Cincinnati ~ First Family Vacation the Four of Us~

We visited the Newport Aquarium and stayed in downtown Cincinnatti in April. It was our first little vacation as a family of four!! The kids loved seeing the sharks, sea turtles, and other sea creatures. The best part of the aquarium was the feeding show. After the feeding show all the kids got to sit upclose to the aquarium to see all the fish. We got to pet starfish, sharks, and crabs. Parker was surprised to see sea otters too and enjoyed racing the penquins as the swam back in forth across a big aquarium. After the aquarium we hung out in a neat area in Newport where we ate dinner outside at Bar Louie, had balloons made by a clown and then enjoyed ice cream before driving over the bridge to Cincinnatti. When we got to the Westin in downtown Cincinnatti Parker helped Mitch pull the luggage inside to the front desk. He is such a strong little guy:) As soon as we got to the room we got dressed in our swim suits to go swimming in the indoor pool. It was such a good time to watch Ava and Parker run around the room in their little swimsuits and jump and dive on the huge heavenly bed. The pool was freezing cold so Ava and I mostly watched Parker and Mitch act crazy in the pool. We only have three pictures from the vacation because unfortunately not long after we got back our hard drive that had all of the pictures saved malfunctioned and we lost all of the pictures. These pictures just happened to still be on the camera. I want to remember Parker and Ava sitting together watching the sea creatures. I also want to remember Parker standing in front of a glass circle facing the aquarium and holding onto Mitch's neck. Hopefully this will help us remember our great time on our first vacation together.

Easter 2012

Easter was good time with all of the grandparents and Kinsey and Shane here with us to celebrate with us!

Easter Dinner!!

Opening baskets from the Eater bunny, Granne and Pops and Mamma and David. 

Parker was estatic that the Easter Bunny rememberd to bring him a leather glove and ball.  He's trying it out with Daddy and Pops. 

How sweet!!

Dying Easter Eggs

Ava's 1st Birthday Party!!

Ava ~ 10 months

Ava's personality is blossoming more and more everyday! She LOVES to hear her voice! She is such a good baby! I think she is going to be our independent child.

* weighs 18 1/2 lbs
* 4 teeth on the top and 3 teeth on the bottom
* says mama and dada all the time, has said hi, bye bye, boo and many other things in her own language:)
* stands all the time by herself even holding things
* eats solids
* feeds herself (didn't know it was possible but eats slower than Parker)
* loves cheese, bread, spaghetti
* likes carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, potatoes, rice
* constantly puts food in her hair, especially when she's done eating (it's means get me out of this high chair!)
* has taken up to 4 steps several times :)
* makes kiss and clicking sounds
* gives high fives and waves
* loves bouncing and dancing to music or any sounds, climbing on top of things, looking through and eating books, playing peek-a-boo, and playing with her big brother
* thinks anything Parker does is hilarious and she should try it
* is trying to master how to save Parker from his time-out spot

Ava ~ 11 months

Miss Indepedent~ Our baby girl is a walker and she is getting around everywhere now!! She walks fast with her little bottom sticking out! Ava is such a dare-devil (like her mom and accident prone (like her dad), which isn't exactly the best combination. She has had her share of busted lips. She has really taken to solid foods and her favorites are spaghetti, cheese and casseroles. She still loves her organic baby food mix of spinach, peas and pears. Ava loves to dance! Her signature move is bouncing up and down while holding her hands behind her ears. Ava is definitely Parker's little sidekick...she does everything he does! Ava's first family vacation was to Cincinnatti and the Newport Aquarium. She really liked standing up against the glass with her brother and looking at the sharks and other sea creatures, as well as and jumping and diving with Parker in the big heavenly bed at the Westin. Bedtime is SO EASY with Ava. She likes to drink milk and listen to "part" (short attention span) of a story and then lay in her bed and rub on her blanket. She starts squirming to get in her bed if you try to cuddle with her for too long.

Parker Jay ~ 3 years old ~ 20 Questions Tradition

Each year starting at 3 years old we will ask the following questions. We look forward to seeing how his answers will change.

1. What is your favorite color? green
2. What is your favorite toy? Fire truck
3. What is your favorite fruit? vegetables
4. What is your favorite sport? soccer
5. What do you like to make? Painted pictures
6. What is your TV show? Chuggington
7. What is your favorite food? Vegetables (lying)
8. What is your favorite game? Fishing game
9. Where is your favorite place to go? Soccer team
10. What is your favorite animal? Tigers and lions
11. What is your favorite song? (started making up his own words to a song)
12. What is your favorite book? Wherever You Are I Love You
13. Who is your best friend? Mommy and Daddy
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Jump over things
15. What is your drink? juice
16. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
17. What do you want to be when you grow up? Big
18. Who do you like to help? Mommy and Daddy
19. Why are you proud of yourself? he farted and said Bishop farted (never answered this question)
20. What makes you happy? Mommy and Daddy

The things Parker says.............

Parker - "Daddy, only mommy's can put kids in timeout"

Parker - "You're my best friend ever"
Mommy - "Aww, you're my best friend ever"
Parker - "mommy (he looks up at me)Happy Father's Day"

He pronounces his c's as t's.
Parker - "Baby sissy is tute"

Parker is trying to get Bishop to come up stairs. Parker - "tome on Bishy, tome on Bishy, Bishy, I NEED to tell you something"

Parker - "God should get a slide and come down here"

I came out in my robe. Parker - "Oh mommy, you look like a princess"

We tried to explain to Parker about making a wish in the fountain at the mall. He made his wish, threw in his penny and then we tried to walk away. Parker stopped and said "no, STOP, I want to wait for the lion to come out."

Mitch - "Parker you do not say the F word, that's not a nice word.......
Parker - "Daddy, you can say F word, you just can't say F***

A couple days later Parker woke up from nap and told Mr. Reggie (babysitter's husband) "We don't say F***"

Parker "mommy, you have scratchies on your legs, it’s really scratchy for hands!" (guess it's time to shave)

Mommy- "Do you want to watch Octonauts Great Algae Escape?"
Parker - "Yes, algae means you have a booboo. You wipe it off and then you put a band-aid on it."


Mamma dropped his chalk on the floor and it broke. Parker - "Oh, Mamma, look at that mess"

Doctor told Parker to touch the floor as part of his physical to check motor skills. Parker - "Well, actually the floor is dirty"


In the checkout lane at Target loud enough for the cashier to hear - Parker - "Mommy she has boobs like you"

Making every excuse not to go to bed....
Parker - "you forgot to change my diaper"
"I pooped"
"my belly hurts"
"my penis and butt hurt......and mommy and Ava have ginas"

Ava ~ 9 months old

Ava Nichole has 2 teeth on the bottom and 2 teeth on the top. Where does the time go.....how can our baby girl already stand by herself without holding onto anything? She has strong little legs because she can squat to pick something up and stand back up again. Sometimes she just hangs out in her squat position looking like a little buddha. She will be doing yoga and pilates with mommy soon. Ava loves to dance when she hears music or a cell phone ringing. Just the other day we videotaped her dancing with Parker. She stood in her big chair, put her hands behind her head and was dancing up and down!! She has quite the personality just like her big brother. She LOVES to have us chase her while she crawls around the house. Ava gets so excited if you chase her that she stops and burries her face into the floor and squeals!! We love to see the relationship that has grown between Ava and Parker. They are so cute together. She gets right in there with him and likes to play with trucks and balls. She also likes her baby dolls and especially pushing them around the house:) Ava has expensive taste in veggies and fruit...her fav's are organic spinach and pears mixed together!

Ava ~ 8 months old

The speed crawler and Ms. Social......this girl can get where she wants to go and quick and she is always getting someone's attention!! Ava is always right behind her brother and other children trying to do everything he does. When she is going for somewhere she is not supposed to be like splashing in dog water, she crawls quickly and looks behind her to see if we are coming. Ava enjoys playing with baby dolls, trucks, and trains. Eating baby food is still not Ava's favorite thing to do....but she enjoys eating puffs and likes pears and oatmeal with cinnamon. She has accomplished so much this month:) Ava can pulls up to standing and plays right along with Parker (who is doing pretty good sharing his toys:)) Although her first word was mama:)she now uses it all the time. She also says bub, bub and dada. She plays peek-a-boo by putting her bib or blanket over head and then pulling it down when we say peek-a-boo...SO CUTE!! Anytime she hears music or even a cell phone ringing....she is dancing and clapping her hands. Mamma taught her how to play patty cake and she claps her own hands anytime we start singing. Ava got a wooden elephant push toy/walker for Christmas and she pulled up to standing, pushed it and walked behind it on her own on January 4th!! She lets go of what she is holding onto sometimes and stands for about 5 seconds!! Ava enjoyed Christmas.........she loved unwrapping her presents and eating the paper!! Ava's little smile is so cute with her 2 teeth on the bottom that came in last month, and one tooth popping out on the top:)

7 months old

This has been a big month for mama as I like to call her:) Ava's first word was mama!!!! Her second word was dada!! Ava got her first two teeth, both on the bottom in the middle. She also started crawling and she is everywhere.............trying to keep up with her big brother. She crawls just like Parker did......dragging one leg out to the side...it works....Ava's personality is blossoming and it's fun to see more and more each day. She is definitely a people person.....she loves being nosy and smiling at everyone. We think it won't be long before Ava is walking because she is already trying to stand from sitting position. She constantly has her hands and feet on the floor with her little tush in the air! Ava has a fake cough that she performs for us and she thinks it is so funny:)

Thanskgiving 2011