wordless{ish} wednesday: milk face.

there actually was a time when i swore i would never put pictures on my blog of parker in his high chair with food all over his face.  i don't know who i swore that to, but i'm pretty sure it was said.  i swore i wouldn't do it because i get all antsy when parker's messy.  but it's something i have to get over.  i hate stains on his shirts, dirt on his pants, or smudges on his face.

as a mom of an adventurous little boy, i'm working on it.

see?  here i am posting pictures of my messy kid who decided that taking big gulps of his milk & then letting it dribble down his chin would be a great idea.  so much that it totally pooled under his chin & sat on his chest & collected in the pocket in his bib.

your kid does this, right?

vote vote vote.  please?

fourteen months.

wow, it seems like forever ago that i wrote parker's thirteen month post.  this last month went super slow to me, but not because of parker.  he's officially fourteen months now {turned that way on the twenty-sixth} and seriously more fun than ever.  i know, i know.  i say that every month.

but no, seriously.  fourteen month old parker is the best parker yet.

{compare previous monthly pics here}

he seems to have taken a break from the tantrums this month & has just been super happy.  i mean he has his moments {read: epic battles over diaper changes & car seats}, but mostly he's a super happy easy going kid.  i think we've really hit our groove this month.  we have a great routine {maybe "a day in the life" post is in order?} & we've kinda figured out what works as far as meal times/naptime/bedtime stuff.  for now.  i know as soon as a person says something like that everything changes  : : : knocks on wood : : : 

the biggest milestone parker has hit this month is the ability to sign.  he's really picked up sign language & has mastered about four or five signs.  he tells us he's "all done" when he's full:

{signing "all done"}

...and he signs "please" for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g he wants.  he'll sign for "more" while eating & we're working on "drink" & "milk" and he's getting close.  he waves "hi" & "bye" and says the words mama, dada, ball, dog, wow, night-night, banana, duck, & no.  he's still not walking on his own but he's taken a few independent steps & he walks everywhere while holding on to one of our hands. 

he thinks everything is a phone & will hold just about anything up to his ear & say "yeah?"

the kid is obsessed with books.  if he catches you sitting on the couch, he will crawl full speed to you with a book in his hand & sign "please" until you pick him up & read it.  he turns the pages & then as soon as it's done he's back down on the floor off to get another one.

his best friend in the whole world is his dad & they love to wrestle, play "catch", build towers to knock down, watch sports, & read books.  

he has eight teeth & loves brushing them.  he is wearing all 12-18 month clothes, size four diapers, & is completely off of bottles & formula.  he goes to bed at 8:30, sleeps til 7:30ish, & naps at about 1 to 3ish.  his favorite meal is lasagna & if he could only eat one food it would definitely be cheese.  he would spend hours in his bath if he could, splashing the water like crazy & watching his toys rock around in the waves.  we think he has an imaginary friend that rides in the back of the car with him.  he sits back there & laughs & giggles & tells stories & giggles some more.  it's the most hilarious thing & totally makes me feel like a soccer mom to be carting around this little giggly boy in the back seat.

he's totally turning into a toddler.  when i need to grab him to leave for errands or from a playdate, or i approach him to take something away, he turns around & sprint crawls full speed ahead.  this is one reason why i'm fine with him not walking yet... i'm not ready for him to run away from me!  but i know with toddlerhood comes a bunch of other fun things & i'm starting to see a whole different side of him as this fun, silly, mischievous, crazy little boy.  

and?  he is still so dang cute.

love this kid.

and i love your votes too.  truly. madly. deeply.

steppin' out for a family bike ride.

we finally put parker's birthday present to use yesterday.  we got him a bike trailer & it's only taken us two months to get out for a ride {i blame weather & being out of town... definitely NOT laziness}.

we went on a little 15 mile ride & it was pretty much perfect.  parker dug the trailer & the weather was gorgeous.  we rode to a random town out in the boonies, bought some cookies from a shady cookie store & rode back.

nothing like buying treats during a work out to completely undo your workout... am i right?

here are the highlights {all pics taken with my iPhone}.

yup.  sam definitely wears basketball shorts over his bike shorts.  guess he's not worried about all that extra wind resistance.

p-ray just hanging out in the trailer... "oh hey mom.  what's up?"  : : : wave : : :

linking up with "steppin' out saturday" at harper's happenings.  you should too!

so yeah... a little unconventional with the outfit.  but hey, it's what i wore today.

sidenote:  i freakin' love my bike.  this was the first ride i've gone on since before i found out i was pregnant & i'm pretty excited about it.  before i found out i was pregnant i was training for a triathlon & was riding 50-60 miles a week.  as soon as i knew i was bakin' a baby i gave it up.  i was afraid of falling {which happens occasionally since my cycling shoes clip into the pedals} & it wasn't worth the risk.

wanna know why i didn't ride last summer?  i'll be honest.  i had just had a baby & i wasn't going anywhere near my spandex-filled-cycling-wardrobe.  trust me, that was a good choice.

this summer?  i'm still not looking quite the same in spandex, but i think i'll explore the love affair with my bike nonetheless.

this is the part where we ate cookies.  chocolate with chocolate frosting for sam, peanut butter with chocolate frosting for me.  parker even got a couple bites, but only because he signed "please." {third picture}

how can you say no to that??  you can't.

i was kinda blown away the whole time about how gorgeous the day was & how picturesque our surroundings were.  i may or may not have insisted on stopping here to "moo" at the cows.  it just seemed right.

and there it is.  our first of many bike rides with parker's very own bike trailer.  it was a total success.  see?  that kid's face is just screaming "let's go again"... right?

if you could see my face it would be saying "click twice to vote."  i swear it would.

weekday recap - {in iPhone pics} w.32

hooray hooray hooray for this week!  it felt like life back to normal.

we bought a car.
i went to stroller strides three times this week & went running once.  go me!
we went on playdates.
i had a girl's night, and
i had a date night with my man.

but here... let's look at it in pictures, shall we?

monday.  we hit up another dealership & test drove a couple more cars.  parker did so well entertaining himself in the kid's play area of the dealership lobby {...if repeatedly throwing fists full of legos over your back to make super loud crashing noises as they fall onto the tile qualifies as "so well."  it does, right?  i thought so.}

tuesday.  we were stuck at home all day without a car so we took advantage & hung out in our pj's til noon.  there's just something about a kid in jammies, am i right?  it turned out to be a gorgeous day so we got dressed & went for a run when parker thought it'd be a good idea to throat punch me.  punk.

that night we headed to another dealership & bought a car.  again, parker was a champ... for the first three hours.  by hour four, he was ready to go home.  me too.

wednesday.  two words:  girl's night.  we started with {what else?} frozen yogurt & then headed downtown for more talking & some live music.  and yes, we do girl's nights in hoodies & hats.  when you have besties as cool as mine, you can do that.

thursday.  you know it's gonna be a good day when you have to wear your sunnies on your drive in to work.  turns out it was a crazy busy day & it was one of those ones where parker is already in bed by the time i'm home for the night.

i never pass up a chance to peak in at him as he's sleeping though... it's one of my favorite things he does.

friday was glorious.  sunshine & a happy kid at stroller strides {are you seeing that face parker is making?  this might be my new favorite-ist picture}, a very successful target trip {which may have included some food bribery to keep a certain little monster happy}, & some parker/sam wrestling after a three hour p-ray nap.  perfection.

then to top it all off, it was date night.  p-ray went to the sitter {thanks lindsey & tim!} & i got my fill of pineapple curry fried rice.  yum yum yum.

then?  parker looked cute as he slept.

and that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.  but at the very least, please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.  the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=95049" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:



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now accepting July sponsors!

hey friends!

another month has come & gone.  bring on julyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!  {i hope in your head you imagined me saying it like oprah... because i was.}  no, seriously, bring on july.  around here {the pac-northwest} it's a known fact of truth that summer doesn't start until after the forth of july.  so i'm pretty freaking excited about this coming month.

and you should be too.  which gives you all the more reason why you should become a totally cool awesomely spectacular sponsor of this here little blog.  july is gonna be filled with not only lots & lots of p-ray cuteness {per the uge} but also all kinds of bbq's, playdates, & other awesome summery events. i can just feel it.

so let's do this.

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i look forward to working with you & getting your shop/blog/website more traffic!  let's do this.

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new car smell.

finally.  the saga of replacing our car is over, two & a half weeks after it began.

i never really explained why we were having such a hard time... but if you're in the buying-a-car market right now, you already know.  you see, japan had a bit of a catastrophic event happen in their neck of the woods which caused them to pretty much stop making cars the last few months.  this means no japanese cars which is a decent amount of the cars in the market.  so no new japanese cars means all the other cars are in low supply which meant used car prices were super inflated.  so this complicated things.

long story short, we still didn't really get exactly the car we were looking for because there were literally none of them in the whole west coast for sale.  weird, right?  if you're thinking recipe for ginormous headache, you're right.

anywho, we decided on this... and i'm very happy with our decision:

...a 2011 kia optima.

if you're thinking "a kia-what-ima??"  i was too.  until we started looking at them & i was totally sold.  and this is where i start sounding like a car salesman, but i promise kia isn't paying me any money to say these things.  although, if they wanted to i would totally accept it.

i was sold when i saw what you get for the money.  you get a pretty sweet looking, spacious, fun-to-drive, well equipped ride for a decent price.  the trunk is huge {more than big enough for our massive stroller}, lots of leg room in the back seat {even when sam is driving & the seat is all the way back}, 34 mpg highway, a warranty that is ridiculously long, & a car that is rated higher in 2011 than honda accord by consumer reports.

just sayin'.

but you know who just might be happiest of all of us that this whole car search is over?  p-ray.  because he has spent way more than his fair share of time hanging out in car dealership lobbies, getting his carseat thrown in a crazy amount of strange cars to do test drives,  being held & hushed while we haggled talked with numerous salesmen, & driving all over the state to check out different dealers' inventories.

i feel ya p-ray, i feel ya.

click twice to vote & i'll feel ya too.  wait, that came out wrong.  you know what i mean.

swinging, smiles, & post-scripts.

i found the key to getting parker to swing on a swing.  it's his blanket!

he was all shaky hands & nervous laughter until i handed him his blanket.  once it was securely tucked into his lap he was good to go.  i wonder if i could get him to like swimming by giving him his blanket, too?  maybe tucking it into a ziploc or something?  it could totally work.

this kid kills me.

ps:  in this last picture parker is being held up by my feet while i take pictures.  it kinda only works for like 2-3 shots before his wiggly little body starts plummeting toward the ground.  but don't worry, no babies were harmed in the taking of these pictures.

pps:  it's one am, parker & sam are asleep & i just got done watching the bachelorette while blogging & am now totally craving a big fat burrito with lots of sour cream & avocado.  but i'll probably just go to bed.  well, also i don't have any avocado.  or sour cream.  or any other burrito ingredients for that matter.

ppps:  today might be new car day if all goes well.  cross yer fingers.

pppss:  i would love it if my allergies would just go away & die a slow fiery death.  i am completely over the feeling of burning, itchy eyes, & a stuffy nose.  i mean, it was cool at first, but now?  over it.  syke.  it sucked from the start.  hear that allergies?  you suck.  

pppsss:  fact: your votes cure allergies.

steppin' out & dad's day stuff.

i kinda feel like starting this off with the ol, "we now return to regular programming..." because i know things haven't been per the 'uge around here lately.  if you're wondering, we still haven't bought a car.  we're holding out til we get exactly what we want, but i am done worrying about it.  which means i'm done blogging about it.  so, until we buy one i'll try not to talk about it.

i'll try.

we took a break from it all today.  we went to church, we relaxed, we bbq-ed, & we didn't talk {too much} about car shopping.  it was like a normal sunday.  although, i totally failed at the whole father's day thing... i bugged & bugged sam asking what he wanted & he said he didn't want anything.  so what'd i do? nothing.  super lame, right?  sam even got up with parker this morning {because he was already awake & i was still sleeping}, & he even made his own father's day dinner {because he wanted ribs & he's the bbq-chef in this family}.  maybe i'll get it right next year.  i did change all most of the poopy diapers though, thankyouverymuch.

anywho, here's what parker & i wore to church.

{linking up with mandy at harper's happenings for steppin' out saturday... but you know the drill.}

and for the record, that last pic is probably the closest sam will ever get to posing for steppin' out saturday.  hey, i'll take it.

and while i'm talking about sam, i may as well throw out there {since it was his special day} that i'm pretty sure i could never ask for a better father of my child than him.  i'm not exaggerating when i say i've never heard him complain about parker & i've never had to ask or nag him to do anything parker related.  that kid is his whole world... and why not?  i'm pretty sure parker's the coolest kid around.  but i'm probably biased.

sam is an amazing father & i fall in love more & more everyday with my two boys.  especially when they have moments like this:



this went on for at least five more minutes.  love these guys.

love your votes too.  fer reals.

weekday recap - {in iPhone pics} w.31

another crazy week has come & gone.  we had some traveling, lots of car shopping, & absolutely no car buying.  maybe today is the lucky day?  i doubt it.

here are some of the highlights:

just another visit to target on a monday... pretty standard.  parker enjoyed going on test drives all day monday, which is my favorite part of car shopping too.  buying?  not so much.

that night i got to go out with my sister-in-law jodi for her weekly girl's night to watch the "bachelorette" & eat cake.  pretty sure i need to start something like that with my girlfriends.  weekly girl's night?  yes please.

tuesday consisted of some craigslist shopping {can you say $150 BOB stroller??  YES PLEASE!} and more car shopping, but no car buying.  see that face?  it's what i look like after hours & hours of talking to car dealers.

started wednesday off with a trip to costco where parker giggled & flirted with the people behind us in line.  such a charmer.  and see that middle pic?  he is signing "please."  so super cute.  although, now when he asks for something & signs please i'm finding it pretty hard to say no... soooo, he may be getting the better end of the deal on this one.

that night consisted of eating fro-yo {finally one in our hometown!} skyping with sam's parents, & getting real cozy in pj's.  three of my {& parker's!} favorite things.

thursday.  yeah, little bit of a picture overload.  while i was at work, parker stayed at home with the sitter looking like a true blue hawaiian strumming on a ukelele.  he's a natural.  and i found time to treat my feet to some lovin' on my lunch break.  so that was cool.

after work consisted of some nakey time in the front yard... that's normal right?  for parker it is.

when sam got home we put our new BOB to work & went for a family walk.  good times.

friday.  my favorite day of the week.  stroller strides, playing on the swings in the park {which parker will only do if he can take his blanket on with him}, & playing "parachute" with parker's blanket made it pretty fun.  but the best part?  fro-yo round two of the week.  everyone's favorite!

hope you all had a good week... link up & let's see it!

did you take your "week in camera phone" pictures?  link up!

Game Rules:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.  but at the very least, please post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.  the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=94138" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:



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