Beach Bums

We went to the beach about a week ago with Michael and Lanette, and we had so much fun. This was Parker's very first trip to the beach, so I was anxious to see if he would love it...or hate it. He had a really great time. He did get sick with a sinus, ear, and throat infection on the last day, but a trip to the after-hours clinic on the way home took care of that! Michael and Lanette were great sports and a huge help with Parker. We can't wait to go back!! How about next weekend??!!


Getting used to the sand and water

Waving at everyone from the water

Parker loved playing with his sand toys

We even got to go look for hermit crabs one night. They were everywhere!

A new love...

Parker got a new toolbench last weekend, and he LOVES it! My grandmother gave Parker money for his birthday so we could get him something fun for the summer. My mom found this at a consignment sale, and we're so glad. It provides hours of entertainment...literally. He will stay outside as long as we'll let him, but we don't have to chase him all over because he gets so caught up in playing!! It could be my favorite toy of the summer.


Hammering nails in the wood

Getting a little more play in before bedtime

My dad took on the huge project of expanding our pantry, so Parker loved to go in and "help" him. My dad left to go overseas for a business trip, but Parker keeps walking into the pantry looking for him!!

Hat, Hat, Hat!

Hat is Parker's new very favorite word...and he says it all the time. He wants access to every hat in our house, no matter what kind, and he wants everyone to have one. He will stand and point at a hat saying, "Hat! Hat! Hat!" until we give in and get it down for him. It was so cute at first...now it's borderline annoying!! I kinda hope he finds a new obsession soon!

Sad times around the Hill house...

We're all a little sad around the Hill house these days. My sister and her husband have officially moved. Sam took a job at First Baptist Church of Monticello as their youth minister. He actually started the job a couple of months ago, but Alyssa was still here, and they still had a house here. They sold their house over the Christmas holidays and were homeless for a while, but that was ok because we still got to see them a lot. They needed a place to stay sometimes!! But now they have their very own house...in Monticello. It was so nice to have them here so close. I always had a friend to go shopping with or meet for lunch or try crazy projects with, and Lee always had someone to play golf with or build something with. And Parker always got all of their attention. He loves them both so much. It's really become comical how much he likes Sam. If Sam is in a room, Parker makes a b-line to get to him and is content to just be with him...he doesn't care what anyone else is doing! We're sad they're not still close, but I guess our out of town trips will become more frequent as we try to make up for lost time!

Settling Back In...

What a whirlwind the holidays were for us...which is why I haven't blogged in a while! The stomach bug hit our house hard the week before I got out of school. Lee had it first for a few days, and I woke up with it on Thursday and was miserable for two days. For those of you who haven't had it, let me just say that it was absolutely the worst thing I have ever experienced. Awful. We were so lucky first that Parker didn't get it and second that we had it at different times. Taking care of a baby is the last thing on one's mind when struck with this awful thing!

Being sick made the weekend a whirlwind as we tried to wrap everything up before leaving for our tour of Mississippi to see everyone for Christmas. We managed to finish and get to Pontotoc Sunday night. Parker's first one-year-old birthday party was in Pontotoc on that Monday followed by the exchanging of gifts with Lee's immediate family on Tuesday, dinner and exchanging of gifts with Lee's mom's side of the family on Wednesday, and Christmas breakfast Thursday morning after which we went by Lee's other grandmother's house to visit with family for a bit. After wrapping things up there, we hit the road and headed to Jackson. But not to our house. Because everyone in my family is so spread out, we rent the cabin at Luckett Lodge, which is literally 10 minutes down the road from our house, and we all stay there for a few days. It's so nice, and we had a great time. But by the end, Parker was worn out. We ended up coming home at 1am on the last two nights because we couldn't get him to go to sleep, which is so unusual for him. He was just too tired. My youngest sister was sick with the stomach virus on Saturday and missed Parker's second one-year-old birthday party, and my mom and grandfather got sick on Sunday, the day we left. From Luckett Lodge, my mom and youngest sister and Parker and I came back to my house while Lee, my dad, and my cousin got ready to go on an annual hunting trip at Lake Forest Ranch. After unloading everything on Monday and giving my mom a day to rest, she and I got busy "de-cluttering" our house. WHAT A PROJECT!! It took us two full days of nonstop work and a whole bunch of garbage bags that will be taken to Gateway, but we did finally finish. Now my house is in order, and everything has a place. Whatever didn't have a place is now gone! So Lee got home Thursday evening, and we spent Friday and today just hanging out as a family and running a few errands.

Whew! We love seeing everyone for the holidays, but it sure is tiring. I go back to school on Monday and am so sad. I have loved being home with Parker and playing with him all day and having time to do other things that have been on my to-do list. But...enough whining. It's coming whether I like it or not, so I'll just enjoy every last second of my last day of the holiday. Hope everyone else had a great Christmas and New Year!

I'll post pictures of Parker's parties soon!

A Hill Family First

Since Lee and I got married, we have always had a fake Christmas tree. I just think it's a lot easier to deal with. Less mess, easy disposal, etc. And every year Lee whines about it. He wants the SMELL of Christmas in the house. Well, this year, our softball team was selling trees at school for a very reasonable price. They even agreed to deliver them! So I caved. Although there is quite a mess everywhere - I just can't seem to get all the needles up before more fall - it is beautiful. And it does smell really good. It is so huge. We had to move furniture all over to make room for it. Parker loves turning the lights on in the morning and turning them off at night. He's been pretty good about leaving it alone...but as you can see he does sneak over every now and then to see what he can do. So all in all, I'm glad we have it. That's not to say that we'll have a real one next year...we'll just have to see.

I must give some credit to my sweet little sister, Lia. Lee and I put the tree up last Saturday and put the lights on and everything, but we didn't have time to put the ornaments on. I had truly considered not putting ornaments on it at all...I mean, the time to leave the tree up this year is so short. Well, I came home from school on Wednesday to find my tree totally decorated. Lia had come home after exams and decorated the tree while I was gone. And she's allergic to real Christmas trees! I'm was and am so grateful. It really is beautiful. She did a great job.

One last week left of school!! Being out last week for our "snow day" kinda spoiled me. I'm ready to be out NOW!!

A haircut for you, and a haircut for you...

Everyone in our house got a haircut last week! I was so tired of looking at Parker's wings and was finally able to convince Lee that it was ok to cut them off. Ms Ann was so quick he didn't even know what happened! Lee just needed a trim, but I was in need of a full new 'do. Tired of looking like a child with unruly hair. Thank you to Roxanne who made me look like I teach high school and am not in it!!


Parker couldn't figure out what was going on.

My two boys after their hair cuts. Yes, it's dark. Ms Ann cuts hair at ungodly hours of the day and night!

My self-photo.

Wrap it in maroon and white...

Well, the Bulldogs weren't so hot this year, but we sure did have a great time going to Starkville to cheer them on. Although the tailgate was a lot of work sometimes, it was fun to visit with family and friends, and most of the time the weather was even good. We were so excited that Courtney & Jason and Jenny & Ryan and C&C got to come. We had a great time chasing kids! I know there's still one game left, but we're finished for the year. We'll be starting our Thanksgiving celebration early! Go Dawgs!

The Hills and The Goolsbys

Our family pic

My mom and Parker

Parker loves to play with Courtney!

Trick or Treating Fun

Parker had a great time seeing all the trick or treaters tonight. We went next door to see Landon and Carter (all three of these little boys are within a month of each other!). Then we strolled down the street to see the sights with my friend Stacie and her two kids. Parker loved seeing everything. He couldn't turn his head quick enough to see it all!

The Pumpkin Patch

My mom and Alyssa and I took Parker to the pumpkin patch this past week to take some pictures. It wasn't very sunny, and Parker wasn't really in the mood, but we did get a few good pictures. I can't believe it's already fall...and almost winter! But I do love this time of year. I used to love summer...now I love this time. Something about the cool air that makes me happy! :)

Just in case anyone was wondering...

Parker is really crawling!! from Jessica Hill on Vimeo.

Yep, he finally decided to join every other baby his age!! Parker has actually been crawling for a few weeks now. I just didn't have time to post it. He's also pulling up and walking around everything while holding on. We just thought we were busy!

Go State!!

Parker loved his first Mississippi State game this past weekend. We went up Saturday morning and tailgated with my parents and Lia along with some other guests who came by. We had a great time, and Parker was a great sport. He didn't nap all day and was content to eat whenever we remembered (oops!) and didn't fuss all day. He loved all the sites and sounds... and especially the win! And we'll be going back next weekend!

Props to my husband...

Lee had major babysitting duty tonight. A bunch of the girls went out to eat for Jenny's birthday tonight, and we were so excited. Well, Alicia called today with news that her husband was sick, so she was planning to not go because someone had to stay home with Ally...until Lee saved the day. He volunteered to stay home with both of our little munchkins so we could go out for a quick night of fun. And he did a great job!! He did feed Ally in the living room, but I think she was fine with it. There were toys all over the floor and both kids seemed ok when we got back, so I think things went ok! He even had time to take these fun pictures while we were gone! He seriously is like supermom sometimes. He's just so calm and collected and never gets panicked about anything...which would be ideal when watching two very mobile babies!! Thanks for taking one for the team, Lee!!


Parker kept trying to get to Ally while she was eating...and she kept watching Parker. I'm not sure that a whole lot of eating was accomplished!

These two played really well together and had toys everywhere!

Another Singleton Bulldog...and DG!!

Lia in her new dorm room

We moved Lia into her dorm at Mississippi State almost two weeks ago. It was so fun all day long, but the end was really sad. Leaving her was so strange! It still just feels like she shouldn't be big enough to stay there by herself. Because I am so much older than her, I can sort of understand how my parents felt when Alyssa and I went to college. I'm so excited for all that Lia has ahead of her and the fun she's going to have...but I worry about her. What if she gets lost? Or runs out of gas? Or someone's mean to her? It's silly, I know. And the greatest thing is that Lia really is outstanding and has such a great head on her shoulders about everything, so I know we have nothing to worry about. And Lord knows if I made it, she'll be just fine! It'll just take some time for me to get used to her being that old!

She did go through rush last week and had a great time. She met some great girls who were going through and has become good friends with some of them already. She had an amazing time at every house and honestly had a hard time making her decision. The fact that Alyssa and I were both DGs...and my mom...actually made her feel like it wasn't at all what she wanted to do. Thanks to the hard work of my sweet friend, she did love it. She loved the girls she met there, and then started realizing that the friends she was making loved DG, too. So, after all the late night phone calls (that Lee is glad are over!) and talking through everything, she made her decision and is so happy with it. She is having the time of her life. My mom and I keep saying that we still can't believe she's even at Mississippi State, so the fact that she is having so much fun makes us so happy. Classes started yesterday, so that added a little bit of stress, but I think the fun is overriding the stress!

Thank you so much to all my friends who helped in Lia having such a great time last week. It was so fun to see her really be able to make the decision that was best for her and not just be left with one choice because of decisions we had made. You guys are the best!!

Lia and her friend Haley from Kentucky...the two out-of-state girls!!