Ice Pellets, Boots and Delays

Here's our little six month old girl. She has a new nickname...Squiggles! It fits her giggly, gurgly, squirmy personality.

Stinkerbelle got some super cute pink boots at the rodeo. She couldn't wait to try them on and wore them around the house and outside. She has this funny heel-toe walk that she does when she's wearing them.

(Look at those skinny little legs. Where did those come from?)

It's really cold here right now. This morning it was 15 degrees. Brrr. It rained ice pellets all night and they cancelled school. For most people, that means that you stay inside, or at the very least, you bundle up and go outside. That is unless you are my Lovie. In that case, you run outside in your sweatshirt and boxers and run around like a crazy monkey.

(I think I found the source of the skinny legs.)

You also get your equally crazy son to participate although he apparently got the "wear pants when it is cold" brain cell from his mother.

The icy weather is working against me. We got a call today from the granite people that they would not be able to install today. They rescheduled us for Friday. It's supposed to be back up to 60.

Anyone have adoption papers handy?

Saturday night, Lovie and I went out to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo with our friends and had such a great time! We had friends in HIGH places. We had admission to the "Backstage" area which is basically a bar and restaurant. And we had box seats right next to the shoots where the bulls and the broncos (and their riders) came out.

Who knew that we'd be hangin' with so much money? Here's a funny story. JJ and I were posing to get our picture taken together and JJ see's a man in a cowboy hat walking towards us. "C'mon! Get in our picture!" He kinda grabs the guy, puts his arm around him and we all smile. Click.

"Lovie, do you know who that was?"

"Uh, yeah. It was Ed Bass. Wasn't that hilarious? Did he just grab my butt?"

"I don't know. Do you think he'll adopt us??"

Half a Birthday

Happy Half to Baby M! She is 6 months old today!

My precious Baby M,

The time is going so fast! You are my little cuddlebug...you love to be held and squeezed and I am happy to endulge you. You are my chatterbox too. You coo and talk nonstop. How lucky am I to have such a happy sweet beautiful baby like you!

Your sister is so anxious for you to get big so you two can play in your playroom together. She already kisses you and loves on you, which looks an awful lot like smothering to me. We have to watch her very close.

You is napping in your crib as I type this. As soon as you wake up I'll go snap a photo I can post.

Love,
Mommy

Girls in the kitchen

Different kids, same wooden spoon. The yellow chair is Stinkerbelle (age 4 months. The pink chair is Baby M.

Do you have a license for that thing?

Stinkerbelle got a little doll stroller for her first birthday and now she loves putting her favorite "doll" in it. Baby M thinks it's pretty cool too although the is VERY glad that The Mom and Lovie keep a close eye on where they go. Stinkerbelle isn't the best driver.

Parker Polar Bear Club

Many of you know the craziness of my husband, whom I refer to as "Lovie" on this blog. He keeps me laughing and sometimes can shock me with his silliness. He did it again.

We had a water main break in our town and so we had a couple of days where we'd have little or no water for a few hours during the day for repairs. On Thursday, Lovie was shaving and showering and only got the first part done (the shaving) before the water pressure went to a trickle. He still needed to shower.

"I'm going to jump in the pool."

"Are you serious? Hold on, let me get the camera."

(Notice my concern for him jumping in the pool when we've been having below freezing weather.)

He jumped in and jumped out about as fast as someone his size could move. We don't have a thermometer for the water but it had to be in the 40s. Brrr!! He said it made his heart hurt when he hit the water.

Did I jump in to? Uh, no. I'll just be stinky, thankyouverymuch. For now, Lovie is the only member of the Parker Polar Bear Club.

It's been a LOOONG three months. We officially started construction on October 8 and I wish I could say that we are finished. We are close. What's left?

Countertops:
They come for measurements on Tuesday. Once they do that, it's about 2-3 weeks before installation. We went and picked out our slabs over the holiday break. This is what we've selected for the island. For the countertops along the walls, we selected "Ubatuba", partially because it's just fun to say. Try it. Ewww bah too bah. :)

Electrical:
This is mostly done. Mostly. Our electrician/neighbor has been out of town helping his parents move so now that he is back, we have high expectations that he'll quit slacking and finish our project. Clearly he needs help with prioritization. The stove needs wiring and we need some plugs on the island.

Backsplash Tile: Once the countertops are in, the tile guy can install our backsplash. We have the materials, just need the countertops.

Plumbing finish: Once all this other stuff is done, we can have the plumber come back to install the garbage disposal and the faucets and the pot filler.

There's some other minor stuff, like the cabinet drawer hardware and the pantry shelves that need to be finished, but those are minor.

(Note: pictures posted soon. technical difficulties.)

Intoducing: The Playroom

The playroom is finished! We actually got it done on Dec 26th, just in time for our family gathering that we hosted. Stinkerbelle loves it! She is able to destroy it and the mess doesn't spill in to the living room. It's been a major stress reduction in the Parker household to have all her crap, er, playthings semi-contained.

Here is a progression:

1. Drywall and cement. Fun, but kinda bland.












2. Tile floor!













3. Paint on the walls...it's starting to look girly!












4. It's ready for little girls!