New addition on the way!

A few weeks ago we found out the joyful news that a new baby is headed our way in 2008! Sam is very excited to be a big brother, however he insists that it will be a boy because he wants to be a "Big Brother". :) Our due date is July 18. I'm not too sure about having a baby in the middle of the summer, but I guess that will give me lots of excuses to lounge around in people's pools! I had my first doctor's appointment 2 weeks ago and they took ultrasound pictures. I've posted a pic above. Good luck trying to see the baby! The dark kidney shaped object is the amneotic fluid and the tiny little blob in the bottom left corner is our little "lima bean". Acutally this week I found out it's the size of an olive. How can something that small cause so much havoc?! Acutally, I'm feeling pretty good. A little nausea here and there, but really not too bad.

My "K.A. Girls"

Last weekend, I attended the annual Christmas party with my college girlfriends (from left: Liz Boeve, me "Frego", Wendy Harkema "Kooiks", Cory Timmer, Beckham Schmidt "Buck", Tonia Gruppen "Bruins", and Jean Keggereis "Jeano"). The evening started at the hotel restaurant for a buffet of prime rib, walleye, salads and of course wine! Then we ventured to a Mc Fadden's for an evening of dancing. Even for a bunch of over 30's, we were true "Dancing Queens"! As always, we had a great time laughing, reminiscing, and catching up on each other's lives. I love my girls!

Christmas Tree and other views around the house

Putting up the Christmas tree was a bit more of a fiasco than normal at the Beckham house. First the star wouldn't stay straight and kept falling over, so we had to go to the store and buy a new one. Then half of the lights wouldn't work, so again, we had to go to the store for more! After all that, we were able to put up all the ribbons and ornaments and Sam had fun putting ornaments in the most ridiculous places. The tree is never as big as I want it to be and it's alwasy too big for Brian, so I guess we settled on a happy medium.

Pizza Night

Tonight we went to Jon and Jen's for pizza with the rest of the family...yum! The food was great, especially Jen's almond bar dessert. It was a little weird and sad though as our sweet Grandma Frego was missing from the get together. Earlier this week, she fell a badly broke her hip. On Wedn. she had surgery to repair the damage and on Saturday was transferred to Heritage Hill Nursing Home where she will be staying for approx. 1 month to start the rehabilitation process and physical therapy. We all know that it is best for her right now, but I know it was really hard on Grandpa that she wasn't there. It was the first time I can ever remember not seeing them together. They are just the cutest little couple and when I asked Grandpa what he wanted me to write down on his wish list for Christmas gifts he said, "I just want my wife to be home." Everytime he talks about her his eyes get all teared up and it really is just a beautiful testimony to how much they love eachother...still after 58 years.

Picking out the Christmas tree

Picking out the Christmas tree is an annual event for the Beckham family. We get a free ticket from Woodland Realty and have a great time at Teusink's Farm. It begins with everyone standing in the cold freezing while Sarah hees and haws over which would be the "perfect" tree to take home. This year we ended up taking home the first tree we looked at, but of course, I had to inspect several others before realizing it actually was the "right one". Then, head to the lodge for hot choco, hot cidar, and donut holes. Next, it's off to the Teusink barn to crawl through the hay maze (Sam did this with Uncle Alex) and then to pet all the barn animals (cows, pigs, goats, and rabbits). After this, Sam loves to head down to the pond area where he can hand feed the goats. Finally, we end the day with a family picture taken in a Christmas sleigh. The last 2 years, Jon and Jen and Mya have joined us and this year Mom and Dad and Alex came too. The only bad part about the day was that Sam was feeling really awful. He came down with a terrible cold (I think he caught mine). The poor guy was so exhausted that when we got home, he walked straight upstairs and put himself to bed. Somebody call Guiness! This is the same kid who has refused to nap since the day he was born! :) The rest of the day was spent decorating the house for Christmas and watching the first big snow fall of the year. It really put me in the Christmas mood!

Halloween

Sam was Thomas the Train for Halloween. What else did you expect?!! I took him to my school for the Halloween costume parade and I accompanied Thomas as Sir Topham Hat, the railway conductor for the Island of Sodor. Sam thought my costume was very cool, even though most people thought I was Abe Lincoln!

Our Chrisitan deer

I have no picture to go with this post, but on Friday afternoon, Brian shot a large doe. After proudly showing the deer off to Sam, he turned it over to expose the inside cavity which was absent of any internal organs. This seemed to surprise Sam because he wanted to know "Where is the deer's heart?". Brian tried to come up with an explanation to satisfy a 3 year old, but Sam was still disappointed and exclaimed, "But dad, I wanted to see Jesus!" Confused by this statement, Brian inquired a bit more and Sam explained that he wanted to see Jesus inside the deer's heart! Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever heard! I just about cried! He was so sincere and truly believes that Jesus literally lives inside our hearts. Don't you wish we could all have faith like a child? :)

Marathon Memories

Starting in August I began training for a 1/2 marathon. I heard a friend talking about the fact that she had been training for one and I just decided on the spot that I needed to do the same. Call me crazy but it's something I've always said was a "life goal" but I've never actually pursued it. So, I got on-line, found a 12-week training program and started running my buns off. I have to admit I really don't love to run, but once I started doing it, I really enjoyed the quiet time alone. The first couple of miles always stink, but after that it's just really peaceful and a good time for thinking and praying. So, on Sunday, October 28, 2007, I ran in the Grand Rapids Metro 2007 1/2 marathon. I achieved my goal to never stop running and I finished in 2 hours, 15 minutes, 44 seconds. It was a huge rush and a really big accomplishment for me. I'd like to do it again sometime, but I think I'll give my old body a break first.

Learning to Blog

I'm blaming this new blogging endeavor on Jen, my over-achiever sister-in-law! No, really I love her to death and I'm excited to try out blogging. I check her blog all the time to check up on my cutie patootie niece Mya and Jen promised me that it's really easy to make your own blog. So far, I think I'd have to agree. My hope is to use this site to document all our family adventures and to try and keep track of how fast Sam is growing up. I only wish I had started this when he was Mya's age. He's already 3 1/2 year old! I also hope to use this blog to help keep all our out-of-town Beckham family members up to speed on all of Superman Sam's crazy adventure and funny stories. He's a real ham! Guess I should probably wrap up this blog since it's currently 2:00 a.m.!! I get WAY more done once everyone's in bed. Only the important stuff though...like surfing the web and blogging! :)