Parker 4 months

Time just keeps passing... Parker is already 4 months old and yet it seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital!  Parker is such a joyful baby who constantly smiles and coos at the sight of any attention he gets.  He is a very vocal baby, squealing, cooing and gurgling! His favorite thing to do right now is watch his older brother, Mack.  If Mack is in the room, Parker wants to watch what he's doing.  Mack does so well with him and loves to be his little brother's helper.

At 4 months Parker is now capable of rolling over from his tummy to his back but tends to get stuck on his back (he's working on it).  He loves playing on a mat with things dangling above him, now that he can reach them.  Being very fond of his tummy we find that we have to make sure and give Parker time on his back where usually with babies it's the other way around.  Parker does very well holding himself up on his forearms and being on his tummy.  He can also pull himself to a sitting or standing position when we hold his hands and slightly pull.  Parker is also beginning to sit up with the support of a bumbo seat.

Since Parker was about 10 weeks old he started sleeping 10-12 hours through the night and has kept it up.  His normal schedule looks like this: Bottle at 8:30 am, 10:30 am, naps for an hour, eats at 12:30 pm, naps from 1:00-5:00 pm, eats at 5:00 and 7:00 pm, naps for an hour and then has his last bottle about 9:00 pm and goes to bed for the night.  He is very routine and stays happy if he keeps to his schedule (and everyone else in the house stays happy too).

This month Parker got to meet several of Micah's family members: from his mom's side he met Great Aunts Janice, Dob, Pat, Donna, Reba and Uncle David. From his dad's side he got to meet Great Grandmother, Great Aunt Jan and a 2nd cousin.  We also took our first family of 4 vacation to Dallas. Did great traveling and being in a new place, kept to his schedule as well.

Great Uncle David and Aunt Reba

Great Grandmother

Great Aunt Dob

4 months old: weight - 13 lb 14 oz (25%), 25 inches long (50%)

Jesus's Owies

So last night we were going through our normal bedtime routine with Mack, reading one of his bible story books called "Jesus Saves the World". Towards the end of the story he noticed a picture of Jesus on the cross and kept saying owies, very inquisitively. We explained that Jesus got those owies so we can be forgiven of our sins. He said, my sins? Mommy's sins? Parker's sins? Daddy's sin? To which we replied yes. He then said, sorry Jesus, my sins! It was a special moment for all of us. (Mack is just barely 2 years old!)


Mack has The Beginner's Bible as well as several individual bible story books. Tonight he flipped through his 511 page bible and found the same story we read out of his other book and pointed to the picture again and said Jesus owies!

January 13

Dear Parker,

A year ago today I took a home pregnancy test.... for about 2 weeks prior I had been feeling a little nauseated so I had my suspicions.  But let me back up just a bit.  Your daddy and I had been discussing having another baby, our only hesitation was finances; we've always wanted to make sure the decisions we make are glorifying to God and we didn't want to put ourselves in a financial bind.  Financially it just didn't seem wise but knowing the desires of my heart, I prayed, "God if it be your will..."

On New Year's Eve (December 31, 2010), just 4 days after I believe you were conceived I was nauseated for the first time.  At first I just thought it was some bug that was going around but with high hopes before I went to sleep that night, I laid my hand on my tummy and prayed for "you" not even knowing if "you" were there or not.  The nausea continued for the next 2 weeks and when I was a week late, I was anxious to say the least!  Knowing daddy was coming home for lunch that day, I decided to take a test.  It was positive! 

Trying to be creative, I put a bun in the oven and set the table for lunch.  Daddy came home and I asked him to get lunch out of the oven, puzzled by the bun he put it on his plate and cut it in half and gave me some, saying I guess I can share, is this really what's for lunch?  I laughed and handed him a box with the pregnancy test with a note saying, "it's positive"!

Daddy was a little more in shock than I was but as we let the reality set in, we were very excited!!!  Today was also your Grammy's 71st Birthday so we thought it'd be a cool gift to tell her today. It was indeed!

Now at just 4 months old we are delighted to have you as part of our family!

Mack 25 months old

Ahead of the game, Mack continues to fly past each milestone.  He's becoming very inquisitive as he's anxious to learn new things.  As any 2 year old is, Mack is quite the sponge! He is very observant and doesn't miss a thing from the tone in your response to what your wearing.

2012 Goals

Alright so here they are... My 2012 goals! Some may think, why bother but for me setting goals keeps me motivated and gives me something to look forward to.  Honestly I enjoy keeping up with them throughout the year.

• Keep up with a daily Bible reading plan through YouVersion
• Read at least 1 book a month
• Train for and run a 5K
• Ideally would like to lose 35 pounds (this is my real challenge)
• Blog monthly updates for both Mack and Parker
• For the most part I'm pretty organized but now with 2 little ones it is a lot easier to let things slide or forgotten all together so my goal is to intentionally be more organized across the board which includes meal planning, cleaning, personal time, date nights and quality time with each boy

Mommy or Daddy look-a-like?

Everyone has their opinion of who a baby tends to look like, we did this with Mack so we figured we'd do it with Parker as well. Here are our baby pictures at approximately the same age between 2 and 3 months. Who do you think Parker looks like?

Micah

Mack

Parker

Buffi

Parker - 3 Months

Parker is now 3 months old and developing right on schedule with lifting his head to a 90 degree angle while on his tummy, cooing, squealing, gurgling and smiling anytime he has your attention.  He really is a happy baby most of the time.  He has successfully been sleeping anywhere from 10 to 12 hours a night and wakes up pretty happy in the mornings.  Parker does great on a routine schedule of eating every 2-3 hours with a few cat naps and one long 4 hour nap in the afternoon.  We did switch him to soy formula as we were noticing mucousy stools with every diaper change like Mack did around the same age.  He has definitely been less gassy and fussy but tends to spit up a lot more.

Parker seems to do very well with his overly loving brother who wants to pat his head, tummy or hold him constantly.  There are times when Parker can be very fussy and only Mack can calm him.  Parker loves to be on his tummy, enjoys the swing, bouncy seat and being talked to - he'll just coo right back at you with that adorable grin!

Dedicated Parker on 11/27/11

3 Months old today!

Mack - 2 Years Old

I can hardly believe my little boy is already 2 years old! He seems so grown up!

At Mack's 2 year check up he weighed in at 28 lbs 7 oz, right at the 50% mark and 35.75 inches tall being in the 75% range.  Looks like he may just take after his daddy and Papa after all. Mack loves going to the Dr and shows no fear of getting shots, we simply prepare him for the visit telling him exactly what to expect.  He likes the numbing cream they use for the shots.  As he was getting a shot this time he simply looked at me and said "ow" and then was excited to get a bandaid.  

This little guy is so smart too, he can practically read the entire David and Goliath story as he finishes each sentence as we read or he tells you what is happening while he looks at the pages.  His ability to communicate as well as he does at this age amazes us.  He has understood spacial relations for quite some time however it's becoming even more fine tuned which is a little ahead of schedule for his development.  His pediatrician was quite surprised that he knew so much and said he was pretty advanced for his age.  

Mack continues to show a love for music - singing, dancing and playing instruments! Several of our youth even went in together to get him a really nice drum set for his Birthday - he was EXCITED! He had a great birthday party with a cool drum cake and guitar cake made by his grammy.  He got some cool duplos, a plush Nemo (which he sleeps with every night, that's also his favorite movie right now), some balls, a push and scoot pirate ship, a matching game that he comprehends quite well, and a couple guitars - the kid was very blessed!  We were also very blessed with Grandpa Kirk and Grandma Donna here for his special day! We were able to spend Thanksgiving with them at South Padre Island and it was beautiful weather! Here's a few pics:

Mack just adores his baby brother, Parker! He's still my big helper with everything around the house and likes things to perfection just like his mommy :) He loves going to church, playing outside and right now the prefix to everything is "Big".  He speaks in short sentences but enough to where we pretty much understand most of what he's saying.  He's beginning to use pronouns properly like saying me when referring to himself.  Like I said, he's so smart!  Well we'll keep you updated on our little guy.

Parker - 2 Months

In the first few weeks Parker had been a bit colicky and there were moments we wondered how we'd ever get through it. But now at just 2 months old he has already settled down quite a bit and is sleeping a solid 8 hours through the night. He also puts himself to sleep! As Parker is spending more time during the day awake and alert we are enjoying his coos and grins. We are so anxious to see his little personality come out, we've noticed so many differences already between him and Mack. Mack did sleep through the night around the same time but with him it's always been this long grueling process of waiting till he was sound asleep before we left the room. In fact we still have to work at getting him down and now keeping him in his bed (of course he was our first born so it was harder for us to let him just cry till he fell asleep like we do with Parker).

Parker is a much quicker and better eater than Mack. Parker also has taken to the swing which Mack was never fond of. Mack loved being on his back and refused to be on his belly while it is just the opposite with Parker. Parker probably cries more but only because I can't/don't hold him as much - but you just can't when you have 2 little ones.

At Parker's 2 month check-up today he weighed 11 lbs 15 oz and is measuring 23 inches long both right in the 50% range. The Doctor was quite impressed with him sleeping through the night do early. He got his first round of vaccinations and is doing well so far.

We are so blessed with 2 healthy little boys! Here's a few pics…