Birthday Party #2!

Here is Parker's birthday party with my family. We had a great time!! Although, I will have to say, when you are the one throwing the party for your child it is exhausting. SO FUN! But exhausting! Since we don't know many people here and since my family is so big we decided to have a family party. We were all there including my mom and dad(which was great!). We grilled out hamburgers and had french fries and cole slaw. For those of you who don't know, my husband is a great cook. I know...how hard is it to cook a hamburger...but he cooks for my family a lot. I thank God for him because I would have been so stressed if I had to cook everything else plus wrap presents, decorate, put together goodie bags, and bake. Anyways, Parker was blessed with some great presents which he loves. And he had a great time!! Enjoy the pics. Oh yeah...the theme was bouncy balls.

Cupcakes and goodie bags

Presents

Decorations


Mama Don and Parker

Mom and Parker...I love this picture. Cupcakes everywhere! :)

Parker playing

"Gray Gray"

Little Lawson...AKA LawDawg

Here is the story behind this picture. Parker has become very fond of this bouncy seat. I think my child is a gymnast because he climbs in, out, on top, etc. this thing all the time. It is hilarious! I am amazed how he twists his body just to get out of it. Once again, he was playing in the bouncy but this time he was laying in it the way a little baby would lay it and he was playing with the toys the way it was meant to be played with. He was cracking me up. I had to take a picture. Of course when he saw me, he started smiling. So funny!

Oh my! He is so handsome!

Lighting the candle...

Singing "Happy Birthday"

"Yay!"

Diggin In...well kinda...

Still diggin in...

Almost done...

Mama's kisses right in the middle of enjoying his cupcake... ;)

Took him forever...but I think he is finally done(well...because everyone else was waiting on him to open presents. So, he kind of had to be done)

The whole fam minus mom, dad, and Gray.

Playing with his new truck from Mama Don and Papa.


The boys loved their goodie bags! They had about 4 balls in there, bubbles, and candy.

We all partied hard and now we are pooped! We put Parker in his carseat while we loaded the car and he fell alseep almost immediatley.

Cool instead of Cutesy...

He is so cool! I love both of these outfits on Parker. It definitely makes him fit in here in Austin. I do love to dress him in the bubbles...smocked outfits...etc. BUT, Austin is a little more edgy then that. I will not steer away from that stuff(ESPECIALLY when I have a girl). It is in my blood because I am a true Southerner. But, sometimes, I dress him cool instead of cutesy. Ha!





This picture was taken on his acutal birthday...although we didn't have a party that day I wanted a picture of the actual day he turned one. So sweet in his pjs.

Check out Our Recipe Blog...

Hey Everyone!

I wanted to invite all of you to visit my family's recipe blog. It is www.lombardfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com. I have it listed as a link on this blog. It is a blog that me, my sister, my sister-in-law, and my mom are the authors. We are always e-mailing recipes to each other so now we are going to post them on this blog. It is for each other to see but also for all the other moms or just anyone to see and use. They are usually simple and tasty. So please check it out. Right now it only has one recipe on it. But hopefully, we will put more on it soon. We are a little busy right now.
Also, having nothing to do with the recipe blog I had to tell you that tonight Parker fed himself with a fork for the first time. It is only the second time I have given him a fork. I put the pancake on the fork and handed it to him. And he put it in his mouth!! He did it so many times. I was so proud! He is growing up right before me.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Here is our sweet baby the first couple of days into this world. Here is the deal...today is my FIRST son's FIRST birthday so I have done a lot of reflecting, needless to say. Last night as Derek and I were going to bed I reflected on what we were doing the night before we had Parker. I remember discussing that it was no longer going to be just the two of us. We couldn't wait! Today, several times, I would look at the clock and remember what I was doing during that time of the day a year ago. I have an unbelievable memory so I can capture it in my mind like it was yesterday. Parker has been more of a blessing in our lives then we ever imagined. I will have to say, Derek and I were ready for a baby. We weren't scared, we were ready(I had random freak out moments during pregnancy...who doesn't?). Parker has been so good about EVERYTHING(nursing, sleeping, attitude, eating, etc.) that I just pray that my other babies are as good as him. Either way, we are going to love them the same. Sometimes I look at Derek and I say, "how do our friends who are married not have kids? They are the BEST and SO FUN!". Ha!
So, a year ago I welcomed this amazing, beautiful, little boy into our lives. And now I watch him take 5, 6, 7, steps at a time. I watch him smile and laugh all the time. I know him better than anyone else knows him. He looks at me and I just know that he loves me. Same for Derek...it is different though...it is totally a father son kind of love that is so wonderful. He naps great, eats great, is totally weaned, and is so happy. This ended up being way longer than I thought it was going to be. Although, when it comes to talking about the joy Parker has brought into our lives I could write and write and write and write.
We love you Parker!! Happy first birthday little buddy!!

 

Parker and his first birthday cupcake from Aunt Kimberly and Uncle Wade. She brought it the hospital the day or the day after he was born.

 

BIG YAWN!! We were at the hospital...he was dressed and ready to go home.

 

The day he was born. Swaddled and snoozing.

 

His first bath given by Mama Don. Look at his little bandaid on his heel. Awww...sad!

Austin is a FUN place to live!

I have decided that Austin is a really fun place to live. It has taken me some time to get used to living here because I loved Birmingham so much. But, lately I have really enjoyed it. Yesterday, me, my sister and my sister-in-law all met at Zilker park in downtown Austin with all of our kiddos. Kimberly and I had never been there and my sister had been telling us how much fun it was. She was right! There is a big playground with swings and all kinds of fun stuff on it. Then next to it there is a place where you can order food and eat outside next to Barton Springs. Barton Springs is an area where you can pay to swim in all year round. It is a natural spring but it has a diving board and lifeguards. It is 60 degrees all year round. We brought our lunches and sat next to the water. Then there is a train ride. It cost $2.75 per adult and $1.75 for kids 1-12. It is an awesome train ride! It last 25 minutes and it goes all over the park alongside the river. You go under a bridge, through a tunnel, and through the playground. It even "choo, choos"! The kids loved it! THEN after that we were so hot...so we dipped into the river. Ha ha! Well, the kids dipped, I actually fell into the river. Yup, I had a dress on and I was soaking wet!! Anyways, with that said there are also several swimming holes here and waterfalls. I love it here!! I really do! I love B'ham too, but I can love two places right??

Sam, Blake, and Jax on the train.

Me, Parker, Blake and Sam in the river(before I fell)

Parker was pooped at the end of the day.

View from the train ride.

Me and Parker on the train ride.

Ashley, Gray, Lawson, and Kimberly

Kimberly and Lawson

Me, Parker, Ash and Gray

Free Chapel Preview Service

This past Sunday, April 20th, we had our first preview service for Free Chapel(brother-in-law's church plant here in Austin). We are going to have one preview service a month until we launch in September. It went really well. Derek got at Jeremy and Ashley's house at 6:30 to load the SquareCow Mooving truck with all the stuff for the church(sound system, nursery stuff, children's stuff, EVERYTHING). I got to the movie theater(where we are having our services)at 7:00 am and started setting up everything. I am over children's church and nursery. We are doing Kidmo curriculum so I don't really have to teach. But I do the praise and worship, games, small groups, etc. We had 52 people at the service which is more than we were reaching for. We wanted 40 at the least. Praise God!! We passed out water bottles and cokes at the Hill Country Galleria(where the movie theater is located) the day before. Half of the water bottles had Free Chapel's website on them and we also passed out cards that advertised Free Chapel's service times. I, of course, as white as I am got fried!! I am still hurting. But it was worth it. So, here are some pictures of the children's church area. It is in a movie theater.

The Bat cruise

Yes...when I say "the bat cruise" I literally mean real bats. There is a bridge in Austin that has 750,000 to 1 million bats live under it. From March until August they come out from under the bridge at sunset. It is really well known(was on Rachel Ray's show). We decided to take Derek's family on the bat cruise. It is a rinky dink boat that goes up and down the river in downtown Austin for an hour and half. When the bats come out we go under the congress ave. bridge and watch. I will have to say...it was well worth the money and it wasn't really that expensive. It was beautiful weather and we had a blast.


Downtown Austin

Sunset

Congress Ave. Bridge(this is where the bats are...and the capitol building is located at the end of congress ave.)

You can see the bats in this picture. It is not really clear...but it looks like a swarm of bees.

Here is all the kayakers watching...and there are tons of people on the bridge too.