Beckett's THINGS THAT GO Second Birthday!

[Disclaimer: This is copied & pasted from a Facebook Post because I never blogged about it!]

This is really late. Just pretend I'm on top of things.

Almost two weeks ago, this favorite little man TURNED TWO YEARS OLD!! I had every intention of updating our friends and family with a sweet blog post on this kiddo but alas, it has not happened and it's time we just admit that ship has sailed. ;)

So #ThisIsTwo!

Beckett is SINCERELY one of the sweetest little men I've ever known. We are so blessed to call him ours!! He loves food, Leap Frog, "things that go," wrestling with his daddy, books, and learning! He has a ton of patience and really great focus. [Brag Alert!] He knows all of his letters and letter sounds, can identify numbers and count to ten, a ton of colors, shapes, animals and sounds, etc. He's still a sleep NINJA (as in - he can fight it... the kid stayed awake until 4AM on our drive to Chicago this week!).

For his birthday, we decided to have a small family affair. We surprised him when he woke up from nap with decorations, a pile of presents from the fam, & his favorite foods! Then we just played and enjoyed our evening! Happy {Belated} Birthday, Stinky Face!

Beckett's birthday in photos:

During nap, we decorated the house with balloons and a pile of gifts. Out of town family had sent gifts, too, so there was no lack of presents for opening! When he woke up, he was completely surprised with the transformation!

We invited Beckett's Uncle Russ, cousin Nate, and Aunt Lea to join us for family dinner made of all of Beckett's favorite foods! Instead of a traditional cake, Beckett had strawberry short cake, because he's a fruit fanatic! He was so thrilled to hear everyone sing him "Happy Birthday." Sweet.

Then we opened his MOUND of gifts, and spent the rest of the evening playing with new toys! Because he's so into "things that go," most of his gifts fit that theme, and he was in Toddler Heaven!

The next morning, we got up and played with our new toys some more! His "big gift" from mom and dad was his new drone! Recently he was enthralled by a drone at a local park, so we decided it would be a fun activity for Dad & Beckett to enjoy together. Boy were we right! He loved it SO MUCH -- except when Dad hit him in the head with a drone. Yeah, that happened.

It was also FINALLY time for Beckett's first hair cut!! We've been putting it off because his hair is SO. THIN. but it was definitely time. He did great!  And now look how stinkin cute my little two year old is!

Hill, Party of Four! Plus One Bit of News.

Remember that time that we got pregnant (twice), lost a baby, sold a house, bought a house, moved across the country, started major renovations, left two jobs, had a baby, and started a new job all in one year?
Well, it's been a while since our lives have erupted into mass chaos, so we've decided it's about time for another adventure... in addition, of course, to having a newborn! Curious? You should be.
But first, let's talk about this lovely lady!

We got to welcome this sweet girl into the world on August 24, which is her Uncle Devin's birthday too! She was born at 10:34am, at 8lbs 12.5oz and 20.5 inches long. She was the same height and only 3 oz less than her brother!
Of course, we're enjoying our new bundle. She's a sassy pants. She's not quite as chill as her brother, but doesn't have any major issues, colic, etc. She sleeps and eats like a champ, which is awesome! She really likes to be held, and wants to be SUPER warm all of the time. 

Charlie Grace is a month old today!! We just got home from the doc and she is now 11lbs 12.6oz. (91%ile)  and 22.25 inches tall (96%ile). She's a chunker & we love it! I thought it would be sweet to try and take some Pinterest worthy photos for her 1-month mark, but we all know how that goes.

You're welcome for that. :)
Regarding the adjustment: it's been an adventure, to say the least.
The first few days that Charlie was home were pretty rough for Beckett, and for the adults by extension. He had some nasty tantrums & aggressive behavior, he stopped sleeping, and he wants to be held significantly more than before. Luckily, the horrible behavior resolved after about 4 (very challenging and emotional) days. He finally started sleeping again after 2 weeks. He still wants to be held and snuggled but that's a change I'm happy to deal with! 
He hasn't shown huge interest in Charlie yet but it is improving. Thank goodness, he has never been aggressive to her. He has always been very gentle and has occasionally requested to hold her. He likes to help calm her down, pat her, and bounce her bouncy chair when she's crying, so that's sweet and encouraging! Of course, he's also realized that he can get away with more when Mom is nursing, so that's an adventure! 

Luckily, I've had Nana around for the first MONTH! She stayed here with us for two weeks, then LAST MINUTE we found out that Brian had to go to Tennessee for THREE WEEKS (more on that in a minute) so I headed to Mom's in Chicago so that I would still have help as I continued to recover from surgery & adjust to life with 2.

I came home last week, but Brian is still in Tennessee until next Wednesday. So now about that. 
SURPRISE! We're movecationing BACK to East Tennessee! MoveCationing, you ask? It's a word. I made it up. It means longer than a vacation but not a permanent move.
It's a really long story with a lot of details that we'll save for another time, but I'll give you the quick rundown: Remember that time that we moved to St. Charles with the intention of launching a branch of Brian's former company, LEP? And then it fell through AFTER we got here so Brian was stuck finding a new job? Well, back in May, Brian launched his own company. Shortly after, we learned that LEP needing new ownership. The board called Brian, he accepted, we acquired/bought a flippin company [because apparently we're grown ups now], and we're movecationing to East Tennessee for approximately 6 months while we get organized.
Deep Breaths.
Why yes, this DID happen the same week Charlie was born, and therefore has been an additional little bit of "holy cow, this is happening" for us to adjust to. So! We're praying a lot and trying to just take things one day at a time. We make the official movecation on October 7.
We are VERY excited about this leg of the journey, and VERY, VERY excited to spend FALL (the most glorious of seasons) in the most beautiful state ever! We expect we'll have quite the entertaining story over the next couple of months, so keep us in your prayers and in return, we'll keep you updated!

Beckett at 21 Months

In a few short days (hopefully), Beckett will be a BIG BROTHER! We are so excited for him. It's such a big deal!! But you know what is ALSO a big deal? TODAY, this kiddo is 21 months old. He's also the most AWESOME kid I know. 
So today, I wanted to give the world a quick update on Beckett.

Rockin a bow tie at our BaByQue for Charlie Grace

The most important thing to note here is that he is LITERALLY the COOLEST KID EVER. I know moms tend to think that about their kid, but I'm pretty sure I am being objective here. ;)

Breakfast Date!

He is definitely starting to have his toddler moments. His favorite places to have tantrums are 1) at the refrigerator/pantry (because he wants to hold them open and make you guess what he wants) and 2) in the store (because he doesn't want to be in the cart).

Chowing on some red pepper.

Our little Sam's Club chauffeur

He's also starting to develop a super silly personality. I love his goofy side! He's totally moving into that "let me do something to make you laugh" stage of toddlerhood.

He LOVE playing with blocks, cars, & balls. He is a water baby, for sure, and he LOVES his cousins! 

He likes to be outside with daddy. And he's a BIG helper. He throws things away, takes out the trash, loads and unloads the dishwasher & laundry, picks up his toys, prepares meals, and more! Of course, in true toddler fashion, it's on his own terms and often more work than it is help, but I appreciate his sweetness. 

   He loves food SO. MUCH. His favorite foods are fruits, but he'll eat almost anything you put in front of him. His new thing is he NEEDS to be in a big boy chair instead of that ole baby seat we used to make him sit in. He's mostly rockin it. I love that he loves food so much because I can bribe him with his next meal. "If you want to go have lunch, we have to finish cleaning up the playroom." I'm not above it. ;)

He's FINALLY starting to sleep well. WOOHOO! He took a bottle much longer than he should have because the sleep situation in our house was a NIGHTMARE. But Jesus loves me and the sleep situation in the house is improving. He's still picky about his routine. Last night he chose SEVEN books, TWO sippy cups (one with milk and one with water, of course), and his quilt from Great Grandma Satchell to be in the bed with him as he fell asleep. He likes to sit up and read before he falls asleep. I LOVE IT.
He also doesn't like to wear pants. You'll notice MOST pictures of him are just in his fluffs (cloth diapers). I'm ok with that. They're cute and it means less laundry for me.

He also LOVES to learn. He can identify over half of his letters consistently, and three colors (with less consistency). He's also starting to work on numbers, animals, and animal sounds. However, outside of these things and some random words, he still doesn't talk much. 

He's got lots of big changes coming up! In a couple of weeks, he starts back to "school" (Parents Day Out at a local church/preschool). He'll attend two mornings a week this year, and will get to move up to the two year old room! I LOVE his school, and so does he. It's only a couple of hours per morning but it's a great opportunity for him to get out and socialize & they are intentional about learning activities, fine motor skills, etc. 
He's also got potty training on the horizon! YIKES!! We're almost two so it's time to start thinking about it! Pray for me, ya'll.

That time he took off his diaper and tried to put it back on...

And the biggest change is CHARLIE GRACE! Little man doesn't seem to have a concept of the child that's about to come in and turn our worlds upside down, but I think he'll do fabulously. 
And that's Beckett @ 21 months! :) .