Jacen's Band Performance

Jacen had his end of the year advanced band performance last night.
They sounded so good! What I suggest; however, is clicking the "play" button and closing your eyes and listening to the first 30 seconds of the clip (the last 30 seconds of his song) and then clicking "stop". Linnea taped it for me while I was wrestling with Gavin (it's very fun taking a 6 year old to a band concert) and she did a good job but it moved around and then the rest of the recording is just his teacher talking. The song is called Fire Dance and I wish we could have gotten the whole song because it was AMAZING! It made me feel proud that Jacen was a part of that group.

Climb In

Micah finds little spots just his size for sitting. It's so cute.

Micah loves to climb in the laundry basket.

... and the drawers...

...and the ottoman.

And then he pulls out all the baggies. What a busy day for an 11 month old!

bakersfield

These pictures are a couple of months old but I decided to post them because I remembered about them and I don't have anything else to post. On the way back from Sea World we stopped and visited my brother in Bakersfield...

We also enjoyed visiting with the Neilsson family. We've missed them since they moved from Monterey.
Gavin and Beckam and Micah Beckham.

My brother's neighbor has cool swings that are nicer than most swings I've ever seen. Gavin and his cousins are swinging here and having a blast.

My brother's neighbor has this awesome garage. Note the floors! Seriously they were clean enough to put my baby on...probably clean enough to eat off of. (: The boys enjoyed playing some table tennis.

Jacen, Mitch and Gavin in front. On a side note, I'm noticing how both Jacen and Mitch are wearing BYU apparel.

Little Boys

Aren't little boys just the best...

superheroes

PX90

I went to get my friend's two little girls to play for a while.
We got home and immediately Gavin turned on his Dad's PX90 dvd and took off his shirt and started weight lifting. How young they learn! He was totally trying to impress these girls. I don't think the girls paid him any attention but they are only two and four.

3k Kids Run

Linnea ran with her friend, Avery. She ran so well and did not stop.
The kids run was part of the Big Sur Marathon (just on the Saturday before it). Over three thousand kids ran. Afterward, a bounce house was set up for the kids to play in along with hula hooping and other games.

Gavin ran the whole 2 miles with Micah and I without stopping. Awesome boy! He is strong!

Aquarium

It had been a REALLY long time since we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium--which is crazy because our street runs right into it 3 minutes away. This was actually Micah's first time going.

sardines

flamingos--new exhibit

Micah clapping-can hardly contain his excitement.

jellyfish

sea turtles

Gavin kissing the penguin through the tank.

Leafy Sea Dragons

I love how I caught Micah clapping here. He clapped at nearly every tank. It was so cute how he showed his enthusiasm.

I love seahorses.

Pipefish--some people think they are straightened out sea horses.

Three kids in a clam shell.

Do you see Linnea and Micah behind the aquarium tank?

Aren't these tropical fish amazing?

Micah looks pretty amazed here. Sorry for the blurriness.

Gavin loves the hands-in-water playing zone.

Linnea and Micah in Splash Zone

Micah and I in front of the penguins

Linnea's hair extensions match the sea star!

Small Changes

I am on a health kick right now as I am determined to lose some of my baby weight before Micah turns one. So, I'm just warning you that some of my upcoming posts will be geared toward my goal.

I am working on changing small, seemingly insignificant habits that will hopefully add up to helping me achieve good results. Here are a few:

1. If you don't really love it, don't eat it. (Mostly aimed at my small indulgences.)

2. Add vegetables to everything.

3. Write down everything you eat and drink, without fail.

4. Find healthy alternatives for all your healthy foods.

5. Water, water, water!

6. Plan ahead for special occasions by accounting for higher calorie foods before you eat them.

7. Exercise with a buddy.

8. Snack on cut up raw veggies during the day.

9. Popcorn is your friend.

Gavin's Foot

I know this is probably NOT the image you really want to see largely staring at you from your computer screen. However, I wanted to see if anyone has ever seen anything like this before?

Yesterday evening he showed me. It is a splotchy reddish-brown spot that is smooth to touch (nothing raised above the skin) and a small little perfectly round circle in the middle. I'm wondering if it is a spider bite? He was walking through the tall grass in the forest for a bit yesterday. Weird huh.

Park with Old Friends

Babies are always so interested in each other. It was cute.

A friend of mine from high school was in town and we met at the park. I hadn't seen her in many years and now she's married and has a little baby close to the age of Micah.