Blog posts

So my computer has been dumb for the past while. I've tried to do blog posts but I couldn't ever upload photos. I thought it was blogger being dumb- because I didn't have any problems with my wordpress photo blog. So I gave up and never posted the ones I was working on. But I have since had problems uploading photos onto a couple other sites and realized it's my computer not blogger. So I tried uploading and submitting the photos/posts on Dan's computer- and it worked. I published a couple other posts that I started a few months ago but never could finish on my computer. The Moab trip post was going to have a million other photos on it but I could only get 2 the upload after trying and waiting forever I gave up and did an abbreviated post on my photo blog instead. I went ahead and published what I was able to do a few months ago- but I can't add the other photos because my external hard drive crashed and I lost all my photos and other things.

I finally a few months ago finished typing up all my recipes that I've tried and liked over the many years- quite the accomplishment that has been on the to do list for years. Well that is now gone with the rest of my documents/photos. Oh well. So those of you that have been asking about my recipes- it'll be awhile probably until I get the motivation and time to do that again. At least I printed the document with all the recipes off before it got wiped out. I know you should always have things saved in 2 spots and I did that for my photos until I was completely finished with the project- same with the recipes- they used to be saved on my laptop as well. But then I delete them to free up space. I have learned my lesson. That is the second hard drive to crash on me this year. I will always have everything saved in 2 separate places.

Beckett's 2!

Beckett had his second birthday July 19. We waited until the weekend and celebrated it with my family in Denver. Just like last year I didn't get him really any gifts- I left that up to grandma. I buy him things throughout the year, so I can get away with it. Maybe next year I'll have to start getting him birthday presents. I did attempt to make a rice krispy cake in the shape of his recent love of trains/tunnels. As always it did not turn out as well as I had imagined. This usually kills my desire to attempt anything like it again- for at least another year. During our stay we went swimming at the neighborhood pool. This was only his second or third time at a swimming pool. The first time was a year ago and he freaked and wanted nothing to do with it. He has been to the ocean a handful of times and loved it. He likes playing in our sprinklers. So this time he was a little nervous at first but quickly had fun playing in the pool with grandpa, his uncle Alex and dad.

So here are some pics from our trip that my parents took- I forgot all my memory cards at home.

Beckett's favorite toy at grandma's house- he's better at steering finally.

The ugly train cake I tried to make for Beckett.

Beckett telling you he's 2 years old as he holds up 5 fingers.

He loves balloons. We took his elmo and truck balloon back with us. Dan tied his truck balloon to the back of his bike and after riding around for awhile it broke off and blew away. A month later he still talks about it, "Bye-bye truck balloon".

http://video214.com/play/tDL8Lr6Tznb3L0wmNZ63Jg/s/dark

Check out the photos I took of Beckett at two years old in the slideshow I made that's linked above. Beckett didn't show off much in the biking videos I have in the slideshow. I had some better biking videos/photos that got deleted when my hard drive crashed. Oh well!

2 year stats (Staying true to his normal growth):

height: 33 1/2 inches (25%)

weight: 23 lbs (3%)

head: 51 cm (95%)

Some things about our two year old: (So like usual it's more like a novel about Beckett.)

Beckett is obsessed with trucks (especially trash trucks), tractors, trains (he loves Thomas the Train), tunnels, and Booms- he talks about these things non-stop.

He loves putting on chapstick.

He has a big vocabulary that surprises us everyday- he doesn't really put more than 2 words together yet. His words pretty much sound the same and I'm probably one of the few that can understand him.

He loves to say prayers and will shout out "Amen!" for everyone to hear in church- sometimes in the middle of talk or prayer to hurry them up. He tries to say the prayer on our meals all by himself which is usually "food, Jesus, Amen" every now and then he'll add another word.

He is still an adventurous boy climbing on everything- jumping or diving off. He thinks it's cool to climb on the table or counters and then jump up and down on them. He also gallops/skips everywhere.

He doesn't love sandals because his feet get dirty with sticks and rocks in between. He likes spotting bugs and trying to kill them- he can be slightly scared of them sometimes.

He loves riding his bike. He can be really fast to where I can't hardly keep up with him when I run beside him. Unfortunately he gets distracted easily so his riding can be a bit scary. He's starting to lift up his legs when he rides. He loves doing wheelies, going off the curb and attempting ramps and other things his dad does. He tries to keep up with Dan and a couple of his neighborhood friends (who are like 10 and 12). He loves our next door neighbor and always calls for him to play- they have a little girl Beckett's age but he prefers to play with Ezra the fourth grader.

His last baby tooth is cutting through his gums right now- this past month he was getting 3 molars at once. I was hoping that was why he's been a bit more fussy- but I think it's just the trying two stage!

We switched him to a toddler bed and he's done really well with it. He's only fallen out of bed once and usually stays in his bed until I come and get him. Every once in awhile he gets tired of waiting and will get out of bed and knock on his door (because thankfully he still can't open our doors yet). In the mornings or after a nap he sometimes will have a few books in his bed that weren't there when I tucked him in.

He's very good at possessions- "mommy's", "daddy's" or "Beckett's". According to Beckett the white car is daddy's and the 4-runner is Beckett's- mommy doesn't have a car.

He likes to be independent and pretend to be in charge. He's great at saying no, telling people to sit and "Shh!" (which essentially means stop). He bosses his friend Lua around when he's playing "No, Lua!" even though Lua is not over our house.

He still loves nursery at Church- they say he's the most unboohooy kid. I'm thinking that might be changing though.

He likes going rabbit hunting because both grandparents and our house has wild rabbits hanging around.

Beckett is still super social and will say "hi!" a million times to anything that moves. He's also pretty polite constantly saying "thank you". He also loves saying "Bye!" Which is usually followed by "See-ya!" and he's now adding on "Ose!" (trying to say adios!) So usually when departing you'll hear "bye, see-ya, ose!" He is constantly wanting to go places and see people, asking for all his friends all day. One of places we do go every morning is to the church so I can workout with some other ladies and he can play with their kids. So he asks multiple times a day if we can go to church.

He loves to be silly and do the opposite of whatever you say.

His favorite activities are playing hide and seek which he's getting better at and building "tee pee tunnels". He unfortunately has turned into a bit of a TV junkie since he can put a movie on all by his self now. His favorite is Thomas the Train.

He still is predominately left-handed and left-footed, but will use his right hand every once in awhile.

He used to only say "two, three. Go!" when counting but now he usually counts "one, two, one, two..." Sometimes there's go mixed in or not very often he'll say "three" and sometimes "five, six".

He loves the songs with hand actions like "open and shut them", "popcorn popping", "if you're happy...", "do as I'm doing", "head shoulders..."

He knows the letter B and can spot it anywhere. When trying to say the alphabet he currently says "A, B,B".

Beckett amazes us with his memory. Some of the words he knows I question if I've ever even taught him. He remembers the most trivial things and constantly talking about them. I know that's common for little kids to remember random things- but I didn't realize it started so young when he can hardly even talk. For example he is constantly talking about giving Ezra doughnuts, grandpa Mickelson tapping his fingers on the table, Grandpa Hill's owl, April gave him the stuffed puppy, Alex gave him Elmo, Emmett's shirt that had a baseball bat on it last week and Lua said "no, no, no, no!" the one time and he thought it was hilarious.

I figured he wouldn't be potty trained for another couple years but not too long after he was 18 months he showed a huge interest and would cry if I would change his diaper and not let him go on the potty. But I didn't want to push him and I know he's not quite ready since he still can't pull down his pants/diaper, open doors, get on the toilet... without help. Plus potty training doesn't sound fun- eating up all your day. So I haven't officially started anything. But he was doing real good telling me when he needed to go (most of the time), he'd go pee every time I took him and even stay dry almost all day long (depending on how diligent I was about taking him). That's how it's been for about 4 months now. I was hoping maybe we could get him out of diapers before the new baby comes. However recently he's digressed a bit with potty training and doesn't ever want to go- so maybe it will be a couple of years from now.

He currently has been wearing pull-ups for the ease putting on and off quickly. The pull-ups usually come with 2 designs and he always has his favorite and does not want to wear the other design. For example it had to be Diego with the soccer ball not Diego with the lizard. He is pretty good at sorting them out according to his preference.

He knows mommy has a baby in her tummy and knows that Beckett and daddy don't. Anytime he sees a baby he is reminded of this and then immediately tries to lift my shirt to see my tummy. He likes to give "the baby" kisses. However, I do also get lots of elbow jabs, butt bumps, and other abuse from Beckett (most he does unknowingly). I'm sure he doesn't really know what a baby in mommy's tummy really means.

I've started watching a 2 month-old for a friend every other week and Beckett loves it. Beckett will call for Emmett in the mornings. He's a great helper, observing how to take care of a baby and trying to assist. He brings, diapers, gets the baby's pacifier when he cries, gets the burp cloth and tries to pat his back when we're feeding him, etc. This is probably partly why Beckett thinks getting your diaper changed is now cool again. He tries to tell Emmett what to do like fold your arms during the prayer. He has gotten a little jealous and tries to sit in my lap while I'm holding the baby or frustrated when I can't fix his toy at the exact moment he wants because I'm feeding the baby. Beckett just loves having the extra company around. The biggest problem is trying to keep Beckett away from the baby- he is constantly trying to hug and kiss him, or try to lay with the baby under the play mat and sometimes wants to try to pick him up. I'm sure Beckett will be a great brother- a little bossy, jealous but super excited for a new pal. It might be a little different when the baby is always going to be here.

Beckett's First Two Years

Beckett's First Two Years.

Click on the link above and check out this slideshow I made of Beckett. I've been wanting to do something with all these photos for awhile. I started making a first year album/grandparent's brag book but didn't finish in time for Christmas. So finally I got my butt in gear and created a slideshow. I had to sort through thousands of photos and videos and narrow it down- which I'm not very good at. I want to show them all! It really is only the first 22.5 months of his life. In the future I will be more on top of things and not do 2 years at a time. You've probably seen a lot of these pictures before. Not all of the photographs in the slideshow did I take. I included a lot of snapshots taken over the past couple years. Just for your information, the song I chose to use gets a little funky in the middle. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to preview the whole song before I selected it- so oh well! I love these slideshows and incorporating videos with the photographs.

May 6 Moab trip

At the beginning of May we took a trip down to Moab, Utah and met up with our friends Kim and Mark. We were planning for this to be Beckett's first camping trip. I was a little nervous about how we would do- especially since Dan refused to bring a pack and play for him to sleep in. But apparently their were no campsites available so we got a hotel. I'll leave the camping with Beckett up to Dan some other time. The hotel had plenty of room for all of us and while the two boys slept we were able to play some phinochle. The next day Dan and Mark went off to go biking. Kim shuttled them there while I stayed and played with the boys in the hotel room (and took some pics of them). Their favorite toy was the microwave and putting trucks and the remote into it. Thankfully they didn't ever learn how start it. However the glass plate in it did fall and shatter- oops! If I would have known that was going to take nearly 2 hours for Kim to drop the guys off- we would have gone to the park to play. Oh well! When Kim got back we packed up and headed to this cool music park. There were tons of catepillars everywhere. You could see the catepillar nests everywhere up in the trees. Kinda sick. So Kim was not sad that we couldn't stay long. The boys enjoyed banging on the junk to make sounds and playing at the playground. Beckett was a bit distracted watching the catepillars everywhere even crawling all over him- but he didn't seem bothered by them. We then went out to eat at Pasta Jays- afterwards we took Beckett to another park to play for a bit before heading home. It was a quick trip but fun to see friends and do something different.

April 22, 2011

Still a bit chilly here- but Beckett loves being outside. Here are some pics from Friday: Beckett and Lua playing at the park and doing an Easter egg hunt. They caught on real fast about how to find the eggs and loved it! The 2 videos shows Beckett's 2 personalities towards Lua- a little bit of a punk and then sometimes sweet.

Trip to the Farm

For our 6 year anniversary we took Beckett to see some farm animals (and we went out to eat). Beckett is fascinated by animals. As soon as he saw the animals he would make the noise (well just sheep and chicken sounds). I think it's amazing he can recognize the real thing based off of children's illustrations. Like at the zoo he was really interested in them but scared of the big animals (mainly the sheep). He loved the chickens and especially the roosters- since they made extra cool noises. He would laugh or clap when the roosters made their noise. He had mixed feelings about the goat which was out roaming around. He wanted to get down and go play with it but would get scared when it came close to him. He was full of laughs and cries around the goat. Beckett had a good time- thanks to Dave for showing us around! You can see a little bit of Beckett's response to the goat and chickens in the videos below.

11 weeks, 0 days pregnant. I guess I just feel a lot bigger than I look.

The farm animals: chickens, roosters, sheep, lambs, and a goat.

Denver Zoo

We had a nice weekend trip to Denver last month. Since Beckett is fascinated by animals we took him to the zoo. It was a bit chilly and the animals all seemed to be in hiding. He loved seeing them- and would say hi to them all. His favorite was probably the hyperactive monkeys. He was scared of any animal that was more than twice his size though. I forgot to put this with the other posts. As you can see I am no good at narrowing down pics- and I was forever behind with what has been going on that I decided to quickly make collages of the many photos. Too bad they're so small and you can't really see them. We'll see at how well I manage staying up to date so I can edit and post big pictures- I still probably won't do a very good job at narrowing them down.

Recent happenings

Tomorrow Dan and I will have been married 6 years! Times flies, yet it seems like it's been way longer then that. I found out almost 2 months ago that I was pregnant. I'm no good at keeping secrets- so pretty much as soon as I found out we started telling people. I went for my first appointment a couple weeks ago and the doctor couldn't hear the heartbeat- I wasn't really nervous about that- I was just excited that I could get an ultrasound to get a more accurate due date. My doctor was like yea I would guess you're a week or two further along because your uterus feels pretty big. I told her I didn't think so just because my due date according to LMP was October 30 and my cycle is a little longer than the average. When we did the ultrasound she was like you're right- your due date is now going to be November 9, 2011. Which i didn't think I'd be moved back that much! Oh well. With Beckett my due date was 7/1 (based on LMP) and they changed it to 7/16- but I thought it was because I had just gotten off birth control that time- but I guess that is how I am with my pregnancies. So I'm not a huge fan of the belly shot- but I was just so surprised how all of a sudden my belly popped out last week. I swear I look 3x bigger than the photo too- I need to get a better photo to show it- and a more attractive one. I know they say with the second you show early but- I still am a little shocked. My belly button is already popped out and awkwardly showing through my clothes. So this photo is me at 10 weeks pregnant. I was looking at a pregnancy calendar and I won't find out the gender until probably late June- early July! Forever away- we'll be happy with either, but I can't wait to find out. The calendar also had a date on it somewhere in mid May that said "now it's safe to start telling people you're pregnant". I obviously didn't do that- but really people definitely would know by now- can't really hide this belly. I had a few people ask me if I could be having twins? Which there are no twins anywhere that I know of in our family and the doctor did the ultrasound and said there is only one. I'm sure I'm just going to be huge- I'm afraid to see what I'll be like in November! With Beckett's pregnancy I always measured a lot bigger (except at the first ultrasound)- it'll probably be the same. Maybe I have a big belly from all these sweets I've been eating recently- I'll just blame it on pregancy. We think 11/11/11 would be a cool birthdate or 1102.2011 would not quite as cool. But we were hoping to go to Hawaii with my parents for Thanksgiving so I hope it comes early- probably not likely.

Dan and I went to Grand Junction last week with Lua and Beckett. I took the kids shopping with me while Dan did a bike ride and we ran other errands like get Dan's blood draw for more allergy tests. Dan was like I'm not ready for 2 kids! In some ways I think it's easier when they are the same age- just that they entertain each other better- since they are in the same stage- but I also think that's what makes it hard- both Beckett and Lua want to run around and be independent (usually in opposite directions). At least when we have a newborn I can have the baby in a carrier and worry about chasing only one child. It was also nice when Dan was there to help- because we could each take one. I told him just wait until we have 3 or 4 kids! But Dan said he's good with just 2.

Winter

Here's my cute little boy and his girlfriend Lua playing outside. We're just hoping it will finally warm up so we can go on walks and play at the park. It was nice for a few days the past couple months and then would snow the next day! I'm ready for spring with the beautiful blossoms and flowers. Beckett is really trying to talk- he repeats a bunch of words we say- it just doesn't sound too much like it but he's trying. His favorite most frequently used word besides no and mom is trash. He will find the littlest piece of trash and have to throw it away. He also has now figured out how to flush the toilet and will put a tiny piece of toilet paper in and flush it- over and over. He was a sand a water table that grandma gave him and it's his favorite thing to do outside. He tries to see if he can scoop out all the sand and water. He also loves taking care of his stuffed bear and puppy and carries them and his blankets around now. He tucks them in, feeds them, etc. He can make many animal noises- his favorite is the cow. He loves hide and seek- which he's better at- he can find dad by himself and he'll hide until we find him. He gets so excited. Of course he always hides where we last hid- or in the coat closet- because it's his favorite spot. We're trying to teach him to count to 5 and then go find us- because he usually comes running right behind you- if you don't have someone to wait with him. He's kinda starting to count- and trying to count with his fingers- not very well yet. In February Dan and I went to Las Vegas for a photography convention. Dan's mom was nice enough to come and stay in Rifle to take care of Beckett while we were away. Dan was only able to stay for a few days and I was there about a week. We loved trying all the different foods- so many delicious options. We ate too much-but when Dan left I just snacked or grabbed a quick bite at the convention center. That was my first time to ever go to Vegas (I've been in the airport many times though). I had a blast going to all the classes (which were offered like 8am-8pm with little breaks and I went to about all I could)- that I kept forgetting to call and check up on Beckett- oops. Dan took care of that for me- since he wasn't quite as busy. That was the first time we had ever left him (both Dan and I gone). I got a lot of good ideas on how to build my business- probably too many. Now i just need to put it to work. So I'm trying to get serious about the photography so we can earn some extra income. I got my website up- I'm still making some tweeks to it though. There are a ton of other things I'm trying to get done to be official. Thanks to Mayara who's been helping watch Beckett. Check out my website: http://www.ashleymickelsonphotography.com/

I babysit a beautiful half Brazilian little girl, Lua, who's about 4 months younger than Beckett. They are such good friends now. Beckett gets a little jealous and possessive around her- but he loves having her around. They get so excited when they see each other. They love to hold hands. Beckett is good at making her laugh. They are starting to play and interact more with each other. They'll chase each other, throw balls to each other, etc. Beckett loves going places, especially outside. He tries his hardest to leave with Lua and cries when she goes home. He loves playing over at their house because they have different toys and a dog. Beckett loves dogs- he constantly wants to go see our neighbors dogs. Beckett will grab his jacket and try to open the door- hint hint mommy lets get out of here! I didn't know a little toddler could get so bored and have so many people and places to see! Beckett also started going to Nursery!! He loves it- that we never doubted. He is not one to think twice about his parents leaving him- he hardly even gives a wave goodbye- he's off to play. Even with our church during his nap and lunch time- he doesn't show it- he's such a good easy going boy... just wondering how the second child will be. Beckett loves the snow! He'll stay outside all day even if it's cold. He also loves his snow boots. We had to hide them from him because he wanted to where them all day everyday- with his pjs, church clothes... Then we had to hide his black shiny church shoes because he wanted to wear those everyday with his sweats or anything. Crazy kid!
Beckett loves the snow. When he says snow- It's "No!"-which is different from no- because it's high pitch and excited. He doesn't do an s sound at the beginning of words- but he makes many other words that shouldn't be plural- like ups, mamas,... These pictures were before I got him snow pants and boots and before we got him his own snow shovel. We gave him a spade- which probably isn't the best thing- he loved helping Dan shovel the snow.

Dan got Beckett a balance bike and Beckett loves it. He was a little scared to ride it at first- but he's getting to be a pro. He feels so cool to ride a bike like Dan. We've taken him to a bike park in Grand Junction, where Dan does a lot of his mountain biking. They've got a pump track which is a good size for Beckett. He likes being pushed around and he does a little bit by himself- he'll be riding a bike before you know it. I didn't really understand the balance bike at first- but I'm sold- no need for training wheels. I have two videos of Beckett riding. He of course did not want to perform for the camera. The day I brought the camera he just wanted to run up and down the hills and play in the dirt with his ice cream spoons. He did a lot better at riding the week before. But here's the videos to see him in action. He loves it. We have since got him a bike helmet- which his head almost fits in Dan's helmet! Dan made him a "B" sticker and put it on his bike- so he now knows the letter B. He'll point it out to everyone and say B. Which he'll say B, bubble, baby, but- bye for some reason is Dye. Who knows!