Nora's First Birthday!

We had so much fun last weekend, I was sad it was over!  My sweet niece, Nora Grace, turned one  on Saturday.  Everybody knows I love a great party, and that is exactly what we had this weekend.  The weather was PERFECT and the party even more perfect!  Here are a few pics of the day...

 Nora started off the day with a little sweet tea... a must in the South :)  She LOVED it and therefore did NOT love when it was all gone...

Have you ever seen such a cute cry?

Nora really enjoyed her birthday cake!  I can't say that I blame her.. that was some of the best cake I have ever had.  And have you ever seen such an amazing first birthday cake?  It was beautiful... as was her smash cake!

Of course Heath brought an awesome bounce house that Parker and Porter played in ALL DAY (and the night before the party as well).  They had a blast!  I love watching them play with other kids... and boy did they play hard!  Most of the kids at the party were around Parker or Porter's age, so they had lots of playmates.  I found out the next day that Heath's brother, Justin, ended up with a black eye from all of the roughness... and I think it might have been Porter's head that did it?!   Ooops!

Nora got some great gifts as well!  This wagon was one of my favorites, as a friend actually made the the inscription the weekend before she passed away form an unexpected illness.  I love that she is still present in so many ways!

It was such a fun day and I am so glad that Nora Grace is apart of our lives... she is the sweetest little thing ever :)  I feel so lucky to have such amazing nieces and nephews :)  They make me so happy!

Ashley had intented to order some sugar cookies for the party, but the lady she was going to use was out of town that weekend.   I took that as an excuse to hit the kitchen and surprise her with some!   I love having an excuse to do anything crafty, so I really enjoyed making them. Plus they were for my Baby Nora so I enjoyed it even more :) Not to mention I never get to make anything pink!







Ashley and Heath did such a great job with the party!  But more importantly, they survived the first year of parenthood!  Ha!  They are incredible parents and Nora is one lucky little girl :)

And one last pic... this is Porter's ideas of being sweet to Nora's new baby doll.  Screwdriver in one hand, baby in the other.

Take me out to the ball game!

Parker is LOVING t-ball this year! Last year was a bit rocky as he was a bit intimidated to go out on the field and play by himself, but this year is certainly different :) Mimi, Papa Murk, Nana, Papa Dave, Aunt Ashley, Uncle Heath and Baby Nora ALL came to watch him today. He was so proud! It warms my heart that he was so happy to have his family there :) A few (YEAH RIGHT!) pics of the happy little all-star....
 

I can't go on without saying how talented Parker is!  And no, I have never heard of a mother being biased at all :)  Parker can throw the ball from third to just shy of first base. It hits about 4 feet in front of the base and rolls where it is supposed to go. Not bad for 4 years old :) He almost always gets the ball where he wants it to go.... regardless of how far or close that is.   He can hit pretty well too! They called him "slugger" at his first practice.  I am kind of glad he doesn't know what the means... he might have gotten a bit big for his cute little baseball britches!

By far, the thing I love the most about t-ball is how Parker interacts with the other children. He really loves his team, and even goes out of his way to make one little girl feel comfortable (she started off the year a bit intimidated like Park did last year).  He always makes sure she goes out on the field with him and saves her a special spot :) Parker also looks out for his little brother, even though he is not playing. One of the coaches stands on home plate and hands out jelly beans as the kids pass home. Parker always asks for an extra and runs over to give it to his brother. Actually, the coach automatically gives him two now! The first time the Coach handed him a jelly bean, I don't think it crossed Park's mind to get one for Porter, but as he passed us siting behind the fence by the dugout, he stopped and gave it to Porter without even hesitating :) So sweet! At the end of each game, he also makes sure to get an extra snack and drink for Porter too.  I love that they are best friends.

I am so proud of the sweet boy Parker has become!

And I can't post without at least a few pics of Porter from this morning's game...  I could just squeeze this cute little guy!  He loves watching his brother play!

 Oh.... and he loves wearing mustaches :)

And seeing this sweet face walking toward me this morning was the highlight of my day!

It's been a REALLY long time!  There is ALOT going on in our lives right now (all good, just busy, busy, busy!) so no promises on how often I will update, but I wanted to share a few of the things I don't want to forget! 

Today Parker said, "I love you infinity!  No.... I love you infinity plus ice cream... that is the most!"  I love how children see things :)

Porter is potty training ON HIS OWN!  What?!  Does that ever happen?!  We spent a few days outside last week swimming in our little blow up kiddo pool and Parker kept peeing on the bushes instead of coming inside.  Perhaps I shouldn't share that with everyone, but I really didn't want him tracking water through the house every 30 minutes!  Just keeping it real.  Any ways, Porter thought it was fun so he ended up peeing outside all week too.  Of course, he still went in his diaper some too, but it was a start!  Now, several times this week, has said, "poo poo on the potty (which we are pretty sure he thinks just means go potty)" and he runs to the bathroom.  I help him take off his diaper and he pees every time and he has done the other twice now!  A little too much info?  You know you are a mom of toddlers when you are proud of poo poo moments!

Also, they other night I was putting Porter to sleep and he was climbing into his bed when he suddenly stopped and said, "rock a baby!"  He turned around, ran to his rocking chair and climbed up in it.  I sat down beside him and he rested his head on me and started to sing rock a bye baby.  I have not rocked him to sleep in SO LONG and I had no idea he even knew that song!  Such a sweet moment!   We rocked for a while and I ate up ever second!

"They Stink"

While driving down the road...

Parker:  "I want to go to Alison's and plays with dinosaurs."
Me: "Oh really?  There are dinosaurs at Allison's?"
Parker: "Yeah.  Big ones (with big arm gestures)!"
Me:  "Can I tell you something about Dinosaurs?"
Parker: "Sure."
Me:  "The are extinct.  Do you know what that means?"
Parker: "They need to take a shower."

Yep, like any good parent, I just let him think the dinosaurs stink. 

Staples are out!

Parker got his staples out today!

Jerod took him to the doctor because (1) Porter was ready for a nap and (2) I wasn't sure if I could stomach it! 

Before they left, Parker told me he was going to the doctor to get his staples taken out and then basically skipped out the door.  I wasn't sure if he knew what that meant, but he seemed fine with it!  So when Parker got home, he handed me a little cup with the staples in it and said, "I got a sucker!  These came out of my hair!"  It was almost as if he were excited about it!  Haha :)

Jerod said Parker flipped out when they tried to weigh him, but didn't even flinch when they pulled the staples out! Go figure...

I am glad that little adventure is over!  Although I am pretty sure it was more taxing for me than for  Parker.... it did not slow him down ONE BIT!

Parker's first visit to the ER!

Parker had his first trip to the ER yesterday!  He got 3 staples in the back of his head.  :(  Poor little guy.  He was climbing on Porter's jumper and fell off and hit his head on the only place on the fireplace that could have cut him!  Go figure!  But he was such a trooper...  In fact, after the first few minutes of crying from the fall (although it is unusual for him to even cry for a few minutes), he acted pretty normal!  The only problem we ran into was when they were trying to put the staples in, they had to hold him down and Parker DID NOT like it!  The nurses and doctor were shocked that he was so strong!   In fact, the doctor said Parker was her biggest fighter to date!  She said, "if he is this strong now, I would hate to have to fight him in a few years!"  Haha!  Typical Parker style... won't go down without a fight.

He was fighting them so hard they ended up having to strap his arms down in a straight jacket type thing.  It was so pitiful and since I couldn't be near him (Jerod was holding him down and the nurses and doctors were surrounding him), Porter and I left the room and cried.  Haha... I think I was a bigger baby in those whole ordeal than Parker was!  For those of you who know me well, you know I cannot handle the sight of blood but I think I did pretty well considering!  I guess there was no time to think about all of it until Jerod got home (like 10 minutes after it happened), but as soon as he got off of the phone with the  pediatrician and they told us to take him to the ER, I could feel myself getting light headed and the room was starting to go black.  Apparently I turned ghost white but Jerod got me some juice and I didn't pass out!  I have always been nervous as to how I would handle these situations, so at least I stayed conscious!

The cut is about 3/4 inch long and not too terribly deep, so we got off pretty lucky!  The doctor said it definitely needed staples, but it was actually not as deep as she had originally thought so it should heal pretty quickly!



By the way, Porter had his first trip to the ER when he was 8 months old.  Who would have guessed he would have beat Wild Child?!  He was trying to walk, fell down and bumped his head on a bottom spindle of Mom's kitchen chair.  Of course we were in Tullahoma, and Jerod was on a flight to California when it happened.  What is kind of funny is right before Jerod left on his trip he asked me to check my wallet for my ID and insurance card.  My response was, "I won't need my insurance card!"   Haha... go figure!

We have had lots of bumps and bruises in the past, but right after Porter fell a big knot appeared on his head!  I know this is a good thing (as the swelling is going out, not in) but then he immediately spit up so I called the pediatrician to double check.  I really wasn't sure if he spit up from crying so hard, or from the fall, so I watched him closely for a couple of hours, and sure enough a couple of hours later he threw up 4 times in a row.  This is really unusual for the little booger so his doctor told me take him to the ER!  Thank goodness all was fine with the stinker!

And the fun begins! :)

Today is the first day that Porter has chosen walking as his main mode of transportation!  I can count on one hand how many times he has crawled today!  He has been taking steps for some time (maybe 8-10 consecutive steps or 15 if he was doing really well), but he still found crawling more convenient and much quicker!  But all of the sudden today it is like a switch has flipped and he is off and running!  It is too sweet to watch him wobble around!

A few more Parker conversations I want to remember!

I also wrote this when Parker was just barely over two... once again, not sure why I never posted it.   

TV: (intro song to Two and a Half Men) "Men, Men, Men, Men, Menly, Men"

Parker: "Whoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo"

We had no idea he knew the song!! 

 

Parker wanted to play with something other than the puzzle that he had been playing with...

Jerod: "You have to put the puzzle up before we get anything else out"

Parker: "I can't do it Daddy!  You do it."

Me: (yawn)

Parker: "You tired momma?"

Me: "Yes Parker, I am tired."

Parker (in the sweetest voice ever): "Parker tired too," sigh.
This is especially sweet if you know Parker... he NEVER admits he is tired!

 

Conversations with Parker

I wrote this when Parker was just barely over two... I am not sure why I never posted it? 

Jerod (while trying to get Parker to go take a nap):  "Parker, do you want to go lay down and watch cartoons?"

Parker (with his forehead scrunched in disgust): "No! Watch the race! (Nascar was on)"

Parker: "I wanna win a race!"

Me: "Oh really? What kind of race?"

Parker: "I wanna drive a race!"

Me: "Like a nascar race?"

Parker: "Yes."

Me: "What are you going to drive?"

Parker:  "Daddys car. I be careful."

When did he get so big?

Parker:  "I am tired, lets go lay down and drink milk."
Me:  "Okay, give me your water and I will go and put milk in the cup."
Parker:  "No, a different cup."
Me:  "Well then go get your milk cup from Porter's room and I will refill it."
Parker:  "You have two options.  YOU go get my cup and refill it, or get me a new different cup."

Once again... REALLY!??!