A Sunny Spring Break

April is awesome because its the month we get to go on vacay for Spring Break!  

With the semester being over, Beckham and I got to have Derrick all to ourselves:) 

 And just like last year, we spent our time in California with my family.  

So of course, we spent lots of time at the beach! 

We hung out at the Huntington Beach Pier, browsed the shops, and ate at Ruby's on the pier.

Me and my beautiful sisters!! I love these gals more than they know!

The guys chatting about who knows what..  I love that Derrick and my dad are so close! 

 Whether it's about cars, exercise, athletics, finances... these two always have something to talk about.

And because there were so many of us chicas, the two of them took a few opportunities to sneak out and do 'guy things'.. 

Beckham was totally spoiled by grandma and grandpa.  

After this trip he went through withdrawals... he wanted to be held 24/7!  

(Ay chihuahua....)

We also visited Corona del Mar.  Derrick had never seen the tide pools! And Beckham set foot on the sand for his very first time.

Back at my parents house Beckham looooved being in the pool!  From the second we set him in, he was totally content.  He loved floating around and playing with his sunglasses.

He loved the park too, here he is swinging with grandpa.

Easter Sunday was sooo fun! We had lots of family over. 

 I had so much fun seeing them all that I completely spaced and didn't even pull my camera :(  

But my mom snapped these while all the kids were hunting for eggs.  

 Here we are on our last day, at the beach again!... Newport Beach this time, we ate at the Crab Cooker (of course) and then watch the sunset on the pier. It was a perfect ending to another fantastic vacay:)

The Three of Us

I hate that I haven't had any time to blog lately! The three of us have been pretty busy in this little life of ours.
I barely even took the time to pull out the SLR and take some pics:(
 BUT we snap pics on our phones daily.. so this post is going to be our update (mostly) via iPhone.

Beckham cake turned 6 months old!! At this point, his only mode of transportation when not latched to his momma, is rolling around.  He is a rolly polly!! It is so funny to watch.  

If he wants his toy he rolls over to it, scoops it up with his feet, to his hands, and wah-lah! He's got his toys. Clever little babe. We have to be careful, because he doesn't quite understand when it's not okay to roll...

At his 6 month check up, he measured 28 inches long, in the 95th percentile! 

(btw, that means that in 2 more inches, he will be half my height... oh jeez...) 

And he weighed 18 lbs, in the 65th percentile.
 He also grew his first two teeth! They're right there on the bottom, you can see them when he is laughing or screaming.. lol. 

We love our big baby boy:)

Up until the first week of April, Derrick was sooooo busy with school.  January to April were not my friend... I miss him so much when he's in school! But I am so proud of him.  He studies so hard, even if it means staying up til the wee hours of the morning and having no social life whatsoever...  Mechanical Engineering is a tough major! But he loves it soooo much. And that makes me happy.

While he was busy studying, I was pretty busy myself. In January I started my photography business! I have loved taking pictures for family and friends for a few years now, but now I am branching out and I'm learning a lot.  I love it.  And honestly, this opportunity has come at a perfect time.  When Derrick is a full time student, he doesn't get to work that much... So it makes me feel sooooo good, that I can be a full time momma and help out in the dinero department, even if it's just a little bit :)

you can check out my blog/website here www.bryanalikesphotography.com

Although we were pretty busy, we did take some time out on those exceptionally nice Spring days to take the little one on some walks.  He loves being outside! 

We enjoyed the amazingness of General Conference too! 

Talk about a spiritual uplift.  

And of course, we made our traditional breakfast quiche and monkey bread! 

So much goodness in one day, right?

Then, during his finals, Derrick turned the big 25!! 

He was so busy and focused that he wouldn't even let me make him a cake til a few days later when finals were over.  But that was a smart move, because then, he was actually able to enjoy his mini celebration.

Our new tradition is that we make a special cheesecake for each other's bday.  Last year he made me a Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake and it was bomgdiggity.  So I found this recipe (on Pinterest of course) for Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake.  He loved it! Yay!! Mission accomplished.

We had family and a few friends over to celebrate.  It was a fun night and Derrick didn't have to feel guilty about not doing homework! When everyone left we stayed up late packing for our Spring Break in California.. stay tuned!

when i was sick...

This month has been a whirlwind.  I looked at my calendar and was like, "What?? Where did the time go??"... well I know where a third of the month went...

On the last day of February I got sick.. I'm talking fever, chills, toilet hugging, SICK.  It was murderrrr. Why? Because it lasted ten freaky deeky days. TEN. Derrick knew it was the real deal when I wouldn't answer my phone and my computer was left lonely and never turned on.. for most of the time anyway.  Here I am sick, unshowered  for too many days to count, and looking as glamorous as ever....

I even had the joyful experience of trying to take care of an infant along with my sick self. He was so good to me though, we probably watched Despicable Me fifteen times.  I'm pretty sure it's his favorite movie ever.  Here he is on Day 2- Keeping mom company and as happy as can be.

 But by day 7, He was tired of being cooped up in the house, he was too nice to tell me that though. 

Who can resist this pouty little face..

So what did I do while I was stuck in the house, a slave to the bathroom, and disconnected from the outside world?  Well, I slept a lot and I thought a lot and I puked a lot.  

Maybe it's because I am slightly dramatic when I feel crappy or maybe it's because my heart is extra full when I'm vulnerable, but I thought a lot about the long lost people in my life.

Family, cousins, old friends, old boyfriends and their families, mission companions, people I met in Ohio, even friends who live close by...  Some of these people I talk to occasionally, some I haven't talked to in years. If you're one of those people and are reading this, I hope you know I still think of you. I still hope for the best for you.  When I hear good news about you, I'm happy for you.  When I hear not so good news about you, I pray for you.

And before I get too mushy for my own good, I'll end this thought with what Forrest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that."

Oh and as for being sick? I'm 100% better now. It must have just been a very mean flu bug that decided to vacation in my body for a week and half.  And because all of that toilet hugging bliss, I am now back to my pre-pregnancy weight! Worth it?- not in the slightest...  But I'll take it anyway.

5 Months Old

Every 24th day of the month at 10:24 am, my baby boy is one month older! I get so excited for him every time.  Derrick counted and said I sang five different impromptu versions of  my own "Beckham did you know you're five months old?..."  I think they both like my songs:)

- Beckham loves to munch on his hands! The only way to get them out of his mouth is to distract him with a toy... but then he just puts that right into his mouth too.

- He has been rolling over for a few weeks now! He can roll front to back and back to front. When he does, he looks around like he is so proud of himself.  

- He likes to watch mom and dad talk and play with each other. He just stares and smiles:)

- He loves his daddy.  Derrick can make him smile even when he's all the way across the room.

- Beckham is mesmerized by his hands and feet.  He likes to hold his hand in a fist and just study it.  When he is in laying down he holds up both feet and just watches as he moves them slowly in the air.

- He is ticklish and laughs really hard when I tickle his ribs.

- He loves to sit in his Bumbo and play with his toys in his Exersaucer.

- Bath time is his favorite! He splashes and babbles while listening to music.

- He reaches for his toys when we hold them out to him.  His favorite is his caterpillar from Aunt Kari.

Short and Sweet

Derrick had his last three day weekend of the semester and because my parents are AWESOME... they flew us out for a short trip to California.  This was Beckham's first flight! He was sooo sleepy when we got on the plane and was only content when Derrick would stand up with him.  (ps: How do babies just KNOW when you're sitting or standing? And why does it matter to them so much anyway??) Anywho when the time came for us to sit down and buckle up, Beckham was happy and laughing.  But that didn't last too long.  After a few impatient minutes, he was NOT having it.  He cried out of sleepiness and frustration for 5 minutes that felt like 5 hours.  Derrick and I just looked at just at each other and realized that we were now those people on an airplane with a screaming baby. But the torture didn't last long.  After we took off, Beckham fell asleep and didn't wake up until we landed:)

When we landed we were greeted at the Long Beach Airport by my family.  We headed to Harbor House Cafe and at a yummy breakfast.  Then we ran across the street to a cute little farmer's market.

And since we were in the OC area we decided to visit the grandparents.  We took a 4 generation picture with my sweet and beautiful Grandma Winnie.  

Beckham loved being strolled around at the beach!  He totally skipped nap time just to enjoy time with us.  How thoughtful of you little Beckham.

In that quick weekend we went to Balboa, did some shopping, the boys went to the movies, we had a delicioso Mexicana meal, went to church, watched Modern Family, played Pounce, went to Lucille's, gabbed and laughed about life, and us ladies got pedi's and mani's! 

We definitely made the most out of that weekend! It was short but it was oh so sweet:)

Love Day

Valentine's Day was spent with my two favorite guys.  Derrick made me his special chocolate cheesecake , we did a little shopping for all three of us, then we came home, put Baby to bed, and indulged in chocolate covered strawberries and Martinelli's. Then we cuddled and watched a flick. 

I have to admit that my favorite part of the night was when Derrick pulled me in close and said, 

"I just love Valentine's Day." 

Weekend in Island Park

Every year we look forward to going to Island Park with all of the Likes family.  

It was especially fun this year because we actually had some real live SNOW to play in!  

(I'm not even joking.. it's the middle of Feb and we're barely getting snow at home!).  

Going snowmobiling is what I look forward to most in IP! The first time I ever experienced it was when we were engaged.  Until then, I never knew what I had been missing out on.  There is just something freeing about breezing through the white powdery snow with no care in the world.  Derrick let me sit in the front for part of the ride and lets just say I might have stood up with eyes closed, arms and the air, and yelled,"I'm the king of the world!!".... but like I said.. I only MIGHT have done that... ;)

Beckham enjoyed the snow too! We got him all layered and bundled up and took him outside.  

He loved it.  It was so white and beautiful he just stared at it.  

And because Beckham has been into tasting almost anything lately, 

we had him try out the snow.  I think he liked it.

The cabin we stay at is perfectly secluded and well equipped for a whole gang of us.  

We played games and ate way too much:) 

Some of us got a little worn out from all the fun.

Sunday just isn't the same without a good old fashioned church service. So it's pretty awesome that anywhere we go there is usually an LDS church nearby! The church in Island Park is very used to having tourists there.  The entire gym was packed full of visitors. 

 Then before we left, we took the traditional Likes family picture on the stairs :)