Parker's 2 Year Pictures

Here is the link to Parker's 2 year pictures we had done about a month ago! Because the pictures are copyrighted, let me know if you'd like to purchase any prints and I'll place the order in for you. ENJOY!!! www.mpix.com/SharedAlbum.aspx?aid=2521619&key=2pcSYDDKjhQteaivrzuq

Big Boy Room

As many of you know, I had some REALLY BIG anxieties over putting Parker in a big boy bed. He's always been such a greater sleeper and I was really worried the change would totally mess him up! Thankfully I was completely wrong! He's done really great and seems to like the idea of being a big boy in his big boy bed! Here's a few pictures of his new room!

Fall Day and Thanksgiving

We've had really nice weather lately so while Bobby was off this Thanksgiving week we spent a lot of time outside. Parker loves playing in the backyard, especially with his daddy. They always come up with fun games that I never would have thought of. Here are some pictures I took one day while Bobby was trying to get rid of the stumps from where we cut down a few trees last year.




We spent Thanksgiving with Bobby's uncle's family being that I couldn't travel home like we planned. We had a great time visiting with everyone! We hadn't seen them in such a long time which is really sad being that we only live about 35mins away. The food was absolutely wonderful! Bobby's Grandmother and aunt are wonderful cooks and I had been looking forward to eating my weight in all the good foods all week long! Most of Bobby's cousins have children Parker's age so he had blast playing with them! Here are a few pictures of the kiddos taking time out from all their fun!





There are so many things I have to be thankful for this year that its hard to know where to begin. God has so richly blessed me and my family with good health, a warm home and most of all LOVE! I can't put into words how far His grace abounds in my life!

Carter's Nursery Update

I've been procrastinating a little about getting Carter's bedding done and the nursery ready but this weekend's little scare has really put the fire under me. I've got all the fabric finally picked out (samples are below), ordered the foam for the bumper pads and even picked out the wall color (I think?). I still have to get one of the fabrics and cording along with a few other little things to do some crafts for the walls but I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (sort of)!

This is the inspiration for his room and bedding! Isn't it precious!

I also want to do the cute little caterpillar on the wall in the photo below. I stole the idea out of a Pottery Barn Catalog. I don't think it should be too hard to do, I just need to find the right scrapbook paper to use for the circles. Cutie pie, huh?

I'll post another update as soon as I have some pieces put together!

Political Brainwashing

Before you watch the following video I would just like to say that we did not intentionally teach Parker this. As many of you well know the day after Barack Obama won the presidential election he was all over the news and internet. Parker noticed this as well and kept asking me who he was so I would tell him (much to my dismay) "That's the president, Barack Obama". Well after about a day of asking it had stuck and this is now what we're left with!

I guess this is what happens when you spend billions of dollars on your campaign! You brainwash the youth of America!

One Crazy Weekend

So the little man within has been giving me some trouble! He tried to make a break for it this weekend but luckily we were able to stop him. Friday afternoon I was having about 8-9 contractions in an hour so I called my physician and she said to go to the hospital. When I got there they put me on a monitor and gave me a shot of Brethin to stop the contractions. It worked perfectly and I was sent home with instructions to take it easy and drink lots of water. Well, of course it wouldn't go that easy! Saturday morning I woke up around 5:20 because my back was hurting and the contractions began again so I called my physician once more and again she said go back to the hospital but this time I'd probably have to stay for a day or two. When I got to the hospital they gave me two shots which made my heart race so badly I almost passed out from hyperventilating (which has never happened to me before so I was pretty freaked out). Then they gave me a two part shot of steroids to help Carter's lungs develop just in case they couldn't stop him from coming and some antibiotics to be sure this preterm labor wasn't stemming from an infection. They also ran a test called Fetal Febronectin which can predict whether or not you are at risk for delivering in the next two weeks and PRAISE GOD it came back negative. Although the hospital stay was uncomfortable and seemed to last an eternity, I was so fortunate to have really wonderful nurses and of course an awesome doctor. I feel so badly for all those poor mommies who have to stay in the hospital for weeks or even months on end. I would have come out of my skin if I'd had to stay one more night let alone weeks! Anyways, I've been feeling pretty well since I've been home even though the medication Dr. Stella has me on now makes my heart race a little and give me the tremors. Thankfully, she didn't feel I needed complete bed rest (and really how complete can your bed rest be with a two year old) but she did say to take it easy and again drink and drink and drink and when you feel like you've drank enough drink some more water! Although this weekend was a pretty crazy and a little nerve racking, I put my trust in the Lord that he would take care of me and Carter because as always his plan is complete and right! I think that knowledge was what held me together when I could have very well lost my mind! Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support! I can not put into words how much they mean to Bobby and I!

Friday's Doctors Appointment

I had my 28 week doctors appointment this past Friday. Dr. Stella said everything is still looking really good but she did put me on magnesium sulfate because I told her I was having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions in the evenings. I had to take this with Parker, too just not this early. I would love for Carter to come earlier than my due date but I definitely don't want him to come too early! Other than that everything is going really well! It seems like he moves non-stop, although I think that is starting to slow down as his quarters are getting a little cramped.

I now will start going to the doctor every two weeks and at my next appointment I will do the dreaded sugar test. I'm not looking forward to having to choke down that nasty orange drink again! I probably need to lay off the Halloween candy before I go ;)

Happy Halloween!!!

This year we decided to forgo the traditional trick-or-treating and try one of the fall festivals put on by a local church. Parker didn't want to wear his costume at first but after asking him 100 times if he wanted to be Elmo he finally gave in and let me put it on him. He was too cute and wore it most of the evening even though I know he had to be burning up! Here's some pictures!

My little "Melmo" as Parker likes to call him!

The church had the neatest kids area and Parker loved playing in there!

Parker and his friend Elizabeth, aka Snow White, about to go down the slide!

The church also had a petting zoo (Parker's absolute favorite), inflatables, a fire truck that they were letting the kids get in, a cupcake walk and tons of games. Although the church had a lot of activities Parker couldn't do, I still think he had a really good time! I hope everyone had a very nice, and super safe, Halloween!

S'more of what?

I'm normally not a big cold weather fan but for some reason this year I've been so excited about how cool its been lately. I think it has to do with the extra heater I'm carrying within ;) So when I had to buy a bag of marshmallows for a school project with Parker, we decided it would be a great opportunity to let him experience his first s'more! He had no idea what I was talking about when I kept telling him all day we were going to make s'mores that night, but he could tell how excited I was and he got really into it! We had a great time and the s'mores were oh so good!

He couldn't wait for me to roast his first marshmallow!

Bobby working on the fire in our chiminea. We've had that thing for about 5 years and this was the first time we'd ever built a fire in it. Isn't that sad!

It worked really well!

Bobby doing a little s'more making!

ummmm....yummy!

Cheesing in between bites!

Cousin Fun!

My mom, sister and niece Karmen stayed with us when they came for Parker's birthday party this past weekend and Parker and Karmen had such a blast together! They we're inseparable then entire time they were visiting! They ran around the house and played so well together! I hated that Karmen's brother, Michael couldn't come because I know he would have made the weekend that much more fun! I wish they lived closer so we could get them together more often but here are some pictures of them from this weekend!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY PARKER!!!

Yesterday my baby turned two years old!!! It is so bitter sweet to see how big he's getting. His truely turning into a little person and is no longer a little baby anymore, although he'll always be my baby!

We had a very busy birthday weekend! Bobby's and my family came down to help celebrate his birthday. It was so great having everyone here! We had his birthday party at the exploreum on Sat. and he had the best time! I was a little apprehensive about having his party somewhere that they did everything for you, mostly because I'm a control freak, but it went so well! I absolutely recommend having a child's birthday party there! I got to choose from 4 different themes and then they did all the decorations, paper products, punch and even a cake from Pollman's Bakery (for those of you who aren't familiar with Pollman's it is one of the best bakeries in Mobile) to match the theme! Here are some pictures from the party!

On Sunday we went to breakfast with my family before they left and then we took Parker to Toys R Us to pick out a toy with some of his birthday money. He had so much fun running around the isles and trying out different toys before he settled on a Seasame Street Aphabet Toy (he's played with non-stop since he brought it home). Also if you join the Toys R Us Birthday Club you recieve a gift card to use at TRU, a phone call from Geoffery, and when you go into the store on their birthday they also get a balloon and a crown. Here is a picture of Parker all decked out on the ride home. I had to take it with my cell phone so its not very clear but I thought it was too cute not to post!

Parker's Birthday Playdate!

Today we had all of Parker's playgroup friends over for he's 2nd Birthday playdate! I thought the kids would enjoy decorating pumpkins so everyone brought the pumpkins they picked out at the pumpkin patch yesterday and we decorated them with all kinds of craft supplies! Here are a few pictures from the day. I don't feel comfortable posting pictures of other people's children without their permission so the pictures I've posted are only of Parker but I thought everyone would enjoy them anyways!

Because he takes so long to eat at this point everyone else had already started decorating their pumpkins!

I think he liked the cupcakes!

Pumpkin Patch

Each year our church puts on Pumpkin Patch where they sell pumpkins, have a story time and an inflatable bouncy house. Thursday my mommy's group and I took the kids on a field trip to pick out pumpkins. Parker had a great time! He kept picking up the little pumpkins and then putting them back in another part of the patch. At one point I even caught him trying to count all the pumpkins (he can only count to ten and sometimes he even skips numbers but it was still pretty cute!). Here are some pictures from the day!

Later that afternoon while Parker was taking a nap I decorated the front porch with the pumpkins we bought at the pumpkin patch. I thought I did a pretty good job but apparently Parker didn't like the placement of the pumpkins. Take a look at the pictures below to see what I'm talking about!

Maybe next year I'll do a little better job ;)

Friday's Doctors Appointment

I went to the doctor's on Friday for a check up and so far everything is still just great! I've gained about 14 pounds so far which I'm pretty happy with. I have about 18 more weeks to go and can still gain around 21 pounds (my goal is no more than 35lbs) so I think that's pretty good. I did measure a week bigger than I really am but she said that was normal for a second baby. He was moving around a lot while Dr. Stella was trying to listen to his heartbeat but it's still around 150 beats/minute which is just what we want. All in all it was a great appointment so I will go back in 4 weeks for the same type of appointment and then 4 weeks after that I'll have my glucose checked. I can't praise God enough for blessing us with two healthy babies so far! He has been so good to us!

Seward Farms

The Monday after we got back from the beach the ladies in my playgroup and I took the kids out to a local Farm where they've made a corn maze and have several other fun things for kids to do. The entire corn maze was a mile long but thankfully we only went through half of it, which as long enough! We had quite a time navigating our way through the maze (to be quite honest we got lost several times)! The kids seemed to really enjoy it and I was pretty proud of Parker for walking through most of the maze.

Despite the face in this picture he really did have fun and please disregard his shorts...I'm not sure what's going on there!

After we finished the corn maze we went on a ride they call "The Cow Train". It's kind of hard to tell from the picture but basically the seats were made out of barrels with wheels attached and the whole thing was pulled by a tractor. I ended up having to ride it with Parker b/c I was worried he'd get mid-ride and then decide he didn't want to be in it anymore. First let me say this thing was definitely not made for pregnant people! It jarred you so much I thought it was going to shake Carter right out. Secondly it was entirely too long but all in all I think the kids liked it pretty well.

After the cow train we went on a hay ride and then walked down to where they had some farms animals out in the petting zoo area. This was by far Parker's favorite part! He loved feeding the animals! He was making me so nervous though because he kept sticking his fingers in the goats mouth as he was feeding it the pellet. I kept thinking any minute now he's going to pull his hand back and he's going to be missing a digit but thankfully the Lord was watching out for him and didn't allow that to happen.

When we got home I was showing him the pictures I took so now when I'm at the computer he will come over and ask to see the "trator" i.e. tractor and "taaw" i.e. cow! I can't wait to take him back next year!