Sunday, July 31, 2011

goodbye July

We had a fun weekend in the warm 80 degree weather!  We spent Saturday morning at the county fair and the boys had a grand time, Parker got to enjoy his first elephant ear with us and was cinnamon sugar from head to toe when we were finished!

These two photos are for the Grandpa's!



Grant and Juliet sat in a lot of the tractors and even though they weren't John Deere he still enjoyed them!

Lastly, this was Parker during his nap this afternoon!  He typically grabs one of his little blankies in his crib and pulls it over his head when I put him down for sleep but I've never seen him actually sleeping this way!  It's pretty alarming to find your babe this way but when I peeled it back his head was cocked to the side so he could actually breathe.  Again, another photo op I couldn't pass up!

skills

This was Grant's last soccer class, he had a great time as always!  I would say he took a lot away from this first experience: he improved at lining up behind the coach when told to do so, followed directions pretty well, learned to kick the ball and use his hands as little as possible, how to defend the goal (kind of!), he does NOT like putting on a practice jersey and would say, "no thank you, no thank you" while waving fervently at the coach to pick someone else, how to do a toe-touch, make smaller/shorter kicks so the ball wouldn't get so far out in front of him.  Overall, I saw improvement from week one to week three and was quite proud of our little soccer player!




Coach Brian was great and Grant really liked him, here they are with their certificates of completion, unfortunately though, not everyone was present for their class picture.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

1 year appointment

Parker riding "big boy" style facing forward in the car for the first time a few weeks ago!

He has also since tried his first peanut butter and jelly sandwich and thought it was pretty good...and no allergic reaction to the peanut butter, yay!

He is taking more and more steps if/when we let him!  It requires two people though, one to start him and one to catch him.

Friday was Parker's one year appointment and he weighed in at 22 lbs 0.5 oz (45%), 31 1/2 in. length (95%) and 90% for his sweet head.  He's maintaining his long and lean physique quite well!

Lastly, guess who DOES sleep on his tummy, well at least once!  I could hardly believe my eyes when I walked into Parker's room while he was napping, last week, and this is what I found!  I had to take a photo at the risk of waking him up but I had to have proof! 

Sweet dreams everyone!

summer fun

Here are a few other fun shots from our time spent with the cousins and family for Parker's birthday weekend.

Daddy/Uncle Frank reading books and having a ball doing it!

We were fortunate to be visiting on a weekend where Great-Grandma Billie had a number of her paintings featured and on display in a local art gallery, what a beautiful talent!!

The kiddos running wild with the sprinkler going after them, the two little ones (Grant & Francesca) didn't have clothes on for nearly the entire day, they were in summer heaven!
Cousin Jake being the tormentor with the sprinkler ;)

Who knew?  Grant actually LOVES mustard with his ketchup and corndog!  First time for everything....I guess?!

Okay, seriously, this has to be the single largest head of broccoli I have ever seen!  It came straight out of Grandpa R's garden and who better to proudly pose with it than the broccoli eating champion herself, Francesca!

This is how Parker tells you he's ready for takeoff :)  Little walking maniac!

Lastly, since our arrival back home last weekend, Grant has a certain pair of tennis shoes he likes to wear and has been calling them his "dirty shoes just like Grandpa's."  It is so adorable when he says it and evidently, Grandpa R has dirty shoes :)

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Happy Birthday Parker Bear!

Happy 1st Birthday Parker Bear!  We had a grand time celebrating your birthday on the steam train this past weekend.  It was fun to see your reaction when the whistle would blow and your eyes light up while playing with your brother and cousins!  What fun we all had and now it's hard to believe you're well on your way to being two, yikes! 

Here are a few notables I don't want to forget:

:: on Sunday you took your "official" first steps, the most at one time was about 8!!
:: you are becoming more stable at cruising furniture and letting go of one object to reach out to another
:: when you go for things out of your reach you most often will do a decent belly flop and then rollover onto your back
:: Grant frequently calls you Parker P but I love it when he calls you brother bear
:: you LOVE bath time, your Daddy is usually decently wet by the end because you splash like crazy nearly the entire time you're in the tub
:: you are great at clapping and just today when Grant woke up from his nap and came and found you in his tent you started clapping because you were happy to see him appear!
::  we are working on you waving goodbye and hello but you're still pretty inconsistent
::  when you're finished eating you'll sign all done with some prompting!
::  you stand for endless amounts of time but know to bend your knees and eventually will let go in order to sit down
::  you are just plain noisy, noisy, noisy.  Happy sounds but still noisy!
::  you prefer finger foods but still have a love for your oatmeal cereal mixed with about anything
::  goldfish, cheese, fruits (minus bananas) and vegetables top your list
::  you are still nursing and milk in your sippy cup hasn't gone over too well but we keep trying!  Your gag reflex has lessened a bit!
::  you love, love, love to chase your big brother and love to play hide-and-seek with him
::  peek-a-boo is a favorite
::  dogs make you squeal with delight
::  we try to read books but you prefer chewing and messing with them rather than sitting and listening
::  you love to play in the sand box and still eat the sand, I can't wait for that to end
::  you blow and vibrate your lips together, it is music to my ears and soaks the front of your shirts
::  just this weekend you have fully mastered the sippy cup
::  you enjoy swinging but don't seem quite as excited by it as Grant always has
::  you want to walk or run all the time, our backs are sore by the end of our days together from leaning over and walking all over the house with you
::  just this past week your feet/legs have been stuck in the side rails of your crib at least once a night so, tonight, your crib bumper has been tied in, hopefully that will do the trick and no more waking up!
::  lastly, your incision above your eyebrow from surgery is healing nicely and is already looking great, just one month later!

We love you Parker, you are pure joy and a true gift to us from God!

Ready to get on the train in his adorable, hand-made train overalls from Grandma R

The steam engine getting ready to get hooked up to the train cars

Grant had packed his whistle from home to take on the train with us!  Each time the whistle would blow Grant would blow his whistle, so many times that we thought he may hyperventilate!



Grandpa & Grandma R with their five grandchildren!

Birthday dinner on Sunday showing off the bib I made for your special day!

You had lots of help blowing out your candle before you could burn your little fingers trying to grab it!

Here's what's left of your first cupcake, not bad buddy!

Despite the funny look on your face, you look like such a big boy to me in the picture!

The chaos of opening presents, again, a lot of little helpers surrounded you!

What did you end up playing the most with?  Yep, the ribbon off of one of your packages :)

Monday, July 25, 2011

July 23, 2005

The day I married my best friend, July 23, 2005.  I love you honey!

Six years later and oh so many memories already made and I can only dream of what is still to come!  We were spoiled to a night out by OURSELVES this year, thank you Grandpa and Grandma R!  Last year we celebrated in the hospital with our new addition, Parker which was pretty great too! 

Thursday, July 21, 2011

one

Oh Parker, you are now a 1 year old.  I looked at the clock at exactly 7:04 PM tonight and remembered your grand entrance into this world exactly one year ago.  My, my, my, how time does fly.  We love you with all of our hearts little bear.
Grant kept asking to hang up the letters so here they are!  We were waiting for this weekend when we celebrate with Grandpa & Grandma R and family but today was nice too ;)

Wow, you never really seemed that small to me, even from the beginning but looking at this helps me remember just how small you were!

You can get away with about anything with that grin!

Peek-a-boo!


And by the end of our mini photo shoot last night you told me this!