Logan's Vroom Vroom Room!

This post has been a LONG time coming and this weekend we put the FINAL touches on Logan's room and I must admit, it looks AWESOME!
Logan's room was the only room in the house that was white so we decided that it would be fun to paint it how we wanted it.  Well we were thinking cars and then it moved to a "transportation theme" so we call it his "vroom vroom" room. We wanted it to be colorful and fun and something he could grow into.  I honestly do not understand why people do "nursery themes, they grow out of it so quickly! I found some wall decals that had cars, planes, trains, trucks and scooters on them and they were perfect! About 3 weeks ago we went to Lowe's and got the paint and supplies.  We picked out a bright green called Polly Green (Valspar) and a nice sky blue called Encounter (Valspar) we also wanted to paint the ceiling fan and the vent to match the ceiling so we got spray paint in the same blue color.  We painted the green hills first and drew the road the cars were going to go along.  It took 2 coats of green and my faithful BFF Shawna was there to help me with the edging.  Then Bryan painted the blue part of the wall and the ceiling and he drew a sun that I painted.  I painted the black road and dotted it with tiny yellow lines (this did not take as long as it seems!) and I drew and painted the trees. I added a banner that an airplane is pulling that says "Oh the places you'll go.....like the Dr. Suess book and painted a train track and cave for the trains.  The next weekend I painted the clouds on the wall and on the ceiling....this WAS hard.  My neck hurt pretty bad! Bryan disassembled the ceiling fan and spray painted each peice and put it back together, he also painted the vent.  I made a hot air balloon from a paper lantern, yarn, ribbon and added a little basket with a bear inside and hung it in the corner, it turned out really cute! Finally this past weekend we put the decals along the road (the instructions said to wait 3 weeks after fresh paint).  And it is FINALLY finished! We are going to add a growth chart n one of the walls but need to get the wood, so that is the next thing to add. We are so happy how it turned out and everytime Logan goes in his room his eyes light up, that is the reason we did it!
So here are some pictures of our project: 

Nephew #2

I got the call on Monday morning that my sister's water had broke, it was finally time to meet Nephew #2, Mr. Hayden Gregory! Her water broke at 4:45am and she had him at 6:44am.  Needless to say, I did not make it to the birth, but he is such a cutie! I love being an Aunt and I am loving all these boys in our family! Logan was with me, but they would not let him back to see Hayden because he was not a sibling :( so someone had to be on "Logan Duty" (which he can be a handful now that he is into EVERYTHING) while I was in with my sister and loving on my new nephew.  I thought I would put some pictures up of my other nephew, Hunter.  Hunter and Hayden look SO different to me! Hunter was scrawny and a baldy and Hayden looked plump healthy and had so much hair! I am so happy for the Dodge family! My sister said this is it, but I know how much she wants a girl and I would not mind being an Aunt for a third time!





Aunty and Hayden 3-26-12



Aunty and Hunter 4-14-06



Hayden Gregory Dodge
7 pounds, 14 ounces
20 1/4 inches long
6:44am

Hunter

Hayden

I love being an Aunty!

Yummy Taco Pie....thanks Pinterest!

We were painting ALL weekend long (that will be another post) and we were so hungry but also tired.  I wanted to make something quick, yummy and easy.  I got a couple of new recipes of pinterest, so I thought I would try taco pie.  SUPER yummy and SUPER easy.  My kind of dish. 

What you will need:
Crescent Rolls (1 can)
Ground Beef
Beans (1 can, we used ranch style but any kind of beans will work)
8 oz of sour cream
Shredded Cheese
Tortilla Chips
Taco Mix

Instructions:
Lay out the crescent rolls in a glass pan and cook as directed
while those are in the oven, in a skillet brown the meat and add beans and taco mix
When the rolls are done, pour the mixture on top.  Spead the sour cream on top and the cheese, then top off with crushed tortilla chips and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. 
There you go.  Taco Pie.  It was so good I didn't even get a picture of it.  And Logan loved it too, he could not shove it into his mouth fast enough.  So thanks again Pinterest, I will be adding this to the regular Parks weekly menu every now and again!

Baby shower, girls night, and daddy duty!

 So this weekend was fun filled! I got to host an amazing baby shower for my sister, who is due with my sweet nephew Hayden (late March or early April).  She got lots of great gifts and tons of things from me that Logan has outgrown.  (Wahhhhh!) <----- that is me crying becuase my baby is getting so big.  The plan was that I would go to Houston for the baby shower and stay the night with one of my best friends, Stephanie.  She will soon be teaching out of the country for 2 years, so I needed to catch up with her.  But this would mean I would have to leave Logan for a night, which I had never done up until this point.  Bryan is such a great dad and is so good with Logan I was not worried at all, just sad I would be leaving my boys! Saturday night came and we went and ate some yummy food at Benihana, then went out for a few drinks.  We had a pretty low key night and there were some points in the night where I wondered what Logan was doing.  Of course Bryan sent me pictures and that made my night.  It was so fun to have a little get-a-way and take the mommy hat off for 24 hours.  On Sunday, I came home to my big 11 month old and was greeted with a big smile as he crawled as fast as he could over to me.  My heart was mush.  It is so different now being a mom and the things I enjoy.  Don't get me wrong, I had a great weekend, but I love that my life now is spit up stains, baby food in my hair, the smell of baby detergent because of the never ending laundry, and sweet baby giggles.  Would not trade it for anything! Oh and did I mention I have an 11 month old?! His birthday invitations are ready to be mailed out next week!

All the hostesses!

My adorable *almost* 6 year old nephew! He cannot wait to be a BIG brother!

Add caption

Me and Steph, love this girl

My boys

On a mission!

I am on a mission to lose some weight....20-30 pounds to be exact.  Do I need to lose 30?  Not really, 10 would be great.  I am in no way overweight, I look damn good (if I do say so myself) for having a baby.  No stretch marks or cellulite...yay me. But I am up 10-12 pounds before I got pregnant, so to get back to that weight would be awesome, but I am not stopping there!  BUT I would like to get where I should be which is 125-130 pounds.  Right now I am at 150-155. Average weight for my height is 130-150.  So yes, I need to get on it! I am giving myself 6 months.  I know it seems like a long time, but in reality, working out should never be a I-need-to-fit-in-this-dress-so-I-am-going-to-workout-hardcore-and-starve-for-a-month type of thing.  It is a lifesyle.  Meaning, fit working out into your regular schedule.  Period.  Yes, having a baby makes it difficult but it is 30 minutes....only 30 minutes.  I can spend 30 minutes in the shower, watching TV, so why not spend that time getting my sexy on?? So it is on, as of today, working out hardcore 4 times a week, and mild workouts the other 3 days.  Will it be hard?  Oh yea.  Will I give up?  Hell no.  I hope I see results in the next month and that will push me to go further.  Bryan tells me I dont need to lose weight, but he is just the sweetest husband.  Wait until I am looking all sexy and then see what he says :) I will be doing a weekly update, wish me luck!!

Mommy moment

After becoming a mommy I worry, about lots of things but mainly about Logan.  I try to control it, but sometimes I can't.  This morning I had a mommy moment. 
I have been taking Logan to school for 9 months now.He has a little friend, Matthew that he loves to play with (they are about a month apart) and those are the only two babies that are crawling so they have lots of fun.  So I always give him a kiss and tell him I love him before I leave.  Everyday.  Some moms and dads just hand their babies off to the teachers or set them down and leave.  I am not judging I swear, but that is not me. 
Today was no different.  I sat Logan down next to Matthew and they were off! I signed him in and put his food and diapers in his cubby.  There were 5 babies in there and 2 teachers.  One of them was his normal morning teacher Miss Kelly but the other teacher was the Tots I teacher (who he will have in a few months when he moves up) Miss Sun.  Well Miss Sun forgot something in her classroom so (while I was signing in Logan) she scooped up Logan, so there would be the right baby to teacher ratio, and took him with her to her classroom.  By the time I turned around, I did not see Logan and Miss Kelly said that Miss Sun took Logan with her.  Well I didn't want to look like a crazy mom and wait so I left.  No kiss, no I love you and no big smile from my boy.  I was off to work and made it around the corner.  I wanted to cry.  I had to go back.  Yes this might seem silly, but I had to.  I grabbed a paci from his carseat and went back in so they would not think I was crazy and just forgot to put his paci in his cubby (too bad he had 2 in there already!)
I was greeted with a big toofie smile from my boy and I got my kiss and said my I love you.  That is what makes my day people! I would have had a bad day if I would not have gone back! It's these moments that I am realizing more and more how great love is.  It has no end.  It is simply amazing. 

Come on, look at that little face?? I want to kiss him and squeeze him all day!

People I love- Mark (Marky Mark)

Oh Mark.  Where do I start?  :) Well he is my best friend. 
We met when I was 15 and I was dating one of his best friends.  Every weekend we hung out together and just became very close.  Over the years, the group seemed to grow apart but Mark and I just stayed friends.  We could go months without seeing each other and when we finally do, we are laughing and talking about old times like they were yesterday.  He has been there for me through good times and bad.  When he decided to go into the Marines, I was scared for my friend but also so proud of him that he made that decision.  We kept in touch when he was in the Marines and I looked forward (and relived!) to getting letters and emails from him.  I enjoy our long phone conversations that always get side track. Or making fun of his oversized head, it never gets old, I am sure it does to him though.  Hee Hee.  We have grown up so much over the years, he is a true friend to me when alot of other people were not. 
I will never forget the time a friend and I were playing dominos and we beat him and to this day he says we cheated and we did NOT. But it always makes me laugh.  And it gets him mad so I like to bring it up every once in a while ;)   Or the time when I was having my bacherlorette party in Austin but of course Mark could not join us, it was all girls (and I am pretty sure he did not want to dress up in 80's attire...) So I went up to Austin on a Friday and him and his girlfriend had planned a "Night Before the Bacherlorette Party Night".  It was on a rooftop bar, we had a section reserved for us, and champagne. Needless to say, we had a great night! The trips to Houston, backroads, Chico and JoAnna's, So many other great memories, too many to list. I can't wait for his little bundle of boy to be here soon and watch our boys grow up together!   Love you Mark!
 

Halloween 2006



River trip, one of MANY  



Home from Iraq

At the bar for my birthday

Out in Austin

In Austin the night before my bacherlorette party

My wedding day

Oh yes this is my friend :)

Meeting Logan for the first time

Uncle Mark and my Logan