Parker

In all the hustle and bustle of holiday activities, that I included on my last post, I forgot to include one of the most important occasions......Parker's 7th Birthday!!! Parker makes sure we don't forget his birthday by reminding us of it all through the year! When we got our first snowstorm in October he was so excited because it was "almost Christmas!" (which, to him, means "almost his birthday!!!)

On Wednesday (the 17th) Parker and I celebrated his birthday at the "Birthday Tables" at school. The PTA has one day a month that they set up tables to celebrate all the birthdays for the month. Parker has been looking forward to this all month! He made a specific request for me to come eat lunch with him and put in his order for a Happy Meal from McDonald's - chicken nuggets with sweet n' sour sauce (don't forget this, very important!!!), fries and a root beer to drink. (Secretly I know he he wanted the toy most of all!!!) I was working that day so it was tricky getting my class off to lunch, running to McDonald's and getting back in time to eat it before Parker had to go back to class.

Thursday, (the 18th) Parker's actual birthday, was a crazy day for me. Tyler's Show Choir, Rhapsody in Blue, performed at an assembly at his school. Tyler was so excited, especially for one song they would perform, that he wanted me to be there. (I'll talk about that later.) Anyways, I had to get up early and take Tyler to school, because his assembly started at the beginning of the school day, so I missed seeing Parker in the morning. Eric made the traditional birthday breakfast with the three youngest kids and then took them to school. I was sad :( that I missed it and didn't even get to see him when he woke up. The rest of the day was crazy busy running errands and going back to Tyler's school to drive choir kids up to an elementary school where they performed. I also had a parent meeting for the play Tyler will be in at the school. By the time that was over it was dinner time. We decided to take the family to Golden Corral for Parker's birthday dinner. (He was happy about that. He loves that place!) After dinner we all went to Toys R Us to pick out birthday gifts and then came back to wrap and open them. Parker was so patient with it all and happy to finally have his day, even though this is such a busy time of the year. Here are a few pictures of his gifts:

He got this cool Transformers truck that converts into a Nerf gun. He loves it and, unfortunately for him, the other boys do too!

It's pretty cool because you can transform it with one hand and be ready to shoot in no time flat!





Most of Parker's birthday wish list consisted of Transformers. He had about five different ones on his list - the yellow Bumblebee, the red Optimus Prime....(I can't remember the rest of them). Of course, it is a week before Christmas and all the "cool" transformers have left the shelves, but we were able to find this great silver and black one. (I can't remember what it is called.)

Parker is my sweet, lovable guy who also LOVES Webkinz. He got this way cute frog to add to his growning collection. He is excited to get on the computer and play with his new friend! It doesn't hurt that he has a soft version to cuddle!







This last gift wasn't something he asked for but he loves it! It's a mini skeeball game. Huge hit! All the kids have enjoyed playing.

As Parker's Mommy I am so happy, blessed and glad Parker is a part of my life. I don't know what I would do without this little guy. I remember when he was born, I had all kinds of anxiety at the thought of having another baby. All that was quashed when I was able to hold him for the first time. It was love at first sight! Really! He was fussing when they brought him to me but when they laid him on me for that first time he calmed down, cuddled in and just cooed. It warmed my heart. It was a tender mercy to feel those emotions at that time and they have grown tenfold since.

Parker will always be my baby. It is great that everyday he comes to me several times a day to give me loves and say, "I love you, Mom!" My heart melts every time! When all the other kids are not happy with me for one reason or another, Parker never denies his love for me. I can always count on that. What a special spirit! There is so much more I could write about my little guy. He is happy. He's a good friend. He's well-behaved. He's a helper. He is SO smart. (He got all 4's -our school's A's - on all his kindergarten, and so far in 1st grade, report cards.) He is picking up reading so well. I'm SO proud of him. (Can you tell?)