april fools

Here's to wishing you a Happy April Fool's Day and hoping you didn't wake up like Kaleb and Barrett this morning (taken at 2 am when I secretly moved them from their beds to the bathroom)!

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seriously?

The other day...

Me: Come on Barrett, let's go downstairs.

Barrett: Ok.

Us...moving toward stairs.

Barrett (under his breath): I love my new zip line.



Seriously? Who thinks to do that? I really wanted to be mad at him for abusing our railing. But it was too funny.

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mine

So in love with them I can hardly stand it.

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little brothers

It's just how it is. As a little brother, you must go through the humiliation and endure the rites of passage to be in the brotherhood. Lucky for Beckham, he is too little to remember anything that will scar him for life. Introducing....

THE BECKHAM SHOW!!!





If this is looking familiar, yes, it's been done in our house before. Kaleb and Barrett thought it was so much fun with Isaac, that they thought they would reinvent it with Beckham.

Oh, and if you are wondering what The Beckham Show is? Not much action...just a cute baby stuck in a box where everyone stares and laughs at him while he looks at everyone and smiles back thinking he is awesome.

Love my boys!

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spock and such

Hey, Captain Kirk called and said to get back to the Starship Enterprise. Oh wait, that's not a Klingon, that's Barrett...who fell off the playground caterpillar...and broke his nose.

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huh?

Really? Last post was at the beginning of December? Where does the time go?

Well, finishing up an uber busy photography season and spending a month in Utah over the holidays tends to just suck the time right up. The month was SO. GREAT. A true vision of rest and relaxation.

Somehow, I came home with hardly any pictures. Kind of pathetic. HOWEVER, it did seem to be the trip of group pictures. So, enjoy with me as I relish in the fabulous time spent with family and friends over the holidays...group picture style.

The trip started off at Grandma Debbie's house for Christmas week

Throw in a Christmas party with the whole family (Travis' family)

Next, we went up to Island Park with our good friends, the Roylance's and the Baker's (small moment of silence for the Dalpias family who had to be absent this year).

Next, we "moved in" to Grandma and Grandpa Luckert's house for the last two weeks. A little trip to the zoo...

Luckert Family group picture (another moment of silence for an absent Greg and his fiance, Kelly).

MUST have a group picture in front of the gingerbread masterpiece.

And last, a very sexy friend group picture.

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thanksgiving

a little late, but our week of thanksgiving fun is wrapped up into one little fantastic video (made by travis). our friends, the duffy's, came up from north carolina for the week and endured us we scared them, made them dance on tables, and almost commit felonies in detroit. watch on...

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some funnies

having four silly boys and one even sillier travis often leads to funny moments around our house. i wish i could remember or take pictures of everything, but alas, i only snag bits and pieces and must share them so others can giggle with me.

sooooo, you know that guy (or girl) that you hear about that drove away from the gas pump with the hose still attached to the car? you know how you laughed really hard and couldn't believe that really happens outside of a movie? well, I know you are all thinking that sounds like something that might happen to jean, but THIS time, it was TRAVIS. FINALLY...it was travis. unfortunately i wasn't there, but i laughed heartily when he called and said, "don't laugh when i tell you what happened to me at the gas station today..."

oh, and it turns out that they now dummy-proof those hoses...they make them detachable for people like travis. it detaches without gas spraying everywhere and just snaps back on. huh.


oh, and that's not actually a picture of travis (we wish we owned a bmw), but had to add it for the visual effect.

second funny. our boys are always looking for ways to earn extra money. well, i guess they decided to forego the "earn" part. the other night, we happened upon this on their door...



loves to all!

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g-ma

grandma debbie came to visit us last week and oh, the fun we had! the boys absolutely adore her and look what happens when Grandma is around. a little of this...

and a little of that.
We love you Grandma Debbie!

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beckham

huh? what's that? you forgot i had a newborn? yeah, that's because i NEVER post any pictures! what kind of mother am i?!!? well, no fear, i'm finally getting around to it with some random pictures i took of my chubby pumpkin today...

i am SORRY, but he is freaking cute

he totally cracks me up when he is settling in for sleep. he grabs his blanket and pulls it up around his face and buries his head back and forth getting comfortable. i wanted to take some pictures while he was going through this very cute process.

oops, he spotted me

i'll sneak up here so he can't see me. dang it...little bugger found me again.
oh well, if the kid wants to perform for the camera...

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U2

ahhhh...our u2 trip to chicago was UH-MAZING. we went on a super fast 24 hour road trip last weekend with our two friends matt and james (thanks to matt for getting the tickets which were sold out in like .00001 seconds). i think we all have a crush on bono, who is truly the epitome of awesomeness. here is our trip in pictures...

on the road to chicago

at the gas station

at our favorite chicago restaurant, giordano's
walking to the u2 concert
more walking to the concert
waiting for the concert
during the concert
at our hotel room wired after the concert
at a speedway for the 25th time (the only gas station which carries diet mountain dew for james and matt)

on the way home
now that you have journeyed with us to chicago and back, you can only come to one of four realizations...

1. travis and jean are hot
2. travis and jean must be really vain
3. travis and jean had nothing better to do than take pictures of themselves
4. travis and jean took a lot of self portraits because the trip was so short and we didn't get to do much sight seeing (and we didn't have kids with us so what else are we going to take pictures of?!?!?)

if you answered #4, then you are correct. however, if you answered #1, that is acceptable as well.

oh wait, i have one more. and it happens to not be a self portrait of trav and me...it's a self portrait of all four of us!

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SUH-WEET!

although i am in denial that i am old enough to have an eleven year anniversary, i am extremely grateful and feel ever so lucky that i get to share that anniversary each year with travis. we celebrated eleven years on the 12th and i just wanted to give a little love shout out to travis...LOVE YOU BABE and here's to the best eleven years EVER!!!

while we were out to dinner, travis pulled a little surprise out and i almost burst into tears. anyone who knows me even a little should know that i think U2 is the greatest band on the planet and travis bought us tickets! september 12th. chicago. u2. so excited i can hardly stand it!

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smith haps

wow, has it already been almost eight weeks since beckham joined us in this crazy world? it's such a bittersweet thing...wanting him to stay tiny, yet at the same time wishing he would get older so he will sleep through the night!

here are a few happenings going on here as of late...

sometimes beckham is fussy and the only thing that calms him down is his swing. well, a couple of days ago i went over to check on him in his swing, and i found him decorated. not sure which little boy thought this was funny...


i made my first "event" outing with all four kids by myself this week. and i chose the zoo. really? the zoo? could i have chosen a more chaotic place? thank goodness the older boys were such a good help because between beckham crying most of the trip (found out he hates baby carriers) and isaac being terrified of every large animal, i was ready to call it an early day.

so, we discovered isaac's fear of all things large and hairy in the ape house. while the crowds were gathered around some other windows oohing and ahhing over the chimps, isaac chose a window where there was nothing to see. as he was looking outside, a huge gorilla suddenly bolted around the corner and stood two inches from the window and stared at isaac. he fell backward and screamed a blood curtling scream. as the crowds rushed over to see the gorilla, isaac continued to scream...apparently traumatized for life.

we moved on to the arctic tundra and saw the polar bear swimming above us and the screaming continued...as seen below. i got a mix of looks from other people that ranged from "oh wow, four boys" to "you poor thing" and even "shut him up because you are ruining my polar bear experience."



and last, we had beckham's blessing this last sunday. travis did an amazing job and i was a waterspout (translation: my eyes leaked all sacrament long). it was a great day, but so sad and weird that family couldn't be with us on a day like this.

i know, he's cute, huh?

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moments like this

i came home from a session tonight and was rushing around the house cleaning up and thinking about what i needed to get done next. and then i walked down the stairs and see this and everything else was forgotten.

i've seen similar sights in my home before, but at this moment, i was overwhelmed with thinking about what's most important in my life. it's not work, it's not a sparkly house, it's not my "to do" list for tomorrow...it's my loves of my life. spending time with them and being the best mommy and wife i can be.

i love my boys.

and i love moments like this.

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birthdays and bff's

i can't believe another birthday has come and gone. i can't believe i am 32 years old. and i can't believe how loved i feel. i feel totally and completely blessed to have the friends and family i have and i seem to be overflowing with gratitude at the moment.

i was already feeling the birthday happiness from the phone calls, texts, emails, packages in the mail, and facebook love, but THEN i just happen to open up my friend, allison's blog tonight. and to my surprised birthday eyes, i beheld a post all about ME. i read, i giggled at the hideous pictures, and i cried. it meant so much and, allison, i'm sorry for copying the entire thing onto my blog, but it was just so sweet and the pictures are just too laughable not to share. thank you so much everyone for the birthday lovin!

here is allison's post...

Jean is one of my BFF's. We have been friends as long as I can remember. Our families moved into homes next door to each other around the time that we were both born and we have been friends ever since.
Over the years we have, played make believe together, played Barbies for countless hours, danced together, played soccer together, hung out with friends together, worked together at Circuit City, went to WSU together, in a sorority together, and watched each other get married. She has seen me at my best and my worst




















Jean is a fantastic friend, beautiful inside and out, an amazing mom and wife, the life of the party, so intelligent, a super talented photographer, and one of my favorite people.







Jean now lives almost 1500 miles away and is still one of my best friends. We don't see eachother often enough. I absolutely love that we can go weeks without talking and then just pick up where we left off. I adore her and her family. I will forever be grateful for the countless ways that she has blessed my life.

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