The Beeston Family: 2010

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Best of 2010

2010 was very eventful for the Beeston family. Here are the highlights of this past year:

Watching Logan and Taylor growing up from little babies...

... to big boys, including their milestones, like rolling over, eating solid foods, crawling, getting teeth, walking, saying words, etc.

Snuggle times and sharing secrets.

Playdates, which kept me sane during those long and cold winter months.

Girlfriends, who are always there to hang out with us.

Easter with friends, who have amazing backyards to share with us.

Tonton Fred and Taty Marie's visit to Iowa while Billy was out of town for a month; they were there to celebrate my birthday at the Tulip Festival and Mother's Day.

Aunt Lily's visit to Iowa for Uncle Dave's graduation from Dental School; cousin Charlie was there, too.

"Eclipse," the 3rd of 5 amazing movies.

Logan and Taylor's First Birthday Party with lots of fun, friends, and sweets.

Playing at the park and enjoying Spring and Summer in Iowa.

Playing at the splash pads to stay cool on those hot summer days.

Our visit in Utah, including playing with grandpa and grandma Beeston...

... and the cousins, of course, all 7 of them that live in UT.

Our visit to Maryland, with Bon-Papa and Bonne-Maman spoiling the boys.

The apple orchid, where we could taste every kind of apple that exists.

The pumpkin patch, where we got to ride the tractor, also.

Meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones.

Halloween... awesome costumes... amazing friends... and sugar load!

Christmas traditions... Christmas as a family... Christmas at home...

This month, Logan:
- started doing a really cute “Happy Feet” dance
- claps his hands and stumps his feet when we sing “If you’re happy…” (often)
- 4th cuspid cut through
- has all of his incisors, cuspids, and 1st molars
- spins on himself
- decorated sugar cookies
- helped decorate the gingerbread house
- helped deliver treats to friends
- made it through Sacrament without having to be taken out
- loves to “talk” on the phone
- does the elephant and monkey sounds
- stashes toys and other random stuff everywhere
- loves to wear the Santa hat
- is okay wearing hats but only because I tell him he looks cute with it on
- does not like to wear mittens
- does not like to be put in time-out (it works)
- loves to brush his teeth, but also his neck, ears, hair, and furniture with the electric toothbrush

Logan also has to have 2 pieces of food in his hands at all times. He will not eat the 1st one we give him until we give him a 2nd one. He runs away from me when he knows I’m about to change his diaper, give him a bath, put him in his high chair to eat, or put him to bed for a nap or nighttime. He is getting better at repeating words that we say, and his vocabulary has spurred a ton this month. He is also getting better at not freaking out every time I leave the room, whether it is to use the bathroom or pick up the mail. And finally, if there is something he really wants to touch but knows he's not supposed to touch, he gets really close to it, and although he doesn't actually touch the object, you can tell he really... really... really wants to, like it's calling out his name. It's hilarious!

This month, Taylor:
- started doing a really cute “Happy Feet” dance
- claps his hands and stumps his feet when we sing “If you’re happy…” (sometimes)
- 4th cuspid and 4th molar cut through
- has all of his incisors, cuspids, and 1st molars
- started covering his head with his hands when playing Peek-a-boo then learned to cover his eyes with his hands
- dances, sometimes
- takes his clothes off in the middle of the night (Logan might help him…)
- got a brain freeze while eating a Frosty
- decorated sugar cookies
- helped decorate the gingerbread house
- helped deliver treats to friends
- made it through Sacrament without having to be taken out
- loves to “talk” on the phone
- loves to open and close doors
- does the monkey sounds
- says “zus” when he sees a picture of Jesus
- stashes toys and other random stuff everywhere
- loves to wear the Santa hat
- is okay wearing hats
- is okay with wearing mittens
- doesn’t care about being put in time-out (it doesn’t work)
- loves to brush his teeth, but also his neck, ears, hair, and furniture with the electric toothbrush

Taylor loves to share food with Logan, especially when he doesn’t want it anymore. He either put the food on Logan’s table tray or put it directly into Logan’s mouth. He also likes to feed mommy and daddy. He runs away from me when he knows I’m about to change his diaper, give him a bath, put him in his high chair to eat, or put him to bed for a nap or nighttime. He is getting better at repeating certain sounds.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas To Do's Reviewed

Well, we accomplished most of the things I wanted to do during this Christmas season.

- ride the Polar Express - We didn't end up going to Utah

- visit Temple Square - We didn't end up going to Utah

- decorate the Christmas tree - Yep

- take family pictures in front of the Christmas tree - Yes, but I wasn't cute in them

- visit Santa at the mall - Did great the 1st time, terrible the 2nd time, and okay at the church

- watch Christmas movies - Lots of them

- watch the Nativity story - Check

- sing Christmas songs by the piano - With help from Logan and Taylor

- bake and decorate sugar cookies - Got a little messy

- bake cookies for Santa - Santa had had too much sugar that day, so we spared him

- bake treats and deliver them to friends/neighbors - Yep

- drink hot chocolate/apple cider - Oh yeah!

- decorate a gingerbread house - Check

- listen to Christmas music during meal times - Since Thanksgiving

- look at holiday lights at the park/in the streets - Beautiful!

- write Christmas letters to friends/family members - Done

- donate clothes/toys to a local shelter - Didn't have many, but yes

Overall, I'd say we did well! Hopefully, we'll do even better next year!

Christmas Day

This year, for the first time ever, we didn’t travel for the holidays; instead, we stayed home and spent Christmas as a family. Although we missed our families very much, we were very excited to create our own traditions and be together, just the four of us.
The night before Christmas, I set out all the presents on the couch so that Logan and Taylor could easily reach them when they walked into the living room. As soon as Logan and Taylor woke up, before we even got breakfast, Billy and I took the boys to the living room to open up presents. The boys went straight for the huge stuffed animals Santa had brought them. Then we helped them to open up the presents from grandpa and grandma, bon-papa and bonne-maman, Uncle Paul and Aunt LeiLani, Tonton Fred and Taty Marie, and finally us. Logan and Taylor loved all the toys, books, and movies they received. It was so fun to see their excitement and amazement at all the presents. It almost made me want to spoil them even more…

After a few hours of playing, we ate a light lunch, showered and got dressed, and while Logan and Taylor were taking a nap, Billy and I started cooking a fancy dinner.

P.S.: I made the apron I am wearing in this picture with the help of my sister-in-law, LeiLani. I also made one for my sister-in-law, Marie, for Christmas. Hers was my first attempt but actually turned out better.

We started off with some appetizers and crab cakes.

Then we ate the main course, which included honey-glazed ham…

… sweet potatoes…

… mashed potatoes…

… asparagus and Hollandaise sauce…

… basil-garlic green beans…

… traditional holiday stuffing…

… and a Tiramisu…

We usually don't get very fancy with dinner, so this was a bit of a stretch, but it was a yummy one. Too bad doing the dishes took just as long as making the dinner.

Later that evening, we went to check out a house in Grimes, IA, that was completely decked out with Christmas lights. It was AMAZING! I had never seen so many Christmas lights in my life. Unfortunately, we didn't stay long because it was about 15 degrees out that night, and Taylor was not happy!

I could not have hoped for a better Christmas with our growing family. Everything went perfectly. Logan and Taylor were busy playing all day. Billy was happy with his presents and having the day off. And I was happy just to watch my 3 boys happy.

Here are the recipes for those interested:

Sweet potatoes:
3 c. mashed sweet potatoes
2 tbsp. butter
¾ tsp. salt
2-4 tbsp. brown sugar
1 egg, well beaten
1 dozen marshmallows

1. Butter baking dish
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 2 tbsp. of melted butter, brown sugar, mashed sweet potatoes, egg and salt.
3. When mixture is smooth, transfer to dish. Dot with 2 tbsp. butter and top with marshmallows. 4. Bake in a preheated 350 oven until the tops of the marshmallows are golden brown.

Mashed potatoes: (not a formal recipe)
4 large potatoes, mostly peeled
Approx. ½ c. heavy cream
Approx. ¼ c. sour cream
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Cook the potatoes in enough water to cover the potatoes, 15 min.; drain.
2. Mash the potatoes while slowly pouring in heavy cream then sour cream.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste

Asparagus and Hollandaise sauce:
4 egg yolks
1 tbsp, lemon juice
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
Pinch cayenne
Pinch salt

1. Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice in a bowl and until the mixture is thickened and doubled in volume.
2. Placed the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water; continue to whisk rapidly.
3. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume.
4. Remove from heat; whisk in cayenne and salt.
5. Drizzle on top of cooked asparagus.

Basil-garlic green beans: (12 servings)
3 lbs. fresh green beans
5 tbsp. reduced-fat butter, cubed
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. dried basil.

1. Place beans in large kettle and cover with water. Bring to a boil; cover and cook 8-10 min. or until crisp-tender. Drain and keep warm.
2. In the same pan, melt butter. Add garlic; cook and stir until golden. Add basil and green beans; toss to coat.

Traditional holiday stuffing: (24 servings)
1 pkg. (12 oz.) reduced-fat bulk pork sausage or breakfast turkey sausage links, castings removed
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp. reduced-fat mayo
2 tbsp. prepared mustard
4 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tbsp. poultry seasoning
2 loaves day-old white bread, cubed
1 loaf day-old whole wheat bread, cubed
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cans reduced-sodium chicken broth

1. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook the sausage, celery and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Remove from heat; stir in the mayo, mustard, sage, and poultry seasoning.
2. Place cubes in a large bowl; add sausage mixture. Combine the eggs and broth; pour over the bread cubes and stir gently to combine. Transfer to two 3-qt. baking dished coated with cooking spray.
3. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 min. Uncover and bake 12-18 min. longer or until lightly browned and a thermometer reads 160.

Christmas Letter

Dear friends,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! We hope you are doing well and wanted to take this opportunity to give you an update on what we’ve been up to.
At the end of each year, I tell myself, “Wow, this year has gone by really fast!” It is even truer this year than the previous ones. So much can happen and change in just one year.
Last Christmas, Logan and Taylor were almost 5 months and were barely starting to roll over, in Maryland. This Christmas, they’ll be nearly 17 months and will probably be running around the Christmas tree all day. They have both changed and grown so much this year. They’re not our little babies anymore, they’re our little boys. Soon they’ll be our big boys.
Billy is continuing his rotations in Iowa. He was gone in Oklahoma for a month, and then in Florida for a month. For him, time went by really slowly while he was apart from his amazing wife and wonderful children. He couldn’t have been happier to be reunited to us after 2 long months. (We were very happy to see him, too!) He has also been truly blessed to interview in multiple places all over the country for his anesthesiology residency.
I have equally been blessed to stay at home to raise our children, but I was very relieved and happy to be able to stay with my parents for 2 months while Billy was away. We try hard to do fun and different activities every day, but I’ll be the first to admit that Iowa does not have a whole lot to offer. So we try to get creative and spend a lot of time hanging out with friends.
In 2011, we will find out where Billy matched for residency. It could be anywhere, and we should be there for the next 4 years. A few months later, on May 29, we will welcome our 3rd child. We have not found out the sex of the baby, but we will keep you updated. Right around the same time, Billy will graduate from Medical School and will officially be Doctor William J. Beeston. Shortly after graduation, we will be moving to a new house, in a different state. Needless to say, it will be an eventful year…
We hope you hear from you soon,
The Beeston Family

Nat and Billy +3

This upcoming May will be a busy month for the Beeston Family:

May 6: My birthday =)
May 8: Mother's Day
May 27: Graduation from Med School
May 29: Baby #3 is due =)

Then shortly after the birth, we will be moving to a different state for residency. Woo Hoo!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Family pictures 2010

Last year, we got our family pictures done in the fall, my favorite season in Iowa, with its beautiful red, yellow, and orange tree leaves. I really wanted to get our family pictures done this year again in the fall, but with Billy being away for interviews, it just didn't work out. So we went to the botanical center, which was so much better than going outside, in the cold, with the grass turning brown and still no snow. I couldn't be happier about how the pictures turned out. Thanks, Tara!