Saturday, February 27, 2010

checking in

our internet's been shotty, and like always, i have a myriad of subjects i want to write about...

1. parker's baby dedication/prayer book we're using
2. valentine's day recap...lil' overdue
3. text from a friend about a home based business today (and said friend has commented on my blog before! c'mon people, do you really want to get blasted? j/k...kinda)
4. email from a friend today asking me if i was happy with my wedding dress from this etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/yourfairytalewedding (um NO i did not order my dress or bridesmaid dresses on etsy. love etsy, but no. ha!) UPDATE i emailed the etsy site owner kindly (seriously) telling her that it was my friends and me in the pic and that we were flattered. she immediately took down the picture, but we are still in her logo (might need a graphic designer to help with that one! :))
5. baby#2 proposed timeline and all of the accompanying factors
6. trip to cali with the high school crew! (plane ticket--booked! :))

but for now, i will just give you a sweet picture of parker my friend anthony took last weekendlove yall!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

valentine's cherub

this might be the most emasculating thing i have ever done to my son, but happy valentine's day from our little angel!

Monday, February 8, 2010

bachelor dud

to get through the dreadful winter (okay it's really not that bad in arkansas), i try to find excitement in the small things. one of these highlights of winter is watching the bachelor. we started the season strong with friends coming over every monday night. there were actually more boys than girls most weeks (and they were into it!), but one is taking the picture below and two, including my husband, were at work this night.anyway, i feel like this season has been a total let down.

1. reality steve ruined the ending. it's just not as exciting watching knowing who wins.

2. rogers church league basketball started, and the games are all on monday and thursday nights, so our weekly watch parties ended (but our team is 3-0! with one win against the defending champs, first baptist bentonville!)

3. i can't help but think about how much jake looks and acts like my ex-boyfriend. (ex-boyfriend, if you are reading [highly doubtful], i really don't hate you. i know i haven't talked to you in what--4 years? but i wish you the best in life and am glad you found a cute new girlfriend! [thanks facebook]) anyway jake is just kind of a goober. he seems possessive and bland--not sure why they picked him for the bachelor.the only thing that could make up for this sub par season is if tenley becomes the new bachelorette. and if the jayhawks beat texas tonight!!! rock chalk!!! :)

love yall. oh i almost forgot that some of our best friends, kaye and ryan, are about to have their baby boy!! i didn't have a camera this weekend but kaye posted some pictures of the shower on her site. please ignore my husband's inappropriate insinuations. can't wait for baby chiles!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

10 months

dear parks,
this week you turned 10 months old! ahh! only 2 months away from one.year.old! momma's gotta get started planning your party! i know i am biased, but you are seriously the cutest, happiest baby ever! (even if you still have no teeth!) you make daddy and me smile all day. i love your facial expressions, especially when you give us your mischievous look as you're about to crawl up the stairs or something else off limits. you think you are sooo sneaky! but our living room is your playground. you pull up on everything and try to crawl through the tiniest spaces like the glider......
momma bought you some new gap baby clothes that were marked way down. this sweater was only $6.59 and you wear it almost every single day! (oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam...)
sometimes you get to take big boy baths with mommy and daddy, and you eat all of the bubbles!!
"look mom, no hands!" you are cruising along all of the furniture and your balance is getting steadier every day!
you are doing much better sleeping in! most days you get up between 7-8am and dad and i love it! you usually go to bed about 8pm and still take two naps during the day from 10-11:30 and 2-4:00.
it's been a cold, cold month and you've been cooped up. i can't wait for summer to be here and to go on walks, bike rides and to the pool!
love you oh so much,
momma

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

firefighters vs. police

most of yall know that my husband is a firefighter. he loves it and looks forward to going to work every day. it is the perfect job for him and there is no one i would trust more to save my life.

what james and i didn't realize before he became a firefighter was how much tension exists between firemen and police. it is especially interesting because james' brother and best friend is a cop (he just got promoted to detective, but same thing). the general differences i've observed between firemen & police:

schedule
firefighters--work 24 hours on, 48 hours off
police--work 8 hour shifts and rotate every few months (at least in rogers i think)

IMHO the firefighter shift is ideal. firemen get to sleep at the firestation (and each have their own bedroom!). firefighters also get paid to work out (police might, too). because there are not that many fire calls, firefighters have a lot of down time at the station and get paid to go to the store, cook meals, and watch football. police often joke about firefighters being lazy, but i think it is just a nice perk of the job.

tryouts
firefighters--must do a year's worth of school to tryout (EMT required), and it is tough to get a position.
police--no requirements. much easier to get jobs (not easy though).

james tried out for both police and fire jobs. even though there were more people at the police tryouts, he was offered jobs at both local police stations, whereas fire jobs were much harder to come by. there were always more police jobs available than fire (most firestations only had 1 spot available if any), i think mainly because the turnover was higher in police jobs.

public view
firefighters--revered by the community as heros
police--often feared or disliked even though they serve and protect the community

fire and police serve the same people, but the public view of each is drastically different. firefighters seem much more appreciated. they both have to deal with some tough emotional stuff like dead bodies and hurting families, and it takes a special person to handle these intense situations.

anyway, this post doesn't have a huge point other than to encourage everyone to respect both local law enforcement and fire/ems crews. and if you know someone trying out for either a cop or fire job, encourage them to keep trying--it can be a long road! and life doesn't necessarily get easier working as a cop or firefighter. i know wendy's written a post about how difficult it is to be a policeman's wife and i can't imagine how hard it is.

i asked james the other day if parker wants to be a fireman like his daddy if we should still encourage him to go to college. james' response, "definitely, because college is just awesome!" i am glad we had such a positive experience at jbu. i loved going to school there and living up the college years!

back to biggest loser. sorry for the scatterbrained post--i've been writing during all the commercials. love you all.