The face

I know one day Beckett will probably want to kill me for sharing these but it is just too funny. He makes this face every time he has a poopy diaper, and I finally caught it on camera. Gross, I know...but funny too!

First Haircut

We did it...we trimmed the mullet! OK. Maybe mullet is a bit of an exaggeration, but Beckett was definitely working on something crazy in the back so we took him to a professional to take care of it. The lady who does my mom's hair (and actually used to cut my hair as a kid) offered to give our little man his first hair cut.

Considering he's only 8 months old, Beckett sat fairly still though I must confess I did a pretty good job of bribing him by letting him play with my earrings which are usually off limits. The haircut turned out a bit shorter than I imagined, and he looks so grown up now but handsome all the same. A big thank you to Sylvia for Beckett's handsome new do and for sending us home with a cute "first haircut" certificate and a few of his locks!

Before...

The new do!

There is nothing sweeter...

...than a sleeping baby.

Just had to share this picture of B napping in Char's car.

Family Reunion

Over the 4th of July weekend, the three of us traveled to Hannibal, MO (home of Mark Twain)for a family reunion with Sam's family. It was so much fun to see all of his relatives and introduce Beckett to his cousins. He is great-grandchild number 20 of 21.

We also celebrated his grandparents' 70th wedding anniversary and his grandfather's 90th birthday. How amazing is that?? They are absolutely wonderful people, and we are so lucky to have them! Here are some pics from our trip.


Gams and Pop's 70th anniversary celebration
(I love the way he is smiling at her!)

Beckett with Uncle Adam

Beckett, Gams, and Sam

Gams and Pop with the Cocke great grandkids

Beckett with his cousin Jack (only 3 weeks apart)

Sam with his brothers and dad

Waiting to board the boat for our dinner cruise

4 generations of Cockes

Beckett with his cousins, Andrew and Jack,

in the matching outfits Nana made

Gams and Pop's 21 great grandchildren

Sam with his first cousins

Beckett cuddling with Gams

Catching Up...Part 2

The month of June never seemed to slow down for us. The Saturday after I got back from Las Vegas Sam left to spend a week at a Young Life camp in Colorado called Frontier Ranch (i.e. Swine Flu Ranch).

I was sorry to miss camp this year, yet so grateful for the reason that kept me home! I think the only part of the trip I was really happy to miss was the 20 hour bus ride. But I was so excited that Sam was still able to go because I know that Frontier truly is one of the highlights of his year. They had a great time despite the swine flu breakout, and thankfully all of the germs were left at camp. Beckett and I stayed safe and healthy after Sam's return. Here are a few pics of his trip.

The Friday before Sam got back from camp was our 5th anniversary. I just can't believe it's been 5 years already. It's hard to even remember what life was like then when it was just the two of us in a little apartment. What did we do with all the free time we must have had??

Then...a lot more hair and a little less weight

Now...a lot less hair, a little more weight, and a sweet baby boy!

The next day was my dad's birthday and then Father's day on Sunday. Beckett and I spent the majority of Father's Day with my parents since Sam didn't get home from camp until that evening. I would say we celebrated Sam's first Father's Day, but that might be a bit of an exaggeration. He was so tired from his trip and still not feeling great so we ordered some take out and spent the evening at home. Beckett and I still owe him a day :) Sam is such a great, hands on dad, and Beckett is one lucky little boy! To see them interact just melts my heart. I always knew he would be a wonderful father, but seeing it in action is really indescribable.

Beckett with Grandpa on Father's Day

And that pretty much sums up the month of June for the Cockes. We just got back from a family reunion in Hannibal, Missouri and have no plans on traveling again anytime soon. Hallelujah!!

Swine Flu

I have to admit that I often roll my eyes at the way the media tends to over exaggerate things which causes people to freak out for no reason. I thought this when they first started talking about Hurricane Ike heading for Houston and had absolutely nothing in my hurricane survival kit. Truth be told, I don't even own a hurricane survival kit.

Sam and I kept making jokes about all the people stockpiling batteries, water, dry foods, etc. Only at the last minute did I decide to make a trip to the store to get a few things just in case. Little did I know that we would be without power for 4 days, living on the peanut butter crackers and juice boxes I picked up at the store...just in case.

You would think that after this experience I would have learned my lesson. Maybe the people on the news do occasionally speak the truth, and perhaps we should heed some of their warnings. But not the Cockes. We continue to roll our eyes at the hysteria they create.

That brings us to the current situation with the swine flu. I was so unconcerned about it that I traveled to Mexico, swine flu capital of the world, in the middle of a pandemic without a second thought. And sure enough I came back healthy, rested, and tan. So the thought that Sam might catch the swine flu at a camp in Colorado never even crossed my mind.

You see where I'm going with this? Believe it or not Sam, along with 60 other campers, came down with swine flu while at camp last week. The good news is that as long as you don't have respiratory problems like asthma, it is just a 24-hr flu with high fever and nausea. The bad news was that after not seeing Beckett for 9 days he wasn't able to hold him or touch him for another 48 hours after he got home.

We are all now healthy and happy again. But you can bet that the next time I see someone buying batteries before an approaching storm or boarding a plane to Mexico wearing a mask I will think twice before making a joke.

Catching Up...Part 1

Obviously it's been a while since the last post, and I know you are all on the edge of your seats wondering what the Cockes have been up to lately. Ha Ha! But it has been a very busy month for us hence the lack of posts.

At the end of May I ventured down to Cabo with some girlfriends of mine despite the crazy mania surrounding the swine flu. You will be glad to know that none of us got it (but more on that in another post). There were 7 of us girls who went, all moms desparately needing a break. Not really desparate so much but just excited for a little "me" time. And were we pampered! Our first night we had a chef come to the house to make us an unbelievable 4 course meal and then woke up the next morning to massages and pedicures. We spent most of our time lounging by the pool and one crazy night out on the town. Thanks to all of you for a fabulous time...when are we going again??

View from our room

The pool

The weekend after I got back from Cabo we got to meet our newest nephew, Jack, for the fist time. He is just 3 weeks younger than Beckett so it was fun to see the two of them together. Jack has the most beautiful blue eyes and can roll over much better than Beckett. Needless to say after seeing Jack's skills we realized we had some work to do with Beckett. Fortunately he is now rolling over nonstop. We had a BBQ at Nana and Papa's, and the boys got to swim in the pool. My little fish sure does love the water!

Jack

Beckett with Daddy

All of the Cocke boys (see why I've given up on the idea of a girl??)

Uncle Adam with Jack and Beckett

The week after I got back from Cabo I had to go to Vegas for our national sales meeting. I was hoping that working part time would make me exempt from these but no such luck. It was really hard leaving Beckett for 2 weeks in a row. But my mom and Norma stepped in to take great care of him. I'm sure he never even knew I was gone.

Our little Mozart practicing at Aunt Norma's

Playing in the pool Char bought him

So that's it for the first half of June...told you it was a busy month!!