A Potpourri of Pictures

Well, we left the holidays behind well over a month ago and since then, life has been keeping us quite busy...as per usual lately.  But our life is happy, full and blessed!

Over the last several weeks, we have taken a variety of pictures of the goings-on around these parts - here are a few of them in random order.

Parker playing with "ACE" and his new Hot Dot Jr. set he got for Christmas.  He's really enjoying playing with these little cards and they are such a great learning tool - letters, numbers, shapes, colors and patterns.  He's also sporting his absolute favorite pajamas (which he calls his "snuggy monkeys"). 

One of the highlights of Parker's week is going to the local public library.  We go once a week (on Thursdays).  We started going to library almost two years ago when Parker was about 15-16 months old.  It's remained one of his favorite things to do and places to go.  We play a little, read a little and leave with a few books and DVDs.  

Speaking of the library, Parker is just starting to get into the "play pretend" stage - which I absolutely love.  He likes to pretend he's a puppy and will crawl around and make puppy sounds.

A couple of Fridays ago, we played "library" in his room.  We set up an old laptop in his window seat and got a play phone, backpack and library card.  He has a bookshelf packed with books in his room so that was our library! It was fun taking turns checking out books and he even had Daddy come to his library.





When I have time, I still love to craft.  It's something I really enjoy - it's theraputic and relaxing to me.  Plus I'm usually crafting something for the house or family so that makes it more fun and special.  I recently found this unfinished wooden Texas at Wal-Mart for a whopping $3.  I really had no idea what I was going to do with it, but it was a bargain and I couldn't pass it up.

I ended up painting it two different colors and attempted my first chevron pattern with painter's tape - yikes.  I added some wooden letters I painted and a flower and VOILA!

I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out.  There are some imperfections, but not too bad.  This now sits on our front porch with a small flower arrangement I made.  

Oh, who do we have here - what a handsome little boy!  He's so proud of his new backhoe sweatshirt from Mamaw.  The boy ADORES construction equipment - hint at his birthday theme and decor.  

John's parents came for a visit in early January to celebrate a late Christmas and spend some time with Parker.  We ended up having an impromptu get-together with some of the family from surrounding areas (Dallas, Burleson and Arkansas).  It was a really fun time! 

Everyone stayed about 7-8 hours.  We ate lunch and supper together and in between there was lots of visiting and story sharing as well as card playing and coffee/cocoa sipping.  It was a beautiful day so we also played outside a little. 

John's parents are standing up in the back (Mark & Karen - Mount Vernon, Arkansas).  The three ladies on the couch are three of Mark's sisters - which obviously make them John's aunts.  From left to right is David & Janet (Bryant, Arkansas), Wanda (Dallas) and Gene & Lillie (Burleson).     

We don't get together very often so it was a super fun and special time! We loved having all of them in our home.  Come back anytime!   

We got this t-shirt for Parker a few weeks ago because it is so fitting. This boy has more energy than the Energizer Bunny - that's no exaggeration! But he keeps us energized and going - and he's just so darn cute.

Parker and I do our grocery shopping once a week on Mondays.  He really enjoys going to the "supermarket".  We usually go to 2-3 different stores to get all of our goods for the week.  He's a happy helper.

A couple of weeks ago, a sweet neighbor friend, Brittany, had invited a few Moms and their kids to a local trampoline park (Urban Air for you locals) for the morning.  Unfortunately when we arrived, they were closed for a private event so we ended up going to an indoor playground at a church in town.  Parker had a ball.

Two weeks ago, Parker started eating therapy.  We finished six months of physical therapy for his Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) in December and now he's going to therapy twice a week for various eating/feeding issues.  This should last 3-6 months, but he's already made a lot of progress - which is so great!  Through ALL of it, Parker has been so brave and such a trooper.  I'm super proud of him.  His therapist have all adored him, but who wouldn't?! 

I am always trying to incorporate learning into our day - whether here at home or out and about. Parker is really curious about things and asks a lot of questions so that helps.  But we also try to teach him things and make learning fun.  

He knows the alphabet and can recognize upper and lowercase letters.  He can count to about 20, but knows other numbers as well. He knows and loves shapes, colors, animals and the sounds they make and he can now even point out a couple of states on a map (Texas, Arkansas and Missouri).

We have a "days of the week" song we sing from time to time so I made this little daily chart for our playroom (it's velcro).  We don't do it everyday...for now it's just for fun and if he wants to do it we do and learn a little, but it's a start.

We are on birthday countdown around here - Parker will be 3 years old in a little over two weeks. I made a fun countdown for us to do each day.  We cut a flag off each morning.

Even though he's almost 3, he still lets me rock him and snuggle.  I will do it as long as he'll let me.

We love our neighborhood and thankful for all of the kids in it. Parker is one of the youngest on the street, but he has fun with the bigger kids and they are so sweet to him.  If the weather is nice, you can bet most of the kiddos are out playing.

I was in the kitchen one more last week and saw this sunrise out our back window - wow!

Last Tuesday, we had a play date at our house with our friends from church Zoey and Samantha (Zoey's Mommy).  Parker and Zoey are about 6 weeks apart in age.  They have been in the church nursery together since they were wee little babies and now they are almost three.

They came over and we played inside and out, did some chatting and had yummy pizza that we made as well as rice krispie treats.  It was a fun afternoon and evening and we loved having them over.  We hope to do it again soon! Zoey will be a big sister in about a month or so.  Samantha is due with Elleigh in March.  We can't wait to meet her.    

They are building two new houses on our street which means Parker's beloved bulldozer is back! Remember earlier when I mentioned how much Parker loves construction equipment?  Since the bulldozers return we have gone to see it everyday at Parker's request.  I'm hoping to take some of his three year pictures by it.  Nothing like the perfect prop for birthday pictures.  Parker has a birthday shirt and I crafted a couple of things for the pictures.

February is a big month for the three of us.  By the end of the month, we will have all celebrated a birthday and another year of marriage. It's a month of love and celebrations!

Our days, lives and hearts are full - thanks for coming along for the ride.

Until we meet again...
Riley