Happy Halloween

Here is one last picture of our BOOtiful girl on her first Halloween!!

Trick or Treat

This year for Halloween we decided to forgo all of the crowded Trunk or Treats at the local churches and just do some traditional trick or treating with friends. We met in an older neighborhood in town where our friend's grandfather lives and just went up and down the street until it got dark.

Parker was a doctor this year. When he was born, one of the ophthalmologists that Cory refers patients to sent Parker some monogrammed scrubs. He is just now big enough to wear them, so I thought they would make the perfect costume.

Eden was a ladybug. She looked very cute, but did not know what to do when we put her hood up. She just sat there frozen, so she only wore it for pictures.

Parker and Eden Family pic

Daddy with Parker and Eden

Mommy and Eden (I did not get a good picture with Parker)

Our friends have a little girl, Jewell, who is 2 months older than Parker. We have gone trick or treating with them every year since the kids were born. It is fun to see them interact more and more as they get older. Don't they look like they could be siblings with their blond hair and blue eyes?

Cory and I decided to take the wagon with us trick or treating this year, and it turned out to be a great idea. It was perfect for Eden, and Jewell enjoyed riding too.

Eden spent most of the evening in the wagon, but did get to get out and trick or treat a few times.

I was surprised at how outgoing Parker was tonight. I assumed he would be timid and make me go with him up to every house, but he didn't. He and Jewell would walk up by themselves, say "Trick or Treat" and then say thank you to the people handing out the candy as they walked away.
This picture was taken after the first house we went to. He could not believe that they had just given him a piece of candy and he was very excited. His favorite type of candy tonight was suckers. I think Parker went through about 5 different ones. He would be in the middle of eating one when he would get another one. He would hand the old one to Cory and tell him that he didn't want that one anymore. Then he would hand Cory the new sucker and ask him to open that one.
Despite the fact that Parker had way too much sugar in his system, he was completely worn out from all of the Halloween fun and went to bed without much of a fight. I would definitely say that our trick or treating experience was quite a success!

Let's Get This Party Started!

Yesterday was Parker's first official school party and all the parents were invited to attend. Luckily, they kept it short and simple.

They started off with cookies and juice in their classrooms. Parker's teacher had brought cookies with orange icing and by the end of the party, Parker's face and clothes were covered in it. Thank goodness for Spray 'N' Wash!
After snacks, all 5 classes moved into the auditorium for pictures and singing. The students were able to wear their costumes to school yesterday so it was fun to see all of the kids dressed up. The boys and girls teachers sang several songs together and then it was time to go home. Overall, I thought Parker's first school party was quite a success!

Parker and Cason, one of his classmates

(I went to high school with his mom, so it has been fun to see the boys in the same class together)
Jackson, my friend Emily's son
(We really wanted to get a picture of Parker and Jackson together, but it just wasn't going to happen!)

Parker in his doctor costume

911...What is Your Emergency?

Today my cell phone rang and I did not recognize the incoming number, but I went ahead and answered it anyway. This is the conversation that followed:

Me: Hello.

Caller: Hello. This is Cleburne 911. Someone from this number just called us. We are calling to make sure that everything is ok.

Me: Yes, everything is fine.

(While I'm saying this, I'm trying to figure out how on earth 911 got called and then it dawned on me...Eden!)

Me: Oh, no! I am so sorry. I think it was my 11 month old that called. She was playing with my phone and must have pushed the wrong buttons. I thought I had my phone locked, but she must have figured out how to unlock it. It's amazing what they can figure out at such a young age!

Caller: No problem. Are you sure everything is ok?

Me: Yes, thank you for calling to check. Goodbye.


After I hung up the phone, I looked at my phone. Apparently, when you lock my phone, there is still a button you can push to call emergency services. This is good to know...especially since I have been giving Eden my phone to play with on a daily basis for the past few days. Hopefully, the next time I let her play with my phone, we can avoid bothering the hard working 911 dispatchers and maybe just call China instead.

P-A-R-K-E-R

When Parker was an infant, my mom and I started singing his name to the "B-I-N-G-O" tune. We have continued to sing it to him and he now knows how to spell his name. For his first Christmas, I gave him a puzzle with the letters in his name and we sing his name song every time we put the puzzle together. He loves seeing his name on things and usually will initiate the song on his own any time he sees it written somewhere.

Recently, Parker has been given two more gifts with his name on them. They are two of the most unique things he has been given and he loves them both because they spell his name.

Aunt MerMer surprised him this afternoon with a personalized pillowcase. Each letter of his name has a Sesame Street character next to it. He is sleeping on it as we speak! Thanks Aunt MerMer!! Parker loves it!!

Parker's Grandma (Cory's mom) recently got back from vacation and brought Parker a train whose pieces spelled out his name. He plays with it all of the time, especially once we figured out that it fits on his train track. I know that he is going to get a lot of play time out of this wonderfully unique toy! Thanks so much Grandma for thinking of Parker on your trip!!!

Two and a Half

To my spirited, active, funny, athletic, stubborn, loveable, and energetic Parker:

You turn two and a half today!

What energy and spunk you bring to our family! Life would be so boring without you in our lives. You keep us on our toes and there is never a dull moment when you are around. Things are either really good or really not-so-good in your life...there is no in between. You are in "go" mode from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed. The only time you slow down is when you are sleeping. You bring a smile to my face and I am so thankful that God chose me to be your mom.
Parker, you are very active and had developed a love for any sport that uses a ball. You not only love to play with balls, but also enjoy watching sports on TV with daddy. You enjoy football, baseball, basketball, golf, and soccer. You play with balls at home, during Sunday school and at preschool. Everytime I pick you up from school on Thursdays, the preschool director always tells me how much you loved playing with the balls during your gym time. I have a feeling we will be very involved in team sports once you are old enough to participate in them.
You also love to read books with me or Granna. It sometimes takes us a while to get you interested, but once we start reading, it's hard to get you to stop. Some of your current favorites are Biscuit books, Spot books, Brown Bear Brown Bear, There's a Wocket in My Pocket, and your book of bible stories, which you call The Jesus Book.

Parker, you are very technologically savvy. You love to play games on the computer and can now control the computer mouse on your own. This has given you a lot of freedom because you can chose your own games and play them independently, without my help.

Your newest discovery is Granna's iPhone. You love to play games that she has downloaded on her phone, and as a result, can now identify all of your letters and numbers. You even know most of the letter sounds, too. As a reading teacher, I would love to take credit for you already knowing your alphabet, but unfortunately I have to give all of the credit to the computer and the iPhone!

You also love to watch TV. You are one of those kids who would literally watch TV all day long if I would let you. I really have to monitor how much TV you watch every day and often have to endure crying fits when I turn it off. Right now your favorites are Little Einsteins, The Wonder Pets and Dora the Explorer.

Your favorite food is "sabeghi", otherwise known as spaghetti. You can pack away two or sometimes even 3 helpings whenever I make it. You also love macaroni and cheese and any type of fruit, but will not touch vegetables. I continue to offer them to you and am hopeful that one day you will actually put one in your mouth and like it! You have recently learned that you have to eat whatever is offered to you and that mommy is not going to make something special just for you. That sometimes means that you eat only grapes for dinner (like last night!).
Parker, we worried for so long that you were never going to learn to talk, but over the past 3 months you have proven us wrong. You are learning new words and phrases every day and continue to amaze us with some of things you can now say. You have also started singing a lot over the past week. I am not always sure what song you are singing but it sure sounds sweet!
You continue to be a great sleeper and sleep around 12 hours at night as well as a 2 hour nap every afternoon. You turn into quite a cranky boy if you don't get enough sleep, so we keep you on a pretty rigid schedule. You currently sleep with 2 blankets (one blue and one striped), a stuffed Barney, a stuffed Cat in the Hat, and a bear lovey. You also sometimes try to sneak in other animals when I'm not looking.
You love to play outside and one of your favorite things to do is go throw rocks in the pond with daddy. You also love to ride your tricycle or play in the water table.
Parker, you are such a loveable boy (when you want to be!). You give great hugs and one of my favorite times of day is rocking and snuggling with you before I put you in bed at night. I can't believe you are already 2 1/2. You are growing so fast...I often just want to put a brick on your head and make you stay this age forever. I thank God for you every day and look forward to seeing what the next 6 months has in store for you. Thank you for letting me be your mommy. I love you so much!

How Do I Look?

Take a very close look at Eden's ears!!!

That's right! She got her ears pierced today!

After her nap this afternoon, she and I headed out for a little mommy/daughter time. I needed a shirt to wear for "Dress Like a Superhero Day" at school tomorrow, so we were off to Wal-Mart. We had no luck there, so we decided to try the mall.

One of the first (and only) stores when you enter the Cleburne mall is Claire's. I have gone back and forth on whether or not I was going to get Eden's ears pierced while she was still little or wait until she was old enough to decide for herself.

I was six years old when I get mine pierced, and it is one of my most vivid memories as a child. I can still remember crying after getting the first ear done and my mom telling me that I had to go through with the second one. I wouldn't say it is a good memory, but I wouldn't say it was a bad one either.

The girl working at Claire's today was so sweet. She answered all of my questions and said that when they are so little, it is usually harder on the moms, not the babies! The only bad thing was that because of Eden's age, she said it would be better to do it one ear at a time. I told her I would think about it and Eden and I left to go shopping for a superhero shirt.

When we finished shopping, I found myself back at Claire's. I quickly told the girl that we were going to do it before I could change my mind. She got everything ready, I held Eden tight so she couldn't move, and we pierced the first ear. Eden was PERFECT!!! She cried for a few seconds and as soon as I stood up and walked around she stopped.

The second ear was not as easy because the gun jammed and the earring backing did not go on. The girl couldn't get it on, so I finally had to push it on. Eden was such a trooper! Again, she cried for just a second. By the time we went to the register to pay, she was finished crying. I was so proud of her!

Because this was such a spur of the moment decision, her Daddy knew nothing about it. Needless to say, he was quite surprised when we got home!

Eden looks so cute in her new earrings! Even though she will not remember what happened today, it will always be one of those special mother/daughter memories that I will never forget.

It's Official!

Eden is walking!!! Watch out world, here she comes!!!

Eden started walking on her 11 month birthday and has drastically improved over the past two days. She still can not stand up from a sitting position so when she falls down she has to crawl over to a piece of furniture, stand up, and then she is on the move again! I am sure it won't be long before she will figure that out too.



(On a side note: Isn't Eden's sweater the cutest thing ever!! A friend of mine that I teach with got it for her at the end of last season. I was afraid when I got it out a few weeks ago that it was going to be too small, but when I put it on her today, it fit perfectly! I hope that we will get a lot of wear out of it...it is way too cute to sit in the closet!)

11 Months Old

The day before Parker turned 11 months old, I found out that I was pregnant with Eden. It is so hard to believe that the beautiful baby girl that was forming inside of me at that time is now turning 11 months old herself!

I am really having a hard time thinking about Eden turning a year old in just a few short weeks. I don't remember feeling this way when Parker turned one. Maybe because I was having such horrible morning all day sickness that I didn't have time to think about it.

Here's what Eden has been up to this month:

Eden's biggest accomplishment this month is that she has started taking some steps. She is not walking yet, but I don't think it will be long. You can often find her "walking" down the hall using the walls to help her balance. You can tell she really wants to walk, but she just can't quite put it all together yet. She is pretty consistently taking 3-5 steps at a time and has even made it up to 10 steps.Eden is still having a few eating issues. I wouldn't call her a picky eater, but she definitely wants to be in control of what goes in her mouth. She has not let me use a spoon to feed her all month. If she can't put it in her mouth, it's not going in there! I feel bad that she is missing out on things like yogurt or applesauce, but she just turns her head and refuses to open up anytime I offer something on a spoon. Hopefully she will learn how to manipulate the spoon herself very soon.

One funny thing about Eden is that one of the only things she will eat for breakfast is cheese toast. I am not sure why she likes it, but she eats cheese toast probably 5-6 mornings a week. We have offered pancakes, oatmeal, cereal, and cinnamon toast, but she just throws them on the floor. This past Sunday she ate half of a pancake and we were all amazed!
Eden continues to be a happy, easy going little girl. She is content to sit and play by herself but she loves to play with other people too. Every time I pick her up in the church nursery they always comment on how good or easy or happy she is. I always tell them that I know and that I don't take it for granted!


She is such a climber. She can now climb on and off chairs, steps, her tricycle, the dishwasher, and the fireplace as well as in and out of drawers. We have to always be watching her because she is always trying to get into something.



She still loves to give kisses and can now understand when you ask her for a kiss. She is usually not stingy with her kisses and will give them to anyone who asks.

Eden's naps have drastically improved this month. Her short 30-45 minute afternoon naps have consistently become 1 1/2 to 2 hour naps.

She still only has 3 teeth, two on bottom and one on top.

And finally, much to her mother's dismay, one of Eden's new favorite things to do is crawl over to the dog's water bowl and dump it all over herself and the floor. She is so quiet (we often call her our ninja) that we never hear her until it is too late. She LOVES water and wants to play in it all of the time. I try really hard not to get upset with her, but when we are changing outfits for the third or fourth time in one day, it is sometimes quite frustrating!

What a fun and exciting month it has been! I am looking forward to the next few weeks as Eden completes the first year of her life. I am sure the upcoming month will be full of emotions for me as I watch my baby turn into a toddler!

Pumpkin Patch

Last week, we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. One of the local churches has a huge pumpkin patch on their front lawn and they encourage families to come and enjoy taking pictures with all of the pumpkins. We went last year and decided to go again this year.

My sister Emily and her girls were in town visiting so we dressed them all up in their cute matching outfits and headed out. Unfortunately the weather was very hot and humid, but there was not another day that we would all be together so we put on lots of deodorant and hoped for the best.

Parker and Addison both enjoyed the pumpkins more than they did last year, but they are both in a stage where they do not want their pictures taken. We tried to bribe them with marshmallows but were only able to get a few good ones. Neither Emily or I were able to get a good picture of both of our kids together and we were fairly successful at getting a good picture of all 4 kids. Towards the end, we were all hot and cranky, but overall, I thought it was a pretty good outing.

Eden was as sweet as ever. She sat quietly while we snapped and snapped pictures and never got fussy until the very end.

Parker enjoyed running around and pulling the wagon, just like last year. Some things never change. This is about the only really good picture I got of him.Picking out a pumpkin
Pulling the wagon

This is the best picture I got of Parker and Eden together.

Parker and Addison walking through the pumpkinsAll 4 cousins- notice that we had to put them in a wagon to get a picture. Without the wagon, the older two would just get up and walk off!

Can you tell which two are our spirited, high maintenance children and which two are our easy going, laid back children?!?!?!?!? (Look at Eden's face...I think she is thinking, "Would you two crybabies just get over it!")