Nick's Second 1st Birthday Party

We had Nick’s second 1st Birthday party at our house last night. We had friends over for some pizza & cake. Luckily, Nicholas woke up from his long nap in a much better mood. Before anyone arrived, he was still crying anytime I put him down. But, when his guests arrived, he was in a much happier mood :0) Nick began the party by going to everyone on the floor and opening his mouth for them to feed him pizza. I don’t know where he got that, he has never done it before (well, to anyone but me). It was pretty funny. After filling up on pizza, he opened his gifts. Well, I opened his gifts while he played with his dinosaur. He did push some of his new cars around, try to get on his new rocket while it was still in the box, and show off his walking skills with his walker toy. Then it was time for the cake. At first, he did not like the cake on his hands. But, when he got a reaction from the crowd, he went to town and smashed it all up. We tried to feed him some cake, be he didn’t like it. All in all, Nicholas had a wonderful 1st Birthday :0) Thanks to all who helped make it so special!!

Beggin' for Pizza

Trying to ride his new rocket (while still in the box!)

Nick's 1st Birthday Cake

Yes, his highchair is decorated!

What Fun!

Getting Cleaned up by Becky & Nicole


This is what Nick's 1 year picture may have looked like!

Showing off his 1st Birthday Boy Shirt

Nicholas's First 1st Birthday Party

Nicholas had his first 1st birthday party at Bouncin’ off the Walls with his friends. He had 8 friends (I know, he has more friends than me!) come. John took the day off and came to the party. I think John is getting in a routine of taking Nick’s birthday off because he has plans of taking him snowboarding every birthday ;0) Even though he was surrounded by wonderful friends and cool giant inflatable things to play on, Nicholas cried and screamed the entire 2 hours! He stopped every once and a while, but for the most part, he was screaming. He wouldn’t let me put him down (John wasn’t even allowed to hold him) the whole party. Even though Nicholas wasn’t a happy boy, the rest of us had a fun time. It was also nice to have some adult interaction :0)

Nicholas was supposed to get his 1 year pictures taken yesterday. After his performance at his party, John and decided that there was no point in taking him. We figured he was just going to scream when I put him down. He fell asleep in the car on the way home so we just let him sleep. Anyone who knows me knows that was a tough decision to make. I have been pretty good about getting him in on the 13th of each month for the first year! We’re going to try for his 1 year pics tomorrow morning. Hopefully it’ll go well. We haven’t had much success getting any pics this holiday season since Nick has been under the weather (Santa, Nick & Jackson by the tree, etc.). We still don’t have a picture for our Christmas cards. I hope to get that tomorrow and get those sent out this weekend. Here are some pictures from Nicholas’s first 1st Birthday party.

The Whole Gang

Fun with Friends on a Slide

More Friends Sliding

Daddy & Nick on the BIG Slide

Eating his new phone

Opening Gifts

Chillin' with Friends

He's Not a Baby Anymore!

Well, its official, Nicholas is no longer our little baby anymore! Nick turned 1 year old yesterday!! I cannot believe the year went by so fast. It seems like we were in the hospital with our little newborn just yesterday. Things have been quite busy around here. Nicholas actually landed himself in the hospital again on November 30th. Of course, in my last post, I was saying that it was so great he didn’t have to go to the hospital this time. Well, he did the very next day! He had actually given it to John and I this time. Luckily, we got over it in about a day. Poor Nicholas just couldn’t seem to get rid of his stomach virus. So, we had to go to Primary Children’s Hospital for him to get an IV. This time he was not as dehydrated and all of his levels were fine. The doctors were impressed we kept him hydrated for as long we did…GO AL & JOHN!!! Apparently Nick just needed a little IV pick me up. Originally they told us that he would have to stay over night in their Rapid Recovery Unit. But, he fell asleep after his IV was put in. They couldn’t get him to try to drink anything since he was so exhausted, so we got sent home when his IVs were done. We could only give him tiny bits clear fluids for a few days after we got home from the hospital. It was so sad because you could tell he was so hungry and wanted more. He finally got to eat solid foods a few days after we got home. It took him a bit longer to bounce back (I still think he isn’t quite 100% yet) from this illness. From the day we got home to now, I have pretty much held Nicholas on the couch. It was a nice reenactment of my bed rest that I spent on the very same couch exactly one year before. Since Nick wasn’t doing much and I couldn’t put him down, I didn’t get to add anything to the Blog for a while. I will make up for it today! We took so many pics yesterday that I will have to do a few entries of Nicholas’s 1st Birthday celebrations! I put some pics of Nick from the last week or soon this entry. We have been to see Santa many time. Nicholas screams his head off most of the time! I will get one really good pic of Nick and Santa this year! Enjoy:0)

Waving while waiting for Santa

We have a better pic of Nick & Santa, but at least he isn't screaming!

Chillin' at MyGym

Hot Air Ballon Ride

Nicholas Update

I just realized I never published this post. This was Nicholas at gymnastics last Saturday, 12/9.

Thanksgiving

Here are some pictures that were taken while my family was out visiting. They flew in Thanksgiving Day. We went to Snowbird for Thanksgiving dinner with our friends the Marquez’s. Everyone seemed to enjoy the buffet and the great view of the slopes. The day after Thanksgiving Nick got his 2nd haircut and we went to the Zoo. Nicholas slept almost the entire time we were at the Zoo! It was pretty sad since he loves animals so much. He woke up in time to see some turkeys as we were leaving. He loves to laugh at them. Everyone was watching Nick enjoy the turkeys as they walked by. I had forgotten the camera at home (shocking, I know!) so I got some video of Nick and the turkeys instead. Once I figure out how to get the video off of the video camera and on to the computer, I will send that out. After the Zoo we went to the Blue Iguana (a Mexican restaurant downtown). They have people who come by and sing at the tables. Nicholas loved the music and showed off his awesome dancing skills :0)

Nicholas started to show signs of being sick on Saturday. He was pretty mellow and just sitting around. Usually we can’t get him to sit still. He woke up Sunday throwing up. I couldn’t believe he was sick AGAIN! It seems like he had just gotten over his other illness. So, we to pretty much hung around the house the rest of the time my family was here. Everyone but my Dad wound up getting what Nick had, which is odd seeing that he is the one who held him the most! Luckily, Nicholas did not have to go into the hospital this time. I am not sure I could have dealt with that again. John has been home sick for the past 2 days. We learned how hard it is to take care of a sick baby when you are just as sick. Other than everyone getting sick, it was a fun visit with my family. We’re looking forward to seeing them again in less than a month for Christmas :0)

Nick & Grandma on Thanksgiving

Someone needs to learn some table manners!

Waiting for his food

Nicholas & Grandpa

Nicholas & Grandma

Nicholas & Uncle John

Our Little Walker

Nicholas has turned into quite the little walker. He can walk quite a few steps at a time now. I was more interested in getting video footage of him walking, so I don’t have any still photos yet. I’ll try to get some in the next day or two. I did get some of him walking behind a toy at gymnastics today. He loved the walker toy so much that his Daddy stopped to get him one on his way home for lunch. John got the last one on the shelf! It was a good thing we got it today instead of waiting for his birthday. Nick spent the rest of the day walking around behind his new toy. He just doesn’t quite understand that banging his walker harder into the wall (or other object) and screaming doesn’t get it to move out of his way. It also turns into a car to ride on. It was a great find since I was looking for both a walking and riding toy for him. We’re really enjoying watching our little boy (so sad…he’s not our little baby anymore!) explore and discover new things each day :0) It is so cute how excited he gets when he accomplishes something. It truly is amazing how much happiness the little guy brings us!

Hmmm...this is a cool toy

Swinging with Miss Annie

Tumbling with Miss Ashley

Look what Daddy brought home for me :0)

Watchin' a little King of the Hill on his new car. When he hears the theme song, he stops whatever he is doing and is mesmerized (just like his Mommy...haha!)!

Mommy's Little Helper

I posted some pictures of Nicholas helping me get the laundry folded today. He would take the clean clothes and crawl around the room with them. He also helped me unpack his monthly (more like weekly ;0) box of clothes that his Grandma & Grandpa Beckman sent him. He may be set with clothes until he's 4 (Nope, they do NOT enjoy spoiling him...haha). Basically, he threw them all over the floor and rolled in them. Ever wonder why our house looks like it does…now you know ;0) As you can tell by the floor in the pics, Nick & Jackson were also very helpful when I tried to pick up all of their toys. Take care and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Ask and You Shall Receive...Family Updates

I got some feedback that some of you wanted to know what is going on with us these days. So, here ya go. Nicholas has fully recovered from his stomach bug. Phew! It was a long recovery, so we are glad he’s back to himself :0) He spends most of his time crawling and walking (holding on to something) around the room. He doesn’t stay in one place for more than 30 seconds. He talks non-stop (he obviously got that from his Dad ;0). Nick also loves to crawl on Jackson. Jackson just sits there and lets him do it. They like to watch for John to come home at the window. Then, it is a race to the door to greet him. I have it on video, it is pretty cute :0) Nicholas still loves his classes, so we’ll probably sign him up again when the time comes. He has made tons of friends from his classes that he has playdates with now. We went to lunch with his friend, Ara, yesterday and his friend Zachary was over today. The boys had their first experience with sharing! So, of course, I took pictures :0)

When I am not chasing Nicholas (so, basically when he’s napping!), I am busy planning for my parent’s trip out at Thanksgiving. They will also be out for Christmas :0) They have seen Nicholas almost every month since he was born! I am also busy planning Nick’s numerous 1st Birthday parties! I am finally getting back into Pampered Chef…just in time for the holidays too :0) I went from being the top seller in my cluster last year to one of the least this year. Now that Nicholas is older, I am ready to get back into it full force. It is nice to get out for some adult interaction once and a while! The consistent paycheck will be nice too!

John is job searching at the moment. He has had a few interviews, which all went well (what do you expect!?). He’s waiting to hear back on those. His current office will be closing 12/31 and he gets a nice bonus for staying through the end of the year :0) We’re planning on finishing the basement, possibly getting a bigger car, and a few more fun things with that. John is starting to play in a basketball league next week. This is good news for Nicholas and I because we can actually go watch him play. Nick loves to watch basketball on TV and he liked the game we went to a few weeks ago. So, I am sure he’ll be excited to watch his Daddy play. So, as you can tell, we are all doing great! Hope you are as well. More soon…

Zachary & Nicholas learning to share

Playing with the Fridge Farm

More playing

Nicholas in the tunnel

Doing a front flip on the bars

Playing airplane with Daddy

11 Months ALREADY!?

Here are some of the poses from Nicholas's 11 Month Photo shoot :0)