Priceless

I've been wanting to get some new pictures of Parker and I for awhile now, but we had some crazy hot weather here for awhile and this past week it cooled down so we were finally able to get some. I may be a little picture crazy, but I never want to forget how it felt to hold and cuddle my baby boy, to laugh over his silly behavior, and to kiss his little cheek.

He really is the light of my life, and I wouldn't trade any moment with him for the world.

One happy little boy...

Parker is officially in a big boy bed, no more crib! For real this time, ;). I got him a race car bed and he loves it, from the first night he has slept it in wonderfully and even sleeps in. I am super happy about it, considering he figured out how to climb out of the crib.

In other news, since Parker named our car "Lightning McQueen," I decided to make it fact...

And although I'm a little overprotective of Lightning McQueen, we went out for ice cream the other night and Tim convinced me to let Parker have an ice cream cone IN THE CAR. Surprisingly, Parker did awesome and didn't spill any of it.

Summer is almost over and I feel like it just began. In another month, kids will be going back to school and soon after football games with start and the fall air will kick in. Of course, with the wacky weather around here it might be 90 degrees in the fall!



Independence

Parker has newfound Independence in so many things lately. His speech has improved greatly, while he isn't saying many sentences, he is able to express exactly what he wants (for the most part) and he is loving it. So am I... most of the time.

The picture above of him looking so innocent and sweet was only moments before a major fit. We were out to eat with my mom and her friend Lynn, when we got to the restaurant he wanted to sit in booster seat in the booth with nana. We had never sat in a booster seat, but I told him if he would sit there and be good he could. That lasted about 5 minutes. He then wanted to get up, I told him if he got up he would have to sit in a highchair. After 3 warnings, I got a highchair and put him in it... oh my. We were that family with the ridiculously screaming child, flailing arms and legs and screaming "my chair, my chair, my chair!" I am not sure if I have ever been that embarrassed. I told Parker to either stop crying, or I was taking him home. He would not stop crying so we left... even more embarrassing. Luckily we hadn't ordered  yet. He cried for about 10 minutes on the way home and I tried to explain to him why we left, but I'm not sure if he quite understood. All I know is, I hope this never happens again!

In more exciting news, we had a great 4th of July. Tim and I went to my friend Brandy's pool party during the day (was way too hot for Parker at 106 degrees!)

Miss Lennon

That evening, we went to Tim's brother's house for a barbeque and Parker had so much fun. He got to swim with Tim's niece and nephew and he thought he was so big. This is the first time he has gone swimming without his puddle jumper, just a little ring and I was so proud of him.

Parker and Bella

Parker, Bella, and Matthew

Mommy's Boy!

Tim and I

We have had quite an eventful few weeks, it has been so hot here but that hasn't slowed us down too much. We are supposed to get a break from the heat next week, and I think everyone is more than ready. We haven't had this long of a heat wave in Southern Illinois since 1936!

Time with Chase

I got to spend a few days with my sister, brother-in-law, and new nephew a couple of weeks ago and I was in heaven! I missed my own baby boy, but he was with nana and pawpaw so he didn't mind at all. Mostly my sister, Chase, and I just lounged around the house and it was great. I did a few different little photo sessions, and here are a few of  my favorites... sorry, it's hard to narrow them down!

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to spend a few days with them, they live 6.5 hours away so it is a little rough on me being that far away from my first nephew, but I will be taking Parker to meet Chase next month and then they will be coming here to visit in September so that makes it a lot easier! 

Life's a Circus!

We braved our very first circus! It was actually a lot of fun, but some of the things were not very interesting to Parker, like the ladies hanging by their hair... However, he did love riding an elephant!



That was quite the experience for both of us. Fun fact: I also rode an elephant at my first circus, I was about 4 years old and I still remember it... Maybe I'll try to find that picture. Parker really loved the motorcycle show the most out of the whole thing, which is why we stayed to the very end. He was amazed, for some reason he is really in to motorcycles.

In other news, I got a new car!! =) It is a Hyundai Elantra and I love it, it has navigation so it is very handy when you need to get somewhere. Parker calls it McQueen, so I guess that will have to be his name...

Parker thought he could be smooth and tell his momma that the regular seat was where he was supposed to sit... sorry little man, not for another 6 years at least.



I love this little boy so much. He is starting to talk so much, and he will now repeat just about anything you say. He calls Tim "Tip" and my sister Kathy "Kacky" and he loves saying his bedtime prayers, we pray for just about everyone we can think of. I am so blessed.



Welcome to the World Chase!

I went to bed Saturday night at 11:30 and at 2:35AM woke to a call from my brother-in-law telling me my sister's water had broke! I was so excited. Only problem is, we live in Southern Illinois and they live in Columbus Ohio.. so they're about 6-7 hours away. I called my dad and we left as soon as we could. After a long drive, we arrived at 11:25 in the parking lot of the hospital. My adorable nephew was born at 11:29AM, 7 lbs 7 oz and 20 in long!



I am so glad we got to be there, he is absolutely precious, and I think they are pretty proud of him!

My dad got to hold him first, then I held him, then we let all of Andrew's family have a turn ;)



What a great Father's Day present for Andrew! After we got to hold Chase my dad and I went out to eat and Olive Garden so they could get settled into their permanent room. When we returned to the room he was all cleaned up and just as adorable as ever. He makes more little noises than any newborn baby I've ever seen, even in his sleep it sounds like he's singing to himself. That evening we made our way back to Sis and Andrew's house to clean up (her water broke in bed!) and get some sleep then came back the next morning...

I really didn't want to leave, but I had to be at work at 9PM so we had to leave around 1:00. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, even knowing I'll be back in a few weeks. He will change so much in that time, and I'd love to be closer to help my sister out, but I will just have to be happy with the time I get with them. Parker loves his cousin Chase, he hasn't met him yet but he loves to kiss his picture it is about the sweetest thing ever. Welcome to the world Chase Maddux!

Visiting our Besties

Our besties recently moved to Taylorville, which is about 2.5 hours away from us. At first I thought this was a bad thing, but then I realized that just meant we would have to go see them often and this past week was our first visit. We really had a good time. The best part about Taylorville is that it is about halfway between my house and our other best friend's house! So of course we had to go surprise Joy in Chicago, you know, because we were so close =)

We've all came a long way since we met two years ago, but through it all our friendship has only gotten stronger. Looking forward to many more visits!