Fast but fun weekend at the Ozarks!

We had a wonderful time at the Ozarks, thanks so much to Nim and Nini for the hospitality!  Parker did fantastic on his first long road trip, I'm hoping this will be a common occurrence.  We took off as soon as I was off work Friday afternoon and arrived at the house just shortly after 6:30pm, including a few stops.  We definitely made it down in record time (don't worry moms, Scott didn't speed too bad) and was able to relax, enjoy dinner and a cold drink with the rest of the crew before heading to bed.

One of the most precious parts of this weekend was watching Gracie and Adam interact with Parker.  They were so excited to play with him and I just cannot get over how attentive they both were to him.  It truly warmed my heart to watch.

 

Parker woke us up about 6:45 Saturday morning (yay for a kid that sleeps through the night even on trips!), so after a morning feeding and a short nap, we were ready for the day.

The forecast was a bit shaky for the day and we soon found out that some rain was headed our way.  We decided to get Parker in for his first dip in the lake early before the storms hit just in case we wouldn't have a chance later on.....

Getting his swim gear on!

Hmmm, what do we have here?

If Parker could talk, I'm pretty sure he would have said it was no big deal.  The lake was even a bit chilly at first, but he never flinched. 

The rain kicked in shortly after this, so we headed inside to dry up and wait the storms out.  We definitely didn't let the rain stop the fun for the day, so some of us settled in for an intense game of Uno.

Don't let these smiles fool you, it was definitely cut-throat ;)

While that game was going, Parker was hanging with the rest of the boys.

Chillin' with Sophie.  I don't know what it is about this toy, but kids seem to love it!

Eventually Adam and Scott settled into a game of checkers while Parker and Nim cheered them on. 

I love this pic of Parker gazing at his Grandpa Nim, so cute!

Thankfully the storms decided to clear out pretty quickly, so by early afternoon, we were back out on the lake.  Nini was so sweet to stay inside with Parker so that Scott and I could enjoy a little fun in the sun.  We did take Parker back out after his nap and I wish I could have gotten a picture, he actually fell asleep in his floaty!  It was so adorable, I guess the movement of the water lulled him to sleep :)

Sunday morning came all too soon and it was time to pack up the car and head on back home.  He did great on the ride home as well....seriously, could this kid be any better?!

We're looking forward to our next trip down in August and who knows, maybe Parker will go for his first boat ride then?  Thanks again to all of the Scholten family for a fun and relaxing place to enjoy the summer weather!

Daddy's Day!

Parker and I were so excited for Father's Day to arrive!  We were looking forward to spoiling Scott like he's never been spoiled before :)  He certainly deserves it, I mean the guy will go to all ends to keep a smile on P's face.  Who else would willingly throw a diaper cover on their head to entertain their son after bath time?! (PS - it was a clean diaper cover ;))

Look at those cute little chubby legs of Parker's!!  I just want to squeeze and kiss 'em!

We started the day off by taking Scott out for breakfast.  We were out the door early and back in time for him to mow the lawn before the heat hit.  In my defense, he requested to be able to get the lawn mowed.  As many of you know, taking care of the lawn is a passion of his, so he was excited to get this done so we could spend the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out.

Mid-afternoon, Scott took off for his dad's house to help with some computer stuff, so I ran Parker out to my parents so that we could hang with Grandpa and Grandma Jensen for a bit.  My mom's birthday was just a few days earlier, so they appreciated the time with Parker.  It was also my last chance to see the house my parents have been in for the last 20 years, they just recently sold it and are getting ready to move to Urbandale.  Hmmm, I wonder if the arrival of Parker has anything to do with that......just kidding mom and dad! ;)

Gift time came a day early, I just couldn't wait to give it to him!  Scott has been eyeballing this watch for several months, in fact I'm pretty sure the sales staff at Joseph's know him on a first name basis now.  Needless to say, I wanted to shower him with the love and attention that he always gives me, so Parker and I decided this would be a perfect first Father's Day gift.  I had Scott's initials and the year 2011 engraved, knowing this would be meaningful should he decide to pass it down to Parker someday.

That evening we headed out for Chinese food, which is a treat for Scott since it's not one of my favorites and don't usually pick that for our dinner's out.  After dinner, we made a stop at Grandpa Nim's house to say hi, then headed home for a little quality time before the start of a new week!

Scott, you have jumped into the "dad" role with such ease and excitement, it's like you've been one all of your life!  In many ways, you have taught me to be a better, more patient mother.  I cannot thank you enough for everything you do for our family and I hope you know how much we all love you!!

My boys just hanging out!

Ready for summer fun!

Bring on the warm weather and swim time (this is my mantra on a gloomy Saturday)!  Parker is officially ready to head to the lake.  A dear friend of the family (who also graciously helped us out the week our air conditioner went kaputz and got it running again  - thanks Dean!) noticed this life jacket at Sam's Club and decided it had Parker's name written all over it. 

Next Friday we will be making our first trip with Parker to the Ozarks, heading down right after work on Friday afternoon.  While it will be a short first visit, we can't wait to introduce him to the Scholten lake house for the first of many memorable summers down there!  Naturally, a photo shoot is necessary.  Gotta get the kid used to it, right? ;)

Daddy strapping him in, not too happy!

Ok, maybe it's not that bad.

Fine....I'll act like I like it.

Weeee!  This is fun!

Dad, I love it when you swing me in the air!

Yeah, ok guys, I think I'm done now.

I'm serious, get me outta this thing!

Whew, that's better.  Ok, I'm happy again :)

It will be interesting to see how Parker likes the lake and how long he'll tolerate the life jacket.  We're hoping to get him out for a short boat ride later in the day, hopefully when the lake is calmer.  Wish us luck!

Memorial Day Weekend

I don't know about the rest of you, but I personally feel three day weekends should happen once a month.  It's amazing the difference that extra day can make!  I was able to get the usual chores around the house done by Friday night and then have 3 FULL days to enjoy with the family and relax.  It was so wonderful.  Granted the weather for the weekend could have been a bit nicer, but that just gave us an opportunity to cozy up in the living room and watch a few movies.  No complaints here!

Saturday's plans for us were to finally get some landscaping done in the side retaining wall that Scott, his dad, brother and myself built a few summers ago.  Yes, I said a few.  Last year, this spot turned into our own weed garden (pretty much the only garden that I can seem to grow ;)), so we thought it would be nice if our neighborhood wouldn't have to look at that again.  Of course, since we had those plans and childcare lined up, the weather did not cooperate.  But we didn't let the rain stop us.....we were the two crazies in our neighborhood powering through the nasty weather to complete the only project we had on our agenda for the weekend.  So by 12:30pm on Saturday afternoon, we had dug the last hole and took our soggy tushies inside for warm showers followed by yummy soup at Panera to warm us up. 

Here's a few of the before pictures:

 

And the final result:

We're very happy with the results! Now hopefully the plants will take off and flourish over the next few years.  I can't wait to see how they fill out, I just hope my brown thumb doesn't infect any of them ;)

 

Another month gone by....

It's funny, in the grand scheme of things, 4 months really isn't long at all.  However, Scott and I were chatting the other night and realized that in 4 months we've already:
-Made and fed Parker over 700 bottles (and cleaned them too!)
-Changed just as many, if not more, diapers (and washed a good amount of cloth diapers)
-Been attached to my breast pump (well Heather has) more hours than I even care to calculate....some days I feel like I'm building a better relationship with that than I am Parker!
However, every bit of that is so worth it for the well being of Parker.  I mean seriously, how could you not want to do and give the best for this face :)

Little Parker is not quite so little anymore and mom and dad could not be happier.  Since he was just around the 10th percentile at his two month check-up, we are pleased to see he is moving up the charts.  The pediatrician was very happy to see this as well and gave him such a great report at his check-up.

A few milestones for this month:

-The little butterball is up to 14lb 5 oz and 24-1/8" long - yay!  Up 6lbs from his last check-up and reached the 40th  percentile for weight and 22nd percentile for height in his age group.  

-Rolled over for the first time three days before he turned four months old!  This was a fun milestone to watch.  Started out as some major leg kicking, then he would get rolled over enough except for one arm that he just could not figure out what to do with!  Eventually, his frustration worked for him and he made the complete roll to his belly. 

-Becoming quite the jabber jaws....let's just say his gabbing in the crib every morning keeps me entertained as I get ready for work!  The only drawback to him being such a "morning" baby is it makes it that much harder to leave for the day.  I've learned to appreciate the short time we have together in the morning and really enjoy getting him ready for the day.

-His hands are constanly moving if he's awake.  He is grabbing everything in sight, whether it's his favorite blankie or mommy's hair!  They don't even stop for meals, Scott and I have noticed in the last week that he's always grabbing at his bottles.  Scott is currently working on teaching him to hold the bottle on his own while I savor the few feedings I get to have with him ;)

And the hands are heading for the mouth.....

Dude, how many pictures is she going to take?!

Mom, I think we're good on blankets

 

 

Look how strong I am!