Dance!

Sophia had her first dance recital. It was everything you could imagine a 3 year old dance recital to be. She even found time in the middle of the routine to pause and wave. :)

Here is the link to the video on you tube. Be patient with the black screen. The action doesn't get started until about 15 seconds into it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bQI2APYmN8

(Sophia starts out all the way on the right)

Toy Room!

Now that we are all moved in to our rental in Sandy, I focused my energy on the toy room. The fabric came from Ikea and I "no sewed" them into curtains. Fun huh?

We then bought vinyl rain gutters and turned them into bookshelves. (I totally copied it from another blog!) For $25....I love them!

BIRTHDAY BOY!!!

I can hardly believe it but Beckham is two today. :)

At two years old he...

• sleeps in his crib with two burp cloths
• LOVES basketball (and any other sport for that matter)
• is a huge daddy's boy
• is starting to talk more but still in speech therapy
• runs, jumps and climbs on everything
• often makes his body go "floppy" while wrestling
• has four teeth still trying to make their way into his mouth
• loves to watch High School Musical
• asks for a cookie or cereal (in sign language) about 10 times a day
• prefers juice to milk or water
• seems unusually strong for a two year old
• is very loving
• can maneuver my iphone better than most
• emulates his big sister

Here are a few pictures of our birthday bash we had yesterday. He is so much fun!

B's cousin Than came up from Vegas for the party. They had a great time playing together.

Grandma gave Beckham a poster of Jimmer and he paused the entire show to carefully study the poster. The love for basketball this kid shows is CRAZY!

Here is a group photo of all the party goers, with the exception of Nathaniel who opted out of the photo.

All fun and games until the pinata breaks.......! Once we finally busted the pinata open all the kids ran for the goodies and poor Beckham cried because his basketball was broken. It was pretty sad.

Thanks to Bakerella......here are our cake pops. :)

In honor of the birthday boy's love for cookies!

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate and we missed those of you back in Texas .

Long overdue.....

So I fell off the map for a few months.......nothing a night of insomnia can't change. :)

Some highlights of the past months:

*We are experiencing withdrawals from our home in Texas

*Due to chronic ear infections, Beckham got tubes in his ears.

*We built our first snowman (complete with potato head pieces)

*We have missed our friends

*I have learned the joys of Uggs

*Aaron has gotten back into running

*Loving being closer to Linda

*Sophia changes clothes 5 times a day and at least two of those changes consist of "ballerina" clothes

*Beckham has begun speech therapy

*We miss our family

*I have started laser hair removal

*Beckham has become COMPLETELY obsessed with basketball

*I have learned that five months in a furnished home is too long

*We have enjoyed going to the Gateway museum, the zoo, Thanksgiving point, Trafalga and am stoked for a season of water parks.

*We love being closer to family

*Beckham jumps off of anything and everything

*We read "how does a dinosaur go to school" 10 times a day

*I learned that Smiths is the same as Kroger

*Date night has seized to exist

*Therapeutic shopping has increased ;)

*Love being closer to a Naartjie store

I wish I could say that five months later we are settled and adjusted. However neither is true. We have a contract on our house in Texas!!! Hopefully the sale will happen and we will be moved into a permanent place, with our own belongings soon. The kids have adjusted great. Sophia asks about her friends often but is satisfied with my explanation of the distance. My heart often aches for the friendships and family relationships I left. I am optimistic that with a more permanent housing situation will bring an increase in my desire to find new friends.

I CAN DO HARD THINGS!!!

Park City

Aaron and I had a great weekend in Park City. Thanks Renee for keeping the kids.

You can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take the Texas out of the girl!

The day is fast approaching. In 13 days we will be leaving the proud state of Texas! I have lived here all of my life and am hesitant to leave its greatness! :) We are excited for the adventure and family that Utah will bring but sad to leave the friends, family, pride and hospitality of Texas.

Happy Halloween

We have so enjoyed our Halloween this year! Beckham was a crabby crab. He hated the costume! I just told people he was in character. Sophia had two costumes. A princess pirate and a turtle. In the words of Sophia..."Mom, I just change my mind a lot." :)

I CAN DO HARD THINGS....DAY 1

A few months ago I read a blog entry on the sullengers blog titled "I can do hard things". I loved the post and it has stuck with me. When I read the blog I did not realize how dependent on this phrase I would soon become.

Today has been a hard day. I have repeated this phrase in my head over and over. I hope I soon believe it.

I CAN DO HARD THINGS!

My gallbladder no longer loved its home inside my body. It decided to rebell and consequently caused me a lot of pain. As most of you know my diet is not always the healthiest and so........I probably used my gallbladder often. I lobbied for a gallbladder transplant but my efforts fell on deaf ears. I am a bit nervous about life without this organ. But like it or not, here I go.

Pirate Party!

(Let me first apologize for the underlining of this font. I cant seem to figure how to get it off. Yes, I have a college degree but yet can't seem to find the underline key on blogger.)

We had a party for Sophia's birthday. It was so much fun!!! Sophia requested a pirate themed party and it couldn't have been more perfect for her. Here are some of the party goers jumping the day away.

Arrrg Captain Max, Captain Jaxon and Captain Sophia!
Even Beckham joined the pinata fun. Look at that pinata. Whoever said pirates can't be pink?
Everyone enjoyed the cupcakes, especially Maddie. :)
This picture of Sophia makes my heart melt. This is why we had a party. For this amazingly beautiful, fun, happy little three year old.
Dressed to party! She is such a fun mini-me. :)
Cupcakes and cupcake toppers.
Rice krispy treat pirate popsicles. These turned out so cute. (Thanks for your help Lanni.)
We have been so blessed to have such great family and friends. We loved sharing the day with you. Thank you for loving my little pirate girl . :)

We are living the good life this summer. It is full of pools, never ending watermelon, friends and the occasional tackle!


Sophia and Beckham are good buddies. Beckham loves to climb all over a Sophia and the crawl or "frankenstein" away waiting for Sophia to catch him.
Here they are in their jammies posing for a photo op before bed.
Beckham walks around with a burp wrag in his mouth about 60 percent of the day. It is pretty darn cute :)
Sophia and Aaron "resting the couch" before bedtime.
Beckham loves to open his mouth wide and smash his face into any part of you that you will let him. Sophia kept letting him do it to her and then she would tell him (while shaking her finger) "No! No! eating people, Beckham!"

a little late...but here is our little man at one!

Wal-mart fun!

All work...no play!

We miss you, Aaron! Thanks for working so hard and providing so well for our family. :) You are an amazing husband, dad, friend and companion.

NEBER, NEBER, NEBER!!!!

Sophia has learned a new phrase to communicate her frustration. When Sophia does not want something to happen she says...

"I neber, neber, neber...eat my dinner."
"I neber, neber, neber...share my car."
"I neber, neber, neber...go night night."

It is hard to discipline because it is so darn funny. However something tells me when she is 5 and saying it then it might not be so cute. Right?


Beckham is doing great! Results from his MRI are in. The neurosurgeon says he is not sure what exactly the growth in B's brain is but at this point it is not causing any damage and does not appear to be problematic so...we will just wait. In another 6 months we will do another MRI to check the growth. Hopefully it will be the same and we will not have to take any action. :)

On a lighter note...we took new family photos a few months ago. Here are a few.

The good and the bad

Beckham took a little tumble last week and so we took him in to get his head checked out. After a couple hours in the ER the doctor told us that the cat scan revealed his head to be fine from the fall. However they did find (what appears to be) a cyst on his brain. In that moment time stood still. I can't explain the emotion we felt.
Sine then we have decided not to worry until we know more. (nice in theory, right?) :) next week he will go under general antesthesia for an MRI and then we will consult with a pediatric neurosurgeon.
Well, today my little guy pulled up for the first time!


And for that moment...my worries, concerns and fears vanished. I was just so excited for my little boy who is growing up.

Potty training...

Today is day five of potty trained and at 2 yrs and 6 months old. It is official this little lady is out of diapers. It is kind of bitter sweet. My little girl us not so little anymore.

Fo-hawk

My shopping buds!