Hot Dog Beckett's B-day party!

It's time to party... and what else would we pick for your 1st b-day theme other than MICKEY MOUSE!

You love all things Mickey!

We invited family for your 1st b-day because we wanted to spend more time with just family this weekend since our last few fam get togethers have flown by because we have so much going on. 

Who came: Mom, Dad, JB, Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, Dora and Hannah

What we ate: Hotdogs(for theme song), chips, watermelon, cupcakes

Presents: lawn mower, car to sit on, clothes, books, movies

What we did: played out side, fed you, sang to you, stroller ride, played on green 

The Mickey decorations were so cute and we played Mickey in the background, which you enjoyed! =)

Pictures of the decor

 

Pictures of the BIRTHDAY BOY

Lovely grandmothers at Beckett's Birthday Party!

Beckett is one!

Happy Birthday Dear Beckett...Happy Birthday to you!

Oh Beckett you are such a sweet baby. We can always count on you for a smile and some laughter. You are so happy and patient. We are so lucky to be your parents. You are growing up so fast...and continue to be off the charts size wise. You are taking your time with walking...you don't seem as in a hurry to get going. You walk holding hands with someone or pushing toys. 

On your actual birthday I made you pancakes for breakfast with candles. Daddy, JB and I took you to have lunch at La Paz because you love mexican. They put a little sombrero on you, which you did not like but JB wore it for you. You both enjoyed rice, beans and chicken and they were sweet and gave you some fried ice cream...which you liked. After lunch you napped and then nana and papa arrived for your birthday weekend. 

You and John Brady at La Paz for Birthday lunch

          

Height- 32 inches (100%)

Weight - 28 lbs (100%)

Hair- blonde

Eyes - blue
Sleep- 12 or more hours a night and are taking one nap a day
TV- Mickey
Movies- Mickey haha or something JB chooses
Toy- cars or trains
Book- Mickey peek a boo book 
Teeth- 8
Nicknames- Beck, Becky, Beckster, little beck beck, baby beckster, chunky monk, haha and so forth
Food- Everything favorites....applesauce, bananas, sweet potato, pasta of any kind, really everything!

 

You still are crazy about Mickey. You also enjoy stacking blocks and cups and putting things in boxes or bags and taking them back out. JB liked lining up things you prefer stacking. You also really enjoy cars already you push cars all around your room and on JB's train table. 

You can say mama, nana and dada and bi bi for bite and you do touch-down, wave hey and bye, clap, etc. 
You enjoy stroller rides and the water. You love to eat and have yet to spit out any food you have been given. You seem to really enjoy everything and soak up life already at such a young age. I take that back...you are not a car sleeper and are not a fan of trying to nap in the car it usually results in 30 minutes straight of tears. 




Daddy, JB and I love you very much. We say almost daily what a perfect little addition you have been to our typical "animated" family. You are always cool as a cucumber and have a great laugh!!  =) xoxo to Baby Becks

Hakuna Matata - John Brady is THREE!

Hakuna Matata John Brady is 3!

 

 John Brady picked Lion King theme for his 3rd birthday party. The movie is fairly old and there was not many items to choose from at your typical party supply stores. I had to get creative and it was fun. 

Left: I made a sign out of left over card board from moving boxes to say Hakuna Matata.  I dipped pretzel rods in white chocolate which I made into yellow chocolate to add a pop of color and put in french fry holders with tissue paper. I made fruit kabobs to resemble some "grub" from the movie. I made cupcakes for the party from home and used cute lion king cupcake toppers a sweet neighbor made for me.

 I was lucky to find some plates from Amazon and ordered those. I grabbed the orange buckets from the Dollar Tree and put Grub stickers on those and filled with snacks like animal crackers and chex mix. I used John Brady's Simba and tied balloons to it. I also had gummy worms on the table to fit with the Grub theme. I placed two tubs on the porch one for kids and one for adults and had a label saying "Watering Hole" for those. We had a Lion King cake made from Edgars for our family dinner later which including BBQ, slaw, chips, cake and ice cream. The party favors for the kids were bubbles. 

                                                                          The party was lots of fun. We invited family and a few neighbors and their children. The kids mostly ran around and played and opened some of John Brady's presents. He received rain boots, a soccer ball, lots of bubble guns and machines, cars and more.

Happy Birthday John Brady is 3!!!

 

Drew and I got JB a bike and a scooter with a helmet and some other small things. Nanny and poppi got him a Gator just like my dads. He thought he was something special and loved the Gator. I think that was the highlight of the day...along with all the sweets. He loved spending the day learning how to ride his new toys. 

 

 

Nanny & Poppi @ the party

Dora & John Brady while we were singing to him @ the family dinner

  

Drew & Beck @ the party

 

To John Brady: you @ 3

To John Brady - I hope you look back on this one day and smile. =) 

Height: 39 1/2 inches

Weight: 35 lbs

Clothing: 4T-5T

Shoe: size 10

Eyes: blue

Hair: dirty blonde

To start, John Brady you absolutely light up our life. You have so much energy and are always ready to take on the day. You come to my side of the bed when you wake and stand over me and say "mommy, you make me a milk?" 

You love to play...play hard. You like cream of wheat and eggs for breakfast, oatmeal, english muffins with PB and fruit. You love your stuffed animals and won't sleep unless they are all in their proper place. You love to "swim" and take baths, if there is a tiny puddle of water you want to take off all your clothes and swim in it. You love the be outside and pretty much any ball. You are really into Lion King and just starting having an attention span long enough to get into movies. You love trucks, trains, cars and "bump bumps" you will make things to ride your cars over so they can over speed bumps. 

You are so smart...when we pass buildings in the car you remember them and say there is daddy's work, or the mexican place, or a certain person's house. You are always paying attention and are very observant. You enjoy to ride your trucks around the dining room table or the pool table at nanny and poppi's. 

You love peanut butter too...you have lots of peanut butter and banana's. You have tried all kinds of foods and even like salmon, limas, guacamole, lentil soup and random things. You have typically been a good eater for me. 

You love your little brother but right now you are starting to become jealous of him too and the attention he gets as he learns a new skill. Just remember, mommy and daddy love you both equal and want you two to be best friends. We were so happy to find out that Beckett was a boy because we know with you two close in age you would be best friends. Be patient with him and love him always...after all he probably wants to do just like you do. 

You still love your Thomas the train table. You like to watch sports and lay in your daddy's lap. You enjoy doing play-dough with mommy...we make all kinds of things you make me pretend fries and spaghetti and feed it to me. I know this will really freak you out one day....BUT you love to take showers...bc you equate it to swimming so you shower with me pretty much daily because you love to splash and pour cups of water on yourself.

You can talk very well for your age and very clear. You say some funny stuff and like to pretend like you are singing along with songs. You love music and dance to whatever I am listening to in the backseat. You love to look at animals on my Iphone and play matching games with animals on the ipad. You know all your colors and can sing your abc's. You can recognize all the letters in your name.

One day recently you "painted" in our closet...with mommy's make up...you have always loved playing in our closet. You will try on our boots and shoes and hats and line things up. You love chapstick and ask me to put in on for you every time that I do. You are like my little shadow and I wouldn't have it any other way. You are my "helper" in the grocery store(you hold my list for me), you help me by bringing Beckett a diaper or putting bottles in the sink. You love dogs but don't want them too close until you have them figured out. You chase good girl around and laugh. Daddy and I laugh because you just started saying "okay, jiggies" and copying daddy. You say funny things like "thats ba-diculous" instead of ridiculous and "ba-scetti" spaghetti. You love shoes and will mis-match them and I don't even care.

WE LOVE YOU & HAPPY B-DAY!!! 

 

 

-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!!