Splish, Splash…he was taking a bath…

He had already had one bath today but during dinner he decided to smear macaroni & cheese in his hair.  This earned him his second bath of the day.  He sure doesn’t seem to mind though!

When he outright refuses…

Today Parker wanted nothing to do with my mini portrait studio.  When I asked him if he wanted to have his picture taken he said “NOPE.”  So I asked him if he wanted to have his picture taken with his new Buzz.  “NOPE.”  How about Woody and Buzz?  “Nope.”  How about Daddy’s truck from when he was a little boy?

This option got him interested so he carried the truck from the upstairs all the way to the basement where we put it in the portrait area.  Then the little stinker walked away and refused to be in the picture!  So this is all I got today.  A picture of the truck…

When he doesn’t cooperate…

…we get pictures that look like this…

When he cooperates…

He takes such great pictures when he cooperates!  Now if I could only get him to hold still and smile for me more often.  Maybe when he is three?  Or not…

Hawaii…

We had a nice little get away this past November to Kauai, Hawaii.  Parker was so good on the plane ride and the whole time we were there.  We had a great time relaxing and playing in the pool as well as exploring the island.  It was a different vacation for Justin and me because we are so used to vacationing at a faster pace.  With Parker we were forced to do a bit more relaxing!  The little man still needs his sleep.  The three of us got well rested and had such a fabulous time and we can’t wait to head back to the islands!

Here is my adorable little man:

I can’t wait to go back.  I miss the warm weather and sunshine!

Flowers…

As you probably know I have become quite fond of photography lately.  I am still just learning but I have so many ideas and so much I want to do.  The main thing that I am lacking is time!  So between working and spending time with my wonderful little family I try to squeeze in some time to study photography.  Here are two pictures of flowers that I have taken.  The first picture was taken at Pike Place Market in Seattle and the second picture was taken at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

I’m bad…

I’m such a bad blogger.  I was going to start posting more frequently starting last summer and we all can tell how well that worked out!  Well now it is February 2010 and Parker is a big boy.  He has graduated from his crib to a toddler bed (out of necessity b/c we couldn’t get him to stop climbing on top of his dresser).  He is speaking more and more every day.  It is so cute to listen to him tell you a story and try to figure out what he is telling you.

Parker is also such a smart boy.  It is amazing to just watch him play and figure things out.  He has such intense concentration at times (much like his Mommy, I’m sure!).  We have been working a lot on ABCs and counting.  He is a bit stubborn when it comes to counting (he refuses to say the number 1) but he does really well with his alphabet.  At 2 yrs 3 months he can already identify almost all the letters.  It is very cute to listen to him speak his letters as well.  To him the letter ‘M’ is ‘Mem’ and ‘N’ is ‘Nen'.  The letter ‘W’ is a ‘double-double’.  It really is a delight to watch him learn and grow!

We are also starting to experience the joys of toddlerhood.  We are struggling to cope with Parker’s drive for independence!  It seemed like just yesterday he was this sweet innocent boy and now everyday we are reminded that we have a two-year-old.  But I really can’t complain.  As far as two-year-olds go I am pretty sure I have the best one!

What does the tiger say?

RRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!

Happy Halloween from our little tiger!

Twenty Days…

Twenty days until it’s official!

We love these two people more than words can say! 

We are so excited for your big day Thomas & Chelsea!!!!

Learning to drive already…

I told you guys that my baby is growing up too fast.  You probably didn’t believe me when I said it…

His Papa is already giving him driving lessons…

…And his Daddy says that it’s about time Parker learned to drive the boat. 

Seriously, someone has to tow Daddy when Mommy’s at work!

Soccer

He’s clearly a Nelson!  Learning to play soccer already!

I’m sure this brings a tear to his Papa’s eye!

I love to brush my teeth…

One of Parker’s favorite things to do is brush his teeth. 

It used to be great when he would let us help him do a good job.

Now he is a big boy and he doesn’t think he needs any help.

And he is stubborn like his Mommy, so he will no longer accept help when offered.

It’s still okay if we only get, like, three of his teeth brushed successfully, right?

Okay, thanks for the reassurance!

(Almost A Complete) Family Picture

We went to the Point Defiance Zoo today with *almost* our entire family.  It is *almost* because we are missing Trish’s family, but since they live in Idaho, and it isn’t that easy for them to trek to Tacoma for a day, we won’t hold it against them!
We all had a great time!  Watching the kids enjoy all the sights was a blast for us all to enjoy.  It was so great to get the little kids together because they play so well together and just have an overall great time!

We all met at the zoo in the morning and spent a few hours there, then we left the zoo and had a nice picnic lunch at Owen Beach, then returned to the zoo to finish looking at all the exhibits.

I’ll post more pictures from the day *hopefully* later this week.

(On a side note:  I wore SPF 50 sunscreen and I still burned the bejeesus (sp?) out of my skin…my poor, part-albino skin just can’t hold up for very long to the sun’s powerful rays!  Poor me!)

Parker & Hailey

Parker loves his big cousin Hailey sooooo much!  Tonight when we were at dinner I told him Hailey was there and he immediately wanted out of his high chair so he could go see her.  His eyes light up at then mention of her name!  He definitely knows his big cousin is someone special!

Here are Parker & Hailey from this evening:

Such a good picture of the two of them!

Learning To Use My Camera

I am trying to get better at taking pictures.

I am also trying to get better at editing pictures.

In order to do this I have had to learn so much about my camera.  And there is a lot to know.  Who would have thunk it?

It’s fun.  I like it.  Learning, that is.

And taking pictures.  I like that, too.

Here is one of my practice shots then I’ll tell you something I learned to try to make the shot better.

This is a picture of Whatcom Falls in Bellingham, WA.

I always like looking at pictures of waterfalls when you see the water looking all silky and smooth.

In order to take this picture I knew I needed a longer exposure.  This is how long your camera lens stays open allowing light to reach the sensor.  Cool, huh!  That is something I learned. 

When you use a longer exposure you can’t move your camera because then you get a blurry image.  So I had to use my tri-pod (Thanks Steve & Jackie for the tri-pod).

Even when you use a tri-pod you can get shake just from pressing the shutter button.  To prevent this I used my remote (Again, thanks Steve & Jackie for the remote, too!).  This way I didn’t have to touch the camera to get the shutter to release.

To take this picture I set my camera to shutter-priority mode which allows me to control the length of time the shutter stays open.  I wanted to use a longer shutter speed like 2 or 5 seconds to see what it would do but the thing about long shutter speeds is you have to have low light.  It was simply too early and there was too much light for me to use a long exposure.  So to take this picture I set my shutter speed to 1 second.  Anything more was just too much light and my picture would have become washed out.

One year ago I would not have known how to take a cool picture of a waterfall.  I would have just set my camera to auto and started shooting.  Which would have been fine too.  But it would have stopped motion and the waterfall would look more crisp and sharp than I desired.  So I got my learn on and figured out how to make it less “crisp and sharp”.

I like how the picture came out.  I would have liked to use a longer shutter speed and see if I can make it prettier and silkier and more smooth.  Maybe one day I’ll plan better and go when the sun is setting and there is less light and try again.  I have to practice so I can take cool pictures of waterfalls when we go to Hawaii this fall.  See, there’s my motivation!

So anywho…I just wanted to share something that I learned and something I enjoy doing.  It isn’t way super cool (well, to me it is) and it’s not professional quality but it’s me.  And I kinda like being me!

Corn on the Cob

The other evening we had corn on the cob with our dinner.  Justin asked me if I thought Parker would eat it off the cob.  I answered no, we’d better cut it off the cob because otherwise he’d probably drop it to Maya after about 3.24 seconds. 

(Which, by the way, would have made Maya very, very happy because she LOVES corn on the cob).

Anyways, back to the story….

So we are eating dinner and Parker has a little red bowl with his corn off the cob in it which he ate very quickly (the kid loves corn).  When he is about done with his corn I give him some chicken, which he also eats.  At this time I am still nowhere done eating (since I am a slow eater) and Parker is getting a bit antsy-in-his-pantsy being stuck in his high chair.

So he starts to whine.  He wants down. 

I don’t want him to get down and I don’t want him to whine. 

I want him to sit quietly in his high chair with a smile on his cute face while I slowly finish my dinner.  When will I ever learn that I don’t get what I want?  When will I ever learn that my stubborn determination to get what I want probably won’t pay off?

Probably never to both of those questions.

Anyways, getting distracted again…

So to distract him I give him my corn on the cob thinking it will buy me about 3.24 seconds of peace. 

Which, by the way, I have taken a whole 2 bites of.

At this point I fully expected him to inspect the corn on the cob, get bored with it then throw it overboard.  But much to my surprise he didn’t inspect the cob then give to Maya.  He started eating it…

Then he ate it. 

All.

With a BIG smile on his face!

I guess I win after all! 

Parker Loves The Playground...

He loves rocks...

He loves putting rocks on the slide...

He really loves when Papa helps him put rocks on the slide...

(I hope nobody wanted to go down the slide)

He loves the teeter totter...

He really loves when his Papa plays on the teeter totter with him...

And last, but certainly not least, he really, really loves swinging on the swings!  Especially when he is with his Grandma Jackie!

A Foiled Bike Ride

We tried to go for a bike ride before Parker's nap...

But we didn't make it in time!

We weren't five minutes into the ride and he was out.  Cold.

Mom & Son

One of my favorite pictures from the weekend...

Life Is Good...