Samuel's 5 year pics

I finally got around to getting my handsome little man's 5 year pictures done. Less than 2 weeks and he'll be in kindergarten! :( Mama is feeling a little bittersweet about all these changes. It's fun to watch him learn and grow, but it's hard to swallow that he's growing up so fast and is less and less dependent on me. I'm very proud of the caring and crazy little man that he's growing up to be.

Holy Produce!

Doesn't the bible say "you reap what you sow?" Well we're reaping!!
We're not sure what to do with all these veggies! This is what we gather every 2-3 days. I'm trying out lots of new salsa recipes!

Sam LOVES to check on his plants daily and pick tomatoes. Most of them don't make it back in the house because he eats them all!

This year we planted corn, cantelope, cucumbers, green beans, lettuce, carrots, green peppers, and 4 different varieties of tomatoes.

Yum! I love crunchy homegrown carrots!

Go Fish!

At our church carnival tonight, Sam won his first goldfish. He was SO excited and on the way home proudly announced that his new friend had a name...."Thomas"...imagine that! :) At bedtime he begged me to let him keep Thomas in his bedroom. Of course, I caved in and thought he could handle it. Not even 10 minutes after leaving his bedoom, a very sad little boy with big alligator tears came downstairs and admitted that he accidently washed Thomas down the sink! Brian and I had to bite our lips to not burst out laughing, but he was genuinely so sad. Sam learns the hard way AGAIN.

Carter & Owen's 1st Birthday Party!

On Sunday evening, the Beckhams, Fregos and Kleinheksel families got together to celebrate the 1 year birthdays of Carter & Owen! We planned to have the party outside so Sam & Mya could run around and jump on the tramp, but the weather was looking ominous, so we moved everything inside and opened presents...





Things were getting a little crazy inside and weather looked like it might hold off, so we moved the party back outside for the fun part...CAKE!!!

We put these silly party hats on the boys and surprisingly, they didn't take them off. Instead, they just stared at each other with the funniest looks on their faces!


Both boys love their doggies, so we had to get them a dog themed cake!

Happy Birthday to you! (I have no idea why this picture is appearing sideways??)


Here comes the best part...both boys got crazy with the blue frosting! It was hilarious!






Uncle Jon thought it would be fun to let them try ice cream too...what a mess!
And just as fast as the fun began, things quickly turned south and both boys started having a meltdown. :(


Time for bottles and then we hosed them both down in the bathtub and the party was over. It was a whirlwind 2 hours, but a great time for all!

We love you Carter & Owen! We hope you grow up to be best buddies!

The Climber Strikes Again!

So I bought these fabulous IKEA storage shelves and tubs last year before Carter was born. I love how they help to keep everything organized in the toy room and allow for some floor space instead junk all over the floor. I thought I had discovered the perfect storage solution until today...



Now what do I do?!! Any ideas?

Carter's 1 year Checkup

Even though Carter turned 1 on July 16, he just had his 1 year check up this past week. Everything checked out great and he had the nurses oogling over him as he kept smiling and waving at everyone. He was a real flirt until they held him down and gave him 4 big pokes in the thighs. :( He didn't cry long, but after that he refused to look at the nurses and would immediately start bawling if they even looked in his direction.

Weight= 21 lb, 5 oz (25%)
Height= 30 3/4 inches (75%)
Head= 46.8 cm (50%)
(His stats are still almost exactly the same as Sam's at the same age. So even though he's a bit of a light weight now, I'm not too worried because Sam is now in the 90% for his age! Both boys are already eating my cupboards dry!)


Carter is such an active and curious little guy. I'm pretty sure if you look up "busy" in the dictionary, there will be a picture of him posted right next to it! He really doesn't play with toys, instead he just explores the house all day and is even starting to climb on furniture and chairs! Here's a pretty funny example of what it's like living with Carter...Yesterday while I was cleaning up breakfast, he first dumped over the entire garbage can. Coffee grinds went flying all over the floor. So, while I was attempting to clean that up, he went wandering off into our bedroom (I forgot to close the door AGAIN) and he dumped over Murphy's full water bowl (this happens at least twice a day). As I ran to clean up the water mess, he ran into the bathroom. Samuel had just finished having a #2 and hadn't yet flushed. Carter ran straight to the toilet, threw his Elmo phone in and then as soon as he saw me running toward him, quickly started splashing his hands in all the poo! Disgusting! Mind you, this all literally happened in less than 2 minutes!




He's also able to scale the stairs in about 20 seconds or less and is starting to figure out how to get back down on his own (luckily he seems to have a little fear of doing it without me right next to him...phew!) Let's see, what else? He waves bye-bye, does "so big", says "dada", "hot", and sometimes "mama". He loves to bark like a dog and lately has been making the cutest monkey sound.


Turning one has also brought on a new spirit of independence...basically that's the nice way of saying he likes to have his own way and throws a temper tantrum when we take something away or tell him "no". He screams at the top of his lungs and throws a pretty good fit. I'm hoping this phase doesn't last long?!

Now, I don't want to end on a negative because he's really a very happy, silly & curious little boy. So, to end, here's a pic of him "jumping" on the tramp. (I call it his outdoor play pen...I can actually water all the flowers around the house while he runs wild around the tramp and literally bounces off the walls!)


Carter, you are such a joyful, happy, and spunky little guy! You are so much fun and we love watching you grow and learn everyday. I love your crazy mullet curls, your big blue eyes, your goofy 6 tooth grin, & wet open mouth kisses! Our familiy is so much more complete now that you've been here for one whole year! We love you to pieces!
Love,
Mama, Dada, & Sammy

The next Paul Hamm or Tiger Woods?

Last week Sam finished up his gymnastics lessons and he did a great job! He didn't seem as excited about it as he was about playing t-ball, but it was a great way to channel some of his energy into something fun and playful!









Then on Sunday afternoon, I took the boys to Craig's Cruisers so Sam and I could play mini-golf for the first time. He was so excited and actually did a pretty good job! He even beat me on a couple of holes!


Of course, he convinced me to let me him try the race car too. How can I resist that cute face?!