. 

Oh, those Kracht girls... Poor B... 

After a delicious dinner around 3, it was time for presents! Beckett got a lot of books from Mandyand Levi, including this one: The Itsy Bitsy Spider...the extended version, which started Dad's rendition of the song, over, and over, and over, until Mandy was ready to strangle him.  Desired outcome. 

 

As anticipated, the wrapping was just as intriguing (if not more) than the presents! (Why didn't we just get boxes???) 

One of the BEST gifts is featured below...A few Christmases ago, we had an Ugly Christmas Sweater party at Grandma and Grandpa Cox's Christmas.  Mandy and I went all out, heading to Walmart to find a bunch of supplies and these lovely Hanes Crewnecks.  Armed with our glue guns, excessive amounts of energy and Christmas accoutrements,  we stayed up All Night Long the night before her party to create these masterpieces!  In identical puffy-painted frocks, we thought we were shoe-ins to win the competition. Unfortunately, Grandma thought they were too pretty, and she gave the prize to someone else.  This year, though, my sweater came out for the school-based version of the competition, and I WON! Redemtion, baby.  Mandy was mad that I still had hers, so I wrapped it up to spread the holiday cheer to Florida.

Grandma had to get going around 4:30 because it was getting dark. She got some snuggles from her little buddy, opened some gifts, and headed over the river and through the woods.  We had such a nice time with her!  (Doesn't she look pretty, too?) 

MORE PRESENTS! 

Not sure about this awkward pose...but please note the pajamas and full-on "didn't-do-my-hair-or-makeup" look.  Yikes.  And I knew there was going to be pictures! 

Eventually (inevitably), the hat returned... 

Mom had a special gift made for each of us: A picture collage of our family. She designed each one differently to match our personalities. It was very thoughtful!   

So, I told you I'd return to the Brazil trip. Here goes!  Mandy and Levi are going to Brazil on January 17th for a couple of reasons.  One is because they are raising money for an orphanage and plan to work with some missonaries there.  The other reason is because Levi runs MAXI Marathons.  Like, majorly maxi.  The race in Brazil is 135 miles (yes, running) and goes up 30,000 feet in altitude.  He will be running through the rain forest and taking short breaks every 15 miles or so.  He will start running on Friday night and has only until Sunday to finish!  He has done several such races, but 105 miles is his longest, so this will be a huge challenge! (Duh.)  Mandy is on his race team, which is a car that will meet him at designated spots where the roads are passable enough for car traffic.  The rest of the time, he will be on his own. Scary.  He is very passionate about this, and it is really cool in an extreme way!  He is a doctor, so you know he understands the human body and its limits...Let's just say his body has different limits than mine!  Check out his blog for more information: http://levirizk.blogspot.com/

Anyway, mom and dad made a donation to Mandy and Levi for their work with the orphanage. I love what they said: "Our family has been blessed with more than enough - in terms of material things and love. Please take whatever we can give you to share with those children who don't have either."  Isn't that the truth?  They wrote a beautiful letter explaining how they felt about it and how proud they were of this venture.  I am very proud of them, too.  I hope they are safe and have a wonderful time!  It's the meaning of the season and being a Christian without needing a certain season to do it.  

Anyway, back to the party:  At this point, I'm pretty sure Beckett was on sensory overload from three straight days of PARTIES! Grandpa K's on the 23rd, the Farm and Hilds on the 24th, our house the morning of the 25th, and then the Krachts!  Talk about off schedule.  He was such a happy boy the whole time, though, and did GREAT!  I love this smile, even though his eyes are half-closed. 

Unwrapping... 

Unwrapping... 

Unwrapping... 

CRASHING!

(That thing he is holding is a deer call!  Shonn taught him how to do it, and it's hilarious. I have a video of it I need to trim and then I'll upload it. So precious.) 

That last picture summarizes how we all felt by the end of the night. Tired and happy.  It was such a blessing to have Mandy home!  We all laughed and talked, and then Mandy and Levi came over for awhile. It was a lovely Christmas day, full of family and good memories. (And food. Lots of food.)

XO