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.***