Scary Storm

This post is less about Parker and more about living in TN in general. Last Friday we had our first severe weather episode since moving here in February. Parker and I had enjoyed a great day of swimming at the pool then going to the splash park with friends when it started to thunder so we came home - luckily the splash park is close. Shortly after we got home it got really dark and started to storm. Jon called from work and said that Cordova just got hit by a horrible storm and they had lost power several times. While we're on the phone the tornado sirens go off so I hang up with Jon, get my dogs in the house and shuffle everyone into the master bathroom. The master bathroom and master closet are the only two rooms in the house without windows and the most center part of the house that we can all fit into. I'm trying to keep my cool so that Parker doesn't gets scared, but the sirens kept screaming and the storm picked up FAST! It always seemed like when the sirens went off in IL that you had 10 minutes or so to get into shelter - well not in TN! I called my mom and had her logon to the weather web site to see what's going on and when it's supposed to end. Thank God she was home! Just knowing more about what was going on made me feel better - plus having my mom on the phone was comforting too! I got into the bathtub with Parker after a few minutes because it sounded like the things were hitting the house and the winds were very strong. Parker thought the bathtub was great and proceeded to play with the soap and shampoo bottles. He still thought I was just playing a new game with him. The storm passed and we came out of shelter to find about half of one of our trees was down and some of our patio chairs were blown over - they are very heavy chairs so that must have been some wind! The rest of the neighborhood looked intact, so we were fortunate. We learned later that many people in our town had lost power completely (ours only flickered a few times) and they may be without power for up to a week! I feel like I'm much better prepared now to handle the next severe storm/tornado, but I hope that we don't see it! I really missed my basement after this, but homes here don't have basements because of the high water table.

What's New in Parker's World

Parker has been working on getting his first molar this week. It's almost threw his gums. I think it's been a little sore lately b/c he has been a little finicky with some of his meals and I notice him chewing on the opposite side of the molar. For a treat tonight I gave him some vanilla ice cream - he really liked that!

Parker has picked up a few new words...the one I hear the most is "bubbles". He got a bubble machine for the bathtub for his birthday and he cannot go past his bathroom without saying, "bubbles, bubbles, bubbles". I try to keep the bathroom door closed (out of sight, out of mind) but when I forget to close the door he crawls in there and stands up on the edge of the tub looking up at the bubble machine chanting for me to come in and turn it on.

Parker is pulling up on everything - including my legs everywhere I stand - and cruising along the furniture. He has let go a few times to stand alone, but he falls to his bottom as soon as he notices he's not hanging onto an object. I think he's a few months from walking yet.

I recently noticed Parker is mocking things he sees everywhere. What caught my attention was the other day I saw Parker mimicking something he saw on the television the night before while watching a movie with me and Jon. It wasn't a "bad" or "dirty" movie, but there were several scenes where this man would scrub his body in the shower...the next day I saw Parker rubbing his toys on his arms and chest just like the guy in the movie. He had to have picked that up from the movie...there is no where else he would have saw something like that. So, now we are watching very closely what we watch when he's around. I try not to watch too much TV when he's up anyway. He's also trying to repeat what we say...so we really have to watch those bad words that slip once in awhile. :)

So far, we're 2 weeks into Toddlerhood and it's had its challenges, but the good definitely outweighs the bad.

12 Month Check Up

Parker had his 12 month check up with his Pediatrician today. He is right on track for weight, height and head circumference. There are not any concerns right now about his other developmental areas - he is not walking yet, but is "cruising," which is acceptable at 12 months. I think he'll take off walking in the next 2-3 months...and the doctor agreed that was fine. We do have some homework - getting rid of the morning bottle before solid foods. Parker has protested eating breakfast before his bottle...he always eats Cheerios or something similar after his bottle, but since he's had all of that formula he's not very hungry so he only eats a handful of Cheerios. So, we are going to offer up food with a sippy of milk for breakfast every morning and quit the morning bottle cold turkey. I'm sure it will be a few days of protest, but he'll catch on quickly. We're going to keep the before bed bottle for now and work on getting rid of it in a month or so - I'm in no hurry to take his bottles away if he needs the comfort of one to go to bed at night.

This leads me to my next challenge - getting rid of the pacifier. Parker uses his pacifier to go to sleep, but usually spits it out while sleeping and doesn't seem to care about it any other time. It doesn't interfere with his sleep, meaning he doesn't wake up crying because if fell out of his mouth, so I'm not too anxious to get rid of it, but I know it has to be done sooner rather than later.

It's hard to believe my baby boy is now techincally considered a "toddler"...WOW how 1 year went by quickly.

1 week and 1 day...

I can't believe Parker turns 1 in 1 week and 1 day! I'm not sure how I feel about my baby boy not being a "baby" anymore. We turned his carseat around yesterday - yes, I know he's not 1 yet and I'm breaking the law - P smashed Goldfish crackers all over his carseat yesterday and I had to take it out to vacuum it so I just flipped it around when I reinstalled it. He loves riding forward and watching where we are going instead of where we've been! :) But, that's just one more thing that grows him up from being my baby.

Here's an update on what P's been "doing" recently:
- Crawling all over and getting into everything. He's very fast, but since most of our floors are tile, we can hear him coming from anywhere. His hands go slap, slap, slap as he's speed-crawling to his next destination.
- Pulling up and trying to stand. His latest attempt to stand is the funniest. He gets up on his hands and feet with his legs straight as can be and his butt up in the air - like he's doing a bad push up - and then he turns in a circle until he gets frustrated and sits down. It's funny to watch him do it, but I can't seem to catch it on camera yet...he's fast!
- Babbling non-stop and actually getting out a few words. His clearest words are mamma, da da, daddy, get (he tells this to the dogs when we do)...a few not so clear phrases are puppies, thank you and snack. I know what he's saying but no one else does.
- Shaking his head "no". Mainly when it's time to eat he will shake his head "no" if he doesn't want to eat what we have for him. He locks his lips shut too.
- Rolling the ball. P loves to roll the ball back and forth and throw it around and chase it. If it is a bouncy ball he likes to throw it and make it bounce too.
- Reading - P's into the touch and feel books as well as other books that we read to him.
- Putting shapes into the shape-sorter. P has a hard time getting them to match up, but he's persistent and usually finds the right shape hole.

He's changing so much...and I realize this is still the beginning. ;)

Swine Flu

So, it was announced today that the swine flu has infected a child in Collierville. This has really scared me - I am mostly afraid of the unknown...what is this flu? Is it more contagious than the regular flu? Can it kill healthy small children? Can it kill healthy adults? What do I need to know?

I've been reading up and haven't found reason major concern, but I also haven't found much peace. I know I don't want my family to get infected, but I don't want to quarantine myself and Parker to the house all day, everyday. Jon doesn't have a choice - he has to go to work, so his exposure risk is greater. At least he doesn't work with the general public, but there are a lot of people in his office and I doubt the building has the best air ventilation. :)

So, instead of living in fear I am going to do my best to combat this virus and continue to live a normal, but cautious life. We'll wash our hands more, cover the shopping carts/high chairs that Parker sits in, try to keep him from touching everything he sees (easier said than done), try to keep people from touching him...he's such a lovable kid that everyone wants to come say "hi" and ends up touching him - even complete strangers, and avoid hanging out in small, closed in spaces (like small restaurants, etc) until this outbreak is under control. I just hope it's quick!

Splish Splash

It was in the middle-80's yesterday so we took a splash in the pool.

10 Smiles Tuesday

I saw "10 Smile Tuesdays" on my friend, Jessie's blog and thought it was a very cute idea. So, I am borrowing it. Thanks for the inspiration, Jessie! This is a list of 10 things that made me smile during the past week...or in this case weeks.

1. Seeing Parker fall asleep in his stroller at the zoo.

2. Having Jon home in the evenings again - Stratas Foods is officially live. There's still a lot of work to do, but at least he gets to come home at a decent time now.

3. Moms'/Girls' night out. I was fortunate to have 2 of these nights out last week. It was great to get out with new friends and remember what it's like to socialize with adults.

4. Going to the many parks in the Memphis area. There are several great parks that P & me have visited recently. So far my favorite is Cameron Brown in Germantown. It has a great pond with a walking path around it where I can push P in his stroller and enjoy the outdoors.

5. Feeding P new foods. P loves to eat, but when he finds something new that he doesn't like he'll stick out his tongue with food on it and make a horrible face while shivering in disgust. It cracks me up!

6. Being back in Illinois for Easter. I loved seeing my family and friends.

7. Watching my baby boy turn 11 months old. I can't believe how time has flown by...and he'll be 1 year old next month!!!

8. Riding my bicycle with P on the back. Jon put a seat on the back of my bicycle and we got P a helmet so we can ride around the neighborhood and to the park.

9. Nap time - I love those few hours of each day where I can catch up on email, FB and update my blog.

10. Getting my neighbor's dogs to stop barking constantly when I'm outside. We put up an ultrasonic anti-bark device in our yard that seems to be working well to stop the barking. Now I can grill out and sit in my back yard without being barked at non-stop. I just hope its keeps working.

The last few weeks...

It's been awhile since my last post - sorry about that. P and me have been busy and I've neglected my blog.

Last week was a whirlwind. We had Jon's family here through the weekend then my grandparents stopped by on their way back up to Illinois from Florida. It was so great to see them. They took off in November and hadn't seen Parker in person since then. He had grown and changed so much. P fell in love with his great-grandpa Jack. He love great-grandma too, but there was something special about g-g'pa. I think it was the baldness they shared. :) G'ma and g'pa were only here one night then we all drove up to Illinois together. P & me went back to IL without Jon this time - he had to stay and work. :( We missed him very much - I especially missed him for the car ride. P was pretty bored in the car, but did a lot of sleeping and we sang a lot of kid's songs. I bought him a portable DVD player while we were in Decatur for the ride home. He really liked watching the movies.

We stayed in Illinois until Monday then headed back to TN. I stopped by ADM before heading back to say hello to my ex-coworkers. It was so great to see all them. It was hard to leave Illinois...I had that homesick feeling in my stomach for part of the drive home, but I was excited to see Jon and get back.

This week the weather has been great and we've been to the zoo, a park and ran several errands. I went out on my first mom's night out Tuesday night with a mom's group I have met in TN. It was very nice to get out of the house and have some adult conversation. I'm headed out again tomorrow night with some girlfriends for dinner and drinks. I've made some good friends here and really think I'm starting to settle in. I still miss my family like crazy, but it's easier when you have friends.

I'll try to do a better job updating my blog... :)

10 Smile Tuesdays

I saw "10 Smile Tuesdays" on my friend, Jessie's blog and thought it was a very cute idea. So, I am borrowing it. Thanks for the inspiration, Jessie! This is a list of 10 things that made me smile during the past week.

1. Top of the list is Parker's crawl. He really started crawling forward last Friday. He has such a unique way of doing it. I'll have to capture it on video and post...but it works and gets him where he wants to go.
2. Colorful flowers. Everywhere I look there are beautiful flowers in bloom - it makes all of the cold days forgettable.
3. Making "Boo Boo Bunnies" in Babygarten. I'm not usually the crafty type, but we made the cutest little bunnies from wash clothes that can be used to hold an ice cube when the kiddos have a "boo boo".
4. Wagon rides. I love to pull Parker in his Radio Flyer wagon through the neighborhood. He loves to look around.
5. My friend Shannon's oldest daughter, Izze. She's 2 and the cutest thing ever. We went to lunch last week and she sat next to me in the booth. She was so darling and funny. I couldn't help but smile.
6. Green grass poking through the dead grass in my front lawn. We have the strangest grass at our new home - it completely dies in the winter, but doesn't go away. So, when the new grass starts to grow it comes in between the dead grass and brightens everything up. It's a sure sign Spring is here.
7. Seeing Parker get excited when Jon comes home from work. He seriously squeals like a piggy.
8. Watching Parker pet the puppies - he loves our dogs so much. They are very good with him and just let him pull and pat without a blink...however they do sneak in some kisses ever so often.
9. Having Jon home on the weekends. He's working so hard right now with the start-up of Stratas Foods and made the decision to work late week nights so he can have his weekends with the fam.
10. Learning how to use my new digital camera. I've always had standard point and shoot cameras. The one we had was getting old and so we decided to splurge and get a new "advanced" point and shoot digital camera. We got the Canon PowerShot G10 and it's awesome. I have a lot to learn about some of the settings, but it came with a great manual and I can always Google the terms I don't understand. I dont' think I'll ever own a SLR, but this camera is more than I expected and is challenging me to be a better "picture-taker".

Yummy Cookie!

Parker loves his teething biscuits - we call them "cookies". They really make a mess!

Busy Busy!

I had no idea this SAHM stuff was so busy! I think I "do" more now that I'm staying at home than I did when I went into work everyday. :) Seriously, I'm not using the same brain cells, but my activity level has over doubled! There are few days that I'm just hanging out around the house and most days me and Parker are out doing something. I've found creative ways to get out and not spend tons of money...that took some practice. :)

I've joined a few local groups for moms and babies - MOPS, Babygarten, and recently a MeetUp group of moms in Collierville and Germantown. We also spend a lot of time with the other ADM transfers. I'm so thankful to have the other ADM families here - it is so nice to have them as a support system and friends. They have all been tranfered several times with ADM and know what I'm going through when I'm sad about missing my family and friends back "home" (yes, I still call Decatur home).

I also planted some flowers this week in the flower bed in front of the house. I think I need a lot more, but it did brighten the front of the house. Parker napped the entire time I was planting so I took him out after he woke up to check them out. He really wanted to touch the flowers, but I wouldn't let him. Next spring he'll be digging along side me in the dirt! :)

Cheerios

Today was "pajama day" at the Ford house. Since the weather decided to cool off significantly and I really didn't have any reason to get out of the house - me and Parker spent the entire day in our pajamas. It was great! I cleaned the house and did laundry, but for the most part I just played with Parker and spoiled him with mommy-time. I taught him how to feed mommy Cheerios. He's been feeding himself for a long time now, but hasn't really cared to share his food much until today. I gave him a big pile of Cheerios on his high-chair tray and then leaned over to him and opened up my mouth really big. He took his chubby hand and shoved a Cheerio right in. He laughed hysterically when I chewed it up (exaggerating every bite) and then kept reaching out to feed me more - of course, putting a few in his mouth between sharing bites with me. Some of the Cheerios were a little soggy, but how can you turn down such a sweet gesture! :) Later in the day he was sitting in my lap winding down for his nap when he pulled his paci out of his mouth and shoved it against my lips - like "here mom...you can have this". I cracked up and kindly turned him down. :) My little boy learned to share today - it was very cute!

Parker says...

Parker's always been a "talker". When he was much younger he would just yell to get our attention and then it turned to babbling and now it seems like he almost has a group of words that he's consistently associate with things. Here's what I'm talking about...
"Da da" - he's been saying this phrase the longest and he knows that Jon is "Da da".
"Ma ma" - FINALLY he says this one and says it the most. If I'm not paying attention to him or he wants more puffs he'll yell "ma ma, ma ma, ma ma..." until I respond. I love it!
"Uh uh" - which is Parker's version of "Uh oh". He loves to launch toys off his high chair and say, "uh uh" then sometimes followed with an "oh". Jon and I have been saying "uh oh" when he drops stuff for a while now and he's picked up on it and made it his own.

His favorite non-verbal communication is waving bye bye to everyone. He'll do it at the grocery store, Wal-mart, restaurants...you get the idea. Once he figures out that we're leaving somewhere the hand starts waving and he gets a great big grin on his face.

I'll add more phrases as P expands his vocabulary. Seems like he's always chattering and babbling so it's just a matter of time before he turns all of that "noise" into words. :)

Snow Angels

It snowed last night in the Memphis area...something I thought "didn't happen 'round here" as we were told when we learned that we were moving to the area. But, I loved it - it reminded me of being back in IL. First thing this morning after breakfast I suited Parker up in his snow suit and Jon & I bundled up to go out into the 6" of white fluffy snow to "play". I plopped Parker down into the snow and he squinted his eyes from the bright sun and looked at us like we were nuts. We made a quick snow angel and took some snapshots for the scrapbook. It didn't take long for the snow to start to melt away - most of it was gone by nightfall, but it was pretty while it lasted.

***I'll upload some pictures later...the photo upload tool isn't working right now.***

P's Accomplishments

Everyday, Parker makes me laugh and sometimes cry (happy tears). Today, I was so proud of him...he sat up from his stomach on his own. It was very cute...I put him down on his stomach to run into the other room for a second - since he really doesn't crawl quickly yet, I know I'm safe to leave him for 30 seconds - when I came back he was sitting straight up looking at me like, "look what I did, Mom." We celebrated the way mommies and babies do with cheering and clapping and then of course I had to try to get him to do it again. He did, but quickly got bored with it. I just love celebrating all of his accomplishments, but know that with each new feat he's growing into a independent little boy and it makes me a little sad in a proud way.

P's also gotten into dancing A LOT recently. He's danced for a while now, but now he is wiggling and moving his arms everytime he hears a song. He's a huge fan of American Idol and just dances and shakes his arms everytime we watch it. It's adorable. I'll try to capture a video of it and post it for everyone's entertainment. I'll need it to show his first girlfriend one day too! :)

Babygarten

Parker and I registered for Babygarten today. Babygarten is a class taught at the local library for 0-18 month olds. I want to meet local moms and give Parker a chance to interact with other kids - he's used to doing that from daycare when we were in Decatur, but hasn't had much interaction with other kids since we moved. Anyway - I've learned that our new little town is very friendly, but there are always "rules" for everything and Babygarten is no exception. The registration packet came with "rules" for attending the class. My favorite rule was the one about not being able to join the class if you're more than 5 minutes late...I'm rarely late anywhere, but seriously, parents of 0-18 month olds cannot always be on-time and it's not like the class activities aren't something that one couldn't join in on at any time. But, we'll follow the rules and have a great time. I do love how the class encourages play with the babies, but is not too structured. There will be singing, jumping/bouncing and lots of laughing and clapping. I can't wait until it starts in March. It's a 6 week class for an hour a week so that will keep us busy. I'll post some pictures if it's allowed for them to be taken during class. :)

Happy Valentines Day, everyone! The Ford Family had a nice V-tines day.

Parker got mommy and daddy V-tines Day cards and a box of chocolates for mom.


We have Jon's brother, Andrew and his fiance, Lacy visiting this weekend. Jon and Andrew worked hard yesterday on getting the attic floor finished so that we can store the hundreds of boxes from the basement at the Illinois house. I still can't believe they don't have basements in TN! Lacy, Parker and I went to the mall in Collierville and had a great time. The mall was HUGE!!!



We hope that everyone had a nice Valentines Day!
Enjoy the cute picture of P-man sporting his "Lover Boy" t-shirt.

Getting started...

Welcome to the Ford Family blog! We recently moved from central-Illinois to Memphis, TN and created this blog to keep our friends and families updated on what's new in the Ford Family world. I'll do my best to keep postings recent and interesting. :)