11 Months Old

One month away from a year!  I can not figure out where the time has gone.  I remember a year ago from today having my baby shower for him.  I feel like he is creeping out of the baby faze and turning into a little boy.  I did freak out a little the other day when I started worrying about how much longer it is okay to hold a kid.  I decided I still have plenty of time for that and I may be getting a bit ahead of myself :)   Anyway back to the post.

11 month photo shoot:

Lukas this month:

• We have added teeth this month.  He is up to 5 now.  The top two are starting to show in his smile :)
• He is taking steps, but only when we prompt him to.  He is not okay with it by himself.
• He loves to eat still.  We have been eating more table food and he loves it...well most of it.
• I have been working on an eating routine and working on eating meals with us.  He is doing a good job and we rarely use bottles anymore.  He just drinks from his sippy cup.
• He wears a lot of 12 month clothes but the shorts are still a little big.
• He has this new "excited face" he makes where he raises his eyebrows and smiles.  I LOVE IT!
• He still sleeps through the night and we love to sleep in.
• We went to the pool and he thought the water was great.  He liked to splash.
• For bath time we use just the regular tub.  He likes to crawl from end to end to play with his toys.
• He has started to give hugs and cuddle on your shoulder, but you have to be careful because he has also discovered biting the shoulder and it can surprise you.
• Really likes climbing stairs and is getting fast at it.
• Dancing is his new activity.  Whenever he hears music and starts swinging his arms back and forth.
• Lukas is such a HAPPY baby!  He likes to smile and entertain other people all the time.

More pictures from the month:

Beck Family Vacation

We have taken our first vacation of the summer and it was definitely a success!  We went to Beaver Lake in Arkansas with all of Erin's family.  It worked out perfectly because it was the midway point from Mississippi (where Erin's brother and family live) to Kansas.  The drive was not as bad as I was anticipating and Lukas did very well traveling.

We had a great time through out the five days we were there.  It was very relaxing and just spent time hanging out.  We rented a pontoon boat for two days to get out and explore the lake.  I can not believe how big the lake was and the trees give a beautiful view.

I am just going to show you our trip in pictures rather than try and tell you all about it.

WARNING:  Many pictures to follow :)

Happy Anniversary to US!!!

It is amazing to me how quickly things go in life.  You graduate high school and everyone tells you how fast college goes.  Then four (or five) years later you are graduating college and you are trying to figure out what just happened.  You get into the "real world" and do the job thing every day and just keep pushing through to the moments that you really get to enjoy with the people you most love. 

I am very lucky to have that special person by my side now for 3 years of marriage!  Erin is a blessing that I thank God for everyday!  It is amazing to me how you just don't realize what love is until you meet that person you want to spend the rest of your life with.  You will do anything you can to make them happy.  I know it sounds all sappy, but I think it is important to take time and think about what marriage really means and how it has impacted Erin and me in life.  Don't get me wrong, we have had our ups, and downs, and all arounds, but I wouldn't want anyone else beside me through it all.  We have grown closer than I have every imagined possible, and I know it will continue that way.  On our wedding day I didn't think I could love him any more than I did then, but my heart just keeps getting bigger.

Everyone has their own special love story and we are definitely LIVING OURS :)

Baby Steps

I felt this was a perfect title for this post because that is the news in our family.  Lukas is literally taking baby steps!!!  I can't believe my baby is already walking.  It is so funny to me how other people always tell you that things get crazy once they start walking...and not to encourage that too much cause everything changes.  I know it is other parents just speaking from experience, and I do believe them and I"m sure it will get a little crazier, but I find it SUPER exciting to watch Lukas try.  Every time Lukas has gotten close to a new accomplishment I have found such great joy watching him learn and grow with it.  It all started with the smile, then rolled over, sat up, crawled, and now the big one of standing and walking.  He is turning in to such a little boy now and I just love being a part of it.  I am amazed at all of the new things he has learned and how quickly he picks up on stuff.  (We have recently learned to also give 'high fives' and 'kisses')

I did put a short video clip of him walking.  I apologize that it is sideways.  I can not figure out how to turn it and Erin is out of town to help me.  You will just have to turn your head for now.

Having Lukas was amazing and it just keeps getting better and better each "step" of the way :)


**Next Up.....Beck family vacation....Eureka Springs here we come**

Home Projects

I am actually going to do a post on something other than Lukas.  My husband has been working very, very hard on a project at the house, and I am wanting to brag on him.  If you remember way back during spring break I posted a picture of a hot tub.  To make a long story short we were given the hot tub and the old owners were having problems with it working and didn't have any idea of the problem.  They were just wanting it out of their back yard.  We figured why not try and see if someone can make it work. 

Luckily, Erin had handy man Dustin helping him out to try and get this thing working.  After a week of late night electrical work, they got it up and running.  It heated and everything.  It has been awesome!

Well sitting in it one evening hanging out with some friends, Erin and Dustin came up with another idea.  They thought we needed some kind of gazebo/pergola type thing to really make it nice.  I thought yeah that would be nice, but we are not buying something like that.  They are too expensive.  Well I returned home from work one day a couple of weeks ago to find our backyard looking like a lumber yard.  I have learned not to even ask anymore and let these two just work.

To wrap this post up, to start our summer off right, the pergola is now finished!  It looks GREAT!!  I am very impressed that they built it.  Erin is learning a lot and even pulling out knowledge from his high school industrial arts class.  He really enjoys the projects and working with man tools :)

Thank you soo much Erin and Dustin!!!    Who knows what you will come up with next :)