New pics of Parker

My very talented friend Jen Bravo owns her own photography business and has taken numerous fabulous photos of our family in the past. She recently invited me and Parker over to take some infant photos of him. She's still in the process of editing a lot of them, but she's posted some of them on her blog here. Just scroll down to the first post and you'll see our little guy. Check them out if you can, they are SO cute!!!

Gators, Golf, Brothers and more...

The last week of summer was a busy one around here! We had lots of things to cross off our summer list and many friends we wanted to play with before we go back to our regular schedule.
Brian was fortunate enough to be invited by a good friend to go up to Gainesville to visit UF for a football practice and luncheon. As you can imagine, he had so much fun being able to go out onto the field and watch the new players practice.

Here they are in the tunnel where the Gators run out at the beginning of every game:

And here is Brian and his friend under the goal post:

The same weekend, Brian too Payton miniature golfing at one of his favorite spots. Even though it was very hot, they had a great time. Payton even got a special florescent green smiley-face golf ball!

Also, now that Parker can sit up by himself, Payton has become much more comfortable holding him on his lap. Parker thinks this is pure heaven being so close to his big brother. I think he'd stay there all day if Payton would let him! And of course I just melt watching them interact. It's SO sweet!!!

 

One more picture

Okay, I just couldn't resist showing you all another side-by-side view of Payton and Parker at the same age. I always find myself looking at Parker and thinking, "You look so familiar to me." Now I know why...

1/2 Birthdays and more

Both of my boys celebrated their 1/2 birthdays recently. This is a fun tradition that we started with Payton a few years ago and we look forward to continuing it with Parker as well. 
Payton went away for the weekend to "Camp Grandma & Grandpa" in Bradenton so Brian and I had plenty of time to get some secret surprises going.

We headed to Ikea on Saturday (love that place - we spent 3 hours there!) to do some shopping. I've been wanting to put up a tent-like structure around Payton's bed for a long time now. I saw it in a Parenting magazine last year and have been dying to try it out ever since. So we bought the necessary hardware at Ikea and got to work. Surprisingly enough, it was very easy to install and we just clipped sheets to the wire line and "Voila! Tent-bed ready!" Then we installed a little reading lamp above his bed as well. He loves reading before bedtime and now he has a little light that he can turn on/off without getting out of bed. It may be a little tough to tell from the pictures, but basically it's a steel wire attached to 3 brackets that are hanging from the ceiling. The sheets slide across the wires on little clips, so it's easy for Payton to slide the "tent" open and shut.

We also got an easel at Ikea. It's so great - it has a chalkboard side, a dry-erase side, and then a roll of paper underneath if you want to color on paper. All this for only $15!
When Payton came home he was so excited to see his fun surprises. Unfortunately, I was a little too excited myself and forgot to take any pictures of him exploring in his bed for the first time. Sorry!
But I did get some cute pics of the grandparents and the kids when they came to drop off Payton. Needless to say, Payton had a ball hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa, and Brian and I had fun putting together some little surprises for his 1/2 birthday. However, instead of a homemade cake this year, the boys opted for Dairy Queen Blizzards. Who can blame them? (P.S. Have you tried the new Nutter Butter Blizzard?!? It's INSANELY GOOD!!!)


In other news, Parker has graduated from the baby bathtub, to the sink. He's much happier bathing where he can sit up and play with his toys. Check out these cute pics (sorry there are so many, I just couldn't decide which ones to not include, so I just put them all in)...

Couldn't you just eat him up?!? He's so cute, it kills me! And I don't know how well you can see it, but he has 2 bottom teeth already! He is a good eater and those teeth have opened up a whole new world for him. He loves Cheerios, Puffs, bread, waffles, bananas, peaches, and anything else mom is willing to cut up into microscopic pieces. :)

And finally, here are a couple pics of Payton and I using his new easel. Who loves it more... me, or Payton? (please excuse the no-make-up picture):

Only one more week until school starts. I'm kinda happy, kinda sad... very mixed emotions this year. More to come on that later...

Rainy days

It has rained a LOT the past few days. And it's supposed to rain again most of the day tomorrow. So, we're getting creative with things to do (other than TV and Wii). We practiced hand writing today (Payton was NOT happy about this, but did it with a pretty good attitude after some minor threats), we made another fort, made marble runs, we created a complete scene from the game "Plants vs. Zombies" made out of LEGOS, we've played stuffed animals, block houses, hide-n-seek, and just about anything else that didn't require going outside. Just thinking about it all makes me tired...
Yesterday, Payton had a friend over for a playdate. When they had snacktime, I plopped Parker down in his highchair and gave him a rice cracker to munch on. He thought he was such a big boy having a snack with the older kids.

Today, we got out a bunch of Payton's old toys for Parker to play with. He loved the little building blocks and wooden tool set.
I hope it doesn't rain all day tomorrow. We'd like to get outside and burn off some energy! :)

Family Time

We've had lots of good quality family time recently. Here are a few fun pics...

Brian and his dad went to a Rays game together last week. They were fortunate enough to sit on the club level (thanks Dave!!!) so they really had a fun experience.

 Then my mom came into town for a few days. The boys love it when Nana comes to visit. She does nothing but love on them. It's so wonderful to have an extra set of hands when she's here. Oh how I wish they lived closer. I also wish I would have taken this photo with my camera instead of my phone. Because it's a darn cute photo, but it's blurry because it was taken with my phone. Oh well... it's still cute!
One night when my mom was here, Payton asked to make a fort in the family room... so of course we did. It's not really a fort, but rather a king-sized sheet draped over the couch and coffee table, but hey... he loved it. Then of course the other two boys had to join in the fun. Parker especially thought it was super fun!

Just look at those smiles! Priceless!






 Then, one rainy Sunday afternoon, Parker was waking up from his nap in a particularly good (and cute) mood. So... Payton jumped in the crib with him! It was so cute to watch Parker's reaction. He was so excited to have his big brother in bed with him. And it was hysterical to see my giant 6-year old in the crib that used to be so big for him. Man... time flies....


Finally, Brian borrowed his friend's kayak (thanks Michael!!!) so that we could cross off another "Summer List" item. It's the first time Payton has kayaked and he was afraid it was going to tip over. So when they got home, I asked him how it went, and he excitedly said, "It didn't tip over!" They got to see a dolphin swim right in front of the boat and Brian rowed over to Caladessi Island, which is very remote and only accessible by boat (no pictures of these two things, as Brian was busy rowing).


So many fun family moments... I'm kind of sad to see Summer come to an end.

Painting Pottery

We were able to mark off another item on our "Summer List" this weekend. We went to a local paint-your-own pottery studio and let Payton pick out a piece of pottery to paint. I suggested he paint a bowl or plate that could be his special snack bowl/plate. But no... once he saw this piece, his mind was made up...

Anyone recognize this animal? Yes, it's the character from the "Angry Birds" game. We don't even own this game - he's only played it at his friend's house, but he loves it. So when he saw this piece, he insisted on painting it.

How could I say "no" to a smile like this???

Now the hard part... waiting 7 days to pick it up. He's learning all about patience this week.

Oh... and we also were able to cross off "Learn how to tie shoes" from the Summer List. Of course he had to practice on Brian's shoes, because all Payton owns are Velcro sneakers and Crocs. Oh well, at least now he knows how. :)