parker's 2nd birthday party!

parker's 2nd birthday party was a blast. first, we had both sets of parents in town plus my brother and sister-in-law. it was so great to have so much family around to celebrate and help out! parker's latest obsession is curious george so we of course had a curious george themed party this year, which he just loved! seriously, i've never seen the boy so excited before in my life! from the minute he woke up from his nap until we encouraged him to settled down before bed time, he was non-stop on the go! he loved his balloons, LOVED opening all of his presents--he didn't/couldn't wait until i had planned for them to be opened and his egg-free curious george cake turned out great! thanks to my sister-in-law melissa for doing such a great job decorating!!!

planning a birthday party for two year olds was much more involved than last year. this year the kids are mobile so you have to have something to do with them, plus we had some older kids join us as well. originally the plan was to have a bunch of outdoor activities, but with all of the storms and rain, we moved everything inside which actually turned out just fine. i had several "games" planned, but it turns out that kids are pretty much still easily entertained by balloons and food. brandon and i had spent weeks working on the backyard to fix the drainage and re-sod where the water was sitting and destroying our grass specifically for parker's party. so unfortunately we didn't get to enjoy the new backyard, but it was probably best for the fresh sod anyways.


overall, i was thrilled with the party and happy to see my baby so happy! i'm also so thankful for such great friends and family--thank you all for sharing in such a special day for us!!!



here are some pics from the special day:

family pic with birthday boy--wish i could get him to look and stop drinking his milk!

my mom, sister-in-law (cake decorator) and brother

curious george

egg free curious george cake!!!

parker on his new ride, a birthday present from mommy and daddy. he was SO excited to get this!

blowing out the candles with daddy. parker actually tried to eat the flame!

top 10 tuesday

i've never done this before, but i thought it might be something fun to blog about each week. here's this tuesday's top 10 random stuff:

1) we had a crazy busy memorial day weekend this year and are still recuperating. we had A LOT of family in town for parker's 2nd birthday party. the party was a huge success despite the rain and a lot of people were able to come! stay tuned for a separate blog for the details and pics!

2) i'm happy to say we were able to make parker an egg free birthday cake this year--yay! it actually tasted really good too!

3) i'm officially signed up to take my real estate exam june 16th. YIKES!

4) i'm also officially in full nesting mode--T minus 7.5 weeks. DOUBLE YIKES!

5) if this rainy weather would ever leave charlotte, i'm looking forward to hittin' up the pool this weekend.

6) and if i can get a break from studying and nesting, i've got some new, super cute sewing projects i'm anxious to get started on!

7) B and I have finished week 2 of P90X, granted we've been doing it for 3 weeks now, but due to the stomach bug, we had a little hiatus in between weeks.

8) potty training is still a work in progress, with very little progress :-(

9) i'm looking forward to date night this week to celebrate my birthday since B and I were so sick on my actualy birthday. 3 weeks later, i think we can handle some mexican food!

10) in preparation for parker's birthday party, brandon and i successfully completed our landscaping project, which included a french drain (sounds impressive right?) and re-sodding a chunk of our backyard. unfortunately it rained, so we didn't even use it for the party, but at least it's another big item i can cross off of my "before baby#2 comes" list.

parker speak

i thought it would be fun to share a few of parker's favorite phrases right now. there are plenty more as he's talking in sentences more and more these days, but here are the few i can actually think of right this second as i publish this post:

"i do it" (he is obsessed with this one and must try and do everything by himself first)

"Mom!" (it's no longer Mommy--he sounds so much older when he does this)

"bye....wuv you" (always makes my heart melt!)


"yah!" (he says this even when he means "no")

"pack pack" (backpack)

"down" (he says this when he wants me to pick him up which is ALL THE TIME these days--he does correct himself and say up as he knows the difference)

"my turn"


"i sorry"


"whoa" (that's how he says "hello" and continues to jabber while pretending to have a conversation on the phone)

and our favorite, which started yesterday, is calling us by our first names :-)

blessed

i just celebrated my second mother's day and i am so beyond thankful to be a mom. being a mom has been the most rewarding yet challenging job i have had. i always knew i wanted to be a mom with lots of kids, but i really had no idea as to the emotional impact it would have on my life, not to mention how it would change my relationship with God. now i can truly understand God's love for me and the sacrifice He made for us.

as i celebrated mother's day this week, i was also reminded of how blessed i am to have my son Parker and to be expecting another one very soon, you see many of my friends right now are going through fertility challenges, medical issues with their children and the loss of a young child. so while there are moments (sometimes days!)where i'm challenged to the point of physical and emotional exhaustion thanks to my strong-willed and very bright child (and i know you fellow moms know exactly what i'm talking about!), i have been trying to be grateful for these moments and cherish them with all my heart. oh how i am learning to welcome these precious times and actually smile when it's the 3rd time my child has had an accident in one day! i think about how some of my friends would give anything to have these moments with their children again.

easter pics WAY late :-)

better late than never right!

this year we had some wonderful friends invite us the week before easter to an easter egg hunt. parker had a blast and somehow knew just what to do with finding eggs and putting them in his basket. we then had another egg hunt in our backyard on easter day. enjoy the pics!