What Happens...

When you don't go down for a nap when mommy puts you down? Well, eventually, you will fall asleep

As a side note, look as his cute new shoes we got! So cute, and so cute to see him walk around in them. He really is getting to be such a little big boy.

ZOO!

Joe had last Friday off so we decided to take a little trip up to the zoo. It was a very different experience than last time, and it wasn't even that long ago that we went. We decided to leave the stroller at home and just take Parker's little monkey backpack/ leash because last time we took the stroller, he didn't want to be in it, so we pushed the stroller without the babe in it, and someone held Parker. This time Parker was so excited to see all of the animals, he kept saying "Run Run" and would run to the next exhibit. He was so talkative and he walked about 98% of the time. He did so good! We had a lot of fun and even took the train at the end (that was sad, like a 2 minute train ride if that) but Parker loved riding the train, he was super excited and that is all that really matters.

Daddy and Parker just outside of the Zoo

A Meerkat- one of my fav animals, so cute!

There were a lot of baby animals, including this giraffe

I know that it doesn't look tiny, but how about now?

Compared to the adult giraffe, it looks little.

Cute little baby elephant

Next to his mommy he looks very little.

Joe and Parker kind of posing by the elephants

Sleepy bears, but lets be honest, their cage is not that cool, so they probably sleep... a lot

Sorry the picture is blurry, but there was this cute little baby monkey and when I got my camera out to take a picture the mommy monkey took the baby CLEAR out to the back so I had to SUPER zoom to get the picture.

Parker sitting on the tiger

He was very interested in the tiger.

Riding on the train

Very contemplative look.

All in all we had a lot of fun, Parker was just delightful and we had a lot of fun as a family.

Joe's Birthday

So, I know that this is a little late (And yet I STILL haven't posted pictures from Parker's birthday- still need to get those from my sis) but we had Joe's big 3-2 birthday on Saturday and here are some pictures from then. It is crazy the difference a year makes when it comes to Parker and opening presents. He LOVES to open presents, so he was Joe's little...helper

Parker hovering over Joe looking at the present :)

Daddy needs help, so Parker is up for the job.

Oh, apparently Daddy is too busy, so Parker will help with another one.

Oh, I guess that present ISN'T for Joe, or at least that is what Parker thinks

He is SMILING! Granted, not looking at the camera, but it works!

Sorry a little dark, but here he is by his cake. It was delicious! Thank you Sam's Club!

Let's see- 32 reasons why I love Joe. No! I am not going to do that. He knows I do and I tell him enough (probably too much if you ask him :) Funniest part of the party, Joe/ Parker opened a card with money in it, Parker took the money and gave it to my mom. HILarious! You had to be there :) Anyway, Happy Birthday Hon, I am very glad you were born!

GiveAway

So my mother's cousins wife McKenna (I know, it is a long way around it) but she designs these AWESOME holiday cards, gift tags, letters and stickers. She is actually having a giveaway for 100 of these adorable holiday cards. You can check out her site here, she does all the designs and you can just click and pick on her site, so it is super easy. I think that this would be pretty fantastic! You can also check out her blog here

Silly

So, I turned around the other day after checking my email to the sound of a little giggling Parker- looking down I saw this silly little boy doing this

Yep. He got the garbage and started rolling around on the floor in it... he thought it was HIILarious, I thought it was funny, and silly and he is quite the little nut.

Halloween Options

This year, I wasn't sure what to have Parker be for Halloween, and Joe casually suggested a Garden Gnome. I was like, "Are you serious?! Where do I find a costume for that?" Joe suggested that I make one, and I am not crafty enough to make a costume like that. So the search began... I went to Wal-Mart first, and what to my complete amazement did I find?!? A Garden Gnome costume... who would have thought.

Then I went to Costco and found a super cute Giraffe Costume that said from 2-4 years, and it is TOO small. But it is cute because it makes him look like his thighs and butt are HUGE, but of course they are not :)- I took pictures, but it is going back.

Then there was the super cute darker giraffe costume from Toys R Us. I personally LOVE this one, but so far the Gnome costume is getting all the votes.

I mean really?! How CUTE is that? If the costume wasn't $20.00 I'd probably just keep it anyway, but he will probably be a Gnome. Which, don't get me wrong, I think is super cute, I just have a thing for giraffes...

Gamma, Papa....

Parker gets really excited when we go to my mom's house, he loves to go to "gamma's" house, but it is not just gamma, it is Papa, Kina (Karina), Michael, Atan (Nathan) and Iz (Liz). He loves to go over all the names of who he will see and will even prompt me to ask him if I stop. Here he is saying all of their names and colors too :)

Before/After

Here are some shots of our kitchen sink before the new sink was installed

B.E.F.O.R.E.

A.F.T.E.R

Isn't it beautiful?!?!?

Actually Going Private

Ok everyone, I have decided to go private with this blog, so if you would like an invite, make a comment, or if you are on Facebook I have changed my current status, so go ahead and leave a comment, or send a message. I have a word doc. of all the email addresses :) I will go private in a couple of weeks~ I am sorry in advance for those that don't like private blogs, I don't blame you, I'd prefer to not have to go private, but I feel that it would be best for the blog, and my family and if you want some of those deeply personal stories (haha!) just let me know you want an invite :)

Parker's Room

So, this week we took the changing table out of Parker's room. He is too long for it anyway, and this way Joe can (in theory) finish the changing table before we have another baby. This should give him a while to finish it since we are NOT making any announcements. It needs to be sanded, stained, have the trim and doors put on it, so there are definite things to be done. We moved my old dresser in Parker's room and put all of his clothes in there. We have switched some of the handles, but need to get more for the 3 lower drawers. They are gold, and we like the brushed nickel. The dresser gives a TON more room for clothes, which I LOVE. Yay for more room! So, anyway, at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago they were selling a ton of wood cabinets, trim, shelves and one of which I had an epiphany on and turned it horizontally instead of vertically (which is how it was initially set up as) and have it setup as a diaper/ wipes cubby- I personally thought it was a brilliant idea (and I secretly think Joe wishes he came up with the idea :) Anyway so that is there, we added another shelf unit which is super cute. So, all in all, Parker doesn't really have much baby stuff in there. Joe and I both agreed that Parker's room is a toddler room, not a baby room. The glider is still in there for now, but I took it out for pictures and it probably won't be in there much longer. 

New Shelf Unit- the cabinets were already there, it is the open shelves that are new. (plus in this picture you can see the different colored walls :)

Here is the image from the hall.

See, we need some new drawer handles, but see my ingenious idea for the diaper/ wipe holder?!?!?! I am going to stain it to match, but for now it works- PERFECTLY :) We actually have another shelf too, so if needs be, when we have another one, we can put one in the new baby's room too.

And here is another image of Parker's cute room, did I mention how much I love this green color?? It is probably one of my most favorite colors in the whole house. I think that his room is looking so cute! I still have some more projects to do including taking the frame like what is on the open shelves, painting it black and it will be a cute pictures frame holder. It will be able to fit 5 pictures, so I will have to post some more pictures when that is done. We have so many projects to do, it is nice when we can check one off the list. We also got a new sink and faucet- Can I tell you how excited I am about it??? The sink will look kinda like this- ignore everything EXCEPT the sink :) It is AWESOME! It is a deep sink, which I am super excited about. We got it for $100.00, which is a STEAL cause they are usually about $300-$400

                             

The faucet is very modern and has a sprayer that is attached but not to the spout. So the sprayer will either go to the side or behind the faucet. Anyway, I found this online and normally it is like $399.99 (crazy huh?!) And you can find it on overstock for like $180.00, but we paid $60.00- So anyway, when it is all done, it should look pretty darn awesome!