Thanksgiving Recap

Ok, so I am super, super, super late with these posts. I thought about not posting at all, but in reality, I post for myself and to have a online record of milestone's in Parker's life. I just feel so blessed that I have such an amazing little family with an incredible extended family.

This past Thanksgiving we visited Brady's family in Mankato and my family went to Dallas to see my brother. I was reminded of how fun it is to see Parker grow up and inherit traits of different family members. I love that he thinks before he speaks like his daddy (for all of you wondering...yes, I am aware that I do not always do that:), and has the beginnings of a sense of humor like GDawg and Uncle Landon. I hope that he inherits his grammy Deb's and grandpa Marvin's work ethic and his gram gram Kim's heart. He will also hopefully get Uncle Cortney and Uncle Landon's smarts (ok, and maybe know how to have fun like they do, but not too much fun:). I can't wait to watch him grow into a little person! I am so blessed and pray every day that we can make a positive impact on the person he becomes!

This is a picture taken right before Thanksgiving of Parker's new high chair. Papa George and GG refinished George's high chair from when he was a baby...how neat!

All of us at the farm!

At the K-State/North Texas game in Dallas.

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!

Parker's Birthday!

Our little bug is ONE (ok, you caught me, now he is 13 months, but lets pretend I posted these sooner)! For Parker's birthday, we knew we had to include either football or golf in the theme. He is his father's child and those are his two favorite things. Golf won! He carries his little putter all over the house and says, "ga cub" which we take to mean, golf club. Plus, I was pretty excited to use a play on words with a "hole-in-ONE" party!

Here is his invitation...
Because this was a golf party, I couldn't resist using tee flags everywhere (including with his initials on the front porch).

Here is his sand trap...:) And his cake, and golf ball cookies...I wanted Parker to wear his little golf outfit, but it was colder than I expected. Here, he is playing with golf clubs out of the party favor sets!I bought Parker a little smash cake for him to dive into--and he did. I decided to buy chocolate because if I like chocolate cake, Parker will too, right? Wrong, he does not like chocolate cake! He did like the frosting though!Sooo, right before it was time to blow out the candles, I lost the "1" candle. We had to use a votive (it was all I had). I later discovered the birthday candle in the refrigerator. Let's just call it "mommy brain."Pretty good...eh?Want some?

Yes, I am that parent that left my child in only his diaper for the rest of the day...what can I say? Plus, he looked so much more comfortable to open presents.

This chair was one of his first gifts and he loved it so much he decided to stay there to open the rest!


If you haven't already guessed, Parker loves balls. He had to show everyone his new baseballs grammy gave him!


And yes, I am raising a ham. I wonder where he gets that from? :)



We spent a good portion of the day saying "no no" everytime Parker got near the party favors for the kids--as you can see from the earlier picture, we are still working on no.

It was a wonderful day and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who came and helped us celebrate! Parker has brought more joy to Brady and I in the last year than we ever could have imagined! Happy Birthday Baby Bug!

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.

Here's what happened since you last saw me!

A lot has happened in the last couple of months! It is amazing how fast babies grow and change! Here are a few of Parker's latest changes:

(Parker eating chocolate for the first time--he grabbed my cake when I wasn't looking!)


Talking, talking, talking--Parker has always been a little talker (I wonder where he gets that from...) but now he is saying all sorts of words: ball (his first word), dog, car, bye bye, hi, momma, dadda, yellow, no no, and his latest...Piper (this sounds a lot more like bi ba, but we know what he means). He is saying a lot in between those words, but we are still getting lost in translation! (This is Parker and Piper waiting for Daddy to come home...Parker's favorite word is dog!)

• He's using a toothbrush!-We started brushing Parker's tooth right after it first came in around 8 months, but now he has five teeth and loves to brush them every night!



• Walking!--Parker is officially a walker (tear). My baby is growing up right before my eyes!! He took his first steps at 11 months and nows prefers walking over crawling.




• Lifting up the toilet seat--I can't believe I am including this one, but it kind of has a huge impact on the way we operate. Before, I could let him play on the bathroom floor while I showered and not worry. No longer, he can now lift it up-touch the water-and then drop it down, usually on his hand. He has also started flushing! (This picture is not of him lifting the toilet seat, but instead is probably why he has so much fun in the bathroom!)

• No more bottles--At around 10 months, he stopped using bottles and now only using sippy cups. He have been practicing with big-boy cups sans lid, but we still have mastered that yet.




• He has learned to love football--I am not kidding...my son jumps up and down yelling, "football, football," anytime football comes on tv. Needless to say, he has gone to all of the home K-State games and loves them!(This is a picture of Parker and Daddy concentrating on the action on the field at a home K-State game.)

• And the big one...He turned ONE!!!--I can't believe it! My babycenter.com e-mails now say, your toddler this week...I have a toddler, holy cow! It has gone by so fast! He now faces forward in his carseat, drinks whole milk, and tests limits:). He had a big birthday bash, but I will post all of those pictures on a different post!
  
  
  

MAMA!!

Parker finally said mama!!  I have waited so long to hear this word and was beat out by dada, dog, car, and ball...however, he said it and looked right at me!!  Love!

How time flies!!

Warning! This post is slightly cheesy!! Almost nine years ago, I met my best friend; two years ago, I married him. Brady was the first boy I met in Manhattan (well, at least the first boy I can remember:). We had both just joined greek houses and were at a joint event for both of our houses--ok, ok, it was a keg race (don't tell Parker) and I had had one beer over my limit (yes, that means one beer). If you know me at all, you know this means I was extremely talkative. I had a crush on Brady from the minute I laid eyes on him and went right up and introduced myself. After that, I told everyone I met that, "I was a big fan of Brady's!" "Barn Party" 2003

From that point on we spent a year and a half dancing around the idea of dating. Brady was the boy I couldn't admit I needed and I was the girl who wouldn't kiss him. I finally came to my senses and asked him to our formal our sophomore year-I know what you are thinking, and yes, it wasn't until he stopped chasing me that I finally realized I wanted him. From that moment on, we were inseparable.

Two years ago, on the first happiest day of my life, I became his wife. I am so blessed. And then, nine months ago on the second happiest day of my life, I became the mother of his child--brady's little mini-me. I know that this post is super cheesy, but I was feeling a little nostalgic and wanted to say a big thank you to my husband....you are the best!

I just wanted a chance to say how happy I am to have such a wonderful husband (seriously, who else would put up with my neurotic behavior!)