Swell's Stuff

Keep on Keepin' On

2012-02-07T20:47:00.000-05:00

So, I have been bad about blogging. I don’t think anyone has cared. But, today (at work, which gives you an indication of how bored I sometimes get) I decided to do a blog about this weight loss thing that I’m doing.

Sometime at the beginning of the school year, my family embarked on a Biggest Loser kind of thing. I did alright. I lost around 8 pounds. (Over the course of a month or so). Then, I stopped for a bit and really hopped back on the bandwagon sometime in November. I don’t really even remember when I actually started, but I got intrigued by the Couch to 5K thing that a friend of mine had started. (Woot! Thanks, Cathy!) So, I decided to give it a go.

Here I am in November. It looks like my face is swollen I was so fat. Why didn’t someone tell me?

Crap. It was it hard. All it wanted me to do at first was run for a minute, then walk for a minute and a half. Then repeat this 5 times. I thought I was going to die. I was, apparently, really really out of shape. I started to freak out. I looked ahead a few days in the program. What? Run for 3 minutes straight? I can’t do that. I won’t ever be able to do that. But, I kept plugging. Some runs were really, really, really hard. Around Christmas time, I was up to running for 20 minutes straight! Hot dang! The program actually works. I stayed on that level for a few weeks, through the holiday season. And, for Christmas, Alicia got me an iPhone so I could install the running app as well as a calorie counter on MY phone instead of stealing hers every night.

I was stoked. I set up a running playlist and started anew after the New Year. (I had gained 5 pounds over Christmas and was completely mad at myself.) But, I’ve kept going. Over MLK day weekend I completed the final day of the Couch to 5K program – run for 35 minutes straight with a 5 minute walk on either end. I did it! And, I’ve done it several times since then. I am also counting calories like a fiend.

Now, it’s getting harder. I’m getting really bored with running outside. We are super busy which makes me more tired at 8:30 when I should be running. (Or not even home at all!) My weight loss has slowed down. It wasn’t unusual before to lose a pound or two a day. Now, I’m at a pound (or if I’m lucky) two a week. I’m not seeing as rapid of results and that makes my motivation wane.

But, I’m going to keep on keepin’ on. Cupcakes, chips, bread (the root of ALL evil) beware. You may win a battle or two, but I will win the war.

Here I am (stellar pic, I know, but it’s what I could do) today.

Ideally, I would like to lose 40 more pounds – putting me back to what I weighed in college. Realistically, I think I think I’m looking more at 25. We will see. I’m just going to keep going.

Oh – and total weight loss since August – 44 pounds

Total weight loss since November – 36 pounds

Obligatory Stats Post

2011-09-19T21:20:00.002-04:00

Although I don't know that now that Parker is 3, this is so obligatory anymore. Eh – at least I will have it written down somewhere so I won’t forget.

Parker had her 3 year appointment on Friday. She did a great job, for the first time in quite a while. Ever since she had all that testing done when she was little, she has been freaked out about the doctor. Maybe that is all behind us. I think it helped that there weren’t any vaccines!

Anyway. Our “little” girl is 39inches tall and weighs 36 pounds with her clothes on. That puts her in the 88^th percentile for height and 89^th for weight (Uh-oh! Weight has now surpassed height! I’m gonna go ahead and blame her jeans!) She is also in the 75^th percentile for BMI, which I don’t really understand. The doctor said at P’s age, she just wants them under the 90^th percentile, but what I don’t get is how it is figured. If she’s 88^th and 89^th for height and weight, wouldn’t that translate to approximately the same percentile for BMI? I dunno. It’s confusing, but the doctor says she is good. Here’s hoping it stays that way!

Gettin' Artsy

2011-08-29T21:08:00.000-04:00

I'm not good at taking "artistic" photos. Really, I don't even try, but sometimes I get kinda lucky. I think these are pretty cool. It's the same photo (duh), but I can't decide whether I like it in color with all the light in her hair or in the sepia tones. What do you think? (This will be a test to see if anyone actually reads this pitiful excuse for a blog!)

Cheesin' at the top of the slide

2011-06-28T08:15:00.000-04:00

I think the title sums it up.

Mommy and Parker

Grandma Booga and Parker

Mom, Parker and Grandma Booga - 3 generations of sliders!

NOT about Parker

2011-06-28T07:56:00.000-04:00

Alicia and I were lucky enough to receive a free overnight stay at a Bed and Breakfast in Madison, IN from a friend who wasn't going to be able to use it. (Thanks, Rachael!) So, a couple weekends ago, we dropped Parker off and headed south. Heading south of Indy always makes me a little nervous, but we were on an adventure! We decided to go to Madison via Columbus and grabbed some ice cream at whatever that famous ice cream shop there is, then continued on. We arrived in Madison checked into the B and B, which was very nice, but VERY small - think staying overnight at a friend's house and headed downtown to walk around a bit before dinner. The downtown was area was cute-ish. We sat by the river for a few minutes and then wandered around the shops. We found a cute chocolate shop (and of course bought some) and then wandered into a really cool locally owned bookstore. We had to cut our time there short because we had a reservation for dinner.

Now, dinner - I feel like this is a story unto itself. When planning this trip, we did a good deal of research into where in Madison a person should eat. All signs pointed to this particular restaurant. Now, perhaps I have watched WAY too many episodes of Kitchen Nightmares, but I was definitely channeling Gordon Ramsey during this meal. So, here goes. We walked in and the entire restaurant is pink with painted on "exposed brick" on the drywalled wall. The wall that is actually made of brick is simply painted. This made me laugh to begin with. Then, the menu had food from all over the map. Italian, Greek, French. I was quite skeptical. Gordon always says that you need to pick a kind of food and go with it otherwise your customers get confused. So, we ordered a hummus appetizer. It was delicious! I was excited. This was going to be a decent meal after all. Then, came our salads. It's really hard to screw up a salad, but I couldn't even finish it. I don't know exactly what was wrong with it - it was just a plate of lettuce with one tomato and one cucumber - but I just couldn't. Maybe it was the dressing. I dunno. Things just went downhill from there. I ordered the gnocchi and Alicia ordered some kind of fish. My dish was served in a bowl because it was closer to a soup than anything. The gnocchi were completely submerged in a vat of olive oil sauce. The gnocchi themselves were completely mushy (think the texture of box mashed potatoes) and had absolutely no taste. It was gross. I'm normally not super critical about food, but I couldn't even eat more than 2. Alicia's fish was also sitting in this weird olive oil sauce. It was all so disgusting. We were laughing hysterically. Honestly, it was the best time I have had at dinner in a long time, although we only really ate the appetizer. We felt bad not eating any of our food so we pretended that we were super full and had it boxed - then threw them out right outside the restaurant. We didn't stop laughing for a very long time.

The rest of the trip was really very uneventful. We returned to the bookstore and bought a book and some handmade earrings (for me, not Alicia) and then decided to go to the movies and see Pirates 4. We also ate ALL the chocolate that we bought during the movie. The movie was also terrible, but the company and the chocolate were good! :)

The next morning we ate breakfast at the B&B while watching a storm roll in and then went on a tour of the winery (complete with tasting). It was interesting - the whole operation takes place in a barn. It's a real Mom and Pop operation - they employ one person part time (and then several people to pick the grapes seasonally.) We bought some wine and headed out.

We decided to stop in Franklin, IN on the way home. After all, we were livin' it up in southern Indiana. Franklin is like every tourist town in the midwest. It has fudge shoppes, taffy shoppes, ice cream shoppes and more crap than anyone would know what to do with. However, we did find an amazing local brewery/restaurant. The food was great and I think we both would make the trek there again just to eat their nachos - which were the best nachos I have ever eaten. Of course, it starts pouring while we are eating and we are not anywhere near our car. We decide that we are going to be soaked anyway, so we meander back through the town in the sheets of rain - stopping into several shoppes along the way as a break from the rain and for entertainment purposes. We were laughing so hard (and probably being pretty obnoxious, but it was fun!)

Now we are in our normal summer-ness of traveling and family. More posts to come!

Pictures from the zoo, zoo, zoo!

2011-06-27T16:15:00.000-04:00

We made a quick trip to the zoo. Here are some cute pics. I accidentally deleted one and am too lazy to upload it again. So, first - imagine Parker making cute faces at the fish.

Alicia and Parker looking at the Polar Bear

Parker and Mommy on the train. (It looks like my hair is eating P!)

Parker and the tiger!

A Trip to Butler

2011-06-14T21:38:00.000-04:00

Alicia is working a camp at Butler this week so today Parker and I brought her lunch. When we were done we had a few minutes to walk around before Alicia had to go back, so Parker wanted to find every fountain.

On the way to the little waterfall by Gallahue, we found a squirrel.

After Alicia went back, Parker and I walked by the carillon and down by the Gardens.

P had a ton of fun and we would have stayed longer, but she was getting really tired. I think we will be going back soon. Butler is always better in the summer!

The last 3 weeks in Pictures

2011-06-08T15:27:00.001-04:00

I have been a bad blogger, for many reasons - not the least of which is that I feel I don't have much to say. Or, rather, I feel I don't have much to say that I would like to be available for the entire world to read. So, instead, I will do a quick catch up in pictures.

The weekend before Memorial Day, we went to MI to meet our nephew/cousin, Tyler. He is adorable and extremely good natured. Parker held (abused) him for about 45 minutes before conceding to put him down and he didn't get upset once. We can't wait to visit him again soon. (Oh, and Steven and Kimber aren't too bad to hang around with either.) We made a quick stop at my parents' house where Parker, of course, had to play on the trampoline. It's much different this year, now that she actually knows how to jump! She had a blast.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we traveled to Columbus, OH to visit our friends the Smiths. Parker, again, had a great time with her friend Sadie. We went to the Columbus Zoo,

a gardens thing that I can't remember the name of,

and to the Worthington Memorial Day parade.

When we came home, Parker played in the sprinkler.

She had so much fun in the sprinkler (and it's been so durn hot) that we decided to get a larger pool for the backyard.

And, that's about it. We've been a to a bajillion graduation parties (but, hey, free food - right?) and are just sort of hanging out. Alicia has agreed to teach a camp at Butler next week and will be teaching an SAT prep class the week after that, so it's pretty much just me and P. If anyone wants to play, let me know! Happy Summer.

FINALLY!

2011-05-10T20:58:00.000-04:00

A decent school picture! These are pretty poor quality because they are ghetto pictures of the actual pictures. I'm mostly excited because when she had pictures in October she was so shy that her teacher had to be in her picture to keep her from screaming. Every photo had a large white lump (they covered her with a blanket) and they were quite janky. She has come so far. Now, she's even chessin' for the camera.

This one is my favorite. It completely shows her personality!

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T17:49:00.000-04:00

Things have been a little crazy around here lately. Finally, this last weekend we had some family time. Although not stress free since Parker has been VERY two lately, it was still amazingly awesome to spend some time together.

For Mother's Day, Parker (and Alicia) got me some roses, a "SuperMom" ice cream cake, a framed photo of the two of us and her framed handprints. All of these items were pink. My daughter is mildly obsessed.

We had a good day. My mom was in town helping out my brother and sister-in-law and she stopped by for a few hours. We hung out on the deck, played with chalk on the driveway, Parker "rode" her tricycle and we went for a walk. It was really nice to just hang out together outside and not cooped up in the house.

This is NOT the most stellar picture of any of us, but we don't often get a pic of the three of us together. Just some proof that we sometimes exist in the same room together.

But, THIS is an adorable picture of my Mom and Parker.

I sort of feel like Parker grew up while I was doing the musical and I missed it. She's so big now. Sigh. At least there are only 13 more days of school and then 8 weeks of summer. Gotta live it up as next year summer will be like 5 weeks long. UGH!

Feelin' Nostalgic

2011-03-16T21:21:00.000-04:00

Parker has always, always, always loved being outside. Clearly, she does not get this from me, but whatever. Even when she was a teeny tiny baby - throw her on a blanket in the backyard and she was good to go. Last weekend, it was nice enough to play at the park and Parker was so joyful that I thought my insides might burst. As I was watching her play, I thought about how big she has gotten in just 2 short years. So, along those lines, here are pictures of Parker on some of the first nice days of the season the last two years. (These were each taken almost exactly 1 year apart)

Pink "Puddle" Boots

2011-03-06T21:35:00.000-05:00

A couple weekends ago, we allowed Parker a splurge purchase when we were out shopping. Originally, she wanted to look for a new pair of"shiny shoes" (black patent leather) since her old ones are too small. I didn't figure we would find any given the change in season, but thought there might be something on clearance. There wasn't, but Parker did find these pink "puddle" boots. They have pretty much been glued to her feet ever since.

Clearly, a toddler needs to wear rainboots while brushing her teeth.

We went to the zoo last Sunday and Parker was soooooo excited to actually find some puddles to splash around in. She is clearly ready for warmer weather and to play outside. Me too.

Right now, I'm mostly ready for spring break. Things are quite busy here and I miss my family.

Goin' on a Bear Hunt

2011-02-05T20:31:00.000-05:00

There is a Bear who lives in our house. Apparently, the house was built around him. A few times a day, the Bear decides to attack and we need to stop whatever we are doing and either 1) hide or 2) fight back. Parker has gotten much braver since she received this kick-butt rocking horse from her Grandpa for Christmas. She will hop on her horse and "chase" the bear. After some time, she will catch the bear and "squish" it.

Here Parker is looking for the Bear.

And here she is just being cute after the Bear has been squished.

Grandparents Part 2: Grandpas

2011-01-08T20:17:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in the last post, Parker loves her Grandparents. Now, I don't know about anyone else's grandfathers but Parker's are not always up for posed, super cute pictures. So, here are some live-action shots of Parker with her Grandpas.

Parker and Grandpa Sharp play around with his hat. Previously, Parker had it on her baby's head and decided it needed to go back on Grandpa's head.

Grandpa Booga helps Parker open a present. (Or, it might have been his present that she was "helping" with - I don't remember.) My favorite part of this photo is the plastic Rally's cup on the table! lol

Grandparents Part 1: Grandmas

2011-01-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

Parker loves her grandparents (well all her relatives really.) Perhaps it is because, for now at least, that she is the center of everyone's attention all the time. Or, maybe she just loves her family. Anyway, here are some pics of P with her Grandmas over Christmas.

Parker and Grandma Sharp underneath the adorable blanket that Grandma made.

Parker and Grandma Booga posing under the tree.

Okay, this last photo has nothing to do with Grandmas. But, seriously. Add a couple feet to this girl and she's 15, right? Where did my baby go?

Makin' Cookies

2010-12-19T20:15:00.000-05:00

Parker and Alicia made cookies tonight. I was thinking back to previous Christmas cookies making sessions - the first year with Parker in the Baby Bjorn and her drooling into the dough. Last year, her sitting on the counter and mostly watching. Then, this year - such a big girl standing on her stool and actually helping!

For the love of.....

2010-11-27T15:11:00.000-05:00

Shutterfly. Yes, I also am shameless and will promote a company (that I LOVE by the way) in order to get free things. So, here goes.

I love Shutterfly. We order more pictures than we should of Parker because we can get them for such a reasonable price. They have solved the problem of what Parker should get for her Great-Grandparents for Christmas because we now just make a calendar and call it good. They love it - it's easy and they are almost always on sale around the holidays.

When Parker was born, we started a share site (mostly for the grandparents) and this will be a third year using their holiday cards. They are cute (and so is the toddler we put on them!) and easy.

They also have cool things like birthday invitations, which we may be using in the near future when Parker starts having parties for her friends instead of just her family.

So, in conclusion. Please remember. 1) I love Shutterfly. 2) Ever since we have had a child, we have used their photo cards at the holidays. 3) We will be using Shutterfly cards this Christmas 4) They have lots of other cool things that you should check out and...5) I am shameless and just really need to save a bit of money this Christmas.

Thanks you all and look for your card in the mail! :)

In a Nutshell

2010-11-21T13:23:00.000-05:00

Parker's life (and therefore OUR lives) lately can be summed up with the following two pictures.

1) So exhausted (or sick) that we fall asleep anywhere and anytime. (Even on the bath mat while Mommy is taking a shower 45 minutes after we have gotten up.)

2) This mostly applies to Parker, although we can all get a little cranky. - very ornery, opinionated (please note the raincoat and crocs with socks in NOVEMBER) and in general pretty cranky.

Thank goodness Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. We need to leave the daycare germs at school, get some sleep and hopefully, get rid of the crankies!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T21:41:00.000-04:00

A Lion Says "RAWWWWWWWWWR!"

Cuteness at the Zoo

2010-10-21T22:14:00.000-04:00

Tonight we were actually able to attend the "Boo" portion of Zoo Boo. We have been to the zoo 3 times in the past two weeks, but never at the time when the Halloween activities were going on and Parker was so excited to actually wear her costume and, of course, get candy! She makes a pretty cute little lion, if I do say so myself.

The best part (well second to the candy) of this trip is that she got to see her friends Bryn and Shay. The girls were far too cute.

And, we actually managed to pose all the children for a pretty respectable photo.

Two butterflies and a (friendly) lion.

Parker had a great time, but was WIPED out. Hopefully, she will sleep well and rest up for more fun tomorrow! Happy Fall Break!

The Best Kind of Saturday

2010-10-17T09:40:00.000-04:00

Today was the best kind of Saturday. All family - no major things to do. I've been waiting for this kind of Saturday for a LONG time. We had gone to the grocery store Friday night, so we didn't even have that on the agenda.

We got up this morning and headed to the Stoney Creek Pumpkin Festival. It's just a few minute from our house and it was so much fun. I was unsure how into Parker would be because she is sometimes quite cautious and shy about those kind of things. Not today!

First, she wanted to ride the "pumpkin train." Based on past experiences, I thought she would freak out and wind up a crying mess. Not today! She was all smiles. She did want us to walk behind her, but I think it's progress!

After the train, we explored the grounds and try to take advantage of some photo spots. Parker was so interested in everything there that she didn't want to look at the camera. Immediately after this photo Parker spied a blow-up caterpillar that kids could crawl through. After our success with the train, I thought she might actually do it, but it turns out she just wanted to look at it closer. We didn't have any tears, she just decided she didn't want to try after closer inspection.

We took a hayride to the pumpkin patch, which Parker loved. She didn't want to get off! We searched all around trying to find the right pumpkin for P. I think she wanted one that was small enough that she could lift it by the stem. We finally found one and she clutched it all the way back. (She was also fascinated by the tractor pulling the wagon, which is what she's staring at in this photo.)

Alicia took the pumpkins to the car and Parker and I explored the farm. Parker claimed that she really wanted to go on the "trampoline" (the bouncy pillow) but we didn't think that she would actually be able to navigate getting on the pillow by herself since it was REALLY busy by this time. So, we distracted her with making a candle. Basically, you had to take this pre-cut piece of wax and roll it around a wick. The woman got it started and then Parker finished all by herself! (Again, shocking because she had to interact with a person she didn't know!)

We did a little more exploring, took some silly pictures...

Watched the ducks on the pond (and the zip line above) ate a funnel cake, got a butterfly balloon and went home!

Parker took a 2 1/2 hour nap when we got home! :) We played the rest of the afternoon at home (which Parker rarely gets to do). Around 5, we decided we wanted some carmel apples, so we took a quick drive up the road to an orchard and got some with some cider.

It was really great to just spend some time as a family without running errands or doing schoolwork. Here's hoping we get more Saturdays like this in the future!

Parker's 2 Year Photos - The Funny

2010-10-12T20:42:00.000-04:00

As mentioned in my previous post, Parker was being a pain during her 2 year photo shoot. While this didn't leave us as many "pretty" shots as normal, it did leave us many shots that show Parker's true character! Here are my favorite "real life" shots of P!

OH! There's Mommy!

Parker the Pirate

Here's my little drama queen.

The wind actually did this by itself! Hilarious!

Parker's 2 Year Photos - The Good

2010-10-12T20:35:00.000-04:00

We had our friend and amazing photographer, Micah Bell, do Parker's 2 year photos at Coxhall Gardens in Carmel. Parker was being quite the pain. She refused to willingly look directly at Micah. In fact, he was often literally chasing her around and has quite a few shots of her back, I'm sure. He did manage to get a few good ones though. Here are my favorite "good" shots.

Parker's trip to college

2010-10-03T22:20:00.000-04:00

This weekend, Parker and I left Alicia at home and went to visit my sister Sally at college. We stopped at my other sister, Stacy's, before heading to Baldwin Wallace on Saturday. Here are Stacy and Parker outside Stacy's house before we left Saturday morning.

Although, Parker really loved watching the band at Sally's football game, that was about the only part she really liked. It was rainy and gross, so she had to sit under an umbrella and after half-time we decided to call it quits and head back to the hotel. Clearly, Parker thought that was a much better idea.

This morning, Sally took us on a campus tour before we had to leave. Parker particularly enjoyed the music building and pointed out EVERY piano in EVERY practice room. She also really enjoyed the instrument lockers and was so excited when she found this empty one.

It was great weekend and flying solo with Parker on the road wasn't nearly as hard as I thought I might be. I guess P is growing up.

Mysterious Closet Boo Boo

2010-09-27T21:34:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we traveled to Northern Indiana to visit with Alicia's family and to attend a friend's baby shower on Sunday. Parker always has fun with her Grandparents. Yes, that's a band aid on her face. Apparently, the new blogger thing actually loads picture in the order you choose them, so these pictures are all backwards from the way I wanted them. So, just work with me. More about the band-aid in a minute.

On Saturday, Parker was playing hide and seek in Grandpa's closet. The first time I followed her in to make sure there wasn't anything she shouldn't be getting into. I didn't see anything, so I left. The game was that I would peek out from the door to the room and she would run into the closet and hide in the shirts. Then, she would sneak out, see me and do the same thing over again. The 4th or 5th time she ran back in, I hear a giant thump. P came out and said, "I hit my head." So, I gave it a kiss and she ran back in. The next time she came out, her face was dripping blood. Oh. Ok. So, whatever she hit gave her a nice gash under her left eye.

So, we watched some Sesame Street with an icepack.

Alicia's parents had acquired this game, "Elefun." Basically, there are about 30 butterflies that you stick in this elephant, turn on the game and it blows them into the air. The object is to catch the most butterflies. Parker's version pretty much included laughing while all the butterflies flew out and then picking them up off the floor. However, after consultation of the rules, we learned that this IS legal. ;)

And this is just a picture that I think makes Parker look like she's about 4. Seriously, when did she get so big and long?

Busy Bees

2010-09-19T22:03:00.003-04:00

Whew. We have had a really busy weekend. During the day Friday, while we were all at school, Alicia's dad came down and started attacking our weed-field of a backyard. After we got home from school, we pretty much had time to go to dinner and come home and go to bed. Saturday, Alicia and her dad worked on the yard all day. Parker and I worked on going through her closet (getting rid of the too-small clothes, hanging up the new ones.) Parker took her nap and I got 1 coat of clear finish on 1 of the bookshelves. (Slow and steady wins the race on this project, I guess.) Parker woke up and I actually got to spend a bit of time with her, reading LOTS of books. The yard project finally finished and Parker got to play a little with her Grandpa Booga before going to bed. I continued to clean and organize P's room.

Today, we got up and ran to Target. They finally had the cube organizer that we had been eyeing for P's room on sale. So, we went out to get it! We also got Parker's Halloween costume and a winter coat for her. When we got home, we assembled the cube and P took a nap. Unfortunately this was rather short-lived so when Parker got up, we worked on moving all the stuff from the floor and the changing table into the cubes. (This is all part of our grand-plan to get the baby stuff out of Parker's room!) By the time we finished, it was time to get ready to go. Alicia and I actually got to go on a DATE! (What? A date you say? Yes. A real-childless-wine-at-dinner-fancy-restaurant-date!) We took P to a friend's house for babysitting and enjoyed a Parker-less couple of hours.

We got home a bit past her bed-time, but I don't think she was too much worse for the wear. We should do that more often.

So, that's that. A relatively unexciting, but productive weekend. Too bad the weeks aren't as great.

If Anyone Cares

2010-09-15T20:04:00.002-04:00

Parker had her 2 year appointment today.

Here is what we learned.

She weighs 29 lbs, 3 oz. (75th percentile)

She is 36 inches tall (95th percentile)

She is developmentally on or ahead of schedule and.....

She has double ear infections. WHAT?

She hasn't been acting obscenely cranky or messing with her ears and her snottiness had mostly gone away. I feel like a horrible parent, but how the heck am I supposed to know when she acts normally and doesn't run a fever or anything? Sheesh.

Anyway. Our kid is mostly doing well. So, that's good. Hopefully, the amoxicillin will do it's stuff and kick these infections!

1 year later

2010-09-12T13:34:00.000-04:00

Cute little 1 year old Parker.CRAZY two year old toddler Parker!!!!!!!

MIA

2010-09-07T21:34:00.002-04:00

We've been a little MIA from the blogging world lately. Things have been busy with the start of school and getting ready for Parker's party. The party was a success and Parker had a good time. I think she was mostly excited to eat cake. Every time I would ask her what she wanted for her birthday, she would reply, "CAKE!" A girl after my own heart!

Here is the almost Birthday Girl right before her party.
Here she is "riding" her new tricycle.
Oh and did I mention that amidst the party weekend, my father (with the help of my brothers) built us these bookshelves? Craziness? Yes. But at least we have somewhere to put our (okay, Alicia's) books!

A visit from the Helicopter

2010-08-25T20:30:00.003-04:00

Today, Parker's school got a visit from a "helicopter." I didn't physically see, it but it appeared to be a toddler size version of a model helicopter. Whatever it was, Parker thought it was awesome. Of course, the company has to make money off this shindig, so they put together a photo package for each kid. Apparently Parker was so pysched about this helicopter when Alicia picked her up, that we sprung for the pictures. (Which are pretty cute.)

These are pictures of the pictures because I don't feel like trying to deal with the scanner so they are a little blurry, but you'll get the gist! I find it hysterical that they put her in a little flight suit.

This one's my favorite. I think it's hilarious!

Traditions and Start of School

2010-08-18T21:39:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we headed to the State Fair with our friend, Nancy. This is the 5th year that we have gone together and it has become a tradition. It was wicked hot, but we hung in there and ate some yummy, fatty food and Parker saw some livestock. Here we are with the Randall cows. (The Randall's are a University family who raises cows.) The Randall's themselves were nowhere to be found, but we posed ourselves in front of their cows anyway!Parker wasn't too interested in the couple of Midway rides she was able to ride, but we did get her on the carousel. She pulled a couple of ducks and got a stuffed dog. So, it was all good.

More importantly, Parker started "school" a couple of weeks ago. With me returning to work full time and the amazing Aunt Lauren living 50 minutes away, we needed to start Parker in daycare. She is attending a Goddard School in Noblesville. Although things are improving, she's still having trouble adjusting. I think lots of parts of school are good for her; the social interaction with other kids, being a little more independent etc, but I'm a little bummed that the things they are learning are things that she already knows (body parts, colors, please and thank you etc). Don't get me wrong, there are LOTS of social things that she needs to learn, but I was hoping she would get a boost with the other stuff as well. It's certainly not hurting her (although ever since she started school, she has been skipping 5 and 6 when she counts...probably unrelated, but my paranoid brain blames daycare! lol). So, for right now, we will call the whole thing a wash - at least until P starts liking it more.

Here are some pics from the First Day of School. (Before she REALLY knew what was coming!)

New Addition

2010-07-25T07:32:00.002-04:00

We spent the last week with my family in Michigan. Several weeks ago, my brother asked if we wanted another cat. He and his wife, Kimber, were fostering one that was brought in to her vet clinic, but with 2 other cats and 2 dogs, they couldn't keep him. We Definitely did not want another cat.

Then, of course, we stay with them (and the cat) for a week. Parker loves the cat. He actually loves her. Maxx and Finn tolerate her but don't voluntarily curl up next to her. She spent almost every waking second running around the house looking for Little Kitty.

We were sort of considering until the other day when Parker says out of the blue, "I love you Little Kitty." Dang it. Now we're taking a cat home.

So, we have rearranged our plans and are stopping by my brother's house on the way back home next week so that we can lug a kitten back to Indiana.

I hope Maxx and Finn forgive us.

So Busy

2010-07-18T19:59:00.006-04:00

We've been really busy hanging out with my family so I haven't had tons of time to post about our adventures, but here are some pictures from today. (I took a TON so I just randomly picked some cute ones!)

Parker peeking through the trees in my parents' yard.
Parker and Aunt Kimber
Aunt Sally, P and Aunt Stacy
Parker and Mommy on the trampoline.

Forget the Real Thing

2010-07-15T18:19:00.003-04:00

We go to the Shedd Aquarium.

My child is mildly interested in the real animals.

However, she stops to pet, pat, hug, kiss and talk to every single statue there is.

PS - Did anyone else know that teachers get in FREE? Awesome.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-14T21:54:00.000-04:00

Fun in the sprinkler at Grandma and Grandpa's

Brookfield Zoo

2010-07-13T17:49:00.004-04:00

We went to the Brookfield Zoo today with Alicia's family. Parker really enjoyed seeing animals that we don't have in Indy.

Here, she is looking at Camels with Grandpa.

Parker and Grandma
and Parker and Uncle Eric. We saw camels, kangaroos, bears, rhinos, hippos (although they were in the mud looking like rocks), all the big cats, dolphins, penguins, fish, monkeys and gorillas. We were a little disappointed with the penguins because Indy has so many, but there were only maybe half a dozen today. The bear exhibit and Ape house were VERY cool.
Parker was so excited to see the Gorillas that she was pretty unexcited by the other monkeys that came before the Gorillas.
It was pretty warm today and Parker was fading fast so, we didn't see everything. We tried to get a family picture and this was the best we could muster.
It was a good day. We are ALL very tired. :)

At the Park with Grandma

2010-07-12T22:39:00.002-04:00

We didn't have much planned for today because we had a busy weekend and are going to the zoo tomorrow, but we did hit up the St. John Municipal park for a couple hours this afternoon. Parker had an awesome time and wore both herself and her Grandma out! She even did the slides and suspension bridge by herself after being initially completely freaked out by both. (I know this is not a big deal for most almost 2 year olds, but my kid is VERY cautious!)

I think I got this picture right before P went down the slide for the first time by herself. She was quite unsure, but then hollered, "AGAIN!" and ran for the steps!
Here she is ready to go once she decided she liked it!
And this is my new favorite picture. She's just so happy to be with Grandma and reaching up to Mommy!

Weekend in the Corn

2010-07-11T16:34:00.005-04:00

This weekend we went to Forreston, IL to visit Alicia's Mom's family and to have a baby shower for Alicia's cousin. It was a good time with good food (most of which WE had to bring home - so much for my big idea of losing weight this summer!). Parker had a really good time playing with her second cousins - all girls born in September (well except one who was born the first week in October, but that's close enough!) The new baby is also due in September. If Erin has a boy, I think he might feel a little left out! P also had a great time exploring Doris's yard and looking at all her pretty flowers.

Here are some pics from the weekend.

Parker and her Grandma "Booga" on Doris porch
P getting excited about Erin opening her gifts!
Parker and Madison playing in Maddy's purple toy tub! (Maddy is 2 years older than Parker.)

And here is Parker exploring Doris's flowers and bird bath. P really loves the outdoors and flowers, but we are SO bad at keeping them alive. Oh well, that will make visiting family that much more special!

So our "vacation" is going pretty well so far. I think we're just going to hang out tomorrow and head to the Brookfield Zoo on Tuesday. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate!

Vacation - Day 1

2010-07-09T22:00:00.003-04:00

Today was the first day of our vacation. We left home around 10:30, stopped by Half Price Books on the way out to get Parker's free books for the week (Thanks, Amy! Parker has gotten 9 free books in the past 3 weeks!) Then we headed toward Alicia's parents' house. On the way, we stopped at Fair Oaks Farms. Parker was much more interested than she was the last time we stopped (as she was only 9 or 10 months old the first time!). She had a great time playing on the playgrounds and riding a bus to see the cows.

We watched a baby cow being born for a little while, but I wasn't particularly interested in the 'whole' show and Parker was ready to get ice cream and head out to see "Grandpa Booga."
We got to Alicia's parents and Parker played around outside with her Grandpa.
We had a pretty low key evening; Parker playing with the 'old school' toys and the rest of us just hanging out. I always get very nervous about Parker sleeping away from home since her track record is not great, but bedtime went pretty well. We'll see how the rest of the night goes. Tomorrow we head out to Forreston, IL for a baby shower for Alicia's cousin's girlfriend.

Hilarity at the Parade

2010-07-04T20:51:00.003-04:00

I'm not normally a fan of parades, especially home town parades. Perhaps it's too much marching band in the corn - I don't know. But, we thought that Parker would get a kick out it, so we went! The Noblesville Parade was at 5pm. HOT! There were quite the interesting entries.

A turtle:
A lion head on the side of an suv:
Roller skating Uncle Sam (at least that's in theme!)
Super heroes?
If this guy thinks he is superman, I think we are all going to die:
My brother is convinced that this dude lost a bet.
I don't even know what to say about this one....
Parker got fully into the spirit of the parade, firmly clutching candy that was given to her. We sat right at the beginning and P is so cute that almost every single candy-passer-outer came directly over and individually handed Parker way more candy than she could ever eat. :) We finally convinced her to put most of it in the bag, but she insisted on holding on to these suckers.
Oh right, and a roller skating rabbit.
It was a good time. A very, very hot good time.

Cute pics from a Day with Stacy

2010-07-02T20:38:00.002-04:00

Playing "peek" from behind the trees with Aunt Stacy.Aunt Stacy gave me a new 'do. Mommy needs to learn how to do this!
I love my Aunt Stacy!

Fun in the.....Sand

2010-06-25T14:27:00.002-04:00

Parker is very lucky to have a handy grandfather. As a belated Easter present, Parker's Grandpa Sharp built her a sandtable. It is currently on our front porch until we have a backyard suitable for human presence. It's not the ideal location, but she thinks it is GREAT!

Spaghetti Faces

2010-06-24T21:18:00.002-04:00

As you know, Parker has a myriad of hilarious faces. Tonight they were even more hilarious because we were eating spaghetti and it was ALL over her face. These pictures do not even do it justice!

Parker's Fort

2010-06-21T21:55:00.002-04:00

This morning, while I was out, Alicia and Parker built a fort. Apparently, Parker really enjoyed her fort experience because she asked me to build one with her this afternoon. The pillows were her "doors." I have a feeling we are going to be building many forts in the coming years! :)

Fun with Grandma

2010-06-20T16:08:00.000-04:00

I love this picture of Parker. She's having so much fun!

Overlooked Cuteness

2010-06-14T14:21:00.002-04:00

There was a period at the beginning of June when I just didn't get many pics of Parker up. So, here are some overlooked photos.

Parker on the lion at the Children's Museum
She was so excited that she actually caught a fish with the magnet fishing pole!
AND, she tried on the dinosaur costume. :)
Since, just days before, Parker had requested a little brother, it was fitting that she get a little one-on-one with Liam.
And, lastly, we aquired this chalkboard from some friends and Parker loves it. :) It's definitely an outdoor toy though. She gets chalk EVERYWHERE!

Nothing to say

2010-06-08T14:11:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure I have much to say, but I haven't blogged in over a week and I have all these friends who are super ambitious and blog every. single. day. Good grief. These women with multiple kids, tons to say, and apparently time to do it in. (I think they must be smuggling extra hours from me or something....)

So, yeah. Here are some notable (and not so notable) things that have happened recently.

*We got most of the downstairs painted (well, my sister and dad did at least)

*I taught a couple of lessons

*We attended 13 graduation parties around the greater Indianapolis area

*I was able to take Parker swimming for the first time this season

*We had dinner with Amy, Ben and kids.

*Parker told me she wanted a baby brother (before Liam visited)

*Alicia gave a kick-butt graduation speech

*Parker had multiple ridiculously adorable moments including:

- saying, "Cute dress, Parker!" after putting on her graduation outfit

- after being told that we couldn't go to Red Robin because it was closed (yeah, we lied), she replied, "Maybe open?"

- while playing a game with Alicia in which one replies the opposite of what the first said (choices being "YEAH!" or "Noooo!"), Parker pauses, looks really thoughtful and then whispers, "Um...What's next?"

*I learned I will be teaching K-6 general music at a regular IPS elementary and, Oh yes, the alternative elementary. Awesome. I'm gonna be great at that.

*Alicia and I went to NYC because Elise was getting an award. We had some good food, got to see Pam, saw a show and mostly bummed around with our wonderful tour guide! lol

That's about it. I can't really think of anything else.

Growing up

2010-06-03T13:19:00.003-04:00

Lately, I have been feeling like Parker is really growing up fast! Both physically and in other ways. Suddenly her 3T shirts are all belly shirts (well, except the "baby doll" style ones, which are naturally long, thank goodness!) I've been trying to get her to stand still to measure her, but she will have none of that!

She routinely speaks in 5 word sentences, will use the pronoun "I" as well as the past tense. She talks non-stop and yesterday played nicely with Bryn and Shay without once running up to Alicia or I.

This morning, she was playing on her little slide and I she looked like a giant, so I dug up a photo from almost exactly a year ago.

What a difference a year makes!

Here is Parker early June 2009
And here she is this morning (note the baby doll style shirt nicely covering her belly!)
Oh - and it may just be the light, but I think her hair is MUCH redder than it was last year. When did my kid grow up?

Before and After

2010-06-02T09:00:00.002-04:00

We had a painting party this weekend. My sister and my dad are really good painters (Alicia and I - not so much) so my family came down and painted the majority of our downstairs. Here are the before and afters. I'm sure the change would be much more dramatic if we had our curtains or pictures up on the walls or if we were totally unpacked and there wasn't junk still sitting around, but we are getting there.

Kitchen: Before
Kitchen: After
Living room: Before
Living Room: After (Note the blinds and ceiling fan!)
Dining Room: Before
Dining Room: After (It is orange-ish, but peraps not as orange as it appears in this photo. fyi)
Next stop: Curtains and wall decor

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-01T13:33:00.002-04:00

My family came down over Memorial Day (mostly to help paint our house, but also for a little fun.) Parker clearly enjoyed herself.

Here she is at Uncle Stuart and Aunt Lauren's playing with Aunt Stacy.
She was very proud of herself for getting the "hillbilly golf" balls on the rack.
Clearly, she inherited my athletic abilities. LOL
Sprinkler fun in the front yard.
At the park. (I apologize for the belly show - the girl has the world's longest torso!)

The Future's So Bright...

2010-05-29T07:00:00.003-04:00

The other day Parker and I were driving in the car and she was complaining about the sun in her eyes. I said that if she was wearing sunglasses, the sun wouldn't be so bright. Last summer, she would have nothing to do with them, so I was really just making conversation, not thinking she would ever actually wear a pair.

Fast forward to last night. Alicia needed something to wear to graduation, so we stopped at the Kohls after dinner. When we got out of the car, Parker started saying, "sunglasses!" I asked her if she would wear a pair. She said she would. Alicia didn't really believe her, so she asked if Parker would wear a hat instead (something else she is not fond of). Parker again replied that she would.

So, we let Parker pick out a pair of sunglasses. She insisted on wearing them all through the store and announced to anyone who would listen that it was, "Dark" and that we should all, "sleep." She wanted to get a hat as well, but Kohls didn't have any. I remembered that we had a couple hats at home from last summer, so when we got back Parker modeled her new summer look.
This last one cracks me up. Who does she think she is? :)

Impromptu Sprinkler Fun

2010-05-24T17:02:00.005-04:00

Parker and I were taking a walk last night when we encountered a sprinkler that was sprinkling the sidewalk as much as it was the grass. Parker didn't really know what to think at first, but she kept walking back and forth through the sprinkling water. Then she got brave and started to walk into the grass. (Yes, this was the neighbor's grass, but no one lives there yet - the builders were just watering the sod.) I started to feel guilty that she was playing in someone else's future yard, so I brought her home and got out our sprinkler. Of course, Alicia had just finished cutting the obnoxiously long grass. So, P got very wet and covered in grass clippings.

I love how you can tell she just got blasted with cold water!

Cheesy Smile, Mommy!

Summer Fun - Here We Come!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-05-23T17:37:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was my birthday. We celebrated by going out to breakfast and then trying out one of the Noblesville Parks. Forest Park is huge with two playgrounds, a golf course, a carousel, a putt putt golf course and an aquatic center. One of the playgrounds is designed specifically for kids age 2-5. AWESOME! The thing I hate about taking Parker to the playground is following her around all the equipment worried that she will fall through one of the high openings designed for older kids. I did not have to worry about that here. All the steps were the right height, everything was pretty much enclosed and there were so many things that our other park does not have.

So, here is Parker swinging on a big kid swing. It was cool because it had a "C" shaped seat, which gave her more stability than the regular swings, but it wasn't a baby swing. She loved it!
They had a large sand area that included shovels that you operated by sitting in a seat and moving levers with your hands. Parker wasn't too interested in that, but she didn't seem to mind getting dirty!

Here she is walking over a bridge and peering over the edge at Alicia.

I think these faces are hilarious!

On her way up to the top...
They also had this flexy balance beam thing. Parker loved walking back and forth. Who knew walking would be so much fun?
No Hands Mom!!!!!! She was fearless. I was afraid she was going to fall off the entire time. She didn't. :)
After the park, we came home and Parker took a nap. Our friends Nancy and Grammie came over to watch Parker while Alicia and I went to the ISO and then to dinner. All in all, a pretty nice day. :)

Apples

2010-05-18T13:39:00.003-04:00

The past few months, Parker has really been into apple "sticks." (That would be strips of apples.) Sunday, I was trying to cut her some apple sticks and she grabbed the whole apple (well, the half apple) and just started eating. Okay. Less work for me. :)

The Many Faces of P

2010-05-17T12:37:00.002-04:00

We had a very lazy Sunday. We got up, had breakfast and just started to work on Parker's room. We didn't bother getting out of our pajamas. So, when lunchtime rolled around we were still in our jammies! Parker was being quite silly while sitting on the counter and made all her different faces for us. (Please pardon her jammies and crazy hair!)

Here is Parker's "cheesy smile" face.
Here is "OH!" face (part 1)
We asked for "pouty face" and got a pouty "kissy" face instead.
"Oh" part 2
"Fishy Face" (This one requires a little bit of help!
There you have it: the many faces of P!

Friday Adventures

2010-05-14T21:16:00.002-04:00

Since our backyard is currently a bunch of dirt with a few straggling blades of grass, Parker and I thought we would take advantage of the nice weather and walk to our new park. It's not quite as close as the one in our old neighborhood, but it's worth the walk! The equipment is about the same, but there is a much larger grassy area with mature trees (which definitely didn't exist in our old neighborhood) a covered picnic area and a path that goes through a nice wooded area and over a small stream.

Parker definitely had a great time today. The swings were all lowered to her height so she could touch the ground. (She tried every one.)
Here is is climbing the "stairs" to the "umbrella" (the covered play area at the top).
Who knew sticks could be so interesting?

And this is what Parker did all the way home!

Life Update

2010-05-12T11:18:00.005-04:00

It's over. All of my craziness: Done! Yea!

The musical was over on May 1st. The show went well. The kids were/are great. I'm glad to be able to spend more time with Parker, but I miss the University kids tremendously. I think Parker misses them too! :)

We are moved. It was not the world's more organized move, but everything made it to the new house. There are still boxes everywhere. Parker's toys are still just spread all over her new toy room with no specific place. The clothes are all catty-wompus in the closet. There are tons of mini shampoos etc all over the floor of our bathroom. You get the picture. But, we are in and we even ate a dinner at home on Monday night. Shocking. We haven't done that in forever.

Parker seems to be adjusting pretty well, both to the new house and to her new/temporary babysitter - Aunt Sally. She had a hard time sleeping in her room the first few nights, but I think it was a combination of new house, little time with moms and this horrible cold/sinus snotty, cough thing that she woke up with the morning we moved. (Great timing!) She has made it through the last two nights in her room by herself. However, she wants to sleep on the floor. We put a pillow and blanket down there with her animals, but by morning, she has migrated to the middle of the room leaving her "bed" behind. It makes me feel like a bad parent, but she is sleeping, so whatever works I guess.

We really like the house. We've had a couple minor issues with the water heater, but those have been resolved and things are good. I'm getting anxious to get everything in its place and to get things painted (although I can't decide on colors....) I HATE living in an all white house. Hopefully, my wonderful sister will come soon and help us with that! My Dad came down Thursday right after we closed and painted Parker's room, so that's done. I think we are going to go shopping this weekend and get her a few things for it. We're trying to get rid of some of the "baby" things and make it more toddler-y. Parker's pretty cute about it. She will say "Grandpa paint it" as she pats the wall. :) We also need window coverings of some kind as we have these giant, beautiful windows (that everyone can see in and let in WAY too much light in the morning!) Right now, they are covered with broken down boxes. That's Klassy.

My Kindergarten program was yesterday. So, now I just have to make it through the last couple of weeks of school, which shouldn't be a problem now that the programs are over. :)

So, that's what we've been up to. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks things will start getting back to normal.

Crazy Hair!

2010-04-25T21:33:00.002-04:00

I think by now everyone knows how crazy Parker's hair is, but this morning took the cake! It seriously looked like she was wearing a wig! Some 75 year old woman would pay good money for this 'do.

Here is the back shot.
Left profile
Aaaaannnndd....Right Profile. Please, just look at how small her head looks in comparison to her HAIR!!!!!!!!
That is all. Goodnight.

I'm trying, really...

2010-04-18T21:16:00.003-04:00

For the last few days, I have really been trying hard to keep a positive outlook on life. It's not that I'm unhappy, it's just that I have so much going on and am really stressed out. When that happens I tend to get harshly sarcastic, merely as a coping mechanism. I've been consciously thinking about not doing that. It's been working pretty well.

However, what is dragging me down today is my ability to be a good parent to Parker right now. She isn't 100% healthy. We aren't entirely sure what is going on, but I know that she isn't feeling her best. All she wants to do is be with me; play with me, cuddle with me. Heck, she even wants to come to the bathroom with me. And she just can't. I have to go to work, I have to go to rehearsal. I feel like I'm letting her down. As she is falling asleep and I'm rubbing her back, she will cough and make this little sad, "Mommy." Then when I tell her it's time to go to sleep and I will see her in the morning she gets upset but tries to be so strong. She will start whimpering trying not to cry and choke out, "Okay. Love you much." Breaks my heart. During the week, I don't get to put her to bed and Alicia says that she will randomly start crying and asking for me. All I want to do is hold her all night long so that she can sleep better. I want to read books with her and chase her on the playground and be silly with her. But I can't. Not right now. The best I can do is tell her I love her and make sure she is with people she loves who can do those things with her.

I love what I'm doing with the musical, but I miss my own baby. I CANNOT wait until May 2nd.

Positive Outlook

2010-04-16T09:14:00.002-04:00

In three weeks, we will be moved and I will only have to make it through a Kindergarten program and the last few weeks of school.

In two weeks, the musical will almost over. The hard part will be over at least and we will only have 2 performances left.

In one week, the primary program will be over! YEA! This is the most stressful thing for me, right now. I'm sure that when it's done whatever is next on the list will move right on up. :)

Today, the Intermediate program is over, rehearsal and lesson were canceled AND Parker has decided to sleep in so I was able to get all my homework for the week done. Based solely on the sounds coming from her room, I think she is feeling better today, so I am hopeful that I will be able to get the house on the way to being clean and maybe, just maybe, we can do something together as a family tonight.

It's amazing what a little productivity can do for a girl's spirits!

Here's to having a good day!

And so it begins...

2010-04-11T20:22:00.001-04:00

Hair Cut and other SB '10 Adventures

2010-04-01T21:18:00.004-04:00

We have been on Spring Break this week. It has been nice to be at home, spend some time together as a family and just get a little caught up in preparation for the coming crazy weeks. We started Monday by taking Parker to get her first hair-cut. We weren't looking to make it short - just even in out a little as it has been a little mullet-like lately. (And those piggies have been OUT OF CONTROL). So, here's a before.And here's a not so good after. P's hair can be worn down with barrettes now, although if she's doing any sort of playing it gets kind of crazy. Additionally, Parker hates "ball-ettes" (barettes). We tried it the day after the haircut, but it was a battle all day long.
Today we spent lots of time outside since it was so nice out! I've been finding it increasingly more difficult to get a shot of Parker's face, so these pics aren't great, but it's all I've got! Here is Parker on the big girl swing.
Parker wanted to play on the tennis court. Alicia asked her if she could walk on the white lines. It was super cute to watch her following Alicia around the lines.

P has a funny look on her face here, but she is "pinning" (spinning). I love her little foot!
And here is the embodiment of Parker lately. Little Miss Sass with her hand on her hip. We're in trouble come the teenage years! (Really, she's a good girl, but she is a little sassy!)
Break is almost over. :( But, summer will be here soon!

House pics

2010-03-26T15:45:00.002-04:00

We stopped by the house this morning so I thought I'd take and post some pics.

So, here it is. 15151 Dry Creek Rd.
This is the dining room. (The house isn't finished yet, so use your imagination!)
This is the kitchen - the opening you see is to the dining room. There is an island that will go in the center. Obviously, there are no appliances in yet. Alicia is looking in our huge (to us - not anywhere as big as Amy and Ben's!) pantry.
This is our CLOSET!!!!! We will need to put some shelving or something up to make better use of all the space, but it's really big! I'm psyched!
This is the master bath. You can sort of see the whole thing if you look at the reflection in the mirror. The very light area behind the door is a tub.
I have other pics but I always think pictures of empty rooms sort of look the same, so you will just have to wait until we move in!

Some pictures

2010-03-20T15:58:00.006-04:00

I haven't been able to spend as much time with Parker lately as I would like, so I think I am trying to compensate by taking lots of pictures when I am with her. It's not really working, but at least I have some updated pics to post on the blog! I put all of these on P's blog, but I thought you might enjoy them as well.

Here's "little" P hanging with Mr. Bear.
We went to the park for the first time in quite awhile the other day. She looks so much bigger in the swing than she did in October! She has started "swinging" on the big girl swings - well she sits, holds on and I push her VERY slowly - but I haven't gotten a picture because I'm afraid to move to far away for fear that she will lose her balance and fall on her head!
My daughter is obsessed with being outside. When it's nice out, she spends almost ever waking minute outside. Luckily, with our deck and fence, I can just toss her in the back yard and let her play. I often go out with her, but if I need to do the dishes or work at the kitchen table, I can still see her. She also likes sitting on ledges. We had a picnic the other day and she wanted to eat her sandwich while sitting on the step between the deck and the house.
Parker also really enjoys laying on the deck. I don't know why. She's weird. lol I think this is a cute pic - I just wish her hood wasn't in the way!
Okay, back to my paper!

A Blur

2010-03-19T19:33:00.009-04:00

Things have changed quite a bit for the LaMagdeleine- Sharp's in the past week. Last Saturday afternoon we were sitting on our couch relaxing for just a minute after a crazy morning (musical rehearsal, last minute showing, blah blah). Our realtor calls saying that someone is going to put in an offer on our house! Holy Cow!!!!! Ironically it was a couple who came through one time - not the CRAZY people who were allergic to cats and very concerned about the house in that regard who came 3 times (one early on a Sunday morning) but still hadn't made up their minds. Forget you Crazy Cat People! Anyway, we continued with our day and our awesome realtor trucks over to our house at 8:30 that night (since Parker was in bed) so we can look at it. We make a counter offer and are supposed to hear back by 5pm the next day. We don't sleep. Our realtor calls back the next afternoon saying that they have accepted our counter offer, but they need extra time getting a pre-approval because they own rental property. (I don't understand this but our realtor did, so ok.) We are supposed to keep our house "on the market" until we get the pre-approval. I'm secretly hoping that no one wants to see it! :)

Now, we are frantically trying to find a house. We have been looking ALL over. The house we LOVED in Avon (northern Avon, almost Brownsburg) sold. Boo. So, we were starting from scratch. After all the driving to and from University we have been doing lately, we decided that we couldn't move somewhere that was going to make Alicia's drive longer. So, our second choice house (which was south of 36 in Avon) was out. Here's the problem. There are few, if any, houses in our price range, with the things we want in northern Avon, Brownsburg, Zionsville, Carmel and Westfield. We looked at some - but they just weren't right, not big enough, no basement, backing up to major roads, kinda dirty and gross, teeny tiny bedrooms. We were feeling pretty discouraged. So, we decided to expand to Fishers. *Tuesday, our realtor calls to say that we are official because the buyer's pre-approval came through!* We spent Wednesday night driving, almost literally, in circles around Hamilton County looking at houses. Let me tell you - Hamilton County houses are selling quick! No fewer than three times we were literally en route to a house when someone called our realtor to tell her it had been sold. (Hence the circles, since we had to turn around multiple times.) Anyway, we found two houses that we liked, but both were new construction and not finished yet. The one had a model in Avon so we drove from Fishers to Avon to look at the model (please mind that it is now 7:30, Parker normally goes to bed at 7 and we haven't eaten dinner yet). We really like it, but wanted to see the other house as well. Linda (our realtor) says that we will need to make a decision no later than the weekend if we want the houses to still be available. So, I skip rehearsal Thursday and we go looking at houses (AGAIN!).

We look at a random existing house in Carmel and then we go back out to the one we saw a model of. There is no model available for the other home. Alicia and I had talked the night before and decided that we really thought we liked the one that we saw better anyway. So, um, yeah. We decided to buy it. Our realtor got us an AMAZING deal. We totally would not have been able to afford it otherwise.

So, that's the scoop. In less than a week we have sold, found and bought a house. We are closing on our current house on May 5th and on the new one May 6th. So, now I guess I don't have to mop my floor until we move (YEA!) but I also have to pack up ALL our stuff. lol

Oh yeah - the house is in Noblesville, but really more like Fishers. It's HSE schools and is about the same commute for Alicia. We will miss being close to our family and friends, but we will visit and hope you will as well!

Stats

2010-03-11T11:53:00.001-05:00

For anyone who cares...

Parker's 18 month stats:

Weight: 26.2 lbs (75th percentile)

Height: 33.5 inches (95th percentile)

I never pay attention to her head size, but I think it was 48.6 cm. Who cares? LOL

Happy Half Birthday, Baby!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-10T21:48:00.003-05:00

Parker was so happy that she got to play outside again today. This is definitely a girl who can't wait for summer!

Update on life

2010-02-28T21:36:00.004-05:00

I don't think I have enough energy to form cohesive thoughts into a well thought out bit of writing. So, I think bullet points will have to do. Here's what's been going on (big and small) with us.

Parker has what appears to be her first crush on the baby in her book, "Jazz Baby." She kisses every page that he appears on and gets upset if someone else gives him a kiss.
Parker "reads" herself books. This is her version of "Click, Clack, Moo." "Cick, Cack, Moo! No bankets! No milk! No ecks (eggs)! Siddy (silly) Cows! Duck." Yeah, that about sums it up.
Parker LOVES visiting Alicia's school and seeing the bugs in Mrs. Bradley's room. Unfortunately, one of the bugs pooped on Mrs. Bradley's hand last time. Now, Parker refers to Carolyn as "Poop Bradley." Awesome.
Parker has a new big kid best friend: Maggie Beckman. Fine by me! :)
Alicia's student, Elise won the State Poetry Out Loud contest.
I am happy about this, but upset because 1) Alicia will be in Washington DC for several already chaotic days in April 2) Elise is the female lead in the musical and she will be gone at the beginning of "hell week."
I have been rehearsing 3 days a week for the musical- soon to be many more than this.
We have all been attending pep band games. I'm hoping this ends soon.. (This week????)
We've been cleaning our house more than I think I have in the past 5 years in the hopes of selling it. I think we might be close, but it's hard to tell.
We've been looking at houses so we aren't completely taken off guard if/when ours sells. We would love to find something closer to University, but that doesn't appear to be likely. So, instead we have fallen in love with something further away. Good job us.
I'm still plugging away at these classes. I have no idea how I'm doing in the one as the professor has not yet bothered to grade any work. The other class is okay so far.
This craziness will all end by May 11th. We will either be in a new house (or not). ALL performances of everything will be over!!!!! And, my classes will be done. Although I am thoroughly enjoying the work I am doing, it is exhausting. Even the classes are kind of interesting, but...you know...the work bit. I am very much looking forward to summer and being able to spend the time with Parker that she deserves instead of the hour or so a day that she is getting now.

I think that's about it for now. Time for bed!

Not a Snow Day

2010-02-09T20:19:00.003-05:00

Today was not a snow day for me. But, Alicia had one so Parker got to spend all day with her Mom. Alicia wasn't brave enough to take Parker outside by herself while she shoveled the driveway, so we all went out when I got home from work.

Here is what is apparently our annual "Parker on the snow pile picture." To see last year's photos, refer to my post from last January pics 2. (Yes, it's the same post as the last comparison picture.... She's also wearing the same hat. It was big last year and it's a little tight this year, but the other one is a little big and I wanted something that would keep her head the warmest!) Anyway.
P mostly wanted to walk up and down the driveway. She was intrigued by the shoveling process. She also wanted to walk in the snow, but only the little bit (about 2 inches) that was on the driveway. I put her in the deeper snow and she freaked a little. This was problematic because the driveway snow was disappearing! LOL
Here she is doing some laps up and down.
And this is just one of my favs from today.
Happy Un-Snow Day!

A sundry collection of photos.

2010-02-05T12:52:00.003-05:00

* I always thought the word was "asundry." As it turns out - it's just "sundry." Who knew? (Well, someone I'm sure, but not me!)

Although I haven't been able to take nearly as many picture recently as I would like, I have gotten a few and I'm taking a few minutes in between homework for one class and homework for another, so I thought I'd post some. So, here they are!

Parker has taken to laying on her tummy and reading. I think it's adorable! She hasn't quite mastered it yet, as she will only lay there for a few seconds before she repositions, but she keeps trying to find a comfortable position. Here she is reading "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake" which she carried around with her for a solid day. I must have read that stupid book a million times. Ah well, I suppose she could be doing worse things! ;)
A few weekends ago we built a fire. Here Parker is watching the flames. I post this only because I have a very similar picture of her from about a year ago, doing the same thing (and wearing a pink hoodie) If you want to see that one, it's in my post, cleverly titled: pics 2.
Parker's hair is incredibly unruly. We bathe her at night and then she sleeps on it, which causes even more problems. I was trying to get a picture of how cute all her little curls were before they got slept on, but P just kept grabbing her head and saying, "HAIR!"
Parker loves, Loves, LOVES our cats. They, generally, don't want much to do with her. However, the other day she got a rare moment on the couch with BOTH cats. Thirty seconds later they were both gone, but she was really happy for a minute! (She's also watching tv, hence the inability to look at the camera!)
And lastly, we decided it was time to switch Parker over to the big girl part of her bed. It's really not that much different than the crib, but I think it makes a good transition between actual bed and a crib. So, when we move (fingers crossed) and we have another baby (more fingers crossed), she will make an easier transition to a "real" bed. We had a heck of a time trying to find bedding we liked. All anyone carries in stores is Disney character stuff - and you ALL know that I am not going to buy her a princess bedspread. (Plus, she wouldn't even know who they are!) So, I finally found this online at Wal-Mart. It think it's cute and girly (but not TOO girly) and it looks okay with the current paint in her room. Please don't mind the skirt that goes with the crib bedding. We have to leave it up because we are hiding tons of stuff under her bed while we show the house and if we take it off, we lose all that space! Yikes!

A Good Ole' Fashioned Whoopin'

2010-02-05T07:59:00.005-05:00

This week is kicking my butt. I am completely wiped out. As many of you know, our house is on the market. We put it up a couple days before Thanksgiving and had a few showings before the holidays. Things were pretty slow for a few weeks, a showing here or there, but who0-boy did things kick up this week.

We had a showing Monday, and decided (on Sunday afternoon) that we needed to start kicking it up a notch in terms of how we are showing our house. So, around 4:00 on Sunday we started a massive purging/hiding of our stuff. (Okay, mostly hiding). Things are under chairs, under beds, in the garage. All I have to say about that is CURSE YOU HGTV! Anyway, this continued until around 11 when we went to bed.

Just as I was falling asleep, I started awake wondering if the paper I had for one of my classes, which was due at "Midnight, Monday February 1st" was due in 45 minute or in 24 hours and 45 minutes. I knew the technical answer, so I got up and hastily (read: poorly) finished it, sent it in and went to bed shortly after midnight. Then, again just as I was falling asleep, I am woken by the nightmarish screams of my darling daughter. She is a normally a really good sleeper, but she goes through phases where she has bad dreams and needs a hug to go back to sleep. It sounds like no big deal - it literally takes 30 seconds. That's 30 seconds with her and then I can't go back to sleep. The night continued like this - me finally drifting off to sleep and the Parker having a bad dream - for the rest of the night. I think I got 4 hours of non-consecutive sleep.

Monday was a full day with work and then heading straight to University for musical auditions, which kept me there until 8pm.

I was really looking forward to Tuesday because the season premiere of LOST was going to be on and the only thing we had planned was Kindermusik. 7:55: the phone rings. Can we show our house tomorrow between 12 and 1? Sure. No problem. Except that now I have to tidy/re-clean my house instead of relax on the couch. It's not that it's super dirty, but you always have to wipe down the counters, hide the stuff again, mop the floor, scoop the cat box (God forbid there be cat poop during a showing!). Anyway, not such a horrible night, but not the relaxing time on the couch that I had envisioned.

Wednesday, the fun begins. Lauren has to cart Parker all around town since she can be anywhere but in our house. (Let's remember it has been cleaned and Parker can destroy that in a matter of seconds). So, she spends all day other places. I pick her up from Amy's (Thanks Amy!) around 1:30. We go home, but leave at 2:45 for musical rehearsal. I'm really looking forward to Thursday, - sleeping in, no showings.... Ahhh.

Thursday: Parker gets up at 6:30 (WTF, baby?) 8:15am, the phone rings......showing at 3pm. I start frantically cleaning again (which is significantly harder with a cranky, clingy toddler). I think that it will all be okay because she normally naps from 11-1ish, so that should give me time to get everything done and not have to leave the house too early. Nope. She naps at 9:45 (maybe because you got up too early!!!!!!) and only for an hour and a half. Great. So, I get the stuff done, but now we have to leave much earlier than I would like. It's 12:30 and we're out. I successfully stall around town for a couple hours and then head to University where we stall for a little more before musical rehearsal (yes, this is a trend.). I drop Parker off with Nancy (because Alicia is in a meeting) and go to rehearsal. After rehearsal, I meet Alicia (who has brought dinner) with Parker so that we can have 30 minutes of family bonding time before the double header basketball game (oh, yes, my life is just that awesome!) Parker (who normally goes to bed at 7) makes it through the first game, but it fading fast. Nancy takes her back to her house where we all hope she goes to bed. We fight through the second game, which doesn't finish until 9:30. I get the kiddos all out and go to pick up my ridiculously exhausted daughter who has NOT slept. She is home and in bed by 10:15 - that's reasonable for a 16 month old, don't you think? (This is where I make my plug for parent of the year....)

So, yeah. That's my week so far. I'm hoping for no showings today. (That's terrible). Really, I'm hoping that one of the 2 we had yesterday. (I forgot to mention that they called at 5:25 asking to show it at 5:30 WHAT????? Luckily, we weren't home and the house was ready!) leads to something so that this craziness can end (or at least lead to different craziness. I just want to stay home and chill with P.

Embarrassing Bath Photos

2010-01-22T10:44:00.003-05:00

Alicia loves to give Parker funny hair-dos in tub. Here are two of my favorites.

Coming Out

2010-01-21T20:10:00.002-05:00

Okay, blog stalkers. I have been holding out on you (even you, Alicia.) My friend and co-worker, Carter started a blog writing letters to her daughter, Campbell. I thought it was a terrific idea....and I stole it. I'm not great about writing in P's baby book and I thought this would be a great record of things. (I hope you don't mind, Carter!) So, I have been writing letters to Parker since November (I think). I don't know why I didn't share them with you - I guess I wanted to keep them private for awhile, after all some of them are a little sappy and they are all filled with parental prejudice. Plus, I'm kind of embarrassed that I just stole Carter's idea. But, I think she will be okay with it.

So, there you have it. If you want another blog to stalk: parkeralyse.blogspot.com

I might get around to linking it on my page - I might not. I have a boring textbook to read.

Ridiculous

2010-01-20T20:48:00.002-05:00

I am ridiculous. I'm taking these online classes. So, part of my assignment this week is to read a chapter and take a quiz. I am ridiculously, unbelievably stressed about this! Let it be said that you can A) use the book B) take it twice. I'm still freaked out. I can only lose a few points in this class and get an "A." (and I HAVE to get an "A," right?)

So, I read. I go back and take notes. I mentally prep myself and start the quiz. It's TIMED! AHHHHHH. There is a little timer at the top of the screen that runs the entire time, taunting you. There are questions that are NOT in the chapter. I may not remember the answer, but I can remember if I read the answer (or something even remotely related to the answer.) There are questions that are definitely NOT in the book. I freak out and start frantically answering questions. I realize I'm doing ok on time and I calm down. I answer the ones I know, find some in the book, take my educated guess on the ones that aren't covered. I have 4 minutes left. I submit.

I get 9 points out of 10. (That's 2 wrong) I'm pissed. I check to see which ones I got wrong. Ironically, one that is in the book. Way to go me. The info I have says that questions will be randomized after the first time, so I think that when I take it again (because of COURSE I'm taking it again) I will get all new questions. I take a deep breath and prepare to do it all again.

I start. Same questions - different order! :) Sweet. This leaves me like 25 minutes to find the answers to 2 questions and I already know which one is NOT it.

Awesome. I get 10/10. I feel better now.

Thursday Thirteen

2010-01-14T15:04:00.002-05:00

Thirteen Things that are - in combination- making (or about to be making) my life crazy and stressful

In no particular order...

1) Primary grade program - Normally, the end of the year program would be all the grades combined, but that can't happen this year for a number of reasons. So, instead of picking three songs for the kids to sing, each grade group that I teach has to put on their own program of respectable length. I'm just sort of stuck and currently stressed about it.

2) Kindergarten program - See above thoughts, but add in 5 year olds. Awesome.

3) Parker - In some ways she is so easy now. In others, she is definitely keeping me on my toes. She's into everything, eating cat food, choking on hair ties, deciding to want to use the potty when it's convenient for her (and not for me) You know, toddler things!

4) Pep Band - ongoing occasional evening commitment that I like to stress about

5) Musical - soon to be starting nightly commitment that will consume my life from Feb-May

6) Graduate class #1 - it's hard to read (and comprehend) deep thoughts regarding cognitive psychological theories when you begin at 10pm after completing several of the above activities. I'm only in the first week, so I have no idea what it's really going to be like but there are 2 fatty books that I know I'm going to have to get through between now and the end of the semester, not to mention the work that goes with it.

7) Graduate class #2 - Right now I can't keep one class straight from the other

8) Our house - for sale, dirty, not getting many showings, stressed that no one will buy it, stressed that someone will buy it and we won't find something we like, stressed that someone will buy it and we will have to move in the thick of all the above activities

9) Money - we don't have any.

10) Lack of sleep - When I'm busy, I can't turn my brain off. Terrific.

11) My own insecurities - regarding my dirty house, being in school again for the first time in FOREVER, my ability to juggle and manage everything I've signed up for

12) My job - getting easier, but I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing and lesson plans take more time than they should (although they take less time than in August)

13) My job next year - I don't know what it is or where it is or how to go about figuring all that out

Surprise!

2010-01-10T15:39:00.003-05:00

I have blogged about many motherly things, but this is probably the one that is going to seal the deal. I apologize to anyone who may read this who isn't a parent. I would just recommend that you stop now!

Last Thursday Parker said, "Poop. Potty" and headed off to the bathroom. Alicia and I were thoroughly confused, but followed her and figured we should sit her on the potty. We didn't even have a training potty. She's just getting ready to turn 16 months old for goodness sake. Anyway, she had already gone by the time we got over our confusion and put her on the potty. We did, however, take it as a sign.

So, Friday night, (oh our exciting lives) we went to Target and bought a Potty. We thought that it would just be good to talk about and have around. Saturday, she again said, "Poop. Potty." So, we again took her to the bathroom. She had already gone, but we set her on her potty. AND SHE PEED!!!! We were shocked and kinda excited (I'm not gonna lie, I was already allocating the diaper money toward much more exciting things!)

Today, she toddles toward the bathroom saying, "Potty!" So, we put her on and she pees again! I feel like this is a little insane and I'm completely unprepared. I don't know how to potty train. We don't really have time to do this right now, but I guess we are sort of in it. I don't think we will be doing anything hard core until summer, but if she's interested, I guess we should do something.

So, here's to going with the "flow" so to speak! :)

Favorites

2010-01-07T14:06:00.003-05:00

I had a good blogging spurt right before Christmas, made possible by the fact that we were at my in-laws and there were plenty of people to watch Parker. Things are back to normal (whatever that is) now and I haven't been doing so great of a job. So, instead of making individual posts about all the things we did, I'm just going to post my favorite pics from our festivities (Christmas Day onward)

Santa brought Parker a kitchen set. She was very excited and immediately walked over and began to play.
Parker opening a gift (before she hit gift overload and didn't want any more presents!)
Parker talks to her monkey puppet.
This is not such a great shot (the lighting is really bad), but it just makes me laugh because she wore that stupid duck towel around ALL day!
P loves being the center of attention and she certainly was!
Parker playing with her Uncle Steven, who she doesn't get to see very often.
My dad refinished a little rocking chair that had been my mom's and then mine, for Parker. She loves it! She's sitting in the chair Grandpa gave her under the blanket that Grandma made for her!
This picture is hilarious!!!!!! My family can be a little....overwhelming (in terms of size and volume) and a LOT silly. Alicia was trying to get everyone's attention. So, she stood on a folding chair. My sister thought she would be silly and stood on one of our kitchen chairs (which are tall), thus making her taller and giving her "the floor." My brother, being a smart butt, stood on the chair next to her. He is taller, so then he had the floor. My other brother jumps onto our kitchen counter and before he can get a word out, my sister leaps (literally in 3 bounds, counter, fridge, ledge) to the ledge between our living room and kitchen. I was laughing so hard that I was crying! AND since no one was going to trump her, we asked what she had to say. She said, "I have no opinion." and got down! :)
We got a decent snow on the 27th and since my family was all here, they were pretty excited to take Parker out to play. Here is she laughing with her Uncle Stu (or Goo as she calls him)
And this is just Parker cheesin' for the camera in the Christmas aftermath. I think she looks so old here. :(
Okay, I am going to try to continue blogging regularly(ish), but I've got a lot going in the next 5 months, so it may have to take a back seat.

The Story of the Pink, Glitter-polka-dotted skirt AND Christmas at Grandma's

2009-12-24T08:49:00.005-05:00

Alright boys and girls. I can't believe I'm putting this on the internet for everyone to see, but here it is. For Christmas, Parker received an outfit that consists of brown leggings, a brown skirt with pink, glitter polka dots and a matching pink shirt. The skirt and matching part of the shirt are made of whatever that stuff ballet tu-tus are made of. It's not exactly what I would pick out for my kid, but it was free, and Parker needs clothes at the moment. So, on the day we were going to celebrate Christmas with Alicia's family, we put her in it.

Here is the back shot (because I think her little baby booty is cute.)
Here is the front shot. (Please pardon the scraggly hair - P was running a fever and hates to have her hair done. I wasn't fighting.)
And here is Parker actually giving a nice smile for the camera. Again, pardon the red and puffy face. She above comment about the fever and previous post about the chicken pox.
Okay, now that you have all made fun of me and have gotten a good laugh, here is the real post about our visit with Alicia's family.

We actually arrived at Alicia's parents' house on Friday afternoon. We hung out Saturday and traveled to visit extended family Sunday and Monday. This left Tuesday evening to exchange gifts. Parker has been going to bed pretty early lately. I think it's because she's down to essentially one nap a day. So, if she's not in bed by 7:15, she is a MESS. Northern Indiana is on Central time, so this is 6:15 at her Grandma's house. It makes meals and other evening activities a challenge. Add to this the fact that she wasn't feeling good and you have a disaster in the making. She hung in there pretty well though.

Here is Parker watching her Grandma make mashed potatoes. (And eating a fruit strip!)

Parker listens as her Grandma reads a new book. (And Parker eats yogurt melts.)
P helps Grandma open a gift from her.

Parker examines the new movie she got.It's ironic that in 2 of these pictures Parker is eating because she ate hardly anything the entire time we were there.

Cute P stories from Grandma and Grandpa's house:

Parker can't say Eric (Alicia's brother). So, she just calls him Uncle. On Tuesday, when everyone but Grandma was at work, she wandered the house calling, "Uncle? Gampa?"

Alicia's Dad always says "ooga booga" to Parker. He taught her to say it so now she almost always says "Hi Gampa. Booga!"

We play with Parker but are not always at her beck and call. When you are at Grandma's there is always someone to play. Parker began sitting with her toys and saying, "Pay! Pay!" and patting the ground next to her. Someone (usually Grandma) would oblige!

Okay, I think I am officially caught up.

Merry Christmas to all.

Christmas on the Farm

2009-12-24T08:29:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, we trekked to Forreston, IL to celebrate Christmas with Alicia's Mom's side of the family. We spent the afternoon at her Aunt Kathy's house and Parker got to play with her second cousins, Taylor (whom Parker called Tator) and Reece (she could actually say Reece!)

They had tons of toys and Parker was in heaven! Interestingly, Parker, who has never really been a fan of riding things, loved this trike that Reece had.

Here she is showing her cheesy smile.
There was a small gift exchange for the kids and here's Parker opening a gift with her Grandma L.
It's a peek-a-boo frog!
While Parker enjoyed spending time with her family, getting gifts and playing with all the toys, her absolute favorite part of the trip was the cows. Parker has a mild obsession with both cows. This part of our family lives on a farm - WITH COWS!! We pointed them out as we were driving up and as soon as we got inside Parker started saying, "Cow! Moo!" We promised her that later we would go out to see the cows.

We didn't stay out too long as it was pretty cold. Parker was a little disappointed because the cows were eating when we went out and were NOT mooing, but she still thought it was pretty cool.
In our brilliant planning, we tried to get a picture of all three kids right before we left (and they were all DONE.) So, this is the best we got. I think Alicia's mom has a better one on her camera, but I don't have it yet. Reece (who is about a month younger than Parker) is on the left, Taylor (4) is in the middle and our "little" P is on the right.
I hope to get up one more post before Christmas! Fingers crossed...P's waking up.

Have a Merry Poxy Christmas

2009-12-24T08:06:00.002-05:00

As I posted about earlier, in Christmas at the Zoo or Santa, Part 1, Parker got 5 immunizations on December 11th. At the time, the nurse told me all the possible side effects of all of these shots. I listened like a good mother, took the 15 million papers they give you and went home. Parker seemed to be doing well.

The night before we left for Alicia's parents' was terrible. Parker didn't sleep and she woke up kind of snotty. We thought that perhaps her ear infections had returned (as they so often do.) We weren't sure because it wasn't too bad, but we weren't about to leave town for 6 days with a sick baby. So, we took her in. Yeah. She was fine, no ear infections, but still acting fairly cranky.

She did alright Friday, but then Saturday when she woke up from her nap, she was just REALLY cuddly and cranky. We knew she didn't feel well. When we gave her her bath Saturday night we noticed little red dots all over her belly.

Flashback: The nurse said something about one in a bazillion (or roughly something like that) getting a mild case of chicken pox from the vaccination. We weren't quite sold on chicken pox, thought maybe she was just getting a rash from the measles vaccine, but it wasn't super rashy - more spread out and kinda zitty looking. (Gross analogy, sorry!)

Sunday morning, she was totally glazed over and out of it. I thought her spots looked a little better. Sunday night, for the first time in her life, Parker had a fever. It was 100.4, which I know is not too bad, but I had to freak out a little because 1) her body temp is normally pretty low, like 96 or 97 and 2) she had never run a fever before (at least that I could catch!) I tried to keep telling myself that the nurse said she could run up to 102 and we shouldn't worry as long as we could bring it down with Tylenol.

She did okay though, basically slept well. Monday, a case of the uber crankies, spots worse - spreading and redder. Tuesday, spots about the same, still really cranky and cuddly. Yesterday, she seemed a bit better and I'm hopeful that when she gets up this morning, she will be even better still. The good news is that she slept really well last night than she has in the past week (I think being back in her bed certainly helped.)

I think the worst of it is over and I'm sure that it was just a very mild case, but I'm also sure that my kid is amazing because we were dragging her all over the midwest during all of this and people who don't spend a lot of time around her didn't even know anything was wrong because she was less cranky than some of the healthy kids! *

*Disclaimer - We are not horrible parents! We didn't know what was wrong with her until we were in the middle of our travel plans. Additionally, the dr said that we didn't need to worry about her getting anyone else sick unless she was around someone with a weakened immune system, which she wasn't! :)

So, here's hoping for improved health today so that we can have an "Un-poxy" Christmas tomorrow!

Jolly Days or Santa, Part 2

2009-12-23T22:50:00.006-05:00

Before we left to visit Alicia's family, we wanted to take Parker to the Children's Museum to see Santa (for real) and to explore the Jolly Days exhibit. We went in the afternoon, which is apparently the perfect time to go. There were only a couple people in line for Santa! Yea. Parker did slightly better this time, but we didn't attempt to put her on Santa's lap or have me leave the picture!

Here she is "smiling" for the photographer.
Then, she looks to Alicia with her classic pout as if to say, "Save me, Mom!" I love how Santa is so engaged with Parker. (Seriously, he wasn't bad - he even talked to her after the picture, it's just funny here!)
We didn't hang around the rest of the Jolly Days area for very long. They were in the middle of several snowball fights, which were just LOUD and it was pretty crowded with big kids. I think P would have enjoyed playing with and on some of the things, but she was getting trampled and was kind of intimidated, so we left and tried the Yule Slide instead.

Here she is with Alicia. Apparently, Alicia said "Whee" all the way down. Parker, on the other hand, decided to say it after they stood up at the bottom! :)
We headed up to our normal stop, Playscape. Each time we go, Parker gets a little more comfortable with the sand. She has to go through a "eww! There's sand on my hands bit in the beginning, though."
Parker has always loved the water table. We've been taking her to the museum since she was 6 months old and it's so cool to watch her grow in the way she plays with the equipment.
Parker has started getting into pretending, which I think is amazing. Here she is playing with the giant dollhouse.
Since it was later in the afternoon, it wasn't crowded, so we decided to go to the basement and play with the Fireworks of Glass exhibit. (No good pics from that, sorry!) Then, Parker seemed intrigued by the trains, which isn't something that we have really done before. So, she played and even crawled under and in this exhibit. Immediately following this picture, she completely lost it though because she wanted to walk out and she couldn't. She had to crawl. She was not a fan!
Overall, a really great trip. My little girl is getting so big!

Top Secret (I mean it - Don't read this if your last name is Sharp!)

2009-12-19T21:41:00.003-05:00

The Spirit of Giving

We thought that it would be cute if Parker could make gifts for her family. So on one of our shopping outings, we went to Jo-Anne's and bought some wooden circles, ribbon and paint. Alicia drilled a small hole in them and painted them white. The idea was that Parker could then add her own decorative paint touches (in red and or green.) We thought this would work really well because she is getting the hang of coloring and seems to enjoy it.

We hyped it up. "Parker, do you want to paint? She was excited. She didn't actually want to do the activity. We did a demo ornament. She was not interested. We took a break. "Parker, do you want to paint?" Her response, "Uh...No." (Repeat this several times.) Finally, she says, "Paint!" Okay, here we go. The only way she will do it is if I give her a new brush each time. She kept saying, "Dip. Dip."

Alicia helps her do the first one.
This is what most of the experience looked like.
It only took us three different "rounds" of painting to get 9 ornaments. You can see a couple of P's masterpieces sitting on the table.
The good news is that although she may not have had the stamina to enjoy painting all 9 ornaments, she did like a couple and she got to give her first one away today. :) She handed the present to the appropriate person and even (when prompted) said "welcome!" after she thanked her. That made me happy. :)

Christmas at the Zoo or Santa, Part 1

2009-12-19T21:05:00.004-05:00

Last Friday (December 11th) Parker had her 15 month appointment. They claimed that she is still 31.5 inches (which I'm not sure I believe because she was wiggling EVERYWHERE and her pants are getting shorter) and 24lbs, 12 oz. Both of those are in the 90th percentile. As a side note, ever since Parker had her EEG she hates going to the dr. She will scream for everything. It's pretty fun. She has gotten a little better, but there are still multiple tears. Anyway, this visit is pertinent to this post because on this visit, Parker's ears were actually clear! :) She has had an ear infection (or 2) since her birthday. So, this was indeed a momentous occasion. What this meant for poor Parker, however, is that she got to get LOTS of shots, five to be exact.

So, what did we, her really thoughtful Moms decide to do that night? Take her to Christmas at the Zoo, of course! Now, in fairness, she was doing fine - just a little cuddly.

Here is Parker all bundled up heading in. She seems to be really excited.

Here's P looking at the fish (if she can see from under her hat!)
We had never been to Christmas at the Zoo before and sort of knew that there were special activities, but hadn't really investigated prior to going. We went into the tent and found both Santa and cookies. We had planned on taking Parker to see Santa at the Children's Museum the following week, but there was no line and we thought it might be good to have sort of a trial run. As you can see, it went really well. :)
She calmed down slightly when I came back in the picture, but is clearly unhappy. A minute after we were done, she started saying, "Tanta!" I was hopeful for the next visit.
Parker LOVES cookies, so of course we had to decorate one. She didn't want to actually put the frosting on, but was quite interested in watching Alicia do it.
Then we ate the cookie.
And what would an outing be without an obligatory posed shot?
In the next episode: TOP SECRET for family members!!!! (Seriously, if you are related to me - don't read until after we open gifts. I'm being serious - don't do it!!!!!!!!!!! I'll be sad.)

Chasing a Baby trying to get a photo op.

2009-12-19T17:07:00.002-05:00

I thought it was challenging last year trying to get a good picture of Parker to put on a Christmas card. At least last year she didn't move anywhere! We were literally chasing Parker around the house. She did not want to sit still. We got a couple of cute-ish shots. Not all completely card worthy, but still pretty funny.

Here is Parker's posed shot on the piano bench.

Such a lady....er, notsomuch! I think it's hilarious though - she was making faces at Alicia.
She's telling me for the bazillionth time that there is a "tee" in her house!
This is when the fun really started. She was running all over the house, like a little milk drunk baby!
Finally, she decided to "smile" for the camera. I'm afraid that that this is the cheesy smile that we are going to get for the next few years!
Coming up: Christmas at the Zoo AKA Santa, Pt. 1

Decorating a Christmas Tree

2009-12-19T15:29:00.003-05:00

When we last left off, the Sharp-LaMagdeleine family had cut down a Christmas tree. Friday night, we got it in the stand and set up the artificial tree. (Yes, we're a multiple tree household.) Saturday, when Parker woke up there were many boxes of decorations out. She immediately went to one and asked for, "hep, pease." (Help, please) So, we got out Parker's ornaments. She inspected each one and then laid it nicely on the ground. She got quite excited when I asked if she wanted to put them on the tree. At first she just set them on the branches, but then got the hang of actually hanging them on the tree. It was pretty cute. Unfortunately, I was caught in the moment of helping her and didn't get any pictures. Luckily, she was still interested later when we were adding the "generic" ornaments.

Here's P selecting the perfect ball to add.
Here's Parker's Grandma lending her a hand.
Parker inspecting the ornament to make sure it is fit to put on the tree
And lastly, a cheesy smile!
Up Next (I think...) Chasing a Baby around trying to get a cute Holiday Photo

Cutting a Christmas Tree

2009-12-19T11:53:00.005-05:00

I have been quite remiss with the blogging lately, so I am going to try to catch up this week! Here goes:

The Friday after Thanksgiving, we once again took Parker to cut a Christmas tree. Last year, she was pretty small, so I was very excited to see how she would react this year. She did a pretty good job considering she had double ear infections (at the time undiagnosed). She loves riding on shoulders, so she rode on her Mom's shoulders for awhile.
She didn't want to get down and walk, but she did want everyone to walk her around and touch all the trees.
She especially liked riding the wagon to the fields and back. My sister was able to get a couple of cute shots of Parker playing "Boo!" before the wagon pulled away. Please pardon the disgusting snot - as I said, she had two ear infections and it was impossible to wipe her nose out in the trees!

Stay tuned for: Decorating a Christmas Tree

Wow.

2009-12-13T12:57:00.002-05:00

At my parents' house there is this picture of me on the fridge when I was approximately P's age. My brother thought it would be pretty clever to hang our Christmas card from this year below and send me the shot.

Yeah, I guess she's mine. :)

New 'Do

2009-11-16T22:11:00.002-05:00

Parker's hair has been out of control lately! Her bangs are getting so long, but I don't really want to cut them since I would really love for her to be bang-less when her hair gets longer. So, we have been experimenting with different ways to hold her hair back. Barrettes sort of work, but in order for them to not look weird, they don't really hold the bangs back. (Her bangs are too short for that, but too long to hang! Ugh!) So, last weekend we tried pig tails. They worked pretty well, although they did fall out a few times during the day and Parker's not a big fan of getting them in!

Here are a couple of pics of P's new 'do!

On Saturday, the pig-tails won! They just kept moving closer and closer to the top of her head as they day went on! She really looks like a Baby Who now! (Still pretty cute though!)

"Parker"

2009-11-06T18:54:00.002-05:00

I finally was able to catch it on video. Please don't mind the toys everywhere and the CRAZY hair.

Stuck

2009-11-05T11:56:00.002-05:00

I am stuck. I'm not sure how to get un-stuck. Right now, things are good. I work, essentially, part-time but am still able to get insurance through work since they don't consider me a part-time employee. This situation will not be available to me next year. So, I have to decide what I'm going to do.

I would love to stay home. The problem being that then, I don't have any insurance. I have self-insured before, but that is costly - especially when you consider that I won't be bringing in any money. Plus, we want to start thinking about baby #2. This is definitely expensive - and impossible if I don't have any insurance (or am self-insuring!) So, if we want to have another baby, I have to be working full time so that I have insurance (and it would be helpful if I was bringing in money to pay for all the medical expenses that come along with us having a baby - let's remember that P cost us about $25,000 - not including hospital bills for her birth)

I guess, I don't really have an option on that one. So, the next question is where do I work? Do I try to stay in the district I am now or do I seek out other opportunities? I'm not entirely sure how it works coming off a job-share and wanting to go back full time. The wonderful thing about my current district is that they won't want to even talk about any of this until May-ish. Fantastic. It's not like I need to know or anything. I don't really feel up to looking hard core for a new job so I guess I will stay where I am and hope that they have something that I am remotely interested in for the fall.

I hate that I don't get to choose whether or not to stay home with our child because our society has decided that I can't be on Alicia's insurance. I'm sorry for whining, but it's just not fair.

Lazy

2009-10-27T21:30:00.003-04:00

I'm blogging this mostly because I'm too lazy to get up and write it all in Parker's baby book. I'm hoping that when I actually get around to doing it, I can refer back to this post. I know you don't all REALLY care about Parker's new words, but I do and it's my blog! :)

cloth - yes, she now can quite clearly request her "snuggle cloth"

park - This is a girl who LOVES the park. She knows where it is and wants to go there all the time. We go for a walk and take a turn that doesn't lead to the park and she gets upset saying "park" over and over. We drive by the park in the car and she points and says "park!" We come home. She drags us to the door saying "PARK!" She was quite bummed that it was raining today.

Parker - Now admittedly, this is not perfected and only comes out when prompted, but she did repeat it at least twice this evening. I'm psyched!

fish - (sh) She just randomly busted this out at my sister's because she wanted the goldfish crackers on the counter

cake - of course, my daughter would learn to say cake early

cup - either empty or full, regular or sippy; she doesn't care!

Dog - The girl loves dogs. Too bad she's never getting one! lol

She is also a VERY good mimic and has repeated many things including please and thank you.

And as a last note - I LOVED it that tonight she and Alicia were singing "Old MacDonald" in the tub with Parker singing the "EIEIO's" and doing the animal noises!

My little girl is getting so big! (Now if only she would walk without screaming like we were pulling off her legs!)

Why I'm Not a Painter

2009-10-07T19:38:00.004-04:00

Parker has been "talking" up a storm lately. Over the weekend, she just started saying LOTS of new things. Here are her new words:

Hi! - She will say this to anyone and everyone. I think she greeted every single person in the Wal-Mart and Kroger on Sunday morning and every student in the hallway of University this afternoon. She even greeted the assistant head of school, said good-bye to him and then clapped for herself.

Kitty! - As in "Kitty, I'm coming to get you." Or "Kitty, get off the counter!"

Car - Goodness knows I feel like we are always in the car, so why shouldn't she know this word?

G0 - This usually goes hand in hand with car

Moooooo - Previously, Parker's cows said "Mmmmmm" They now say "Moo," which is good since she is going to be a cow for Halloween

Ooh-Ooh - This is what a Monkey says

Cookie - Um, okay, I know this is not a surprise to anyone.

Na-na - This is what she calls our friend Nancy. She won't actually call her it, but when asked if she wants to see Nancy, she will say "Na-na"

Maxx - She doesn't quite have the "x" yet, but she is getting there and she does chase after him calling "Maa, Maa"

She is trying to say lots of other things including "cloth" (her snuggle cloth/blankie thing), "coat", "shoes," "socks," and I swear that on two separate occasions when the Smiths were staying with us this past weekend she said "Sadie."

Although she hasn't (yet) started reciting her own poetry, Parker loves to hear her Mom do it- she specifically loves "Why I'm Not a Painter" by Frank O'Hara.

I think Alicia has died and gone to heaven.

Through the year

2009-09-15T22:00:00.002-04:00

I have been very nostalgic about Parker turning 1. So, in that spirit here are some photos through the year.

Parker, at the hospital - still in the NICU - just a little over 12 hours old.
Parker at Christmas - 3 months
Parker - 6 months old!
P at 9 months
My big girl on her birthday. It's kind of amazing what a couple of barrettes and a little more hair will do to age a girl!
I love my big girl, but I miss my baby too! Will someone please say that it slows down a little (or at least doesn't get any faster?)

The Birthday Girl

2009-09-13T22:09:00.003-04:00

Parker had quite the birthday weekend! Friday morning was spent at home with Mommy. We went to the park and got to play on all the big kid equipment (without the big kids there to run her over!) Then, Mom came home from work early and we opened presents and went to the zoo. Then, we went out to dinner. All in all, a pretty good day.

Saturday was the big party! The house looked awesome (no pics of that because I think my kid is cuter!) and there were lots of people there celebrating Parker's first year. The biggest new of the party is that Parker took her first 2 steps! She was such a good girl and did it in front of both her moms AND both her grandmas! Tonight she was taking 4 or 5 steps in between Alicia and I! We are pretty excited! Oh yeah, back to the party...

Here is Parker's party cake. (I think the kid ended up with like 3 birthday cakes....spoiled much?)

Parker tries out her new recorder from Aunt Stacy
Parker really likes the wagon from Grandma and Grandpa LaMagdeleine
Here is Parker looking adorable with her umbrella (and matching raincoat- not shown) from Grandma and Grandpa Sharp
And, here is Parker just being cute (the next day) and modeling her new Nike's from Aunt Stacy.
The "baby" got lots of presents including (but not limited to - please don't get mad if I leave out your gift!) puzzles, a wagon, lots of clothes, crayons and a coloring book, several fun toys, some jumbo lego-type blocks and of course her new Nikes (which are too cute for words AND she can walk in them!) My dad refinished a cradle that he had made for me when I was little and gave that to her. It's adorable and Parker and I both love it.

I think P had a great time, but was so tired that she slept in for 2 extra hours this morning. We then, had our families over for brunch and had her 1 year portraits taken at Butler. It was a very exciting, busy weekend. Now, I have to psych myself up to go back to regular life. It might be nice for things to be calm for awhile! :)

1 Year Appointment...

2009-09-09T19:06:00.002-04:00

We took Parker for her 1 year check-up today. We moved it up a week because she has started doing this weird thing with her eyes. She will be playing and then randomly roll her eyes up and back and "check out" for just a second. Then she will go right back to playing. Needless to say, this freaks me out a LOT, so we just switched the appointment. Here is basically what we learned at the world's longest doctor's visit.

1) Parker has an ear infection. What? Where did that come from? She hasn't been acting like she has an ear infection. I thought she caught my cold. I'm a good parent.

2) The bizarre eye-rolling thing COULD be a very uncommon reaction to the Benadryl that we have been giving her for her cold. I'm still holding out that she has a cold too because she is coughing. We are going to stop the Benadryl and see if it goes away.

3) My child is still a beast although her weight has slowed down. She weighed in at 23lb 2.5 oz - 75th percentile. Her height - 31.5 inches (and measured well this time - Parker was NOT squirming) - totally off the charts.

So, that's that. We're going to drug the baby up REALLY well tonight and hope that she is feeling much better by Friday for big, birthday FUN! :)

Parker's Tricks

2009-09-05T21:02:00.002-04:00

My favorite thing about Parker's age right now is that she does "tricks." She won't do these in public, generally but we have tons of fun with her at home! Here are her top five.

5)Us: "Parker, what does a cow say?"

Parker: "Mmmmmmm"

4)Us: "Parker, how big are you?"

Parker: "Throws hands in air and grins" (Us: "Soooo Big!")

3)Us: "Parker, are you cute?"

Parker: Shakes head no and grins like a crazy girl.

2)Us: "Parker, how old are you going to be?"

Parker: Holds up one finger (and occasionally says "Wuh")

(Please sing)

1)Us: "Na Na Na Na"

Parker: "Na Na Na Na"

Us: "Na Na Na Na"

Parker: "Na Na Na Na"

Us: "Hey Hey Hey"

Parker: "Huh, Huh, Huh"

Us: "Go-ood Bye"

Parker: "Buh-Bah" (sometimes waving)

Tried to create a witty title, but I'm too sleepy

2009-08-30T21:55:00.002-04:00

Parker's hair has been pretty unruly lately. The problem is that her bangs are getting long, but she doesn't really have any hair over her temples and then she has a lot of hair over her ears and in the back. We don't really want to cut it - I think it would just be a bang trim anyway - so we thought we would try barrettes. She didn't really sit still for me to get them in, but she didn't pull them out either. They do fall out as she plays because she tends to rub her head on things (people, cats etc.) They were pretty cute though and we will probably use them when she needs to look presentable! Front view..... Side view.....

Parker has always liked music. Maybe not in the lullaby sort of way that my mom would like, but in more of the beat-box, percussion-y sort of way. Lately, she has been pretty into the piano. She will sit and turn the pages of the music like she is actually reading them. It's funny. Below may be the only sitting down shot of my daughter without an obnoxious amount of diaper hanging out.

I think this picture is too cute because she is staring so intently at the music. We start Kindermusik in a few weeks. I'm hoping she will like it because it might just make me vomit a little. (I've always been a bit - ok a lot a bit - of a music snob so this teacher better know her stuff!) We will see.

Not gonna re-type!

2009-08-24T21:30:00.004-04:00

Ergh. I just typed a whole blog and it somehow got deleted. Boo. I'm not starting over. You're just left with the pictures (which I know is what most of you are in it for anyway!)
We went to the State Fair, not once...but twice! The first time we went with our friend, Nancy. Parker rode the extremely fast carousel! Here she is, ready to go! Then, yesterday we went with my brother, Stu. He wanted to pose Parker on all the farm equipment. Generally, she wasn't too fond of it, but this picture is ok. She is sitting in a combine wheel!

And now, for the most important thing! Yesterday, Parker had her first cookie. If you know me, this was definitely a big, camera worthy event! I will only post one picture, so as not to appear crazy (but I have more, don't you worry!) She loved it! (Who doesn't love cookies?)

Backwards Post

2009-08-06T20:45:00.002-04:00

Since today is, essentially, the last day of my summer, I thought I would do a quick-ish post of what we've been up to since vacation. But, I just loaded the picutres in the wrong order, so let's throw chronology out the window. Shall we?

We were slacker Moms before vacation and hadn't bothered to set up the little backyard pool that we bought for Parker....in May. We finally got around to it and I'm really glad we did because she thinks it is so fun!
Parker has also been finally spending some time at home. She has always loved the cats, but her love seems to grow deeper everyday. She is getting much better at "gentle pets" but Kitty Finn still wants nothing to do with her. P will spend long periods of time chasing her. Luckily, Kitty Maxx is more tolerant. Below, Parker shows her adoration for the cat, who is sitting, out of sight, on the chair.

P has also developed a serious love of kitchen utensils. Fine by me. They're plastic and they keep her out of trouble (which she is sooo good at getting into these days) when I'm cleaning up her food messes. (Which is an entirely different post!)

This picture was taken at Amy and Ben's house when our friends Krysten, Adam and Sadie were in town. I post it only because when we were visiting Alicia' family in June, Parker's 2nd cousin, Reece (about a month younger than Parker) carried a plastic chicken leg wherever she went. We thought it was hilarious. Yeah....that's what I get for laughing!

Speaking of our visit with the Smiths, below is really the only picture I was able to get of both Sadie and Parker. I think it's funny because they are giving each other a major staredown. It's like there saying, "Wait a minute! I'm used to being the only cute baby. Who are you????" We loved visiting and one of the best parts of the visit was that Sadie apparently taught Parker how to crawl. P had been sort of trying for a couple days prior, but hadn't really gotten anywhere. The day Sadie left, Parker began crawling - often even that same one foot, one leg, tripod crawl that Sadie does! Too funny!

So, I guess that's it. The end of summer. Tomorrow the in-laws come. They leave Sunday, but my mom and sister come to watch Parker when I go back to school on Monday. Aunt Lauren will still be on vacation (lucky) until Tuesday. I'm extremely nervous about this new job, so you may all have to listen to some ramblings that aren't about Parker. Okay, that's it. I'm out.

Parental Pride

2009-08-03T21:17:00.002-04:00

It seems like lately Parker is learning tons of new words (okay, tons is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration) She started a long time ago with "mama." Then she learned "book." (Alicia is VERY proud of this.) At the beginning of July she started with "whoa," which I know isn't really a word, but I think it can count. Then came "uh-oh" and "ball." Today she started saying "boom." What I think is most hilarious about that is that she will fall (okay, really sit from standing) and then, after saying "boom" will sometimes request her Boo Boo Bunny. This is just a frozen block, sort of like those ice cube things with a little rabbit around the outside that someone gave us at a shower. So, now it goes like this: "Boom. Boo Boo Buh" :)

Now, my new favorite. (Please read the heavy sarcasm.) Parker has started saying "poop." Now, in her defense, the girl has her issues with constipation, so we talk about poop and pooping a LOT. This morning she was having a hard time and was laying on my shoulder. When I asked if she was okay, she replied "poop poop." Great. So my kid now says "poop." I should be so proud.