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My Christmas Card

I didn't send out Christmas cards this year so anyone who reads my blog...

Merry Christmas! :)

Hope this picture makes you smile. It sure brought a smile to my face!

Precious Moments

I love this time of year so much-- Family dinner with beautiful Christmas china, everything homemade and delicious, hot chocolate, and dessert every night after dinner. Diet starts Monday (in January) right??

My mom and dad have all of their children and grandchildren over for dinner every Sunday. It is such a fun tradition and I look forward to Sunday all week long. Family is really what life is all about. Steve and I both came from pretty incredible families.

This morning, I fed Parker and then put him in bed next to me. We laid there and cuddled and stared at each other for about fifteen minutes. I kissed his cute little cheeks and told about 50 times that I love him so much and every time he would smile and goo and then blow raspberries at me. I thought to myself, I don't want this precious moment to end! I can't even imagine what it's going to be like when he grows up into a man. I just soaked it all in and will always remember his cute little face. I love the way he looks at me. I can tell by the way he looks at me that I am the absolute love of his life (and he is mine... along with his father!) I had to write down this great moment so I will always remember it. Someday, he is going to have a wife and children of his own that he will love just as much. But for now, he is all mine. :) I am so blessed to have such a sweet spirit as my son. He is such a good baby and I just can't say enough how much I love him. I am so in love with Steve too, in a completely different (good different) way. Having a child just made our love for each other even stronger. We looked at each other the other day and said "Isn't it weird that we have a baby together??" It is the weirdest, most incredible thing ever! I love being a mom. :)

I am so excited to wake up on Christmas morning to this little guys face.

Terrified

Yesterday was a very odd day. From the second I woke up, it felt very...different. It might have been the clouds and rain that made it feel weird but something very scary happened. Parker was kind of fussy all day. He just wanted to be held and I felt bad because I had four people coming over to get their hair done. Luckily, my very sweet sister, Brianne, came over in the morning to help watch Parker and cuddled with him while I did hair in my kitchen.

After everyone left around 1:30, Parker was ready to eat, but he wouldn't breast feed very good and I couldn't figure out why he was so fussy. I thought that I didn't have enough breast milk for him or it wasn't coming out fast enough. So I made him a bottle with formula. At first he didn't want it, but eventually he drank it all and than drifted off to sleep in my arms. Shortly after that, my aunt Kristie and Aunt Patty knocked on the door to get their hair done.

He woke up and was still pretty fussy while they held him while I was applying color. I decided to go upstairs to call my neighbor Brooklyn to see if she could help me out--but before I could ask, Parker started to projectile throw up EVERYWHERE! I have never seen him throw up before-- he rarely even spits up! He kept going and going and going, and I started screaming for help because he wouldn't stop. It was sad, yet terrifying because I didn't know what to do! Kristie and Patty ran upstairs as fast as they could and I started sobbing. It scared me to death. Poor little Parker didn't like to see me scared and he had the most concerned look on his face (like what just happened?) Patty took him in his room to change his clothes and when she took them off, he had a huge, bright red rash all over his body. It had to have been the formula I gave him! My poor little baby was having an allergic reaction! I called Steve and he shut down his computer and rushed home from work. At that point, Parker was smiling and blowing raspberries and spit bubbles with his cute little rosy cheeks. I just love that kid.

Thankfully, he is back to normal and happy as can be. I will never give him that formula ever again. I am so grateful that Kristie and Patty were there to help me. And Steve is the best dad ever. He held him and played with him and made us dinner so I could take care of the baby. I love my little Parker boy so much and I am so glad that he is better now. I almost don't even remember life before Parker. Steve and I are so blessed for having such a cute, smiley, happy baby boy.

I love you parker boy. :)

Mike & Lindsay are finally hitched!

We had a crazy busy, fun packed Thanksgiving weekend! Mike and Lindsay got married! It was such a beautiful wedding! they have been together for about four years now, so we have all definitely been waiting for their wedding day for a long time now! we are so happy for the two of them. It was an absolutey beautiful sealing and their reception was a ball... reminded me of my wedding almost three years ago (because it was in my in-laws back yard.)

The picture below is of all of us waiting for the newlyweds to come out of the temple. It started raining a little bit but luckily it cleared up for the reception!

Mr. & Mrs. Mike and Lindsay Larsen!

All of the Larsen boys striking a pose!

Lindsay's colors were teal and brown. Everything turned out absolutely stunning!

I thought this was a cute picture of them with all of their nieces and nephews. (Notice Parker's little teal tie... it was a bit too big, but he's so cute--he pulled it off!) :)

Congratulations Mike and Lindsay!

It's so great to "officially" have you in the family!

meredith's french inspired bridal shower

i have a lot of catching up to do on my blog! i have been so busy to say the least the past couple of weeks. I threw another bridal shower at my house on the 21st for another future sister-in-law, meredith. she lived in france for a year so we decided to go with a french themed brunch. it turned out fabulous!

the picture below is the entry table when you walked in with pictures of tanner and meredith and french memorabilia.

meredith got lots of adorable gifts like christmas plates, a cute apron, a crock pot and lots of lingerie!

we are thrilled to have another sister-in-law in the family! meredith is so much fun and will make a great addition to the larsen family!

can't wait for their wedding in newport! it's going to be lovely!

Rice Cereal

Parker wasn't quite sure what to think about it (as you can tell by his flared nostrils!)

He started to warm up to the idea of letting me put it in his mouth...

...But he pretty much spit it all out. Someone told me it takes seven times to get a baby to like something new (I don't know who came up with that number) but we'll try it again next week. :)

Happy 4 Month Birthday Parker boy!

What It's Like To Be Parker

I am such a good baby. Most of the time, I try to make everything easy for my mommy. Last week, she was so busy throwing Aunt Lindsay's bridal shower that I just hung out and was a good boy! I like to sit in my bumbo when she bakes because it makes me feel like a grown up!

I was just pooped at Lori and Mike's birthday party, I couldn't even make it through dinner. We had a long day!

My mommy pretty much kisses me and takes pictures of me all day long and tells me how "cute I am." But I don't mind it. I love to be cuddled and kissed and talked to. So life is pretty good as an "almost" four month old!

Well I've got to go get my diaper changed now. Catch ya later!

Lindsay's Bridal Shower

My brother-in-law Mike is getting married to the love of his life, Lindsay, on Thanksgiving weekend! We showered her with gifts at my house last night and it was an absolute ball!!

The picture below is Lindsay with her mom and sisters. Lindsay is the second from the left. The two girls on the ends are twins and her sisters, Kylee and Shea, Kori is her younger sister wearing the gray and yellow, and her mom is in the middle! Such a fun family!

Jacki and her little girl Roxy posing for the camera

Lou and Kambri laughing at Lindsay as she turns bright red while opening up lingerie! ha ha

My mother-in-law holding Parker boy while he slept in her arms, so sweet!

The food was all so delicious, and Lori and I had so much fun decorating everything in teal and brown!

We made yummy cake pops for the guests to take home!

She got the most adorable teal and blue plates! Can you tell teal is her favorite color? Just wait, her wedding is going to be so cute-- teal and brown everywhere with peacock feathers-- I can't wait!

I can't wait to have another sister-in-law! Meredith and Tanner's wedding is in January so we will have another sister-in-law in a month and a half! Meredith's shower will be at my house next Saturday! Busy busy month, but so much fun! :)

I just love weddings. :)

Our Little Giraffe on Halloween

Okay... so Parker didn't like his costume so much at first... it was hot inside! But once he got outside he was nice and cozy!

Could he get ANY cuter??

We went to my in-laws house to take Parker trick-or-treating with his cousins Kambri and Jase-- I mean Tinkerbell and Peter Pan.

Halloween is way more fun with a baby of your very own to dress up! Parker had no clue why he was dressed like a giraffe, but he liked everyone telling him how cute he looked, so he did okay!

This is the way to trick-or-treat. It was so nice to drive to the houses that we wanted and call it a night!

After about two houses... he had enough. Trick-or-treating is hard work for a three month old! Maybe next year, he will stay awake longer.

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!