it's beginning to look a lot like...

Whew! This weekend has been spent slaving away at decorating for Christmas. I had to take advantage of Lofton while he was around to help!

Yesterday we got up bright and early to travel to the tree farm. {Oh, who am I kidding? We ALWAYS get up early. } I had carefully selected our outfits to coordinate, but as usual, my plans did not so much come to fruition.

Reese fell asleep on the way there, didn't really want to wake up, and could not have cared less about the trees OR my attempts to photograph him. Such is life.

The best part of the day was yet to come-- getting the tree inside the house. If you know my dad you can probably imagine what fun we had as family wrangling the tree into the stand each year. Lofton falls into that same category, and lucky for him, our trees grow in size every year. This year the tree is a good ten and a half feet tall. It's a beauty.

This guy did a little investigating before the real fun began!

Decorating!

There were LOTS of ornaments to hang and lots of lights to string. And when all was complete, this Rockefeller of a tree looks pretty unbelievable {if I do say so myself}!

The pictures really don't do it justice. It's my favorite tree yet!

And sweet boy has not been nearly as mischievous as I anticipated. He has touched gently, sniffed closely, and giggled hysterically when the needles tickled his nose-- but other than that, nothing. No pulling off ornaments, no messing with any decorations actually. He may make me eat my words between now and Christmas, only time will tell.

Today Lofton spent hours outside hanging lights {and putting in plugs outside for aforementioned lights}. The outside of the house is just as magical as the inside. I can't wait for you to see!

a taste of thanksgiving

thankful

This Thanksgiving, I am oh so thankful my husband gave me the sweetest gift of all--




This little turkey.

He lights up my heart every day.

And I am also SUPER thankful that the hubs has taken the weekend off! We are heading to the Christmas tree farm tomorrow. Don't worry, Reese's outfit has been carefully planned to match our excursion. Pictures to come!

smelly books

Reese loves scratch and sniff books. I think I have mentioned this before. In our house we call them smelly books, which Lofton and I find amusing because NONE of his scratch and sniff books actually smell. They are all remnants of Jackson's toddler years { btw, my baby brother turned sixteen this week}.

While home this weekend, Daddy Buck, Nonna, Reese & I set off on an excursion to Barnes and Noble. Our hope was to find a scratch and sniff book that was actually smelly. We had no such luck. Literally-- there were no scratch and sniff books at all.

We did however find something smelly.

My son.

You see, when we entered the store I set Reese down on the ground {so he could hold our hands and walk} just inside the doors. He promptly squatted down, let out a loud and stinky toot, and then stood up and continued his walk. It was all we could do not to fall to the ground we were laughing so hard.

Oh this child!

thief

I caught him red handed. He wasn't hard to find. I simply had to follow the trail.

One shoe lead to another...

And another...

Until the trail hit a dead end, right at my newly-organized closet.

The culprit is much too adorable to punish. So we laughed.

And then he made his most sincere "Who Me?" face.

So I scooped him up, smothered him with kisses, and let him go back to destroying my hard work. I can't blame him. I love shoes too!

ouch

Reese bit his finger last night.

It bled. Not a whole lot, but there was a lot of yelling.

What was he doing? Eating his mandarin oranges a little too quickly. He was in complete "Hoover" mode.

At first I didn't realize what happened. I frantically worked to free him of the high chair while I asked over and over again, "What happened baby?" It was only after he was free that I realized, yep, he had in fact bitten his finger.

Oh how my child LOVES his oranges.

more

My child has learned a new form of communication. Sign language.

I'm proud and excited and terribly frustrated all at the same time. He is incessantly beating his fists together in hopes of getting a snack.

Really it's ALL.THE.TIME

Like 5:15 this morning when he spotted yesterday afternoon's snack of goldfish still sitting in our bedroom. And then again at 6:30 when we were rushing out the door and he spotted brownies on top of the stove. I gave him his milk in an attempt to pacify him. He threw it across the kitchen. Hurled it really. This child is quite the Hercules.

Seriously?!? Am I supposed to feed him every time he does it?

And while we are on the subject of more, this is something I'd like more of-- time with my husband and my child.

Together. In our house. Just us. Together. Are you getting that "togetherness" has been rare for us lately? It has. Work separates us during the week and again on the weekends. For a gal who is used to her husbands undivided weekend attention, this new schedule has proven to be a rough adjustment. I yearn for him to be home more.

one year pictures

Lofton and I took Reese for his one-year photo session today. What fun we had!

The picture below is quite indicative of how it went.

Kayla {the photographer}, Lofton, and myself pulled out every trick we had to get this stinker to cooperate. I'm certain every shopper in Sears could hear me singing "If Your Happy and You Know It" at the top of my lungs. It should also be noted, that in all photos I'm no more than six inches away from him. Every time I moved, Reese went ballistic.

Oh the memories!

Sassy pants did manage a few suitable shots. He wore his overalls for the first few shots, and then changed into his Christmas bubble.

Compromising on outfits-- it's what marriage is all about!

Bless this sweet thing. Tears and all, I do love him so!

ida claire

Tropical Storm Ida is barrelling down on my parents as we speak. We had almost emerged unscathed from this fairly inactive hurricane season. Almost.

Luckily this Ida mess promises to be nothing more than a little extra rain and some wind. Whew.

Little man was a wee bit irritated when he realized that his Pensacola family wasn't going to have to work or go to school tomorrow. They could have stayed longer yesterday to play! A one day visit just isn't enough to satiate our appetite for attention. Literally, when Nonna and Buck leaves our whole house goes into a funk.

Grandparents are so much fun to play with! They do anything Reese wants.

Exhibit A:

I Smell Christmas. That's the name of the book my dad is reading to Reese. It was my brother's-- about thirteen years ago. Reese loves it.

Dear Santa, May I please have some scratch and sniff books? They don't even have to smell.

I bet my Dad read this book at least thirty times. Maybe more. And every time Reese laughed hysterically and so did we. It was THE FIRST THING Reese wanted to do Sunday morning when he woke up.

And because my dad is GOY {grandpa of the year}, he read it over and over and over. He didn't even complain.

Exhibit B:

Lots of snacks. In the living room. On the floor. And when we dump them out? Grandparents pick them up! And they don't even act mad.

And what's better with goldfish than....

Exhibit C:

Drinking from the Nonna's glass. Who needs sippy cups? Not Reese. Thanks Mama! He wants to do this even when you're not here.

Next visit we're headed your way!

not a moment too soon

I took little man to the doctor today. I was ready for battle. We have been fighting a fever ALL week long. Again.

I've spent 120 dollars on co-pays in the last month!

I'm tired of Motrin. I'm tired of Tylenol. I'm tired of crankiness and sleepless nights. I'm REALLY tired of runny noses.

{who? Me}

So, I was ready for battle.

{in camo}

Our appointment was previously scheduled because Reese had his check-up today. One year, a month late. Like I said, we've been sick.

{even though we don't "look" sick}

No battle armor was necessary, though. Dr. Greer listened to my concerns, feelings and thoughts with an open mind {and heart}. We are both in agreement that Reese's claritin is NOT controlling his allergies. We were also both in agreement that continuous does of Tylenol and/or Motrin is not the best idea.

Starting tonight we are also on two additional allergy medicines. Dr. Greer agreed with me that that all of this allergy problems are weakening little boo's immune system to the point that he is continually picking up viruses and other yuckies. I'm hopeful this new medicine routine will solve those problems. If not, I'll go back. Again.

We did manage to FINALLY have our check-up. Reese is a healthy {and robust} one year old. He is lacking in verbal skills but he more than makes up for it personality.

{and he can even read upside down}

His stats are:

weight: 28 pounds, 8 ounces {90% percentile}
length: 33 and 1/2 inches {95% percentile}
head circumference: 49 centimeters {95% percentile}



Perfect. Just as we thought.

shhh!!!

I've been keeping a little secret. No, I'm not preggo {banish the thought}! But I do know someone who is....




These sweet people, our constant saving grace {s}, are having a sweet bundle of joy for Reese to play with. We have known since the beginning of September and we are SUPER excited to post the news on the blog.

Baby Hamrick could not be more lucky to have Ashley and Rich as parents. They love our little boy like he is their own, and we are so thankful to have them in our lives. They are going to be phenomenal parents. I cannot wait to love and squeeze on this baby.

The timing is perfect. Baby H will make his {or her} debut just when I'm wrapping up school for the summer. I know Ashley can't wait to have me move in and take over!

running on all cylinders

After that yucky fight with a fever virus Reese has been back up to speed. That means I have been running around like a mad woman, trying unsuccessfully to contain this bundle of energy.

Yesterday I finally closed off the doors and trapped him in the front rooms.

As I watched football, Reese would meticulously go through his toy basket. I watched as he carefully examined his blocks, then threw them to the ground. He would then pick a book-- to hurl across the room. The wobbly penguin? Tossed violently into the wall.

Are you following me???

This child needs anger management. I know, I know he is learning to communicate. I get it. When he throws things he is letting out his frustrations, it's HIS way of telling us how he feels.

Unfortunately his way of communicating also involves smacking me in the face when he gets mad. I realize you should not hit your child to teach them not to hit, so I'm working on a new approach.

I gently grab his hand, tell him that "we" don't hit, and remind him to be "sweet." What does he do? Hit the nearest thing to him. Great. Now instead of hitting me he is hitting walls, tables, and dogs.

I'm at a loss.

I'm also working on teaching him to NOT throw his sippy cup. We never have to wonder if Reese is done with his milk. He lets us know by rocketing the cup across the room. I've seen him do it at school too. Poor Lois Katherine had to duck!

It's a good thing he's so darn cute. Here's hoping that'll keep him in his teacher's good graces.

when life hands you lemons

I’ve learned some lessons the last few weeks. Life lessons that have made me want to crawl under the covers, pull the blankets over my head, and wish myself back to an easier life—you know, the one where you don’t pay bills, work, or have responsibility. Then I realized that being {almost} twenty seven means putting on your big girl panties and facing things head on.

Some things I’ve learned:

Children get sick. And they get sick at the most inopportune times. The times when you NEED to be at work, the times when grandparents can’t help out, the times when husbands are out of town. And as a mom, the responsibility falls on you to take care of them. You will laugh when I tell you that when Reese was sick two weeks ago {AGAIN}, I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and gave myself a pep talk. It went something like this, “Elizabeth, your baby is sick. You have to miss work and that’s just life. Reese is your priority. He has to be more important than work. Even if you miss a whole week of school, it’s okay. Life will go on.” My speech was actually a little more inspired that morning, but you get the drift. This leads me to life lesson number two…

I married a wonderful man. I really did. He is the hardest worker I know. He puts in countless hours at work and is working at the lake to re-model Mamie and Paw-Paw’s basement. We don’t see him very much, BUT we know he is doing all this work for us. Work has not been fabulous for him lately. There has been a lot of STUFF going on. We had a long talk last weekend and are working on making some big LIFE decisions. At the end of the day though, we have each other, and that’s the most important thing. As I told Lofton, I didn’t marry him thinking he was going to make me a wealthy woman. And if we never make any more money than we have right now, that’s okay. We’ll survive. And we’ll be happy. Which leads us to lesson number three….

Friends and family are the sunshine of life. I have never been one to need a LOT of friends. I’m selective in who I choose to spend my time with and I don’t feel bad for that. I am lucky to have a few GREAT friends though. Friends who drop everything to come hold my baby because I am weeping and haven’t had a break all day. Friends who let me call and feel sorry for myself for an hour even though they have better things to do. Friends who take my child to school, bring me snacks, and call just to check-in. I love those friends.

And I love our family. I didn’t grow up surrounded by grandparents, so becoming a part of Lofton’s family was a little overwhelming for me. But I am oh so grateful to have them close. Sally spent the night with me when Reese was sick so I could finally get some sleep and sweet Mamie and Paw Paw came to keep Reese when Lofton and I both had to work. Thank you, thank you, thank you wonderful family.

And life lesson number four….

I am richly blessed to be Reese’s mama. Rain or sunshine, good day or bad, this baby of mine is life’s greatest blessing. He is an everyday reminder of how lucky I am. Sick or well he illuminates a room with his smile and personality. Getting to watch him grow is a gift that I too often take for granted. I have a new resolve to soak in every moment of this time in his life. No more whining about things we can’t change and people we can’t change. The Beasley family is now going to focus on the now.