Friday, December 31, 2010

Ten Months!



This picture is the only one in this post that was actually taken on the day you turned Ten Months--Christmas day. All the rest were taken this past week!

Parker, I know I say this every month but I cannot believe you are TEN months old! That means that in two months, you'll be one. Oh heaven help me. Here is the latest with you:

  • You are now wearing about half 12-18 months clothes and half 18-24 months clothes. I have started trying to buy things for next year and am very confused about what size you will be. You seem like you're growing so big so fast!
  • You are getting so good at balancing on your own. You will pull yourself up to stand on whatever is closest to you and then just let go. You stand pretty well until you try to turn your head--then you usually tumble over. We think it's that 100th percentile head of yours bringing you down. Again, walking can't be too far off.
  • You are starting to play "peek-a-boo" with us. You will put one hand over half your face, and we'll ask, "Where's Parker?" and you take it away and give us a big grin. You'll use anything that's in your hands to cover your face up, too.
  • You "dance" to music by bouncing up and down when you're on your knees or swaying your hips around like Elvis.
  • You blow kisses with some major prompting. You don't do it with an open hand, though--you use your fist.
  • You can sit for a much longer period of time by yourself and play now. That's not to say that we like to leave you to play alone all the time, but if we need to get things done around the house, we can leave you in your packnplay with your maracas and drums or let you play with the house Santa brought you and you seem to be content!
  • We have been working on having you eat more solid foods. It's been tough with your father, who is scared to death of you choking. I have been persistent, though, and have continued to chop our meals up for you to try. You seem to like most things, but you also like to throw your food on the floor. You'll throw some on the floor, then pick the next bite up and eat it. Reese LOVES you for this! You've had so much--here are some things you like so far:::mashed and baked potatoes, fried rice, eggs, biscuits, grits, steak, pork...and lots more! The only thing I can think of right now that you aren't too crazy about is bananas. I think it's the sliminess of them. You like jarred bananas but when I slice one up for you to eat, you just won't do it. I'm sure they will grow on you, though.
  • You've been doing a lot of blabbering lately. Most of what comes out of your mouth sounds like, "dada," "mama," "da," or "babababa." You will also stick your tongue out and move it from side to side while making noises. We talk back to you and ask you things like, "So then what did she say?"
  • We have a small soccer ball (thanks Grams) that you play with really well. We roll the ball to you, and you pick it up and bounce it back to us! Watching you do this makes me realize that you are turning into more of a toddler and less of a baby. It's exciting but also just a little sad. Just promise you'll always let me squeeze you tight and rock you to sleep, okay? Oh--where was I? Right--ball-rolling. It's amazing to me, and you seem to have a pretty good arm on you. You also like to throw your blocks and really anything else you can get your hands on. Quarterback, anyone?
  • You still take two good naps each day with car-naps in between. You usually take about an hour and a half nap in the morning and then an hour to hour and a half nap in the afternoon. You've been much better about falling asleep without doing too much crying. You usually fuss for maybe a minute--and then you're off to dreamland. It's great!
  • You are kind of into the whole thumb-sucking thing right now. You definitely don't do it all the time, but I'm noticing you doing it more in the last couple of weeks. I was hoping this would not happen because apparently it's kind of a hard habit to break, but maybe it will just be a short "phase" for you. It's kind of cute, though, so we'll go with it for now.

With this being the last hour of 2010, I just want you to know that it's been the best year of my life because of YOU. I'm sitting here on New Year's Eve watching a Modern Family DVD with your dad by the fireplace. You are upstairs sleeping in your crib like an angel. When I was pregnant on New Year's Eve last year, I told your dad, "Next year for New Year's, we will get a babysitter and go do something fun!" Well, I changed my mind. There is nowhere I'd rather be tonight than right here celebrating with you and your dad. You have changed my life in so many ways--spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and socially (is this a word?) just to name a few. We went through a lot together this year--there have been many tears shed by both of us, smiles exchanged, and memories made. I will always remember this as the year that my first, amazing, beautiful child was born. I know that 2011 will be even better because of all the new things you will learn to say and do. I can't wait to experience every new milestone and help you to learn to be a kind and loving person. I love you so, so much. Okay, enough of all that--at least for now :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Snow Day

So, the day after Christmas, we got about 14 inches of snow which is cwazy for our area. Or maybe not? Maybe it's the new norm around here. I don't know. Why am I still pondering this?

All I know is that the snow was absolutely beautiful! It actually started late at night on Christmas, so technically we did have a white Christmas! Our first ever. We stayed in the house all day long and played together with Parker's new toys and just had snuggle time. "White-out conditions"The crepe myrtle in the front yard A-mazing!Watching the snow fall....
Crepe myrtle at night--beautiful!Clearly, this is not my shining moment in the looks department--haha! Isn't my snowman cute? I made him ALL BY MYSELF! :)PBJ + MLJ = <3This pretty much sums up Parker's feelings about the snow. Oh well--there will be more....someday!


Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas Day

We woke up on Christmas morning with an agenda. We were very excited to get downstairs, exchange presents and watch Parker open his presents, but we were also preparing breakfast for my family. We got up, got dressed, and then went into Parker's room when he woke up to get him ready for the day!

Once we made it downstairs, Ryan and I decided that we would exchange our gifts first because we figured if we ran out of time, Parker could open his presents while my family was there......which is what happened because we did run out of time--haha! While we opened our presents to eachother, he played with his new Fisher Price house and mailbox that Santa left but did not wrap.
"Let's mail some letterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs!"
"goodbye"

Let's talk about this Fisher Price house really quick. First of all, it's amazing. There are SO MANY things for him to do--ring the doorbell, check the mail, put balls down the rain gutter, open and close the window, change the address, change the "mode" from morning to night, turn the light on and off, sort blocks, change the time, play different stations on the radio and open and close the door. He does ALL of these. Almost every single "thing" has words associated with it like up/down, on/off, and open/closed. This toy keeps him occupied for a LONG time. It's so great. He really loves it, and the music doesn't get on my nerves--a win/win! Goooooooooooo Santa!! Oven mitts--love them! Almost every gift I received this year was cooking-related, which is great because I LOVE to cook.
Ryan with his new Blu-Ray player. Looks like the smile he had when Parker was born! Hmmmm.....

Since we did run out of time, we started making breakfast after we were done with our presents. Parker didn't care about anything other than the house and mailbox, so waiting to open his presents was no big deal. We made a biiiiig breakfast, and Mom, Dad, Omi, Opa and Renee joined us to eat. Omi was talking to Parker, but all he could think about were the biscuits sitting in front of him--haha!

After we ate breakfast, we opened Parker's gifts for him and exchanged gifts with my family. Parker did not really care at all about what was going on. He played with each toy as soon as we opened it and then moved on. He had no interest in the wrapping paper at all...I guess that will be in the years to come!

We went to Ryan's parents house at about 1030 to spend time with his family. We did the biiiiig Jefferson gift exchange, which again, Parker did not even care about. All he wanted to do was eat puffs.
Getting ready...
Louise, Renee, Omi and I collaborated to get Roger, Ryan, Bryan, Opa and Dad certificates to go to Langley and drive racecars. They all loved it. This picture was taken when they were all three opening their gifts at the same time. You can see that Ryan read it first........then Bryan.....
...then Rogie!
Ryan, Me, Parker, and his Puffs :)
Parker with his new Monkey-in-the-box and wagon. Okay, really, this is the wagon I asked for, and Ryan's mom bought, but I screwed everything up when I bought a different one that went on a really good sale for only a couple of days. So....this is not his wagon. We are taking this one back and keeping the other one. Complicated-ish story, but the moral is that Parker will have a Radio Flyer wagon--it will just be the Ultimate Comfort version, not the Pathfinder! Either way, THANK YOU HONEY for buying it...just pretend you bought the other one :)For whatever reason, we did not take any pictures after this on Christmas day! We spent most of the rest of the day with Ryan's family just relaxing and eating (of course). When we went home that night, we just crashed and watched TV. We were so tired from lack of sleep and being on the go. Right before we went to bed, it started snowing, meaning that we actually had a "white Christmas." It was VERY exciting because this has never happened for either of us. They were calling for anywhere from five to ten inches..and it ended up being even MORE! That's enough for another post, though.

So that's the total recap of Christmas 2010 for this version of the Jefferson family. I wanted to record as much as possible to remember Parker's first Christmas. We are SO excited for all the rest....

Stay tuned for your regularly scheduled monthly update and a post about SNOW!


Christmas Eve

I have to say that this Christmas was, of course, the best one yet. Parker sealed the deal on that one! I have always loved Christmas. I love the magic of Santa, the amazing story of Christ's birth, and seeing the joy (or confusion--haha) of others' faces as they open gifts. Having a child at Christmas brings all of this to a WHOLE different level. Parker really had no idea what was going on this year, but I am already looking forward to the rest of our Christmases with him.

Christmas Eve started out great because we ate at Cracker Barrel for breakfast with Ryan's parents, sister, and our niece and nephew. It was VERY good--although I did get a stomachache afterward. Right after breakfast, we took Parker to see Santa at the mall. When he first got on his lap, he was okay, and as the helper "elf" started to take pictures, things started slowly sliding downhill. Luckily we had Haley with us and I was able to pick her up and play peekaboo with Parker to make him smile. We think the picture turned out pretty good!After all of the picture-taking excitement happened, we went to Ryan's mom's house to prepare monkey cake for her to bake the next day. Haley came with us and Lisa dropped Ian off to participate. Ry and I have made this for her every year for at least the last five years. Here is the proof that we did it again this year:Things were intense. They always are when cinnamon sugar and biscuits are involved, right? Of course, Ry is standing over their shoulders supervising-haha! And in case you're wondering....they did wash their hands.Parker helped!So pretty.So sweet.

What occurred after this but before church was a blur. All I know is that there was baking, dishwashing, shaving, and pantihose involved. I attended the 4pm service with Parker which was interesting! I am used to the 730 service which is more "traditional", and the 4pm service is more child-focused. I enjoyed it nonetheless, and Parker behaved enough to stay in the service with me the whole time.Opa and Renee with PBJ (I'm a poet)

After church, we headed over to Omi's house for dinner. It was, of course, very yummy. Right after dinner, Parker got his very first Christmas present from Omi, Opa, Mom, Dad and Renee.He seemed pretty excited.....and knew exactly what to do when he saw it! I was impressed.He was making lots of noise to express his love for the toy.He found a friend to kiss and talk to!Dad, Mom, Opa and Omi with Parker. They love him so much!
Love!

Ryan had to leave Omi's soon after Parker received his presents to play the piano for the 730 service. I stayed a little while longer and then headed back to my house with Renee to put Parker to bed. After the 730 service, Bryan and Lacy came back to the house with Ryan to have a couple drinks and socialize. Ryan and Bryan secretly got each other gifts that they decided to exchange at our house...Seriously--neither of them knew the other was buying liquor. Too funny!

After Bryan, Lacy and Renee left, we both wrapped a few remaining gifts and then went to bed--at 130! This is really, really late for us. We heard Santa come down the chimney, so I decided to take a picture of the tree after he dropped off Parker's presents.I love our tree :)

These are the stockings that Omi made for us. Words cannot express how much I love them--or her. They say Daddy, Parker and Momma. Santa left some socks for Parker in his stocking!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas To Do

Here's what I need to do tomorrow::::
-get up early to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel with the Jefferson fam--YUM!
-purchase gift cards for the few family members that receive them
-kiss my baby's sweet neck
-possibly find a different gift for Omi??
-pick up a book from Barnes and Noble
-finish wrapping all presents after UPS drops off the rest :)
-play with our Christmas train with a certain sweet boy I know
-shave my legs
-paint my nails (okay this is not a need but it's definitely a want!)
-vacuum the entire house
-purchase tablecloth if I still can't find mine tomorrow
-go to the grocery store to buy food for breakfast at our house on Christmas Day
-get table set for said breakfast
-MOP the floor
-attend the 4pm Christmas Eve service at church and worship Christ, the newborn King!
-have dinner at Omi's
-rock my baby to sleep and put him to bed on his first Christmas Eve
-have drinks and dessert at our house with some of our favorite people
-go to bed at a decent hour so that Santa will be sure to stop by!

Things I need to do Saturday:::
-watch my first baby "open" and enjoy his presents from us, Santa and the rest of his family that loves him so much
-prepare and eat breakfast with my family like we do every year but at our house, which is a new tradition
-enjoy opening presents from my family and watching them open theirs
-head to Ryan's parents' house to do more gift-exchanging
-graze on snacks and treats at their house all day long
-nap?
-change into sweatpants immediately when we get home due to all previous items related to food
-crash early OR go see a Christmas night movie....it's one or the other
-thank God for the loving family we are blessed to have and for the two boys in my life that I am grateful to spend each and every day with

That's all! :)

Monday, December 20, 2010

The rest of the days...

Stay tuned for the rest of the days. I've fallen behind again. Drat. It's that time of year, people. I spent the evening wrapping presents and making sure I have presents for everyone.

BUT I have the pictures and information to put in.....tomorrow is my goal!

For now.....I will leave you with ruffled hair, a booblet, and sweet innocence.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Day 10--Hot Stuff




'nuff said.

Day 9--Daddy Time

Yeah, it's late. SORRY! When Ryan gets home from work each day, he really cherishes all of the time he gets to spend with Parker until it's time for PBJ to go to bed.


Here they are spending some QT together. My two boys. I love them.