I think I can, I think I can....

Well, I made it through last week, despite another bout of some sort of stomach virus or food poisoning or something, largely because MiMa Beth came down from North Carolina to help out while Chris was away. Beth came Wednesday and we picked up some groceries, hung out, ate dinner and went to bed. I was sick all that night and through the entire next day- yuck! Luckily Mima entertained Parker and I literally slept the whole day away on Thursday and then went back to work on Friday and again on Saturday.

The event I put together for Saturday went really well. I got up and left Parker with MiMa at around 8 a.m. This was his first time staying with anyone other than Deborah for any significant period of time. We got done a little early with our event and I was able to get home to my little Peanut by around 2:00. Believe it or not, that was the longest I've been away from him...ever! Luckily, the time flew by and I felt totally comfortable. I was very excited to get back home and give him a big snuggle (and an afternoon snack).

I can't believe Parker is now 5 months old! That is almost half a year! Incredible! It seems like ages ago that he was a tiny newborn who slept all day long and wore size NB diapers. (He wears size 2 now btw...what a big boy!) My mom and dad are coming on April 30th (Parker's 6 month B-day!) for a visit and I know they are going to be amazed at how much he has changed since they saw him in January. He is one busy little boy. He is babbling all the time and wiggling even more than ever. He has said Ma Ma more than a few times, which is exciting even though he has said it to everything from the bed pillow to the dog. I'm still convinced he is brilliant. :)

Chris came back last night just after midnight and we are all so glad to have him home. Lennox suffered separation anxiety more than anyone, and demonstrated his nerves by being outrageously gassy all week. He jumped up and down like mad when Chris came in. Chris' big 3-0 is on Thursday, so this is another big week in the Nicholson household. I'll update you on how that goes soon.

I may be exhausted, but we're still movin' full steam ahead! I think I can, I think I can!

Easter...how could I forget!

I just realized that I was so tired on Monday that I didn't write anything about Parker's first Easter! What kind of mother/blogger am I???

Well, we woke up and Parker had a nice bath and changed into his Easter outfit (light green and blue jumper with a baby bear on it with a green/blue/white striped shirt underneath). We sat down and read "Spot's first Easter" and took some very cute pictures. (Will post soon...)

Daddy had been up late the night before, so we let him sleep for a while, and then put on our favorite "Silly Songs" CD to listen to while we opened Parker's easter basket (sent by Bunny Rabbit Gramma in Oregon). Parker really liked hitting the basket which was wrapped in celophane (sp???) and made fun loud sounds when he touched it. Inside we found a couple of fun teething toys, some big boy spoons with plastic on the ends to use with real food next month, some candy for Mom and Dad, some beads for Mom as well as a pretty silver bracelet from Mexico, shirts for all of us from Cancun, and some cute little wind up animals that hopped around on the table.

We ate brunch and then watched Daddy rake and mow the lawn and laughed at Lennox as he chased after the lawnmower barking like crazy.

I think that was about it! Maybe next year we can hunt for some eggs in the yard. :)

Old McDonald and his barnyard friends

I think I have sung "Old McDonald" about 100 times this week. Parker's sleep/nap schedule has changed so that he is no longer sleeping through our commute every day, and has, on several occasions, gotten VERY upset about being stuck in his carseat with nothing to do. It seems that hearing mommy "oink, oink, moo, moo, and hee-haw, hee-haw (my personal favorite) is one of the only things that (albeit temporarily) improves his mood about being in the car. Aside from that, this week has started off better than last.

We had a very nice time over the weekend hanging out with Chris' friend, Roby, and his wife, Julia. They came down from Chris' hometown, Thomasville, NC, and stayed with us on Thursday and Friday and part of Saturday. They are considering a move to Atlanta and wanted to come check the place out. Julia is my age and is working on her masters degree in a non-profit management program. She is SO nice and we really hit it off immediately. I really hope that they end up moving to ATL because I can tell that we would become friends. Parker really liked her a lot too and had fun staring at her blonde hair. :)

I have a very busy week ahead of me at work again, and will be working on Saturday as well for our Realtor Open House at school. (I guess I can't complain as I planned, scheduled and organized the event...sigh). I realize I had a couple of days off for Spring Break a few weeks ago, but I'm starting to feel like I really need a vacation!!! Next weekend will be fun, but will definitely not be relaxing as we will be driving to NC and celebrating Chris' 30th birthday at both his parents' house and at the house of Andy and Anna (Parker's godparents), and then, of course, driving the 5.5 hours back to Atlanta. I can literally see wrinkles appearing on my face from sleeping less and doing much, much more. Is that why I no longer get carded when I order a glass of wine? Alas.

Ok, that's the update for now. I'm off for another bucket of coffee...

Busy, busy, busy!!!

Boy, this is definitely the busiest Spring I've had for a long time! I've got tons going on at work (event planning, interviews, tours, application review, re-enrollment, graduation planning...), Parker has become the busiest little bee and is scooting, rolling, wiggling his way around as best he can, AND we have houseguests (I just found out)tonight and tomorrow night, next week Mima comes to visit, we go to North Carolina after that, and then the weekend after that we have another wedding. Oh my!!! No wonder time feels like it is flying by!!!

Yesterday little Parker said "Ma" for the first time (not really directed at me, but I'll pretend.:)) I have the feeling he's going to be an early talker. He makes all sorts of funny sounds while keeping eye contact with whomever he is "talking" to. He's really into screaming and squealing for fun too, which is very funny. He also really wants to stand up all of the time (with assistance, of course). He gets a big grin on his face when he is standing up on my knees holding my hands. Pretty soon we'll be chasing him around the house!

Ok, enough blogging. I've got a meeting, emails, packets, etc. to attend to. Whew!

TGIAF (a= almost)

Holy Tornados!

Most of you have already heard by now, but this weekend Georgia was assaulted with Tornados, with one touching down in Atlanta causing some pretty significant destruction! Roofs were flying off buildings, vehicles were being overturned, and freeway signs were ripped off of their stands and thrown into the street. Not to worry, Parker and I were home tucked safely in our beds. Chris was downtown pretty close to where the storm struck, but was also safe after a long drive home. Out here in Gainesville, most of my colleagues spent their Saturday afternoon taking shelter in their basements while tornado sirens blared through the whole town. Luckily, aside from a few fallen trees, things out here are ok too.

Of course my parents were worried when they got off the plane from Mexico and saw the news that Atlanta had been struck by a tornado. Mom called me to make sure we were safe and was, I'm sure, relieved to find out that we were unscathed. In fact, we got up the next morning, lounged around the house, and went to the wedding we were planning to attend. The wedding was on the 25th floor of the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel, where we could look out over all of the damage from the night before. Luckily, the hotel was spared and the wedding could take place. I imagine Ashley must have been terrified watching the news the night before!!!

Yesterday we went grocery shopping at the new Super Walmart that opened a mile from our house (yay!)and then went to dinner at a friend of Chris'. Parker was SO active all weekend long and truly looks like he's about to start crawling all over the place. He sort of scoots and shimmies right now, but he is so motivated to get places I'm sure we're in for some more surprises this week.

Well, I'd better get to work, but wanted to update you on our interesting encounter with mother nature.

There's no place like home! :)

We've got a rolly polly!!!

I just got back from visiting Parker during my lunch break. He and Deborah were walking around in the yard looking at plants and enjoying the beautiful weather. I went inside with him, fed him, and then while we were playing on the carpet he rolled from back to belly!!! I put him back on his back and he did it again! Parker isn't even 4 and a half months old, so that's pretty neat! My book says babies usually don't roll back to front until they are about 6 months old. We've got a little overachiever on our hands. :)Hip hip hoorah for Parker!!!

Sleep... what's that?

Ugh... for the third night in a row Parker has had a gassy tummy and has been up for hours in the middle of the night. I am SO tired and have been surviving on caffine and sugar alone...which I'm sure is not helping Parker's gassiness. A vicious cycle... Pool little fellow. He wakes up happy as a clam in the morning anyway and is smiling and ready to start his day. I cannot say the same for myself! It seems that his tummy is on a timer to act up only between the hours of 1 and 4 a.m.

I think part of the issue is that Parker is in the middle of a growth spurt (you can REALLY see him growing day to day) and is eating a lot more and taking longer naps during the day. Maybe the extra food (milk) is making his stomach work harder. Who knows. This same thing happened once before, lasted a few days, and then stopped. So hopefully that will be the case. I can only function in zombie mode for so long!

Aside from that, we've had a good week! Parker has gotten so adept at playing with his toys, sticking things in his mouth, and reaching out for things he is interested in. He has made tremendous leaps in ability over the past few weeks. Go Parker! It also seems that he is becoming ticklish, which is so cute! He laughs and laughs when I tickle his little sides. He also really enjoys foot rubs- a boy after my own heart!

This weekend Parker will attend his first wedding. Our neighbors, Dave and Ashely, will be getting married down town on Saturday, and all three of us were invited. How nice! The wedding is at six, so we will only stay for part of the reception, but we are all looking forward to it. Hopefully we will go for a couple more walks this weekend and enjoy the nice weather we've been having.

Chris got me the sweetest present yesterday. Some of you may know that I really enjoy asian and asian influenced art. Chris had a meeting yesterday evening with one of his sponsors for the Winter Music Conference and he saw a store across the street that was having a huge sale. He popped his head in the door and saw a bunch of Buddha statues and paintings, etc. He found the most gorgeous wood carving of the face of Buddha which had originally been nearly $200, and he got it for $39! What a sale! It is so perfect for our living room and was such a thoughtful gift! Love that Hubby of mine. :)

Friday is only a day away...hooray!

A visit from MiMa and PaPa

This weekend MiMa and PaPa drove down from North Carolina to spend some time with Peanut and to deliver some very pretty furniture they picked up for us at an amazing price. Our living room is looking pretty posh these days! :) Thank you Beth and Garrel!

We ate good food, hung out with friends, drank wine, and did face masks... what fun! The weekend went by a little too fast, and with daylight savings yesterday, I felt like I was getting up in the middle of the night to go to work this morning. Yuck! I'm feeling a bit foggy.

My parents are still living it up down in Mexico. They spent last week at The Mayan Palace in Cancun and this week they will be at Club Regina. I'll be happy when they are back in the states and I can resume my daily phone call to them. I realized how much I look forward to checking in with Mom and Dad everyday when I was no longer able to do it! :( Love you Mom and Dad! :)

Beth (MiMa) took a couple of really cute pictures while she was here this weekend. She is coming back in two weeks to spend 5 days with us while Chris is out of town for the Winter Music Conference down in Miami. I'm sure we will have a lot of fun, and I will definitely enjoy having another set of hands around while Daddy is out! :)

Ok, well, I've got tons to do today, but wanted to catch ya'll up (No, Mom, I don't actually say ya'll...don't worry), and post this cute picture.

TTFN
-Laura

I forgot...

Parker weighs 14lb 5oz now... what a big boy! He is in the 50th percentile for height and weight, so, as we already knew, he is absolutely perfect. :)