My cousin, the actor!

My cousin, Sara Lawler, was very busy with rehearsals in June. That's right, rehearsals. She had a part in the musical, Rent at the Smith Opera House in Geneva on July 15 - 18.

Rent is a Tony and Pulitzer prize-winning musical based upon Puccini’s opera La Boheme. It depicts the story of one year in the life of a group of young bohemian friends struggling to survive in the East Village of New York City. This group of beleaguered young artists and musicians contemplate the meaning of life, love and hope while dealing with issues of poverty, loss, drug addiction, and AIDS.

This powerful musical is headed up by a talented cast hailing from across the Finger Lakes and Rochester area and includes Mike Witter (Mark), Nick Faruch (Roger), Kyle Knapton (Collins), Sarah Mull (Mimi), Derrick Frenney (Angel), Chelsea Miller (Maureen), Sara Lawler (Joanne), Darius Greene (Benny). Ensemble cast members include: Kaleigh-Marie Fremouw, Abigail Adams, Sylvia Queener, Vinnie Loucks, Ben Raha, Justin Doyle and Jonathan Garcia. Rent is directed by Steve Duprey with Music Directors Bob Cowles and Deb Hodgeman and choreography by Caitlyn Schrader.

Below is an article from the Finger Lakes Times about her performance. Congratulations, Cuz! I wish I could have been there to see it. Maybe when you are on your national tour and stop off in Texas. I will definitely make it then. :)

Click on the image to see a larger view.

Lost video clips

I was going through my email and found a few video clips from a while ago that I wanted to post. The first one is of Parker learning to stand on his own. Of course, he is pro at that now and he is almost walking, but it's fun to watch him try so hard to support himself. The second video is of Parker on my lap. I just love his cute laugh. The third and final video is of Parker the other day with Tyson in the library. He grabbed Tyson's squeeze toy and had a blast making noise. Tyson was just watching to see what the little terror on two legs was going to do. Enjoy! :)

#1 Saints Fan

Thanks to Aunt Megan, Parker can show his spirit this football season. Parker and Dad will be watching a lot of Saints games this year I am sure.

Parker's first haircut

On Saturday, we took Parker to get his first official haircut. Technically, I had given him a few haircuts prior to Saturday, but they weren't full haircuts. Instead, they just entailed trimming over the ears and eyes.

For the most part, he did really well. He did cry and fight a little bit, but he was also happy and still part of the time. Of course, we had to distract him almost the whole time with bubbles. Parker loves bubbles.

We took him to a place called Pigtails and Crewcuts. He got to sit in the fire engine chair. Below are some of the best photos of this milestone event.

The finished product! :) Doesn't he look different? He looks so grown up with his hair cut. Although the curls are cute, I do think he looks more like a little boy now. He is growing up so fast!

The nighttime routine

Parker is definitely a creature of habit. I guess all babies are. Everyone tells you to get on a routine and stay there. It doesn't really matter so much exactly what it is. Each baby is different, so each routine can vary. The most important thing is that it is predictable and repeatable.

The routine for us is that Parker gets a bath every night around 8:00 pm. He used to get his bath in a hammock type thing. Then he graduated to a chair that sits in the bathtub. Now he sits in the tub all by himself and I sit on the side with one foot in the water and one out.

After his bath, he gets dried off and dressed in his pj's. We then play for a little bit in his room on the floor. Sometimes he chases the dog around the room. Other times he moves from one toy to the next as if he is on a game show and only has 5 minutes to play with every toy he owns.

Once he starts to rub his eyes and yawn, it's time to sit in his chair and read a book before getting his milk. He always gets a bottle before going to bed. Normally, he lays there still and drinks his milk as the music is playing with the lights turned down low. Usually, before he finishes the bottle, he is fast asleep. Then it is just a matter of gently walking him over to his crib and laying him down without waking him up. Believe it or not, most of the time this goes off without a hitch.

So that is our routine. Parker is usually in bed by 9:00 pm. Below are a series of pictures I took a few weeks ago after Parker had his bath, while he was playing and getting ready to read a book before bedtime.

Parker's 1st Birthday

Well, I know it's been more than a month since the P-man's 1st birthday, but I am finally getting around to posting some pictures from the event. So, let's get right to it...

Sure it wasn't made by the Cake Boss, but Megan and I tried really hard to make Parker's first cake memorable AND tasty. I think we achieved both goals!

A pretty nice spread for a 1-year old. Heck, he didn't even know what was going on, but I bet he will be impressed when it gets older and sees these pictures or reads this blog.

Before we lit the candles on the cake and opened the presents, we all enjoyed some pizza. Parker had never had pizza before and he wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

After cutting it up into more manageable pieces, he tried it. Once he got over the initial shock of having a different textured food in his mouth, he really liked it. Of course, what food doesn't he like? :)

After pizza, we lit the candles, sang Happy Birthday, and cut the cake. Once again, Parker wasn't quite sure what to do with it. He just sat there and stared at it for about a minute.

Then we gave him a spoon to use. Although he doesn't know how to use it properly, sometimes putting a little food on it (in this case cake) and putting it in his mouth, helps to get him going. He didn't eat much of the cake, in part because a good portion of it ended up on his face.

Then it was time to open presents. This is the tunnel that Great Aunt Susan got him. He loves tunnels. We play in them all the time at Gymboree. When he was younger, he was scared of tunnels, but now they are so much fun and he really likes the one he got for his birthday. Thanks!

Aunt Megan gave Parker a wagon that contained big legos. Parker loves to play with the legos. He mostly destroys the creations his dad makes, but that it ok. We like to play build and destroy before bed sometimes. Thanks Aunt Megan!

Once everyone left, we got cleaned up and Parker put on his Batman outfit. We got this when we visited Six Flags in San Antonio over the Memorial Day weekend. Doesn't he look like a superhero?

Finally, the morning after Parker's first birthday, we all got up and made breakfast. You can see here that Parker was a good helper for his dad. He offered to shake the pancake mix while the skillet was heating up.

So, all-in-all it was a great birthday. Thanks to everyone who came over and shared it with us. Thanks for all the wonderful gifts. Parker really loves everything he got. We hope to see you all again really soon. Lots of love!