Parker's 6 Month Check-Up

Well let me just start by saying... I am literally in tears writing this as I just cant believe my baby is already 6 months old?! Where does the precious time go... from swaddle blankets and burp cloths to smiles, giggles and diapers... it is just all so sweet! This time has been so amazing and Parker, you are truly my precious gift from God! You are only 6 months old yet I can't imagine how I ever lived one day without you!! I love how you smile and laugh every time you see me or your daddy and you truly melt my heart every time you giggle and hug your big brother Philip. You have rolls that just wont quit and I want to eat you up everytime I see you! We have nicknamed you "Carker," "Chunky Monkey" and our "Perfect Angel"... all of which you answer to daily and we love you more with every second that passes by. You are just growing up way too fast but we are so proud of all your newfound talents. You are rolling over all the time like a little rolypoly, your smiling and talking to us nonstop (I think you are already starting to take after your big brother Philip in the talking arena... oh god, please help me), and you are sitting up on your own for brief periods when we prop you up like a little tripod. You are weighing in now at 19lbs 4oz and are 27.5 inches long -which puts you in the 80% for both weight and height and your head was in the 50% at a perfect 43.5 cm! We still haven't started you yet on solids... but we are going to dive into that adventure this week. But as you can tell, you are very satisfied and do not look like you have missed a meal yet! You did great with your shots and only cried a minute... however mommy was still crying walking out to the parking lot and driving home. Dr. Ryan said you are doing absolutely perfect and are just as healthy as a horse!! I love you so much and I am so proud of you, my little chunky monkey!!

My Brown Eyed Boy

Well it is now official... Parker is becoming a Brosseau boy more and more everyday!! He already has the charming Brosseau smile and hes of course a flirt with all the ladies BUT now he has the gorgeous Brosseau BROWN eyes!! He was born with green eyes like his mommy but that Brosseau trait sure is strong and he now has joined the clan! And not to mention him sticking his tongue out in this top pic... I have seen many of baby pics of his daddy and big brother Philip with that same look... too cute! We love you Parker Brosseau!

Once Upon A Potty

Potty training is fun... yeah, right and the sky is green! Today marks the beginning of a lifelong adventure for Philip... he is learning to use the POTTY!! We decided that what better way to learn to use the potty than to do it with one of your best friends, so Elmo... good luck- it looks like you are joining in on the fun! It started out good this morning with Philip watching his potty video while sitting on his potty next to Elmo (or Melmo as Philip calls him) sitting on his potty. However after about the third time through of the video... Philip started crying as he wanted to wear his new thomas and diego big boy underwear... you think, well thats a good start except the problem is that he wants to wear all of them at the same time and while sitting on the potty. He doesn't understand that he cant sit on the potty with his underwear on not to mention 3 pairs of underwear on!! Then we explained how every time he goes on the potty he gets m&m's and of course that just started meltdown #2 as he started screaming crying for some m's right then - he didn't want to wait till he went on the stupid potty... oh the life of living in the moment as a two year old. And then lastly as if wasnt already bad enough, his daddy who is a little hungover today from celebrating Jay Levell's bday last night said under his breath if I hear that dang potty song one more time, I am going to throw that stupid potty out the window!! Well lets just say nothing gets past Philip these days and so he started throwing the potty all over the room and laughing! So... we are 6 hours in on day 1 and so far, nothing has gone into the potty except Elmo!

And of course we couldn't leave Parker out... so he joined in by sitting in his bumbo

Philip in all his glory wearing 4 pairs of big boy underwear at the same time

God Bless Thomas and God Bless Barney

Last night as I was putting Philip to bed, we did just our usual bedtime routine. Starting with a bath, followed by story time with our milk and ending with our prayers. We said all our prayers and then got to the part where we say "God Bless" each of our family members near and far as we pray for them! I say God Bless Parker and then Philip repeats and we do that for each of our family members. So then at the end of our prayer Philip kept his little hands crossed and with the most serious and loving little voice and his eyes still closed... he said God Bless Thomas of which he then waited in silence until I repeated and then he said and God Bless Barney. It was the sweetest and most precious moment and I literally had to hold back my laughter as he was so so serious. It was almost like he couldnt believe that after praying for our many many family members (as most of you know Phil is the oldest of six kids and I am the youngest of three)... he was so offended that somehow I could even forget to bless his two best friends... Thomas and Barney! But now I am on top of it... Thomas and Barney are in the rotation!!

Just read this... your going to pee a little it is so funny

I found this article off my friend's blog and just had to share with all you mommies out there... Enjoy!

My Top 10 "Oh, Now I Get It" Moments

Here's the sitch', before people have kids there are many occasions where they'll observe people who have children and think "When I have kids I will never ______" Then you go and get yourself some of those cherubic, little angels and if you're like me, you have about 8 million "Oohhh, Now I Get It Moments" – they're like Oprah's "Aha" moments but without the free car.

Here are just a few of the little judgement gems that I passed with Gweneth Paltrow smugness until I had children. I was an idiot but clearly God was listening.

"My kids will never sleep with me."
I love my sleep and therefore, any child of mine would be kissed on the head at 7:00 pm, would be put in their crib and would stay there until the morning. Except what I didn't realize is that it's really hard for me to sleep through bloodcurdling screaming and that I'd have a kid who thinks Dr. Ferber can go suck it. In a desperate measure, I tossed him into bed with us one night and we've all had a good night's sleep ever since. I don't tell many people about it because it's the grand daddy of all my "I'll Nevers" unless, of course, you bring it up.

"My kids will eat what they are fed."
Don't like dinner? Well, I guess you're not eating. Then I walk away and think about how I'm already worried about his calcium intake and if he's eating enough protien. If he goes to bed hungry then he'll no doubt perish in his sleep all because I wouldn't let him have cereal at dinner. Joan Crawford, Dina Lohan, me. Here's your cereal.

"I'll never ignore my kids like that."

Why do you even have children if you don't want to be around them?! How hard is it to accommodate your child if the sweet little petal is asking you to read Goodnight Moon? Pretty hard if it's the 4,753rd time you've read it that day and if you ever have a stroke it will, no doubt, be the only information you'll retain. Sometimes I just want half-a-stinking-second to think. I love my children but for the love of God, let me pee alone – I can't remember where I've heard that brilliance before.

"Why don't you just take your kids to the park, it's so easy?"
You know, you just sit there while they have fun. Oh, wait you want to go on the swing? No more swing now? Now the slide? Mommy can't fit up there but hold on tight....whoa...no, come down now!! That's too high!! Okay, yes, let's play in the sand. No, that's not your truck that's the little boy's truck. Give it back, please. No hitting!! Hey, do you want a cookie? The cookies are at home. Okay, let's go home and get a cookie. Bye park! Kiss my ass until I've had another Goodnight Moon stroke and forgotten how horrible you are.

"Why would you take your kids swimming, it's so hard?"
I mean, it takes about 3 hours to get ready for 10 minutes of fun. Except I didn't think of what else I would do to occupy a small child for 3 hours if I wasn't getting ready for swimming. Plus, no doubt some mom somewhere, sometime probably told me that children that don't learn how to swim by 6 months have an 80% chance of drowning in an inch of water and grow up to be illiterate serial killers – she must have read it in an article somewhere.

"Kids shouldn't eat crap."
How hard is it to prepare wholesome, organic, homemade meals and snacks all the time? I once threw an open bag of cheesies down the basement stairs to stop my kids from fighting like drunk white girls while I was on a really important phone call. They swarmed it like racoons and ate all the trans fat goodness silently off the floor. I stand by my actions and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

"Kids shouldn't watch too much tv."
Oh, but what's that? Children stand behind you like a 20lb footstool when you're carrying pots of boiling water, try to throw things down the toilet while you're cleaning it or take their diaper off and pee down the air vents while you're taking a shower?! Oh, too bad there isn't a magical box that played friendly pictures and sounds to distract them for a few mintues while you went poo. Wait. What?

"How hard is it to look half decent after you've had a kid?"

If I have pants on when I leave the house I consider my appearance to be completely appropriate and should therefore, not be judged. I wore glasses with one arm missing for a year-and-a-half because it broke off and I couldn't find time to fix it. I haven't been to the dentist since my second son was born and he just turned two. I finally made an appointment because I'm scared I'm going to have teeth like a 14-year old beagle if I don't smarten up.

"How hard is it to keep your cool?"
Pretty hard sometimes. I find that small children have given me a snapping threshold that would make Gordon Ramsay say "Whoa, cool it lady." Inanimate objects seem to be the main focus of my wrath because they won't be taken away from me if I really start spitting cherries(best. phrase. ever.) Instead, I find myself hulking the tabs off the effing diaper because they won't peel up, drop kicking a basket of mittens across the room because I can't find a pair that matches or swearing that if I ever find the jackhole that put 14 previews on every kid DVD, I will chant "Kali Ma" as I plunge my bare fist into their chest and pull out their still-beating heart. Breeeeeeeathe.

"I would never let my kids become my whole life."
I used to go over to my "previously cool" friend's place and think how sad it was that her house was overrun with sippy cups, Polly Pocket shoes and Dora the Explorer crap. Now I lay in my hippy bed reading Goodnight Moon until my right eye twitches and these kids fall asleep. Then I look at their perfect, little faces and wonder how I ever lived without them.

If I could go back in time, I'd tell that childless woman that it's easy for her to make all these grand proclimations and impose rules on an imaginary child where she hasn't factored in love, fear or sleep depravation. Then I'd tell her stop worrying about what she will and won't do when she becomes a mother and to go take a long look at her fantastic bum in the mirror because it will soon disappear along with all the other misconceptions she has about motherhood.

Pants... they are so overrated

On these hot summer days... what better to do than play with a garden hose outside?! Besides the fact that our water bill has skyrocketed, life is pretty good usually when Philip plays with the hose outside. But like all little boys, he demands to have the water running nonstop of course (hence the enormous water bill). So today, I told him once he got up from his nap we would go outside and play with the hose. Philip woke up and demanded to dress himself. I thought, well we arent going anywhere in public... so how bad can this be... then I saw him... this is what he came up with. Phil of course saw the picture and was so proud that he knew to wear his rainboots since he was going to be getting wet while playing with the hose... I of course was horrified that he forgot his PANTS!! What can I say... like father like son!

I Heart Betsy Grace

Well lets just say... Philip is obsessed with his new and very first girlfriend! Meet Miss Betsy Grace... she is one and is absolutely gorgeous from head to toe with a smile that lights up every room!! Philip everyday asks about her and says "I wuv you Bets Gwace" over a 100 times a day! So on their first date us mommies let the two lovebirds share juice... as they say, if you are too young to share a milkshake... why not just share juice, right?! Then on their second date... us mommies let them share Betsy Grace's birthday cake (and Philip of course just had to help her blow out the candle)... as you can see there is a theme going here for sure! They are too cute and we are so blessed to have The Barksdales as such great friends! We love yall!

Happy First Birthday Betsy Grace... we love you!

Bye Bye Pacis

... and Hello Big Boys who don't have Pacis! This week we decided to take Philip's paci away as Papa Doc said we needed to do it sooner rather than later since his teeth would start to get affected. So... with Parker almost 6 months old, we felt it was time. Phil and I sat Philip down first thing in the morning and told him that big boys don't have pacis and that he was a big brother and a big boy now! We told him that in heaven there were some babies that didn't have pacis so we thought it would be a good idea to send all his pacis to heaven to the special babies there. He said "okay" and cried alligator sized tears. But then after about 10 minutes when he realized this meant that he didn't get a paci anymore... he immediately started begging to go to heaven! Well as this wasn't the reaction we were hoping for... at least it felt good to see him desire heaven as much as we do! Then he just kept crying and saying "mommy, i no big boy, I a baby!" He just kept saying this over and over again but with lots of strength and determination, we as the parents didn't fold! So it has been a tough few days as most of you know Philip's obsession with his pacis, but we are 5 days in and counting... each day it gets better... and before long hopefully he won't even remember he's missing his pacis at all! So long pacis...

Parker's First Toothie

Well after weeks of Parker drooling buckets, endless days of oragel and tylenol and him chewing on his toys more than our golden retriever Tex does, Parker's first toothie finally broke through on the bottom right!! Yay... Yay... Yay!! He looks so cute with his new little nub of a tooth and we couldn't be more proud of our little angel! So, Papa Doc... looks like you just got a new patient - lets get him on the books!

Lions and Tigers and Bears... Oh My

This past week my sweet mom and I took the boys to the Atlanta ZOO for the first time ever!! It was so special for my mom and I since the Atlanta zoo was a place where my mom's dad, Papa Jim, took us so many times when we were young. I was so glad to see my boys loving it as much as I did. Parker was just the perfect baby like always riding along in the back of the stroller although we did get him out to ride the zoo train and to be fed of course. And Philip was obsessed with the animals... especially the LIONS! After every animal we saw, he would say "I see it mommy, but I want to see the lions." He literally did this for the entire 3 hours we were there until finally last but not least we saw the lions. Unfortunately by the time we got to them, they were of course sleeping. So Philip banged on the glass screaming "wake up lions wake up" for over 20 minutes which I am sure is totally against the rules... but then again what 2 year olds do you know that follow rules especially at the zoo. So at the end we bought Philip his own little lion to take home... what can I say but it looks like he is going to be following in his crazy dad's footsteps and be an SAE afterall!

Philip and his favorite... the Lions!

Mommy and Philip and the famous "Willie B"

Philip almost literally touching the sweet Panda bear

Mommy and Philip riding the carousel

Parker and Gigi just finishing a bottle off while riding on the zoo train

Wake up Lions, Wake up... Philip was literally in this position for 30 minutes... getting him to say goodbye to the lions was a meltdown waiting to happen

Bye Bye Zoo Atlanta

Roll Over Roll Over... send Parker right Over

Today was an exciting milestone for our little angel Parker!! We were at my parents house after a fun 4th of July weekend and Parker decided to roll right over for the first time ever. We thought he was never going to roll over as he definitely has a lot to roll over these days... but he made our hearts smile today when he accomplished his new fun talent! And now Philip is of course obsessed with saying "woll over Carker woll over" right before he takes Parker by the arm and basically makes him do a sideways flip! It will be a miracle if this baby lives to see his first birthday with Philip around! What else can we say but... Praise God for creating Parker with lots of cushioning!

Red White and Blue

Happy 4th of July! We had a great holiday and an absolute blast at Gigi and Papa Doc's! Both boys were of course darling in their matching red, white and blue monogrammed outfits. And my parents took us to the annual Atlanta Athletic Club celebration filled with pony rides, petting zoos, blowup jump rides, balloon animals, skydivers, ice cream and of course the best fireworks in town! This year was however a real treat because Uncle Sam, Phil's youngest brother, came into town and celebrated with us as well. We had so much fun all being together and both Philip and Parker loved the fireworks. Philip liked to of course narrate the show as he told us what color they were and Parker just smiled and loved the bright lights! Thank you Papa Doc and Gigi... what a fun night to always remember!

The Brosseaus with our Gigi and Papa Doc

Philip and Gigi off to find ice cream I am sure

Mommy loving on her sweet Philip

The Brosseau Family and uncle Sam... now does that sound patriotic or what?!

Daddy, Parker and the token lama which Phil thought was hysterical

Not so sure about playing cowboy for the day... but his sweet daddy was very encouraging of his Texas roots

But he soon got a hang of it

Ride em' cowboy

Philip petting a big turtle... good thing they are slow
But those silly rabbits fortunately aren't so slow...
Philip and mommy watching the cool skydivers
jump out of perfectly good operating planes for some crazy reason
And here is mommy telling Philip to NEVER EVER EVER do that... regardless of what your daddy says

Philip with his balloon pirate hat and sword

Uncle Sam loving on baby Parker
The next Tiger Woods
So little on such a big course
This look just has SNEAKY written all over it... so for the record, YES, Philip we are watching you!
Philip and his uncle Sam being so silly getting ready for the fireworks
And Gigi and Parker are getting ready for the big fireworks show... while Parker is wondering what in the world he is doing up at 9:30 at night
All I can say is... like father like son
Parker fascinated by the bright lights

God Bless America

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the amazing men in our lives! Phil, you are the best daddy I know and I love to watch our boys love and become more like you everyday! The way Philip runs to the door screaming "daddy daddy daddy" everyday when you come home and the way Parker smiles with his big open mouth smile every time you walk in the room melts my heart! The way you love Philip and wrestle with him before bedtime EVERY night melts his heart! And the way you love Parker and sing I love you Lord while rubbing his sweet little head melts his heart! YOU melt our HEARTS!!! We love you so much and are so blessed to call you "Daddy!"