Parker is 4!

Now, I haven't blogged about this yet....right?! ;)

Four years of loving on this sassy, goofy, caring little lady. The baby girl who made me a mama, who mirrors me from her looks to her silliness to her stubbornness,, who loves to cuddle, who calls me her "best mama."  My Parker Sophia!

At age four, Parker is into:

The farm.  And how could she not? Since she was a wee little thing we’ve been heading 30 minutes north for a little taste of the country life.  Chickens, kittens (her absolute, hands down favorite thing ever), horses, magic shows, farm shows, hay rides, pony rides, pumpkin picking, cider, donuts…what’s not to love? Our summers and falls are not complete without spending long days at the farm.

Friends. While we loved our old house dearly, the schools were just…mediocre.  Go a few miles north while remaining in the same town but within a new school zone and you’re into nationally ranked territory.  When touring our new house the first time I was pleasantly surprised to see the culdesac filled with young children and their parents, all socializing and having fun.  I chatted with one of the moms who told me that this area draws people just like us—moving solely for the excellent schools—and that we would fit right in.

And fit right in we did.  Countless days and nights have been spent in the court, in neighbors homes, in our backyards.  Everyone really is just like us and it warms my heart to see Parker building these friendship with her little neighbor friends.  On this particular evening, the neighborhood crew ventured out for a Halloween pumpkin lighting event and hay sliding.  Parker of course had a blast.

Being a princess J Because why not!    

Loving life.  Enjoying her birthday at a local indoor play place.  I can’t tell you how many times she went down that two story orange slide, or helped her baby sister up the structure, or had slide races.

American Girl dolls! Parker (and let’s not lie, her mama too) is obsessed with her new Isabelle.  Every night Isabelle is dressed in her jammies and every morning gets dressed into her clothes for the day.  Parker loves browsing through the American Girl catalog and measuring her Isabelle to the one in the magazine.  Now Isabelle isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.   She has caused a lot of drama between big and lil sis.  Teagan always wants her and while Pakrer is pretty good with sharing, she also wants to play with her doll on her own (and rightfully so).  So Santa may be bringing Teagan her own AG very soon :)

Whenever I ask Parker what she's going to ask Santa for Christmas, she replies, "An American Girl doll for my baby sister Teagan."  So sweet.  

Sweets.  Devouring my homemade number 4 birthday cake right here.  We’re semi potty training Teagan right now (she’s actually pretty much doing it on her own) and at first as a reward we’d give Teagan an M&M when she went potty.   Teagan ended up not caring too much about the chocolate motivation but who was quick to remind us to dish it out? Miss P.   

Present opening was a lot of fun..for Parker at least.  Poor Teags.

Parker has been looking forward to her Chuck E Cheese birthday party for months, ever since her friend had a party there this past summer, and it certainly didn't disappoint.

Seating for 22 kids...whoa!

Serious business at CEC

Game face

This cake...incredible, right?!

In all her glory

Spend thousands of dollars at Disney and Teagan wanted nothing to do with the stuffed characters.  Spend $22 at CEC and she's obsessed with the mouse.  Go figure.

Ticketblaster! Parker was very hesitant.  I was pumped. 

Other exciting times for Miss P.  Pumpkin painting and decorating.

I die laughing at this picture every time.  Parker! Painting her face lol.

So glad that we have these two little girls :)

Happy 4th birthday sweet thang!

Recap: Teagan Turned Two!

**Disclaimer: I currently suffer from a very real condition called Pregnancy Brain.  I realized as Parker and I were looking at the blog that I already wrote a post about Teagan's birthday.  Oh well.  Here are more pics!! :-P**

Birthdays are supposed to be all about what you want to do on your special day.  So on Teagan's special day what did she choose to do? Sleep until 4pm.  Not out of character in the least bit and highly appropriate for doing things the way Teagan wanted them done :)

Once our sleepy head woke up we broke into the presents, ordered take out french fries and ranch (a Teagan favorite), visited one of her favorite parks, indulged in Coldstone cupcakes, and refrained from singing Happy Birthday (we had no choice--Teagan cannot stand when we sing that song.  Like screams no and is near tears.  Silly girl).  It was a great day celebrating as a family and loving on Teagan.  Our two year old!!

All of us (minus sleepy T) stayed up late decorating with streamers, signs, and balloons.  Lots of balloons. 

Color changing mermaid Barbie was a huge hit.

I couldn't help but to dress Teagan in the exact same outfit Parker wore when celebrating her 2nd birthday.  

Our so sweet Teagan

Teagan is really into playing mommy.  She loves cuddling, feeding, kissing boo boos, and just taking good care of them in general.

Teagan's signature "ole" pose

These girls make my heart melt.

A snapshot of Teaegan at two:

• she loves "chicky nuggets"
• can sleep in like no other.  Typically weekends include sleeping in until 2pm.  Do we have a toddler or a teenager? 
• her easy, go with the flow personality continues.  Rarely cries, always smiles.
• loves singing Twinkle Twinkle (Finkle Finkle lol), ABCs, Peter Rabbit, Rock a Bye Baby, and more
• can count to 10
• she is in the clingy phase.  If a stranger is close she must be in mama's arms
• is still obsessed with Coconut and Almond milk.  We got through about half a gallon every two days! I'm not sure if Teagan is still sensitive to cow's milk since we haven't tried it in a long time but I'm not about to rock the boat.
• picky eater for the most part, but she loves her some sliced cheese and Go-Gurt
• very good at describing her feelings (my tired, my hungry), is polite (lots of "peas" and "fank yous," loving (always says "yuv you" and gives lots of hugs of kisses, and has those gorgeous ringlet curls 

Happy birthday Teagan!! I'm so lucky to be your mama!!

Three times as fun!

The cat is out of the bag...baby #3 is on the way, arriving late April/early May.  We are thrilled to add antoher little one to our growing bunch!

The pregnancy thus far has pretty much mirrored that of Parker and Teagan.  Massive food adversions, not knowing what I want to eat until that exact second (Hot Pockets for breakfast? Sure.  Cheese and crackers for lunch? Why not. Boxed mashed potatoes for dinner? Never sounded better).  Like past pregnancies as well, I gravitate heavily towards processed foods in the first tri. Sheer exhaustion plagued me as well.  Every morning I was dragging myself out of bed, trying to keep my eyes open and not puke all day, coming home and passing out on the couch while still trying not to puke. It seemed never ending but as of about 12.5 weeks I am finally starting to feel more like myself.

Boy or girl??? Ahhh, I'm dying inside!!

We’ve been able to see our little pumpkin on two separate occasions.  Once early on at 6 weeks and again at week 12.  For the 12 week appointment we brought Parker along as she is very curious and excited about the new baby (she has mentioned it is a girl and we should name her Ashley.  She asks interesting questions, like does the food I eat fall on the baby? Does the baby cry inside my belly?).  For the big ultrasound mid-December we’ll bring the whole clan to see what’s cooking.

13 weeks

Kris wants a boy, I want a girl.  I’m pretty sure we’ll get one of those.  I’ve analyzed the heartbeats—148 at 6 weeks, 157 at 11 weeks, and 151 at 12 weeks.   I’ve analyzed the ultrasound pictures.  I have a conclusion about the gender—there is no conclusion until December 9^th at 9am.  Our big day.

Today I’m 14 weeks 1 day along.  Early into the 2^nd trimester and hopefully getting to the peak of my energy during this pregnancy.  Which is good, because I tend to paint the entire house when I’m pregnant and our new home needs it.  Love the house but I could not pick more hideous paint colors if I tried.  So far we’ve paint Parker and Teagan’s room, the living and dining room, and the family room.  I primed the half bath and painted half of the kitchen before I realized I could not stand the new color.  Off to find a new color soon.

In other news, last night was Halloween! 35 degrees (feel like temp was 27) and it snowed the entire time.  Still a blast.  We ran around the sub with neighbor friends for about an hour.  At that point, Parker started crying because it was so cold.  Back inside sounds good to me! We cuddled up, watched some Halloween shows, and handed out candy.

Some pics of our (many) Halloween outings this year.

Subdivision party.  This sub throws loads of parties.  The Halloween one was complete with pony and unicorn rides (for real), a petting zoo, candy, and the best local cider and donuts you'll ever taste (why yes, Yates of course!)

Teagan appears mildly concerned.

This girl loves her a selfie.  I'm talking about Teagan.

Magical! Mythical!

School Halloween party, full of games, food, friends, and fun!

Minds are blown

Real life sisters!

My office Halloween bash:

Bump ahead.  Get it?1 ;) 

Cheese and crackers are always a hit

One day I will get a picture with everyone smiling and everyone looking at the camera.  One day.

And finally, actual Halloween with the neighborhood crew.

Whew! I have so much still to catch up on.  Disney, Teagan and Parker turning a year older, etc.  Soon :)