Fay, Fay Go Away!!!!!!!

It's been quite a week of firsts...

TJ said his first sentence 2 days ago. He grabbed some bananas that were on our kitchen table and asked "What is this?". I believe my mouth is still open in complete shock. Of course he hasn't said it since...

TJ and Olivia are experiencing their first tropical storm, Tropical Storm Fay. (Thankfully they are not experiencing their first hurricane!) They have been home from school for 2 days now and we are just finding out that school is closed tomorrow as well. Thankfully, when they are off Terry is also off because they follow the same schedule as BCC. The kids seem fine...they are just getting some extra playtime in the house...TJ took a loooong nap this morning and they both have enjoyed running around the house in their raincoats. Anyway, Fay came yesterday and has stalled over Brevard County...it has been raining for 1.5 days straight and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. To tell you the truth, it hasn't been that bad - just extra rainy and windy. No thunder or lightning...no damage or flooding around our house...and we haven't lost any power. It's been a good first tropical storm for the kids! I just wish it would leave already!!!!

Here are some pics of TJ and Olivia (in her raincoat), of some palm trees blowing in the wind in front of the townhomes across the street from our house, and of the grassy area (which is now a lake) across the street from our house.

Love...part 2

...here's the video to go with the pictures:)

Love

My babies were so cute last night! They were hugging and kissing each other and holding hands:) I have some video but I've got to edit it so I can upload it...it's apparently too big of a file...so, for now, pictures will have to do. (Oh, and excuse Olivia's shirt...apparently it's a magnet for spaghetti sauce!)

Pictures from the weekend

Star tells me that I should be fined if I post without pictures...soooo here are some random shots from this weekend. Enjoy!!!





I couldn't get a shot with both looking...so you get two wagon pictures:) They had just come in from an evening stroll with G-ma and G-pa (my mom and dad).

Toddler Bed Update

I must report that when I announced it was "bedtime" last night at 8:45pm, TJ calmly walked into his room, crawled into his bed and put himself to sleep. I tested him to see what he'd do if I just left the room and he didn't make a peep! He whined a little bit around 11pm, but didn't get up. He didn't wake up until 4am!

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, Princess Olivia was completely opposite. She enjoyed a peaceful night beside me on the pillowtop king size mattress.

Weekend in St. Augustine

I am pretty tired right now, but I have GOT to get this blog out before the events of the weekend completely leave my mind...

First thing is first. TJ and Olivia are now sleeping in their 'toddler beds'. They have gotten into the habit of going down for a nap at school so we figured they were capable of doing the same for bedtime. Up until now they have slept best on two sections of our couch, but we have made the transition. Not going as well as we'd like, but then again, it's only day two. At this moment, Olivia is asleep and TJ is still fighting it. (It probably has to do with the fact that he fell asleep on the way home from school and slept until 7:00.) I'll keep you posted...

Secondly, the Parks family was able to enjoy a change of scenery this weekend as we traveled up to St. Augustine for a little getaway. It was nice and relaxing:) We went up on Friday evening and returned on Sunday evening. We didn't do much of anything on Saturday...in fact we didn't even leave the house until 4:30! We just "napped" away the day...which was perfectly fine since we had no plans. We ended up going on to eat and then riding around Jacksonville to see what had changed since we lived in the area. It was a very nice ride around the city and the kids slept the entire time! We ended our night by stopping by our friends' house to celebrate or friend's 30th birthday. It was a nice low-key, kid-friendly gathering that was the perfect ending to our lazy day.

Before we left on Sunday, Terry's old roommate while coaching at UNF, Terrance, came by with his wife and beautiful baby girl, Evelyn ("Evie"). It was a house full of Terrence/Terrance's! Little Evie was so adorable and TINY! TJ and Olivia looked like giants sitting next to her. It was my first time meeting his wife, Rachel, and she was just the cutest new mom! Terry and Terrance ended up getting subs from Publix and, once again, we had a nice relaxing visit. After they left, we packed up/cleaned up the house and headed home:) Again, the weekend was not very eventful, but it was good to get out of Melbourne to spend some quality time together as a family.

By the way, TJ is now asleep in his bed. Olivia has since woken up and is now resting peacefully on her spot on the couch...