Annual Ladies St. George Weekend

(I stole this from my friend, Bri's blog, so it's her voice, not mine. But one of Bri's many talents (we call her our conversationalist :-) is always saying the right thing in exactly the right way, and I couldn't say it better if I tried. All I can say is ditto and then some.)

The last weekend in February me, and some of my best ladies ran away to St. George. Since this was our fourth year going, and the first year all six of us were there at once (the most we've had at one time before is four), I think I can officially call the trip "annual".

People often ask what we do when we go down to St. George, and I usually answer "what ever we want." What I mean by that is, we do the things that as a mom you never have time to do, or if you do have the time you usually have little hands grabbing at you every second of it so you don't really enjoy it. We eat out, go to movies our husbands don't want to see, shop and actually try things on, and just enjoy each others company and the conversation that comes with it.

This year the weather was SO nice, and the scenery around the house is gorgeous so we added walking/running to our agenda. We also did a makeover on our sweet Jeannie, because she is ready to re-enter the world since her fourth baby just turned one. Jeannie has so much natural beauty that she has never had to bother much with all the girly stuff we all (for me it takes a village ;) have been doing since puberty. So giving her a new hair color, and a fresh coat of paint makes her look like a new woman, and she gets as excited as a tween with her first training bra! We love you Jeannie!

It really is as fun as it sounds, and I value you these friendships more than words can describe. These ladies are my home away from home.

Parx Is 1!!!

Well....my baby turned 1. And I am heartbroken! He is growing up too fast! Everything is so bitter sweet. When I was permanently getting rid of all the baby stuff (swing, bouncer, bumbo, etc., etc., etc.--babies have so much stuff!!!) I was thrilled. It's an entire closet empty! Not to mention having all of that stuff strewn all over my house. But then as I pack up his cute, little clothes, I am so sad! When I get to go away with my friends for a whole weekend without my kids, I am completely exhilarated by the freedom. But then the thought of not getting up in the middle of the night to snuggle and feed my baby ever again makes me want to cry. (Yes, I am crazy.) Poor Parx. At least with all of my other babies I had a new baby to replace them with, but Parx I'm afraid is going to have to stay a baby forever. I'm sorry to say that I now completely understand the "Youngest Child Syndrome," and it terrifies me. And I can guarantee it terrifies Rob.

Now it's time to show off Parx. He has been walking for a few months, and he is a maniac! He is into EVERYTHING. His favorite thing is to empty drawers and cupboards, and he is not completely satisfied until the entire thing is empty and the contents are all over the floor. And the garbage. It's another thing to empty to him. If it's where he can reach it for a second I'm in trouble.

Parx is also the biggest tease. He LOVES to take things he knows we need (phones, remotes, socks, books) and run off with them. He'll hold them out as if he's going to give them back and then hurry and snatch them away just as you're going to take it from him. Then he laughs and laughs. He does the same thing in the bathtub. He'll reach his arms out coaxing you to get him out, but as soon as you reach down and just about have him he jumps back down so you can't get him. He also loves to play peek-a-boo.

Parx is also a big talker. He jabbers and jabbers and there's always someone to jabber back at him in conversation. He copies our tone and voice inflections so well! He also LOVES music. When he hears any kind of beat he starts dancing away. It really is the cutest thing I've ever seen. If anything makes a special noise, like the goldfish rattling in the zippie, he goes to town shaking away and dancing. He even tries to sing along. Parx also has two bottom teeth. His big toothy smile is adorable!

For his birthday we did our traditional chocolate cake. Parx was hilarious. He went for it! He also had quite the cheering section encouraging him on. He thought he was pretty cool.

Well Parx, you truly are my sunshine, and I love you soooooooo much!