Excused Absence

Excuse me for the lack of posts recently, especially after the build up of pictures "Coming soon" from our beach trip and Parker's 1st birthday! I have been having serious laptop issues (Serious issues... picture me, crying on floor in fetal position after my hard drive crashes because I have lost the thousands of pictures on my computer). BUT I am hoping that we have restored it (for now) and have backup protection for our pictures that we recovered (lesson learned). Hopefully this week I will get pictures of our beach trip and Parker's birthday up on the blog!

July 4th

Happy Independence Day! (One week late is better than never). We had a great time out on the Tennessee River and Shoals Creek over the 4th weekend. I am thankful for the many men and women who serve our country so we can enjoy the simple freedoms in life... sunshine, water, family, and watermelon of course!

Cousins are the best

I am posting these now because I just realized I hadn't shared these precious pictures of Parker with his cousins. I just love kid cousins.

Peyton is almost 2 now and is just adorable. She has white blonde hair and mile long legs (looks so much like Robbie's brother Chris!). She came to play at our house one day a few weeks ago and I loved seeing her and Parker interact. I think this picture says it all:

As you can see, she settled into my house pretty quickly...

They had fun together and shared quite well I must say (I, however, needed a nap)!

And here is Parker and Jon Walt. They are just 4 months apart and are now about the same size. I think they will be best buds one day, and probably beat Tate up together because of all his mischief. Rebekah and I took them out for a lunch date (shortly after Mills died) and ended up taking them to a little park across the street. They were also dressed alike, which I promise we did NOT plan. But of course we took advantage of:

We also hung out with the Methvin crew over the 4th, so I'll put some more pictures of Jon Walt, Tate and Parker soon. The 3 of them are quite a handful!

Retail Therapy and Beyond

So, my little boy is about to turn 1 and I have thrown myself into party planning in order to avoid the reality that this year has gone by so fast. (Sigh). I found retail therapy to be relaxing. It's more so distracting really, because it's actually rather stressful trying to plan all this AND hide purchases from my husband when mostly it's online shopping and there is no paper receipts to hide. (As a side note, etsy.com is my new favorite place. It has been awesome for party planning!). He has gotten really good at recognizing my spending when the names are not in his normal range of vocabulary - i.e. Polka Dot Designs, Robin's Nest, Palmetto Princess Boutique, and so on. Why don't we women band together and begin naming our specialty stores in a little more of a disguising or generic language? How about buying kids clothes from "The Supply Store" or home accents from "Groceries and More" store? But, I digress. In fact, I'm not really sure what the purpose of this post is other than to say wow, how times flies. Bringing Parker into our lives was the best gift (other than salvation) that God has given Robbie and I. And yes, I may have Parker in a monogram outfit with matching hat, bib, and coordinating personalized cupcake toppers but I know what matters. His one year with us is something to celebrate. So stay tuned towards the end of July for morepictures than you probably want to see!
Baby Parker, still in the hospital

11 month old Parker, crawling everywhere and starting to walk