Springing Into 2011!

Please forgive me! It's going to be March in less than a week, and I am just now making my first entry for 2011! Obviously, time has been flying by and I've been super busy. I'm lucky if I can even find time at night to sleep these days. Nonetheless, life is fabulous and seems to be getting better and better. It's kind of making me scared!Can it b e too good to be true?? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that's not the case!

2010 has been one heck of a year. It's had its ups and downs like all the rest, but it still stands out amongst them all. It was the year that our baby boy turned 1 year old! We watched him take his first steps that year and speak his first sentences. He turned from a baby into a little boy right before our eyes. Watching our first born grow and change was so special for us, and made us even more excited for what would come only 6 days after his first birthday.

Our second angel, Everett Matthew was born on March 31, 2010. What can make a year more magical than that?! Beckham became a big brother and we were finally a family of four. Time began to pass faster than ever had before!

But this wouldn't be life if we didn't have challenges. In the middle of the summer, I experienced the worst disappointment and heartbreak of my life. I learned who my "real" family is (which is always good to know!), and I was forced to make a difficult decision that would change my life forever. In doing so, I became empowered and was, for the first time, able to be true to myself. And even better, I've been able to "let go of the hope that the past could have been any different."

There were surely some lessons learned in 2010!Lessons are blessings, and boy were the blessings pouring in! Towards to end of the summer, we purchased our first house! I don't know how on earth were so lucky as to find this house, but couldn't have been happier. Every morning I would walk into my living area and think, "I can't believe this is our house!". I still catch myself thinking that from time to time. :)As the year progressed, we watched Everett experience his first holidays and Beckham actually understand and enjoy them. Tons and tons of holiday pics to come... be patient! Anyhoo, at the very end of the year, we made a very rash decision for Joshua to reenlist as Active Duty. And we made it just in time! His application was accepted and by the first week of January, just as he began making plans to deploy to Africa, he received orders to Camp Pendleton, CA. WOW, that was fast! Due to his orders, he was unable to deploy at this time (he would be gone right now!), and our plans swiftly changed with new ideas of what adventures were in store for us. Here's a pic of Joshie with the boys on Reenlistment Day! We are soooo proud of him for his hard work and dedication to the Marine Corps! ME = Super Proud Marine Wife! ...wouldn't want to be anything else ;)

2010 was surely a year to remember, but 2011 is proving to be just as memorable. Right away, we got our orders in January; and on February 21st we welcomed a new baby boy into the family! Don't worry, he's not mine, but he's still freakin adorable... ;) Isaac Breaux Toro was born to my sister-in-law Tasha and her husband Frank, weighing 7lbs 2oz and 19 in long. We will be moving only 30 minutes from them so we are really looking forward to getting to know the little guy. Yay for babies!

Next month will be Everett's FIRST birthday and Beckham's second! Then there's our anniversary and Easter, and then right before we move will be Mother's Day and my birthday. The first half of this year will continue to fly by, without a doubt! Before we know it, we'll be settled into our new home, enjoying some great weather and fun times. Much to look forward to this year, but first... here's everything that happened since I last wrote!

A few days before Christmas, we took the boys to sit on Santa's lap at that mall. Beckham actually smiled! Unbelievable! This boy sat on Santa's lap four times last year and cried EVERY time! When Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas he said "Hammer" which sounded more like "Hamma". Now that he understands who Santa is, he loves him and everything about him. Still to this day (and no joke, he actually said this today), out of the blue he says "Ho ho ho Meeeeeeerry Christmas! Santa Claus!" One night in January, as I was tucking him into bed, he told me "I want Santa Claus hold you" which translates to "I want Santa Claus to hold me." Silly boy! Everett surprised me too because I really expected him to be scared of Santa like Beckham was last year; but nope, he was more curious than anything. He looked around at everyone like we were crazy.

We visited with Joshua's family for the first time ever on Christmas Eve. The boys got to be with their Nonna and Papa, and hang out with some of their second cousins who they never get to see.

After visiting with Joshua's family, we pack the kids up and took them to my step-grandparents' house (my stepfather, Huey's parents for those of you who are not familiar with my family) where there was plenty of food and bonfires! Everett would not take his eyes off of the bonfires! The boys had a great time with their Myshie, Uncle Kyle, Nana and Papa D!


Christmas morning Beckham was super excited to see what Santa had brought him. As soon as he opened his eyes he said "Santa Claus!". We set of the video camera behind their toys and were able to capture Beckham's very surprised expression as he ran into the living room to see his new things!


Before Christmas, is you asked Beckham what Santa was bringing him, he would say "Tools!"; and sure enough, that's what he got. He was glued to his tool set the entire day, although he did take turns trying out everything for a little while.


After Joshua and I spent some quality time with the boys, his parents came over to surprise them with their new bikes! Beckham got a big boy, spiderman bike with training wheels... the one that he used to ride every time he went to Walmart (his favorite place in the world!). Everett got an adorable, red tricycle with detachable handle bars for Mommy to push him with. Of course, both bikes are fun for Beckham to ride right now, although he still has some growing to do for his big boy bike.


Christmas day we left our doors open for family and friends, and the gifts kept on pouring in. The boys had so much fun unwrapping gifts and seeing their loved ones!


Joshua's sister, Tasha was not able to fly in from San Diego this year because she was in her third trimester, but we were still able to visit with her through Skype. In the picture below, Everett has just opened her gift and is showing her how cute it will look on him!


After Christmas, Beckham went to his first Hornets game with his Daddy and Papa! Joshua said he was yelling "Bee-fense!" with the crowd and would say "Two points!" when someone scored. My little guy is too cute!

A couple days later, we took the boys to the zoo and took some cute pics of them enjoying the trip!

It is tradition that I take my youngest brother and sister to Celebration in the Oaks every year for Christmas. This year we tried to go just a few days before Christmas, but the line was literally a half mile long so we ended up going back a few days after Christmas.

The same week, Joshua and I took Beckham and Everett to visit their maternal great great grandmother and their great Gammaw. It's always nice to see them!

New Year's Eve we took the boys to the Louisiana Children's Museum for their countdown to Noon. I know, cute! They had The Count counting down, and then at the stroke of twelve, everyone threw confetti and let go of balloons. The place was packed! And here's a funny story... while we were there, Beckham was playing in one of the play houses (pictured below) and stuck his head and arm out of the window to us and said, "French fries!". He even kept doing it to the children that would walk past him! I must say, he is much more hospitable than the employees at Mc Donald's. :)

Later that night, we had some friends and family over again to celebrate the new year. We all had a blast together!

And that was the end of 2010! Now let me catch you up on the boys. Man, I hope I remember even half of what there is to tell...

One of the things Beckham got from Santa was his very own potty. He did pretty well pooping on the toddler seat that we put on the real potty, but after a couple months, he stopped wanting to go. So mommy finally gave in to the baby potty! It took him a little while to want to try it out, but for the last month he has been peeing in it here and there. The strange thing is that he has only pooped in it once and that was pretty much the only thing he would do on the real potty. No complaints though. I am very proud!

Beckham has a shoe fetish! He brings me like five different pairs of shoes to change him in everyday. He has two pairs of slippers and a pair of rain boots that he also has me put on him constantly in addition to all of his tennis shoes. He'll also come out wearing my or Joshua's shoes! He puts them on himself and just walks around the house in them. And when Joshua gets home from work, he immediately slips Daddy's work boots on.

Beckham is really anxious for his birthday coming up. He's always singing Happy Birthday, and he answers questions about his birthday like this..

Mommy: "When is your birthday?"
Beckham: "March 25th"
Mommy: "How old will you be?"
Beckham: He says either "2", "2 old" (he leaves out the "years"), or "24 pounds" which is how much he weighs! LOL ...Joshua weighs him on the bathroom scale often (for fun) which is why he knows this.
Mommy: "WHat kind of birthday party do you want?"
Beckham: "Go Saints!"
Mommy: "What do you want Mommy to give you for your birthday?"
Beckham: "A biiiiiiiiiig present to open!"

Beckham sings a lot of songs on his own now without any assistance. He sings every word of "Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who with Joshua as Joshua sings it. Right now one of his favorite things to do is climb over the back of the couch while reciting the entire "Humpty Dumpty" nursery rhyme. He also recites this when he stands on top of his slide or the arm of the couch. He even makes up his own songs now. Instead of just singing sounds, he sings actual words and plenty of them, and he'll sing for a while. This morning I woke up to him singing me a song. The best way to wake!


Beckham has been saying "On my gosh!" and "Jezum petezys" a lot. Haha! Much better than the "s-h" word he used to say when he was a baby!

Ok, so this is interesting! Today Beckham discovered that Mommy does not have a penis! He was in the bathroom with me and pointed to my lady parts and asked, "What's that?". I explained to him that it is a vagina, and I told him about how Mommy, Nana, and Nonna are girls and how we all have vaginas; and then went on to explain how Beckham, Daddy and Papa are boys, and boys have penises. He looked totally shocked, like he couldn't believe that I didn't have a penis! He then kept saying, "Girls have 'ginas." And now when I ask him what girls have, he answers "'ginas" and when I ask what boys have, he answers "penis". Isn't he too young for this?! He also has an obsession with "the girls". He thinks breasts are funny and tries to play with everyone's. And no matter how many times I tell him they are breasts, he insists on calling them "boobs"! Thanks, Nana! LOL

Beckham's new baby cousin's name is Isaac and Beckham knows it well already. He is always saying, "Isaacs in Aunta Tasha's tummy" and "I want Isaac". When we showed him a picture of Isaac for the first time, he said "Sooooo cuuuuuute". He is such a sweet boy!

Joshua's cousin/best friend, Matthew passed away almost 5 years ago and Joshua keeps a photograph of him in his wallet. Well all Joshua had to do was show it to Beckham once and now Beckham is always asking, "I want to see Matt...". It's sweet, he just carries the picture around. Joshua also has another cousin, Taylor who passed away; and I when I sing "He's got the whole world in his hands", I add in "Matt and Taylor" so now Beckham sometimes brings them up out the blue. One day while riding in Donna's car, I heard him saying "Matt and Taylor", and he sometimes simply asks "Where's Matt and Taylor?". It's sad that he'll never meet them, but I'm glad he already knows who they are.

And he knows who everyone is! This boy has memory for faces and names! One of his favorite books has a picture of the writer or whoever in the cover, and every time we read the book he points to it and says "Uncle Perry!". And he's right, the guy does look like Uncle Perry.. haha! He also watches the photos on my digital picture frame and points out people with their names that he very rarely sees, like Uncle Danny, Aunt Toni, Theresa and Gigi. How on earth does he remember their names?! Beckham also likes to spot out "Rachels". This cracks me up. I have my very good friend Rachel and then there's Rachel Ray from television. If he sees anyone who looks like either one of them, he yells out "Rachel!". One day it might just be their real name! Beckham even remembers his doctor's name! About a month or so ago, I had to take them in because they both had double ear infections; but because it was short notice, we weren't able to see our regular doctor. Well when the unfamiliar doctor came into the room, Beckham kept asking "Where Docta Weba (Dr. Weber) at?". Dr. Weber would have loved to hear that!

By the way, Beckham weighed in at 24lbs and Everett was only 4lbs smaller at 20lbs! They pretty much share all of the same clothes. Just last week they were both wearing size 12 months! But Everett is getting big for a lot of the 12 month one pieces and Beckham is still so tiny that he fits in 12 month shorts (18 month pants) and a lot of the 12 month short sleeve shirts (24 month long sleeve). The little one is catching up quickly!

Beckham has been off the binky since he threw it in the canal back in December! For the first three weeks, he would occasionally ask for it and we would remind him that he threw it in the water and the alligator now has it. Sometimes he would even say "Everett water?", and I would have to tell him, "Yes baby, Everett threw his in the water too." After those first few weeks though, he never asked for it again and has even played with other kids who had them. Once he even found one in our house and stuck it straight into Everett's mouth. He is officially off!

I know I mentioned it before, but Beckham is such a sweet big brother. Now don't get me wrong, he is definitely rough with his brother and has his moments, but mostly he is always hugging and kissing him. He always wants Everett to follow him around so he's constantly saying, "Come on, Brotha! Come on, Brotha!". And Everett will just follow him around. Sometimes Beckham gets down on his hands and knees and crawls around with Everett. They are just so sweet.

Everett is growing up so fast! I just cannot believe that he is going to be a year old in just a month. I'm so much busier with two kids that time goes by so much faster so I feel like I didn't get to spend much time with him as a baby. On the bright side, I love that he's getting bigger and is able to play more and more with Beckham. They are so lucky to have each other and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Everett is not walking yet but he gets a kick out of standing on his own. He lets go and will stand for very long periods of time and screams with excitement. He cracks me up! He knows that he's doing something important, and he'll just stand their screaming with a big smile on his face. He walks holding on to a walking toy and he walks around furniture, but Beckham started walking on his own right at 11 months and was walking much better than Everett is at this age so I don't expect him to be walking before his birthday. He may surprise me though!


Everett loves to talk! I should have known that he would be an earlier talker like his big brother because he was such a noisy baby. Since he was only a few months old, I've had to take him to the back of the house or outside during Beckham's naps so he wouldn't wake him. Still to this day, I have to do that! Everett repeats so many things we say. He says the usual stuff like "Mama", "Dada", and "Hi", but he also says "Brother", "Nonna", Papa", "Nana", "Kay Kay", "Tom Tom ", "Sadie", "Tree", and "Beck". But his most favorite word to say is "HOT". He says it all the time, especially if you're holding a mug. His Nonna taught him that her coffee is hot so now every cup is hot. He sounds like a little kitty cat hissing when he says it and he makes the cutest friggin face! This little boy is seriously too cute for words, and I'm not just saying that because he's my baby. Haha!


Everett now has 4 teeth! He has two on top and two on the bottom, and he is currently cutting his fifth tooth on his bottom left. He just suddenly began getting them all at the same time. He handles the teething really well, so much better than Beckham did. Oh and by the way, Beckham has all of his teeth! He got his last tooth right as Everett was cutting his first!

Everett loves to eat! He eats all of his meals, plus his snacks and then some of Beckham's food too. And he loooooves juice! I mix their juice half and half with water, and he just drinks it up. He's always finding Beckham's sippie cups and sucking down everything in it. It took me forever to get Beckham to drink from sippie cups and I even had to buy a special $15 cup which finally got him drinking from them, but Everett had no problem at all. He's been drinking from cups regularly now for a few months. Speaking of Everett drinking and eating all of Beckham's stuff, Beckham has just now entered the "Mine" phase. Just this week he began saying "That's my cup!" when he caught Everett drinking from it and "That's my potty!" when he saw Everett climbing on his potty.


Everett has about 10 binkies in his bed. That's the only place he is allowed to use them so we just keep them all in there. Well he must think that throwing them out of his crib is a game or something because every time I go in there to get him out, there are binkies scattered all over the room and none in his crib! That booger!


Everett has such great rhythm! Unlike most babies who bounce their booties when they dance, Everett swings his head from side to side and rolls his body with the motion. He moves to the music and smiles so big while he dances. It is so funny to watch!

One more funny story before I end this! The boys love to disappear on me when I'm doing house work, and I always end up having to do a search to find them around the house. Most days they wonder into Beckham's room and I find them playing in there. Well a couple of weeks ago, I found them in there and they were playing so well so I turned on some music for them and let them play. Well when I went back to check on them, this is how I found the bedroom! They got into the closet and empty out boxes of clothes that I had stored in there and tore everything off of the bookcase! What am I to do with these boys?


Here are some 2011 pics! There are some random pics of the boys and some pics from fun trips to the zoo and The Monkey Room. We are really enjoying 2011 so far and it's just going to keep getting better! Stay posted for upcoming pics of Mardi Gras, the boys' birthdays and party, and even some family pics! So much so fast!