Nothing sweeter....

...than hearing your little one pray.

I just started saying prayers with Parker before bedtime a couple of weeks ago. I think it was long overdue.....but I let my insecurity (the devil) get the best of me.....worrying about the 'right' thing to say.

Sad, I know. Prayers should come from the heart and really.....what could I say 'wrong' to my 2 year old while praying?

I guess because I want to teach her the way to pray....and maybe I just don't really know how to go about that.

But anyway....

On that night....I told her we were going to say our prayers. I laid down beside her, turned off the light, and told her to close her eyes.

I said, "Dear Lord, Thank you for this day and for your many blessings. And thank you for Mommy and Daddy and baby Grace and Parker....and..." and I continued doing this until I went through the whole family and some friends.....then I said "Amen."

She sat so quietly throughout the entire prayer. Her interest was peaked.

When I was done....she quickly asked me to do it again. So I did.

Then I told her it was her turn. She was quiet. I didn't want to pressure her so I told her it was ok and got up to start singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" like I always do.

She said, "No, wait. It's my turn!"

So I laid back down beside her, and she said, "Dear Lord, thank you for my Mommy and my Daddy.....{and the list went on naming more family and friends}". Then she started saying, "....and thank you for my bed and my curtains and my ceiling fan and my clothes and my room. Amen."

I shrieked a giddy shriek inside my head and smiled from ear to ear. I thought to myself, "She got it!"

Every night since then....I have really continued to say that same prayer....but have since added to the beginning "...help Parker to listen to her Mommy and Daddy.....and help Mommy to be patient....and help Daddy to come home safe from work."

And pretty much every night since the first night we prayed together....she has chosen not to pray.

But tonight. Tonight....for some reason....she was ready. And this was her prayer...

"Thank you for my Mommy and my Daddy and my baby sister, and baby Grace, and help Mommy to be patient. And help Daddy to.......come home from work. Amen."

It seriously brought tears to my eyes. I told her it was beautiful...that she did a wonderful job.... and kissed her pretty little head.

Mommy & Me Monday @ the Arboretum

Today- I took Parker to "Mommy & Me Monday" at the arboretum. We have been having some challenging times with Parker's behavior over the past week....and what we always come up with (other than the fact that she is TWO)....is that maybe she just needs some more one on one attention. And the deal is.....she seems to do better when it comes from me!

So this morning...I left the baby with Geoff and we were off.

It wasn't crowded at all (which I loved) because of the heat! We got there around 10:00...which was later than I had planned (as usual).....and stayed for almost 2 hours. We had a wonderful time and I am looking forward to doing it again with her next week! I had already planned in my head that we would do whatever she wanted while we were there....so I didn't foresee any fit throwing...except for the possibility of when it was time to leave.....but I am happy to report....not one fit!!

So here is a recap of our day....


As we were pulling into the parking lot....she told me that she wanted me to carry her (I think she was tired already!)....and I told her no....that I wasn't going to carry her, but that she could ride in the stroller. Which made her happy, too, because she is usually in the double stroller....so I think she felt special to be all alone in the single stroller!

We headed straight to the face painting in case there was a line. Which there was not. We watched one little girl get her face painted and then it was her turn! I asked her what she wanted and she immediately said, "A butterfly!" But then when she sat in the chair....she wanted the Spiderman face. I quickly chimed in and reminded her that she wanted a butterfly.....but if she wants that Spiderman next week....then I'm going to let her get it with not a word from me!


Here....I am holding her up so she can see herself in the mirror.

Then I asked her to smile for me....and she did this instead. :)

I sounded like a broken record asking her to look at me. It's funny how now.....I do not even care about the smile....I just say, "Parkeeeeer! Pleeeease look at me!"

And so this is what she did!!! This face kind of scared me, so I quickly moved on! ;)

Then we had our picnic lunch. You could tell she just loved it being only us. And I loved it, too. Even thinking back to earlier in the day when we were there....I truly cherish this time with her.

Before we ate....I tried to get another picture. Here are my 'tries".........





Oh! And Lovey had to eat, too, of course. Ha!

Parker's lunch consisted of strawberries....

And Funyons. Yep- I get the mother of the year award for that one!
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{Funny story: As I was picking up our trash and blanket...I said, "Whooo! I'm pooped!!" And Parker quickly chimed in, "Mommy? You poopoo in your panties?"} Nice. ;)
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We visited the petting zoo soon after the face painting, but she had nothing to do with it. When we were finished with lunch....she asked to go back. So we did. And she briefly touched this sheep....but would not get anywhere near it by herself for me to take a picture. Which is ok. I was just happy that she did decide she wanted to go in there.

And a picture to finish up our trip!

And since the day was "Mommy & Me"..... I really wanted a picture of us. And I had wanted to get someone to take our picture at the arboretum, but didn't. So I just had Geoff take one of us after her nap (poor baby fell asleep on the way home and took a great nap!).

She really is a sweetheart and I love her so much. She's my first born sweety....and will always be my baby, too!

Popsicles......for breakfast!

I've been wanting to make our own popsicles for a while.....but it has taken me a while to find the molds. Or rather....I did find some (a lot) on amazon.com, but couldn't decide which ones. I was seriously making this whole process to be a huge deal. (I do that sometimes).

But when Geoff ran to Target earlier in the week.....I asked him to pick some up because we figured they'd be in their seasonal aisles. And they were!

I had decided that I wanted to make these popsicles out of fruit and yogurt and milk because it would be healthy. It would be great and fun...... even for breakfast! Here are the pros:

• Parker loves popsicles.
• They are absolutely healthy! No sugar added! No high fructose corn syrup.
• They are super easy.
  
• You can be versatile....pick different fruits and flavors of yogurt.
• It would be a fun activity for Parker to do with me.
  
• Parker loves popsicles.

We've had this bag of frozen fruit for about 6 months now....so I figured this was the perfect time to use it! And then one of Parker's yogurts.

We added the fruit....

The yogurt.....


And blended it.

Then Geoff took this picture. And I thought I'd share because it reminded me of something I'd seen in one of my nursing textbooks. But it's not. The berries just weren't blending as well as I had wanted.

So we added a little milk.

Parker loved pushing the buttons.

Then filled the molds.

I wasn't sure how full we should fill them, but now I know..... almost all the way.

I was afraid to make them too full because I knew the mixture would expand when frozen and I didn't want it to all ooze out (I'm dramatic, I know)... but really....it didn't expand that much and the caps actually have plenty of room and I think that room is meant for the popsicles to expand in that area.

So in the future....I will fill them a little more full than this....

We put them in the freezer and I told her we'd have them for breakfast the next morning!

So this morning....I let her pick which one she wanted out of the freezer by herself. I ran some water over the mold to help ease the popsicle out.


Here she is inspecting it....

First bite. It's a little tart. (And another thing I didn't particularly like about this batch were all of the seeds from the berries. Next time I want to make them with strawberries and an overripe banana.....I think she will like it better because it will be sweeter. Even still....she ate almost the whole thing!)


Here....I told her to show me her popsicle. I love her face.

Here....I told her to smile with her popsicle. Little stinker!

And, of course, she had to eat her Rice Krispies that she eats every morning!

Conversations in the Car

This afternoon, after nap, we (me and the girls) loaded up and headed to Kristin's to hang out (she's making chili dogs and frito pie). I was spacing out as I usually do when I drive (is this a bad thing?) and talking to Parker at the same time. You know the drill...she talks...I answer without even thinking.

Only today....after she had repeated herself about 4 times....and I had repeated myself about 4 times....I actually started paying attention to what we were saying. I smiled and laughed and thought that I needed to write this down...to remember it. So here I am.

PARKER: Auuuhhh....I love the school bus!! (as a school bus passed by)

ME: You do love the school bus! What color is the school bus?

PARKER: It's white.

ME: It's white??

PARKER: It's orange!

ME: No, it's yellow.

PARKER: It's orange!

ME: No, it's yellow.

PARKER: It's orange.

ME: (at this point I realize I am arguing, although we aren't raising our voices, with her). Ok- it can be orange (and really....they kind of are orange!)

{time elapses}

(I had told her we could stop at Sonic and get a strawberry limeade before we left the house)

PARKER: (as we are driving by) There's Sonic! I get my strawberry limeade!

ME: We have to go to a different Sonic because this one is too busy (due to construction it is a challenge getting in and out of this particular Sonic).

PARKER: That Sonic's too busy. We have to go to a new Sonic.

{time elapses}

PARKER: This is the new Sonic!! It's not too busy.

ME: That's right...this one's not too busy.

{time elapses}

ME: Parker.....you have to leave the lid on your strawberry limeade. OK? Yes m'am??

PARKER: (very enthusiastically) Yes man!!

{time elapses}

PARKER: Lovey is talking to me.

ME: She is?

PARKER: Ya-es.

ME: What is she saying?

PARKER: She says "Ma ma ma ma."

ME: Oh, how sweet! She loves her momma.

PARKER: I have to hold her so she doesn't fall down.

{time elapses}

PARKER: We have to go to Aunt Sis's new house!

{time elapses}

I am about to get her out of the car.

PARKER: Oh know!!!

ME: What??

PARKER: I got wet! My candy canes are wet!! (she is wearing a candy cane pajama top)

ME: It's ok. It will dry.

PARKER: I have to put on a new shirt.

ME: No...we'll put on a new shirt when we get home. Go knock on Aunt Sis's door.

And off she went.

Christmas Cookie time!

I have been wanting to bake Christmas cookies with Parker since...well...since she was born. It's just been something that I've looked forward to. And so yesterday....we did it!! It was a family fun baking afternoon, if you will.

Ok...so let the games begin....


Butter and sugar. She loved it.


So much, in fact, that she then proceeded to lick the remaining sugar out of the measuring cup....

Payton and Aunt Sis were here, too, to experience the festivities. Payton has food envy, I think. :)

Continuing on....

Here we are flattening out the dough (in case you couldn't tell). But this is one of those pictures that I love. That I think I'll always look back on. Something about seeing my hands next to her sweet little hands. Some kind of symbolism about all of the things I hope to teach her one day?

Aunt Sis.....you can't hide forever....




Now- after flattening the dough a bit...we put it in the fridge to help it hold its shape better when we used the cookie cutters (but I don't think I'll be doing that again...it made it too hard to handle). So we continued with our baking by making Geoff some oatmeal cookies. He informed me recently that he "despises" chocolate chips! Such a harsh word don't you think? In almost 4 years of marriage, I have known that he is not one for sweet very often....but despises?? So....since then...he's been trying to educate me on the sweets he does like....like oatmeal cookies. He said he used to make them for himself back in his single days. :)





Parker's first crack at breaking the eggs (no pun intended). She was so excited to do this. You could just tell that she felt so important.


We washed immediately after, of course.

Then added the flour...

Then called in reinforcements to add the oats and stir them in. We needed some muscle. :)




Parker enjoyed this greatly. She had a connection with the oats.

So much that Geoff had to remove the oats from her proximity.

He gave her a few of her own to play with/eat.


So after all of the fun we had that's pictured above....Parker was done!! She was begging to watch Finding Nemo...to which we conceded. I ended up rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters and baking.

FYI...these are the best oatmeal cookies I think I've ever eaten. I had one for breakfast this morning. Doesn't that count as wholesome oatmeal??

So we saved the decorating for after dinner, for obvious reasons. However....I will suggest that 45 minutes before bedtime may not be the optimal time for icing cookies either.....I'm just sayin'.





Payton....still being such a good sport...

This is the way we ice our sugar cookies...





I'll have to admit...seeing her with this knife in the picture looks a little scarier than it did in real life....



And this....this is why these little icings are a one time use item....;)


My absolute favorite picture from the day....

This is how far I got with my decorating. Kristin did a few....and then there are still about 12 that have no decorations....and unfortunately...will more than likely remain that way.....

Parker's masterpieces....