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.