A week in the life

I've been in a bit of a blogging funk, but thought I'd drop off a few pictures...


That's how Parker spent at least an hour yesterday. He had a ball just playing under the table with his balloon from the grocery store. The child LOVES balloons. It's a good things the grocery stores we frequent give out balloons to the kids! Of course it means we always have a ton of balloons (post-helium) laying around all over the house. I hate to throw them away. Parker loves them so, no matter their state.

Meanwhile, Thomas got into his Daddy's flight bag and decided to pretend he's a pilot...


This past week we spent a few mornings at the pool, a few days out and about doing assorted errands, and one morning at the aquarium with "the yellow Aunt Beth." Other time was spent at home, inside and away from the sultry heat outside.

Parker has learned how to climb into the train table like his brother does...

(Though he's not quite sure how to climb out, yet!)

Thomas enjoyed the company...


And lastly, proof that Thomas loves to read. He'll find anywhere to look at books. I noticed he was quiet the other morning and found him, reading quietly (or looking at the pages, rather) atop a pile of laundry I had just sorted for laundry day:


I'll try to do better about blogging! I certainly have much catching up to do!

Happy anniversary!

In seven years, we have gone from this...


...to this...

(We need to take more family pictures!)

It has been a crazy seven years, full of many ups and downs. Some roads have been straight and easy to travel, some have been curvy and quite treacherous. But in the end we have created a wonderful family and I'm so thankful for my husband and our children. For all that our life has been these past seven years, I am glad that it has all been with him.

Happy anniversary to us! Though I don't expect our family to grow in any more numbers (until grandchildren one day far, far in the future!), I do expect and look forward to our family growing each day in love and life.

Happy Father's Day!

Today we give thanks for our fathers...our daddies. I know I am utterly grateful for my own wonderful, loving father, my Daddy, and the boys could not be happier about their own. Thomas and Parker love their Daddy with all of their little hearts.

They love how their Daddy makes them laugh...


They love how Daddy shows them new things...


And he teaches them new things too (like how to feed a pony)...


Those are just a tiny bit of the many, many, many pictures I could post (if I had access to them on this computer) of all the many things our boys love to do with their Daddy. They both light up when he comes in the room. If he has been away for work, when they first see him, they can hardly be contained. Thomas runs to his Daddy with great glee and Parker smiles and exclaims in his own little way, all the while trying to leap and bounce right out of my arms.

My boys are lucky to have such a wonderful father in their lives. I think you can love your husband an awful lot, but that love can't help but grow when you see how he loves your children and how they adore him in return. Tomorrow we celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary and I have to say that the best part of our marriage has been watching Trey become a Daddy.

Yes, Thomas and Parker love so many things about their father. But most of all, they just love Daddy.


Happy Father's Day to Trey and all daddies everywhere!

Potty training success?

I haven't really wanted to say too much, so I've only mentioned it in passing on the blog, but potty training is going pretty well! I'll let this picture speak a few words for me...














(If you are wondering, he earned a prize (thus the car/truck drawing) or a visit to Spray Play for successfully going five times #1, or one time #2)

We started a few weeks ago when I realized I really wanted Thomas to go to camp at his school some (he has to be potty trained to go). I had been so hesitant and worried about it, but I found that he really was far more ready than I realized. Whew.

He had a couple minor accidents in the beginning and he still is not great about telling me he needs to go, but his body language says enough. He went to school last week for two half-days of camp and did fine. He wouldn't go for his teachers, but he didn't have an accident either.

In an effort to avoid too much potty talk, I'll just say #2 has been a bit more of a challenge, which was very much expected given his issues in that area as it is. But he's finally turned a corner on that too. I have to force him sometimes, but he goes and then he's so proud of himself.

I'm so proud of him!

Still transitioning

This was Thomas just before bed tonight. Consider it Part 2 in a THREE part transition.


This is probably the longest transition ever made to a big boy bed. It was almost exactly three months ago when we converted Thomas' crib to a toddler bed of sorts. We had hoped to procure his actual big boy bed by his third birthday, but we just haven't been able to go and get it (it's at Trey's parents' house). Hopefully we will get it very soon, but I've been trying to do some decorating/organizing in the boys' rooms and I decided I just couldn't wait any longer to get things moving. Besides, the bed railings are not intended to be used on a crib and Thomas was coming close to damaging the crib with his misuse. I realized a couple weeks ago that a set of bed rails we had in the closet could work for a twin, so this weekend we finally went and bought his new mattress set!

He was very excited at the mattress stores and even more excited when we set it up in his room. I was a little sad to take down his crib. I remember begging my doctor to let me ride with my mom to the baby store to pick out the crib once I was at a safer point in my pregnancy (I think I was 32 weeks along?). I remember "supervising" Trey has he set it up more than three years ago...weeks before Thomas was born. I remember sitting in that room, very pregnant and totally in awe that we were going to have our miracle child, after nearly 150 days of (mostly) strict bedrest.And today we took it down.


Of course, soon it will be re-assembled in Parker's room (I think). Because we have to switch dressers anyway...and the dresser/hutch in Thomas' room (currently) matches the crib. The dresser currently in Parker's room we got knowing it would be Thomas' as soon as he moved to the big boy bed. So still more transitioning to go, but for now, Thomas is most pleased. And Parker thinks it's neat too! This was Thomas when he first tried it out....


And then saying prayers with Daddy...


And then hopefully going to sleep (now at 9:30 I think he is finally asleep!):


The good thing about the big bed is that it makes our big boy seem a little smaller. :) I don't want him to grow too quickly.

13 months old!

So I'm a week late (it's been quite a week!), but Parker is now 13 months old!



He's an orthodontist's dream, but we love him. :)


These past 13 months have passed us by much too quickly, but he has given us reason to smile all along the way.


At 13 months, Parker is:

• Crawling quickly and always getting into things he should not! He loves to go under the breakfast table and hang out and he loves to pull everything out of the pantry that he can reach.
• Starting to cruise more and more and getting better and more steady at it. He likes to walk down the couches and move around tables and chairs, as long as he can hold on all the way. As soon as he lets go, if he has more than a step to take, he usually plummets to the floor. The doctor thinks he'll probably be walking by 15 months. I'm kind of glad he's not more mobile yet!
• Such a little squirt. He's always trying to get into things he should not. Even when he's on the changing table he is always trying to use his feet to pick up things (the lotion container, Purell bottle, thermometer, etc). And when he's not trying to pick things up with his feet on the changing table, he is trying to roll over. Another favorite pastime of his is checking out the dog's bowls. He does it mostly to get attention...he'll head over toward them and look back at me and smile as if to say, "Catch me if you can!"
• Sometimes quite chatty when he is in the mood. You can't make out much of what he says, but he definitely refers to all balloons as "baboo!" and Daddy is always "Dada!!" When you ask him to give a kiss he will frequently say "Mwah!"
• A squealer when he wants something he is not getting. It's actually pretty annoying. :) I love him, but man, this is not my favorite. He squeals like a pig in this pitch that sometimes literally makes my eardrums vibrate. And he will gesture at things (usually things he can't have) and will keep squealing until he gets something that makes him happy.
• Not very patient when he wants to eat. Feeding him is a bit of a challenge (particularly when I'm trying to simultaneously finish preparing Thomas' food (and God forbid, my own!). He shovels whatever I put in front of him with lightning speed, but I can't put too much in front of him at a time or he will shove it all in his mouth at once. So I put a decent amount, he shoves it in and starts squealing. If I can't cut the next portion fast enough or get there fast enough for his liking, he lets me know in no uncertain terms that he does not approve. Sometimes he screams quite loudly and in restaurants this frequently causes some stares.
• A pretty good eater. He's had a bit of a tummy bug for a few weeks so I've had to severely limit his diet to deal with that, but generally he is willing to try quite a lot. He's not big, however, on things like peas or green beans. He does love his limas and black beans though.
• Great at giving hugs.
• An easy child to put to sleep. Sometimes he will cry for a second or two when we put him down, but it doesn't last long at all. Since Thomas had to be rocked to sleep so much of his first year and then some, this is such a welcome change!
• Still in need of two naps a day. Thomas gave up his morning nap before he was a year old. Parker...not so much. He still really needs that nap. He goes down for his morning nap sometime between 9-10 and naps for 1.5 hours. In the afternoon he naps from 2-2:30 until 3:30-4:00. He goes to bed for the night sometime between 7-7:30 (depending on the nighttime routine).
• Wearing mostly 18 months clothing, but still has a ways to go before he fits into a good many of Thomas' old summer jon-jons. He better grow into them!
• A wonderful and loving child and he makes me feel so blessed.

A few (or quite a few) more pictures to share...


Will there be a haircut in his near future?

This outfit is still a little big too...


Typical Parker (and Thomas right after a nap in the background...explains the diaper):







He is such a sweet, sweet boy. He gives the best hugs and smiles and I'm trying to enjoy the final days of his "babyness." Soon he'll be walking and talking! I can't even think about it. :)

A good nap

I meant to post this picture in the post about our beach trip...


The best thing about a great time at the beach is the wonderful nap that comes at the end of it. I had to wake Parker up because he was still sleeping at nearly 5 o'clock. I went in and opened his blinds and turned off his music, but he was still sleeping. I took this picture and he was still sleeping. FINALLY I managed to get him to stir.

And he sleeps like this a lot in the afternoon...bottom up and feet crossed. I think it's the sweetest. And of course his thumb is in his mouth. :) (Nancy, I'm going to be coming to you in a couple of years for you to remind me of the magic you worked with Mills!)

First swim lessons

Last week Thomas had his first three swim lessons. They seemed to go really well. Every day he asked if he could go have another swim lesson and when it was time to go, he wanted to stay. Now he is noticing the pool in our neighborhood and I guess I'm going to have to brave taking both boys and go!


He is taking swim lessons from a lady at her home. Two days there were two other children there with him (one was his good friend Lily), and one day it was just Thomas & Lily (the day I took my camera). The moms sit on the screened porch and watch from afar (though the children are told not to pay attention to us). That's why the pictures are a little funny...they are taken through a screen. But you can get the idea of the fun he had and what he was learning!

At first the kicks were small and not overly noticeable...


Then they started to figure things out...


There was time to learn to blow bubbles in the water...


And with the help of a few inflatable "Nemos," they kicked their way across the pool...




And then she helped them practice their form...


And had a little fun with a little bit of Superman flying...


Thomas did great and I was very proud of him. His teacher said Thomas really wants to go and try to swim, so we've been trying to find the right contraption to suit him best. The flotation suit I bought was a tad bit large, but I think he still liked it.

Not that I think he is ready to swim, but I do think he has learned a good bit in his first week. On his last session of the week, he was playing with another student while Lily was in the middle of the pool with the instructor. I was watching him carefully because he was walking the length of the step, but I knew he was getting close to the edge. Sure enough he walked off the edge and went under. I immediately called out his name to the instructor to get her attention and she made her way over to him as quickly as she could and helped him get back on the step. While he didn't manage to get above water by himself, he did hold his breath and when she got him, he was fine. He wasn't even crying (that's what he has done before when something similar has happened). He was a little startled and shaken, but he wasn't terrified. So that was good. And I didn't freak out either! :)

He'll have more lessons this week, so we'll see how he does!

First beach trip of the summer

Last Saturday we took the boys for their first beach trip of the summer. We had a great time and it was a beautiful day.


Notice Thomas running in the background:


We took Parker out in the water (he was far too young for this last year):


As long as the waves weren't breaking on him, he was okay:


And as Thomas refers to her, his "yellow Aunt Beth" came along (don't ask what he calls the other (brunette) Aunt Beth). The boys were so happy to play with her!


At snacktime Parker tried very hard to get Thomas' cracker from him (he had his own too, but he always wants everyone else's food too!):



It was a great day and we look forward to going back again soon!


As a sidenote, I haven't really said much about it, but Thomas continues to do pretty well with potty training. And at the beach he managed to accomplish his first outdoor potty time. I tell you, this is one thing that makes potty training a boy so much easier!!! He was excited to "aim for the leaves!"

Love is...

...giving your brother a big kiss on the nose...and he smiles right back at you.



I so enjoy watching the relationship between two brothers as it grows.

Picking out the bacon

As people who know us well know, Trey travels a little bit for work sometimes. When he has to go, Thomas frequently asks why his daddy has to go to work (because he has to ask "why?" about everything!). We sometimes say "Because Daddy has to bring home the bacon." Lately though, this has led to some interesting and comical commentary from Thomas.

When he left one day recently Thomas said, "Daddy has to go get some bacon because we don't have anymore and we need some."

Tonight he has been fighting bedtime. We are potty training and he has already called me up there twice to potty (even though he wears diapers at nighttime). When I went to get him the second time (he can get out of his bed, but he's actually pretty good about staying in it!), he asked me if his Daddy was home. I told him "Not yet!" and he said, "Oh. Because he is still trying to pick out the right bacon?"

As a side note, we've been potty training seriously since Thursday and it's going remarkably well! I'm so proud of Thomas!