Bouncy bouncy!

Of course, by the time I got the camera, he stopped laughing and bouncing as hard as he was.  This video is at the end of the fun.  :-)

Let it Snow!

Joe and I cannot remember ever seeing this much snow!  Noodle was supposed to get a haircut today, and after one look outside, I realized that we weren't going anywhere.  I let the dogs out in the morning and they played and played.  Noodle hops like a bunny.  Unfortunately, by the time we had the video camera, they didn't find it as appealing.  We still taped a little clip just so everyone could see how much snow we have.  And, as I am typing this, it is still snowing.  (The video was three hours prior!)

Beckett is doing so well!  I know I have been saying this for awhile, but he is very close to crawling!  He gets up on his elbows and knees and rocks and rocks until he finally face-plants into the ground.  He is an awesome roller and can wiggle his way to pretty much any place he wants to go.  He loves our Christmas tree and if we put him in that room, he will wiggle his way over to touch it.  He also wiggled his way into the dogs' water bowl the other day.  Whoops.

He is also eating solid foods much better now.  He loves bananas, sweet potatoes, and applesauce.  He's not in love with peas and butternut squash, but he'll eat it.  He is doing better with the rice cereal as well.

Joe and I are gearing up to travel for the holidays.  While I am enjoying the snow right now, I hope we don't face anything like this while we travel to O'Fallon and Groves.  I am sad that we won't get to see the entire family this year, but I know I should be thankful for getting to see many family members and friends.  Joe is finished for the semester and is working on research for a few days, and I have to teach Monday and Tuesday and then we have a half day Wednesday.  Hopefully we will get on the road quickly after that.  I hope everyone has a happy holiday season!  Check out our snow video!  

Thanksgiving and First West Virginia Snow Pics!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, Beckett had his first Thanksgiving, even though I'm not sure how much he enjoyed it.  While we missed spending Thanksgiving with Joe's family like we normally do, it was nice not to travel this year.  (We will make up for it at Christmas anyway.)  My parents came to visit and it was nice to see them.  My dad was so excited for Beckett to try some turkey.  Becks wasn't too thrilled with anything except the pumpkin pie.  (Nice choice.)  My dad and Joe cooked up a storm and we ate leftovers for several days.  It was all delicious.  

Unfortunately, Beckett caught a cold the day after Thanksgiving.  I wanted to take him to sit on Santa's lap while my parents were here, but he didn't sleep well because he couldn't breathe and he was so cranky!  Finally on Sunday he started to feel better and started acting like his usual, happy self.   We are hoping for Santa pictures this weekend instead.

We have been giving him different baby foods and rice cereal.  He seems to like the cereal, but he wants to feed himself.  He has tried bananas, carrots, and applesauce and wasn't too thrilled with any of them.  He is still getting the hang of how to keep it in his mouth.  His faces are too funny.  He makes a face sometimes before the food even gets in his mouth.  

Other than that, there isn't too much going on here.  I did get to put a Christmas tree (a big one- finally!) with my mom and that was a lot of fun.  It looks pretty good, minus the yucky white lights.  Joe and I are really looking forward to Beckett's first Christmas and for him to have the chance to meet the other half of his family!

So Many New Things!

Beckett is trying all sorts of new things these days!  We fed him rice cereal for the first time a few days ago.  He seemed to like it, but it was really soupy and messy.  We also tried applesauce for the first time.  He didn't seem to love it or hate it, but he did gag a little bit which was funny.  (Check out the video.)  He is learning to clap and make lots of different sounds.  We are excited for Thanksgiving because my dad is pumped to give him some turkey to slobber on.  He is still loving spending time with Albert and is generally a very happy baby!  

Beckett Cracks Up!

Happy Halloween!

Well, Beckett went trick-or-treating for the first time, but it didn't last long!  I went with one of my co-workers and her daughter.  Her little girl, Emily, is four years old and went as a bride.  She informed her mom that Beckett was way too young to be her boyfriend, but she was very good with him and I think he liked her white dress.  It rained and he fell asleep, so it didn't last very long, but at least I can say he went trick-or-treating for the first time!

Videos

I posted some new videos of Beckett.  One is of him watching a Halloween video that Grandma and Grandpa Stone sent him.  Another is of him "talking."  Neither of them are as funny as him puking on Joe, but for those of you that haven't seen him in awhile, you might enjoy it!

So Close!

Beckett wants to crawl so badly!  He can either put his legs and butt in the air and scoot on his face, or he can prop his chest and front part of his body up, but he can't put the two together.  When he gets really excited he picks all four limbs up off the floor and looks like he's swimming!  It is so cute.  He loves to play in his exersaucer now and when we put him on his mat, it seems like it only takes seconds for him to be feet away from it.  We are getting ready to start baby-proofing the house because it won't be long now before he is in motion.  He doesn't have any teeth yet, but is still slobbering and drooling a lot.  As soon as we get the OK from the doctor next month we will start him on cereal.  (She wanted us to wait until he was 6 months to prevent food allergies.)  He is still doing really well at daycare and is sleeping well, too.  No complaints here!

I still do not think he looks like either of us, but when he first wakes up, he makes a grumpy face that is the spitting image of his daddy!  :-)

Grandma and Grandpa Merkel Visit

We have had an exciting few weeks!  Our friends Andy, Angie, and their baby boy Garrett came to visit us over Labor Day.  Last week my parents came to visit.  It was nice having them around because we didn't have to take Beckett to daycare or "school" as I like to call it.  Beckett seems to be doing new things everyday!  He can roll like a champ and now will only sleep on his side or his tummy.  He is drooling quite a bit, so we are thinking he will start teething soon.  He has been sleeping better the past few nights, so hopefully that will last for awhile longer before his mouth really starts to hurt.  He wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth and gets angry if we don't let him.  He is still very smiley and happy in the morning, which makes me sad that only Joe gets to see him during the week.  We took him to a pumpkin patch to take some pictures, and of course, I already have his Halloween costume and had to immediately take pictures.  Who cares if Halloween is still a month away?!  If Joe and I can't party this year, Beckett damn well better look cute!

On a sadder note, we found out today that Shorty, the beloved dog of Joe's family, had to be put to sleep today.  He was one of the sweetest dogs I have ever seen.  He was HUGE and scared of his own shadow.  His bathtub was his favorite hiding place and he loved to swim in their pool.  Shorty was a great dog and he will be missed by all of us.  I hope he is in puppy heaven with an endless supply of chewies and babies that Noodle can't chew up when she comes to visit.  Miss ya, Big Guy.

This blog won't let me just put all of the pictures together. Here's more.

More Pictures

Moving Right Along!

Well, Joe and I have both been back at work for several weeks now.  Things are going really well.  Joe's job is good and he is enjoying his new students.  My job is fab-u-lous and I am never going back to 5th grade again!  I wasn't so sure about the switch to 8th grade, but so far, I really like it.  I have some really great kids this year.  (Of course, there are a few that are going to be a pain in my ass, but most of them are really good.)  Eighth graders have a lot of drama, but I haven't had one kid come and tattle on someone which I do not miss AT ALL.  I am loving teaching writing, but grading 120 papers and journals each week is time consuming.  I work with a lot of really nice people and I am starting to make a few friends.  Joe and I are meeting a lot of friendly people at Shepherd as well, and may have possibly conned Joe's boss into baby-sitting every once in awhile.

Speaking of Beckett, it seems as if he is learning and doing new things each day.  He discovered his thumb last week and now usually sucks it when he is getting sleepy.  Last week he rolled over for the first time, and now he is a rolling machine.  He can roll from front to back and back to front.  It is amazing to watch, but stinks for us because now he is not sleeping through the night.  (I put him down on his back, he immediately rolls to his side or tummy, and wakes up on his tummy soaked in pee because it has nowhere to go!)  When we put him on his activity mat he rolls from side to side.  When he is on his tummy he is able to pick his head up really high (especially if you put a bottle in front of his face) and look all around.  He doesn't hate tummy time as much as he used to, which gives us hope that he will crawl.  (Even the ladies at daycare are telling us we're screwed when he can move!)  He is doing really well at daycare and I am slowly adjusting after a week of crying.  Unfortunately, I have to leave for work so early I rarely get to see Beckett in the morning and Joe is in charge of getting him ready and off to school.  (If I call it school it doesn't make me feel so bad.)  We spend most of the evening together as long as I am not cleaning or doing school stuff.  He is really taking an interest in the dogs now, and if he is crying and Albert licks him, he completely stops and smiles.  He has had a runny nose for a few days now, but we are hoping it is just the weather.  He is going to the doctor on Tuesday (the 15th) for his 4 month check-up.  We are excited to see how much he weighs.  Not so excited for those shots though.  We'll keep that a secret from him until the dreaded day.