Be A Tourist: Hampton Plantation

We had a slow start to using our Be a Tourist in Your Own Town passes, which ended today.  We first used them for trips to the Fire Museum and the Children's Museum and the boys enjoyed those outings very much.  Then my brother and his family came into town from California and a big group of us decided to head out to McClellanville to check out Hampton Plantation (one of the many plantations around here that were built in the late 1700's and can claim that "George Washington slept here!") 


It was last the home of well-known SC author, Archibald Rutledge -- who is also buried on the grounds.



It was a long ride out there, but manageable and the boys had a great time.  First we had a picnic under the trees.  Some regulars (hunters who like to come out there to eat their lunch) warned us about a wild pig that might come up to say hello (and if it did, we were to just "be still!"), but thankfully we didn't have such an encounter.   Just a tasty lunch prepared by Nannie.



Thomas and Katherine do a great job of entertaining each other (and us!).


Then we headed over to the house to wait for the tour.  We first walked down to the water and the boys enjoyed exploring around and Thomas hammed it up with his cousin, Katherine.  In this photo I asked them both to give me their best pose (I think it's obvious who does and does not enjoy taking pictures!).


Meanwhile my brother Pete held my newest niece, Lauren, so she could watch the show.


And here's the rest of our group (Mom, Parker and Sheena):


Katherine loves the camera.  Everytime I'd pull it out, she'd start giving me her best smiles.


And it wasn't long before Thomas heard me praising Katherine and decided he could smile for the camera too (this is something he rarely likes to do -- without some serious bribery!).


And Parker...well, he's just Parker.  He always wants to be going the other direction and he wants to do it all by himself.


He is really getting to be quite a big boy (and he's not much for smiling for the camera either)!

Soon it was time for our house tour.  Parker wasn't much a fan for the guided tour so we had to keep stepping out, but it was a lovely home.  I entertained Parker with my phone and anything else to keep him happy.

Seriously, when did his hair get so blonde?!?!?



When we were in the house, Parker was far more intriqued by the ladybugs on the windows.



Afterwards, the big kids enjoyed a snack on the front steps and I couldn't help but think of how many children over how many years have sat in that same spot and enjoyed each other's company.  History is amazing.  I always wonder what it would be like if walls could truly talk!


Oh, and while we were in the house, Nannie stepped out with a slightly fussy Lauren.  And we found them, completely content, rocking on the front porch.


They tested out the joggling board and then just decided to run out some of their energy in the large front yard.  Parker checked out the joggling board with Nannie and realized he could still see the ladybugs on the windows.  He said "Buh! Buh!" nonstop for at least an hour.


More pictures...




Sweet Lauren, who I finally got to meet, but don't get to see nearly enough (of her or her big sister!):


Parker doing what he does best...going full speed!




It was a fun trip, and the boys both fell asleep on the way home.  This is the third January that we have enjoyed using these passes to see sites in town that we wouldn't normally see.  If only it was a bit warmer in january!

The little ring bearer...or not

Thomas attended his first wedding this weekend.  He was actually in the wedding as the ring bearer.  Trey's cousin, Patrick, married his long-time love, Dana, in a beautiful ceremony.  And while Thomas looked mighty cute, he was a bit nervous about his duties:


The flower girl had to call in sick, but another cousin (a seasoned professional at being a flower girl) graciously agreed to fill in.  We thought it was perfect because he adores this particular little girl (Mary D) and we figured if there was any chance he'd walk down the aisle, it would be with her.  (This was after he was not so willing to participate at the rehearsal).  He said he would do it.  He was excited about doing it.


And then he started to get tired.  He told me he wasn't going to do it, but I held out hope that he would.  As soon as I left him with Mary D and the bridesmaids (sounds like a band), he started crying.  I tried to console and encourage him, but he didn't want me to leave.  I finally managed to get him to agree to walk.  He took a few steps down the aisle with Mary D, then realized I was no longer behind him (i had rushed to get around the other side so I could be there for him at the front), he started crying for his Mommy.  We quickly abandoned the mission and we found a nice quiet spot on the far side of the church and enjoyed watching the beautiful ceremony from there.
 

Toward the end he said he wanted to go stand with Mary D and walk out of the church with her.  I told him he didn't have to, but if he wanted to, that was fine.   He eventually worked his way to the front and mulled around with the bridesmaids and Mary D, but when it was time to walk down the aisle, he slowly (and somewhat fighting back tears) found his way back to me.  Oh well.  Better luck next time.

It's a good thing the wedding wasn't about Thomas.  And the people who were at the center of it, Patrick and Dana, did everything they were supposed to do perfectly.  And now they are happily married, and that's what matters most.  So congrats to Dana and Patrick! 

At the reception Thomas was ready to kick up his heels.  He ran around and around and around that room.  Oh to have the energy of a three-year old!


He took off the jacket as we left the church and asked me to take off the vest as we arrived at the reception.  Whatever, I said....he's three.  :)


He couldn't wait for a piece of cake.  I thought it was so funny that as the newlywed couple went to cut the cake...guess who was right there watching up close?


Funny.

Thank you to Dana and Patrick for allowing Thomas to be a part of your special day.  May your lives be filled with love and laughter.  And I also must send out a huge thank you to Mary Reames and Mary Sue for coming up and watching Parker Friday evening and Saturday.  You guys are the best. I love Parker dearly, but he is just not at a stage in his life where he can appreciate these events. So I was very thankful I was able to enjoy everything and know that Parker was happily somewhere else! 

First a trim, now a haircut

I don't have a great "after" picture yet, but I must share that Parker had his second haircut on Thursday...his first significant one though. Here he was a few days before...

And here he was this morning (different angle...not a great shot, but for the first time in a long time he doesn't have hair down his neck.


Compared with last week (I'll blog later about what he is doing and where he is here):


And a rather awful picture of him from the front. Must get a better picture soon, but I wanted to share it with their Daddy who hasn't seen them in a week.


A trim would have been for me, but a "haircut" was for Parker's Daddy. :) It's not too awful, I guess. At least the curls are still there.

20 months old

So once again, I'm weeks behind on the monthly update.  I took a few pictures a couple weeks ago, but they were so dreadful I had hoped to try again.  But there just doesn't seem to be any time, so I'm going to go with what I"ve got before he is 21 months old.  :)  I'm going to back date this.

Anyway, on January 2, Parker turned 20 months old.  He is sweet, but he is wild, independent and laughs deviously when he is doing something he knows he shouldn't do!  He is in nearly constant motion, as evidenced in this picture.


He won't smile much for the camera, but he does have an adorable smile...if I do say so myself.  :)


Most of my attempted photos come out something like this:


You hate to say about your child that he is trouble, but I must affectionately say that my son is t-r-o-u-b-l-e.  He loves making mischief and he loves running the other way and making me chase him when I ask him to come to me.  In restaurants, if I'm so silly as to let him get out of his chair, he will run circles around the tables making me chase him to get him back.  I must say though, he laughs the whole time.  He apparently thinks he is quite funny. 

At his last doctor's visit (last week to check and make sure he didn't have a fifth ear infection in three months), he weighed 31 pounds (with his clothes and possibly wet diaper on).  He is solid, and because he tends to fight me when I'm trying to carry him from here to there sometimes, my biceps are getting quite a workout.  Who needs a gym membership when you have a Parker?  


His vocabulary is still wonderful, though he still "speaks" in one word sentences.  I couldn't even begin to list all of the words he says, and he also will make an attempt to say whatever I ask him to say.  He can, as the video I posted recently showed, say a little bit of his ABCs, and he tries to count to 10, but it comes out more like "1-2-5-6-9-10!"  He still calls Thomas "Poppy."

He's very inquisitive about the things around him.   Last week we were touring a local plantation and he became enamoured with the fleet of ladybugs living on the windows.  It was all he could talk about and he just wanted to keep watching them and saying "Buh!  Buh!" ("bug"). 


Parker, if you ever read this, I hope you know that I do say it with love when I say you are a troublemaker.  I feel confident that this is a sign not that you are going to be a future lawbreaker, but that you are destined to have a great sense of humor.  I know I have to remember to keep mine a lot lately.  :)


So yes, constant motion, wild, trouble are all words that describe Parker at 20 months.


But he is also sweet and loving. 


He loves to give and receive hugs.  Loves for you to hold him before he goes to bed.  He rests his head on your shoulder and sucks his thumb until he is ready to go into his crib.  He adores his big brother.  And when Thomas gets put in timeout, Parker goes and hugs him and sits down right next to him.  Parker loves our dog, Sully (whom he calls "Sussa") and always wants to give her food (milk bone dog biscuits or food from his own plate). 

He is still a great sleeper and all around he is a great baby/toddler.  He just wears me out a little.  ;-)  But I love him dearly and I'm extremely grateful that I can call him my son.

Parker's ABCs with a side of raisins

Parker is learning to say his ABCs and it's too cute. However, the best time to capture him in action is not A) while he has a mouthful of raisins, or B)when the memory card on my camera is just about full. So if you can disregard the raisins and the abrupt end, it's still cute.

I don't usually use Blogger to compose posts or upload videos...we'll see how I like it.

By the way, as noted in the previous post, I still am trying to catch up with blogging, but I am putting something like this in because it's relatively easy to post and a good something to share in the meantime. Hope you enjoy!

The state of things

Parker's giving me a little stink face about it:



Thomas fell asleep waiting for things to improve:

And frankly, I think it's making me a little crazy...or at least do some crazy things (and yes, my husband is going to strangle me for doing this to our son, much less taking a picture of it and sharing it!):

I am woefully behind in blogging. Tonight I finally had an opportunity to download pics off my camera and it became painfully obvious how much I have neglected. Just in the last month, I've not found time to share pics of Thomas' gymnastics performance, the great Lowry's Christmas parade, New Year's Eve...and going even further back, Thanksgiving! And even further back, I found Parker's playgroup pictures from MONTHS ago that I never shared.

I'm making it my new year's resolution to try to do better. But I make no promises. These kids consume me and my life. It's all I can do to take a shower every other day. Perhaps asking for several blogs a week is just too much. :)

Happy new year!

We had a pretty low-key, but lovely, New Year's Eve. We went out to dinner and then took the boys downtown to the family-friendly celebration at Marion Square. Not a good picture, but a picture of all of us for a change...


And me and my boys...quite a handful!


It was a beautiful night.






The boys enjoyed listening to a African dance choir. Parker was dancing along as best as he could. I tried to take a video, but ran out of memory. So you'll just have to take my word for it. It was cute.

Then we stopped to listen to a band as we were heading out. Parker and I stayed and listened, but Trey followed Thomas, who ran off to see some boys who were playing football. I watched from afar, worrying that the boys would be rude and dismissive to Thomas. They were much older (probably ages 9-12). Yet I must say I was so pleasantly surprised that they were not. One boy really took Thomas under his wing and kept making sure Thomas had a chance to catch and throw the ball. Thomas had a ball running around with them, even if his catching and throwing weren't too impressive. And that one little boy just touched my heart. They could have easily told him to get lost, but they didn't and it just warmed my heart. What a great start to the new year (or a wonderful end to the old!). I made sure (as did Trey) I went over and thanked the boys, especially that one, for being so kind to my little guy. I hope we, as parents, can do such a good job of raising our own boys.

Anyway, we didn't hang around too long before we decided it was time to get the boys to bed.




So another year has passed and I'm so thankful for all of the joys that came to us in 2009. The boys have grown by leaps and bounds in so many ways and I continuously feel blessed to be their mother. For as much as they exhaust me, they also bring me joy so great that words cannot possibly describe.

Christmas Part II

So after a quick lunch on Christmas morning, we packed up and headed up the road to Nana & Umpa's house.  We arrived around the same time as other family members and I can't remember if we opened gifts or ate first, but there were definitely many gifts to open!  It was a crazy scene and I'm still not quite sure who gave the boys the gifts they received, but they were all wonderful and well received!




Sometimes it's the smallest things that bring big smiles...


And Parker enjoyed his first candy cane...


Then it was time to relax...


The tree without all the gifts looked a little bare, but still beautiful...


Thomas' big gift from Nana & Umpa was his first real bike.  He was very excited about it and was so happy to ride it the day after Christmas (after riding it all around the house Christmas evening).




And then he and Parker switched rides (the ride-on was Parker's big gift)...


Later we went down to the "farm" and saw some other family members.  Thomas had a blast with his cousins.  He somehow convinced Mary D to push him around the house on the little car.  They must have had fun...


Meanwhile, Parker had his own fun, playing on the chairs at the table...


After a few nights there, we headed home where Thomas was excited to try out his new bike in our neighborhood.


And then he kind of crashed.  But not on the bike.

(with, fittingly enough, a book he received for Christmas about a boy who has TOO MANY TOYS!  Not that we know anything about that around here...especially post-Christmas!)