Blessing of the Halloween Costumes

I love the family service at our church, and I really enjoy the two fun "blessings" offered for the children each year. The first is the "Blessing of the Bookbags" in August just before school starts, and the Sunday before Halloween they have the "Blessing of the Halloween Costumes." Children are encouraged to wear their costumes to church and during the children's time, the priest offers a prayer to keep the children safe and well on Halloween. So here's a first preview of the boys for Halloween... Capt. Thomas and his trusty sidekick, Parker:


Parker wasn't willing to cooperate for pics (and I realized too late I had the camera on the wrong setting). Here are a few more fun shots:










More pics to come on Halloween!

A Christmas Carol in October

To promote the upcoming movie, A Christmas Carol (with Jim Carey), a train came to town last week and offered tours over the weekend. Thomas is very into seeing trains right now, so I thought he would enjoy it. Trey had Air Force obligations so Aunt Beth joined the boys and me to check it out.


Thomas was excited about the train until he realized it wasn't going to move and he quickly tired of all the movie promotion and memorabilia on board. But we finally made our way through it and he did enjoy this little interactive touch screen exhibit that allowed you to explore Scrooge's home and work and other movie scenes (it's all computerized) in London.


We happened to be right behind a family we knew the whole time, so after we toured the train, Thomas had a ball running around the large field with the other little boy.


And every once in a while soapy bubbles would fly into the sky (supposedly "snow") and the kids liked trying to catch that.


Parker instead enjoyed his snack and watched from the sidelines.

(Parker wasn't feeling all that great that day...so we left not long after and took him home for a much-needed nap!)

Not sure if I'd do it again, but it was a different way to spend a Saturday morning!

A long goodbye to gingham

Goodbye sweet gingham.



I got a little misty-eyed as I looked at the sweet jon-jons and rompers that the weather has turned too cool to wear. And now our family is finished with them. Sigh.

When Thomas was a toddler, Trey was ready for him to leave the jon-jons and longalls in favor of more "boy clothes." Before he was two, I started dressing him in more pants and shirts. But with Parker, I'm just not ready! I've had to add to our short supply of longalls to get us through the winter. I'm not quite ready to rid his closet of gingham just yet!

My daddy wears combat boots

I was in Trey's office today (here at the house) and Parker came in and started talking about his Daddy's Air Force boots. Well, "talking" meaning he kept yelling "Boot! Boot! Boot!" He picked one up and dragged it over to me and kept yelling "Boot!" Then he did the same with the other. I figured he wanted to try them on. And he did.


He thought he was too cute.


But he couldn't quite figure out how to actually move in them. :)


They are tough shoes to fill, but I think Parker feels he is up to the challenge. :)

Fried okra and other ways Thomas makes me laugh

I have a few stories to share about Thomas. They made me laugh and I want to remember them. And now that he is officially 3 1/2, I'll have to come back soon with a more complete update. Until then, a few funny Thomas stories...


Fried Okra
Last week, while visiting my parents, Mom, the boys and I went to lunch at "Bubba's." Not the actual name of the restaurant, but those who know my family will know that Bubba is the owner and a dear family friend. We actually went into town on a different mission, but the shop was closed, so Mom instead suggested we go to Bubba's for lunch...particularly because Thomas could get his favorite...fried okra.

When the waitress came around to take our order, Thomas informed her that he wanted fried okra. Then I started to tell her what the boys would have and I when I said "Fried okra" (not even noticing if it was actually on the menu because it always is on Sundays when we usually go there), she said, "I'm sorry. We don't have fried okra. That's only on Sundays and occasionally as the vegetable of the day." Thomas looked puzzled. Then I told him they didn't have it and we'd have to get something else. Well, you would have thought that I had told him I was sending him away forever to work in a labor camp or something. His face went blank, his lips quivered, his bottom lip came out and then he started BAWLING. I mean, totally bawling.

The waitress looked panicked (and slightly shocked) and said, "I'll be right back!" and she ran away. We tried our best to calm Thomas but he was inconsolable. The waitress returned a few moments later to tell us that Bubba said he had a little bit of okra and he was more than happy to fry some up for Thomas. It still took Thomas a few minutes to fully recover, but by the time his okra arrived, he ate every last piece with no problem. Though when it arrived, I guess it was a little less breaded than usual and he said, "Hey, this okra is green!" Ha ha.

Thank goodness Bubba looks out for us as this is the second time he's had to cook up a batch just for Thomas! Bubba has always had a special spot for Thomas, so lucky us!

Now the next funny story...

Half-naked truck driver
This afternoon the boys and I were playing out in the front yard. Thomas has this large dump truck that he was pushing around the yard (he was pushing it so fast that he was running). His new pants are a tad large in the waist and I had not yet tightened the adjustable waistband (even though I had been asking him all day to let me do this). So as he was running, his pants kept sliding down to reveal the top of his underwear in the back. He'd pull them up and keep running.

Well, I guess at some point he was having too much fun running that he didn't notice his pants were down to his knees. He laughed about it and told me his pants were falling down. Then he proceeded to take them off. So there he is, running around our front yard, pushing his truck with nothing but a long sleeved shirt and his Lightning McQueen underwear. Noticing how funny I thought he was (even though I was pleading with him to put his pants back on), he decided to be really funny and announced he was taking his underwear off too. And he did. Then he continued to run all around the front yard in nothing but his long-sleeved t-shirt pushing that big ol' dump truck.

I was laughing so hard I was nearly crying...all the while pleading with him to put his clothes back on. I was practically laying on the ground laughing (I was on my knees but kept putting my head down on the ground to laugh), and Parker came over to me. He thought I was crying and got this very concerned look on his face and started crying.

So there we were, half-naked boy running rampant around the front yard while his mother is doubled over in laughter and his brother is sobbing. Oh the fun.

Yummy candy corn
Thomas' Nana gave him a Halloween present a few weeks ago that included a little plastic pumpkin with some candy corn in it. He ate a few here and there for a few days. Then he kind of forgot about it and it ended up on top of our dresser. I must confess I dipped in it a few times and there were only a few more left in there.

The other night I was bathing Parker and Thomas had not quite joined him. When he finally came in, I asked him what he had been doing he muttered something about candy corn. I asked him what he was talking about and he said he ate the candy corn. I asked him how he got to them and he said, "I pulled out the drawer and I climbed up there and I got 'em!" The thought of him standing there trying to figure out how to get up to the little pumpkin cracks me up. Though of course I told him that he should not be climbing on drawers or anything of that sort.

Anyway, and then he said, "There weren't many left, but they sure were yummy!"

Overdue visit

Thomas had fall break from school this past Friday and Monday, so I decided to take the boys up to my parents' house for a couple of nights last week. I realized I haven't been up there to spend the night in next to forever, and it was nice to be there. With Trey traveling so much, it's always nice to get a mid-week break (of sorts). I went a little picture crazy down at the lake, and if I try to narrate all of them, I will never make this post. So here they go...

The boys enjoyed some time down at the very big sandbox...


A couple of cute profiles...




Parker said "BOAT!" about a thousand times every time his eyes spotted one. He's in mid-word here...


ANd he's not one who is much for having his hands dirty, but he tried his best to remove the sand (just to get more on them the next moment):



"Ick!"



Thomas, on the other hand, doesn't mind the sand at all...







Looking at that picture makes me want to run out and have one of those black profile shadow things done! Do people still do those?

There was a little bit of playing together...










And everyone was happy when Papa got home...


Neither of my children are great veggie eaters. Parker won't eat pretty much any vegetable (except sweet potatoes...and I'm not sure that counts), and Thomas eats only a few (story about that to come). But pretty much every time he goes to Nannie's house, I hear a report that he ate a bunch of carrots and hummus (at home he will occasionally eat carrots with hummus, but there must be something about the way Nannie cuts her carrots!). So yeah, some children get a milk moustache, but my son, the one who will not drink milk, gets a hummus moustache.




The boy loves hummus. :)

The biggest excitement from this trip was Thomas' first time in a big boy bed there. He had been sleeping in the crib there because Nannie didn't have the side rails set up. But we were able to get them together and Thomas was most excited to sleep in a big boy bed there. Since his bed at home is a twin and the bed there is a queen, he had a LOT of extra room. When I went in to check on him and he was sound asleep, he almost looked lost in that big sea of a bed! He loved it though, and he slept great. I took a picture when I went to wake him the morning we left:


Thanks Nannie and Papa for a great mid-week visit. We should do it again soon...definitely more than twice a year!

First USC game

Two Saturdays ago, we took Thomas to his very first South Carolina football game (USC v. Kentucky). He had a wonderful time and it was so much fun seeing the game (and all the gameday happenings) through his eyes. We even stayed for the entire game!


Since I've been going to games for as long as I can remember, I was really excited to take him to his first game. Parker had a great time with his Nana and Aunt Sue-Sue, and we had a great time at the game!


Thomas was very eager to meet Cocky. I had shared some pictures with him in the days before the game so he knew what to expect and told him how Cocky magically comes out of a box at midfield before the game begins. He could not wait to see that and when he did, the look on his face was one of sheer joy. When Cocky came over to the cheerleader area in front of us during the second quarter, we walked down so Thomas could get a closer look.


Cocky didn't stay long, but Thomas stayed down there with the kids for awhile. I think he enjoyed watching the cheerleaders too.


Though what he probably liked most about the game was all the good stuff he got to eat. Trey got him a snowcone, but he preferred to eat his Aunt Beth's and my frozen lemonade. Oh yes, Aunt Beth went with us, too (the "yellow one," as Thomas says).


After the game we made the short drive to Mary Sue's house to pick up Parker and Thomas quickly and easy fell right to sleep!

(He had spilled his water all over his shirt).

I guess that's a sign of a good time!

And by the way, he went to his first Citadel game the weekend prior, but I wasn't there and I don't have any pictures! :) He loved that one too...especially the cannons!

17 months old!

Parker is 17 months old (as of 10/2). It's so hard to believe so much time has already passed.


On the day I took these pictures (last week, the day after he turned 17 months), he was just waking up from his nap and had dried applesauce all over his outfit (and he should have been wearing a shirt under that jon-jon, but oh well), but I knew if I didn't take the pictures then it wouldn't get done!



Each day, Parker's personality seems to be coming through more and more. He loves to laugh and play games--peek-a-boo and "chase!" are his favorites. For the most part, he is easy-going and tolerates his mother's coupon obsession (which leads to many grocery and drug store trips each week). He threw his first all-out fit at Publix today while we were in line and the cashier was meticulously studying each coupon and going back and forth to customer service with questions, but for the most part, he is a doll who can be easily soothed with food and drink.



He is very independent. He prefers to walk his own way, by himself...and then loves it when I chase him down! He likes to feed himself even if it means he wears a great deal of his food. He does love to eat and really is starting to love milk, too (Thomas still doesn't care for it much, so this is great!). He stopped nursing at the end of last month (a few weeks ago).

The best part of his independence is his ability to put himself to sleep. After going through the complete opposite with Thomas, Parker is so easy at bedtime and naptime I almost feel guilty sometimes. We just take him to his crib, tell him night-night and he leans in until we put him down and he lays there and goes to sleep. Every once in a while he will cry for a moment or two, but that is exceedlingly rare.

And the boy loves to sleep. I usually do not put him down for a morning nap so that he will take a longer nap (earlier) in the afternoon, but I could put him down after two hours of wakefulness each day and he'd gladly go to sleep. It reminds me of how he slept 22-23 hours a day as a newborn. The boy knows how to sleep. Most days he wakes around 7 am and goes down for a nap around 1 (he frequently will fall asleep in the car if we are driving around at about 11 am to 12 pm and take a short catnap...usually on the way to pick up Thomas from school). He goes to bed around 7:15-7:30.

Parker has really developed a love of books. He will bring me book after book and back up to my lap and tell me to "Deed! Deed!" (which is "read," of course). He loves his picture books (Priddy books) and any book with Elmo or cars/trucks/tractors/things-with-wheels.

His hair is still long and curly, but I still am not ready to have it cut!

I'm sure his hair will meet the scissors soon, but I'm in no rush. I find that when I dress him in something other than jon-jons, we don't get "that's a beautiful girl" comments, but I know it's getting a bit unruly. :)

Parker is a love, but he is also always in constant motion. He doesn't like to sit still for long. He wears me out and exhausts me, but he also is a lot of fun.


He is usually very sweet and loving, but when he wants something he will fuss and yell until he gets it. If we tell him "no," he will quickly pitch a fit...and if we "hurt his feelings" (like tell him "no" when he is trying to do something that is dangerous), he will cry like we just gave him away or something. He definitely does not like to have his feelings hurt (not that anyone does!).

Speaking of hurt, he's almost through with teething his first four molars. I feel like he's been getting them in forever (I think the first started popping through in July), but the last of the four is almost completely broken through the gum now (the top right one is fully through the gum but not fully down, and the top left one is halfway through the gum). He's definitely not fussing, crying out randomly during the night as much anymore and that makes everyone happy.

Generally he is very sweet and kind to his brother, too. But sometimes, if Thomas won't give him a toy he wants or something, he has popped Thomas on the head or something. In some ways it's bad, but it's also kind of funny too. When Thomas is not being nice to Parker, Parker has shown that he is capable of standing up for himself. But on the other hand, the times when Thomas is upset about something, Parker is the first to go over and try to give him a hug. It's the sweetest thing. Parker loves his big brother so much.

Verbally, he's not too different (I don't think) from where he was a month ago. I say that, but then again, he's constantly saying words that I didn't realize he knew. He loves to point out buses on the road ("Bah! Bah! Bah!") and airplanes in the sky "A! A! A!"). He has a ton of words and I can't begin to write them all down at this late hour. Many of them you might not recognize at first, but they are getting clearer. I am "Momma," Trey is "Daddy" and Thomas is either "Tahtee" or "Bahbee."

He's not much of a poser, but here were the rest of the best...






And today he was being a little goof. While I was cleaning up the kitchen around lunchtime, perhaps he was just tired, but he came in and plopped down on the floor...totally laid out on his back.





I cannot believe how close he is to being 1 1/2...which means he'll be closer to 2 than 1! I can't even think of it. I'm trying to enjoy every moment of his babyness, but I'm realizing every day (especially every time I have to pick up the heavy fella!) that he's really not much of a baby anymore. Please say it aint so!