SURPRISE!!!

My friend Rachael,(who I have mentioned in previous blogs) just recently finished her treatments for breast cancer!! In honor of this awesome milestone, my friend Terri and I threw Rachael a Surprise party last weekend! We had a lot of help from Rachael's family and friends in order to pull of such a mega stunt! It was very hard to keep this a secret, but I am happy to report that Rachael was VERY surprised when she walked in the door to see a ton of her friends and family wearing pink and yelling "SURPRISE!" She has been so amazing throughout everything she has been through the past 8 months, and it was so great to be able to celebrate with her! I am attaching a few pictures below from the night!




Rachael, Carl and Evan walking through the front door..."SURPRISE!"





AGD Girls! Sarah, Anne, Terri, Rachael, Shelly, Emily, Jamie, Stacey, Shannon, Melanie!





Rachael's family had survivor shirts made for their family...so cute!






Carl, Rachael and Evan! What a cute little family :)

4th of July

As of a couple of weeks ago, we weren't sure we were going to be able to make it to the lake this year for the 4th of July. As most of you know by now, my mom and Anthony were both in the hospital at the same time (for totally seperate and unrelated issues). It was a crazy and scary time for the Collins and Yarbrough family, and we are glad to have it behind us! We made a last minute decision the week of July 4th that both of them were well enough to make it up to the lake to celebrate! It ended up being a WONDERFUL weekend and I am so glad we went! I think we all needed a fun and relaxing weekend!

We managed to keep Parker awake for the fireworks, which was a task all together. His normal bedtime is 7:30, pretty much on the dot. Well, the fireworks didn't even start until 9. He was asking to go night night before we left, but once we got him out on the boat he was a happy boy and didn't seem to mind that it was past his bedtime. He enjoyed the fireworks for about the 1st 10 minutes, ooh-ing and ahh-ing, and clapping and screaming "Yeah!" After about 10 minutes he decided it would be more fun to walk around the boat and do other things, totally ignoring the fireworks! All in all, he did such a good job for staying up until 10:00 at night!!! Parker loves playing in the Oasis Island (see pics below) b/c it is perfect for him to splash around in. He also still LOVES riding on the boat and helping PawPaw drive. We are so glad he loves being at the lakehouse as much as we all do!

Enjoy the pics below!!!




HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!!





Here are a few of the fam at the fireworks show...












Here are some pics of parker doing what he loves to do at the lake!

More swimming....

Here are some pictures of Parker swimming in the "big pool"

"Water, outside, pool, swim..."

"Water, outside, pool, swim, water, outside, pool, swim." That is what is what we hear every day from Parker. It turns out we have quite the little swimmer on our hands. Parker LOVES going to the pool in our neighborhood, and is getting more and more brave every time we go. He was insisting that he swim by himself without assistance from anyone, so I decided it was time to try the little arm floaties. I was a little hesitant that he would be too young for them, but they worked great! He can now swim (short distances of course) around the pool without me holding him. He also loves to jump into the water by himself...over, and over and over! If I try and help him do anything these days he tells me "No, Karker do it." (He pronoucnes his name Karker instead of Parker).

One funny pool story. We were at the pool with my friend Mindy and her little boy Jake. All of the sudden Parker started pointing and saying "Fish, Fish." I looked over and the lifegaurd had a bag of goldfish crackers sitting next to his chair. I told Parker that those were not his fish, and we proceeded to swim. A few minutes later Parker got out of the pool, and I just assumed he was going to the side to jump in. Well, I was wrong. He grabbed the lifeguards goldfish and took off running! I had to jump out of the pool to chase him and the fish down. Luckily the lifeguard was just laughing and said "He can have some if he wants." We gave the lifeguard back his fish, and luckily Mindy had some fish with her that Parker could eat :)

The pictures below are from the little pool in our backyard. I keep forgetting to take my camera to the big pool to take pictures of him swimming in his floaties, but once I remember I will post those. He loves playing in the pool in the backyard b/c it is the perfect size for him to splash around and just act crazy! Oh- and one more thing. As you can tell from the last picture, he DOES NOT like any type of sprinklers. We have tried and tried, but he just cries everytime we turn them on and says "No, No, off, off." The only thing we can figure is that he does not like having the water in his face like that? Then again, he will jump into the pool and go under, so who knows!?!?! All I know is the he wakes up asking for "water, outside, pool, swim," and he goes to bed asking for "water, outside, pool, swim!"

Cupcakes

Here are some pictures of Parker making cupcakes. He had so much fun mixing them up and scooping them into the tins. He was not very happy when I had to take them away to put them in the oven, but once he realized he got to eat them afterwards he was OK with it :)

Sleepy boy....

So, one night I gave Parker a bath a little earlier than usual. (He was extra messy!) I got him all ready for bed in his PJ's, but since it was only 7:00 I decided it was a little too early for bed. So, I let him play in the playroom for a little bit so that I could fold some laundry. I was not even gone 10 minutes when I realized that things seemed a little too quiet in there. I was certain that he was up to trouble. So, I snuck around the corner to try and catch him in the act and when I got to him he was totally passed out on the playroom bed! At first I couldn't see his eyes, so I thought he was just laying there. Once I realized that he was asleep I ran to grab the camera to capture the moment. After snapping a few pictures, I just went ahead and picked him up and put him in bed. He did not even open his eyes, and went straight to bed for the rest of the night! It is just really funny b/c he does not sleep anywhere other than his crib. He never falls asleep in the car, on the couch, etc. I guess he had had a pretty big day for a 2 year old and just couldn't stay awake any longer!!! We have already painted Parker's room and are in the process of making it into a "Big Boy Room." We plan on making the transition to the big boy bed soon, and I am hoping he falls asleep as good in that as he did that night in the playroom!

Gatlinburg Getaway

I am a little behind in getting this posted, but things have been a little chaotic around here lately. For those of you that do not know, Anthony started a new job 3 weeks ago!!! This is an awesome opportunity for him, and he is so excited to start this new chapter in his career. He has been in WI for training the past 3 weeks, which means Parker and I have been here by ourselves! Luckily, Anthony has been able to come home for brief weekend visits, which I am SO thankful for. Next week is his last week in WI, and we will be SO glad to have him back home for good after that. We have both missed him so much!

Anthony, Parker, my mom, dad and I decided to take a last minute road trip to Gatlinburg to get away for a few days back in mid April. We wanted to do this before Anthony started his new job, and before my mom started her radiation treatment. We had an AWESOME time! We stayed at a resort that had an indoor water park right there, and we took advantage of going there 2 different days. It did not take Parker long to warm up to it at all, and he had an absolute blast! He loved going down the toddler slides, and loved floating with us on the lazy river! We also did several "touristy" things, went out to eat, etc. I have to say, Parker did amazing throughout the whole trip. He did great in the car, he slept and ate good while we were there, was in a great mood, and he even did good at all of the restaurants! He also loved being able to spend some extra time with Grammy and PawPaw, and run back and forth from our room to theirs! All in all, it was a really great little Gatlinburg Getaway!!!

Please continue to keep my mom in your thoughts and prayers as well. She goes into the hospital on Monday for her radioactive iodine treatment, and will be there in total isolation (no visitors allowed) for around 3 days. After she gets home from the hosptial, she will not be allowed to see me, Anthony or Parker for at least 7 more days. Please pray that everything goes well with her treatment, and that she recovers fast!

ENJOY THE PICS!