Hadleigh's House

My friend Allison and I have swapped some clothes - her little guy, Hampton, is exactly a year younger than Beckett, and Hadeigh has already outgrown the wardrobe of six fashionistas.  So, we traded some clothes. I hope this works out until our kids are 18. (Our husbands hope so even more.)

Here are a couple quick pics of the two buds playing while the Mommas dished and closet shopped.

I can't believe how tall Hadleigh looks here!  She just turned 3 in December.  Beckett will be 2 in April.

Good Sport

Saturday, I met my friends Ingrid and Brandi in Decatur. The girls were eager to see Beckett, too, so he came along. The timing worked perfectly with his nap - he slept the whole way to the mall, we played, and then he slept the whole way back. He especially loved the 3-way mirror at Von Maur, and he gave the baby in it some smooches. (Sorry to whomever cleans the mirrors. I tried to wipe off the slobber with a baby wipe and it only made things worse.)  I'm sure shoe shopping with girls will be at the bottom of his list of things to do, but he was a great sport! :)

Brandi is an administrator in southern Illinois, and we worked together in Shelbyville and Mattoon. She and Ingrid were on the same team at the middle school. Brandi's husband, Ben, was also a coach in Shelbyville when Shonn coached there. Ingrid and I don't see each other as often as we used to, now that I'm down the road at Williams. They are both such great girls - It was nice to catch up!

Smile Update!

Beckett has a top tooth!

The top two teeth have been pushing on his gums for about a week.  He's become a little chewing drool monster, but he never fussed at all.  Yesterday morning, the top right tooth was all the way through his gums!

We were at Denny's in Tuscola in these pictures.  Yesterday, Mom, B, and I went to Champaign to find something for an upcoming event.  Mom had some luck, but I didn't really find anything that would work. On our way back, we stopped in Tuscola to exchange some things at Carter's. We were starving, so we ate at the retro Denny's right by the outlet mall. (It was actually my second breakfast of the day - we met Dad for breakfast at Red Apple before leaving town.)

Beckett enjoyed a snack of mashed potatoes, and he is showing his creative side by demonstrating other uses for spoons, below.

The BEST part of the day was that I forgot to pack a stroller. (I swear, by the time he is 18, I'll remember to pack everything...)  So I got to hold him ALL DAY LONG. It was wonderful squish time.  He even fell asleep on my shoulder while I walked around.  I'm sure more experienced moms everywhere were looking at me like I was nuts.

Oh well. I was so thankful Mom and I could spend some time together, too.  We had some great conversations and a lot of fun.  It was a wonderful day!

Ella's Kitchen is Where it's At!

Mom and I were shopping maniacs at Babies R Us this weekend. She got this coupon-flyer in the mail that offered gift cards for purchasing specific items. For example, if you bought 2 packages of Pampers, you got a $20 gift card. For adding on batteries, toilet paper, paper towels, wipes, Tide, pull-ups, you got another $5 gift card. Everything on the list was stuff we will use, so mom got a set and so did I. We ended up with $110 in gift cards...and a WHOLE lot of diapers. :)

I also purchased a new product. As you know, we've been playing around with offering foods to Beckett, without pushing too hard. I was getting some Organic Gerber Stage 1 food when this nice lady in the aisle with us pointed out a product I had never heard of, called Ella's Kitchen. She raved about how good it tasted and showed me that the ingredient list on each package was JUST fruit and veggies - no water or anything else added. They were interesting blends, too, like Carrot-Apple-Prune, or Broccoli-Pears-Peas, and Spinach-Apples-Rutabega. I picked up 5 packages of different flavors and thought we'd give them a try.

Beckett LOVED them! We started with the squash blend, which was Butternut Squash, Carrots, Apples, and Prunes. I put it on a plate and fed him with a spoon, but soon he grabbed ahold of the package and began sucking!

I really like the products because they do taste good (true story), they are all organic with no preservatives or additives, they come in a very cool, portable container, AND it's a small business with a cool story. http://www.ellaskitchen.com/

Here's the little man, enjoying his snack!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

There Could Be Trouble...

I had some work to do for the Illinois State Board of Education on the Illinois Alternative Assessment this week, so I convinced Shonn to bring Beckett and consider it a mini-getaway. (It's simple parental math: Free hotel and food + close to Grandma & Grandpa's house = Easy first time away from home.)

We had a great time! On Monday, we got to the hotel around noon and napped for about 3 hours. Ha! Exciting. Then we went shopping and out for dinner. There is a new sporting goods store in Springfield called Steehl's, and it is livke a carnival for grown up men. No, really. There is a ferris wheel in the center of the store. There are also tons of games, like a racecar simulation, bowling alleys, firing ranges, and batting cages. For those randoms who actually came to the store to shop, there are three floors of assorted sports, hunting, fishing, kayaking, boating, (insert other manly -ing word here) goods to buy. To give you an idea of the scope, my husband is a fishing fanatic, and he said the fishing department was a bit too overwhelming. That would be like me saying the shoe sale was a little too large. Really.

We also went to the mall so I could get a few new things for work. I'm back down to prepregancy weight, but certain areas are still a little...differently shaped, shall we say? This...shifting is the reason I HAD to get some things to wear. The guys got pics taken in a photo booth while I speed shopped. (I was really proud of how quickly I was in and out.)

Anyway, the whole point of this post (hence the title) is to discuss the sleeping arrangements on this mini vacay. Specifically, that: A) Shonn and I slept in seperate beds ala Brady Bunch (NOT kidding); and B) Little Mister Beckett slept with his mama both nights.

I need to digress from the story long enough to disclaim that I am adamantely against co-sleeping, unless there are proper safety precautions. Needless to say, at the Hilton Crowne Plaza, there aren't bed cribs or dividers. I'll go ahead and finish my story now, even though you all are going to think I'm a terrible mom.

So, Beckett slept with me, and I have never woken up so stiff in my entire life. I felt like Rodin's Thinker when I got up this morning because I had to crack almost every joint in my body as if they were made of stone. I swear not one part of my body moved all night long, except my eyelids, which were open approximately 8 of the 8 and a half hours we were "asleep" to keep my eyes on him. Obviously, mama didn't sleep well, but I was the only one in the bed not sleeping. The Brick slept like the proverbial baby. Really, really well. Both nights. I'm hypothesizing this was because he was really close to me (not alone) and had easy access to midnight snacks whenever the mood struck him.

So why might there be trouble at the Hild Ranch? Because after two nights of sleeping like said baby, the little mister is headed back to the crib tonight. We'll see how that goes...

PS: I have some really cute pics from this weekend, but can't seem to find my Blackbery cord at present. I'll post them later!

New site alert!

For those of you who like watching those amazingly trashy and addictive shows like Gossip Girl or 9-0, you will LOVE this website. It's called SeenOn! and it has buyers that work on those sets with the costume designers, who then sell those items online. It's really cool.

http://www.seenon.com/account.php?f=invitecreate&token=1t3UoJeTn6KppZ4%3D&pa=soinvite

Gotta love clearance!

So, before I wore them for the first time, I simply had to share my amazing bargain purchase. Check out my new Steve Madden riding boots! (And please don't ask me what one is supposed to ride while wearing them - I don't know.) Originally $129, I got these babies on Saturday for $15!

Here's my winter look (please note I am kindly inviting Spring to Sullivan with my bright yellow), and I just can't wait to wear them with a cute spring dress.