We love our buddies!

Have I mentioned that we love our buddies? We are in the midst of such a fun time in out lives right now! Our babies are becoming toddlers and many of our bellies are growing the next "crop" of babies! It's so wonderful to know that many of the buddies that Parker currently has are going to be big brothers and sisters within a few weeks (May - August) of each other. That makes play dates for each of the kids (and me!) so much more enjoyable!I love living life with these families!

We hosted play date on Wednesday and Daniel got to see the madness for the 1st time! It was so fun having him home to see what I "do." He escaped to the man room a few times but did come down for meals! What a guy! His pupils didn't dilate quite as big as I was expecting when he saw the mess! The good news is toys pick up and go back where they belong super fast with 5 helpers!

The boys eating their pancakes!

Barney trance!

Parker and Logan

The kids ate pancakes and watched Barney while the adults had coffee, pancakes and adult conversation.... with the occasional interjection of "no sirs!" "we don't hit's!" and "you need to share's!" haha. Moms, isn't it amazing how we can be carrying on a conversation, interject a "warning" to the toddler and continue our conversation like nothing happened! (ie: "Last night Daniel and I were watching Fox News Parker give that back to Brooklyn and we both really enjoyed the George Bush interview.") Such mulitaskers!

We had so much fun, everyone stayed for lunch too so we went freezer diving and make salads, chicken nuggets, tater tots and apple slices. Next time, I'll try to be more prepared with an actual meal! Oh well.... we were just having too much fun and time crept up on us! We love our buddies!

In other Wise Family news, it's a.... pteranodon?

In all honesty, we have NO IDEA what kid of dinosaur we hatched but we are now the completely indifferent owners of this little fella. haha. He is kind of gooey so Parker refuses to touch him. Into the depths of the toy box he goes but the anticipation of him hatching was fun!

In more pertinent Wise Family news, Parker has now slept 2 nights (3 including tonight) in his big boy bed and taken 1 nap. The crib is now officially Avery's and he isn't allowed to sleep in it anymore (according to "the books" once the change is made, you can't revert!). Bedtime has been a breeze all 3 nights and naptime was considered a success since he never actually got out of bed. He did; however, learn that the top bunk slats are perfect for swinging like a monkey. After 20-30 minutes of tears and swinging, he eventually laid down and went to sleep. WOO HOO! All things considered, I couldn't be more proud of him. This transition has been WAY easier than I'd expected.

I can't believe 2011 will be here in just 3 hours but the fireworks being shot off outside my house are a nice/not so nice (if you have a sleeping toddler) reminder! Thank goodness the dogs aren't barking at them this year and waking Parker up! Ringing in the New Year makes the reality of Avery seem so much closer. I used to be able to say she'll be here next year. Now I will be saying "she'll be here in 4-5 months!" CRAZY! I don't know about you, but we had a wonderful 2010 and look forward to an AMAZING 2011! HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of our buddies!!!

Big Boy Bed Night #1

Guess who is asleep in his big boy bed?! Parker is! You already knew that if you read facebook or received my text because I was SOOOO nervous about making this transition that when he did it without a fight, I flipped and sent out a notification via every media I could think of. My grandparents have even received an email of the accomplishment. haha. I'd go take a picture if I felt the flash wouldn't wake him up but I'm not taking any risk! Go Parkerman! What a big accomplishment!

Because I know I'll NEVER remember to write this in Parker's baby book. I suppose I should document the milestone!

On December 29th, you officially became a "big boy" and slept in your "big boy bed" for the first time! At 7pm, we started your bedtime routine. We watched the "Celebrating Around the World" Barney episode with your "bobby" (sippy cup of milk), Dabo (Barney doll), 2 baby dolls, and blanket. When it was over, we told you that Dabo has to go "night night" in the big boy bed and so do you. We hyped your big boy bed up all afternoon. We laid you in it, turned your music on and you never sat up! You rolled to your side, started rubbing your hair and put yourself to sleep in less than 10 minutes! No tears and no escaping!!!! We couldn't be more proud of you! Way to go big boy!

I'm skeptical of how nap times will go as they can sometimes be a fight but tonight we're rejoicing over the victory!

Here is my favorite link I found if you're interested in transitioning your toddler to a "big boy" or "big girl" bed. We went straight from the crib to twin bunk beds but I figured the steps would be the same if you were transitioning to a toddler bed first.

From aha parenting: http://yourparentingsolutions.com/ages-stages/toddlers/crib-to-toddler-bed

Sweet dreams!  Fingers crossed the Wise Family will!

Toddler Tidbits

People always told me when I was pregnant: "Buy a good pair of running shoes!" "Boys are busy!" "Boys love their mommies!" things like that (and all have definitely turned out to be true) ... BUT... as a mom of a toddler boy I'd like to add to the list of these tidbits of wisdom/facts.


1. Hearths are truck parking. You should not expect to ever decorate again with candles, vases or anything that impedes the truck's abilities to reverse into a prime parking spot.

2. You must fake all holiday pictures weeks in advance to the holiday on the 1st day that any facial contusion is no longer visable. Toddler boys have cuts and bruises for EVERY major holiday so if you want that awesome shot... take it another day!

Taken the 1st week of December

The week of Christmas

 3. As seen in the above picture, combining hot dogs with any other food source insures consumption of said "veggie" (in this case carrots and broccoli)

4. The term "pick your battles" means "yes, eventually you will take your son to Target wearing aqua socks because they're the only shoes he'll let you put on his feet, it's snowing and you need toilet paper NOW."

5. Chinese take out shrimp and lobster sauce containers are not for left overs.... they're for hatching dinosaurs.

6. Boys are simple minded. They're just as thrilled to be "given" a dog bone as they are a $100 toy. In fact, said $100 toy has been rewrapped to be regifted for his birthday. He preferred the $4.99 dog bone.

I hope you find these tidbits from personal experience to he helpful and humorous! :)

Christmas 2010

Merry Day After Christmas! Are you hitting up the after Christmas sales? I'm not! We did last year but this year it's snowing and beautiful! I can't pull myself away from being snuggled on the couch! Parker is thoroughly enjoying pointing out each flake as it falls.... "Mommy, snow!" We may take him out in it a bit later but for now, we're warm, dry and considering breakfast!

We had a wonderful, albeit somewhat overwhelming Christmas! We started the festivities on Christmas Eve with a yummy pancake breakfast at home.

Mr. Parkerman was running a fever on Christmas Eve so just a few hours after waking up, he crashed on the couch. Must have been my delicious pancakes!

We headed to my parent's house for an afternoon of gingerbread house making and Christmas Eve service.

I think we should enter this into some sort of contest. haha. It's a hippie's house, we meant for it to look ugly and crazy colors... sort of.

On Christmas eve, we were halfway done baking Miss. Avery! YEAH for 20 weeks!

We each got to open a present on Christmas Eve (tradition) so Parker got to play with his new car which was not actually a Christmas present but it took us a while to assemble it so it just happened that the first time it was ready to be played with was on Christmas Eve. He LOVED it!

Daniel, Parker and I came back to our house to sleep and were up just a few hours later to do presents at our house! Unfortunately, Parker didn't understand it was a special day. He's such a creature of habit that he was totally uninterested. After about an hour and a half he perked up a bit (probably due to the breakfast of Reese Cups he consumed) and found a 99 cent dog toy and bone under the tree. These entertained him until we were ready to leave to head back up to my parent's house.

 We celebrated with my parents, sister, aunt and BOTH sets of grandparents thus the sinfully overwhelming tree.

I think I got "unwrapping thumb" (I'm sure this is a medically relevant term) from opening my presents and Parker's! One thing is for sure, we have LOTS of people that love our family. Next year, I think we're going to have to set some boundaries with 2 kids! As it is, we had to leave some of the presents just to be able to bring Parker home too! I can't imagine how crazy it will be with 2 kids next year! I think we're going to have to instate something like "You can each give him/her 1 present" rule just to not have to rent a second vehicle to bring it home next year! Parker was so overwhelmed, he went and sat in another room and played with his old toys. He didn't get it this year like I thought he would but I'm sure he will next year!

We finished the day at Daniel's mom's boyfriend's house. I got VERY few pictures because by that time, neither he nor his cousin had napped and they were DONE. We ate, unwrapped presents and left fairly quickly due to the massive amounts of snow falling at their house only to come home to nothing here! (which changed overnight! Hello winter wonderland!)

Like I said... bad pictures.... Parker was D.O.N.E He grabbed my keys out of the diaper bag many times and walked to the door. He was just going to drive himself home!

 Not to focus on what we "got" but I sure am excited about a few gifts in particular. 1. Some amazingly soft Victoria Secret Flannel jammies that are still pretty but SO warm and comfy! 2. My Keurig coffee maker 3. Daniel's Cheesecake Factory gift card because this is obviously also a gift for me! 4. a HUGE vile of rainbow sprinkles. If you know me, you know how thoughtful of a gift that was! I think these are my "top 4" favorites not including our annual money scavenger hunt.

It's a good thing Parker got a toy bin for Christmas because he got more toys than will fit in it. We've already decided some are going back to grandma's house so he has some toys there too. I've inspected each of the 11 cars he got and the one without an off button is already in that pile!

Here are a few other random pictures that I liked from Christmas 2010!

The Carr's!

Kissing Mimi

Showing off his muscles!

Kelly in her annual Christmas Eve Onesie

Parker enjoyed 2 of the oddest gifts of Christmas 2010. A terracotta wine chiller and a rice hat from China Town.

Picture with grandaddy

Picture with Poppop

Picture with Dad!

Doing his VERY best to sit in his car AND watch Barney

Me and mom (and Avery!)

We actually manages to get a picture of the 2 of us! This NEVER happens!!!!!!!!!!

I pray you all had a wonderful and Merry Christmas! I know we sure did! Now, off to brave the snow for the proverbial milk, bread and Campbell's soup that all Southerns buy when it snows!

21 Months!

Dear 3 pound, 10 ounce tiny precious Parker... oh wait.... that was 21 months ago. WHERE DID THE TIME GO?! You're 21 months old today! In just 3 short months, we'll be celebrating your 2nd birthday (probably at MyGym because there's no way 15 toddlers plus parents are coming to my house again at one time! haha)

Your 1st birthday

You're 26 pounds now... a far cry from your birth weight of 3lbs 10oz and when we brought you home from the hospital at 4lbs 10oz! You wear size 18 months clothes and still seem to linger around the 50th percentile for height and weight! When you were born, you weren't even on the percentile chart!

Your vocabulary grows by the day, although, you tend to only use most of it at home. You say and waive "bye bye" to almost every person that walks past us when you're in a shopping cart. I love that you're so gregarious. Just today you said "Avery" for the first time but you still can't say your own name. You call yourself "me." You also repeated back "love you too" yesterday for the first time and I swear if you had asked for anything in the world, I would have given it to you at that very second. Thankfully, you only asked for a free Harris Teeter cookie so that was easy to appease.

You're still wildly obsessed with Barney which you still call "Dabo" and now have favorite episodes. You like the zoo, pets episode, celebrating around the world (because it has a train) and anything that has to do with the ABCs. Lately, you've been trying to do some of the dance moves to the "Mr. Golden Sun" song. It's ADORABLE! You also LOVE to feed the dogs. You've recently broken about 6 dog bowls (even an unbreakable hard plastic one) so we're having to monitor you a bit closer. Anytime we pull in the garage you get so excited to see "mo mo." You also love shoes, balls, books, "yummies" (candy) and baths.

Your temperament has been pretty good lately. Your stranger anxiety is still somewhat debilitating but we're just loving you through it! (you did make it through church once this month but from the look in the nursery worker's eyes, we may never be invited back).  Goodness gracious you love your "inner circle" of friends and family and if someone is not in your inner circle of trust, you will NOT go to them! You've had very few meltdowns with the exception of one HUGE one in the line at Starbucks in Target to get your "bobby" (a sippy cup of soy milk). I was mortified but was sorta ready to meltdown myself so it was slightly more excusable than a normal meltdown. You're much better in time out now and always hug me when you're done. It doesn't take much time to get you to snap out of the "attitude" or habit you're being punished for.

The way you say "mommy" melts my heart and I love that you've been listening better. You never just give one kiss and when you give them, you grab my face and pull it to yours. You're so fun and I'm really looking forward to you being a big brother. For now, I'm cherishing every cuddle and second of alone time that we get. I just love you to pieces!

Daddy and you fell asleep on the couch today so I covered you two up and left you there for a nap. I'm sitting on the other end of the couch typing this with a cupcake in hand (talent, I know) watching you nap with your heads together. Precious!

PS- You just coughed like 6 times in your sleep... you better not be getting sick right before Christmas!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Jesus Party!

Today was Parker's 1st annual Happy Birthday, Jesus Party (I may be rethinking the "annual" part at this very moment)! The kids seemed to have a good time and I even got some smiles out of the adults even though I sent all of their kids home covered in paint. Whoops. You see, I have this problem. I have beautifully, grand ideas. The kids were all going to sit in their booster seats, paint beautiful plastic ornament balls, sit around the fireplace and listen to the pop up book version of the birth of Jesus, eat grilled cheese sandwiches cut into gingerbread men and Christmas trees and top the party off with cupcakes and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus!

Yeah. It didn't really happen that way. haha. Bless my heart... one day I'll stop fantasizing that toddlers will ever sit still for a book reading, paint an ornament instead of themselves and care that their sandwiches are cut with cookie cutters. Oh well! The party was a bit more stressful than I had originally planned but the kids had a good time and none of the messes were so bad that they couldn't be cleaned with a magic eraser and some detergent! Overall, we'll consider it a success!

All the kids (Ana, Brooklyn, Piper, Logan and Parker) plus Tara.

Brooklyn, Piper and Logan painting their ornaments

Logan and Parker painting

LUNCH! We forwent gingerbread men shaped grilled cheese sandwiches for the ease of microwave dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, apple slices, tots and pretzels.

Parker kept trying to put the pretzel on his nose. Silly boy.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!!! I hope you like funfetti!

Getting ready to "blow" out the candle. In actuality, he grabbed the flame. Whoops. Thankfully, he said "hot" and didn't do it again. Lesson learned.

Logan's mom helping him blow out his candle. He spit apples onto his cupcake when he tried to blow and I thought it was pretty stinkin' cute.

Heaven forbid we get our fingers dirty.

Oh Parker Wise.... you melt my heart.

As much as I joke, this WILL be an annual event. It's important to Daniel and I to raise our children with the understanding of what Christmas really means and to make it fun! We've opted as a family to not do "santa" as any more than a fun Christmas character in attempts to not let the fun of santa overshadow the real gift of Christmas. I pray each year as we continue to make this a tradition that as the children grow, as does their understanding of why we're doing this. Some of the kids could say "Happy Birthday Jesus" which was precious but I really hope next year, they'll have the attention spans to listen to a quick Children's version of the Christmas story. It will be so fun each year to watch them not only grow physically, but also spiritually in their knowledge of Christ and the meaning of Christmas.

I think each night from now until Christmas, we're going to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus with the 24 cupcakes I STILL have from this party! Practice makes perfect, right?!