Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year's Eve

We had a great day today!  We started off the day with waffles made in my new waffle iron.  They were very "experimental" because I had to figure out the exact amount to put in and the right amount of time.  Overall, they turned out pretty good!  After waffles, Renee and I went to Target and Babies "r" Us to pick up a few things.  It was a nice morning out of the house.  We ended the trip by letting Parker drive a fire truck with Bert and Ernie!


Obviously, he enjoyed it.  After this, we went home for Parker to take a nap.  While he napped, I took down almost all of the ornaments from the tree in our living room.  It is so sad to take down the decorations!  It seems like we just put them up.  

Once Parker woke up, he ate lunch and then went outside to do some work on his car.

Daddy helped.  The pedals needed to be adjusted.


Two heads are better than one, right??  


Just a little tighter...all done!

For the rest of the afternoon we just hung around the house and relaxed.  We had dinner reservations at Shogun with Ryan's family.  I was, of course, super excited about that because I just love a good meal!  haha.  


The Jefferson men.  


What do you know?  A picture of me and my child.  Thanks LuLu!


Watching his cousin Haley.  He was copying all of her movements--it was pretty funny.


Here is the whole gang at the end of our meal!

Parker was absolutely terrified of the hibachi experience.  Every time he saw a chef walk out, fire, a waitress, anything--he was not happy.  The fire was the worst, but he was so scared the whole time.  He had a death grip on my arm for the time frame that he was sitting next to me, and kept saying "bye-bye" and "nooooo".  He was even shaking!  I could not believe he was that scared.  

Ryan and Lisa took him out and walked around with him for a little bit.  When he came back, our chef was done with the fire, so we told him it was "all done."  Of course, we weren't thinking about the three other chefs that kept lighting up their own fires across the room!  Every time a fire lit up, he would look at me and say, "all done?  bye-bye."  He was SO ready to leave.  When the waitress brought our check, I went and sat in the lobby with him and Haley, and he just laid his head on my chest.  I told him we were going home, so he kept saying randomly, "home."  I don't think we'll be visiting any other hibachi grills with Parker ANY time in the near future.  I think he was pretty traumatized!

We are now at home and I am definitely ready for bed.  I don't think I'll make it all the way to midnight.  It's funny that a few years ago we stayed up well into the early morning hours, and now I can barely make it past 10.  haha!  I enjoyed all of my party-time New Years', but having my baby boy asleep upstairs and sitting here with my man on the couch is all I could ever want this year.  2011 has been amazing, and I am looking forward to the new year and ALL that it has to bring.  It will be interesting with Ryan's job either changing or completely being lost, me working five days a week during this transition, our little boy turning two, and having another baby in the summer. There will surely be some good times as well as a few "bad", but I am ready.  Bring it on 2012! 

Santa


I almost forgot to post the best picture of the Christmas season and possibly the entire year....



I was ALL ABOUT this picture.  When I told Santa's helper that Parker would probably get upset, she suggested that we take a family picture with Santa.  I politely declined and explained that we wanted a picture of Parker alone with Santa every year, and if that meant a crying picture, then so be it.  I knew that this would be the end result, and I couldn't have been happier with the way the picture turned out.  Cruel mother?  I think not.  This will be one of the best pictures to look back on!

Immediately after the picture was taken, Ryan picked him up and Parker and Santa made amends.  Parker gave him a high five and Santa gave him a kiss on the cheek.  It was very sweet.  Santa seemed pretty certain that next year Parker will be very happy to see him.  We'll see.....

Friday, December 30, 2011

Christmas Day

Since this post will contain 15 pictures (yes, I said 15!), I'll let the pictures tell most of our Christmas day story for this year.  It's a lot of pictures, but I want to be able to remember all of this later on when I'm old and gray!

Parker has been sleeping in lately, so we were up before he was.  This worked out perfect because we got fully dressed and ready so that we could start cooking right after we were finished opening presents.  We didn't want to rush through present opening, but my whole family was coming over for breakfast at eight, so we wanted to get things done in a timely manner.


What did Santa bring??  I am such a loser mom and photographer that I didn't take a picture of the presents Santa left!  I had a lot on my mind, like, "What in the world is my child wearing?"  You won't see this outfit in any other pictures....


Opening his first present.  Flashcards!  Santa also brought a tent, some puzzles, and lots of stuff in Parker's stocking.  


Enjoying his xylophone! 


He liked pulling all of the little stuff out of his stocking.


Omi and Opa pre-breakfast.  Loved her sweater!


My sweet little baby.


What's in here, Granddaddy?  


He was trying to hug his play kitchen from my parents and Renee.  He was very excited about this one!


Showing off his musical talents on his Elmo keyboard!


This is the "hat" that goes with the keyboard.  haha!  It's actually a microphone, but he decided to wear it his own way.  


Sesame Street boots!  Love the look on  his face.


March, march, march!

After we had our yummy breakfast and exchanged gifts with my family, we headed to church for a Christmas day service.  It was very relaxed and laid-back with lots of music!

After church, we headed to Ryan's parents house for the rest of the afternoon.  Unfortunately, at this point I kind of shut down on the picture taking.  The present-opening experience at Ryan's parents house is very intense because there are so many of us and so many presents!  It takes Ryan's sister and I almost 15 minutes to get them all separated.  I did take some pictures, but most of them didn't turn out very good.  Parker was sitting on Ryan's lap while he opened presents and was kind of "over it" by that point.  It was past his naptime and I think he was just a little overwhelmed. 


Here he is wearing Daddy's new hat from Uncle Bryan!


We opened presents and then had a super-yummy lunch.  After lunch, it was WAY past Parker's naptime, so I drove around in the car with him until he fell asleep.  I sat in the car with him for about an hour while he slept, and then we went inside to sit and talk for a little while before leaving. 


"Would you like something to drink?""  
When we came home that night, my sister had put together the play kitchen for Parker.  He was very excited to see it sitting there when we walked in!


Parker helped me open a couple of my presents from Ryan, and then decided that playing with his keyboard would be more fun.

It really was a special day.  I have said it before, and I'll say it again--Christmas is hundreds of times better when you have your own child.  Parker still doesn't quite "get it", but I'm sure that next year he will.  His six-month-old brother or sister definitely will not, but that's a whole different story.  This year was even better than last year, and I am already looking forward to next year's Christmas season and what it will hold!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas Eve

This year, our Christmas Eve traditions carried out exactly as they did last year.  We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Ryan's family, made monkey cake at the Jeffersons' house, and then went home to relax/clean/shower before going to church for the 4pm service!  Christmas Eve and day are usually pretty rushed and planned time-wise, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I am SO thankful that we are able to see both of our families for holidays, so it doesn't bother me in the least that we have to do a little bit of rushing. 

After the 4pm service, we headed over to Omi's house to have dinner and for the "kids" (Ryan, Parker, Renee and I) to open presents.  We had a yummy dinner of schnitzel and potato salad--very simple but delicious!  Once we finished eating, we got started with present-opening because Ryan had to leave: by 6:40 to go to the 7:30 church service.

 

Ryan had a little bit of help opening his keyboard!  

 

Parker was next.  What could it be??


 A new car!?  I think Ryan was just as excited as Parker.

 Maybe not--he was a pretty happy boy.


He had lots of help with driving lessons.  Notice the tongue of concentration.

 At this point Parker was back to helping us with our presents.  He really enjoyed tearing every.single.piece of wrapping paper off.  He didn't know he would be able to do that all day long the next day!

Here is our family photo.  It was the best we could get!  I feel so blessed to have such handsome "men" in my life.
After Omi's, Renee, Parker, and I went home so that Parker could go to bed.  Renee came over to help me finish wrapping presents.  If it wasn't for her, I probably would have been up until about two in the morning!  So glad for my sister and her willingness to help me out ALL THE TIME.  Renee left soon after Ryan came home from church, and Ryan and I didn't go to bed until about midnight.  I'm glad we did because I'm pretty sure I heard reindeer land on our roof once we got in bed....

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Hospital Visit

This past Friday, we had to take a little trip to the Emergency Room at our local children's hospital.  Parker had  been wheezing the night before but only a little bit.  I told myself that if he was still doing it in the morning, I would call the pediatrician and see what they said.

When we woke up on Friday, we could tell that Parker was working pretty hard to breathe.  The skin around his ribs and collarbone were really sucking in every time he breathed in.  Since it was so early, Ryan and I were going back and forth about whether it was okay to wait to call the doctor or if we should take him to the ER.  While we were trying to decide, he wasn't really acting like himself and also wasn't drinking his milk which was REALLY weird because this kid inhales his milk.  The final straw was when Parker threw up all over Ryan.  We decided to take him straight to CHKD.

After seeing the doctor, they said that Parker most likely had a virus.  They gave him three breathing treatments followed by oxygen and also performed a chest x-ray.  The first breathing treatment as well as the x-ray involved LOTS of screaming and crying.  I have never seen Parker scream and thrash more than when the respiratory nurse gave him his first breathing treatment.  When we finally left at about 12:30, he definitely was not 100 percent, but he was obviously feeling much better and was breathing much easier.  He looked so pitiful but sweet during the process.


I think this was the third treatment.  Thank goodness for iPhones!


Just waiting around.  Notice the barf bag--yes, it happened again at the hospital!


Letting the oxygen work it's magic!

I am so thankful to have such an amazing hospital so close to home.  I am well aware of the fact that we could have gone to the regular hospital, but it is so nice to deal with doctors and nurses who are there to cater to children only.  I hope it is a looooong long time before we have to go back again, if ever! 

Monday, December 19, 2011

Daddy

I can't remember if I've done any "Daddy" posts recently, but I had these pictures and thought I'd share a few things about Parker and his Daddy.  He is really into his Daddy right now.  Not that he hasn't been in the past, but I've noticed him calling for Ryan more and asking about him more.  When I pick him up from daycare and ask him who we're going to see when we get home (I'm usually talking about Reese), he says, "Daddy."  In the mornings when he wakes up in his crib, he's often mumbling something about his Daddy.  If he wakes up in the middle of the night, he no longer solely asks for me, but he'll also cry for his Daddy.  He loves, loves, loves, loves his Daddy.  I do, too. 


Parker really is a good mixture of both of us, but I feel like he looks the most like his Daddy.


He likes to walk around in Daddy's shoes...


...they are literally big shoes to fill.


Even when Ryan's had a rough day at work (and there have been many lately), seeing Parker's face when he walks in wipes away any frustration he had that day.


They really are a sweet pair.


Playing "bop-ball" (football) on the iPhone.  See the look on Ryan's face?  It's the look of a Daddy in love.  I know the feeling is mutual.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

A Major Success!

For at least three months now, we have been sitting Parker on his little potty every night before he takes a bath.  He has almost always sat on the potty with no problem but has never actually used the bathroom on the potty--UNTIL TONIGHT!  Evidence:


Woohoooooo!  I was so busy pulling up a video on the iPhone for him that I didn't even notice him doing it.  When he sat down, he said, "Momma--peepee!"  I said, "Yes, are you going to go peepee?  That would be wonderful!"  This is a conversation that occurs regularly.  Then I stopped paying attention and he actually peed!


I gave him a hug and high-fives and told him that since he peed, we get to dump it in the toilet.  He was very excited about this, so hopefully he'll remember the whole experience sometime in the near future.


Of course, I also let him flush the toilet.  He always wants to flush the toilet, but I never let him.  I always tell him that he can flush the toilet when he goes peepee or poopoo on the potty.  He was also very excited about this!  I am not expecting any major potty miracles or anything, but it felt so good to see pee in his little toilet.  My nightly dedication has paid off!  I know this will be a pretty slow process, but this is the first step and I am glad that we have taken it.  I am so proud of my little man!