A Year in Review

Time to end 2009 and start 2010. One of the great things about ending a year is that our little man will be beginning a new one. I love that his birthday is one New Years Eve. I thought I would do a year in review of his first year.

January - Just Born


February - Hunka' Burnin' Love



March - Smiling for the Camera



April - Celebrating Easter with my Nana



May - Met my G.G. for the first time



June - Started Eating Solids


July - Celebrated Independence Day



August - Spent some time in Kentucky lounging in the pool



September - Went to my first Rays game



October - Picking out Pumpkins



November - Enjoyed my first Thanksgiving dinner



December - Celebrated my first birthday!

Santa Claus came to town

I think Parker had an excellent first Christmas. He seems really interested in all the toys he got.
We started to celebrate Christmas at the Chrone's house for our annual Christmas Eve celebration. My family has been doing this since we moved to Florida in 1996. Eventually, Chris joined us, and now this year we had Parker. Last year, I was huge and pregnant and definitely over it.
We woke up Christmas morning around 7:30am which was sleeping-in in Parker's book. After a little convincing Daddy to wake up we headed downstairs for present time. With all the presents opened, it was time to get ready for breakfast. Bob-pa, Aunt Dana and her friend Siobhan, Grand-daddy, and Nana all came over for yummy breakfast. Our breakfast included omelets-made-to-order, blueberry muffins, hashbrowns, bacoon, and sausage. Yummy!!

Visit with Mr. S. Claus

I took my little man to see Santa Claus on Friday. We went to go see Santa at Sears Portrait Studio. He was not afraid at all. I can't wait until the pictures come in next week.

Getting ready for Parker's first Christmas..

Planning for a baby's first Christmas is rough. I battle with the fact that he really doesn't understand, but I really want him to have wake up on Christmas morning with toys under the tree. We, well I, decided that we would get get him one big gift and few small things.
The BIG gift will be a Fisher Price Learning Home.


We also got him these beads from IKEA.


He will also get a few books on found on clearance at TJ Maxx. I know it isn't much but he will love anything we get him. I am sure his family will spoil him rotten too!

Getting ready to party!

I have been trying to plan Parker's first birthday party. It has been a real challenge for a new mommy, teacher, and wife that likes everything to be just perfect.

I ordered the perfect cards from Little Bean Sprout. Amy at Little Bean Sprout was so wonderful in getting my invites to me in less than 24 hours!!! She also shared with me her family blog because her cutie pie baby boy also had a Dr. Seuss party too! This gave me even more ideas to play with.


Last year when I was out on maternity leave, I had the best substitute ever, Mrs. Williams. She also happens to be a fabulous baker! I told her that she would definitely be making Parker's first birthday cake before he was even born. So I searched on google for months for a cake that would be suitable for my perfect little boy. I found this on Flickr by, marj.theicingonthe cake's photostream.

If you are interested in having Mrs. Williams make you a fabulous cake, click here.

That is all for now! I will add more as I finish up the details!

The obligiatory monthly post..

Today the most sweet boy in the entire world celebrated his 11 monthday! In honor of this great day, he decided to take a dunk in the tub and have his mommy rescue him. I like to think he was testing my reaction time and my ability to move at lightning speed. It was scary but he was wrapped in my arms safe and sound within seconds. I also tried to take him monthday picture and boy was that a task. See bottom of the post for the fun. Time for milestones!!! Just a few things our little boy can do: open cabinets and remove anything his little fingers can grip, says MaMa, cruises like nobody's business, climbs stairs, opens and closes doors, does not ride in strollers, carts, and cars, celebrated his first Thanksgiving, drinks one or two of his bottles out of sippy cups, claps, waves, screams like crazy man, and much more!

First Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving a little early in our family. Everyone seemed to be going different directions on Thanksgiving day. No one was able to pass up sharing Parker's first Thanksgiving meal. Hosting Thanksgiving was a new experience for Mommy. Setting up tables, chairs, silverware, plates, serving utensils, and assisting in turkey baking is a lot of pressure. We cheated a little because the family members did all the cooking, all we had to do was set up and enjoy the company. Parker seemed to enjoy pushing his food around his tray, but I don't think he ate much.

Ten months already????

It is so hard to believe my baby is ten months old! Some days it seems Parker has been in my life forever and it is hard to remember my life without him. Other days it seems like yesterday I was pregnant, and patiently waiting for my impatient little man to join our family. He is one amazing little boy and makes both his Mommy and Daddy proud and happy on a daily basis. He continues to learn more "tricks"! He can climb up the stairs as if he had done it his whole life, cruises and climbs like a monkey man, walks with his push toys, unrolls toilet paper, opens drawers and cabients, removes items from drawers and cabients, throws his food on the floor, refuses to eat most anything except Cheerios (I am about to enroll him in Cheerios anonymous), and he sleeps like a champ. He had his two bottom teeth and two top incisors. Yes, you heard that right, NO top front teeth yet! I forgot to take the obilgiatory 10 month pictures with all the Halloween fun. I will have to take one this week.

Halloween Fun!

Parker celebrated his first Halloween this weekend. We dressed him up as a lobster, although sometimes I think a crab would have suited him better. We started celebrating on Friday by taking him to our neighborhood parade and trick or treat. He was up way past his bedtime but he seemed to enjoy it. On Saturday, we met our newborn baby friend Avery at Sarasota's First Annual Pumpkin Festival. It had to be about 90 degrees. Both Parker and I were dripping sweat when we got home. I even got a sunburn!!! We came home to take a quick nap and then headed to Grandpa and Grandma's house. Of course, we headed to a party! Fun was had by all and Pman feel asleep in my arms. The Lowe's hope you had Happy Halloween too!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

We took Parker for his first trip to Disney World on Friday. With Disney, being in our backyard we can do a day trip which is great for an almost 10 month old. It was my hubby's birthday on Friday, so he got in free. P man was also free and I of course had to pay the steep Disney price of around $84.00 with tax. We left on Thursday and stayed a Holiday Inn. I would definitely not stay there if it were a true vacation, but it was a great hotel for a quick overnight stay. You couldn't beat the price of $40 bucks either. Parker was a little overwhelmed by Disney world and all it has to offer. We took him on several rides. He loved It's a Small World, but he wasn't quite sure about the Carousel. He got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. I can't wait until he is bigger and he can really enjoy it.

Fall Fun!

It was actually in the 70's today! It was great to have a real taste of fall. The Lowe family met up with another family of three at Hunsader's farm in Bradenton, Florida. We had so much fun with the boys! Parker even got to pick out his own pumpkin for Halloween. Last weekend, we attempted to go to a pumpkin festival in Tampa but it was an epic fail. To say the least, it was HOT HOT HOT. Hardly any pumpkins at a pumpkin festival. Here are some pictures to share.

Remember the days..

I was sitting here thinking about how far our little Parker man has come over the past nine months. The first is a set of all his monthday pictures and the second is a then and now picture.

My perfect little peanut!

Parker went for his nine month well visit on Wednesday, October 7th. He is a growing boy, but not as much as we thought. He now weights in at 17.5 lbs and is 28" tall. He falls into the 10th percentile for weight, hopefully we can beef him up before it is time to play high school sports. hehe. He falls into the 50th percentile for heigh which is about the same category he has been in since birth.

He also went for his 9 month pictures at Sears Portrait Studio. Of course, I will have to share his cuteness.