Parker's Christmas tree is finally complete and I am so happy with it! I knew I wanted to do mostly pink with a few other bright colors, but it turned out better than I even imagined! I am never going to want to take it down!
She doesn't have a ton of ornaments just yet because I want to collect them over the years, but I found some cute ones so far, mostly animals.
A few of my favorites are these little ceramic shoes my mom and I found!
Yesterday morning, we woke up to some really chilly temperatures and a BEAUTIFUL snow flurry! It was Parker's first time to see the snow and she was enchanted!
I kept running out front in my pj's and Uggs to get pictures of the house... The neighbors probably think I am nuts!
The backyard covered in white!
We got the little bean all bundled up in her snowsuit to go outside and see the snow! She was more interested in playing with daddy :)
Fascinated...
The view down our street
Sweet little munchkin bear
"Momma, you just stay out there... Daddy and I are cozy and warm here inside!"
More snow is predicted for tomorrow! What a way to start the Christmas season!
We have wasted no time at all getting Parker into the Christmas spirit! I seriously love this holiday and will stretch it out as long as possible... I am hoping to pass the love onto my munchkin too! So of course she has numerous Christmas outfits and jammies to wear, all of which I hope to post pics of during the month!
The hat in these pics came from some VERY special friends that live in Indiana... I won't go into the long story of what they mean to us, but I figured it would only be fitting to have our little elf's debut in something that they got for P! (Oh, and jammies courtesy of Grammie :)
Sweet girl was just so gentle with the tree. We have several up in the house and she is completely fascinated by the lights. Melts my heart...
I swear, she turns it on for the camera. Are you kidding me with this face?!
There isn't much sweeter than the way this little girl looks at her daddy...
Have I mentioned how much I love this face?
Saved the best for last... Doesn't she just look like an elf here??!! Cracks me up!
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, mostly because it is the beginning of the Christmas season! But this year, I was really struck by how much we have to be thankful for and most especially, this sweet munchkin!
Not only was this Parker's first Thanksgiving, but it was also our first time to host a holiday at our house! We spent the day with my family. Even though they only live about 10 minutes away, they actually came over to our house the night before to spend the night so it felt like a real holiday :) Leading up to the big celebration, Parker got another ear infection and cold and it was pretty bad this time. We got NO sleep for several nights in a row and our days were consumed with as much resting as possible for both baby and mommy. We literally got nothing done for almost a week because it was so miserable! Thank goodness for my mom... She was a HUGE help to me in coming over to watch the munchkin so I could get a little rest, preparing foods ahead of time and cooking the day of. Couldn't have done it without her!
The day itself was just really mellow and gave us lots of time to love on our sweet little lady. She got to try mashed potatoes for the first time (organic, of course ;) and she loved them!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!
Now that Miss Priss is getting older (WAY too fast, might I add!!) I have been adding more and more to her diet. Today, we tried puffs. She loves them! But getting them in her mouth on her own is a whole other story...
Parker Layne, you are 7 months old! And yes, once again, this month completely flew by! You are just growing up way too fast munchkin!
At 7 months old, you:
--weigh about 15 lbs.
--are in mostly 3-6 or 6 month clothes.
--have a really great sleep schedule. You go down between 7:30 and 8 at night and wake up most days around 7.
--take 2 big naps everyday, almost like clockwork! We are so lucky...
--are growing a lot more hair! It might not seem like it to everyone else, but WE notice a big difference! And it is just about the softest little downy fur you have ever felt :)
--eat very well. You are up to 3 meals of solids a day and have tried lots of different foods. You even get a bite of things off of mommy's plate sometimes! You love that... You still have 4 bottles everyday and are not at all interested in any liquids other than formula.
--are so close to crawling it hurts! I think it will be any day now... but you find a way to get where you want to go, whether you roll or scoot there!
--are VERY independent. You rarely fuss but when you do, I can usually just put you in a safe place to play on your own and you are happy as a clam.
--are just as chatty as could be. We think you really like to hear your own voice and there is just a whole range of noises, ALL the time! Your favorite thing to say is "ba" and you do it quite so well! I think we heard a da-da at one point but it hasn't returned since. We practice everyday though!
--are definitely getting more stranger anxiety. You have had a few instances where you have really lost it with a stranger but for the most part, you are just hesitant.
--are pretty close to getting your first tooth. We can see the white and there is definitely a big bump on your lower left gum. It has been a little rough on you too, so we are ready for it to pop through!
--are not a big snuggler so when you do, we just eat it up. Recently, you have begun to fall asleep in our arms at bedtime and we have to just tear ourselves away when that happens!
--love to giggle. Actually, scratch that. It's more of a cackle and it is the best noise that ever came into this house. We live for it.
Sweet girl, each day with you just gets better and better. Your sweet personality and happy baby grin just light up our lives!
Love,
Mommy and Daddy
Like I said, our dear friend Andrea came to the baptism on Sunday to get some photos of P... I know I am biased because of the subject, but Andrea has outdone herself with these! Pretty sure I am going to make them all into wallpaper and cover our house ;)
Family photo
Love this with our pretty church in the background.
Look how she is grinning at her daddy!
Those eyes...
And that sweet little noggin...
The little half grin that she gets from her momma.
Our happy girl!
These last two are probably my two favorites of the bunch...
Andrea, we really just cannot thank you enough for these... You are the best!!!
What a very special day today was... Miss Parker Layne was baptized at our church this morning in front of BOTH sets of grandparents, one Gigi (great-grandmother :), one fabulous aunt and seamstress and many, many sweet friends. Let's just get right to it...
My sweet angel in her baptism gown. My aforementioned aunt and seamstress made this entire outfit for her... and the photos just don't really do it justice. It is truly amazing and she is BEYOND talented!
Our dining room, all dressed up and ready to go for a big celebration brunch after church!
After a short snooze, Miss Priss had a costume change ;)
I love this little rump!
She clearly had a very difficult afternoon ;)
Our dear friend Andrea took some gorgeous shots of P and our family at the church, so I will post those as soon as I have them... I just couldn't resist showing her off today!
I am constantly fascinated by Parker... It just sort of blows my mind that there is a change or something new every single day. She has always been a really expressive baby with her face (no surprise there between Josh and myself!) but these days, she is REALLY showing emotion all over her face.
I had her in this cute little outfit yesterday and I wanted to snap some pics... I usually just fire away with the camera and then go back and look later to see if I got any good ones. I got so many hilarious ones and I just had to share so you can see what our days look like everyday! I have been dying to put her in this little chair that Josh's parents had made for her, isn't it too cute?
Beginning the "photo shoot." Usually, pretty mellow...
Then, I have to start making all sorts of noises to keep her attention...
Somehow, she got herself all twisted around on the chair, but clearly thought it was hilarious. She is definitely responding to humor, which I LOVE!
You think she knows how cute she is?
Oh dear. We are in TROUBLE!
Getting a little excited....
These next two crack me up!
You can almost hear the ear piercing noise coming out of that cute little mouth!
New position... we are interested again.
I love love love when she has this serious, pensive look on her face. I actually want to bite her cheeks ;)
This is what we call monkey face. It just started over the last couple of weeks and there is a lot of snorting that goes along with it. The funniest part is that when Josh imitates her, I realize all over again how much they look alike. It's identical!
Another new move... Reaching for mommy. Works every time :)
OK I will admit it... I am totally one of "those moms" that has a whole lot of STUFF on her plate and so there are times during the day that I plop the little peanut on the floor and go about my merry way. I am always close so I can keep an eye on her but after this weekend, I think those days have come to an end...
Here is what I first saw... At least at this point, she was a teensy bit concerned that I was watching to see what she was doing...
I think she was after the Dan Brown novel shoved in the basket before company came over strategically placed underneath the coffee table... She clearly no longer cares that I am watching to see what she is doing.
You see that little hand? She is tiny, but MIGHTY! She actually started pulling the basket toward her, at which point the camera was put down and Momma sprang into action :)
So, needless to say, she is quite the Curious George-ette :) Any pearls of wisdom from you seasoned veterans on baby proofing the house? Bring it on!
P.S. Is it too early to start decorating for Christmas yet??!!
For any of you who know me (in real life or blog) you probably won't be shocked to know that Parker has more than one Halloween costume :) And of course, I couldn't resist dressing her up in ALL of them and taking pictures!
You've seen the pony before....
But I couldn't resist a few more... Giddy Up!
Then there was the ghost... which she just didn't seem too thrilled about.
Looks like she actually SAW a ghost here!
But my girly girl just seemed happiest in the original costume that Grammie bought for her... And I can't say I blame her :)
Have a great and SAFE Halloween!
This past weekend, we traveled to Evansville, Indiana for a family reunion! It was a weekend of firsts for the munchkin... first plane ride, first time to meet lots of new cousins and first time out of Texas! What a fun weekend we had... I am so, so thankful for my family. They really just are the very best people I know!
I am going to warn you... this is total picture overload!
My mom and I traveled up to Indiana with Parker on Thursday and the boys came to meet us Friday... Here we are on the plane. She did GREAT!
As we taxied on the runway, Parker was totally fascinated with looking outside... I love this picture!
Once we took off, this is what she did for most of the flight...
Everyone started to arrive on Friday... P was excited to meet everyone!
Here she is meeting her sweet cousin Jacob... the surefire way to tell that she likes someone now is if she grabs their face. You will see LOTS of face grabs in these pics :)
And more face grabbing with baby David... my dad's face in this picture is priceless.
I think I have mentioned that I make all of Parker's baby food... she has never had a bite of the jarred stuff. I figured for this trip it would be way easier to just get some jars. Didn't imagine that after eating them she would be projectile vomiting them back up at me. Thankfully, with Josh coming up a day later, he was able to put all of her food from home in a little cooler and bring it with him. This was her sweet face after she got some of momma's cooking :)
Saturday was the big party. My uncle Jerry and aunt Cherie had everyone over to their awesome house for a cookout, costume party and hayride! Parker and I had never been on a hayride before so we were particularly excited for this part... She fell SOUND asleep as soon as we got on that trailer and was out the entire time. Sweet girl.
Since it was so close to Halloween we thought it would be fun for all the kids to dress up in their costumes. There were 15 kids under 8 so you can imagine how cute it was! I wanted to wait to debut P's costume until Halloween but I just can't help but show you my little pony!
I found this costume and just fell in love with it, but I thought it was a little too "boy." So we added a red bow in the mane, just so there wasn't any confusion ;)
Even some of the adults got in on the action... I really cannot even begin to tell you how hard we all laughed at my uncle Jerry dressed up as a tea pot. Really, I just can't even talk about it.
This was almost everyone who dressed up... So fun!
P and my cousin Caitlin
P and Grammie
This is my cousin Jeremy's sweet, sweet girlfriend Nikki. Parker just loved her and I think the feeling was mutual :)
It was pretty chilly there so I made sure to dress Parker in her warm red sweatsuit... didn't really realize when I bought it that it had ears on the hood that actually look more like horns!!
On Sunday, we got up and went to church at Zoar... this is the church my mom grew up in and they are celebrating 150 years! Crazy!
Daddy and his girl
After church, everyone met up one last time at the Gerst House... this place is an Evansville establishment and serves some of the best brats and beers I have EVER had! Sweet Tory was there... She was the flower girl in our wedding and has a very special place in my heart.
And this handsome fella is Parker! He is my cousin Mike's son... and yes, we now have 2 Parkers in the family. Boy Parker thought it was pretty cool and could not have been any sweeter with my little angel! And girl Parker thought he was pretty cool too!
Unfortunately, Miss Priss came home with a double ear infection so it has been a bit of a rough week around here... She seems to be doing MUCH better today though so hopefully we have turned the corner!
Can't wait for next year!
I don't have much of anything to say today, but I am sick of something not happy being the first post on my blog, so I am posting the thing that makes me the happiest :)
(Sorry, these were all taken with my phone, so a little fuzzy, but you get the idea!)
This face... like she's saying, "What, Mom??!!"
My dad was playing with her and she kept raising her hand like this... having a disco moment I think!
LOVE the baby Uggs!
Ready for a jog!
Also, thank you ALL for all your sweet, supportive comments... that's what this bloggy world is all about!
xoxo
It is unfortunate that you feel like you can hide behind an anonymous comment to say ugly things about me. If you would like to show your face to me and all the other kind and respectful women out there who read my blog, then please do so. I am sure that there are a lot of people who might take issue with your nasty comments. This blog is meant for good, so please take your unpleasant self elsewhere.
There are a million other things I could say to you, but I do not feel the need to stoop to your level any longer.
Thank you to all my sweet friends who have left lovely notes and comments.
Feel free to link to anything you find here, but do not reproduce my photos or content without my permission.
