show us your life--wedding details

it's kelly's korner time again. not too much to say because i feel like i write about my wedding all the time--you know because our pictures pop up in random places like here

and here

and here

you get the idea. anyway--wedding party good times--ceremony at potter's lake in lawrence, ks

las chicas!the cake. loooove it.
we arranged all of our own flowers

sig. frame

and just for kicks. the bachelorette shower/partay!

love yall!! happy friday!

fire!

'twas a good weekend. very long, very full, but good. james had fire training on saturday and his boss randomly signed him for the centerton days fire competition with 4 firefighters from each area department (bentonville, rogers, fayettevill, little flock, maysville, etc.). there were 5 events and bentonville came home with 2 trophies! here are a few pics...


james is on the bottom--he kept getting buckets dropped on his head! haha

you can't tell, but this dummy weighs over 200lbs! james mandhandled it :)

walking in style

the wild hose. it was WILD and manhandled the firefighters (read slammed them onto the pavement multiple times and knocked off james' helmet twice).

aww now it is semi-under control.

parker also got new pictures taken...here's a little sneak preview

love yall!!!

my wedding dress

one of my new favorite blogs, kelly's korner, hosts weekly "show us your life" posts. this week is show us your wedding dress. so here is my allure dress...i love the dropped waist and beading. i wish it had pick-ups, but we had an outdoor wedding so it works...

back

boddicewhole thing
i tried to find a picture of how shiny it was indoors, but this is the best from facebook

love yall. thanks for the great comments on the last post. more to come!

must watch parker video

parker video #2

i snuck in a few minutes while james is playing basketball and parks is sleeping to upload another video! here is parker in all of his glory practicing his alphabet with daddy:



love yall :)

love me some botanical gardens

one of my favorite places in northwest arkansas is the botanical gardens. the greenery and flowers are absolutely beautiful. if james and i would've gotten married in 2009 instead of 2008, we probably would've done it at the gardens (or the glass chapel in bella vista--i love that place, too). anyway, here are a few pics from when we went to a wedding a week ago...

my handsome boys (i still don't see that much of james besides his size, but oh well):

goodness you are getting big, parks!

love you!

parker was worn out from all of the food and dancing

a few weeks ago our mom's group went to fayetteville for the kids' story and craft time. here is my (pregnant) friend molly and her little boy, jude.

the boys making craft caterpillars

oh my goodness it was hot! i had parker in the sling but we were burning up.

my neighbor cyndi (who watches parker) and her two kiddos, maddox and catherine
all of the little ones (minus parker). good times for sure.

love yall! hope everyone is having a great week!

oops

don't you love when you go back to reread old entries and see that you misspelled "feeding?" AND NO ONE SAID ANYTHING! which means you are just sitting at you computers snickering while reading. apparently i need to keep working so my brain doesn't turn completely to mush.

here's to proofreading blog entries and hitting that little spellcheck button before i publish entries. love yall :).

vacation

thank you all for your kind words on the last post. it's really not as bad as i made it out to be (maybe i'm saying that because it's friday and we get a lovely weekend together as a family). each day gets a little easier, and on a much happier note...

James and I are planning our first Kehrli family vacation! (kansas and wisconsin trips don't really count). in september, parker, james and i are going to the sawgrass marriott in jacksonville! so so excited!

we plan to relax in this lobby for a week, play cards and enjoy each others' company
hit up a little golf at the players club

and of course the beach! oh beautiful florida beach!

until next week, love you all!

thoughts on daycare

some of you asked about taking parker to daycare (was it hard? did it feel good to get out? etc). i'll do my best to respond.

mom did okay with parker's first day of daycare. i didn't cry and wasn't super emotional about leaving parker. i researched and explored many child care options, so i knew parker would be in great hands throughout the day (thanks amy--i ended up picking one your friend recommended!). that is not to say it was an easy day.

the hardest part for me was getting myself ready, getting parker ready, pumping, and packing all of his necessities for the day (bottles, diapers, wipes, clothes, pump bag, computer, lunch, etc.) by 8 freaking am. this absolutely sucks. i know many mom's do it every day (props to all of you), but after sleeping in, having no responsibility (except parker), not having to do my hair, makeup, shower, etc. and then having to do all of it and be at work by 8am is not fun. plus james is not always home in the mornings, so the first day i had to do everything by myself, blah. my vote in the great SAHM v. working mom is it is so much more difficult to be a working mom.

i've realized there are just not enough hours in the day to work and do everything i want to do. right now i'm getting up at 6am just to get everything ready and be at work at 8, then i try and work out after work from 5:30-7pmish and then when we get home it is almost time to put parker to bed. zero quality time with my son. that sucks. and little quality time with my husband sucks as well. let alone quality time with God, hanging out with friends, cleaning (ugh), cooking, etc.

someone asked if it felt good to get out and go to work. honestly, i surprised myself that i felt zero need to get out. because james and i are overly social, i was getting plenty of adult interaction and time outside of the house. reading and learning about children was feeding me intellectual stimulation, and i felt completely fulfilled as a SAHM. before parker was born i knew i would crave going back to work, but the total opposite is true.

kids are only this small once. so much of their development takes place in these formative years. i want parker to get as much one on one time as possible (the daycare ratio is 3:1, and i know he needs to learn to entertain himself, but i would love for james and me to spoil him with attention). there are so many things that i want to do with parker each day to help him develop. we are working on rolling over, holding his bottle, talking/babbling consonants, jumping (love the jumparoo!!), reading (ha but we do read lots of books), etc. i like to give him an infant massage every day, and I LOVE HIS LITTLE SMILES. i could stare at him all day every day. i want to do this. i want to help him grow to be a national merit scholar, college athlete loving, selfless man.

where maternity leave was a blissful utopia, working full-time...sucks. that's the only word i can think of to describe it. it's a bummer to miss out on parker's daily activities. maybe if the first 3 months of his life were not so wonderful, i would've appreciated the help of daycare. but parker, james and i had such an incredible time together. we went to the pool nearly every day. we walked neighborhood trails. we went to play groups. we hung out with friends nearly.every.single.day. and i loved every minute of it.

so how is it taking parker to daycare? i'm making the best of it. i spend my lunch hour with him every day (the daycare is 4 minutes from my work) and cherish evening and weekend times even more. i wouldn't be surprised if james and i make some changes soon, but we'll see.

in the mean time, please pray for us. life is good. God is good. we are thankful and content, but it is a hard transition time. we're learning and growing, but that doesn't make it any easier. love yall!

3 months

dear parker,

happy fourth of july! you are now 3 months, 1 day old. you are no longer technically a newborn. each day keeps getting better and better, and we are excited to share in these glory months with you. you recognize mom and dad more and get excited when we walk into a room. when you hear our voices, you look around to find the source. parker, we love you.

man we love your smiles. we don't have to work for them any more, but rather you smile when you simply look at dad's or mom's face. thanks for the self-esteem booster, parks.

you are so active! you love the jumparoo, the baby einstein kick center, and of course you still love trying to stand.

we constantly get comments on how massively huge you are (last week you were 15 pounds). i remember telling someone you were 10...weeks and they thought i was going to say months! no one can believe how young you are when i share your age. your size helps you sleep through the night, and mom is v. thankful for that. you are averaging 8-9 straight hours (without a dreamfeed). go parker!

you are definitely drooling more. i don't think it's teething, but that should start in the next few months. you also got your first cold this week and a little stuffy nose. thank you daycare.

all of our swimming created a new love for bath time. dad gives you all of your baths and you love it. time to get ready for a wedding. you celebrated your first 4th with a neighborhood party (see picture at top), party and rogers fireworks viewing at kevin and kayla's (you slept right through them), and a wedding of an old jbu friend this evening.

love you tons and tons little guy! you are such a natural part of our family. muah!

love,
mommy

lucky to be in love

it's (my) friday. i will write about life, daycare, etc. soon, but i'm tired. can't wait to come home today and be with my baby...

[Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat]
Do you hear me,
I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying

Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh
They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you I promise you, I will

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday...