SUMMER TRIP TO ANGLETON: A Visit with Cousins

Tuesday night we went to visit the Campos family. We had a GREAT time and ate some very, very good food (you know it's all about the food)! Ryan and Emily introduced Parker to their newest addition.....Luke, a baby puppy. The kids had a good time playing and us adults had a good time chatting. As a side note, Parker was playing with a Barbie....I am sure Bryan is so proud!

Thanks Laura and Henry for having us over...we had a good time! See y'all in a few days.

SUMMER TRIP TO ANGLETON: Lunch with Friends

Parker and I met Michelle and Rachel for lunch on Tuesday. Even though the food was just ok, our visit and dessert was sure nice! And even though we had just seen them a couple weeks earlier, we still had plenty to talk and laugh about!!! I'm looking forward to seeing them again in August.

SUMMER TRIP TO ANGLETON

Parker and I made a trip to Angleton last week to visit some family and friends. Bryan stayed home to do some painting and honey-dos around the house. Even though the trip to and from were not pleasant, the rest of the trip was WONDERFUL! We stayed with my Mom, who did a good job of spoiling Parker.

The first thing on our agenda was to find a place to have Parker's first birthday party. There was also some family to see and some friends that still hadn't met Parker. I will do my best at documenting our trip (it may take a couple days). Enjoy!

Postponed Mother's Day

I know this post is a little late but better late than never, right?!? On Mother's Day, Parker was having some allergy problems so we decided to stay indoors for a picnic (it was raining also) and postpone our Mother's Day outing to the following weekend. The good thing about that is that my Mom was in town and so we went to lunch at Jasper's to celebrate. The food was wonderful and the weather was nice enough to sit outside. Here are some pictures from my first Mother's Day (and my Mom's 33rd!).

A Pink Monkey Birthday Party!

Recently we attended our FIRST girl (aka pink-party) birthday party. While there was a lot of pink, it was tastefully done! We had a lot of fun visiting, eating and playing with the birthday girl. We've known the birthday girl for 4 months but it seems like it's been much longer. Her Mommy and Daddy are super fun and in a few short months, she will have a new brother. YAY!

Bryan and Parker having fun with/in the ball pit...

The BEST Daddy!

Parker has the best Daddy (and I have the best husband) in the world! He is funny, patient, kind and the best at everything. Since having Parker, these traits are ever more present in our day to day life. Both Parker and I are so blessed that Bryan is ours!

Since it was Bryan's first Father's Day, we had to make it extra special! At a recent playdate, we did a Father's Day "foot" craft for him and we also bought him a book to read to Parker, Millie & Lizzie: Walter the Farting Dog (book #4), which he promptly read aloud to everyone. We also took him to a very good Thai restaurant. After we stuffed ourselves, we came home for a nap and some Wii-time. We had a very nice day....Happy Father's Day, Bryan (even if this post is a little late)!

The Boy Eats Dog Food....Kinda!

Bryan accidentally spilled the container of dog food on the floor while he was feeding M&L and super-speedy-crawler-boy came right over to check it out....
....and then had to taste a piece for himself....

....but quickly spit it out!

BEWARE: This is the Roughest Procedure Yet!

We debated whether or not to include this picture and decided to but know that it is disturbing (at least for us!) We went to visit the opthamologist today and it was rough! Several people told me that the eye procedure to clear out the tear ducts is no big deal....they were partially correct! As a side note, Bryan did join us for this appointment and I am sooooo thankful he did!!! Our appointment started out with the nurse putting drops in Parker's eyes (that is why his eyes are yellow below). Then the doctor came in and looked at Parker's eyes and confirmed that he does have blocked tear ducts (in both eyes). The nurse and the doctor took Parker into another room to do the procedure. They were gone maybe 5 minutes but when my baby returned, he was so upset. It was very very sad. They had to put him in a papoose and then they put a wire into each eye to clean the duct out. The doctor told us that Parker may bleed from his eyes and nose...huh, are you kidding me?!?! I took my crying baby out to the car, Bryan went back to work and we both sat in the car and cried. This was very tramatic for me.....a very upset baby that I could not get calmed down and he is now bleeding out of his eyes and nose. TERRIBLE!!! I know he will not remember this and that is what people mean when they tell you this procedure is no big deal BUT for me, it was very sad!
After a nap for Parker and me, Bryan joined us for dinner with some new friends. We had a really great time! It's great when you meet new people and you have a lot of common interests. Our boy seems to be ok tonight. His eyes are still draining and we have to go back to the doctor in 3 weeks for a re-check. This eye thing is something I would like to move past very soon!

Open....Close & Other Things We Are Learning

I feel like I need to be teaching Parker something but I am just not sure what. When we were at Parker's 9-month appointment, Dr. Eastman said that the best thing to do with Parker right now is playing. I wasn't real happy with that but after today, I agree. We were home all day and like I've said before, I love at home days! I can sit and play with Parker and see what he is into and what he is learning. I was amazed today at what all he is doing.

Had to share this....happy some of the day but he has a tooth coming in so...
Parker LOVES to open and close things. Neon told me that when she was teaching Noah about open and close, she would put something fun/intriguing behind whatever it was that was being opened and closed. So, I put some blocks in the seat of the corn popper and Parker went at opening and closing the seat....

He also does love to open and close cabinets....he is also learning about smashing his fingers and arms in them too.....the corn popper seat doesn't hurt though....

Also, today marked a very important milestone in Parker's life.....he zoom-zoomed his truck around the kitchen....sometimes on it's side, sometimes on the fridge and sometimes under the table.....

He also likes to take things out....blocks out of the bucket, food out of the fridge, towels out of the basket and clothes out of the dryer....he hasn't figured out that when the clothes are wet, we leave them in the dryer.......

FUN times!!!

A Post-Birthday Playdate: A Different View

I am not sure how to make these bigger but I could not go without sharing these. Another Mommy took these. My favorite is the last one....need to get the original image and frame it!

A Post-Birthday Playdate

I have 4 little words for this birthday playdate: OH MY GOSH FUN!!! The birthday princess and her Momma were at our very first playdate back in December. I personally feel very VERY fortunate to have met them and have tons of fun when we are with them! The babies played with all of the new birthday toys and then....we all went outside for the best part! I called Bryan as soon as I left and told him that we MUST buy Parker a water table! All of the kids had so much fun!

Luke, Parker and Sofia getting wet at the water table:
Parker is making some waves:

Checking out the water mat:

Should I....nah, I'll just sit here and watch:

Girls Weekend in Grapevine

I had the best of friends in high school but somewhere along the way, we all went our seperate ways. I have reconnected with some of my friends but for Michelle and Rachel, this past weekend was the first time I had seen them since high school. That was over 15 years ago! Michelle set up this girls weekend months ago and we all met in Grapevine. We had the best time catching up, looking at old yearbooks and staying up late laughing. We also did some sight-seeing and ate some really good food. I hope we do this every year and I look forward to seeing them more when we visit Angleton!

I do have to give a shout out to my WONDERFUL husband who would have gone to the ends of the earth to make this weekend possible! This was the first time for me to leave Parker, and Bryan did a great job! Bryan never once called.....I was the one doing all the calling. And to top the weekend off, Parker was soooooo happy to see me on Sunday!

Another FUN Birthday Playdate

With all of Parker's friends turing one, we have been enjoying all of these parties and playdates! We met the birthday boy and his Momma back in February and they both are extra special to us. This party was themed: Bubbles, Balls and Balloons! FUN!

Austin:
Neon was having a girls weekend in Vegas so her husband, Matthew, brought Noah to the party:

Parker loving his balloon:

We were trying to get a group picture and Parker was trying to bust out:

Ummmm, this was the best that we could do:

Who Does He Look Like?

I was uploading some pictures from last week and came across this picture.....this does not look like my child! This is not the same little boy I brought home from the hospital 9 months ago. A lot of people tell me he looks like me but I don't think he looks like me or Bryan! What do you think?

We Have A Climber

Bryan was loading the dishwasher this afternoon and he took his eyes off Parker for a minute and look what he found when he turned around:

Guess Who's Excited About His New Summer Haircut?

Nine Month Appointment

Parker is 9 months old today! WOW! That means in 3 short months he will be a year old...

This picture, taken at the doctor's office today, cracks me up....all the previous pictures were taken while he was laying down. He looks like such a big boy! Here are his stats:

Weight: 23lbs (80th percentile)
Height: 28.75" (75th percentile)
Head: 47 cm

The doctor did a series of tests to make sure that Parker is developing normally (whatever that means!). The only thing that Parker doesn't do yet is pointing at things. However, he is able to pick up food with his fingers (pincer grasp) so the doctor isn't worried. I guess we'll work on pointing. I don't normally point because I was taught that pointing isn't nice. HA! We will be visiting an Opthamologist regarding Parker's blocked tear duct soon. Dr. Eastman said they will need to "probe" the duct so that will be interesting. I do hope this doctor can help because some days Parker's eyes look terrible.

Parker did not have any shots today but they did prick his toe to check his iron level, which was normal. There isn't much else to report and the next appointment will be when he is a year old.

Here are a couple pictures I took today:

A Memorable First Baseball Game

Bryan's department at work participated in a softball game against another department within their company, this past Friday. Parker had not been feeling well so I wasn't sure we were going to make it. However, I knew it was important to Bryan for us to be there. I had only planned to be there for a short time but, believe it or not, the weather was nice (in the shade only!) so we stayed for a couple hours. Bryan's parents met us there and we all watched as Bryan's department got......BEAT! We had a GREAT time no matter who won!!!

Parker eating some snacks:
Bryan stretching before the game:

Parker watching his Daddy play some ball:

Bryan heading home....he scored 3 runs:

Grandpa & Me

This past weekend, Grandpa (and Mimi) came for a visit. Parker has found a new buddy in Grandpa and so I thought I would share a couple cute pictures that we got.

Parker watching Grandpa playing Wii Sports Archery:
And here, Grandpa is giving Parker some tips on shaving: