Parker's first birthday party

Nearly a week ago, Parker turned one and on that day we celebrated his birthday with family, his godfather and his closest friend (Sarah Ellen). It was a beautiful day and Parker was just happy there were balloons!


Parker loves balloons! He tries to say "balloon" and says it so well that I'd have to call it one of the few words he "says."


I picked the invites first and they featured a monkey face (well, one peeking up from the bottom), and then the only/best option I could find for an outfit for Parker had monkeys on it, but it was orange gingham. As a lifetime Gamecock fan, it took me a bit of effort to get over my orange aversion, but I decided it was silly and Parker would look cute in orange regardless. So, orange, green and blue became the colors for the party!



I was so pleased with Publix for the cakes! I had planned to do little monkey cupcakes myself, but after Thomas' birthday two weeks prior, I decided to leave it to the pros. For Parker's cake, they really copied the monkey on the invite quite well!

It was a gorgeous day and first we enjoyed a yummy lunch outside...






While we ate, we put the "babies" (Parker, cousin Eliza and Sarah Ellen) in a little pool with balls. It worked well at entertaining them for a little while!


They seemed to enjoy it...


Though it did seem that at least one was trying to make a break for it at all times...


We had to keep Thomas out of there, but eventually he took to entertaining the crowd with his funny stories...


Eventually Parker decided he wanted to make a break for it and eat some cake...


When I first put him in the chair he started fussing (I think he wanted to be back with his buddies), so I gave him a couple balls to keep him happy. Well, then he held on to one of those things like it was his life support. I realized after he had been trying out the cake for a few minutes that he was still firmly holding one of them in his hand. Funny (you'll notice it in all of these first pics).


He was very, very unsure of this cake thing. He immediately stuck his finger in the monkey's eye (not sure what that's all about), and not long after getting a bit on his hands, he just wanted me to wipe off his hands. His brother tried to encourage him...


But he just couldn't figure out what he was supposed to do with it...

(Notice the dog hanging out, hoping for a few crumbs, I'm sure!)

Finally, since he was getting a tiny bit upset, I cut a small piece and encouraged him to eat it. I think I ended up just sticking it in his mouth a little bit. And there it stayed for a moment...


Then finally he seemed to get the hang of it...




And then he said, "Enough!"




At Thomas' first birthday, his cake was completely smashed and totally unrecognizable once he was finished with it. We had to take it away for fear that he would, in fact, eat the whole thing. Parker, on the other hand, tired rather quickly and we took it away so he'd stop fussing. And in the end, the cake was very much intact (relatively speaking, that is. See the recent post about Thomas on his third birthday for a picture of his first cake). :)


The big kids took their turn in the balls (that is Addie, Parker's godfather's daughter) since the Jeep wasn't working...


And then a sure sign that it's time for naps...babies with their thumbs/fingers in their mouths. Parker and his cousin, Eliza, compared fingers and curls...


The cousins enjoyed some time with their grandparents, but clearly looked ready for bed!.

A rare attempt at a family photo is probably better timed then sometime other than right before naptime. The end result is two smiley parents and two not-smiling kiddos.


After naptime (and after dinner, actually) we let Parker (with the help of Thomas) open his gifts...




Yes, after dinner.... Unfortunately I didn't realize until after I had been snapping pictures that he had a bit of black bean in this eyebrow...


He pulls himself to standing all the time now, but this was the first time he stood up in this direction like this:


He was kind of in a daze until he opened the drum... He loved that (and so did his brother! His parents...not so much. :-) ).






Thank you to everyone who made his first birthday such a special day. It's so hard to believe that a year has passed so very quickly. I feel so very blessed to have these two wonderful children and I cannot imagine not having them in my life.

On being three

When Thomas turned 3 I had every intention of stealing an idea from Taryn & Nancy and posting a list of his favorites. So I'm a few weeks late, but I still thought it would be fun.



Favorite color: Red?
Favorite food: Changes frequently. Currently probably fruit snacks (either Finding Nemo or John Deere; to him they are "fish fruit snacks" or "tractor fruit snacks." Or maybe it's french fries!
Favorite toy: anything with wheels (which he loves to remove, much to my chagrin!). Right now he loves two of Parker's new toys.
Favorite movie: He's never really watched a movie, but since he loves the Cars characters, I'll go with that one
Favorite TV show: Calliou (he's starting to love Handy Manny, too; and he also enjoys Zooboomafoo (or Zaboo, as he calls it). We try to limit his TV to an hour or so a day...pretty much just when I need to occupy him while I feed Parker to put him down for bed/nap.
Favorite school friend: Hmmm, Braxton? Maybe also Ella & Grace. But really, he talks about all of them quite a lot. It seems to change each week.
Favorite playgroup friend: Lily
Favorite person: His brother Parker! He always wants to be near him.


Favorite costume: He's not much of a dress-up kid, but he still likes to sport his dragon costume from two Halloweens ago
Favorite book: Changes weekly. Right now his faves are Horton Hears a Who (he calls it "the elephant book") and Library Lion
Favorite room in the house: Wherever everyone else is!
Favorite place to visit: Aquarium, or his grandparents' house (either set) where he can be spoiled and treated like a prince!
Favorite thing to do at school: play outside
Favorite thing to do outside: Play with water or ride his Jeep


Favorite animal: our dog, Sully
Favorite song: Jesus Loves the Little Children, ABCs
Favorite restaurants: Chick-fil-a, Moe's, Andolini's Pizza, Wild Wings

Taryn talked about the things Lily says that she doesn't want to correct (for the cuteness factor). The one word I love that Thomas says is what he calls the remote control. It is a "malote." And speaking of Lily, he still calls her "Yeelee." I'm sure there are other Thomas-isms that I love, but I am too tired to think of them at this moment. I'll have to try to dedicate a future entry to that.
We also had his three year well child visit a few weeks ago. Everything went great and the doctor thought he was right on track. She agreed with everyone else I've talked with, that it's best not to push Thomas too hard to potty train. He will be willing sooner. We just need to keep asking and keep encouraging. As for his measurements, they were:

Height: 38 inches (55th percentile)
Weight: 31 pounds (50th percentile)

I think the height measurement was a tad bit off. He didn't have his head straight (he was kind of looking down and I don't think he was standing up very straight). He's all torso though. He wears 3T and 4T tops and 2T bottoms (preferably with an adjustable waist that I can cinch to nearly the smallest option!).

So in summary, life is pretty good as a three year old. Our litle one has many favorites and not too many complaints. Life is good.

Third birthday party

I'm at the point where I'm so behind on blogging, that I feel almost overwhelmed about catching up. But I'm going to try! First, here's a little recap on Thomas' birthday party (yes it was more than two weeks ago!).

I don't have great pictures of the event (mainly because the lighting wasn't the best and the kids were all spread out and rarely in one place at the same time), but they will have to do!

There was a bit of a frog theme...the invite had a frog on it, inviting guest to jump on over to his "hoppy" birthday party at a local jump castle-type place. Here were some of the cupcakes I made (which could have been green elmo heads just as easily as they were "frogs"). :-)


And the party place...


At the party there was lots of jumping...




And sliding too...


Thomas kept sneaking out to go drive the arcade car game in the hallway...


Parker had a couple of friends to hang out with also...


After and hour of jumping, it was time for pizza and cake (or cupcakes, rather):


Thomas approved...


And all the kids had fun, I think:


A few kids didn't show up as we expected and a few canceled the day before, but in the end, I think it was the perfect number of kids there. A few were his classmates from school and a few were friends from elsewhere, but it was really just about right. It's great how things work out for the best!

And we said "no gifts," but most people didn't listen. So the next day after church we opened presents...


Parker thought the wrapping paper was great!


What his Daddy did to his hair, however, maybe not so great...


We are thankful for the family and friends who came to make Thomas' birthday party such a special day. I know he enjoyed it immensely and it would not have been so great without each of you!

Happy birthday Parker!

I have been in complete denial that Parker is already one! But whether I like it or not, May 2 is here and he is, in fact, one today! This year could not have gone by any faster and it makes me a little sad. Of course I enjoy watching my boys grow, but I also want to enjoy all of the baby time as much as I can!
















I'll come back later after I've enjoyed some much needed rest for a full monthly/year update, but for now I thought I'd drop off his collage (click on the picture to see it larger).












Parker had fun at his birthday party. He wasn't much for the cake, but he loves the balloons. I'm surprised I couldn't get a picture of him smiling with his beloved balloons!



Happy birthday Parker!