Baby cousin Dare-Et (Garrett)

We went over to Aunt Nit-ney's house 2 Saturdays ago (the 17th - yeah I'm behind) to see my parents who were visiting in town and for Parker to see baby Dare-Et again.  He has been a little more inquisitive about his new little cousin friend - I make sure we talk about him lots - which I think helps him "get" what is in mommy's belly and what is about to come live at our house!  

Park's new Pre-1 teacher stopped me before I picked him up a few days ago and told me this precious little story.  Parker was playing "house" with some little girls at school and they had babies, but Parker did not.  Parker tried to come into the house, and they said, "Noooo, Parker, you can't come in cause YOUUUU don't have a BABYYYYYYYY."  Parker folded his arms across his chest and said, "I DO TOO HAVE A BABY!"  And the little girl said, "Where is it?"  And Parker sighed, shrugged his shoulders and said, "My mommy is still holding it in her belly."  :)  I think he gets it.  

We managed to get Park to sit still about 30 seconds so he could hold baby Dare-Et.

 Another reason we went over to Whit's house was so that I could give her all of Parker's baby clothes for Garrett to wear for the next few months.  We are hoping that even if I have a boy we can continue to share clothes... I don't think it will be a problem because Parker has always been VERY blessed with so many clothes from our dear friends, the Fortenberrys and from both his grandparents.  :)  So, naturally, as soon as I was done unpacking some boxes of clothes for Garrett, KK and Park hopped right in and expected a ride!

 Cheap entertainment.

Perceptions....

So I always make a habit out of taking my picture in clothes I try on at stores to see what it looks like "out" of the mirror - because I REALLY hate mirrors.  Well - for some reason when I opened up my Picasa album today - my pictures had been totally re-organized and THESE pictures were the first ones that popped up.  I nearly fell OUT of my chair because I DISTINCTLY remember taking these pictures and HATING how I looked in these SIZE 2 jeans and SIZE EXTRA SMALL shirt!  HELLO - it looks like I need to EAT in these pictures!  Of course - my perception is a LITTLE different now that I am weighing a wonderful 174 pounds - but good grief - I what to THROW UP when I think about how HARD I was on myself when I was in such great shape!  I remember thinking these jeans made me look fat and that the shirt showed my fatty love handles off way too much.  I did end up buying the jeans (only because it was the LAST day that my coupon was good and I could get them for about $20 after coupons and discounts) but tossed the shirt immediately after this picture was taken.  I need to have this blog reappear in about 6-9 months when I'm (HOPEFULLY) back into shape so that I will remember to not be so hard on myself!  Why, oh why does Satan attack me with these horrible thoughts about myself when I was CLEARLY in awesome shape.  I guess I just need to make myself MORE clear to the Enemy - "GO AWAY AND GET YOUR NASTY "BAD SELF IMAGE" THOUGHTS OUTTA HERE!"

Chelsea's Baby Shower!

 I had the privilege of hosting my sweet friend, Chelsea's, baby shower last weekend!  After our photo session, I ran home, changed into a REALLY cute dress from my sister, Ashley, and ran to Woodstock for one of the cutest showers I've ever been a part of!  My bump was so OUT THERE I asked Chris to take a belly shot before I left....

 Chelsea and I actually have the same due date!

 Side view!

 Hello bellies!

 Kaci and Rachael are THE most creative and crafty girls ever and they took charge of all the fun crafty things at the shower!  This was a "wish tree" for the baby - SO cute!

 Kaci made the sign and the banner!

 Me, Chels and Kristin

 Some of the yummy goodies!

 Baby T!  Not only are Chels and I sharing the same due date, but we are also not finding out the sex!

 The guest book thumb print tree for her nursery!

 I had such a fun time being a part of Chels' shower!  Can't wait to see who pops first!  :)

Pea In The Pod Photo Shoot

Last weekend started off EARLY with our 'Pea in the Pod' photo shoot!  Our photographer, JaeBelle Photography, has been capturing our family memories for us since Parker was 6 months old.  She also happens to be the little sister of one of my best friends, Robin, so that's just another perk :)

This one was a total fluke - she was just getting pictures of me and Chris from a distance when UP pops little Parker on a the rim of the fire pit in the middle of the area we were hanging out in.  Hello perfect photo op!

I am CLEARLY the only Caucasian person in this family.

Our "Notting Hill" pose :) 

Parker kept trying to run in and get in the shot so we told him to go run ALL the way to the end of the basketball court next to us then RUN back as fast as he could. 

If only having kids was this easy.... just catch them when they fall from Heaven :)

Leave it to me to be the ONLY one not looking ahead...

This is one of our FAVORITES because it just SHOWS Park's "cheese" face that we get ALL the time.  It's SO typical of our goofy little guy.

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!  This picture almost didn't happen - we were really cutting our time close to when I needed to get back home to get ready for Chels' baby shower - but I saw the swings and asked Jae to come over for a few minutes to get a shot of us on the swing.  Parker and I love to swing every afternoon when we get home and it's our special little time together.  He will sing songs to me, tell me about his day, tell me about his boogers, you know... all the important things in life!

This is also one of our favorites... it's his 'tickling' face... this kid is THE most ticklish little thing in the world and he LOVES being tickled!  He normally ASKS us to tickle him - then begs us to stop - then asks to "DO IT AGIIIIIIIIN MOMEEEEEEEEE!"

Nobody knows!

It only took about 5 fruit snacks to get him to take this picture.

My boys.

He's holding 2 fruit snacks in each hand in this picture!

Playing the "I got your nose" game!

Our favorite kisses....

A very important conversation.

WEEEEEEEE!

Labor Day Weekend

 We started off Labor Day weekend on Thursday night by going over to visit "Buh-bee Darrett" as Parker calls him.  But even though Parker says he's going to visit baby Garrett, he literally shows absolutely no attention to him AT ALL when we are there.  He has 0 interest in babies... maybe that's a good thing!  He and KK watched some of the GT game together (notice their matching GT outfits!) and had fun running around SCREAMING at the top of their lungs the rest of the night.  These two can reach some amazingly high pitches together...

 We left Friday afternoon to go to Savannah for the long weekend!  We left at 2 and traffic was HORRIBLE!  AND - to top it off - I-16 had CONSTRUCTION.  ON.  LABOR.  DAY.  WEEKEND.  Terrible timing.

 Chris went to play golf with Joey Saturday morning and they ended up not even counting Chris' score because it was SO high.  Parker and I played at the pool the entire time they went golfing but Parker LOVED getting to go on a golf cart ride when daddy and Uncle JoJo were done!

 Saturday afternoon, we visited my Nano who is in the hospital in Savannah.  My parents had to move her down there after my Poppy broke his hip a few weeks back.  Pop's living with mom and dad and is doing FABulous and Nano is hanging in there.  We are praying for a full recovery for her!

Sunday morning, we headed to the beach!   I sat in my chair and had a FABulous time watching Chris play with the kiddos... Parker is a BEACH LOVER (Just like his mama!)  Baby #2 loved it as well - see how content he looks?  :)

Park loved being buried in the sand!

He loved EATING the sand even more.  One of the MILLION reasons I LOVE having a boy is the fact that he can have sand fights with his cousin and not care at ALL if sand is in his eyes, mouth, nose, etc.  KK would have been freaking out for sure.

Love our cousin Miller!

When it was time to go, Parker thought he'd make a clean get-away by crawling to the ocean...

Sunday evening, we took Parker to my parent's dock in their neighborhood on Wilmington Island.  He had a blast seeing the dolphins in the water and a few fish that some other neighbors caught while we were there!  He did NOT watch to touch them though!

 Watching for the dolphins!

 Looking in a crab trap someone else had set...

 Monday morning before we left, Jac played the Wii while Parker THOUGHT he was playing, too.  He just kept swinging his arms around thinking he was actually playing.  :)

He was WIPED out on the way home :)  Made for a nice relaxing trip for mommy and daddy - at least an hour or two of the trip!