just random

dont you just love that new family picture we have? jared's cousin desirae took them for us and she did a great job! i love how they turned out.

it's cute that our first initials spell out pb&j huh?
i thought so too.

well folks, looks like we have ourselves an 8 month old little dude. can you believe it? me either. 8 months. crazy. as my smart sister carissa put it, "that's like only 4 months away from a year!" (she is one smart cookie.)

yes this is gonna be one of "those" blog posts... you know the ones where a mom brags about all the new tricks their baby is doing. but like everyone else, i want to write it down so i can remember. feel free to skip the words and head to the pictures (which i need to be way better at taking by the way....)

at 8 months parker is.........
*weighing in at 16 pounds 1.5 ounces
*26 inches tall
*army crawling away
*eating all his fruits and veggies
*eating chicken and turkey
*eating ritz crackers (which make a huge mess by the way)
*tried a vanilla wafer from his uncle kyle, and an animal cracker given to him by the bishop at church (he loved both)
*does not like to play independently
*loves his walks
*gets excited when we pull our bikes out for a bike ride
*likes to help me "fold" the laundry
*loves to sit and read/look at books
*enjoys sitting in his bumbo watching his mama sing and dance around the kitchen while she cooks or cleans.
*loves to clap
*loves bath time
*thinks he is one cool dude at the store now that he sits in the shopping cart. (seriously, its adorable.)
*jibber jabbers all day
*laughs so hard when daddy plays with him

this year is really flying by. i mean september next week? really? fall is right around the corner and although im sad to see summer go, im excited for fall. jared makes fun of me because im already stressing out about what parker should be for halloween. i thought since parker's birthday is christmas eve, we should dress him up as an elf and jared can be santa and i could be mrs. clause. but thats about as far as ive got. any other cute ideas out there?

so im googling, and googling and googling until i find the perfect costume. fingers crossed i find something cute!

one happy camper

the other week we went to utah to go to a family reunion. almost every year since i can remember my whole family has gone camping. there's always lots of fun, family, good yummy food, staying up around the camp fire laughing, four square, kick ball, birthdays/anniversaries to celebrate, bug bites, and yucky outhouses.

this year we managed to have another great time with only 1 emergency room visit, and a whole lotta family drama. but i asked my mom what would a family reunion be without those 2 things? she replied "probably boring."

i was very nervous to take parker because i had no idea how he would do. turns out i had nothing to worry about. he LOVED it. he loved being outside all day, he loved being around so many people, he loved the attention he got from his aunt stacey and grandma allred, he slept awesome at night, he was mesmerized by the campfire at night, and only got 2 bug bites. he really was one happy camper the whole week.
he enjoyed eating watermelon and sucking on tootsie rolls during the week.jared enjoyed playing in the water and building a "hot tub" with kyle and kory. they spent ALL day working on it and were all sore the next morning from lifting the heavy rocks.

parker has been up on all fours rocking back and forth for WEEKS now. im so ready for him to just crawl already! i know, EVERYONE tells me those are going to be my famous last words.

he is still very much a mama's boy. its a love/hate relationship for me. i love that he always wants me and i hate that he ALWAYS wants me. im hoping that maybe once he figures out how to move, he will be more curious about other things and not constantly need me. he loves to go get the mail with me, and thinks he is one pretty cool dude when i let him carry a piece of mail back inside.he is starting to learn what the camera is and smiles everytime i bring it out. its so cute.
i think he looks the cutest when he is sleeping. i LOVE that we can now just put him in his crib and walk away and he will go to sleep. some nights he will cry, but it is no where near as bad as the 30 minute bloody murder screaming his use to do.

i still love this little dude lots and lots and love that he is getting so big! its so fun to watch him grow!

can you believe?

i know, i know... its been a while since i last blogged.

it's about time i update all you faithful readers out there.
(come on... i know you blog stalk too)

can you believe this cute dude is gonna be 7 months old in a week?
and can you believe he is up on all fours rocking back and forth?
i think he still has a little while before he will start to crawl though.

and can you believe his hair? it is absolutely out of control.
he has one section that is super long.
if he was a little girl it would really make the cutest little pony tail.

and can you believe i chopped all my hair off?
this is the shortest ive ever had it in my life.
and can you believe i have a harry potter baby?
complete with messy out of control hair and a scar.
and can you believe nap time is over already?
those 2 hours went fast.

kicked it

june has been such a fun and busy month for us here in rexburg. i cant believe it's already over and the 4th of july holiday is NEXT weekend! time goes so fast.

it's been a long few weeks when it comes to sleeping though. but i am proud to say we have finally kicked the habit of swaddling parker. YAY! ive been so stressed out trying to get him to learn how to sleep without it. last night he slept from 10pm-7am. that's the longest he has ever gone, with or without the swaddle.
parker and i have been enjoying going to a playgroup with other mamas and their babies from our ward. we just meet right across the street from our house at porter park for an hour. it's been fun for parker to play with other babies and nice for me to have some mama talk. not to mention the nice tan ive been getting from being outside so much. dont worry though (cough cough mom cough cough) i put a hat on parker and cover his sensitive skin in sunscreen so he is still pasty white.

also at porter park there is a little splash park area. it has been packed full with kiddos of all ages running through the water trying to stay cool in our 75 degree heat wave. i think parker enjoys it. the few times we have stuck his feet in it he hasnt complained.
a few weekends ago we took parker to the sand dunes (the place jared and i met 4 years ago!) and had a bon fire with kyle and carissa. we also took parker to monkey rock, a place were we used to bridge jump. he slept the whole time we were there though. and we didnt do any bridge jumping. the water is way to high and moving too fast right now.
we started parker on solids! he loves his green beans and peas. thats all we've given him so far. i think next we will give him som carrots and squash and then we will move onto the fruits. im a mean mom makin' my child eat his veggies first so he doesnt get a sweet tooth!this was his face the first time we gave him green beans. he enjoys them a lot more now though!he is also sitting up so good on his own now. i just set him on the floor with his toys around him and he is perfectly content to sit and play. he still loves to jump in the jumperoo too. i cant believe he is already 6 months old! most people say they are so sad that their baby is growing up, but i couldnt be more excited to see him grow up. i love how curious he is becoming and watching him learn new things. he is at a really fun age!

i have also recently started doing zumba. if you havent ever tried it you totally should. its a fun way to work out. a girl from my ward teaches it at the church in the gym so its fun to get away from parker for an hour to dance my little hiney off and social with other girls. i also started rereading the 7th harry potter book. i forgot how much i love harry potter. im excited for the last part of the movie to come out. but other than that i just play with parker all day, try to stay caught up on my house keeping and stress about what to cook for dinner.

jared is just busy in school like always. he is doing pretty good this semester with his grades. i cant believe the semester is over in just 4 short weeks. i think jared is looking forward to the break.

we are very much looking forward to the 4th of july weekend next weekend. i think we are planning to go to a parade, maybe do some swimming and BBQing before heading off to see the fireworks. i think parker will like seeing them, but i know he will not like hearing them. ill have to get him some ear plugs or something.