Hiking up Badger Mountain!

Last weekend Travis and I decided to take our fabulous nephews Caleb and Drayson on a hike up Badger Mountain. Of course Parker came along for the ride too! We were more than thrilled to hang on to them for most of the day and let my adorable pregnant sister go shopping and run errands for the day all by herself! All of you moms/parents out there know how difficult it can be trying to run errands with your kiddos...and that having a blissful several hours of peace and quite can really bring your long-lost sanity back!!! Any-who...Travis loves to be outdoors and thought that hiking up Badger Mountain sounded like a great idea...he goes stir crazy being at home all the time (while he is waiting for his June 8th deployment to A.F. Basic Training) and so I agreed to go along. Travis and I each carried one of the "babies" that aren't really babies anymore in the hiking packs. Nothin' like adding an extra 25 lbs. to my already out-of-shape self!!! Caleb was such a superstar and did the whole hike by himself! We also each had one of the dogs (Deacon...our dog, and Gus...my parent's dog). Another joy for our hike was that my best friend Ashley was able to come from Yakima and spend most of the day with us too. It was so great to get to see her and spend time with her (I have really missed her and she makes me laugh so hard!).

our proof:

drayson

caleb

drays and parks checkin' out their legs

drays-bug and me

parks and daddy

ashley and caleb

caleb munchin' on beef jerky at the top

drays bothered by the wind

parker trying to get out of the wind

me and my hubby

caleb and the boys





This is a video of Parker from last night. I was washing dishes and his new favorite thing to do is sit on the kitchen counter while Travis and I are cooking or doing dishes. The sink had a ton of bubbles in it and he laughs so hard I think he is going to ruin his vocal chords when you blow a pile of bubbles off your hand. I made more bubbles and let him put them all over his hands and feet. He was hilarious! So in this video you will get a little glimpse of the maniacal little man we live with!!! He sounds like he is screaming but he is really laughing! He can say bubbles now too...

Ahhh...It's the GOOD LIFE!

{check out our little guy's faux-hawk...he is too stinkin' cute}

{baseball already...he must be a guion boy! chewing on one of daddy's old baseballs is a new favorite hobby}

{getting in some quality time with the puppy...and by quality time i mean parks pulling deacon's ears and deacon licking parks repeatedly until i yell at him to knock it off}


All our child really needs: his stuffie, blanket, nose sucker, and some banana puffs! (Not really folks...but try telling him that!) Can you tell how happy he is when it's feeding time! Maybe that's why he's got such chunky thighs! Some of his new favorite table foods are: raspberry fig newtons, blueberry nutri-grain bars, and baby-cheetos (gerber things that look and smell like cheetos).

{this morning he rolled all over the living room wrapped up in his blanket and his stuffie like a burrito}

Lately we have been getting a glimpse back to the way our child used to sleep...by that I mean sleeping all the way through the night. Maybe our poor kiddo is actually getting used to the pain of teething and giving in to a full-night's sleep! It has been heavenly!

{this was parker after his bath last night...his favorite thing to do now is to play on the floor, he could keep himself entertained forever...or for about an hour...but that's like forever in baby-time!}

Parker is trying to pull himself up on everything...and by everything I mean mostly Trav and I, his feeding seat, his jumper, his exersaucer, the couch...and anything else that comes into his path. He is also getting onto his knees from a sitting position and rocking back and forth all on his own...yikes...his days of being practically stuck (other than rolling all over of course) are almost coming to a close! Sometimes he skips getting on his knees and just pushes up onto his tip-toes and gets his booty way up in the air. He is so big now and we just can't believe how quickly he is growing up!


A couple days ago I took this picture of the 3 boys (Trav-Parks-Deacon) all laying on the living room floor lounging...it was a pretty funny sight!


This video really shows our kiddo's love of food. He just gets so excited and chatty! His favorite sounds right now are ma-ma and ya-ya-ya.



Our time in Cheney is coming to a close with only 18 days until Trav graduates from Eastern! We are really excited but also a little nervous about the next several months. Travis has an exciting intership this summer...and as for me...it's back to work I go...kicking and screaming all the way! I love being a teacher, but there is nothing like being a stay-at-home mommy. I am glad that I will have my mom and sister to watch Parks while I am at work though, it will be tons of fun for all of them and I can't wait for Parker, Caleb, and Drayson to get super close!

we're free!!!

I feel like I really should start every post with a picture...just to start things off right! So it is something new I am going to try to remember to do.

Parker has a new love of fresh bananas! He gets so excited when I bring it over to him.

Last week was a fun week. Parker and Mommy actually broke free from the apartment a few times!!!

On Friday, Parker and I went to lunch with my friend Krystal. Parker was totally in love with Krystal and pretty much gazed at her the whole time. We went to Subway and Parker thought the empty chip bag was the best new toy. He also enjoyed dropping it on the floor for one of us to pick up...such a fun game!

After lunch Parker and I headed to Pediatric Associates of Spokane for Parker's 6-month check. I am really going to miss their entire office when we move. All the doctors and nurses are so nice and wonderful with Parker. His check went great and he was such a trooper with his shots too! The doc. didn't have any new advice about the sleeping other than what we have already tried...it all comes back to teething and there isn't really much we can do besides try to make Parks as comfortable as possible. He was such a riot on the table with the paper that they drape across...I wish I could have taken some pictures but Trav had to work and I had to stay right next to the table at all times because he was rolling everywhere! He quickly moved from one side to the other, then figured out that the paper was super-fun to rip and wrap around himself! The nurse was cracking up. The second she put her clipboard down he went for that too. (My sister warned me about that...I guess Drays does the same exact thing!) So, all-in-all a wonderful check.

Here are his new stats:

• Height: 28 3/4 in. (100th percentile...our tall kiddo is off the chart now)
  
• Weight: 18 lbs. 6.5 oz. (65th percentile...not as much of a chunker as we thought)

Yesterday I had to get some laundry done while Trav was at work. When I put it in Parks was asleep, which makes it so much easier. But when it was ready to come out of the dryer...he was up. I lugged him down to the laundry room with me and while I was trying to get clothes out decided that the middle hamper was an excellent spot for him to hang out while I finished getting clothes out. He was so content to just sit in there and watch Mommy get the rest of the clothes. It was pretty funny. I rolled the cart back to the apartment...baby and all!


After I folded all the clothes and was putting them away, I layed Parks down on the bed to "help-out" he quickly pulled my pile of tank-tops over and threw them around...next he found a hanger!

Before one of his naps yesterday he was watching his "rainforest" and I think he was trying to cuddle with it or something...it was hilarious! (You can really see his adorable little birthmark on his back in this video...right above his left booty-cheek!)

and so it begins...

Yup, we have started teething folks! Parker is one constant drool-fuss-bite fest! At least when he is biting now it is only a gummy bite.

We were able to head to the Tri-Cities over the weekend and spend time with my family. It was a blast. It is nice to get Parker down to hang out with cousins Caleb and Drayson too. They were all so cute together. I feel like Parker must have been watching "big boy Drayson" over the weekend and picking up on things he does because when we got back to Cheney it seemed like Parker was a month older after just a couple of days! It is hard to believe that he will be 5 months on Wednesday! He is just so big now.

Parker has started sitting up on his own now. He has also discovered that his toes taste wonderful! Yummy!

My family went to breakfast over the weekend for my mom and Trav's birthdays. Parker sat in a highchair for the first time (and a shopping cart at Target...such a big boy). The boys were all in matching shirts--it was so cute!

Parks and Drayson were playing together on the floor. They are starting to look like they are the same size now. Drayson just wants to touch and grab Parker...and Parker still isn't too sure if he is okay with that or not! It was hilarious to watch! It is funny to see them sitting next to each other because Drayson has the darkest brown eyes and dark, dark thin hair & Parker has these blue eyes and fluffy toe-head blonde hair!

Here is a funny video of Parker and "baby's best friend" Deacon! He has been infatuated with him lately and Deacon loves him right back!

yup...that's laughing, not crying

So, I guess a little background for this video would probably be good! Parker was protesting his nap the other day, so I went back to try to put him in a better mood. (Once he gets really worked up, a nap is out of the question!) I was playing with him with his "stuffie" (his little blanket with the elephant head)...all I had to do was drop it on his face and he would start squealing! Yup, most babies giggle or laugh, our son squeals like a piglet being tortured. I'm sure that our neighbors think that we are such mean parents. When I am on the phone with my mom and sister they always ask if he is laughing or crying...he is just so funny and easily entertained! I am telling you...this kiddo has some lungs on him that could make your ears ring.

At least he is usually laughing and barely ever crying.



In other news...Parker got to try sweet potatoes last night and is absolutely in love! You should have seen him...he was totally enthused! Now all of his washcloths are probably going to be stained with orange! It is so worth it for his happy little chubby face!

our little man...is not so LITTLE anymore!

On the 20th, we went to Parker's 4-month doctor appointment. Dr. Carson said that he is doing GREAT! His eye, although still goopy, is showing no signs of infection, so as far as that goes he is set! Thanks Dr. Liz for getting him started on drops so quickly! He is now 16 lbs. 5 oz. (90th percentile) and 26 in. long (also 90th percentile). We can't believe how much he has grown since last month. He is now sleeping about 11 hours at night, and we love it! He does new things all the time and we are anxiously waiting for him to start rolling over...he is just SO CLOSE! He also got some shots at his appointment. I am always amazed how well he does with these. He cries for just a couple seconds and is over it. We are also so proud and we hear other kiddos in other rooms screaming and ours is giggling right afterward! I am sure that this will change as he gets a little older, but here's hoping! After his appointment Parker and Mommy headed to the Tri-Cities for a weekend visit! We missed Daddy a bunch! We got to go to the hockey game and it was a blast. On Saturday, little guy and I headed to Yakima for my friend Ashley's baby shower. It was fun to see Ashley and get to share some of my "new-mommy-wisdom" haha, yeah right! After the shower we headed back for another hockey game! Parker was so funny and once he got tired would cry and get the saddest look on his face everytime the crowd got really noisy! We couldn't help but laugh. On Sunday, it was nice to just relax and hang out with my mom. I have missed her so much. Then, we headed back to Cheney in the afternoon so we could spend time with Trav when he got home from work. We really missed him, and I think he was really missing his little buddy after not seeing him for a couple days. It is so sweet. Parker is absolutely obsessed with Trav in the last month. Every time Trav enters a room and Parker sees or hears him he is compelled to stare and giggle. I love watching them together too. Parker just laughs and laughs. His laugh now is a very high-pitched squeal. Sometimes I think he is fussy, when he is really just laughing or concentrating. It took me a week to get used to his new noise and realize he wasn't actually being fussy. Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks!

Parker has started to grab his toes and tip over. It is so funny to watch him roll back and forth!

We have started giving him rice cereal in the afternoon and he is doing pretty well with it!

We always have a bib on him now because of his constant drooling from chewing on everything. I keep checking to see if he has any teeth coming in...none yet!

He is so close to rolling over...I always have the video camera close during his "tummy time."

I love his little polo shirt...so cute!

We just love him so much and he is getting so big so fast. Here is a little video of him "screaming" aka laughing and talking while playing on his activity mat last night, it was hilarious. He was doing it so much before I brought out the camera, but you get the idea!