Beckett is one month young!

Beckett is already one month young! He has already grown so much and is more alert every day.

He eats every two hours on the dot and yes...even at night =(

I can't wait to have one full nights sleep in months to come...I know it gets better! I remember John Brady finally making the leap to his crib and sleeping through the night around 3 months old. I am thinking I will try to do the same thing with Beckett too.

He loves tummy time, listening to JB laugh makes him smile, his basinet that vibrates, sleeping on my chest(spoiled), and feeding time of course. Should I mention he either lovessss to cry when its our dinner time or it is just coincidence. It seems like 3-4 times a week we sit down in out chair and go "ahhhhh finally"....then he is wailing like hold me, burp me again, etc.

He hates having a dirty diaper and being hot...he loves to be in his diaper or thin clothes and just kick around.

His weight & height will be updated at two months when he has his next check up since 2 weeks old.

He wears 0-3 month clothing currently and my favorite outfirt on his is one of John Brady's old outfits. The kissy kissy with pirates on it! It is so soft and he always looks so cute in it.

Happy 1 month Beckett! Your getting to be a big boy already!



William Beckett Nichols is here!

We have been waiting to meet Beckett for many months now! We knew we would name him Beckett back in October of 2011 if the baby was a boy. I have been counting down the weeks while reading about his growth and amazing developments. I was not nervous this time around and much more ready and excited because I knew how much I was going to love him after having been a parent for over two years already.

When John Brady was born Drew and I were obviously over the moon and learning all about being new parents. There was so much unknown and we of course knew we would do our best and would love him til no end but until we had a child we didn't know just how much we would really love him. It is a love that is so special and unlike anything else. I think having known that love it made the arrival of Beckett very exciting because we weren't nervous at all and knew we were about to be given another blessing.

I couldn't wait to smell his little head and give him kisses. I was so anxious to hear his first cries and know he was okay. I wanted to touch his fingers and feel his grip around my finger and never put him down.

Our wishes came true on May 24th 2012. Beckett made his way into this world weighing 7lb 7oz and measured 21 inches long. He is a beautiful baby and we are so in love! JB loves his "bru-dah" and kisses him all the time. He can't understand why he can't jump up and play with him now. He always says "baby play". He will be a great big brother and Drew and I know they will be the best of friends only being almost 26 months apart.

We will be heading home with him soon and can't wait for the new chapter in our lives...being parents of two boys under 2 1/2 ...whew! I need a nap just saying that! I know there will be many sleepless nights ahead and crazy days and I can't wait. Here we go wish us luck! Nichols party of 4 has officially arrived! We love you William Beckett...beautiful baby boy!



1140 Horseleg Creek Rd...SOLD!

The weekend of John Brady's birthday a couple from Texas looked at our house...They were our fifth look in just a few weeks. They were looking for a pool, which was a plus. We received news after their look that they were coming back in a week to look at three houses again with the whole family but at that point ours was number 1!!

 

After their second look a week later they made an offer on our house! Drew and I were so thankful in this market to have a good offer so soon after listing. We negotiated back with them twice and got what we were looking for and took the offer!  

They want to close by May 19th and have possession at closing which means we have been on our "A" game. My mom and I have had to go pack little by little...as much as we can do with a two year old and a pregnant lady. Poor John Brady was a warrior and watched countless Elmo DVD's and played in empty rooms with what toys were left behind as his first house was being packed up all around him.

It was so bittersweet...I had many moments of happines but some tears. This was the house that Drew and I came home from our honeymoon to, brought John Brady home to, had our first Christmas together, cooked for all our family for Thanksgiving for the first time, watched John Brady walk in, and so on...So many sweet memories in that house.

Although we knew it was time for Drew and I to move on and we are so excited about relocating to Birmingham in the near future it was hard to say good bye knowing all the heart and hard work/sweat equity we put in that house.

 

Drew's favorite memories in the house:

1. spring/summer/fall dinners on the deck

2. pushing jb around the pool in his float

3. "just all the work we did....think about all the man hours we put in that house!"

4. rescuing Eve [RIP 2/28/12]

My favorite memories in the house:

1. our first Thanksgiving cooking for the family & the wasps that came down the chimney into the Christmas tree

2. Watching JB crawl up the stairs for the first time

3. Painting and working around the house with the family

4. Sitting by the fire with the family

5. Watching the bats in the summer while eating on the back deck

6. Watching Drew learn & master yard work and taking JB to the porch to sit with me to watch daddy mow!

Easter 2012

This Easter we were lucky enough to celebrate with both my family & Drew's. All of us were packed in my mom and dad's house this whole weekend and loving it. It wasn't as bad as it sounds...we all had our own bedrooms. Mark and Stacy had to hit the road back to Virginia so we had to get our morning started pretty early.

We started off with an Easter brunch

[three cheese baked grits, greek yogurt with granola, fruit, muffins, and bacon]

After we ate we let John Brady see what the Easter Bunny brought him.

[crayons in a Mickey Mouse poutch, side walk chalk, bubbles, stuffed animal, shorts, chapstick, books, plates, bowls, silverware & stickers]

His favorite thing was the crayons because they were in the Mickey bag & the chapstick. All he wanted to do was hold the crayons and not actually use them. He liked them because they were the HUGE crayons not the standard size ones that break all the time.

Mark and Stacy had to head back to Virginia to get Wilbur in time so we held off on our hunt until after his nap.

Drew, JB, nanny, papa & I took the gator down to the field where we hid the eggs and he took off running.  He loved finding the eggs and shaking them. Once he realized there were treats in there he was eating his treats on the spot.

His treats included [raisins, cheerios, graham cookies and goldfish ]



Little John Brady...not so little! TWO YEARS OLD!

Happy 2nd birthday John Brady! This year we decided to do a birthday with just family so it would be more intimate and his out of town family could have more one on one time with him this Easter/Birthday weekend! John Brady's current obsession is "airmanes". Every time we see airplanes when driving down the road or playing outside he says "mommy airMANE!!" He even hears them go over the house and runs to the windows and flings the shutters open to catch a glimpse. So we decided to go with the airplane birthday theme this year. The second choice was Mickey Mouse but we are going to Disney World this summer and thought that could be his "Mickey fix" and this could be airplanes for the simple fact we have family friends with planes and JB could go to the airport for his birthday surprise!

The morning started off with a nice breakfast spread of muffins, fruit, yogurt, granola, juices, coffee cakes, etc for my parents, drew's parents and sisters and our family too! Once we were done we loaded up and headed to Russell Field Airport in Rome, Ga. His poppi's friend Howie Lowden has a plane that he so graciously offered to show us and let JB tour the hanger and get up close and personal with the planes for his birthday! John Brady was in awe the whole morning watching planes take off, land and circle over head. We spent a little over an hour running around at the airport watching and touring.

Once we returned home it was time for his "party".  I set up his table with a suitcase lined with cloud paper filled with "jet packs". Which were paper to go lunches with Rome's yummy Sweet Pickles chicken salad sandwiches. Everything was mini and travel sized and went with our travel theme. He loves pretzels so I made large pretzel rods dipped in white chocolate with red sprinkles for an added treat. Drinks were mini waters and "jet fuel" aka lemonade. His adorable cake was made at Honeymoon Bakery of course and was equally as tasty!

After lunch and cake time we opened presents which included balls, books, broom and dustpan set, Elmo and Elmo DVD's, clothes, stickers, games, a pool, a etch-a-sketch, etc. He loved his Elmo so much he took him with him for nap time and put on his new Mickey Mouse T-shirt for nap time too!

Today was a beautiful fun day with family. Great company, food, laughs and memories. Watching John Brady's face at the airport was so priceless.

We finished off the night with cooking out and watching his 2nd year dvd slideshow I made. Once we finished it we watched his first year slide show and couldn't believe how much he had grown up. I can't believe we will have another little boy here with us before we know it!!

Happy Birthday John Brady! Mommy and Daddy love you!!

william.beckett.nichols room is complete!

Baby Beckett...we are ready for you any time! =)

We have completed Beckett's room..below is a little collage of pics to show a little of what we did. I had lots of fun doing his room because I already had all the pricey pieces from John Brady's old room and got to do some creative things with Beckett's because I wasn't so worried about when my furniture would arrive or how to put it together. Matter of fact...I was so bored thinking I haven't had to buy this baby any clothes hardly, accesories, furniture, toys, etc I need to do something for this sweet boy thats on his way!

I decided to do his room in a vintage african safari theme. I used to be a Darlington tiger, Alabama elephants and Phi Mu lion...I had plenty of accesories to pull from.

Items from John Brady's room: Bed & Rocker

New items: 4 foot tall giraffe, Restoration Hardware organic linen bedding, swing, bamboo and linen lamp

Made items: wooden plaques I painted with maps modge podged on them, three animal canvases painted by his grandpa Mark Nichols, covered old books with map paper, picture frame from his Jordy!

Old items: my parents old binoculars, wooden table with elephant legs, Drew's old baby blanket, odd and end animal pieces

Visiting the baby chicks, ducks & bunnies before Easter

This morning my mom and I took John Brady to Lavendar Mountain because they got their chicks, ducks and bunnies in today...just in time for Easter! Also had some time to get some swinging in....

We brought John Brady last year and he was semi interested but this year he held the bunnies with me, pet them and kissed the little chicks. He was running around going "bock bock bock" and "ka ka ka ka" his version of quack quack. It was a fun morning and nice to see him interact with the little animals. <3 my little man and even teared up just watching him examine all the animals and really study what they were doing and the noises they were making!