Lila's 2nd 1st Birthday Party

Lila rocked it out to a second first birthday party. We had a small scale party at the house (which i have never done before since we typically always have the parties at a location), but i figured it would be easiest for us & for Lila to have it at home.

Rob & I worked hard to transform a room in our basement to a girly dress up room (which was the main setting for the party). The room is complete with a dress rack, two full length mirrors, a vanity & boas, shoes & costumes. Lila loves putting on boas & we even dress her up too & Lila is a good sport about it.

We had our Georgia friends come over for some dress up fun & cupcakes. Lila had no problems putting away her cupcake. Check out the pics...

Eve's Going to College

Who says TV isn't good for kids? now all Eve talks about is going to college since Andy in Toy Story 3 goes to college. Eve said that when she goes to college she is going to pack up all of her toys & give them to someone nice & who is going to treat her toys nice. She chose annalise (yeah..she didn't realize that annalise is the same age & will be going to college too)...I am sitting in Eve's room now "watching" Toy Story 2 since she told me that I haven't seen the movie yet (which i haven't) & its a good movie. so, i am sitting here even though I have clothes to fold & put away & have so much good reality tv to watch (yup, its 9:20 & she is still up..she is up later than i am every night).

Eve helped me make chocolate lollipops today for Lila's party on saturday. she said she wants to make candy when she grows bigger (add that to her list of aspirations, along with being a magical unicorn).

Eve's Swim Lessons Finale

Well, Eve survived her two week swim lessons (i guess i should say the teachers actually survived the swim lessons). It was a little touch & go with her with putting her face in the water & sitting still, but she made. Her big accomplishments were: putting her head under water, somewhat floating & jumping off of a diving board (i think that's pretty good for a girl who doesn't like to get water in her eyes). We had to invest in three pairs of goggles to get this far, though.

On the last day of class, the parents are allowed to sit by the pool & watch thier kids swimming. So, you heard a lot of yelling, correcting, etc by the parents. I also had to jump up & take Eve to the bathroom since she jumped up & exclaimed, "I have to go potty" as she held herself. So, I got nominated since Rob was holding Lila to pick her up & take her.

Eve also got corrected 3x by her teacher for not sitting still or for getting in the pool when she wasn't supposed to. Then they got to jump off of the diving board. Eve didn't want to do it this time since she said she didn't want to get water in her eyes (don't know where those goggles were...).

At the end of class, they all got a Tootsie Roll & a report card. Eve mastered fully submerging her face, buoyancy, floated on front & back while supported, bubble blowing, kicking on front & back while supported. However, the back of her card says that she did not pass (which I didn't think she would since this was her first class) because she needs to practice strong kicking & working on arm swimming.

Eve is going back for more starting the end of July--she needs to pass!!! Lots of practice at our pool until then :)

Eve is Becoming a Mermaid

Eve has some new loves in her life: swimming, Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (the movie), and Toy Story 3.
The first, swimming, stems from her recent swim lessons that she is taking at the local pool. Rob & I were nervous that she wouldn't listen to the instructor (go figure), sit still (which she did have some difficulty with) or put her face in the water since she doesn't like to get water in her eyes. Well, we are happy to report that she did listen to her instructor, she did get in trouble a few times for getting up & trying to wipe her eyes. However, Eve will now jump into the water & put her face in the pool. I signed her up for another session to take advantage of her excitement for learning how to swim--gotta capitalize.

The second, Barbie & the Mermaid Tale, is something that i have to listen to every day in the car. Basically, it is about a human guy & a mermaid having a baby together (weird, huh?) & some surfer guy raising her. I hope I am not spoiling the plot for anyone! Oh yeah, and they use the word, "redonculous" in it too. Classic..must see movie (according to eve).

The last is Toy Story 3. I have to say that i am surprised that she liked that movie so much since it didn't have to do with princesses. Her fav characters are: Jessie (the cowgirl), Slinky (the dog), and Barbie (hhmm..maybe this is why she likes it). We will see how long this new obsession lasts..

Lila's 1st 1st Birthday Party

As I mentioned, we went back to PA for two big events: Kristen's wedding & Lila's 1st birthday (actually, we went back for Kristen's wedding, but decided it would be a great opportunity to get together for Lila's birthday).

Lila had her birthday at the same place that Eve had her first birthday party--My Gym in Exton. It was cool since the party leader was the same teacher that Eve had had when she was 9 months old, so the teacher was so excited to see Eve all grown up at the ripe age of 4.

Basically, the party was for Eve since I only had 2 kids under the age of 3 there (thanks Luca DePaul & Colin Ward!). Eve had a blast with all of her PA friends (check out the pics!!).

Lila's favorite part was the cake, which is a far departure from Eve's 1st birthday. Eve loved climbing everything & cried when we gave her cake. Lila on the other hand, wanted to be carried around & dug in to her cake.

It was so nice seeing everyone & keeping the tradition alive with all of us getting together for our girls' birthdays even thought we live far away. Now Eve & Lila get two birthday parties each year: a PA one & a GA one. Spoiled Girls!!!

Sorry..It's Been So Long..

Summer has been super busy around here. all of these pool days are really taking up my time ;)

Actually, some of the fun things that have happned over the past month include: going back to PA to celebrate Lila's 1st Birthday & going to my college (and post college) roommate's beautiful wedding, Eve's swim lessons, and getting ready for Lila's second 1st birthday party.

I have to admit that I didn't put much effort in maintaining the blog since I have been busy but it was great hearing from my PA friends that they like reading my blog & seeing what's happening in my life since we don't get to talk much. So Tina & JP, this blog post is for you :)I think i am back on track again.

Mommy Needs Her Rest

I have been battling a cold (and losing) all week. I have been grossing out my entire office as well creating fear that I will be getting them all sick before a holiday weekend. Rob has been working the past few nights so I have had to get both girls fed, bathed, put to bed & lunches made for next day (all after I get home at 6:15). Lila is pretty easy since after dinner, she gets a bath & goes right to bed. Eve, on the other hand, is my companion until I feel asleep (NOTE: until I fall asleep...she usually stays up later than me).

Last night, Eve was actually playing nicely in her room while I chatted on the phone. Eve hit the "espanol" button on her DVD player & proceeded to watch Barbie Mermaidia in Spanish (which she said she wanted to do since she wanted to learn more Spanish). Eve kept coming in my room saying "Como estas, mama." Super cute.

Then she came in while I was coughing & asked me if I was OK then told me I need to lay down, rest and take my medicine. So i listened & took some cold medicine which knocked me out. This morning, I was bragging to Rob on how well behaved & good Eve was the night before even though I was sick. Whenwe went into her room, we saw "EVE" written in marker all over her dresser in her room. HHMMM...

Atlanta Botancial Gardens

I am so behind in my blogging. About two weeks ago, we went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens (along with the Wolf fam again). The Botanical Garden was really pretty. They have this new thing called the Canopy Walk which has a walkway built into the trains. Then they have a Children's Garden which had tunnels to climb through, slides, and sprinklers (which was Eve's fav). They also had an Edible Garden which was really neat then have an outdoor kitchen in which they talk about dishes to prepare with fresh ingredients from your garden. Surprisingly, we lasted about 3 hours there even though Eve kept wanting to go back to the sprinklers. No gift shop this time around either--we hightailed it out of there since we knew Eve would convince us to buy her something for her invisible "garden."


This weekend we have Aunt Vicky & Uncle Matt visiting. We have a fun-filled weekend planned--shopping, BBQ, comedy club, TN Aquarium and Kids Museum. More to come on our trip to Chattanooga (it looks really fun there!).

It Runs in the Family

Everyone knows that I am a picky eater (i like to say "discriminating"). The apple doesn't fall far from the tree since Eve is also a picky eater. However from what I am told from my Mom, she is far worse then i was at her age. There are 3 options for dinner: mac & cheese, grilled cheese & plain pasta noodles. That's it. It makes it easy for me since I don't cook but I always squirm in my seat when the pediatician asks me what she eats.

Because I totally understand where Eve is coming from, I don't force the issue with her with eating new things. In time, hopefully she will try new things as she sees her friends (and Lila) eating other things. My only worry is that Lila will pick up on Eve's bad habits. Lila eats just about anything we put in front of her--she loves fruit, tater tots, chicken, peas, grilled cheese, etc--you name it, she tries it. We need to enjoy this while we can!

Going Wild on Mother's Day

No, it's not what you think. For Mother's day this year, the Parlaman clan headed to Zoo Atlanta. We went to the zoo with my friend Melissa & her family so Eve had a friend to run around with & Lila had a fellow stroller pal. For the most part, everyone had their "listening ears" on (even Daddy).

Eve's favorite part of the day was seeing the giraffes (both her & Lila had their giraffe dresses on). Eve also saw chimpanzes, elephants, meerkats, gorillas, kangaroos, and cotton candy (i asked her to list what she saw today & that was her response as she eats cotton candy at 7:30 pm). The pandas were also really cute (take a look at the pic of Eve standing next to one--it almost looks like she is in the cage with him). We went on the train ride & then the carousel. And to finish off the day, we headed to the gift shop where each girl picked out a toy--both picked a giraffe.

What would Mother's Day be without a trip to Olive Garden (thanks to Mom & Dad for the gift certificate!). Looks like everyone & their mother (literally) was at Olive Garden but luckily we got there early. Eve claimed she didn't want to eat & Lila whined since she wanted to nap & couldn't in the loud restaurant. So we quickly housed our food as the kids melted down then headed out to buy a new dishwasher since ours smells like puke (appetizing, huh?).

Mother's Day wasn't too relaxing but it was nice to spend some QT with the lil ladies & Rob. A very special Mother's Day shout out to my MOM & to all the other moms out there!

You're Not Listening!

This was an adamant quote that Eve said to me last night. Apparently one of her blonde BFFs, Amelia, had her hair in some braid configuration yesterday. So, after Eve's bath last night, she asked me to "do her hair like Amelia's." She now has named her hairstyles based on her friends at school. Putting her hair in a ponytail is called the "Annalise." Pulling her hair half up & leaving the rest down is dubbed the "Alyssa." And now (i just found out) that putting your hair in one braid at the nape of your neck is called the "Amelia" (side note, most of her friends are blonde & their names start with "A" in her school).

When Eve asked me to do her hair like Amelia she said you put it in braids "like this" then mentioned to the sides of her head. So, i figured she wanted me to braid each side then meet in the middle into a ponytail since she mentioned that the braid goes into a ponytail. After I painstakingly did this (and thought it looked awesome by the way), she looked in the mirror, made an angry faced turned to me & yelled, "you're not listening! i said put my hair in a braid & ponytail!"
So, i took the ponytail holder out then proceeded to do a single braid at the nape of her neck. Feeling accomplished, I said "go look now..you totally look like Amelia." She went to the mirror turned around again & yelled "you're not listening again! I said a ponytail & a braid!". She angrily pulled the ponytail holder out & went into her room.

The wrath of eve...

Funny thing happened today. Rob sent me a picture with the title, "ms. rebecca fixed my hair." I opened the image & knew exactly what it was. Ms. Rebecca was able to unravel Eve's hairstyling directions & create a braid at the nape of her neck! I laughed out loud because I knew exactly what the picture meant..the even funnier thing was it looked just like what i did last night (except this one started a little higher on her head). i guess mother doesn't know best..ms.rebecca does!

The Kinda Healthier Me

About a month ago, I joined LA Fitness. When i went out to get a massage from Massage Envy & came back & told Rob that I think I am going to join LA Fitness, he gave me this look & said, "then why did we move all of that exercise equipment from PA to here?" Well i was going to start working out at home since I had a dedicated room with a TV, elliptical & treadmill. However, I found it tough to get motivated to go to my basement & workout at 5:00 am even though we got new carpet & freshly painted green walls.

After talking to some people at work (Cross Fit is a big craze at work), I found that many other moms/dads were getting to the gym at 5:00 to work out (so my excuse that I have two kids & work all day was not a valide excuse any more). i was almost convinced but once i saw LA Fitness, I fell back in love. Back in high school & college, I used to work out all of the time. I loved gyms! I liked having a destination & being surrounded by other sweaty people that also dragged their butt out of bed to work out at 5:00 am. LA Fitness also had Kids Klub where they have a big indoor playground, kitchen, tv, etc. I knew eve would fall in love too.

After the tour of the gym, the instructor told me that I could come back the following day for a trial & bring the kids. The next day, I brought both kids. Lila made it 45 minutes then they came to find me to say that she is crying & they think she is hungry. So, i went & fed her then tried to come back to finish my workout but she kept crying. I threw in the towel at that point & figured I would try again with her next weekend. Well, she was even worse the following weekend & I couldn't work out at all. Thus, my more frequent 5:00 am workouts & going to the gym with Eve in tow sans Lila (Eve asked if she could go to the gym with me & leave Lila home since Lila cries too much).

Now, i go about 3x a week at 5:00 am & try to go when possible at night with Eve when Rob is home so he can get Lila ready for bed. Eve gets so excited to go the gym & usually asks me if we are going to go to the gym. She is quite the motivator.

This week I am going to try yoga. It seems like everyone has tried yoga so I guess I am in the minority. I did two sessions of prenatal yoga when I was pregnant with Eve but never really got into it. I figured I would give it a go since it seems relaxing & doesn't require sneakers (they even turn out the lights too--which is good so people don't see that i don't know what i am doing). I invested in a cute pink yoga mat too. I figured I would jump on the bandwagon since yoga has been a staple of most celebrities. Do you think Bret Michaels does it too?

Anywho, what are your tips to stay in shape?

Daddy can "fix anything"

When my wife Melissa told me she added me as an author to her blog, I started to sweat and I wondered what I could possibly provide as interesting topics that other people would want to read and discuss. The first thing that came to my mind is "Daddy can fix anything". If I could actually fix anything, then I should be able to figure out how to do this right? Well for the most part yes and the rest I will need to learn as I go. Actually, that's how I know how to fix "anything", as Eve always says when something breaks or needs batteries. I'm proud to hold this position in my family because I feel a real connection to them as a result of me trying to fix things. From, a Leapster that is not set to the proper brightness setting, to a brand new DVD/LCD TV combo that Eve decided to insert a toy jewel into the DVD slot the first day we set it up for her. I fear though the day Eve, Lila or Melissa comes to me and I cannot actually fix it. I do not ever want to disappoint them and truly know the trust they hold in me may wind up in failure. But that will never stop me from always "trying" to fix anything and I can "self teach" myself how to do almost anything as long as I try. The proof is in the fact I did not know how to be first a Husband to Melissa, next a Father to Eve and eventually a Father for the second time when Lila was born. I just want them to know, if they ever need Daddy for anything, I'm there for them for anything and everything because they are my everything and anything!

Sisterly Love

When I first found out I was pregnant, I asked Eve if she wanted a baby brother or baby sister. She said, on video, a baby sister named Ruby. Then she changed her mind & wanted a baby brother. So, when the ultrasound tech announced that we were having a girl, Eve yelled out, "no, i am having a baby brother." Eve is literally tickled pink on being a big sister to Lila. Eve said today that she loved babies & loved her baby sister. I asked her if she wanted to have another one. Eve replied, "no just one, my baby sister. And I love her." Lila loves her big sister & gets so excited to hang out with her. Eve makes a list of everything she wants to do with Lila when she gets older: dress up with her, go to the beach, have a tea party, and a sleepover. They are going to have so much fun when they are older: making tapes of Cabbage Patch dolls singing, putting on plays with their dolls, playing store (wait, that was me & Vicky!). Anywho..Eve & Lila have a lot of memories to make with each other & many years to drive me nuts with their fighting.

Can You Have Too Many Princess Parties?

With our move to GA, Eve is happy about one thing--two birthday parties! We had a birthday party for Eve in PA when we went back for Easter & "low key" one here in GA at one of her favorite parks. The theme for her PA party was Princess & the Frog & her theme with her GA one was Princess. So, basically Eve got to celebrate her birthday for a month! Her PA party was at one her favorite hot spots, Krazy City in the Plymouth Meeting Mall. She had a "small" party of 20 kids. Even though each kid got a game card, half of them spent their time in a ball blaster thing (i have no idea what you call it!!). She got to hang out with all of her hometown buds & had a blast!

Our low key party at the park seemed good in theory--just a few close friends & no big investment since you don't have to rent out the park. However, there was a chance of rain & you never know if someone will be there having a party too. Well, we completely lucked out & had a gorgeous day (even though the wind made it impossible for us to put anything on the table--NOTE, if you ever plan on having a party at the park, bring a staple gun & staple everything to the wooden tables!). And, as luck would have it, someone walked over at 3:30 & said they were hosting a party (by that time, our party basically ended & all of the kids were at the playground).

Now, the party planning has begun for Lila's first birthday. Her PA party is going to be at My Gym in Exton, which was the same place that we had Eve's party when she turned one. I am still contemplating what to do here in GA. Maybe a pool party? Time to start shopping!

Can't Believe It Took Me So Long!

I have been blogging for my job, Graco Children's Products, for 2 years. And, I never even thought of starting my own blog. Now moving from PA to GA, I thought it would be a good idea to start posting stories about the family & uploading pics & videos (I already do this on Facebook, but thought I would make it official) since we don't get to see our fam & friends very often.

First step--get blogging & uploading pics! The big news at the Parlaman household is Lila's new wheels--her legs! Lila has figured out how to scoot & crawl around so now, watch out world. I hope to upload this video tomorrow (disregard my yelling at Eve in the video). I think I am sensitive to Lila having her moments since I am a second child so I always try to give Lila her moments in the sun (even though Eve keeps stepping into her sun).

I hope to get Rob to start blogging too since he is so tech savvy with his iphone. Stay tuned for mind blowing topics from Rob to include: beer, cleaning up the yard, hockey, Jcrew sales, people Rob can't stand (basically the general public), and bathing his children (since that is his designated "bonding" time with the kids).