Our recent family happenings

We made a trip to Utah a few weeks ago, for Jake's sister's {Jessica} wedding. It was a long drive there and a long drive back, but very well worth the trip! Our boys were surprisingly well-behaved during the reception, which was held at Rio Tinto Stadium, where the MLS soccer team, Real Salt Lake plays.

{More pics of the wedding can be found here.}

Holden just had his 2nd birthday, it's hard to believe our little man is already TWO! We did a super-quick photo shoot at Gardner Village, while we were there in Utah. He did great! :) He's getting so big and he's hiliarious! He loves to copy everything Beckham says.

Beckham has started preschool at Head Start, about 6 miles from our home. He loves it! It's been such a positive change for him. His attitude is better and he is not as picky of an eater! He has started tasting and eating things he's NEVER tasted before! He is such a great big brother and helps out around the house. He is sassy at times, and sure can be boisterous, but he at the same time has such a cute, cuddly side.

We are still getting used to the idea that we are soon expecting a baby GIRL into our family. There are some days I wake up and forget we know what we're having... lol Beckham was very upset at first that he wasn't going to get another little brother, but he has come to like the idea. He says his sister is going to be "beautiful, just like a princess". He has a whole list of things for her to wear when she gets here too, among them a "princess dress, princess hat, and princess shoes". I am almost 21 weeks along, so half-way there! We are crossing our fingers that Jake will be home, in port, when the baby gets here, but we don't know yet... so we are just playing it by ear for now. Hoping. Praying. Crossing our fingers that the Stennis isn't on an underway, out to sea, thousands of miles from home when I go into labor. We know that if that's the case, we will get through it, we are after all in the military, which happens... people miss events. Births. Deaths. Illnesses... it just happens. So we are bracing ourselves for the possibility that he may not be home, but of course hoping that he will be here.

I am still working on my photography business, still trying to build it up. It's tough to find clients, but I have had several, and my experience is growing along with my portfolio. :) Thank goodness my Nikon survived it's nearly-complete immersion in the lake/water when went camping.

 Jake is working graveyards, for at least a few more weeks. The ship leaves to do some test runs sometime in the first week or so of December, so I guess until that comes, he is pretty much scraping tile and doing other maintenance-get-the-ship-remodeled stuff.

♥ 4 years of wedded bliss!

Wow. I can hardly believe that Jake and I have been married for FOUR years! 4!!!
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't think we'd make it or anything like that.
It's just that it doesn't feel like 4 years... ya know?
The whole statement of

"It feels like it was just yesterday..."

rings true. It does feel like yesterday.
We've been through alot in the past 4 years of our life. Let's see:

126,230,400 - seconds we've been married
2,103,840 - minutes we've been married
35,064 - hours we've been married
2 - number of beautiful children we have
2 - number of states we've lived in (Utah & Nebraska)
9 - number of times we've moved
13,591 - number of pictures we've taken with our camera(s)
188 - number of trips to Orem to visit with my family
3 - cars that we've owned
5 - pets that we've owned
4 - Christmas's we've celebrated together
4 - New Years' that we've celebrated together
4 - Thanksgiving's we've celebrated together
5 - cell phones we've had (between the two of us)
2 - surgeries we've helped each other through (Jake's ACL Reconstruction & my cesarean)
3 - number of times I've seen Jake cry
831 - number of times Jake has seen me cry
9,213 - number of times Beckham has cried
1 - number of a strong, everlasting, never-breakable marital bond

I love you Jake, Happy Fourth Anniversary! May we have MANY, MANY more to come!

♥ Sydney

Tender Moments

Just wanted to share a few tender moments
I captured a few days ago between Beckham and Holden.
Beckham is such a good big brother, he's so kind and loving
when he's around the baby.
It's really cute how much concern he has for his little brother.

Sweet Kisses

Mom and Becks (a pic)

Picture time!

♥

I just came across this pic in my photobucket account.

It's from March '08. He melts my heart!

I'm a cripple

Here is the very first post from Jake:

So on Wednesday night I played not one but two soccer games. I played one at 5:30 and if we won we played again at 7:30. The earlier game was great! We played really well! And won 4 – 0 so we stayed and played another game. About ten minutes in to that game I got hurt. I believe we had played that team before and I remember them being a physical team, witch by the way I absolutely love. About five minutes in I was down in a corner with a lady that was probably five feet tall and maybe 110 Lbs. And she out muscled me! It was amazing. Anyway, I was tracking down a loose ball just over the half way line and I got to it first with a struggle of course, and I was putting my body in-between him and the ball and I think my cleats grabbed the ground wrong. The second I looked at the ball to see where it was I saw me knee, it looked like my knee cap had moved over the outside of my leg and bent in half. I rolled a couple of times and yelled a lot and probably said a couple of choice words. My wife and my baby weren’t there, thankfully, so she had to be called to come and pick me up. That’s a whole story in itself.

Two Mondays before these games my dad went to the hospital for a surgery. The hospital that he was at was literally a half mile away. In between my games my wife for some reason got mad at me and took Beckham, our son, to the hospital and she of course walked. It’s a good thing my mom was at the hospital with her car when the county called my wife so that she could bring my mom’s van. So she came and picked me up.

Before I talk about it any more I have to give a shout out to Jed and Levi, Some of Mike’s friends that happened to show up and watch these games. These guys helped me with everything! They lifted me up to sit in a chair and watch what I could and most importantly they carried me, not just let me limp beside them, carried me to the van that me wife brought to pick me up in. They are amazing. Thanks guys! They are for sure going to heaven!

So I got to the hospital and the first hour was horrible! We asked for ice and it came eventually but we had to ask for it a second time! I was getting nauseous and light headed and my life was crumbling right before my eyes! I finally got some ice and finally got into a room and the time I was in the room and got x-rays and everything was probably 45 minutes! Less time than when I was waiting to get back into a room! They stuck me on crutches, gave me some pain pills and said “Call a surgeon and make an appointment” and I was on my way.

The next day I had to call my Navy recruiter who actually took the news a lot better than I had expected. And that night I had to go to a meeting. A DEP meeting. Delayed Entry Program Meeting. It’s to help me get ready to go into the Navy. It was kind of sad when everyone had to do push ups but me. But oh well. What can you do?

Anyway… Thank you Syd for being there for everything even though you are 8 months pregnant and aren’t supposed to do anything! You truly are amazing! I bet you go to heaven too just like Levi and Jed! Thanks to my team for getting us that far! To the Final game! You guys are amazing too! But I think only a few of you will make it to heaven! C-ya later!