We Are In!

Just had to share a quick bit of news!  I just got the phone call to schedule Parker's team evaluation with the Alexander Center.  I am excited and nervous all at the same time!  It is just 2 weeks away!  Whew, it feels good to be at this place.

Also - We had a family photo shoot on Saturday with the wonderful Daisy of DaisyJane Photography and should have some photos to share in the next couple weeks.  I got a little sneak peek yesterday and am SO excited to see the rest!  Parker walked into the river (supervised, of course.)  Such a silly dude!

Hope you all have a fabulous day!

The Frolics!

Our city celebration was this last weekend!  Here is how last year went down!  I can't believe how little Parker was.  They had fireworks on Friday and Saturday nights this year, but no "real" parade, which was a bummer.

Our favorite event is always the West Metro Fire Waffle Breakfast!  All you can eat waffles, just $7!  Parker wasn't interested in eating them last year, but that has changed.  Breakfast is his favorite meal of the day!  He plowed half a waffle and two sausages.  Like father, like son.

Jimmy must have had something on his shoe... 

Parker was stubborn about his nap and didn't go down until 4 so his schedule was a bit wonky on Saturday.  Since he wasn't going to bed at 8 like normal, we headed to the carnival to watch a little softball and see the lights of the rides.  Parker liked the Ferris wheel.

 There was a "pathway" parade on Sunday, but it wasn't too much to scream about.  There was a small band....

 An EMS vehicle...

 And a handful of local businesses handing out flyers.  Parker (Jimmy) got some candy too!

Lastly, it's not a carnival without a little fair food!  We opted for mini donuts (Jimmy was a little light on the sugar!)  Parker loved them!

Trifecta of Weekend Fun!

We had a crazy fun weekend!

A high school friend that lives out east was back in town.  So, 5 of the gals got together for a campfire at my house on Friday.  We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and had fun chatting and catching up.  We try to get together as much as possible, but it get harder with people living far away, getting married and having kids.  Even after months (and sometimes years) it feels just as comfortable as it was in high school.  I feel blessed to still have these ladies in my life!

Leah and lovely Sage!

Chelsey and Dani

Stacy, Dani, Me, Chelsey, Leah

I had a family baby shower on Saturday evening so I spent the morning frantically sewing to finish her gifts!  I made a bath apron and basic burp cloth (called a Burp-Me in the Herrmann family!)  I plan on doing tutorials at some point!

Mom-to-be Lacey is having a boy (hopefully on my birthday!)  She has a sports themed nursery and I went a little overboard!  I made a baseball fleece tie blanket along with my other projects.

 Her mother-in-law got her this super cute kids rocker!  Parker may need to get one!

 We played the clothes pin game, which I dominated since my friend Katie wasn't there!

 Dinner was delicious as well (the Herrmann clan always has great food!)  Can't wait for baby boy to arrive!

Sunday afternoon we went to the Minnesota Zoo with my parents.  We don't get down there much because it is farther (and more expensive) than Como Zoo.  They have so many animals and it is much more spread out!  The down side is that you don't always get to see the animals because there are more places for them to hide.

 Parker LOVED the prairie dogs.  He kept giggling at them.

 The bears were one of the only other animals that he stopped to look at as well!

As we were leaving Parker started to chase his shadow!  I tried to get video, but he didn't do it again.  These pictures don't do it justice, but it was super cute!

Top: trying to step on it
Bottom: trying to catch it

For dinner, we went to Galaxy Drive-In.  It was a fun little place!  We were crammed in our car so we opted to eat at a picnic table.  The food was wonderful!  I had a chili dog and the onion rings were amazing!

 This is what summer is all about!

6 Weeks

It has been 6 weeks since Parker's initial consultation with the child development center. 6 weeks since we found out that he should have a team evaluation done.  6 weeks since he was official diagnosed as "developmental delayed."  I cried a lot that first day.  Scared, worried, uncertain.  It took 6 weeks to have a (major) breakdown.

It started with THIS amazing blog I have been reading for the last several weeks.  My pastor tweeted the link to it and I have been hooked ever since.  Isn't it wonderful that God can bring you what you need, just at the right time!  The author has 2 sons with Autism, 4 and 2.  While we don't yet have that diagnosis (and may not get it), I can't help but she similarities between her kids and my Parker (she also has a Parker.)  I was a bit behind on blog reading and finally got to her post, Dear Mom, last night.  It is a letter written from the perspective of her 4-year-old.  I was balling before I was two paragraphs in!  It gave me a potential glimpse into the future.  It broke my heart into what  felt like a million little pieces.  But, then it put it back together again.  Hope and faith and perseverance can put it back together again.  I felt an immediate need to be with Parker when I finished reading.  I wanted to hold him tight and protect him.  So I did.  I scooped him up from his crib, snuggled and cried and prayed.  For peace and wisdom and direction.  I know this won't be the last breakdown, but perhaps I will be better prepared for the next.

In other news, we had our school district consultation last week.  The program director and 3 specialists came to our house and presented him with a bunch of tasks/objects and observed what he did.  We didn't get any feedback that day, but has scheduled the follow up for this past Monday.  All of his scored were evaluated and the tough news is that he was below average in all 5 categories (physical development, communication, social/emotional, cognition, functional/adaptive.)  He was low enough in 3 categories to qualify for services from the school district.  This is promising news, because it gives us something to hold on to while we wait for further diagnosis.  We will have meetings once a week.  A person will come into our home to work with Parker on specific goals we have set mutually.

For now, I am working on just enjoying spending time with him, playing and singing and snuggling (even for a few seconds) and watching the cars go by.

Buon Compleanno Nana!

Happy Birthday Nana!

My mom's birthday is this week, so we celebrated today.  When I asked what she wanted she said, "for someone else to cook."  I eagerly offered!  She chose pasta as her dish of choice (hence the Italian post title.)  I have a history of going all out on things like this so Jimmy was a bit concerned.  I was able to do a lot of stuff in advance so it was pretty easy to get it all together when it came time to eat.

I made a big pasta bar!  Almost as good as Olive Garden's Endless Pasta Bowl.  The menu for dinner was:

Pasta:
     -Spaghetti
     -Fettuccine

Toppings:
     -Chicken Parmesan
     -Baked Chicken Breast
     -Chorizo
     -Sautéed Bell Peppers

Sauces:
     -Tomato Basil Marinara
     -Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo
     -Creamy Alfredo

Garlic Bread

I kept the Italian theme going with homemade birthday tiramisu.  I originally planned on buying all the components pre-made and just assembling.  I couldn't find any custard and the store had no lady fingers or sponge cake of ANY kind.  Turns out it is not as hard to make those as you might think.  I was nervous since I hadn't made it before, but it was just as tasty as dinner!

We had so much fun celebrating and hanging out.  It was nice to give my mom a night off from cooking and cleaning.  There are enough leftovers that she may get another night or two off as well!

Here's to another year!  I love you mom!

An excuse to smile

In case you need one.  We went to a local park on Saturday and had a blast!

My favorite, by far!  Pure joy!

Happy Fourth of July!

What a day!  I love long weekends and today was just the beginning!  Parker let me sleep in a bit, which was lovely!  We ate breakfast and played outside a bit in the morning.  Parker was very intrigued by the handprint on his shirt at breakfast!

 We watched the cars go by outside for a while.

 I even got some good picture of me with Parker.  This is rare since I am usually behind the camera!  Please pardon my pasty white Minnesota legs!  I think Parker is more tan than I am...

 We got new sod installed by the city a couple weeks ago and have been waiting to mow it so it can get a good start.  It is a bit like a corn field for a toddler!

I was hoping to get some better shots of the shirt, but he just couldn't help touching the handprint!  Still looks super cute.  He will probably be able to wear it again next year too!

 We had tickets to the July 4th game in our season ticket package and were planning to go.  As mentioned in this post, Parker is not the best at games so we were hoping to find a sitter.  We struck out and were planning to take him, but he had a really crabby morning so that wasn't looking like a great plan.  Last minute I asked my friend Aubrey if she was available and she was!  It was a fun girls afternoon out!  We spent most of the game chatting and not really watching (we lost anyway, dang Yankees!)  On the plus side, we got to run the bases after the game!  Jimmy and I had been on the field during a Target Field tour, but didn't get to go much farther.  Definitely a highlight of the day! 

 My awesome slow-motion run for the camera!

We couldn't have asked for a nicer day, but it was pretty hot down on that field.  Not jealous of the guys who have to play there.

I had put a pork butt in the crock pot in the morning for pulled pork sandwiches and it was ready to go when I got back home.  We invited Jimmy's sister over for dinner.  It was fun chatting and Parker LOVES playing with his cousin Emma.  He thinks she is the bee's knees!  We didn't do any fireworks since Parker is still a bit young, but we will have some right out our front door in a few weeks!  I hope you all had a fun and safe holiday!

July 4th T-Shirt

I found this on Pinterest which gave me inspiration for today's craft!  Parker is not at the optimum age for getting good handprints so I tried HTV (heat transfer vinyl.)  I just purchased some to try with my silhouette so I am sure you will see some fun projects with that!

I traced Parker's hand on paper and then cut it out of the HTV.

 Then ironed it on to my pre-washed cotton t-shirt.

 Finally, I added some red striped with fabric paint.

I hope you all have a fun holiday!  I will share a picture of Parker in his new shirt with the rest of our celebration pictures!