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