Cookies!!

Last night all of the pilots' wives got together and had a cookie exchange. I had heard about these before, but had never done it myself. Everyone makes some cookies and brings them, and then gets a few of each kind of cookie that is brought. I made peanut butter cookies and snickerdoodles, but the snickerdoodles had a few twists. I decided to color them red and green, and then mixed in some Christmas sprinkles to make them extra festive! I also only rolled them in sugar, and left the cinnamon out. They turned out pretty good.



I ended up making 8 dozen cookies! I had a lot of fun doing it, and remembered just how much I love to bake. I came home from the cookie exchange with two plates full of different kinds of yummy cookies! It was a really fun evening, I think I'm going to have to do a few more sit-ups though!

Continued...

I got distracted yesterday and didn't get to finish my post, so I will finish now. Unlike Saturday and Sunday, Friday wasn't such a good day for Parker. First, he fell off of our bed when mommy left the room for a few seconds:( He scraped his nose on something on the way down.

Here are his battle wounds.



Later that day we went grocery shopping at Wal-mart. There was a little girl there who was playing with Parker a little bit, and Parker reached for her hair while they were playing. I reached for his hands to stop him, but jabbed him in the side of the head with my long nails instead, making him bleed:( For those of you who haven't seen Parker's sad face, it is SO sad--he sticks out his bottom lip just before the tears come, and his eyes are like little sad puppy-dog eyes. Anyways he gave me this look and then started crying, which made me feel worse than I already did. I felt like a horrible mom that day, but luckily Parker is a tough little guy, and should recover from his injuries pretty quickly!

Santa!!

I was looking through some of my recent pictures, and realized that I have a lot to write about today, and I think they are all about Parker! That is all I ever seem to post about, but he is my life right now, so I hope you don't get bored with all of the Parker news!

Parker got to meet Santa Saturday night at our Ward Christmas party. He did really well, and was all smiles on Santa's lap, although he did try to eat Santa's coat as you will see in the small clip.

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Here are a couple of pictures of Parker with Santa.

I love this picture of Parker eying Santa's beard. I can imagine him thinking "I wonder if that thing is real...I'd better pull on it just to make sure", which he did, and it WAS real!! Poor Santa:)


Parker also experienced his very first lollipop on Sunday afternoon. He LOVED it, and of course managed to get extremely sticky(like I expected anything different!) Don't worry, we aren't planning to give him candy very often, he just really wanted to try my sucker, so we decided every once in awhile wouldn't hurt too bad!!

Gettin' Around

Parker isn't crawling yet, but he has been getting around a lot lately. He has figured out how to pull himself forward with his arms(while on his tummy), and push himself backward with his feet(when he's on his back). Today he was playing in the living room while I was folding laundry in my room. When I went out to check on him, he wasn't on his blanket where I'd left him. I found him laying under the piano bench with his lion friend!



Here's a little clip of him sliding on his back. Once I got the camera out he got excited and stopped sliding as much.

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Here are a couple other cute pictures.

I Love To See the Temple

Since the beginning of our relationship, Travis and I have tried to make temple attendance a big priority. We would go do baptisms for the dead twice a week at the Salt Lake Temple between my classes while we were dating.(I attended the LDS Business College which is just 4 blocks from Temple Square) We were also sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, and would go do a session or sealings every week or every other week. It was, and is, very important to us, and strengthens our relationship when we keep it a priority.

When we moved to Florida, I was excited that there was a temple two hours away, but knew that we would have to work much harder to make it there regularly. Between the long hours Travis was putting in at work, having a baby, and tight finances, we didn't make it to the temple at all our whole first year in Florida:(

But on December 1, we finally made the trip to Orlando to go to the temple. It was an amazing day. We went down for our friends, Sam & Daisy Commander's, sealing. It was such a beautiful ceremony, one that I will always remember. When their daughter, Romy, came into the room to be sealed to her parents, I was overwhelmed with the spirit, and with gratitude for my own eternal family. I had never experienced a sealing with a child before, it made me want to have Parker there with Travis and I.

After the sealing, we stayed to do a session, which was like the cherry on top of a wonderful day. I didn't realize how much I had missed going to the temple on a regular basis, until I went and remembered what I'd been missing. It was a long and wonderful day. We left Parker with a family friend for the whole day! It was the longest that I'd been away from him ever, and I missed him so much! Thank goodness that we have the Gospel and are sealed to each other.

Here are a few pictures in front of the temple.

Travis & I in front of the Orlando Temple.



In front of the fountain.



Travis being a goof.

Us being happy!

My Hansom Little Man

A couple weeks ago I had a little photo shoot with Parker. I decided to take some baby portraits of him myself to save on money, and must say that I think I got some pretty cute shots. What do you think?


I Love this one. He's definitely got Travis' long tongue!!







I Love this one too.

About Me

Awhile back my friend Krystal posted six things about herself on her blog and challenged her readers to do the same, so here it goes. Here are a few things you may not know about me.

1. I love order and routine. Not to say that that is how my life always is, but when things are in order, and I have a working routine going, then I am much happier. I try really hard to keep my house in order, and strive to have "a place for everything and everything in its place." At the end of the day I like to kind of reflect on my day, and what I did, so that the next day, I can improve.

2. I am and addict. When I find something that I love, I become addicted to it until something else replaces it. For instance, a good book--if I get into it, I can't put it down, and end up spending all of my time reading(which is why my house isn't always orderly like I like it to be:) This is the case with reading, digital scrapbooking, craigslist(bad, I know!), and the list goes on.

3. I love fruit smoothies!! They are one of my favorite desserts.

4. I hate confrontation. I keep quiet, and don't share my true opinion a lot of times because I don't want to be confronted about it. In some cases this is a good quality, but at other times I wish that I could force myself to open my mouth. FEAR holds me back a lot of times, which I really hate, but haven't figured out how to overcome.

5. I love to play the piano and really want to improve my skills so that I can share my talent with others. Music inspires me, and I long to be good enough to inspire others through music as well.

6. I love color. Painting a wall excites me, and I really feel like a little paint can change the whole feel of a room. I love the colors of nature, and love to be surrounded by God's creations enjoying the beauty of them.

There they are--six things about myself. I hope that you learned something new about me, and weren't bored. Now it's your turn, so that I can learn about you too!

Parker's First......

....Tooth!!

Yeah Parker has a tooth. Parker's first tooth popped through on Saturday, which has been a miserable experience for ALL of us! I have been keeping him pumped full of baby Tylenol which does seem to help. We've had several long nights and cranky days, but it's been alright. I just feel so bad for him when he is in pain, so I can't get too upset about my lack of sleep:) It's kind of hard to see it in these pictures, but it's in there, I promise!!



....Solids!!

On Monday Parker had his first taste of real food!! He got to try peas, and actually liked them, once he figured out how to swallow:) He gagged and choked on the first couple of bites, but once he got the swallowing down, he did great. We'll give him peas for a few days and then let him try something else. Next on the list is green beans--yum yum!!


....Halloween!!

Parker dressed up as a cute dinosaur for our Ward Halloween party. He looked so cute!! Travis dressed up as a werewolf, and I went as a black cat. We were pleasantly surprised that he wasn't scared of everyone in costume. He didn't even mind Travis' werewolf mask. We had a lot of fun at the party, but Travis was exhausted from all the work he did on the Haunted House. The young men are always in charge of putting the haunted house together, so Travis had to make sure everything got done. It turned out great, and he did enjoy it.


....Pumpkin Carving!!

For Family Home Evening this week we carved pumpkins. It was funny to watch Parker discover the new texture of the slime inside the pumpkin. It kept him quite entertained while daddy carved a face in his pumpkin. Notice his pumpkin only has one tooth--Just like Parker-Boy!!

Video

Last night Parker got to stay home and hang with dad while I went to work (a common thing for the past couple weeks). He discovered how to use his outside voice while I was gone. Of course Travis, being the proud daddy that he is, caught it on video so that we can all enjoy it together!! I'm sure it won't be long before the whole ward gets to enjoy it in the middle of the meeting! I will apologize ahead of time for those of you who will be affected.

Parker Learns How to Use His Outside Voice!

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Parker

I figured that I better add some new pictures of Parker(mainly for grandma!) since it has been awhile since I have posted any.

Parker tried for awhile to get his toes into his mouth. He succeeded! Now he has mastered the art of toe sucking:) YEAH!!


Here is Parker sitting up by himself--he lasted about 30 seconds before he flopped over:)


Here we are going for a walk on the beach a couple weeks ago. (I LOVE this picture!)


Here is one of the whole fam at the beach on that same day.

Our New Home!!

Yeah! We are FINALLY unpacked and settled in our new house. We have been working really hard to get our house feeling like a home, and now it does! Last night we had Travis' boss and his family over for dinner, so Yesterday was our deadline for getting the house in order. We had a really long week, and worked ourselves to death, but now it's done and we are enjoying it all the more. I thought that I'd post a few pictures of the house now that it is Ours!

Here's the living room. We put in a new laminate wood floor, and new baseboards.(Well when I say "we" I mostly mean Travis!) The baby on the floor is also something new we added to the house! I personally think he is a great addition:)


The view down the hall and into the kitchen from the living room.


The dining area and our lovely table!


Our kitchen--one of the selling points when we were looking into buying this house.


Well it's not letting me add anymore pictures, but if you want to see the rest of the house feel free to come visit, and I'll give you a full tour!!

...Then Comes the Baby in the Baby Carriage!!

I have wanted to be a mom since I can remember, and was one of those girls who was ready to have a baby as soon as we were married. I guess that the Lord didn't think that I was ready that soon. We tried to get pregnant with no success for a year (not too long compared to other people) which seemed like forever to me. Finally at the beginning of May 2006 I found out that I was pregnant, but ended up having a miscarriage just a couple weeks later. It was a really trying time for me, but luckily I didn't have to wait long before I found out that I was pregnant again. I found out at the end of July 2006 that I was pregnant with Parker.

I had a fairly easy pregnancy, and then gave birth on April 18, 2007. Parker David Brown was born after 34 hours of labor(resulting in a cone headed baby, and one tired mommy!) He has been such a blessing, and has really made us a family. I LOVE everything about being a mother--for the most part:) I love when Parker cuddles up to me, and when he laughs. I also love being able to comfort him, and stop his crying by just holding him in my arms. Being a mother is also very challenging, but in the end, the rewards out weigh the challenges. I Love You Parker!

...Then Comes Marriage...

We have been married for 2 1/2 years and counting! And they have been 2 1/2 REALLY great years. Everyone always told us that the first year of marriage was the hardest, and in some ways it was, but overall our first year was wonderful. Of course we had to both get used to living with another person, and overcoming differences. But we have both been willing to compromise on things, and figured out pretty quickly that some things you just can't change, so you just have to accept that.

Travis and I were both going to school and working during our first year of marriage, which was kind of difficult because we didn't get to see each other very often (I'm realizing that sometimes that is just how life is!!) Travis was in his second year of helicopter training, and making trips from West Jordan to Provo 3-5 times a week, and then working the night shift at UPS. He finally finished his training in October 2006 and got a job as a CFI(here in Jacksonville) in December.

I was finishing up my first year of school at the LDS Business College when we were married. I was also working at a dry cleaners, and then at a middle school in the cafeteria(I've had my fair share of jobs!) I graduated in June 2006 with an Associates degree in interior design. After I graduated I was just ready to be a mom!

First Comes Love...

Travis and I met country dancing at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City through mutual friends. I was going to the LDS Business College, and my roommate at the time went country dancing every Tues. and Thurs. She talked me into going with her one night, and introduced me to a group of guys that she met(Travis' bunch of friends!)

Travis and I became friends quickly, and then a few weeks later started dating! We had lots of fun together while we were dating: going country dancing, hiking, to the movies, on a road trip to Washington, and just spending quality time together. In the midst of all of our fun, we fell in Love. I knew that Travis was the man I'd marry about a month into our relationship(I didn't tell him this until later of course:) Sure enough, eight months later Travis proposed!

The things I loved the most about Travis at the time were his sense of humor, his fun-loving attitude about life, his respect for women, and the way he could make me feel like a princess by just looking at me, and of course his good looks!! In the 3 1/2 years that I've known him, my love for him has grown a ton, and those things that made me fall in love with him in the beginning are the root of my love for him today. I Love You Travis!

In the Beginning.....

I got out our wedding photos / videos tonight, and decided to do a tribute to Travis & Mariah (like my friend Noel did a few months ago). I guess that I will start at the beginning--Our Wedding!! We were married in the Salt Lake Temple on March 12, 2005, almost exactly 1 year after we started dating! It was such an amazing day.
We got married at 7:00 a.m. because we actually moved our wedding day up from May to March, and the only times available in the temple were 7 a.m., and 5:30 p.m. We had to be at the temple at 5:45 a.m. so I woke up at 3 a.m.(ugh) It was a very early morning, but on cloud nine anyways!!

Travis & I wanted to have a FUN wedding reception, and one that our guests would actually enjoy, so we decided to have a Luau themed reception. (We also didn't have much of a budget, so this was perfect) We decorated the gym of a local church building with bright colors, grass skirts, palm trees--fake of course since we were in Utah!, sea shells, etc. We also had a dj who played Hawaiian music, leis for all the guests, and hula dancers who performed. It turned out to be a really fun atmosphere, and all of our guests had a blast right along with us!