Chop!

Will was fortunate enough to follow after his father in one regard - hair.  Little Amanda was born with some hair, but it promptly fell out and didn't really make a comeback for a couple years. 

Mr. Will was born with a pretty full head of dark hair - with a particularly think patch right on top.  And, while it thinned a little, most of it stayed. 

The original 'do.

The downside to this is that the hair on top has always been about twice as long as the rest of his hair.  This has become a particular problem in the last month or so, as it is always in his eyes!  So, I'm constantly pushing it to the side, which ended up looking like a bit of a comb-over - which is never a terribly desirable hairstyle.

I wanted to make sure we got some family portraits and a few decent 12-month shots of him before we cut his hair.  We did some family pictures on the 20th, so it has been documented.  On the 26th, Geoff and I decided that the time had come to get that boys hair out of his eyes.  We made an appointment at a local children's salon called "Lil' Whipper Snippers" and so it was done!

An idea of the hair-in-eye (and food) we've been dealing with.

And the comb-over.  My dad affectionately referred to it as the "Hitler" hairdo.

There were some tears, some giggles, and some total confusion, but in the end - he looks adorable.  At this length I'll have more styling options (style it up in the front, down in the front, fauxhawk, etc...).  Plus, we're getting some family pictures taken with the Parker clan when we are in Utah this weekend, so we'll get some family shots with the new 'do as well. 

First snips

"Mom, get me outta here!"

All done!

Feeling better.

Back at home afterward.

Categories:

End of Year Wrap Up!

Well, in case it wasn't apparent, I'm on the naughty list for bloggers this year.  I do take some solace in the fact that my blog feed in general has been pretty meager these past couple of months.  At least, it seems, I'm not alone.

I feel bad, though, as the last couple months around here have been pretty exciting!  Will turned one, we celebrated Thanksgiving, I went on a business trip, Geoff graduated from NDSU, we celebrated Christmas, we're taking a trip to visit Geoff's family in Utah next week.  All in all, a lot of happenings to document - none of which have been documented here!  So, here's a quick recap of the big ticket items.

November 4th, 2012:

Mr. Will turned one.  He got an ear infection on his birthday, so he wasn't the happiest of fellows (as evidenced by his rather despondent birthday photos).  However, he is anything but despondent.  At his 12 month checkup he was 30.5 inches and 24.5 lbs.  He took his first steps on his birthday and has loved the world opened up to him by walking.  He loves books and reading.  He is really starting to "talk."  He has a few words he's starting to use with a bit more purpose (dada, mama, and up being the most common words, but still not used regularly).  But, he is practicing his inflection and is asking about everything.  He started pointing a couple weeks ago and is constantly asking for and about all the things around him.  He repeats sounds really well and I figure it's just a matter of time before all that jabber starts to morph into words.  He loves food.  If I had to pick his favorites, I'd say grapes, chicken, turkey (lunch meat), beans, and broccoli.  But, he rarely turns down anything.  Although, he'll only drink milk and [sometimes] water.  No juice for this kid - which I don't really mind, except for I hate to give him quite so much milk!

November 22nd, 2012:

We celebrated Thanksgiving here in Fargo with some friends.  I cooked the turkey (yikes!), rolls, glazed carrots, a pumpkin roll, and a caramel pecan pumpkin pie.  It was delicious and fun to be with friends.

December  3-7, 2012:

I traveled to Albany, NY to conduct some follow-up training for a client along with another co-worker of mine.  It was the longest I've been away from Will and it was a week before Geoff's finals.  We all struggled a bit with this one, but we made it through.

December 14, 2012:

Geoff graduated from North Dakota State University with his Bachelor's degree.  I'm so proud of that man.  Now for the hard part, job hunting!

December 24-25, 2012:

We celebrated a wonderful Christmas, just the three of us, in Fargo.  We spoiled each other (as usual) and loved watching Will open presents and enjoy the day.  Mostly, we love any opportunity to be together as a family and celebrating the joy of Christmas together was really wonderful.

I did finally put [most of] my Christmas cards in the mail today (I'm still missing a few addresses).  So, after I give those a few days to start arriving, I'll post some our family pictures we had taken.

And, soon we'll be packing up for a much-anticipated trip out to Utah to visit with the Parkers.  It's been a long time since we were able to see them, so we're excited to get out there and get away for a bit.  

And in case I don't blog in time:

Happy New Year!  2013 is going to be a good one!

Categories:

All Grown Up!

Yesterday was Will's first birthday.  I'll blog more about the birthday festivities later, but for now, I wanted to let you know - he's started walking!  He took his first steps on his first birthday. 

There's no going back now...

Categories:

Will's First Halloween

Last year on Halloween I was confined to bed rest (2 days away from induction!).  I remember feeling the torture of all the ADORABLE Halloween-themed baby clothes and costumes and wishing my little guy felt like coming early.

I'm glad he didn't.  But, we did have to wait nearly a year for his first Halloween.  It was a blast.  I thought long and hard about our costumes and considered a variety of options (some which may be future costumes for coming years), but settled on Will and me as bees and Geoff as the beekeeper.  This came together great! Will was adorable, I loved an excuse to get into costume, and Geoff's no-fuss costume ensured he wouldn't put up a fight.  haha.

We had a great time at the ward carnival/trunk or treat and got some decent pictures (Will is at an age where it's pretty much impossible to get him to sit still for a photo - he is ALWAYS on the go)

Happy Halloween!  I can't believe my boy will be 1 in just 3 days.  Time really does fly!

Giggles with the queen bee and baby bumble bee.

Captured by the beekeeper

The church gym was an exciting place.

Thinking about walking while peeking from behind mom.

Pausing briefly before continuing around the gym.

The whole clan.  Happy Halloween!

Categories:

My October

What have I been up to, you ask?  Let me tell you. 

October 1: I turned 26.  It's kind of baffling.  I graduated college 5 years ago.  I met my husband 7.5 years ago. I graduated high school 8 years ago.  I got my driver's license 10 years ago.  I got my first kiss 11 years ago.  I met my BFF 20 years ago.  Life really does fly!

October 6-15: Packed, searched for apartments, found a new home for Romulus. 

October 15: Got Rom neutered.  Will got sick.  Double ear infection - antibiotics are needed.

October 18: Signed our new lease at our great new place.

October 19: Rented a U-haul and loaded up all our stuff and moved.  This is the day that we sent Rom to his new home.  This was a rough day. 

October 20: Continued to move.  I contracted Will's sickness. 

October 22: Put Rubio on a plane to go to Utah where he'll be staying with his aunt Steffanie for a little while.  This was a rough day.  Carpets cleaned at the old house.

October 23: Cleaned the house top to bottom, removed any final belongings.

October 24: One last trip to the house to put "giveaway" stuff on the curb for takeaway the next morning, throw away trash, and grab final belongings out of the garage.

October 25: Closing day.  Handed over the keys to the old house.

October 27: Costume finalization and pumpkin carving!

October 30: The realization that I can focus on my life again, and not just the perils of moving.  HAPPY DAY.

Categories:

Now You Know...

Embarrassing facts about me:

1) I spill/drop everything.  If something is important to your (or delicious) I would advise against asking me to hold, transport, carry, or taste it.  Odds are it is going to end up on the ground or carpet of my car.  My husband finds this to be one of my lesser desirable qualities. 

2) I can't spell the word receive.  I mean, I can, but not without repeating the rule "i before e except after c."  And at least 50% of the time I type it wrong on first try and have to fix it.  I don't know why I can't get it through my head. 

3) Commercials make me cry.  If a commercial comes on for Disneyland or Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, I'm going to get teary-eyed.  I try to fight it...but it's no use. 

4) I'm afraid of trampolines.  I used to bounce on them plenty as a kid...but these days, I can't get on one.  I am not looking forward to the day when Will is old enough to want to jump on them.

5) I had to learn about Gangnam Style from my mom.  Yes, that's right, my mom is cooler than me.

Categories:

15 Things I Love

Life has been 15 ways past overwhelming the last month or so.  So, in order to make sure I keep my head on straight, here are 15 things that I love (in no particular order).

You know, counting my blessings and whatnot to keep myself from going crazy.

1) My mini man
2) My not-so-mini man (that hub of mine)
3) Oakland A's baseball (thanks mom and dad for the reminder!)
4) Diet Coke
5) A job well done
6) Laughing so hard you cry
7) Pumpkin-flavored EVERYTHING
8) A good night's sleep
9) My family, however far away they may be
10) Education
11) New clothes
12) My fit bit
13) Good friends
14) Prayer
15) Witty repartee (the very reason I can rarely go a day without chatting with Mama G)

What do YOU love.  Enjoy it today!

Categories:

Catch Up

I know it's been a really long time since I blogged.  Life has been a little crazy around the Parker house.  But, things are good. 

Will and I at the "Playground of Dreams" in Benicia

Geoff is in the middle of his final semester at NDSU.  He's excited to get his Bachelor's and be done with his degree.  He's worked so hard, and I'm so excited for him! 

In the interest of preparing financially for repaying school loans and whatever his salary may be post-graduation, we sold our house and are downsizing for a bit until we know a little more about our financial situation moving forward.  So, we're in the process of moving to an apartment.  Always a stressful process.

We've loved this place!

Work is going well for me.  I'm enjoying my new position and the new experience that it has been providing to me.  I have a great group that I supervise and as I'm getting a little more settled into the position, I am feeling great about things.  

Cousins playing with cars on Grandma's couch

Geoff, while doing school and still working on weekends, has also taken up an internship with a local computer company.  He's working to help them with marketing...and whatever else they need him to do.   

Hanging out with Great Grandparents

 Will and I took a week long trip out to California a week ago.  It was a wonderful trip.  We saw my dad's parents and my mom's dad.  We went to an A's game and spent an afternoon in Benicia.  We visited with AD and Danny.  I went out to a movie with my dad.  It was just what I need to to recharge my batteries and get me feeling ready to come back and get to work.  

The Birthday Gal and Guy (2 days apart).  Can you guess who's older?

Fargo took a dip in temperatures last week and we saw our first bit of snow fall.  Luckily, we're back up in the 50s today.  I'm hopeful we won't get too cold, too soon.  I'd love to take the little man trick-or-treating!

So, in general we are BUSY, but great.  TIRED, but happy. 

I'm hopeful to be a bit of a better blogger moving forward - I have so many silly things I'd love to share. 

Categories:

Growing!

Will had his 9 month checkup yesterday.  Doc gave him a clean bill of health and gave us the great news that he's growing - and fast.  If you recall, at his 6 month checkup he was 15 lbs 1 ounce and 25 and a quarter inches.  That put him in the 5-10% for weight and the 5th percentile for height. 

Yesterday, he weighed in at 19 lbs 9 ounces (25-50%) and 28 inches (25-50%).  So, he's been busy, busy busy.  He's gained over 4 pounds and nearly 3 inches in 3 months.

Anyway, I don't have time for any more of an update now, so I'll leave you with the following photos of Geoff and Will at about 9 months old. 

Categories:

Noteworthy

Heeellloo!

Hope you haven't missed me too much. 

I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I last blogged. 

Items of note:

1) Will now has 6 teeth!  They came in one week after another for 6 weeks straight.  So, he's got 4 on top and 2 on the bottom.  He loves to bite with them.

2) His pincer grasp is quite impressive these days and he's crazy about feeding himself. 

3) Will started crawling officially on August 4th (his 9 month b-day).  He's still kind jerky and slow, but it's ADORABLE and he loves being more mobile.

3) I got a promotion to the Support Department Floor Supervisor.  I started about 2 weeks ago and it's been great.  Hard, but great. 

4) Geoff is about to start his FINAL semester of his Bachelor's degree.  I'm so immensely proud of him and excited for him. 

5) In 8 days, we'll be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary!

So, that's a VERY short overview of some of the happenings around here, but I thought I'd at least get something down on "paper."

Categories:

Blink!

Well, Will is growing up so fast these days, I can't seem to blog fast enough to document all his awesomeness.  Every time I blink he's doing something new (and awesome). 

Since our last 'chat', Will got his first tooth and fed himself some cereal puffs. 

First Tooth: 6/7/2012 - 7 months 3 days old. 

First Fed Himself: 6/14/2012 - 7 months 10 days old

Teething wasn't a big deal for us.  In fact, we didn't even realize he had a tooth coming in until the day before it erupted.  He was a little extra fussy that day, so I jokingly said, "he must be teething."  But, sure enough, when I checked - there was a tooth coming in.

He has not been very cooperative in getting photos of his crooked little bottom-left tooth.  Every time I try he either squirms away or sticks his tongue out.  So, this blurry little number is all you get. And, yes, that little white thing is a tooth, not food - although the state of his face might mislead you.  haha.

I got a video of him eating (and the extreme concentration involved), but I recorded it with my phone, so it's sideways, so I won't post it here.  If you have a mobile device, however (so you can turn it the right direction) and wish to see it, I'm happy to share.   So, instead, here's a picture of his bead head this morning. 

Happy Friday.

Categories:

Seven

Monday was lil' Will's 7 month birthday.  I, quite literally, can't believe I have a 7 month old child.  Time just slips away so quickly.  I've been loving every minute of it. 

He's got the best little personality.  He loves life, he's engaged and a bit stubborn.  He's smart and happy and quite content to entertain himself for bursts of time. 

He's getting to be a better and better sleeper.  I'm still up about once a night with him, but never for too long. 

He still hasn't gotten any teeth, but we've introduced lots of new foods to him and he [pretty much] likes everything.  Since we last talked, he's added avocado, beef, chicken, ham, pineapple, yogurt, butternut squash, broccoli, green beans, carrots, turkey (not a fan), and little puffs (banana and mango flavored) to his menu.  He can hold his own bottle and likes to grab the spoon while he eats sometimes, but he's not a self-feeder yet. 

He's a good little sitter.  He can't get himself into (or out of) the sitting position, but once he's there, he's happy.  He's also getting to be quite a mover.  He can't crawl (on his belly) yet, but he scoots around on his back (pushes with his legs and travels around on the back of his head) and rolls and pivots on his belly.  Last night he was all over his room - from one end to the other. 

He likes to chat.  This morning when I woke up, I could hear him babbling to himself.  So, I went into his room and he had turned on his mobile and was talking to it and grinning like a mad man.  It was fantastic.

Watch the following video if you are looking for a reason to smile today. 



He's got the babas and the mamas and sometimes even a dada down pretty well.  My favorite is when he will sometimes just shout mom!  He doesn't know what he's saying, but it makes me so happy.

We've got a business trip at the end of the month - and both Will and I are very excited to see Grandma G when she comes to nanny him for a few days. 

Hard to believe he'll be almost 8 months by then.  Hopefully, for Grandma's sake, he's not really crawling by then, or she'll have her work cut out for her. 


We love you, Will.

Categories:

Zoo!

Yesterday was an exciting day.  Will's first trip to the zoo!  We took a short drive down to a nearby town with some friends and their 6 month old baby boy and had a blast meeting the bison, and tigers, and bears.  Oh, my! 

 

 

Will loved every minute of it.  It was SO nice to have the day off at the same time as Geoff and get to have a "family" day.  Hopefully we can find a way to do that more often.  Our work schedules currently make it rough, but it was great. 

Categories:

Ode to Frank Sinatra

I've often wondered what it was going to take for me to feel like an 'adult.' 

I've gotten married, graduated college, had a 'real' job, birthed a child, achieved silver status with the Delta SkyMiles program - but none of it made me feel like a grown up. 

And then, yesterday, it happened. 

I was driving home from work listening to the local pop station as I usually do.  There are a few songs out right now I really like (I can't get enough of this one or this one).  But, for the most part, it's pretty crappy music.  So, the radio DJ informs me that he's going to play the new song by Usher, Scream.  Immediately, I'm excited.  My mind imagines a fun song reminiscent of Usher's reign over the year 2004-2005 where every song he released was AWESOME. 

Then I heard it.  Honestly, the sound is alright.  But, the lyrics.  I actually had to change the station.  I thought what is the world coming to? And then I realized - the song isn't any more offensive then "Yeah," I'm just generally offended by pop music (don't even get me started on "Wild Ones"). 

And so it happened, I'm an adult. 

So, now, I must express my sincere appreciation for my Michael Buble Pandora station and the music of Frank Sinatra and his contemporaries. 

Let's do a compare and contrast, shall we? 

Some lyrics from Usher's previously mentioned single (Note: Subtlety is not his strong suit.  Note to men out there: Subtlety is sexy): "I see you over there, so hypnotic. Thinking 'bout what I do to that body.  I get you like ooh baby baby.  Got no drink in my hand, but I'm wasted getting drunk of the thought of you naked. I get you like ooh baby baby...Got one life, just live it, just live it.  Now relax and get on your back."

Some lyrics from the Sinatra song "Make Someone Happy" that came on while I was cleaning last night: "Fame, if you win it, comes and goes in a minute. Where's the real stuff in life to cling to? Love is the answer, someone to love is the answer. Once you've found her, build your world around her. Make someone happy. Make just one someone happy and you will be happy too."

So, thank you, Mr. Sinatra, for reminding men (and women) everywhere that there's nothing wrong with a little tenderness.  That there is more to love then lust (however marketable).  And that, eventually, we all become adults and realize that love, not lust, is what we really wanted anyway.

Categories:

Mondays.

Mondays really are the hardest day of the week. 

Not just because:

1) They signify the end of the weekend.
2) Between me starting the work day at 7:30am and Geoff ending his work day at 9:30pm, it means I've got five straight days where I see him for about 3 hours a day. 
3) I usually wake up to find that I really DO wish I'd finished that load of dishes the night before.
4) I go from having driven the 2011 Kia Optima all weekend to driving the 1994 VW Passat. 

But mostly because after spending two straight days at home with my boy - leaving to go to work is the worst.  I cherish my weekends so much these days.  Will and I have such a great schedule figured out.  Between grocery shopping, visiting dad at work, and cleaning together on Saturday and church and cooking on Sunday (not to mention a lot of playing, napping and, sometimes, skyping with grandma) our weekends are wonderful. 

I'm glad he gets to spend his days with his dad...but every Monday breaks my heart just a little. 

And I even like my job.  So, I guess it could be even worse!

Categories:

Where's Your Money?

So, I was thinking about baby names the other day.  And, no, I'm not expecting more children anytime soon. 

I happened like this. 

I spend a lot of time at Walmart.  There is a Super (Dooper) Walmart about a mile from my house and it's a go-to most days of the week to grab what I've forgotten here or there. 

And, thus, my mind began to wander (as it so often does) and I thought what if we had to name our children after the places we spend the most discretionary money? 

With the amount of time I spend at Walmart and Burlington, we'd have Wally and Burl. 

Geoff's visits to McDonald's and DQ would certainly end us up with a Ronald and Queenie. 

But then comes the question - how do you name your child after Tutti Fruiti (self-.serve frozen yogurt bar)?

Categories:

Arachnophobia

So, I'm afraid of spiders. To anyone who knows me, this is not a surprising statement.
It all stems from a night of terrible parenting (thanks mom), when, at the tender age of 5, I was allowed to watch Arachnophobia.  It's a terrible movie by anyone's standards, but the premise of deadly spiders running rampant and attacking [and killing] people was pretty upsetting. 

Yet, I had managed to come to terms with the 8 legged creatures and had no trouble killing them when they had the unfortunate happenstance to saunter into my presence. 

And then, it happened.  I've never really blogged about this event before.  Mostly because it occurred pre-blog and I really try to forget it ever happened.  But, since that fateful day, the sight of a spider (or pretty much any creeping crawling thing) leaves me feeling dry-mouthed and covered in pins and needles for hours. 

I was sitting at my desk in the old BYUB building in Utah.  I was working on data entry, I'm sure, when I felt a slight movement on my head (I will have you know, just writing this story is making me feel light-headed).  I instinctively reached up and ran my fingers through my hair to clear out whatever was on my head.  Into the trash can [conveniently] located to my right fell the largest spider I have ever seen with my own two eyes. 

I exaggerate not, it was the size of my palm.  The only witness I have to event was a fellow student employee who took my trash can, killed the spider and then proceeded to examine him to see if he was poisonous. 

I think I was in shock.  I didn't scream.  I didn't cry.  I just was frozen.  Said student employee commented on how well I handled the situation.  I tried to sit down at my desk and finish the work day - but, honestly, I couldn't.  I mean - WHERE DID THE SPIDER COME FROM?  How did it get on my head?  Did that mean it had crawled up my body?  Or my chair?  Or had it come dangling down from above and plopped there?  None of the prospects made sitting at that desk remotely possible for the rest of the day.  So, I found non-desk-related work to keep my busy...although I've never spent so much time looking over my shoulder or running my hands through my hair. 

Now, whenever I see a spider, I instinctively run my hands through my hair - an action I have taken about 20 times while writing this tale - and then (after killing the little monster) abandon whatever task I was doing for something seemingly spider free. 

So, the moral of the story?  Spiders suck. 

Carry on.

Categories:

Normal

6 months ago I never thought my life would be normal again.  I never thought I manage to cook a meal, clean the dishes, renovate a bathroom (ha!), plant a garden, or reorganize a basement - let alone complete an 8 hour work day, every day.  6 months ago I just thought I'd be lucky to sleep a full night or manage to eat breakfast ever again. 

And now, 6 months later, life IS normal.  A bit of an ammended version of normal - but a great kind of normal.  Will is now old enough to more-or-less entertain himself for 30-60 minutes.  This means he can come outside in his exer-saucer or his pack and play and join me in the sunshine while I pull weeds or tend to my garden.  He can join me in the kitchen and giggle at me while I try to remember where I now keep the pasta since I reorganized in there.  Or watching me intently as I make a mess pureeing his favorites. 

He now goes to sleep without much of a fuss around 7:45pm each night, leaving me ample room to clean up a bit or tend to whatever tasks I neglected the day before (or to neglect whatever tasks I want to put off until tomorrow). 

Life is surprisingly - normal.  So normal, in fact, that sometimes I can't even remember what life was like before Will joined us.

I'm so grateful to be his mama. 

In other news: we planted a garden in our garden area of our yard.   Tomatoes, peppers, peas, green beans, radishes, carrots, and summer squash are all (hopefully) on their way to us. 

Will had his 6 month check up.  6 months!  He weighed in a 15.1 pounds and 25.25 inches.  He's a little dude, but healthy and happy.  I keep telling him he can stay little as long as he wants!  :)  When Geoff was 6 months old, he weighed in a 14.4 pounds and 25.25 inches.  Very similar men in my life!

I miss blogging.  I used to be kind of good at this.  I'm going to try to figure out how to get back into the blogging swing of things.  Maybe go back to public...

Categories:

Parker Family Recap

So, as usual, it's been awhile since I've posted.  Between work, baby care, cooking, cleaning, meal planning and shopping, bill pay, general errand running, laundry, being bitten by the spring cleaning/organization bug, and general lack of desire to look at a computer screen outside of the office, it's been hard.  I won't lie. 

I love blogging.  I was reviewing some posts from awhile back and realizing that my blog used to be FUN and random and it's so full of memories!  I'm sad that it's been a bit neglected and that some of the newer memories we've been making with our little man-face won't be documented here (like, for example, the trip we took to Utah in April for a family party and Will's baby blessing - I'll try to blog about that all some time!).  Alas, I'm not here to make any grand promises of change - because blogging is just SO far down on my priority list.  But, when I do have a minute, I'll do my best to keep from getting too far behind. 

So, here's a little recap on the fam (we'll end with Will in a ploy to try to get you to read through to the end):

Geoff: Geoff is taking finals this week.  This means he is just TWO semesters away from graduation.  He's already registered for all of his classes through to the end and it's starting to feel pretty real - although still daunting.  He's a rock star in my eyes.  Juggling full time school, full time work, and full time day-care for the Willie Bean is some serious work, and he navigates it like a champ.  Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that it's all worth it for Will to be at home with his pop and not in day care full time (both from a nurturing and financial standpoint). 

He is still working as a pharmacy tech during the nights and weekends and Will and I love to visit him for lunch breaks on Saturday and Sunday. 

Amanda: I'm doing well.  Will is slowly, but surely, starting to sleep better during the night, so that's helping me to feel a little more like a normal person.  I'm pretty much always exhausted, but it's operating procedure at this point, so I function pretty much as normally as possible.  In fact, recently I've begun to feel more and more normal - regaining my ability to clean and cook with any sort of consistency.  Haha. 

Work has been swamped and it's a little overwhelming, to be honest.  Pre-baby, when things got like this, I'd just stay until 7 or 8 at night and tie up my loose ends.  Now, since I both need to and want to spend that time with Will, my work hours are filled to the brim and beyond.  I'll probably need to start doing more work after he goes to bed to make sure I complete everything, but it's all still a learning process and I'm learning how to juggle as best I can (ensuring that Will comes first always). 

Geoff and I were making a list of all the improvements we've made to our house the other day and feeling pretty proud of ourselves.  In 18 months, we've put in a new kitchen sink and light fixture, put in a new (and AWESOME) ceiling fan/light in the dining room, added a deck and french doors to the back of the house, fenced in the yard, re-did the upstairs bathroom, and replaced the homemade swingset with a firepit in the backyard.  And I was pregnant for 50% of that time!  :)

Will: When we last left off, Will was just approaching the 5 month mark.  Well, this week he'll be 6 months old.  It's unbelievable how fast time passes.  He gets smarter and stronger by the day and it's so much fun to watch him grow. 

Foods he has now had: Rice Cereal, Oatmeal, Bananas, Apples, Sweet Potatoes, Pears, and Peas.
Coming this week: Potatoes and Carrots. 

He loved the pears, but pretty much eats anything with a happy heart.  Sometimes he'll make a little face at first when the flavor or texture isn't what he expected, but then he'll take more...and more.  He eats a LOT.  He's probably up to 5-8 tablespoons of food per meal in addition to his bottle.  I'm certainly anxious to find out his weight as his 6 month appointment in a couple weeks.  I'm still making all the baby food and I've found that I rather enjoy it.

He's getting to be a better mover (rolling and scooting around on his back) and I'm betting he's within a few weeks of sitting.  He loves music and books and his sippy cup and his face lights up when Geoff or I enter a room. 

So, all in all, the Parker fam is doing good.  Tired, perhaps.  Busy, indeed.  But good.  Happy.  And excited for the future. 

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4 Months and Beyond

So, I know it's been a long time since I've blogged.  I apologise for that.  I have a lot of things I could blog about.  Including, but not limited to: airport changing tables, baby sunglasses, injured Pelicans, and bathroom remodelling. 

However, I wanted to do a quick blog post now about Will at nearly 5 months so I can document some of his skillz (with a z) and growth.  I've got all of it written down elsewhere, but I'd like it here, as well.

At his last weigh in (at 4 months 1 week, or 19 weeks, however you want to count it) he was 12 pounds 15 ounces and 24 inches long.  He's certainly not a big fellow.  He falls into the 5th-10th percentile for both (which means he's the right weight for his height).  Looking at Geoff's baby book, he was a pretty little baby at this age as well. At 6 months, Geoff was 13 pounds and 25.5 inches.  So, if that's any indication, it appears that Will may be built more like Geoff (I was 16 pounds at 4 months).  But, we'll see!

He rolled from back to front for the first time just last week on 3/21/12.  He can now roll all directions, which is kind of fun.  He likes to sleep on his side - rarely will I come in and find him sleeping on his back anymore. 

His favorite toy currently is (what we call) his bumblebee.  It was gift from his great-grandma (Geoff's grandma) and he loves to talk to that thing and to chew on it and squeeze it.  He also really likes his Sophie giraffe (which I like to call Geoffrey the Giraffe, for obvious reasons) and his Baby Einstein saxophone. 

If he's not hungry, sleepy, or wet - he's happy.  He loves to smile and giggle and play and is so curious about the world.  Church is already growing difficult for me because he doesn't like to sit still or just play on my lap for an hour (let alone three).  About 15 minutes in, he's bored and he wants to go do something else.  Saturday was the Relief Society birthday party at church and we spent most of the day reading the bulletin board (he couldn't stop looking at all the colorful paper/words) since sitting in the chapel wasn't working for him. 

He loves to read.  If he's getting sleeping or cranky, but I'm not quite ready to put him down, I can just pull out a book and he's happy until the story ends.  I'll read and he'll just stare at the pictures (and sometimes gnaw on the end of the book). 

We started him on solids (slowly).  So far he's had rice cereal and bananas.  He enjoyed both.  Tonight we are going to introduce peaches.  Next week is going to be sweet potatoes and apples(auce).  So far I've been making his food on the spot (mashing a banana with some breast milk is not intensive work), but I'm going to start making some baby food each week to freeze.  I'll make the potatoes and applesauce this weekend so it's ready ahead of time for him.  I'm excited for spring and summer to come, because I'll buy whatever fruits and veggies are in season and cook/freeze them so he'll have a good variety through the fall and winter. 

Lastly, Will went on his first business trip!  Kind of.  I had a work trip last week and Will came along.  Grandma G met us in Tampa, FL and acted as nanny for the week while I was at work.  He traveled like a champ and got to go to the beach for the first time.  He couldn't have been cuter.

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