Happy 4th!

Thank goodness for some sunshine! After a few days of rain we were so glad to be able to play outside yesterday. We had a fun day with our friends...a good old fashioned BBQ, a slip-n-slide, and some fireworks. Summer days don't get much better than that.

Beckett had lots of fun splashing around with his friends! The water table and slip-n-slide were definitely a hit.

Here are the Eckerts posing with my festive 4th of July desert.

After some fun in the water we headed out to our new favorite spot to watch fireworks. It was perfect because there was lots of room for the kiddos to run around! Unfortunately poor Beckett was feeling lousy by this time of night. I can't say I blame him seeing as how it was well past his bedtime. He ended up falling asleep on me at the end...just like when he was a baby. Oh how I miss those cuddly days! Poor guy went to be that night with 102 fever. But other than that it was a really great day!

Uncle Adam making fun of B

Mommy and B

Family shot

Sleepy boy

Bun in the oven

Well, muffins actually. Don't let the title fool you. There's not a new little Cocke on the way...just a few pics of B and his newest fascination...whatever is baking in the oven. Our little guy loves him some mussies (i.e. muffins).

Pump It Up and Pizza

A day with Aunt Norma and Char doesn't get much better than this!

18 Months

Dear Beckett,

I know I say this every time, but where does the time go?? You are growing up much too fast and changing more and more every day. Although this letter is about 2 months late, you have been doing many of these things for a while now.

At 18 months here are your stats.
Weight: 27 lbs, 9 oz (50-75%)
Height: 34.25 inches (90-95%)

You have such a sweet temperament and love to laugh...at yourself and others. You have really found your voice and have more words than I can count. You have also started stringing words together to form small sentences. It is becoming much easier for us to understand what you are asking for and hopefully less frustrating for you as you learn to communicate.

Here are some of our favorites:

• "Nasty" - You say this any time you pick up something off the floor, touch the trash can or diaper pail, or anytime you come in contact with something wet or sticky. I'm not really sure where you picked up the word "nasty" but at least you are using it correctly.
• "Bless You" - You absolutely love to be the first to bless someone when they sneeze, and you've even started blessing yourself before you sneeze these days...I guess you can feel it coming on.
• "Uh-oh" - This one is cute no matter how you use it. You love to throw your cup/snack/whatever you are holding on the floor and then say "uh-oh cup/snack/whatever". We are trying very hard to teach you that it isn't an "uh-oh" if you do it intentionally, but for now you choose to believe otherwise.
• "It's broke" - You are such a sharp little boy! You love to ask us to turn on the lamps for you. At Char's house there was a lamp whose bulb burned out so she told it is broken. You now go up to all of our lamps, point to them, and say "it's broke" until we turn them on to prove you wrong. I thought you didn't quite get the concept of "broken" until you pointed to one of our lamps the other day, said "it's broke", and your daddy informed me that the bulb had actually burnt out.
• "I love you" - This is a very new development but one that melts my heart each and every time you say it...especially when you add my name on to the end of it! I will never, ever tire of hearing you say "I love you, Mommy!"
• "Bye-Bye" - You have been waiving and saying "bye-bye" for a while now which has always been cute. Recently though you've started saying "bye" to anything you think of whenever we leave. When we leave the house you say good-bye to the house, the dog, your toys, daddy's car, Elmo, anything you can think of. As we were leaving lunch at Chick-fil-A today you even said goodbye to your ice cream. And not to embarrass you...but when we change your dirty diapers you often also say "bye-bye poo-poo."
  

You are also fascinated by sports these days and are learning to distinguish between golf, baseball, and soccer. Of course this makes your daddy very proud! The World Cup has been on TV lately so you've spent a lot of time with Daddy watching soccer (pronounced by you as saucer), practicing your golf swing, and shooting hoops.

You are a busy bee and seem to go 90 miles an hour all day long...no wonder you are such a great napper! We couldn't have asked for or dreamed up a more perfect little boy than the one you are becoming. It is such joy for us to watch you learn and grow.

We love you bunches, Sweet B!!

Busy and Stressful

That pretty much sums up the last two months for us!

We started off May with my sister's wedding on the 8th followed by Mother's Day on the 9th. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and if I do say so myself I think Jen was just stunning! We have been in baby mode for so long with our friends that I forgot how much fun wedding season is...although I must admit I don't feel quite as young as I used to...all of the festivities wore me out...in a good way :)

Beckett didn't make it to the rehearsal dinner, but he held his own at the reception and made it until 11:00...we couldn't believe it! Here are a couple of pics or our little man showing off his sophisticated dance moves (ignore the paci...we were desperate to keep him happy at this point in the night.)





We spent Mother's Day recovering from the wedding festivities, but Beckett and Sam did take me to eat at Chuy's. Nothing says "I love you Mom" like some creamy jalapeno!

Then life got stressful. My job share partner quit in early May, and a week later my company announced they would be laying off 28% of the sales force but not announcing it for another month...seriously?!?!?

Luckily I did survive the layoff, but I am still having trouble finding a job share partner. If I can't find a replacement by August 15th I will have to go back full time...something I am absolutely dreading...but we'll make it work if we have to. So for now the stress continues...

The rest of May and June were spent doing lots of fun things indoors since it is so darn hot in Houston. We also managed to celebrate our 6th anniversary, Father's Day and my dad's birthday in one weekend. Needless to say things have not been dull around here.

Anyway...enough of my rambling and on to the pictures. And yes, Beckett's shirt does say "Dude, your girlfriend keeps checking me out." Don't ask...it was an impulse buy at Walgreens because we needed a blue and gold shirt for a Klein basketball game a few months ago.


One of his new favorite past times...walking around in Daddy's shoes

Vegging on the couch watching sports...or maybe Sesame Street

Another favorite past time...raiding our closet while we are trying to get dressed

Happy Birthday, BaBa!

Such an old soul...reading the newspaper at Char's...all he needs is his sippy cup filled with coffee

Enjoying a game of indoor hoops with BaBa

Table Manners

They're a work in progress...

...but at least we have George on standby to clean/lick it up!

Apology and Update

I've been informed that once again I've become a bad blogger. I admit that I am clearly guilty of neglecting the blog, seeing as how my last post was 3 months ago. So forgive me, and don't give up on the blog yet.

The past 3 months have been filled with lots of fun, a few trips as well as out-of-town visitors, and unfortunately not too many pictures. That is definitely something I need to work on so check back in the next week or so and I'll try to get some more recent pictures up.

Beckett continues to be a huge fan of the outdoors and would spend all day outside if we would let him. We've moved his baseball tee and bat outside because he was becoming a little too destructive with it inside. The boy can swing!

He also continues to be a very good "helper" around the house and outside. We finally got B a kid sized broom and mop set, and he hardly ever puts them down. I'm seriously considering squirting some cleaning solution on the bottom of the mop and letting him go to town. Now if only I could get him to develop a love for cleaning bathrooms I could do without my cleaning lady :)

Enjoy a few pics of the not-so-little guy and stay tuned for more frequent updates.

He looks way too grown up in this picture...maybe just the angle of the picture??