Hide and Seek

Uh-oh! Who's getting into mischief? Slippy got caught twice recently!

Hmmm, a little too furry to be Scarlett or Rhett....

Nope, she doesn't pass for sheet music either!

The lamb and the lion shall lie down together...or at least tolerate each other momentarily. On a more serious note, at almost 16 years of age, Slippers is starting to show some signs of renal failure. It's not too bad yet, but I think it's the beginning of the end. It will be really hard to say goodbye. She's been with us since the first year we were married. We've moved a few times, had three children, and grown up together. It's hard to imagine her not being with us.

Carson is such a good snuggler when he's not too busy!

One night we decided to make sugar cookies. The boys got out their chef hats and aprons--they were serious cooks! I gave them each a little leftover dough to play with, and they were entertained all evening!

Looking at books with Grandma. She made the mistake of letting Parker hold her Reader's Digest. It was pretty mangled by the time he was through with it!

Parker's First Vacation

Parker and I went to Florida this past week to visit Andy's grandparents as well as an aunt and uncle. Since they live far away, they hadn't met Parker yet, so it was a special opportunity for all of us. I would never have dared take the other boys on a long trip at 8 months of age, but Parker did remarkably well. He made lots of friends everywhere we went. He was quite relaxed and content on the plane, a pleasant surprise for some of our seatmates who looked wary when they first saw us. He is truly an angel baby.

Our first night in the hotel, he looked so peaceful. He did wake up every 1-2 hours, though. I finally just let him sleep in the bed with me and that helped. Naturally, by the time he got adjusted to Florida time, we were ready to come home. He's still a little confused, but it's getting better.

He loves his great-grandpa! They became good friends and Grandpa did plenty of bragging to everyone he saw!

Cuddles with Grandma, too! It's great to see their faces light up when they see the baby.

Angel, their dog, liked Parker too. She wanted to be wherever he was, and she would sit at the feet of whoever was holding him. Parker is used to Dakota, and he thought Angel was lots of fun, too. He giggled at her and enjoyed a walk with her outside.

Priceless!! I love this picture.

We spent a couple of days with Aunt Luanne and Uncle Chuck at their condo. They were also charmed by His Royal Cuteness. They got some good playtime in, after which Parker was totally wiped out! We also played two rousing games of Farkle, talked about books, and watched "Hoarders" on TV. I feel like such a neat freak now. We also got to attend church with them and see Aunt Luanne perform in the bell choir. (She did fabulous, by the way.) She took us to see the manatees (if you didn't know, they look like walruses, but they're not related). They flock to the warm estuary near a refinery. There were probably thirty of them, just basking in the heated water. I would have taken pictures, but they just looked like large stones, as their backs curved up out of the water.

Hanging out in a "senior" community is interesting. There aren't a lot of babies around, so we got all kinds of attention. Luanne showed us the classified section in their local newspaper. The very first ad reads: "LOST AND FOUND A set of dentures were found on Apollo Beach Golf Course on Jan. 28. Please claim them at the Pro Shop or call ____." I'm glad I don't work at the golf club!

I bought these little plastic cockroaches for the boys. They have sticky wheels on the bottom, so if you put them on a wall, they creep down. It's very lifelike! They each had their own roach, and watched them race. Parker's was the champion!

When we came home, Andy had the house all sparkly clean, red roses on the table with a box of my favorite chocolates. The boys had made this welcome sign that says, "Welcome home Mom and Parker! You love... Spencer, Carson, and Daddy." Then Spencer drew an airplane and two people to represent me and Andy with a note that said, "You guys fell in love!" Carson had made a tractor (not sure why other than he just wanted to draw a tractor).

You've Got the Cutest...

...little baby face! I'm a boring blogger lately, so here are some baby pics to make you smile.

I love bathtub pictures! Baby fat seems even cuter when it's immersed. It's fun to see him kick and splash in the tub. Babies always love bathtime!

I was trying to entertain Parker one morning while I was making the boys' beds, so I handed him this crocodile and he loves it! It's a startling color, it has interesting bumps and textures, and it squeaks! With three little boys, I am doomed to a life full of reptiles.

Enjoying the morning sunshine on Mommy's bed

Special delivery! It's a baby in a box! He looks like he's ready to go sledding. The kids always think it's so funny to do silly things with the baby. Parker kind of enjoyed it in there too.

So we have to work on his posture a little, but at least he's giving his legs a workout. He seems so short to be standing up already!

Spencer says it's difficult to read with a small helper like this. I can't imagine why!

Do you think it's distracting if someone holds onto his ear?

Parker loves his toes! He never fails to be delighted to see them. I would be too if my toes were so tiny and cute.

One quick story: I was reading a little "Curious George" to the kids the other night and Spencer asked if the author was dead. I said I didn't know. I then mentioned (in a different line of thought) that I enjoyed Curious George stories when I was little. Spencer put the two ideas together and exclaimed, "Oh WOW!! So he IS dead then!"

Imagination

We have imagination explosions around here all the time. It seems so commonplace to me that I don't even notice most of the time, but today I decided some of my readers might enjoy knowing what goes on. Tonight there was a bouncy ball contest. Which of our many little rubber balls can bounce the highest in the entryway? After all the contestants had a turn, there was a post-game press conference, in which the winners shared their feelings about their performance as well as how they developed such great skill. I was quite entertained, certainly more than I am by actual "athletes" on TV.

Then there's the continuing saga of Legoland. This has been going on for months now. The main characters consist of two families. The first is John Brigham (familiar name to some of you), his wife Zelda, and their sons, Jo-Jo and Hudson. The second family is Jeff, his wife Rosie, and their son whose name I forget. There are also many others, but like any good soap opera, it's too hard to keep track of all the relationships. Little girls play House with their dolls; boys play Legos. The structure of the game is similar, but with boys there's a lot of destruction and peril. They like explosions, natural disasters, and crumbling buildings. People are constantly dying and then being reincarnated as...themselves! (How convenient!) They also redesign their vehicles often. One day they drive monster trucks, the next day they've turned into Corvettes. The other day Andy came home and asked why we had little squares of paper with names on them everywhere. I explained that those were Lego beds and he was NOT to throw them out. Just FYI--Lego people are awakened each morning by the crow of a rooster, and their nights are very, VERY brief!

Pre-Christmas

We have a little catching up to do--these are some pictures and stories from the weeks just before Christmas...

It was such a busy month, I didn't keep up with my blog very well. There was one Sunday that was particularly bad. Spencer was sick with a fever and the Christmas tree fell over and almost landed on the baby. I heard the crash from the next room and ran in to find little Parker sitting calmly in his baby chair with a big tree across the play tray and broken ornaments all around him. He just smiled (he always smiles) and looked at me as if to say, "What happened here, Mommy?" I forgot the third unfortunate event that day, but I remember Andy saying our life was like a country-western song.

The streak of bad luck resumed on Christmas Eve when I backed into another car in a parking lot. I was out searching for some new Christmas socks for Andy to wear to church the next day. Silly, I know, but it was the last little surprise I wanted to get. I went all over the place, seeking in vain for festive church socks. I was about to leave another disappointing attempt when CRUNCH! That fearful sound strikes terror and dread in my heart. It wasn't horrible, but it sure wasn't what I wanted for Christmas. The other driver (an older man with his wife) seemed pretty disgruntled at first, but he softened right up when he saw how distressed I was. Turns out the insurance companies decided to split the damages 50/50, so he's probably disgruntled all over again.

Despite the hardships, we still had a lovely Christmas season. Who could be unhappy when you have a cute little face like this around?

Grandpa Elf and Baby Elf

Carson actually SANG in the church Christmas program. He doesn't usually want anyone to know he can sing, but he has made great strides in the last few months.

As we decorated the tree, I had some holiday music playing. Carson asked what one of the songs was called. It was "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies" from The Nutcracker. Later in the song, the music gets more intense and exciting, and Carson asked, "What are the fairies DOING??"

Spencer's sense of humor continues to develop in leaps and bounds. He loves doing skits in Cub Scouts. He cracked up one night when he saw an advertisement for a TV show called "Wipeout." They sang, "Deck the halls with flying people...." He laughed about that for days!

Christmas Day

As always, we had a wonderful Christmas...quiet, relaxed, and low-key. Though Spencer had big plans to catch Santa in the act, he slept through the big visit and woke up at 8:00 just like every day. Andy and I got a new TV and computer for upstairs, so hopefully it will be more convenient for me to blog.

This was Parker's first Christmas! Of course, he didn't know what all the fuss was about, but he liked his new stuff, including this "wonder wheel..."

And his very own soft teddy! (as well as his first two teeth)

After church, I took a luxurious nap and woke up to find the boys playing K'Nex with their dad. He had made an expert praying mantis--quite impressive!

They got new cowboy hats (the old ones had been through too much rough-ridin' if you know what I mean). When I pulled out the camera, they immediately assumed this pose.

Spencer got an LSU football jersey. Originally, he adopted LSU as his favorite football team because they wore yellow, his favorite color. Recently, they just happened to become pretty good and have been in the news quite a bit.

Andy had it personalized too. It's pretty big (it fits like a little dress), but at least he can wear it for years to come!

Dakota got a big bone flavored like peanut butter. She loves it dearly, and makes lots of trips in and out with it. Sometimes even in the middle of the night she worries about her bone and has to go check on it.

This morning Spencer dropped his French toast on the floor, so I let Dakota take care of the mess. She was being well-behaved, so I let her roam for a while. She wandered into the bedroom where Slippy was and got swiped with a paw. Spencer ran out to tell me that "Slippy was going for the kill!" I don't think she's much of a danger. She doesn't even have claws, but apparently she conveyed her message clearly!

Out and About

Here's a cute little teddy bear who fell asleep in the car. I can't stop smooching his cheeks!

He's a very noisy baby when he's awake. He loves to hear his own voice. One day he was yelling a lot (in a happy way) and Carson thought aloud, "If it was night, he would wake up all the people, but if it was morning time and they had to wake up, he'd be PERFECT!"

A new stroller! After two children, I finally got sick of my big heavy stroller and I'm trading it in for this smaller, lightweight one. SO much nicer!!

Now we can cruise the mall!

Carson and I went to the children's museum. Spencer was invited too, but he preferred staying home to watch the football game. (I was surprised too--he seems so young to be that "into" it!)

He's pretty excited about police now that we've been for a tour of the station.

I'd like a chair like this at home. And a crown. And for all my little subjects to wait on me and do my bidding. Yeah, right!!

One day Carson wanted Spencer to do something. When Spencer refused, Carson threatened, "If you don't, I'll show you my bum!" I don't think he ever did get his way, but at least I stopped the mooning. How do boys know about stuff like that??