Easter Weekend

I cannot believe Easter has actually come and gone already. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that Spring is finally here, but where did the time go? This Easter was so fun, having two kiddos participating in the festivities. Okay, so Beckett didn't fully participate, but I think eating as many jelly beans as you can when your parents are preoccupied means you're definitely starting to get it. Beckett loved the jelly beans and was checking every plastic egg he saw to see if it rattled when shaken. Smart kid. Asher was really excited about Easter too. We died eggs, left out carrots for Mr. E.B. and Ash was very much into the egg hunt Corey put together.

Corey's parents came down for the weekend too. So many of our holidays are spent without extended family, so it definitely made the holiday weekend more fun. We watched General Conference and celebrated the Easter holiday. Such fun. Oh, and I ate entirely too much chocolate. Ugh. Happy Spring!

Yep, that's jelly-bean drool. I wonder how many he had stuffed in there...

More of This and That...

These boys are so fun. I'm always afraid I'm going to forget something they do that makes me smile. I know the crazy things they do won't last forever, so I'm doing my best to capture fleeting moments with my camera. Good shots or not, at least they're there. It's so funny how I look back at some of these already, and I know I was stressed out or irritated, but looking at these pictures I just have to smile and laugh and feel thankful that the moment happened at all. Ah, perspective.

Beckett is an interesting eater. He eats LOTS at breakfast. An adult size portion of oatmeal, a whole banana, milk, and that handful of Kix I toss on his tray to appease him while I am frantically getting everything else ready. This picture is a common scene at lunch time. For some reason he feels a need to douse and smear himself with whatever it is he's eating. I think this particular time it was Chicken Noodle soup. And I promise I didn't even give him the actual liquid-y soup part. Eek. Not pretty. But he was so happy.

Asher has seen his Daddy checking out these maps lately. A couple weeks back I found him perusing a map on the window seat. He was showing me all sorts of roads and has big plans in store. Kinda cute.

Beck sure does love cars. He even makes the little noises when he drives them around. How do little boys just know how to do that? Something in their genes, no doubt. And yes, this is another pic of him donning his favorite glasses, car in hand.

Beckett also loves balls. He gets very excited, squeals for joy and grabs a hold when he sees one. This one took a beating. I found him with a pile of bitten off pieces. He wasn't eating it, just tasting it, and spitting it out, hoping it would get better with each new bite. Asher was sad. Honestly, I've been saving this ball from just this situation for weeks now. It was an accident waiting to happen.

My boys and their "buddies." I wish I could remember when we started calling them that. Asher's brood has gotten a little out of hand. I know I've written about them before, but his pile of stuffed animals is SO big, and he always seems to know when one is missing. He sleeps with them nestled around him. Corey told me the other day he remembers doing that with things when he was little...he says it made him feel safe. I bet all those buddies are protecting him from the ducks that come in through the window (hehehehe...see the post on 'Fears and Funnies').
What's a little crazy is that he comes into my room in the morning carrying them, all of them. I can't even see his face half of the time, and I have no idea how he manages to bring them all along in such a sleepy state. It's truly a feat of dexterity and concentration!

Beckett has taken to a soft, blue bunny. Ironically it was the first thing ever given to Asher....it was a gift for him from my little sister Kayla. Beck LOVES that thing. He slept with a Glo-Worm for a little while, but the bunny rules supreme. He calls it "Bu-Bu", and when I lay him down to sleep at night I hand it to him, he clutches it, smiles, rolls onto his tummy and falls asleep. Last night I didn't have it with me when I put him down and it was disastrous. He laid there, looked all around, then simply said, "Bu-Bu." I hurried out of the room, grabbed that bunny and returned to find Beckett standing up, screaming with tears rolling down his face. That bunny made everything better.

Last weekend, our ward held a primary activity. The kids checked in and were "called" on missions (Ash went to Russia). It was pretty darn cute and the Primary presidency did a fabulous job, I thought. Here is my future missionary proud as can be. He looks so grown up in this picture! They even practiced knocking doors, too cute. He had a great time. I, by the way, will need the next 15 years just to prepare myself to mentally prep myself for letting him leave on a mission. Oh boy.

Whirly, Curly Mullet and First Steps.

Baby hair: it's fine, feathery, whispy, sweet and well...babyish. Which is the exact reason why it's I've been putting off snipping Beckett's lengthy locks. The hair in front is stick straight and starting to drift into his eyes, and the hair in the back is beginning to curl at his neck. It's a mess, really. And so, I think it's time for the mullet to go. I know it's time, but ah, those little curls at the back are so sweet. Maybe I'll cut it, um.....tomorrow.

A week and a half ago, he had a big milestone day! Beckett, who has gotten very adept at standing for little stretches of time, decided to go out on a limb and move forward. He took two very slow, very careful steps, then slowly sat down. Yeah! Good job little B! After that I caught him trying it out a few more times. My little ground-dweller is growing up. No more baby kneeling at my feet with his arms outstretched, begging me to hold him. He will be walking soon, even running! The true upside of walking is that he'll be up and off the floor, which is never really perfectly clean, is it? Then there's church. Ew. I know they vacuum every week, but the dark and dirty fingers and nails on Beckett makes me wonder when the last time it was those carpets were actually cleaned. Of course, all he wants to do is move, so walking the halls, holding him for hours straight at this age is not an option, so onto the dirty floors he crawls. Those days are numbered and my baby is growing up. He's now doing 10-12 steps at a time! Sheesh!

Beckett cruising around with his "walker." Ah, independence. I'll post some pics soon of the newly independent Beckett:)

A little P.S.:
Asher had an appointment last week to get a renal ultrasound. Long story short, we were having him checked to be sure he doesn't have a kidney issue Beck has. He was SO excited to go, talking about it, looking forward to it. It was really funny. And he was very still and such a good boy when the tech performed the ultrasound. She said she'd never seen a kid who was happy to be there before. Leave it to Ash to be the first. The elevators still offer the biggest draw though, and in the end I think that was the reason for his stellar behavior. After we came home that day, he built a hospital out of Legos, in honor of our little visit. Asher thinks the hospital is a place to go and have fun...I guess I won't shatter the dream:)