It's a Family Affair...

About a month ago now we had some family photos taken by Robin Damore. She did a wonderful job:) I would have loved my good friend Coffey to have taken them, but she is a little booked these days and busy growing a "coffee bean" of her own:)

Merry Christmas to all! We are heading to the East Coast to visit my parents and looking forward to a White Christmas.

xxoo

The Johnsons

Santa and Parker..not really friends yet....

Good times with Grandpa this weekend....

Played with my purse and put on more jewelry and asked mommy to put this ribbon in my hair

Made some friends, including some local fireman...

And HATED the man in the beard.

Oh well....I told her she wouldn't have to see him for one WHOLE year:)

Baking, Football and Fun OH MY

This past weekend was busy busy busy! First crafting and baking at Teresa's with the girls and all our kiddos, and then we ended the weekend with our first NFL game. One word to sum up everything....FUN!

Stadium lights on our way to catch the Amtrak home. Beautiful!

One of my besties:) Thanks again Lisa for awesome seats!

Loving this...

In heaven. Boys are so cute at sporting events.

GO! SEAHAWKS!

GO COUGS! Parker with Rothie's twin girls, and future besties Emma and Avery!

Another bestie...Addy! What a helper!

Cabe's son and future boy FRIEND Easton! She won't be dating anytime soon:)

Another future boy FRIEND Griffin:)

Martha Stewart's Glitter Ball cookies Jamie and I made!

The crafting room with Jamie, Diggy and Ruthie. Some beautiful cards were made here!

Jamie sipping some vino by the tree. Classy. We did alot of this!

The first night! Diggy, Jamie, Spry (came up from So Cal for this!) holding baby Emma, Teresa (the amazing host aka Super Mom), Rothie (another Super Mom who travelled down with her twin girls!) and her other little daughter Avery in the bassinet. Due to arrive later, Ruthie, Cabe and her son Easton. It was a full house:)

SUCH a wonderful weekend with the girls, 6 kids, and a date day with my hubbs. Thank you to Teresa for hosting and for watching Parker and to Lisa for the tickets! It was such a fun weekend and I know we will all look forward to this every year!

The history of "ow" according to Parker...and 15 month stats

Thanksgiving morning "cheese" face. I.Love.Her.So.Much.

Well we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my mother-in-law in town. Ate way too much and did lots of Christmas decorating at our house and the practice.

Big news though is that Parker had her 15 month check-up this past week. Before I get to her stats, I have to tell you a quick story...

So Parker, knock on wood, has never really been hurt. She has the occasional trips and tumbles like any other kid. However two weeks ago, turns out fear mixed with pain can leave a lasting impression on a child. So we went to see a photographer to get family photos and afterwards we went back to her amazing studio to preview the photos. Her studio, I would imagine is any photographers dream. 40 foot ceilings with paintings, photos and props everywhere.

It happened fast. Parker tripped, fell into an easel holding a 6 x 6 foot painting with a HUGE elaborate frame. I was at a desk too far away, and Kev was close enough to get to her right after the frame hit her in the head. I WAS HORRIFIED. She held her breath till her lips turned blue and than let out a scream like I'd NEVER heard. I immediately checked her head and was consoling her when all of a sudden she just stopped crying and kept patting her head and going "ow." We were shocked she recovered so fast, it was literally a minute. My photographer said she thinks the painting floated on it's way down and more scared her than hurt her. She said if it had hit her right on, she would have been seriously injured.

So anyways, anytime she falls now or something hurts, she pats her head and says "ow" as she associates pain with that moment. Crazy, huh? This includes getting her shots. Right after her shots I picked her up, she cried for maybe 30 seconds than patted her head and said "ow."

Children are amazing. Just had to share this little story:)

Sooooo, onto her stats. Drum roll please!!

Parker has consistently been in the 5-10 percentile across the board since she was born.

But this visit, she has jumped to 50 % in height and 20% in weight!

Hey, every little bit counts right?? Wahoo!

Off to pack for a fun crafting weekend in Longview at Teresa's with the girls and then Sunday, we will be attending my FIRST Seahawks game! Well really, my first ever NFL game. Thanks to Lisa:)

Have a great weekend everyone.

my little "grown-up" girl

our typical mornings....

Life.

One year ago, my days were spent holding this precious little pumpkin.

Afternoon snoozing and midnight feedings. All of it, (even the pumping for 6 months), I

have cherished. It has been the most amazing thing I have ever done. Harder than my "corporate" days and more rewarding than anything I have ever known, this is who I am now...Parker's Mom.

My days now are spent chasing a little opinionated girl, whose personality brings me to tears

on a weekly basis. In a good way of course. I cannot believe the things she does and says.

The child's mind is fascinating and I enjoy nothing more than watching her observe the world

and connect the dots of life.

I LOVE being a MOM...I love being Parker's Mom.

____________________________________________________________

PS: This was really hard to do. After MANY hours of sorting through a years worth of Parker's clothes (and one tissue box), I consigned all of these clothes. What doesn't sell goes to Haiti. This was an incredibly emotional project. SO many memories of my once upon a time, baby girl. We still have many clothes left over and I know these clothes will go to someone who needs them more than we do.

Fast Forward please....

Days spent playing on her new furniture....

Concerts with good friends....

Adventure's out with the visiting Dempsey's...

Playing the drums with Sarah Dempsey:)

Getting into mom's jewelry and headbands...

Official Portland Rose Festival artists paints mural on the front of our practice... We made the front page of the newspaper! "Wall of Wonder"

Visit to Spokane to see my Grandpa and Aunt Leslie...

My parents visit from the East Coast, Parker loved her walks with Grandpa:)

Typical evening with these 3....

Visit to Seattle to see besties and babies...

and to help with these adorable, perfect twinsie girls Emma and Avery....

Trip to AZ to visit my sis...climbed Camelback Mountain. SO HARD.

Me and my sis

going out!

Halloween, Kardashian style in AZ...you should have seen all the people come up to us!

Finally home...Halloween, Canby style with our little Pumpkin

Our Pumpkin girl.xxoo.

Parker LOVES her kitty.

into mom's jewelry again...

and lastly...playing kissy face at the Park.

I am WAY behind on blogging. We have been GONE, had company and have been CRAZY busy trying to build a business. So rather than bore you with a month's worth of updates, I'll let the pics tell the story:)

Hope you are all enjoying your Fall. We are, and it is flying by with Parker keeping us running. I LOVE this age:) She is talking and boy oh boy does she have a fiery little personality! xxoo and I promise to keep up with my blogging, hopefully;)