5.22.10

Our house is now OUR house. It's a great feeling. You stayed with Grandmama and Grandaddy last night. Apparently you wanted to party all night. You didn't go down until 10! And then you woke up at 3, stayed up and hour and you were up for the day at 6.

You've already woken up once, crying, since we put you down an hour ago. Please sleep tonight. Tomorrow is Velika's baby shower and I really need to rest.

PLEASE SLEEP!

I love you Parker!
Mommy

5.20.10

Tomorrow is the day! But that's not why I'm writing.

You did the sweetest thing with your Daddy today. We were hanging out before bedtime. You stood up, Daddy was laying in the floor. You grabbed his hand and pulled his hand until the two of you got over to your piano. You took his hand and started banging his hand on it. Then you started banging alongside him. It was precious. Simply amazing.

In lesser news, you held my hand walking to your bedroom for bedtime tonight. Again, simply breathtaking.

You are growing into such a happy, sweet little boy. You amaze me every day.

I love you Parker,
Mommy

5.19.10

We're set to close on the house on Friday at 9am. We're pretty excited. :) This weekend is going to be super busy so I hope you'll be able to bear with us.

We have closing on Friday morning, you're staying with Grandmama and Grandaddy that night. Saturday we have to get the house together because on Sunday I'm throwing Velika her baby shower! You and Daddy will get to go hang out by yourselves for a bit that day.

I'm hoping you'll be okay through all the excitement. Next week will be back to normal.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

Mommy

05.17.10

We're on our way to buying the house! We took a class today to help us get the loan for our house. We're set to close (officially buy) the house on Friday. We're very excited and very nervous. It's a really big deal.

You're just a barrel of monkeys! You are positively the silliest child I've ever known. We've been having you walk yourself to your bedroom or bathroom at night instead of carrying you. Tonight you came all the way to your bedroom and turned around and ran back to your Daddy in the kitchen. I managed to coax you back toward your bedroom again-almost. You turned and ran again, giggling the whole way. You ran into the den through the obstacle course of toys scattered about just cackling! So silly!

You're like this most of the time. An absolutely party to be around. I love you SO MUCH.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

05.16.10

OH TEETH! You have all four top teeth, three on the bottom, and one molar (top left). Tonight when I was brushing and oragel-ing I found another molar almost through (bottom left) and another one's outside is coming through (top right). You're also still trying to cut your far right bottom tooth. I'm expecting your canines sometime soon. I hear that's NOT FUN. They're pointy. :(

You're so cuddly these days. You love to be read to. I hope that we're planting the seed for a lifelong hobby. Reading makes your life so much more rich. Anything you could wonder about, you can read about. It makes your view of life so much broader.

You had a meltdown at Panera today. NOT COOL. You're ordinarily so well behaved it was a shock to see you break down like that. I'm blaming it on teething, not a new norm.

I love you Parker.
Mommy

05.13.10

Things are much better. We're getting accustomed to our new schedule. We're not quite as 'tired' of each other anymore. We've been going out to the grocery store and hanging out with your Grandmama some.

Today was a super fun day! Melissa and MacKenzie, Amanda, Shannon, and Velika came over for a bbq. We had burgers and hotdogs, grilled veggies, and roasted potatoes. You were having too much fun to eat much... silly willy. We went to the pool- you LOVED it! You cried when I took you out! I'm thinking we'll be spending lots of time down there this summer. Yay!

You're 16 months old today! Every day you amaze me more and more. You have the silliest disposition. You make me laugh all the time! We still don't have any more words yet but I have a feeling they're coming. You're about to cut two more molars. You have 8 teeth so far.

You eat pretty much anything I give you, even cheese finally! Yay! You prefer tomato sauces over everything else. I can't wait for you to be off of baby food altogether. It's my fault you still do jarred food at lunch. When you eat that stuff I know you're getting what you need. I don't always trust myself to know how to make nutritious food for you.

We're going to see your Great-Grandmama tomorrow. Please go to her, I think it hurts her feelings that you only want me when we're there.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

05.08.10

I'm having a bad day. We're not used to spending this much time together. I'm so worried about having work to go back to. You aren't used to spending so much time with me. Also, your Dadddy is here more in the mornings but not so much during the day.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. You and Daddy already gave me my present. It's a necklace with your name, the year you were born, and your birthstone. *section purposely left out*

I've actually asked to spend the day in bed. We're so wrung out, you and I, the stress of work being flooded and my just being home is wearing on us.

I love you so much. We're just not used to spending this much time together.

Things are stressful right now. It doesn't mean I don't love you.... Don't ever feel that way.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

05.06.10

We donated your clothes today! Six boxes! A little box of toys. Mommy and Daddy put together a HUGE bag of clothes. Your Grandmama and Grandaddy even chipped in 3 bags. YAY!

Today we're going to donate your last box of formula and some sippys! YAY!

When times are difficult it is absolutely imperative that you take stock of your situation and see what you have to give. It helps tremendously to give what you can when you can. It reminds you to be thankful for what you have and to be mindful that there are always people you can help.

This is one of the most basic lessons I want you to learn. To be giving, generous. You already share your food with me. You're going to be great at sharing your heart when you're older!

I love you Parker!
Mommy

05.05.10

Lots of bad stuff has happened in the last couple of days. A good portion of Nashville has flooded, including the hotel your Daddy and I work at. One day I'll show you pictures. It truly is a disaster. So far, your Daddy and I both have our jobs. I'm pretty sure that your Daddy will keep his job completely. Next week I'm going to start looking for a new job. It's sort of scary, I've worked at one place for the last seven and a half years. I'm still looking for a place to donate your clothes.

I have some pretty exciting news, you had your hair cut for the first time yesterday! You look adorable! You were such a big boy. I'll put pictures up on your blog.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

05.02.10

The last two days have been absolutely terrifying. We've had record flooding here. Over 10 inches of rain fell in less than 48 hours. Most interstates are closed, hundreds of roads closed. So many people have lost everything. Luckily, we're safe. We're dry and we have power. We have food, you have food. We're okay.

I'm going to work hard tomorrow to see where we can donate your clothes and some of our old clothes to people who've lost everything.

It is truly a disaster. And what you must do in a disaster is to first, make sure that family and friends are okay and second, do what you can to help those in need. And that's what we'll do in the coming days.

Know that I love you and I'm so glad that we're all okay.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.25.10

We're on day 3 of no Daddy at bedtime. You went down really well so I'm a little afraid of what the night will bring.

Today I realized that one day I won't be the most important person in your life. You're going to have a best friend and later (hopefully later), a girlfriend. Those days are going to crush me. But it will be good. It will mean that I've raised a boy other boys will like and a boy someday a girl will love.

It's the days I find myself counting down time until bedtime that I kick myself after I've put you down. I can't get any of these minutes back. I think that's why I write this to you.

You're understanding more and more every day. You understand what I'm saying to you. Wow. I hope you understand how much I love you.

Sleep well.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.24.10

It was sort of a stormy day. We ended up spending most of the day at your Grandparent's.

You waved 'bye' to the cashier at Publix this morning. YAY! You continued to wave all day. You were so proud of yourself!
Teething is going *okay*. You were pretty crabby this morning. I think we got ahead of the pain with your second dose of tylenol. I feel so awful for you. I wish it didn't hurt so much.

Today is day 2 of Daddy working at night. I have a feeling that tomorrow's bedtime is going to be rough. We just have to get through tomorrow and Monday. Then you'll get to spend all day Tuesday with him.

Please sleep well tonight.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.23.10

Oh teeth! You're working on getting more. I think you're doing well. You're just a little grumpy during the day. You slept all night last night. I hope you do it again tonight.

 You're getting so big. Just watching you every day, it's amazing. You smile and laugh. You clap and 'wash your hands'-it's this motion where you rub your palms together up and down like you're wiping off your hands. You shake your head 'no'. You run. It is so adorable, it's sort of a stumbly run but it's yours.

You dislike walking in grass, you get so focused and really swing your arms back and forth hard. You have a look of total concentration on your face. One day, it will all be so easy. Walking, running, being silly. I'm loving watching it be challenging.

I love watching you learn things. You're facinated when Daddy does 'Johnny pick 'em up' on the counter. You try to mimic his hand moving. It's beautiful.

It's going to be a stormy day tomorrow. We may go up and stay with Grandmama and Grandaddy.

Please stay asleep tonight.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.22.10

The last couple of days have been really difficult. We were scared that we might not get to buy this house. Now, we're scared (happily so) that it's really going to happen. Lots of tears and fears.

Last night my friend, Kim, stayed with us. She and her boyfriend split up. That put even MORE stress on all of us. You woke up at 11:30 pm and cried and cried. I'm not sure if it was all the stress plus the fact that youre getting MORE teeth. I'm also not sure that any of us got more than minutes of sleep at a time.

I'm really hoping you'll get your rest tonight and we'll be able to get ours. I love you so much and I'm SO TIRED.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.16.10

I have been super bad about writing lately. We've been busy. You run now. It's cute. Kind of like an old drunk guy. We took you outside after dinner and you fell twice. Scraped knees but you're fine.

You are getting so silly! Always making silly sounds, gurgling, and making fart sounds. You walk around doing this 'singing' kind of noise. You don't seem interested in saying real words at all. But you're constantly chattering.

And you're into everything! Your Daddy and I were trying to get us all packed for our wedding anniversary, we stayed at Opryland and you stayed with your Grandmama and Grandaddy. We took our eyes off of you for a second- you opened a bottle of your baby soap and spilled it all over a shelf on the bookcase in your room and then you were rubbing it all around the shelf with both hands! It was the biggest mess, I think we may have ruined our comforter. Oops. There was soap all over the bottom of a basket, we didn't know. You were so proud of yourself. It was really funny.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.09.10

Wow teething. You're trying to cut two teeth on the bottom in the front-on either side of the two you have now and a molar. On Tylenol, you're fine. No tylenol or nap... Your prebirth nickname 'monster baby' comes to mind. I called you 'monster baby' when you were in my belly because you made me so sick. It was cute then. It's not cute now.

We went to the Southern Women's Show today. You were tired when we went. You had a total meltdown and finally passed out. You went down really easily tonight. I hope you sleep straight through.

We're going to buy the house we're living in, hopefully. Your Daddy is working as hard as he can to get this place to be ours. I'm really excited and nervous.

Tomorrow I'll make sure you get a proper nap, I promise.

**added as I type this: I wanted you to see what you looked like on your 2nd Easter, so that's the picture at the bottom.**

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.01.10

Things are looking pretty okay for us to buy this house. I'm cautiously optimistic... I want to stay here so bad. I love it here, it's where we brought you home. I'm hoping it can also be where we bring your baby brother or sister home too.

Your Daddy and I are in negotiations about when that might happen. I'm pretty determined.

We went to the park today. We didn't get to swing, to many babies there. You fell down in the sand. Oh you were covered! You went down the slide a couple of times, you didn't seem impressed.

You're wearing 18 month clothes pretty consistently now. I had to buy you new shoes today- a size 5! Bigfoot! :)

I love you Parker!
Mommy

3.31.10

You scraped up your knees for the first time today. Grandmama and Grandaddy had you outside and you got away from them. You ran toward the flower bed in the backyard and didn't see the brick edging. You're okay, just a couple of scratches. They won't be your last.

We're going to Dragon Park with Melissa and MacKenzie tomorrow. Yay! I plan on taking lots of pictures!

I love you Parker!
Mommy

3.30.10

It's been too long since I wrote last. We've been super busy. You're running almost! You're becoming sillier and silllier! Everything seems to crack you up.

I think you're cutting a molar. I hope so much that it comes in easily. Getting your front teeth in was just awful.

On Sunday, we went to the Frist Center, a museum. You really were a great little guy! On Monday you tasted your first bite of a hot dog- bad mommy! But you didn't seem too interested. You seem to prefer yummy, healthy food. Great!

I'll try to write more tomorrow!

I love you Parker!
Mommy

3.21.10

We're going to have to move your bedtime back. It's still daylight when I put you down and you're fussing yourself to sleep. I think if we push it back to when it's dark, meaning eventually 8 pm, you'll go to sleep more easily. You also seem to have bad dreams at night, you cry out in the middle of the night. I don't want you to have bad dreams.

We went to the park with Amanda, Aidan, and MacKenzie yesterday. You LOVE the swings. Not so keen on the grass. Maybe when it's not so dead and crunchy.

You're having temper tantrums. I don't quite know how to handle them. But we've got to get a handle on them. I'm not going to have you melting down whenever you don't get your way. We'll get it figured out.

I love you Parker!
Mommy