Happy Birthday Parker!

We started out the day with opening presents including Parker's first pet, a beta fish! I let him pick what we had for breakfast and he chose pancakes. Then we went to Grandma Allen's to open presents from Parker's birth family. He's not spoiled, is he? Then some mundane boring running errands with mom. After a much needed nap, we had a party at Chick-fil-A with his friends from nursery. I think everyone had a great time. The staff there is very nice and accommodating. I would recommend it to anyone! Sat we went to a Utah Adoption Council event at Boondocks. We mini golfed and played arcade games since Parker is still too little to go on any of the fun rides! He loved the arcade with all the noise and flashing lights! Mom and Dad enjoyed ski ball, air hockey and basketball. Sun we had a party at our house with family. We all had a fun filled few days celebrating the wonderful blessing Parker is in our lives. Here are some pictures from Parker's birthday celebrations!

I started a tradition last year of taking a picture of Parker first thing in
the morning on his birthday. This is what I found this year.

One of his presents was this Lightning McQueen car.

He got this hammer and peg toy from his birth parents. He loves it!

Enjoying a cupcake at his birthday party.

Aunt Heather gave him a basketball hoop.

I taught him to say, "Slamma! Jamma!" That's what he says
when he wants to play basketball.

He loved pretending to drive. We didn't even put any tokens
in and he didn't know the difference.

Here he is with his cousins at the family party on Sunday.

Our tired birthday boy!

My Baby is TWO!

How did this happen? It seems like time went by so slowly when I went from wanting a baby so bad it hurt, to waiting and waiting and waiting to adopt, to finally receiving my sweet bundle of baby boy joy! Where did my baby go? Where did the last two years go? Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed watching him grow and learn new things. I love hearing him talk and finally figuring out what he is saying when he says a new word for the first time. But he is not my sweet little cuddly baby anymore. I didn't think I could get baby hungry again after Parker, but I am. He is so fun and I love singing with him and reading to him. I love how he associates football (anytime he sees football, pro, college whatever) with his dad and the Utes! I love how he says, "I love you" and gives kisses and hugs! Time outs have become a regular occurrence at our house. So have viewings and Monsters Inc. Nemo and, until it was ruined recently, Beauty and the Beast. I love how he says, "Uh" in front of everything, usually when he's telling me he wants something. Like, "Uh bye bye" or "Uh Batman" Oh, that's another thing. He calls fruit snacks, "Batman" because we usually buy the Batman kind, but any fruit snacks are Batman. He associates letters with family and friends. When he sees an A he says, "Addi" for his cousin, D for Dada and Uncle Dustin etc. It's so cute when he's in the bath tub with his foam letters. We have to find all our family's letters and stick them on the side of the tub. He does recognize A, E and R other places besides the tub. I think I'm going to make him an ABC book for Christmas, shhhh don't tell! He has finally figured out how to drink from a straw. I don't know why this concept was so hard for him, but he finally got it! He now prefers to drink water and juice from a cup with a straw, but still drinks his milk out of his sippy cup. If you ask him what color something is, it's always green. He loves playing with his friends from nursery. He gets so excited when I'm looking at their parents' blogs and sees pictures of them. I love that he calls his aunt Heather by her nickname "Hez." I could go on for days! I know I can't stop time or make it go slower, so I just have to learn to enjoy every minute! Before I know it he'll be leaving on his mission and I'll be saying, "Where did my little boy go?"
***Disclaimer*** For those of you who don't enjoy reading long posts or people going on and on about their kids, sorry. I am hoping to use this blog as a journal of sorts and, if I ever get around to scrapbooking again, I will use these posts as journaling on my pages.

Our Family

I saw this on Christa's blog and decided to try it. Here's what Bryan and I came up with!

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

GTU Girls

I had so much fun at Good Things Utah. The girls are so nice and after the show we got to take pics with them. Our good friends Gavin and Britta are waiting to adopt a baby girl from China. Myra, Britta's sister, was the birth mom in the adoption segment. She did a great job and we are always so proud of her! It was good to see our friends from FSA and be part of getting the word out about adoption. They even showed our family pic during the segment. Bryan told me they showed me in the audience twice, I was only aware they were showing me the one time. Anyway, it was a fun experience and I would love to go again. I think going with a group of people makes it more fun. I even got a little goody bag from the noodle company!

Here I am with the GTU girls, Nicea, Angie and Reagan

Big Boy Bed

At his check up with the pediatrician the other day, she told me that it was time to move Parker out of his crib. I didn't think it was quite time yet, but she was worried about him trying to climb out and get hurt. She has had two patients, both boys, climb out and break their arms! I was worried about him falling out of a twin size bed because he is a wild sleeper. So, we got a toddler bed from Bryan's sister, Melanie, and took down his crib for FHE. Of course any time the tool box comes out, Parker has to help. Here are a few pics of him 'helping' and enjoying his new big boy bed!

Watch Good Things Utah!

I know it's probably too late to be posting this, but I didn't have the idea until just now. Bryan and I belong to an organization called Families Supporting Adoption or FSA. November is National Adoption Month and Good Things Utah will be having a segment on tomorrow's show, Wednesday, Nov. 5th. For those of you who may not be familiar it's on at 10:00 am on ABC channel 4. I will be in the studio audience along with other adoptive parents. They may even show a family picture of us. If you read this post in time, spread the word to those you know here locally that can watch. You never know who might know someone who is thinking about placing a child or a couple who may be looking for a support system. There are quite a few couples that find their children through what the agency calls "designated adoption", someone they know helps them find their birth mother. That is how we found Parker. So even if you don't read this in time to spread the news about watching Good Things Utah, remember that it is National Adoption Month and spread the word about how wonderful adoption can be! I usually don't get political, but especially now that our President Elect is Obama, we need to get the word out that there are other options to abortion. Adoption is a wonderful blessing in our life and countless other couples. Please help spread the word and pray that more birth moms will choose adoption. Sorry, let me get down from my soap box. This is one of the few subjects that I am very passionate about. I love Parker's birth parents and am grateful to them every day for the beautiful gift they have given us. It was about two years ago actually that we found out they had chosen us to adopt Parker. What a happy day that was! So, watch Good Things Utah and spread the word about adoption!

Pumpkin Patch

We finally were able to get to the pumpkin patch. I wasn't sure it was going to happen this year, but we went and had a nice family outing. We invited Bryan's parents to come along. Grandpa pushed Parker in the wheel barrow while Daddy video taped the search for the perfect pumpkins. It took us a while to find some that would stand up without tipping over and that still had stems on them. We ended up with two big pumpkins and then mommy found the little decorative pumpkins and couldn't resist. Thanks to all of you who gave me info about where to go. I really liked this particular patch and we'll probably go there again next year.