Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Sun is Back!

Today we were scheduled to go to the museum and check out the dinosaurs. Every week for the past EIGHT weeks we've been to the museum for S&D but have never checked out the actual dinosaur exhibit. However, plans changed....which has happened a lot this week because of the weather. There was only 4 of us going, however, Michelle wanted to save money on gas, Paula wasn't sure when Ian would be waking (he sleeps until 11am some mornings....) and Cheryl needed to meet a plumber around 1pm. Soooo, Michelle invited us over to play at her house: There is a time-out spot anywhere we go.... Parker is working on sharing, hitting and pushing. So, I am working on teaching him not to:
And we went upstairs to play for a while and to check out a play-room/family-room makeover in progress (Parker is at the very top):
Then it was time to go. Parker was going around the room to hug everyone good-bye:
Now that nap is almost over (and by that I mean Parker is screaming my name from his bed), we must do some last minute birthday shopping!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Like Mommy, Like Son

I wanted to title this post, "Boys Will Be Boys" but I can't lie like that! This was all me. I did it first and then Parker perfected it : Score!
A run down of our day: Pump It Up Jr. in the morning, Parker had a 3-hour nap, I cooked Bryan a nice dinner and a yummy dessert, we did some outdoor chores and then we played. GREAT day!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

A Million & One Things....

....to do today but.....

A very dear friend of mine is getting pregnant today. I know this is not proper grammar but I am not sure how else to say it. So, we have a couple stops to make and then we need to drop a care package off at her house. We were almost dressed and ready to walk out the door when Cheryl texted asking us to come over and play. It is raining outside and is a little chilly so I was not excited about getting in and out of the car with Parker.

So, we decided to play (and watch Elmo)..... .....for a couple hours and then it was time to go......
....so we could get lunch, a nap and then run our errands.


Please say a special prayer for my friend....there are several girls in my mommy group that have fertility (whether caused by the man or woman) problems and I have since learned that this can be a very emotional and painful process.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Out of Words....

....for today but they should return tomorrow. Until then, I will leave you with a few photos from today. Parker painted with bingo daubers: So excited that he THOUGHT about smiling:
Like only responsible painters do:

Sunday, March 27, 2011

A Day Out with Thomas the Train in Grapevine

It was another early morning for us because we were scheduled to go ride Thomas the Train. It was cold and rainy outside and nobody wanted to get up. We got up and got moving and got to Grapevine early enough to enjoy some of the activities before we caught the train. I will say that Parker has NO idea who Thomas is but I thought he would love riding the train. We've had tickets for a couple months now and I thought maybe I could expose him to Thomas but I never did. Oh well, we still had fun!

We started at the petting zoo. I really do feel for the animals in there...they always look so scared so I made sure that Parker was very gentle while observing. And when we left, he made sure that he told ALL of them bye-bye and tried to give the bunny a hug (like got down close to the ground and put his ear on the bunny). It made all the adults laugh that were waiting in line to get in. His favorite though is always the "duck-duck": Then to the jump house:
My two boys sharing a corn dog at 9:30am:


And finally, Thomas arrived:


Parker was not that impressed with the train ride. You know he is on the go all the time so sitting for 25 minutes is not something he is into. I wonder if this is normal?!? Anyway, we all had a great time and made it home before it really got nasty. On the "choo-choo":



Saturday, March 26, 2011

Parker & Me

I am not in a ton of pictures with Parker because I am usually the one taking the pictures. Cheryl took this picture at Tumbling Tikes several weeks back and shared it with me. I love it!

FIRST Sentence!

Today was a special day....Parker said his first sentence! Hold on to your seat because it's big.... "Bye-bye Momma." HA....love it! Bryan and I paused for a moment and looked at each other and then celebrated!!! :)

Today was also the first day we tried flip-flops. It didn't go so well. I bought these Crocs last year for like $3 and now I (may) know why. They were just not working out on Parker's foot: So I guess they've become a new chew toy:

Friday, March 25, 2011

Parker Meets Curious George

Tonight we went to see Curious George at B&N for the Pajamarama. Seven or eight of Parker's friends were there too....all to see George! While a story was being read, Curious George slipped in and this is the first picture I took of Parker (and his friends) seeing George for the first time:

I am not wild about George but to my surprise, Parker seems to love him:

Nice meeting ya George:

Bye-bye George, I gotta go to bed:

Baseball Playdate @ Brendan's

Today started very early for me....5:30am to be exact! I had an appointment with my rheumatologist at 7:30am and his office is in Dallas. So Bryan and Parker hung out for a few hours together this morning while I endured all the poking and prodding...blah!

Once I got home, we had a baseball playdate to get ready for. Here are Bryan and Parker all decked out in their Astros gear as Bryan is trying to explain to Parker that he should smile when someone is taking a picture:

As most of you know, Opening Day is around the corner and our friends Libby/Brendan are die-hard Rangers fans. They invited us over for some playtime and ballpark food (btw, I think we need to work with Parker on hitting a baseball...):


I think this is the cutest....all the friends eating and chatting it up:

We are home for a nap and later (if Parker wakes before 4pm) we are going to Patty/Caroline's house to play in the water. And after dinner we are going to see someone special....

Thursday, March 24, 2011

A Very BEAUTIFUL Day @ Home

It was a beautiful day out today! There was NO wind and it was just the right temperature. We could have spent all day outside but we had some errands and chores to do. We first finished up the menu for next week....it will be a VERY special week at the Veselka house for sure....and then we headed to the grocery store and then back home for lunch and a nap. After Parker woke from his nap, it was time to go outside.

I wanted to remind Parker about all the fun we had yesterday at the zoo. I printed some photos and we talked about what we learned. He was mesmerized by the pictures (not sure why) but all afternoon he kept going back and looking at them. When I asked him what he remembered from the zoo, he said "bububbles". That is his new word for water :) We then went outside and played for a LONG time at the water table (look at sweet Lizzie wanting in on the action....they loved sun-bathing):

Parker is washing the giraffe (just like the keeper was doing to the rhino yesterday). I love this! I will also mention that Parker was trying to feed the zebra and giraffe his snack. Anyway, back to the washing:

I know this is nothing big but it was HUGE to me. He was pouring water from cup to cup. I didn't know he could do this and I was amazed. OK, enough with the crazy-mom-moments:

After we dried up and had dinner, Bryan and Parker played in the backyard before bath time. Bryan showed Parker that he could scoop up the dirt (I finally went to check it out and was happy that there is not much dirt) and put it in his dump truck:

And to get him inside without a total meltdown, I gave him a (Dollar Tree) bunny game to play. It's basically just for him to put the bunny picks in each hole:

After a fun day at home, I am happy to report that Bryan has CLEAN clothes to wear to work and I am done with grocery shopping for next week. YAY!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

I ♥ Giraffes

While at the zoo today, we visited the giraffes. We had the most fun here and that is why THEY get their own post! I told Cheryl that I almost teared up at the sight of my boy getting this close to an animal that he has only read about in books. Such a beautiful and gentle animal!

I think they were meant to be friends:

And YES, that is Parker's hand inside the giraffe's mouth. It made him giggle. The giraffe soon passed us by because we did not have any food. That's ok because at least we got to see him up close:

Luke and Cheryl enjoying them as well:

Exploring the Dallas Zoo

After "zoo school", we had lunch and a bathroom break:

Saw some penguins:

And baboons (male baboons are VERY interesting!):

After spending a lot of time with the giraffes (see other post), it was time to head home. My boy was waaaaaay past his nap time and not excited about being on the "choo-choo". He was very vocal about it too (poor Cheryl had a terrible headache and Parker was not using his inside voice):

And less than five minutes after leaving the DART station:

This was a very adventurous day for us! There are a few things we will change before our next class to make it better but overall, we love seeing and learning about the animals. And a special shout out to Cheryl and Luke.....you both are the BEST and fun to explore with!

Dallas Zoo School: Meet the Rhinos

Today we went to the Dallas Zoo for "zoo school". We learned all about rhinos. I am not 100% won over by the program but I can appreciate the adventure. We made lots of memories today. We started the morning off early. Bryan had to wake Parker because we had to be out of the house by 8am to catch the DART. Yes, that is correct, we rode the DART all the way down to the zoo during the busiest time of the day. It was.....interesting! After 18 stops and a couple hundred passengers later, we made it to the zoo on time. We first met with our teacher and waited for everyone to show up. Then we headed over to see the rhino and meet his keeper.





At the time we were there, the keeper was feeding him apples and sweet potatoes. He also showed off by urinating (interesting I might add...), eating some hay and taking a drink of water. This rhino is 14 years old and the keeper said that rhinos can live until they are 40 or 50. It was very interesting. After this we were on our own to explore the zoo. We did this with Cheryl and Luke (forgot to mention that we did this with them....trust me, I would NOT have taken the DART by myself!!!).

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

A New Chore

Every week when I do laundry Parker always wants to help. He will pick up some clothes from the stack and then I will pick him up so he can put the clothes in the washer. Last week I got smart.....I got his little step stool and moved the rug over and let him load the washer himself. So, this week he wanted to help again and he does NOT want any help:




He is serious about his laundry! And I love that he understands that the clothes he is washing are his clothes. Every night before bath, Bryan asks him to put his dirty clothes in his basket. This is the same basket he is getting clothes from in the pictures above.