Parker's birthday was awesome! I took the day off so we could play all day! So we took it pretty easy, but he definitely had my attention all day! We got him a car seat so he can turn around (which he absolutely loved riding in it the next day. He kicked his feet and smiled all the way to grandma's house), ball popper and clothes. Parker has 6 teeth (4 on top and 2 on bottom), his main words are mom, dad and dog. He says dog when he sees a dog, a picture of a dog, or any other animal including our rabbits and fish. He also started walking just days before his birthday. That night we had everyone over for brownie sundae's while Parker enjoyed his over sized cupcake cake! It was so fun and he definitely enjoyed the attention. Parker brings us so much happiness! He's always smiling, giving huge wet kisses, and loves playing with Mya. He follows her around everywhere...most of the time she likes it. He watches out for her - if she's crying, he cries or gets very concerned. They really love each other and they get along really well. My favorite is car rides when they laugh at each other in the back or Parker starts singing/humming because Mya is singing.
At his 12 month appointment, he weighed 23.5 pounds and was 95th percentile on his height. He's very curious and into everything, but I love it. It's so much fun being his mom!
Justin's birthday was on a Saturday this year so he only had to work until 1. So what did we do to celebrate? After he got home from work he opened his presents (clothes, air tools for work, bow stabilizer). We had Jimmy John's for lunch. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting...of course. This year Justin requested mint ice cream without the chocolate chips so we made homemade mint ice cream. We went to the Pizza Factory for dinner then finished it off with the arcades at Fat Cats. The kids were getting a little restless at dinner since they "lost" our pizza so we had to find ways to entertain the kids. Parker loved the lemons and they both loved playing with the sticks the breadsticks came on. I'll just say it got a little noisy by us. What are they shooting??? Elk, of course...are you surprised? I love this guy! He amazes me all of the time! He is so considerate of others and he has a way of making everyone like him. He's so sarcastic and has a comment for everything...I'm not even sure how he comes up with them sometimes, he's pretty witty. He's an amazing dad. There's a reason he's Mya's favorite person in the whole world! He has a very strong testimony and he's such a great example to me and the kids. One of my favorite things about him is how he can always make me smile or laugh...even if I don't want to. He's always looking for ways to help others and if someone asks him for help, he won't hesitate. He's very handy. If he doesn't know how to do something, he'll figure it out and it always turns out great. He seems to always be busy with projects...last year was re-doing our fence, this year he's re-done the outside of our trailer, he's made our mailbox, swingset, and rabbit cage. He's fixed our car and saved us $600 and he's usually busy with projects his grandpa has lined up for him :). He helped his brother fix the front of his car and painted flames on it. A common phrase from my mouth to him is "That turned out better than I thought!" He's great with picturing things and creating it and I have a hard time picturing them so I'm always pleasantly surprised when they turn out at least 10 times better than I imagined. It's never a dull moment with Justin and I wouldn't trade it for anything! I love you dear!
Easter was so great this year! It was Parker's first Easter and this year with Mya was great. I loved that she could tell me why we really have Easter but then she was so excited for the Easter Bunny. At the beginning of April we went and saw Hop to get her excited for Easter. She loved it and couldn't wait for the Easter Bunny to come to our house!
This was definitely the year of Easter Egg Hunts! We had the traditional one at Justin's Parents and this year we did that the week before Easter. Then we went to Legacy House (my sister-in-law, D'Lynn's work) and the kids had one there. Easter morning, the Easter bunny left eggs around our house for Mya and Parker to find. Then Easter evening my side of the family had one. Mya loved them all! At Legacy House, Mya got to see the Easter Bunny!...who happened to be my other sister-in-law, Heidi. If Mya didn't know it was Heidi under all that fur, she wouldn't have dared go near the bunny. She was still hesitant even knowing it was really Heidi. Easter morning was way fun! Mya woke up and as soon as she went in the hall she found her basket. The Easter Bunny had hid it on top of the wall that divides our kitchen and family room. She was so anxious to go see what everyone got but had to wait until we all got up and woke Parker up. It was great seeing them get excited about the things in their baskets. We went and visited the Ropelato side of the family. We of course had to stop and see the week old puppies! So cute! After that we went to the Wayment side of the family and had our monthly family night at Bridgette's house. That's where we had delicious food, games for kids and the Easter Egg Hunt. It was definitely a memorable Easter!
Remember that cute dog, Copper, from the Fox and the Hound? "I'm a hound dog...Woowoowoowoowoo."
Well, my kids are terrified of most animals. Dogs, cats, even some stuffed animals. When Mya was little we were at our friend's house and their cat was on the other side of the sliding glass door outside and she broke out bawling and freaked out because of the little cat on the other side. Parker is the same way with Lisa's dog. I'll give my kids a little credit - they are improving a ton! Parker now loves to see dogs, just don't get them by him. And Mya...she has taken almost a 180.
Braxton's hound dog had puppies. 6 puppies all 6 boys. Really, what are the chances? But when we went to see them, Mya actually went inside the kennel with the puppies and the mom Jessie without us holding her. She even let Jessie come up to her and sniff her. While she was very nervous, she didn't cry and she kept saying, it's okay or Woah Jessie! We were so proud of her! To this day I am still carrying her into Lisa's house "just in case Butch is out." After that we decided we wanted one of the puppies. Not are they just way cute, but eventually we wanted a dog and figured this might be the perfect time to help our kids not be so scared of animals. Mya gets so excited to go visit Copper (yes, we're naming ours Copper). Parker loves seeing the dogs, too. But when Copper gets by him Parker will just push him away. Getting this dog will be an adventure and a shock collar will probably have to be a must if we want to get any sleep at night. But we're excited!
Mya says things that make me laugh, frustrated or just wonder sometimes when she says them. For example:
She makes me laugh how funny she thinks farts and burps are. After she farts she'll say "Did you hear that...I just tooted. Excuse me." then a second will go by, "Can you smell that?! How does that smell???" Oh my little lady...
Frustrating is when she says every time she goes to the bathroom that I need to wipe one more time after she gets off of the toilet, no matter how good I think I got everything and her new thing now is asking if we left any toilet paper in her bum after we wiped...yes this happened once so now she asks every time.
And wonder is when for 2-3 months she wasn't letting a week go by where she didn't bring up her baby sister and ask what her name was going to be. Yes, that was a little alarming for us...especially since you hear of all of those "stories" from the little kids about the baby coming before mom and dad even knows about it. After a month or more of asking what the baby's name was going to be she told us her name is Charly. Charly??? Really Mya??
The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the name Charlie is Lauren's Dog. My friend Lauren's dog was an old Brittany Spaniel (or something similar). I remember he was a nice dog but he barked at me when I'd walk to Lauren's house and he would stink (sorry Laur, that's how I remember him).The second thing that comes to my mind when I hear Charlie is the YouTube clip - Charlie Bit My Finger.
Third - Charlie Sheen.Fourth - Charly the movie.Fifth - Charlie's is the auto shop my parent's take their cars to.
A sweet, cute little feminine girl running around isn't what I picture when I hear Charlie. Even just now Mya walked in while I was trying to find a picture of a dog similar to Lauren's Charlie and she asked if I was trying to find a picture that looked like Butch (Lisa's dog) and I told her no that I was looking for a picture that looked like Charlie-my friend's dog. She got so excited and said "Oh, Charly like your little daughter, our little baby girl!" Ahhh! She is so funny but we may have a little upset when we decide for #3 and what we end up naming her.
Parker brings us so much happiness! He's always smiling, giving huge wet kisses, and loves playing with Mya. He follows her around everywhere...most of the time she likes it. He watches out for her - if she's crying, he cries or gets very concerned. They really love each other and they get along really well. My favorite is car rides when they laugh at each other in the back or Parker starts singing/humming because Mya is singing.
