The Beckham's Blog

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

We finally got our family pictures taken! I've been wanting to do it for a long time, but I hate getting my picture taken and the thought of picking out outfits for the whole family and getting everyone ready and out the door still smiling makes me really anxious. Well, I finally set the date and everything went off without a hitch! We had a great time with Amanda Potts, our photographer, and she had creative ideas for backgrounds and locations. Carter was his usual wiggly self so getting a good shot with him actually looking at the camera AND smiling was nearly impossible, but here's a few of my favorites.

(Probably more pics to come because Amanda's still editing!)

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Millennium Park Fun

Thursday the boys and I ventured to Grand Rapids to Millennium Park to meet Cory and Bruins (Tonia) and all their girls. What a riot! The place was beautiful and had a HUGE splash pad and a beach and swimming lake. The boys had a blast and especially loved the splash pad. I enjoyed just sitting in the sun with my chicas while watching the kids run themselves silly. Good times!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

From Sadness to Joy

Today was quite a day. First we figured out that Carter has strep throat which explains why he hasn't been eating or drinking for two days and is very crabby. He was stung by a bee on Sunday night and within 2 hours he had a full blown fever, but apparently the sting did not cause the fever. Weird. Hopefully my sad baby will be feeling better soon.

Now on to the real reason for this post...to share what happened at our house tonight. Just before dinner, Sam came running into the house with a HUGE smile on his face yelling, "Mom & Dad...come here! You've gotta see this!" Brian and I both ran outside to find our neighbor lady and her grandson (Sam's new best buddy) standing at our front door with a shoebox. Inside was a washcloth with something wrapped inside of it. The neighbor lady was giving me one of those looks like "help me" and handed me the box saying, "The boys found it in our backyard. I have no idea what it is or how it got there." Tentatively, I pulled back the washcloth to find a freaky looking baby animal...very new born...no hair....kind of alienish looking...and clearly suffering. You get the picture. Then Sam announces, "Mom! It's a baby puppy!"

And that's when I realized this was not going to be a fun conversation. At all.

Three adults stood staring at each other blankly waiting for someone to say something intelligent. Thankfully, Brian took over and did an nice job explaining to the boys that this "puppy" was not going to live and that the kind thing to do was to help it go to sleep...forever. Then I took two very sad and reluctant boys inside while Brian took care of business and buried it.

Backtrack...A few months ago, our favorite next door neighbor, "Neighbor Eddie" died from cancer. Sam and Eddie were best buddies and spent many hours just tooling around Eddie's yard. After his death, Sam didn't show much emotion, so I was surprised when tonight he started crying when he realized the puppy was going to die. I hugged him and reiterated Brian's wise words and after a few minutes thought he was okay. I started making dinner and Sam walked in and said, "Mom, I think I just need a few minutes alone." Then he went upstairs in his room and I could hear him balling. It was heart wrenching and of course, I started crying too and wanted to run in and rescue him, but I didn't. I think it was an important moment for him to grieve alone. Shortly thereafter he came down and seemed fine and never mentioned that he had been crying. I gave him another hug and told him I was proud of him for rescuing the puppy and being brave to do the right thing.

Now, on to the happy part of this story. Dinner was a little somber, but as we finished up, there was a knock on the door. It was the UPS man! Who doesn't love the UPS man?! Especially when he's delivering a Langejans's guitar!!!!! My hardworking husband has been faithfully saving his pennies (and dollars) for well over a year now, including birthday and Christmas money, to purchase a guitar. He has diligently been checking Craigslist and Ebay everyday looking and waiting for the moment when he could purchase the beloved "one". Normally I'm not a big proponent of costly "want" purchases over "need" purchases, but this man deserves it! I am so proud of how hard he works for our family. This past year, he was been working over 70 hours a week between two jobs and he is often exhausted both physically and mentally. But, he never makes any excuses and always makes time for us...his family. So, I was genuinely very excited when he bid on this guitar and won!

He says he wasn't kissing it in this picture, but I'm not so sure!

Not only was Brian super excited about this moment, but the big cardboard box that the guitar came in provided a great distraction for Sam. He and his neighbor buddy spent the rest of the evening climbing in and out of the box and decorating it into a rocket. I often wonder why I buy toys when a big ole cardboard box equals HOURS of fun and creativity?!

From sadness to joy...Lord you are good!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Superman Sam

Six years ago when Sam was born, we often referred to him as Superman Sam. Despite all the obstacles that came his way, he always seem to fly through them without any problems. We are fully aware that not everyone who has a child with health issues has a success story and it is with a grateful heart that we give God all the glory for guiding Sam (and us) through those scary times. He has done an amazing work in our little boy's life. And continues to do so! (So take that you stupid doctor who told us to consider an abortion!) While we realize that sports may not be a big part of Sam's life in the future (we're taking it one year at a time) I take so much joy in watching him participate now and succeed in things that we never imagined he would be able to do. Honestly, I imagined it, but I didn't let myself get too hopeful because most of the doctors told us not to bank on it. As former athletes, this was hard news for Brian and I to swallow, but in time we realized how UNimportant sports are when it comes to the overall health and well-being of your child. Whether or not our boys play sports is not our priority as parents. We want them to grow up to be God honoring, family honoring men. If they play sports, then I pray they will give God the glory for giving them bodies that are able to do so. This summer, Sam has used his little body to its fullest...running around with the neighborhood boys, jumping on the tramp, climbing trees, swimming, playing t-ball, and today he finished up 3 weeks of tennis lessons which was preceded by 2 weeks of swimming lessons. And he hasn't slowed down yet...

Swim Lessons

Tennis Lessons

Hooping it with the neighborhood boys

Keep it up Sam! Mom and Dad love watching you grow up and we are so proud of you!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Baldwin Oaks Camping

A few weeks ago, the Timmer Family joined us at Baldwin Oaks for a weekend of camping. We all had a riot! The kids played HARD...riding bikes, swimming, playing at the playground and just ramming around getting dirty and eating lots of food. The adults pretty much had it made...lots of sitting around relaxing, sipping cool drinks and just watching the kids from our campsite....well, except for chasing Carter and keeping him from jumping in the firepit! On the second night the Gruppens joined us and added to the fun. Oh, and there might have been a late night "Girls Only" T.P.-ing episode in the metropolis of Hudsonville...the but that's a story for another day. :)