a new do

parkers hair has been out of control for a while now.

at play group on friday we noticed his was as long, or longer,
than some of the girls hair.
so we decided it was time for a hair cut.
my friend rachel did it with just the clippers,
and after watching her do it, i said,
"that looks easy enough, i could have done that!"

and drum roll please.....
he used to look like a hobo child,
but now i think he looks so handsome.
and so much older.
he is not my little baby anymore!

he is VERY VERY shy.
and its really quite embarrassing when we are at the store
and a cute little old lady comes up just to say hi and
comment on how cute he is, and he starts to cry and scream
bloody murder, like the old lady is trying to pull his eyes out or something.
he will absolutely be the screaming kid in nursery.
for sure.

ive been doing lots of reading lately.
just in january i read 6 books!
The Help
The Lucky One by Nicholas sparks
The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks (so DUMB!)
and i finally got my hands on the Hunger Games Series.
I loved the first two, but cant decide how i feel about the third one.
i am excited for the movie to come out in march!
i love reading.
but now i need a new book or series to start on.
any suggestions?

jared is still busy with school and work.
he is counting down the days till graduation in april.
we cant wait to have him home more in the summer before grad school starts
so we can do more of this:but with green grass in the background

a playmate for parker

it's the middle of january,

and we have no snow on the ground.
seriously?!?! are we even in idaho?
im LOVING this warmer, snow-free winter!

parker got a new playmate a few weeks ago.
my friend and next door neighbor
has a little boy who is just 6 weeks
younger than parker.
we get to play with him in the mornings
while his mama goes to class.


parker was not a fan of him the first week and a half
but we are slowly warming up to hayden, and they will sit
and play for a few minutes together everyday.

parker also got another new playmate this past week.
marcus kade myers was born to chuck and diana on wednesday!
we went to see him today, and oh my heavens...
he. is. precious. all 6 pounds of him.i may have thought for one split second,
''awwww, i might want another one of these!''
but the thought left as quickly as it came when diana
mentioned she had been up ALL. NIGHT. with him.
i was happy to pass him back to his mama
and leave, knowing i was going to get a full night sleep.
because did i mention with hayden coming over to play
parker has been sleeping like a champ.
8:00pm-8:30am. love it.

but marcus is adorable, and charlee is one great big sister.

we all thought parker was so little,
but after seeing him next to marcus today,
we decided he sure isnt so little anymore!

he is understanding so much.
when we ask him to go get his shoes,
he brings us his shoes.
he does the same with his socks too.
and after we get his coat on, he is walking over
and banging on the door to go outside.he can sit down when we ask him to sit down.
he recently learned how to spin in a circle.
he can give kisses, and blow kisses.
and we are practicing our spoon skills.
he is becoming a great little helper.
he especially loves to help with vacuuming, sweeping,
and folding the laundry. he is also starting to figure out how to
"push my buttons"
and throwing small temper-tatrums.
especially after all his fruit snacks are gone.
holy hannah, you'd think the world was gonna end.
i often hear myself praying for patience every day.
he loves books, and any kind of ball.
and loves to play with his daddy.
he loves to eat, and would eat all day if i let him.
his favorite snacks include cheese, graham crackers, yogurt,
fruit snacks, and anything im eating.
though some days im not quite sure
if we will make it to bed time alive,
i sure love this little dude of mine.

moscow... russia?

i turned the tv on this morning

and saw it was suppose to be 43 degrees.
can you say heat wave?


so this afternoon parker and i headed over to the park.
i took him out of the stroller and let him wander.
boy did he sure love to be outside again.


who would have thought,
on january 2 in rexburg, idaho
we would be out for a walk.
it's a miracle!


he wasnt quite sure what to do when we got to this crack.
and how in the world is it already a new year?
time goes way to fast.
we are very much looking forward to 2012.
we are hoping it brings us
*another bachelor's degree,
*a move to moscow... (russia?)
*and a 2 year old!

jared starts his LAST semester at BYU-idaho.
and he will graduate in april!
WOOHOO!
a few weeks ago we learned he was accepted into grad school
at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.
not Russia.

so it looks like we will be packing up and moving north
probably sometime in august.
his program is only 2 semesters,
which we are thrilled about.

its nice to see that we will one day be done with school.

lots of celebrating

holy hannah,christmas is over.

parker is a year old.
and a new year is less than 2 days away.

the last two weeks we have been doing lots of celebrating!
it started on december 18.
parker's aunt diana was kind enough to share her birthday
so we celebrated parker's first birthday
and diana's birthday with the rucks family.

he didnt like his cake.
and he was spoiled rotten by his
grandma and grandpa rucks
and aunt diana.
he got lots of clothes, toys,
and the CUTEST little pair of nike's.

we then traveled to colorado
and had a great time.
while we were there we did lots of fun things.

parker got his first hair cut:
decorated sugar cookies:

played in the snow:

parker did not like the snow.
maybe if he had a snow suit on, he would have enjoyed it more.
we will try to be a little more prepared next time.

celebrated parker's first birthday:
again, he didnt like his cake.
i still cant believe his birthday is christmas eve.
he was again spoiled with lots of gifts from
G&G allred, and his (my) cousins.

met santa:

enjoyed unwrapping gifts christmas morning:

and went to church sunday afternoon:


though we didnt get an ipad, or iphones, or a house,
or any other kind of fancy gift,
we were still spoiled rotten.

now here's to a new year,
good-bye 2011, you sure were good to us.
hello 2012!