Pregnant: 27 Weeks

Baby boy's face looking at us. Sister is being bashful as usual, giving us the back of her head

Dear Babies,

Hello sweet ones. We just celebrated our first Christmas with you in our lives. I kept thinking that at this time next year we get to introduce you to our family traditions and create new ones. At 27 weeks we are becoming quite the cozy threesome. I feel you moving constantly! At our Dr. appointment last week we saw that you had done a somersault baby girl! Your brother's head had been down, while yours had been up, but now you are both feet up dancing in my tummy. The doctor told me I am done with work. My back hurts and I continue to feel a lot of pressure so I am officially on modified bed rest. You are so fragile and special that we have to do everything we can to keep you growing inside me. It feels bittersweet. Part of me is not ready to give up working, but then I realize it is not about me anymore. It is about you two....and that makes everything OK. So do keep me company these last few months as we relax and grow together. Our family is doing an awesome job taking care of us. They are shopping, cooking and cleaning. Your Dad is working hard balancing it all and finishing the house so that once you get here you can have all our attention. We talk to you all the time. Can you hear us? We tell you how much we love you and how excited we are to finally meet you. I pray for you and ask the Lord to give you the gift of joy. My wish for you is to have the spirit of laughter and contentment. You babies still have me craving hot chocolate from Starbucks. It's horribly overpriced and unpractical, but I really don't want to upset you so I suppose I should continue to give in :) Your Dad took your sister snowboarding for the weekend so I am on my way to Santa Maria to lay on the couch and get spoiled by your Grandma. We will be very comfortable! Love you so much.

Mom Readers...Help!

A few people have graciously offered to give me a baby shower. This is wonderful, right? I went online to check out registries and realized...oh no. I'm going to be a Mom and I don't know a thing about baby products. So I thought to myself, no biggie. People do this all the time. Let's start with bottles. (I plan to breastfeed but surely I'll need bottles for pumping, etc.). So I type in bottles. Apparently there are 1,500,852 types of bottles to chooses from. And then came the nipples. Really? This many nipples? So I ask you, what are your favorite baby products? Diaper genies, slings, breast pumps? What did you get but never use? What did you wish you would have registered for? Specific brands? Models? Product Numbers? (I'm only half joking when I ask for product numbers). I could register for cute accessories and receiving blankets all day long, but what about the important stuff? If you have any thoughts, please list them under comments. You just click under the post where it says comments and click the bubble that says 'anonymous' or 'name,' fill in your name, and show me the light. Thanks!

Merry Christmas From the Beck Family

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Last weekend started to feel like Christmas. We began at the Christmas tree farm for our annual hunt for the perfect tree. We usually find it right away, but we have to spend time looking around...because that's the fun part.

After our tree find, we went to see my niece Camryn in the Nutcracker ballet. She made a marvelous Russian Dancer. We were only slightly confused when half way through the ballet a Jonas Brothers song came on and these girls in red did a little jazz number. Hmmm...

Charli congratulates her big sissy.

Then, time for decorating. I love a cozy home!

Little Maegann's new room is ALMOST done. Can't wait to post pictures. And then...the nursery is next!!! :) :) :)

Thanksgiving Road Trip to New Mexico!

Lots of catching up to do...We returned Sunday from a WONDERFUL week long vacation. It was my Grandmother's 75th birthday in Las Cruces, New Mexico. We had talked about going but not really committed. Mike knew how much I wanted to go so I got a call at work that we were going to load up the motor home and make a road trip out of it. We had such a great time and it felt so good to just get away. My mother-in-law Judie came with us and our adventure began in Las Vegas...

Mike met up with friends to watch one of our local buddies ride in an endurocross race and Judie and I hit the slot machines. She had better luck than I did. I started to get tired and achy and was pretty much over it...until we found the mall. It was a mother of malls. I could have spent a week in the Macy's.

We parked our motor home at some friends property in Henderson, NV. They spoiled us with breakfast the next morning and Mike made friends with their horse Gumbo. Our friends kept telling Mike that he would bite, but Mike thought he was horse whisperer. This little sucker may look like My Little Pony, but he quickly showed Mike who was boss when he snipped at his arm.

After Vegas, we drove on to Flagstaff, AZ and camped at a K.O.A. Mike and I showed off our skills on the miniature golf course at the camp ground.


From Flagstaff, we drove through Sedona and Mike and Judie took helicopter ride through the mountains.


When Mike was at the motorcycle race with his buddies he bought these adorable onesies for the twins. I don't know what's cuter...the little logos on the front of these, or the fact that I can picture him with a beer in his hand hanging out with the guys stopping at this vendor because he was thinking about his babies. Ohhhh. Cute.


Sedona mountains

We made it to Las Cruces on Tuesday, just in time for Blano's (my Grandma) birthday dinner. We were treated to a seven course meal at this incredible Hacienda off the beaten path. We had the facility to ourselves and writing about it does not describe how beautiful it is. Not only did we enjoy fine dinning and festivities, but it was our first day there and we were excited to catch up with family. Aunts, Uncles, and cousins came from Washington and California. We were also welcomed by our local cousins in Cruces. So much fun!

I was bad with taking pictures once we got to New Mexico. I don't have many of my family. Here we are at dinner with Mike, birthday girl Blano, Dean, and Aunt Joanne.

Mom and I. We are smiling because we're happy to see each other...and because the table behind us was FILLED with jars of candy and chocolate. Yummy!!!

The beautiful dinner table.

Mom and Blano. One of my favorite parts of dinner was hearing everyone share special memories of Blano. We took turns honoring her with stories and recollections.

Mike and I.

Would you look at the belly? This might have been my favorite spot during our time in Cruces. Sitting/laying on Blano's bed talking with all the ladies. I was completely spoiled during the trip, napping often and eating lots.

Mom and Blano in the kitchen Thanksgiving day.

Mike, Judie and I at our cousin's pecan plant.

It was so great to see everyone. I loved watching how the Becks and Blanchards quickly became one family. My only complaint is that the time went by too quickly. Love you family...it was wonderful!

p.s. Road trips in a motor home are the BEST when you are pregnant and you have an excuse to lay down in the back and rest. Mike drove 15 hours home on Saturday. Judie was an awesome co-pilot. I napped, ate, and read. What? I had to take care of the babies.

Thanks Mike, you're my hero :)

It Shouldn't Be Funny

I plan to breastfeed and I don't think there is anything silly or unnatural about it. I am fully aware that pumping is a part of the deal. BUT...every pregnancy magazine I have seen features this goofy lady smiling like she's out for cocktails with her friends. And it kills me. I bust up laughing every time I see this picture:

Nursery Inspirations

People keep asking me what the theme for our nursery will be. I instantly panic because to me theme means Winnie the Pooh or jungle safari. Cute, but not my style. Right now I am in love with chocolate brown and white. Months ago I saw a picture of a friend's nursery (baby Finley), and I have been dreaming about creating something similar ever since. Here are some ideas I like so far. I love rich brown walls with white furniture, the look of this wall with white and silver frames. The babies will have Maegann's old room, which might look similar to the third picture below, as the room has chair rail (minus those blue curtains).

My sister-in-law Tanya is the most talented person I know. She hand makes everything and her girls' room is BEAUTIFUL. Me...not so crafty. But I did find this girl bedding at Target that I love. For our little boy, I would love to find something similar in brown and white. We'll see. We have time. How fun are baby nurseries?

Olivia bedding at Target

Below: random rooms I saw online

Below: http://www.thelandofnod.com/ , I love how simple this room looks. A bit too pink for our boy, but so cute.

Pregnant 19 Weeks

There certainly is no hiding this belly. I'm starting to feel the babies move and it's the coolest thing. My favorite part of the day is lying in bed at night with Mike, both of us moving our hands around my stomach, guessing which part of them we may be touching. As time goes on I'm already forgetting how hard we worked to get here. I thought I would never forget injections, tears and disappointment. I guess it's not that I've forgotten it, but we have so much to celebrate that it's easy to move forward. Whenever I complain about my back hurting or other people's comments ("you look HUGE!"), I have to quickly remind myself that this is exactly what we wanted. All these things are normal. I'm pregnant. Finally.

The Becks Are in The News!

We are proud of you Michael. You proactive in issues that matter and you are a leader...we love you!



Go Maegann Elizabeth! Tiger who?

And the babies are...

A baby boy...and a baby girl!!!

Thank you Lord for giving us the desires of our heart. We are blessed.

He's at it again

Mike + remodel = happy wife. Little Maegann's room is going to be the nursery, so we are turning our current garage/laundry room area into a new room for her. Mike has been hard at work and the project is underway...

Ugly door leading from our kitchen to the outside room
Current laundry room situation...I can't WAIT for a clean floor and new washer and dryer! Oh, and shelves and cabinets...cabinets!
Mike loads all the garage contents into storage...
Demolition begins...
Help from neighbor Troy

The drywall is now hung, the room is taped, and it's looking great!
More pictures to come...