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 :)  

First Snowfall

I cannot believe the winter right now.  I mean.. I'm not complaining or anything... but it has been WARM!.. okay warmER than last winter that's for sure.  Last week it started snowing, I surprised myself when I ran to the window and thought, "Yes it's finally here!".  So when Derrick got home we got Beckham bundled up and took him outside to document his first experience of snowflakes landing on his pretty little face.  He was totally chill, it was so cute!

 It was so sweet seeing my two favorite boys having a fun time outside.  

And now? The snow is gone!

But once again.. not complaining:)

Beckham Lately

He is just a week shy of 4 months old! 

Maybe I should just wait til then to post but I couldn't help it.  

Just recently, he has discovered his cute little feet.  

They are the first thing he grabs onto as soon as he wakes up.  

Remember when he was about 2 weeks old, his hair started to fall out?  He had an old man cul de sac look going on for a while, but not anymore! His hair is growing in dark and thick.

He hasn't completely rolled over yet.  

He rolls almost all the way but then his arm gets stuck and he doesn't exactly know where to go from there.  

So then he decides to gnaw on his hands.

I will most likely say this in every post about him, but it's just...

He is growing up so fast!! 

He is super curious and always wants to see whats going on.  He smiles at everyone but rarely at the camera because he just wants to know what that thing is thats always flashing at him!  Get used to it little boy, I can't stop capturing every second of your little life! You're the love of my life Beckham cake... i won't tell daddy if you won't.. xoxoxo

Christmas in Idaho

This was our first Christmas in Idaho since we were married. 

We were pretty excited about making Christmas memories as a little family.  

Even though Beckham is too tiny to know it, we did everything to make his first Christmas super special.  

The night we brought home our first real tree was so much fun! We watched the Christmas devotional while we strung ornaments and listened to Michael Buble Christmas while we hung them.. then when baby boy was asleep we turned off all the lights and danced next to our brightly lit tree:)

Decorating cookies is one of my favorite things to do at Christmas time! Jessica and I tried to get super creative with our decorating skills... but then the boys got involved.... haha we had lots of fun though:)  Meanwhile, Derrick and Melanie made their traditional Swedish Rosettes, 

which turned out both beautiful and yummy.

 On Christmas Eve we had fun party at Grandma and Grandpa Esplin's house.  There was so much food and it was a packed house full of family. We had a sweet little Christmas program that I just loved! 

On that same day Beckham turned 3 months old!

My little boy is getting bigger and cuter every day!

We're pretty sure that Beckham's gift to us that night was sleeping for nine whole hours!  

It was so nice.  

Thank you for being so thoughtful with our Christmas gift this year son:)  

Waking up Christmas morning was so fun! Derrick and tip toed out of bed like little kids on Christmas morning and went in Beckham's room to wake him up.  I think he was surprised to wake up to mom and dad's smiling faces hovering over his crib.  When he opened his eyes we said,

 "Merry Christmas Beckham!"

... we were definitely more excited then he was, but he did give us a huge smile:)

It was pretty sweet that Christmas landed on a Sunday this year.  After opening gifts and playing with baby boy, we hurried and got ready for church.  The choir and primary kids put on a Christmas program that Melanie played the flute in. It was a perfect way to set the tone on Christmas day.

 We spent the rest of the day at Rick and Melanie's.  

The gift exchange was so much fun, everyone's gifts were so thoughtful and we loved them all!  

After gifts we had a delicious meal followed by lots of games and Italian sodas.  

It was an awesome Christmas day!

After Christmas the fun didn't end, we went to dinner, and looked at Christmas lights, had more game nights, and our favorite day was when we went to a festive sleigh ride, dinner, and a show at Mountain River Ranch.  The food was delish and we just had so much fun together.  

Christmas 2011 was a blast!!