Holmes' Sweet Home: July 2012

The first weekend in June was packed with important events. Rachel, Justin's cousin, graduated from Life Christian High School! We are so proud of her and her decision to become a Washington State Cougar!

Grandma Jane and the Grandkids at Rachel's Graduation Party

Saturday, the Holmes family gathered to celebrate Grandma Jane's, Ian's and Uncle Mike's birthdays. It's always fun getting the whole clan together. Plus, Parker enjoys the attention.

Sunday was very special for Justin, and I because we had Parker dedicated at Life Center Church. At our church, "Dedicating a child acknowledges God's sovereignty not only over the child, but also the mother and father. Parents present their child before God and His people asking for grace and wisdom in carrying out their responsibilities. Parents also come praying that their child might one day grow to love and trust Jesus Christ as their Savior and live under His lordship." Parker was a champ on stage. In true form, he kept a serious face and sucked away on his pacifier. After, we celebrated by having an open house. We were blessed to have many family and friends who love and support Parker and his faith!

Justin and his friend, Josh Snyder ran the Sound to Narrows 12k which takes place around Point Defiance. Justin was a rock star! He finished with an amazing time! It's impressive when a guy who barely trains keeps up with hardcore runners. Parker and I ran the 5k with my friend Alli Davies. Parker beat me by about 1/2 a second...man, is he fast!

When I was about 8 months pregnant, I was a little self conscious after gaining baby weight. I had serious pregnancy brain and thought it would be a good idea to run a half marathon to get back in shape. I paid the money so I couldn't back out later. Good thing, because I would have backed out. After Parker was born, the realization hit me that I had signed up for 13.1 miles! I don't normally run more than 2 or 3 miles, so this idea was quite daunting, especially since I've never ran in an official race like this. During training, I found out that I like running. However, I get bored after 7 miles. That's my limit. 13 was going to be hard. Good thing Alli was running with me. She is wonderful! Even though she is much faster, she ran with me and encouraged me during the last few miles when I was crazy tired. I ended up running 15 minutes faster than I thought I would! Thanks Alli!

Parker has gotten really good at crawling. And he's fast. This means he has access to most of the house and is tricky to watch. Before we know it, Parker is out of the room grabbing the cat, pulling himself up, and opening cabinets. One of his favorite places to play is the master bathroom. Parker has a basket of toys there to play with while we are getting ready. He rarely uses them. Instead, he stands by the toilet, unravels toilet paper and even flushes the toilet! He has gotten tall enough that he can reach the bathtub faucet. He thinks this is so cool!

This busy boy has learned the word "no". When Parker is getting into something and we say "no", he will stop and look at us. Often he will stop, but often I need to move him to something safer.

enjoying watermelon in his fruit strainer

Parker is enjoying some new foods this month including: black beans, apricots, peaches, blueberries, oatmeal, cauliflower, and corn. He is getting better at grabbing finger foods and bringing it to his mouth. He can now sometimes pinch a rice puff between his thumb and index finger.

Parker prefers to stand rather than sit. He holds onto furniture while he plays with toys. We got him an activity table that he loves. The other day, Parker let go of the activity table and without realizing it, was standing on his own! It was about 10 seconds before he realized this and sat down. It won't be long before he starts standing by himself and walking!

Parker is now at the point where he enjoys going to fun kid-friendly places like the Tacoma Children's museum. Often when we go to a new place like a park, Parker sits and observes his surroundings for a good 10 minutes before he feels comfortable. Eventually, he starts crawling, smiling, talking, interacting with new friends, and pulling up on whatever he can.