Saturday, May 31, 2014

Florida Part One

We went to Indian Rocks Beach in Florida from April 26th to May 3rd this year as a "second annual" family trip!  We had a really great time.  There was definitely no lack of excitement--that's for sure!

When we arrived in Orlando, we made the drive to the condo to get all of our stuff situated and then headed to a great little restaurant called Marlin Darlin's for dinner.  I took one picture that day and it was of my gorgeous girl.


The next day we went down to the beach for the morning.  Audrey was NOT a fan to start off with.  She pretty much refused to put her feet in the sand the entire first day and screamed her head off any time I tried to make her stand.


She was pretty happy playing with the sand from the safety of her sun tent.



This boy was beyond ready to get into the water.  He was sooooo excited and loved it.

The next day we headed back to the beach again and started off the morning actually down at the beach.  It was super windy, which made it a little cooler, and Parker wanted to go into the pool instead.  We all eventually went up to the pool to hang out there.  Parker and Audrey were jumping off of the side of the pool into our arms and having a blast when Parker jumped to Ryan once when he wasn't ready.  Parker's chin hit the top of Ryan's head and busted open.  It was bleeding and of course he was screaming, and it didn't take us long to determine that he probably would need stitches.  (((alert::: gross picture coming up!)))


We went to an urgent care and saw a doctor who said he'd definitely need stitches but that he didn't recommend us having them done there because they didn't have the restraints necessary if they needed to tie him down.  He recommended that we go to the Emergency Room, so we headed there.  The hospital was very nice but we ended up waiting for around three hours before we were seen.  It was crazy.  When we were finally taken back, we saw a Physician's Assistant who got things rolling.  She brought a topical anesthetic to try to numb the area a bit before she actually did the local injection.  Parker went crazy and freaked out just over having the liquid-soaked cotton ball placed on his chin, so we knew they stitches themselves weren't going to go well.  Two nurses had to come in to assist her.  They had him stand up and put his hands to the side so they could "wrap him up in a blanket so he wouldn't get cold" aka restrain his arms.  Then one nurse stood up at his head to hold his head still and the other stood down at Parker's legs and gently laid a pillow there to lean on to hold his legs down.  Ryan and I stood right by his head so Ryan could hold the phone for him to "watch" and I rubbed his hair.  

Hearing him scream and cry through that ordeal was the worst thing I've ever experienced.  It truly seemed like the anesthesia didn't work all the way because every time she put the needle through his skin he re-clenched his teeth, cried harder and his poor little face turned blood red.  It was so hard to watch that, but it was over pretty quickly.  Here was the final result:


First-ever stitches........done.

The next day we re-visited the Sunken Gardens that we went to last year so we could renew our Botanical Gardens memberships.  It's so beautiful there that we just had to take some pictures! 


My sweeties.  Notice the stroller?  I forgot ours at home and had to grab a $20 one from Wal-Mart.  It did the trick! 


Love this sweetheart with his bandaid chin.


Walking on the "rocky trail."


He was really giving me a lot of smiles that day! 


Here's the real Parker Jefferson.


With my lovely mother and sister!  Love these ladies!


Feeding the fish.



Best buddies.


A re-take of our "love picture" from last year.



Isn't this plant huge?  It was so tall.  And a fake smile from P. 


Audrey was not all about giving me any smiles that day.


Mona, NayNay, and their favorite babies!

More to come!  :)

Monday, May 12, 2014

Easter 2014.......Three Weeks Later

Easter this year was COLD but more fun than ever!  It's fun to see how the kids "get it" more and more each year and have more fun with every holiday.  Audrey was actually interested in her Easter basket this year, and Parker was SO pumped when it was time to do the egg hunt outside.  They had so much fun!  As I mentioned in the Mother's Day post, our Sunday schedule is almost always the same, and the only difference in this Sunday was that I did not have breakfast at my parents' house.  We dropped the kids off and let them eat there because we had to be at both church services that morning to sing with the choir.  Instead of having them in the nursery all morning, they ate at my parents and stayed there until I picked them up after the first service.  Then normal Sunday activities commenced!  


Early morning Easter basket "discovery" at about 7:30 am.



Love the look on his face.



This girl loves wearing sunglasses.


A real and true smile from PBJ!

Okay so now we fast forward to about 5pm for easter egg hunt time at Omi and Opa's!


She got the hang of it pretty quickly.


And of course this boy was trying to find every egg in the yard.



This is Parker's, "Okay, you told me to smile and I'm smiling are we done with this picture yet?" face.


I love mandatory hand-holding!





This is the part where I forced them to sit and take a "good picture" together.  This was the best that I got!


And a little "real life" thrown in for good measure. 


...and here we are all together!

And for fun......here are the kids from last year:


Snaggle toof and the sweetest goofy brother a girl could ask for!  Note that Audrey is wearing the same dress.  I love that the smocked dresses can be worn for more than just one season!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Mother's Day 2014

This year was the fifth time I've celebrated being a mother.  It's hard to believe!  Everyone always asks me, "Are you doing anything special for Mother's Day?"  It's definitely a special day, but it plays out like every other Sunday for us.  The kids and I have breakfast at my parents' house while Ryan plays the piano at church.  Then we meet him at church and attend the second service.  After the service, we go to lunch with Ryan's family.  After lunch, we get the kids home to take naps.  While they're napping, we try to get a few things done around the house and every now and then take a little power nap ourselves.  Once the kids wake up, we head over to Omi and Opa's house for dinner with my family.

This was the schedule we had today!  I took a couple pictures of the kids and also wanted one with my children.  It's a rare thing to be in a picture since I'm usually the one taking the pictures, but I got my man to take it for me.


This is what the majority of the pictures from any picture-taking sessions I have look like.  My goofy children!


Not the best picture of Audrey, but this boy sure does love his sister.


This girl is into picking up rocks right now.  She is the type that would put them in her mouth to eat them, though.  Makes us just a little nervous!


Me and my babies.  And my giraffe neck apparently.  Whatever--I had to go with the best overall picture and this was the one!  

For fun....here are my other Mother's Day pictures!


2013


2012 (damn.)


2011


2010 (first ever!)

Looking forward to so many more! 

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Parker's First Soccer Team

Parker played soccer this season on the BLACK DRAGONS team with his best buddy, Wyatt.  I was reluctant to sign him up at first because I didn't think I was ready for the commitment and, honestly, soccer is just not my thing.  The strong persuasion of a certain best friend changed my mind, and I am so glad she did!  I really enjoyed watching him play.  He seemed to make some progress throughout the season, and I'm proud of him!  Here are shots from the first game:


Parker with Coach Jimmy.


Buddies in action!



They have zero personality.



Nothing like competing with your own teammate for the ball!


Waiting to be called in by Coach.


Everyone who attended the game to see Parker--Lulu, Leah, Honey, Granddad, Ian, Mona, Granddady.  (not pictured--Haley, NayNay, Audrey, and me!)


And now pictures from the last game:


Pre-game warmup.


This little sweetie cheered for her brother and said, "Go, Caca, Go!" 



Love the arm movement.


Taking the ball to the goal!


Go, Wyatt!


Pretty sure we told them to smile but Wyatt decided to transform.


No words--love these two boys!


Last picture of the season.  Very proud of this boy!