The Riries

Beck's catching and victory dance skills!

2012-01-24T20:39:00.001-07:00

Baby #2! :)

2012-01-19T20:22:00.009-07:00

Yes! We are expecting baby #2! Reading that sentence still seems crazy and unreal to me! But we are very excited! Here are a couple fun facts: :)

Day we found out: Wednesday, November 2
This pregnancy came as a surprise too (even though it was definitely wanted, I just don't have a regular periods to tip me off, so all our pregnancies will probably be "surprises," haha). But I found out in the morning, so I held my secret in until Adam got home from work for lunch and had Beck tell him--it was really cute and fun, and I even sneaked a little video of it!

Due date: Friday, July 6 (but since I'm having a c-section, it may be late June)
How far along right now: 16 weeks today
Morning sickness: Just like with Beck, it's more like all-day sickness and throwing up, every day, Which has proven to be even more fun to deal with when you have a toddler to take care of... I actually have felt slightly better the last few days (like only throwing up once or twice a day), so I'm holding out hope that it won't last the entire pregnancy like it did with Beck, but we shall see!
Weird symptoms: Dehydration cramps from throwing up so much, but other than that it's been pretty regular. One weird but nice thing is that I don't get the burst blood vessels around my eyes when I throw up like I did with Beck.
Still fitting in my clothes: Yes! Thanks to all of my throwing up, I'm still 5 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight. But it's coming!
Cool fact: When I am full-term with this pregnancy, I will weigh less than I weighed before I got pregnant with Beck (since I've lost 50 pounds since last Christmas)--yay! :)
Also, this baby's due date is exactly on my BFF Lindsay's b-day! Couldn't have even planned that if we tried to! Haha
First person to know besides us: I think Lindsay! And then we ended up seeing my family the weekend after we found out, so we went ahead and told them! We told Adam's family within a few days as well, since they're all across the country and couldn't tell anybody we knew anyway! :)
Boy/girl: We find out on February 16, so only a few weeks away! I keep thinking it's a girl, and if you ask Beck, he'll usually say it's a girl as well. Adam isn't sure. So we'll see! I would be relieved with a boy, because the thought of raising girls kind of scares me :) , but we would obviously be thrilled with a girl as well!
Beck's thoughts: Most of the time he is excited! And some of the time you can just see the little wheels turning in his head trying to make sense of this "baby in Mama's tummy." But he gets really excited to talk about it, and I know he will love being a big brother. :)
Names: We have them picked out, but I will save that information for after we find out what we're having!
Yay for babies!

New lungs for David

2012-01-01T19:23:00.003-07:00

My bff Lindsay Witt's brother needs new lungs asap. He is now on life support and in a medically induced coma, just waiting for a transplant. Most importantly, he needs prayers. Also appreciated would be any donation for any amount you can spare, as he lost his job due to his situation. Please remember David in your thoughts and prayers.

(Sorry, you'll have to copy and paste the link.)

http://www.absolutelylovinglife.blogspot.com/2011/12/transplant.html

Halloween with Buzz Lightyear!

2011-11-01T22:00:00.016-06:00

Happy Halloween, everybody! I'm going to hurry and post before an excuse comes up not to, so here I go!

Pre-Halloween: We grew our own pumpkins this year! SO fun! I think we're going to do it every year. We got a bunch of medium-sized white pumpkins, and a lot of ornamental, tiny-sized white and orange pumpkins. Then we got one weird alien pumpkin that sucked all the nutrients from the other ones, haha. There were a ton of blossoms, but only one actual gigantic pumpkin. Kinda creepy, but Halloween-appropriate!

Halloween carnival: Our local elementary school has an annual little Halloween carnival type thing we attended for the first time this year, and loved it! So fun and affordable and enjoyable for the whole fam! For $5 worth of "punches" Beck got to play at least 10 games and we all got bowls of yummy chili. Fun and frugal= my favorite!

Walgreens photo and park photoshoot: We went to Walgreens for a quick free photo, and then while waiting for Adam to get off work, went to the park to snap some pics, or at least attempt to. It turned into a wrestling match, as do most activities involving this certain 2-year-old now a'days...

Actual Halloween: We went trick-or-treating with the Talbots and had a blast! This was the first year Beck has been able to go, since he was sick last year. And it was Blake's first year as well, so it was extra fun and special! Beck always has a natural high (even pre-candy!), so he was a few feet ahead of us the whole time. He got so excited at each door, and couldn't believe complete strangers were just giving him candy--amazing! ;) It was so fun to watch the little boys trick-or-treat together! They got the hang of it really quickly, and were so sweet and polite--besides Blake stealing multiple pieces of extra candy from each house... ;) After making the rounds in our neighorhood (at least 30+ houses!), we were all tuckered out and freezing. So we came back to our place and ate snacks and watched football and Ghost Hunters with some friends, and then called it a night. Whew, what a Halloween!

Beck's new trick

2011-10-04T17:33:00.000-06:00

Tender Beck's new fear of school buses ;)

2011-09-19T21:24:00.000-06:00

So we saw some school buses this morning, and as usual Beck got way excited. I told him that when he is 5, he'll be able to ride on one himself when he goes to school, thinking he was going to be super excited at the thought. Instead he looked terrified and asked if I could come with him on the bus (tender!). I told him no but that he didn't have to go on the bus for a few years. So like every 30 seconds today he has been reminding me, "Don't have to go on the school bus, Mama! I get to stay with you!" I've always known I will be the kind of mom who's bawling as she drops her kid off for kindergarten--looks like my kid will be too! Such a tender little boy! Had to share the cute moment before I forgot! ;)

Chuck E. Cheese!

2011-09-04T12:13:00.001-06:00

Beck and I are in Boise for my cousin's wedding and to visit and help my parents, so we took Beck to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time! And it was awesome! All of us had so much fun, and were there for at least 2 hours. This pic is one of my favorite parts of our experience! Makes me laugh every time. :)

B loves his ABC's!

2011-07-03T20:35:00.001-06:00

Our little almost 2-1/2-year-old Beckster is such a smart boy! What I love most is that he loves learning. At least once a day he comes up and asks me to "draw letters." He's known his ABC's and most of his letters for months. But the last few weeks I've focused on it with him more, and he knows every letter and its sound perfectly now.

The last few days he's been starting to draw letters on his own. A couple of them are legible (like his O's & M's), and he is definitely at least grasping the concept!

"Hold me like a baby, Mama?"

2011-06-25T22:57:00.001-06:00

Don't you just love the tender little moments of motherhood? The last week or so when putting Beck down for bed, before we leave, he will ask for me or Adam to "come say bye," whichever of us is not already putting him down.

So I go in to say bye tonight, as per B's request :) , and lean down and give him a big hug and say goodnight. But he says, "No, need to cuddle with Mama." So I lean down and squeeze him and was like, "Yay, cuddle cuddle!" But he said, "No, cuddle up there!" I asked him what he meant a couple of times and then finally he explained, "Hold me like a baby, Mama?" My heart immediately melted and I scooped up my almost 2-1/2-year old boy and held him like a baby. It is always so tender to have these little moments, and to discover that they are just as special to your toddler as they are to you. Love, lOvE, LOVE this little boy. :)

Rexburg air show!

2011-06-21T18:36:00.006-06:00

So many things to update on! It's been a crazy month or two, but a whole lot of fun! I was able to go to my mom's side of the family's annual Girls Trip weekend, which was awesome as usual--well, besides landing wrong when jumping off a 25-foot high diving platform which bruised my tailbone horribly... :( I will unfortunately still be re-cooperating from that for a long time to come, but the weekend was great besides that! Then my mom came back to Rexburg with me for a few days just for fun, and then a couple days later, Adam's mom and step-dad, as well as brother and sister-and-law came to visit (from AZ and Washington D.C.)! I'll have to do some other posts on everything, but I'll at least post the pics from my purse camera now, and try to catch up on the other ones later. So here we go!
The air show was great! We were going to just watch it from our house but decided to walk on over, and I'm so glad we did! Along with the awesome flight museum displays, the BYU-Idaho jazz band was playing. Big band/jazz music is one of my favorite things ever! I was in jazz band (sax and clarinet) and jazz choir throughout high school, and I absolutely love and miss it! So Angela (mother-in-law) and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it! After staying for hours, we walked home and had a yummy bbq. What a good day!

Oh, and Cody was trying to teach Beck what a biplane was, and caught on! He's been talking about them ever since. :)

Hope for blogging?

2011-06-14T21:12:00.001-06:00

So I was pondering for a second today about how horrible I am in keeping up with blogging, and had an inspired thought of the possibility of a Blogger app. And guess what? It exists! I am pretty optimistic about this!
And here is a cute pic of our cute little boy while I'm at it!
Here's to blogging from here on out!

Half-price OLD NAVY Groupon! Hurry!

2011-06-02T00:24:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to let you all know about an awesome deal! You can get a $20 Old Navy Groupon/gift certificate for just $10! Such a sweet deal! I love Groupon, and have bought and used a handful of their deals. They are legit and amazing! Go here to get in on the deal:

Yes, I have a million other more important things to post about, but who knows when I'll have/make time for those! But we are good and happy! And Lindsay is here visiting! And I'm on a flag football team! And we're getting a new sofa/love seat set! And all of our family is coming to visit this summer! And Beck is adorable and smart and sweet! So life is good! More posts to come sometime in the future! Until then, go get this sweet deal!

Life is fragile, and people are good

2011-05-10T23:17:00.005-06:00

So today I witnessed something I never had before--a really bad car wreck. Thankfully I was just a witness, but even that in some ways was an overwhelming experience. So here's what happened.
I was driving to Utah with Beck, and was on the phone with my mom when I noticed the car in front of me slightly swerving to the left. I blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing things correctly, and the next second, the car had completely swerved and went full-speed into the grassy median, flying up then slamming into the ground, completely and violently rolling hard 2 or 3 times. I immediately pulled over and called 911. A trucker guy had pulled over and ran directly to the scene. I didn't want B to witness anything horriffic if he didn't have to, so since the trucker was tending to them we stayed in the car on the phone with 911. Two more cars had also pulled off and went over to assist. After a few minutes the 911 lady asked if I could go up to the scene and get reports from the victims on their injuries. So, phone and toddler in-tow (and also while raining) I ran across the highway. Thank goodness, both people were safe with only minor injuries. If they both hadn't been wearing their seatbelts, it would definitely be another story.
While I reported back to the 911 lady, I witnessed humanity at its purest. Complete strangers helping complete strangers, with no motivation besides duty and love. Cleaning up blood, bandaging wounds, and comforting hearts.
The authorities arrived, the victims were treated, we filled out police reports--I love in our country that even amidst complete chaos, there is still order and help and compassion.
Once our duties were done, it was weird saying goodbye to everyone. Even though we were only together for an hour, and through complete happenstance, we all felt closely connected. As I was thanking the paramedics for all they do, one of them asked Beck if he wanted to see the back of the ambulance. (This guy had probably seen him doing his crazy-excited faces the entire time over all of the different ermergency vehicles that were there.) So we go around back, and another paramedic pops up and surprises Beck with a teddy bear! Yes, a teddy bear. And yes, just to be sweet. I wanted to cry.
The car's driver who had come-to and was in the back of the ambulance gave us a sincere thank you. I think it was just as refreshing and humbling to her that complete strangers would care so much about their well-being.
We got back in the car and talked about what happened, and said a prayer of gratitude that those people's lives were spared, and that we were able to be a part of it.
I am grateful to have had this experience. I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who watches over us; for law enforcement and rescue workers who are heroes every day; for loving strangers who care.
Overall I have been reminded that life is fragile, and people are good.

(I took one picture to remember this all by right before we pulled out but didn't want to be intrusive.)

Easter/Avalon's blessing weekend in Boise!

2011-05-01T18:56:00.006-06:00

We were able to spend Easter weekend in Boise this year, and it was wonderful! We blessed my cute, sweet little niece Avalon while there, too, so that made the weekend that much more special!
We left Friday morning @ 5, hoping Beck would sleep at least half of the 5-hour drive. BUT, being Beck, he didn't sleep AT ALL! So that was a fun ride.
For anyone who cares, here is a run-down of our fun festivities!
Friday we went to lunch at Papa Joe's (and accidentally tipped the world's worst waitress way too much *sigh*), then my mom and I went and got an amazing massage and chiropractic adjustment (thanks to our insurance, it only costs $25 combined!), and Adam and B went and crashed at our hotel. Then my mom, sis and I did a little shopping and then went and saw Tangled (with Bree, too!), then went to Merritt's where we also met up with my other cousin Karissa, and my dad, and Bree's special someone. :)
Saturday we hung out then had Avalon's blessing, which was wonderful! Or so I hear... I was stuck out in the hall with Beck! We had given him his paci right before the blessing to keep him quiet during it, but then Avalon started fussing and we didn't have her paci with us, so we gave Beck's to her, which he flipped out about! Then I "deserted him" to accompany the opening hymn, and then he slammed his ear on the wall edge. Anyway, just an unfortunate string of events. ;) Thankfully my amazing mother knows Shorthand (yeah, like real shorthand, that looks like hyroglyphics or something), so I'll still be able to read it. :)
After Avalon's blessing we went out to Casa Mexico--yum! Then we crashed at the hotel for a few hours. And that night we had a family game night with everyone, which was really fun. We also watched a home video of a fam Easter-egg hunt in 1988 or something--such good times!
Sunday we had a wonderful Easter! We dyed Easter eggs and enjoyed spending time as a fam! We also decided to do a little Easter-egg hunt for Beck. He wasn't crazy for the little one we had here in Rexburg. As soon as the first egg he put in his basket busted open with candy, he sat on the ground and was satisfied. But to my surprise, he looooooved the hunt we had for him! It was so fun. Holidays with kids are so much more fun, they have true joy and excitement, and I love it.

For more cute pics, you can view my Facebook album (you don't have to have an account). Blogger takes too long to load them all here. :)
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.712857637354.2220793.193302310&l=c3c90d3a65

Little singin' Beck :)

2011-03-31T10:28:00.004-06:00

Beck has been quite the little singer lately! It is so adorable. And he's pretty quick, too. We can teach him a song (a simple one) in a day or so, and he'll fill in the blanks back to us. But I've been trying to stretch his skills more and make him do more than just filling in the blanks. And it's worked! Thanks to me and Lindsay's efforts the last couple of days, he now has memorized his first little song! Sure, it's a little run together and not on pitch yet (although he will sing on pitch when just filling in the blank), but it sure is adorable! And still pretty good for his age, I think! Now I just need to be a better mom and do this more often. :)

Oh, and the translation/lyrics of the first song:
I am like a star shining brightly, shining for the whole world to see.
I can do and say happy things each day, for I know Heavenly Father loves me. :)

Hilarious Hide and Seek with Lindsay!

2011-03-30T12:53:00.003-06:00

So Beck and Lindsay have been playing hide and seek ever since Beck could walk, and I realized I didn't have it on video! So I set out to capture a typical little round of it but it turned out pretty funny, you just have to watch. ;)

Beck's dump truck excitement

2011-03-16T10:37:00.002-06:00

Like most boys, Beck is fascinated, obsessed and easily excited with all things cars, trucks, airplanes and tractors. Here are a few videos for proof!

This is a Christmas present he got from Mamma and Pappa, and this is his favorite thing to do with it... Yes, it gets very annoying after awhile, especially if it's on a loud surface. ;)

Watching the grader go by our house a few months ago. He's more in awe than excited in this video. :)

This is us/him reading one of his favorite books. As you can see, it's been a little destroyed. I had it put away for months, and he found it the other day. And to my surprise, he knew like almost every single vehicle in there!

Beck's 2-year stats

2011-03-06T20:28:00.005-07:00

I forgot to include Beck's 2-year stats with his birthday post, but wanted to throw them on here while I'm thinking about it!

Weight: 30 pounds, 70%
Height: 35 inches, 68%
BMI: 17
(The doctor called him "quite trim" at his last appointment, I thought it was funny.)
So he's a healthy, happy little guy!

Oh, and one funny (well, not so much, actually) story from his doctor's appointment:
So, in the rooms at the office they have different themes, with big vinyl decorations. There is a tractor room and an airplane room that I knew of, so when we were getting ready for the appointment and Beck didn't really want to go bye-bye, I told him that there would be tractors or airplanes in his room. He fell for it, and we were out the door. Well, of course the nurse happens to put us in the fish-themed room (even though the other two were empty... wouldn't you put little toddler boys in tractor or airplane rooms?). Beck literally loses it, and starts flipping out that he's in the fish room. Up to this point, I had never seen him throw a tantrum like this before. It was like he was transforming into a "terrible 2"-year-old in the middle of his 2-year appointment. It was pretty ridiculous. The nurse finally offered to switch him to one of the other rooms, so she led us into the tractor room. He was ecstatic for about two minutes, then he started flipping out that he wasn't in the airplane room. While we were waiting for the doctor, I decided I'd let him peek into the airplane room, but right when we opened our door (which was across the hallway from it), the door to the airplane room slammed close, which made this crazy toddler lose it even more. Then he had to get three shots. We were beyond ready to go home! Thankfully, that was still his worst tantrum thus far. :)

Beckster's 2nd birthday!

2011-02-28T16:40:00.014-07:00

Yes, our little boy is 2!!! Well, he's been 2 for almost a month now, but you know how keeping up on blogging goes... ;) Here is a little rundown of our favorite little 2-year-old's big day:

The last pictures ever of him as a 1-year-old! (He was tired and just wanted to go to sleep...)

We let Beck open a couple presents right when he woke up, and then apparently we let him eat a cupcake for breakfast... I don't remember this, haha.

Then Lindsay took him on a little date and made him a real breakfast at her place!

Adam is officially the best Dad ever--he made Beck's tractor cake! We just baked two loaf pans of cake, and Adam took off from there. (I made the frosting and actual cake--does that count for something?)

Overall it was a fun party! It was a tractor theme, with green and yellow everywhere. We played Pin the Tail on the Tractor, had cake and ice cream, opened presents and then played with little farm bins (containers filled with rice and fun farm animals and tractors). I think everybody's favorite was the bins! The kids went absolutely crazy with the rice, it was really fun. Thank goodness, because it took me like 45 minutes to vacuum afterward, haha. I only wish our house was big enough to fit ALL of the people we wanted to invite! Here are a ton of pictures with all of that. :)

Yay! Happy birthday, our wonderful little dude!

Little conversations

2011-01-21T23:56:00.002-07:00

Can I just say that I LOVE the fact that I can have little conversations with my cute little boy? He is to the point where he pretty much understands everything, and has quite a decent vocabulary where he can usually figure out how to answer, or how to communicate what he's thinking. I just love it! Here's a random little convo we had while he was taking a bath today.

Easily excited Beck :)

2011-01-18T08:27:00.002-07:00

As per usual, I avoid making big posts of things going on (like our trip to Boise, or D.C., or AZ, or UT--maybe one day I'll catch up!), so here is a cute little video of Beck's fascination with the drinking fountain I recorded a while back. Enjoy. ;)

I love that he is so easily excited about the littlest things. I used to be like that when I was a kid! He helps me remember to try to stay that way. :)

Beck counting from 1-10 @ 22 months

2011-01-04T19:21:00.001-07:00

So a couple weeks ago I counted to 5 out loud for something and then Beck was like, "6,7,8..." So within a matter of like 1 minute of going over it with him, he was counting from 1-10. Who knows how long he's known how to! I'm a slacker mom in that area, apparently!

2010--what a year!

2010-12-31T23:52:00.002-07:00

With just a few minutes left of the year 2010, I can't help but reflect on what an amazing year it has been for our little family! New Year's Eve always makes me cry! Maybe because I'm up late and am more emotional or something :) , but I think mainly because I am so grateful for the year that has passed and so happy for the year that is to come. What a great chance we have to reflect and look forward at the same time!

I don't have any pictures on this computer, so I'll have to do a more detailed post later, but a quick summary of our 2010:
--new job
--new house
--new car
--new ward
--new niece
--new friends
--new foods
--new trips (DC, AZ)
--new personal growth

A YEAR OF NEW'S! :) We are so incredibly blessed!

Love you all! Happy new year!

Beck opening presents!

2010-12-29T22:39:00.002-07:00

Beck opening presents was pretty much the funnest and cutest thing ever. He hasn't opened presents since his first b-day in January when he didn't quite get what was going on, so it was so much fun to see him be soooo super excited.
We are still in Arizona (which has been so awesome!) so I haven't got any regular pics downloaded yet, but I actually managed to get the videos uploaded (it's usually the other way around, or neither...). So anyone who would like to watch them, enjoy! ;)

Day 1: The Christmas story

2010-12-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Christmas Story

Day 2: The Gift of a Savior

2010-12-24T21:17:00.001-07:00

Day 3: Seeing Christmas through New Eyes

2010-12-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

Day 4: Mary, Did You Know?

2010-12-22T19:59:00.004-07:00

Day 5: Silent Night, performed by David Archuleta & the Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra

2010-12-22T00:00:00.004-07:00

**So YouTube deleted my video for "copyright infringement," even though the only thing they said at the concert was that no flash photography or videoing was allowed... :( **

Day 5: Silent Night, from the amazing David Archuleta/Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert I got to attend last weekend.

Simple, yet so powerful.

Day 6: Hallelujah!

2010-12-20T22:15:00.001-07:00

Days 7, 8, 9: Breath of Heaven, Christmas Spirit, Look to the Light

2010-12-19T23:10:00.002-07:00

Catching up from being out of town for an amazing David Archuleta/Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert. :)

Day 7: Breath of Heaven

Day 8: Christmas Spirit

Day 9: Look to the Light

Day 10: What Shall We Give?

2010-12-17T00:07:00.002-07:00

With only 10 days left until Christmas (it's technically 9 now since it's after midnight, but just ignore that!), I will be posting a video or thought each day to help me (and hopefully maybe some of you too!) reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. :) Day 10: What Shall We Give?

Christmas tree adventures!

2010-12-15T23:44:00.004-07:00

Right after the incident... :)

Must...touch...

The holidays are so fun with a toddler! Not necessarily easier or less messy, but definitely fun. :) We put up our Christmas tree right after we got back from D.C. (if I ever find my camera cord, I will post pics of our trip!), and it was love at first site for Beck! When we loaded our tree into the car, Beck was soooo excited; he couldn't believe there was a tree in our car! He definitely got a kick out of that. :) And the love has continued ever since we set it up. THe morning after when I went to get him up, we were cuddling for a minute and then he was like, "Chismas twee!" He totally remembered! And surprisingly knew how to say it already!
The next day he even had a run-in with it, causing it to completely fall over on top of him. Lol, it was pretty funny to watch (only because he didn't get hurt!)! He was just trying to pull an ornament off the tree, bless his heart, but we think the trunk had rotated in the stand and made it really susceptible to falling. Whatever the case, it has made a fun memory! It scared Beck a little, and he was kind of in shock. He kept saying, "Chismas twee owie. I bwoke it." Cutest thing ever! The next day I asked him about it and he totally remembered (watch the video). Even today when he was looking at a picture of it that I snapped right afterward he was like, "Oh, owie Chismas twee." Looks like it made an impression! He's also managed to bust a couple of our ornaments. Oops. Live and learn. :) Here are a few pics and videos of our Christmas tree adventures!

Pretty much one of my favorite things that he says! Sorry this is so shaky, Adam got a little excited apparently. :)

Beck recounting his traumatizing experience (sorry for the crappy phone camera quality!)

The Book of Mormon - Made Simple

2010-12-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

B's random obsessions

2010-11-04T16:42:00.012-06:00

Two posts in one week, look at me go! This is just a random little post, but I wanted to record a few of Beck's funny little obsessions lately before I took them for granted and forgot about them!

--"Hi, hi, hi"--
He has a favorite song! It's "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train. His one and only Lindsay introduced him to it (yes, she's also the one who taught him the word "butt," so I guess this evens things out... ;) ). And as if it wasn't cute enough that he has a favorite song, he calls it the "hi" song--is that freaking adorable? I think it is. :) He'll get in the car and say, "Hi, hi, hi?" And the best is his little dance that goes along with it. I need to get a good video of it sometime, but here's a crappy-quality phone video that gives you a little idea. ;)

--Colors--
He is loving colors lately! He loves to color and loves learning the colors of everything. He now confidently and consistently knows red and green, and sometimes orange, yellow, blue and purple.

--Numbers--
He is obsessed! In a good way. :) He counts to 3, which is soooo adorable (another video I need to get...), and he is so proud of himself. He loves numbers in general and gets so excited when he recognizes them.

--Lindsay--
Lindsay is like Beck's second mother, she is awesome. Besides me and Adam, she probably knows Beck the best--his likes/dislikes, tickle spots, tantrum-causers. She is in love with Beck, and he is in love with her! And she is always so willing to watch him for us, and is so good with him. Whenever anyone comes to the door, Beck always gets so excited, says, "Lindsay!" and runs to the door in anticipation. I feel bad for whoever is visiting when it's not Lindsay because Beck gets so sad. :) He even wakes up asking for her some mornings, like today! I don't know what we're going to do when she leaves Rexburg sometime in the near future, because life sure is fun living near her!

--Clifford/"Cody"--
Beck is also obsessed with thinking Clifford the big red dog is his Uncle Cody. I can see the resemblance, but still think it's hilarious! He used to see Cody almost every day, and he hasn't been able to see him for more than three months now, so he's obviously having total withdrawals. This is a video we took when he first started doing it. I call Beck a dork in it, don't judge. ;)

--Pappaw and Papa--
Every week or two we Skype with Adam's mom and step-dad, and his dad -- Pappaw and Papa, respectively. ;) It's such a fun way to keep in touch, and we all love it, including Beck. So I guess it's maybe because he doesn't see them in real life very often (they're in D.C. and Arizona), so he is having withdrawals, but he thinks (or is maybe hoping?) every single person we see is Papa and Pappaw! It used to just be that he thought every man with a beard was his grandparent, but not it has extended. Be they black, white, bald, bearded or even a woman (yeah, talk about awkward), he looks at them and says, "Papa?" so sincerely. It's so cute. We get to see my parents quite often, so I think he realizes that they're real people and we go visit them sometimes. But with the other grandparents, he barely ever gets to see them, so he's not sure about where they exist! Whether in the computer, or in Rexburg, or neither. :) He loves the "digital versions" of them but misses the physical versions of them, too!

He loves Grandpa too, even if he doesn't think everyone is him. :) Here's a mid-kiss picture to prove it! ;)

--His paci(s)--
So Beck has always just used a paci when sleeping and falling to sleep. But lately he's obsessed for some reason! Like asks for it throughout the day, instead of just at nap time and at night. *sigh* Sure going to be fun breaking him from this thing..

--Everything about cars-- (and planes and trains and tractors, but we'll deal with cars for now...)
He looooves cars and Cars the movie (although he's been a little distracted by Kipper lately...). He also loves lining up his cars and different things up in rows. Very tidy. ;)

--Kipper--
My parents found these VHS videos at a second-hand store for Beck, and let me tell you, he and Kipper are the best of friends! He's usually not much of a TV/video watcher, but something about Kipper has him hooked. Which is good and bad. He wakes up and goes to bed asking for Kipper, so we have to come up with other fun distractions for him, or else he would be happy watching him all day, I'm convinced. I will say that I like these videos because they are about simple, everyday things. They're very mellow, but still educational and fun. And they have quite the catchy intro song, which Beck cannot help but dance to. If he's sitting or bundled up, he can't just continue being so--he has to get down and dance.

So there you have Beck's latest random obsessions! ;)

Cutest little cowboy on the block! Plus other Halloween adventures :)

2010-11-01T23:00:00.010-06:00

We had the cutest little cowboy on the block (maybe in the whole town!) for Halloween! Unfortunately, Beck came down with croup and an ear infection this week, so he wasn't able to officially go trick-or-treating, but thankfully we took him to a little trunk-or-treat on Thursday, so we were still able to have a little bit of Halloween fun! He was a cowboy, with real boots and all! I tried them on him a few weeks ago and he hated them, but now he's totally in love with them!

Beck lovin his boots!

^-- This is where Beck could be found for the next few days, trying to break into the candy constantly!

So on actual Halloween night (well, technically Halloween eve, on Saturday), we just watched football and handed out candy. But let me tell you, I totally enjoyed it! I got so excited every time the doorbell rang! Since we've lived in apartments every year before this, I'd never really been able to experience this fun aspect of Halloween! We totally underestimated the number of trick-or-treaters and were out of candy by like 7:30 p.m., but thankfully I had quite the stockpile of Fruit Roll-Ups and granola bars, so we started handing out those. And then completely ran out! We figure we had about 150 kids stop by. Beck hated every single time I opened the door. He was so mad he was inside, and that we were giving away all "his" candy!

Here are our cool pumpkins we carved:

Pumpkin patch!

2010-10-18T22:31:00.006-06:00

(Beck being an airplane in the pumpkin patch aisle! :) )

A couple weeks ago, my friend Kristen and I went to this fun little pumpkin patch with our boys and had so much fun! Here are a few pics, and a link to see all of them on Facebook (you don't have to have an account).
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2195477&id=193302310&l=e1e2e08d17
(my links will never post as actual hyperlinks on Blogger, sorry!)

What our little almost-20-month-old is up to!

2010-09-28T16:51:00.013-06:00

I have half an hour before Beck wakes up from his nap, and although there are a bunch of other things to do, I'm sucking it up and making a post finally! We love our little Beckster so dang much. He is learning and growing soooo quickly. Lately I've felt guilty when I haven't made record of every single word he's learned along with the exact day he learned it, or keeping track of every funny little thing he's doing. But I have finally come to the realization that at the rate they are learning at this age, that that is almost impossible. And although I do need to get somewhat decent about keeping current on pictures and such, that just as importantly I need to just enjoy this fun (and challenging!) time! But here is a few months' catch-up on what he's been up to, along with some pictures I took of him a month or so ago.

1 1/2 years!
He turned the big 18 months at the end of July (can you believe it?!). He loved Nursery at church the first few weeks, then hated it the next two weeks, and is now tolerating it. Funny how these little people's emotions work. :) He loves playing with toys and other kids and such, but is quite the attached child at the moment! It also doesn't help that our church is from 1:30-4:30, either. :(

Toddler Lab
He also started Toddler Lab last week, and he absolutely loves it!!! It's for 2 1/2 hours (1 1/4 hours twice a week), which is a perfect amount of time for both of us to get a break from one another. ;) His teachers and the activities they have for the kids are so great. The only thing Beck struggles with is story time. He loves books, but hasn't learned the whole sitting-on-the-floor-and-listening-quietly part of it. Out of the 12 kids in there, Beck is one of two who are under 2 1/2. Since he's big for his age, he fits right in, but probably seems seems under-disciplined. ;) They have a little booth you can watch them from (with one-way windows), and it is so fun to just observe him and how he interacts. Like the first day, he spent like five minutes at the drinking fountain--he was so excited he could actually reach one on his own!

Talking-machine
This kid of ours may not be a great eater or sleeper (although he is getting better at both), but at least he can talk. So I remember (since we counted for our blog post) that he knew 25 words by the time he was 15 1/2 months. And since then, he's just been learning and learning. But I had a friend ask me a few weeks ago how many words he knows now, and I didn't know, so we counted--like 125. He learns new words every day. Want to know his newest word? Butt! We have Lindsay to thank for that one. ;) But he also says "Jesus," "temple," "church," and "amen." So it all evens out, right? :)
Some of his other newer words over the past few months: tickle, garage, Nursery, cloud, piano, burrito, work, elbow, office (as in "The Office"), helicopter, bug, ant, and a bunch of others I'm totally forgetting.

What he's like
Good helper--loves helping put things away
Obedient--even when he steals my phone, he'll give it back when I ask him to (although we're still working on the whole no-hitting and no-throwing thing...)
Sweet--he loves to cuddle (and even asks to--cutest thing ever!) and give kisses and hugs
Crazy--he is so much fun and has so much personality, which also translates into craziness sometimes (like instead of just playing with someone, he'll try to wrestle with them! working on that, too...)
Funny--he does such funny little things, like stacking grapes on top of pizza, or sitting on top of his stuffed dog while watching a movie--where do they come up with these quirky little ideas? :)

His latest developments
18-month stats: 27 pounds (64%), 33 inches (72%) and 19.8-inch head circ. (96%--not 99% anymore!;) )
Climbing--he even insists on climbing up our high dinner chairs onto his booster seat by himself. Thank goodness he's not a jumper-offer yet.
Tickles--he has now started to "tickle" us, I will have to record it sometime. He moves his little fingers and makes this little noise, it is so hilarious.
Teeth--besides like two or so sets of molars, all of his teeth have cut through! Including his four canines that all finally cut through within a week or two of each other. Glad teething will be almost over with for the next little bit!
Undesirable behavior--he's not perfect, don't worry! He throws his fair share of tantrums, and also is too aggressive sometimes; not in a mean way, thankfully, but he's just a very rough-play little dude. So we have a long way to go on that!

What he's obsessed with lately:
Planes
Tractors
Cars
Trucks
"Pups"
Kitties
Stars/moon
Himself
Elmo
Spongebob (whom he calls "Bunky" every time for some reason)
Skyping with his grandparents on the computer--we can't pull out the laptop without him coming over shouting, "Papaw?"
Doorbell and any other type of button
Peaches
Apples
Water
Everything new and exciting (which go hand in hand for him)

Love him!

Our new piano!

2010-09-28T16:45:00.004-06:00

I can't believe I forgot to post this on here! We bought a gorgeous piano like two months ago, and I am so in love with it. We got it for about half-off, which was way good. It was still a little chunk of money, but we think it's worth it! ;) I need to take some official pictures of it, but here's this one to give you a glimpse!

Come to our garage sale!!! :)

2010-09-10T17:22:00.003-06:00

Hey! I'm having a garage sale with my friend over at her house tomorrow (Saturday) from 8-noon--so if you're in Rexburg, you should come! :) She lives just east of Arctic Circle, so just watch for the signs. There will be lots of kids' stuff (clothes, shoes, books, toys, etc.) as well as a lot of household stuff (shelves, curtains, miscellaneous) and other random stuff! Hopefully we'll see you there! :)

GO BOISE STATE!!!!

2010-09-07T00:06:00.004-06:00

WHAT A GAME TONIGHT! I think this is the first time I have ever used caps on my blog--that's how amazing this game was! If you missed it, I am so sad for you. It was freaking awesome! Broncos were crazy-good at the very beginning, dominating 17-0 at the end of the first quarter. Then they totally sucked it up for most of the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and actually most of the 4th. But they held on. And with two minutes left, Virginia Tech was ahead 30-26.

BUT amazing Boise State pushed them off and managed a victorious touchdown! WHOOOOO!!!!! This was probably the most intense BSU game since the Fiesta Bowl; I was yelling and hollering and going crazy pretty much the entire time. Beck didn't know what to do; it freaked him out the first couple of times, and then his look changed from scared to concerned about his mother's well-being kind of look. Haha. What a fun night!

So proud to have been born and raised in Boise! My family has been Broncos fans ever since I can remember, and games like tonight show why!

Typing test results--you'd think I would blog more!

2010-08-27T23:43:00.002-06:00

One of my hidden talents (maybe my only one!) is that I'm a pretty decent typer! I guess I just must have naturally inherited it from my mom or something, because in 6th grade I typed 93 words per minute and got in trouble by my teacher because he thought I somehow cheated. I took a test in front of him to sort things out. Ha. With how fast I type, you'd think I would be a better blogger! ;)

125 words

Typing Speed Test

Major catch-up: our amazing snowman story

2010-08-22T23:08:00.007-06:00

Wahoo, all this talk of Christmas and snow in August makes me somewhat excited for fall and winter coming up!
So, back on New Year's Day of this year, there was an amazing snowfall! And to make it even more amazing, like no one in the world was in town because it was still Christmas break and all the students were gone. So, one of my bestest friends, Lindsay, had the wonderful idea to make a snowman in the parking lot of her complex! It was the ideal snowman-making environment: a thick, fresh blanket of snow in an empty parking lot. And our apartment was like around the corner from hers, so I drove on over (I can't really remember why I even drove...) and we got to work! Here is our snowman's amazing journey...
Oh, and p.s., this was at like midnight or something crazy, so it made it that much more fun. :)
Very excited!
Lindsay blessing the snowman parts or something... :)
Our snow fossil!!!!

Our finished little snowman!
Nice profile shot. ;)

He looks so peaceful and happy... until...

The freaking snow-plow man ran over and destroyed him!!! Even though he was right up against the light post (on purpose!) and wasn't in anybody's way. A life cut short! *sigh* But we had so much fun! It was still totally worth it, even if just for the few hours he did exist. :)

Major catch-up: Christmas

2010-08-18T23:46:00.016-06:00

It's Christmas in August, haha. I'm continuing my extreme blog catch-up! Christmas was awesome. We had kind of three celebrations. First we had our own little Christmas here with just us, which was cute and fun. Beck loved the Christmas tree and the presents, and all the attention. :) And Adam did a great job and got me a Willowtree figure and a cute diaper bag and purse.

Then we headed to Boise for a week. We stayed in a hotel and did some major vegging and relaxing--it was wonderful! We also had fun shopping, bargaining with a little 10-year-old girl to go in on a purchase with me to get Beck a stuffed Nemo (it ended up being a hilarious story, and kind of pathetic in the end, but a much better deal for both of us!), getting Beck's picture taken with Santa (of whom he was a huge fan, just look at that pic!) and hanging out with family and friends. Beck got a sweet wooden airplane and a personalized rocking chair from his grandparents.

We were also lucky enough to have Adam's dad, Josh, Grandma Billie and Aunt Rebecca come visit us in Rexburg! We usually all meet up in Utah, so it was fun to have them come visit our neck of the woods. :) We had a really good time together, and Beck got a sweet little plastic wagon thingy from his grandpa he immediately fell in love with (and is still a huge fan of).

Major catch-up: my poor little wrist was burned by boiling caramel!!!

2010-07-20T23:30:00.007-06:00

So some of my best wonderful UV ladies (all but one of whom have deserted me for bigger and better towns since this...*tear*...) had a wonderful goody-making party in December. It was SO much fun, and the treats we made were absolutely amazing. Writing about this makes me so hungry! Anyway, I love these girls and we had an awesome five hours of fun--I mean, just look at us! So happy, so unwounded... :)

Until... (pics and text from my friend Chrystina's blog!)
"This is what happens when a certain someone named Heather, balances a cookie sheet on to a cup and then pours boiling hot sugar into it... which sparks a call for help, just to have poor Kathryn come to the rescue in time to be burned.... followed by Nancy yelling out "get the mustard"... a remedy her Grandmother uses for burns.
Status update: Use mustard when you get a burn, Kathryn says it healed quickly and didn't blister. Heather did feel terrible about it.. as you can see in this genuinely remorseful picture."

Trying to function whilst having mustard on my wrist... :)

The sad little caramel-burn scar. :( But what a fun story!

Major catch-up: family pictures from November!

2010-07-20T16:05:00.019-06:00

We got family pictures taken right when Beck and I got back from Texas, in early November. :) We just had our friend Matt Riley take some with our camera and I did some simple editing on them. So here's some--ok, a ton--of those! Oh, and also, here's a pic of Beck in his first Halloween costume! Doesn't he make a cute doctor? :)

Major catch-up: Thanksgiving!

2010-07-20T16:05:00.018-06:00

Thanksgiving (That's right, it was eight months ago...)
Thanksgiving was great! We stayed here in Rexburg and celebrated it with Cody (Adam's brother). Adam made an amazing turkey and I made homemade rolls for the first time (yum!), green-bean casserole and yummy candied yams, among other things. Beck didn't think much of the smorgasbord, but us adults enjoyed it! We all went Black Friday shopping the next day at 5 a.m., including Beck who really didn't know what to think of all the craziness. :) It was way fun and we came home with some movies, pajamas, amazing sherpa sweatshirts, an external hard drive (let's not bring that sore spot up... the only reason I have these T-Day pictures are because they were still on our camera), and some other things I can't think of at the moment.
We also were getting really excited for Christmas and bought our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving eve. :) Overall a great holiday!

Funny Beck video from six months back!

2010-07-07T20:57:00.003-06:00

I was going through some old videos and came upon this funny little one from when Beck was almost 11 months old and just had to post it. :) Kids grow up so quickly, yet gradually, that you don't really realize just how much they've changed until you look back at pictures and videos like this! He was so cute and chubby and shaggy at this stage! *sigh* Time flies!

"What's your name?" Beck can say his! :)

2010-07-02T14:49:00.002-06:00

Beck says his name now when asked, and it is so cute! Here's a little video. :)

House pictures!

2010-06-06T20:34:00.017-06:00

**The comments section should be working now! Some little HTML glitch, sorry about that!**
Lots of pictures! And I don't feel like taking the time to make sure Blogger sets them in the right order, so here they are, randomly. :)

Beck walking Chacha

2010-05-29T22:31:00.004-06:00

(Sorry, crappy quality phone video!)
Adam's parents are in town visiting and we are having so much fun! We haven't seen them since Beck was barely three months old--way too long! They just moved from Kentucky to Arizona, so we are way excited to have them so much closer! They also brought the family dog, Chacha, with them, and Beck is totally in love. He chases her around constantly, is fascinated that she has eyes too and proceeds to poke them. :) Chacha is very patient with him, and they are in love with each other! Here's a cute little clip of Beck walking Chacha at the park by our house today!

Look who's talking!

2010-05-12T20:28:00.003-06:00

(This is Beck saying a few of his latest words.)
Isn't it so amazing how smart kids are?! Just within the last month, Beck has been talking up a storm! He is up to almost 25 words now! It just amazes us. Here's his word list, as of today @ 15 months:

-mom
-dad
-hi
-bye
-eye
-cookie
-ball
-car
-Brittany
-truck
-birdie
-ba (for sippie cup/"bottle")
-book
-belly
-plane
-cheese
-no
-thank you
-uh-oh
-baby
-hat
-apple

He also says "roar" and "meow," which we think is so funny and cute! Check out the video if you want to take a listen for yourself!

Pic of the day

2010-05-06T00:04:00.004-06:00

I know I am in need of a huge post soon, but until then, here is a cute Beck pic. I absolutely loooove the lighting in our backyard during the early evening. This was taken on the one warm day there has been since we've moved in. :)

Getting settled in our HOME! And our 100th post!

2010-04-25T00:16:00.008-06:00

What an exciting title! :) Just wanted to give a little update! These last couple of weeks have been crazy. Here's a rough timeline of the last little bit, and a few rough phone pictures to go along with it:

(A little preview! More pictures to come once we locate our camera cable!)

Wed., April 14:
Closed on our house! And it happened to be on the 5-year anniversary of when Adam and I got engaged! :)Everything worked out perfectly. My dad (our realtor), our loan officer, and the seller hooked us up. We ended up walking away with a $700 check and $600 credit toward our flooring (we replaced the linoleum). Sweet! Overall, the whole home-buying process really hasn't been bad at all! We've been lucky to get such good people to work with, and such a good deal.
Also, my parents were able to come up for the closing and were so helpful in watching Beck, making sure we got a sweet deal, and just fun to spend time with!

Thurs., April 15:
Moved out of our apartment and into a hotel. We actually did a really good job this time of not procrastinating! I started cleaning and packing a few weeks beforehand, and we were completely moved and cleaned up a day early (our landlord said it's the cleanest apartment she's ever seen!). We moved our stuff into a trailer the seller let us use until we could move into the house so we wouldn't have to move stuff into a storage unit and then move it again. We also found out then that there was some miscommunication between the seller and the current renters of the home. We were all told they would be gone by the 14th, but they actually stayed until the 16th. Don't know what happened there. Way awesome people, just some miscommunication somewhere. So we had to wait for them to move out, and then wait for the painting and carpeting and flooring to be completed. The hotel was fun, but we were definitely ready to go when the time came!

Tues., April 20:
Moved our stuff out of the trailer and into the house! With five people it only took half an hour to unload!

Wed., April 21:
Checked out of the hotel and actually arrived (for good!) at our home!

Since then:
-First got all of our main furniture set up so we could function
-Replaced all doorknobs and door hinges
-Replaced all interior and exterior light fixtures (thanks, Cody, for all your help!)
Here's one before and after example

-Replaced all outlet/switch cover plates
-Unpacked, unpacked, unpacked, unpacked (still about 10 more boxes to go)
-Bought a car!!!!!! My dream car! A beautiful 2005 Civic that we got a good deal on, and will end up getting for less than $1,000 after the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit. I'm in love with it!

-Started Beck in his toddler bed!

-Suffered through Beck's teething together! He's cut 2 canine teeth in the last week, with a few more on their way... and we all know how fun teething is, especially while moving. :)
-Eaten out like 5,000 times
-Made like 5 trips to Idaho Falls, mainly for Home Depot and Lowe's

-Saw a moose right by the Albertsons parking lot!
-Played my clarinet for the ward talent show. We haven't even been to the ward yet! But the Relief Society president came by on Thursday, and long story short, I ended up playing tonight. :) It was really fun, though! And a great way to get involved from the get-go.

We stayed up late last night and got a lot done, and now our kitchen and living room and bathrooms are completely set up! Good feeling. :)

So I think that's pretty much it. Things have been crazy, but so good. We are in love with our house. We are in love with our car. We are in love with our new neighborhood and ward. We really are so blessed, and are so grateful everything has gone so smoothly.

And one other kind of random note. In my excitement about all our new adventures, I hope I'm not making anyone envious or sad! And I just want to say that Adam and I both graduated three years ago, and it's just now all coming together. So don't get discouraged if you don't have a house or anything yet! It really does all work out somehow, someday! :)

Amazing deal on diapers!!!

2010-04-04T23:24:00.003-06:00

I am SO behind on updating that I just avoid even starting! But it only takes a minute to share an amazing deal, so I just do that instead. :) I posted this on Facebook but forgot to post it on here. It's an amazing deal on diapers from Diapers.com! I only paid 9 cents per diaper for size 4 Luvs. Here's how it works:

So, basically, order any type of diapers you want from Diapers.com. I bought Luvs because they are the cheapest--and I love them!--but both the coupon code and the rebate (which I'll explain) will work with any brand.

--So, go to diapers.com. Add $50 worth of diapers to your cart (or any other item you need, there just has to be at least one package of diapers for the coupon code to work)
--At checkout, enter this promo code: TEXT7639
--Submit this rebate form: http://www.diapers.com/helpcenter/parenting.htm (make sure to write "cancel" on the top of the form so they will give you a check and not a subscription, and print it out NOW so you won't have to find it again once you get around to submitting it)

So between the coupon code and the rebate, you will save $24.97--pretty much half off.

Oh, and the coupon code is only for first-time customers of diapers.com, just fyi.

Let me know if you have any questions/problems!

Updates, updates!

2010-03-19T20:06:00.002-06:00

Wow, a lot has happened since just two weeks ago!

#1 Adam got a new job! He is still working for BYU-Idaho, but his new position is a Career and Academic Advisor for the College of Business and Communication! He just started this past Tuesday, and is really enjoying it so far. There is a lot of room for growth in this department (which he thrives on), so he's getting really excited and already changing things up over there for the better. And I am especially excited because he is working with all my old Comm and Business professors/buddies I worked with when I was a Comm major and secretary in the Comm Dept. We are so excited and grateful he got the job. He enjoyed the Housing Department for the five years he was there, but is also loving this position as well. And heck, he has already been fed three free lunches this week! Just a lucky first week... :)

#2 We almost have a house! Which just feels crazy to say! Immediately when Adam got this job, we started looking for houses! We're not high-rollers yet or anything, but thankfully will actually be able to make a mortgage payment work! We made an offer on a pre-foreclosure house, but they were lame and weren't willing to budge at all (even though it was a pre-foreclosure!). Anyway, we found a different house that is actually way more us. We love it. It's a one-level, 1500-square-foot little home. But it's a really nice, mature property with about 1/4 acre fenced in yard, with fruit trees and flower/garden beds, with a full sprinkler system (even in the garden beds). It's 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2-car garage, nice shelved closets, and a crawl space that's the full length of the home. And we got a pretty good deal on it! And hopefully will maybe be able to buy a second little car with our $8,000 tax credit. The seller is also going to have the whole home re-painted and re-carpeted with our choice of colors, and is going to pay for us to stay in a hotel from the time we have to move out of our current apartment before we move into the house. He also is going to include all appliances--including the hot tub!--and pay all closing costs. And it is just around the corner from a big playing field and cute little park! So, needless to say, we are very happy, grateful and excited! And assuming all goes well with the inspection and closing and such, we should be in this new little home toward the end of April!

Talking?

2010-03-03T23:35:00.004-07:00

(Crappy phone pic, but doesn't he look like such a little boy here? This is when we went to get his one-year pics taken.)
Beck is growing up so fast! He's been babbling a ton the last few months, and says mama and dada, but this last week he's started mimicking other words, the first of which was "hockey." :) Cody (Adam's bro) was watching him and had one of the olympic hockey games on, and I guess the whole time we were gone Beck was walking around repeating it, "hockey, hockey, hockey." And then a day or two later I was reading him "Clifford's Bathtime" which has a rubber ducky in it, and he turned around in my lap to look at me and clearly said, "ducky"--with a look like, "I know how to do this, but it's so much more fun for you to try to get it out of me and then get so excited." :)

Anyway, it is exciting! I know other kids his age are saying words too, but it's so fun when it's your own! And talking makes them seem like such a little person, not just a baby! So crazy, and so fun. :)

Just wanted to share that little milestone!

Beck's 12-month stats

2010-02-04T00:28:00.004-07:00

Here are Beck's 12-month stats (a week late...):
25.2 pounds (82%)
30.5 inches (76%)
19.5-inch head circ.(99%, haha)

He also had five shots, which he wasn't a big fan of but calmed down quickly. The worst part of the whole day was having to get the routine lead count test (or whatever they call it) at the hospital. Instead of the heal prick, they actually draw blood. What idiot came up with the idea to draw blood from a 12-month old?! It took three of us to hold him down, and that still barely did the job. And it took foooooorever for the blood to actually draw, probably like three minutes--and Beck was screaming the entire time. He has a purple bruise in the shape of the needle on his little hand. The only good aspect of the day is that thanks to the immunizations (I'm sure the whole drawing blood thing helped as well), he slept extremely well! If only he needed shots every day! ;) At least we have a few guaranteed good sleeping days throughout the year!

Oh, and his first birthday was great! I'll post some pics soon!

Beck saying "hi"!

2010-01-22T23:28:00.002-07:00

A cute little video of Beck saying "hi" (after his mini tantrum...)! Or at least it totally sounds like it--caught me off guard! Sorry for the nakedness, I wasn't originally planning on posting this, but it was just too cute. :)

Back up and running + BECK IS BASICALLY WALKING!

2010-01-21T11:56:00.002-07:00

Thanks to Adam's dad (thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you), we have a new desktop computer! Going two months basically without one was not fun! But we are getting back up and running now! Our netbook (mini laptop) wasn't fast enough to load any pictures onto, so there is a ton to catch up on. But first things first: BECK IS BASICALLY WALKING! It's just in short spurts, and usually when we start him off, but still--he walks! Here's a cute little video.

Beck + his walker = so cute!

2010-01-05T02:25:00.002-07:00

Beck lately

2010-01-05T01:13:00.000-07:00

I love this kid. In just the last few weeks, he has turned into such a little boy. He's never been very "baby-like" but he's seemed especially grown up lately! He's into everything and fascinated by anything. It's so fun to watch him grow and learn, to see him discover new things and figure out situations. So I've been horrible at updates on milestones, but here's a rough overview:

October:
First plane ride
Pulls up on things

November:
9-month stats: 23.7 pounds (87%), 30 inches (93%) and 19-inch head circ. (99%) :), two teeth, with more about to cut through
First really bad sickness
Dances to music (so cute)
Turns pages of books
Scoots down off of bed/lap/couch
Top two middle teeth cut through
Will actually fall asleep in his carseat now
Sits up from laying
Bends down from standing to get things
Crawls on knees (he loved army crawling before!)

December:
Climbs stairs
Favorite book: Clifford's Bathtime
Knows what "no" means, and throws subsequent mini tantrums :)
Growls (yep--it's pretty funny!)
Two more teeth in (six total)
Dove off changing table head first, trying to touch his favorite lamp (he's ok!)
Drew with crayon on paper (left-handed?)
Met Santa
First Christmas
Discovered how to flush a toilet

January (so far):
Two more teeth in (eight total)
Haircut #2 (about 2 inches' worth)
Walks with walker (cutest and funniest thing ever)
"Races" up the stairs
Loooves climbing the stairs
Opens doors and cupboards
Turns lights on/off

A few other things he's developed somewhere along the way:
Loooooves balloons. He seriously freaks out when he sees one--he doesn't even do that for me! (See post below.)
Tries to crush things, even completely solid things (I don't know why!), and makes the funniest frustrated noise while doing so.
"Handicapped head shake": called that because the first time he did it was a few hours after he hit his head really hard, in Adam's care!)--I'll have to get a video of it. He still does this when he's really sleepy, or goofy, or frustrated, or when we prompt him. :)
Suicide trick: I don't even know why he started doing this, but whenever he's on our shoulders, he throws himself backward. And he'll do it over and over again. It's hilarious. And he loves it for some reason! Guess he's a thrill-seeker.
Man child: He is so tough! He's always been strong and built, but it's been even more amazing lately now that he's into everything (and thus falling, bonking and scraping more), how tough he really is--nothing seems to hurt him much.
(Ok, those last three things make us sound like we just let him go wild and hurt himself all the time! We're safe parents, we promise!)
Friendlist baby ever. This kid absolutely loves people. Whenever anyone enters the room (be they baby or adult) he gets so excited and wants to play with them. Of course he has his select favorites :) , but he loves everyone. Even though he can't walk or speak yet, he is so outgoing. Sounds funny saying that about a baby, but it's true!
Happiest baby ever: He is constantly smiling and laughing and playing. All bias aside, I really don't think I've ever seen a happier baby! He definitely has his moments, and is naturally dramatic, but even then, usually five seconds of attention cheers him up.
He's the best!

It's already 1 a.m., and I'm too tired to coordinate these pictures with the appropriate milestones, so I'll let you work it all out. :) Sorry, they're all somewhat crappy phone pics.

Beck and balloons!

2010-01-05T01:02:00.002-07:00

Picture of the day :)

2009-12-20T12:53:00.003-07:00

"Pleeeeeeease, Dad?"

This was when we were all home sick, fyi--hence Beck's crazy hair and Adam's scruff. :)

DONE!

2009-12-15T23:45:00.008-07:00

Adam has officially completed his MBA!!! Wahoo! We seriously couldn't be more excited. I'm so proud of him. It definitely hasn't been easy trying to balance school on top of a full-time job and a family, but he (and we!) did it.

Although we are more than excited to be done, I still can't help but be a little sentimental. These last two years have flown by, and yet so much has happened, too! Beck wasn't even a twinkle in our eye when Adam started the program. We seemed a lot younger back then, too (Beck aged/ages us dramatically!). Two years ago, I was recently graduated and working full time at Yellowstone Hotel Systems, and Adam was recently graduated and manager of University Village, just beginning his MBA. Two years, hundreds of hours of homework, a new job, a new apartment, and a baby later, we have ourselves an MBA graduate! We'll see where the next two years take us!

Then:

Now:

We went to Texas Roadhouse tonight to celebrate--YUM! (Horribly lit phone pic--sorry!)

Just noticed the nice logo in the background... Blame photographer Cody! :)

Here's to our next adventure! Whatever that may be... :)

Might as well go dumpster diving

2009-12-10T22:53:00.006-07:00

Adam and I are clean people. Some may even call us obsessive-compulsive (although we have had to resist our inclinations a lot more since Beck came along!). Then why, oh why have all the germs invaded our home and bodies?! We might as well have dove into dumpsters and chewed strangers' gum because we have not avoided absolutely any germs this season, it seems!
On Adam's birthday (Nov. 10), Beck and I both came down with something. Turns out I had pharyngitis (throat infection) and Beck had croup, a sore throat and a double ear infection. We got drugged up and were finally better after a week or so. That was sickness #1. Then not even two weeks after that, Adam and I both caught horrible head colds which lasted about a week. Sickness #2. Then not even a week after that (this Monday evening), I got the stomach flu and couldn't even keep water down. Sickness #3. Thankfully, it was only the 24-hour kind, so I recovered, and our month of sickness was behind us. But not really!
Beck now has the stomach flu. Sickness #4. This was made manifest tonight while eating a nice dinner with 30+ coworkers at Adam's work party. Barfing and bloody-murder screaming were involved. Poor Beck. Poor us. Poor people who had to witness it! We came home from our dinner party early, hungry and covered in barf. And Beck didn't even get to see Santa! Not exactly how we imagined the night would play out. It sucked because kids weren't even "encouraged" but we were told it was ok after both of our babysitters fell through last-minute. It sucked because we got barf all over us, and the carpet. It sucked because the throwing up scared Beck so bad that he would not stop screaming until every single person was looking at us. It sucked because we were starving and didn't even get to eat the amazing food. It sucked because it was in front of every single one of Adam's coworkers. And it sucked because Beck didn't get to bond with Santa--it was the real one, I swear! :) Of course we were more concerned about Beck than about the big scene we made, and everyone there wasn't even judgmental or rude or anything, but it just wasn't a fun situation overall. But once we got home, we had to look back and laugh. Thankfully we have a wonderful little boy who is happy despite his sickness. Throwing up scares him for the second it lasts, but then he's back to his happy self.
I got a really funny picture of barf-covered Beck, but our leftover computer we're using isn't fast enough to connect to our camera. :)
Stay tuned for an optimistic post! Not sure what about yet, but it's coming soon, I promise. I hope you all don't think I've turned into some one-eyed pessimistic monster! :)

Get me out of here!

2009-12-09T10:49:00.004-07:00

Yes, -15! Here comes another Rexburg winter. Although I love so many aspects of this town, I cannot stand its weather! I hate being cooped up all day four+ months out of the year because of it. Which reminds me, I haven't mentioned lately how close Adam is to graduating with his MBA! This Monday is his official graduation! He won't be there, since it's in New York, but we will definitely be celebrating here!

I know millions of people are asking this, but it doesn't hurt to ask--anybody know of any jobs, preferrably not in Eastern Idaho? :) Adam's undergrad was in Economics, and his MBA emphasis is Fraud Management, so we're ideally looking for something in those areas. Any leads anyone has would be awesome!

I haven't made a post about Beck in forever. Now we have no pictures to post of him, thanks to our harddrive mishap. Thankfully we have a few pics that were still on our camera, so I'll post some of those soon.

Hope everyone's doing well. :)

Why I'm crying myself to sleep tonight...

2009-11-29T22:50:00.002-07:00

And last night. Our laptop harddrive is gone. All of our pictures of Beck--gone. All of our videos of Beck--gone. All of the pictures we've ever taken since we've been married--gone. All of Beck's milestone dates I had saved in a document--gone. And I seriously just can't stop crying about it. I just want to go to bed and pretend it never happened, but I can't sleep because I'm sick to my stomach.

And you know the worst/harshly ironic part about this all is? We bought an external hard drive on Friday and were going to move all of our files onto it today during our downtime. But our harddrive crashed last night.

If you know of anything we can do, please let me know. We had our friend look at it (he used to work at a computer repair shop), and he said it's gone. But we're still trying to have hope that something will work. There are some "drive saver" companies you can send it into, but they charge thousands of dollars. Worst situation ever. ONE day too late! So bitter. Sorry for the purely negative post, I just can't help myself right now.

"I can't put my arms down!"

2009-11-24T03:20:00.003-07:00

Rexburg winter is upon us! And this is how Beck feels about bundling up for it... :)

Great deals @ Old Navy!

2009-11-14T23:24:00.004-07:00

Have I mentioned I LOVE a good deal? Haha, who doesn't? :) Anyway, I went in to Old Navy today to get a price adjustment before the time period expired(see below for details), and thought I'd glance around the store while I was at it since I had a 30% off your entire purchase coupon. Well, they also happened to have all of their clearance items on sale for an additional 50% off, and they let you stack the coupons--yes, amazing scenario! So needless to say, I got some great deals--which I have outlined in detail below, mainly to make me feel good about myself. ;)

Sorry to not post about this sooner! Like I said, I just happened upon it this afternoon. If anyone is interested, you can use this online coupon code for 30% off that is good through tomorrow (Sunday): BHCN177GGW83 Also, if you go to this web address (sorry, links never work on my blog), you can get a one-time-use free shipping code when you sign up for the Banana Republic (same company as Old Navy) e-mail list: https://secure-bananarepublic.gap...onfirm.do?

Ok,now on to the good deal details! So the picture may not look like it's that much stuff, but it really is:

For me:
2 argyle sweater cardigans
1 long-sleeved blouse
1 short-sleeved blouse
1 pair of cargo pants
1 set of sticky-note magnets
1 wallet
2 notebooks
1 small make-up kit bag
(Forgot to include these last four items in the pic!)

For Beck:
7 long-sleeved shirts
3 sweaters
1 one-piece outfit
1 button-up plaid shirt
1 long-sleeved polo shirt
2 pairs of jersey-lined nylon cargo pants
1 pair of fleece sweats
1 pair of pin-striped dress pants
4 pairs of shoes

For Adam:
Nothing. He said he didn't see anything he liked, but I think he really just wanted to get to Sears. :)

So...... total retail value: $401.50

My steal price: $82, including tax! Wahoo!
__________________________________
Oh, and a note about the price adjustment I mentioned earlier. Last week we bought Adam a nice jacket at Old Navy for $69.50, and then I had a 30% off coupon, so still a pretty good deal. But this week they went on sale for 30% off, so I decided to call and see if they would credit me back at all since I had just bought it the week before, and to my pleasant surprise, they did! As long as you do it within 14 days, they'll credit you back the difference. So I got $15 back! Good little tidbit to know!

Way cute video of our sick--yet still ridiculously happy--little boy!

2009-11-11T21:04:00.003-07:00

**We decided for fun to submit this video to America's Funniest Home videos, which means we had to delete it from YouTube and our blog. Hope you got your fill while it was up, grandparents! ;)**
Somehow the germs of this season have caught up with us. Beck had a little bit of a cough on Monday, so I took him in Tuesday morning, thinking it would probably just be a little cold or something. Nope. He officially has the croup, a sore throat, and a double ear infection! So sad! I thought I was doing so good to protect him, too--sanitize, sanitize, sanitize. Guess those germs have a way of getting in anywhere, though. I also came down with a throat infection (pharyngitis), so I'm on the same medicine as Beck. Twinners. :) Even though Beck is so sick, he is still the happiest kid ever. This is a way cute video of Adam and Beck playing when Adam got home from work. Can't help but smile when you hear that laugh, can you? :)

TEXAS! Longest post ever... :)

2009-11-08T20:55:00.022-07:00

We're back! We've actually been back for a week, but we've been recovering from being gone so long. :) There's a million things I could say about our trip, but for the sake of time I'll give a few highlights of each "stop" throughout it. Overall, it was an awesome trip for Beck and I!
Oh, and of course, the ONE thing that didn't make it to Texas with me was my camera. It got left in Lindsay's car when she dropped us off at the airport. :( Thankfully, my phone has a decent camera on it! Ok, here we go... I won't be offended if you don't read all--or any--of this. Feel free to just look over the pics if you would like. :)
Salt Lake:Our friend Lindsay was going down to Utah to hang out with her brothers, so since she's amazing she let Beck and I tag along with her. We stayed in my aunt and uncle's condo in SLC Friday night (thank you, Kent and Sue!) since our flight left so early the next morning. But we still had time to have a little fun before we hit the sack. We hung out on Temple Square (the weather was perfect!) and hit up Taco Bell.

Plane ride: We got to the airport a few minutes late (my fault), and then my bag was 10 pounds over, so I went from a light carry-on bag to a stuffed carry-on bag and a huge backpack, not to mention a 25-pound baby. And of course, my gate was the very last gate, and I was coming from the very first check-in spot, so I had to haul, while carrying about 70 extra pounds. Great start to the trip, eh? :) Beck did awesome on the flight though, and didn't cry once. He loved the lights, and the people, and the windows--pretty much everything. It was so cute, every time someone came over the loudspeaker, he would jolt and then look around the whole time trying to figure out where the voice was coming from, and then give me a look like, "Mom, don't you hear that?!" It was so funny. While getting off our first flight, an amazing couple helped me carry my bags, and it turned out they were headed to San Antonio too, so they took my bags and my baby and let me rest during the layover. And then we sat by each other on the second flight. They were definitely angels sent to help me survive! :) I appreciate them--and the Lord for sending them to us--sooooo much.

Elise's:It was so fun to see Elise and her little family! Dallin is so grown up now, and it was so fun to meet Tanner for the first time. And of course it was great to see Elise after a year and a half! And David, too! While there, we went shopping, went to a little Mexican restaurant, made and glaze-frosted amazing sugar cookies, went to the park and fed ducks, witnessed how crazy/energetic Beck is, played Rummikub and just caught up on life! Elise was a great hostess and was very accommodating, and made great meals every day. Thanks for letting us come visit, Elise! Here are a few pics:

Granddaddy & Hanne's:Adam's grandparents live just outside of San Antonio, so Beck and I were able to stay with them for a few days too! Beck is their only great-grandson, and they were finally able to meet him. And let me tell you, it was love at first sight, both ways! While there, we saw cows and chickens, rode on a tractor, shopped (thank you, Hanne!), ate some amazing bbq at the City Market in Luling, ate real schnitzel and other yummy cooking of Hanne's, and banged on the coffee table (Beck did, anyway--he was obssessed with the thing!). It was so cute to see the instant bond between great-grandparents and great-grandson. Now the only grandparent Beck hasn't met is Great-Grandma Jojo. :( Hopefully sometime soon! Here are some pics:

Houston: Granddaddy and Hanne were nice enough to pick us up from San Antonio, as well as drive halfway to Houston to meet up with my fam, who hadn't met them either, so that was fun! We had lunch at Schobel's (thank you, Granddaddy and Hanne!) and then said goodbye, which was so sad. :( We stopped by a cool airplane museum on our way out, and then headed on to Houston. ANd there we basically had a mini family reunion; we had everybody there except Adam and my brother-in-law, Alex. While there, we ate a lot of yummy food (Los Cucos, Rudy's, Chick-Fil-A, Church's Chicken--all amazing!), shopped, played games, made homemade chicken divan and fudgy brownies, got lost and/or stuck in traffic (x 10), went to an aquarium, looked at Tim & Aimee's soon-to-be house by a beautiful lake (which I got 19 mosquito bites from!), took a tour of historic Houston homes, went to the coast (Galveston), went to a Halloween play date and carnival/trunk-or-treat, had cousin pictures taken of Jared and Beck, experienced IKEA (LOVE it!), almost got in two car-wrecks, and I also finished the 7th (and last) Harry Potter book while there! We attempted to go see the 6th Harry Potter at the cheap theater in celebration, but we got lost. :) It was so good to be together again as a fam, and was so nice to get a break from changing diapers--thank you, Mom!

Plane ride #2: This time we were running late again (someone was blocking our car to get out of the parking lot), and my bag was 15 pounds over this time! I'm not usually so unprepared, I just didn't have a scale. So I ended up with a stuffed bag and backpack again, but thankfully there was another angel on this flight! I was the last one to board the plane, and there was a lady standing right at the front that said, "There you are! I heard a baby and waited so I could sit by you and hold your baby." Something out of a fairy tale, right? I couldn't believe it. She sat across from me and played with Beck almost the whole time! I also sat by a very nice man and had an amazing flight attendant who did so many little things to help (thank you Morgan of Southwest!). I was so grateful I was surrounded by helpers/angels on all of our flights!

Whew, that's tiring just thinking about all that we did again. Beck and I were so exhausted by the end, we were happy to get home! Adam picked us up from SLC and after hitting Tucanos (yum!), Beck and I were both able to sleep a little bit on the way home (yes, he is getting better about falling asleep in his carseat!). It was such a great trip!
...I hope at least my mom or someone looked at this whole post because it took forever to do! At least it's done, finally. :)

Beck is crazy :)

2009-10-16T01:06:00.003-06:00

We're flyin' to Texas on Saturday, so since I won't be posting for a few weeks, I thought I'd share a little video of our crazy son. :) This was taken the other day when he decided he didn't need to take his usual three-hour afternoon nap, so in this video he had been up for over eight hours--and he still had soooooo much energy! I honestly think he is a literal ball of energy that somehow took human form. But we love him. :)

Texas, here we come!

2009-10-08T23:22:00.004-06:00

(A big scary cow/bull/massive beast we encountered in Texas in 2007!)

Well, we as in me and Beck, anyway! Unfortunately, Adam can't come with us. :( By the time we get back (we leave in a week and will be gone for two weeks), Beck and I will have been away from Adam for a month so far this year! So wrong! But it's just the way things work out sometimes, I guess. But despite that sad fact, I am way excited! I'm going to be in San Antonio visiting Elise (wahoo!) and then in Houston visiting my brother and his little fam. Also while we're there I'm going to be meeting up with Adam's grandparents who haven't met Beck yet, so that'll be way fun! And I get to meet up with my friend Stephanie, too! AND, my parents and my sister are going too! So all in all, I'm pretty excited.

The only other sad fact about this trip is that I'm going to be traveling by myself with Beck--ah! I'm actually not too scared, but it will definitely be a new adventure. Any advice on traveling by yourself with an 8-month-old?

LDS General Conference--watch it! :)

2009-10-04T10:18:00.003-06:00

I'm so excited to watch the second day of LDS General Conference today! ANYBODY is welcome to watch/check it out. You can view it online here:

Long-overdue Beck update!

2009-09-29T22:38:00.007-06:00

Beck is 8 months old today! I really can't believe it. He is more cute and fun every day. He is getting so grown up, and feels like a little best friend to me and not just a baby, ya know? He is so funny, and cute, and squishy, and so happy. I'm sorry I haven't given a "milestones" update recently; here are a few things Beck's up to lately:

--says Mama, Dadda and nanananana for "no"; I was pretty skeptical that he actually associated what these words were, but especially just the last few days, he says them at the perfect/appropriate times, so I'm pretty convinced!
--army-crawls really well now
--makes all sorts of noises, including raspberries, cute "ooooohs", grunts, and trilling (like with Spanish r's)
--sits up really well
--is starting to get down the "pincer" grasp, where they pick up little things with their thumb and pointer-finger, which is adorable!
--still is a bad sleeper, but I guess nobody's perfect :)
--weighs about 23 pounds (weighed 20 @ 6-month appt.) and is getting really tall!
--reaches out for people, which is soooo cute
--is getting four more bottom teeth within the next week or so, we're pretty sure
--loves drinking from straws and cups, but not sippy cups
--very cuddly, especially when he's sleepy, and he'll just hug/hold on--so cute!
--is still pure energy
--loves everybody, and is pretty much loved by everybody too!

A couple cute videos:
Beck's latest noises

Beck army-crawling
This is from more than a week ago, so he's gotten even better since then!

Somebody loves polka-dots...

2009-09-29T22:27:00.003-06:00

I was picking up before bed last night, and happened to have three different bags of mine in our entryway--notice any common theme? :) I thought it was so funny, I just had to take a picture. The even funnier part is that as I was taking the pic, I noticed I also had Beck's polka-dotted blanket hanging by them as well. What can I say? I have a mini obsession. :)

More amazing deals--Albertsons double coupons through tonight! And Beck's first haircut! :)

2009-09-22T13:06:00.007-06:00

I just had to share some amazing deals I got yesterday, thanks to Albertsons' sales and double coupons, plus a little planning, of course. :) So, I don't have time to make an itemized list, but I got all of this--retail value of $70--for $7!

I have some extra Albertsons double coupons available if any of you want some! They're only good through tonight, so let me know asap! They are most amazing when you pair them with a high-value coupon ($.75 or $1--Albs will only match up to $1) and a sale. One quick example: I had a few $1 off any 1 McCormick spice, and Albertsons has their McCormick grinders on sale for 2/$4. So I used two $1/1, and two Albs double coupons, and ended up getting the grinders for free! I just had to pay tax. The most I paid for any of the items shown (besides eggs and bread, which I just picked up while I was there) is $1; most were $0.50.

Albs is also having an awesome promotion on Nabisco snacks and Special K products, so I'm headed back tonight to get some more amazing deals.

Yay for couponing! Let me know if you have any questions or would like any doublers! Or if you want to take a field trip to Albertsons with me tonight. :)

Also, here are a before and after pic of Beck's first haircut!

And one more pic, just because he is adorably happy here!

A few cute pics!

2009-09-04T23:42:00.003-06:00

Bare-chested and seven months old!

2009-08-31T03:17:00.004-06:00

I just had to post a few cute pics from the other day. We were in Idaho Falls when Beck pooed and it got on his onesie. I didn't have an extra one on me (his diapers pretty much never leak), so he went bare-chested. Thankfully he had shorts on, so it wasn't completely ghetto, just a little redneck. ;)

It was also funny because it was on his seven-month birthday, and these are the only pictures I took of him all day--bare-chested and crazy! :)
Don't you love his camo hat too? Adam is very proud of it. :)

$25 in free groceries @ Albertson's, through today (Tuesday)!

2009-08-18T14:33:00.003-06:00

It's true! And amazing! And really easy! Just go to Albertson's and get a copy of their ad (usually in the front entryway, but if not just ask for one at the Customer Service desk). Buy $25 in participating items, and at the register it will print out a $5 Albertson's voucher and a Kraft rebate form. So you pay the $25 up front, but as long as you use the voucher (within two weeks) and submit the rebate, you get it all back! Let me know if you have any questions, or just ask an employee--they are generally really nice and helpful.

Fyi, the $5 Albertson's voucher is one per transaction, and the $20 Kraft rebate is one per household/address. (I did it twice, for me and my parents, so there's $50 worth of food shown in the pic, not $25.)

Yay for free food! :)

Absence does make the heart grow fonder :)

2009-07-25T15:29:00.004-06:00

(Funny random pic from our trip!)

So for the last week I have been in Boise (and still am through next week), helping my parents move. I loooove Boise and totally want to end up here but I couldn't help but miss a few things about little ol' Rexburg. And since I've been kind of bashing on Rexburg lately, I thought I'd be a little more optimistic and think of a few things I miss about it:

-Adam!
-no traffic
-being able to get anywhere in like 5 minutes (even if there is only two places to go!)
-all the coupons and specials for poor college students
-the mild summer weather (most of the time)
-the temple
-Porter Park
-our friends!
-walks

Ok, that's all I can come up with. :) Here's one more cute pic from our visit so far:

This was after we had Beck babysat. He should have slept for three hours while he was there that afternoon, but I guess he didn't sleep at all!!! It literally only took him not even 10 seconds to be completely passed out on my shoulder--and this is a kid who is never easy to get to sleep! I was amazed and amused, and thought it was totally cute. :)

Amazing deals!

2009-07-17T23:12:00.003-06:00

That's my excited coupon face. :)

I got so many good deals today that I just had to share! Look at this list and guess how much I paid for all of it, just for fun. :)

1 bottle of Kraft Miracle Whip ($4 retail)
2 bottles of Kraft Mayo ($8 retail)
2 refrigerated pizza crusts ($7 retail)
2 bottles Jet Dry ($8 retail)
1.5 pounds Jennie-O deli turkey ($9.00 retail)
2 bags frozen veggies steamers ($6 retail)
1 bag Oroweat thin hamburger buns ($3.99 retail)
1 24 oz. bottle Nalley pickles ($4.50 retail)
2 Coppertone sunblocks ($21.99 retail)
4 All laundry det. bottles, 38 loads each ($24 retail)

So like $100 retail...

All for $27! Yay! Hopefully someone is excited with me. :)

Beck @ 5 months!

2009-07-12T14:16:00.006-06:00

Well, he's almost 5 1/2 months now, but I wanted to celebrate his 5-month mark. :)

Some of Beck's milestones this month:
-solids, which he absolutely loves
-juice, which he always makes a sour face at, but always wants more :)
-rolling over!
-two teeth!
-becoming obsessed with faces, and the grabbing of them :)
-his continued obsession of trying to shove absolutely anything in his mouth!
-discovering his manhood in the bathtub ;)
-becoming best friends with his feet!
-laughs when tickled now, instead of looking confused

Some other fun/funny things that we love about him lately :) :
-that he's still so cuddly (I hear they grow out of it soon!)
-his grunty laugh
-when he moves his arm up and down when he's excited (hard to explain, cute to see!)
-his waking up routine: he wakes up with a glazed look, coos to himself softly for a minute or so, stretches while releasing built-up gas :) , then finds Mom and gives a huge smile :)
-his love affair with his bottle!
-that he's funny and doesn't even realize it

p.s. Sorry I suck at blogging lately! I promise I'll be better when Adam's finished with this insane semester!

Garage sale tomorrow--Sat., July 11--in Rexburg!

2009-07-10T23:40:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone! Me and a couple friends are doing a little garage sale tomorrow, and you should all come! :) Here's the info:

Multi-family garage sale! Must come see. :)

BABY items--clothing, swing, jogging stroller, bouncy seat, carseat/stroller combo, diapers, more!

SCRAPBOOKING items--paper, cardstock, stickers, embellishments, carriers!

OTHER items-- graduation cap/gown, some adult clothing/shoes, office organizer, other household items!

320 W. 5th S., Rexburg

Hi!

2009-06-27T00:56:00.005-06:00

Ok, lamest title ever. :) But I just wanted to say hi to everyone and give a short update! I haven't had much time to blog lately and feel so out of touch with everyone! But I love you all and will catch up on blogging soon, hopefully. :)

So here's basically what we've been up to:
Me: Taking care of Beck, 99% of the time. :) Other than that, hmmm... I got called to be on the Compassionate Service Committee in our ward, so I'm excited about that. And I'm slightly obsessed with coupons! I just recently got back from a weekend with all the girls on my mom's side of the family 18 and older--"Girls' Trip"--which was way fun. It was crazy to be without Beck for the whole weekend! I totally missed him, but it was nice to have a little break too. :) That's me in a nutshell for the moment!

Adam: Crazy busy. He's working full-time, and is in his second-to-last semester of his MBA. He's gone all day, and then comes home to homework. He is also the Gospel Doctrine teacher in our ward, which he is amazing at, but it takes some time. Oh! And this last week he signed up for Facebook and Twitter--two things I thought he would NEVER do! Although it's mainly for work purposes (he's working on some proposals to implement their uses for the Housing Department), I know he's secretly enjoying it. :)

Beck: He's about to wake up to eat, so I have to hurry (yeah, he does NOT sleep through the night). But he is wonderful and so happy and adorable, and has a TOOTH!

p.s. Don't judge too harshly if there are any typos! I usually proofread but have to go! Love you all!

Beck is four months old!!!

2009-05-29T23:51:00.004-06:00

Happy four-month birthday to Beck! I felt like we should throw a little party or something! Every month is so exciting when they're so little. :) Beck was pretty excited about his special day too:

Beck is perfect. We love him! Here are some recent things we love about him:
--when he tries to hold his bottle (and usually ends up knocking it out of his mouth)
--when he squeals out of pure happiness!
--that he loves "kicking back" and putting his little hands behind his head
--when you're not smiling at him, and he looks at you like, "What's wrong?"
--that he's not quite as restless anymore (thank goodness!)
--when he squeals like a girl when he's whining
--when he's talking and has his hands together and his little eyebrows furrowed the slightest bit, like he's having a serious conversation :)
--that he's happy and smiley 99% of the time
--his overly dramatic meltdowns :)
--his first smile of the morning, when he's totally groggy, but so happy, his smile can barely fit on his face
--his beautiful blue eyes
--his squirminess
--that he rolled over today!
--his "social skills" :) (he is so interactive and cute!)
--that he loves people and loves to be held and cuddled
--that he loves to chew on everything possible (even Adam's hair the other day!)
--that he loves his mom and dad!

p.s. Any advice on introducing solids?

Beck walking at 3 1/2 months :)

2009-05-17T15:53:00.002-06:00

Beck loves to practice walking! He's been doing this for the past couple of weeks. We're holding his hands, but not pulling him or supporting his body weight--promise. :) Strong kid!

So grateful for motherhood

2009-05-10T20:30:00.007-06:00

Happy Mothers' Day, everyone--those with children and those without! My life has been touched by so many mothers. First and foremost, my own mother, who is one of the friendliest, happiest people I have ever known. I truly consider her one of my best friends, and am so grateful to have such a close relationship with her. I am also so grateful to have "gained" a second mother almost four years ago. :) I look up to and have learned so much from her.

I am especially grateful this year to call myself a mother. I love Beck so much. He has changed our lives, increased our love (and patience!) and brings us so much happiness.

I know there are some today who are hurting, who think they may not ever be able to celebrate Mothers' Day for themselves. I have been there. Don't lose hope! Last year on this day I could hardly hold myself together because I longed so much to be a mother; this year I could hardly hold myself together because I am one!

The Lord watches over each one of us, and I know we are all here to be mothers to God's children and our own. I know families can be together forever and am so grateful to have that knowledge, and to have a wonderful family to spend forever with.

Love you all! Thank you for being my mothers (and sisters!). :) Happy Mothers' Day!

25 things about Beck :)

2009-04-30T20:44:00.034-06:00

Beck is now three months old! Can you believe it? I can't! In honor of him and his three little months of life, we'd like to share a few fun things about our little babe:

Beck...
1. is the first Ririe grandson, the first Ririe and Goodspeed great grandson, and the second Williams grandson.

With Williams grandparents

With Hamilton grandparents

With Great Grandma Billie

He hasn't met Grandpa Ririe, Great Grandma Jojo or Great Granddaddy & Hanne yet!

2. used to squeak really loud when he ate, for the first month or so, but has outgrown it, which is kind of sad because it was really funny and cute--and loud. :)

3. loves his fist.

4. was born with a mullet. :)

5. is completely fascinated by lights; there is a light above Alex's head in this pic. :)

6. is really strong--he has been able to stand since he was just a few weeks old and has such a tight grip.

7. used to grunt a ton for the first few months; this video isn't the best example of it, but you'll get the idea. :)

8. has a secret dimple like his mom (only apparent when whistling for Mom, or for Beck, when drinking his bottle)--I don't have a good pic of it!

9. has a double chin like his dad (Adam told me to say that!).

10. used to absolutely hate baths and getting his diaper changed--he now tolerates baths and loves getting his diaper changed, thank goodness!

11. has to grab onto something to fall asleep, usually your shirt or finger.

12. has three aunts, three uncles and one cousin.

With Tim & Aimee

With Elizabeth & Alex

With Cody & Elizabeth
With Jared

13. is soooo wiggly!

14. was born in Rexburg, Idaho.

15. couldn't live without his binky.

16. is very cuddly.

17. sometimes gets "devil eyes" when falling asleep (I think he's technically getting in to his REM cycle).

18. has been smiling pretty much from day one.
One week

Three months

19. gets the hiccups all the time, especially when he gets excited.

20. scored a 9 on both APGAR tests right after birth, the highest scores the hospital has seen in over a year (that's what the nurses told us).

21. loves to be a part of the action all the time.

22. is very observant, and loves to look around and take everything all in.

23. is somewhat dramatic. :)

24. is a little Houdini, and refuses to be swaddled; if you go ahead and swaddle him, he will not settle down until he has wriggled out of it.

25. is incredibly loved!

Random baby things for sale :)

2009-04-30T19:57:00.006-06:00

I was doing a little spring cleaning and came across a few things I'd like to clear out. Wanted to see if any of you were interested before putting them on Craigslist. No pressure, just let me know if you're interested!

Argyle crib bumper + extras: $25
Cute argyle crib bumper! I'll also throw in the window valance, diaper stacker and crib skirt from the set, too.

Pampers Swaddlers, size 1, 100 ct.: $15
Beck got too chubby too quickly. :) Comes out to 15 cents a diaper, which is really good for Pampers. These sell for $20 at Wal-Mart.

Infantino 6in1 Rider baby carrier: $20
Brand new, never been opened. Got it as a gift, just haven't used it. I'm sure it's great!
More info on it here: http://www.infantino.com/Carriers/151-019.php

Beck's official announcement

2009-04-18T01:13:00.002-06:00

Beck's official announcement I finally finished! Consider this personally sent to each one of you. :)

Four years ago today--our engagement!

2009-04-14T23:22:00.005-06:00

Four years ago today, Adam and I got engaged! Probably almost to this very minute actually, as the candlelighting started at 11 p.m. For those of you who don't know, I proposed to Adam--kind of a long story. :) We have a video of it, but it's on VHS and I haven't gotten it onto a DVD yet; when I do, I'll post it! I'll spill the details of the engagement when I post the video. Until then, I will leave you in suspense, with a few still photos. :)

Me proposing

He said yes :)

My roommates who helped me plan it all :)

This day four years ago totally changed my life forever!

p.s. Yes, we did look a little younger back then. ;)

Easy recipe of the day!

2009-04-12T15:08:00.002-06:00

I was looking for a quick recipe a few days ago and came upon an amazingly easy chicken tortilla soup recipe. It only took like two minutes to make, and by make I mean opening the cans and pouring them into a stock pot. :) It was so easy and yummy, was pretty cheap (about $6), and lasted us for three meals. Just had to share!

Six Can Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 (15-ounce) can mexicorn
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans chicken broth
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 (10-ounce) can chunk chicken
1 (15-ounce) can black beans
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
1 cup instant rice

Pour corn, chicken broth, chunk chicken, black beans and diced tomatoes with green chilies (do not drain any of the cans), rice and garlic into a stock pot. Cover, and simmer over medium heat until chicken is heated through and rice is cooked.

It's especially yummy with cheese and sour cream on top, along with some tortilla chips.

Yum!

Beck 'talking'

2009-04-07T22:22:00.001-06:00

Sad/funny moment of the day

2009-04-07T21:32:00.003-06:00

Today a sad, funny thing happened. :) It was time for Beck to eat, but when I gave him his bottle, he started whining, which he never does--he loves to eat. I thought he may have a burp, so I put him on my shoulder and patted his back, and much more than a burp came out! The poor thing threw up/spit up (I'm not sure which) big time. That was the sad part. The funny part was that he proceeded to rub his whole face in the pile of his goop on my shoulder! I just had to take pictures!

I'm not too worried about him, as he's never done this before and hasn't done it since, but let me know if I should be worried!

What is going on?

2009-03-29T21:09:00.003-06:00

March: in like a lion, out like a lamb? Not this year! :)

Sunday photo shoot!

2009-03-29T20:32:00.005-06:00

Beck has gotten even more smiley this last week or so, and we just can't get enough of it! Plus, he just got a really cute tie, so we had to snap a few (more like a ton!) of pics. :)

So happy!

Flashin' gang signs. :)

Dance moves. :)

Flash overload!

Adam has been really sick since Friday, so he and Beck haven't gotten much bonding time this weekend. ;) Looks like Beck has missed him! :)

David Archuleta concert!

2009-03-25T02:22:00.009-06:00

That's right! I got to see David Archuleta in concert in Pocatello! He had an Idaho Falls performance, but tickets went on sale for it when I was in the hospital with Beck, and I was way sad I wouldn't get to go! But a week or so before the concert I posted my sob story in a want ad on the BYU-I bulletin board (pathetic, I know; it sounds even more pathetic describing it right now...). A few days later, three people wrote me telling about the Pocatello concert that had just been added, and that tickets went on sale the next morning. What nice people! I almost missed out getting tickets for this show too, as my wireless internet signal was not cooperating that next morning (of course). I was running around my apartment with my laptop trying to find a signal like two minutes before the tickets went on sale. I finally found a signal on top of Beck's dresser--random. Oh, and don't worry, Beck was properly fed, diapered and clothed, and was actually sleeping during this whole ordeal. Although, even if he wasn't, I probably would have been running around with him crying in the other room anyway. Haha, just kidding--don't report me, please. :)
But anyway, the concert was so good!!! I went with my cousin, Amanda, and we had so much fun! We were afraid we'd be the only non-tweens/teeny-boppers there, and although the mean age probably was 11, thankfully there were fans of all ages. :) And we got the most amazing seats! We were in the ninth row back (which was even closer than it sounds!), in the middle section, and in the middle of that section. Whoo! It was so fun! David performed mostly his album songs, with a few additional ones of his as well as some of his favorite songs by other artists. And he is just so darn cute and sweet, and somewhat dorky :) --it was just fun to watch him perform.
It doesn't seem like I'm giving his concert justice (maybe because it's 2 a.m. right now?), but it was so awesome! Even though I was old enough to be 3/4 of the audience's mom (ok, maybe not quite that old!), I was so happy to be there to support such an awesome artist. Even more importantly than him being cute and having an amazing voice, David is just a good kid, and I am so glad he is such a good example for young (and middle- and old-aged) people to look to! Go David!

The many faces of baby Beck :)

2009-03-17T21:07:00.001-06:00

Beck is getting more and more expressive every day, and we're obviously enjoying it. :)