Fun Times

I have been a really bad blogger lately! Parker, work, and life in general have been keeping us really busy.
Here are some pictures from last Sunday and Monday when Nana and Bubba came to visit (plus some random funny ones).

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am taking today and tomorrow off work to spend some quality time with Nate and Parker. P and I are going to visit Daddy this afternoon since we hardly ever get to do that now that we live in NE! Tonight Grandpa and Grandma are watching P so that Nate and I can go out to dinner at our favorite little Italian joint, Piazza Italia. They even offered to keep him overnight so that we can enjoy an ENTIRE night together:) I can't wait!

On a side note, I am reading "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" as Parker's tantrums/fits/need for constant attention were getting out of control. The book has some good pointers as to how to deal with this sort of behavior. Bottom line: even young toddlers want to feel acknowledged/understood and get easily frustrated when parents don't acknowledge that they understand what the child wants. . . Basic, yet I was missing that, and Parker's behavior has been so much better in less than a week's time! I have been much more conscious of getting to his level and speaking in his language, thus he has been so much happier with me!

We ordered a new leather couch that will be in tomorrow, and we are going shopping for a nice jogging stroller on Saturday. Now that nicer weather is on the way we recognize the need to get out more, and we really need a good quality stroller for these bumpy Portland sidewalks. Who knows-maybe we'll also be motivated to start running again?!
Nana and Bubba are coming up on Sunday to stay the night and watch Parker on Monday, so we have a fun weekend ahead of us! Hopefully I'll have new pictures to post soon. . .

New Boots. . .

Parker got some cool cowboy boots from Grandma last week! This picture doesn't do a good job of showing how excited he actually is about these. He finds them in his closet and begs to wear them, only they are too big and he can't walk very well in them:) We're looking for a matching cowboy hat so he can dress-up in style. . .

Parker's 15 month check-up

Parker had his 15 month check-up this morning. As always, he is in the 90th percentile for height and weight, although his weight didn't go up as much as usual due to him losing weight when he was sick. He weighed in just under 28 pounds (90th %) and was nearly 34 inches tall (98th %)! Can't believe that anyone can grow 13 inches in 15 months! We have no idea where his height comes from, but he is sure a tall kid! He was a trooper through his two shots-one in the arm this time and one in the leg. Thankfully he is healthy, but his incisors sure are giving him trouble coming in. He slept dreadfully last night, so I hope the remaining two come in soon.

Are you kidding me?!

Nate and I came down with another round of the stomach flu (or food poisoning) Tuesday night. It hit us both hard, and thankfully Parker has been okay so far! My mom and dad graciously kidnapped him for a few days as we were pretty much on our deathbeds. Today is the first day I have been up for more than an hour without feeling completely wiped. We ate a little yesterday for the first time and it didn't settle so well. I'm pretty sure we have zero energy because we have barely eaten in 4 days, but its hard to tell what/if we should be eating much at this point! I'm praying that it was food poisoning because I can't bear the thought of Parker being sick again. . . . .speaking of, he is eating us out of house and home! Since feeling better, he now eats about 5 meals a day and pretty much wants to eat every time he sees some else eat. He has also cut a nap and is down to one extremely long mid-day nap that lasts 3- 3 1/2 hours! Thankfully its long, but his awake time is so much longer that we are struggling finding ways to entertain him that don't involve eating or watching Little Einsteins :) More to come on how to entertain a 15 month old. . . .

Babies, babies, and more babies!!!

Three of my dear friends had babies within 6 days of each other in the past two weeks!

Crystal and Jeremy led the pack when they welcomed little Madeleine into the world on the 31st of December. Maddie joined big sister Lili, who was also born in 2007!!

Annie followed three days later when her and Nick had baby Colin on January 3rd. He is so precious and little (the pictures posted are of Colin). He was under 6 pounds when I held him!

Lindsay and Tom had little Noel 11 days early. Noel joined big sister Grace on January 6th. Grace is just 4 days older than Parker and is already a wonderful big sister:)

Chelsea and Ben and Abby are Denny are due in March and July, so there are more on the way!

The gift of life is a beautiful thing and our Heavenly Father is truly is a miraculous creator!!! Congratulations to you new parents! Our prayers are with you and you adjust to life with your new little ones.

Nate and I went to see Juno tonight. It was a hilarious, sweet, and simple story. Makes me very excited to be a mommy again someday soon! I am saddened to think that I would have had a baby on the due date of the girl in the movie-May 4th, but we are just soaking up every second with Parker and will be filled with anticipation when that time comes for us again!

Colorado pics