-Happy Easter-

Happy Happy Easter! 

What great memories were made this weekend! Drew & I headed to Rome for two days to help my dad move some items to his new office location. While we were there my mom and I took John Brady to Lavender Mountain to see the little chicks, ducks and bunnies. This year he was really into it. He liked it last year...but this year he held all the little cuties and did not want to leave. At one point I thought we were going to be leaving there with a little bunny. 

 Our fam and my parents drove back to our house in Birmingham for the remainder of the weekend for our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. Myself, along with a few other neighbors organized our first annual Egg Hunt for the Hamptons. We had a visit from the ice cream truck, which was a huge hit. John Brady had his first ice cream sandwich...he was a fan! 

 

On Easter Sunday we had a brunch at our house with my family and enjoyed family time. The boys had a visit from the Easter bunny and loved all the goodies in their baskets. I am so thankful to have spent this beautiful weekend with those I love the most. I know I wont ever forget watching my parents help John Brady hunt eggs and pick out his ice cream from the ice cream truck. Thankful! 

 

Beckett @ 9 months

Our not so little boy is 9 months young. I have no clue where 9 months have gone. Beckett is crawling well and pulling up. He is able to stand holding on to things or someone. He is over his excersaucer and not a fan of the walker. He currently has 8 teeth and a beautiful smile. 

He can say dada and nana pretty much on command and claps and  we are workin on waiving and touchdown..oh and "mama" of course ;)

Beckett weighed in at 26lbs at his check up which is over 100%...shocking and 31 inches long...also the 100%. So...as of now I have two tall boys. 

Beckett loves Mickey and putting everything in his mouth. He isn't as into books as John Brady was at this age..perhaps that is coming. He wants to walk and talk so bad...he chases JB as quick as he can crawling. He enjoys to eat most foods and doesn't turn down much...so hopefully another good eater. 

He currently takes 2 naps a day and sleeps 12 hours at night. He wakes up around 6:45 -7:00 and goes to bed at 7. He loves his bath time and unlike pretty much every kid I know...is not a fan of riding in the car. He is such a sweet, loving, perfect little boy. He loves his mama :) and I don't mind that. He is settling in his new house, time zone and routine quite well. Yay and happy 9 months Beck! Mommy and Daddy love you
 bunches!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Today we went to Phipps Plaza in Buckhead to visit with Santa. He came all the way from the North Pole to see some adorable children today, including my two boys. John Brady had his Christmas list and had been talking about seeing him for a week. He was all smiles and all talk until he actually got in Santa's lap. He handed him his list but he wouldn't talk to him. Beckett, 6 months, did great but couldn't tell Santa what he needed but Santa told he had some special surprises for him.  John Brady asked Santa for a Thomas the Train set, a suitcase to take to visit his grandparents, books, DVD's, and Bama stuff.

Just like most things, the minute his time was up with Santa he wanted to go back and talk to him. Unfortunately, Santa had many other sweet boys and girls to visit with. Santa did tell us that they had been very good boys and their elf had reported only good things to him about their behavior at home. It should be a great Christmas at the Nichols house at this point. I hope they keep up the good behavior!

After our visit with Santa we went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory with Nanny and papa. John Brady loves their avocado spring rolls and he enjoyed a treat of kids chicken.

It was a fun afternoon with family...and as always those things bring tears to my eyes as another year has passed. I am so happy my parents could be there with us since Drew had to work. I  can't wait to see what Santa brings the family. I know it will be a lovely Christmas and I  will cherish every moment with my family! Merry Christmas to all!!

Beckett @ 6 months

Happy half birthday to my baby Beckett!

I can not believe that 6 months has passed and in 6 more he will be one! I don't know where the time has gone. I am thankful the sleepless nights are over with but sad to see him growing so fast. Watching your children grow and develop is such a bittersweet thing. 

Height: 28 inches(100%)

Weight: 24 lbs (100%)

Our visit with the doc at 6 months was a fast and easy apt. The doctor was still pleased with his development. He is able to roll both ways now, use rolling as a way of getting around , sit up on his own, and get up on all fours and rock( he is so ready to crawl). He can put weight on his legs well now and stand with support. He babbles as loud as ever and is a great sleeper and napper.

We can't leave anything in his reach because he will find a way to get it. Like JB, he likes remotes, ipad, iPhone, etc.

He eats: carrots, peas, green beans, corn, squash, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, peaches, pears.
He eats all of them with no problem but we think he likes carrots and apples the best!
He eats at 6:00 every night and  then has his nighttime bottle at 7:30 before bed. 

In the last two months Beckett's development has really taken off. I cant imagine what all he will be doing the next time I post at 8 months!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

We had a beautiful Thanksgiving with family and that's what it is all about. I enjoyed my morning at my parents house watching the parade and making breakfast with the family. W spent the day lounging around and preparing for dinner. Drew was working on Thanksgiving Day so we ate our meal when he got home. It was a non traditional meal that was much healthier than the usual. Organic baked chicken, brussel sprouts with shallots, twice baked stuffed sweet potatoes and homemade dresssing with mushrooms, celery, chestnuts, onions, etc. It was a great dinner!

We left the day after Thanksgiving for the lake house to meet up with Drew's parents, sisters and grandparents. It was the first time the grandparents got to meet Beckett.  It was the third time Lois had seen John Brady and the second time Bill got to see John Brady. When we arrived they had a fire roaring and the table decorated beautifully and the turkey was in the oven.

We enjoyed our weekend very much! I loved sitting by the fire with wine watching the grandparents and great grandparents play with the boys. It is nice to have that many hands to help out with the kids. It is like a mini vacation because John Brady wanted to play with all of them the whole time. He gathered sticks for the fire with his dad, played football with Hannah and Mark, colored and read with Stacy, etc. While we were there we also took John Brady to a farm with many animals, trains, Christmas trees, etc. 

Thanksgiving was a great time as always and I hope for many more beautiful memories with all of my family. 

.Happy Halloweenie.

Happy Halloween to you and yours!

This is Beckett's first Halloween and John Brady's third. This year, thanks to Pinterest, I decided to dress up JB as a football player and Beckett the football. It turned out very cute and inexpensive. We already had the jersey, turtleneck, eyeblack and Nike pants. He wanted to wear his new Georgia boots instead of tennis shoes...and I didn't bother arguing that. For Beckett we already had a brown long sleeve onesie and some white felt. I cut out felt to look like the football laces and sewed it on and boom we were done.

Drew worked on Halloween so we did a Halloween party for JB at the house. He trick or treated here several times and got a cookie once, a pack of m&m's, sports magazines, books, etc. He is obsessed with any Alabama magazines so he got a football program and some sports illustrated issues with Bama featured. He thought it was hilarious ringing the door bell and getting something in his bag and running around the house and doing it again. We opted to skip the downtown trick or treat because last year it was a zoo. We are excited to be in our new house next year because the neighborhood is perfect for things like trick or treat!

Also, to celebrate Halloween to went to our good friends house for a play date. The Savilles kindly invited us over for JB and Mallory to paint pumpkins, play outside, grill out, etc. The kids painted their pumpkins, played on her swing set, rode jb's four wheeler, etc. It was lots of fun as always!

Burt's Pumpkin Patch year II

This is our second year to visit the pumpkin patch. We left on Friday morning and headed for the farm.  It is located in Dawsonville and took about an hour and half. Once we arrived John Brady took off running to find some pumpkins. Beckett got pushed in the stroller while we searched for the pumpkins. John Brady enjoyed himself sitting on the tractors and papa pushing him in the wheelbarrow. We picked a few pumpkins, some local made jelly and honey and took off for the lake house.

 We stayed at Drew's parents lake house because it is close by. We spent the rest of the weekend enjoying barbecue, boiled peanuts, football and apple farms. It was the first weekend there was crisp cool air and I got to throw on a scarf and enjoy cuddling up on the couch. I love weekends like this with family, cozy weather, fun activities and cooking festive foods. Happy Fall yal!!

  L