The results are in....

The month of March has come and gone...I am here to report that Joel was successful in not eating sweets for the entire month! It was a struggle at first, but I actually think the cravings lessened throughout the month, and it was easier by the end. He ended up losing 10 lbs as well!  I think that might say a lot about how many sweets he consumes on a normal basis! So the question is...will he continue to not eat sweets or eat less sweets now?! I think he would like to say that he will eat less, but I have already seen him in action again consuming what I think is a lot of sweets...he thinks he is eating less though! I think we differ on what is a lot! Anyways....nice work babe! You rock and you looked hot in Florida!  Love you.

Hanging around 10365...

The weeks leading up to Spring Break were busy with packing, preparing and planning, but we were still able to have some fun too!

Snuggling...

Playing with balls...

Enjoying the plush grass and nice weather...

Getting squeaky clean...

And we are ready for Florida!  Destin here we come!

The mullet was on it's way...

...so we went and got a haircut!  Kristen Keen fit us in before we left for Spring Break so Parks could be looking stylish for our vacation.  The day before the haircut I was looking at my baby, though, and he looked so adorable that I didn't want to get his haircut any more! I was afraid it would make him look too old!  I was right too...all of the red tinted baby hair is gone and Parks is all blonde and looks like a little boy now!  He is still adorable though!

The beginning of the haircut started out a bit rocky with a few tears shed, but then Charlee started entertaining Parker, and the rest went great! 

I am taking over this blog...

Hello people!  Since this blog is mostly about me I wanted a turn telling you what I have been doing lately...I have ideas too, you know!  In case you haven't already heard I am becoming quite the big boy lately!  This week I figured out how those Sippy cup things work!  I now can drink on my own...it is so nice now that I don't have to wait for mommy to help me.  It is a fun toy to play with too!  Mommy always tries to take it away from me and make me eat...I don't give it up easily.  I make her pry my fingers off before I will give it up!

It has been so sunny and warm outside and all of this nice weather has brought the daycare kids across the street outside to play.  I spend a lot of my afternoon at the front door watching them play with balls.  I wish that I could go play with them...maybe when I can walk they will let me play.

Mommy's friend, Miss Jodie, bought me this awesome walker toy for an early birthday present!  I don't even know what a birthday is, but I think I am going to like it!  This has become my favorite toy to play with.  I love walking around the house behind it, but there are too many walls in my way and I get stuck a lot.  Luckily mommy likes to help me get free and back to walking.  Thanks Miss Jodie!  I promise I will share with Tyler when he comes over to play!

I have to apologize for my mommy because she gets a little crazy with taking pictures of me.  I think I remember her taking pictures of me playing with the curtain and in the bars before, but the other day there she goes again!  She always laughs at me and says how cute I am and how much she loves me!  I guess I can't complain because I feel loved.  I am sure my future wife will appreciate the huge picture selection to choose from for our wedding slide show some day!

Well, that's about it...I am only 11 months, ya know!  I don't do anything too entertaining yet!  Just you wait though...I am getting good on my feet, and I think maybe in the next few months I just might let go of that Train Table and see if I can walk on my own!  Stay tuned!

Green ladder...

Last weekend after the parade we wandered through an antique store downtown Holland, and I saw the cutest little green ladder ever! I immediately envisioned the picture I would take with Parker by the ladder. I didn't want to make a rash decision so I slept on the purchase for a few night's, and then went back to the store and snagged it up! I was so glad I did when the little tree in front of our house bloomed the next day! Parker wasn't really in the mood to take pictures, but with Joel's help I was able to get one good one!

We are actually communicating...

Today Parker and I had a HUGE and MONUMENTAL breakthrough in our relationship!  We actually semi-communicated with each other for the first time...actually it happened twice in the same day!  Prior to today we could say simple things like "Clap your hands" or "Give mommy a kiss" and he would do it, but today I was sitting by the couch, and I told Parker to go get a book for me to read to him and he crawled over to the bookshelf, grabbed a book and pushed it across the floor until he got to me!  I cheered wildly and hugged and kissed him a million times!  He definitely knew I was excited and flailed his arms all over and made funny noises!  Then later on the same day he was sitting on my lap and pointed to the TV and made a noise.  I turned the TV on and after I did he had a smile on his face and started clapping as if to say "That is what I wanted!".  Wow!  So much fun!  I can't wait to have more "communication" with Parker soon!

The nicest St. Patty's day ever...

This weekend was beyond words...Joel and I felt like we came out of hibernation this weekend!  Saturday, which happened to be St. Patrick's day was the best day ever, and gave us a taste of the summer to come!  At the end of the day we couldn't believe all we had done...slept in (well that was just me...thanks Joel!), went to the St. Patrick's day parade, went for a run, washed and vacuumed our cars, went for a bike ride, went to the park, cleaned and organized the garage, and watch plenty of March Madness basketball!  We normally don't accomplish that much in a whole month!  We are keeping our fingers crossed that this beautiful weather sticks around until summer comes!  Parker is loving spending so much time outdoors...we are realizing though that this might be a dirty summer with lots of dirt consumed by Parker!

Big stuff...

Parker is big stuff now! He is exploring everything, and becoming so confident with pulling himself up on stuff and maneuvering around. I love playing with him so much, but it is almost equally as fun to just sit back and watch him learn new things on his own. He literally can play for almost an hour on his own. Most days he follows me around the house and then finds something to play with in whatever room I stop in. My baby is no longer a baby!

This month we bought a Train Table off of Craig's List for Parker...not necessarily to use for trains right now, but to have something for him to pull himself up on and walk along.  He loves standing up along side of it and pushing blocks around or playing with his barn.

Parker has always loved playing with household items...wooden spoons, recycling bin, shoes, etc.  He now has moved on to bigger and better household items...

Playing with the DVD player...

Crawling through the bars under the table...

Trying to figure out the cable box and how the wires work!  Do you see all of the toys around him that he passed up to get to the cable box?!?

As Parks approaches 11 months, we continue to love this new stage he is in.  Some of his new milestones...

It is now evident that he is understanding things we say to him.
He is much more aware of his surroundings.
He is now solely eating solid foods.
He has moved up to the next car seat and is almost ready to be front facing.
He babbles non-stop...many times we thought he was saying "daddy"!
His new favorite game is to put out his arms for one person to hold him, and once that person is holding him he leans back to go to the person who was just holding him!
He is becoming more aware of the TV and appears to like watching sports.  

The funny for the month was one time when Parker was leaning over to give me a kiss with his signature open mouth kiss, and then right before making contact he pulled back and started shaking his head "no"!  Joel and I had a good laugh over that!

It's March Madness, baby!....

Well, well, well...March is upon us, and that can only mean one thing...March Madness!  Joel anxiously awaits the month of March all year long.  What does March Madness mean you ask?!  Well, in our house it means that Joel researches every college basketball team in the bracket, carefully completes a few brackets, selects the "winning" bracket, writes out several note cards with team information on them that end up strewn throughout the house,  Joel's calendar has EVERY game and time written in it, we watch basketball all day every day on the weekends and several other games on week days, and it most importantly means that our annual bracket competition takes place.  I have won the past two years!  I think Joel still owes me the dinner I won from last year!  What will happen this year?  No one knows.  There will for surely be some upsets, a Cinderella team and a lot of nail-biter endings!  We can't wait!  Most importantly we are excited to cheer on Michigan State!  I have them going to the final game so I hope they pull through for me!

Spring has sprung...

...and it is only March 14th!  Today we experienced pure bliss in what is supposed to be Winter here in Michigan.  It was 77 degrees with a sunny and pure blue sky!  I had to work so it wasn't quite as great as it could have been if it was a Saturday, but apparently this weather is going to be sticking around for a bit!  No complaints at the Nagelkirk residence!

After getting home from work tonight we laid a blanket out in the backyard and let Parker experience the great outdoors...his first time crawling through the grass.  At first he just sat there not quite what to do, but he eventually started crawling around and exploring his new playground!  I am foreseeing problems this summer with Parker eating sticks, dirt, leaves, wood chips and plants!  I told Joel to be on the safe side we might not be able to put fertilizer on the lawn this summer..for anyone that knows Joel that is a BIG deal!

You're being one of those moms...

The other day I was on the phone with Joel reviewing how the exchange of Parker from one person's house to another was going to go later in the day. As I rambled on instructions of what to tell the daycare lady Joel stops me and says, "You are being one of those moms"...nothing else needed to be said. I knew EXACTLY what he was saying. Translation...you are being too particular, telling me things I already know, everything is going to be fine so stop freaking out!

After I hung up with him I was thinking to myself, "How did I become this person?!".  I have always prided myself on being laid back, rolling with the punches, not particular about hardly anything, disorganized, etc.  What happened?!  How did a little baby change all of this!  Now I find myself over-explaining things to my husband that he already knows. Trust me, Joel is not one of those guys who has no clue what is going on either. He is so fabulous with Parker, and when I am gone I never worry if Parker is having a blast or being loved on extensively! 

I just think there is something about this gift from God that flipped a switch in me, and made me care about things more deeply than I ever have.  I just love Parker so much and want him to be safe, cry as few tears as possible and laugh as often as possible!  So...I guess the worrying and over-explanation (is that a word?!) of things will continue as my love for him grows more...hope Joel likes the new me! 

Welcome Connor Preston...

Dan and Amanda welcomed Connor Preston Nagelkirk on March 1st...he just missed Leap Year!  He is such a little honey and is such a fantastic baby...eating and sleeping great!  The consensus is that Connor resembles Riley when he was a baby.

Joel and I are excited for Dan and Amanda, but with the birth of Connor we see our chances of having a girl some day dwindling away...the Nagelkirk men are on a dry spell for having girls...Kim was the last Nagelkirk girl to be born 37 years ago!