Christmas Eve 2011

Appetizers for dinner and decorating gingerbread houses.

Parker was very excited to decorate the train! Most of the candy he touched never made it to the train though...

We opened one present each, Parker opened two- pajamas and a toy.

Courtney helped Parker ice the train together.

We took Parker to his first movie in a theater on Christmas Eve, "The Muppets". I was skeptical about taking him, but he was very entertained and enjoyed the entire movie. Can you imagine a bucket of popcorn the size of your torso?

Parker was mostly quiet during the movie but in the previews he made a lot of comments like, "uh-oh" when something went wrong, "broke" when a boat snapped in half, and "scared" when he thought something was scary.

Brett turns 30!

I snapped a few pictures at the beginning of the party and then forgot to take any more! Ahhh!

I decided to plan a surprise party for Brett this year. He doesn't generally like surprises but I knew he wouldn't want me to plan a party if he knew about it. We met up with about 18 family and friends at a local restaurant. Brett figured it out when we walked into the restaurant because the hostess pointed to our large group when I told her that I had reservations. Brett really enjoyed seeing some family, church friends and school friends over a giant burger and no kids!
So, in honor of the birthday boy, here are 30 fun facts you may or may not have known about Brett:

1. He can be quite the romantic and has been known to plan amazing anniversary/valentine's day celebrations.
2. He got a 4.0 his first semester in anesthesia school.
3. Family and patients went out of their way to tell the hospital what an amazing nurse he was in the ICU.
4. He has lived in 5 states.
5. He served a 2 year church mission in Independence, MO
6. He enjoys ironing and wearing button-up shirts.
7. He thinks the only down side to working in health care is wearing scrubs (crazy! I know!)
8. He enjoys baking, but not cooking very much.
9. He does as much or more of the vacuuming and laundry as I do.
10. He can fall asleep anywhere and sleep anytime.
11. He is kinda grumpy when he wakes up (Parker inherited this).
12. He enjoys watching and playing almost every sport.
13. He can easily admit when he is wrong and laugh at his mistakes.
14. He inhales peanut butter m&m's.
15. He also has a deep and abiding passion for pizza.
16. He is really good at sharing his food with me.
17. He is very funny and has a great sense of humor.
18. He would love to have the time to learn to build cool stuff and the excuse to buy manly tools.
19. He enjoys shopping, every kind. Grocery shopping, clothes shopping, even shopping for me. He is usually the one who buys my clothes or talk me into buying something.
20. He is also good at budgeting and managing the money.
21. He sometimes laughs to keep himself from crying.
22. He didn't like cats when we first started dating but fell to the charms of my Peepurrs and was dying for a cat of our own when we bought our house.
23. He was a very picky eater growing up. He is much better now and has a pretty short list of things he won't eat.
24. He is a great father and has his heart melted by Parker on a daily basis.
25. He thinks the best of people and doesn't talk bad about anyone.
26. He is meticulous when working with his hands and very good at small motor skills. This came in handy doing IV's, dispensing drugs, etc. and will certainly make him a great CRNA.
27. He doesn't really enjoy talking on the phone.
28. He is allergic to the skins of most fruits and some raw vegetables.
29. He is smart, handsome, funny.
30. He is mine.

Hollidazzle Parade and Macy's Display 2011

On December 16th, we went to the Hollidazzle Parade downtown with my parents. Papa can always get Parker laughing.

All bundled up. I was a little over prepared this year. It was a lot warmer that last year.

This was the highlight of the parade for Parker, the train! He loves trains right now. He was mesmerized and watched it until it was completely out of sight.

We fought the crowds and went to the Macy's Christmas display after the parade. Because of the economy, Macy's has kept the theme the same for the last several years- "A day in the life of an Elf".

Parker was fascinated by it all. The elf world was exactly his size and he tried to climb into the display several times. I don't blame him! He would have had a lot of fun in there.

Nana and Parker

We thought it was funny that Parker was careful to not step on any letters to Santa that decorated the floor.

Very curious about the display!

Some of Parker's favorite people, Papa and Nana! He asks to go the their house several times a day!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Can you tell Parker was up past bedtime? He would only take the picture sitting in his chair and refused to smile. We had just come home from the church Christmas party where I won for "ugliest Christmas sweater". I don't think my sweater was really the worst, but I did have a good story behind it. The judges said it was the poinsettia turtleneck that really pushed it my way.
I asked my mom who was going over to my grandma's house to grab a sweater for me the day before the party. My mom told my grandma that everyone at the party was supposed to wear a Christmas themed sweater, and thought I might fit into one of hers since I'm pregnant. My sweet grandma insisted my mom take several sweaters for me to choose from, some of which she was going to wear to a party of her own but wanted me to have the first choice. This is when I started to feel bad because the other sweaters were actually quite nice and she was giving them up for me. My mom called my grandma the morning of the party to tell her I chose a sweater and she could wear the other ones to her party. She told my mom that if I liked the sweater that I picked out so much, I could just keep it! Yeah, I kinda feel bad. But maybe I can justify it by telling myself she is better off with that sweater out of her wardrobe. By the way, Parker's sweater and turtleneck came from Goodwill, I love that place! Brett was off studying for finals, we miss him a lot lately.

In pj's, watching Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer by the Christmas tree...perfect!

Thanksgiving 2011

Surprise, surprise, Brett at the dessert table! Here is Brett and my mom, Brett is sporting his manhood for "No Shave November".

Some more pie eaters.

Me and Nietnie (Courtney). She not really that much taller than me, she was wearing shoes and I think the baby is pulling my spine down a bit...

I forgot to take many good pictures during dinner, so I thought this gem might make up for the lack, did it work?

I dare you to find my mom talking without her hands, impossible!

Halloween 2011

In the parade at the ward party.

Ward trunk or treat.

The stash.

Brett carved a school bus for Parker on his pumpkin. They are his current obsession!

On our 8th anniversary, Parker spent some time with Nana so we could go out. He had a lot of fun making these candy corn cookies with her! Apparently he had a difficult time leaving the dough on the baking sheet, he kept sneaking bites!

Parker absolutely LOVED Halloween. At first he wanted nothing to do with his costume, but after a tantrum he quickly learned that wearing the costume = candy! Brett took him to several houses in the neighborhood thinking that would be enough. When Parker got home he wanted to get back out there. Walking wasn't quick enough for him either, he ran to each door! It was so fun to see his excitement as he learned the trick or treating ropes!

Halfway Done- Sneak Peak

Belly shot at 19 weeks (currently 21 weeks).
It's a BOY!
I can't say that we were surprised by the gender but we are excited! Names don't come easy to us so it helps to focus on boys names now. I am feeling SO MUCH better and starting to enjoy the pregnancy. This little boy is VERY active, which has been confirmed by all four ultrasound technicians and my doctors when looking for a heartbeat. The pictures above are from the level 2 ultrasound. Those usually last 1-2 hours and are very fun looking at every detail of baby. It's just fun seeing them for that long. It really made me want to meet my baby. The technician at the level 2 was very sweet and patient since the baby would not hold still. At first she would say, "ok, sweet peanut, hold still for me" and by the end of the 2 hours she had my chair tilted with my head below my feet, laying on my side (trying to pin him down) and saying, "ok you little fart, STOP moving!". It was pretty funny. Looks like I might need a new pair of running shoes to chase this one!

Precious Little Boy

My friend Ginger snapped these on a fall walk we took the kids on. Parker would NOT cooperate, so this is the best we have. It still makes a mother's heart warm to look at. My sweet, sweet boy I hope you never grow up.

Cowboy Pajamas

Parker loves his cowboy pajamas!

Parker shooting Daddy

Then Daddy shot him, good aim Brett!

This Here Boy is Corn Fed

Hims loves corn on the cob.

Fall Festival

Parker loves fire trucks right now so he was in heaven! They had 3 different trucks and it was hard to get Parker out of each one.

He also loved the pony ride. He thought it was very funny when his pony shook his head.

This is the best smile we could get, he was busy with his sucker.

The Fall Festival came a couple of weeks ago. I volunteered at our ward's booth and then met up with Brett and Parker. The weather was not as good this year but we still had fun. It is the best to watch Parker get excited about free balloons, candy, sitting in the fire truck, riding a pony and a kit to make a wooden toy. We love him so much!

Twins Game

On Monday night we were able to go to the Twins Game with some awesome tickets our friends had.

I think we were in the 5th row. We sat right above the Twins dugout. With seats like that, I actually enjoyed watching the game. Target Field was very fun. Our seats were padded and our little section had its own bathroom and concession stand (ugh, sharing with the common people is so below us! haha).