Liam turns 7

Playing catch-up a little from this summer. Liam turned 7 and I took him and some friends mini-golfing. He had a LEGO party. When he turns 8 he will officially be in the big kids club with no more themed parties. Happy and sad at the same time.

At the end. They had so much fun and wanted to play another round!

My birthday boy!

My little miracle

So, it's been way too long since a blog post for me. I guess you could say I'm busy! I just wanted to take a minute to describe a little miracle in our life. My little Nolie said "mama" for the first time last week. No mother should ever have to wait that long to hear those words. By the time he is 2 (soon) he should be saying at least 50 words. Currently he says "hi" and "shoes". Nolan has been evaluated by a speech therapist.

The good news is he is completely on track and normal in every category, except expressive communication. The not-so-good news is that he is REALLY behind in this area. He falls into the "less than 1 percentile". He will be evaluated more thoroughly at the end of the month to see possible causes for his delay. I have always signed with my kids from the time they were babies. Nolan knows the sings, but will not sign for me. However, he did sign like a pro for the speech therapist, (little stinker) so I guess all the signing was not in vain.

If you know Nolan, he is a pretty laid back dude. He is fine with whatever we feed him, he loves taking naps and going to bed, he loves to play outside, and he LOVES to wrestle with his daddy & brother. He is never moody, plays well independently, and is just a go-with-the-flow kind of kid. He is just a very happy guy.

You never realize how sweet your child's voice is until you never hear it speak. It was such a great day to hear "mama". I haven't heard it since last week, but let's hear three cheers for progress!! We sure love this little boy! I will keep you all posted on his developments.

Tinker Fairies

For Katie's 3rd birthday she wanted a Tinker Bell party, easy enough... With my new sewing skills and some new found energy I (tried) got creative. I worked at a party store in high school, I know how much is possible to spend on a party, I was NOT going there. I am pleased with the party and the budget!!

Cousins Aaron and Camile came with their girls, and another girl from the ward with her brother came. I thought that was perfect to keep Liam busy with a friend while the house turned temporarily REALLY girly!

The piniata was a hit! It also helped that it was 75% off! I was sure glad to get rid of all of our left over Halloween and Valentine's Day candy. The kids only get one piece a day so most of it went to my love handles, which I don't love. Katie LOVES to sing the Happy Birthday song but she has issues with loud noises, even though it wasn't that loud...
I sewed the Tinker Bell skirts and got an amazing deal on the wings, fairy shoes, hair flowers, and more. I found this great website haloheaven.com for all your girly frilly needs. There is no minimum purchase to get the great prices!
All the girls. Kyra, Katie, Aubry, Carly, and Ellie. Katie had SO much fun and is already planning her next birthday.... oh dear.

Dad's 60th Birthday!

We threw a surprise party for my dad while they were visiting during Easter break. It was a luau theme and I think we actually did surprise him! The food was amazing and of course mom's famous traditional pineapple upside down cake!! YUM!!

My mom brought this dress for Katie to play in. She made it for me when I was little. I hated dresses but if I HAD to wear one, this was it, so I guess you could say this was my favorite. My mom fixed a few things on it that had worn over the years so it could withstand a new 3 yr. old. Katie just LOVES to wear this dress, it is absolutely her favorite!

Blessing Day

We decided to bless little Nolan in Idaho in Terrance's parents ward. His brother Trevor was also blessing his new baby Jane at the same time. We were so excited to see everyone!

My mom and I made his little blessing outfit. It turned out pretty cute if you ask me!

Unfortunately this is our best family shot of the day....

Baby Nolan

I have never had prof pics taken of the other kids, but a lady Terrance works with does photography on the side and wanted baby pics to add to her portfolio and offered to do ours. She was great and the pics turned out amazing!

We have a new little addition to our family....Nolan Albert Parson born January 14, 2010. He was 6 lbs. 1 oz. and little brown eyes (finally)! He has been so much fun. Liam has been the biggest helper and is so in love with him. Katie didn't want a whole lot to do with him at first, but has really warmed up to him in the past weeks. Terrance and I are just trying to enjoy every moment and stage he goes through because we know how fast it goes!

So yes..... it HAS been a while. I would like to take a few posts to catch up on what's been happening since the last post, mostly this summer and fall. Man, I can't believe it's been that long. Hopefully over the next few days I will get them all posted. Our biggest news that most of you already know is that we are expecting a boy this January. We found out in May, and well, since our last post was in April, well, that explains things. The next few posts are what we did this summer.

Terrance big 3-0

We celebrated Terrance's 30th birthday. Much to his dismay there was no big 'over the hill' party, just us and the kids. I made this cake and it turned out DIVINE, thanks Aunt Meieli for the recipe!

Potty Training

BIG STEPS! After returning home from a trip to Island Park with my family (which I don't have any pictures from), I decided it was time to potty train Katie before the big arrival. She did not catch on as quickly as Liam did, partly due to my inconsistency, but 6-8 weeks later I felt SAFE taking her anywhere in panties. SO GLAD it is over though, the only bathrooms in our house are on the 3rd floor, NOT fun running up the stairs, prego, every time she had to go...

Liam's 5th Birthday/ First day of Kindergarten

We celebrated Liam's 5th birthday this summer as well. My camera was not working, so all of his birthday celebration is on video, but here is a picture later of Katie in one of the Transformer birthday hats.

Liam also started school right before his birthday. His first day of Kindergarten! (tear, sniff, sniff....) We were thinking about holding him back a year because his birthday is so close to the cutoff, but I'm glad we decided to send him this year. He LOVES school and it has increased his understanding and curiosity more than I ever thought it would. He loves the social aspect and responsibility of going to school.
At the bus stop with Katie. I was surprised that Katie actually had a little bit of a difficult time when Liam would leave every morning. I didn't expect that. I guess there is a lot of love behind her relentless torment of her brother. Who knew?
His Optimus Prime backpack. What a cutie!!