Weekend Photo Dump

After work on Friday we spent the rest of the afternoon/night outside.  Pushing a stroller is a lot cooler when you're wearing a fireman's hat.

He was obsessed with pushing this baby around. So I had to get it on video.  Please note in the video below that at the end it sounds like we are about to be hit by the car.  We are not.  But I make a big deal of getting out of the road when a car comes, so that is why I am screaming at the end....



He obsessed with playing in the sink.



We took a quick dinner break to chick-fi-la where Parker INSISTED on packing up all his "manimals" in his "pack pack" and bring them to dinner. Whateves.

 We went to the aquarium with Aunt Lala and Charlie.

The boys were being inappropriate during the scuba show.

High-fiving the scuba diver.

 We had a movie and popcorn date since Dada was at a bachelor party Saturday night.

His cuddles are the best!

A horsey ride is the perfect ending to a great weekend. 

My Top 10... For now

I often think about all the things I absolutely love about my child.  I figured I'd better jot them down before any of them disappear.  We all know that what they do for a while sometimes doesn't last forever.  I just don't want to ever forget some of my favorite things he does right now. 

So here you are, in no particular order.....

10) The way you say “thank you” 95% of the time we hand you something.

9) Your amazing memory.  For example, when I’m on the phone you always ask “who dat?”…. when I say it is Aunt Bean (Christine) you reply with “eggs?” because the last time you saw her we dyed eggs together.  Or when I say it is Aunt Lala (Lauren) you say either “zoo?, Charlie?, and/or Brett?”

8) Your obsession with skin on skin.  (Yes, I know he isn't a newborn anymore).  They way most kids feel about blankey’s is the way you feel about skin.  When trying to fall asleep or just snuggling, you absolutely must either be rubbing my face or my ear or my arm or my stomach.  It is kinda weird, and it totally creeps daddy out, but that’s ok.  It’s you.  It's what you do.

7) Your helpfulness. Or at least your attempt to be helpful.  Whether it is making a meal, doing the dishes, cleaning up something that spilled, putting the laundry in the dryer, sweeping the floor, etc., you always come running to help.  I love that. And wish it will never change, but we all know it will, so I’ve got to let you help while you still LOVE to do it.

6) The way your little brain is turning inside your teeny tiny head when I talk to about something.  You look at me with such intent on trying to figure out and comprehend what I am saying.  I know you know what I am talking about at least 85% of the time.  You are a smart little guy and it so clear that your brain is making so many connections all the time.

5) How you call Grandma (my mom) “maw maw”.  You just started calling her that all on your own because you couldn’t say Grandma.  It’s almost exactly like mama, but with a more southern draw at the end of it.  Not sure if it will stick, but for now, I love that my mom and I share the same name. She is my hero (and so is my dad).

4)  Your honesty. Well at least with everything but pooping….

      Parker, did you bite Layla? Yes.  Ugh!

      Parker, did you spill that?  Yes.  Ugh!

      Parker, did you hit Harlen?  Yes.  Grrrr! Go in Time Out!

      Parker, are you doing a poo poo?  Noooo, ount uh.  Liar.

3) Your love for being outside.  If you could choose to do or be anywhere it would be outside.  You love it and so do I.

2) The way you sing.  You know a lot of songs and sometimes I hear you singing them in the other room when you think nobody is listening.  Mama is always listening though.  On this particular day you were singing “Row row row your boat”, but the only part you sang was the “merrily merrily merrily” part.  So freaking cute to me.  Mostly when you sing you just say the last word in every line.  It absolutely melts me.  

1) Your sweetness.  I mean, lets be honest, yes, you have a devilish side to you... don’t get me wrong, but it rarely comes out and you usually think it is funny and don’t mean anything mean-spirited by whatever you do wrong.  However, majority of the time you are a pure angel.  Filled with lots of hugs, kisses, and snuggles for no reason except for love.  And that I will always. I will always will love you. 

Giving Layla hugs and kisses

 

reunited & my random child

Follow up from the girl’s trip....

Christine and I raced home Sunday morning from our trip in Jax so I would be able to attend my nephew's 1st birthday party.  We rolled into the ATL around 1:00, which meant nap time. Perfect. Although all I wanted was Parker to come running into my arms full of hugs and kisses and sweet relief that I was finally home, I knew I still had to shower and get ready, so him being asleep when I got home was great!  Then... I got to wake him up and surprise him with my return.  I'm so happy Matt had his camera out and captured this sweet moment between a boy and his momma...

Ahhh... Heaven!!! That little boy of mine swung his little arms around me so fast and wouldn't let go.  BEST.FEELING.EVER. He was giggling with excitement and he was completely shocked I was actually home.  To sum of the rest of the day.... I had a 2 year old attached to me like an appendage.  And guess what… I loved every bit of it!
Matt did an awesome job all weekend, and didn't complain once about me being gone.  That makes it so much easier.  Parker had a much-needed Daddy time.  However, on Sunday evening as I was snuggling my boy I smelled something... his breath smelled like sour milk. Yuck. So, I asked Matt... "Honey, did you remember to brush his teeth while I was gone?".... I think you all can guess his reply... EWWWWW!!! Hey, I'm glad my boy at least got fed, bathed, and played with. 

Joey's 1st birthday was a huge success. 

Erica and Mike did an awesome job, and Parker had a blast!

Needless to say, it was hard dropping Parker off Monday morning after being home with him the entire week before.  He had a hard time too adjusting on Monday morning.  Poor guy hadn't cried in forever when I dropped him off, but that week off really messed him up.  Thank God for his teacher, who knew I was obviously upset having to leave him so distressed, so she emailed me this picture of him happily painting a rock.  Ok, lets be honest, he doesn't look too happy in this picture, but hey, at least he wasn't still crying!  I am happy to report that he hasn't cried since that day at drop off, so he has recoverd.

Photo Dump of the last couple weeks...



My kid. So random.



Again. So Random. No pants. No Diaper.  Just chillin in bucket. Totally normal, right. 



At Daddy's baseball game. L.O.V.E.



Papa & Grandma bought him a sandbox and tent. He is OBSESSED!
I love how my Dad even made him a sign.



Fun at Papa and Grandma's house
(p.s. he can't say "Grandma" so he just calls her ma-ma).
Whatevs. My mom and I are basically the same person.



SB13 Baby

Heaven

After months of planning, my bestest friend and I drove down to Jacksonville, FL Thursday morning to visit our great friend, Ali J. Who, by the way, lives ON Jax beach.  So fun! A road trip with my best friend, and a weekend on the beach, who could ask for more?!  So, Thursday FINALLY came, and I dropped my little munchkin off at Nannie and Poppie's house.  It was baby Joey's actual 1st birthday this day, so I was eager to snap a few sweet pics of the boys before I headed out of town.  Soon after I left, I got a really sweet video of the boys from my amazing mother-in-law. 

Christine and I hit the road around 9:30, and really had a great time driving down to FL.  We jammed out to some OLD SCHOOL music from all my old CDS and chatted all the way down.  It was a blast.  Although there was basically no silence the whole way down, Christine and I are the types of friends that there is never any awkward silences.  If it is silent, which is typically isn't with us, it is okay and there is by no means any awkwardness, which nice on road trips. 

Annnddd... Were off!

We made it to Jax around 3:00, and headed right out to the beach and waited for Ali J to get off work.

Ahhhhhhhh.....

Once Ali got off work, we all got ready together (like old times - so fun) and head out to a nice (and expensive) dinner.  It was relaxing and just what we needed. 

The next day we all  Christine and I got up super early (UGH!) and sat around until it was beach time! Finially, we woke up Ali J, and the 3 of us headed out and put our toes in the sand for a few hours and then headed back in to get ready for "our big night out". 

Kate and Kayla also live in Jax, so we a had a mini Pope HS reunion

We had a long night out, and it was fun, but super exhausting.  My only wish was to sleep in while we were here.  That did not happen.  Matt called at 8:30 and my snuggle buddy Christine and I were up ever since. Thanks Matt.  Oh well, to the beach we went...

Later that night, we had a low key night and went out for some dinner and drinks....

Overall, it was an amazing weekend with my girls.  But by Sunday I was more than ready to get home to my boys.  That will be a post for another day.  Until then...

spring is here...

This past week was my spring break from work.  It was an awesome week to say the least.  I'm going to break my week into 2 posts though or this post would be forever long.  The first part of the week I soaked up every single moment with my boy because I knew I would be leaving him for a few days when I went on my girl’s trip.  We spent about every waking moment outside.  We went to the park, played with the neighborhood kids, had a playdate with the Beahm's, went to the zoo with Aunt Lala & Charlie, went on lunch dates, got icecream, went shopping, and even broke out the baby pool.  Here are a few pics I captured....

Presh

Of course, we even had to bring the art outside for P to get some inspiration

Taking a snack break from our neighborhood kickball game

Checking out the big kids...



Parker & Charlie checking out the Panda's

Parker saying "shhhhh, bears night night". So freaking cute!




 

Carter took Parker on a jeep joy ride while I got some much needed catch-up time with Ash.

Not sure why our drink buckets are in there, but what-eves, the kid is having a blast.
He is so random somethimes!

Parker and I had such a great time together and I cannot wait until summer time.  If you have to be a working mom like I do, then being a teacher is seriously the best of both worlds. Only 28 more days til summer break, but who's counting?!!

A Vent from Momma Bear...

Yesterday when we got home from school we did what we do on every nice day…. Went outside to play with neighborhood kids.  On most days, we pull up and the kids are already outside running to our car begging for Parker to come out and play.  Our house is kind of the “go to house” at times and the kids like to come in garage and bring out all of Parker’s toys (basketball hoop, bike, car, golf clubs, bubbles, chalk) and play with them.  Totally fine and I actually prefer it that way.  We live in kid filled cul-de-sac and most of the kids are a little older.  The age ranges of the kids that come out to play are from 2 to 7 years old.  Unfortunately, the two other 2 year olds don’t go outside much, so Parker is usually the youngest.  For the most part, the older kids are really great with him and include him as much as possible.  I totally understand when they don’t want to play him though, I mean he can’t communicate like they do and he physically can’t do everything they want to do.  So, I want to be clear that I completely get that and it doesn’t bother me.  What does bother me though is what occurred yesterday.  One of the boys (age 4) and one of the girls (age 4 or 5 I think) were tossing this huge ball back and forth.  At one point Parker tried to join in on the fun and pick up the ball.  The girl yelled “no, you can’t play with us”.  I didn’t think too much of it because like I said, sometimes the older kids just don’t want Parker in on their game.  I get it.  However, at one point in the “game” Parker merely walked by (he wasn’t going for the ball or anything).  I’m pretty sure he was actually walking by to pick up a stick.  Out of nowhere the little girl yells to the other little boy “Don’t let Parker touch the ball. Whatever you do NOT let him get near it.” She said with a devilish laugh and in such a mean-spirited tone.  Um, excuse me? What I wanted to say is that he isn’t interested in playing your stupid game and how dare you talk to him that way when just 5 minutes ago you were playing with ALL of his toys; however, I held my tongue and calmly replied to her “Now that isn’t very nice of you”.  I was so pissed.  I scooped up Parker and took him in side while he kicked and screamed the whole way in.  He wasn’t upset at what she said because honestly he didn’t understand what she meant by it, but he was mad at me for taking him away from the outside world.  As I got inside, Matt was calling. I told him what just occurred and his response was, Amy, come on, she is like 5.  Yeah, that is the whole point.  She IS FIVE… she knows the difference between what is mean and what is nice.  She said it in such a mean-spirited way, and that is what made me so angry.  I’m sorry, don’t come over to my house and play with all of Parker’s toys, and then when he even comes close to what you are playing with tell the other kids not to let him touch the damn ball.  Am I crazy??!!!  I guess this is my mamma bear in me, and my claws are coming out!  Oh dear, what the hell am I going to do when he enters grade school?  And even worse, the dreaded middle school years.  They are seriously going to have to institutionalize and de-claw me if anyone is mean to my sweet boy.  Kids are just mean.  I can only hope to raise Parker in way where he is nice to everyone, and take other’s mean-ness with a grain of salt.  I feel better now that I’ve vented, and I’m pretty sure my other momma friends would feel the same way.  Am I wrong? Am I really just a crazy momma bear? 

Fyi... the "mean girl" is not in this photo.

VJ is the oldest (and sweetest) kid... He is very protective of Parker.
Too bad he wasn't out there yesterday to stand up for P.

Picture from last summer, but it gets my point across of how he includes Parker :)