More Video Fun with Becks

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

SURPRISE, SURPRISE!

I left the house last night thinking I was going to my friend Katie's house for dinner and girl time. Little did I know, that they had been planning a surprise baby shower for me for the past month. I was so confused when I drove up and my sister's car was out front!?! I walked in and got "Surprised". How cool that my mom, sister, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law were all there, too! Needless to say, I was very excited. Its not easy to pull one over on me since I'm such a know-it-all. I can't believe Scott was in on it, too!

Whit, Gina, Katie G., and Gretchen

Tara and Katie L.

Gina, Gretchen, Katie G., Kellee, and Katie L.
(I have no idea what was so funny. I probably said something inappropriate.)
Check out the adorable clothes-line with onesies in the background.

A la cuisine~ salad, 3 types of stuffed shells, and rolls

"Welcome Baby Brooks" cake

And the gift opening begins. . .

LOVED the diaper cake that Gretchen made!

Thank you all for making me feel so special. I still can't believe I didn't realize what was in the works. Shanna told me she "may show up at my girls' night just to get out of the house". Scott asked me if I was planning on changing clothes, that I should put on something pretty and pink. He also asked if I was taking the camera. My response was, "Why, you want to see pics of the pillow fight?" And, fortunately, Scott fielded a call from my brother saying that Mom was on her way up for the shower.

I am so blessed to have such loving friends. Thanks again for going out of your way to help Brooks' arrival a special one!

P.S. For some reason my camera doesn't like to take clear pictures at Katie's house. I have blurry pics of almost all special events that have been held there!

Taking Advantage of Being an Only Child

So far, transitioning Beckham to his Big Boy bed has had its definite ups and downs. There have been many tears shed from all 3 of us. But, as Scott reminded me today, we only have about 2 months left with just Beckham so we should make the best of them. So, rather than being the sleepy, grouchy Mommy I could have been today (since sleep came few and far between last night), I tried to make the best of our morning together. We headed to playgroup as usual this morning. Afterward, Beckham wanted to walk down to the pond and see the geese. Since our history with the geese in our neighborhood is not very friendly (those things are EVIL), we didn't spend much time doing this before we walked over to the swing next to the pond and cuddled for a few minutes. Its moments like those I wish I could capture FOREVER! We went home and enjoyed some lunch, then pulled out the finger paints. . .

Our little Picaso had so much fun getting his hands in there and creating some very colorful art for the fridge.

Little Sidney Crosby

Beckham got this AWESOME shirt from Aunt Amy for Christmas and we finally had a random day warm enough for him to wear it. He was SO excited he was getting to wear his Penguins shirt!! He's asked every day since if he can wear it- so cute!

Come On In!

As I mentioned in the previous post, we've been taking turns having everyone over to the house to share our new carpet and Beckham's new room. Here are a few pics of the Parkers' visit. Amanda taught Beckham that its more fun to play Elefun without the trunk. That way, he can yell "whoopsi" and giggle every time the butterflies come out.

Check out the carpet in the background. I've been told its a lot darker in person than the previous pic I posted. (I took it from the balcony and it was only partially installed.)

2010 So far:

We've had an exciting year thus far, not always the excitement we'd like, but we're dealing. As some of you might know, we ended the year with Thibideaux's first seizure EVER. We held off on taking him to the vet for labs since his annual physical is soon. With that behind us, we rang in the new year by watching 500 Days of Summer (excellent movie) and laying low at home. January 2nd brought more surprises, though. Not only had we noticed that Beckham was beginning to walk like a little drunken man, but Thibideaux had yet another seizure. Scott rushed him to the vet to have blood work only to find out that our 5-1/2 year old dog with no prior history of seizures had developed Epilepsy.

We started the next week by attending mass, enjoying an okay dinner at Olive Garden, and enduring Beckham vomiting for 3 hours straight. Now, you may be thinking the same thing we did, "Loss of balance AND vomiting?" That's why we rushed to the Urgent Care Center only to find that we got there 15 minutes after they closed! Just our luck. Home again to endure more vomiting and no sleep. . . The following day, Empire Today came to install our new carpet. In the midst of their hard work, Scott came home on his lunch break to take the Little Prince to the pediatrician. Apparently, his vomiting was most likely food-related and his loss of balance could be any number of things.

We had it in our heads that it HAD to be an ear infection (even though he has no history of them), so we made an appointment with an ENT and Audiologist. His furniture came the middle of the week, and we went ahead and made the much anticipated switch from crib to Big Boy Bed (making for a lot less sleep around the Parker house). The following week began with mass and a visit from Amanda. We headed to the ENT and Audiologist the next morning only to find out that Beckham had absolutely NO signs of an ear infection.

Much to our dismay, we made the ever-dreaded Neurologist appointment (his pediatrician and ENT had both recommended it). On Wednesday of last week, I headed to the pediatrician again to see if there was any blood work they could do so we could have some answers before going to the Neurologist. She spoke with the Neurologist and they thought it best that Beckham check in to the E.R. at the Children's Hospital and have either and MRI and Lumbar Puncture OR a CT Scan done. So, after attending my own doctor's appointment to see how Baby Brooks is doing, Beckham and I headed to the E.R. You have never seen a child so EXCITED about going to the hospital. They ended up doing a CT Scan that came back completely clear. Hallelujah!

After many tears and hours of fret over our little man's condition, we started a new week by attending mass and having Scott's family over for a leg of lamb. We went to the Neurologist on Monday afternoon. By the time we made it to the appointment, Beckham had improved his balance significantly. Come to find out, there is a post-viral symptom called Acute Cerebellar Ataxia that Beckham was experiencing due to a bad cold he had the middle of December. I'm sure we are not the first paranoid parents to take their child all over tarnation just to find out this news, nor will we be the last. But, we sure are glad to have it over and done with!

As a follow-up to all of the drama with Beckham and Thibideaux, our downstairs heat decided to go out yesterday. The repair company came out to take a look and determined it could be any number of things, but that it is most likely a weak limit. And if replacing the limit doesn't work ($300), then we would need to replace the control panel ($800). Whatever! He got it working by turning the power switch off then back on and told us it would probably go out again by the end of the day if we didn't repair it. IT IS STILL WORKING!

Okay, so Scott and I are done with the drama that 2010 has brought on us so far. We are ready for a peaceful and expense-free February!!

Hope you're January has been easier than ours :)

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Ladies and gentlemen, in the order with which they were done. . . our home improvement projects! First off, much-needed blackout curtains for our master bedroom. (Since I work at night, the blazing sunlight that our room gets and the resulting increased temp was not conducive with sleep.)

Along the same theme, we bought roman shades for the top windows in our living room last February. At a loss for how to hang them, it was December before we realized we could rent scaffolding and hang them rather easily. Hooray for no more suntans while laying on the couch (and we can see the t.v. during the day!).


As a New Year's gift to ourselves, we finally resolved to buy new carpet for the entire house. It was amazing how fast 3 men could work together to move furniture, tear out old carpet and padding, and lay new padding and carpet, then again move all the furniture! I think they did 2,000 square feet in 6 hours! We are SO thrilled with our new carpet. It is darker, multi-colored, and THICKER!! Oh, so soft.
And last, but not least, we refinished Olivia's room for Beckham. It is no longer "the purple room" or "the cat's room", it is "Beckham's Big Boy Room". I attached a light fixture to the ceiling fan, painted the walls, hung curtains, and decorated. We all had fun actually going out and picking out the furniture. Beckham has been talking about it for a week- SO EXCITED! The delivery was finally made today. Here are some pics of Beckham as soon as he got to bombard his new room. . .

We plan on letting him sleep in there tonight. We'll keep you updated as to how well that goes :)