Snow!

We had fun with Mike and Tig yesterday. We went Irving Park with our new tube and had a lot of fun sliding down the hill. Thank goodness for friends who live nearby and aren't afraid to brave the snow or we would have gone crazy all day! They came over the morning for breakfast and to go to the park and back for dinner and a movie in the evening. Good times! Today is another story-ice and freezing rain have made conditions more severe and packed an inch + of ice on top of the 8-10 inches of snow we have, so we won't be going anywhere for awhile (can't get out of our driveway unless we want to slide onto Fremont!)

Dancing Cousins

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Parker loves his Bubba

I meant to post these after Thanksgiving-Parker was hillarious giving Bubba non-stop/lengthy kisses. He was in a silly mood and couldn't stop kissing Bubba:)

In other news, I am going to work with Nate! My last day of work was yesterday and this coming Monday I start a Life/Health insurance classes. I'll take that test before doing Property/Casualty after Christmas and then be in the office with him starting mid-January. A lot of change going on in the Bell household!

Thanksgiving. . .

We have a lot to be thankful for, including a wonderful family! Here are some pics from our time in Corvallis.

Potty Training

Today Parker went on the potty chair 5 times! Every time he had to go, he was eager to sit and show Gigi what a big boy he is! We are so proud of him, and he is as equally proud of himself:)

Mud puddles

I caught Parker slurping water from a puddle yesterday. Disgusting. He was laying on his belly lapping it up like a dog. Does that fact that he drinks from the sink, the bath, and puddles reflect poorly on me as his mother?! Apparently Nate did the same growing up, so I guess the saying is true; like father like son!

Weekend Fun and the Pumpkin Patch

We had a great/crazy weekend! It started with a Halloween carnival at Mosaic on Friday night, where Parker dressed as a cowboy (he had his stick horse, but its not in the photos). Aunt Rae came back up Saturday and the adults went out to Rock Bottom with some friends. Sunday we spent the day with Mike, Tig, and Cory after church and then went to the pumpkin patch before Rae had to catch her flight back to Denver. Whew!

Funny randoms. . .

Parker had his two year check-up on Monday. He is still off the charts (as in well above the 95 percentile which is what the charts go to). He is 37 inches and 35 pounds already! Dr. Joe was laughing about how Parker will be way taller than me in no time. Parker was excited to see Dr Joe and even practiced shaking his hand and saying, "nice to see you, Dr Joe". After the appointment he even gave him a big hug!

Parker has been full of hilarious one-liners recently. For example:
In church on Sunday Nate and I were serving in Parker's class and we were singing "Jesus Loves Me". Parker enthusiastically yelled, "Jesus Loves Me!!!!" to another boy in the class as he snagged his toy! We had to remind Parker that just because Jesus loves him, does not mean that he gets any toy he chooses!
On the way to Gigi's this morning we were drove by a building site where a new home is going up. We were talking about the different parts of a house such as doors, windows, walls, and lastly, a roof. I asked Parker what else is a part of a house and he said raccoons! This was especially hilarious because we had raccoons on our roof last week. Parker's idea of getting them down was getting a ladder and "holding them"-all of his ideas and HE was the one to go up the ladder to get them :)
This morning as I was getting Parker out of the car he was looking down at my feet. I was wearing peep-toe shoes and got a pedicure this weekend so he was especially aware of my feet. I thought I was hearing things when he said, "cool shoes!" I asked him to repeat himself and he said it again, "cool shoes, Mama!"
Later today we were opening the door to go outside and Parker exclaims, "What a nice day!" I guess he told my mom that today when they went outside too:) Glad the boy enjoys beautiful weather and knows that it truly was a gorgeous day!
There is another more PG story from the bathtub tonight that I won't post. You moms with boys probably know what it involves, so you'll have to ask if you want to hear the story! Nate and I were laughing pretty hard though!

Birthday party at the Children's Museum

Thanks to everyone who was able to come celebrate Parker's birthday! It was a bit overwhelming but definitely worth it. How can things go as planned when there are 2 year-olds involved?!















The digger invitations

















The Birthday boy. Slightly overwhelmed/confused and happy to be sung to for about the 10th time in 4 days! His cake looked like the invites and turned out great!














Yay! Good teamwork you two!














Bets helped Parker blow out his candles:)














Our little Betsy-Boo! She was so happy to be here with Parker!














Leia-such a big girl!














Mya, Betsy and Jordan














Mya-she is so cute in her hard hat!















Precious little Lili














Amari very into coloring!














Jordan














Esther-such a good sport about hanging out with the younger kids:)

Yum! Audrey eating a cupcake!















Presents!















Jaeden, Parker and "Uncle James" playing with trains before the party started

Parker's Birthday

Parker's birthday started at 4:45 am when he decided to get up and sing "happy birthday" to himself. (Reminder to self: do not give him the heads up on this in the future to avoid early morning awakenings!)
He woke up to a decorated house complete with balloons and crepe paper. It took some prodding to remind him that he had some presents to open as he was so into the balloons! He got to open his first round of gifts, which included some very cool new trucks and a truck books from the Joyces, which he spent most of the morning playing with and reading! Mama and Dada and Bubba and Nana got him a very cool new big boy bedding set for when he goes into a twin, but he could have cared less of course! Who needs the practical/cute gifts when there are trucks and books?!
Shortly after gift opening, a real digger truck parked in front of our house to do some work on the street and was there most of the day! I told Parker it was for his birthday and the look on his face was priceless! The City of Portland had no idea how they just made his birthday that much more special! He parked himself in the front window/perched on the coach for quite some time watching the men work.
Parker got to help make his birthday cupcakes and enjoyed licking the beaters!
Around 10:00, Bumpa came over to give Parker his present which was a Bob the Builder work bench/tool set. Parker was so excited and distracted by this cool new toy for the rest of the morning.
Annie and Colin came by when Parker was napping to drop off a gift, then Uncle Lukey and Uncle Johnny came by when he woke up to wish him a happy birthday. Mommy and Parker went to the park to play for most of the afternoon, before Gigi and Uncle Joe came over to get dinner ready.
The final round of festivities were after dinner when Parker got to blow out two rounds of candles (yes, we sung to him twice as it was so cute how happy he gets when he hears "happy birthday'' being sung to him!) He then got to open the rest of the gifts from Mama and Dada after cupcakes. He got some cool truck pajamas, big boy car underwear (he has been going on the potty quite often), the Curious George aka "Monkey Movie"/Jack Johnson soundtrack as he loves that movie, some neat books, and a really cool bag from Pottery Barn kids. These gifts certainly weren't as cool to him as the ones he got to open in the morning, and his face sure showed it! He kept moving onto the next gift with a look of anticipation, then disappointment when it was just clothes. However, after his bath he wanted to wear his underwear and pajamas and actually made us let him wear two pairs of underwear at the same time:)
The poor little guy was spent by the end of the day. Waking up at 4:45 and having such a fun-filled day will do that to you!

We love you, Parker! Happy Birthday!

On Friday, Aunt Rachel and Nana and Bubba will be up, and on Saturday is Parker's birthday party at the Children's Museum! Hopefully he won't be tired of present, cake, and attention by that point!