I guess it's still Halloween

We had Eric's family over for Thanksgiving dinner. I was "bragging" on my child, impressed that he knew what Thanksgiving was. Here was the conversation..

Me: Parker, tell Nana what today is.

Parker: It's Tanks (thanks) Day!

Me: Tell Nana what you're thankful for.

Parker: I'm tankful for Hawoween! (Halloween)

I was putting him to bed the other night. Here's the conversation:

Me: Do you want to pray or do you want me to pray?

Parker: I want to pway.

Me: Okay. First let's thank God for everything he made.

Parker: Deaw (dear) God, Tank you for punkins, for ghosts, for costumes, for twick or tweeting, for candles in punkins. Amen. This is my hawoween pwayer!

And, today we went to get a Christmas tree. We picked a tree from a local farmer's market. At the checkout... there were pumpkins. The lady gave him a pumpkin. All he talked about on the way home was his pumpkin.

Dear God, Can we please move past Halloween?!

Lately

Today we lost a shoe out the window. Well, Parker threw his shoe out the window while we were driving to work. Parker also went to school barefoot. He later threw up all over that bare foot.

Today Abigail screamed for a ball the entire time we were in Target. The entire time. Target torments me at Christmastime with the balls everywhere. It must be their secret ploy to get us parents to buy a ridiculous amount of balls for our children.

Today Parker sang a song to me about Christmas. A song I've never heard before. And, it made me cry.

Today Abigail looked at me and said, "Shooooo." That's, "I love you" in her little language. And, it made me cry.

How can I be so extremely frustrated with my children and extremely in love with them at the same time?

Now I'm sitting back, drinking a glass of wine, writing on my blog. Eric's across the street at small group, which usually happens at our house. They're talking about parenting. Haha! It makes me laugh. I've missed 4 days of work in the last week because my kids have been sick. It makes me realize that I need to miss a day of work when they are well.

What? I have a blog?

It's been awhile. A long while. Let's just say that I went back to work, and I've spent the last couple months trying to juggle the work/home/mom thing. I think I'm finally getting back into a groove now. I guess you could call it a "groove." Not sure that's the right term.

It's definitely hard to wake up early and get to work everyday. It's hard to get dressed up everyday. I don't have to dress that well, but my workout clothes don't cut it. It's hard to ride in rush hour with my kids, although Parker has somehow made me excited, too, about the river and the trains that we pass everyday. I don't get to the gym everyday anymore, but when I am there I seem to be able to "disappear" into the treadmill.

One of my favorite things about working is that I get to see hundreds of preschoolers dancing and singing to God every week. But, by far, my favorite thing is that my job is teaching me how to be a better parent to my children. I love that! And, I've been inspired. I love being inspired.

For the kid update...

Parker can still see! I'm thankful for that everyday! He is almost completely potty trained- thanks to Buzz Lightyear bribes and lots of oreos. He loves daycare and playing games on my new iphone.

Abigail is walking. Running! She is an emotional wonderful little girl. Her personality is really starting to show. She says, "Hi!" to everyone she sees. She really loves reading books now.

I really am going to try to start blogging again.

Beach Beach BEACH!

We spent last week in Hilton Head. We LOVE that place.

Abigail did not like the life vest.


Abigail loved the beach.


Parker loved flying his kite and catching crabs.

Abigail scoots everywhere. These are the tracks she made in the sand as she scooted towards the water.

Out and About

We had a chance to ride the train at Atlantic Station on Saturday. Check out these pics from my dad's phone...

Parker Conducting

Parker loves to pretend to be a music conductor. Check out this video.

Recent Pictures

Parker is obsessed with my dad's iphone. I think my dad's pretty obsessed too. What's up with men and their phones?

My new favorite thing with my kids is that Parker is really into the planets. The best part of it is that instead of calling it "Uranus" he calls it "My anus." Haha! He has no idea. Next time you see him ask him to name the planets for you.

P is also into the whole potty training thing. Whenever we're in public (or at home) if someone uses the bathroom he likes to announce it to everyone. The biggest problem with this is that he assumes that everyone has pooped when they come out of the bathroom. For instance, I came out of the bathroom in Moe's by Eric's office the other day (It was full of business people.) and Parker started screaming, "Mommy did it! Mommy made a BIG poop." Nice. I told him that I just peed. He started screaming again, "Mommy did it! Mommy peepeed in the potty. Mommy has potty power!" Like I've said before... I've lost all cool points. Gone.

Happy Birthday, Little P!

Today is Parker's third birthday. I sit here and think, "How in the world do I have a 3 year old?" But, then I think back to the night he was born and that seems like decades ago. I haven't given a Parker update in a long time. So, here are his 3 year old favorites:

• He still sleeps a good 3-4 hours in the afternoon.
• He loves TV and videos. I love them too, because they work as bribes.
• Chicken nuggets, chicken nuggets, chicken nuggets
• His favorite songs are anything by Todd Fields.
• He can name and identify all of the planets, lower and uppercase letters, and about 20 musical instruments.
• He's learning to use the potty. He went twice today!!! Yay!!!
• He has to get out of the house everyday. He starts asking to get in the car if we haven't gone anywhere by 11am.
• He's still afraid of new shoes, unless they're crocs. Then he becomes obsessed.
• He likes to pick out his own shirts, but still can't put them on himself.
• He's obsessed with the villains in TV shows and videos. There's a song that says, "Hell could come against us". He now points and screams, "It's Hell!" to be funny. Not so funny in public.
• He also likes to act like he needs help when we are in parking decks. He starts screaming, "Hello? Is anybody there? Help! I need help!" You should see all the soccer moms run.
• He doesn't say, "I love you" quite as much, but when he does say it, I know he really means it.

We love our little boy!

More Party Pictures

Parker's Birthday Party

Parker had his 3 year old birthday party on Saturday. We had a blast! Here are some of my favorite pictures...

Airport Fun

Yesterday we went to the Dekalb Peachtree Airport. They have picnic tables and a playground right on the runway. It was great!! Parker especially loved watching the airplanes and all of the helicopters fly by. I guess several local news stations launch their helicopters from there as well. It was a lot of fun. We will definitely be going back. Here are some pics...

Backyard Fun

Ode to the baby pool. I love the baby pool. Instant fun in the backyard. I think I'll have one forever. (Unless we can someday get a real pool.) I have no problem putting on a swimsuit and getting a tan in a baby pool. We have 3 different baby pools. We didn't buy them all. But, we have them. It's amazing what joy 6 inches of water can bring.

Abigail's Party

We had all of our Atlanta family over yesterday to celebrate Abigail's birthday.

This is Abigail's new birthday outfit.



The cake:


This is Abigail and her cousin Tabitha playing with a new toy.

Abigail played with the cake more than she ate the cake.

Happy Birthday, Abigail!

Happy Birthday, little girl! Today is Abigail's birthday. I can't even believe how much light one little girl has brought into my life. I love the way she crinkles her nose when she smiles, the way she smiles every time I smile at her, the way she searches for my necklace whether I'm wearing one or not, the way her eyes light up when she looks in the mirror, the way she watches the dogs and her brother with a sense of wonder, the way she tries to sing along with music in the car, the way she talks to me like I fully understand every word she's saying, and the way she tucks her head under my chin when I rock her to sleep. I can't imagine my life without her. I love you, Abigail! Happy Birthday!

Abigail the day she was born:

Three Months:

Six Months:

Nine Months:

Twelve Months:

The Perfect Family Picture

Didn't happen today...