My Itsy, Bitsy Spider
Friday, January 25, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
To Do: Paint with Pudding
O. M. G.
And when he couldn't get it with his hands, he just licked the tabletop!
Oprah has her "ah-ha" moments.
I have my O.M.G. moments!
When I first got out of college, my first job was running a Birth to Age 5 family program called Growing Together. The majority of the time, the families came to the school...where myself (and often the school janitor) were left with a mess. I loved that. I felt like it gave kids a chance to make a mess, a mess that often doesn't happen at home.
One option available to the families was Home Visits. Since I was 22 with no kids, it wasn't really my place to give parenting advice. So instead, I came to offer ideas of activities that parents could do with their child to build skills.
I have no idea now how old the little girl, Allison, was but I'm guessing between 1 and 2. Wise-one here thought it would be a good idea to bring CHOCOLATE pudding for Allison to fingerpaint with. Oh no, why bring VANILLA when you can bring CHOCOLATE!
So probably 12 years later, it's still an O.M.G. moment! Allison's mom, Marla (who probably could have had me fired, but instead whipped out the video camera!), was the best sport! She stripped Allison down to just a diaper and let her go at it. That pudding was everywhere! In her hair. All over the diaper. Covering her entire arms. EVERYWHERE!!
Now that I'm a parent, I figured I had to give this pudding fingerpaint a try with my little guy.
Yep, I went with vanilla. I learned!
Parker sure got a kick out of it. But he meant business too.
Well, until her discovered that this stuff tasted good!!
And then he was busy scooping up handfuls of pudding and hoping every drop hit his mouth. (While some managed to make it to his hair).
And when he couldn't get it with his hands, he just licked the tabletop!
Needless to say, we ended the experiment with one happy (and wound up) boy!
But still...it wasn't the O.M.G. moment I had with Allison. (And for that I'm a little thankful!). Marla, can I say "I'm Sorry" again??
Friday, January 4, 2013
Friday Photo 1.4.13
Someday we will take over Sesame Street!
(Abigail-2, Paisley-5 months, Parker-12 months, Travis-11 months)
(Abigail-2, Paisley-5 months, Parker-12 months, Travis-11 months)
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
To Do: Celebrate! Parker's 1st Birthday party
When I was pregnant, I heard it a hundred times.
"Cherish every minute. They grow up fast."
Yep. They were right.
But you know what? I really tried to cherish every minute. Looking back on the past year, I am so grateful that I got to spend nearly every minute with my baby. I'm very fortunate to be able to stay home with Parker! Sure I have my moments when I'm exhausted, patience is hanging on by a thread, or I just want a break. But, most days I'm kissing that boy to death! (Yeah, I know that my time is limited with those kisses too!)
I remember those middle of the night feedings that seemed endless. And I remember that I would remind myself while I rocked him that someday he wouldn't want me to rock him. Those days are already here. Others gave me advice to just let him cry it out instead of rocking him to sleep. We finally took that advice and luckily it worked out rather quickly. But I truly cherished all the time I got to snuggle and rock him while I could.
So while in some ways the past year has gone by super fast, in other ways, I really feel like I tried to not let it just slip by.
Sure I already regret that we didn't have lots more videos of Parker. But then again, we have probably 5, 000 pictures! Matt took a lot of time to put together a video of the adventures and memories from Parker's 1st Year.
You can see it at:
http://youtu.be/C7NjXlKqcm0
We've already watched it about 20 times--making us laugh, cry, and reminisce. Parker, too, loves to see himself and those he loves on the big screen. I hope this video is something Parker will enjoy having and watching in years to come.
And you can't have an official First Birthday without a big ole' birthday party. Thanks to the creativeness of others on Pinterest and the handiness of my husband, we were able to pull off an awesome Sesame Street themed event! I also have to give a shout out to my former neighbor in Arkansas, Lindsay, who was my inspiration. We attended her son's 1st jungle-theme party in February. It was awesome! The picture video, the guest book, the high chair decor--all ideas I copied from Lindsay :)
Our house here on Sesame Street isn't huge. But we were able to squeeze in 22 family members and 5 friends for the shindig. But since all of you couldn't join us, here's some highlights from the day:
The Invite
Gift Opening
The End
"Cherish every minute. They grow up fast."
Yep. They were right.
But you know what? I really tried to cherish every minute. Looking back on the past year, I am so grateful that I got to spend nearly every minute with my baby. I'm very fortunate to be able to stay home with Parker! Sure I have my moments when I'm exhausted, patience is hanging on by a thread, or I just want a break. But, most days I'm kissing that boy to death! (Yeah, I know that my time is limited with those kisses too!)
I remember those middle of the night feedings that seemed endless. And I remember that I would remind myself while I rocked him that someday he wouldn't want me to rock him. Those days are already here. Others gave me advice to just let him cry it out instead of rocking him to sleep. We finally took that advice and luckily it worked out rather quickly. But I truly cherished all the time I got to snuggle and rock him while I could.
So while in some ways the past year has gone by super fast, in other ways, I really feel like I tried to not let it just slip by.
Sure I already regret that we didn't have lots more videos of Parker. But then again, we have probably 5, 000 pictures! Matt took a lot of time to put together a video of the adventures and memories from Parker's 1st Year.
You can see it at:
http://youtu.be/C7NjXlKqcm0
We've already watched it about 20 times--making us laugh, cry, and reminisce. Parker, too, loves to see himself and those he loves on the big screen. I hope this video is something Parker will enjoy having and watching in years to come.
And you can't have an official First Birthday without a big ole' birthday party. Thanks to the creativeness of others on Pinterest and the handiness of my husband, we were able to pull off an awesome Sesame Street themed event! I also have to give a shout out to my former neighbor in Arkansas, Lindsay, who was my inspiration. We attended her son's 1st jungle-theme party in February. It was awesome! The picture video, the guest book, the high chair decor--all ideas I copied from Lindsay :)
Our house here on Sesame Street isn't huge. But we were able to squeeze in 22 family members and 5 friends for the shindig. But since all of you couldn't join us, here's some highlights from the day:
The Invite
16 invites hand made by Mama and Dada
The Food
Elmo & cookie monster cupcakes (use a little imagination)
Confetti cookies
Chocolate covered pretzels & Alphabet cookies (with sprinkles added)
Rainbow kabobs
Oscar, Big Bird, and Elmo veggie trays
(Oops, I forgot to add the eyeballs)
Our homemade crayon bowl filled with goldfish
The Decor
Balloon wreath
#1 shaped photo collage
Guest Book (Title of Book is "If I Could Keep You Little")
Streamers of course, and tissue pom poms
The Cakes
Parker's smash cake
The guests' cake (decorated by Matt)
The Birthday Boy
Shirt and birthday hat made by his Mama
He loved it when everyone sang Happy Birthday to him
The Cake Smash
And just so everyone knows, birthdays #2-??? will not be this extravagant! But then again... it was fun...so I think I'll start pinning some more ideas on Pinterest for next year :)
Happy Birthday, Parker John!
We love you!!
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