Parker's New Virtual Pet

Parker has taken a special liking to one of Jazmyne's old toys. He dug out this virtual dog from her closet the other day and is especially attached to this dog (whom yet has a name). The other day when Parker discovered it in Jaz's closet, he walked out hugging it and telling it "It's OK, it's OK" and then wrapped him up with his beloved Blankie. This dog makes noises and walks, and when you pet it in certain areas it responds to you. Parker even brought it to the lunch table and told it to "Sit here, sit here". It sat right next to Parker as he ate his lunch and Parker fed it some of his sandwich pieces and gave it sips of milk from his sippy cup. Parker decided he needed a little alone time with the dog so he picked up the dog and brought him to the chair in the sitting room. He then brought his lunch plate and sippy cup to the chair and climbed up and started having a one on one conversation with the dog. This is what I found when I walked into the room ....

Little Buds

Parker's little buddy Aidan came over to spend the evening with us one night last week while his mom had some business to tend to. The boys had a blast and Parker just loves his Aidan. They played Train Tracks, Kitchen, Cars, Blocks, Little People and they watched a whole lot of Dora. Aidan even showed off his wrestling moves and tested out his new move "The Choke Hold" on Parker! Aidan's wresting name is now "Choke Hold" It's his speciality and I just know it makes his Daddy proud! (Ohhh Ash ... I just HAD to add that in there!) haha It was all good though because Parker didn't seem to mind one bit afterwards. Here is a picture of the boys watching Dora right before "the choke hold" move was performed ...

The Zan Family Comes to Visit!

My Aunt Elena , Uncle Steven and little Cousin Kelly are here visiting from Italy! Today was my Uncle's Birthday so we had everyone over to our house this evening for a little celebration. A great time was had by all!

Here are a few quick portraits ....

This is my little cousin Kelly. Is she not just totally adorable?!?! Her bright blue eyes are so beautiful!

Jazmyne & Kelly:

Evan, Jazmyne & Kelly:

And here are just some random candids taken throughout the evening:

I thought this was so sweet. When it was time to leave and as all the adults were saying their good-byes, the kids all huddled next to each other on the sofa and pretended to be asleep in hopes of being able to stay together for a little longer ...

Mommy's Little Rockstar

Jaz's First Day of 5th Grade!

Today was Jazmyne's First Day of 5th Grade. I always take a picture of her on her 1st day of school in hopes of having 13 years of 1st day of school pictures to put together in a collage by the time she graduates high school. I know I say this every year but I am just in total disbelief that she is already in 5th grade! It just doesn't seem possible!! We moved here to TN just in time for her to start Kindergarten and I remember her 1st day of school like it was just yesterday. She was so little! I was worried about her not being able to read but she quickly picked it up in no time!! Now here we are 5 years later and she is an honor student with straight A's!! She has been blessed with some of the most wonderful teachers over the years and I am truly appreciative of all they have done for Jazmyne.

Jaz ... I am so proud of you my baby girl and I just know that 5th grade will be no different and you are going to do awesome!!

Mr. Independent

Well Parker pulled a fast one on me this morning! Our morning routine is always the same, Parker wakes up and calls for me from his crib. I go in his room and pick him up out of his crib and change his diaper. He then always tells me he is hungry and holds my hand as we walk downstairs for breakfast. Well this morning for some reason he didn't want to go downstairs to eat right after he woke up. He wanted to play with his train table in the bonus room. So we were off to play trains. I was extremely tired this morning and decided to lay on the ottoman while he was playing trains. I must have fallen asleep because I woke up a few minutes later and Parker was long gone. Our house is about 90% childproof, the other 10% not childproof being the toilets, the refrigerator, and food cabinets. So I always check the bathrooms first if I can't find him because he is notorious for playing with his trains in the toilet if I don't watch him (gross, I know!) Nope, he wasn't in the bathroom but he was downstairs in the kitchen. This is what I found ....

Parker is a cheese LOVER! I have to watch him with the cheese because he will eat an entire package if no one is watching. Well this morning he did it ... he opened the refrigerator and helped himself to the remaining 7, YES 7 slices of cheese! He left the wrappers behind.

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And notice where his sippy cup of milk is:

You might think, no big deal, it's on the kitchen counter. Well it WAS on the top shelf of the refrigerator. I'm not quite sure just how he did it, but he somehow climbed to the top of the refrigerator and got him some milk!

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And as if the cheese and milk were not enough he climbed up our pantry and got him some sliced bread. The bread is a 3 shelf climb for him! He then proceeded to take the bread down, bring it to the kitchen table and opened it! This is what he looked like when I first came down the stairs and found him:

He then helped himself to a piece of bread....

What a sneaky, sneaky boy!

Our Bonus Room is Back!

A few months ago we *started* remodeling our bonus room. Shortly after we painted it my grandparents from Italy arrived and the bonus room turned into their bedroom for a little over 2 months. Now that they have returned back home to Italy we were able to put the furniture back and start rearranging the room. I'm loving the window valance my grandmother made. Here is a picture of one half of the bonus room - the kids area. Parker is loving having his train table back and played with it ALL day yesterday. You would have thought he had never seen it before. Now the other half of the room is still a work in progress, so no pictures of that side just yet!

A Sad Good-bye

On Sunday we drove my grandparents to the Atlanta Airport. They were headed back to Italy after their 2 1/2 month visit with us here in TN. It was a very sad day. We love them so very much and the kids have grown especially attached to their great-grandparents over the past two months. Here are a couple of quick pictures we took before heading out to the airport ...

Parker and my grandmother had so much fun together. He loves his Noni Silvia and really grew attached to her. Here he is in the car ride to Atlanta. He kept turning back to look at my grandmother who was making him laugh ...

Parker and his Great Grandfather "aka" Nono

Parker grew particulary attached to my grandparents while they were here visiting from Italy. Parker loved it when my grandfather would pick him up and put him "up high". Every time Parker saw Nono Mario he would say "up high, up high" and my grandfather just couldn't resist. I have very fond memories as a child doing the exact same thing, except my favorite thing was a wheelbarrow ride. My grandfather would put me in his wheelbarrow and push me around the backyard. It's so bittersweet to look at this picture, we all miss my grandparents so much already and they have only been gone for 2 days.

My Brown Eyed Boy

.... well more like hazel eyed ... but they definitely look brown in this picture!

J's new hairstyle

Jazmyne wanted some side bangs, so side bangs she got! I think she looks adorable!

Aidan Turns 2!

Parker's little buddy Aidan turned 2 last week! We had a great time at his party!

Here is Aidan's happy family! Travis, Ashley & Aidan ... we love you guys!!!

Look how cute the boys are together ...

This is Aidan's dog Hershey ... Parker LOVES Hershey!!!

Little Explorer

4th of July!

Happy 4th ... from our little firecrackers!

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The kids

Here is just a random picture of Jazmyne and Parker taken with my cell phone camera. This picture totally sums up the kids dispositions in front of the camera ... Jaz cheesing it up and Parker trying to escape!

Time Out

I think that Time-Outs would be a little more effective if I could hide my smiles! It's just so darn hard to hide a smile when you have a face like this one staring at you! This little guy sure does know the way to his mommies heart!