ideas

1/27/11

Tonight while Parker lays against my chest swaddled in his Aden & Anais purple monkey swaddling blanket and Jake lays next to me in our bed watching Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated, I've been looking for several of them.

Jake's fourth birthday is a month from today...so, so hard to believe, but that's beside the point. I thought for sure this may be the year where he has his own wish list for the type of party he would like to have, but I swear he has changed his mind more often than I've showered in the past three weeks. And then there's the little issue of his answers to the magic question ("What would you like to do for your birthday, Baby?") being things he's pulled straight from his massive imagination. Like wanting to see robots sitting at the table next to him sharing his birthday cake? Okay, yeah. So after that one (and I'm sure now you understand why) I've pulled the trigger, and I'm taking this one into my own hands. Maybe next year, Buddy. So tonight I officially went on what I'd like to call a "Birthday Party Idea Hunt", and I think I may have found the perfect one. I'll definitely keep you posted on what I come up with...just as soon as I quit changing my mind as often as Jake has (Yes, he gets it from me.  What can I say?). And just so you know, planning my oldest baby's birthday party is pretty much more exciting than Christmas shopping for me, so I'm seriously okay with being able to create his party...for at least one more year anyway (Thank you, Baby, for being so indecisive.).

I've also been looking for ideas for a bathroom re-do.  The bathroom that Jake and Parker now share is in need of a touch of Parker.  As of right now, it's all about Jake with pictures on the walls and countertops of him playing on the beach and monogrammed towels that hang from a decorative towel rack.  I've absolutely loved it, but I loved it for Jake.  Ideas and inspriation to make it the best of both their worlds...here I come!

And last but not least, this blog is ready for a makeover.  After all...we are no longer a family of three.  We've added one more, so changes are on the way.  As soon as I finish planning a birthday party for my favorite soon-to-be four year old and making over the bathroom, of course.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

1/26/11

Today, I'm loving ...

that I feel like my two week hiatus from blogging is finally over.  It's so about time ya'll!...

this sneak peek of Parker's photo session he had this past Sunday...

that Jake has his first swim lesson coming up this Saturday morning.  And holy cow, is he pumped?!...

that I was actually able to fit into a pair of pants that I was wearing pre-Parker (And I pinky swear you they didn't have elastic in the waist.)...

my DVR...and that it always has something waiting for me to watch when it's three o'clock in the morning and absolutely nothing else is on other than infomercials for the Shark vacuum or Proactive... 

the cough and congestion medicine Jim picked up for me at CVS (which is weird that I even need it because I don't sound or feel bad at all but somehow I have a cough)...

additional thirty percent off sales at Gap just when I needed one...

having a working washer and dryer.  And I don't think I even have to elaborate on that one.  Ha!...

the whimpers and cries that are coming from the newborn squirming on my chest...

which means I have a four ounce bottle to make and a hungry mouth to feed...

which means...

Goodnight Everyone!

in just two weeks...

1/22/11

our family of three has become four...

ounces have been gained and a half inch has been grown...


two little boys are now brothers...

nurses are now called friends...


highs have been reached from the smell of lotion...

entire days have been spent in pajamas...


feeding and sleeping schedules have been established...

no hour on the clock has gone unseen...


hundreds of kisses have been placed on newborn skin...

feelings of completeness exist...


and hearts are more overjoyed than minds could imagine

Bonding

1/21/11

It's what we


and they


have been doing


for the past thirteen

 

absolutely wonderful, blissful days



and I wouldn't trade one for the whole world!

On Hold

1/13/11

This blog


has been


on hold


so that I


can hold him.


Parker Andrew Bryant Landers
January 8, 2011,  9:09am
7 lbs., 7 ounces  19 inches long

Welcome to our family, our hearts, and our lives forever!

We Love You!

Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother Jake


Random but True

1/5/11

If looks could kill, I would give our 12-year old Sheltie a super mean one right about now. She has either whined or barked off and on all.night.long. And by off and on, I mean Off................(long pause...oh about ten minutes long...long enough for me to get relaxed and sleepy again) and On (repeat this process at least a hundred times). If she only knew her life span rested in our hands and just one quick trip to our vet clinic. But with her brain cells numbering the teeth she still has left, she wouldn't know.

I had two strangers ask me yesterday when in the world I was due to have Parker - all because I "look like I'm ready to pop." Awesome!

Jake has been in our bed since 1 am. He went for quite a stretch of staying in his own bed, at least a good month or so. But for the past two weeks, he has stalked my side of the bed, climbing in with random things in tow (his blanket that he'll probably go to college with, his Toy Story garbage truck stuffed with Matchbox cars, and let's not forget the green aliens from the same movie or the Batman that sits on my bedside table at this very moment).

Last night Jim went to a meeting at Jake's preschool about what to expect as he enters K-4 in the Fall. He said he was more than glad he took one for the home team and went to that one himself. He was blown away by just how different his routine will be and what a big boy he will become next year. Sniff...sniff...

The Bachelor started on Monday night (which has me now saying T.G.I.M), and I just have a few words - Fangs, Hot Pink Wedges, Ruby Slippers (only they weren't really slippers), and Slap-in-the-face.

The alarm on Jim's cell phone jams every morning to "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and The News.

Now that I mention alarms, mine is about to do the same thing, so I guess it's about time I get my day on.

about a boy and his scooter

1/4/11

While I'm still working on my list of New Year's resolutions...

wishing I hadn't forgotten to record the first episode of The Bachelor that aired tonight...

and wondering how long I'll be awake since I came home from a half day spent at work (yes, it's officially back to the grind or half-grind I should say, since I'm shortening my days now) and a half day spent driving to and from my doctor's appointment...

I thought I would make this post all about Jake riding the Toy Story themed (since that's the only movie that exists to him right now) scooter that he got from his grandparents for Christmas...

no words in between...

just photos that tell a story about a boy and his scooter.







Do you get the impression he loves this thing or what? 

Uh huh.  I figured you might say that you did.

What I'm Loving This Week

1/2/11

I'm loving....

it that I've slept like a baby - any time of any day.  In fact, I ate that way, took showers that way, had absolutely no schedule at all, and it was complete paradise right here in my own home!

my new do!  Finally...the blond highlights are back, and I'm pretty sure I've told them every day since I got them how much I missed them.

my heating pad - because it's worked wonders for this mean upper back pain.

that I technically got nothing done (Or at least that's what I would ordinarily feel like - trying to scratch things off of a list of "Things to Do" and feeling like I actually accomplished stuff like doing extra cleaning or projects around the house), but what I did do is more important than anything I didn't do.

Pillsbury reindeer and snowman ready-to-bake cookies that Jim found on clearance at Target.

the time I spent this week with my husband and son that I'll never get back.

my list of New Year's Resolutions (that I usually don't make, but this year, I'm going for it) that's still a work in progress, and the thought of actually accomplishing every single one.

Back to 2009 Rewind

Well, 2011 is in full swing. The first day has come and gone, and it's been a great one. From resting to doing laundry to watching Julia Robert's movie Eat Pray Love to deciding I will never spend over twenty dollars again to have an applique sewn onto one of Parker's gowns and doing it myself to doing pretty much anything else I can do while reclining, it's been fantastic.

I also happened to run across these old photos when I was going through all the ones that are tucked away on my computer and thinking about how another year has come and gone.


In fact, I could have sworn these are taken just this past year, and then I realized they're actually from 2009.

They're also from our trip to the Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, Georgia - one of which I've shared way back when.


The way this place works is you rent a van (Or you can use your own vehicle - but having done this one time around, I seriously never, ever recommend anyone do that...ever!), buy some food, and try to make your way through the crowd of animals that will literally come right up to your vehicle, and stick as much of their bodies as they possible can inside with you to reach the pellets of food they can smell a mile away.


They'll follow you, acting like they've never eaten in their lives and will allow you to reach right out and pet them like a new puppy that Santa Claus brought last week.

It's one of the wildest and, come to think of it, most un-natural things ever...


just ask my Mom and Dad because they were with us.


This was definitely one ride was my mom was more then ready to get off of...


but judging from his expression, he had the time of his life.


These two were pretty happy we came too.



After a water break and visits with a few more animals that weren't allowed to "roam free", we called it a day -



a day, a trip, an experience we won't forget and hopefully one day get to do all over again (Only next time I'm certain my mom will pass on the opportunity. Yep. I'm pretty sure this was a once-in-a-lifetime for her.).