Happy Birthday Aunt MerMer!

Today my little sister, Meredith, celebrates her 28th birthday. She is such a great sister and friend to me and a wonderful aunt to Parker and Eden. She is funny, passionate, and has a knack for getting screaming babies to fall asleep. (We call her "The Baby Whisperer" in our family!) She will be finshed with nursing school in December and will make such a great pediatric nurse when she starts working. I am so thankful that she lives close and enjoy hanging out with her whenever her busy schedule allows. We hope you have a wonderful birthday Aunt MerMer!

Eden and Meredith
Parker loves his Aunt MerMer (especially when she teaches him fun new words like bobo!)

A Day Out

Yesterday we went to Fort Worth to get Parker's hair cut. When Parker was younger, haircuts were easy. He didn't love them, but he tolerated them. The last few haircuts have not been as easy. He has cried, quite loudly, during the entire cut. Being the embarrassed creative mom that I am, I came up with a new plan for this month's haircut. I decided to take our DVD player and let The Little Einsteins help me out. We sat Parker in the chair, pushed play, and voila!- he sat there without making a peep during the entire haircut. My hairdresser was able to do a much better job because he was not crying and trying to push her hands away. She was actually able to take her time and give him a much needed trim, especially around his ears. I forgot to take a picture of him during the haircut, but here is a picture of him after. Doesn't he look handsome?!!!


After Parker's haircut, we met Granna, Emily, Addison and Aubrey at Central Market for lunch. We also ran into a good family friend at the hair salon who joined us for lunch. The food at Central Market is all so good and is always so hard to choose just one thing to eat. It is a good thing that I don't live closer, because I would probably be there every day for lunch trying something different!


It wasn't too hot so we sat outside and let the kids play on the playground before and after they ate.

We couldn't leave Central Market without a trip to the bulk candy area! I was good and only got 2 things- chocolate peanut butter maltballs and yogurt covered pretzels- YUM! (I would have gotten more but they were out of the other things that I love!)

We had a fun day getting to hang out with family and friends! I always look forward to getting out of the house for a while and Parker's haircut gave us just the excuse to do that!

Ranger Game

Cory and I love going to Ranger games in the summer. One of the biggest differences in us is the way we enjoy the game. Cory actually watches the game. He sees every pitch and can tell you exactly what is happening at any moment during the game. I spend most of my time "people watching" and eating rather than watching what is happening on the field. One day, I am going to be hit in the head by a foul ball. Maybe then I will start paying attention to the game.

Last night, Cory and I had the chance to go to the Ranger game with the other optometrists in his practice. One of the opthamologists that they refer patients to had rented a suite and invited us. I have been in a suite only one time before and was excited to go again. The best part of being in a suite is that you have a choice- you can either go outside and watch the game in the heat or you can stay inside and watch the game on the TVs in the air conditioning.

The other great thing about the suite is the food! Last night the doctors had ordered an assortment of Mexican foods to sample- fajitas, tamales, cheese dip, guacamole. (Can you tell I liked the food!) There were also cookies and brownies and all the drinks you wanted. Definitely much more fancy than the hot dog I got at the last game I went to.

We had a great time visiting with all of the doctors and their wives. It is not often that we all get together at the same time. The weather really wasn't that hot so I actually "watched" most of the game outside. The suite was right behind home plate so we had a great view. And the best part was that the Rangers beat the Red Sox 4-1.

View of the field from our suite

8 Months Old

I can't believe another month has come and gone. Eden continues to be a fun, happy, content baby. She is always on the move and can now pull up on things. Her favorite things to pull up on are the train table and fireplace. I am sure it won't be long before she is cruising too.

Eden is constantly putting things in her mouth. I know that this is not an uncommon thing for an 8 month old, but it still amazes me how quickly she can get something in her mouth before I can get to her. Her favorite things to chew on are the remote control and shoes.

Eden loves to play in her johnny jump-up. I like it too because I can put her in it while I am in the shower or when I am cooking dinner and I don't have to worry about her crawling and getting into things that she shouldn't be in!

Eden continues to try new foods. This month we have added avacados, peas, green beans, peaches, pears, and applesause to our repertoire. She liked all of these new foods but is still not a huge fan of eating baby food. It is a challenge to get her to eat more than a few bites at a time. Her two favorites continue to be sweet potatoes and oatmeal. I can usually get her to eat more by mixing the fruits and vegetables with her oatmeal.

This has been a fun month for us as we have watched Eden learn to crawl and become much more independent. I am anxious to see what surprises she has in store for us next month!

Eden with Addison
Eden and Mommy

Rhone Reunion

Today was the annual Rhone Reunion. It is held every July in Bowie, Texas for members of my dad's family. My grandfather was one of 8 kids and my dad is the oldest of 8 kids, so there are a lot of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. on that side of the family. My "Grammy" is my only living grandparent and she celebrated her 90th birthday this past year. She is not in great health so I always try to take the opportunity to go see her whenever I can. Parker and Eden have been to see Grammy a couple of times, but during the school year, it is hard to find time to visit often. (The 2 hour drive with two small kids doesn't help either!)


After another low key week at home, I decided this morning that I would pack up the kids and head to Bowie to "reunion" with some of my relatives. The 2 hour trip there was easy thanks to our portable DVD player and The Little Einsteins. We had a nice lunch and I enjoyed getting to visit with several of my aunts and cousins. There is a park next to the community center that Parker really enjoyed playing on. Thanks to the cool front that came in a couple of days ago, the temperature was a chilly 95 degrees, which made playing at the park almost bearable!! Ha!Ha!

The trip home went well too. My mom rode back to Cleburne with me and both kids slept most of the way home. In fact, Eden literally fell asleep before we got out of the parking lot.

I am so glad I decided to go today. (I had been going back and forth all week on whether or not to take the kids on such a long drive for such a short amount of time.) It is always nice to catch up on the lives of family members that I don't see very often. I am also glad I got another chance to see Grammy and I think she really enjoyed getting to see Parker and Eden.

Parker, Mommy, Eden, Grandaddy & Grammy

(Sorry about the quality of the pic- it was the best we could get with an uncooperative 2 year old and an equally uncooperative 90 year old!!)

Hawaiian Falls

My sister's church kicked off their VBS this year by having a church service at a local Mansfield water park called Hawaiian Falls. After the service, the members and their guests had private access to the park rides until it opened to the public at noon. We decided to go and see what Parker thought about it. My mom stayed home with Eden so we did not have to get her out in the heat. (Thanks, Mom!)

Parker was still too small for most of the slides, so we started off our day in the children's area. He really enjoyed the smallest slide and went up and down it several times. I decided to try a bigger slide and see if he liked it too. However, as soon as we got ready to slide, a huge bucket of water dumped on us and scared him. Needless to say, we were done in the children's area. No more slides, even the small one he had enjoyed just a few minutes prior.

Parker and Addison sliding together

We then took a (not so) relaxing ride on the Lazy River. Parker sat in my lap on the inner tube and then wanted in the water with Cory. Then back in my lap and then back in the water, and so forth and so on. We exited the Lazy River halfway through!

Next up was the wave pool. Parker enjoyed this quite a bit because the water was not too deep and he could play and splash on his own without any fear. While he and Addison played, Emily and I took turns watching the kids so that we could go on some of the big slides ourselves. I don't think that in all 17 years that Cory and I have been dating/married we have ever gone to a water park. It was fun getting to enjoy the slides together. They even had tandem inner tubes so we got to go down some of the slides at the same time (which actually makes you go faster).

We tried to get as much of our riding/playing done before lunch because we knew that it would get much more crowded after it opened up to the public. It was so nice because the lines were either very short or nonexistent so we got to go down the slides several times without much of a wait.

Enjoying lunch (especially the Cheetos)!

After lunch, Parker discovered some little fountains on the ground. He spent the next 30 minutes running and jumping in and out of the fountains. It was definitely his favorite thing all day, which is very funny to me because he does not like the sprinklers at home.

We tried the children's area one more time, but Parker was getting tired and wanted no part of it. So we decided to go down a few more slides ourselves before leaving. Cory and Jon enjoyed racing down one of them as did Emily and I. It's funny how being at a water park can make you feel like a kid again. We had such a great time and are already looking forward to going back with them next year.

Cory & Jon racing down the slide

Parker fell asleep before we even got out of the parking lot!

A Low Key Week

I know I haven't posted in several days. It's not because we have been so busy that I haven't had time. We have just had a low key week (mostly) hanging out at home and trying to stay out of the horrible hundred degree heat.

We did go over to Mansfield on Wednesday. We were going to go to Toddler Time at the MAC, but when we got there we were told that we could only go if we bought a year membership to the MAC. The membership fee for a family is only $35 per year, which is a GREAT deal if we lived in the area or if I wasn't going back to work in a few weeks. But I did not feel like it would be worth it this late in the summer, so Emily and I decided to take the kids to McDonalds instead. Forget about Parker being the only 2 year old who doesn't know what McDonalds is! He is now a pro at the Golden Arches- he loves his chicken nuggets and has learned to go down the slides all by himself! It only took Emily and I each taking him down the slide before he attempted it on his own. (Please do not laugh as you visualize 2 32-year old mothers crawling through tunnels and shoving themselves down a slide built for a small child!) The things you will do for your children!

The rest of the week was spent hanging around the house. Here are just a few of this weeks highlights:

1) Eden continues to get faster and more efficient at crawling. She has also learned how to sit up from a laying down position and I even caught her pulling up on the couch this afternoon. She can now find all of the electrical cords behind the TV as well as the dog's food and water bowls. Oh, the joys of infant mobility!

2) We have spent a lot of time in the playroom this week, playing with cars, reading books, and putting puzzles together. Below you will first see Parker working on his puzzle and then Eden working on hers. They had 2 very different puzzle working methods, but both seemed to be quite effective (and age appropriate)!!!

3) Eden learned to drive this week! Watch out world, here she comes!!

4) Parker decided this morning that we needed to stockpile the toys just in case of an emergency! He spent a good 15 minutes collecting many small toys and bringing them into the bathroom where Eden sat playing. I'm not sure what kind of natural disaster he is preparing for...maybe another earthquake or two! Whatever is it, we will have our toys ready when the time comes!

5) Addison and Aubrey came over to play today and we finally ventured out into the heat for a little while. We set up the pool and let the two big kids cool off in the water. (Please ignore the fact that Parker is only wearing a swim diaper...we realized as we were getting dressed that all of his swimsuits are over at Granna's house!) As always, they had a great time playing together and we are so glad they live close enough to come over and play.

We hope that you all had a good week and are successfully staying cool in this hot weather. Have a great weekend!