Sunday, December 28, 2014

The Amazing Beckam Turns 3!



I cannot believe my baby turned THREE!! This little boy continues to astound and amaze me- his zeal for learning, music and adventure, his love of life, his goofy, happy spirit, his sharp and inquisitive mind, his artistic ability, his sweet and tender heart -  he is truly such a remarkable person to me and I feel like the luckiest mama in the entire world to get to call him mine. What a privilege! He has truly taught me so much and inspires me on a daily basis to be a better person. Words cannot even begin to express how full my heart is with love for this little man. I wish he could stay this small forever. 


I have been so proud of all that Beckam has learned this last year. He knows all of his numbers from 1-20 and his entire alphabet. He knows the sounds of many of the letters and can legibly write about 10 of them. He asks me everyday if we can do "Preschool" (I do my own little preschool with him at home since he was only 2 1/2 at the start of the school year. We do workbooks, reading, arts and crafts, and music). He has a unique fondness for music that has exhibited itself since he was a baby. He LOVES listening to all kinds of music, asks frequently to watch symphonies, musicians and particularly The Piano Guys on Youtube while he pretends to play various instruments and can tell you the name of almost any instrument.  He continues to show a remarkable adeptness for drawing. This is one of my favorite things he has drawn this year. It's our family (Daddy, Mommy, Beckam and Haiya): 




If there is one thing that sums up his passion and interest during this last year though it would probably have to be Superheros! I am pretty sure he spent the majority of his second year of life wearing a cape, whether it was to the grocery store, the park or to bed. We have at least 5 costume changes a day between his Wolverine, Flash, Spiderman and now Batman costumes. And he has quite the growing collection of mini superhero figures. 

One of my favorite things is whenever he is helpful or does something kind for somebody (like helps me throw something in the trash or gives his crying sister a toy) he jumps up in the air and yells "Superhero saves the day!"  He is certainly my superhero - that's for sure!

So for his 3rd Birthday there was no better fitting theme than an all-out Superhero party!! 




To see his face light up when I started to decorate for the party was worth every minute of my planning and preparation. He kept gasping and pointing and getting so excited. You would have thought I was the mom of the year haha! #soeasytoplease  ;)


I asked him to give me his "BEST Batman face!" and this is what I got: 



Beckam was so excited to have some of his besties come to his party!  A major shout out to Luke, Jonah, Paul and Brian for making his party so fun!!



And of course to baby sister who made an excellent Batman :)



A peek at our set-up: 















While everyone enjoyed pizza we also had the kids make superhero shields (using paper plates) and pick their favorite mask to wear. 








It was fun to see which identity everyone wanted to be :) 




After Pizza and shield decorating we all went outside and hit the pinata! 



These little guys were awesome at hitting the pinata haha- we had to help them out after a little while and break it open or we might have been there all day before they got it to break haha- but in the end all that mattered was that they got the candy!!









Afterwards we came inside and sang "Happy Birthday" to Beckam and let him blow his candles out. We had to re-light them halfway through the song because he got too impatient and blew them out. It's the best part of a birthday after all, amiright?!



Beckam got some awesome presents from his cute friends which they all had a blast playing with, and Beckam handed out his little party favors. 


They had this tag on them and inside was a Batman blower, a Spiderman frisbee, an Avengers notepad and a pack of crayons. 





    Thanks to all who came and helped make our little Superhero's birthday one to always remember!


To see Beckam's past parties, click here: 

























Wednesday, December 17, 2014

With Grateful Hearts- November 2014




 We were so lucky to get to spend much of the month of November at my parents' house. My husband had to take the National Dental Boards (no biggie!) just a few days before Thanksgiving and rather than being a widow while he studied ALL day everyday for a month, we decided to go to Utah where I could spend time with family and he could study away to his heart's content!  I am so proud of how hard he studied and that he PASSED his boards! This is one thing I am so grateful for this season! I am also grateful that we could spend a few weeks with family and have so much fun!







To start off I thought I'd share a few of my favorite things from November - 

 First up: onsuttonplace.com free printables! These are so so cute and I love everything she has on her blog! Seriously!



And how cute is this turkey sandwich from Jill Dubien at meetthedubiens.com. =)



As you know, I also love ateachingmommy.com and all of her free homeschool printable activities and worksheets for kids! I use her stuff all the time to do preschool with my 2 year old and I love that it is themed into units! We loved her November themed activities this month!








And I loved these incredibly cute Thanksgiving crafts at babble.com! Super cute! We did a few and they were so fun!







As for our trip to Utah, we did so many fun things it would be impossible to give a re-cap of everything so I will just share a few of my favorite highlights!


At the top of my list, I am so grateful for the amount of time we were able to spend at the Salt Lake City LDS temple! My husband and I enjoyed a beautiful morning doing some ordinance work  and then having a delicious, warm and quiet lunch together at the Lion House afterwards. Yay for dates! And yay for Grandmas who babysit!

We also took our little family down to Temple Square one afternoon to show them around and walk through the Visitors Center and Joseph Smith Memorial Building along with the temple grounds.  




Then, the week of Thanksgiving we had the amazing opportunity to attend the sealing of my nephew Michael to his family. My sister and her husband adopted Michael from China last year at the age of six. He has been an incredible addition to our family and we are so in love with him!  

Each year my mom gathers her children together around the holidays and counsels us and gives us a theme for the year. This year (2014) our theme was becoming sanctified through the TEMPLE and I can't explain how cool it was to end our year by ALL being in the temple together! To sit in the gorgeous sealing room with my brothers and sisters and watch Michael become a part of our family for time and all eternity was one of the most memorable and celestial experiences of my life. 

One of the things I am most grateful for is the Temple. For the peace and beauty and power that resounds there and for my eternal family. 




I am also grateful for all of the fun time my kids got to spend with their cousins! We went to the Curiosity Museum, the Living Planet Aquarium and the Hogle Zoo to name just a few places!  And we loved every minute of the cold weather that we don't get in Arizona! 







On Thanksgiving day we enjoyed a beautiful meal with my family. I always love the little finishing touches my mom puts on everything, like her beautiful Thanksgiving china and the little after-dinner mints that she puts out each year. And I love that we gather before the meal and always have a family devotional. It always brings the spirit and helps us remember what we have to be thankful for. 





And I am SO thankful for this little girly who celebrated her FIRST Thanksgiving. 




We also got family pictures taken by my sister-in-law Caitlin! She is always sooooo nice to do these for us, especially since I have a little somebody that does NOT like having his pictures taken. ;)

More than anything, I am thankful for my little family and the opportunity that I have to be a wife and a mother. Nothing in this world brings me more joy than this family of mine. 
















 Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too!
 xoxo
Annie