Rockin' out

Sure we're biased, but we think Parker is a musical genius. Well, at least he enjoys it so far. He feels the beat, dances everytime he hears music, and even claps on the beat. Sure this may not mean anything, but it certainly is a good start. We just love seeing him light up as he rocks out to whatever he hears. We even took him to the zoo one day and rapped Brown Bear, Brown, What Do You See as we looked at the brown bears. He had his hands out in the air and body groovin' to the beat. Hopefully others around us appreciated our version of one of his favorite books!

Emily, Lucinda and Dawn

I had the privelege of spending an afternoon with some college friends that were briefly in town. It was so nice to see them and to meet the new children I had not met yet. The kids seemed to have a good time together--I love seeing Parker interact with other little friends. I wish we could see them more often.

So little

Little Parker in our big chair. He's so cute when he's sleeping.

Parker's Baptism

Those of you that check our blog know we're not quite up to date on our lives. Right now, we will take you back to Mothers' Day 2008. Parker was baptized at our church on my first legitimate Mothers' Day. Craig told me last year that I didn't "qualify" for Mothers' Day, since Parker was still in my belly for another week or so...Anyway...Parker did really well. He only cried at the very end, which is much less than we thought. It was a good morning.

More celebrating

We had a big family BBQ at our house Memorial Day weekend for Parker's birthday. It was tons of fun to have everyone over to our new house (more about that later) to celebrate Parker's first year with him. I made the cake with his favorite book in mind "That's Not My Truck..." He loves books so much and demands that we read him his favorites. I think it was the first book Craig memorized, and he often quotes it around the house. Parker always laughs :)









Parker opened cash from my grandpa, and he wouldn't let go of it. He clung to that like no other gift and had us cracking up. He was very protective of it, and for the record, it did make it to his own account.

Parker's 1st Birthday

Yes, it's been awhile since we posted anything...sorry about that. We will be doing some catch-up with the events of the last month or two. Most importantly, Parker turned one! We can't believe it. It seems so strange that an entire year has gone by since we held him for the first time in the hospital. He's an incredible, curious little guy with lots of opinions already, a good sense of humor, and he is the most handsome boy we've ever seen. He loves his books, loves to clean out my wallet, loves to point to everyone's nose....we have so much fun with him, and he seems to have new tricks everyday :)

We had a little joint birthday party with Micah Cobb, since his birthday is just 3 days after Parker. Unfortunately, Micah was sick that day, but he made it through the party like a champ. Parker had his first cupcake that day. He doesn't eat a whole lot of anything, but he sure does like a good cupcake.

(Parker does not like to wear bibs, by the way--hence the crying in the picture. He did have a good time!)

Parker Goes to Chicago

My friend Sarah was taking two of her school choirs up to compete in Chicago the weekend before Easter. Since I am their regular accompanist, I went along as a chaperone (and accompanist, of course) along with Parker and my mom, who graciously offered to help. We drove separately, but Parker did spend quite a bit of time on the big charter bus. As there are no seat belts, the little guy got to ride freely, and I wasn't sure he would ever be happy again strapped to a rear-facing car seat. He played peek-a-boo between the seats, laughed, stared out the windows...he was in heaven. We spent the first evening at Navy Pier and, well...you'll see, if you keep looking at the pictures.







We shared a hotel room with Sarah and her mom. Parker was not the greatest sleeper while we were there--nothing like sharing a hotel room with 4 adults and a baby that doesn't sleep... We also went to Shedd Aquarium and spent an afternoon on Michigan Avenue. Parker loved it!






Parker seems to want to grab any short curly hair he can get his hands on--not sure if that's because of my hair, or just because it's easy to grab a whole handful. The woman in the picture was actually the adjudicator for the competition, and seemed to welcome the hair pulling. (She taught at my alma mater for a year when Sarah and I were students there.)




We went to Medieval Times on the last night. Quite a late night for Parker, but he seemed to enjoy the horses. It is definitely hard to eat large pieces of meat with your hands, while holding your baby.