Easter was Here!!!

Here are some pictures of the stuff I put out for spring and Easter.

Each year everyone in the family gets an egg. They all have their number and year on them. It's fun to see how many we have accumulated. Some of my favorites are ones Rusty has from when he was a baby.

And on to the Easter celebration.

First we had an egg hunt with our ward. It was super fun.  They had about 2,000 eggs for the kids to find.   I was pretty proud that my muffins, Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip,  were the first ones gone.  (I had even saved a dozen for home, and within minutes of getting back Brenner ate THEM ALL!) The kids had fun and there were a ton of people from the neighborhood. It was a great turnout.

The rest of the day way pretty relaxing. No games or errands really to run. We did some yard work and then the two oldest boys decided they wanted to swim.  It is still pretty cold but they had a blast.

We decorated a few eggs at the Becks that afternoon too.

Easter Baskets Sunday morning.

All dressed up in our Easter clothes.

Boston's first Easter! Don't worry, we did put shoes on him at church. After we went to the Becks house for dinner. Rusty made lamb on his Big Green Egg. It smelled really good, and everyone said it tasted amazing. I am a bad wife and didn't even try it.

This was my attempt at getting a cutesy picture of Boston during the egg hunt.  He was so curious about the grass I couldn't get him to look up!

 Egg Hunt!

 Checking out the goods.

Then we went over to my parents house to see everyone there.  Boss thought it was hilarious to pull at Nana's necklace. And then he found his way over to the famous wooden bowl of fruit.  I swear each child and grandchild has played with them.  He crawled nearly all the way under the table, hit his head and decided it wasn't so fun after all.

 (The bandaid on my mom's cheek is from a biopsy they took a day or so before. She wen track in this week and it was a basil cell carcinoma, so they took a bigger area out and hopefully got it all!)

 My child has paws, what can I say?

Ok, fun is over, time to rescue

The Beck Zoo!!!

Here's another ode to Pinterest! This was actually one of the very first things I ever Pinned. I am a little ashamed that I have taken advantage of my Dad's retirement and his skills with woodworking a little more often than I should.  After all the blocks he cut, I just happened to email him a picture. And then a few weeks later I asked if he wanted to see where I was going to put the zoo.  Then it got serious.

 (Here was the inspiration photo.  Source here )

He came and measured, started drawing plans. I was pleased as punch when he came over to drop it off! He asked me several times if I was sure I wanted it to be 6 feet tall.  I tried to impress upon him the amount of stuffed animals we have in this house. I did indeed want it 6 feet!

 Here is my Dad and silly Mom, with the jail.

 I got it out back and prepped for painting. The rest of the furniture is white so I knew this would need to be too.

 Making the most of the zoo before we got to painting!

It took more than a few cans of spray paint but I was so happy with the result! We set about filling and instituting a 5 animal rule. You see, the reason I felt we needed the zoo, was because the boys beds are all so full of animals there is almost no room for them!  So, now each night they get to 'release' 5 animals from the zoo to sleep with. It is hilarious watching them toss them up and in each night.

I made the sign with some wood from Hobby Lobby and I cut the vinyl with my Silhouette machine. Now I just need to get the hubby to attach it and the Beck Family Zoo will be officially finished!

 See, Dad.  Filled to the tippy-tippy top.  And I love that you have to be in the room, with the door closed to even see it!

Thanks Dad, you really are amazing.  I will give you a break before I ask for my next project...

Our 6 Month Boss...

So, the sleep training is going ok. During Spring Break we moved Brenner out of the crib and into the bunk beds with Berkley. He transitioned great. Other than he falls off the bed EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. We tried to put a side rail on, but it just doesn't work with the bed frame and mattress, so we figure eventually he'll figure it out, right?

 As part of this plan, we are trying to get him to stay full at night. So, we were given the ok to start him of rice cereal. We've been putting it in his bottles for months to help with reflux, but now he's eating off a spoon! He loved it from first bite!

Moving Boston into the crib has been pretty good.  The first few nights I didn't hear him wake up at all. But according to Braden and Rusty he had some good crying spells.  I guess I was too tired to hear him.  I am taking it night by night. Some nights I will get him up and feed him in the night, other times I just give him his paci, or just let him cry.  He can put his paci back in himself, so that helps (and me putting a dozen or so in there with him).

 This kid LOVES his jumperoo.  He is so funny. He loves to sit in there and watch his brother play outside.

 After a day or two of rice cereal we let him at the good stuff.  He is hilarious during feedings! He opens his mouth as soon as he swallows.  And follows you with the spoon until you give him another bite.  He hold my hand so I can't go anywhere but straight to his mouth!

 He even plows through peas for crying out loud.

 Brenner and Boss are becoming such friends.  I love how he talks to him. It's so sweet. He loves to swing with him, and he is even gentle enough to push him, sometimes.

He is MOBILE people.  Not crawling, per se, but he gets around for sure. He goes up in a bear crawl stance and then launches himself forward.  He is still the most ticklish thing you have ever met. He laughs when you change his clothes, change his diaper- especially if he's poopy, or eat his feet.  He is such a good sport about being lugged around in the car to preschool drop off, baseball practices and grocery shopping. He does still cry in the car sometimes, but usually just when he is reflux-y or really tired.

I can hardly believe he will be 6 months old this week! Ack! I guess it has been a blur, a sleepy slept blur. But I can say that I have gotten more sleep this week than I have in the last 6 months, so that is a step in the right direction!

Berkley is on 2 Wheels!!!

After trying to convince Berk that it was indeed NOT COOL to go to Kindergarten with training wheels on your bike. So after a month or so of saying we were gonna take them off, he finally consented one afternoon. I was watching on the cameras and not one minute later he was off on his own! I grabbed the camera and ran out to get pictures.  He was telling his Dad he didn't need to chase him. He was fine.

Way to be Berk! You will look so great riding to school with the gang in the Fall!

Wish Me Luck...

I know I am behind.

I hope to be more rested in the near future and able to go back to doing things I love and have time for things again.  It's time to sleep train Boston.  His sleeping has gone from bad to worse. Most nights in the last month I am getting just 1-2 hours of uninterrupted sleep all night.

Over Spring Break we successfully got Brenner moved out of the crib and into the bottom bunk. He has transitioned pretty easily. Naps are a little harder, but he still falls asleep.  Aside from falling out of bed nearly every night I think he loves his new bed.  Next up for him, getting rid of the bottle and then potty training. He was doing so well and then Boss came and he quit completely.

I am beyond tired.  To say the least.  I know it's gonna be a rough couple of nights but I think Boston and I both need to get some sleep.  Plus Rusty got us this cool new video monitor, and I can watch Boss on my phone, which will make it so much easier to keep an eye on him while I am keeping up with the other boys.

Sleep.  I've dearly missed you.

Oh, and did I mention he is thisclose to crawling? And his hair is nearly all gone, except some fuzzes on top and a section on the crown that is about 3 inches long.

Opening Day!!!

Braden is playing Little League again this season.  He is old enough that he is playing in the Minors this year. That meant he had to tryout to see what team he would be on.  That made me so nervous! He has played on the same team as his buddy Stratton each season, and every sport! We were happy to discover that the coach he had just finished playing under for basketball was one of the minor coaches!

So the day of the last b-ball game Coach Dave told Braden and Stratton that they were going to be on his team again! It was such a relief! Minors has been intense! Two to three practices a week for nearly 2 1/2 hours. That on top of piano and scouts has made for a very busy Braden, and Mom. So happy that we have the Betheas to share car pool with.

 Number 4 again this season, that's what happens when the numbers are based on the tshirt size, hee her.

 With the patch on the LEFT (after much googling) his uniform was all official!

He is playing on the RiverDogs. 

Opening day was on the hottest day of the year so far, at his 3:30 game it was over 90 degrees! We are in for a long season if this keeps up.

All Things Green...

My Green decor. I haven't put it out in years. The boys helped me make a ton of yarn pompoms for the smaller apothecary jar. The picture says "Keep Calm and Pinch On."

We had a fun St. Patty's Day this year.  Braden was asked to create a leprechaun trap for school. I wanted to make it awesome, but after some sage advice following a post on Facebook I realized it was his project to do, not mine. So, I let him loose with the glitter, markers and hot glue gun. The teacher

It was so fun to listen to Berkley. He had so many questions about the leprechaun.  When he ultimately realized the trap would be going to school and not staying home to catch it, he was pretty upset!

We used a can from food storage and spray painted it. Glittered some popsicle sticks to make a rainbow. Glittered rocks from the back yard for gold. Made a ladder out of yarn and straws.  It was fun. We had to make a trap door, to keep him in of course. We had lured him through the toilet paper roll to the gold and along the way we cut the trap door in the can's lid. And since those pesky green guys like to be naughty and ignore signs, we made sure he would have no problem breaking the rules for the gold! And yes, I went a little crazy with the glitter. So sue me.

Then, while Rusty was at a BBQ store event buying his aptly named "Big Green Egg", Noni and Pops had the kids over for a treasure hunt and treat.

 Cindi got the idea off Pinterest, it was a yummy cake with just a bit of mint.  Yummmm.

 This is Rusty's newest obsession.  It's called The Big Green Egg. It is a smoker, convection oven amazing thing.  We have had it just two weeks and already he has made rack of beef and pork ribs, whole roasted chicken, chocolate chip cookies, an apple crostada, pizza and turkey burgers. It is really nice to know that come this summer I won't have to turn on my oven indoors to cook!

Welcome to the family BGG.

Phoenix Marathon...

This was the very first year for the Phoenix Marathon.

Rusty and come of our neighbors, the Treeces as well as half of the valley, or so it seemed, went to run the 1/2 Marathon.  He finished with a personal best, which I think is amazing. Next up is his first full Marathon in June! (This is the only picture I have from the race, and I know they have closed eyes, but it was really sunny out!)

This is the race bib holder I gave Rusty for Christmas, and the medal holder we gave him for this birthday. I have a feeling it's gonna get full of medals sooner than later. And yes, he has already signed up for a full marathon next year.