The Cutest Ladybug Ever!!

Ok, I know I am a little biased, but is this not the cutest ladybug you have ever seen?? Tonight we went to Boo at the Zoo and on our way in a zoo employee gave us a free ticket because Annalee was so adorable!! That totally saved us $10.50!!

Yesterday, Annalee turned 10 months old. She's getting so big! Here are some things she likes to do these days:

• Crawl around and get into anything and everything!


• Tear up and try to eat the mail


• Cruise around the coffee table


• Wave hello and bye, bye


• Strum her lips with her finger to make funny noises


• Hang out with her favorite friends like Mallory, Elijah, Caleb, Katie, Jack, and all the babies in the nursery

Blast from the past

Tonight we had a Halloween party to attend. I was supposed to be in charge of getting our costumes together and for some reason I could not come up with a thing!! I am the absolute cheapest Halloween shopper ever...I was determined not to spend over $5 for our costumes. After consulting with the Wardlaws, we decided to go as a Kojie, a DT and Subbers...we switched the order around a little though! It ended up being fun, free, and a little freaky!

The giant cement pumpkin...

is starting to rot! Nice. I now have a puddle forming on my front porch.

Thieves-2 Becks-0

Cousins

I just had to share this sweet picture of Annalee with her cousins, Katie and Jack. Aren't they just so precious! This was right before our adventure to the pumpkin patch. By the way, our internet is back and better than ever....thanks Papa!!

Lots of thoughts...

Well our internet is not back to normal, but we figured out a way to rig it up for now. I am about to get on the phone and kindly give someone a piece of my mind!

Last weekend we had a great time at a pumpkin patch with Kandi, the kids, and my mom. Micah was definately the entertainment, though. We found a pumpkin that looked like a huge egg, so he made it a nest and sat on it like a chicken! Then we found one that looked like...ahem...hinee cheeks, so he had to pose with that one too. Kandi and I were talking to my mom and when we looked up he was stuffing his shirt with hay and walked around as a scarecrow. Jack and Katie were very entertained. Annalee spent the whole time in my mom's lap chewing on hay and watching everyone run around. We ended up buying 7 more pumpkins (they were way overpriced compared to my first round!) Micah bought the biggest one he could find...it's gigantic! When we got back to my mom's house he cut the top off of it and filled it with wet cement!! The thing weighs over 100 pounds now!! That is his defense against the pumpkin thieves. We were cracking up picturing some teenage kid trying to grab it and run and then realizing it weighs a ton! So far, so good. They are all still on the porch! I'm not going to hold my breath on Halloween night though...that's when the pumpkins usually end up masacred on the street.

This past weekend we headed to Abilene for homecoming. We had some yummy food, I went to breakfast and then we watched the parade. It was short and sweet, but a good time.

No Internet!!

So, my internet is down!!! Anytime it rains our internet goes out. This time around it is taking forever to come back! I am at Micah's office right now checking my e-mail for the first time in days!! I have lots to blog about, but I don't have my pictures or enough time right now. I know everyone is dying to know about our weekend and our pumpkin saga...don't worry it's coming soon!

Thieves!

Well, my mini pumpkin patch has been stolen!!! (See previous post) Someone took our pumpkins off of our porch last night. How rude! I can't believe it. They aren't even smashed in the road...just gone! What do I do....buy more pumpkins and risk the thieves coming back or just give up? Maybe I can set up a sting operation of some sort. :)

Pumpkin time....sorta

Today we headed out to our local farmer's market to pick up some pumpkins for the front porch. I am probably not finished buying them (I like to have a mini-patch on my front porch if possible!!) This place is great...you just load up your cart with all your goodies and then they "make you a deal." I bought 2 large pumpkins and 3 pie pumpkins for $7. I thought that was pretty good. It was definately hot and muggy today...not ideal for pumpkin day, but we managed. Annalee was pretty cute, the lady at the stand gave her a little bitty pumpkin right when we got there (for free, thanks!) She carried it around the whole time. I tried to get her picture next to a scarecrow and some mums, but a wasp ran us off before I could get her to smile, oh well. We are going to a pumpkin patch with Katie and Jack next weekend, so I'll try again. Here are the pics that I was able to capture.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

This girl loves to dump out her shoe basket!

Climbing on the bed...what a cute backside!

Hanging out in her room.

Table food, are you kidding me!?!?

Happy (9 month) birthday to you,

Happy (9 month) birthday to you,

Happy (9 month) birthday dear Annalee,

Happy (9 month) birthday to you!

Today Annalee turns 9 months old!! Wow, where has the time gone. Two of my friends have been able to grow and birth their babies in the amount of time that Annalee has been alive!! Unbelievable!

We went to the doctor this morning for her checkup. Thankfully, she only had to get one shot. She is still measuring long and lean! As tall as a 10 1/2 month old, but only as heavy as a 9 month old.

The doctor told me that she can start eating table food now for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Are you kidding me?? I was not expecting to hear that. It's going to take me a few days to process that. You're talking to the lady who kept her baby in the bassinet for 5 months (and even then, I only gave it up because another baby in the family needed it-otherwise, she'd probably still be in it!!) Just kidding. :) We were going to work on transitioning from bathing in the kitchen sink to bathing in the tub this week. I can't do both at the same time. I'll be ok, I promise, I'm just having some growing pains this week. :)

On to the pictures!! I take her pic with the same bunny every month (thanks to "aunt" Summer)..this month she was more interested in trying to eat the bunny!

Can you feel the love tonight?

Oh, where to begin...

Last night Micah and I went to see Lion King the musical! I was so excited about going, I could hardly stand it. I bought our tickets back in March because I didn't want to miss it. It did NOT dissappoint! I wanted to cry during the first scene when all the amazing animals came down the aisles...so impressive. I am a little dorky when it comes to musicals! Sweet Micah endured very cramped quarters in order to make my day. He also had the prettiest roses sent to me. Thanks for a great date, hon...and thanks mom for babysitting!!

Not much to say...

I don't have much to say today, but I thought I better post some more pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Annalee loves her bookshelf, sometimes she takes all the books and throws them on the floor (after tasting them, of course!). She also likes having her hair brushed, but who doesn't?

Good Times

We had some great family time this weekend! (The pics are out of order, but you can figure it out, I think!) Saturday, Micah and Annalee had a little playtime in the front yard. It was really hard for me to get her picture in the grass because she kept wanting to eat it. Check out Annalee's new hairbow that I made her today!! I found step-by-step directions at http://bowdesigns.50webs.com/index.html So fun! Now we just need some hair to put them in--in the mean time we'll just use the headbands too.

Saturday night we headed to Grapefest. Annalee did so great! She was very happy riding around with daddy so that she could see everything. Micah played a dart throwing game and won her a stuffed duck. She carried it around the rest of the night, so cute! We also bought her a blinking pin that she wore on the front of her baby bjorn. Dinner was great with Eric and Erin at Tolbert's. Good times all around.

Martha, Martha, Martha

O.k. I'll admit, I have a love/hate relationship with Martha Stewart. Yes, I Tivo her show everyday for the great recipes, craft ideas, cleaning tips etc, but have you noticed how much she sticks her foot in her mouth? It happens at least once a show. She has some major awkward moments, not to mention she is somewhat vain.

Anywho...she is having a giveaway right now for a trip to NYC during Thanksgiving that includes airfare, hotel, a fancy meal, parade tickets, a $1,000 gift card to Macy's and tickets to her show for you and 3 guests. In case you didn't know, I have wanted to go to New York for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for as long as I can remember. I actually started to plan the trip for last Thanksgiving, but I stopped because I had a funny feeling about it and then I became pregnant a couple of months later. I wouldn't have been able to go because I was about 35 weeks pregnant at Thanksgiving last year. Weird, huh? Sooo...I have been entering her contest online everyday because I really think I can win!!! :) From now until Sept. 30th you can enter once a day per e-mail address. If you're interested, just go to http://www.marthastewart.com/ to enter, but remember, if you win you better take me as one of your guests!!! :)

1st Illness...boo

Annalee experienced her first illness...a stomach bug. And 36 hours later, her mommy experienced her first illness with a baby to take care of!! Yikes. That was a new one. Now daddy is battling the same thing. I can't help but wonder if there was another baby in the nursery on Sunday that started this whole ride!! Oh well, we made it and are doing MUCH better now. I couldn't help but take her picture while she was in her "sicky" outfit. (I don't put her in sweetpeas anymore, but I couldn't resist.)

Mallory Kate

Here she is...Mallory Kate. Congrats to Karson and Scott!!

Babies, Babies, Babies!

I am jumping with joy tonight because 2 of my best friends have given birth to their babies within 48 hours of each other! Cassy welcomed Cohen David in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday and Karson met sweet Mallory Kate around 5 this afternoon. Both moms and babies are doing great. I will post pictures of them as soon as I go visit. Thank you God for safe deliveries and no C-sections!

As far as my baby is concerned, here's a funny pic of her. We spent the day with my mom yesterday and somehow Annalee crawled under the end table and got stuck! Don't worry, I rescued her right after I took the pic!!

Reprimanded

Apparently I haven't posted enough pictures of Annalee lately and I am upsetting some of my readers!! I want to keep to people happy and comin' back for more...so here they are!

Annalee's 8 month picture in her chair with her bunny.

Practicing feeding herself......

It's in the mouth...yea!

Video of Annalee crawling.

School Started Without Me Today

(My classroom on the 1st day of school last year.)

For the past 22 years I have had a "first day of school"...not this year. I have very mixed emotions about this fact. I absolutely LOVE being at home with Annalee and being able to care for her and watch her grow every day. Although I wouldn't trade my job for anything in the world, I am a tiny bit sad that I was not standing in the hallway this morning at Hughes Elementary greeting fresh-faced 2nd graders for the first day of school. I was so blessed to have taught with the most talented group of teachers that I could have ever imagined. My job was literally given to me by the Lord at exactly the right time and plac e. I coudn't have hand picked a better place to teach for the past 5 years. I love you girls so much and I wish you the best of luck this year....I will be up to visit A LOT!! Know that I was thinking about you today.

Rocky Mountain High: Part One

Hey Guys...sorry for the long pause between postings, but we were on VACATION!!! Woo Hoo! I just have a minute to post, so I'll give you a little taste of what our week looked like in the beautiful state of Colorado. I plan on posting more details soon. (Yes, that is a fleece I'm wearing!!)