Pics from Mammy and Pappy's

Church with GiGi

Parker went to church with GiGi this morning because I spent the night with my girl friends in Fort Worth. He cried when she left him, but his teacher said over all he did well.

He's still unsure when he's left in an unfamiliar place, but I think he's getting better!

No, No, No!

Today the dogs were barking. Parker got in Patches face and pointed his finger and said, "No. No. No."

For the life of me, I couldn't remember where he learned to point his finger in the dogs face. I racked my brain and finally remembered a day last week that Parker had woke up on the wrong side of the bed and he couldn't snap out of his crying. I had all I could take and I got eye level with him and said, "Parker you will not act like this anymore or you will go to bed." I had my finger in his face. That is the ONLY time and he remembered to do it to the dogs! Oh my!!

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School's Out for Summer.... AKA 2 WEEKS!

Today was Parker's last day of school. He begins back in two weeks, but he will be in the next class.

His teachers, Granny Reva and Ms. Debby, were wonderful this year! They have worked with him on a lot of things: screaming when I leave, screaming when it's time to sleep, feeding himself, sleeping on the nap mat and the list could go on and on. Tuesday Granny Reva said she was sad that she was about to loose Parker to the next class. I told her that I was sad too but I needed to get used to this. He's not even in "big school" yet and then I'll have to do this every year! ha

His next teachers, Ms. Megan and Ms. Tricia, are already used to have Parker around- he has been going to play with them for months. The adjustment will hopefully go very smooth.

Copy Cat #2

This morning Caleb & Parker were sitting at the kitchen table. Caleb was finished eating and stood up, stretched and said, "Oh my Lord."
A few seconds later, Parker stretched a little bit and said his version of "Oh my Lord."
Caleb stood there for a few seconds, I started laughing and he asked if Parker had done what he thought he had. Yep he had.

Parker rediscovered his boots in his closet this morning. He insisted on wearing them today. So this was his attire for school: A&M shirt, jersey shorts and cowboy boots.

It's all about individuality and making his own choices. :)

(I did pack his tennis shoes in his school bag for back up.)

*This pic was taken before he went to school in the Target parking lot. I asked him if I could take his picture and he ran to the corner, sat down and clasped his hands.

Coppy Cat

Caleb likes to swat at bugs. When we leave the back door opened, a few bugs come in. No worries- Caleb kills them. Parker thinks it's hilarious. Parker watches Caleb like a hawk and has started copying him on everything he does- including swating a bugs. Parker watches Caleb and as soon as Caleb swats, Parker goes at it. He will only do it immediately after Caleb does it. Next time, I'll try to get a video of it. It's cute.

Yogurt Mess

Parker is becoming a lot more independent these days. In some aspects, it's really nice... ie- he's able to feed himself. Other times, it's really annoying... ie- when he's being hardheaded.

We let Parker feed himself his yogurt- we didn't pay attention to how messy he got. He has to learn somehow.... In the words of Caleb, "If he's going to learn to ride that horse, he just needs to do it." Well, I guess he rode the horse today. Ha.

Our 1st Garage Sale....

We had a garage sale yesterday and today with our neighbor. This is the first garage sale I've ever had on my own- I guess I'm officially an adult. It was a great success! According to Caleb, garage sales are my element, not his. I have my Granny and Gramps to thank for that. I used to go garage selling with my Granny and she would give me some change and I would buy my Barbies and other toys there.

My good friend, Kammi, put some things in and mid-morning her daughter, Kathryn, came over to check in on the sale. Kathryn and Parker played together in the front yard. It's always cute to see them playing!

Parker has been telling us "poopoo" for several weeks after he goes poop. He's started saying "poopoo" more frequently and we realized that he was associating the word "poopoo" with both types of pottying. Today he pooped and as soon as he finished, he went to the bathroom and wanted on the toilet. He sat on there for several minutes. Nothing.

I decided that I would go ahead and buy him big boy underwear (pictured above) and talk it up real big. I know you're probably asking yourself why I jumped from diaper straight to underwear when most people use Pullups. I'm hoping to not buy Pullups. I'm tired of buying diapers or anything disposable for body wastes. We'll see how it goes.

After we got home from Walmart with big boy underwear (all white) and a potty book. I sat him on the toilet, let him read his book and put his underwear on. At first he was a little freaked out by the underwear. He ended up peeing in them twice. Needless to say, it was not successful today. It's a process and we'll continue to work on it.

There's a FIRST time for EVERYTHING

Parker has come a very long way since we started taking him to Mother's Day Out...

The very first time I took him, they called me about 3 hours later and said that he had had enough of them for the day. (He screamed the WHOLE time.) Most days he doesn't fuss at all when I drop him off. He usually can't get out of our front door quick enough to load up to head to school. When I pick him up he's excited to see me and loves telling his teachers bye. UNTIL yesterday... I picked him up he was in his new class (he plays over there, but still eats and sleeps in the baby room until June) and he would not come to me. It took several minutes of trying to convince him that it was time to go home. He was not interested. Finally I took him from his teachers arms and we left. He fussed for a few minutes.

It makes me feel good to know that he loves school so much that he's not ready to leave. :)

Parker & Kathryn

Parker and I like to meet Kathryn and Kammi at the park a few times a week.

Kammi is one of my good friends and her daughter, Kathryn,

is about 6 weeks younger than Parker.

It's fun to have them grow up together.

Today Parker was thrilled to have his bug spray in hand.

Here is cute little Kathryn posing for me. Parker was definitely flirting with her as they were taking turns sliding.

Kathryn wanted to ride in the wagon so we took her to her car.

Before we left, we asked them both to hug each other bye.

The didn't hug, they just kind of "got in each other's personal space." It was cute.

Daddy and Parker Hang Out

Tonight I had a Junior League orientation meeting. Our sitter cancelled on us at last minute so Caleb rushed home to keep Parker for me. While I was at the meeting, Parker had somewhere found the children's CHILD PROOF ibuprofen. He's carried the medicine around before, so I'm sure Caleb didn't think much of it... After all, it has a CHILD PROOF lid. Well, we'll think differently now.... Parker spilled it out on the floor and then sat it inconspicuously on the rocking horse. I can only imagine Caleb's reaction and then cleaning it up.

Caleb was pretty upset and worried that Parker had possibly drank some. He even told me that he smelled Parker's breath and it just smelled normal with a little tiny hint of ibuprofen. Considering I got home about 45 minutes after the "incident" to find Parker in the bath playing and as soon as he got out, he was running around like wild and crazy Parker Man, I wasn't too incredibly worried. Needless to say, all medicine is put up in our locked medicine cabinet... child proof or not.

Hat. Hat. Hat. Hat.

Granny and Gramps came to visit us and bring us Parker's bed we bought him last weekend. We went to eat dinner at Fuzzy's Taco Shop. Parker was way too busy to eat. He very seldom watches television, but tonight he was so busy watching the baseball game and looking at the guys' hats that he couldn't eat. He's like a broken record. "Hat. Hat. Hat. Hat. Hat. Hat....." times 25. He also spent a lot of time people watching.

Driving Back Home

OLD and BLESSED... Maybe it should say BLESSED OLD?

Wow.

27.

Wow.

O

L

D

.

It's hard to believe I turned 27 today. Where have the last 7 years gone? I remember by 20th birthday was very hard for me to transition out of the teens. My Gramps didn't make it any better- he was sure to remind me that I was halfway to 40. He got a big kick out of it.

I spent the day with some of my very best friends from high school at the horse races. We all lost, but it was fun seeing everyone and getting to visit with them. It's so neat that we are all still so close after all these years. (PS Next year is our 10 year high school reunion! OLD.)

This birthday not only do I realize that I am getting OLD I also realize that I am very blessed. I have the best husband in the world, the cutest kid who keeps me laughing, the most wonderful family a girl could ask for and hands down the best friends in the whole world!

Thanks to everyone who made this years celebration an unforgettable one.

Birthday Celebration with my A-town Peeps

Today Parker and I went to Anderson for lunch for my birthday. They celebrated it up big time for me! They had a delicious appetizer (compliments of Bracewell) and a homemade strawberry cake (thanks, Opal). It was great to see everyone and also for Parker to join us for lunch. He acted like such a big boy! He is fascinated with the lockers. He was sound asleep before we even got out of the big town of Anderson. :)

This afternoon we showed rental properties for two hours. This is how I found him sitting:

Warming up to the BIG BOY POTTY!

Parker has been telling "poo-poo" us for a little over a week right before he goes #2.

It's definitely not every time, but he knows that feeling right before he goes-

that's a step in the right direction. :)

We have been getting him to help us flush.

And we've been showing him and talking up the "big boy potty."

Today I got him to sit on the toilet.

*Disclaimer- he has his diaper on, but small steps.

He doesn't know if he should be scared or happy.

Checking things out.

"Bye-bye!"

"Yeah! I'm a big boy!"

Bye Bye Rollie Pollie

Parker and I went out front this afternoon and he bent over to pick something up.

The first thing that came to mind was that he had found some dried up dog poop.

Gross.

Disgusting.

What if he eats it?

Thank goodness I was wrong!!!

It was a rollie pollie!

He carried it over to me and I asked him if he would let me take a picture of him and his rollie pollie.

He immediately turned around and ran back a few steps,

sat down on the walk way and said "cheese!" with his little scrunched up smile.

I was telling him that I wanted to see his rollie pollie in his hand and he dropped it in the crack in the sidewalk.

We both tried to get it out, but couldn't.

He started waving and saying "Bye-Bye" to it.

It was cute.

He really wanted that rollie pollie.

He ran over to his little car and as he was getting on, he turned back to me and said, "cheese."

So I took his pic.

I thought this picture was cute with his drink propped between his legs.

Jealous? Just a tad.

So this afternoon I kept Anderson, our friends Aaron and Andrea's little baby boy. He's 5 weeks old and such a handsome little thing. I forget how little they are. I pulled his diaper out of his bag to change him and took a double-take. Then when I changed his diaper- three poopy ones in a row- 1) He didn't squirm around and fight me. 2) I successfully changed all three poopy diapers without gagging!

Parker did well with Anderson given it was a new little baby in his "territory." There were several times that Parker did push his limits, but over all Parker did A LOT better than I had anticipated.

While I was feeding Anderson, Parker was sitting next to me. Several times he tried to wedge his leg between me and Anderson. It was crazy to see how Parker's leg compares to little Anderson. No worries though I was quick to handle the situation.

When I was changing Anderson's diaper, I asked Parker if he could come help me. (I've been talking to Parker about how big boys go potty in the big boy potty and not in diapers, so I figured this would be a good teachable moment for him to see the difference between a big boy and a baby... THOUGHT IS THE KEY WORD.) Anyways, Parker joined us on the floor and pointed at Anderson, said Baby several times and then put his rear end facing Anderson- not actually in his face but held his bottom up for Anderson to see it. He also tried to sit on him. Again, no worries, Anderson is safe. I intervened again.

Parker wanted me to hold him more, especially when I was trying to get Anderson to sleep.

It was a lot of fun keeping Anderson and I hope that I get to again. It was also a relief to know that he was going home and I could relax and not be on pins and needles about Parker and what all he was going to do.

It will be a lot of fun when Anderson is more active and Parker can play with him.

Is it a mouse? spider? NO IT'S A CATERPILLAR!

Today at the park I was sitting on the bench while Parker was in the swing area that has a million and one little rocks on the ground. He has recently noticed the rocks so when he was standing there looking down at the rocks and slowly moving around, I just thought he was mesmerized by the rocks.

Then all of a sudden I saw this black fuzzy thing about 2" long crawling away from Parker and he was chasing it! Instant panic. Especially since Caleb swears that Parker loves the little mice at the pet store! I started yelling, "Parker, No. No, honey." As I got up on the "thing" it was obviously a caterpillar!

Mixed emotions.

Emotion #1- Thankful that it's not a mouse and I'm not going to have to retrieve Parker and make a mad dash out of the rocks. If this would have happened, I probably would have vowed to never return to that park again.

Emotion #2- A little embarrassed for yelling for him to stop following the "thing" around.

Needless to say, I told Parker, oh it's a fuzzy caterpillar- the biggest one I've ever seen and it was safe to look at. He picked up right where he left off- chasing it. He was a little more comfortable with me taking pics of it. At one part he even tried to step on it.

If Parker had a bug farm going, we would have definitely had to take the caterpillar home with us.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Momma's out there!

A Trip to the Waco Zoo!

My Mom is in town and we wanted to do something fun and adventurous today. We decided to go to the Waco Zoo. Several of my friends told me Waco had a zoo and I didn't think it would be a "real zoo." Since we're from Irving and were in close proximity to the Dallas and Fort Worth Zoo's growing up, we kind of have high expectations for a zoo. My friends assured me that it was worth the drive and one even told me I wouldn't feel like I was in Waco. (Whatever that is supposed to mean??)

We arrived at the zoo about 10 am and by 11:15 we had a picnic lunch and then went back in the zoo for about 20 minutes and had seen everything. We were loading up to go home by 12:30. The weather was amazing!!! The zoo was the PERFECT length for Parker to enjoy it all. His favorite exhibits were the Gibbons monkeys, the fish aquariums and the birds.

I highly recommend the zoo to anyone with young kids who can't handle a full day at a "big" zoo. It was a half-day trip for us, $9/ adult and we'll definitely be visiting again.

Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. Truck. Daddy.....

Today Parker and I went to Hobby Lobby. As soon as we pulled up he noticed the big, brown UPS truck. He immediately began saying, "Daddy. Truck. Daddy. Daddy. Truck." and pointing at the truck. I assured him that it was not Daddy's truck, as he was on the route in Kurten. I explained to Parker to watch and see, it won't be Daddy to drive the truck away. We stood outside and watched, it was not his Daddy. I thought with him seeing the other guy get in the truck, he would calm down.

NOT.

All throughout the store he kept saying, "Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. Truck. Daddy. Truck. Daddy. Daddy."

Once we finally left he was hung up on something else.

Blooming At MDO

Today I picked Parker up from school and that handed me a gift bag and it read, "Happy Mother's Day! Love, Parker" on the outside of it. I opened it when I got to the car and it was a cute little apron. They had taken prints of his little feet in blue paint and made little bluebonnets. Across the top of the apron it said, "Blooming at MDO." It was precious. I have it hanging up in my kitchen and am planning on wearing it for Parker to see. I'm so excited that Parker is getting to the age that he can start making homemade gifts!

18 Month Check-up

Another thing to add to my memory for when Father's Day rolls around:

Last night Parker woke up about 9:30 coughing, made a horrible noise and then was crying. I went in his room and he was sitting up in bed crying. I immediately picked him up and then realized that it reeked of vomit. I called for Caleb, turned on the light to discover red/ pink puke in his bed, on his bed, bed-skirt, clothes and huge mess of it on the floor (btw- light tan carpet). Caleb took Parker and was holding him and I tried so hard to clean up the puke. I was gagging and couldn't do it. Caleb realized that I was being serious that I was going to throw up if I had to clean it up so he took it for the team and not only cleaned up the vomit, but he also washed the towels and bedding immediately.

Today Parker had his 18 month check up. The doctor said that Parker's "incident" last night was probably something he ate- I'm thinking too much sugar? But he did receive one shot (not due to puking, but that's 18 month protocol). He's 33 1/4 inches long (80th percentile) and 25 lbs 10 oz (average). Hi next appointment is in November.

Taking Note....

So I guess I shouldn't have been too distraught about the gross diaper yesterday because tonight I went to a friends' house and Caleb texted me and said that Parker had diarrhea in the bathtub. I'm not so sure that I feel sorry for him though.... Parker pooped in the bathtub TWICE while I was here alone, but I will remember this incident when Father's Day rolls around. :)

Dear Parker

Dear Parker,

As you pick out a Mother's Day gift for me (btw- Mother's Day is this Sunday), please keep in mind that I am the one who changed your diaper a few minutes ago and didn't throw up. I almost did, but I refrained.

Love You, Mom

Jumping Hero?

Today Parker got a balloon while we were out somewhere. He held it the whole ride home and was so excited to play with it outside. As soon as Caleb got Parker and the balloon out of the car, Parker ran over to the yard and was playing with his balloon. I was trying to unlock the front door and I hear Parker screech and Caleb gasp and yell, "Oh No!" I turn around to find Parker reaching for the sky and Caleb running into the yard and leaping into the sky. Parker's balloon had escaped. Parker was devastated for a good 12 minutes. He kept pointing to the sky and saying, "bye-bye."

Video from Earlier in the Week