i can officially announce that my best friend from high school is engaged! the wedding is october 9 at the pavilion in shawnee mission park. apparently the original guest list had over 1,500 people, but they cut it to only have 500 attendees. even though i am very excited for my friends' relationship, i am not really a fan of weddings (anymore). it's funny that before i got married i loved going to weddings and now i dread them (mainly because i have a 1 year old who does not sit still). actually children under 11 years old are not allowed at this wedding/reception (see trimming the guest list), so i'm not 100% sure what we're going to do with parks since my whole family is invited. dread is a strong word and i don't mean to complain because i'm sure the day will be very fun, but all of the drama that surrounds weddings can be so consuming and frustrating, and i have to constantly remind myself to have a good attitude and give my time and gifts generously.
in the spirit of positivity, here are a few pictures of heather and me...(it's too bad i lost all of my scanned photos from junior high and high school...we had some good ones!!)
the day james and i got engaged! heather and my sis drove down to arkansas from lawrence!
at our wedding rehearsal! (gosh my arm looks fat. i was 5'7" and 130 pounds...how do my arms always look fat? i'm blaming it all on 10+ years of gymnastics muscle turned to fat :))
at the top of a 14'er we climbed!
we love the muscles pose, haha. 5.3.08!
here's to a special upcoming day for my friend where i will remember that my bridesmaidal duty is to be the best support i can be! love yall.
parker is officially starting "school" this fall. as much as i'm a big believer in kids being kids and playing all day long, i also think a lil' structure is healthy, so september 9th parker begins his school days journey at pinnacle hills' "kids day out." (thanks for being pc, monster church, since james is the one getting the 'day out'). my next door neighbor (who taught kindergarten for 10 years) is going to be one of the teachers and offered to take parker every monday and thursday from 9am-1pm. she is so excited about the classrooms, curriculum, activities, etc. and easily convinced me to enroll parks. every day the kids will enjoy a full schedule of:
*music class
*finger play (play dough, finger paints, etc.)
*Bible story
*secular story
*playground time
and lots of free play!
teachers send home a list of milestones to work on each month, which the kids are evaluated on during play to see how they are progressing. as much as it sounds scary to measure children at 1 year old, the overachiever in me really loves this and appreciates the partnership in my child's growth and success. when the children get older activities are geared toward getting them ready for kindergarten like writing and scissor skills.
they also have all kinds of fun parties like pumpkin picking and i'm sure parker is going to love the social interaction (he really thrives on being around other kids). anyway, the first month goals are:
1. walking on his own (check)
2. pushing, pulling and dumping things (check)
3. turning pages of a book (semi check)
4. saying "more" in sign language. what? i haven't taught p any sign language, so for the last 3 days james and i have worked vigorously on getting parks to sign more and he is already a pro! i was super surprised how fast he picked it up. our next word is "milk," which he needs to learn by november, so we have plenty of time!
parker loves LOVES the water. he loves splash parks (are these a fairly new phenomenom or was i just clueless before having p?)
he loves dunking himself in the water (a little scary for mom and dad. he thinks he can swim).
loves playing under the mushroom
loves going down waterslides
seriously he went head first down the slide 20+ times. good thing it was a cool evening and we were the only ones at our friends' pool!
he loves swimming in lake michigan (FREEZING lake michigan). he would not stay out of the lake even though his lips were turning purple and his legs felt numb.
last but not least, here's a video of our fearless little swimmer with grandma betty.
i would love to raise all boys because they are too much fun!!! love yall.
it's monday. parker and i went for a long walk tonight and stopped and talked to several neighbors. having a kid is such an in for making new friends! until i upload more pictures from my camera, i give you a video of parker finding a cool spot to hang out in this 100 degree weather!
we are home from wisconsin. hopefully lots of posts to come. i just realized i never posted parker's 15 month stats! (this makes it so much easier to go back and fill in his shutterfly baby books at the end of the year)
height: 34" (>98%!!)
weight: 28lbs (85%)
head circum.: don't remember, but around the 50%
4 teeth (ha!) he just got a 5th at 16 monhts
oh what a joy he is. love his smile, laugh and crazy energy. muah lil' guy!
