Take me away...

Two weeks ago, Hailey and I took a vacation. We only traveled 10 miles south, but it was a much needed reprieve. Jona had traveled every week for the four weeks prior to our escape, and not having had a real night of sleep since Parker was born, I was on the edge...of reason, of a meltdown, of my sanity. Hailey has been in prime three year old form as of late, (I mean that as both a good and hideously terrible thing) and we were having a tough time getting along with each other. So I decided we needed a vacation. So I found a great deal at a nearby hotel and off we went.

There was a fabulous king size bed covered in a down comforter with a multitude of fluffy, feather filled pillows, but she liked "exercising" on the floor with these. Whatever works.

Jona and Parker drove us down and played for a little bit before we had our girls night out.

We had a little photo shoot on the bed. I mean seriously, do you just love this face??

The main reason I chose this particular hotel was the INDOOR POOL!!! Parker looked mighty fine in his surfer dude attire.

And Hailey is pretty cute herself. Gotta love that face too :)

In the elevators the floors were filled with oily stuff so when you stepped on them you left a print. Totally entertaining for young and old alike.

The pool room had one wall that was solid windows to the great, incredibly freezing, totally nasty outdoors. It was in the 30s I think, and raining and gross. But we were warm and toasty and very humid. They had this awesome half circle chair/couch with this huge wicker back. I took a lot of pictures on it. I love the way Parker is checking out his big sister in this one. He thinks she is the coolest kid ever to walk the planet earth. She doesn't have to do anything but be in the room with him and he laughs hysterically. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in later life. She is a rather cool chick.

Parker's first dip. And he loved it. Kicked his feet, flapped his arms, had a grand ole time. His skin didn't like it very much I'm sad to say, but that is what Aquafor is all about.

Dang we're cute!

Why am I the only one looking at the camera in every picture with my children??

Post swim play time must always involve one's feet. I can't even touch my toes and he can suck on his.

Put a fork in him, he is D-O-N-E! The Little Man slept for 4 hours after his swim. Gotta love the pool.

And Hailey and I were left to our own devices. In her lap is a container of Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream, and a strawberry-banana smoothie. Dessert of champions. We munched out and watched The Tale of Despereaux on our flat panel tv hanging on the wall. Adorable movie. When it was over, no nap girl was ready to fall on her face. I tucked her in and snuggled next to her and watched her quickly fade out. She slept like a rock...directly in the middle of the bed.

This is Hailey after a great night of sleep....

and mommy after my first night of uninterrupted slumber in who knows how many months between being pregnant and having to tinkle every 2 hours, to then waking up with Parker. Dear lord it felt good. Hailey took this one, not too shabby. But seriously, what is it going to take to get rid of the circles under my eyes??

We swam again that morning and played a little before Hailey's meltdown over having to check out. If we're being honest, I had a little meltdown too, I just didn't let the people in the lobby see it!
And one of Parker's newest tricks...

TA DAAAAAA!! Goodness gracious this boy is cute.

PS- We went for his 6 month check up this week and he is now 26 1/4 inches and 16 lbs 13.5 oz. Not such a little man anymore.

Big Man

Parker is growing so quickly it is amazing. I thought time flew by with Hailey, but this is ridiculous. I swear it was just yesterday that he was a newborn and we were struggling to get into a routine with a new addition. Now he is almost 6 months old! Crazy.

He outgrew his baby tub and now gets to splish splash in Hailey's tub. She isn't so sure about sharing that space with him, so last night she jumped in too. I think she feels better now that she realizes that he only gets about 2 inches of water and no toys!

We brought the exer-saucer down about a week ago and he loves it! I would say Parker's only complaint is that he can't get all the gadgets in his mouth.

We started oatmeal last week and it is NOT going well. Please note the tongue thrusting in all these pictures. I really don't think a single grain has been swallowed!

The third night we tried it, Parker discovered his tongue. Now he just sticks it out when he sees the spoon coming and creates a blockade of sorts. I think we will give up for a little bit, stick with the boob juice for now, and try again in another week. I mean, obviously the kid ain't starving (please refer back to the thigh rolls in the first picture!!).

OLIVE

It is with great joy an excitement that I would like to introduce to the world, making her Blogger debut....

BABY GIRL HAJIMIHALIS!!!!

Little Miss Haji is the first child of one of my very best girlfriends in the whole wide world, Kristy Spade Hajimihalis. When Spadely and I have talked about her children, we wondered if they would be blonde haired blue eyed little ones (like she is) or little greek olives (like Nick, her hubby). Thus, I am calling this miracle, Olive.

Dear Olive- I am your Auntie Leslie. I live in Nashville, TN, too far away from you and your mommy. But I want you to know that even now, when you are still growing in your mommy's tummy, I love you dearly and can't wait to meet you. You are blessed with loving parents who are already madly in love with you, a Grandma Spade who is sure to spoil you rotten, and a guardian angel Papa Bear who will always protect you and surround you with his love. Plus, two quirky Aunties, me and Malinda, who will spend our days teaching you things your parents won't and sugaring you up before sending you home. I love you Olive and I can't wait to snuggle you up.

Catch Up

Hailey, ever the deep thinker, was saying the other day, "Its been quite a while since a good blog update."

Parker was too busy admiring his toes to think much of anything.

Not sure if the breast milk is enough for him as he is obviously wasting away to practically nothing.

"Geez mom, don't even talk about it."

We had a lovely Saturday lunch with Miss Kerri, Miss Dionne, Abbey, Grant, and Baby Joy. Parker was blown away by Joy's beauty...and her hair :)

We had mini eclairs as one of our desserts. Hailey ate hers like corn on the cob.

Gammy and Grampy just came for a wonderful visit. Jona has been travelling for job interviews so it was both a social visit and I worked them pretty hard!

Of course, they had to be here to attend the marriage of their granddaughter.

It snowed a little one morning and Gammy was able to make these mini snowmen...their names were Mokey and Dokey (Hailey's other mommy and daddy. They apparently live at her other house. They must really miss her cause she seems to be here ALL the time!)

Jack was not a big fan of the cold...Grampy either although I don't have a picture of him snuggled in the boppy.

As it turns out, I am a bad daughter and don't have a single picture of Gammy and the kiddos on my camera. She was too busy working her fingers to the bone to have any fun.

But seriously it was a fantastic visit. We miss them terribly.

Parker's Pipes

We had so hoped Parker would be quiet...not so much.