Christmas Eve

With my brother and his family in town from Canada (and my other brother and his family at my parents' house as well), we decided to attend the Christmas Eve service at my parents' church. It worked well because Parker was willing to stay in the nursery (for a change) because his cousins were there, and the church wasn't so crowded that we found it hard to enjoy the service. Afterward I planned to put the boys in their pajamas, quickly read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," and head on home. Unfortunately I forgot Thomas' pajamas, but he didn't mind too much.

As usual, they listened intently to the story...


It was the same "Holly Hobbie" version that my parents used to read to me and my brothers on Christmas Eve...


Then we quickly got in the car and headed home. Thomas and I talked briefly about the letter we needed to leave for Santa with his cookies, but then he fell asleep. When we got home I undressed him and put him in his pjs and he didn't stir at all. Parker, on the other hand, chatted the entire way home and didn't come close to falling asleep. So when we got home he helped me write Santa a note and then picked out the cookies to leave for him. One thing to mention, we were in a rush after we made the cookies and forgot to take them off the cookie sheet until they cooled. Oops. They wouldn't come off without breaking. I assured the boys that Santa would not mind. A cookie is still a cookie!


The letter said, "Dear Santa, Thomas says he loves you because you bring lots of presents. Parker says he hopes you brought him a green garbage truck. Hope you enjoy the cookies we made for you. Love, Thomas & Parker"

I sure hope Santa remembers that green garbage truck! :)

Oh, and after the boys were nestled all snug in their beds, I took a few moment to enjoy the Christmas tree.

I should say that the pictures are blurry due to technical difficulties we are having with our camera at the moment. But I wanted to post it nonetheless. And I should say that Thomas has never really had an opinion about Christmas decorations, but this year, he specifically requested "colorful lights." So we put away the white lights that are "normal" for Trey and myself, and granted Thomas his wish. He was happy, and that's all that matters (even though it was a bit odd for us!).



Merry Christmas!

Christmas cookies 2010

We have been quite busy in the days leading up to Christmas, but we managed to squeeze in some time for decorating Christmas cookies. Speaking of decorating, please pass no judgment on an interior decorating (or lack thereof) and such that you can see in these pictures. We are currently renting a home as we prepare to buy a house where we can stay for awhile. This older home has some character, but in some places it is in need of some serious updating!

Anyway, the boys were excited to decorate their cookies.




I think Thomas used nearly the entire bottle of green sprinkles on his first few cookies.



Parker had a bit more finesse with the sprinkles bottles, but the result was essentially the same!


Maybe those green sprinkles just came out too fast...


"Yes, Mommy, we used them ALL!"


Parker was clearly proud...or something like that...


The boys and their baking masterpieces!


Not all of those sprinkles made it into the oven, but they turned out perfectly good enough for Santa to enjoy on Christmas Eve!

Christmas card 2010

I took 344 pictures this year and it wasn't until about the 320th that they started being remotely Christmas card-worthy! I'm still waiting on the final cards to arrive, but here were the ones I liked even though they didn't make the final cut.

Part of me thinks this one would have been perfect...








This one was first runner up...

(Though Parker got a bit washed out in the editing, I think)





















Many thanks to my mother for letting me borrow her SLR camera. I could not have been remotely successful without it. :)

OH and for once I had good timing. Two days after I took these, Thomas fell and busted his chin. He's been sporting a bandaid on his chin ever since to cover up the Dermabond that hopefully is holding the gash together.

I wonder if there will ever be a day when taking the Christmas card photo will be easy?

A very full moon

On the way to a birthday party with Parker tonight, he noticed the full moon and said, "Look Mommy! It's a full moon!" I acknowledged it and he said, "It must have a lot of stuff...a lot of stuff in his belly."

I said, "Why? Because it's a 'full' moon?"

"Yes Mommy, it has a lot of stuff in there."

And I should admit that Parker still can't say two consonants together at the beginning of a word and anything that starts with "th" comes out as starting with a "d." For example, that last sentence actually sounded like, "Yes Mommy, it has a lot of 'tuff in dair." :-)

I love the way toddlers talk, and I love the way they think. Too cute.

Here we go again?

I took a picture today that I thought was worth sharing, and I figure it might be wise to make sure I document the diagnosis. Hopefully there won't be more, but I am not overly optimistic.

Parker (and Thomas) has had a cold most of the week. He has been coughing some (mostly at night for 20-30 minute intervals once or twice a night). He seemed generally okay though. This morning he woke up normally and seemed to be relatively fine until he refused most of breakfast and then got progressively clingier (is that a word?) and more and more pathetic as the morning went on. He only wanted me to hold him and he just kept whining "Mommy. Mommy." in this terribly sad and pathetic whimper. Trey had planned a morning out with the boys (I had a productive morning planned!) to include a trip to the fire museum and Parker didn't want to give that up.

Soon he had a fever and I knew he couldn't go. He was in terrible shape. He didn't even want me to put him down for a second if I wasn't holding him. Trey left with Thomas and I stayed so I could take Parker to the weekend peds care when they opened at 11. We left a little after 10:30 and he was asleep before we even got out of our neighborhood.

We got to the hospital (where the after-hours place is) and got checked in. It wasn't long after we started waiting that I looked down to this:


He was snoring and completely out. I can't tell you the last time he fell asleep in my lap (or sat completely still with me when we were waiting anywhere). There was no doubt that something was wrong. And in the end, the diagnosis was a left ear infection and fluid in both ears.

Last year he ended up with five ear infections (starting in late October/early November). By the time the fourth and fifth came around it was already spring and starting to get warmer and the doctors said that even though they usually refer to the ENT after four in that time period (for ear tubes), since it was starting to get warmer and out of "ear infection season," they said we could wait. So we did and he hasn't had one since (despite about 4-5 trips to the ped for a false alarm).

This time will be different. If he gets one more in the next two months...we are heading to the ENT. There is just no need in little man being so sick and pathetic!

Heaven

Tonight Thomas was stalling bedtime by telling me his room was "too spooky" (or as Parker would say, "too pooky"). I told him that there was nothing to fear. He said, "What if a spider comes and eats me?" I told him that he was too big for a spider to eat. Then I told him that he was safe because his Daddy & I protect him, and God watches over all of us and keeps us safe. I explained that if he gets scared, he can pray to God to keep him safe and not let him worry. Then our conversation went something like this:

T: How can God see me and hear me and know that I am talking to him?
M: God is always with us and watches over us and he always hears us when we talk to him.
T: Can God fly?
M: I guess so. He can be in Heaven and he can be on earth with us, so perhaps he can fly.
T: Yes, I think he can because Ms. Wynette couldn't fly (this was our neighbor who died in January) and he had to come get her and take her to Heaven.
M: Exactly.
T: When can I go to Heaven?
M: When you have lived a long life and it's time for you to go and be happy in Heaven.
T: Are there toys in Heaven?
M: Well, there is only happiness in Heaven, so I guess there are toys.
T: What if there are only grown-up toys?

It's so funny sometimes to listen to a little mind at work. :)

Two and a half years old!

I've been terrible about updates on Parker for the last six months. I could blame it on a million things, but it doesn't really matter and I hate that it is the case. I will not, however, let his 2 1/2 year old update pass me by!


Two and a half years?!? Where did the time go? I'm not even sure where to begin!

Parker is such an independent spirit. He loves hard and he plays hard and he loves to get in trouble! He thinks he is quite hilarious, especially when doing something he shouldn't do!

I think one of the first things he said was "by myself" and "do it self" and he still likes to do things without any assistance. He doesn't like that we force him to hold our hands in the parking lot and he is almost always telling us not to help him because he wants to do it all by himself.

His vocabulary and speech are very good. He talks quite a lot. His greatest problem with his speech is something that makes him sound completely adorable. He usually cannot pronounce two consonants together at the beginning of a word. So, for example, he'll say things like this, "I am going to sit here and look at this book, that is what I am going to do, I 'tink.'" He frequently uses the phrase, "I think" (or "I tink") at the end of a sentence. It cracks me up. And as I mentioned in the Halloween post, to him, things on Halloween were a bit "pooky" and "cary."

It's so interesting to see how differently your children can develop. Parker loves to sing songs, at home and in group settings (Thomas really did not (and still does not...he's too shy!)). Parker has been speaking very well for quite a long time. Thomas didn't develop the speech that Parker has for a bit longer, but he knew all of his numbers and letters before he was even two. Parker still hasn't quite mastered this. Parker's fine motor skills are very good. Thomas' were not quite as advanced, and I realize that even more when I watch Parker manipulate something so carefully and perfectly with his little fingers. I feel that both of them were and are completely within the range of where they should be, but it's so fascinating to see how differently they can both develop on this spectrum!

Parker is a mess. He is absolute trouble. I love him and he makes me laugh...but he is a handful! It's good that he is so cute! :-)




WHen I ask him to smile, he gives me this overly forced "cheese" face. It's a bit "pooky." ;-)








He is definitely still a thumb sucker...and as strong willed as he is, he probably will be until he's 16 (or however old he is when he decides he is too old for it!).


Now I'm remembering why I stopped taking these photos. He makes it all just a bit too hard! He's a stinker!


He is a mess, but I love him so. I love his joy. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I hear him sing a little tune. He sometimes talks in his sleep. He wakes up entirely too early, but usually he's happy and just keeps calling for me until I come get him. Sometimes we bring him into our bed (if the sun has yet to rise) and he is such a little cuddlebug. Thomas has never been much for this, but Parker likes to curl up and get as close to you as he can get.

As for eating, there's always room for improvement. He is not a big fan of meats or mealtime in general. He'd be perfectly happy to drink milk and eat fruit all day long. But he usually will eat a little bit of everything. Of course, what he likes today, he might hate tomorrow...but such is life with children!

He still naps for about 1.5 to two hours a day, sometimes more. It's funny, with Thomas we couldn't let him take a toy to bed or in his crib for naptime because he would play and play forever. Parker can take a toy, play with it for a few minutes and then go to sleep. As for sleeping in his crib, he would love to sleep in a bed, but in our current house, we're going to try to keep him in the crib for a bit longer (he is upstairs and the rest of us are downstairs). It seems to work for the most part (unless a storm comes...he hates, hates hates thunder). During a recent thunderstorm, we let him sleep in Thomas' room. We tried to put him in his pack n'play but ended up letting him try things out in Thomas' bed. It didn't work all that great (and he ended up being in there the next night), but we do hope they might be able to share a room together at some point.

He is a big, big boy. He is almost as tall (if not taller) than some of Thomas' friends, and he weighs just a few pounds less than Thomas. Everytime I take him somewhere that kids 2 and under get in free, I keep waiting for someone to question me, but it hasn't happened yet! He is one of the youngest children in his class at school, but he is far from being the smallest!

Speaking of school, he goes two mornings a week and seems to love it. He sometimes still cries at drop off, but his teacher says he calms down almost immediately after I leave and has a grand time while he is there. He almost always gets in the car singing a song and tells me he had "so much fun" at school.

Parker loves books and toys of all types (all toys with wheels), though he frequently is the one to bypass the toys and try to get into something else! Most of all, he loves to love. He tells me several times a day, "I love you SO MUCH, Mommy" and it just melts my heart. He will say that and then reach up and give me the sweetest little hug and kiss. He is such a sweetheart.



I feel so blessed to have two such sweet and loving boys. I don't know what I'd do without them, and I only wish time would slow down so I could enjoy these moments just a little bit more!