"see you later alligator"

another cute thing this little munchkin has started saying--i love it!!!

recovery

well, we are in day 4 post-op and hanging in there. it is really hard on a nesting mama to not be able to be on her feet! i feel like i am constantly asking for EVERYTHING and bless everyone's heart who have had to deal with me! each day gets a little bit better, but all i want is this stinkin' pin out of my foot! not only is the mere thought of a pin in your foot nauseating, but to constantly FEEL it there and be reminded of it is just awful. not to mention i totally hit it the other day which hurt like CRAZY!!!

on a lighter note, parker is becoming more and more toddler everyday, which means more emotions, more independence and more super-cute things that come out of his mouth! lately he'll say "hi buddy" when he sees me and brandon or he'll load up his large dump truck, put on a hat and say "bye! see you later!" and run off pushing his truck. oh and he has to pile ALL of his books in bed with him at nap and bed time! it's so funny to watch him in the baby monitor reading books to himself. i just hope i can recover quickly so i can spend some great time with parker before he has to share me when his brother arrives. i was SO looking forward to spending this summer at the pool with parker every day, but it looks like that's on hold for now :-(

wow, what a week!

it's been beyond a crazy week needless to say! the craziness began last Sunday when in all of my pregnancy clumsiness i took a bad step walking down the stairs to my garage and fell and broke my foot. the actual fall wasn't all that bad, but as soon as I did it, I heard and felt a "pop" in my foot. all night i tried to convince myself that the "pop" was just the stuff that I dropped and my foot was NOT BROKEN, i mean i'm 34 weeks pregnant i CAN'T have a broken foot!!!! but by the next morning my foot had swollen so bad that it clearly wasn't looking promising. luckily i was able to get in with orthocarolina monday and after seeing the x-rays, there was pretty much no question that my foot was broken. and by broken i mean, full break, bone badly displaced.

i was then referred to see an orthopedic foot surgeon to determine if i needed surgery or not. finding an available foot surgeon in the charlotte area is nearly impossible, and if i did need surgery it needed to happen ASAP before my foot started to heal. luckily i was able to get a specialist appointment on tuesday, but unluckily this doctor wasn't very accomodating to mine or my baby's needs and there was no way i was going to have him perform the surgery he was suggesting. i called orthocarolina and requested another appointment with a different doctor--by the grace of God i was able to get in with a wonderful doctor! after walking through a bunch of scenarios, pros and cons, life with two active boys in the future we determined that it would be best to move forward with the surgery this week.

so we woke up this morning at 4:30am, packed my bags and headed to the hospital. the trip totally reminded us of when we headed to the hospital to deliver parker, except we weren't going to be leaving with a sweet bundle of joy this time. not for another 6 weeks. thankfully the surgery went very well and baby boy did great. the hospital staff was phenomenal in taking care of me and the baby. now i'm just sitting on the couch recovering, typing this post with a bag of frozen peas wrapped around my left foot. i should be pretty mobile in my "boot" in a few days and the pin should be out in 4 weeks just in time for baby to arrive.

thanks to everyone for their prayers, support and encouragement during all of this! and what a blessing to have such great parents and in-laws in town to help out with taking care of me and chasing around parker!

oh and before i go, did i mention that we added a trip to the urgent care for parker in the midst of everything this week? yeah, parker fell and hit the wall corner and split his head open. sooooo, off to the urgent care we went tuesday night and three stitches later we headed back home.

now i'm just waiting to see what this next week brings :-)


Recovery:


Check out my pin!

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!

takin' care of business

***please note: this was NOT a set up!

potty training fun!

so last week we decided to start potty training parker by accident. i mean, we had been planning to start the process for a while, but i guess i was being my perfectionistic self and procrastinating for fear that i would do it wrong. but when i decided to let parker run around the house naked for an hour the other day just to "see what would happen", he quickly learned all about his bodily functions! so the next day when he came up to me and said "pee pee" with his pants down, i just knew i had to jump on this window of opportunity. parker then successfully went "pee pee on the potty". brandon and i made such a production about it and was thrilled to experience the pure yumminess of an M&M for the first time, that parker decided to go "pee pee on the potty" another 20 plus times in the next 30 minutes so he could see our pure joy and get his treat.

we are still in the midst of the training, but doing pretty well. i mean, parker does great just as long as he doesn't need to wear any pants :-) so this week i've been working with him on wearing his big boy undies and also using the potty in the car. yesterday was a blast when we spent 15 minutes grocery shopping at harris teeter and then another 30 minutes in the parking lot going "pee pee on the potty" 6 times. what else was i supposed to do? every time i tried to put him in his car seat to go home, he would yell "pee pee!!!!" and sure enough he would go on the potty. that's what i wanted right??? still i'm amazed that he's gotten this far and he's not even 2. my little boy is growing up way too fast.

belly shot

here's a shot of my belly at 25 weeks and my next little boy!

Super Glue and Other Fun Stuff

So this morning as we were just about to head out the door to go to the gym, Parker fell and sustained his first "real" injury. He busted his eyebrow open and honestly it wasn't that bad (i.e. not much blood and the tears went away after a few minutes), but after further inspection the cut did look a little deep so off to the pediatrician's office we went. Luckily Dr. Smoak was able to use the medical super glue and seal that bad boy shut. Sure beats paying the Urgent Care copay for stitches! Since this will be, I'm sure, the first of many injuries to come, here is a photo documenting the incident:

See, not so bad, but it was definitely in need of some doctoring by a professional.

And since I haven't posted in so long, here's a few updates on the rest of us. Brandon's been busy selling houses and there's actually signs that the market may be turning around woohoo!!!!!! I'm about 6 months along with boy #2 and pretty much feel great minus the sciatica back pain I've had for the last few months. Some days I'm as good as new, others I can barely walk. I tend to do better once Brandon has given me a little massage :-) I've been busy "nesting" trying to get the boys' rooms organized. Parker is going to move into a big boy room with big boy furniture and baby #2 (the name's a surprise!) is going to get the hand me downs. Poor little guy. I've also been busy studying up on photography so I can attempt to get some great newborn shots when "little guy" is here. I've been trying to practice some new techniques on Parker, but he is always on the go! I need a subject that doesn't move so I'm going to borrow some friends babies to practice on. Parker's been doing great--still as active as can be, obviously. He's still super sweet and loves to give out kisses, especially when he's in trouble :-) He's also started talking in 2-3 word sentences so we've been having a blast!

And here are some pics of Parker from March:

Here's his new haircut:

Showing off his moves:

Ready for the beach!
Calvin Klein Jeans Ad:

Catching Up!

i have no idea where to even begin. as you can see i've been quite the SLACKER! Now that i've joined the ranks of the unemployed and am lovin' every minute of being a stay at home mommy, i've really got no excuse!

first things first, i am happy to publicly post that i am pregnant again AND i've just hit the honeymoom period of every pregnancy "the second trimester". i still require naps here and there, but the morning sickness is GONE. this time around it was quite awful and knocked me off my feet for a good 7 weeks!

second, Thanksgiving was fabulous with a trip to blowing rock with the family. we cut down our 10 foot Christmas tree, strapped it on the Acadia and headed home before we left the mountains. Christmas was a blast as well, with my parents coming into town and Parker enjoying his actual presents this year, more than the paper and boxes. all in all, the holidays were great and we are blessed!

on the horizon for 2009, i am busy nesting like a crazy woman in preparation for number 2--due july. my house WILL BE super organized by then! i've also started studying photography more and have been learning some new stuff on my camera, so stay tuned for some photog posts. i need to get back into the sewing groove as well as i've got some super-cute items i want to make.

update on the little guy, parker's doing great. he has literally EXPLODED with words. he learns multiple new words every day and speaks in sentences, although i usually have no idea what he is saying. he enjoys going to gymboree every week where he can run around, tumble, climd and slide. i am counting down the days until spring will be here! although i am thankful for the dusting of snow we got today--it is a rarity here in charlotte!

hopefully i will do better posting more regularly this year--it's one of my goals, so we'll see how well i do. take care.

18 Months

my little boy turned 18 months this week. as i visited a friend in the hospital after having her baby girl tuesday, it seemed like just yesterday i was there meeting parker for the first time. the memories of the day are some of my most cherished treasures. parker was so quiet and still those first few days in the hospital. little did i know that it wouldn't be before long when he would use his sweet little face to manipulate getting something that he wanted.

today parker is all boy. he LOVES exploring, trying new things, problem solving, climbing, jumping, and his mommy :-) up until now, parker's been pretty split between favoring both me and brandon, but lately, he tends to want me ALL THE TIME.

here are some things parker can do now:

~wipe his nose/face
~flush the toilet, over and over again!
~put toilet paper and other select items in the toilet
~Jump in place and spin in cirlces
~kick a ball
~ say mommy, daddy, juice, dog, kitty, no, shoes, potty, cheese, milk, whoa, ball, bye-bye, hi, and his FAVORITE mine
~squeals when you take something away from him that he wants
~puts his hand on his bottom when he needs his diaper changed
~follows directions--sits in chair to get shoes on, lays on floor to get diaper changed, puts things away when asked
~runs away when he has something he's not allowed to have
~ and my absolute favorite--puckers up and gives the best kisses and hugs. he truly has a sensitive loving heart and i just pray he stays that way

thank you God for giving me the greatest blessing in the world!

weekend recap thus far

this weekend has been fabulous! first, i didn't have to work thursday or friday (i'm not normally supposed to anyway but it's been a bit crazy at work lately) so i was able to begin some new projects.

project #1 = painting the master bedroom chocolate, status = one wall down :-(

project #2 = learning to sew, status = 2 completed projects!

project #3 = date night with hubby, status = harpers, shopping at south park, ice cream and free babysitters TOTAL SUCCESS!!!!

i'm so excited about this sewing stuff. my parents have been in town and my mom has taught me some basics. i was able to accomplish a pair of pajama pants and a new blankie for parker. my next project is this super cute boutique-ish bib and then I should be able to master what i've been dying to make--this uber cute boutique outfit. now i just need a little girl to make it for!

updates on the little man--parker's been doing great. he's become quite a little helper as he likes to imitate a lot. he'll put things away on his little shelf. he'll wipe his face, nose as well as the table, floor, etc. he talks in many complete sentences i just wish i could translate. no clue what he is saying, but he really is saying something! and this boy has a lot to say! he's been great at following directions too like go get your shoes on, or go wash your hands. i recently bought parker his very own potty. i realize we're still a little ways off from beginning any official potty training, but i wanted to get him something so he could be familiar with it, plus he LOVES the elmo potty training video and i think he's really started to make the connection. the other day i asked him if he needed to "make stinkys" and he went and sat on his potty (pants and diapers on of course) and then took some tp and pretended to wipe himself. not too shabby since i certainly haven't taught him that!

that's all for now, i'm going to cuddle up, read a good book, and go to bed!

happy halloween!

happy halloween! this is parker's 2nd halloween and again we celebrated by going to the neighborhood halloween parade. this year there were A LOT more kids. at first parker was a little overwhelmed and just stood there and stared at all the excitement, then he was on the move exploring everything. he even went to the apple cider table and attempted to help himself to a cup, which of course ended up all over his costume. anyway, enjoy some pics of this little monkey!



halloween "day" outfit--check out the Vans!

little monkey!


heading to the parade!

checking out my goody bag with lawson

up to some monkey business

me and neighbor cammy

mommy's sweet little monkey!