A new addition

Yesterday, January 26, 2010 I found out that I am expecting baby #2! What a shocker that was!!! On Monday, January 25th, I took a $.99 pregnancy test that I bought at Dollar General- it came back negative. As I was out walking with some neighbor moms on Tuesday, I was telling them that I had thought I was pregnant, but not to worry- my $.99 test cleared it up for me! One of the moms looked at me with this serious look and said "I wouldn't be so sure...it took my sister FIVE of the $.99 tests before it told her she was pregnant!".....WHAT??? Well, this mom happened to have a spare pregnancy test on hand and passed it over to me- I promptly went in and took it, and this is what I got:


Whew...Blake was at work and I had Parker and our neighbor's little girl, Liv, over here and I began pacing around- taking deep breaths in and saying to myself "okay...I am pregnant...okay...I'm pregnant...I'm pregnant". Blake got home- I showed him this picture and enjoyed the look of disbelief and then excitement after hearing the day before I was NOT pregnant!

It was so exciting- but now the countdown begins. I have 9 months to cherish, enjoy and soak in every minute with JUST my little baby boy. I have 9 months to seek out every opportunity to cuddle, love on, play trucks with and go to the park with JUST Parker. My absolute joy, and love of my life....how could I possibly love another baby as much as I love my little man? It is unimaginable to me to think about- but I know that I will love and cherish this new baby just as much, but it's just hard to truly believe that!

However, when fear and anxiety about this new adventure well up in my mind and my heart I have to remember how this all began. On October 30, 2009, Blake and I decided to quit preventing pregnancy. We decided that we were not going to prevent- but if GOD wanted to prevent He could. We gave up the conception of another child COMPLETELY into God's hands and God's perfect timing. We prayed that God would allow me to conceive when HE knew it was the perfect time and when HE knew I as a mother and Blake as a daddy would be able to handle it. So here we are now....I am pregnant....God's perfect timing- I must trust and be at peace with. So- here we are...all 4 of us :) God is good- now we have to just pray and trust that the little baby in my belly is growing into a healthy baby boy or girl- and focus on this wonderful time with just the 3 of us!

One of my moments...

Today was too gorgeous not to go for a walk. I loaded Parkerman into his stroller and we went walking- on our way back towards the house we stopped off at the park so that I could experience one of my favorite moments. I picked Parker up and sat him on my lap facing me- I sat down on a swing and he laid his cheek on my chest and we just experienced life for a moment- quiet and peaceful- with each other. I kissed him on the top of his head and looked out at God's beautiful creation hoping that I could soak in the moment so that I could never forget it. Even though Parker was a handful today- kind of fussy- a little irritable- that moment on the swing washed all of my frustration away and reminded me that even when things aren't perfect- I can still have perfect moments with my little love bug.

Wednesday Favorites

Today was an absolute blast- it was a normal Wednesday- but a fun one. Parker and I ran to Baby's R Us to pick up a few items- since we had some spare time we walked over to Toys R Us to go play with fun toys that we can't afford to buy. Oh my goodness! We had so much fun! First, I handed Parker a foam sword...he loved it- and every time he hit me with it- I pretended to get hurt and he just laughed and laughed! We then went down the "huge stuffed animal" isle. Every stuffed animal I picked up and playfully showed to Parker he got this overly excited look on his face! I could do this for hours! Let's just say- I am enjoying the stage where I can take Parker to a toy store- play with the toys- then put them back and still have a happy child! ha! :)
Next...on to the chiropractor, HEB, the bank and home! Once we got home...the fun really started. After Parker ate a big snack we went into his play room to play...as he was crawling into the foyer to go chase his dump truck he caught a glimpse of Nika...the boxer dog. We then had to proceed into the living room to play with Nika and Abby (my little shitzu dog). Parker would crawl over to Nika and she would turn and look at him and begin coming over to him and he would squeal and quickly start crawling frantically (while laughing) towards me! Then Abby would come over and he would start yelling and laughing at Abby! Then the dogs would start rough housing and Parker would just LAUGH AND LAUGH! He is also walking REALLY well now and he would walk over to me and over to the dogs with the biggest cheesiest most wonderful heart melting smile on his face! We did this for about 30 minutes and I must say....that was 30 minutes of Heaven!
Now- off to bath-time! Now, we all know that I love bath time- so this was a typical precious time- however, at the end of the bath- Parker was standing up holding on to the side of the tub while I am sitting on the floor, leaning on the side of the tub and we are facing each other...Parker points and me, then tries to stick his hands in my mouth to grab my teeth....I closed my mouth over his hands and then blew my cheeks up really big and pretended to spit his hands out...we did this over and over while Parker was laughing so hard he got the hiccups.

Now- my little love is in bed- and as I type this wonderful memory of today- my heart is overflowing. Thank you God- for my little piece of Heaven on this Earth- thank you that he is healthy and with us- it is only because of you, Father- that anything good is in my life.

I love bath-time

Bath time used to be a chore for me...one more thing to mark off my Parker "to-do" list before he went to bed; but now I see it as another cherished memory. It is so fun for me, to sit and watch Parker learn how to maneuver in the water and stand up and sit down and stand up and fall down and stand up and squat down....over and over and over again. This is a quiet time between he and I to just sit and be with each other.
I love how when I am running his water, he crawls up and stands next to the tub in joy filled anticipation of getting in.I love how he hands me his bath book and as I open it he sits on his knees with his hands in his lap and a look of utter glee on his face as I begin reading the words. It's amazing how I can read the same book over and over again in one bath-time- and every time I open that first page- he lights up with curiosity and joy.
I love how he can be playing with a toy in the water and then look up and see me and get so happy and move over to the side of the tub where he can stand up and point at me.
I love how he sits and studies his toys- trying to figure out how they work.

I love how when the water is running he stands up and holds on to the faucet with one hand and runs his other hand under the water as if he could grasp it and hold on to it.
I love how he tries to experiment with the water by getting his face so close to the water that he almost goes under water and then popping up with a surprised, yet excited look on his face.
I love how he splashes his hands so hard into the water that it splashes him in the face and scares him.
I love this little boy with all of my heart and I love spending these little seemingly insignificant moments with him- yet in his world...and now in mine....they are significant, because it's us spending time with each other and cherishing every moment possible.

I love bath-time!

Evening Reflections on my day

Ah! Parker is in bed, I have a glass of sparkling water with lemon that I am drinking out of a wine glass, my space heater is on and I am relaxed...reflecting on the past few days that I have been blessed to live with my husband whom I adore and my little baby man whom I adore.

This past weekend we went to Dallas to see some friends from college. We had a blast. Here is a pic of the crew: From left to right: Koy, Justin, Blake, Jon, Lindsey, Bethany, Cathy, Anna, then James is across.
Traveling with Parker was a task in itself, but the time we spent with our friends was well worth the work and lack of sleep over the weekend! It amazes me how Parker can be SO MUCH WORK and NOT SLEEP when we are staying somewhere else, and then when we get home he is back to his normal low maintenance sleep through the night, self! If someone can give me the key to understanding that- I would give them the key to my heart! :)

We got to go to the Fort Worth Zoo which apparently is one of the top zoo's in the country! I must say- compared to the Houston Zoo it was pretty fabulous!! Here are some pics from that adventure:This waterfall was still frozen from the REALLY cold days they have had!

We also went and visited Koy's new gym that he opened. It's a Crossfit Gym. James and I got a personal training session with Koy and I am still sore 2 days later! Even Parker got a workout!

This is Noah, Justin & Bethany's 3.5 year old.

Other highlights from the trip were Noah telling us about the "baby in mommy's belly"...Justin & Bethany are having their SECOND baby!!! We are SOOO excited about that news! We also enjoyed a night out with the whole gang where we walked to a nice restaurant in Dallas and enjoyed a dinner all 9 of us with the kids back at Justin & Bethany's house with a babysitter!

Whew! What a weekend! Good friends and good times!

New Perspective

Today, we woke up to Parker having a low grade fever and a runny nose. Ugh! I have such a hard time with me or any of my loved ones being sick. I know this is life and that everyone gets sick and that the more kids I have (which I want more) the more of this junk I have to deal with, but it is still hard! SO- I loaded him up with Tylenol and began our day. When he went down for a nap this morning, I went and had my quiet time with the Lord...He gave me such a great verse to remember: Isaiah 8: 12-13
¹² "Do not call conspiracy
everything that these people call conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.

¹³ The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread,

It was such a comfort to me as it is so easy for our world to scare us and make us fear "swine flu" or other illnesses and fear the economy or anything else that wakes us up at night, but God tells us that we are supposed to fear HIM....we are supposed to fear the one who has CONTROL over all of that. MMMmmm good! I then gave my day to Him and asked that even though Parkerman is not up to par, that we could still have a wonderful day together. And that we have!! My heart is filled to the brim right now with precious, quality time with my little boy. We sat and snuggled on the couch and watched a movie- then when he wanted to get up and cruise around, I sat and just stared at him....my little miracle. We are still in our PJs and loving this day! God is good...even though Parker is sick....He still gives such joy and fun!

My Love Bug

I just have to laugh day-in and day-out at my little love bug! Everything Parker does makes me smile, from having his secret conversations with himself as he is eating his gold fish to having him reach in and snuggle with me while we are sitting on the couch. Every little thing he does I want to soak in and remember!!