Backyard Makeover

Beckett's birthday present was installed on Monday, and when we got home from Springfield Tuesday evening, he had to try it out:

Today he played on the baby swing (which isn't installed in these pictures), and went down the slide a few times. Mom and Dad sent me some pictures of him peeking through the windows of his fort, too.  I have a plan for a cool sign to hang on the top part...just as soon as I get a few minutes to do a craft.  It's been a hectic month!

Little Fish is One!

Here are some pictures of Beckett's Goldfish-themed first birthday party from April 7th.  It was so much fun - he loved the cake, and many of our friends were able to come.

Smiling and ready for the party!

I got a tricycle from Grammy and Gramps!

I love GG - I think there are some similarities in this smile.

Our friends, the Waldens, only 3 days before Hampton was born!

Gramps let us use his camera when Mommy realized she had forgotten the memory card.  Then Daddy bought a new one!

We all loved the real goldfish!

We had some banners I made on my friend's Cricut machine.

His cheeks are perfect for smooches!

Kaylee and Casey - We've missed you!

Here are some of my friends! Notice this shirt, which was the replacement after the cake smashing.

Kiptyn was all over the place - so energetic and cute!

Thanks for coming, Chris and Marissa!  I love the clothes and the John Deere tractor!

My middle school friends - Monica took the picture on the fireplace mantle.  Katie and Megan helped take pictures at the 5 month shoot, and they are all three such great people!

These pictures are totally out of sequence...Here we are opening some of Beckett's presents. He actually got involved in it this time, especially with tissue paper.

Love this face during the cake smash!

More friends...

More presents... (Don't you love that Hadleigh matches the party theme?)

My Uncle Matthew sent me two books - one of his favorites and also The Little Prince, passing the title down. :)

A Year of Monthly Photos

Favors. (Catch ya later!)

Amazing cookies from Miss Ingrid were the favors. YUM!

Tammy brought lots of sweets, including tarts and cookies. Ingrid made the bagged favor cookies, and we also had sixlets with goldfish in them.

I love Kaylee.

I made this shirt for the cake-smashing festivities.  It had a 1 on the back.

I loved the sixlet favors.

I also loved this suckers from Vintage Confections on etsy.  I painted blocks from the Dollar Tree to hold the suckers.

PREPARE TO SMASH! It was way too cute to smash...

He started so dantily.

Emily and Nathan had a good time, too!

I had water bottles with custom labels, including cute ingredient lists... And they got left at home. Haha! So we will be drinking to Beckett's first birthday all year long. :)

Thanks to everyone for coming and for your well-wishes.  It has been an amazing year.  We are so very blessed!  (And thanks to Shonn for letting me plan this party - I had a blast doing it!)

12 Months Old!

I can hardly believe this, but Beckett is a year old.  Wow.  What an amazing year it has been! He is such a joy and develops into his own little person more each day.  Here is some information about Beckett at one year:

Eating:
He isn't picky, but loves MEAT! He will eat just about any type of meat, but if he has to chew it for too long, he will spit it out.  He still likes baby food, but eats whatever Shonn and I have for dinner.  Most recently, for lunch each day, he would eat 3 chicken nuggets, a baby food jar of veggies, and applesauce or other fruit.  He is now drinking organic Vitamin D/whole milk and loves it.  He is also still nursing, but mostly at night, and he uses it as a sleep soother more than anything.

Sleeping:
He naps in his own bed during the day.  At night, we are still co-sleeping, which I love, but it's hard on our sleep. Plus it's going to be a huge challenge to transition into his own bed this summer.  In the meantime, I'm loving the snuggling!  (Shonn equates it to sleeping with a wild boar, which is hilarious and accurate at the same time.)

Physical Development:
Beckett is 30" tall and weighs almost 23 pounds.  He has eight teeth!  His hair is very blond and usually pretty crazy!  He loves to lift things up and carry them around the house, especially if they are heavy.  We have a wooden duck that weighs about 5 pounds and he loves picking it up and carrying around while groaning and quacking.  It's hilarious. 
He has been walking for about two months, but only really well for about a month.  He almost runs sometimes he gets going so quickly!  When he falls, he waits for our reaction before he reacts.  He is SO busy and loves opening and closing doors (big and small), and wheels or gadgets he can manipulate. 

Personality:
Beckett is SUCH a happy guy. He smiles almost all the time, and has started developing a twinkle in his eye when anticipates getting tickled, chased, or "getcha"!  (See video, HAHAHA)

Shonn and I can just give him a look across the room and say "I'm gonna..." and he starts giggling and scrunches his shoulders up to his ears.  He is ticklish mostly on his back and thighs, so Shonn says he's girl crazy.  :) 
He has started vocalizing when he wants something more, but doesn't have the words to specifically request what he wants, so his "MMM!"s and baby grunts are more emphatic depending on how much he wants something.  He fusses when he is tired or if he is getting teeth.
He is also INCREDIBLY cuddly. (Thank you, God!)  I love this part of his personality so much.  He snuggles all the time and is happy sitting on our laps.  He's so sweet. 
With his friends, he is eager to connect physically.  He does this by putting his hands on their shoulders, arms, and sometimes faces.  He also tries to bump heads with them and us.  (Not too sure what that one means, except maybe eskimo kisses. ?)
He can intently focus on something, especially books. He loves books and has a few favorites.  Since we are working on animal sounds so much, he is drawn to books with animals like cows, pigs, chickens, roosters, and dogs.

He is such a blessing and delight.  I am so thankful to God for the incredible gift of being a mom, and especially to such an amazing little guy. 

Baggage Claim

Look what I found waiting for me when I arrived in Champaign! Good thing I kept the claim check! 

Beckett made friends with everyone on the plane, in the airport, at the hotel, and everywhere in between.  He travelled great again - the plane didn't bother him as much as it did me.  My right ear wouldn't pop, but he didn't seem bothered at all.  We got a cool video of take off this time, too.

The Wonder Place & BBQ

This afternoon, Mom and I took Beckett to this cool place in Little Rock called The Wonder Place, which is basically an exploratory play center for kids under 6. 
http://www.thewonderplace.com/

Beckett loved it!

A water table with ducks and waterfalls was really fun. Note the "rain aprons" in the background that I failed to put on him.  Oops. :)

He was especially fascinated with the door latch on this little playhouse. He kept opening and then closing, opening and then closing, opening and then - you get the idea. He can concentrate really well on a task when he's interested.  This was Exhibit A of that characteristic.

So this is my next plan for a home project.  Totally brilliant.  It's a velcro wall with these shapes attached so kids can take them off and replace them. Beckett went to town on it, tearing everything off and then laughing.  Then I put them back and he did it again.  It was great, and it seems like a pretty basic project. (Shonn groans.)

Love this pic - I was peeking through a tunnel and he kept popping his head down and giggling.

Hello, Sandbox.  B kept dumping it out and then shuffling his feet to make patterns in the sand.  Then he'd squat down and run his fingers in it and look at me like, "Did you see that cool thing I just did?"

Beckett loves wheels and gears, so this ginormous wheel was right up his alley.  It has little balls in the tracks that bounce around when it turns.  He did a great job turning it - another example of his concentration.

We got there about 4:00 and left around 5:00 to go eat some barbeque. Mom heard Arkansas is known for its BBQ, and we found what is considered the best little place in town - Chip's.  It lived up to expectations!  YUM!  Beckett loved it, too:

Dig in!

Days like this make me so thankful for God's blessings.  We are healthy and able to do things together, and I feel so lucky for the time we have together!

Clinton Presidential Library

Today, after consulting, we headed down to the Clinton Presidential Library. It was only about 15 minutes from our hotel and a beautiful setting with tons of amazing historical information.  I learned a lot, saw lots of beautiful artifacts, and Beckett had an opportunity to "try on" his future office.  Here are some pictures from the day.

Peeking out at the entrance. It's a gorgeously designed building and here you can see some of the water feature at the front.  Beckett is like, "seriously, mom? a picture here?"

"Mom, what do you think of my future desk?  Pretty sweet, right?" The desk actually has an incredible story, and is called the Resolute Desk.

"Yes, mother. Are we almost done here, because I have some important documents to sign."

"Who let these people into my office?!"

If Beckett is President someday, this will be a very cool picture. If not, it will still be a cool picture. :)

Grammy is so good with Beckett, who is more fascinated with the wheels on this $40 stroller than the Cartier earrings gifted to Mrs. Clinton from foreign royalty.

Annnnnd, his favorite gift, to which he said, "Snort, snort, snort."

There were also beautiful gardens outside, and we took a nice stroll.  We also got to visit the Heifer Project, which is on the same campus, and a very cool humanitarian project you can learn more about here: http://www.heifer.org/