Halloween | Elephant Edition

for the past few weeks we have watched our neighborhood porches transform from summer to fall. more specifically, halloween. our neighbors were busy like santa's elves pulling out their orange & black boxes ready to tackle the task of making their porches trick or treat ready. orange lights, skulls, pumpkins & ghosts illuminated the night sky. after watching this preparation unfold, i knew the scene on halloween night would not disappoint. i have always dreamed of living in a neighborhood with haunted houses & streets filled with costumed tots. and that is exactly what we got.

both sets of grandparents were there to witness the cuteness that is beckham dressed as a big eared elephant. what is it about small children dressed in over-sized costumes.  you just want to eat them up. as for beckham, he just wanted to eat up his trunk.

we had chili, corn bread & salad. in addition to our dinner spread, we had two large bags of candy from costco. most of the evening was spent visiting, candy distributing & smothering the baby elephant with hugs & kisses. we did sneak out to two houses for a mini introduction of trick or treating. B even successfully conquered the haunted house & was rewarded with a full size KIT-KAT bar. score.

halloween was exactly how i hoped it would be. an evening filled with family, laughter & love. thank you grandparents for celebrating this first with us. just think...next year our elephant will be teetering around all by himself. Eek! we hope your halloween was everything you hoped it to be!

A Date NIght | Take Two

we went nearly 5 months without a night out without child. and just like that our streak ended with two nights in a row sans baby B. the evening following the stanford / usc game was andrea's 30th birthday celebration. jason & i were excited to celebrate the birthday girl & visited with friends without the distraction of our little jumping bean. no offense beckham! my mom & dad generously offered to babysit on a work night. thank you, thank you!

 we didn't grab many photos (like none of me & the hubs) of our night out on the town but we did enjoy a fabulous dinner & wouldn't have missed this milestone birthday for anything.

happy, happy birthday andrea! i can't wait to see what the next 30 years have in store! love you!!

Date Night | Stanford vs USC

jason scored some killer seats to the stanford / USC game. i'm talking 15th row at the 10 yard line. BEST part, they were free! we went back & forth about taking beckham. we opted not to after remembering how traumatized he was by the volume of the crowd at the galaxy match. auntie anna & uncle jer offered up their saturday evening & gifted us with our first date night post baby.

we loaded their house with baby goodies, kissed our blond haired, blue eyed boy adieu & headed out just in time for kick off. the game was promoted as the game of the week, the battle of the top 5 quarter-backs. the question everyone had...would the game deliver on all its hype?

it more than delivered. as the sun set over the coliseum the trojans & the cardinals battled back & forth. fighting for the highest score. our seats faced the USC student section & looked down on the stanford tree. the USC students made the stands rumble with their undeniable team spirit. the stanford tree danced and kicked around the field encouraging his team & fans to a hopeful victory.

as the final seconds of the clock ticked down, a controversial call was made causing the game to head to OVERTIME. it was the first time in a decade that the coliseum has hosted an overtime football game. guilt started to set in for me, knowing jer & anna had our little man. but, this game was going strong.

after three nail biting overtimes. YES, THREE! a fumble in the in-zone & a stanford recovery left stanford victorious! and we could not have been more delighted. stanford has a special place in my heart & i am so happy the won! it was an incredible night. it would not have been possible without jer & anna. thank you so much for watching our little dude & for keeping him far longer than we had anticipated.

about the photo above on the right. we had captured the picture on the left before we were chilly & in our stanford red. so after the sun had kissed the horizon good-night & the crisp air had started to blow, i told j let's grab another picture. he got distracted by the game right as i snapped the photo. i literally laughed out loud because he has his smile ready but couldn't take his eyes off the field. can't blame him. it was an incredible game!

A Day Trip | Palo Alto

 saturdays have become a date day with my mom, beckham & me. the husbands work every saturday, which leaves us with plenty of time to cause some serious mischief.  remember the weekend that we conquered the pumpkin patch & the galaxy game? well, that weekend our saturday trio also hopped a plane to the bay area for a quick day trip to visit the greats & the great-great & sneak in some cousin love.

we were up before the sun was & on our way for a fun filled day. no surprise the little nugget rocked it out on the plane. i mean, come on, he is a seasoned traveler at this point.

first stop, great-grandma ruthie's house. it is such a treat having my granddad & great aunt only about 15 minutes away from jason's grandma. i'm so glad we were able to drop in & say hello to her! beckham enjoyed getting some love & snuggles from his GG Ruthie!

after a lovely visit with ruthie, we headed north to palo alto. palo alto is my mom's old stomping grounds. her childhood home is still there with the split wood fence that my granddad built & now my granddad has made his way back to palo alto & lives in the same community as my great aunt nell. these two hold a special place in my heart, it was such a treat to see them.

jason's aunt kathy swung by my granddad's on her way to work. i was thrilled to finally introduce her to her great nephew! she definitely added the cherry on top of our already special day with family.

and to make that ever sweet sundae even sweeter, my cousin sarah drove down from davis with her son, tommy to meet up with us too! our wedding was the last time we saw these two, which is far too long.

beckham is a special little man to have so many great grandparents. the finale of our day was capturing a special four generation picture. great-granddad, my mama, me & two of his great-grandchildren.

beckham was nearly napless on this saturday adventure. we thought for sure his lack of a good nap would cause him to go "jimmy" on the plane ride home. but, our little peachy peach was a trooper & barely let out a whimper the entire trip. we truly are blessed with such a well-demeanored baby boy!

mama, you are the BEST date we can think to have ever saturday! to many more adventures & mischief.

Five Months

** i started writing this the night of his five month birthday celebration but i had a lot on my mind & was having trouble formulating a proper love letter for our baby cake. **

peach,
  at this same time five months ago i was pushing with all my might. i was focused & determined to get you out as quickly as i could. i was ready to meet you & i know your dad was too. i've talked about those first few moments before; moments that have changed my definition. i'm now someone's mom. i have a son. but, those first few moments have nothing on the love i have for you today. your dad & i, each night before bed, look at each other & say "i can't believe how much i love that little guy." truly, no words can or will ever be able to convey the amount of love we have for you.

 it's the weirdest thing, you are such a loud little man. we are so confused how that could have happened, i mean i am so soft spoken & so is your dad but you, you have a set of lungs on you. wink. wink. you shriek with delight at all hours of the day. sometimes we aren't sure what has you so excited but you let one rip & flash your gummy grin. speaking of that toothless smile, we are certain two little teeth are working there way through your very swollen gums. trust us, we have the drool marks to prove it.

  i'm convinced that you spend your nights weight lifting rather than sleeping. each morning you wake with more strength. sitting up or standing tall is all you want to do these days. frustration takes over your entire body if i lay you down. you get yourself in a crunch position, determined to sit up on your own. you've conquered the sitting up portion, you can go minutes sitting tall like a big boy. if you start to lose your balance you throw your arms out like the wings of an airplane until you're steady again.

when i was a little girl & i was bored i would say "daaaaaaaaaddd, i'm bored! i'm bored dad!" 

like it was his job to entertain me. 

in more recent years the song changed to "jaaaasssoonn, i'm bored! i'm bored jason!"

well, my mistake! because now you do the same thing to me! obviously, not in so many words.

but, it's made very clear when you scream like you are on fire when i leave the room but the minute i come back around the corner, you start smiling & giggling. 

you want my full undivided attention ALL day long. which leaves me getting little done around the house.

 

  we feel like we are on a roller coaster ride with your sleep patterns the last few weeks. up & down, up & down. some nights you are knocked out for 9 1/2 hours. other nights you wake up two - three times. the uncool part about the two - three times is you hardly did that as a newborn. what's up bud? and the even uncooler part (yeah, i just said uncooler) is that when you don't sleep well, you are a grumpy McGrumpster. So let's just make a deal...in our house you sleep at night, 'k? 

 over the last few days you have decided you are ready to be independently mobile. you have been working on your scooting abilities. good heaven, so soon? as i gaze around our house at mercury glass vases, glass doors, low shelves & the constant presence of dog hair (i swear it is impossible that our dogs are NOT bald with the way they shed) i begin to panic thinking about you crawling around. not to mention you LOVE to climb off our laps like you are going to walk somewhere. cracks us up. when your feet hit the floor your face lights up with delight.

you constantly keep us entertained with your random giggles & crazy sounds. you brighten our mornings with your big baby grin. even in your moments of hysteria, which you seem to save mostly for the privacy of our own home or car, we wouldn't change the addition of you in our lives. at the young age of five months you have mastered the art of the flirt. batting you baby blues, tucking your chin to your chest with the bashful head turn & finishing it all of with a big smile, exposing those heart stopping dimples. and the best part, you're all ours.

with undeniable...indescribable love,

mama