Happy Birthday Chapman!

Saturday we got to help sweet Chapman celebrate his first birthday. We just love the Penuel family and all of us fully expect Bennett and Chapman to be friends and teammates for a long time.

Bennett was excited to attend C's birthday party which was all about one of his favorite things: balls!


The theme was played out in so many cute and creative ways. There were round decorations everywhere, a ball pit to play in, balls of all types and sizes to hit, throw, kick and dunk, ball-shaped snacks and a beach ball birthday cake!



We were a little early and as the birthday boy was still resting up for his big shin-dig and we were the first guests, Bennett had first dibs on all the toys. He the time of his life checking out all the ball-related activities. His favorite was dunking on the BIG basketball goal (so much cooler than our kid sized version at home).


It wasn't long before Alli and David woke Chapman up so he could join in on his own party. Sweet boy wasn't sure what to make of all the ruckus at first but he warmed up pretty quickly.



Of course the highlight of the party was watching Chapman dig into his first cupcake. It took him no time at all to figure out what to do with it!



All the wee guests enjoyed their messy, blue-frosted cupcakes. Wyatt and Bennett sat at the big kid table and got their sugar fix for the week.


We attempted to get a shot of all the little ones in attendance. It was good for a laugh, if not for great pictures. But we tried.


As the party was wrapping up Bennett discovered the sidewalk chalk. I think he might have gotten more chalk on his person than on the sidewalk.



For memory's sake here are a couple of pictures of Chapman and Bennett with their daddies. One of two sweaty, tired toddlers from Saturday and one of two babies from almost a year ago.



Aww...so sweet!

Thanks so much for the wonderful party Penuel family! We had a great time and we love you!

Temporary Makeover

The ol' Learning As We Go blog here has been in desperate need of a face lift for a while now. The picture was at least nine months old, the spacing was bad and the color scheme was no longer appealing to me after the Gatorade incident of last week.

Since my favorite creative friends at Loudmouth seem to be swamped with requests these days I decided to take matters into my own hands and see what I could do to spruce up the place.

I'm not terribly impressed but it will do at least until David and Alli can find the time to help a girl out.

Thanks for checking in! More Parker Family adventures to come soon!

Hello In There!

I have not been doing a good job of blogging about all things pregnancy related and I fear that Baby Dos is already getting "second child" treatment and getting less attention than deserved. Poor thing has only been blogged about three times so far. For the record, Dos, I apologize! I love you and I'll do better!

But now I have pictures and if I have pictures you know I have to share! So here is our cutie-patootie Baby Dos! (That is "dos" as in uno, dos, tres...not the plural form of do or some misspelling of dose or does. Ok? Ok.)

The pictures above are two profile shots of baby's head and upper torso. The head is on the right side of the photo, facing up. In the second picture you can see Dos sucking his or her thumb. Precious!

Baby and mama are both doing well. I don't have any recent "belly shots" but just trust me...there is definitely a belly. Dos is growing just right on schedule and looking great! All body parts are present and accounted for.

Yes, even those body parts that would tell us boy or girl have been checked out by the doctor, but we looked away for that part. It's called willpower, people! Or maybe it's called being a little bit crazy. You pick.

Unfortunately for this mama the "morning" sickness (oh what a funny joke that phrase is...must have been coined by a man) hasn't completely let up yet. I feel fine most of the time but every once in a while I feel, well, not fine. But it is manageable these days so I'm not going to complain.

Dos is a mover and a shaker so far. I feel jumps and rolls and kicks all hours of the day and especially at night when I lay down. I just LOVE to feel that sweet baby moving around inside of me. It is such a sweet reminder of the gift we have been given.

I've asked Jeff if he has ever felt like he's missing out on something by not ever being able to carry a child. I was surprised how quickly and assuredly he answered "no". Maybe it has something to do with having witnessed the puking, the waddling, the middle of the night leg cramps or even the 56 hour labor that would cause him to say such a thing. But, believe it or not, I think I am the lucky one!

Truly, I feel so very blessed to get to be such an intimate part of the miracle of life. I am daily amazed at how God designed my body to be able to function as a safe home for this tiny life to grow and thrive. It is incredible to witness all the changes that take place from day to day as the primary function of my being has transitioned from keeping myself alive to nurturing a child as it develops from two tiny cells to a full-term infant prepared to enter the world.

Wow!

Thank you, God for allowing me to participate in this beautiful, mysterious process. It is a challenge and joy.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT)

Adventures in Digestion

It turns out that even small amounts of blue Gatorade ingested by a toddler can result in large amounts of Very Bright Green Poop within twenty-four hours.

And it stinks. Like, take-your-breath-away stinks.

Suddenly I'm rethinking my blog template. Sad. I liked it so much yesterday.

I'm not going to let that beverage choice catch me off guard again. And now you can be prepared too.

You're welcome!

Girls in Grandbury

This weekend I stayed up too late, ate too much, shopped a bit, laughed a lot and even cried some with some of my favorite girls in the world. It was just like we were in high school again!

In what is now an annual tradition the "Fort Worth Girls" took a trip to enjoy a quiet weekend together. These ladies have all been an important part of my life pretty much forever. Cassie, Kristen (and Allison who wasn't able to come) and I have been around each other since the church nursery at Wedgwood Baptist. I'm pretty sure I've known their names almost as long as I've known mine. Laura and I first met and GA camp in second grade and Tricia sat across the aisle from me in sixth grade World Geography. The rest, as they say, is history!

(I'm really frustrated with myself and my scanner/printer/copier right now as I've spent a good hour trying to get some old pictures of the girls and me posted. Boo.)

Here is the crew almost five and half years ago at my bachelorette weekend in San Diego:


And here we were Sunday in Grandbury:

Don't let our choice of get-together venues fool you. We're just as cool now as we were then. Just more frugal when it comes to planning a weekend get away. At least that is how we choose to look at it!

Laura found a fabulous loft apartment that we rented for the weekend. It was right on the square just above some of the cute shops. We spent our trip just hanging around the old downtown area so it was perfect not to have to worry with driving and parking. The apartment was large, comfortable and just adorable. What a great find!

Here are Tricia and Laura outside the loft.

A view of the dining and living areas. The loft is up on the right with a bedroom and bathroom and the kitchen and another sleeping area are behind me.

After dropping off our things we went to dinner where we talked too loud, laughed like jackals and ate obscene amounts of Italian food. Yummy!

Kristen and I show off our "overexcited bridesmaid" smiles. Because we have been there, done that and now it's just funny. At least to us.

What's a trip to Grandbury without a stop at the Wal-Mart? We popped in for a few forgotten essentials and some cheap sun dresses. I told you we were cool.

Friday night we stayed up chatting until three am. Saturday morning we took our time waking up, getting breakfast and starting out on our shopping venture.

We enjoyed lunch at Stringfellows which had a really pretty door. Yes, I am putting a picture of a door in my blog. I know I'm a dork.

After a full day at the shops we decided to check out the cute wine store just below the apartment. The girls enjoyed a little wine tasting while I took pictures. (Ok, fine, I had a sip or two myself.)


Tricia, Cassie, Laura, me and Kristen at D'Vine Wines. (Get it? D-VINE??)

I'm posting this picture of Tricia and myself to showcase my new haircut. It's short! And I love it!

We returned to the loft and got working on dinner. I brought the recipe and supplies but everyone pitched in on the prep and cooking. Tricia worked on the tomatillos.

Kristen chopped onions while Laura seasoned fish.

We made tilapia with tomatillo salsa, seasoned corn on the cob, brown rice and spinach salad with sliced almonds and homemade vinaigrette. It was all scrumptious...my mouth is watering just thinking about it. We make a great team!


After dinner we played cards until after midnight. We were all tired and kept talking about heading to bed but we seemed to be doing a lot more talking than moving. It was a shock when we looked at the clock and discovered it was FIVE in the morning!

I have no idea the last time I've stayed up to such crazy hours. But it was great. I treasure my time and conversations with these girls.

They have seen me through a lot of changes over the years - they accepted a skinny, poorly dressed sixth grader that talked too loud and thought everyone cared what she had to say, forgave me after ugly fights where I was not the friend I should have been, counseled me through my first (and second and third...) broken heart, prayed for me in tough times, celebrated with me and for me at joys and successes, and taught me so much through their unique personalities, skills and ways of looking at the world.

We are all quite different, walking divergent paths in many ways. I'm not sure we'd all be friends if we met for the first time today. But our shared history and love for each other is the bond that will hold us together in the years and decades to come. I love you, Fort Worth Girls!

I am so blessed!

He's Got Skills

Nunchuck skills...bow hunting skills skills...fork skills.

Meals are taking a bit longer, but he's shown a lot of patience and persistence in figuring out how to feed himself like a big boy. We're so proud.




He's also been working on his "jumping" skills. It's pretty darn funny so I'll have to try to catch it on video for ya.

He Speaks!

If there is one thing I can say with certainty about my son it is that he has never been in a hurry.

He was in no rush to be born, apparently quite content to stay in that cozy home inside of me until his eviction notice was served. Even after some medical coaxing he managed to take a good two and half days to appear.

He wasn't particularly interested in our efforts to get him to crawl or walk. He took his sweet time, getting from place to place in his own creative ways (anyone remember the wounded soldier?). Then at fourteen months he decided he was finished with that baby stuff, stood up and took off on his own two feet.

The child has also not shown much inclination for talking. I guess he hasn't seen the need for traditional communication as he has managed to let us know the desires of his heart fairly clearly without the use of actual words.

Oh, sure, for a few months he's had maybe five words that he uses from time to time - mommy, dada, no, yeah, bye-bye. All those exciting first words. But that is where it ended. Any attempt to get him to try a new word ("say ball!") has been rewarded with nothing but silent stares.

Until last week. Suddenly my dear child has decided to speak. And since this blog is where I'm keeping track of such monumental events in our lives, I'm going to make a list.

Words he uses unprompted:
ma-MEE
daahda
nah - his version of no
yeah - yes (but more likely to respond "yes" with one vigorous nod and no words)
bah-bah - bye bye
hot - said in a whispered voice, "haaaaht"
WING! - swing, always uttered with much enthusiasm
oww - out or outside

Words he uses when prompted (that are usually decipherable):
beez - please
beez - cheese (as in, "smile and say cheese for the camera")
moooooe - more, said in a deep, drawn out voice
cuewee - excuse me
bah - ball
boo - book
dog
up

Okay, so those lists aren't very long at all. Not much to get excited about for a seventeen month old probably.

I think what excites us the most is he is finally striving to repeat words we say. We're throwing out new words constantly and working on names of family and friends. Often his first attempt or two (or three) sound nothing like what we are saying but he listens carefully and makes improvements each time.

Until he gets bored with our games and out comes the silent stare.

We're getting there!

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

A couple weekends ago we made a little trek out to Marshall, Texas for the annual Parker Brother's Reunion. Here are three of the Parker Brothers who brought their families together to eat, chase kiddos and reminisce.


This year Jeff's parent's hosted the reunion out at "The Farm" where Andy (Jeff's Dad, aka CPapa) grew up.

This beautiful old home was built by Andy's grandfather beginning in 1904. In the past couple of decades it fell into terrible disrepair as it sat unused by the family and abused by vandals and a vicious Texas tornado. I wish I had pictures of what it looked like a few years ago. Suffice it to say that it wasn't unusual to find a cow wandering the first story and they were lucky not to fall and get stuck in one of the many holes in the floor.

Andy has poured his heart and soul into restoring his old home over the past couple of years. He and Sara have spent untold hours out there planning, gutting, cleaning, painting. It is stunning! They still have big plans (a garage with an upstairs apartment is currently under construction and there are rumors of a pool) but it is amazing what has been accomplished already.


I love this big old tree that was knocked over during the tornado but is still thriving.

We enjoyed visiting with family. I met some relatives for the first time and caught up with others that we've not seen since before Bennett was born.

Bennett got loved on by everyone. Especially his favorite cousin Haley.


And I fell in love with this doll of a little boy named Byron. He came dressed in his cowboy best including hat, holster and rifle. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of him and his big blue eyes.


In the evening CPapa took us out with him to feed the cows. This farm used to supply the town of Marshall with all it's dairy. It is no longer a functioning dairy farm but Andy is working to grow the herd. There were lots of little babies, some just days old as well as a few expecting mommy cows that lumbered along in the heat with their swollen bellies. I felt for them.


Bennett wasn't real sure what to think about the cows at first.


But eventually he warmed up to them and tried desperately to get one of the enormous animals to come eat from his hand. None of the cows took him up on the offer.


I know he's going to enjoy coming out here more and more as he gets older.


After the extended family left we sat out on the front porch in the beautiful twilight, eating leftover barbecue and chatting. Then we got to enjoy a gorgeous east Texas sunset. Perfect.


I look forward to spending many more weekends with sweet family on this beautiful land.