Parker is 7 months and James turns 30!!

My sweet little bug turned 7 months on December 29th and I cannot believe it! Everyone always told me when he was born to cherish every moment because it will fly by and he'll be walking before you know it. I listened to them but in my mind I thought how can this fly by? Well let me tell you, I've never experienced anything in life that has gone by so fast! I want my baby to slow down and stay a baby a little longer!

Parker, you are more and more fun everyday! This month you have...

Started eating rice cereal and some pureed green beans which you HATE! You spit, spat, gag and cry everytime mommy feeds you. She is wondering if you will ever learn to eat. She has a special chef coat (like they wear on the Food Network) that she wears so she won't wear the meal that you spit back out! :)

You sit up on your own, no support needed. You laugh, grin, squeal, scream and grunt. Your squeals and screams have reached their all time decibel level for sure! When sitting, you reach over like you want to start crawling, it's coming soon!! You are still very laid back and just go with the flow. Your favorite hobby is to bounce in your bouncer OR suck on your big toe! Mommy and daddy LOVED our first Christmas together as a family of three this year, it was so much fun! Parker, you are an amazing blessing and we can't imagine loving anything more! Happy 7 month birthday!!

My squealing 7 month old baby!

We had play group at our house and Parker got to play with his friends Jack and Blair. He showed them all his new toys from Christmas!

Parker and Jack hanging out.

The next day on the 30th, James turned 30 years old! He took it harder than I expected, he just kept saying how sad he was to leave his 20's behind! To make his day special, I invited our close friends to dinner that night and he had no idea! He thought it was going to be just the two of us and when we arrived, they were all there at the table! We had so much fun having an "adult" evening together,;we all got sitters for the babies! Happy 30th sweetie! You're just a spring chicken and you're still my hot hubby! :)

Our friends celebrating with us...

Brad and Heidi Hickman and Shane and Brie Brooks

Me and the birthday hunk!

Christmas in Dallas

What a FUN Christmas this was!! Not only did we get to spend it in Dallas with my family, but this was Parker's first one and oh the memories we made! Parker and I flew there on Friday the 18thand then James drove down on the 22nd. We had a week full of activity. Shopping, the Rockettes, Santa visit, Six Flags Holiday in the Park, family traditions, more shopping and lots of time together with family.

On a down side, my "Dede", my mom's dad, had a stroke on the Friday that Parker and I got there. It affected the right side of his body and he is still in the hospital going through rehab to learn how to use his right arm and leg again and to regain his speech completely. We spent plenty of time up at the hospital cheering him up and cheering him on as he goes through this. I know with prayer and encouragement he is going to make it through this trial. Dede is a real go getter and is very motivated to get better!

We drove back from Dallas on Sunday the 27th and then had Christmas with James's parents at their house. Christmas has always been my favorite time of year and it became even more special with having a little one to share the joy with this year! Thanks mom and dad for making it so special for us!!

Get ready, here are LOTS of pics from our fun week...

Arriving at Love Field, Parker greeting his very excited Neesie!

Parker and I went up to the hospital to see Dede when we first arrived in town. He was so glad to see Parker, it cheered him up!

Mom treated Carrie, Lindsey and myself to the Rockettes show. It was fabulous, I've always wanted to see them!

The next day we spent the whole day shopping at North Park. I LOVE this mall and crave it now that I don't live in Dallas. Anytime I come visit it's a must do situation! Parker is such a shopper! Aunt Sissy is such a big help! :)

Parker and Aunt Sissy seeing the ducks

This is one of my favorite pics...dad was so sweet and took Parker the whole time we were shopping at North Park. Parker fell asleep and they just hung out and let us shop!!

That afternoon, Parker and dad got haircuts together. Chalk another one up for Parker, this is number 3!

Pedicures with the girls!

So I had this grand plan of going to see Santa at North Park the day we were shopping there. We arrived at 9:30 am and all the tickets had been given out for the day basically. They told us to come back at 6:30 that night! I had no idea the North Park Santa was so popular...how would I? I'm in Amarillo, TX now where we have one terrible mall and that Santa is your only choice! :) SO, we went to Grapevine Mills mall on the way to Bass Pro Shop one day and we were the FIRST ones in line! This Santa looked just as real!

Waiting in line for Parker's first Santa visit.

Still smiling!

Success! No tears!!

James and Parker patiently waiting on me while I was shopping!

We have gone to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags ever since we were little kids. We have started going again that we are all adults and it's SO much fun!! We had a perfect night, in the 70's and not crowded at all! The next day it was snowing, we timed it perfectly!

The girls and the strollers

My cute mom and dad!

Leah and Parker with Neesie and Grandad

Posing with Frosty!

Riding the carousel.

Goofy sister pic showing off our new Uggs on Christmas Day!

Parker and his presents

Aunt Sissy gave Parker this stuffed monkey that he loved!

She also gave him this Elmer Fudd hat which I think is hilarious!! It's my favorite!

Neesie and Grandad gave Leah and Parker these precious chairs from Pottery Barn kids with their names on them. So cute! Parker is sitting up all by himself now!

So many new toys!

Our first Christmas as a family of three!

The siblings!

Ryan and Carrie with Leah, James and I with Parker and Lindsey.

Christmas with Dede at the hospital

Hanging out in the waiting area Christmas night. Yes, we were that loud family in the waiting area having way too much fun to be in a hospital! :)

Christmas at James's parent's

Loves the bows!

Santa brought him his first little red wagon!

Parker with his Nana and Geefather

Rice cereal

My little man is growing up so fast! Today we gave Parker his very first taste of rice cereal. He has been nursing exclusively so we were interested to see what his first reaction would be. Let's just say he wore more of the cereal than he ate and the faces he made were priceless! I'm thinking it's going to take a while for this to really catch on!? Here are some pics from the event...

All ready to go in the Bumbo seat!

Bring it on mom!

Getting my gear on.

Here we go!

Oh my!

Not liking this one bit.

And now I'm gagging! :(

Winter Park trip

Last Saturday James, Parker and I traveled to Winter Park, CO with some sweet friends from our old Sunday school class in Dallas. Blair and Jenifer Mathews, Dan and Julie Turner and Tim and Holly Griffin were the fun couples we went with and we had such a wonderful time! They all met us in Amarillo and then we took two cars the rest of the way. It was frigid while we were there, but all the more reason to sit by the fire and watch movies, play games, read magazines and fellowship! James and I both LOVE to snow ski so it worked out to where I would stay with Parker in the mornings and then James would take him while I skied in the afternoons with everyone.

By the way, can I just say that Parker was a champ? He made the 10 hour car ride perfectly and just hung out with us the whole time...love that baby!! In his short 6 months of life he's been up to his ears in a life jacket on a boat, sweated his head off in Disney World and froze with us in Winter Parker, such a trooper! :)

Winter Park was hurting for snow, so much of the mountain was closed. However, that didn't stop us from finding some awesome runs and having a great time! I don't have any pics of us on the mountain, it was below zero everyday on the slopes and if you took your glove off for a second, it was impossible to warm your hand back up!! ( I tried that one day when I answered my cell phone, bad idea!!!)

Parker and I found Santa's sleigh one afternoon when we were walking through the Winter Park village to meet everyone for lunch!

Three cute cooks

Jen and Holly made brownies and Julie did the dishes that night!

The boys watching football

Blair warming himself by the fire! :)

Julie, me, Holly and Jen

We had a great time making dinner together every night!

(the lighting in the condo was terrible, this pic is so dark!)

So you know those "high altitude" directions on the back of brownie and cake mixes?

It's true, you must follow those directions! Our brownies did not rise in the middle but they were still delish, just gooey! :)

Sweet baby hanging out on the play mat one morning while everyone skied. We had some great quality time together!

Just chillin in the sink. We got bored one night and wanted to see if Parker could fit in the kitchen sink...not really, we were giving him a bath and he had quite the audience! :)