To Do: Stop the UGLY

Last week, I had lots of horror stories to tell you.

Yep, that precious, little, blonde cutie of mine can have a bad side.  Believe it!

Last week, it was what they call in the south "ugly."  U-G-L-Y!  Ugly for Parker.  Ugly for Me.  I thought for sure that I had at least another 6-9 months before we had to have our little Mother-Son talks about this ugly behavior.  But, unfortunately, no one warned me that his cuteness could end rapidly near 14 months!

But we both came out alive.

This week, my precious, little, blonde cutie (who I call my cutie bootie) was quite the opposite.  His dimple has been seen more in a day than all last week!  He is full of laughs, dancing, giggling, new skills...just plain FUN!  I can't seem to kiss him enough!

Anyway, I'm a parent--so I'm supposed to worry.  When he gets ugly, I seem to be become the target for his throwing of the closest object.  He even sees my fatty legs as perfect for biting (though he has yet to actually bite, but sure gets close).  Oh, I just worry he is going to be the bully!  I had to remind myself last week that it's a good thing I was home with him, or else, I'm sure his name would have been written on the bad board and a note about being a bully surely would have been in his backpack.

Parker and I get to spend a lot of time with our neighbor, Leslie, and her 7 month old, Paisley.  Leslie captured a moment of their bullying yet love for each other that I just had to share.

(Yes, Parker may have won this time, but clearly Paisley is going to give him a run for his money in a matter of no time!) And hopefully playing with Paisley will mean less Ugly, and more Cuteness!

To Do: First Halloween

We aren't lion (ha ha)...we have the cutest cub!!

Here's some more pictures of our little guy from our Halloween photo shoot.

To Do: Top 10 with Caleb

Last week we had Matt's sister's middle child, Caleb, come live it up at the Ervin Inn from Sunday to Friday!  Boy oh Boy...this 5 year old boy had fun!  

Even though Aunt Sara entertained him all day long, he couldn't wait every day till Uncle Matt got home.  Caleb has lots of questions.  Lots!  If it wasn't "What you doing?", then it was probably "How much longer till Uncle Matt comes home?"...even if the answer was like 8 hrs!  

It was a busy, busy week but here's the Top 10 highlights:

10. Little Helper

Caleb rarely left my side.  But that's ok--he was a good little helper.  He loved to push the stroller, had fun gathering groceries, thought he was big stuff helping Matt mow, giving Parker toys and nearly every bottle, helping with bath time, etc.   He even asked me once if he could wash the dishes!  But like 99 times a day, he asked if he could pick up parker.  He got pretty good at not only lifting him, but also putting him back down (often about 1 min after picking him up!).  Proud to say--No injuries!

9. Fun at the Farm

We've already been to the zoo together before, so this time we went to the Fon du Lac Farm.  It was a quaint little petting farm with slides, animals, an old schoolhouse, duck pond, and more.  Caleb was a little timid petting the animals, but despite it being a hot day, we had a good time here.  

8. Just Jump

Looking for a fun place that would wear Caleb out, I took him and our neighbor, Finn, to Monkey Joes.  They jumped, and ran, then jumped some more, and ran some more!  

7. Swimming

Finn and his mom, Christy, also joined us one afternoon at the pool.  I was so glad she showed me this awesome place, and the boys had a great time showing off their swimming skills.  Parker loved the water too!

6. Let's Cook

If you are going to stay with me for a week, you can bet I'll put you in the kitchen.  One morning, we "painted" our toast (use food coloring in milk).  

The next morning, Chef Sara whipped up Mickey Mouse pancakes per Caleb's request...though he asked where the cherry was--geesh!  

No doubt the funnest cooking project was turning Rice Krispie treats into paint brushes.  Caleb was so proud of them when we took them to grandma's.

And just for fun, we had to introduce Caleb to pizza delivery!  

5. Construction Zone

Living in a brand new subdivision, there is construction everywhere!  Perfect for a boy who loves machines!!  The first day, he cracked me up when he pulled out his chair to watch the bobcat prepare the neighbor's yard for sod.  He made a friend too, giving the workers bottled water. :)

Matt took Caleb and Finn to the school construction site behind our house to check out some CAT equipment.  

And we got to watch them dig a foundation, as well as pour concrete.

4. Art

I admit--I'm a girl and I love crafts!  Caleb wasn't so sure about the slime we made from glue...

But you could see him beaming to the moon after we completed our melted crayon canvas art!  (In front of his favorite spot...the dirt hill in our backyard)

3. Dragon Ride

On his final night here, we took a drive down to Pekin to ride on their special dragons on a small lagoon.  Caleb was very excited!  Can you tell by his smile?

Matt--not so much!  Since I had to hold Parker, he got stuck doing all the work on the paddleboat.  Caleb made a deal and said he would steer!

2. Bike Rides

Somehow I didn't manage to capture a photo of us riding bikes.  Crazy, since this was a daily highlight for Caleb.  In fact, if you ask him what his favorite part of the week was, I guarantee you he will say "riding bikes and going up the big dirt hill."  Yep, he's all boy!  As soon as I put Parker down for his morning nap, Caleb would ask if we could go outside and ride bikes.  As soon as Matt came home, he wanted to know when we could go ride bikes.  We never rode long enough!  But...we did use the bikes to teach him the difference between right and left!  And so far, since Caleb left, we haven't rode our bikes again :)

1. Parker Honey

But the #1 highlight of the week for Caleb was getting Parker all to himself.  Caleb loves babies, but his "Parker Honey" is his buddy.  Even after a week, he wasn't sick of Parker.  And Parker just lights up when Caleb comes in the room.  I hope these cousins always remain best buds!

To Do: Parker's First Half Birthday

June 28th was a big deal at our house.  June 28th was Parker's first birthday party...it was his half birthday and all!

Since my niece, Natalie, was visiting (and thanks to inspiration from my friend Lindsay), we decided to go all out for this birthday celebration.  You only get one First Half Birthday!

Natalie hung streamers (like everywhere possible!) and had us styling with party hats. 

It wouldn't be a birthday party without cake.  So Natalie and I made a cool watermelon looking cake (cut in half of course) and homemade ice cream...yum!  (We didn't have any candles so those will have to wait till Dec 28).

Another niece, Jennifer, and her fiance, Mike, also came across town for the big party!

I think Parker was excited for his First Half Birthday!

To Do: Week with SuperNanny

From the day he was born (ok, even before that!), Parker had a #1 fan...our 11 year-old niece, Natalie.  So we came through on our promise to have her come stay with us with summer for one whole week.  Natalie's magic touch when Parker was colicky gave her the name "SuperNanny."  And a few weeks ago, we put those nanny skills to the test.  Right here on Sesame Street!

Ask Natalie about her week, and I bet she will tell you about her really Cool Aunt?  Why?  Because...

Cool Aunts let your brother, Nathan, only stay for the weekend, but you get to stay with your Aunt, Uncle, and new baby cousin for a whole week by yourself! No parents! No brother!

Cool Aunts are totally grossed out when you capture the frog from the window well, but let you call it your pet for a few hours.  Natalie named it Hermit (Kermit's cousin...hello...this is Sesame Street people) and later released it in the neighborhood pond.

Cool Aunts let you do whatever you want with the baby.  Natalie got a true workout carrying the 18lber up and down the stairs, all around the house, outside, etc.  She tried so hard to get him to sit up on his own!

Plus, Cool Aunts say "yes!" every time you want to change a diaper or give Parker a bottle!

Cool Aunts let you have complete control of the tv remote (except at 7am)--even letting you watch the same episode of Good Luck Charlier over and over again if you really want.  (Did you know she is having a boy?)

Cool Aunts take you shopping every day!  Sure sometimes it was to the grocery store or to make a return for me, but Natalie loved to push the cart through the stores...though I'm a little scared that she will be driving a vehicle in 5 years :)

Yes, they have a CAT playground at the mall here :)

And when Cool Aunts take you shopping, she buys you lots of cool stuff!  Sweet little Natalie deserved a few rewards for her work this week!  Sparkly sunglasses, lockets to share with her 2 friends (she's been looking for these forever she informs me!), tye-dye nail polish, and yes, darling shoes that she kept showing off to me!

Cool Aunts let you take naps when Parker naps...because that baby is taking away your beauty sleep!

Cool Aunts make meals that kids like, and introduce you to Tacos in a Bag!

Cool Aunts make sure the week include lots of crafts!  We made bleach pen t-shirts, a painted burlap door hanger that Natalie designed, and a modge-podge American Girl bulletin board.  There was lots more we wanted to do, but we just ran out of time!

Cool Aunts take you on the bike trail...and we rode 5 miles!  It wore Parker out!

Cool Aunts take you to the splash pad so you can take Parker in the cold water for the first time.  He didn't love it, but didn't mind it as long as Natalie was holding him.

Cool Aunts make sure the days are packed with fun activities, like jumping at Monkey Joe's.

Cool Aunts let you make homemade ice cream (and even your favorite flavor--cake batter).  AND, then we made a special watermelon cake for Parker's Half Birthday (another blog of his birthday to come).

After returning Natalie back to her home near St. Louis, this Cool Aunt just laughed when Natalie and her friends used Parker to play a game of Hot Potato.   (If he cried, you were out!)

Cool Aunts let you decorate Parker's stroller for the neighborhood 4th of July parade and walk uphill, super-fast, when it's 105 outside :)

Cool Aunts may be nervous when you take Parker into the swimming pool, but you would never be able to tell.  

But most of all...Cool Aunts are married to really Cool Uncles!  Because we all know that whenever Matt was home, Natalie was full of smiles and giggles and crazy adventures (even riding in Parker's bike wagon thingy).

We truly had such a good time having Natalie around.  There is no doubt that Parker loved the extra attention, and I loved the extra help!  She could hardly wait till Parker woke up from his morning nap so the fun could begin!  I think I had just as much fun as she did!  And I'm starting to think that IF we want another kid, it may be a good idea to wait 10 years so Parker can be the helper!  Kids can be kind of handy to have around sometimes :)