Look at me go!

TV Fire and Carter's 7 months

Carter..7 months old

It's been another crazy weekend around here. Friday began with our TV starting on FIRE...no joke! We're still not sure how it happened (although I like to tease Brian that it's very convenient that it occurred while I was at work and he just happened to be looking at TV's on internet a few days ago!) According to Brian, the story is he turned on the TV, heard a crackling/popping noise and saw smoke coming out of the back of the TV. He ripped off the back panel off and saw 2 small fires which he unsuccessfully tried to blow out! Then he attempted to use the fire extenguisher, which he quickly discovered DOES NOT work! So, he resorted to throwing an entire glass of water into the back of the TV! Got the fire out, but needless to say, we spent all of Friday evening and most of Saturday searching for a new TV. Happy Valentine's Day! :) We eventually found one and so far love it, especially the LCD feature which eliminates that annoying glare from the sunlight. Brian used to shut the blinds and cover all the windows with blankets in order to watch TV...not anymore! :) Also, the new flat screen creates more room in our crowded little livingroom...yeah! The downside... there goes most of our tax return money. It's a blessing though that we had the extra money to spend.
Sam playing Wi baseball on the new TV

Other than that, Carter turns 7 months old tomorrow. Friday night, after all the chaos from the fire and spending the entire evening shopping for a new one, I had just settled down to relax with a nice glass of wine when I heard a strange banging noise coming from Carter's baby monitor. The picture below shows what I discovered!

Yep, our little mover and a shaker was STANDING up in his crib! It freaked me out and I made Brian lower the mattress immediately. We sure do love this little guy, but he's already a handful. I have to shut all the doors in the house, close the baby gates to the stairs and keep a constant eye on him because he's crawling all over and pulling himself up on the furniture too. He's also starting to babble and say "da da da". Mostly, he just brings us tons of joy with his melt-your-heart smile and contagious laughter.

Carter pulling himself up on the couch

My favorite boys

Changes

It seems that our family it going through lots of changes right now. First, Carter is cruisin' all over the place and getting into everything! The babying proofing process is in high gear as Carter loves to crawl all over the house and get into wires, cords, and all Sam's toys. Sam has lots of little gadgets that are potential choking hazards for Carter so protecting him from that has been an on-going battle. Luckily, I have a big helper named Sam! He is quite protective... for example, the other day I caught him picking up Carter by his heels and dragging him backwards across the livingroom floor (at a fast rate) in order to prevent Carter from crawling into the TV console! We had a little chat about asking for help! :) The cutest thing is that the boys are starting to interact more and even play together a bit. Sam pushes his big trains around the house and Carter comes squealing after him. Here's a few pics of our newest troublemaker... The second big change is that Brian has accepted a position as a part-time worship leader at Maranatha Church (ie. "the ski-slope church")! He has a real passion for praise and worship music and being able to use his talents to serve this church is a big answer to prayer. Many doors have been opening for him over the past year which have led up to this opportunity and we feel this is where God is leading our family. It's scary though because we love our current church and I'm not a big fan of change. However, I'm trying to trust that God will work this all out for our good. Other than that, Carter had his 6 month doctor's appointment this week. He checked out good...16 1/2 lbs.(25%), 27 1/2 inches (75%)...long and lean, just like his daddy. I checked Sam's babybook and they are EXACTLY the same at this age! The only bad part was Carter already had a nasty cold/cough and then on top of that, they gave him the 3 big pokes for his immunizations. I hate those darn shots! Oh, and we had to sign Samuel up for kindergarten! I am in denial that he's going to be 5 years old in less than 2 months, even though he won't let me forget it. "Mom, I'm almost 5 years old, you know!" Why can't they just stay little forever?
My skinny little guy (I promise he eats likes a champ!)

Carter's first Thomas Train...Will the obsession continue? Aren't I cute in my Sunday best?

The boys first bath together(don't worry, I only let Sam hold him for the picture!)

Best buddies...watching cartoons together.

Preschool Homework

We had our first taste of doing "homework" at the Beckham household.(yes, homework in preschool!) Sam was so excited to get his first assignment and then about 3 minutes into it, he decided it was "too boring". Gotta love that pouty face!

He really does not like to color with crayons and this required all coloring! I wasn't expecting a battle with our FIRST assignment and I'm really hoping this isn't a foreshadow of what's to come in future years! Hopefully he won't take after his dad or Uncle Jon because I'm pretty sure they never did homework! :)

After giving him the option to turn it unfinished and explain to his teacher that it was "too boring", he quickly changed his attitude and finished with gusto! He was very proud of the final product!

Sunday Afternoons

Sunday afternoons are my favorite part of the week! During the week, I'm always teaching in the afternoons and Saturday we're usually out and about, so Sunday afternoons are my only opportunity to have uninterrupted time to myself. Today Brian is ice fishing in Hamilton with a buddy and I finally timed it right and got both boys to sleep at the same time! Yahoo! So, here's hoping they both nap for a LONG time because I want to update the blog, finish my lesson plans, finish my bible study lessons for tonight's small group, and maybe do a load of laundry...on second thought, that can wait!


Carter is really scooting around lately. Not officially crawling, but he's a very determined little guy. Sam's loving it...probably because it means Carter is one step closer to being able to wrestle. :)


Carter loves to listen to Brian sing and play the guitar.

They're Only Little Once

Carter at 6 months
I can't believe how quickly my boys are growing up! Samuel had his first school play the other day and Carter turned 6 months yesterday! A girlfriend of mine has an index card in her kitchen window that says "They're Only Little Once"...a reminder to be patient during those times when they're driving you nuts, but also to take time to enjoy each stage of thier childhood because it only happens once. I've been thinking about that often and trying to spend more time enjoying my boys and less time doing trivial things that don't matter like Facebook, blog surfing, etc. (not to say that I'm not going to continue checking those things! but I'm just trying to monitor my time a bit more carefully and be more intentional with my kids). There's also a song on the radio that's been convicting me lately too called "One Life"...
You only get one shot at this,
One chance, To find out, The one thing that you don't wanna miss,
One day when its all said and done
I hope you see that it was enough,
This one ride, One try, One life, To love.

So...anyhow, I'm trying to make more of an effort this year to love on all my boys more (Brian included), to not let the little things bother me so much, and to use my time more wisely to honor God and my family.

Here's some pics from the last few weeks... Sam's preschool class performing a rescheduled Christmas play (due to bad weather). Sam was the innkeeper (cutest innkeeper ever!) Sam's preschool classmates. The girls were SO cute in their Christmas dresses...good thing I don't have a girl or we'd go broke! Carter sitting in his big boy highchair eating a cracker. He's also moved on to enjoying all the orange veggies (sweet potatoes, squash and carrots) Don't I look like my daddy? Look at me mom! I'm sitting up all by myself! This is how I found Sam sleeping in his bed the other night! Sam reading books to Carter...What a good big brother!

This video shows Carter army scooting across the floor! I really didn't want him to start crawling until MUCH later, but I don't think I'm going to win that battle. :(


This video shows the craziness of having 2 boys! Carter often finds Sam hilarious (for no reason at all) and starts screaming and gets very wild. I think I'm going to have my hands full with 2 very active little boys!

Christmas 2008 & Happy New Year!

Happy 2009! We made it home from our trip to Tennessee to visit Brian's family just in time to celebrate the New Year with friends. Overall, I have to say that this holiday season was one of my favorites! We had lots of parties to attend, but they were spaced out one each weekend, so things didn't feel as crazy as usual. We love spending time with our friends and family! Sam experienced his 2nd airplane ride and it was Carter's first as we traveled to Tennessee to visit Papa Sonny and Grandma Ellen at their new home. We loved the WARM weather, great food, nice gifts and fun times with Grandma, Grandpa, JoJo, "Gumby",Great-Grandma, and the cats (hopefully they've recovered from Sam's torturing). The slide show captures some of our fun holiday moments.

Other than that, Carter is officially rolling back-to-front and vice versa. He likes to scoot all over the place and is starting to sit up all by himself. He's eatting rice cereal and oatmeal like a pro and today I introduced him to sweet potatoes...not a hit! I guess we'll just keep trying. Also, I went to town on the playroom and reorganized/purged to make room for all the new toys! Thank you to everyone who spoiled my children! We are very blessed and wish you and your family the best for a fabulous 2009!