The Many Expressions of Beckett

Sweet Smiles

A few weeks ago, Beckett showed off his adorable smile for the first time.  He is smiling and cooing more and more each day.  We've been able to capture some smiley moments on camera.  So for your viewing pleasure...

  

  

 

23 Confessions of a New Mom

1. I never knew how much I could unconditionally love til now
2. I love Bourdeaux’s butt paste…it works wonders
3. I use the crib as a hamper…why? He refuses to sleep in it
4. I don’t mind handling baby poop
5. I refer to myself as the “Milk Lady”
6. I pray constantly for God to help my baby sleep and breathe (I have a crazy paranoia of my baby’s airway)
7. I accidentally got baby poop on Beckett’s forehead…don’t ask how
8. I melt, I mean turn into a pool of giddiness, when Beckett smiles at me
9. I’ve learned to do many daily activities with one hand
10. I’ve cried many days out of frustration of a fussy baby
11. I never understood the word selflessness like I do now
12. I never realized how hard this thing called parenting really was
13. Some days I don’t change out of my pajamas
14. I’m amazed at the ways my husband serves us everyday
15. I’m thinking about hiring someone to clean our house
16. I have dust bunnies running rampant all over the floor (see confession #15)
17. I covet those whose families live nearby
18. I appreciate my parents more than I ever have now that I’m starting to realize what they went through for me
19. I’ve become a master at eliminating yellow poop from baby clothes
20. I’ve learned just the perfect combination to get Beckett to sleep: a rhythmic shush in the ear, a tight hold around the feet and bum, a blanket placed over his head, while doing squats and lunges in the bathroom, with the lights off, and the faucet running.
21. I hate picking out something to wear…material just doesn’t hang the same way anymore, if you know what I’m saying (see confession #13)
22. I miss an uninterrupted dinner, cuddling with my husband on the couch, “me” time, running errands easily, date nights, and SLEEP!
23. I praise God daily for the gift He has given us and treasure every second… even the tough ones.

Big Changes

It's been such a long time since I have blogged and much has changed in our daily lives!  We've gone from living right by the beach, as newlyweds, with almost anything right at our fingertips...restaurants, shopping, beach volleyball, Hollywood, concerts, etc, to moving a a hundred or so miles inland of Manhattan Beach to the Mojave Desert at Edwards Air Force Base.  Garrett changed jobs within the Air Force, moving from working on GPS in LA to working towards his second masters degree in a challenging 1-year program in flight test engineering--Air Force Test Pilot School.  We are far, yes very far, from civilization.  We miss the thrills of city living and the oceanview house, but we are finding some perks of living in the middle of nowhere...like plenty of free parking, having a yard (even though it's mostly gravel), a new house with LOTs of space, no LA traffic (woohoo), living on the same street with lots of fun families, and beautiful desert sunrises-yes, I've witnessed plenty of these lately.

Most importantly, though, our world has been forever changed by the arrival of our sweet baby, Beckett Jack Knowlan  He made his entrance into this world on December 1, 2009.  We are overjoyed by God's amazing blessing!  He blessed us by answering our prayers from day 1 of the pregnancy and we hope to share this story very soon.  We are in love and life will surely never be the same. :)

Mexican Night!

Two great recipes I just tried:

If you are sick of the Lipton Mexican rice packets and the like, then try this homemade Mexican rice!

These enchiladas were fabulous! Only thing I would change is to add some of that delicious cheese sauce inside the enchiladas too.

Exciting news!!

Garrett and I are expecting a baby this December! And if that isn't exciting enough, we found out this week that it's a boy! :) We are overwhelmed with joy by God's amazing blessing.

Where did the time go???

Today is my official first day being off from school!!! Over the past few months, I had the pleasure of working with a third grade class everyday. As much as the long-term job was a blessing, I was also ready for it to be done. I think it has been engrained in me that June, July, and August is summer vacation time for the past 20 or so years. So now I am so excited that I have time now to do whatever I want....blog, organize, shop, go to the beach, read, take a nap, and of course cook...

And so my time in the kitchen begins:

On the menu today is Feta, Tomato, and Black Bean Salad. It's so flavorful, so easy, and so full of fiber--if that's what makes your skirt fly up!

15 oz black beans (rinse & drain)
1 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 cup cooked rice (cooled)
4 oz. pkg of crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup finely diced green onion
2 tbsp. (or more) chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 c. Italian dressing

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate.
(Makes 5-6 servings)

San Francisco

Garrett had to go to San Francisco for work so we made a little getaway vacation out of it. We were able to do so much in just a week! In the beginning of the week, we stayed right next to Stanford University. I was able to check out that area while Garrett worked during the week. My friend Katie lived really close to where we were staying so we got lots of quality time in too.

From there, we drove up to Sonoma Wine Country. We checked out some of the vineyards and stayed in the quaint downtown area. As you can see from the photos below, it was peaceful and beautiful...

On the drive back down to San Francisco, we stopped and hiked through Muir Woods and were able to check out some monstrous Redwoods.

We drove to Garrett's cousin Kirk's house in San Francisco (he was out of town) and met up with his wife, Alyssa. Alyssa was quite the tour guide and showed us all around the city. She also brought us to Philz Coffee, which is one of the best, if not THE BEST, cup o' coffee I've ever had!


Katie and her fiance, Ben, were able to meet up with us in San Francisco for dinner. Alyssa brought us to a very unique Mediterranean restaurant. We sat on the floor with pillows and shared some deliciousness like warm apple cider/Sangria, meat and veggie kabobs, and of course, hummus. Unfortunately, we missed the belly dancers which started later in the night.

All in all, it was a fantastic time and we hope to make another trip before we leave California.