Nap Trapped

Guess I won't be folding that last load of laundry during his nap today.

9 Month Check

Beckett got to see Dr. Willett on Friday for his 9-month Well Baby check. :)  He was ALL OVER the waiting room and exploring everything.  He was definitely well!

Here are the details of our visit:

• 21 pounds = 53%
• 29 inches = 61%  (Milestone alert! This is the first time his height percentage has exceeded his weight! Must be that boot camp exercise program...)
• 4 teeth (Dr. W said we are one ahead of schedule.)
• No blood work (YAY!)
• No shots (Double YAY!)

We are transitioning to more table foods and we talked about that process.  We also discussed sleep (like always), and the walking/crawling order.  Beckett is army crawling, but he doesn't crawl in the normal position.  He would rather be up, walking, and we wanted to make sure that was okay for his physical devleopment. Dr. Willett said it was fine. 

In terms of normal development for a 9-month old, Beckett is right on track.  Here is the information we got from the doctor:

1. Daily Activiites
1. Continues to enjoy banging (yes), waving (yes - he even does "Bye, Bye!" now!), and throwing toys (and everything else).
2. Scrutinizes toys and other objects (while singing, yes).
3. Becomes absorbed in toys and games (Shonn refers to this as, "He's playing by himself!")
4. Explores food with fingers (especially mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, and ice in glasses).
5. Initiates play (this is cutest with Lexi, who is such a patient puppy!).
2. Motor Skills
1. Goes from sitting ot laying position unassisted. (yes)
2. May pull self to standing position (see Honey Can Do post for pics).
3. Stands holding on to furniture (ditto).
4. Tries to move one foot in front of the other when held upright. (ummm...yes, and then some.)
5. May try to crawl up stairs (????).
6. May begin to walk with assistance. (hahahaha - ask Grammy, Gramps, and Grandma about how many miles they walk per day.)
3. Language Development
1. Imitates the rising and falling osunds of adult conversation. (And American Idol contestants.)
2. Imitates more speech sounds, but does not yet understand most of them. (Yes - he knows Lexi, Daddy, Abu, Elmo, SO BIG, Up, and Bye, Bye!)
3. Repeats sounds again and again. (And again, and again, and again, and...)
4. May begin to say "mama" or "dada" appropriately. (He says both, but not associated with us.)
4. Emotional and Behavioral Development
1. Continues to resist doing what he does not want to do. (Including falling asleep, changing clothes, falling asleep, letting go of fishing pole, falling asleep, letting go of other favorite toys, and falling asleep.)
2. BEgins to try to imitate some parent behaviors. (Well, he IS obsessed with iPad, iPhone, prank YouYube videos, deer call, camo, and previously mentioned fishing pole. Kidding!)
3. Loves showing off for family audience. (Yes, and he grins when his favorite people come into the room!)
4. May cry when parent leaves the room. (Only if tired.)
5. May resist diapering. (Unless distracted with toy, he's a squirmy worm.)

Enjoy these pictures of his developing independence.  (It typically takes about 50 pictures to find the good ones each month.  These are the cute personality ones I don't usually post.)

Honey (Can) Do

Beckett has so many books, and the baskets we have been using were beyond maximum capacity.  I read an article about enhancing the classroom library, and it explained that the best way to display books is cover-out, as it draws the most attention. (When you're at the bookstore next time, note which titles get cover-out display. They are typically more popular titles, by more well-known authors; it's better product placement.)

Anyway, I've been looking at bookshelf ideas and various racks, and there wasn't really anything that would fit in his room and allow for cover-out display.  I was asking our librarian, Peggy, if she had any ideas, and she asked me if I'd seen the shelves made of gutter.  I hadn't, but you can believe I asked Shonn about it when I got home!  He is so handy and can figure out just about any home-improvement project. (Hooray for deer season hiatus!)

So, we googled it (of course), and found some projects similar to this one.  Shonn went to Home Depot, got the supplies, and voila!  This is his finished project!  (I'm sure there are some important details within the "voila", but I'm more of the big picture half of our relationship. Luckly, Shonn is great with the details!)  I do know he anchored the brackets into our wall studs so Beckett could use the shelves to pull up...Which he did, immediately.  (Pic 6).

I love it and so does Beckett!  Thanks, babe!  (Thanks, Dad!)

We ended up with three 4.5 foot "shelves". The whole project was $65, and we had about 8 feet of gutter left over.

(HAHA - Just noticed B has only one shoe on in this pic.  Hilarious.)

Dedication Day

Because Allison, Chris, and Hadleigh were traveling on the last Dedication Day, they participated in the ceremony this morning. It is such a beautiful service, and it was great to hear, again, our role as parents. Children are such gifts, and being a parent a great responsibility. Today, Chris and Allison had the chance to pledge their intent to raise Hadleigh in the church. What a happy day!

Also exciting is that Baby Boy Walden is set to make his debut in April. This Tuesday, Allison will be 28 weeks - a huge milestone! We are so happy for them! They are really great friends. xo

Laundry

Someone wants to help...

Shonn and I went out on a date Saturday night and my parents were nice enough to come over and play with Beckett.  I felt guilty about how nice it was to have a conversation with Shonn alone!  We went out for dinner with the Stuarts and had a delicious meal at Texas Roadhouse, with some great conversation.  While we were gone, Mom and Dad were great about sending me pics throughout the night, and I thought this one was hilarious.

Valentine's Day is Coming...

Will you be mine?

I took pictures for Valentine's Day cards this morning.  I guess this post will ruin the cards when they arrive, but I just couldn't wait to post the pics.  The "Be Mine" heart Beckett is eating above is actually soap. I guess we won't be able to use that for a swear-word punishment... :)

Guess Who, Part 2...

Guess Who!

Christmas Cookie Exchange

Who else believes "better late than never"?  I am a proud member of that club, and it is with that in mind that I want to tell you about our Christmas Cookie Exchange. We all need a nice dose of holiday spirit around mid-January, anyway, right?

The party, Cookies and Cocoa, was really just a chance for friends to get together during the holidays and share some fabulous cookies and conversation.  I ordered the invitations from Tiny Prints and asked each guest to bring 2 dozen of their favorite cookies.

"This year, you'll have the perfect plate for Santa."

Check out the amazing variety we had at the party:

• Marissa brought Reese's Brownies and Chocolate Buckeyes
• Kristin brought Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
• Tam, Amber, and Audrey brought adorable Sugar Cookies
• Anieta brought Pecan Tassies - I had never had these, and oh my - they were awesome.
• Kara brought the cutest Gingerbread Men I've ever seen (They looked like Gingy from Shrek with assorted facial expressions! Thanks to Sam for the assist!)
• Joni brought Peanut Blossoms
• Christine brought Chocolate Peppermint cookies
• Jessica brought Sugar cookies with white chocolate and candy canes
• Jayme brought Chocolate Chip (and Braylon!)
• Jenny brought M & M (and Billy and the girls, who have to come in next time!)
• Megan brought Rolo-Covered Pretzels
• Kim brought Red Velvet and White Chocolate cookies (and Emmett!)
• Rachel S. brought Iced Sugar Cookies in all kinds of cute shapes - gorgeous
• Rachel P. brought something delicious (I lost the tag) and something handsome (Will, who was amazingly well-behaved and seemed so mature!)
• Mom brought beautiful Russian teacakes, which became the centerpiece and I can't believe I don't have a picture of it!
• Allison sent Reindeer Cake Pops - adorable.
• Ingrid brought Oreo-Stuffed Chocoate Chip Cookies - yum!

Have you ever seen something cuter?  Allison Walden - that girl is something else, I tell you.

Everyone unloaded their cookies onto my trays, and then we walked around and collected 2 dozen assorted cookies and pieces of candy.  People wrapped up their goodies, and had a tray of yummy snacks for their own holiday parties...or Santa!

Miss Anieta was our first guest and she brought delicious pecan tarts AND an amazing gift for Beckett - it was a customized Ford F150 with "Hild Landscaping" on the side, pulling a trailer and John Deere tractor just like Shonn's!  It was so cute. Joe customized it for him.  They are great friends!

These are the treats I made before the guests arrived. The candy was a product of my day with GG and Mom.  The cookies were recipies I found on allrecipies.com - some kind of mint chocolate cookie and spicy gingerbread.  Dips, crackers, and nuts finished the snacks.

When people arrived, they completed a cookie card that described the cookies they brought.  On their way out, they got two cookie cutters tied with Christmas ribbon and a gift tag as their favors.  Our little elf, Chip, greeted them at the door.

Lots of kids were able to come, which made it so much fun!  Here, Beckett and Ava play with the piano. (And Ava's face.)



Some of the Christmas decor! I also had wreaths hung on each door (again, no picture - grr).



The best part of the party: The people!

Baby Emmett - Such a cutie.

The Nativity table...with some Gingerbread men, Pecan Chew (my fave), and some other goodies. For Christmas this year, Janis bought us another part of our nativity scene - the animals and shepherds!

Grammy and Beckett.

After the party, Beckett, Tam, and the girls, and I changed into our PJs and hung out!

A Beckett Sandwich!

The party started at 2 and everyone was on their way home or to other gatherings by 4.  It was a really great time to catch up with everyone, laugh, and enjoy some yummy holiday treats.  Although I had never done a cookie exhange before, it was a relatively easy party to host, too, because: 1) I had my mom to help set up (love her!); and 2) everyone brought the goodies!

I hope to make this an annual tradition.  Thanks to everyone for a great day!  (As for the belated holiday cheer, I kinda wish I had some of those cookies today...)

Date Night

Date night!

We had a great night with Cory, Kristin, and Ava. We met them in Effingham to eat at Lonestar - it was packed! We even met early, to work around the kids' eating schedules, and there was only one parking spot when we arrived.

Shonn and I had a few minutes to talk before the Kleisses arrived, and we were seated pretty quickly after that.  Everyone's meals were good, and then we went to Cory & Kristin's to hang out and let the kids play.  (We joked that we were going to make the guys watch Miss America, but the Broncos/Somebodies were on, so it had to remain a joke.)

Beckett and Shonn at the bar, watching football while we waited.  Cuties!

Beckett was really into the activity table.

Ava is such a cutie, and she has really cool toys, including this activity table:

 One of my friends from work, Jenny, told me to get Beckett an activity table, and we never did.  I guess we should have, because he loved it!

Ava also has a ball princess castle thing, which is like a mini, germ-free version of the McDonald's/Hardees playland things.  It was so cute!  Ava is crawling all over the place and she really isn't afraid of anything! She tipped the ball castle over while she was inside and just laughed. 

More activity table action.

Ava has the same Dino walking toy Beckett got from Grammy. She loves it and can really move!

Someone's a little tired...

...but has just enough energy for a little more investigating of that activity table.

As expected, Beckett put the moves on Ava again. He loves babies' faces! Especially girl babies!  We were talking on the way home and we have no idea how he learned this, but he also "kisses" us sometimes at night, and when we read books with pictures of real babies in them, he kisses the book, too.  Ava didn't seem to mind!

It doesn't seem too long ago that we left them with Katelynn and Ashley while we watched Footloose at the Little Theater, but then I watch this video and I can't believe how much they have grown!