A New Chapter

As many of you may know, Bryan's company was bought at the end of 2010. Initially the unknown was worrisome but after making the cut to stay on with the new company, Bryan has focused some of his energy on seeing what else the market has to offer. In saying that though, the current company he works for (MedAssets) just relocated to Plano, which makes Bryan a VERY happy man! Today, after brunch, we went to check out the new place. The old office location closed on Friday, movers came to pack up and they distributed boxes to each office (explains the boxes and mess below).

The office building is less than 4 miles from our house which beats the old commute into Dallas, which was 15 miles. Also, the new company announced last week that employees can wear jeans EVERYday. It's the little things ;) Bryan is very excited about driving to work in the morning in his jeans...HA!

P.S. - My boy is still not feeling good. It seems the more we try to do, the more his cough gets worse. His 15-day diarrhea spell continues as well. I am going to take him back to the doctor tomorrow to see if they can offer any advice. We are still doing all the same things, as well as steam baths:

Parker is not afraid of much but bubbles about did him in a few weeks ago. He didn't want to have anything to do with them. He has since warmed up to them (I know you can't tell by his facial expression....).

Pajamarama @ B&N with Clifford the Big Red Dog

Friday night was the FIRST time out in over a week. I am not sure if it was a mistake or not but Parker seemed to have fun. We went to the Pajamarama at Barnes & Noble to see Clifford the Big Red Dog. Before Clifford got there, Parker and his friends enjoyed running around the children's section and giggling. This is when the trouble began....coughing uncontrollably. This didn't stop him though.

Listening to a book about Clifford:

Parker meeting Clifford:

I almost wish Clifford had a smile:

Parker was mesmerized:

We only lasted for a few photos with Clifford and then we were out of there. I felt terrible for taking Parker out....his cough just seems to be so bad. It's a lot worse than when he had RSV. It's a lot like a wet smokers cough....ewwww!!! Still coughing today....

Every Penny Counts

My Mommy does NOT like pennies but I do! She cleans out her purse and I get to put all the loose change in my piggy bank. She also says something about fine motor skills or something but I am more interested in filling up my piggy.

Sick.Of.Being.Sick.

If you haven't heard my cries for help then maybe I wasn't loud or clear enough.....WE ARE ALL SICK! As I am writing this, I am feeling much better, Bryan is just stuffy and Parker still has a terrible cough but has progressed from a week ago. Let me back track a bit....

Last Thursday the 17th, we were at home all day. The boy woke just fine and ate breakfast as he normally would. We played until 11ish, at which time he started acting sluggish. He came in my room and wanted up on the bed. He pointed to the TV and so I turned it on. Have I mention that I am bossed around by two boys most of the day?!? Anyway, Parker laid down on a pillow and watched TV. I knew something was up because he is never still for longer than 2 or 3 minutes. I took his temp and it was 101.7. He hasn't run a fever since last Easter. He had been coughing a little so I was wondering if he was coming down with something. Let's detour for a moment.....2 of his friends, that were over playing the Friday before, had come down with ear infections and strep (or the virus that causes strep since at this age they can't actually get strep). They were BOTH in my house! I cleaned like crazy after they left and prayed that we wouldn't get sick. Sunday, Luke got sick. Tuesday (or so) Cruz got sick. And then Thursday, Parker got sick. BOO! Back to my story....Bryan came home early and took Parker to the doctor, while I showered and cleaned. Dr. Eastman said that all the symptoms indicated that he must have some type of infection but after a flu swab and strep swab, Parker was cleared to go home. His throat was red but we couldn't do anything. That night was the worse! Parker slept for about 2 hours and then was up until 6am. And so were we. Bryan stayed home from work on Friday to get some rest...

Friday brought a terrible cough, some wheezing and a very fussy baby. His temp stayed above 100.7 all day and we didn't do much but lay around and rest. I called Dr. Eastman's office twice with concerns over Parker not being able to sleep (because of congestion) and his wheezing. I was told there was not really much to do. Friday night came and I was planning to hold Parker (upright) while he slept. Otherwise he was not going to be able to sleep. As I held him, the wheezing kept getting worse. After discussing this with the on-call nurse, she wanted us to take him to Pediatrics After Hours (which is an after-hours clinic). I like this place much more than taking him to the ER. After meeting with Dr. Fernandez, taking another flu and strep swab and monitoring his breathing, she wanted us to start some breathing treatments. She was concerned that this could possibly turn into pneumonia and sent us home with some instructions on what to look for. BUT the best advice we got was this: put one drop of Afrin in each nostril before bedtime to help with the congestion. I would have paid that doctor lots of dollars for that advice. Finally, my child was able to sleep and so were we!!!

Saturday was met with something fun.....Parker and Luke Skyped. It was so cute watching two sick friends communicate like only toddlers can do. Cute...

One day Parker seems to be getting a little better and then the next day is met with a new symptom. I won't bore you with how sick Bryan and I have been but it is sure rough when the entire house is sick. For the record, Millie and Lizzie have been perfect angels. This is what happens when Bryan has to go to work, I am so sick I can barely keep my eyes open and Parker is tired of being indoors...

Today was a new day for ME! I felt normal. I cooked dinner, made some homemade graham crackers for Parker and did 2 loads of laundry...

Parker still has a terrible cough, lots of snot and is still congested. Also, Parker has had some "bathroom" issues since last Thursday that hasn't cleared up. Poor boy! He is sleeping better, in better spirits and wants to show you where it hurts...

Sorry for the long post. I will update with more information and of course, I have a lot more posts to catch up on. Please pray that our little boy heals quickly. We have a trip planned to Angleton next week and would like to have a baby that is well.

Rawr Means "I Love You" in Dinosaur

We are headed to Parker's first Valentine's party....but only after a snack. More pictures of the fun will follow.

Getting Ready for Cupid....

Valentine pjs and a love story before bedtime.....

Phone Apps vs. iPad

A few of Parker's friends (really their parents) have iPads and have mentioned that their boys like some of the applications on it. Since we are really not an Apple-loving family, an iPad will probably not be in the budget for a few or 10 years. However, I wanted to see if Parker would like some of the same applications. Bryan has a Windows phone so we searched for some toddler-friendly applications and found one that Parker seems to like.

Tap the screen, hear the word cat. Tap the screen again, hear the sound a cat makes.
And cow.

Parker's vocabulary has really expanded a lot in the past couple weeks. In this application after the word would sound, he would say the word. AND he has started repeating every word you say.....

Winter Still Remains

Patty (Caroline's Mom) took our Christmas pictures so to thank her we took her and her family to dinner at Maggiano's last night. As we pulled in, this is what the fountain in the back looked like....ICE! While the weather was beautiful yesterday, evidence of a crazy, icy week still remained. I don't have any pictures from dinner but we enjoyed our dinner with the Boone's. Both Reagan and Bryan are "computer geeks" so they chatted most of the evening about computers and work. Parker and Caroline were very entertaining and did really well even past their bedtimes.

We have been very blessed by all the friends we've made since having Parker....and the Boone family is no exception!!!

Boys, Biking & Beautiful Weather

The weather was finally nice this weekend! It was so beautiful yesterday and we spent most of the day outside. Bryan bought me a bike for Christmas and we already had a bike trailer for Parker so I finally tested it out for the first time. I can't be 100% sure if Parker liked it but he fussed a little when it was time to go inside. For me it was....SO.MUCH.FUN.

We didn't go far because we all need helmets and the trailer needs a flag.

I ♥ Organization

We have been overtaken by books....but we are ok with that! We were in need of some shelving though so we went to Ikea and bought these spice racks, painted them and here they are:
Parker checking it out....probably trying to think of a way to climb them:Love when the boy sits and reads by himself (and that Millie wants to be in the picture too):
A $20 project finished....I may love that more!

Dancing with Daddy & Michael Jackson

A little Sunday afternoon fun with the Wii, Daddy and Michael Jackson...

The Michael Jackson (dance) game is a HUGE hit around our house. Bryan loves to dance to the old tunes and Parker loves to copy his Daddy. CUTE!

Brunch & Crafts

Today after tumbling class, Michelle/Austin, Cheryl/Luke and Jessica/Cruz came over to play, eat brunch and do a couple Valentine crafts:

And since it was Michelle's birthday, we celebrated by eating some cake (that she made). The boys played well together and we got a lot of girl talk in.

::Sigh::

Our registration fee for MDO was due by today so we made the final decision to start Parker in August. I was a little concerned at first about the class he was going to be in. Since his birthday is in September, he will be in the 1s class. I was really wanting him to be in the 2s class but I do not want to be that parent that thinks they know everything. A very dear friend encouraged me to talk to the director because as a parent, I know my child....as a director, she knows the curriculum. I thought this was very good advice! So, Bryan went into work late and we started our day off with breakfast:

And then went to the school:

The office manager and director were very nice and explained that Parker's class is made up of kids who will turn 2 between September and November. It made us (really just me) feel a lot better. I just did not want Parker to be in a class with kids that had just turned one. He will be in the older 1s class. We paid our registration fee (kinda seals the deal) and toured the school. We met Parker's teachers and saw his classroom. We saw the other classes, a music class and the computer/literacy class. It was really neat to see all the kids working, having fun, doing art and then also seeing all their artwork hanging on the walls. On a side note, the one thing that I am bummed about is that the 1s class does not go to Chapel like the 2s class does.

He will start school on August 29th and will only go one day a week (Wednesday). More to come....

More RED Art

I see a RED bird looking at me (from Brown Bear, Brown Bear):

Parker and his Daddy playing with the RED stamp pad:

I was THAT person who never wanted anything to be on the fridge....no papers, no magnets, no nothing! But how can you not want to display this??? LOVE it!

Textures at Scribbles & Dribbles

Yesterday at S&D we made a tray of Valentine textures. We put a couple spoonfuls of clear paint/glue inside the tray and Parker smeared it all around. It was very cold and gooey. Then we added glitter, feathers, yarn, pom-poms, tissue paper, buttons and a bubble-wrap shaped heart. There were a lot of different textures to explore. Parker enjoyed it I think but was really working on his hand washing skills. His Daddy would be so proud! :)

Little Bit of Snow & A Whole Lot of Drama

Here is the snow...
And here is a cute boy.....

He is NOT the drama....I am! I have been in a mood for the past couple days and can't seem to get out of it. I think I am ready for Spring. This weather is making my muscles and joints so stiff and I have overall not felt well. Anyway, enough of that. Parker has been feeding off my bad mood so we have stayed close to home for the past couple days. The weather is suppose to be warming up and we have several things to do so maybe that will help. Say a little prayer for us!

When we went outside to take a picture of the snow this morning there was a package on the doorstep. Inside this package for Parker was a new book and this fun peg activity.....

And then we played with some pom-poms....

Pantry Reveal

I love it! It may not look that fancy but there is more room and more organization. I didn't include a before picture WITH food in it for a reason! Bryan finished it before we went out on Saturday night and I had it loaded before we left.....organization excites me!!!

Let's Make a Love Box

Laura and Oliver invited us over to decorate a box for our Valentine's party that we are having next Monday. There were A LOT of people there but the kids were happy playing and us adults had fun crafting.

Wrap your box at this table:

Come to this table to decorate:

And we will reveal the box next Monday!

P.S. - Bryan likes this picture better than the one I posted earlier so I thought I would share it as well :)

Spaghetti Monday

As previously mentioned we had a slow start this morning. I was not feeling 100% so we skipped storytime and hung out in bed for a little bit. I had a project though for Parker to do and it actually occupied his time for THIRTY minutes (which is forever in toddler time!). I gave him dried spaghetti and the strainer top to my Magic Bullet. He figured out what to do after a few minutes:

And he also learned how to get them out:

Happy Monday Everyone!

We are headed to our first Valentine's Day playdate this afternoon. We had a slow start this morning but the afternoon is shaping up just fine.