Where has the past month gone?!?!

Its tough to believe that over a month has come and gone since my last post. Time really does fly and it seems like it does even faster now with a running toddler in the house. Enjoy the recapp of what we have been up to lately.





Parker is very, very proud of his many new-found talents including blowing kisses and climbing up and down the stairs so many time it tires Patrick and I just watching him do it! He is such a happy guy and loves spending time with his buddy Sadie. Luck for all of us she takes the "abuse" in stride and she even indulges him in a game of catch every now and then.

UH OH! Patrick and I knew this moment would come...in fact we've been waiting and waiting. We figured...he is curious about EVERYTHING else in the house why not the TP? Well...he finally discovered it and I don't think we could have asked for a bigger, "I am so proud of myself" smile!

BUB-BLE!!! Ever since he was little Parker has had an obsession with bub-bles so its not a surprise that bub-ble was his first 2 syllable word. Can't you tell we are first time parents by the way we aren't only documenting and getting excited over his first word but also taking the time and effort to recognize and remember his first 2 syllable word? Gotta love it. Here is he with Grandma Barb who came with Gpa Bud to visit for a few days after their 2 week stint at the Boy Scout Jamboree in VA.


Hello...can you hear me now? Parker has an obsession with anything electronic and especially our cell phones so you can only imagine his frustration and dismay when he discovered that this "phone" couldn't go everywhere with him so we had to disconnect the cord. Problem solved...instant cell phone! Phew...crisis averted!


I'm pretty sure I was meant to live in the South...a place where men are proud to wear pink, little girls wear huge bows in the hair and dresses to the park. A place where people monogram everything they own and a place where it is considered cool to dress father up like son. Ever since I found out I was having a boy I searched and searched to find a matching outfit for Parker and Patrick. Thank you Old Navy for making this dream a reality. I don't think it gets much cuter than this!

Part of the fun of living in the South are the summers and the unpredictable, pop up out of now where rain showers. I wouldn't have missed this spontaneous moment for anything in the world. I can't even begin to tell you what joy it is to a mommy's ears to hear their little one sqeaul in delight as he jumped in puddles. So fun!

As if the atttention lavished on Parker by us and Grandpa and Grandma Fosdick wasn't enough...we decided to pack everyone up for a quick trip out to visit Grandpa and Nana Mathews out at the lake. Parker continues to be our little fish and loves everything water. I myself love the sun and LOVE even more the break I get when not one but two grandmas are around.

Thank you everyone for a wonderful month of fun!

Happy Birthday America!

Angela, MB and Tammi

Angela & Ali- Here's to the Moms!

Farm Girls!

Our Little Flag Waver

All Smiles

The Patriotic Family

Bubbles!!!

Hanging with the kiddos

Pool time!

My private little pool!

Parker and Nana!

Tubing fun on Lake Keowee

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. Friday after work we packed up the family (no easy task these days with everything we have to bring with Parker and Sadie) and headed off to the lake. The weather was perfect and the water so refreshing. Parker had a blast, as always splashing and running "laps" back and forth on the boat all day. We even got him out on the tube for some floating fun and he was all smiles! Saturday night Patrick and I were able to sneak away for some dessert and wine with our friends Ryan and Holly and watched the fireworks show from the boat! So relaxing and loved being out under the stars. Sunday we headed back for a day at the pool, followed by the annual Stark party on the Farm! We celebrated with 60 of our closest friends, enjoyed wonderful food, yummy cocktails, fireworks galore, some dancing and even a special video of the "summer so far in the neighborhood" on the inflatable movie screen outside. What a great way to end the weekend...then it was back to work and business as usual!

Father's Day Photos

This year for Father's Day Patrick wanted to give his Dad a special picture of himself and Parker...so we headed to Holly Tree Country Club for a "photo shoot." It worked out great because I have been wanting to get some 1 year shots (only a couple months late) and also thought it would be cute to do a frame for Patrick for Father's Day. I am so pleased with the way these photos turned out and had a VERY tough time deciding on the few that I would post here. My brother did an excellent job on the photography- I think he definitely has a future as a professional photographer!! Thank you Drew for sharing your talents. We will treausre these photos forever!

The Happy Berry

One of the cool things about moving somewhere new is all the "new" and exciting things there are to do and explore. This weekend we headed to the beautiful Happy Berry Farm near my paren'ts home at Lake Keowee. As you can see from the pictures Parker enjoiyed sampling the blackberries which were so sweet and what a treat to eat them right off the vine. He also got his very first "taste"of tractor riding- I think he might be a future farmer. Maybe we can move to Valley Ford and become dairy farmer's with the Bordessas!!! That would be fun!

My Weekend Away!

Our 70's Retro Patio

Party On!

Our Private Pool!

GFL Turns 30

Linda, Ange and Tiff

Jax & Ange- Happy Birthday

Loungin' Poolside

Bring on the Bubbly!

I just got back from an amazing long weekend away...with the girls! I have to start with a HUGE Thank you to my wonderful hubby who watched Parker all weekend long so I could take a much needed break from reality. This time away has taught me that I HAVE to start finding time for myself more often. I have arrived back more relaxed and with a much better attitude.

Back in high school we had a tight knit group of friends- GFL which stands for Girls For Life...11 years later we are all still friends and this was the year we all turned 30. So what better way to commemorate this big birthday than with a BIG weekend away in Palm Springs. We rented an amazing house with a private pool. We spent the weekend relaxing, laughing, talking and of course eating and drinking. We can't wait to plan our next weekend away!

After my weekend in Palm Springs I met up with Coley for another day of fun. We drank coffee on the beach in Laguna, did some retail therapy at the Irvine Spectrum and finished up with Wahoos Fish Tacos.

Whew...back to reality I guess.