Race for the Cure-Team Alli

Yesterday was Race for the Cure in Fort Worth. One of my best friends, Allison, was diagnosed in December with breast cancer at age 35. She had a double mastectomy in January and has completed 5 of her 16 chemotherapy treatments. Alli & I have been friends since Kindergarten, were roommates at TCU and 2 years after, were the maid and matron of honor in each other's weddings, and have the best group of girl friends. Most of us met 18 years ago Freshman year at TCU but we have added a few to our group through the years. We all have other great friends as well but no matter what we have always been there for each other-marriages, divorces,parents dying, children being born, and now cancer. Alli has the most precious reason to fight-her 18 month old little girl, Stella. You can read about Allison's amazing strength, courage, and inspirational story here. http://www.alliparkey.blogspot.com/ She has an incredible support system from her wonderful husband, daughter, mom, and countless other family members and friends.


We created Team Alli in Allison's honor and walked together yesterday in Fort Worth. Alli even walked with us after having her 5th chemotherapy treatment on Wednesday last week! We wore shirts that said, "The A Team" on the front and "We walk for Alli" on the back. Below are pictures from the race:

Team Alli



Go Frogs!



Marlo, Kim. Sarah, Tiffany, & Ashley

Marlo, Sarah, & Kim

Sarah & Ashley doing their JC Penney modeling poses



A & T



Blaire & Alli

Mere, Anna, & Blaire walking



Survivors-Alli (4 months) & my Mom (17 years)



Ben & Alli walking

 

Sweet Stella



Ryan (Alli's brother) & Alli

Parkey family at the finish line-yay!

14 Months old

Summer Fun

I was looking at pictures from this summer and found the cutest pictures of Grandma-ma and Michael that I never posted. Michael, Ellie, and I went to Fort Worth for a mini-session with Sabrina for Michael's 6 month pictures on July 28th. Grandma-ma went with us to the session at the Botanical Gardens and we all had lunch after. I took the pictures below when we were back at the house. It is just a coincidence that Grandma-ma and Michael were dressed alike!

Grandma-ma talking to her sweet boy

Michael LOVES giving Grandma-ma kisses

I love this one of them both laughing!

Grandma-ma and Michael

Papa was working but came out of his office to say hi

Then when we got home I took this adorable picture of Ellie and Michael. She loves her baby brother!

Looking at these pictures makes me realize how much I love summer and having time off to spend with my family. There are many days when I think I am tired of teaching (ten years in DISD is a long time!) and maybe this should be my last year but then I think of summer, and all of the other holidays and time I have off. Sean reminds me that with any other job I might get one ore two weeks off the first year and I know with that little time off I would be miserable and missing my summers! 12 more weeks of school to go! :)

13 months old

Dear Michael,

You are 13 months old today! I feel like we just celebrated your 1st Birthday and now another month has gone by. I love to see how your little personality continues to shine and grow. Seeing your smile and dimples in the morning makes my day. You have the cutest gap tooth grin! You are still our laid back, happy little guy but if you are not happy about something you definitely let us know! Lately your big brother wants to play with whatever you have. It doesn't matter that he hasn't been in the cozy coupe in six months-if you are sitting in it and "driving" then James wants you out and he wants to drive. The first time this happened he actually tried to pull you out of the car. Don't worry, we reminded him about sharing and taking turns so you got to play for a few minutes more then it was his turn!. I have a feeling we will be reminding you both about sharing your toys and taking turns for years to come!

There were big changes at school this last month! You visited Toddler 1 for a half day for about a week then officially moved up to Toddler 1 with Ms. Deb on February 1st.. We love Ms. Deb and are so happy you are in her class! It seems like James was just in Toddler 1. Time goes by so fast and sometimes I just want it to freeze so I can enjoy you and James at these ages a little longer. But, I also love experiencing all of your milestones and watching you discover the world around you!

So Michael Scott, what else are you up to at 13 months old???

You are 31 1/2 inches long and weigh 24.5 lbs. I haven't measured since your one year appointment but it was a week after your 1st Birthday so I don't think much has changed in the last three weeks. I will measure you at 14 months!

You wear a size 4 diaper and size 12-18 month clothing

You wear a size 4 1/2 shoe

You have four teeth-top two and bottom two front. Your tooth to the left of your front tooth is about to break through any day now!

You were walking two weeks before your 1st birthday and you are now running everywhere!

You sometimes put your arms straight down and behind you when you run so it looks like you are trying to fly or take off. :)

You clap, wave bye bye, and love to say "hiya" and wave to everyone. You are so friendly! You will be in the cart at the grocery store and say hi and wave to everyone we pass. Of course they say hi and wave back in which you think is so fun!

You say mama, dada, hai (hi and it sounds like hi with a southern accent), ba (bath), and your favorite-uh oh! You purposely throw things down on the floor just to say uh oh!

You love to eat and are a great eater but you don't always eat everything I give you. The other day you spit out carrots. You would put a bite in your mouth and spit it out and you did it several times! You used to love carrots so I thought it was so funny. You also throw any food you don't like on the floor for Chloe and Coco. They are happy to clean up for you!

You love fruit, especially bananas and blueberries. You also love cantaloupe, honeydew melon, strawberries, and grapes.

You are the best sleeper and so easy to get down for bed (which is opposite from your brother so this makes mommy very happy!) We eat dinner at 6:30 or 7:00, play, read books, then do our normal night routine-bath/pj's/milk/brush teeth then we snuggle and I rock you for a few minutes, say prayers, then I put you in your crib, you turn over on your tummy with your arms under you, and I say good night and walk out. You are asleep every night by 8:15 and sleep 11-12 hours.

You are doing great in Ms. Deb's class at school and nap for 2+ hours every day, usually from 11:45-2:00. Ms. Deb said you adjusted so well to being in her class. You did try to eat the wood chips on the playground a few times but then I guess you figured out that they didn't taste very good!

You LOVE being outside and I know as the days get warmer we will be spending a lot of time outdoors!

We love you so much Michael and just when I think I can't love you any more....I do. We can't wait to see how you grow and change next month!

Love,

Mommy

Michael's 1st Birthday Party!

We all had so much fun celebrating Michael's 1st Birthday with so many of our friends and family. Even though it was a Winter ONEderland theme, I hoped for sunny and warm enough weather to play outside and use our patio. It ended up being 60 degrees and sunny-pefect! Our friends at Yard Candy made the cutest sign for our front yard. They also provided an adorable table and chairs for the kids. We will definitely be calling Yard Candy again! James already asked if he gets a sign for his 3rd Birthday. I have to thank Sean's sister, Lea, my mother-in-law, Janie, and my mom for all of their help. I could not have had this wonderful party without them! Lea and Janie cooked all of the food and my mom helped with all of the decorations and entertained the boys. Sean's Dad was also in town and a big help. Thank you, John! We had our favorite photographer, Sabrina Gebhardt (no relation!) come and take pictures. It was so nice to enjoy the party and not have to worry about taking pictures. We have about 100 pictures from the party, and below are some of my favorites!

Birthday sign from Yard Candy

Birthday Boy!

my favorite picture

Decorations and toys for the little ones



Big Brother



Yummy food-thank you Lea and Janie!



Birthday cake

Talking to Grandma-ma

TCU girls-love that we have all been friends for almost 18 years!

Michael, Stella, & Sam on the 4 wheeler

Happy 1st Birthday to Michael!

Tasting his cupcake with Grandad watching

I think he likes it!

Daddy, Mommy, &  Michael

Michael Scott

Michael &  Mommy

I love our baby boy!

Eating cake at the cute table from Yard Candy

James-love this one too!

Birthday Boy!

Look who is ONE years old today!!! I can't believe a year has past and my baby boy is not a baby anymore. We are having his party this weekend but Michael got to try a real dessert for the very first time tonight-a cupcake from A & J Bakery! Up until now the sweetest thing he has ever had is fruit. He loved his cupcake, but so far I haven't found anything he doesn't like!

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy!!!



We love you Michael Scott. I am so proud to be your mommy and you make each day brighter with your sweet smile. You are my little angel and I can't imagine this past year without you! Happy 1st Birthday!!!

Rock Star

This week James has told us several times that he wants to "be a Rock Star and play the guitar and wear sunglasses" when he grows up. Tonight Sean had music on and James grabbed the tennis racket, an old pair of my sunglasses, and started playing air guitar on the tennis racket. I love that I can grab my phone and capture moments like this, even if the pictures are a little blurry. James was really getting into it in the first picture! I love our future little rock star.

Happy New Year!

We had the best New Years Eve! Our anniversary is on January 7th so we don't like going out on New Years Eve. We would much rather stay home with the boys or spend it at a friend's house. That is just what we did! We went over to the Rose's house with our other good friends The Finnells. Our kids have been in playgroup together and friends since they were just two months old. They have been in class at Brookhaven together since James started and now will all be turning 3 this year, except Michael of course. The Roses' cooked a yummy dinner and the kids had so much fun playing and running around the house. Michael went to sleep first in a pack-n-play in the guest room then we finally got all of the other three kids to go to bed! When I say finally, two of them were not a problem at all. You will never guess who wanted to stay up late? Sean and I are both night owls and I think James is too! After the kids went to bed we hung out, drank wine, talked, laughed, and watched the Coldplay concert. I love these girls and it is so fun that our husbands are all friends too. I only took a few pictures with my phone.

Self-portrait in the car.
 Sean now knows if he smiles the first time I won't take the picture over and over again! :)

Not the best picture but the only one I have of the kids.
They were hanging out watching Bubble Guppies
(the songs get stuck in my head all the time!)

Tiff, Alex, & Emily

Since it is New Year's Day, I have been thinking about a few resolutions and things I want to focus on. In the past I have talked about resolutions but this is the first time I am actually writing them down. Here they are but in to particular order:

1. I want to cook more for my family.
2. Be present when I am with the boys (meaning don't be checking my email or responding to a text on my phone)
3. Start working out regulary-yoga, running, a class at the gym, anything! I don't want to say 4-5 times a week because that is unrealistic with my schedule but even twice a week would be an improvement.
4. Officially join our church and get involved (if we can finally agree on which one, we have been going to two different churches this past year off and on for different reasons. We actually really like both but I definitely feel more "at home" at one of them.)
5. Update the blog more frequently. I love writing but feel like I am always behind on posts!
6. And finally, GET.MORE.SLEEP. I average about 6 hours a night right now, and I feel better when I sleep 8 hours. Both boys are sleeping well but I stay up late trying to get things done around the house or on the computer!

I am excited about 2012. I think it will be fun to look back at my resolutions at the end of the year and see which ones I have kept. I haven't written about Christmas yet or our trip to San Antonio the week before but will be catching up soon. We have a lot going on these next couple of weeks-back to school/work, family in town, and our baby boy is turning ONE!!!

I hope everyone has a Happy and Healthy New Year!!!