Dinner with Friends

Some good friends of ours were in town for the holidays and I was really looking forward to seeing them.  They came over for dinner and a play date last night.  It was so fun to see the kiddos playing together again!

Kolbe was throwing all the the gears on the floor and Parker couldn't figure out what to think of it!

 Ava loved Parker's ball pit!  she stayed in there for much of the evening!

Ava and Kolbe

Kolbe and Parker

Jimmy and Danny with the kids

I love this look back at the last year and a half.  It has been such a fun adventure, I can't wait to see them again!

The Day to Play!

If you live in MN today was the day to get outside and play!  It was a record breaking 48 degrees!  The forecast for the next few days looks like this...

That is a swing of 66 degrees in about 36 hours!  We will be staying inside unless it is absolutely essential to go out!

We did get out this morning for some fun in the snow!  We have decided that teaching Parker the rules of winter driving early are important.

Last year's winter adventures were not very successful, but he really enjoyed playing today.

 Whoa!

 Getting buried by dad...

 Sledding...

 Even Jimmy, the indoorsman, had fun!

I hope you are staying warm wherever you are!

Post-Christmas Date Night

Tonight was date night!  With all the Christmas hubbub we decided to keep it a little low-key.  Jimmy always like getting a the mall during the holidays so we headed to Southdale Mall for a little walk and dinner.  Jimmy has also been talking about Cheesecake factory non-stop so we went there for dinner.  Everything there is so delicious, but I am VERY disappointed that the corn fritters have been removed from the menu.  We also stopped at the play area, but Parker was more interested in the Cadillac just outside of it.

They did have a neat wall keyboard that he played with a little.

Two dudes lounging in Brookstone!

Jimmy caught this awesome video as I was getting the car.  Parker has really started to like automatic doors, but we don't usually let him play with them.  He has really figured them out!

Hope you have a great weekend!

More Merry!

It has been a crazy week for the Herrmann's!  Four Christmas gatherings in 5 days!  Over the weekend we saw both sides of Jimmy's extended family.  We got a fun picture of all the great-grandkids on Jimmy's dad's side.

L to R: Grace, Carter, Emily, Paul, Emma, Parker, Izzy, Wyatt

There have been 4 new little ones in the last two years so these gatherings just keep getting more fun!

My Grandma and her friend Larry came over for breakfast on Christmas Eve morning.

Parker and Larry

Then we headed north to Jimmy's sister, Julie's house for the afternoon.  Julie is an amazing cook so I always look forward to her fare!  Quite the menu below!

 A very Christmasy spread...

 Parker snoozed through the gift opening so we saved a few for him.  He isn't quite getting it yet, but he did rip a couple strips of paper.

 The Dress and Discover Friend was probably one of his favorite gift!  He loves all the songs he sings.

 Then we sat down for that amazing meal!  Most of Jimmy's family is below.

 The drive home was a bit scary at times, but we made it.  It was snowing and blowing like crazy.  There were a couple times we got totally whitewashed by a passing car.

I was woken up by an energetic Parker in my bed!  We had a family snuggle and opened a couple gifts.  We got him a remote control car, but it may be a bit sophisticated.

 Then he opened a caterpillar toy from his daycare lady!

 We packed up and headed to my parents for the rest of the day.  We always get stocking stuffers from my parents so we opened those gifts first.

 He got this awesome Minnesota Twins teddybear.

 Later in the day we sat down for a great meal!  Prime rib TWO days in a row, who doesn't love that!  Green beans casserole, my favorite cheesy potatoes, rolls fruit and so much more.

L to R: Grandma Bette, Paul, Nana, Grandpa, Jimmy, Larry

We were even able to get a family photo in front of the tree.

 My brother's family got there after lunch.  Here is the whole gang!

 Parker started to get a little more interested in his presents, especially when it looked like something cool was peeking out.

We are so blessed with such amazing families.  We are so thankful for all the love and support they give us.  It was a busy week, but so worth it.  I hope your holidays were equally rewarding.

Merry Christmas!

Little Parky is ready for Christmas clad in gingerbread rock PJs.  

Bedtime story...

One last drink...

Teeth all brushed...

Soundly sleeping...

Sleep well my precious gift from God!

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you have a joyous and blessed day no matter where you are or who you are with.

Parker's MRI

The long awaited MRI was this morning.  I was so nervous in the days leading up to it, but was overcome with calmness this morning.  I know many of you have been thinking of us and praying for us and I am so thankful for that.  Parker couldn't eat or drink anything prior to his scan this morning so we let him sleep as long as possible.  We made our way to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis for an 8:30 check-in.  Parker was doing pretty good at this point, he wasn't digging around for snacks at all! We distracted him with Color Crew (baby channel) and he liked the lighted x-ray board they had in the waiting room.

 We were a bit delayed getting to the sedation room, but not too bad.  You could tell he knew something was up.  He was very clingy and just wanted to sit and snuggle (not complaining!)

 Jimmy got the lucky job of holding Parker for his IV and blood draw.  We needed to get some labs done for another clinic so it was nice to only have 1 needle poke.  As you can imagine, Parker was NOT a fan.

 Once it was in and all wrapped up he adjusted quickly.

 After this I carried him into the MRI room, couldn't bring the camera with.  We set him on the table and they injected the sedative.  It had a very quick effect and he was out in no time.  They sedated him just enough so he wasn't moving.  He was still able to breath on his own.  I thought I might cry when they put him under, but I held it together and just got a little misty.  We gave him some quick kisses and went back to the waiting room.  About 40 minutes later they wheeled him back out and we went to the short stay unit.  He looked so peaceful, just like he was sleeping!

A nurse stayed with us until we were discharged.  It only took about 15 minutes for him to start waking up.  I was very surprised by how quickly it happened.  He was motionless, then 2 minutes later was awake and wanting to drink some water.  I held him for about 15 minutes as he continued to wake up and get something to eat.  I didn't get any pictures, but we took this short video.

Jimmy and I had to get labs drawn after Parker was discharged so it was a total of about 4 hours at the hospital.  Not too bad and Parker really was a rock star!  Not sure when the results will be back, but I am not expecting anything abnormal.  I am just glad to be done.  Hopefully we are approaching the end of specialty visits, 4 therapy appointments a week is plenty!  Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers!  I hope you have a great holiday next week as well!

Holiday Kick-Off

This evening kicked off the holiday party season for us!  A group of friends from church has an ugly sweater/white elephant gift party each year.  This year was the first time we were able to go.  I was so excited and had been planning my sweater for a while.  I saw something similar on Pinterest, but gave it my own flair (as usual!)  It is hard to tell, but I am wearing functional Christmas lights.  And that is an ACTUAL tree skirt that I made into an ACTUAL skirt... So much fun!

Jimmy and I in front of our friends' Christmas tree.  Jimmy's attire is courtesy of a co-worker!

My parents took Parker overnight last night while we went to a movie for date night, so we brought him along to this even.  There were a few other little ones there, but he had the most fun playing with Hank (the dog) and Tim (the adult.)  Tim set new standard for silly roughhousing (in a good way!)

 Parker enjoyed exploring all the wrapped gifts.  The favorite gift was a fart book accompanied by perfume.

Hank took a liking to a stuffed bear head (inside joke.)  There was not much left when he was done with it.

  Parker helped clean up Hank's mess by putting the stuffing in the bowl.

Did I mention...I won for best ugly sweater!  It was such a fun evening.  I didn't even mention all the great food!  Appetizer dinners are my favorite and we do a lot of them this time of year.

Katie (below on the left) is wearing the sweater that won her the crown last year!  Rachel (below on the right) has a similar thought and came as a tree too!  Jimmy said she was the real life version and I was like a cartoon.  

This group of couples is so wonderful!  I feel so blessed to have them in our lives.  Can't wait for next time and next year!  I better start brainstorming....