joy to the small world...

This Christmas was special in its own way... bittersweet really. This was our first Christmas without Ryan's mom, and without seeing any of his family... this season made us realize even more than ever how she was the glue that held the family together, and how dearly missed she is. All of us kids spent Christmas Eve with my mom, then after church we all went to my dad's to spend the night and wake up to a traditional Christmas morning breakfast. I think we are all growing accustomed to Jayme being the only one who gets presents... and this year was nothing short of being spoiled and loved on by her aunts/uncle, grampa, and nana! With plenty of surprises under the tree, Jayme had a surprise of her own to share on Christmas...

helping nana grate eat the cheese for chicken tortilla casserole

exploring a nice neighbor-lady's tree house (so awesome... i took enough pictures so ryan can one day recreate this!)

Christmas morning breakfast preparations

sock-monkey jack-in-the-box... smelling her new authentic cowgirl boots from taycie... trying out her new trike from uncle alex... stylin' with her new threads, boots, and finger in the nose (not pretty)... playing with grampa

 

 Jayme shares with Tacyie

 

Jayme's present to grampa Christmas morning

santa visit...

As we waited in line to get our picture with Santa, I grew anxious wondering if this would be the year everyone with kids has warned me about (just FYI-Brea Mall Santa is the best! The guy is the nicest and most legit looking Santa I've EVER seen... beard, jolly red cheeks and all!) Last year was great... Jayme snuggled, played with his beard, and even smiled for the camera! This year however... not so thrilled to sit on Santa's lap... She was all smiles and waves excited to see this jolly old man, UNTIL I placed her on his lap.... all I can say is- priceless.

Jury is still out on whose reaction is better... Santa or Jayme???

Santa is composed... Jayme is not

at this point I am sweating trying to dance and entertain her to get a hint of a smile

creeped out or being tickled???

"mommmmmmaaa"

"alright. you got your smirk/smile... are we done now?"

 

Parker Family Gender Reveal...

As soon as Calista told me she was pregnant, I begged to throw them a gender reveal party (where I got this idea??? why Pinterest of course! Try explaining that to the people who had never heard of a Gender Reveal OR Pinterest ...) After convincing Robert it would be "fun" to find out what the baby was going to be in front of family and friends, Calista's mom, Kelly, and I got to planning. After their ultrasound, the technician put the gender revealing ultrasound picture in a double sealed envelope (so mom-to-be wouldn't be tempted to peak before handing over the top secret info)... 3 weeks later (felt like forever with such a huge secret on my plate!)... friends and family gathered to celebrate the newest Parker-to-be's gender reveal.

the decor... dessert.... and the reveal box

the guests... sporting their team blue/team pink colors

the reveal! It's a BOY!!!! (Calista continues to be outnumbered)

big-brother-to-be... pretty excited about his correct guess annnnnd the box


The Reveal Video 

18 months...

 

It has been a whirlwind of life happenings since you have been in our lives these last 18 months… I can’t believe how you seem to grow right before our eyes in the course of a one hour nap or overnight! It’s as if we can see the learning and growing process in everything you do. You are constantly trying to mimic and learn new tasks… you love to try things yourself before asking for help (stubborn). You are one of the most social butterflies of a baby we know (even though you are technically a toddler, you’ll always be our baby girl)… You have such a sweet demeanor that quickly turns into a passionate sassy little girl when you don’t get your way (sometimes I think there is a 16 yr old inside you!), and back to sweet again when we’ve distracted you. I know I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… your laugh and giggles are infectious and bring so much joy to your daddy and I. I hope that spark of pure joy and laughter never fades in you as you grow. I don’t even know where to begin with your milestones, so here we go:

~You have a beautiful set of teeth (lucky for us they all came in pretty quick- teething is no fun for anyone!)

~You are a monkey who likes to climb anything and everything, including the kitchen table!

~You make the cutest sounds for a monkey, puppy/dog, kitty, cow, duck (qua-qua), sheep, monster… and let’s not forget Ariel (ahhh-ahhh-AHHH)

~You FINALLY started saying momma!

~You are a total girly-girl who insists on wearing shoes (preferably your pink crocs) right when you get out of bed, until bath or bedtime… same goes for your headbands. However, you take falls, spills and slams into the furniture with such grace (you typically get up laughing or say “uh-oh” when most kids would be crying!)

~You prefer to be a vegetarian (unless its steak or fish – go figure)… Lima beans are your absolute favorite (we’ve used them to bribe you to finish the rest of your meal)

~You are learning to pronounce words (still complete baby babble, but we semi-understand your dialect), even though you depend on your sign language to communicate for the most part

~signs you use regularly- please, thank you, eat, more, all done, help,  book, yogurt, ball, baby, play, shoes, bink (one you created on your own), on/off, friend, home, and daddy

~your favorite words to say (with such emphasis it cracks us up): hi, bye, shoes, gampa, bebba, taycie, baby, bath (you LOVE bath time almost as much as you love your shoes)

~you’re an entertainer… the words “happy feet” tell you its time to dance wherever and whenever… you are a total ham when you see a camera (on your terms of course)

~you’re a fantastic hugger (your hugs and kisses brighten up any mood)… your daddy especially loves your hugs

I love that you love to read your books, you love to laugh, you love to dance and act silly with your mommy, you give great bear hugs and kisses, you love to be outside, you love Barney and The Wiggles (even though I can’t stand either)… I love every moment we have had you in our lives these past 18 months, and I can only imagine how much you will grow in the next several months to come… we are both so proud of the little girl you are blossoming into.

Love, Daddy and Momma

Better late than never!

I'm not a huge Halloween fan, so when it came time to pick a costume, I looked to Pinterest  (the new Google for inspiration on all things crafty, tasty, pretty, genius, and fabulous!) for some crafty cute inspiration... Instantly, I decided I was going to make Jayme this adorable peacock ... until I started doing the math on the feathers and accessories ($50+ for a toddler to take a cute picture was out of our budget and insane)! Since we weren't planning on taking her trick r' treating this year, I decided to go with a Costco (affordable) costume that she could help us hand out candy in. I picked out the last of the 18month costumes for her to choose from (cow, chick, lady bug, monkey)... and OF COURSE my child picks the one costume that is the furthest thing from girly! What does one do when their child is excited to be a gender neutral monkey (I still think boyish) costume for Halloween????? Add some bows and pink of course!!! I had grand plans for the pink additions, and when it cam time to get it done or let her be a boy monkey... I ended up just throwing a headband around the tail, some bows we already had on the ears, and of course no outfit (even Halloween) is complete without her absolute favorite shoes- pink crocs (seriously- she can't be without them: getting out of bed- crocs, getting out of the bath- crocs, Sunday best- crocs, pajamas-crocs... the list goes on and its hilarious and ridiculous all in the same)! Halloween came, and when we realized our only trick r' treater was her friend down the street, we decided to go show the neighbors our costume and stall time waiting for Aunt Tay... so the monkey got to go trick r' treating after all!

counting the candy to be handed out

she decided to take the pass out candy with her trick r' treating

"come on mom!"

note ugly pink (dirty) crocs

Happy Halloween!

96 years and still a character...

 We all got together on Sunday to celebrate our Gramps' 96th birthday... only 4 more years until triple digits and a massive party (and Lord willing I believe we will get to have a big 100th bash to celebrate)! How many 96 year-olds do you know that still bowl (in a league and WELL... better than me), drive (although this is up for debate if driving past 85-90 should even be permitted... but he still does and has a clean accident/ticket record), and use a cell phone?! After taking care of Grams for several years as she became bed-ridden (which is daunting enough for anyone of any age, let alone a 90 year old)... he still has a spring in his step (a clumsy step sometimes- apparently where I get my klutziness from), a standard Smith family goof-ball sense of humor, and a sharp as a tack noggin to boot! I can only hope I have his genes :-) 

from the top: love the faces on all three (left to right-anticipation, concern, and pure joy)... spoiled with ice cream... aunt tay feeding her split pea soup... the birthday boy in becca's hat... bebba having a bad influence on my child

the table next to us decided to sing happy birthday after the entire restaurant sang their version

post lunch family time

time for more birthday celebration (note the same blue candle from the restaurant... we forgot our own candles)

pumpkin patch round 2....

 This time we went to Irvine Regional Park with our girlfriends Kristi and Riley and new girlfriends (and 3 new baby boyfriends)... after a looooonnnnng weekend of being strapped into a seat, carrier, stroller, or being held, Jayme thoroughly enjoyed being able to run around with the girls.

her face is priceless... enter caption here"....."

greeting her friend Kyren (we <3 her boots!)

Jayme coaching Riley as she attempts to lift a giant pumpkin

"you can dooooooo it Kyren!!!"

the girls exploring the pumpkin pile

the boys strapped onto their mamas

measuring up

double checking

Jaymestein

clearly she's not having any fun...

if only we knew what they were talking about

"what do you mean 'no'?!?!"

train ride

she was super excited to be riding the train

San Francisco Road Trip Weekend

The weekend I have been training for semi-training for finally arrived! Our morning was supposed to start @ 4am with breakfast and loading the car so we could be on the road before traffic and daylight... Jayme had other plans... we started our morning @ 1am, Bebba joined us by 3:30... and yet somehow we still didn't get on the road until 5:10! Our plan was for Jayme to sleep most of the way, and since she was up @ 1am we figured a long nap would be guaranteed.... turns out nothing is guaranteed with a 1 1/2 yr old... she slept from 6-6:45 and a half hour before we arrived at our final destination, which made for an exhausting first day in San Francisco... BUT despite the lack of sleep we had a weekend full of memories made!

breakfast @ 3:45am, cartoons with Bebba, car loaded and on the road by 5:10am... Sunrise pit stop

overly tired nugget who must have a tapeworm... she never stopped eating! Oakland bridge and camera crew shooting along side us... and wouldn't be California without traffic!

experiencing the sights and streets of SF with her aunties... ice cream @ Pier 39, Powell street for pizza, sea lions, and walking 10 blocks through the ghetto to get back to the house in Alamo Square (using Bebba's phone to talk to her "friend")

The Austin Gals

Carb-loading dinner for 20 the night before the big race

Jayme's new friend she discovered in SF (video courtesy of Auntie Bebba)

her "friend" came with us to the hotel... she spent more time entertaining herself @ the mirror than with her toys

NWM race morning... sisters @ the start line... along with 22,500 others.... 2 hours 33 minutes later I actually was able to run across the finish line (I assumed I might be crawling towards my finisher necklace)

enjoying the scenery and people wanting to take her picture (kinda creepy- yet flattering???)

loooooonnnng road trip home... Jayme's first Happy Meal, Bebba's blown knee being iced courtesy McD's emptied out ice machine, "Happy Meals" for the grown ups, footsies with Bebba's post-marathon feet, monkey neck support for a 2 hour nap (finally!)

Assuming I'm not pregnant or a new mom of 2 by this time next year... I would like to stay in Union square (convenience well worth the cost), leave the lil' gal with a sitter, and actually train for next years race...