Jana...this is for you...

At lunch today I told Jana I was going to blog for her because she had not done so in a very long time. Julie, the amazing photographer that Jana introduced me to and that so many of you have used now, did some pics of Abbie and Anna Claire. AC just turned 2 so these were her 2 year pics, but Julie, as always, captured some fantastic memories...

Jana, tell AC that I know she is 2 and all and I know that blogging may not be so much fun anymore for her, but we really really really do want to see what is going on in their lives...like a haircut this week maybe? :)

If you want to use Julie or view her work...click HERE

The Bug Turns 9 Months Old

Parker turned 9 months old yesterday. We went to the doctor for his 9 month check up...drum roll please.......................

Weight - 23 lbs 12 oz ~ 88%tile
Height - 29 1/2" ~ 88%tile
Head - not sure of the exact measurement, but it was in the >97%tile.

Summary: He is a large tub of love

Black eye status: Black eye is still there...I think the saying "it has to get worse before it can get better" definitely applies to us.

Parker's 9 Month "look what I can do" skills:
* Say momma and dadda...and lots of other words that are not recognized
* crawl
* pull up
* walk with the help of mommy
* starting to eat meat
* 2 teeth...that 3rd one we thought was coming in is taking its sweet time
* throw the ball back and forth to whomever cares to play that game
* blow bubbles with my mouth
* give open mouth, wet kisses all over mommy's face

Parker and his BFF Carson playing with all of Carson's way cool toys


The aftermath of the orange Popsicle...


Eating just a taste of some cupcake at Jack's bday bash this weekend. I can only imagine the attack on his cake when he turns 1. This one little bite left him throwing a temper tantrum wanting more.


Driving Mommy's car with Dad...we love this game


Peaceful Parker...all conked out after a long day of playing. We are in the process of phasing out the morning nap. I know he is only 9 months, but he was taking an hour morning nap and maybe an hour and a half afternoon nap. Sometimes these would be less. Soooooo, we have cut out the morning nap and he is now sleeping for 2 to 3 hours in the afternoon...heaven!

Fall Down and Go BOOM!!

We had our first (of many) scares this week. Since Parker has began to crawl, he is all over the place. Not only is he a mover and shaker...but he also likes to climb on things and test his limits. Well, the other day Andy and I were lowering his crib to the lowest setting and we had the mattress on the floor. He was crawling on it and when he got to the edge he kept going. This sent him thrusting forward into the edge of the crib. He immediately started to scream and Andy swept him up. I was at the angle where I saw him hit so I knew he hit right on his eye. When Andy pulled him away so I could assess the damage his poor little eye was already swelling and was black. I tried to put a bag of frozen peas on it, but he was not having it. So I got out Mr. Happy gel pack and that calmed him down, but just because it was something to look at. He would not let me put it on his eye.

So long story short...I freak out, Parker is fine within 15 minutes and is loving all the attention he is getting from mommy, and we have our first black eye. I know having a boy we will be in the emergency room more times than I care to even think about right now...

This picture was taken about 10 minutes after the accident. Not the best picture, but you can see his eye is swelling...it is now just a little bump with a good bruise on his eye brow.

Stay tuned...9 month doctor appointment is this Monday...I will be taking bets now on how much he weighs :)

Firecrackers and Tricks Up My Sleeve

HEY GUYS...SCROLL DOWN...THERE IS ONE MORE POST BELOW THIS ONE READ IT FIRST AND THEN COME BACK UP TO THIS ONE...

Ok...didn't want you to get all out of order and stuff. It's still Parker...I'm on a roll tonight. I had a BLAST this weekend. Man does America ever know how to throw a birthday party?!! I got to spend the night with Nonni and Hampaw again while mommy and daddy went out on Friday night. Then when I woke up on Saturday morning Hampaw let me help him decorate his old truck for his parade. How cool are my July 4th PJ's?


THEN I got to go to my house and go watch the Lakewood parade. Holy Cow was it cool! Jack, he's my buddy (you can see him running in the background of the pic), and I got to see horses, old cars, and lots of floats. They even threw candy at me, but mommy said no...(party pooper).


Oh Oh...and THEN I got to go to Lakewood CC and go swimming with mommy and Nonni. We ate lunch by the pool and mommy let me try corn!! It was yummy, but mommy said it showed up in my diaper the next day...whatever that means??

Ok, so it gets even better...mommy and daddy went with a whole bunch of people back up to Lakewood CC for dinner that night and the firework show. We live very close to the CC so mommy was worried I would wake up when the fireworks went off. So...she decided to take me with and see how I did. Since my bedtime is usually 7 and the fireworks did not start until 9:45...I was pretty tired by the time they went off. But I did a great job. The fireworks were really loud and scared me some, but I just cuddled in my daddy's neck and he made it all better. I was home and fast asleep by 10:30 and slept until after 8:00 on Sunday. It was a SUPER FUN day!!

Now...for the tricks up my sleeve...I have been "rocking" for some time now, but on Sunday mommy put a bunch of puffs at one end of the rug and me at the other end and I just had to go get them so I crawled...ALL BY MYSELF!! I was not that good at it the first time, but man o man am I getting good. As if that was not enough...I learned how to go from the crawling position to sitting this weekend too.

So I have this book with a bunch of animals in it. When we look at it mommy asks me where the puppy dogs are...I know what a puppy dog is...I have the best one ever...her name is Bella...anywho...I needed mommy to know I knew what a puppy dog was so I started pointing at the puppy dogs on each page. Mommy didn't believe me at first so she tried it with other things, but sure enough...each time she asked I picked out the puppy dog. She then tried it with a picture of Abbie and Anna Claire and what did I do?? Pointed at Abbie when she said her name and pointed at Anna Claire when she said her name...duh mom!! I might be the smartest baby alive!! (mom told me to write that last part) Harvard...here I come!!

hugs and kisses (I just learned how to give mommy those big, wet open mouth kisses too...she hearts them!)

~Parker

Back in business...

Hey guys...it's Parker. Mommy has been super duper busy at work and has not had any time what-so-ever to blog lately so I thought I would catch y'all up on my latest happenings. Let's see...where do we begin...

I think the last post was right after the big scary storm. It broke a lot of things (mommy's oven just got fixed today), but we survived. So that's that...on to other things...

I turned 8 months old on the 20th of June. It was father's day weekend and we celebrated by having a cookout at my Nonni and Hampaw's house. Abbie and Anna Claire even came over and we got to play in the sandbox and in the baby pool. I heart them.

I have also gotten to spend the night (TWICE!) at Nonni and Hampaw's house. Mommy gets to put me down and then her and daddy go do whatever it is they do. Mommy comes and spends the night too after they get home, but my Nonni said that pretty soon mommy won't need to come over anymore since I am getting so good at sleeping late. I am going down around 7 and waking up around 6:45 every morning.

Let's see...what else...oh yeah...I had a dinner date with mommy's college roomy Shea, her husband, and their cutie-patootie Claire. I heart her too. Oh, and then there is my hommie Carson. He let me come over to his crib and hang out while mommy, Mel, and Jaime had a yummy lunch. Carson has really rad toys and I totally skipped my nap that day because I was having so much fun.

I have pictures of all of the above, but they are on mommy's camera and she left her magic wire that puts them on the screen at work so I will have to leave you with a picture mommy just took of me with her new iphone. She keeps saying something about her life changing forever and not knowing how she survived before it...