Wow, it's been a while!

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! And I can't believe how fast the time is flying! It's SO hard to believe that I have a 7 month old! I really have no excuse for not posting in so long, oh, except maybe for the fact that my child is either attached to my hip at all times or looking at me sobbing because I put him down so I could get attempt to get something done during the day! Ah, yes, we're definitely in that clingy, "I only want mama" phase, and in one sense it's really sweet, but in another, quite exhausting! I find myself trying to sneak out of the room, or if I have to walk through the room that he's in, I try to crawl behind the couch and crazy stuff like that! And I can't ever seem to get past without him catching me! It cracks me up that I get busted by my 7 month old all the time!

It's crazy because I've been saying for like the last 2-3 months that Parker must be teething as he has many of the symptoms of teething: low-grade fever, drooling, chewing on everything, batting at his ears, very broken sleep, fussy, clingy, and on and on. At one point about a month ago, I could even see the tooth, a little sharp white speck, and then the next day, it was gone! How crazy is that?! I was so annoyed, because I thought it would break through and then we'd have some relief until the next one... but here we are, a month later, and still no tooth, but still all the symptoms of teething! Oh well, this too shall pass...

Besides the whole teething thing, Parker's doing great - he's rolling all over the place.. that's how he gets around. He can sit up for a little bit at a time, but eventually face-plants. I think he'll be crawling soon, because he's starting to try, but for now he just kinda scoots. He's definitely all-boy.. even at his young age, he seems kind of rough. Like he'll look at me and then just grab my face with his hands and just pull me to his face and "kiss", (or mouth) me. It's his way of loving on me, but sometimes it kinda hurts - either way, I'll take it! :) He's such a joy, and even on his fussy days, he lights up my day with either a smile, laugh, or some sort of funny expression. I love the boy to death, and I'm so thankful God gave me the gift of Parker-man!

First Beach Trip

Well, Parker is officially "initiated" into this family. He's been introduced to the beach, and he loves it! Jay and I, (but especially me) are most definitely beach people, and so Parker must grow up loving the beach! ;) It's so nice because Jay's parents have a condo right on the beach and are very sweet to let us go whenever we want, so we'll definitely be taking them up on that in the future!

This wasn't the most ideal trip, but it was still so nice to get away! It rained some of the time, and Parker (for whatever reason) just did NOT sleep well down there, so in a way we came back feeling a little more exhausted than when we left, but it was still SO worth it! Everyone had told me that going to the beach with a baby is definitely not the same, so I was prepared for that part of it.

My favorite thing was that each night after Parker was in bed, Jay and I would sit out on the deck and listen to the ocean and just talk. It was really nice to get some "us" time because I'm definitely a huge quality-time person, and I crave that time together! Here's some pictures of our time there:


Jay and Parker enjoying some pool time


He loved his float! He was just kicking his legs like crazy!


He had so much fun in the water!


Little man!


Parker and Daddy


Totally chilled out!


Me and my buddy! Love this guy!

Letter to Mimi and Grandaddy

Dear Mimi and Grandaddy,
I wish you guys didn't have to go back to Kazakhstan. I miss you both! Mom took me over to your house to swim in the pool, but it wasn't nearly as fun without Grandaddy to take me swimming! Mama bought me some swim diapers so you don't have to worry about me peeing or pooping on you in the pool anymore, Grandaddy! Can't promise I won't spit up on you though! ;) Since you've been gone I've:

-consistently been rolling over both ways now! (wow)
-discovered the word "mama" and love to say it all the time now, and mom goes crazy when I say it!
-discovered that I looove Molly and love to grab her hair and get kisses from her!
-tried to get better about going down for naps and not fighting sleep so much, for Mom's sake... (we're still working on that one, though)
-been trying to cut my first tooth on the bottom, but don't know how long it'll take to come through (hopefully soon, we don't like this teething thing!)
-been spitting like you taught me, Grandaddy!

I'll keep you updated on all the new things I'm doing and learning. Hope you liked the mug I sent you, Grandaddy! Hurry back.. I miss you both like crazy! Love you,
-Your "little buddy" Parker

He Said It!!

Okay, maybe it's just coincidence, but my child has been saying "Mama" over and over again since yesterday! I was upstairs yesterday and Jay was home for lunch. He and Parker were downstairs, and suddenly he yelled, "Baby come here!" Thinking something was wrong, I ran downstairs, only to hear my little buddy saying "mama" repeatedly! I freaked out! But I was thinking to myself, "that's just coincidence, he's only 5 1/2 months old!"

Then later in the afternoon, we were over at my grandma's house, and I had walked out of the room, and my grandma called me in there, and said he keeps saying "mama"! Sure enough, he was repeating it over and over again. I got excited all over again!

Then in the evening, I was in the kitchen making dinner, and heard him in the living room, saying it again and again! We got the video camera out, just so I would have proof, and people wouldn't think I was making it up.. it's definitely on camera, and if I knew how to post a video on here, I would put it on!

Then this morning we were playing and I thought to myself, "let's see if he'll say it today," so I kept saying "parker, say 'mama'" and he said it several times again today! YAY!! I love love love it!! I think it might be more than a coincidence, and I never thought I'd be so happy to hear those words!

Will he EVER know his name?

I don't know about you, but I'm one that loves nicknames. Which got me thinking... my child probably has around 100 nicknames (and some of them are just plain wierd.. but I can't help it - I get stuck calling him crazy nicknames). Just to name a few: Parker-man, P-man, Bear, Little Bear, Boo Bear, Bro-Bear, Crazy Legs, Chunky Legs, Butterball, Fatty McGee, Fo-eva, Little Man, Punkin-head, Muffin.. I mean, I could just go on and on. I know, it's kinda crazy, but it's just a little quirk I have. Anyways, I was just thinking today.. do I ever even call my child by his real name? Hardly ever! So now I'm kinda worried that he won't recognize his name until he's like two! I gotta start calling him by his real name!

First Road Trip

Last weekend Jay, Parker and I went to Gatlinburg with my parents. It was Parker's first road trip and he did so great! We had such a fun time just getting away for a few days and spending some time together as a family. I was a little concerned about how Parker would do on the drive because he's getting to the stage where he doesn't want to be pinned down in his carseat. But he did great and slept most of the time in the car. We had so much fun and I'm glad we got to go! Here's some pictures of the trip:


In the car on the way there


Notice how intently he's looking at my ice cream.. it's a good thing his mouth couldn't reach it or else he would've gone to town... the kid's obsessed with food! :)


Walking around Gatlinburg


In front of the Ripley's giant marble ball


Random awkward pose courtesy of my hubby!


My parent's kept Parker one night so we could go on a date and we ate at this quaint little restaurant.. the atmosphere was so nice!

Seriously???

Okay, so I'm really not an OCD person in general. I'm pretty laid back about most things. There is one thing, however, that I'm pretty freaked out about and that's germs. I probably owe that to working at a hospital with newborns and using hand sanitizer/washing my hands after everything I do. Before I even start work, I have to do a 3 minute scrub-in and then throughout the shift I am constantly washing my hands. I also owe it to the fact that my son's had two bad viral infections since birth, one that landed us in the ER for a pretty traumatic experience. So I'll admit, I'm a little bit of an over-the-top germophobe. But please, tell me in this situation if I was being ridiculous or if this is a normal reaction.

I took Parker to the Peditrician today for his 4 month well-baby visit. There's this mom with her son who was there for his well checkup and her daughter who was not. The daughter kept trying to convince her mom that she needed to see the Dr. too for her toes. So I'm noticing the girl keeps scratching herself all over her body and I get to looking at her, and she's got some kind of skin condition going on. She had red rashy bumps all over her body. Granted, it could've been some completely non-contagious skin irritation, but I'm not feeling too reassured at this point.

I'm minding my own business and the girl keeps looking at Parker and talking to him and I'm trying to be nice but thinking in my head "please don't come over and start touching him." And of course as I'm thinking this, she walks over and starts touching him. I'm sinking back into my chair, pulling Parker closer to me, and further away from her, hoping her mom will notice my body language and respond like I would think most moms would with "don't touch the baby" or something along those lines. But instead she responded with "just touch him on his head, don't touch his face or hands." I'm thinking "thanks, now my kid could possibly have your kid's skind condition on his head, but at least it's not on his face or hands." So, as the girl's repeatedly stroking Parker's head, the little boy comes tearing toward us with his hand over his head, sippy cup in hand, as if he's going to hit something as hard as he could with his sippy cup. He was going right for Parker's head with the cup, and so I put my hand in front of Parker's face, and his mom comes running over saying, "he has been known to hit kids with his sippy cup." That's good to know, thanks for telling me that. So, then the little girl takes her gum out of her mouth and starts rolling it in her hands and her mom says "that's why we only touch the baby on his head," and I'm thinking, how about "that's why we don't touch the baby at all." Then the girl puts her gum back in her mouth and continues stroking Parker's head. Gross. By this point I'm about having a panick attack thinking about all the germs and who knows what kind of skin disease my child has all over his head, and the girl tries to start kissing him. That's when I said, "let's not kiss the baby, please." At this point I had to get up and walk away.

Then the nurse came and called them back to the room, and as soon as they left, the lady across the room said "okay are you freaking out because I was over here about to have a panic attack for you. You handled the situation well though because I definitely wouldn't have handled it like that." Here's the problem I have: I'm SO not an outspoken person so it's hard for me to say things like "well I actually would rather her not touch him" to the mom after she told her child she could touch Parker, but at the same time, he's my baby and I have to do what I feel like I need to do. But then I think, well am I just being over the top and ridiculous? I don't know, maybe I am.

Any suggestions on how to handle situations like that in a tactful way? But seriously, does this kind of thing happen often? Because if so, I'm really gonna have to get better about being assertive. I have been surprised by some of the things that people do and say when you have a baby. I'll post about that another day...

Chunky Monkey

Tonight I took Parker up to Brookwood to see all the girls at work who have been begging me to bring him up there. One of the girls I work with is getting married next weekend, so we had a bridal shower for her tonight. They could not believe how much he's grown in 4 months and how big he is. They all commented on his chubby cheeks and the rolls on his arms and legs. The lactation nurse even told me I must have pure cream for milk! Anyways, his new nickname at work is Chunky Monkey.. I think it fits him pretty well! He's definitely a big baby, but I absolutely love it and eat him up all the time! I'll post some pictures of the bridal shower as soon as my friend sends them to me. For now I'll post a couple of my chunky monkey:

One Blessed Mommy

I had a wonderful first mother's day! On Saturday, Jay took Parker to run some errands and they came home with a dozen beautiful red roses! I love roses, so that was a nice surprise.
Sunday was such a nice day. Not only was it my first mother's day, but it was also Parker's baby dedication at church. I was a little worried that he might be fussy, but he did great! He didn't make a sound, and he didn't spit up on Pastor Walls either, which I was also worried about (he spits up all the time)!
After church, we went over to Jay's parents house and had both of our families there for lunch to celebrate mother's day and Parker's dedication. It was such a yummy lunch and we had a good time. Jay, P, and I hung out at the house for the afternoon, and then we went to Panera for supper. After that we decided to go to B&N and I read some books to Parker. I found my favorite book when I was growing up and read it to Parker. It's called "Love You Forever" and it's the sweetest book.
After B&N we came home and I put Parker on a blanket for his "tummy time", which he is SO not a fan of, by the way! After about a minute of that he rolled over for the first time ever! I was so proud and started cheering and I think I scared him! His big eyes were about to pop out of his head! It was too cute! Then of course I put him back on his tummy and got the video camera out to try to catch it on video, but he wasn't having anymore of it. He was over tummy time, so we'll have to have the camera ready next time. Anyways, all in all it was a wonderful day, and I loved getting to be with my guys. I'm so thankful for my little man and I love him like crazy! I'm definitely one blessed mommy! :)
Here are some pictures of our day:

Thank Goodness For Rice Cereal

So four months ago today my little man was born - that is SO hard to believe! The time has absolutely flown by and it kind of makes me sad. But at the same time, I love the stage he's in right now. He's so responsive and always smiling at me, which is the best feeling ever! I can't wait to watch him learn and grow - I'm having so much fun with him!

Two nights ago we started giving him rice cereal. In case you haven't seen Parker, he is a big baby boy and he loves to eat! He's got a huge appetite and I've never seen a baby that likes to eat as much as he does. He hadn't been sleeping through the night at all since he was born, so I decided to try a little rice cereal with his night feeding. That night he slept from 10 pm until 6:30 am which is a huge accomplishment for us! Last night he did the same thing, and I think we're onto something great! I'm so happy to finally be sleeping again!

Our only problem now is that he's not napping well at all during the day. He went from napping all throughout the day to nothing! What's up with that? Today he cried for an hour and 15 minutes and I finally caved! I couldn't take it anymore, I just felt awful for him. Any suggestions on what to do about that? I'm such a first time mom - always questioning everything I'm doing... I'm hoping that improves with time! Anyways, here's a picture of Parker that I took on our walk the other day.