Update

Parker:
This kid keeps us laughing. Today he was pretending to be a soccer player. He gave Patrick the name of "Piso" and me the name of "diva." Where did those names come from? Who knows. He is also trying to avoid taking naps at all. He likes to play on his bed and "pretend." Each day nap time brings a new adventure. Some days he pretends his bed is the Wiggles' big red car and he drives it places. Other days he is a cowboy and he feeds his three horses (Cota, Dusty, and Trot). On Friday he was "Dr. Parker", so when I checked on him I had to refer to him as such. When he is missing his Daddy, he'll ask me to be his "pretend Daddy" and then ask "when will my real Daddy be home." Oh the mind of a two (almost three) year old.

Potty Training:
We're hanging in there...making progress. He is in "big boy underwear" but not without one accident a day. It's a work in progress.

Pregnancy:
I realized I haven't blogged at all about this pregnancy since we found out we're having a boy. I'll be 33 weeks pregnant tomorrow (I had Parker at 38 weeks). We've decided on the name Griffin Patrick. Parker is really pumped (and so are we)!

House:
We're in and have no boxes left. There is still lots of organizing to be done. We've been doing lots of yard work. We're trying to get things knocked off our to do list before Griffin gets here.

DQ

Last week, Parker and I made a trip to DeQueen. My grandmother recently had a stroke, so we went to visit her. My mom also got a cast, so she needed our help. Parker had a great time playing with Pop, fishing, swimming, eating snow cones, and playing with baby Oaklee. Please pray for my Nanny's recovery.

Our New House

Country Cowboy

You know you live in the country when this is what potty training looks like. We really don't live in the country, but it feels like it to us in our new house. We have a septic tank and are not considered in the city limits. So that's the country, right?

Potty training is going really well, but it is a process. I'm hopeful by next week we won't have any accidents, but we will see. He has about one a day, which is pretty good. We do have bathrooms in our new house, but Parker thinks it's much more fun to water the ants outside.

P & D

Drew Bear and David came by last night to help us with boxes (we move next Wednesday). I had P & D duty. They had so much fun playing together. They both ended up standing on the water table and had to be stripped down to their diapers. They're such a riot!

Florida

We just got back from New Smyrna Beach, Florida on Tuesday night. We had such a great time! We spent a lot of time on the beach. Parker did not like the ocean the first day because he got knocked down by a small wave. He loved it the rest of the time. We went to Magic Kingdom, shopped in Orlando, and watched "manateefs" aka manatees. We enjoyed getting to see G-Ann and spend time together as a family.

Forgiven

Last night we were putting Parker to bed. I asked him what he wanted to pray for. He went through his usual list of names. I then asked him if we should pray for forgiveness for not obeying Mommy and Dadoo (we had one of those days yesterday). We talked about sin and how we had to ask God to take it away and help him learn how to obey (we've talked about sin many times). So....we prayed and asked God to forgive Parker and take away his sin of disobeying. After the prayer we kissed him good night. I could tell that he was bothered by something and then he said, "I want my sin back." Oh the mind of a two year old. I told him that it was yucky and he didn't want it back and left it at that.

My talented friend Amanda

Amanda is one of the most creative people I know! She made this beautiful wreath for my door back in January. I have loved it! I started the guitar painting for Parker last month. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. She volunteers to come over and work on it and this is the result! She had a great idea of using fishing line for the strings. Parker and I got to snuggle with Addison while she painted. Thanks so much Amanda! We're so blessed by you.

Gentry "Fafari"

Last weekend we headed to the Gentry Safari (or "fafari as Parker says) to celebrate Jack Attack's 2nd birthday. Sadly, it was Parker's first time to go to the safari (we only live 30 minutes away). The kid was so excited. He saw the peacocks before we even pulled into the entrance and started yelling, "hey peacocks, I've got bread, come here." We all loaded up in the McGooden's suburban and got to feed lots of welcomed and unwelcomed animals (I'm not a fan of Emu's). Notice the picture of the longhorn.....it's horns are pointing down. That was the highlight of the whole safari! We had such a great time and will definitely be back.....thanks Jack!

It's A.....

Parker is very excited about having a baby brother. That's right, our male count will move to 3 in September. Last week we went for our 15 week check up and Dr. Seale decided it was time to find out what we were having. The hard part is coming up with a name......so, PLEASE make suggestions because we are up for them!

Big Boy Bed

Parker is sleeping in his "big boy bed." It was quite an ordeal to get him to stay there, but thankfully (and finally) he is.

Kite Flying

"Aunt Cake" bought Parker this kite, so we gave it a try. He loved it! There is nothing like flying a kite in your pajamas in a very small backyard. He was happy!

Parker's News....

And we're not talking about the TV show. That's right, Parker is going to be a big brother sometime around September 2! I'm 12 weeks pregnant today. We got to hear the baby's heart beat last week and it was 165. We're so excited and we praise God for answering our prayers!

Finally, Snow!

We were so excited to finally get snow today. When Patrick got home from work, we all headed to the trail at Lake Fayetteville to take a walk in the snow. It was really cold, but really beautiful. It reminded me of the snowy scene from Narnia. Parker really enjoyed it!

Soccer Ball

Kelli heard about a soccer class for 2 year olds at the All Star Sports Arena in Springdale, so we all tried it out today. Last night we went to Wal-Mart to purchase a soccer ball. When we were about to leave Parker told the checkout lady, "I pway soccer with Drew Bear tomorrow." Needless to say he was VERY excited. He did really good at soccer. It was very organized and the kids were able learn about soccer and have a good time. I didn't realize that it would be a workout for mom too! He wants to play "soccer ball" all the time. Last night we told him that he could play soccer inside and he said, "well I can't pway by myself." My livingroom is now a soccer field/football field. Spring can't come soon enough!

New Shades

I know it's a bit premature, but Parker has been requesting sunglasses. We walk on Lake Fayetteville trail all the time. Lately, he has been saying, "the sun hurt my eyes." Today we went to Target so that he could pick out his sunglasses. When I showed him the silver ones, he said, "these are cool."

The other things he is saying:

He is obsessed with being big. He always asks, is Max-o a big boy, is Grant a big boy? Then, he started asking if I was a big girl. His nickname for me now is "Big Mama." I'm not too excited about it. I'm hoping it passes quickly.

His word of the day is actually. I was asking him about what he was making with his play dough and he said, "well, actually...."

I asked Parker if he wanted to go to the mall (we've got cabin fever)....he said, "pwobabwee" (probably).

Yesterday he came up to me and said "What's up Babe?"

Whenever he does something wrong he will say, "I forgive you."

Yesterday when I picked him up from school, his teachers said that he had a lot of fun playing with a little girl in his class. When we were coming home from school, I asked Parker what the little girl's name was. He said, "I can't talk."

We were in heavy traffic and I was trying to make a turn. We were waiting for several minutes. Then Parker shouts, "come on people." I asked him who says that....he says, "Mommy." hmmmm, the things he picks up on!

Our Christmas

"Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above." James 1:17. This is Parker's second verse that he has memorized. It is so true. We did enjoy lots of gifts from friends and family. We also enjoyed the gift of friends and family. We praise God for the gift of His Son, Jesus. We had such a blessed time with all of our family. We started out at the Kelley's and then went to my grandparents. We got to spend some much anticipated time with Clay and Esma (our cousins whom we haven't seen in over a year). On Christmas day we got to spend the day at my parents house with Jason, Cindy, baby Oaklee, Nonna, Pop, my grandparents (all four of them), and the Marlins. It was a great day until 9:00 when we discovered Parker's ear infection. Actually Jason discovered his ear infection (thankfully his clinic is at the end of my parents' driveway). We then went to Atoka, OK to spend more time with Clay, Esma, "Uncle Woger", and "Aunt Cake." Then we all went to Frisco, Texas to spend time shopping, eating, and going to IKEA. It was really, really challenging having a sick kid on the road. That is why we don't have any pictures of us at Christmas. Thankfully, he is doing much better!

More paintings...

These are two paintings that I recently finished. The "AKR" is for Addison Katherine Reed (Amanda & Jim Ed Reed's soon to be born little girl).

Merry Christmas!

We finally made it to the square this year. Parker really enjoyed the lights, the camel, and especially the reindeer. I think this was actually my first time to see a live reindeer. It was pretty cool. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

We had a great time in DeQueen with our family for Thanksgiving. It was great being able to spend time with Oaklee for several days. Parker refers to Oaklee as "Parker's baby brother." We're working on saying cousin.

We are so thankful for the blessings God has given us....like family, and a baby girl, and lots of yummy food. HE is good.