Move on Back

Eden is so close to crawling. She can get up on her hands and knees, rock back and forth, and move BACKWARDS! This has caused her to get into some interesting places lately.

Popsicles

Parker and Addison ate their first popsicles today and it was quite an experience! They started off enjoying their new treat, but smiles quickly turned to tears as the hot sun melted the popsicles and made them fall off the stick and onto the ground. They were both crying hysterically by the time we finished. It may be awhile before we try popsicles again!

Fun with Family

A few days ago, my family hosted a pool party at my mom's house for some of my mom's cousins and their grandkids. There were 7 adults and 8 kids under the age of 6, and it went surprisingly smooth. No tantrums, no crying...just lots of food, swimming, and fun. The kids had so much fun together and it was great to see them playing with cousins that they had never met. I really enjoyed getting to visit with my cousin, Tracy, who lives in Fort Worth with her husband and 2 daughters. My younger sister babysits for her girls a lot, but I have never really had a chance to hang out with her. We have a lot in common and I hope we will be able to get the kids together for another playdate again soon.

The whole gang

Parker blowing bubbles into the birdbath

Parker and Ridge deciding on which snack to choose next

Eden (what else can I say!!)

A Day at the Lake

What did we do today to escape the hundred degree weather? We went out to the lake, of course! Our friends Heath and Stacey asked us to come out to their lake house for the afternoon so we decided to pack up the kids and see how they reacted to being on a boat. They both did great! We took Parker out last summer but he was still too little to ride on anything. This time, he was able to ride on the tube with us.

Because it was so hot, we didn't stay out too long, but Parker got to take two rides on the tube. The first ride was with me, Stacey, and Jewell (their little girl who is 2 months older than Parker) and the second ride was with Cory. We also spent some time letting the kids jump off the back of the boat into the water. Parker and Jewell both had a great time together. I can't wait until they are just a little bit older and we can start teaching them to wakeboard and water ski.

Parker in his new life jacket

Jewell and Eden in their sunhats

Jewell and Parker

Getting ready to ride with Daddy

Riding on tube with Mommy

Eden's new BFF

Eden has recently discovered my sister's dog, Brinkley. He is a rescue dog and is great around kids. Don't they make a cute pair!

Happy Anniversary!

Cory and I celebrated our 11th anniversary this past weekend! Oh, how quickly the years fly by! It seems like it was just yesterday that we were saying "I do". My parents offered to keep the kids for a night so we took them up on the offer. This is the first time that we have been gone from the kids overnight since Parker was born 2 years ago, and it was way overdue! It was so nice to get away from changing diapers, nursing, crying and whining and have some uninterrupted time together. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and was glad to come home on Sunday, but it was very refreshing to have some much needed time away.

We decided to head up to the Grapevine area and stay at the Gaylord Texan. (For all of you teachers out there...they have a $99 special for teachers this summer.) We first went to the Grapevine Mills mall for a little shopping before dinner. I told Cory before we got there that I wasn't going to shop for the kids at all, and I stayed true to my word. It was so nice getting to try on clothes without having to worry about Parker trying to crawl out of the dressing room or Eden needing to nurse.

We then went to dinner at The Melting Pot. It is a fondue restaurant that my sister recommended. The food was good and the dessert was incredible! I could have skipped the entire meal and gone straight to dessert! We will definitely have to go back there again.

At breakfast the next morning, I got to see a friend of mine from college who was also there celebrating her anniversary. She lives in Amarillo so I do not get to see her very often. It was great getting to visit with her and her husband.

The weekend was great... I just wish it could have been longer! As always, I had so much fun hanging out with Cory. He truly is my best friend and I can not imagine my life without him. We have been through a lot together in the past 11 years, some good and some not so good, but I always know that I can count on him to be right there by my side no matter what the situation. I can't wait to see what the next 11 years have in store for us.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful dads out there, especially Daddy, Grandaddy, and Papa. Parker and Eden are so lucky to have you in their lives! We hope you had a great day!

7 Months Old

Eden turns 7 months old today! The last few months have flown by and Eden is becoming such a big girl. She continues to be such a happy, content baby and I can't imagine our family without her. Here are just a few of this months highlights.

Eden is so close to learning to crawl. She can now get up on her hands and knees and rock. She's mastered the task of scooting backwards. Now she just needs to figure out how to go forward! (I have to add that I am not quite ready for the mobility stage and am hoping that it is a few more weeks before she figures it out!)

She loves to sit and play in her exersaucer. I also love this because it gives me a few minutes to get things done around the house!

She has started eating some vegetables in addition to the cereal we started feeding her last month. So far she has tried sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots and had loved all three. Next month we will try peas and green beans as well as some fruits.

Eden now has two teeth. She got her second tooth exactly one week after her first tooth appeared.

She loves to lay in her bed in the morning and "talk" to herself. It is rare for her to wake me up in the morning crying (which is the way Parker used to wake me up every morning at this age).

As of a few weeks ago, Eden had only rolled over a few times. This past week, she has started rolling over proficiently in both directions. She now rolls over as soon as I put her in bed and has started sleeping on her tummy.

This has been such a busy month for Eden. I can only imagine what the next month has in store for us!

Could someone help me out a little, please?

Eden has now learned how to put her paci in all by herself! She does not, however, manage to always get in it straight!

Big Jump

Parker has done a great job swimming this summer. He loves to jump in and does not care when his head goes under the water. This is a big improvement over last summer. Below is a video of him jumping in the pool to Cory. It is what Parker calls "big jump"!

One More Minute

Parker is a little behind on his speech development, but the one phrase he can say very clearly is "one more minute". He uses this phrase all of the time when he wants to keep doing something. He will hold up one finger and shake it three times as he says "one more minute". For example:

Me: "Parker, it is time to come inside now"

Parker: "One more minute."

OR

Me (when I am rocking him before bed): "Parker, it is time to get in bed now"

Parker: "One more minute"

Priceless. I will be so sad when he stops saying this.

Bad Hair Day

I do think that this is one of the worst cases of crazy bed hair that I have ever seen!

Washing the Car

Parker helped Cory wash my car last night. He was very thorough and made sure to go over every part several times, even the parts that Cory had already washed, rinsed, and dried. It's funny how things that only took a few minutes to accomplish suddenly take much longer when a two year old decides to help!

What did they just say???

Parker and Eden have started interacting a lot more with each other lately. Anytime we are in the car, they "talk" back and forth to each other. Eden usually starts the conversation with a babble and Parker responds with another babble. They will go back and forth for several minutes until they are both laughing. I can't wait until I can understand what they are saying to each other. Until then, it will remain a mystery to everyone but the two of them!

Girl's Night Out

This past Friday night, several of my college friends took Emily and I out for our birthday. We ate at Joe T. Garcia's and it was great to have a night off. Thanks to my friends for a great night out and thanks to Cory for keeping the kids so that I could get away for a while.

Happy Birthday Mommy and Aunt Emily

Today Emily and I celebrated our 32nd birthday. I could not have asked for a better day with my family. We did nothing out of the ordinary and it was perfect! I was excited when I found out that my birthday fell on a Thursday this year because that is Cory's day off, which meant I got to spend the whole day with him and the kids. We started off the morning with pancakes and presents. (Cory is worse than a 5 year old so I had already opened my present by 7:45 this morning!) We ran errands, ate brownies for lunch (thanks Emily M.), took naps, and then headed over to Mansfield for dinner with my sisters, brother-in-law and nieces. Dinner was great and the cake and ice cream were yummy. The kids had fun playing together and my niece Addison even learned how to say "Happy Birthday, Amy"! It was a great day and I was sad to see it end. I am looking forward to seeing what the next year has in store for me. Thanks to everyone who made me feel special today!

Opening presents (Notice that we are all still in our pajamas and I had just gotten out of the shower)

Our cake- Check out the writing on the cake.

Note: If you can write like a first grader, you too can get a job at Central Market decorating cakes!!!!

Happy Birthday Em! I feel so blessed that I get to share my birthday with you!

Toddler Time

Today we drove to Mansfield to spend the day with my sister and her 2 girls. We took the kids to the Mansfield Activity Center for Toddler Time. It was held in a gym that was filled with lots of things that the kids could play with, such as a bounce house, foam building blocks, and lots of balls for the kids to throw around. It was nice because it was only for 2-4 year olds so there were no big kids to intimidate them.

Parker had a great time! He started the morning screaming to get out of the bounce house, but after a little help from Aunt Emily, he ended up loving it! Parker is NOT a risk taker and I was so proud of him by the end because he went in and jumped all by himself.

After the bounce house, he played with balls and bounced on the trampoline for a while.

Then Parker and Addison played with the foam blocks while Eden and Aubrey hung out on the mats.

We had a great day and are so glad that Emily and her family live so close now. It's so fun watching our kids grow up together. We can't wait to go over and go to Toddler Time with them again soon.

Splish Splash!

Eden had her first big girl bath today. I was in a hurry and needed to get both kids bathed quickly. Eden has been sitting up by herself for almost 2 months now, so I felt comfortable letting her sit in the big tub with Parker. They both LOVED it! Parker kept saying "Yeah, Eden!" and had fun sharing his bath toys with her.

One funny thing that happened... when Eden gets excited, she flaps her arms like a bird. As I put her in the tub she got very excited and started flapping, which caused water to splash everywhere. Parker thought she was splashing just to have fun so he quickly started splashing too! By the end of the bath, there was water all over the floor and all over me! So much for what I thought would be a quick, in-and-out bath!

In the Driver's Seat

Parker has always had a love of anything with wheels (cars, trucks, trains, baby doll strollers!). He has also had a love for keys since he was old enough to hold things. Cory and I even got him his own set of keys that includes uncut keys from Walmart, his own key fob, and several cool keychains. Lately, he begs to "drive" everytime we go somewhere. He will sit in the driver's seat for as long as I let him being perfectly content to steer the wheel or push buttons. Today, he went and found his keys and tried for at least 30 minutes to start the car with his keys. He knows exactly where the key goes but can't figure out why it won't start my car!









He also loves to sit and "drive" his daddy's riding lawn mower. As soon as we go into the garage, he makes a beeline to the mower and sits on it while I put Eden in her carseat. The only way I can get him off of it is to tell him that he can drive it again when we get back home. I can only imagine what he will be like when he turns 16!

Eden's First Tooth

Eden cut her first tooth yesterday. I could see it underneath her gums for a few days, and it finally broke through yesterday morning. She made cutting teeth look so easy with very little fussiness or crankiness. One of the only ways I knew she was getting close was that any time I put her in the high chair, she would gnaw on the rim of the tray. Apparently, this was much more soothing on her sore gums than any of the fancy teethers I had been offering her. I hope the rest of her teeth come in this easy!

To stitch or not to stitch...

That was the question about 7 o'clock tonight.

I was getting Eden situated on her playmat in the living room when I heard a big THUD and instant crying. Parker cries easily so I didn't think much of it, but got up to go comfort him anyway. I immediately saw blood everywhere and called for Cory to come help me. Parker's entire face was covered with blood and it was also coming out of his mouth. We got him cleaned up and came to the conclusion that it was one gash on his forehead that was causing all of the bleeding. We finally got the bleeding to stop and thank goodness no stitches were needed.

I still have no idea how he fell. He wasn't running so he must have hit at just the right angle to make such a big gash. I have a feeling this will not be the last time we almost have to have stitches!