Tuesday, July 31, 2012

2 years old

Parker got to have a few of his buddies and families over to help him celebrate his 2nd birthday this year since last year we celebrated with family only.  Frank and I decided that he really loves to play with his soccer ball, t-ball, basketball, etc, so, we chose a sports theme for his little bbq gathering.


This is where our little bear spent a great deal of his afternoon, standing in the doorway to our back patio surveying the scene!  Bashful bear!

Frank, the grill master, and a few of our guests




Cousin Jake went in to try and coax him out but no luck!

Finally, ready to dig into his dessert!

Again, a stellar effort in blowing out his candle, lots and lots of spit!

A lot of fun in the end, happy to eat sugar, sugar and more sugar!

Parker P, you will always be our little bear and though you seem to be growing up too quickly for my liking I adore this time in our lives.  You have a huge personality and are so lovable and such a little stinker all at the same time!  You bring new meaning to the terrible two's for us but we knew, from very early on, you would bring spice to our lives!


You are speaking a lot of phrases now and it is so fun to see you communicate more and more each day with your big brother, Grant!  You are much less frustrated now that we are all able to communicate more easily with you too, whew!


Though you are still a bit grumpy when you wake up in the morning, and from your afternoon nap, you more frequently than not are waking up saying, "Good Morning, Mommy," or "Good Morning, Daddy."  You immediately ask for "brother" and run/stomp into his room looking for him whether he is asleep or not (much to my dismay)! 


There are definitely times in which you don't appreciate your bossy big brother's efforts in getting you to do something he wants you to do but for the majority of time you adore Grant.  The two of you are definite buddies and I frequently hear Grant tell his playmates that they must include you in their activity.


You are ALL boy in so many ways!  You can be soooo stubborn sometimes but you are finally starting to say you're sorry when appropriate without sitting in timeout for 20 minutes before relenting!  Yes, you have done that before, multiple times!  Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn! (must be from your Daddy...haha!)


The potty is of great interest and you have actually sat down and peed in it a handful of times.  It has helped a lot having your big bro show you the ropes in that department!  Oh how I dream of the days without diapers around here!


You still have a great love for dogs, music, reading books, tickle time, being naked, bath time, sweets, "cockickle" aka popsicles, running, building with blocks, riding on the Gator, snack time and just being silly!


Your well child check went great, your blue bunnies (tubes) are nicely in place in your little ears, you weighed in at 25 lbs, 6 oz (30%), were 36 1/4 inches in length (90%) and your little noggin is the 93 percentile.


I love, love, love my days spent with you and want you to know that we all treasure our time with our little Bear!  Your laugh and fun-loving nature are infectious, how bored we must have been without our Parker P!  You are our gift and one we do not take for granted, thank you God for such an incredible blessing in our lives!


We love you sweet baby boy!
Momma



twins?


About 2-3 times per month I am asked if they're twins, I would say this photo would definitely lean toward that assumption!


This particular morning they were sitting in the corner of the kitchen singing Happy Birthday to one another and laughing hysterically at each other.  I pray they will always be the best of friends, what a true gift these two little boys are!


Love you boys!
xoxo,
Momma

twilight track

We managed to make it to two twilight track meets that our wonderful park and rec district puts on for kiddos during the month of July.  Parker is still too young so next year will be his big debut!

Our little runner and he always asks us when he finishes his events if we saw him go super-duper fast!

Daddy and son, I think Frank was in heaven all evening!

The softball throw, he was all business!


Grant and his buddy Colin at the finish line!

family birthday bash

Great-Grandma Billie and Parker shared a grand birthday celebration, year 85 and year 2!  What fun we all had, thanks to Aunt Jeannette, Uncle RJ, and all of the cousins for hosting such a great party and making this a very special afternoon!


Happy Happy Day!  Pure happiness!

Francesca kicking things off!

Parker looking a little dazed and confused, he arrived last after waking from his afternoon nap

Parker getting some birthday loving from his Auntie and cousin Francesca

This was his excitement level when opening his cards, you should have heard the howls of delight as he opened his gifts!  Such a fun little bear!

He loved pushing his new lawn mower all through the house!

He sang part of Happy Birthday to himself then proceeded to blow his candle out like a champ!

Great-Grandma Billie managed to get hers blown out too :)

Wow that is good ice cream cake!




7 years

We celebrated our 7th Anniversary in a low-key and unexpected sort of way this year.  We were visiting Frank's family and were fortunate to spend an evening out, just the two of us, but our original plan of playing tennis, having dinner and dessert out on the town changed slightly when he had a rather large piece of wood fall onto his foot and squash a few toes!  Maybe next year honey....I will have my shot at smoking you on the tennis courts...hahaha, that's just to make sure you have read this ;+)

I love you honey, thanks for seven amazing years!



Some time spent at Great-Grandma's is always a treat, the boys are feeding the fish here

Another beautiful lily in Great-Grandma's garden

I just adore this photo, two of my monkeys acting silly!

 More banana please!

Parker loves to be tickled and Grandpa R always gets a few turns at it when we visit!  Who is having more fun here?

Close inspection of the pumpkins growing in the garden...


Grandpa R getting some snuggle time and reading books before bed

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

care group camping 2012


care group camping trip 2012

We managed to survive our, now annual, camping trip with our bible study/care group friends, ten families were able to go this year.  We were a group of about 40 (one family is missing here) and had an absolute blast in a sleep deprived sort of way!

Grant looks very forward to camping each year and talks about it all throughout the year so, the decision to NOT go is just not an option (Frank!).  We have fun from about 6 AM, when Parker wakes up, until about midnight each day, awesome times, awesome fellowship with awesome friends. 

WARNING: picture overload...

This is my first entire weekend of shooting in manual mode and I'd say my first attempt turned out pretty decent.  I have a love of photography and am doing my best to learn how to use my camera, lenses and all of their features to the best of my ability.  A labor of love until I finally get it all to come together :~)

hmmm...is she really going to follow me if I keep going...


see my dear, it wasn't all that bad ;) 

Grant was very well taken care of, here he was with Grace and Faith after returning from a wilderness hike.  He was a very happy and well kept little boy for the 2 days we were camping!








He just loved this tree, what a goof ball!



 PBear is finally becoming a little more adventuresome

 And sticks, he loved sticks, the sharper the better.  We were told multiple times and by multiple people that this one is ALL boy!

He looks so innocent, "Who me?!"

Until next year...

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

summer has arrived!

It's official, Summer seems to have officially arrived, HOORAY!!
Grant absolutely loves to play with squirt guns and was having a ball at his buddy Colin's house this week, I was a nice target while taking pictures with my phone!


TODAY Parker finally decided he wanted to take his first ride on the Gator!  Until today he has avoided it at all costs but his big bro finally convinced him to hop on for a little cruise in the backyard this afternoon!


You'll notice he's holding pretty tightly to the handlebar in front but pretty tickled with himself!


The boys, garden side, kind of cooperating for me with my phone camera out!  Love you guys!!