Resolution Check in

Recently, the Parrotts took stock of new year's resolutions made for 2013.  Here is how it is looking.

Resolution 1: Travel more.

We are going to go ahead and check this one off the list.  Anderson is raring to go and we are super excited about our upcoming travels this Summer!  We plan to visit a water park in Pennsylvania as well as the Omodt family in Kansas City!

Resolution 2: Learn to play an instrument.

Check. Check.  He may not make any money from it, but he is learning!

Resolution 3: Improve manners, especially while eating.

OK...admittedly we need to work on this one a bit.  But, that kid in the mirror was MUCH messier than Anderson.  He swears it!  Also, we may need to re-evaluate his role models, as Cookie Monster could also use some lessons in etiquette.

Resolution 4: Give more hugs.

Check and check...people and toys.  Hugs all around!

Resolution 5: Make time to dance and enjoy the music of others.

Well, we have been dancing quite a bit and enjoying music of all kinds.  I am not sure, however, that our skills are improving.  Luckily, improvement was not on the resolution list.  Anderson definitely dances like his dad.

Resolution 6: Make time to have a drink with friends.

We can always make time for friends!  They mean the world to us!  Anderson has a real affinity for his furry friends, but talks about his daycare friends all the time.  We are so thankful for Crestwood Childcare and Learning Center!

Resolution 7: Learn to drive.

 

Well, this one may take some time.  Anderson surprised his Great Grammy by shifting her cart into reverse at Sam's.  Grammy recovered well and Anderson had the time of his life.  He also climbed into the kayak on his own and was excited about the idea of being in a boat.

Resolution 8: Try new things, take risks, take a flying leap out of the comfort zone

Anderson recently started requesting bubble baths.  Therefore, I am counting it as something new (really, I just LOVE this picture).  He is also working on walking in other people's shoes and meeting new people/bovine.  Finally, he is working on his repeating skills as well as his stamina in saying the alphabet.  After K, it got a bit ugly.  Ha!  I am going to call this one "resolved."

Resolution 9: Build and create new things.

Anderson worked with his dad to build a tower at the Louisville Science Center.  They got it pretty high until Richard knocked it over.

Resolution 10: Cheer on the CARDS at as many games as possible!

We are working on this one with the help of Susan and Elgin as well as Anderson's Grammy and Granddaddy.  Anderson loves the live action games and enjoys the atmosphere.  He mostly loves finding, and tweeting at the Cardinal bird.

The hills are, in fact, alive!

After the last snow of 2012, The Parrotts packed the cold weather gear and headed out to Anderson's Grammy and Granddaddy's house!  The snow was beautiful and just deep enough to make getting the sled out of the garage worthwhile.  Anderson set out on his first sledding adventure with his Granddaddy to the hill in their backyard.  Anderson rode in the sled on the way to the hill to get used to it and, as he kicked back, he scooped up the snow into his hand for an icy cold beverage.

Once they got to the hill, they stared danger right in the eyes and took off!

Needless to say, Anderson loved it and thought he might go down a couple more times.  They ended up having to choose another part of the hill because of how many times they went down.  (At this point, I feel it necessary to thank Anderson's Granddaddy for being a very good sport).

As you can see, not only was Anderson's Granddaddy a very good sport, but also a life-saver!  It was a great time and we cannot wait for more sledding opportunities!

Christmas 2012

Well, another Christmas has come and gone and we are constantly amazed at how very blessed we are! We started out our festivities with a dinner with Grandpa Ed and Ellen in mid-December. Janice, Lily, and Matt were there as well to spend time with us.  Ellen made her amazing fudge and everyone seemed to enjoy the dinner, the company, and the gifts!

Our next celebration was on Christmas Eve.  We started at Grandma Garrett's house where we got to eat and swap gifts with the Garretts.  We noticed that Anderson was not super interested in the actual opening of presents, but was very interested in all the toys that were suddenly available to play with!  He also very much enjoyed the time with our family!  After everyone left, Anderson, in rare form, stole a hunk of chocolate fudge out of the container and took a huge bite out of it.  This all happened very quickly, and I took it away afterwards, but he was a big fan of the fudge!

After a quick nap, we headed to Great Grammy's house to do Christmas with the Andersons (the family).  Anderson got to hand out the gifts (because he is the youngest, of course) and took some breaks in between to eat and play with his new toys!

The next morning, we had Christmas morning at our house!  Anderson got a new wagon and a new Elmo sweatshirt!  He wanted to ride in the wagon "with Elmo".  He is so funny!  He also got some new shoes that he was more excited about than I anticipated.

We headed to do Christmas morning at Grammy and Granddaddy's house!  Each year, the grandkids have to wear something funny and get a picture before they can open presents.  This year, it was mustaches and this year, Grammy and Granddaddy got a taste of their own medicine!

Okay...so Richard and I may have tried them out too!  Don't judge, they were fun!

We then opened gifts and Anderson may have had a little too much fun.  This does not give me hope for future driving tests...I guess we have some time to work on it.

He was quite entertaining and was easily entertained.  We had a great morning with lots of laughs!

After that, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate!  We had a great time there as well and Anderson was taken with his new train set.

We got to celebrate with Uncle Chris and Aunt Marilyn!

We also celebrated with Uncle Matt, Aunt Janice, and Lily!

Grandma and Grandpa celebrated with us and watched had pizza fixings so we could all create our own pizzas.
After some serious napping, we went to Aunt Phyllis' house to finish out our holiday!  Anderson very much enjoyed the inflatable Spongebob they had at their house and continuously honked his nose!

We had a fantastic Christmas!  Anderson was at a fun age for it as he was excited and surprised by everything!  I am continually thankful that I get to be his mom and watch, and be a part of, every step!

Christmas Preparations

Now, everybody knows that Christmas takes some major preparation...you can't just jump into the deep end of the season and expect to float.  You have to ease your way in through various activities and events.  We were very prepared this year as we slowly eased ourselves into Christmas 2012.

We started with the Westport Road Church of Christ Christmas celebration.  It was a breakfast with Santa and Anderson was very interested in both the breakfast and in the big man himself.  We went with NayNay and had a great time!  Anderson was very taken with his NayNay all the decorations!

He was also very taken with the jolly man himself!  He watched for a long time and by our turn, he willingly walked up to Santa without a whimper or hesitation.

We also took a photo opportunity with NayNay, Anderson, and myself to commemorate the day!

Our next preparation was to go to Build a Bear and create a Christmassy toy.  We chose the Grinch.  When you click his right arm, you hear Anderson say, "Ho Ho Ho!" and when you click his left arm, his heart lights up to grow 3 sizes.  So cute!  It was a fun experience that we will definitely do again!

Then, we did what every prepared Christmas enjoyer would do...we made a gingerbread house!  Anderson's Grammy and Granddaddy were nice enough to lend us their kitchen table.  Anderson was skeptical at first, but after he tasted it, he was on board!

There was, of course, our trip to New York that we used as a Christmas preparation (What?! We did some Christmas shopping there!  It counts!).

Well, as you can imagine, we were very prepared once Christmas came around!