October 26th

Well, my baby is officially two years old.  In some ways it's hard to believe he's really two, but mainly, it feels like Eli has been a part of our family forever!  He makes me laugh a whole lot and he's such a sweet mess! 

Just an example of our conversations:

E: "Where's Daddy?" 

Me:  "Daddy's at work."
E:  Oh.


He's kind of a to-the-point kind of fella.  This morning taking Sawyer to school, we all walked through one door, but Eli just stopped and said, "Uhhhhhhhh!"  as he tried to push the other door open and refused to walk through the open door.  He definitely has a mind of his own and how things should operate.  I still think he's about the cutest thing I've ever seen, and he sure does make me smile!  We moved him up to a toddler bed last Sunday.  He was crawling out of his crib, so he just kept appearing when I thought he was suppose to be in his bed. 

So far, so good in the big bed. 

Walker took off from work so he could spend his actual birthday with us.  We decided to go fishing at Beck-Beck and Papa Pitt's pond.  Granny Beck prepared a feast (of course) for lunch to celebrate!

Eli took a little nap for about half of our fishing trip.

Sawyer helped Daddy catch a fish.

It was a fun day!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Sweet Eli!  We couldn't love you any more!! 



Good times...

Have you been "Boo'd"?  I've been meaning to post about being "Boo'd," just in case some of you are like me and never heard of this before.  It totally brightened my day the other day!  This is year three for me of neighborhood life, but "Being Boo'd" was new to me this year, and we had fun with it!  You can read all about what it is here.   I thought I better share in case some of y'all might want to pass this along at a home near you. 


Sawyer being very sneaky paying forward our "boo"!

In other news...Today has been a GREAT day around here!  Guess what this sweet man did for me today? 



I like Him a whole lot!!  (even in a red shirt on a Saturday)

He bought me an early Christmas present...A (much needed) new CAMERA!  I am beyond thrilled about this gift!  I take a whole lot of pictures of my boys, and I have been making do with my old camera that has been dropped and mistreated for a long time.  I know I have a lot to learn about what this baby can do, but I'm excited I already captured pictures like this....

and this....

and these...

I was in desperate need of an "action" mode on my camera!  If you knew how crazy the delay on my old camera made me (plus all the tape that was holding it together), you'd understand my excitement!  These are pictures that I have been trying to capture since Sawyer's birth forever!  I never thought the pictures I took lived up to reality, but this looks a lot more like real life.  I'm thrilled!!  Thank you, Sweet Husband!!!

AND...Thank you, Cam Newton, for capping off my good day with a big V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!  War Eagle! 

Eli's Party

Eli's birthday isn't until October 26th, but we had a Spiderman birthday party at the park on Saturday with family and a few friends to celebrate.  We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!  I think October may be my new favorite month!   We're thankful Gmama and Granddaddy could come and bring the Braddock girls.  I love that they have so many cousins so close in age! 

The park + friends= a fun, easy party!!   I loved it!  I think Eli did too! :)  It was honestly a little much for the little guy!  He didn't wake up in the best mood and does not love to be the center of attention, so I was hard-pressed to get a smile from E all day long....BUT...if I ask him NOW if he had fun at his party, he'll smile BIG and say, "Uh-Huh!!"  So, we'll go with that answer!! :)



Sweet Eli!  I'm so crazy thankful for this precious boy! 

Eli was happy Granny Beck was there to help shield him from some of the madness! :) 

Swingin' With Mama-he's in his comfort zone here! :) '

Cousins-minus Caleb, Grace and Caroline (and the 2 who are in utero)

He is REALLY excited about ALL the new toys! 

The pinata was a hit! Glad we did it!