Potty Training?

So the people I nanny for gave us their old potty chair. I put it in the bathroom, but didn't expect Parker to really show any interest yet. Well, lately either he tells me he needs to go or I notice the signs that he needs to go (usually #2). He went a few times today and after one of the times, I asked if he wanted a diaper on or big boy underwear. He said, "Batman" which ment he wanted to wear his Batman underwear. I put the thick training pants on first and then Batman over them and that was fine with him. He stayed dry all evening and told me when he had to go. I don't know if this is a total fluke, or what. I guess we'll see how tomorrow goes. Also, for those of you who know Jack and Alison, they are expecting baby number four in April. Not exactly planned that way, but Al says she's more ok with it now than she was when they first found out. She wanted a little more of a gap between Carson and their next one, but somebody had other plans. Of course they are going to drive us all nuts by not finding out what their having again. Anyway, I guess that's about it for exciting news around here. I will keep you all posted on the potty training progress as I am sure you are all waiting on the edge of your seats!

I've Been Tagged! (Thanks Christa!)

7 things I plan to do before I die
1. Go to Italy (Maybe we could go together Christa!)
2. I wanna go to the circus! Ok, I'd probably take Parker too.
3. Finish all my scrapbooking and crafting projects. LOL!
4. Take a vacation to California with extended family.
5. Help my children (hopefully plural) develop strong testimonies of the gospel.
6. I would also like to go to Greece.
7. Have an organized and clean home.

7 things I do now
1. Take care of and play with Parker
2. Work at Michaels
3. Watch The Office with Bryan (love it!)
4. Scrapbook (occasionally)
5. Blog (read and post)
6. Lots of canning lately (pears, peaches, jam, apricot nectar)
7. Grow weeds very well!

7 things I can't do
1. Give up chocolate
2. Sell my old dishes! Anyone interested?
3. Stop crying about Parker doing 'big boy' things. (I'm an emotional wreck these days)
4. Keep up on yard work
5. Keep my house clean!
6. Keep my family and friends from getting hurt
7. Touch my toes (don't think I ever have been able to)

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex
1. Smile
2. Sense of humor
3. If family is important to them
4. Testimony
5. Worthy priestood holder
6. A good listener (sometimes, I just need to vent!)
7. Ok, I like a firm toned body, so sue me!

7 celebrities that I like
1. Matthew McConaughey
2. Jennifer Garner
3. Reese Witherspoon
4. Meg Ryan
5. Patrick Dempsey
6. Tina Fey
7. Steve Zahn

7 favorite foods
1. Cafe Rio chicken tostada salad
2. Red Robin several things on the menu and their fries and fry sauce
3. Chili's chocolate molten cake
4. Basically anything I don't have to make!
5. Jack's dutch oven chicken and potatoes
6. Arctic circle shakes
7. Warm soup or chili on a cold day

7 people who need to do this
1. Stephanie Leonard
2. Karri Nelson
3. Laura Shirley
4. Marci Moeller
5. Stacie Thomas
6. Dawn Plaudis
7. Amber Warner

Sick Boy!

Parker had a cold for about a week, but then he woke up on Thursday with a fever. Then Friday he got worse and we ended up taking him to Insta Care. Before we left he had a temp of 102.8. When the nurse took it, it was 104! They ended up giving him Motrin and antibiotics for what they think was the beginning of an ear infection. His mood has been horrible and there wasn't anything we could do for him. Of course he only wants mom and if anybody looks at him wrong he freaks out. Don't even think about talking to him or touching him! I think part of his grouchy mood was that he was constipated. With a little help yesterday he finally pooped! His mood is a little better since then, but he still needs to be held a lot so I not getting anything done around my house. I am doing laundry as I type, so at least that is getting done. The only thing that sometimes made him stop whining and saying NO! to everything was Nemo. Here he is watching it with his blankie. The peace didn't last very long, but at least Nemo helped a little bit. He's sleeping right now and hopefully that will help his mood as well. He was still pretty whiny this morning. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to have my fun, independent, mischievous little boy back!

Mommy's Little 'Helper'

I was taking the daybed apart the other day and Parker was my big 'helper'. He took all the screwdrivers out of the tool box and put them in the springs of the bed. He was not happy when we were done and I put all the tools away. We also went to pick peaches at our neighbor's and he 'helped' by throwing them in the bowl. He loves to 'help' me. Whether I am scrapbooking, cleaning the house or making dinner, he has to be right there with me. The other picture is from earlier this year when he was 'helping' me sweep.

Family Visit

Last weekend both of my brothers and their families came to visit. We went to Wheeler Farm with my bro, SIL and their little girl Rylee. We saw some of the animals and fed the ducks and geese. It was a lot of fun. This one duck just sat right next to Parker's stroller and waited for him to drop some bread. It was really funny. On Sat we went to the neighborhood fair. There was food, cotton candy, a bounce house and slide, fishing pond and dunking tank. The kids had a blast. When it came time to leave, I put Parker behind his cousin, Carson, in the stroller to get out to the car. They were so cute together that I thought I should get a picture. Well as soon as the camera came out Parker of course wouldn't look at me and he kept sticking his fingers in Carson's ears! I don't know what gave him the idea to do this, and Carson was not amused! Sorry Carson!

Baby or Big Boy?

So, I was reading a friend's blog the other day and she wrote about some of the things her little boy says or does that show his cute personality. I thought, "I need to do that for Parker!" Then at play group yesterday, Parker ran off, quite a long distance away from me, and it hit me, he's really becoming more of a big boy and less my little baby. He just saw his friends and off he went. Not even a glance back at mama. I sat there fighting the urge to go to him as he joined his friends climbing on rocks and throwing stuff into very shallow, but disgusting water. I sat and watched him from a distance thinking, "My baby isn't a baby anymore!" Eventually he did come back to me and made me feel like he still did need me. In some ways he is still babyish, he still needs his burp cloth and blanket when he is tired or gets hurt. He holds onto the tags and rubs them on his face. He still needs mama when he gets hurt. Only me, no one else will do. He gave up bottles when he turned one, but he almost always has a sippy cup with milk. Although he has been branching out to juice lately. Sadly, I can't really think of very many baby-like qualities. He has a lot more 'big boy' qualities these days. He insists on sitting at the island in our kitchen on a bar stool instead of his high chair. He has to have real silverware at home or if we are in a restaurant, even if he doesn't need it for what he is eating. He is talking more and more every day. He usually repeats the last word he hears when you're talking to him or if he is paying attention to someone else's conversation. He loves to give 'knuckles' or 'knuckle bumps' or whatever else people call it. He's really into 'Finding Nemo' right now and goes around the house chanting like the fish in the tank when they name Nemo Shark Bait. He loves looking at pictures on the computer especially of his cousins. Several times a day he points at the camera or computer and says, "Addi" (one of his cousins) which means he wants to look at the pictures. We usually just put it on slide show and if a picture of mom or dad comes up, he points at us and says, "Mama" or "Dada". He is really starting to remember his friends from nursery. One of them is named Ian. Every time we go somewhere he says, "Ian" and thinks we are going to his house. He of course loves Batman just like daddy. He's been saying Batman for a while, but lately has been more growling it than saying it. He has foam letters that he plays with in the tub. He always finds the 'P' and holds it the whole time. He is starting to recognize some letters. He's showing some interest in using the potty. It might be mostly because when he does something on the potty I give him an M & M. If I try to get him to tell someone what he did on the potty he usually says, "NN" (M & M). After I finish spiking his hair, he gives me this mischievous look, rubs his hand on his hair to mess up what I just did and then runs away squealing. I'm sure there are a million more, but I'll leave it at that. When I knelt down to take a picture of him, he came over and gave me a kiss (unsolicited by the way) and I snapped this pic as he walked away. So, there he goes to play with his friends. Even though he is growing up (too fast in my opinion) hopefully he'll still need me for a little while longer!

Go Utes!

Football season is upon us! We got tickets again this year in the MUSS. We took Parker to a few games last year and thought we'd try it again. He wasn't too sure about getting the tatoo on his cheek (relax mom, it washed off the next day!) Not even half way through the first quarter, he was saying, "All done. Bye! Bye!" It was a long game! We took him for walks,gave him ice to chew on (his favorite thing), batman fruit snacks etc. but I don't know how many games he'll be going to this year. He did cheer a few times. He said, "Go Utes!" and "Fight! Fight! Fight!" so he did enjoy it a little bit. Needless to say, mommy didn't see much of the game, but they did win. It was nice to spend time together and we might try taking him to one more game.

Everybody's Doing It!

After talking to a girl in my ward (thanks Stacie!) and reading several blogs of friends and family, I've decided it's time to join the blogging world! I'm still trying to figure out how to make it look cute and I really don't think my life is that interesting, but we'll see how it goes. We just got back a few days ago from our third trip to Bear Lake. We love it there! My brother has a wave runner and tube, so we spend as much time at the beach as possible. I am NOT a water person, but they actually convinced me to ride the tube. I went by myself with my sweet, wonderful SIL, Alison, driving and she was very nice and did not dump me. My brother, on the other hand, took me and Bryan out and after trying several times, finally got us in the water. I was not very happy with him! The next time we went I was content to sit on the beach with my iPod and magazine watching Parker play. He LOVES the beach. He just sits and plays in the sand and is content as could be. He is a nightmare at the camp site though. He's always finding open drinks and pouring them on himself or dumping a pitcher of orange juice into his aunt's bag, sorry Alison! We really do love going, and had a fun weekend despite the weather which prompted an early and hasty departure. I am going to attempt adding some pics from our trip with this post, we'll see if I can figure that out!

July 3rd my nephew Jackson, Bryan and Parker

Aug 29th my niece Rylee and Parker sharing a famous Bear Lake raspberry shake!

Aug 30th My nieces Addison and Rylee, my nephew Jackson and Parker on the wave runner

July 4th Parker enjoying some beach time

Aug 30th Parker loves to play in the wet sand (and has discovered he can throw it)