Celebrating Parker

We started Parker's birthday celebration with a yummy puffy pancake breakfast, which is one of the kids favorites.

After breakfast, Parker started begging to open his presents, but I told him he had to take a few family pictures first.  I knew that if we waited until his party, it would never happen and I didn't want to miss out on our annual birthday pictures.

After pictures, Parker finally got to open his presents- new sunglasses, books, pajamas, BeyBlades and a NEW BIKE!! (Now if we can just get him riding it without those training wheels!)

Birthday Letter from Daddy

Parker-Man,

     You are turning 6 today. How can you be growing so quickly? I remember when you entered this world 6 years ago. There you were, and me and your mommy had to take you home and care for you. We were pretty scared, but you know what? It was awesome! And now you are growing into such a big, young man.

 

     You can be a tough guy to raise sometimes (I think you got your stubbornness from your mom), but it is always a joy to watch you grow. Right now you love to play and watch baseball, and I am super excited to share that with you. I look forward to your tball games every week, and I count the days until I can watch you play. We get to play catch in the backyard a lot, and you are getting better and better at it every time we do it.

 

     As much as I am proud of you for being a good athlete, I am even more proud of what a good student you are. Watching you learn to read so quickly is great! You have picked it up quickly, and I am amazed to watch you read to me. And now you are starting to write, too. Keep it up, dude!

     I hope you have a fun birthday. I will look forward to celebrating many more with you in the future. You rock :) 

I love you Parker-Man!

Daddy

Six Years Old

Parker,
This time last year I couldn't believe you were turning five and now, just a short 365 days later, you are turning six!  I can't believe I have a six year old and an almost-first grader.  Every year, I am reminded how quickly the years go by!  I can't wait to celebrate with you today and hope you always know how my life changed for the better 6 years ago when you joined our family!  Here are some of the things I always want to remember about you at this stage in your life.

-You are one of the tallest kids in your class.  I can't wait to see your current weight/height at your checkup next week.  You are wearing size 6/7 shirts and have just moved into size 7 pants.  You are wearing a size 2 shoe.

-If you like what I serve, you can eat A LOT, but you are known for looking at something and saying "I don't like this" without even trying it.  Some of your favorite things to eat right now are spaghetti, chips and queso, tacos, cheese sandwiches, and most fruits.  Vegetables are still not your favorite although you are getting better about eating a few bites when I ask you to.

-Your favorite things to do are play baseball and play video games and you are passionate about both of them.  You are still playing tball and you have improved so much in all areas this season (running, hitting, throwing, catching).  You not only love playing baseball but watching it too.  Watching the Texas Rangers with Daddy is one of your favorite things to do this time of year.  You also love playing your video games after you finish your homework every day.  Your favorite games right now are Skylanders, Ratchet and Clank, Mario Kart, Rayman, and Super Mario Galaxy.   

-You are doing so well in school.  You are reading on a second grade level and recently qualified for the GT program.  You love Mrs. Pritchard and always look forward to going to school.  It's hard to believe that your first year of school is almost over.  Some of your best friends this year are Trip, Cole, Creed, and Matthew.

-You are a great sleeper but refuse to sleep in on the weekends.  You are always awake at 7 o'clock sharp on both Saturday and Sunday. I'm hoping that will change once summer comes!

-The two things that you still have not learned to do are ride your bike and tie your shoes.  I'm hoping this will be the year that you finally master both of these things!

-You love to draw and color and can spend hours working on a picture.  You recently won a coloring contest that was in the local newspaper and got a $25 gift card as a prize.

-You continue to be a great big brother and have a very unique bond with both Eden and Lily.  You and Eden are polar opposites and you are Lily are so much alike, so it's fun to see how different your relationships are with each of them.

It's fun for me to think back to the day you were born.  You changed our lives in so many ways that day and I never knew that I could love someone so unconditionally.  You have not always been easy to parent but I wouldn't change anything about you, especially when I see your passion coming through in everything you do.  You have become a wonderful little boy and we are so proud of you!  I can't wait to see what is in store for you as you start another year of life.  I'm so blessed to be your Mom! 

I love you to the moon and back! Mommy

Two and a Half

Lily Claire,

Today you are two and a half!  If I had to pick one word to describe you right now it would be "mess"!  You are a mess- sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a stinker way!  You are definitely in your terrible two's but there are many days that are terrific too.  You bring so much joy and laughter to our family! Here are some of the things I always want to remember about you:

In this picture, you had climbed up the ladder and were saying "DAH" (ta-da)!
 

-You are still a big girl.  You weigh about 34 lbs and are quite tall for your age.  You are wearing size 4T clothes and size 9 shoes.  At age 2 1/2, you are wearing the clothes that Eden wore when she was 3 1/2. 





-You are a pretty good eater and will usually try at least one bite of something new.  Even though you will eat most things, I have a hard time getting you to sit and actually eat for very long.  After a few bites, you are ready to be on the move again.  Sometimes I let you sit in my lap while you eat because I know you will eat more that way.  Some of your favorites are nuts, yogurt, fruit and anything sweet!

-You are a great sleeper but putting you to bed is one of my least favorite times of day.  Once you are asleep, we rarely hear from you until you wake up, but you have learned how to use every stall tactic ever invented in order to avoid going to bed.  I usually have to put you to bed crying and let you fall asleep on your own, which I hate.  I miss getting to snuggle with you and rock you before you fall asleep because I know it won't be long before you will be too big for me to do those things.  You still take one nap a day that lasts for about an hour and a half.

-Your favorite things to play with are your dolls.  You carry them around all the time and love to play "mommy" to them.  You also love to be outside and would swing all day long if I would push you.  As the third child, you usually end up playing with whatever Parker and Eden are playing with. 

-You can crawl in and out of your crib without any help but have yet to do it at bedtime.  We are just waiting for you to show up in our room in the middle of the night.  Until that happens, we are planning on keeping you in you crib for a little while longer.

-You talk all the time!  When Parker and Eden were 2 1/2, they were barely speaking in sentences.  You and I have full conversations!  There is pretty much nothing you can't say.  I love watching you talk because you often get so passionate about what you are saying that you start talking with your eyebrows.  It's one of my favorite things about you right now!

 -Passionate is another word I would use to describe you!  Just like Parker, you can be very passionate about the things you like and dislike.  Whether you are happy/excited or mad/frustrated, your passion always shines through.

You are blossoming into a beautiful little girl, Lily, and I love spending my days with you!  I love your smile, your kisses and your bear hugs and can't imagine our family without you!  I can't wait to see how you grow and change over the next six months.  I love you to the moon and back, Mommy   





Let's Go Rangers!

Last weekend, we attended our first Rangers game of the season.  Dr. Wedel was out of town and offered us his season tickets.  Parker and Eden were both excited when we told them where we were going, especially when I told them they could have nachos and cotton candy!

Parker enjoyed watching the game with Cory, but Eden lost interest once the cotton candy was gone so she ended up sitting in my lap for most of the game.

 

We had a great time (even though the Rangers lost) and are looking forward to watching many more baseball games this season!

I Want S'more!

Emily and Jon recently bought a pop up camper and decided to take it out to Cleburne State Park for their first campout after our family Easter celebration.  Because it was a Sunday and we had school the next day, we didn't get to join them for their overnight stay but we did go out and enjoy some s'mores with them before bedtime.  The kids were so excited about going!  Cory and I are not a very outdoorsy couple so the campsite, fire pit and eating s'mores were all new experiences for them. 

Our state park has a great playground, so while Jon finished getting the campsite ready, we took a short walk over to the playground and let the kids run out any energy they had left!   

After the kids played, we walked back and started making s'mores.  You can tell by the pictures that Parker and Eden weren't quite sure what to think about the fire!  It took them a few minutes to warm up to being that close to the open flames (pun intended!). 

They may not have liked the fire but they did like the s'mores!  I'm pretty sure we finished the first bag of marshmallows in record time!  After the last bite was eaten, we headed home for baths and bedtime.  The kids were so disappointed that we had to leave and wanted to stay the night with Addison and Aubrey.  Hopefully, we will be able to find another weekend to go camping with them again.

 

One of the highlights of the day was getting to hang out with Aunt MerMer's new boyfriend, Craig. (We had met him a few weeks earlier but had not spent an extended amount of time with him.)  He was great with the kids and they all enjoyed playing at the park with him.  We can't wait to hang out with him again soon!

Easter Sunday did not start off as we had planned but it ended up being one of the most fun family days that we have had in a while.  We could not have asked for better weather and, as always, the kids loved spending time with their cousins.  Lots of fun memories were made and I am so thankful for holidays with my family!   

Easter at Granna/Granstan's

After Lily's nap, we went to Granna/Granstan's house for our Easter family dinner and annual cousin Easter egg hunt.  Eden was feeling much better after her first dose of antibiotics and all three kids couldn't wait to play with Addison, Aubrey and Ryan. 

 

Since Emily/Jon and the kids were leaving to go camping after dinner, we decided do the egg hunt before we ate.  We made the kids stay inside while we hid the eggs in the backyard and then we let them go.  They all had 15 eggs to find with their name on them did a great job of only finding their eggs.

After all the eggs had been found, the kids opened them to discover they were all filled with money or gum... two of their favorite things! 

After a wonderful dinner, we headed out to the state park where Emily and Jon were setting up camp to enjoy some s'mores before bedtime.