Movie Monday fail...

Welcome to Movie Tuesday!  After surviving a brief breakout of influenza, three Christmas's, four cousins under the age of four, presents, family and more food than you could eat in a month...here we are on Tuesday.  Not only did Movie Monday fly by, but so did our Christmas holiday.  Somehow we are now sitting on the brink of the new year.

I am sad that looking back at Christmas I feel overwhelmed and tired.  I didn’t start the traditions that I wanted to start with Scarlett, I didn’t stop to reflect on the real “reason for the season”, or enjoy one meal without having to shove the food in my mouth to get Scarlett in bed by six.  I am trying to embrace this reality, and know that as the holidays continue to come and go,  and the cousins continue to multiply the season will only get crazier.  Every year will be a new chance to start traditions, eat good food, laugh with family, sit by the fire, thank God for the birth of His Son and enjoy the magic of the holidays before I blink and it is gone.

On to the real reason for this post...Scarlett doing what she does best...being ridiculously cute in her Christmas pj's!

Movie Monday...better late than never.

a week in the life of Scarlett...new toys, new ways to clap at her own accomplishments, and lots of kisses for inanimate objects.

Saturday project day (two weeks behind)...

Chris spent the day tiling the shower...

YES...those are giant "baby eating" cockroaches.   This project has taken, needless to say, WAY too long...without thinking we decided to undertake this project renovation right before Chris went back to school in the fall and we are now finally covering up the exposed walls.  For the past three months only a towel stuffed tightly under the door has created a barrier from the bathroom to our bed...totally gross.
Here is the shower so far...

While Chris worked hard, I spent the day finishing craft projects on my long, growing list of projects.

Plaques for our hallway...got the silhouette idea here

Book wreath for our dining room

 Advent calendar

Picture hanger thing made from drift wood Chris and I found on the beach in Crescent City on our second honeymoon.

Birthday fun...

We had such a good time at Scarlett's birthday.  The kids had a blast decorating their own ceramic piggy banks and took home a baggy full of pig shaped crayons and pink and brown homemade coloring books.  After gathering every piece of my party planning mojo, I left the party tired but satisfied.  Thanks to everyone who joined us for Scarlett's special day! 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

but unfortunately it still feels like summer.

Chris and I bundled up after Scarlett's party on Saturday, stepped outside ready to pick the perfect tree to fill our house with the aroma of the season, only to shed layer after layer as we stepped into what felt like a summer night.

I look forward to this night every year.  There is something so magical about stepping onto a tree lot, scarf wrapped tight around my neck, surrounded by the sight, smell and aura of the Christmas season.  But this night we brought in a baby sitter, stepped into to seemingly summer air, rushed to the tree lot, picked one that had the least amount of dead needles, strapped it on the car, got McDonalds for dinner and rushed home in time to put Scarlett to bed.  Not quite the night I had been imagining. 

Luckily with one plug in the wall the magic was rekindled.  Add some ribbon, a few ornaments, and an angel on top and Christmas is in full bloom in the Becher household.

Movie Tuesday...

Courtesy of my dearest friend Laleanne...I can only pray that Scarlett will be lucky enough to have a friend as gracious, loving and steadfast as Lolli has been in my life.   Thanks for capturing a moment with my little girl. 

Movie Monday...

The birthday party was a total success...I am officially the mother or an one year old little girl!  Pictures coming soon...for now enjoy this little movie Monday madness.
Kisses all around...and especially for the sock monkey.



Also, please be aware...there is an official one year old Scarlett monster on the loose.

The end of an era...

I am officially done being a food dispenser for Scarlett.  Goodbye pumping and expensive formula, hello whole milk.  I kept waiting for Scarlett to tell me she was done, feeding her only in when she wakes up and goes to bed at night.  I kept telling myself at a year I would be ready to cut her off completely. 

I am still feeding her briefly in the mornings as a comfort to Scarlett and honestly myself...there is a closeness that I am not yet willing to give up.  Although I still spend an equal amount of time holding her bottle before she closes her eyes at night, I will miss the connection created knowing a part of me is fueling her little body, growing her little fingers and toes.  As this stage ends we open the door to new experiments with food, sippy cups and self feeding.

As much as I have loved the stolen moments with Scarlett, her little warm body close to mine, her tiny fingers reaching up to grab my hair for comfort or inch their way into my mouth for a laugh, I knew this was coming.  I knew this would be the first of many hurdles I will have to survive on her quest to eventual self feeding freedom.  Before I know it she will be cooking her own breakfast and grabbing her own snacks as she is stepping out the door for school.  Scary...

One Year Down...

You ushered in your first birthday with a scream at 4:00am this morning. Why? Maybe your tummy was upset. Maybe you saw a creepy shadow on the wall. Maybe your bear pajamas were a bit too warm. Or, maybe you just wanted to be close. I held you for 20 minutes, trying to sooth you back into your dreams. Then your mother held you for another 20 minutes, snoozing on the couch until you dropped off to rest. It seems a fitting way to celebrate you presence in our lives; sacrifice.

You’ve been such an easy child this year that I often forget that parenting means sacrificing. I don’t remember many late nights with screams echoing off our walls or mornings where you did nothing but whine. In fact, your first year has been exactly the opposite. Most nights you’re mom and I have slept as well as you have. Most mornings we’ve played as freely as you. So, this morning was a good reminder. I love you and hope always to lay down my life for you.

Happy Birthday Scarlett. Here’s to a life of beauty, love, and grace. Oh...and sacrifice.

Dad

A letter to the coach...

Have fun...


Don't get any of these...

because that would leave your players feeling

 

and




Score lots of these...

 

and come home  

 

and

See how that works for all of us!  Wish we could be there cheering you on.  Lots of love...your girls

Little drummer girl?

Seriously...she doesn't need parents when she has so much fun with the babysitters.

Sneak peak to Scarlett's piggy birthday...

Tool skirt...for some reason she refused to let me take a picture of it on her head.



Pig crayons...saw the idea here...now on to the coloring books, the banner, the cupcakes, the piggy banks, the decorations, the food...did I mention that I greatly dislike planning parties...not exactly sure what I was thinking with this one.  All in the name of love.

November recap...

Movie Monday...

Please forgive the length of these videos...but she could seriously do this for hours.

Laughing, smiling and teasing...

Eating popcorn on the couch, laughing, smiling, teasing. I forgot what it was like to be a "newlywed". To not care about what you did the rest of the day as long as you got to come home to your new husband that night. We would sit at the dinner table for hours, a bottle of wine, a game of cribbage, a fire in the fire place, smiling, laughing, teasing.

When did we lose this, when did life get tiring. I rush home, rush dinner, rush Scarlett to bed, throw on some sweats, and collapse on the couch asking Chris which episode of Dexter we finished the night before. Somewhere in the last three years, life slipped away and we are left with only tired shells of our former selves. Living two lives that didn't come together at the end of the day to form one.

Last night we fell into our position on the couch, curled up next to each other and turned on an episode of Dexter. Nothing new except the addition of popcorn. Moments later we found ourselves laughing, smiling and teasing. Tossing popcorn in the air, trying to catch it in our mouths...we love each other, but in these moments we love each other well.

We love without worry, without Scarlett, without Valley Christian Soccer, without lessons for the next day, without grading, without laundry, birthday planning, cleaning or diapers. We just love. We laugh, we smile, we tease. We strip off our shells of tired days and for those moments get lost in love. We recharge our tired bodies and remind each other the importance of a kiss and a snuggle. We remind ourselves that we are in love, the deep mushy gushy kind of love...the kind that will get us through the next fifty years of tired days.