Halloween Week in Review

Whew...our Halloween week was full of fun and excitement. It was a very busy and crazy week for all of us. We made a lot of great memories! This had to be one of the busiest weeks of our year. Here is the Parker's Halloween week in review.

Monday Night Football--Titans Code Blue

Andy and I went with my parents to see the Titans play the Colts. It was an awesome game (much different than the Tennessee/Alabama game we had gone to only days earlier). We were so pumped to see the Titans remain undefeated! Thanks to an exciting game it didn't seem so cold to us. Everyone at the game got light blue shirts when they came in, so the stadium was all blue...really neat to see!

Wednesday night--Trunk or Treat at Brentwood Hills

Jackson was so excited about the kiddie bounce house that he did not want to "trunk or treat." I had to make him do it so he wouldn't pout later if he missed. He had so much jumping with all of his buddies from church.

Jackson and Tyler with their super cool friend, Hunter

Rebekah with Drew, Laura with Colton, Natalie with Easton, and Leslie (Harris is in the stroller)

Mommy and her sweet little puppy

Thursday--Fall into Fun Party at Jackson's preschool
Jackson and his friend Emerson (Fancy Nancy) work on a silly face pumpkin

The Spidermen are showing off their muscles!

Mommy with her cute (and muscular) Spiderman
More Thursday fun--Trip to Walden Farm

We had gone to Walden Farm earlier, but did not get a pumpkin because they were closing when we finished all the activities. I decided to take the boys on Thursday afternoon to pick out a pumpkin. We could not have trick or treaters on Friday evening and no pumpkin..right?!?

Jackson wanted the "biggest pumpkin of all." This, of course, meant the most expensive as well.

Hauling his pumpkin to the car

Drew with all the pumpkins

Thursday night--Neighborhood Halloween Party

Our neighborhood had a Halloween Party at the clubhouse for all the kids. They had games and activities for them to do. At the end, there was a flashlight hunt for candy in the field.Jackson is making/eating a marshmallow mummy. I put Drew on the floor while I helped Jackson, and he was picking up the scrap fruit rollups. Yuck!Drew and Daddy with some food...the kid can spot food a mile away!
Friday--Trick or Treat

Jackson asked me several times when the real trick or treat was. I guess there was too much fanfare involved in Halloween for him. While we trick or treating, he wanted to go back to our house and hand out candy. He asked to eat one piece of candy after our last house and has not mentioned it since then. Unbelievable! I have had the bags on the counter since Friday night and still no acknowledgement of the candy, so Andy and I have been taking liberties with his loot.Ready to go! Jackson's first stop... Friends from our cul-de-sac

All About Drew

• Drew weighed 25 pounds (80th percentile) and was 31 1/4 inches (90th percentile) tall at one year old.
• Drew loves to eat. He is very impatient when it is time to eat. You better have food ready when you put him in his highchair. Some of his favorites are grapes, yogurt, bananas, oatmeal, applesauce, pancakes and any kind of bread. We usually have to "cut him off" at mealtimes. He is also a messy eater.
• Drew wants to be big like Jackson. He gets so frustrated when he cannot be right in the middle of whatever Jackson is doing. It also frustrating for Jackson because he does not want Drew to "mess anything up."
• Drew loves to play with a ball of any type. He will throw it in the air and say, "whoa." He also enjoys watching Jackson playing football, basketball, soccer, and hockey.
• Drew is definitely a Daddy's boy. Andy gives me a hard time that all his bibs say stuff about Mommy, however Daddy is definitely his favorite. He will fuss to go to Andy when I am holding him or pitch a fit if Andy leaves the room.
• Drew can be very fiesty and stubborn at times. I do not think he will be backing down from many fights when he is older. He has been very stubborn with his sippy cup lately. He can definitely drink out of it, but he chooses not to most of the time. Tough luck for him because the bottles are gone.
• Drew loves to wrestle with Jackson and Daddy. He crawls over and tries to get into the fun.
• Drew loves to play in Jackson's room. He always crawls in there and plays for a long time.
• Obviously, Drew is not walking, cruising, or attempting to do that. This is skill my children acquire much later. He is pulling up and will stand for a few minutes holding on to something.
• Drew is a sweet cuddler. When he is sleepy, he will hold his lovie, suck his thumb, and lay on my shoulder. It is so precious. I love every minute of reading to him and rocking him.
• Drew really loves to take a bath. He splashes really big and even puts his whole head in the water and blows bubbles. I was astonished the first time he did it, because we had not showed him how to do it. He ducks his head, blows bubbles, looks up, and smiles. Definitely no fear of the water for him. I even put him in the tub while Jackson took a shower and he let the water spray all over his face and body.
• Drew enjoys being outside as well. He loves to ride on Jackson's gator, swing, or go for a ride in the stroller.
• Drew says "oooooooo" all the time when he is playing with his toys. He is so fascinated by everything.
• Drew despises having his diaper and clothes changed. He goes crazy when I put him on the changing table.

This is more than you ever wanted to know about my sweet little baby, however I wanted to put it into words before he is all big and grown up.

Drew's First Birthday

Last Sunday, we had Drew's first birthday party (lunch with our families). It was so great to have everyone (except Uncle Andrew) at our house to celebrate. We wanted Drew to be surrounded by is family on his birthday. Here is my happy little birthday boy at the party. He has the best smile...big open mouth, eyes lighting up, and all those cute teeth:)

Here is an attempt at putting his festive birthday hat on him. He really wanted to take it off NOW.

Jackson helped Drew open his presents. Drew loved all his gifts. Mommy and Daddy got him an outdoor swing, Grammy and Papa got him puzzles, Mama Linda got him a ball popper and a Titans outfit, and Aunt Amanda got him pajamas, socks, and Gerber Puffs and Wagon Wheels (probably his favorite). For some reason, everyone also brought a gift for Jackson, which made him think Drew's party was awesome!

Daddy, the birthday boy, and Mommy

This is Drew's first taste of his cake, and he LOVED it. The sweet boy did not hold back. If you could see him when he eats, you would understands. He wants his food and fast. He dove right in to his cake with his hands and eventually his entire face.

The cake was no match for Drew. He was not happy when we called it quits and took the cake away.

The birthday boy is his birthday suit. We had to give him a bath after he finished his cake.

Grandaddy, Aunt Amanda, Andy with Drew, Mama Linda, Mama Gwen, and Daddy Parker
Andy with an unhappy Drew (he was ready for a nap), me with Jackson, Papa, Granny, Grandaddy, Granny Evans, Aunt Gertie, and Grammy

Happy Birthday to baby Drew!

Our baby Drew turned one today (I cannot believe this is possible!). Nothing special planned for today...just a fun night at home with our family of four and breakfast for dinner. yummy, but will Drew eat it? Who knows? We have a family birthday party planned for Sunday lunch. A sentimental birthday post coming soon.

Here is a comparision of Drew now and when he was born...

His sweet little feet and toes before heading home from the hospital and then now...

A trip to Walden Farm

Last Sunday, we took the boys to Walden Farm. This was our first trip to there. It is great place for kids! Drew sat in the stroller and looked around in amazement at all the people and stuff. Jackson really enjoyed seeing all the animals and doing the activities. However, all the hay and farm stuff made his allergies and asthma crazy for a couple of days. Here is a picture of the boys with some pumpkins.

Jackson and Andy climbed to the top of the Hay Mountain.
Mommy and Drew watching all the fun and excitement.
Andy and Drew in the corn maze.
Jackson loved the corn maze. He wanted to do it again and really enjoyed hiding in the corn stalks.

I cannot wait...

I am so excited about this movie. This summer, I read the Twilight and New Moon, the first two books in the series. Hopefully, I will read Eclipse and Breaking Dawn soon. I transferred my Harry Potter obsession to this since they switched the release dates on the two movies.

Also, 24 will be back in action on Sunday, November 23. It has been way too long:) I cannot wait to see Jack Bauer in action. Where has he been? What is going to happen in the world? How will Jack manage to save the world again? I guess we will watch and find out. Some of my fellow CTU fans are planning a viewing party...Yeah! Click here to watch the 24 trailer.

That is going to be an exciting weekend! So, let me know if you are planning to see one or both of these...

11 Months Old

This sweet little baby is officially 11 months old. Wow, time has really flown with my second child. Drew is crawling and into lots of stuff, especially cords, drawers, and cabinets. He also developed a desire for the remote control. Whenever he sees it, he goes crazy until he gets it. Being the only female in my house, I realize I may never have access to the remote again. Drew has a few tricks such as waving and clapping his hands. He also can give kisses, which sometimes results in the recipient being bitten and led to his nickname of pirhanna baby. The child has eight teeth so he can definitely chomp you. He can also do "Touchdown" (if only the Vols would do this in their games, there would be more rejoicing at our house). His favorite toy is any ball and the foods from Jackson's kitchen, and his favorite book is Where's My Teddy? and Moo Baa LaLaLa. Drew can also repeat mama, dada, and hi. He is for sure a daddy's boy, because he is so excited when he sees Andy and will go to him from me all the time. When Andy is holding him, he hardly ever comes to me.

On the move...
Having a little snack
Little thumb sucker with his lovie, he loves to rub the ears on his lovie when he is going to sleep
Happy little baby!

School and Soccer

School and soccer season have started for Jackson, and he is loving it. Grammy and Papa went with Jackson for Sneak-A-Peak, and Mama Linda took Jackson to school on his first day because we were in California. I do not have any pictures of those events yet. When I talked to Jackson after his first day at school, he told me there was a "new order" (different schedule from the 2 year old class) and they had "some visitors" (new friends who were not in his 2 year old class). He is crazy about Miss Mallory and Miss Sherry. They are so sweet and very patient and creative. We are so blessed to have Jackson at Harpeth Hills. Here is a picture of him in front of the sign at school.

While we wait in the drop off line, Jackson likes to stand up and look out the sunroof. It is so funny to watch him wave at the other kids and say hello.
The yellow team has started their soccer season, and it so hillarious to watch them in action. Here they are before their game lining up to say a prayer. I love that you can see their names and numbers in this picture.
Coach Len trying to help our team play defense!