The never ending blog update

Well I guess we're due for an update! And, I want Emma to be able to see a few more videos before she leaves on her mission. Emma is my sister-in-law and she's leaving next week to serve her mission in Peru! So, this one is for you Emma. (Skip to the end for Carson stuff)

We've had some visitors in Nashville! First, my parents and my brother John came for a day on their way to Florida.

It was so fun to have them here. Even though it was only a short visit, we loved every minute!

Then, Taylor's grandma and his sister, Emma, came for a few days!

Radnor Lake 

Opry Mills Mall 

Cheekwood Botanical Gardens 

Centennial Park 

The temple 

Downtown Franklin (or You've Got Mail)

We got to do so much while they were here! I don't have pictures of everything, but it was all really fun! Another of Taylor's sisters, Cammie, even came down and we all went to Kentucky and got to tour Mammoth Cave!

Besides visitors, did I say Taylor graduated? Taylor graduated! He is still studying like crazy preparing to take CFA level 2 on Saturday. Fun times.

Now here's a little update on our Carson man. We took him to his 18 month well-check doctor's appointment and he's still very healthy. He weighs 27.5 pounds and is almost 34 inches tall. His head circumference is still in the 90th percentile as is his height with his weight percentile falling somewhere in the 75-80 range. We're mostly just glad he's been so healthy. His doctor commented on how he's only been in for his well-check appointments and I guess that's not very common. It made me very happy to recognize how blessed we've been with a healthy baby.

Here are some pictures:

Cute smile 

Summer attire

This is Carson's "oh no" face. I don't know where he learned it.

Daddy put Carson in the storage closet. He thought it was silly.

During Taylor's graduation ceremony. We only wandered through the boring parts :)

Now for a few videos so you can SEE how Carson is doing :)

Carson can count to ten. He misses a couple numbers in the video, but he can consistently get all the numbers 1-10 except 7, he always forgets seven. Anyway, it's pretty cute:

He also learned his first sentence! He says, "You're silly." Maybe he's heard us say it a lot?

He really IS silly. Things like this next video happen all the time, but don't always involve Carson hurting himself. Taylor says I'm mean for laughing.

He also learned all the lyrics to a song. You may be less impressed when you learn what song, haha. But with his BYU gear and everything, he's ready for the games!

Well, I can now hear Taylor snoring beside me and I hope he's the only one who I put to sleep with this post. Thanks for sticking to the end. I'll try to have shorter, more frequent posts in the future!

Ode to moms

Happy Mothers Day!

I wish I had a picture/ video of this morning when Taylor and Carson carried in a waffle with peanut butter and strawberries to me and Carson saying, "mom, mom, mom." It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. But I don't sleep with my camera, so instead I'm going to tell you about a couple of the moms in my life and how awesome they are.

Recently, I came across this beautiful video on the church website. (Mom, click on the words "this beautiful video" and it will take you to see it)

And I thought about the quote at the end about how life doesn't come with a manual, it comes with a mother. I love that! I know I learn so much from my mom. (Obviously not technology stuff if you read the previous parentheses,  but she's still pretty smart). She is the one I watched growing up because I knew I wanted to be just like her. She's the one I call when I need to know how to cook something, or take care of flowers, or get through the day. And she is the one that still greets me and answers the phone with, "Hello, my sweet, beautiful, wonderful, darling, princess!" I love how much she supports me being a mother and rejoices in my I-love-Carson-as-much-as-I-could-possibly-love-any-human-being moments because she knows how it is to be a mom. I love you, Mom. Thanks for being such a great example. You're the best.

Another wonderful mother I know is my sweet mother-in-law. She is really one of the nicest people I know. When we first met and ever since then she has made me feel so welcomed and loved in the Beckstead family. What I really owe her the most for though, is raising Taylor to be so awesome. Yeah, I'm sure his dad helped a little too ;) I am so glad they are such a wonderful family filled with so much love, and I know a large part of the credit is due to their wonderful mother. She's such a cute Grandma, too! Look:

I also loved this video. I think I'm still like the boy sometimes, largely oblivious to most of the sacrifices my mom made for me. Being a mom is the most demanding, challenging, and easily the most rewarding thing I've ever done and I'm just at the beginning. Thank you to all the moms and future moms out there. Happy mothers day!