on the road again

We packed in a ton during the last month of our stay on the east coast. Parker would daily ask about the tractor down the street, occasionally we'd bring the little guy to go check it out.

 Teasing him with ice cream, turned into gigglefest

 At least once a day, he asked "Wanna go to park." or if we'd drive by one, it was "See da park, wanna go to park."

 

He loves church, and after every single prayer (opening, sacrament, the 'amens' after talks or testimonies, closing), it was "Wanna go to nursrie!" And if you forget to give him bread or water, you better track that sacrament tray down and grab one before it gets too far away.

 I turned 29, ah! So close to 30...I won't even waste time complaining, but I will say that I totally know what everyone means when they say they don't feel their age. We put Parker down and Aunt Cynthia hung out at the house while we had a leisurely, uninterrupted dinner at Maggiano's. Italian has been my jam this pregnancy. I can't get enough.

 We've never been one for politically correct Halloweens...

This was probably the first event we've taken Parker to where he was actually able to enjoy some of the activities, it was so fun! He loved the bouncehouse and faceplanted a couple times, only to be met with bursts of giggles and grins. We tried the cakewalk, but that was kinda boring for him...next was the doughnut on a string. He didn't really get it at first, so I got down with my belly and demonstrated for him. He quickly got the hang of it after Steve held his arms down, and he was bobbing with mouth wide-open, giggling like a pro in no time.

 I had a couple ideas, but with time and money being an issue, we decided to go with uncreative and slightly inappropriate. We dressed him up like the serial killer Jason from the Friday the 13th series. 

It was amazing. There were lots of surprised "Oh!'s" at doorsteps. Every time we put that mask on him, Steve and I died of laughter, especially when he'd run around with it.

 Jason and Geri came out to Duke because he had had some more bleeding, so we got to meet them halfway in Richmond, VA for a little lunch date and afternoon at some huge park. We love you guys!

 Aunt Cynthia had kept all of the toys from her kids growing up, so Parker always had tons to pick from, these were some of his favorites. "Wanna play wif all of dese toys!"
Parker can now count to twenty but he always misses several of the 'teens', he can sing (in his notorious monotone voice) his ABCs, again, missing a couple letters (with an enthusiastic "Yay!" when he's done), asks me to sing "Twinkle Twinkle", "My Eyes" (Popcorn Popping), "Sumbeam", and more recently "I'm Driving God" (I'm a Child of God--We've established that when I'm driving, I can't do certain things, so apparently "I'm driving" sounds like "I'm a child".) He's such a parrot! He repeats everything you say, some of his favorite phrases right now are "You're crazy!" "So delicious!" "Daddy's at work. See Daddy later." "Where's Parker/Mommy/Daddy? Dare did is!" "Wanna push da button (garage door button)." "No like uh nigh-nigh!" (although he's still a great sleeper, 8pm-915am with a 2-hour nap in the afternoons), "Was dat noise?", and my favorite, he calls me "Big momma".
What?! I'm not sure if it's my belly or what, but as of the last couple of weeks, I'm officially "Big momma" to him.

So excited for baby girl to get here...

After two years, I finally felt ready to chop off his hairs. Steve and I love it! We went to go see my cousin, Stori's production (she built the set) of Goodnight Moon. He did pretty well with a constant inflow of fruit snacks, mostly because he wanted to go down to the stage and "touch it!" (the red balloon). I cannot get over how much he looks like Michael! Michael wrote back on his mission after Mom sent him this picture that at first he thought it was him as a kid in the picture, but didn't think Mom and Dad had dressed him so cool.

 

Our last night with dinner together with Uncle Scott and Aunt Cynthia (and Bear). We can't thank them enough for letting us stay with them, it was so nice to be around family in such an unfamiliar place. And they always made us feel so welcome, and were so accommodating. Parker loved Scott, Seen-tah, and Afree (Scott, Cynthia, and Avery). He still asks for them occasionally.

 The next morning he said goodbye to Avery, who he especially loved. Thank you for putting up with him!

 Steve had his last day at Walter Reed while I packed up the car, cleaned our little basement home of the past three weeks, picked up my records from my OB, made sure P got a nap in before we took off, packed him in the car after hugging Bear goodbye, and took off to pick Steve up on our way out. It was  an amazing adventure, and I'm so glad we got to experience everything we did!

Surprisingly, Chicago is on the way to Utah, so we stayed with Dave and Katie for a couple of days to hang out and meet baby Tyler. We had so much fun together, and the boys also loved hanging out. Parker still asks to see Mark and 'Cay-luv', especially to dance with them!

Cousins who do PJs and morning cartoons together stay together.

It was especially nice to hang out because Steve and Dave got lots of brotherly bonding time golfing and a couple other things alone, which they usually don't get to do when the entire family gets together. WHICH also meant Katie and I deserved some kid-free time alone together too! We got pedicures one day and the next day went to get some chocolate then to a movie. Love you two, thanks for entertaining us!

My friend, Brooke lives in Chicago, so after Steve and his Dad took off Saturday morning to drive the car to Utah, I put Parker down for the night and went downtown to have dinner and catch up with her. How I miss this one!

The next morning, Parker and I caught a flight to Utah (courtesy of Mom, thanks Mom! Lifesaver!) so we didn't have to drive the remaining two days 8 months pregnant and put Parker through that again. Steve's mom and Lori picked us up from the airport, and we began our new life in Utah for the next three months! Here's to a mild winter, lots of Anderson bonding time, and of course the most exciting part, finally meeting baby girl!