Preparing for Parks. Parks Joshua Copa.

Carleton chose our little guy's name. We love the outdoors and adventure. He thought of Parks Bonifay, one of the world's best wakeboarders, who also holds the world record for the youngest person to water ski (six months old). Joshua is after Carleton's best friend Josh Balling (fun that he's my sister's husband). When we told Heidi and Josh that we were naming our little guy after him, Heidi told Josh "you have to be a better man now.":) Josh is positive, loves life and lives it to the fullest, is strong in his faith, is kind to others, is an adventurer, is friendly, is ambitious, and draws other people to him. Parks Joshua has a great example in his uncle.

I love this quote below. I feel so blessed every day to be married to someone whom I greatly adore. We know the heartache of not having children, so to add a third, we just feel so so so thankful. My cup runneth over.







































Every night for our thankfuls Annie says "I'm thankful for the baby" without fail. Apollo put his hand on my tummy and got to feel Parks kick him a bunch. I think he kicks all night long-might be a long few nights when he arrives! I stayed awake the other night decorating his room in my mind. It will be a future scientist room with some test tubes and beakers as decorations. My photographer, Suzana, found this picture and I thought it would be cute to take pictures of him with anatomy, chemistry, and physics books. It would be fun to find some vintage ones. I heard once that Frank Lloyd Wright's mother put buildings in his room when he was a baby and he became the famous architect. Do I want Parks to be a scientist? Not necessarily. Do I hope he is curious, a problem solver, and a seeker of knowledge? Yes.

I found these tree pictures and thought this would be a great idea for a mobile, using molecules instead.
















































I would love this vintage set of molecules! They were sold out on etsy.






























I printed these vintage ABCs off on cardstock to hang in his room. They are adorable.








































Like these bold room colors. Blue, dark gray, and accents of a greenish yellow. A lot of pics from this post are on my PINTEREST boards if you want to make or copy anything.





































Couldn't resist these fun finds at Old Navy for Parks.

We will bring him home in this.

I'm going to make him a t-shirt hat like this.

I'm going to order him a couple hats off Etsy for some cute newborn pictures.

He will be blessed and given a name in this.

Little Ann and her duct taped mittens. Time to lose the nighttime thumb.

Happy Halloween. People asked me how I got her to sit so long. She would have sat their all night if we were painting and putting makeup on her face. She loved it. She's so tiny, little cutie in her witch costume-she stole the show.

Skating in the house.

So fun to see Cameron and Sloane's family. Annie talked about Avery for days.

Decorating Ornaments. You can check my other blog for ideas on ornaments kids can make.

Annie and Apollo entered a Halloween coloring contest at Albertsons. Annie took a minute to slap on some colors and Apollo, meticulous as ever, colored a rainbow haunted house. It was amazing. I told the kids Albertsons would call if they win. When we went back, we saw them hanging up. Apollo said, "Annie won't get a call because she just scribbled." I got a call Nov. 1 for the parents of Annie Copa. She had won her age division (the youngest age I saw was 6 hanging up). I went to tell Annie and in an excited voice, Apollo asked if he had won too. Annie didn't care either way if she won or not. Apollo was devastated-I held the sad guy for awhile. She got a cool bag of goodies. We let Apollo pick out a "prize" too. Annie was more interested in the cereal Apollo picked out than her bag. Funny.

Meals for a month. Katie and I chopped veggies and organized a month's worth of crock pot meals from a website Suzana found. I'll post it on the other blog if they turn out yummy.

Jam session. Apollo got a guitar for his birthday and had to set it where Carleton put his. It was so so cute to watch. Annie loves to hear "Annie's Song" by John Denver. Both kids love Dad. Apollo woke her up from a nap earlier today and she cried and cried for Daddy. It didn't matter that Apollo told her I was here. Annie is spoiled all weekend with lots of Daddy time. Mondays are an adjustment for her. I think I'm fun but I guess not as fun as Dad.

Enjoying our coop preschool. As I showed the kids a YouTube video of Indians dancing at a Pow wow, I thought of my Grandma Annie. She was Sioux Indian and remembers the Battle of Wounded Knee. Annie was named after her-my little Indian Warrior.

Happiest place on earth.