america's got talent

This morning was just one of those mornings...we were both exhausted...as we were running to the gym, I noticed we were getting more stares than usual (the music usually gets a few)...then I looked and remembered I let P go like this...

sometimes its just easier to let him wear what he wants to wear...we had made a deal, if he let me go to the gym, we would play football in the park...he pushed his stroller all the way from the gym to the park...

when we got to the park, he took off his sweatshirt and we started playing...within a few minutes, a class of kids came to eat lunch...parker was the entertainment...they cheered for every touchdown, caught pass and throw...they especially enjoyed P's 'touchdown dance'...by the time we left they were all 'raising the roof' with Parker!

the kids were cracking me up...here are a few of my favorite quotes...

'is that what they wear in America?'  

(apparently, my workout clothes in addition to P's outfit was just too much)

'America's got talent!'

'no, Parker's got talent!'

'he's going to be famous someday!'

team socks

One of my favorite parts of the day is our afternoon walk.  Sometimes we go to the bookstore and look at the books and animals...sometimes we go to the library...sometimes we go and get coffee and a marshmallow...sometimes we just go kick (or throw) the ball around the park.  Yesterday, we went to the bookstore and the park.  

First, we stopped at the bookstore and P tried to convince me that we needed to buy all of the giraffes..."we need to buy these giraffes and take them home so they can be with their family."  I'm not going to lie...it was a pretty convincing argument...but I was strong and we left with nothing.  Whew.

Next, the park...I'm so glad we stopped at the park...P is actually pretty awesome at kicking the ball...he kicks mainly with his right foot which adds further confusion to the 'righty or lefty' argument (eats, hits and golfs with left, throws and kicks with right). We had so. much. fun.  Seriously, I love this guy.  I especially got a kick out of him wanting to wear his 'team socks' with his football jersey and football shorts.  Yep, they say GAP, but whatever floats his boat.  Oh, and yes, I totally let him wear them up all around  town before we went to play...not ashamed:).

FACE!!

I am so glad that P got to see Uncle Landon while we were back in Wichita.  However, my darling brother thought it was a brilliant idea to teach P to say, 'face' and stick out his hand every time someone is frustrated.  Before he left, Landon was a little disappointed that Parker wasn't really very interested.

Well, last night, Parker would not stay in bed and I was starting to get really frustrated.  Parker stopped, looked at me, stuck out his hand, and said, "face!"  I wish I could have gotten it on video because he does it in a super low voice with his lips pursed...I couldn't help but smile:)

Uncle Landon was so proud!

Parker-isms

Just a few things that me smile in the last week or so.  I love this age, he is constantly making me giggle!




"mommy, I think you forgot something."
"oh really? What did I forget?"
"I think you forgot your bra."
"my bra?"
"yeah, your bra." (I promise I was wearing one)
Dear God, please don't let me leave irreparable damages.

"Who built our house, mommy?"
"I'm not sure who built our house."
"Did Papa Marvin build our house?"
"haha, I don't think so."

"I just feel a little sick."  (followed by a cough)... unfortunately, he says this a lot whenever I want him to do something he doesn't want to do...I can't help but think that he learned this somewhere...shoot.

We were just finishing our prayers...
"Mommy, can you pray for the zoo?"
"Dear God, please be with all of the animals at the zoo and keep them safe and healthy..."
"and happy Mommy!  Can you pray for the baby chimp?"
again
"and the mommy monkey?"
again
"and the daddy monkey?"
again
"and the giraffes and the elephants and the tigers and the zebras?"
My favorite was when he asked to pray for the jag-you-are...or what we would call the jaguar.  This would probably make more sense if I knew how to spell phonetically, but lets just say it is the first time that he has used the British pronunciation of a word and I have no idea where he got it from!


He has three race cars in his 'little baggie.'  He calls them, 'serious race car' 'happy race car' and 'silly race car' (he thinks these are the expressions that are on their faces).  Whenever he picks up the 'serious' one, he has to say, "serious face" and show me his most serious expression...love it.

The other day when we picked up Brady from the train station, he had flowers (I know...love him).  Before I could say anything, Parker saw the flowers and said,
"Ooooh, Daddy has flowers for you Mommy!  Now you can go dance!"
I am just hoping this means he'll be a hopeless romantic because I have no idea where this stuff comes from!

Parker was trying to do a somersault (sp?) the other morning.  He was going a little sideways and said...
"oh shoot, a rolling pin!"  At least it ended in his favorite dance move...and yes, he said shoot...shoot.
When Brady didn't hear him ask him to watch, Parker says...
"DADDDDYYYY!  Look at your son!"


Yesterday, he was lining up all of his farm animals under the chair.  When I asked him where they were going he said..."they are going to the Colosseum."  At least he remembered something from our trip!

Oh Goodness!

We had a great trip of Falmouth, but it wasn't without the usual embarrassing occurrences and funny happenings.  I realized today that I didn't post these, but wanted to remember them (yes, they are kind of boring, but mostly for me).  Here are a few of my favorites...

1.  "Daddy!!  Stop making that noise!"  Brady didn't feel very well when we arrived.  He had caught Parker's cold and was super congested.  That being said, the first night we were there was noisy (oh man, B is going to kill me for posting this).  B was snoring...really, really snoring.  I don't think I slept more than an hour or so all night, but it was almost worth it to hear Parker wake up and say..."Daddy!! What is dat noise?  Daddy!!  Stop it! Stop making dat noise!"  hahahahahaha

2.  "He's POOOOOOPPPPPING!"  I don't know if I've told you, but we have a couple of other invisible friends now.  One is Monkey.  Usually monkey just plays hide and seek with Parker and we have to hide under the covers when "he's coming."  Well, at breakfast (where B's coworkers were also eating), Parker tells me that Monkey is with us.  I ask him what he is doing and he tells me that "Monkey is pooping."  Now, of course the only logical response is to tell P to tell him to stop and tell him that he needs to go to the bathroom.  Well, for some reason that pushes P to YELL at the top of his lungs..."Mom, he's POOOPPING!!!"  I was sooooo embarrassed!!

3.  Pluggy Problems.  When P turned one, we started only letting him have the plug at bed time so I have been telling myself that our problem is not that big...wrong.  Right before bed on the second night we were there, I could not find Parker's pluggy.  I told him he had to sleep without it and he said ok, however, he was awake for TWO hours singing every verse of Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Baa Baa Black Sheep with a little Amazing Grace here and there.  Every couple of verses he would stop and cry out at the top of his lungs..."I want my pluggy!!!"  It didn't end there...after finally getting him to sleep, he woke up at least every two hours wanting the plug.  I really had no idea how big of a problem this actually is.  We are in for a battle.

4.  Dog Fight.  Parker has been talking a lot about Piper lately.  Every time he sees a dog he says, "that's a puppy...like Piper (sniffle)...I miss Piper."  It is seriously heartbreaking.  During our trip he found a way to cope...he brought Piper with us.  Every once in a while he would pretend he was carrying something and say, "I have Piper."  Once he was "carrying" something in both arms and told me that he had Millie (my mom's dog) and Piper.  Apparently, when they are pretend, they actually get along, ha.

conversations with a 2 year old

Having a toddler is like having a free ticket to a comedy show every night.  Seriously...they are hilarious.  I wish I could carry a tape recorder with me every day, but that is not really reasonable so I decided to give you a glimpse into my day today....

Parker, "I running fast to score a touchdown"
Me, "you scored a touchdown?"
P, "yes...I need to do pushups."  (so, yes, we've been watching a lot of K-State football on tv lately...:)

Me, "please hand me my wallet."
Parker, "I need a wallet"
Me, "Oh, you do?"
P, "Yes. I need a wallet......and a phone.  I need a wallet and a phone."  (this happened a couple of weeks ago but the following conversation made me think of it)

P, "I need a phone"
Me, "you do?"
P, "yes, I need a phone to put in my pocket."

The following was probably just funny because it was while he was sitting on the toilet...
P, "this is Parker's new house"
Me, "yes, it is.  Do you like Parker's new house?"
P, "yes, but we need a better new house."
Me, "oh, we do?"
P, "yes, we need a piano...I want to play piano...and a microphone, we need a microphone"

And finally, this was after we had finished our prayers...I made the mistake of only naming family members...
P, "Amen...and Laura (waura) and Keegan...and Cayman" (these are all his daycare friends from home)
Me, "Cayman is getting a new baby sister today"
P, "I want a baby sister"
Me, "Do you want a baby brother?"
P, "No, a baby sister"
Me, "why not a a baby brother"
P, "I want her say happy birthday Parker"
Me, "oh...that makes sense"

So close!!!

Parker is so close to two I can hardly stand it!  On Sunday we will celebrate his 2nd birthday...as P would say, "oh gosh, that's crazy." In honor of his birthday week, here are just a few reasons (this week alone) why I love this age...

1.  Yesterday, this is what I heard when I woke up..."MOOOMMMMMMY, I awake. Somebody needs to make me some dinner!" When I went in there and said, "don't you mean breakfast?"  He says, "yes, thank you."  Oh goodness.

2. This is his new dance move...

3.  We were reading the book Dragon Stew (love this book), and in it, there is a picture of dragon poo.  Parker sees it and says, "Dragon poo poo. Somebody needs to clean that up!"

4.  We were letting P go without a diaper (shorts were on), and he is still too young to realize that Brady and I purposely asked him to squat so that we could giggle at his plumber's crack.  We are super mature parents...:)

5. We went to a rugby game this weekend and Parker went right up to the older boys playing after the game and said, "hi guys!"  Luckily, they were sweet enough to let him play too!

6. This is his new favorite dinner pose...we really need to work on this!

7.  We have been giving P two m&ms every time he potties in the potty so now the second he starts to go, he says, "Ooohhhh, I want m&ms!!!"   

This is such a fun age and I am so blessed to get to enjoy every second!!

Hello Piper!

This is Parker seeing Piper for the first time since moving.  This was the end of a 10 minute reunion...if only I would have remembered to turn on the camera sooner!

dancing in the store

This is the video I tried to upload a couple of weeks ago.  I think I have finally fixed it.  Parker tore up the dance floor both at my friend Heather's wedding a week ago (with the flower girl) and Brady's coworker's wedding on Sunday night (with the much-older bridesmaids).  I just felt like this is the closest I can get to sharing what we see daily:)!

Just blow!!

So...I got an iPad today...so excited!!  After downloading a few fun apps for Parker and a book for me, I couldn't help but download the birthday cake from the Modern Family episode.  What they don't tell you is that it is not exactly blowing that makes the candles blow out.  Brady and I just spent the last 15 minutes blowing at the iPad trying to figure out what makes the candles go out.  I tried to get some video, but Brady said no...we are getting ready to try it out on Marvin because it is his birthday...this should be good...:)

Things that made me laugh this week...

We ran a lot of errands this week.  Usually, I try to do one activity morning that P wants to do (park, library, etc.).  However, this week, we were preparing for Brady's mom's arrival and our departure  for the states so we had a lot to do--Parker was dragged to the mall more than once!  Here are some of the reasons I was able to keep my sanity:)! 

1.  I almost never go clothing shopping, but I stopped in Zara for just a minute to look.  This video is the reason why we should either go shopping much more often or why we should not go at all...:)  The best part is that he was watching himself in the mirror and practicing a few of his new "street performer" moves...

2.  We found a new park (it was behind the mall, go figure).  On the way, P kept jumping in puddles and then was mad that his shoes and hands were wet... When we finally made it to the new park, I was trying to help Parker off of the train and I hit my head, I closed my eyes for a second...then parker fell.  Seriously, I am that much of a klutz.  Luckily, after I kissed it, P said "there, that's better" and was fine.

P was much more interested in the "backhoe woader" (translation: backhoe loader, we are VERY interested in trucks right now) than the play equipment for a while.


2.  When Parker woke up on Wednesday morning this is how our conversation went...
me: "Did you sleep well?"
P: "Yes, I did"
me: "Did you have good dreams?"
P: "Yes, I did"
me: "Oh really, what did you dream about?"
P: "I dreamed for four minutes"
me: "oh, ok"
Seriously, where does this stuff come from?

4. We found a keyboard with a microphone while we were looking for airplane toys...I wish you could see the video.  He seriously moves his head around like Stevie Wonder when he plays.  Silly Parker.

5.  Finally, Parker wanted to be "Scuba Steve" with the goggles on.  What is it about a baby in goggles that just makes you want to smile?  I'm just glad he finally put them over his eyes and not just on his forehead!

There were lots of other reasons to smile this week, but hopefully these make you smile too!

breaking through the language barrier...

This afternoon we went to the park near our home.  While we were there, a little boy and his dad came who obviously did not speak English.  Parker immediately ran up to the boy and began playing peek-a-boo.  Luckily, peek-a-boo is universal:).  After a while of trying to communicate about who got to drive the "big truck" (ok, so I have no idea what the other kid was saying, but P was saying, "my turn to drive big truck"), they just started barking.  Yes, barking, like dogs.  Apparently barking is also  universal they played great together after they realized all they had to do was "bark".  

That's Crazy!

Parker is cracking me up right now.  Every time he he thinks something is really funny he goes, "oh gosh, that's crazy!"

Seriously, where does he come up with this stuff...oh wait...:)

Today I didn't wear a bra...

Today I didn't wear a bra...nobody knows me, nobody cares and honestly, on my body, it doesn't matter (I promise I am not becoming a hippie:)

Today I found out that the British make a 2 pound coin...good to know.

Today I got lost for an hour, while walking, in a new country. Thank goodness people are nice enough to get me back on track.

Today I realized that British food is much, much different than American food. I think I am going to have to realign my taste buds...gulp...

Today I discovered that Norwich has separate public bathrooms to change diapers (seriously, this is awesome).

Today I realized that having a phone would be awesome, but it is not necessary

Today I got suckered into signing up for my first piece of junk mail and didn't know my zip code...I do now...

Today I decided that I need to buy some pants...the sundresses in my suitcases are just not going to cut it...

Today I bought Parker shoes that fit his thick sausages...yay!

Today I discovered "toddler and parent" parking at the grocery store! If only I had a car...

Today I understood that I will never buy grapes again...try $6+ a pound...

Today was the start of a new adventure and we are going to be fine...heck, I didn't even have to wear a bra...:)

Baby OH!

Parker finally performed a little bit for the camera...that never happens! I thought I would share him singing Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. He is truly our little entertainer!

KC Family Fun

One of our many stops on our journeys to see everyone was to Kansas City. We started the day at BRGR with Brady's Aunt Janae, her boyfriend Dan and Van, my future sister-in-law (hopefully:). After stuffing our faces with cheeseburgers and french fries we decided to go swimming--putting on bathing suits after eating that much was painful...We had so much fun! It was nice to just spend the day relaxing without worrying about anything else!

I was also so excited to spend the evening with my best friend, Jamie and her husband Drew. An added my bonus was that my friends Katy and Kaitlin stopped by too! I don't get to see Jamie very often, but just knowing that I can call her anytime I want is a comfort. It is really going to be hard to look at the clock, subtract six hours and then decide whether or not it is appropriate to call...dang it...

Here are some pictures of our day!

This is the life!

We can rarely get him to keep a pair of sunglasses on long enough to take a picture.

So...P is a big fan of using anything as a microphone...including a plunger. I seriously had to blur "little willie" to be able to post this. oops!

In the words of Parker..."Parker runs really fast"

We love Aunt Janae (do not be confused by the pretty young blonde; I promise that this is Brady's aunt...Grandma Marlys says she was a "Wonderful Surprise")

"I Poddy"

Can we really be ready for this? Surely not...but, Parker is 18 months...oh no, I'm not ready for this. I haven't read enough, and I have no idea what I am doing!! Is it really time to potty train already?!? Parker has been very interested in "poddy" for a couple of weeks now. He plays with his diaper when he is going and now says, "I poddy" when he has gone. We progressed on Thursday in the car. Here is what our conversation looked like... Parker says, "I poddy, I poddy" SoI say, "do you have to potty?" Parker says, "yes." I say, "well, just go in your diaper." Parker says, "I pee, I pee...I done...bye bye." This conversation caused me to get out his little potty chair and set it in the bathroom. On Friday, he said, "I poddy" so I asked him if he wanted to go on his little chair and he said yes, I sat him on the chair. One problem...little willie (yes, this is what we have named him) is sticking out over the splash guard and I don't know how to pop it in. (Seriously, he is going to have issues). So we give up on this chair and I put a diaper on him. Saturday, we were at a hotel and again he said he had to go and I asked him if he wanted to sit on the big chair, he said yes! So, I sit him on the chair and...he potties!!!! Yay!! I ended the story there because seriously, now what? I am completely out of my element and I don't know if I should just go hard core and try to teach him or to just ease into it. My other dilemma is that we move to England in less than two months. I kind of feel like I should either do it now or wait entirely until we move. This lead me to a search for the 3-day method. In this method, you let your child run around without pants for three days. Ok, I can do this, we have wood floors so the mess won't be terrible. Now, I was thinking that I would be done after three days. Oh no, you then have to try to stay close to home for THREE MONTHS while you continue to let them run around without pants. If you do leave the house, you are supposed to put them in loose-fitting pants and buy a cover for your car seat in case of accidents...AHHHH! Holy cow, this is crazy. I know, I know, potty-training your child in three days was a bold thought, but a girl can dream. I am still searching for an answer to my question. Until then, I guess I will just let P-Man "poddy" in the big boy chair anytime he wants!

Happy Halloween!

What is the only day of the year that you can dress like an idiot and not feel like an idiot...Halloween! I love dressing up! For four years, Brady and I, and most of our friends, had the privilege of dressing in random costumes and outfits for a number of date parties...how I miss those days! I have decided that I am now going to use Halloween, and my desire to be a fun parent, as my excuse to dress up with Parker. From now on, we are going to have a yearly family theme--do you think he will still let me do this when he is in middle school?

My first idea was to go as the Wizard of Oz. I was going to be Dorothy, Brady the Scarecrow, Parker the Lion, and Piper Toto. Well, because I do not have time to make a costume--eh, ok, so maybe I don't have the talent either-- I went on a hunt for a Dorothy costume. That is when I discovered that the only Dorothy costumes under $40 are slutty. I don't understand the need for women to use Halloween as an excuse to dress slutty--sorry, sorry, that is an entirely different topic. Because of this, and the fact that I had waited until the last minute, I had to find something that was fast and easy. So.....we went as bananas and Parker was our monkey! I waited so long that I had to buy a kids costume for myself, but it worked out pretty well!


Brady is such a good sport!

No more pictures, mom!

Parker and my friend, Andrea's son, Cayman. So cute!

At my friend, Erika's halloween party!

We had such a fun Halloween and next year, I know I need to start thinking of ideas in September!

R.I.P. B.C.

I am small chested. There, I've said it. I would be embarrassed for anyone to read this if it were not glaringly obvious the minute you met me. However, for almost a year, I had a chest. I finally filled a B-cup...hooray!! I was beginning to like my new shape and was amazed how much easier it was to find clothes that fit right. I was loving the benefits of breastfeeding.

Around a month ago, I stopped pumping and feeding altogether. For a while, I still had a chest. And then it happened. One morning last week, I woke up and they were gone. Not just gone, but smaller than they were before. Is that possible?!?! And so, I bid farewell to my chest.

Rest In Peace Big Chest, Rest In Peace.

"Mom, the puppy's in the tub!"

Apparently Piper is warming up to Parker. She hates taking a bath, but evidently, Parker makes it look fun. And yes, I am that mom that got my camera so I could take a picture before I took the dog out of the tub (don't worry, Brady was watching the kids:)!