I've seen this before

Recently Beckham has discovered his lips and all the fun things he can do with them (besides giving Mommy besos).

He likes to make this face when he says things like "Nooo" and "Uh-oooh."

But it struck me that I have seen this before. In fact it was literally the first thought I had in my head when Beckham was born and the nurses were cleaning him up. Here's what I saw and thought, "his lips are huge!"

And then a few weeks later, he decided to do it again.

What do you think?

Valentine's Day Project

One Hundred Hearts Valentine's Day 5x7 folded card

Create personalized greeting cards and invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

In all honesty, I'm posting this in hopes of receiving $25 off my next Shutterfly order!  :)

Here's a sneak peak at some Daddy love from Beckham.  Hopefully Daddy won't read the blog until Valentine's Day!  I spent the morning taking some pictures of Beckham outside.  I'm excited I was able to get him to smile all by myself - it involved chasing after him!  He is such a ham - quite the little character.  I'll post some video of him doing his new tricks soon.  For now, accept these besos and abrazos (hugs and kisses) from our little valentine!

So Much To Say

As you can plainly see, we have not taken the time in quite a while to post some of the latest Gator Tales. But man, oh man, there are so many things to say.

Recently, Beckham has begun to say anything and everything. Some of my favorite moments are when he goes through the family tree naming everyone with their nicknames.

I point to a picture... Mama he says with a grin. Pa-pa (he doesn't want to say the "pi" of Papi yet), Ysa... Nat Nat. He goes through them all. The best is when he wakes up and asks for Dada by name -- like the first thing on his list this morning is to see me and smile.

Then after showing off his proficiency, he'll throw in a daa-dee-daa-dee-dee-daa stream of nonsense while pretending to talk on the phone to let you know he's watching you and this is what I sound like still.

He'll say 'hola' to any person that will give him the attention and loves to announce his departure of any restaurant with 'buh-bye' to all who will notice. He's quite the social butterfly!

With so much to say, I can only pray that in time we can fill his vocabulary with words of kindness and love -- that his speech would be seasoned with grace for all who he meets.

Older photos, but appropriate.

Look Whoo's Two!

Time is passing me by faster than I can blog about it... so since I've officially missed Beckham's 1st birthday (I will get around to blogging about it one day soon; well at least before he turns two!), I'll start my forgotten and neglected blog with the celebration of Beckham's favorite little girl, Finley! 

I got a little trigger happy and took more than 200 pictures.  Needless to say, I'm going to keep it simple so that I can actually finish a blog post and not keep it in my drafts folder.  I'm sure Finley's Mommy will have all the sweet details and more on her blog if you want to check it out. 

Finley had a little owl party and every detail matched the occasion - from owl backpacks for the chairs, cookies, table cloths, centerpieces, Finley's birthday skirt and even Beckham's shirt (from Etsy)!  It was all so very sweet. 

The kids enjoyed blowing bubbles (and some eating them) on the front porch, some dinner and cake, then swinging and running around the front lawn.  JP never wants to take a family picture, but I managed to snag this special father-son moment during all the playtime.

We tried to get a picture of the four little kids - a task nearly impossible!  This isn't necessarily the best one, but the funniest indeed.  I love how K-man is hugging on Beckham.  (It's the best place to be - between two Gators!)  Javen is enjoying his sippy cup (we had to keep everyone distracted so they would actually sit still!) and Finley's expression is priceless.  I think she's ready to get away from the boys!

We were able to get some really cute pictures of Finley and Beckham.  I think I'm going to save this for the wedding slideshow!  :)

 A couple pictures of the birthday family... soon to be four!

Finley's giving her party a thumb's up!   Meanwhile, Beckham's not shy about how exhausting a birthday party can be.  My little man got to stay up late and enjoyed every minute of it! 

On a side note, I am very proud of the fact that Beckham will wear a hat!  It didn't come easily, but I was determined.  After his birthday party (where he wouldn't wear his hat), I decided I needed to try to fix this.  So on his actual birthday, I worked with him all day to keep his hat on.  I made him wear that crazy birthday hat everywhere - around the house, to the park, to lunch at Chick-fil-A, etc.  Some lessons pay off... ha!

 Happy 2nd Birthday Finley-Bear!  We love you dearly! 

DBE - Sellin' the Sizzle

WARNING
Content is intended for adult viewing only

Straight from the tabloids - making even TMZ blush:

May the female population in the Tampa Bay area under 2 years of age be warned.

Corporate Says Viewership is Down (DBE)

What better way to fix this then post a video recapping Beckham's first summer!

Enjoy!

A Mother's Prayer

I attended a baby shower for a friend on Mother's Day weekend and received this sweet prayer.  I had to read aloud the two lines in bold... how appropriate!  I absolutely love this poem - how true it is.

Dear Lord,

It's such a hectic day

With little time to stop and pray

For life's been anything but calm

Since You called on me to be a Mom

Running errands, matching socks

Building dreams, with building blocks

Cooking, cleaning and finding socks

And other stuff that children lose

Fitting lids on bottled bugs

Wiping tears and giving hugs

A stack of last week's mail to read

So where's the quiet time I need?

Yet when I steal a minute, Lord

To ask the blessings of your grace

I see them, in my small one's face

That you have blessed me

All the while

And I stop to kiss

That precious smile.

This was my first official Mother's Day and it was such a special day!  We went to my sweet nephew's house (Luca) for brunch with Kammie and had some delicious food as always.  These Pullaros/Barolos/Ponaths know how to cook!

Kammie with the boys.  Luca is pondering something very important.  Beckham just wants to get all his fingers in his mouth.

It is impossible to get both boys (exactly two weeks apart) to look at the camera, get their hands out of their mouth and smile at the same time!  If you could only see what four parents and two grandparents were doing to get this!  Here are the boys with their Great Granddaddy.

My precious son (with the help of his thoughtful Daddy) made it the most special day!  I received a few lovely Mommy gifts - a gift card to buy B some new clothes at one of my favorite stores for him (Janie and Jack), a massage and a pass to take the little man to Playmania (like Gymboree but in The View)!  Beckham even helped me open all of my presents.

This is fun!

It tastes good too!

Daddy, please tell Mommy to stop squeezing me!

Then after Beckham went to bed, Justin prepared a delicious dinner - fish, scalloped potatoes, asparagus and leek soup and an amazing cookie cake.  He is quite the epicurean and most certainly outdid himself.  He even set a candlelight table with two dozen long stem roses.  The worst part is - I was miserably sick by the end of the night.  Not because of the food... just a cold Beckham and I were passing back and forth.  It's my fault - I just love to kiss him!  It's a small price to pay...