Parker's 4 year check up

Well, my little boy is not such a little boy anymore..................Parker turned 4 on August 27th. I just happened to schedule his 4 year check up right on his birthday ( I know what a bad mommy). He was all excited about getting weighed and stood very still on the scale while the nurse took his weight. He weighed in at 39 lb. 3 oz. and he is 40 in. tall!!!!!! WOW!!!!! I couldn't believe it! Leland and I made a bet to see how much Parker weighed and Leland won. I was a little off, I actually thought Parker weighed close to 45 pounds, boy was I off! After that was done he got a gown on and his blood pressure was taken. Then he got his finger pricked to test the iron in his blood. That did not go over so well.................but nothing could have prepared me for what was about to happen next................4 shots! He had to sit on my lap and I had to give him a bear hug plus hold down his legs with mine. That boy had every ounce of adrenaline pumping through him! The first shot went in his arm, then the second, and there was no way to stop the crying. His face immediately got red and the crying and screaming began. There was no way to calm him down at this point and then the other 2 shots went in his other arm. After a few minutes of trying to get him to take a few breathes and count to 10 he managed to calm for a little bit. But that didn't last long. The doctor came in and was ready to examine him. Parker wanted nothing to do with her at this point, he didn't even want her looking in his ears which is painless. He didn't even want to lay flat on the examining table for her to check out his belly or anything. He was happy when she was finally done and he had a surprise waiting for him at the end. He got a few little toys since it was his birthday and that made his happy.

Nathan's 1st airplane ride

I have to admit that I was extremely nervous about flying with both of the boys from Minneapolis to Dallas. I just had this picture in my mind that Nathan was not going to want to sit still and Parker was going to be all over too.........................well, much to my surprise the flight went well. Thank goodness for snacks and activities, that is what saved me I think. About half way through the flight Nathan fell asleep on my lap. Parker kept busy coloring in his activity book and chewing on some fruit snacks and drinking apple juice. Towards the end of the flight Parker kept asking me, "mom are we landing yet, are we there yet?" I told him yes Parker we are going to land soon. He kept a close look out the window. We actually landed about 20 minutes early than expected so that was good, however there was a plane at the gate we were supposed to go in, so we had to wait a little. At this point Nathan was still sleeping. Sweet little boy slept through the landing and everything! You are probably wondering who took this picture of Nathan since he was sleeping on my lap, well, you are looking at your next photographer, Parker!!!!!! He loves to take pictures and has taken some good ones too!!!!

more pics in Protivin

................here are some more pictures from our visit at grandma and grandpa Lentz' house in Protivin. The top picture is of my grandmother (Parker and Nathan's great-grandma) and Parker. My grandmother is such an amazing woman! She is in her later 80's and still lives on her own on the farm. She enjoys being outside and growing strawberries in her garden. Her face just lit up when we came out to visit her. This was the first time that she saw Nathan, which was very special. She enjoyed watching them run all over the place outside and couldn't believe how much Parker had grown. She said that Nathan looks like me and that Parker looks like Leland. I told her, yup, Nathan is my mini me and Parker looks just like Leland.

My parents decided to have a birthday party for both Parker and Nathan when we were home since their birthdays are pretty close together. My mom got these individual letter candles that spelled out Happy Birthday and we lit each letter. After we sang Happy Birthday to Parker he tried blowing out all the candles. He got some help from grandma who was sitting behind him. Grandma made Parker special cupcakes with Lightning McQueen and Mater pieces on top of the cupcakes ( as if Parker didn't need any more sugar!) and boy did Parker love those!

The next picture is of Parker being my big helper by placing the clothes pins on the clothes while I was hanging them up to dry. You don't see much of this happening down here in TX, so it was nice to have the fresh air dry our clothes. I didn't think that Parker would want to help me put the clothes up, but he thought it was the neatest thing. Needless to say it took my longer to put the clothes up, but if Parker had fun with it, it was all worth it to me.

My dad works on farm machinery on the side and when we were home he was working on this combine. He told Parker one morning that when he finished working on it that he would give him a ride in it to return it to the owner. He was so excited to ride with grandpa. It was so cute to see Parker climb up the ladder on the side to get into the combine. He had the biggest smile on his face when my dad started up the combine and they were on their way on the road. Parker wouldn't stop talking about his experience in the combine:)

I finally figured out how to use the timer on my digital camera and I captured everyone. Lucky for me we were all looking at the same time! The boys had such a great time in IA, it was hard to pack our suitcase and head back to TX.........................

grandma and grandpa Lentz's

................the next stop on our vacation was to grandma and grandpa Lentz's in Protivin IA. We stayed there from Aug. 12-24. Again the weather continued to cooperate with temps in the 70's and 80's, so the thought of staying indoors was silly. There wasn't a day when the boys were not outside playing. My parents have a HUGE yard, so the boys had more than enough space to run freely. The top picture is of the boys with Grandpa on a toy tractor. Parker loved pedaling this tractor around on the driveway and Nate wished that he would pedal too, but his legs were too short:)


The second picture is of Nate trying to pull grandma's cat Molly's tail. Molly wasn't too sure of the boys when we arrived, but with each day that passed she got used to the boys and loved to be petted so she didn's mind so much when Nate pulled her tail. Nate also said a new word at this time of "kitty". At times it sounded like he was trying to say Molly too. Both of the boys' eyes lit up when they saw Molly and they looked forward each morning when they woke up to see if she was waiting by the back door to be fed. It was so cute to watch...............

The next picture is of Nate trying play with a hula hoop. I used to have this hula hoop when I was a little girl and my mom kep it around and the boys had a blast trying to use it. What was funny to see was Parker trying to make it go around his waist. He would move those little hips around and around to make it work.............

Grandpa took Parker out to great grandma's farm where they picked some more sweet corn. Parker is beginning to become a pro at picking corn now..............grandpa also took us on a ride on a 4 wheeler and Parker loved this and kept telling grandpa to go faster and faster.


The Friday before we left for TX my dad took a day off of work and we went to a park that had a baseball field. I had bought a t-ball set for Parker while we were home and he put his skills to test. As you can see grandpa pitched the ball just right and Parker hit it well. This is the first time that Parker has really gotten down the hand eye coordination to hit the ball. He was so proud of himself when he hit the ball and especially liked running around the bases! This was good for me, because he got worn out and he slept good that night, yippie!!! There was so much that we did when we were at my parents that I will include more pictures in my next blog..............

The Grotto

When we were visiting at grandma and grandpa Oldham's we made a trip to see the Grotto in West Bend IA. There are no words that can describe this wonderful creation of rocks/stones/gems. The Grotto was developed by a single man creating various wonders like the stations of the cross, the dedication to Mary, and the Nativity scene. It is the most beautiful place to see and enjoy. As you can see in the background of many of the pictures I took you can see the different types of rocks and all the colors in them. It was kind of warm the day we went, but the boys did well and grandma treated us all to ice cream after the tour. Both of the boys fell asleep in the car on the way back to grandma's house................

Grandpa and Grandma Oldham's

We stayed at grandma and grandpa Oldham's from Aug. 3-12. The weather was so nice each day that it was hard to keep the boys from being outdoors all the time. We walked to the park pretty much each day unless it was raining out. Nate really enjoyed swinging as you can see from the big smile on his face. Parker just ran and ran and ran until he was red in the face. He has more energy than any kiddo I know and he is like the energizer bunny, just keeps going and going and going. Grandma didn't hesitate to have Parker help her water her flowers in the backyard. Parker enjoyed watering the flowers a lot and ended up getting more water all over himself than the flowers sometimes. Nate loved looking at all the colorful flowers grandma had and tried to pull the pretty petals off all the time.




Parker had his first experience in picking sweet corn in the field. I got him his own boots to wear since it can be wet in the fields early in the morning. He was so excited to get in the field that when we arrived at the field he jumped right in with his 5 gallon pail and made his way through the thick tall weeds to get into the field. In the process of him getting into the field he fell down, but he didn't cry, he thought it was funny! He had the biggest smile on his face and he knew that he was a HUGE help. It was the funniest thing to watch him pull that ear of corn off and when he couldn't quite pull it all the way off he used all of his might to get it off. His face was so red from working so hard, but the accomplishment he got in the end was all worth it. We got back to grandma/grandpa's house and we started shucking and silking the corn. Nate didn't know what to do with the ear of corn when I gave it to him, he just kind of looked at it and then he tried to put it in his mouth. This experience of shucking and silking for Parker wasn't the first, so he knew what to do.



Nate was a walking little fool by this time, and was getting into everything at grandma and grandpa's house. For some reason Nate has a obsession with cords and outlets and if there was a cord to find he would find it. At one point he managed to pull the outlet cover out of the outlet and put it in his mouth. Needless to say I really freaked out when I saw that he had it in his mouth and walking around with a big smile on his face. Both of the boys got totallt spoiled here on our visit, but I guess that is what grandparents are for!

Field of Dreams

Well, its been over a month since the last time I blogged. There is a good reason for that. The boys and I have been gone in Iowa for the past 3 weeks. Our vacation first began when we made the road trip from TX to Dyersville Iowa for Leland's family reunion the weekend of Aug. 1-3. After the family reunion was done we decided to take the boys to see the Field of Dreams. Parker thought it was cool to run with mom out to the outfield by the corn. Nate was soon following us out there. He enjoyed the feel of the fresh green grass in between his toes! The boys liked watching the people hit balls out into the outfield. Parker even had a chance to hit the ball and run around the bases. He also thought the benches were the neatest thing. He had to go up and down and up and down the benches. I finally told him to sit up at the top so mom could take a picture of him. We got Parker a baseball and both him and Nate enjoyed throwing it around in the outfield. This was just the start of our vacation. The next stay was at Grandma and Grandpa Oldhams in Algona IA.