traveling with toddlers

those words probably send some people shaking in their boots. toddlers, by nature, are hyper little godzillas. they enjoy running, roaring, stomping, and destroying things. locking them in their car seat for 5 plus hours? nope. no way. i will skip that five star hotel and ocean breeze to save myself the headache.

unlessssss…..

we make the trip super easy. how do you do that? there are a few simple things: food, having one person back there with the baby, and timing.

seriously though, food solves everything at this age. blueberries, grapes, animal crackers. all of that adds up to a happy godzilla. kind of like that snickers commercial! when parker gets food, he goes back to that sweet little toddler.

the person is important. it could be the mom or the dad, but i think it is best when the person doing the entertaining is not the disciplinary. the toddler needs an exciting face to be entertained with. uncle trevor to the rescue! he can share his watch, supply the food, have full baby babble conversations for hours, and just be fun. some kids enjoy iPads and movie, but parker doesn't like it. he needs some form of entertainment and what is better than his uncle?

timing. i am one of those go with the flow mom's. we aren't on a strict schedule. he might nap once a day and he usually goes to bed around 10. it works. we work. i am sure that when baby number two comes along, i will be forced to be on a schedule. so picking a time to leave was tough. we decided to make sure he did not nap at all and leave at 4. it worked out fairly well. he slept for quite some time!

really…. this is me just wanting to show you all our sweet family vacation. when i say family, i mean, faaaammiiillllyyyyy! not just my little family of three, but my parents, brothers, and one sister and her family. this makes for the best vacations ever.

Tough decision: Vaccinations

When I got pregnant, one of the first things I thought of was whooping cough. Isn't that weird? A little boy I watched at church had it and it was so upsetting to see him suffer (not to mention the fact that they brought him around others). He couldn't speak, he was always coughing, and I could hear him breathing from across the room. I never really questioned vaccinations. I had them. My siblings had them. We are all well! So why the outrage?

But, guys, seriously, how convincing is Jenny McCarthy? Okay, low blow, I know. To her credit, she did start college focusing on nursing. Honestly though, I started researching vaccinations like a lunatic. I read the pro's, the con's, the in-betweens. I read the stories of children suffering from the diseases vaccinations prevent. I read the heartbreaking story of sweet baby boy, too young to get vaccinated for whooping cough, pass away because another child did not have his shot. I read the stories of autism post-vaccinations. Getting these life saving vaccinations, falling ill, and waking up a different child. They all hurt my heart. But you know what? At the end of the day I have to do what is best for my baby and my family. I have to follow my mommy instinct.

Dear Parker (One Year)

Dear sweetest one year old,

A year! Seriously! I have spent a full year blessed beyond belief with you. From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I loved you. I loved you with every fiber of my being. I anticipated this love being powerful because I watched my own mama and I saw how very much she loved all five of us. She forgave things others wouldn’t forgive, she sacrificed everything for us. It is so different when it happens to you. When you came into this world, I could do nothing but cry tears of joy and kiss your perfect little hands, feet, tummy, and head. I remember that moment so perfectly because it was the moment my world shifted. My everything, the reason I breathe, was a funny looking 6 pound 7 ounce, curious, purple baby with no name. Your head was so misshaped from dropping so early. You barely had any hair. You were so very tiny. You were the opposite of what my dreams had shown me. I thought you’d look just like me, but you looked just like daddy. It was better than my dreams.

You are a (almost) walking, (almost) talking man. During your 12^th month, you developed a deep love for the outdoors. Despite the cold, you will walk anywhere we let you go. You want to splash in the water and crunch all the leaves. You are the quickest crawler! I am jogging behind you all the time! I can almost always find you in the piano room when we are down stairs and the drum room when we are up! The stairs are not even an issue any more. You just go up or down as needed (don’t worry, folks, I am always right behind him).

We got to celebrate your first Christmas. It was just as amazing as I had hoped. You had the patience to open your own presents and, like most babies, you preferred the paper and boxes, but nothing got your attention more than tissue paper. You loved the tissue paper and pulling it out of the bags. We would stuff it right back in the bags for you. Much like Thanksgiving, you ate E V E R Y T H I N G in sight. People fed you things left and right and you would steal right from other’s plates. You aren’t too concerned with playing with your cousins yet, but that will change. Christmas will be so different once you all play together. I cannot wait! I know you are the only boy, but, be patient, let them put make up on you and play with babies with them. They will return the favor. You were kind of a booger with the Christmas tree, but it was brand new to you so it was very easy to be patient with. A good portion of my ornaments are broken, but you had fun so I do not mind.

A year with you has been more than I ever thought I deserved. I cannot believe that your tiny little spirit chose us. You chose me. You are all I ever prayed for. I have always wanted to be a mama, but being your mama has been beyond my wildest dreams. You are the easiest baby. I had to wake you up for feedings in the middle of the night. What baby does that? You aren’t a fit thrower. You are a cuddler and a kisser. You pet my face while you nurse. You giggle at everything and want to learn anything you can.

I love you forever, Parker Ericson. 

*Disclaimer: I swear this was written around his actual birthday! I just forgot to post it. 

Dear Parker (Our Eleventh Month)

Dear Padawan,

I cannot wait to sit and watch all the Star Wars movies with your to teach you what a Padawan is. Right now, you still look at me confused when I try to get your attention by calling you that instead of Parker. My baby, I cannot believe how old you are.

Your eleventh month was a month of zoos and exploring. You went to the Phoenix Zoo or Wildlife World Zoo every weekend and enjoyed it more and more each time. The monkeys were your biggest fans. How could they not be? You are their size and just stare and smile the whole time. They will walk right up to you and stare at you. It is a hilarious sight. You also got to play with so many animals! Giraffes, turtles, stingrays, camels, deer, and pigmy goats. The best part of every trip is the carousal ride at the end. You take it very serious. You hold on for dear life, but smile and wave. You are getting too big.

I wish I have more photos from Thanksgiving, but there are priorities and I cannot take photos and have a fork and knife in each hand. You sure did enjoy it though. You ate everything on your plate and managed to snag some dessert off of everyone’s plate. Those eyes and that goofy, five tooth smile can get people to give you anything. We went with the baby led weaning method for you, so you’ve been eating solids for about six months and the mushy food was never your thing. My point to this is, you’ve become a master eater. I occasionally get a look or two from other mothers at restaurants, or even your grandma and grandpa say something for my lack of cutting things up, but you handle your food. You do not stuff your face until you have no more room in your mouth. When I give you a small cube of cheese, you take perfectly portioned bites until it is gone. Thank you, love, for being responsible since birth. It is really quite cute to see you with a whole carrot (I mean the whole, nearly foot long carrot) and your little nibbles at the end.

You took your first real steps. Honestly, we thought you’d be walking at nine months, considering you were crawling at 3.5. You are a speed demon when it comes to crawling, so you just drop to your knees and crawl to where you need to be. I am always buying you jeans. That is the only reason I want you to walk. You’ve ruined your light grey skinnies, tan cords, and half a dozen denim jeans.  Other than that, please, please, take your time walking. It seems so much safer to have you so close to the ground.

We were able to take you to play with snow! You were a little hesitant, but, ultimately, you did enjoy it. It was daddy and I throwing little snowballs, and you trying hard to figure out what it was and then eat it. You got to do a lot of things you loved that day! You sat on daddy’s shoulders and he danced around, you slept during the boring stuff, and then you got to hang out with all of your cousins to put together grandma’s giant Christmas town.

 I can’t believe my next post will be rounding out my first year of being blessed with you. It is insane. This month you also loved wagon rides, sloppy kisses, spaghetti, your cousins, your puppies, walking with walkers, pots and pans, the rose garden, and anything that makes music. I love you to the moon and back, Parkman.