Wrapping Presents

I kept telling myself that I should put the wrapping paper away, but I still had a few presents to wrap and thought that I could get to them before Parker became interested in the paper.  When I walked into our bedroom Parker had already unwrapped one of his gifts and was trying to figure out how to wrap himself. What a good helper!                

We're Gonna Make It

Parker has been sick for the last four weeks and is finally better.  It was just a runny nose for two weeks and then he started getting a fever and a severe cough; he'd cough so hard he'd throw up.  :(  In the last two weeks, I think we've watched the Winnie the Pooh movie thirty times... maybe more.  Parker is a snuggler, but the day that his fever peaked he hardly left my lap.  We knew he was really sick because he fell asleep on the couch watching his show, which hasn't happened since he was a newborn.  Sometimes he falls asleep in the car on long car rides, but other than that, he always falls asleep in his crib.  It was so cute that I had to take a picture.

Taking care of a sick kid is no fun, but it would have been alright if it was just him that got sick.  No such luck.  Paul got the flu, and then I caught a cold, which I'm just getting over.  I feel like we've been stuck inside for an eternity not wanting to pass our germs around- thank goodness it's almost over!

The last couple days Parker has been so happy and silly and giggly.  I'm so glad to have our fun little guy back.

Mischief Managed!

I'd say that our apartment is pretty well baby-proofed, with the obvious exception noted in the last post.  A friend that stayed with us awhile ago commented how good it was that we were keeping Parker safe.  Uh, yes, safe, that's it.  Riiiiiight.  Of course we keep doors that have chemicals, knives, etc. locked, but for the most part it's actually because it's much easier to keep things clean and organized that can't be accessed by toddler hands.

The lock on our refrigerator broke last week and it took Parker all of four hours to find out.  It's now his favorite place to play.  Many things have been pulled out and spilled out onto the floor and once he slipped in the juice of some peaches that spilled, which I thought would be a deterrent from further play, but he seems to have forgotten.

Sometimes he likes to try and close the door on himself and hide in the fridge.  He'll say "bye bye!" and then a moment later, "Boo!"  Other times he'll just sit on the shelf and tell himself a story.

He's going to be so sad once the new lock arrives in the mail.

I Think I Need A Lock On My Makeup Drawer

Happy Haircut!

Guess Parker's Favorite Parent

And I'll give you a hint... It's not me.

Paul almost always gets up with Parker (for which I'm sure he will be rewarded countless blessings in Heaven), but a few weeks ago Paul was feeling under the weather, so I dragged my lazy bones out of bed to attend to our screaming child.  When Paul gets Parker in the morning, I usually hear Parker say "hello!" or "hi!" or "door."  Expecting the same warm welcome, I was rather disgruntled when Parker saw me and cried, "Nooooooooo!" and then threw himself back onto his mattress.  It has played out the same way every other time in the last two weeks that I've woken up with him. 

Sadly, it doesn't stop there. 

Parker knows that he has to hold a hand when we're in a parking lot.  If ever the three of us are together it goes a little like this:
Me: "Parker, hold my finger."
Parker: "Noooooooo!"
Me: "Ok, then hold Daddy's finger."
Parker: Squeals in delight and runs to hold Paul's finger.

Also... I usually get out of the car before Paul and when Parker sees me through the back window he (assuming that I'm about to get him out of his carseat) screams "Noooooooo!"  Suddenly he's happy as a clam when Paul opens up the back door and proceeds to unstrap the restraints.

Two nights ago I came into the living room holding Parker's pajamas and a diaper and said, "Ok, Parker let's get ready for nigh-nigh," Parker said... well, I'll let you guess what happened next.

Sometimes when he acts like this I'm tempted to be offended.  Does he know who carried him in the womb for nine long months?  Does he realize what I've sacrificed in order to stay at home and play cars with him and change those stinky diapers?  Doesn't he know that I'm actually the cooler parent?  (Just kidding about the last one.)  But then I remember that his preference for Paul over me actually makes my job easier, not to mention that I think it makes Paul feel special, so I guess it's okay. 

Applesauce

Earlier this week Parker and I spent the day at Grammy's house learning how to make and jar homemade applesauce.  This stuff is so good!  Way, way, way better than the stuff you buy from the store.  Unless that store is Trader Joe's, then in that case, it's pretty comparable.  What I thought would be a year's supply may end up only being a month's supply.

HALLOWEEN

We really lived up Halloween this year.  Parker was a puppy (although most of the time you couldn't tell because he didn't like wearing his hat), Paul was Brian Wilson and I was a fairy.  It started with our ward Trunk-or-Treat.  Here we are in the "photo booth."

Paul with his friend Jared, aka Nacho:

Our car:  (We carved pumpkins this year for the first time since we've been married!)

On Halloween morning, a bunch of girls from the ward got together with the kiddos for a party and lunch. 

We weren't planning on trick-or-treating with Parker, but he got soooo excited just handing out candy to other kids that came to our door, that we decided to visit a few apartments in our neighborhood.

And then the REAL fun began- Parker got to eat his candy! 

The Pumpkin Patch

Choosing a pumpkin:

Helping Parker smile/checking for periodontal disease:

Getting a ride from a wheelbarrow:

Getting chased by a wheelbarrow:

Corn Maze Conquered!

Playing on the hay:

Birthday #26

I had a lovely birthday this year.  Mother Nature provided Paul with the perfect idea for a gift on my special day- a window air conditioner for our bedroom.  (It was over 100 degrees on Monday and even hotter on Tuesday!)  And now our room stays at a glorious 78 degrees.  Ahhhh...

Our babysitter, Uncle Nate, was going to watch Parker for us while we went out to dinner, but he ended up having to stay at the hospital late, so we took Parker with us.  (Nate stayed with us while he did a vascular surgery externship at UCI.)  Parker must have known it was my birthday, because he was on his best behavior.  We went to a gourmet waffle shop in Orange called Bruxie.  I had the fried chicken waffle and Paul had the bacon, egg and cheddar waffle.  Parker mostly ate our waffle cut french fries.

 The party continued on to Wednesday when we had cake-- carrot with cream cheese frosting.  Yum! 

 Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so special!

And while I was blogging...

Parker was getting ready to go for a drive.  His new favorite pastime is sitting in the front seat of our car, twisting the wheel back and forth, pushing every button and twisting every knob.  So far, we've only had our battery die once from the headlights being left on.  And while it's not my favorite pastime, I usually bring my phone or a book out with me and it's not so bad.  If I've talked with you on the phone in the last month between the hours of 7am and 7pm, there's a good chance I've done it from the passenger seat.  Even when sweat is pouring down his little face (have I mentioned how hot it's been lately?), he cries bloody murder when I make him come inside.  Paul thinks that we should give the Jetta to Parker and we should get a new car. 

GUILTY!

He had eaten at least two cookies and was hoping for a third before I caught him in the act.

19 Months

In honor of Parker hitting the 19 month mark today, I cleaned the peanut butter off our video camera so Parker can show off his new tricks.



In addition to these amazing feats, he can also say these words:

*bye
*hello
*hot
*Elmo
*puppy (pronounced "baba")
*Word World (pronounced "Wuh Wuh")
*night night
*no
*yes
*Where'd it go? (pronounced "uuuuuh go")
*nose
*eyes

5 YEARS

Our anniversary was a week ago (August 25th) and we celebrated by seeing the new Batman movie and having Jack In the Box for dinner. We loved it- both the movie and the food. In the past we've done something a little more exciting, but we figured that Hawaii was part of our anniversary celebration, and possibly birthday/Christmas/Mother's Day/Father's Day/Kwanza/Groundhog Day celebration too.

Here's a few Always and Nevers that we've discovered about each other in the last five years:

PAUL ALWAYS/ COURTNEY NEVER:
* is in charge of anything car related, even though Courtney is primarily the one who uses the car
* cleans the shower
* turns clothes right-side-out before putting them in the laundry basket
* wakes up with Parker in the morning
* prefers savory breakfast over sweet
* is the first to say sorry
* locks up our apartment at night
* washes the dishes that have to be done by hand
* wants to play on Saturday mornings
* watches The Patriot (from CleanFlicks) every 4th of July
* counts down the days to college football
* buys toys with personal money
* gets really excited about celebrating holidays
* reads finance-related articles online
* gets hair cut at home

COURTNEY ALWAYS/ PAUL NEVER:
* measures ingredients when cooking/baking
* kisses Parker goodnight
* falls asleep watching movies started after 9:00pm
* pays the bills
* eats vegetables without being coerced
* does the laundry
* wants to do chores on Saturday morning
* stresses about being on time
* wants to stick to a budget
* is in the process of reading a book
* gets misty watching The Biggest Loser, Mormon Messages, Bambi, and others
* prefers fruity desserts to chocolate
* blogs

Parker's Room

Do you remember Parker's old room?

No more living in a closet for this little nugglet! He'd like to take you on a tour.





Where's Parker??

This is the view from his window. We spend a lot of time at that pool!

Also, please note these awesome blackout curtains that I made:
Here's a picture when the curtains are drawn. It's actually not as dark as this picture makes it out to be, but it still blocks out a lot of light which has been very helpful for naps and sleeping in past 6:00am.

It's Hot!

I've become a softie- anything above 90 degrees makes me melt. At our old apartment we had central AC and discounted utilities, so we had no problem keeping the thermostat set at a comfortable 74 degrees. Aah... those were the good old days! Now we have a wall unit that only cools down the front room, and I think that even if we ran it all day, the temperature in our apartment wouldn't fall below 78. At least we're in a downstairs unit. Most of the time we just leave the AC off and hope that the fans will provide enough relief. We are adapting, though, and have closed off the entrance to the kitchen (which has a big window facing the sun) with our shower curtain and we keep the bathroom door closed too. It helps, but I'm certainly looking forward to cooler days.

Here's Parker beating the heat at one of the local splash pads: