so proud

While I was working this weekend....Geoff told me that Parker basically 'read' Pinkalicious to him and Grace.  She can't read....but it is/was amazing to us how she almost knows the whole book by memory!

I wasn't here for her first 'reading'....but tonight after I put Grace down....I saw that she had placed Pinkalicious on her bed for us to read together.  So I quickly stepped out and got my phone and asked her to read the book to me while I made a video and then she could watch it.  I went between wanting to laugh (with excitement because I was so proud) and cry (because- oh my goodness- how does she almost know this book word for word??  Yes- we do read it a lot...not everyday though!)

I must warn....this is almost 5 minutes long....so I know only a few will watch...but had to post anyway!

 

Parker 'reading' Pinkalicious from Marla on Vimeo.

Jesus Loves Me

I have been trying to capture Grace singing for a while now....but as you know- as soon as the camera comes out.....they stop doing whatever cute thing they are doing.  But on this day I finally got her to do it!

The main song I wanted her to sing was Jesus Loves Me...which is what she's singing here.  Another one I really want to get her to do is "Deep and Wide" because this song has hand motions and she just looks so cute doing them!  Hopefully soon!

But for now....here's she is....sining Jesus Love Me.... (we were playing play-dough at the time....and she wanted me to roll it up in small balls....I told her I would if she'd sing...and she did!)




Then I even got her to sing the ABCs.




I let her watch herself right after she sang it.  And oh my goodness, did she love doing this.

____________

Big sis needed a turn, too.  I wish I had captured Parker singing this about a year or 2 ago to capture her smaller voice (and maybe I did)....but this'll do.''

Baby Talk

Just wanted to capture a quick video of some of the things Grace is saying these days.  I try to remember them all....but remember different words at different times.  I did something similar to this with Parker when she was just about this age.

reading with daddy

Happy early birthday, Grace!

I just finished her slideshow tonight....and I was going to write a little blurb about her big day tomorrow....but now I am way past exhausted and so you all get spared a rambling from me. ;)

Hard to imagine that on this day...exactly one year ago...... I was BIG pregnant with her......

....having not met her, but loving her so......making these cookies to take with us to hand out to visitors in the hospital.

......anxiously awaiting her arrival.

And now.....merely a year has passed.....and I can barely remember life without her.

When the cat's away.....

One day last week.....I left Geoff with the girls to go run errands.....alone. It was great. But this isn't the reason for my post.

The reason for this post is......I spoke to Geoff at one point in my adventure.....and he made the comment that he had taken a little video of the girls that I needed to see.

Later that day....we were in the car on our way to go somewhere (although I cannot remember for the life of me where....but it doesn't really matter)...and Geoff pulled out his phone and showed me this......

I busted out laughing so hard. I couldn't believe my eyes....and I think what got me so....was that I was so shocked to see it!

He said (although I cannot decipher) that he had looked up and saw Parker pulling Grace by her leg and started to tell her to stop.....when he realized that Grace was laughing. So he, of course.....got her to do it again so he could do get it on video.

Then.....then he told Parker not to ever do it again. (Yeh right!)

Patty Cake, Patty Cake!

I remember when Parker was 12 months old.....and I was getting ready to take her to her 1 yr well-visit. I had to fill out the Ages and Stages Questionairre....and one of the items stated something to the extent of..."can your child play 'patty cake'?"

I remember thinking...."Ummm.....nooooo."

I had never taught her, for whatever reason. But I did know that she could clap. And after that I tried to teach it to her, but really.....she wasn't that interested.

So the other night.....it was 15 minutes before Grace's morning nap and she was being extra fussy. I wanted to hold her off a little bit longer....so I started teaching her "Patty Cake".

And to my surprise....she really took to it! And by the end of the day....she was clapping....and 'throwing them in the pan'!

By the next day....she was even "rolling them up!"

Here is a 15 second video of her doing Patty Cake. She loves to "throw them in the pan" and is so proud of herself! We are, too!

Splish, SPLASH!!

This is a video taken a couple of nights ago of the girls in the bath together. Grace has been in the big girl tub at Aunt Sis's house.....but this was the first time that I bathed them together here at home.

If you have a minute....I believe this video is sure to make you smile. Sometimes I feel like I love these girls more and more each day (even though I feel like I love them more than anything already!)....and I love that they are sisters and that will have each other growing up. I seriously have these moments when I just smile and get a tear in my eye. Maybe I am getting to be a softy as I age?

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship! :)

Saying goodbye to '09.....and "Hello 2010!"

I don't have many musings to talk about today. We've had a full year, to say the very least. I'm not complaining....we have been so blessed.

From watching our 1 year old become a 2 year old.....to finding out we're expecting our second baby....to selling our first home....to buying a new home....moving the weekend before my last semester of school.....my last semester of school... graduating...and just surviving all that life has to offer!! And that's just naming a few!

We joke about how we like to cram all of our major life-changing events into one year....new baby, new house, graduation, etc., etc. ;) haha

So to wrap up this year.... I decided to compile a slideshow of 2009. It's almost 5 minutes long so I realize many may not watch, but I mostly made this for our family and for memories. It's to music so it seems to go a little faster....and I think the song is all too fitting!

I highly recommend taking the time, if you have it, to go through all of your photos taken in 2009. It really takes you back. We all know that a year flies, but man.........so. much. changes. As a matter of fact...I can't even watch this slideshow without tearing up (which I realize could also be due to hormones!). Think back to where you were a year ago today....what were you doing...what was important then...is it still now?....what were your kids doing then....and now? Did you even have a child then? ~Could you have ever imagined?~ I don't think I could.

So to everyone....wishing you a very safe and happy New Year! May 2010 have many blessings in store for you all!

Love,

Our Family

They tied the knot!

Last night, my sister and Phil officially said "I do!" So in honor of their nuptials....I thought I'd post their childhood photo montage that I put together for them.

This is the way we brush our teeth...

Yes- it's another video from the other night. For some reason...I wanted to get her on video brushing her teeth. She does a pretty good job...and does sooo much better when helped by her daddy than by me...but I'm not really sure why. :)

And on this particular night...I think she was also trying to show off a bit!

Decisions....decisions....

....not life altering ones in the least. But rather...Parker 'deciding' which sleeper she is going to sleep in...the one with "circles" or "stripes"???

We did not initially set out to let her decide such a thing.... because, honestly, it was decided by whatever was clean and available. But one night last week (I think she was a little over-tired)... she through a F.I.T....because she just had to wear the one with circles.

So I did what any logical mom would do when she herself was overtired........... I got the dirty sleeper with circles on it out of the hamper and put it on her. And she was out in less than 5 minutes!

So here's a little video of her 'deciding'....

Flash-forward...

Sunday morning Parker and I were sitting at the desk and watching some old home videos of her. This is also one of her favorite things to do these days. I often think that I could blog about and post a video of Parker watching a video of herself from the blog. Did you get that? She points to the laptop DAILY saying "Bah-bah! Bah-bah!", because she wants to watch herself in the videos that I post on the blog. This kid loves to watch herself...in pictures and on video...it doesn't matter. Ummm....I think she may get this from her Aunt Sister....

Anyway- we stumbled upon this video from about 3 months ago. I was still on my winter break....and I think it was just a random morning that I decided to get out the video camera for no reason at all...but to just film Parker (and I am learning that when I do get the video camera out for no reason at all...that I tend to get some of the best footage....but that's another story for another day). I never posted it because it was just a random video...and believe it or not...I do not post every video and picture on here. I know...sometimes it seems as though I do.

But as we were watching it...with her in my lap....being so sweet...leaning back onto me....I had a flashforward (I think I just made that word up....).

Here she is in this video, a 15 month old....

....and I am asking her if I can come into her room....and she basically closes the door in my face. I know her intentions at this juncture are to merely shut the door....because that's just a fun thing to do right now. But I flashforwarded about 12 years (14 if we're lucky) to the age where she will probably for real be shutting the door in my face!

And then the video just kept getting better. I was still flashforwarding. Here's another snippet....

There she was....just sitting in that room (please excuse the mess, by the way....this is the way we roll during the day...and most times at night, too)....sitting in the chair backwards, nonetheless, propping her feet up on the back of the chair.....talking on the phone.... and ignoring me!

It's classic.

I know this is years away....but they fly....and they'll be here sooner than we think!

Yikes!

Our little chapstick fiasco...

Tonight, I was working on this little project that I have been messing with here and there throughout the week (and am hoping to be finished with tomorrow!)....so I just wanted to see if I could get a few more things done tonight. Parker was being good and playing well....so I started working very busily and quickly because I knew that my minutes were numbered. However- after a few minutes...I realized she was being really good and really quite (never a good sign)....and this is what she was doing....

I didn't take it away immediately because I thought it was pretty hilarious how she was wiping it all over her face...as if she had seen me do this (or could it have possibly been Geoff that she saw??)....because imitation is one of her favorite things to do these days!

And her fake cough? What was that all about??

And then at the end....she wanted to see the "baby," of course,...which is herself. I turn the flip screen thing around so she can see herself...she apparently loves it and even gives herself kisses! :)

This little piggy went to market....this little piggy stayed home...

Rarely do I get the video camera out just for the heck of it. I usually always have a reason....new shoes, Parker chasing Lola around our living room, walking for the first time, bathtime, first swim, etc...you catch my drift. So tonight we had finished up our dinner by 5:00...and then she had a dirty diaper so we took our bath early and by 5:30 we were done with most of our "routine." So I started thinking (I know...who'dda thunk it??) what are we going to do for the rest of the night? Then it was upon me... I had not videoed in a while, and although I had no clue what I was going to video, I figured it would be interesting to see what I could get. She will be 17 months old tomorrow, so I was hoping to capture some of the new things that she can do now. It was a rip roarin' adventure! Ok- I digress. But anywho- I ended up filming for almost 15 minutes and I just took a few clips to post here. It was so hard to narrow it down because I, of course, think it is all cute, but I know we all have busy lives and so I tried to spare you all but what you "must see."

The following video is kind of redundant because I am trying to get Parker to say more of her words. I think she says a new word or two everyday, but the deal is...she will only repeat them if the earth, moon, and north star is in alignment with Africa and Mars. I kind of got the drift tonight that this "game" annoys her, but I am just trying to capture as many "first words" as I can. Anyway- (man- I am long winded tonight)...the main reason for this one is because Parker started saying "Lola" one day last week...all on her own...no prodding on our part...and it's pretty funny how she says it. Ok- I'll let you watch it now...

This video is of Parker pointing out the facial features of her dolly and then on her own face...

She never did find her ears....but I think she knows they are there???

And the following clip has to be one of my all-time favorites. When I was little, my parents would play "This little piggy went to market..." on my toes. I loved it. And I have done this to Parker maybe 4 or 8 times in her life, but I never get a reaction from her, so I really don't do it that often. And- it has probably been at least a month since the last time I did it. So I was totally shocked when she did this....

Absolutely. Love. It. Absolutely. Love. Her.

New shoes..

Well- this isn't Parker's first pair of shoes. But these are something special. Until now, I have always just bought her shoes just "guessing" at what her size is...usually when she is not even with me...at Target...or Babies R Us...or umm...I think that's it. She doesn't really have much of a collection. Until she started walking, I never really had any motivation to put shoes on her. Don't really know exactly why...I mean- her feet would get pretty sweaty and they're not always the most comfortable things, so I guess I just thought, "why bother?" But then the walking began and there is obviously a reason to where shoes when one is doing that activity. Only- the bigger she seems to get...the fluffier her feet also seem to get. Poor baby. I would basically have to buy a shoe size too big just to fit the thickness of her foot...but then they were too long. My friend, Jodie, even gave me a whole bag full of shoes, but they did not work either....it's like they went from being too big one day...to we can't even fit her foot in them the next. So she has this one pair of shoes that she wears with everything these days...


They were cute the first 300 times she wore them (you know how the more you wear something the less it seems to be cute anymore...the newness and cuteness has just somewhat worn off?). These are the only shoes that we had for her that she could wear without leaving these deep red indentions into her sweet little foot. Bless her heart. So this past Saturday, Geoff and I took Parker to the Galleria so she could get out of the house a bit and play in their play yard. And it dawned on us..."Let's try to get her some new shoes..." What a novel idea??? It was a pretty neat (or I guess I should say- new) experience for us. The sales woman came out to greet us...we told her what we were looking for...told her the issues we have been having with her fluffy feet...we measured the length of her foot...and she left to go find us a variety of shoes to try on. Well....there's a novel idea!!! Seriously- we don't buy a shoe unless we try them on to make sure they fit...why did I think that Parker would be any different?? Actually- I think what happened here was that I was not thinking....

So- moral of the story (whew!)....we tried on several pair and found these. I am so proud of them because they fit on her foot with ease (for the time being)...they don't leave deep red indentions...her foot doesn't get all sweaty....and they are cute....and she seems to really like them..

About to leave for her first outing in her new shoes...

She walks so proud...seriously- she has a different walk with these shoes on... I know how she feels...when I have a new pair of shoes that I like...they make me feel different. You know what I mean?

The shoes were really 2 gifts in one...#1 the shoes...and #2 the box that they came in, of course...

The new shoes close-up ...

(I know it may be a little silly to showcase her new shoes like this...but honestly- I hope that I continue to appreciate these "little things" about her that make my days go round)

It didn't take long in her new shoes before she grabbed the stroller and headed after Lola....:)

This video is from tonight. We were about to run an errand to Target when I decided to get the video camera out to try and catch her doing her "new" walk with her new shoes on...but instead...when she wouldn't walk around...I started asking her to say various words that she can say. Let me preface this video by saying: she has the hiccups...I know that I understand her way more than you will understand her...and I didn't think that she would actually say the words on que so I was surprised and had trouble coming up with the words that I know she can say... And another thing!!- her first word was "baby" about 6 months ago...and then she would say it /bwah-buh/ and now she says /bah/.....so frustrating...but still- she is saying new and different words everyday. Yesterday I said, "Aunt Sister" and she said "Sis!"...we praised her and she was so proud. She also said "rabbit" /rabb-uh/ for the first time today. OK...on with the video...

That little stinker never would say "shoe"...but if you noticed...she looked down at her feet and began stomping them instead...

This is a continuation of the video above....I just thought it was cute. I laugh everytime I watch it...

We may need to work on those skills a bit...

And I couldn't resist adding in this last piece...I had flipped the little screen around to where she could see herself as I was videoing...

And to think...this whole looong blog brought about just because of a new pair of shoes!

Poor Lola...

These are words that you will hear us utter often in our house these days (that's a mouthful!). Since Parker was born, the dog has, well.... let's just say, not been given as much attention from us. Well- all of that has changed quite a bit over the past few weeks. From Parker trying to sit on her...touching her eyeballs..."pet" her (aka hitting her fairly hard and then laughing about it)....pulling her ears....to trying to play hide-the-doggie with the throw pillow...to chasing her around the yard trying to shove the tennis ball in her mouth....to this....

But honestly- it's not really Poor Lola....because I think she secretly likes all of the new attention!

"nah-nah" (Night-night)....

This video was taken yesterday evening. (I know it seems as though we have been on a video kick lately. The story goes that we had used up all of our camcorder tapes and had been lazy about transferring (or buying new...what a novel idea??) to the computer and saving and burning and all of that fun stuff, so we have been working on it, and now we're back in business! I just want to capture this sweet voice that she has right now...I know it won't always be so sweet). So anyway- Parker found this Noah's ark wind up music figurine thing that has been in her room since before she was born. So I wound it up and played it a few times. And for a little more background information before the video...one of her new favorite games to play these days is "nah nah." She likes to get in her crib and lay down and say "nah nah" and she also just likes to get in her crib and run away from us (well- run away isn't the best choice of words...after all...she is in her crib, but you get the picture) and flop down and laugh and giggle and talk...(but she sure does whine if we leave the room...haha). Ok- so now I will let you watch the video.

Oh- and at the end when she put her hand over her mouth...that is her version of blowing a kiss. She does this when we tell her "night-night" and "byebye".

If only this is the way she was when we really put her down for "nah-nah!" It's funny to me that she plays it out this way because this isn't how the routine goes at all. There's the usual- hold onto Mommy as tight as I can and then cry for about a minute before falling fast fast asleep.

Have I mentioned before that I love this kid?

________________________________________________________________


And here's one more video of her "talking on the phone." This is a better picture of her "jibber jabber" than the video I posted on Sunday. Enjoy!

Jibber-jabber.

The very first part of this video is of Parker touching play-doh...watch carefully because it's really fast and the filmer (that's me) didn't do a very good job. She does not like to touch play-doh. But she does enjoy playing with the containers and lids that it comes in... along with some other accessories in the Play-doh Ice Cream set thingie. Here she is...sitting at her new table from Papaw and Gran..."playing" play-doh and jibber-jabbering...

This is the way we eat our apples.

I have to preface this video with a short little story--

I have mentioned before how it has been somewhat of a challenge to get Parker to eat her fruits and vegetables. A specific example is that she would not eat an apple. But every so often, I will try again. So the other day I cut up a red apple and she ate about 3 slices. I was so happy! I ate some of that apple, too, (it was a red one, and I am more of a green person myself) and it wasn't too good...kind of soggy if you know what I mean. So yesterday, I thought I'd be brave and get green apples. So this morning, we tried it out. She was reaching for the apple before I could even get it cut...this is a good sign! She takes a bite....sucks all of the juice out and then.....well....you can see for yourself....

And let me just add that she did this with almost two whole apple slices! I love this kid....