Parker is 3!

Parker Wise, you are 3 years old! On your actual birthday, Wednesday, we let you play hooky from school and we all went to the zoo. It was a beautiful day and as usual, the meerkats were your favorite. It was bright out and you accidentally broke your sunglasses so you took Avery's and refused to take them off. Thus, the pink giraffe sunglasses ;)

On Friday, your dad and I took you to your 3 year check up. You're in the 60th% for weight and 50% for height. Other than not being potty trained yet and your excema, you're 100% wonderful! Potty training starts Wednesday afternoon... get excited! (PRAY FOR ME! US!)

Saturday was the BIG day! Your Splash Planet birthday party! We had chicken tenders, fruit, pretzels, goldfish, fish sandwiches and turtle and fish cupcakes. Despite saying I'd never do it again after last year, I DID applique and monogram towels for all of the kiddos. After all is said and done, they looked great and were a big hit!

Your friends: Zury, Logan, Lily, Jayden, Jett, Ana, Max, Charley, Jakob and all their younger siblings joined us to celebrate your birthday. You got lots of great presents that you really enjoyed opening. Mimi and Poppop, grandma, nana, poppi and aunt Kelly also celebrated with us. 

You sang happy birthday to yourself which was precious and really enjoyed riding the lazy river. Overall, it was a fun birthday party that most everyone enjoyed. Avery may have actually had more fun than you did!

I can't believe you're 3! Well.... maybe I can.... you're experiencing the terrible 2 1/2 - TBD (SOON TO BE ENDED I HOPE!) phase. You were pretty good up until 2 1/2 and the closer you got to 3, the more we've realized that the 3's may be MORE challenging. You're becoming more strong willed, opinionated and can communicate more. You speak in pretty good sentences now and with sweet sentences have also come some defiant ones! 90% of the time you are PRECIOUS and the other 10%, I want to pretend like I'm your nanny. We call you "passionate" and just know you're going to do big things with that strong will of yours!

We love you more than you could ever imagine and are SO blessed to be your parents. Happy 3rd Birthday, sweet boy!

Parker is 2!!!!

Parker is officially 2 years old. I thought I'd be WAY more emotional like I was when he turned one but I'm pleased to announce I didn't shed a single tear yesterday (his birthday). Maybe it's because I'm slightly overwhelmed with sewing projects, a messy house and the sudden "Oh my gosh, Avery will be here soon" errands/anxiety. I enjoyed his party VERY much and really felt like I "lived in the moment" which is something I honestly struggle with. 

Today was Parker's 2 year well check.  He started crying the moment we pulled in the parking lot. The Barney "A doctor is a friend of mine" DVD I played in the car on the way to the office apparently didn't sink in. Thankfully, half way through his well check, he stopped screaming and performed a few tricks so the doctor could make sure he's on track. Parker is one consistent little dude! He's in the 48th% for height, 51st% for weight and 78th% for head circumference. His height and weight has been around the 50th%  since he was about 9 months.  The doctor gave him a clean bill of health, he's right on track (even though I feel his speech is slightly delayed, the doctor promises me he's right on track with other boys) and he said he's "smart." WOO HOO. Apparently, he's reserved, observant and a survivalist. I'm not sure how he decides all of these remarkable qualities in 10 minutes, but I'll take it!  He was not a fan of the shots but I can't blame him. Thankfully, suckers cure "shot tears."

On to fun stuff... his birthday party! We had it at Splash Planet and 8 of Parker's best buddies came. Everyone seemed to have a blast in the water! The kids were so ready to swim, many of them forwent the cupcakes....including Parker! Everyone brought toys for the Levine Children's Hospital and we are SOO excited to take them next Thursday! I made hooded towels with the kid's names on them for his favors and I was happy with how they turned out! I wish I had gotten a picture of the kids in their towels but they were ready to get in the water! Group shots at age 2 seem more of a hassle than a good idea! Here are a select few (I took 400!) pictures from the party!

Parker's Cupcakes. I got the cupcake toppers from Dimple Prints off etsy.

Nana, poppi and Parker

My dad throwing Zury

Brooklyn and Piper

Smiling Logan

Parker LOVED to slide!

Having a blast!

Shooting hoops! Look at that follow through!

The birthday boy being thrown!

Ana and Parker... future cheerleading stunt partners?

Flying squirrel!

Our attempt at a family picture. Parker refused to look and I refused to get wet!

Officially 2 and NOT ready to leave his party!
 
Now lets see if the newly 2 year old will be a good boy and take a SUPER long nap! ...as in like a 3 day nap because I've got about that much stuff I need to fit in while he sleeps! haha! Here's to hoping!

Blogging while Embroidering = Failure

Parker and I are heading to Atlanta tomorrow after my doctor's appointment so we are down to the wire on his 2nd birthday party preparations. I know I'm paying to have it at Splash Planet so that I don't have to worry about bringing all the extras but I can't help it! The closer I get to Avery's birth, the more I want to do special things JUST for Parker (even though he'll never remember it or care!) I think I'm basically doing it for myself with him in mind. How fun does this place look? We go a lot on tot Mondays and Parker loves it! I don't so much enjoy getting my hair wet or being cold (it's a bit chilly) but I do it because I love the little booger.

Splash Planet

I wasn't thrilled with Parker's shirt I made him because I was silly and did it in red and turquoise instead of red and royal blue.... what was I thinking, I know. But I'm currently up (past my bedtime) making him a new one... because silly things matter to me. Food, on the other hand.... ehh... whatever.... haha. I bought a GIGANTIC box of goldfish, pretzels, ELFudge cookies (we'll see if they make it to the party... I think that was more of a pregnancy purchase), bottles of water, capri suns and I'll make (more likely buy) a fruit tray Monday morning. My girlfriends and I will bake cupcakes Sunday morning (funfetti of course). Since the kids don't actually care about my polka dot bucket, pinwheel centerpieces, I bought them each a $.99 beach ball, markers and a poster board to color while we wait for everyone to arrive.... VIOLA.... 2nd birthday party success. Pics to come after his party on Monday!

In other WAY less exciting to you but SUPER exciting to me news.... we filed out taxes today and boy did that feel good. Regardless of whether you pay or get back, just having them DONE is SOOO nice! 2 years ago, we were stupid and waited too long and we had to do them while Parker was in the NICU... we rushed through them.. made mistakes... the IRS apparently had a bit more critical eye than we did and made sure to let us know. Thankfully, since then, with me not working our taxes have been easy breezy with a nice little present at the end in our bank account! WOO HOO! Thank you, Jesus! PS- When did I become old? Discussing taxes and insurance makes me feel like such an adult when I really just think I'm still young and playing house.

Ehh... I just made a mistake on Parker's birthday shirt because I was trying to multitask and blog. Hmm.... Let's see if I can cover and it and maybe no one will notice. Nope... definitely not fixable. I suppose I should pay attention now except I'm tired so I guess he'll just wear his bathing suit to his pool party.... duh... appropriate and easy. Until next week, blogger buddies!

OH WAIT... one last piece of exciting news... I'm getting a new embroidery machine next week! WOO HOO! It's big and pretty and nicer. SO now I can supersize the designs and make l...o...n....g names (ah hmmm... Holly C.) not so tiny! All that to say, now I can do larger shirt sizes, bigger designs and longer names so don't forget to put in your orders prior to mid-late April as I'll be taking a little time off when Avery comes. All Easter designs are currently on SALE in my etsy store and the full product line can be found on Rompers & Ruffles! (Don't forget Wednesday night's R&R mystery sale on facebook!)