in New York...

We went to New York. And had a blast. Here are some of the highlights.

-Times Square-M&M store

-All the Christmas Decorations

This was probably my favorite thing we did (well one of them) CENTRAL PARK! what a beautiful place that is. We rented bikes and rode around all over. The weather was great and I could have done it all day long. But we had a show to go to. It was just perfect.

A few more of Central Park. And that night we went to see the play Wicked. We put our name in a drawing and every night they call 13 winners. About 200 people show up (give or take) and i thought there is no way they will call my name. But they did and I screamed!!! We were front and center. Literally you couldn't get any closer. We could see the sweat dripping down their faces. Pehrson surprisingly really liked it. It was his first Broadway play. I had to bite my tongue to try and not sing along.

-went to the temple. So pretty! and just right there in the city. It's always so nice to go to the temple and feel the peace of it when it's so busy outside.

-we went to the Natural History Museum.

-And then we walked around and looked at all the cool window displays. Very different and creative.

-Took a ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

-Loved taking the subway. I wish more places had a better transportation system.

-And saw some cool walls. HA

A giant shout out to my girl Ashley Bird! She hooked us up with some hotels and it seriously made the trip. We hotel hopped. The first night we stayed in a hotel I found on cheaphotels.com and just got the cheapest one I could find. The reviews said, "only stay here if you have to!" that should have been our sign. But the pictures didn't look that bad. So we got there and realized we didn't have a bathroom, just a bed. We had a "shared" bathroom with the whole floor. Among other things lets just say we got what we paid for and we felt like Royalty the next day when we checked in at the Ritz Carlton right across the street from Central Park. Their bed was the most comfortable thing I have ever laid on. We stayed there for two nights and then the Marriott the last night. We can't thank you enough Ashley!

Not pictured:

-Food. We had some great food and i guess every time we went somewhere I was so hungry I always forgot to take a picture. But we ate good!

-We went to see the play "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" featuring Harry Potter. Very fun play! The music, the dancing, the story, the costumes were all great. I highly recommend it!

-Chelsea's Market

-Little Italy

-Twin Towers Renovation

-Our other hotel (the Marriott)

-All the little farmers markets and christmas booths

-The Rockefeller Center-tree/ice skating

-Giant Macys and there windows decor

-Ellis Island

-I'm probably forgetting some...

Another shout out to Grandma and Grandpa Hawkley who watched our little man for the week. We missed him like crazy but were glad to know he was with people who love him.

And it was so fun to be with my favorite travel buddy. We celebrated 3 years together! The picture below says it all.

And thanks to all those who gave us suggestions on where to go...that helped out a lot.

Early Birthday

So the other day I was at the Post Office and this lady asked me, "how old is he?" I said he will be one in december. Her reply, "what were you thinking?" having a december baby is the worst. (she must of been one) haha But I beg to differ. Beck is perfect and even if he was born in december we will still make a big deal out of his birthday even if we celebrate on his half birthday, or earlier in the month. This year we combined with his girlfriend Maya who is exactly one month older than him. They are the cutest new one year olds around. Let the birthday celebrations begin my little man...

Love the hair blowing in the wind.

on a sugar high...i think he enjoyed it!

Happy Birthday Beck & Maya. We love you to pieces!

Tyson is a married man

During thanksgiving break. Pehrson's brother Tyson got married in the beautiful Manti Temple. It's on this huge hill out in the middle of nowhere. You couldn't have asked for better weather for utah. It was great.

Beck was such a busy little guy running around and not wanting to be held! He keeps us pretty busy these days. How cute is that tie?

Laughter.

Here is the Allen side of the family. (i tried to curl my hair...never stays...any tips?)

And the happy couple.

Congrats you two. Glad everything turned out and you sealed the deal. Hope you are enjoying married life!

a little late but here is my baby at 11 months.

• the best thing that has happened this month is that he started dancing!! it makes me smile SO much. everytime he hears music he shakes his body or bends his knees up and down. Or if he is eating something sweet he will move his head back and forth.
• He has started going down the stairs backwards. (we have really been working on it, he is still trying to figure it out, but doing pretty good)
• He smiles at everyone and waits until they smile back at him, especially in church. He is a flirt
• Loves babies and other kids. Can watch them for days.
• Shopping trips have to be quick these days. He doesn't like sitting in the cart. He wants to stand.
• Never stops moving. Is always getting into something or trying to figure out how things work. Keeps me on my toes.
• Says "dadda" and "wuff" when he sees a dog in a book he will say wuff. I think thats his first word? And dadda could be dadda or it could be a chair. Still not sure if he really knows what it means but if I say it he will repeat it.
• has had a runny noise for seriously like 3 weeks. I wipe it constantly and the other day he got a tissue and put it right up to his nose. Smart boy.
• Did AWESOME on our roadtrip up to utah this last week. I was worried but he did great.
• Gets passed around like a hot potato and he likes it. He loves being in new places and seeing new faces. (just as long as he knows mommas close by)
• He got mad at us for the first time. It was sad, but kind of funny. We were at Tyson's wedding and he was exhausted (no nap) and he kept wanting to climb over this hill into the dirt. I kept picking him up and moving him over but he was persistant and would go straight back. So finally I just held him and he tried to bite me. Thats when I realized how important naps really are. The only time he gets cranky is when he is tired.

He is starting to get such a fun little personality and he makes me laugh constantly! I am loving this age right now. It is so so so fun!!! We love you Beck and can't believe you will be 1 in a couple of weeks.

phone pic overload

What did people do before camera phones. I feel like most of my pictures taken are with my phone and even though it isn't the best and they come out blurry a lot. They get the job done and capture memories that I would be sad without.

So we have been busy around here. Life is just busy and I like it that way. First off this little man is a walker and has been for a couple weeks now. He still looks a little drunk sometimes. But overall he is crusin. And has been getting some bruisins too!

Beck and I went out to Arizona in october for 4 days to watch my niece and nephew. I was a mother of 3 who were all 3 and under. It was busy but fun. We played with playdo. Watched movies. Went to the park. It was still blazin hot when we were there so we spent a lot of time in the nude (the kids...not me) haha but they have all these great splash pads at the parks and the kids just loved it.

Beck even started dancing. And I love the picture on the left. Always looking around and making sure I'm close by and that its okay to be playing with the water. My sweet little boy! I just love him.

Lily loved hiding in the closets and Luke loved jumping on the trampoline and making his hair stand straight up. HA

We got home and celebrated this handsome old mans 28th birthday! Aren't my boys easy to look at...I am a lucky girl. =]

We had a donut cake

And surprised Pehrson at the park with some friends.

I joined a city league all womens soccer team who plays once a week up in Glendale. It has been so fun. I realized how out of shape I am. Geez...but it feels SO good to have cleets on my feet again. Seriously SO good!!!

Beck and I do all sorts of fun things during the day...like story time @ barnes&noble.

Going to the park. He is at a fun age that he can actually do things at the park now. So it's fun for him and sometimes scarry for me cause he is a dare devil! He also loves going to the skate park with daddy. Future sk8ter.

I watch this little boy a couple days a week. His name is Paul and he is 6 months older than Beck. They play great together and since I don't have a double stroller I make them squeeze in mine for short walks around the neighborhood. I think they like it? And I love the picture on the right. Not just because of those cute buns. But Beck was like this for about 5 minutes after his bath, trying to figure out where the water went. It was hilarious I had to get a picture.

This little guy just makes me laugh all day long. Tonight I was trying to get him to bed and he was just wired. He kept laughing and playing and talking my ear off. I tried singing him some "quiet" songs and he just kept looking at me with funny faces and laughing at me. He knows i'm not a good singer. ha I thought he was sleeping finally and daddy came home like 20 minutes later went to check on him and he was just playing in his crib so we made him stand on a surf board and he thought it was cool. He also loves the sand. And even though he doesn't eat sand by the handfuls, it doesn't stop him from eating things that are in the sand...like this sea shell.

And last but definitely not least. Pehrson and I are gonna go to NEW YORK this december! I have never been before and have always wanted to visit the east coast. We are gonna go to New Jersey one day to see where P went to high school and used to live. Which is very exciting because being a military family they moved so much and I have never seen a place where he lived before. And me being born and raised in Mission Viejo he has seen every school every park, every memory I have ever had. So now it is his turn to share some stories. And I can't wait to see NY during christmas time. More excited than you can imagine. Bring on the snow and the mittens and the hot chocolate. I CAN'T WAIT!! and if you have any recommendations on what to see and do. Please let me know. Cause I am up for anything!

One republic said it best, "It is a good good life!"

I dare you not to smile at these.

Just our normal every day thing. Beck getting out of his buckle and standing up while eating with the biggest smile on his face. How can I get mad?

halloween

It was a spooky halloween in the Hawkley household this year. When Pehrson was younger and watched the movie Karate Kid he always wanted to dress up like a skeleton. Well every year I always talked him into doing something else. But this year I said we can do whatever he wants so skeletons it was...beck with his scary face on

Us at the trunk or treat...I know we look very creepy...but we had to go all or nothing.

some of the cute kids

fellow skeletons. except they are the much sweeter looking ones. HA (look how cute she made her skelton costume with her little baby inside, very clever)

It was Beck's first halloween and I would say it was a success. Although bittersweet for us, because I haven't been trick or treating for years and we finally have an excuse to go again and get some free candy. But Pehrson and I made a challenge with each other to see if we could go without candy for a year and we are only two months away. So next halloween is going to be just that much better. (i know we're crazy)

And I don't think Beck really understood what was going on but he was happy and loved being outside looking at all the people and the lights. And he sure made one cute little skeleton.

I'm glad we could fulfill Pehrsons dream of being a skeleton and I was actually something scary for once. So until next year...let the planning begin.