From this.....

This is the lot as it looked before dirtwork started on Labor Day! And yes Beckett thought he was the coolest kid in town driving the dozer:)

To this.....

I am shocked everytime i drive by the lot by the amount of work they have done in two weeks. We started this process Labor Day weekend and must i remind you that it rained for like two months straight! Getting to this point has taked a lot of patience for sure! We are totally thrilled with the progress and i can't wait to finally start working on the interiors. Beckett loves going to the lot and playing around. We have to go almost everyday and find a dumptruck! I will keep everyone posted as the work continues:)

Doe-Doe

This was Beckett's first year to officially trick or treat! He has a mild obsession with Doe-Doe (diego) so that is what he wanted to be:) He and Leighton had a great time going from house to house and got a lot of good candy. I think some people were alittle confused on what he was supposed to be but the ones who had kids knew without a doubt!

Happy Birthday Beckett!!

A calm moment!
Waiting to ride the ChooChoo Train

In case you are wondering "Gator Hunt 09" is next weekend!

Beckett turned 2 on Sept. 4th!!! Hard to believe it has been two years since I got 3 epidurals:) Anyways, Derek took the day off and we all went to breakfast at Primos and then to the zoo to celebrate. He had a GREAT time and was worn out when we got home. We are going to the doctor for his two year check up next week and I am anxious to see how much he has grown-i feel like he is unusally tall, but maybe not....we will see. I will post all the stats and pics from the party hopefully next week!

In other news....We FINALLY start the dirt work on our new house TOMORROW!!!! I can't wait:)

So, it's been awhile!

Ok, so i guess it has been entirely too long since i posted something, but i have some good excuses. We moved in with my mom and gene at the end of May, and spent a good bit of time getting settled and continuing to look for a house. I guess i can say that we are settled for the most part. It is still a little weird though, bc we really only have our clothes, beckett's toys, my cook books, and stationary here-We LITERALLY put everything we own in storage. Little did we know that it would be there for quite some time. After searching for house we decided our best bet would be to build. We were having no luck in the house hunt. We officially closed on our lot last week and I already have the plans done-for the most part, so we should start building soon. I am hoping we will be able to get in by Dec.-Jan. but that really depends a lot on things i can't control, so until then we will be here! We can save so much money by not renting and my mom has plenty of room, so we are just going to stay:) Yes, i know you think i am crazy!
But, really the only thing i am stressed about is the fact that ALL of our winter clothes, shoes, jackets, etc....are in the VERY BACK of the storage unit!!! And we will for sure be here for a season change! Should be interesting......
I will post more soon and hopefully some new pics. I have lots more to update about! I might be turning this blog into a design blog before it is all done....i will have lots of decisions to make and might need some help. We still haven't plugged up our computer so i am using mom's and haven't a clue where the camera cord is:)

Answered Prayer

For a few months now Derek and I have been thinking about trying to sell our house. We just really need a little more space. I even went so far as to call a realtor to come see the house and tell me what all needed to be done before it went on the market. Well, that list wasn't as bad as i thought it would be but still....I WAS DREADING IT! With me being home 95% of the time with a toddler i couldn't imagine keeping this house straight enough to "show" at the drop of a hat. So i was slowly starting to do a few things here and there, all the while praying that God would just send someone knocking on my door wanting to buy it! I think i even told my friend Katie numerous times that "God never gives you more than you can handle" so maybe he will realize a house on the market is more than i can handle and send me a miracle.......
Well, that is kinda what happened! My SIL is a nurse and she was talking to a coworker one night who was thinking of buying her first house and told her i was thinking about listing mine and i might would let her see it. So after a few phone calls she came to see the house and three days later she made an offer!!! HOLY COW!! I was super pumped....i couldn't believe i just got an offer on a house with NO sign in the yard. So after a few days of negotiating we signed the contract.
Well, here is where it gets crazy-she originally said she wanted to be in on May 22! Um, ok, i couldn't exactly say no, so i agreed. Well we have since pushed it back to closing on May 29th. In the meantime i have been franctically searching for a house! You would think with the economy the way it is this would be easy to do, but trust me it is NOT. As of today, we are going to start packing this week/weekend and focus on that while we wait to see what else pops up on the market. I do have about 3 houses for derek to see Saturday, but i am not holding my breath on us agreeing so easily:) If we don't find a house by May 15th we are just going to move in with my mom and continue looking or maybe think about building. If it comes to this i don't even want to think about how many storage units we are going to have to get:)
Aside from the chaos my life is going to be for the next month, I do know that this was truly a blessing and an answered prayer so we are going to deal with it:) I know there are lots of folks out there who have been trying to sell houses for a long time now. And we know how lucky we got. God is so GOOD!
So if anyone is thinking of selling their house...let me know:) I will try to keep the updates coming as the process continues!!! It should get interesting......Also, in my sentimental moments i might pay a little "homage" to this house before all the stuff starts getting packed, so just endure the cheesy-ness:)

I must end this post by saying "no mom, i am not pregnant!" She assumed after reading my last entry that i was preggo and she called me to ask. I told her whenever that day comes i will tell her LONG before i blog about it:) And at this stage in the game that too would take Divine Intervention:)

Nashville 09

As many crawfish boils as i go to you would think by now i would eat them:)

cutie pie climbing steps as usual

Helping Daddy get another load of crawfish in the pot

LOVE this face.

Washing his shoes just like Daddy did:)

Playing CornHole with Lee

Beckett with Lee and John
A group played a game of wiffleball one night and Beckett thought it was the greatest thing EVER! I guess I need to get him a tball set. This pic took my breath away...he is starting to look like a big boy:(
With Daddy after the game

Every year one of Derek's good friends family host a crawfish boil in Nashville and every year we go! This year we didn't think we were going to have to take Beckett but it just so happened that we did. He did really well in the car! Which is an answered prayer. And he had a blast all day and night on Saturday. He practically slept the whole way home Sunday and then slept in Monday morning til 9:30!! Anyway, Thanks to Des and his fam for having us, you know we wouldn't miss it!

NOTE: Exciting post up next! I am just really ready for bed tonight:)

Family Pic

It is very rare that we get a family photo, so i hope you enjoy the two shots we managed to pull off! Derek is looking a little wind-blown following his ride in the golf cart:) I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Golf Carts

Beckett's new obsession is golf carts! Whenever he sees one he starts pitching a fit to "ride" I guess it is no surprise considering his favorite thing to do now is sit in our parked cars and "drive" We went outside to get some pics after lunch and he saw the golf carts first and that was pretty much the end of the photoshoot. His Papa made his day by taking him for a ride in the parking lot!

Lunch at Annandale

Easter 08.....what a difference a year makes!!!!
Wild man!

Derek says this is the last year for the lace romper! But don't worry it also is available in the button on shorts:)

Sweet little boy!

Happy Easter! Lots of pics!

The Easter Bunny was very good to Beckett this year! He finally got the car of his dreams! He loves this car. Every time we went to one of his friends houses that had one he would fight to ride in it all night. Just ask Leighton-she has been his victim many of times:) The easter bunny found a car on sale and has been hiding it for months! He has been in it all day. I had to pry him out to go to church and lunch. He wanted to bring it with us! He also got some cute wellies. Momma is loving these bc he can put them on all by himself!

The Diaper Wars

I have a new soapbox and i decided i needed to share it and get some feedback! We have used Pampers diapers pretty much exclusively for Beckett's whole life. I did try some less expensive options a few times for derek's sake and to try to save a few pennies, but after one too many leaks i swore that paying the extra pennies for Pampers was worth it. I was always amazed at how much teetee they would hold and not leak! And my friends were all in aggreance with me.

Recently, Pampers Cruisers came out with a new "style" and i didn't think much of it until.......we started have MULTIPLE leaks a day! This is not acceptable during this time of the year when we are so in between seasons i can't afford to use 2 outfits per day due to a leaky diaper (not to mention the PJ's). So, i asked around and a few girls told me they were having the same problem. I am guessing that with this new style Pampers decided to cut some cost and not put as much of the absorbing stuff in them. I mean we were leaking through diapers that weren't near as full as they used to be.

I have decided to toss Pampers to the curb and start exploring the others. i am not going to pay extra for a diaper if the whole reason it was superior to others is now void. Right now we are using Huggies Natural Care and so far so good. But if anyone out there has a brand that they are happy with let me know and i would love to give it a whirl! Derek thinks i should write a letter to Pampers and complain......i think i just might.....maybe they would give us a lifetime supply and in that case i wouldn't complain about escaping pee!

Diaper Fun Fact: Derek works for the company that invented the "absorbative" stuff in Pampers. It is indeed a formula that other companies have tried to match but can't quite get it right. Well, one of derek's coworkers told us that if you put a teaspoon of that stuff in a beer bottle it will turn the whole thing to gel :) Derek thinks this is awesome!

Fruity Fun Drink!

I know I mentioned recently that I took a trip to San Antonio to see one of my bestest friends, but what i didn't mention was what i drank when i was there! If you have never been to SanAn then let me go ahead and tell you there are TexMex resturants everywhere. Well, Catherine took us to one-whose name i am not even going to try to remember-and told us they had the best frozen drinks. I took her advice and ordered the Mango Daiquiri and OH MY GOODNESS!!! It was hands down the best thing i have ever had!! It was so fresh and you couldn't even taste the alcohol, but you could feel it when you stood up:) It even had pretty flowers in it! Anyhow, i told gretch and cath we must take a photo of it so i could blog about it-go figure.

So, i am going to make Catherine promise me when i go back in the fall to meet "Baby Bell" (who i am super pumped about btw) she has to take me back for another one or two or three:)

Isn't it pretty:)

18 month update!

Beckett turned 18 months earlier this month, and i think it is safe to say we have a toddler on our hands! He is ninety to nothing the majority of the time. I have been surprised lately at how he is trying to talk. He has a decent amount of words and it seems like he learns a new one each day-today for instance it was "night-night" and "two" So for my sake alone i am going to spit out a few of his likes and dislikes so i don't forget them!

Likes:

-hats, Barney, Elmo, balls, books, chicken, fruit, dogs, babies

-he could stay outside all day if i would let him

-he can tell you what the dog, cat, cow, and bird say, but when you ask him what the duck says he says "duck, duck"

-saying NO!

-he still sleeps in our bed for naptime, but his bed at night

-the Exersaucer! I love that he will still get in there at 18months! We affectionately call it the trap and it really helps me out during the day. He loves to have his snack in there and watch Barney-i will cry the day he realizes he could get out of it:)

-his new favorite food is Spaghetti!!

-getting his teeth brushed and baths

Dislikes:

-naptime, mommy leaving, getting measured at the doctor

-Veggies....he is still yet to eat veggies at this point, but the Dr. doesn't seem too concerned-she did say we could do a vitamin though, so i guess we will start that

-He is getting A LOT better at MMO. For awhile i was having to leave him for only 1.5 hours and slowly but surely we are building up to him staying the whole time...i am keeping my fingers crossed!!!! He stayed the majority of the time last week and did ok.

Stats:

Weight-28lbs 2oz. (80% i think)

Height-34 3/4in. (still off the chart)

Head: 49cm.

We are still missing our MMR shot, but once we get that we will be all done with shots for awhile!

Despite the daily temper tantrums he really is an easy baby. He loves when his daddy comes home and is obsessed with going to his Mimi's house. I can't imagine what it will be like when he is no longer a "momma's boy" hopefully he always will be:) We really are blessed to have such an awesome little boy. I can't imagine life without him-i can however remember how much easier it was to keep the house clean:)

New Nightstand!

A few months back Beckett decided that he would crawl across my night stand and it fell to the ground and split in two! He was not hurt-in case you are wondering. The old night stand was just a "decorator table" with a cloth on top, but still it worked great and was cheap. Derek however hated it, because he says it was poorly made. So when the old one broke i began an all out search for a new sturdier table. I looked everywhere! Finally one day my mom and i discovered this chest in an antique store for $70!!! Granted it was sponge painted brown and yellow, but we decided all it needed was some new paint and a little antique-ing. The main paint color matches my bathroom and armoire ("Rainy Day" by Pratt/Lambert). I wish I had some pictures of the before, but i am very pleased with the way it turned out!!

Easely Amused

So i jumped on the bandwagon and joined my friend Melanie for a night of painting. It really was a lot of fun! I will be going back again soon. The night i went we painted "harry's chapel of love" and here is my finished project.

San Antonio Bound!!!

I am super excited! Tomorrow me and my friend Gretchen are heading to San Antonio, TX to see our long lost friend Catherine! You would think i was going to Italy:) I can't wait for a girls trip-it has been a long time since i had one. I have always wanted to see the Riverwalk thingy in San An. and i am finally going to get too. I have to go ahead and tell my mom and Derek thanks for holding down the baby fort while i am away. Hopefully i will remember my camera and can post some pics when i get back.

In the meantime, HAPPY 18month BIRTHDAY to the sweetest, cutest little boy in the whole world. Your momma is going to miss you bunches!! We are going to the doctor for his well baby visit when i get back so i will do a full update then....i am betting he is at least 30lbs by now. He is getting super heavy these days!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

"Yeah, i know i am cute!!"

Valentines Treats!!

Beckett had his school party today for Valentine's. I was trying to come up with something easy and kid friendly to make and these were a hit!!! You could really do them for any occasion....

Ingredients:

Large Marshmellows

Baker's Microwavable Chocolate in plastic cup thingy

Sprinkles

Melt the chocolate in microwave according to directions. Dip marshmellow in chocolate, then in the sprinkles. Let it hardened, and Voila!! easy, easy!!

Funny Story....

It is a running joke around here about how much Beckett gets called a girl. Literally everywhere we go he is referred to as a she at least once. Derek is always quick to point out when this happens that i dress him like a girl. Well, this past Saturday i was getting a massage (yes it was great, btw) and derek took beckett to Howell's in Flora with some of his friends for a greasy breakfast. I let Derek dress him since he actually took the initiative, and of course derek picks his Wrangler jeans, his John Deere onsie, and cowboy boots. These are the most "boy" clothes beckett has.

Well, when derek got home he was very upset...being the concerned wife i am i asked why. Derek then tells me that the cashier at Howell's told him that Beckett was "The cutest little cowgirl" she has ever seen!!!!! Derek was devestated. I mean how much more boy can you get than wranglers, john deere, and boots!!! So i guess the moral of this story and what i promptly told derek was......I get to keep dressing him like i want bc no matter what he wears people will still call him a girl:)

Not the best pic, but you get the point!!

First Haircut Pics

I know i mentioned this before, but on Jan. 6th Beckett got his first haircut! I really just cut his bangs and just a little off the back-i just wasn't ready for an offical big boy cut! He did really well. Thank goodness for dumdums!! And sadly he is already starting to need another one:(

Dear Evenflo

The turkey is not so bad, but the bananas and oranges are a different story

Dear Evenflo,

We love our highchair. We purchased it because it was affordable and seemed durable. We were just looking for something to "get the job done" I do however have one complaint. It is a design flaw really, and it is about to drive me crazy. You must not realize that the little "cubby" at the top of the food tray becomes just that.....a perfect little spot for stuffing things (i.e.-the food he won't eat). This has been going on for awhile now, but i decided yesterday that scraping smashed bananas out with my fingernails is NOT cool. When my child is done eating he proceeds to stuff whatever food is left into this little slot. I just really needed to vent about this:) And i will add for those who care that other than this we love the highchair-it was worth the $70 for sure!