Tagging

So, I have been tagged by Emily. I wasn't going to respond because I don't like writing about myself all the time on here, but I have found it pretty entertaining to read my friend's random details that I never knew about them, plus I need to make another post since it is no longer Thanksgiving. :-) So, here you go, 6 random details some of you may or may not know:

1. I have troubles getting to bed at a descent hour...right now it is 1:00 am. I don't know why this is. Every morning I regret this choice that I have made the night before, but come every evening, I find myself doing it all over again. I think I find that I can get a lot done at the last minute before hitting the sack, but a few last minute things turns into checking my e-mail, which turns into checking my facebook account and blog and then 50 other blogs and then looking at new recipes, or catching up on a book now that I actually read sometimes. I have always wanted to be a morning person, but somehow (even though I am now a mom) that has still not come to pass...
2. I can actually say the alphabet backwards, thanks to a long time spent in the bathroom, one evening way back in junior high.
3. I am a band nerd...many of you already know this. Marching band runs in my family and I still love to see competitions, and I still get excited listening to drumlines warming up. But what some may not know is that out of all of the girls in my family that were in marching band I was the only one in my family that was never a drum major.
4. I love hospital food, don't know why. I lived across a field from a hospital growing up, so when I had a paper route in the 6th grade and had a little bit of cizash in my pocket I would go dine at the hospital and sometimes even treat my friends too (so generous, I know). The salad bar was my favorite, and buying ice cream bars from the vending machine, and even pink "It's a Girl" bubble gum cigars from the gift shop. Occassionally, we would go into the handicap bathroom and pull the "help" cord and then run ( I have repented of that, don't worry). Then we would go look at the newborn babies (the only normal part about my frequent visits to the hospital).
5. Something I am working on being better at: finishing projects I start. This is something I have just recently realized I am bad at This summer we had a garage sale, and while going through my sewing and craft bins, I found at least 20 projects that I had good intentions for, but never followed through with. Thank you to the women who actually purchased my unfinished projects at our garage sale.
6. I love my corn bag. I have a handy-dandy little bag filled with dried corn that I microwave almost every night (now that it is finally feeling like Winter around here) and I put it at the foot of my bed to heat my feet. On the nights that I don't do this, I put my feet as close to Ben's as I possibly can without actually touching him, hoping that the heat radiating from him will work some magic on my frigid toes. The reason I don't actually touch his feet is not because they are nasty, but because he refuses to let my cold toes touch him.

What Are You Thankful For?

Ben and I have a tradition at this time every year of creating a Wall of Thanksgiving: a large piece of paper posted on a wall where we can randomly write down things we are grateful for as we think of them. Well this year we expanded the tradition to allow all visitors to our home to write their thankful comments as well, and I thought I would also extend the invitation on our blog. So...here's your chance: What are you thankful for? Leave a comment!


This is our wall this year (the markers are hanging from the raffia). Don't worry...there are more than three items written on our wall now. I can't wait to hear all of your comments!

Being Crafty

So for some reason, at the end of the summer I thought it would be a fun idea to actually participate in the annual craft fair that Heritage (where Ben works) hosts. It is a small, inexpensive craft fair to participate in, perfect for getting my feet wet in the sport of crafting.

Craft showing (if you'll allow me to turn it into a verb) is a whole other world to experience. After slaving away for a week and a half to prepare enough product to display on one table, I understand why crafts can be so pricey! Of course, I imagine it would be easier having more time to prepare for each fair. It took me a while to decide what to make and to actually get the guts up to do it, hence a full-time job the week before the show. Overall, it was a really fun and liberating experience (there is something about operating a table saw that makes you feel like you can do anything!). I'm not sure whether or not I will continue, I haven't decided that much yet. It is hard to know what people will buy; the items I thought would sell well didn't, and the items I didn't spend much time on, sold the best. Who knew?
A BIG thanks to everyone who supported me in this effort (especially to my mostly patient wood-working teacher, Ben)!

This was my display as you saw it from the entrance. Some of the items I made include brag boards, peg hangers, blocks that say ho ho ho and bebe, sensory tag blankets (my best seller by far) and quilt ladders (my second best-seller).

A better view of the ladders. I actually had made a red one as well, but that was my first thing to sell that morning so it isn't included here.

Rice Cereal...yum

Two weeks ago we fed Logan solids for the first time! This has been a pretty entertaining process as Logan has learned to hone the skills of transferring food to the back of this mouth rather than thrusting it out the front. He is a good eater so far, but of course I've only introduced two cereals and one vegie so far. This week we'll move on to sweet potatoes and avacados and next week we'll try split speas, so exciting. :-)

Mom and Logie right before the first bite. Notice the bumbo...it took a few days for us to get the high chair set up, but the bumbo worked great! He loves the high chair now, though. At meal times our legs and arms flail out of control when we see the food coming.

First bite going in...little did he know what was about to hit him.
What on Earth is this?
In the end, it was a hit...a hit that ended up mostly on the bib, face and hands. We're getting there.

Playing Catch-Up

So, I'm sorry I am so sporadic at this whole blogging thing... Going back a month, Halloween was a blast! Logan was the cutest pea pod ever!

On Halloween, we went trick-or-treating at Omniture, where Dave and Megan Cook work (that's a whole other story. Their company goes all out for Halloween and spares no expense to put on a show. For details check out their blog www.cookholiday.blogspot.com) Then later that night we ate pizza and hung out at the Nelson's. A party as always!



One of these things is not like the other...or is he? My special pumpkin, Reach, on the left and Ben's (just as special) on the right.


Logan and his cousin, Abby, showing off their Halloween outfits (thanks Marmie!). Maegan (Abby's mom) and I have had no luck in taking a successful picture of the two to this day, so this is the best I got!


The Friday before Halloween we went to Katie and Jason's Halloween party which was a blast. Ben, the tacky tourist, myself, the scary punk lady, and Logan, the greenest pea pod ever!

To Clean or Not to Clean? That is the Question

I was talking with a friend the other day and she was telling me about her struggle to always try to keep her house clean and orderly, a daunting task now that her 1 year-old girl has begun to walk and has become very mobile and even more curious. She told her mom about her frustration about always picking up after her daughter and in response her mom told her to forget about always having a clean house. "You're a mom now, your house is going to be messy. Years from now, Hailey won't remember how clean the house always was, but she will remember the things she learned and discovered through playing with her mom and with her toys." (So, that wasn't the exact phrasing, but it is pretty close).

This conversation with my friend reminded me of a class I took while I was at BYU-Idaho. In that class we read an essay that I fell in love with, My Home as a Temple by Kristine Manwaring. It was from our text, Strengthening Our Families: An In-Depth Look at the Proclamation on the Family. Some of you may even own this book (pictured above). I just discovered on Sunday that the essay was actually published by Meridian Magazine as well, so I thought I would post the link to share my enormous enthusiasm with everyone.

This lesson has been one that I have also had to learn, and I'm sure I will continue to learn it as more distractions come my way. My number one job, now, is being a mom. I am responsible for the nurturing of Logan, which by all means includes exploring and learning together. I do believe in having an orderly enough environment to allow the spirit to reside in your home and to give your child structure and stability, but there has to be a balance. One purpose for the home is providing a place where family relationships can be built, protected, and strengthened, and if that requires making (and cleaning up) a little mess sometimes, then I am ok with that! I hope you all will take the time to read and enjoy this article. It is one of my favorites!

Before and After...Two Thumbs up for Bumbos!

BEFORE
So Logan is starting to sit up on his own but he is still a weeble-wobble guy. But I feel bad always having him lay down, but I can't just leave him sitting up on his own yet (all you moms know this awkward stage, I'm sure) so this was my solution. My Boppee was a little too flat, so I would add some pillows for support...lovely. But then I found out about the Bumbo !


AFTER
I definitely give this contraption two thumbs up! Tiffany Johnson is letting me borrow this Bumbo (don't ask me who created the name) until Logan can sit on his own and we absolutely love it! He loves being able to see what is going on around him, which makes mom happier too. I would highly recommend these to anyone who has a kid in this stage...or just a really small bum. Whatever floats your boat!

More Milestones to Document

Logan is now in the stage of toe-grabbing (very cute) and rolling over. He has been rolling over from tummy to back for a while now, and trying very, very hard to roll from back to tummy without much success until the other day.
I was in the bathroom doing my hair while he was in the living room playing under his floor gym (on his back), talking away to himself, when all of a sudden his talking became whining and muffled. So I looked out there thinking a blanket was covering his face or something and this is what I saw... one very mad, screaming baby with his nose smashed to the carpet, refusing to turn his head to either side. I couldn't stop laughing, I was so proud and he was so mad! He must have been on his tummy for a while without me knowing it and his neck just got too tired so he put his head down to rest. Great mom I am huh? At least I documented the first roll-over, even if it is just a picture of his backside. :-)

Dad has fashion sense too...almost

Sundays are a special time for Logan because that's usually the one day of the week his dad gets to dress him. My little Mic-Mack gets dressed with Dad at about 12:30 pm, right before we walk out the door to church and usually the result is pretty handsome, like today...with exception of the white socks...who wears white socks with dress pants to church? I guess Logan is setting the new trend!

What's This?

So...I layed Logan down on our bedroom floor for a moment while I ran into the kitchen, but I obviously wasn't fast enough because when I got back this is what I found. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is a handy-dandy hygienic item I like to call a nursing pad. It must have been laying within close reach of those chubby little arms because sure enough he found it and (just like everything else these days) put it to the taste test. Ew Loggy.

My name is John Daker

This is the great new addition to the Parker blog. Referred to me by Andrea Nelson, this soul-touching video will have you in tears (of laughter hopefully). Enjoy. (PS: watch his face)

Our Yelowstone Weekend

Last weekend we drove up to Rexburg to meet our friends, the Barkers, and from there we ventured to Yellowstone Nat'l Park for two days of fun! This was Logan's debut road trip, so of course we had to get a picture of him driving.

Our first stop was the Paint Pots and along the trail there was a really cool uprooted tree. I am leaning against the bottom of the roots.

This is the Prismatic Spring. The hike that we took (referenced fur ther down) went on a trail behind this spring,against that mountain you see in the background.

Here we are at Black Spring and that is Yellowstone Lake in the background. The people in the picture are Nate Barker, Ben, and Kali Barker.

Here are the kids, Logan (4 mo) and Mackay (6 mo). It was a lot more windy than we thought it would be, so they were bundled up the whole weekend (do you like the hat Katie?), and we kept getting them in and out of the car, strolling them around on bumpy boardwalks, and since we were on the road for 2 days most of their diaper changes happened in the back of our cars, in the cold, wind, and rain. But despite all of that, these guys were troopers the whole time.

We stopped at the Fire Falls Swimming Hole, assuming it would be warm and boy were we wrong! It was actually cold, but it wasn't too bad for wading around in. We were there at sunset and the fish were going crazy, leaping out of
the water for the may flies that were just hatching. Ben was so excited about all the fish he sounded like a boy on Christmas morning.

The next day we went for a 5 mi round trip hike to Fairy Falls. Ben carried Logan on his back while I carried the water and a few essentials.

The girls on the hike: Myself and Kali. It was really neat to see all of the regrowth in the part of the forest that had burned down in the 80's (I think it was the 80's?).

These are the Fairy Falls and the hike was worth every minute to see this place. You can't help but recognize God's hand in all creations, especially when you see amazing things like this. (By the way, Ben and I are way down in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture.)

Just Ben and Logie, hanging out at the falls. I think Logie was getting his first nature lecture of many to come from Dad.

Little did Dad know that Logan was poopy. To make a really long and funny story short, lots of poop everywhere, no extra clothes, 1 diaper that was one size to small, no place to change a diaper, a screaming child getting a diaper change on a footbridge while people are trying to cross, no handsoap or even hand sanitizer for mom or dad... just a good ol' stream to rinse everything out in.

The end result: mom packing out dirty clothes and a very poopy diaper and poor Logan wearing nothing but his jacket, a diaper too small for him and socks. And then top it all off, it started to rain on the way out Let's just say that Ben was mad and I couldn't stop laughing.

The babies hanging out while the adults eat lunch after the hike. For some reason Mackay was very entertained by a Dorritos bag.

So...I realize this is a very boring picture, but you can't go to Yellowstone and not take a picture of a buffalo...right?

Last picture of the trip...I promise. This is Ben and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone behind him. So beautiful!

Grass, Grass Everywhere

A couple of Sundays ago we put Logan down in our yard (now that we finally have one this summer!) for the first time. He loved it! For a while he just layed there, very still and unsure what to make of this cold, poky stuff, staring up at the trees and the sky. Then he began kicking and smiling like he normally does, pausing every few moments to stare again and take in his surroundings. It was hilarious to watch him.

Swingin' Sunday

We have a tree swing in our back yard that Logan isn't too sure what to think of yet. We have played with it a few times and each time he just sits wide-eyed (and wide-mouthed) watching everything around him. But from the looks of this picture he seems to be having a grand time.

Here We Are!

Just by way of introduction, we are the Parkers! Ben and I have been married for 5 years now and just had Logan this past May. He is the highlight of our lives right now and we love him to pieces! This picture was taken on his blessing day, June 17,2007. He was a very good sport the whole day and looked very handsome in his little white outfit.