Sunday, December 12, 2010

The Peas' First Christmas Party

Yesterday the senior group of our church had their annual Christmas party and they invited us. We were delighted to attend! Ryan and Evan are truly church babies; everyone knows them, spoils them, and gives them lots of attention!





Ms. MiMi was so sweet to help look after Ry and Ev

As she quickly learned, it's not easy keeping up with two curious toddlers! Evan is not in this picture because he, of course, headed in the opposite direction!



Santa stopped by and Evan was happy to get a stocking from him



Ryan was amazed that this man was handing out presents!



They refused to take the stockings from Santa themselves. Mommy had to get them first.



Evan wanted nothing to do with him! Good thing we won't be doing Santa in our household!




Ryan still can't figure it out!





Stopping for a water break with Daddy




These two are always on for a game of chase.





I had to keep Evan away from the keyboard. He managed to belt out a tune twice despite my efforts.




It was a good day





A good day indeed!












The Peas' First Christmas Party, cont.


Thursday, December 9, 2010

The important things in life...


On Tuesday I was reminded about what's really important in life. It's so easy to get caught up in the world of working and taking care of household duties. If you are not careful, the really important things can be overlooked.


I welcomed the Peas into the kitchen with me after their bath this night. I knew that it would take me a lot longer to get the chores taken care of, but I wanted to spend the time with them. They love to explore, and Lord knows they love to explore in the kitchen! I had the Christmas music playing and the cinnamon sticks simmering; our home was all warm and fuzzy, and I thought to myself, why not?

R & E wasted no time helping me unload the dishwasher

Evan wasn't sure if he wanted to clean my Kindle power cord or use it as a lasso



Daddy P and I were dancing to Jingle Bells and gave Ryan and Evan a front row seat to our mini-concert! As you can see, they loved it and got into it too:)


Teamwork! The Peas decided to work together to sweep for me





Evan and Ryan can't seme to resist the urge of peering under the basement door to see what's going on down there! We're currently setting it up as their official playroom.




I had no idea that we even had these napkins, but thanks Ryan for finding them for me! Just a few more inches and he'll be able to open doors. Yikes!


This was the stuff that memories are made of! Just thinking about this night with my family makes me smile, and I'm so glad that we went with the moment and spent this time together.





Sunday, December 5, 2010

Christmas is almost here!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!


I LOVE Christmas! It really is my favorite holiday--I love everything about the season. I love that we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love that it's a time for family and friends to gather together. I love listening to Christmas music; O Holy Night is my favorite. I love cooking and eating Christmas dinner. This year I am especially loving doing all these things and seeing them through Ryan and Evan's eyes. Of course they don't understand any of this--yet. I see them take in all the sights and sounds, though, and I feel like a kid all over again. Evan loves our Christmas tree--Ryan, not so much! He won't go near the thing. But he does love Christmas music. Dare I say our boy is musically inclined?!

Fallon took our Christmas picture when she was here. I'll post it once I get our Christmas cards mailed. All I gotta say is, you have no idea what it took to get that one picture! It was crazy 'round these parts!


I don't love that we won't be able to go home for Christmas, but I am looking forward to having a quiet Christmas with our little family of four. I can't wait for the Peas to see their gifts on Christmas morning. I must admit that I have gone overboard, though. I really had no intentions of doing so, but I can't help myself! I started early, so it hasn't felt like I've been shopping a lot. I sit and think about what they have and what I still want them to have, and yikes! Somebody needs to stop me!

No new pictures this week. In fact, I realized that my camera has been sitting down here in the office. I'll make up for it this week. R & E are doing well--still making their parents insanely happy. Still taking our breath away with the beauty that is them. Still making us know every second of every day how blessed we are.

Here are a few new things they are doing:

Evan repeats repeats almost every thing we say. Some new words this week: light, star, Gabba Gabba (the boy is addicted to this show) He can say cup, he loves saying yes (which is strange since he hears "no" so often!) He has recently started a love affair with one of his push-to-walk toys that we converted into a car. He loves riding on his car now! He's climbing into and onto everything. There have been a few falls this week, but this one is tough I tell you. He shakes 'em off, and does the same thing again. Nanny J recently told me that, "Evan is very defiant." Uh-oh!

Ryan has been repeating words too. He greets the nanny each morning with a "Hi, Jackie!" I finally got to hear it myself. SO cute! He loves to count. I'll say one and he'll say two. We're still working on the rest. He's a climber too, but is more likely to stop when asked. I recently downloaded Christmas music on his My Pal Scout. He loves Scout. Sometimes he even has his and Evan's going at the same time! Both boys can say Badger, but Ryan would rather not deal with the dog. At. all.

It seems that they are adding new words each day. I'm sure that I'm forgetting some of them. They seem to be growing up so fast! On one hand I love it! They are smart and funny little boys! On the other hand, I miss my babies! We have toddlers now! What a year this has been!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

The Parker fam had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday! Here is what our weekend was like in pictures.

Evan was thrilled to see Daddy come home Wednesday night. We didn't brave Thanksgiving holiday travel to make it to services that night.
Ryan looks a little less impressed, but he was excited to see Daddy too--I promise!

This is the Peas' after-bath attire. They really do move this fast! That diaper genie? It belongs on the opposite side of the room. Ryan, it seems, has other plans for it.



Before bath time Ryan decided to hang out with his books. Does this look familiar?

The uh-oh I'm caught face. I didn't mind since he's so stinkin' cute!




Hanging out and being silly with Mommy before bedtime. Auntie Fallon was coming into town tonight!
Pretend that you see pictures from Thanksgiving Day here. Mommy made a delicious turkey that was moist and juicy, dressing, potato salad and sweet potato pie. Daddy made macaroni and cheese and greens. Ryan and Evan were not impressed!



These pictures are out of order, but we spent Friday evening putting up our Christmas tree. Even Badger joined in on the fun! Our tree has one less poinsettia now!

Evan is such a great helper. He placed this ornament in the perfect spot. Now he snatches one off every chance he gets!




Mommy lovin' on the Baby One. Evan is NOT a fan of molars:(





Ryan is a great helper too! He helped Mommy sort the ornaments.





Sunday just before Auntie left headed back to DC. Evan is still not a fan of molars:(



Ryan and Aunt Fallon. Both of the boys learned how to say "auntie" this weekend. It sounds like auuu-tee!



So there you have it.--Thanksgiving 2010 Parker style. We have so much to be thankful for, and it was great having my sister join our little family to celebrate. It is difficult being so far away from family, but it's nice to start our own traditions. We have had the absolute best last few days. There's been lots of good food and laughter. We are truly, truly blessed.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Always "in" to something!

The Peas have tons of books. I keep all of their board books and "Pea friendly" books in the family room in this bin so the boys can have access to them. I love to see them grab a book and "read" it. If I start reciting a few lines from their favorite books they'll sometimes go get that book. Ryan loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do you See? and Evan is currently loving Busy Fingers. Well last night this sweet boy took loving his books to a whole new level! I looked over last night and saw this: Evan had climbed into his book bin! I didn't have a camera handy, but I grabbed my cell phone because I just had to capture this! :)

It's never too early to...

teach your kids to do laundry!

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