Paper Concierge!

I am venturing back into the working world...sort of ;)

I have always loved all things personalized and monogrammed. It's certainly a passion, if not OBSESSION, of mine. So, I figured I ought to channel this enthusiasm into something! So combine something I have always loved (personalized stuff) with something I never thought I would do (sales) and you get Paper Concierge.

You can go to my website, www.perickson.paperconcierge.com, and order all kinds of personalized products! Party invitations, stationery, stamps, labels, tote bags, cups, plates, place mats, even IPhone cases and jewelry...There really is a WIDE variety of fun stuff.

The stuff is really cute and I am so excited to be doing something that requires me to put my thinking cap on. I was beginning to think my mommy brain was turning to mush ;)

Hope you'll check it out! Happy Shopping!

Miles is 11 months!

Say it ain't so...our sweet baby boy is 11 months old! I am feeling kind of nostalgic about M's first birthday. It just doesn't seem possible that he could be so old :)

He is starting to "talk" more and more. He sounds more like he is actually saying something now. He especially loves to boss Caroline around, which will be interesting as soon as she can unerstand him ;)

When I get him up in the morning or after his naps, I always tell him to "put his paci in the bed" and he does. He pulls it right out, and drops it in the bed. Such a smart little guy :)

He has mastered "So Big" (Have a video, but can't get it work right now...will post it later)

He loves to sit in Caroline's chair. Acutally, he mostly loves to climb all over it and jump on it. There is very little sitting that happens at all!

He is starting to stand on his own more and more. He hasn't stood (from sitting, without pulling up on something) completely by himself yet, but he has gotten close.

Of course, he loves remotes and cell phones.

Here he is mid-stand...Can't remember if he was on his way up or on his way down ;) He loves to play peek a boo. Here he is hiding under his sister's dirty laundry...I know, I know, I am such a rock-star mom...
Especially when I let him drag said dirty laundry around in his mouth.

or when I let him chew on her shoes He just loves to put everything in his mouth. He has 8 teeth, and I am pretty sure he is working on a couple more. Super-drooly and chews on anything he can find. When he can't eat shoes or laundry, he actually prefers a tube of sunscreen, a hair pick (ghetto, I know), and the blue nasal aspirator...all of which I have been know to let him chew on and/or crawl around with hanging from his mouth...so safe, so sharp, and so sanitary. Feel free to nominate for parent of the year ;) Me and my bear at the park. When its really sunny out, he tends to have an uncharacteristly serious expression...

Mr. Serious goes swinging

Mr. Serious drives a car.

There's our happy boy!
I am almost positive he said "Dada" tonight. And that he acutally meant it, not just babbling. Yea for Miles! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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Family Fun Day!

We spent Saturday morning outside enjoying the beautiful weather. We took a 2 1/2 mile hike. It started out like this...

M is the backpack

C walking by herself.

It ended like this...

M in the backpack, and C on Daddy's shoulders.

In my defense, I didn't make Daddy do ALL the work...I took a (brief) turn carrying the backpack. Geez!?!? It's heavy!!

Caroline talked avsolutely NON STOP the entire way. She loved it. SHe talked about the trees, the rocks, the flowers, the butterflies, the dogs, etc, etc. Much to Daddy's dismay, she wanted to climb and jomp on every rock, root, and branch along the way :) She ended up on his shoulders, not because she was tired, but because she was slowing us down...ha ha!

After our hike, which took way longer than expected ;) we had a picnic by the lake. Caroline had been looking forward to going to "the park by the lake" all week!!

Daddy and his sweet little buddy looking for boats.

Caroline kept saying, "Its so much fun having a picnic by the lake!" So precious :)

It was a a great way to spend a Saturday!

I got 5 on it...

We celebrated our 5th anniversary on April Fool's Day! This totally feels like a milestone to me. Somehow 5 years of marriage makes it seem legit...ha ha :)

What a difference 5 years makes!

April 1, 2006: He wore a tux, I wore a beautiful gown, with full hair and make up. We celebrated in a ballroom with a wonderful evening of dinner, dancing, wine, and champagne with 350 of our friends and family. I have hundreds of pictures to commemorate the event, and it was a totally perfect night!

April 1, 2011: We both wore workout clothes and tennis shoes, and I had not even showered. We celebrated on a patio with a wonderful evening of dinner, drinks, and playing with the 2 most precious people in our lives. I have not one picture of the event, but it was still a perfect night!!

It may not be as glamorous 5 years later, but it's still fun!!! I am not going to lie and say we don't have those moments where we long for the freedom and ease of those days. But truly, I wouldn't trade our life now for anything. That doesn't mean things are perfect all the time, by any means, but we are so abundantly blessed. Happy Anniversary to my sweet hubby!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sing us a song, Piano Girl...

Caroline enjoyed dazzling us with her muscial prowess. She played a piano concert for my mom, alan, and my grandparents. Hilarious.

Some classics...

And a little original number...

After each song she would run to the rail to look downstairs at everyone. So, so funny!

Meeting Baby Ben!

Another highlight to our week in Dallas was arriving just in time to meet brand new sweet baby Ben! Benjamin Michael Vietti is the little brother to Caroline's BFF, Mattie. Of course, he and Miles will have to be BFF's now, too :)

I got 2 go visit and love on the little guy not once, but TWICE while I was in town. Such a treat indeed! I got to visit with Ginny, which was fun too ;)

Isn't he the most precious thing you have ever seen???? Such a sweet boy!

Caroline got to play with Mattie, which was super exciting. They were building "tall towers" and concentrating really hard, obviously...

Then, they would knock them down and laugh hysterically. Too cute. Love these 2 sweet girls!!!

Congratulations to the Viettis!! We love Baby Ben!!

Round and Round!

As if the zoo trip wasn't enough excitement for one day, we took the kids to ride carousel at the mall after naps :)

Despite being sick, Miles LOVED riding. He smiled and looked around the whole time. He also practiced waving to all of his admirers. What's up lovely ladies????

Of course, Caroline loved it, too :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rescue Mission to the Zoo

Mimi wanted to plan something extra fun for us to do on our visit. So, she decided to take all of us to the ZOO! Caroline was so completely excited. She was absolutely convinced that we would see "her cousin, Diego" there. And that we would rescue him, because he hurt his foot :)

All dressed and ready on the big day! Did I mention she was excited?

Mimi bought them "zoo outfits" and stuffed animals to get them ready :)

Caroline even had a zoo hat to wear!

Walking in with her buddy, Uncy Paul. So sweet.

We were so excited to have Uncy Paul and his girlfriend, Miss Jen, with us. Luckily, Jen is a zoo expert. She is a teacher, and had just recently taken her kiddos on a field trip to the zoo :)

Miles was there, too. I promise :) He wasn't feeling very good that day (I found out later that he had a double ear infection :( parent of the year, i know)

Feeding the giraffes! Caroline loved them.

Even when they licked her :)

She said the giraffe kissed her because he was thanking her for the lettuce.



We rode the train, which was a little boring. I think we'll skip it next time. BUT, luckily "Diego" was driving our train, so that satisfied Caroline's need to find him. She was relieved to know that his foot was not hurt.

Miles decided he was zooed out...

Caroline and I rode a camel. Her name was Jewel. I was more afraid than Caroline was!

She didn't hesitate at all...just hopped right on!

Whew! The zoo was amazing. We had sooooo much fun and were sooooo worn out. I hadn't been to the Dallas Zoo since I was a kid, and it's so awesome now. I highly recommend it!!! Thanks to Mimi, Uncy Paul, and Miss Jen for such a fun visit!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sophia!

This was a play date over 2 years in the making! No, seriously...2 years. My mom's friend, Leslie, has a granddaughter, Sophia, just a few months younger than Caroline. We have been wanting to get the girls together to play practically every time we are in town since the girls were born. It just never seems to work out! But it finally did this trip!! It was perfect...You see, we joke that Leslie and my mom have parallel lives. And now Leslie's daughter, Jessie, and I do too :) So fun to have us all together to play, finally!!!

Who is having more fun...the girls or the grandmas??

Caroline playing dress up...Not sure what you call this look...diva monkey, maybe?

I wish I had taken more pics, but we were just having too much fun! Thanks for coming to play, girls!!!

Quack, Quack!

We had to check out the ducks at the pond near Mimi and Papa's house! Unfortuantely, the ducks were not nearly as excited about us, as we were about them. My guess is, they had all the stale bread they could handle for one day :)

Mimi and Caroline did their best duck whisperer moves...no luck.

Caroline kept saying, "Duck!! Quack, Quack!! Come here, Duck!"

There was a huge hill, so naturally, we told Caroline to run up and down as fast as she could.

She was super proud of her accomplishment.

"Now its your turn, Mommy!" Ummm, no thanks ;)

We'll try to hit the duck pond in the morning next time ;)