Our ice cream eater

So being the second child, many things I thought with the first are out the window (as I'm sure even more things will be out with the 3rd!).... For instance, waiting to give them sweets until they are older. HA! Yeah that didn't last long! Parker LOVES ice cream. He knows when there is ice cream in your bowl vs. when there is just cereal in it. :)

The other night we were having strawberry eclair popsicles and needless to say he loved them.

Fast asleep

So if you know Peyton, you know that he is ALWAYS moving, never stops talking, runnning, and jumping. From sun up to sun down he is on the go. He has never been the kid who will just pass out on the couch watching TV or go to bed without a peep. He usually sits in bed talking forever till he finally can lay still long enough to fall asleep.

So much to our surprise... the other night Jeff was giving Parker a bath and I was working on Christmas card orders and next thing you know Peyton is fast asleep on the couch! This NEVER EVER happens. So I had to take pictures because it was too cute. He even stayed alseep when Jeff picked him up and held him - again completely out of character for him. The second you touch him he wakes up!

Family Photo

Today we got family pictures done with my parents and Jason, Emily, and the kids. Taking the picture wasn't the tough part, getting someone who knew what they were doing when it came to printing the picture was the hard part. Two hours later we finally got to go home.


Jeff, me, Keith (my dad), Marla (my mom), Jason (my brother), Emily, Braycee, Tilman, Parker, Peyton.

Fall

On Sunday, Jeff was home with us for the first time in 4 weeks. We really enjoyed having him home with us, even though while were outside raking and jumping in leaves he was changing the oil in the van. Peyton and I had a good time raking up the leaves and jumping in them. Parker joined us for a little while until it was naptime.



This is Parker laying on a blanket playing with Peyton's football.

Peyton had a lot of fun jumping in the pile and putting piles on top of his head and pretending to be "broccoli" (his words).

Couldn't get Parker to smile, but I think it still turned out cute. (if anyone is good at photo editing, can you help me figure out how to blur out images in the background that I don't want in the pic - like the neighbor's shed)

Parker is OBSSESSED with putting things in his mouth, so sitting in the leaves didn't last long.

Halloween 2008

Halloween was fun, but a little stressful. The boys were just starting their colds and I was battling the constant nausea that comes along with the 1st trimester of pregnancy. But I was able to get a few cute pics before we headed out. We went to see all of our families on Thursday night and then went trick-or-treating on Friday night in our neighborhood.


Peyton loves to do Spiderman "moves" or "stances", even when not in costume.

Parker was in good spirits despite the 4 top teeth coming in and his cold. He always has a bib because of his reflux, so that's why it's rare to see him without one. I try to remember to take it off before I take pictures. He looks kind of stuffed into his costume with this bib on. :)

Peyton got this pirate set last year and loves making it every Halloween. He took it for Show-n-tell and the kids flipped out. They thought it was so neat.

Peyton had his friend Vinny and his brother John and sister Gia over to go trick-or-treating.

Life

So it's been a while since I posted... we have had a very sick household. It first started with Parker getting a head cold and 4 teeth all at once (which are still not in!!!!) and then Peyton started with the runny nose. A week later Parker got an ear infection and croup on top of the 4 teeth. So needless to say my usually VERY content baby has been extremely fussy. Peyton ended up with a fever and full blown cold as well. Just as Peyton was starting to recover, Jeff and I got what the boys had. YEAH, what fun! So we are all starting to feel better finally. Hopefully those teeth will come in soon for Parker's sake and mine!! I'm ready for my happy baby back.

Eliot video from Oprah & Youtube

If you have not seen Oprah today, you will want to see this video. As a miscarriage survivor and always wondering what that child would have brought to our lives and what they would have looked like, this video hit me hard. It was a reminder to enjoy every moment we have with our children...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th6Njr-qkq0

Braycee's Halloween Party

Here's a sneak peek at Halloween.... My niece Braycee had a Halloween Party on Sat and the boys wore their costumes. These aren't the best pictures, but you get the idea.

Braycee, Tilman, Peyton, & Parker


Pin the nose on the pumpkin.

Bobbing for apples.

All the kids outside after they bobbed for apples. Tilman decided to climb in the bucket of water while we were taking pictures. :)

Group shot.... Even Aunt Emmy and Uncle Jason (who's not in the picture) dressed up.

Parker and Tilman with their Halloween binkies from their "goody bags". Was in a hurry to get the picture before Tilman spit his out that I cut off his head. :)

Later that night we all went to the Boyertown parade. It was very cold out!!

Braycee and Peyton came home with SOOOO much candy! Peyton has been to 2 Halloween parades and already has 2 buckets full of candy and hasn't even been trick or treating yet!!

Parker

Because I think he's cute I decided to take pictures and post... :) He loves being a big boy now with his tray on his highchair. We just put it on and he loves to play and occasionally eat (when I can actually get him to eat that is - he's on strike from babyfood, but doesn't like chunks of food either). He is now 7 months old and trying to do more and more things everyday!!


This is his first taste of Mashed potatoes. He seems to like them.
This picture was cuter before I took it, he had his arms resting on the arm rests, allowing the bottle to rest in his bib.

Baby #3.....

So as you probably figured out by the title, we are expecting another baby. Yes it was completely unexpected and not planned. Obviously God had other plans in mind!! But, the baby should be here sometime in June, making the baby and Parker only 15 months apart. Just a tad CRAZY!! We'll manage though. We're still processing it all and figuring out how we feel. It's hard to get over the initial shock of something that you weren't counting on for a while. I will keep you updated on how things are coming along.

Aquarium & Franklin Institute

Last Tuesday Jeff and I decided to take the kids to the Camden Aquarium and the Franklin Institute. What a fun day, but also what a long day!!


Peyton loved seeing all the "Nemo" fish.

We quick grabbed a picture of the boys before Peyton dropped Parker. :)

This is Peyton touching the starfish. He wasn't too thrilled about touching the sharks or stingrays.

Here's a great view of the city from right outside the Aquarium.

Some fun frogs... Peyton loved pushing the buttons to hear what noises they all make.

A mommy and boys shot before we left.

Parker taking a ride in the stroller.

Peyton standing in front of one of the tanks of fish.

Peyton and mommy at lunch.

Peyton and Mommy as fish. I didn't really take too many at the museum because Jeff was busy helping Peyton play with all the stuff and Parker had had enough of the stroller, so juggling 20 pounds and a camera wasn't happening.

Dressed alike

I always love to dress the boys alike. I know, I'm a dork, but I have fun doing it. My mom jokes that I should have had twins with how much I dress them in the same outfit. But, I think it's fun and I probably won't get to do it for much longer.

He's starting to get into trouble....

Yesterday I went out to the kitchen to load the dishwasher and I come back and out and this is what I find. Parker has really only been crawling to get to toys, but now it has extended into going places he shouldn't go. He has been very into the vent in the floors, the blinds on the sliding door, and unfortunately, the basement steps!! He's moved onto to getting into trouble. He's so proud of himself when he gets where it is he wants to go.

Great Friends

On Saturday Jeff and I went on a date. Woohoo!! We went to the Baltimore Orioles game. Why the Orioles game you ask? Jeff got some tickets so we decided to make a day out of it.

We took 2 of our friends with us, Carrie and Mike. We had such a great time!! They are great friends and we always have good time when we get together.
Don't mind the blurry picture, but this was our second attempt at this one. :) We made a whole day out of it and left in the afternoon and went to the Inner Harbor for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was pouring when we got there, we were soaked by the time we got to dinner. Luckily it stopped raining for a little while and we got to see some of the game before they had a rain delay. All in all it was a great time!!

My two studs...

I know this is a post that I as a mom would probably be the only one to enjoy, but I just had to show off my 2 little studs in the making. :)
I found this shirt at Old Navy and just had to buy it for them. If you can't tell, their shirts say "Future Prom King. Royalty in the making. To cast your vote, see mom." :) I get told all the time that our boys are so beautiful and will be breaking girls hearts. I don't like to think of them with girlfriends just yet.... I'm their only girl right now. :) BUT, I can say I agree that they are so handsome and just squeezable cute. I guess I'm a little biased though.

Peyton 4 yrs and Parker 6 months

Parker is 6 months old!

Parker turned 6 months on September 17th. I cannot believe he has been a part of our family for half of a year already!!! I know it's said ALL the time, but time goes by SO fast!!!!!! He weighed in at 20lbs and was 27 3/4 inches at his checkup. Maybe one of these days he will slow down a little. :) He was at the gastroenterologist for his reflux checkup too and they unfortunately upped his meds since he grew so much and the symptoms are still bothering him (and frustrating mom and dad). Our carpet is taking a BEATING. Not sure how much spit up one area rug can take. We get lucky once in a while and he spits up on the hardwood floor! Outfit after outfit, bib after bib, and one load of laundry after another.... I was just thinking about how expensive acid reflux can be. On a more positive note, they think he will be able to cut back if not get rid of his meds at around 9 months. His "flapper" to his stomach should close up and then he will be able to keep food down better. We can only hope this is the case. Despite all of this, he is such a happy baby!!

He is now crawling all over the place, racing across the floor to get Peyton's toys. So far, Peyton doesn't seem to mind and in fact thinks it's funny. We'll see how long that lasts!