Hands On Homeschooling

Earlier this year I had been going back and forth on whether I should send Parker to a mother's day out program or just try and do some structured learning activities at home. I had almost made up my mind to put him in Mom's Day Out once a week when a few of the ladies from my playgroup were telling me about a homeschooling program specifically designed for toddlers and preschoolers called Hands on Homeschooling (www.handsonhomeschooling.com). After much research and reading tons of reviews I decided to give it a try so I ordered the 2 year old curriculum and received it today! I've been going through it this evening and I really like the way it's set up and the different activities it uses to teach each concept. It's not so specific that you can't expound on each lesson but its also not too vague. I also really like that each day incorporates a bible lesson and activities and crafts to go along with them. They use a school year of Sept. - May so to keep up with the different activities that go along with each holiday we will start in Sept. too, although you are not limited to start and finish during that time frame. I can't wait! I think Parker is really, really going to enjoy doing the different projects and activities everyday!

As for a little social time away from me, I'm going to also start a weekly bible study in Sept. so Parker will go to the nursery during that time. I've heard the nursery does activities with the children during the bible study so Parker should really enjoy it! All in all I think I've made the right decision but I am going to continue to pray about it and trust in the Lord that I'm making the right decision for both of us!

Bobby's B-day!!!

Bobby turned 26 yesterday and although I didn't feel so well Parker and I tried to make it as special as possible! So we made him a Happy Birthday banner. Parker did a great job coloring it and making it extra special for Dada! Here's some pictures of the artist hard at work!

And here is the finished product!

Bobby had a pretty rough day at work but he had been telling me all week that all he wanted to do on his birthday was watch the All-star Baseball game and order pizza and that is exactly what he did. He watched all 15 innings (an All-Star record) while eating his calzone. All in all I think he had a pretty good Birthday!

First Ultrasound

We had our first ultrasound yesterday and everything looked perfect. We saw a healthy but extremely wiggly baby! At first Dr. Stella (my OB) tried to find the heart beat using only the doppler and was unsuccessful which made my heart jump into my throat but as soon as she put the ultrasound wand on my belly she found the baby right away! She said right now the baby is about the size of a lima bean. She has also gotten a new ultrasound machine since I've had Parker and it was really nice. We were able to see the babies heartbeat, legs, arms, head and even its spine. We weren't able to get any pictures b/c although Dr. Stella is a great OB she is not so technically inclined. I will definitely have pictures next time and maybe even a video I can post.

I go back in 4 weeks for a checkup and then in 8 weeks I will have another ultrasound to find out the sex!

I'm Due with Number Two!!!

We have finally decided to start telling everyone that....we're having another baby!!!! We had planned on waiting until the first ultrasound but since I've been pretty sick we decided it would be safe to go ahead and spill the beans. We are so very excited! Of course Parker is still too young to understand what's going on, but recently he has become infatuated with babies! Anytime we're out and he sees one, he wants to touch its head and he talks about it the entire time! Hopefully he'll be as excited when his brother or sister gets here!

Our due date is Feb. 13, 2009! I go back in 4 weeks to have my first ultrasound. I'll be sure to post pictures of the peanut soon after!

Fountain Fun

I'm not sure how I missed this post but for Memorial Day Bobby and I took Parker to the Fountains at the Eastern Shore Center in Malbis. We had a good time but Parker wasn't as into the fountains as I thought he would be. He would occasionally put his hand or foot in the fountain but for the most part he just ran around, mostly away from us! Bobby and I spent the majority of the time trying to keep him in the fountain area and encouraging him to get wet.

WELL....today we went back to the fountains with our playgroup and he loved it!!! He was running in and out of the fountains and putting his face in the stream like an old pro! He had so much fun! We'll definitely be frequenting the fountains from now on.

LMDC

We got free tickets to the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center (LMDC) in Gulfport, MS to see Dora the Explorer this past month. Since Bobby was off today we decided to take Parker to see Dora and find out what all the hype was. The LMDC is considered one of the top 50 children's museums in the US and I have to say it lives up to it's reputation. Although the Dora show was not the greatest, the museum was really, really neat! Parker had a great time! They do a wonderful job of having enough things to do for children of all ages so there was plenty for him to get into. I wish I had taken more pictures but the batteries were going dead so I did pretty good to get what I got. I'll try to get more pictures when we go back at the end of Sept. to see Bob the Builder!

This is the train exhibit, one of many!

Leave it to Parker to be where all the food is, even if it was fake.

Dora the Explorer

A Day at the Park

We haven't been able to go to many playdates in the last couple of weeks with Parker and I both being sick so I decided we needed to get out of the house today! Parker loves going to the park so we loaded up this morning and went to Lavretta Park. It is my absolute favorite park in Mobile! If you haven't been and you have a little guy or gal I definitely recommend it!

Here are a few pictures!

Lavretta Park

Climbing the Rock Wall

Are you coming?

Can you see me!?

Getting ready to go down the slide!

In the car on the way home. Boy was it HOT out there!