Baseball & Sunshine

Here in Colorado we still have snow all over the place. It is up to 60 degrees today so it's melting fast but no shorts weather yet. That is why the kids and I took some time last week to join my Dad in Phoenix for baseball spring training (to see our beloved Padres, of course!). It was wonderful to wear shorts and t-shirts for a while. The temps were between 75-80 degrees so it was not too hot. Caleb and Amelia loved having grass to run around on. When we got into Phoenix Amelia looked around and said, "There's no snow here!" - Yeah!!

Now I've always said that I love going to spring training, not just for the baseball but because after a snowy, cold winter I want to wear shorts and t-shirts in March. However, I am thankful that I don't live there because I don't want summer to come in March. June is fine, thank you very much.

The kids were so excited to see Grandpa and you can see how Caleb takes his cues from Amelia. When Amelia was Caleb's age she was still a little hesitant around all of her grandparents because she didn't see them that often. But now Caleb sees how excited Amelia is to see any of them and he is that excited too.

There was a night game on Monday so we took the morning to head out to Wildlife World, west of Phoenix. It was a smaller version of the Wild Animal Park but the kids enjoyed seeing the animals and loved the petting zoo.

Snow, Snow & More Snow

I know that everyone in the west has felt the brunt of this series of storms but when you didn't grow up with snow and you get over 3 feet in 5 days - that's a lot of snow!! Luckily Amelia loves the snow and Caleb has been putting up with it fairly well. The picture at left is our front yard. Keep in mind that we live in a mobile home and the deck is at least 3 feet off the ground. That being said we really can't complaint too much because the picture at right was taken from in front of our house. You don't get views like this in Southern California. We did take advantage of all the snow and Rod dug the kids out a snow cave. The only problem now is that we got at least 10-12 inches more snow the night after he dug it so it's a bit hard to get to.



Thankfully before all this snow hit last week we were able to celebrate Amelia's 4th birthday. We had some friends up from Bloomfield, balloons, pizza, cake, ice cream and presents - what more does a 4-year-old need? We left the streamers up in the living room for a few days after her birthday and she kept asking me why they were still up. I guess she understood the idea that her birthday was just that one day. Of course, the real answer to her question was Mommy and Daddy are just lazy and haven't taken them down yet. (Don't worry, they are down by now.)

In other news, Rod has started his new job as a corporate pilot for Foutz & Bursam Construction. This is the same businessman he has been flying the LearJet for since the spring. When the owner heard that Mesa was shutting down he offered Rod a full-time position. Now Rod is getting the same pay and only has to work about 3 days a week. He's home with the kids and I the rest of the time. What a blessing!

To finished off, I don't want you to think I forgot about Caleb so here's a cute pic of him. Yes, he's our little climber!

San Diego Vacation

We decided to try and take an actual vacation this year but since we can't afford anything where we have to pay for hotels and meals, we went to San Diego and stayed with my dad. Just kidding, we were really looking forward to seeing all our family, going to the beach, the fair and celebrating Caleb's 1st birthday. I had been missing the Del Mar Fair (aka. the San Diego County Fair) for several years now and we wanted to make it a point to go this summer. The kids did great at the fair and Amelia loved going on the kiddie rides and riding the sky tram over the fairgrounds.

We also spent several days at the beach in which Amelia had basically no interest in going in the water but loved the sand. Her cousins, Matthew & Elizabeth, were there too and they were like fish but it still didn't seem to sway Amelia into splashing around much. Caleb loved the sand as well just as he loves the sandbox at home. He would get tuckered out in the early afternoon and fall asleep in someone's arms.

On July 1st, we celebrated Caleb's 1st birthday. Rod's family happened to be vacationing in San Diego at the time and my aunt made the trip down as well so we had a great family birthday party. Caleb was thoroughly uninterested in his presents so his sister gladly opened them for him. He did however love the cake I made him. He ate several big bites then promptly started throwing it on the floor. He's 1 alright! (Yes, he did have a wardrobe change in the middle of the party - diaper issues - need I say more.)

We are planning on going camping a few times before the summer is over so I'll let you know how that turns out with two little ones. Hope your summer is going well!

We're still here!

Wow! How long has it been since you've heard from the Beck's? I think about 5 months. Sorry! And since I didn't get Christmas cards out in December you might have thought that we fell off the face of the earth. Nothing of the sort, just regular busy lives with the two little ones.

I don't have a lot of interesting stuff to fill you in on over the last five months. More importantly, I'm sure you just want some updated pictures. I have been busy working on my Recipes for Moms website. It's a fun hobby and maybe I'll make a little money from it as time goes by. If you happen to have your own blog or website, I'd love it if you grabbed my Recipes for Moms button off the site and added it to your site (Thanks!). As for Rod, he recently went to a week of training to learn to co-pilot a Lear Jet. He is very excited to have this opportunity and will be flying a local business owner around once a week or so in addition to his job at Mesa.

OK, now to the kids. Caleb is already 9 months old and crawling everywhere. He loves to be with his big sister and smiles constantly. Amelia is sharp as a tack, which is excited to see and sometimes a bit tiring. She is looking forward to spring weather and our return to time outside.

Here is a photo montage from the winter, Christmas and now:

Our Christmas Tree

So everyone always debates the real tree vs. fake tree issue. But I have to say that there is nothing like a fresh tree. See real trees usually come from the Christmas tree lot or from Home Depot. Once in a while you get a chance to cut your own from the tree farm but there is nothing like having a tree cut straight from the forest, especially when a tree cutting permit costs $8.00.



Rod and our friend, Nate, went on Sunday outside of Durango and cut down our tree. It smells so fresh and there aren't needles falling off of it when we brought it in the house like last year's tree (from Home Depot). We put it up on Monday night and even with no lights or decorations on it yet Amelia still wanted to read her stories on the couch by the tree.

Cowgirl Up!

I know I have been really behind in posting pictures so I wanted to at least let you see Amelia's Halloween pictures. As of a week before Halloween, I still didn't have a costume for her and by that time it was too late to find something on eBay. I was stumped as to what I was going to do so I asked her what she wanted to be. Her answer? "A cowboy". OK, I though. I can manage that. So after borrowing a few items from a friend, we had our cowgirl. I think she came up with this because we have a Curious George book where he goes to a costume party and dresses up like a cowboy.

The weekend before Halloween we went out to Sutherland Farms in Aztec which has a great pumpkin patch as well a a few animals and a corn pit play area. Amelia loved the hay ride and would have been content to stay in the corn pit all day if we'd let her.

Everybody Sing!

Last weekend, Rod's parents were here for a visit. On Friday evening we went up to Durango for a little outing. We let Amelia play at our favorite park and took a nice walk along the riverwalk. During dinner at our favorite restaurant, Serious Texas BBQ, Amelia had probably more than she should have of my sweet tea and Rod's Diet Coke, so she was quite awake for the drive home. For most of the way home, we had a family sing-along with Amelia as the choir director. She told us what songs to sing including the ABC's; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Itsy, Bitsy Spider and a few other. She wanted everyone to be singing and even scolded Rod once when she thought that Daddy was not singing. It was cute to see her mind working to remember all the different songs.

Summer Wrap-up

Can you believe that it is already September and the summer is over?! We, obviously, had a very busy but also a very fun summer. Throughout this post, I've shared some of the best pictures from the summer with you and I'll give you some background to go with them.

We started the summer with Amelia's first official haircut. She has sometimes freaked out just when we've tried to cut her bangs at home so I wasn't sure how she would take to a stranger coming at her with scissors. Luckily, she came through like a champ and sat super still while her hair was trimmed. Summer thunderstorms are common around here. They usually come in the afternoon but one day it started raining in the morning. I let Amelia come out in her pajamas with me to take trash to the trash can. She decided she would like to stay on the front walk and enjoy the rain as it dripped off the front of the house.

We love to spend time outdoors so before Caleb arrived we made it a point to get out to our favorite places. At Navajo Lake, Rod showed Amelia how to skip rocks. Of course, she basically just threw them into the water but it was fun to watch her want to do what Daddy was doing. Then, a week and a half before Caleb was born we decided to do our first family camping trip. We had a huge 8-man tent for the three of us and Sadie. We joined some friends at Haviland Lake above Durango and had a great weekend. Amelia loved sleeping in the tent and learning to fish with Daddy.

Then came Caleb (see the previous post if you missed these details). Amelia is a great bath helper although I've learned that it is best to position her at Caleb's feet instead of his head.

At the fair, Amelia enjoyed bouncing in the bounce house and checking out the specs on the Bobcat tractors. Although she did find the sheep a bit noisy. We also watched a small portion of the 4-H rodeo and she was fascinated by the barrel racing.

What summer would be complete without regular runs in the sprinklers and frequent afternoons in the kiddie pool? Rod's parents brought Amelia a pool/sandbox and she is still asking to go in the pool even though the weather has started to cool down a bit.

In August we were able to go up to Pagosa Springs to a huge cabin for the weekend with my MOPS Steering Team. It is a beautiful setting and was a very fun (not relaxing exactly) for the adults and the kids. Amelia loves being with her friend Kaytriel and on Saturday everyone drove up to a high mountain lake and the kids loved playing in the water.

One benefit of Caleb being due in the middle of the summer was that I had time to get my garden going at the end of May. This was about two months earlier than I was able to start it last year and I have been very excited with the results. I convinced Rod that it needed to be a little bigger this year. You might think that since my garden was so packed last year that I would expand so I would have more room for the plants to grow. Of course not! I took that extra room and planted everything that I had last year plus some. So we have watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, tomatoes (2 kinds), crookneck squash, zucchini, butternut squash, acorn squash and strawberries. Amelia loves to see what is growing and asks each time we have vegetables at dinner if they came from Mommy's "gardy". It has been a great way to introduce her to new vegetables.

It has taken Amelia a bit of time to get used to Caleb and the change in routine that has brought. It has been very sweet to watch her as she tries to help with him or comfort him. She is reading him a story here as he swings.
We hope that you has an enjoyable and full summer as we did. We are excited to see what next summer brings as Caleb will be active and Amelia will be everywhere!

Trip to San Diego

Two weeks ago, we spent a long weekend in San Diego for some time to get away and see the family. It was an action-packed three days with basically no naps. On Friday we headed to Oceanside to introduce Amelia to the beach. The last time she was there was when she was 6-months old so I don't think she remembers that. Rod's parents were able to join us since they were camping in San Diego with our nephew. Amelia loved playing in the sand with Matt although she didn't really take to his love of the water. The day was a bit overcast, so just having temperatures that allowed us to play in the sand and not sweat to death was nice.


On Saturday, we spent the day at the Wild Animal Park with Grandma & Mitch. It was a beautiful day and Amelia loved seeing the animals. She had her longest nap of the weekend for about 45 minutes while we all ate lunch. She was a little disappointed that the ducks weren't hungry enough to want to eat out of her hand but loved petting the deer. We also got to see the lions up very close at the Lion Camp exhibit.

Sunday found us at the Padres game. A must for me when visiting San Diego, especially since it was Mother's Day. Amelia showed her team spirit in a new outfit from Grandpa. This is her "smiling" to show how excited she was to be at the game. Miraculously, she stayed with us in our seats for the whole game and even more miraculously, we got to see the Pads win! I was thinking about staying another few days with Amelia but decided that three days without naps and a flight alone with a two-year old while 7-months pregnant was not something I wanted to contend with so we came home with Rod on Monday. All in all, we had a great weekend with the family and a good last trip before the baby comes.

Easter Fun

This Easter was a lot of fun for Amelia, as well as us, because it was the first year we dyed eggs and had a real egg hunt for her. To prepare ourselves for egg dying, we set up our black card table on the grass in the backyard. Then we all changed into either old clothes or black clothes, got the dyes ready and grabbed a bunch of rags, which came in very handy when Amelia knocked over the blue dye cup. She did however have a lot of fun putting the eggs in the dye cups and seeing the results. Of course, we can't get her to come within a mile of actually eating an egg regardless of the way it is cooked.

For Easter Sunday, she was so excited with how pretty she looked in her new Easter dress and new shoes. She dove into her Easter baskets and we are still dealing with the candy issue. After the baskets, I "hid" over 50 plastic eggs in the backyard. Last year we had nothing but dirt back there so at least this year there were a few place to put eggs next to and behind. Amelia got a kick out of looking for the eggs but did not get the idea that her one basket would not hold all the eggs she was finding. We kept having to go behind her and discreetly pick up the eggs that had fallen out and hold on to them to take inside while at the same time trying to keep Sadie from biting the eggs and eating the gummy bears inside. All in all, we missed being with our families but we had a fun Easter together.