Merry Christmas!

We had an absolutely fantastic Christmas filled with lots of presents, lots of food, and lots of family! We spent Christmas morning at our house with Sam's brother and his family...and I don't think anyone was out of their pajamas before 2:00. Perfect!

Santa was generous and didn't leave anyone out. Beckett was not really into opening his presents...AT ALL. In fact, when he went down for his nap Sam and I ended up unwrapping the ones he hadn't touched. I must admit that I was slightly disappointed though I was not surprised. But the good news is that Beckett did love what was inside the packages...and that's what matters, right?

It was so much fun for us to see him interact with his cousins, Andrew (6) and Jack (just 3 weeks younger than B). I forget how truly "magical" Christmas is for little kids, and I can't wait for the next ones when Beckett actually starts to understand it more, especially the real reason we celebrate.

We had Christmas dinner at the Cocke's house and then celebrated Christmas with my family once my sister and Chris got in town on Sunday. All-in-all a wonderful holiday!

P.S. We are happy to report that Santa did remember to get George a little something this year. Bless his heart...we were in newborn land last Christmas and totally forgot about him :(


Santa came!

A few of the few gifts he actually unwrapped

I love their expressions!

Boxes and ribbon...good times!

Jack and Beckett with their new tricycles from Nana and Papa

Breakfast fun

Notice all of the presents in the background...and what is he playing with? Aunt Jenny's cell phone.

Holiday Fun

Last week three of my favorite people let me tag along to ice skate with them on Christmas Eve . Sam and Beckett were there too...but only as observers this year. B has just mastered walking/running so we thought putting him on skates at this age would be a little ambitious.

I was so looking forward to this trip because the last time we went Maddie and I had to sit out since she was too young to skate. I had all of these visions of me pulling off some of my old moves spinning the girls around or trying to skate backwards while I balanced them skating forward.

But apparently my memories of be being a decent skater were extremely skewed. It was HARD WORK trying to stay on my feet and off of my bottom. Forget trying anything fancy. I think we lasted about 30 minutes or so on the ice...and trust me...that was plenty!

Thanks for letting me tag along...I really did have so much fun with you girls!!


Me with Makenzie


Me with Madison


Kacy and Maddie

Kacy and her girls

Me with my biggest fan!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas! I absolutely love this time of year for so many reasons. First and foremost because we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior. And secondly because this time of year revolves so much around spending time with family and friends. Oh...and of course all of the yummy Christmas treats too!

I must admit that for the first time in the 5-year history of the Cocke Family we had our tree and decorations up before Thanksgiving. Normally I'm very anti super early decorating. I mean I usually wait until at least the Friday after Thanksgiving :) But it was so nice to come home from our trip to Austin to a clean, fully decorated house.

Beckett has definitely been intrigued by the Christmas tree although he has done a pretty good job of leaving most of the ornaments alone...not an easy task for a busy guy his age.

I am beside myself with excitement for Christmas morning when I'm sure Santa will make a rather large delivery to our house...for Beckett has certainly been a good boy this yea!. But I'm fairly confident that his favorite gift will also be the least expensive one...a real phone I found at Target for $5.99. I know that sounds like a random gift, but the child is obsessed with phones and remote controls. Make that REAL phones and WORKING remote controls. One might think that all we do in front of him is talk on the phone or flip through TV channels, but let me assure you that is not the case. It is just his "thing" right now...and it's really kind of cute.

So here are a few pics of the Cockes in the holiday spirit. Beckett and his friend Addison went to the Little Bethlehem event at our church a few weeks ago so there are pics of that too.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Turkey Day

We spent this Thanksgiving with Sam's family at his cousin's house just outside of Austin. It was so much fun to spend the holiday with this group because we only get to see them every couple of years. Beckett loved getting to play with all of his cousins and stayed up way past his normal bedtime!

The food was delicious, and we definitely ate too much. Believe it or not I had a hard time getting Beckett to try most of it. I'm not sure if he was just overwhelmed by all of the people or all of the food. He settled for a cereal bar and a few jars of baby food instead. Regardless, we had a wonderful time and can't wait for the next Cocke Family Reunion!


Beckett with Emma and Caroline


Emma and Beckett


Caroline, Emma and Beckett

Winding down with Uncle Adam, Elizabeth and Caroline

Sweet Tooth

I'm afraid Beckett has inherited my love of chocolate chip cookies. Thank goodness for Resolve because he enjoyed this treat on our carpet...and it showed!

Lions, and tigers, and bears...

Oh my! My mom and I took Beckett to the zoo for the first time during Thanksgiving break. He loved the big animals, especially the giraffes, but he wasn't a huge fan of the smaller animals. He lasted much longer than I thought he would, and the 3 of us really had a great time.

We went to lunch before we headed down to the zoo, and I ordered Beckett his first ever kids meal. We went to Firehouse subs so Beckett's grilled cheese came with a complimentary fireman's hat. He thinks he is hot stuff in his new hat and is actually doing very well with table food. Of course who doesn't love grilled cheese?

And just in case you can't tell by the pictures...Beckett also really loves his Char!!!

12-month stats and pics

Obviously these are about a month overdue, but Beckett did great at his 1-year check-up. I must admit it was a little nostalgic for me taking him in for this appointment when I read the sign on the newborn waiting area and realized that he no longer qualifies. He's officially a big boy now and gets to wait in the big waiting room. Truthfully, I'm most disappointed about this because of the germ factor...but what can you do??

Anyway, his stats and a few of his 1-year pics are below. A huge thank you to Rachel for taking these shots. Of all the days Beckett could choose to skip his second nap he chose picture day. Go figure! But Rachel was so patient and got some great shots!

Weight: 24 lbs, 1 ounce (75-90%)
Height: 31.5 inches (90-95%)
Head circumference: 18.5 inches (50-75%)

I love this last shot of my two boys!!

Halloween

This was Beckett's first Halloween, and he didn't quite know what to make of his costume. I originally bought a super cute dinosaur costume a month or two before Halloween thinking surely it would fit. But to my surprise the costume was too small by the time Halloween rolled around...how does that happen?? Luckily I was able to find a dalmatian costume at the last minute. It was also a little small, but we made it work. And I don't think I've ever seen a cuter dalmatian...although I might be a little partial :)

We spent the morning of Halloween at Macie's 2nd birthday party. Beckett loved the bounce house once the big kids cleared out! Since he was too young to trick-or-treat that night we just dressed him up and let him hand out candy with us until it was bedtime. All-in-all a great day!

Fall Fun

I realize that pumpkin patches and Thanksgiving have come and gone, and somewhere in the midst of all of the busyness this time of year brings I've gotten very behind with our pictures.

We enjoyed some really great weather this fall, and Beckett had so much fun exploring the pumpkins at the pumpkin patch at our church. We went at least 3 times...maybe more because the weather really was that great. He was not yet walking which made picture taking significantly easier than it is now. And he had fun watching his friend, Addison, run around everywhere and scope things out.

Here are a few picks of our little guy enjoying some fall fun!