Thursday, January 19, 2017

Parker Elaine - TEN months




Double digits .... she's almost ONE someone please tell how this happened? Last year at this time we were just finding out baby girl would be coming early and we couldn't wait. We wanted to hold her so much and see what she looked like.. see who she looked like. I prayed for her every single day hoping my condition wouldn't harm her. I tried so hard to remember every single movement of her's. And now here we are 2 (very) short months away from her Birthday. The party planning has commenced and let me just say it's going to be amazing.

Miss. Parker is such a blessing (of course all of our girls are) but there is just something different about her she really brightens each and every day and every one she comes in contact with. Her smile is so amazing and love and happiness just oozes from her. This little life  knows no sadness no hardships just love unconditional love from everyone around her.

This month Parker got her first TWO Teeth it was quiet the shock and I honestly didn't even see it coming!! One on the top and one on the bottom... leave it to this little one to get her first teeth this way! She seems to have another one coming in on the top and this time we know all about it. She's definitely been a little on the fussy side the past few days. Our whole family had a the worst stomach bug about a week ago and poor Parker got in on the action as well... watching a baby puke is absolutely the worst. She also ended up with a UTI which helped us also discover she is allergic to penicillin. I tell you this girl is really blazing her own trail in life and I love that about her.

She's not quiet crawling yet but loves to turn herself in circles both on her belly and on her butt. She pulls herself up to kneeling and I caught her sitting herself up in the crib the other day! Thanks to a trick we learned from cousin Paisley she is able to stand on her own against the wall. She also loves to stand and hold the couch. It's just a blast watching her find her way, with no pressure to crawl. Another trick we learned from cousin Paisley... she will do it when she's ready.

This girl is a whole 22 pounds... and the chunk is just adorable on her and I can't imagine her without it. She LOVES to eat and will eat ANYTHING we put in front of her. She's about given up on the baby food and prefers to eat what we are eating and LOVES carbs (Just like her mama). I'd list her favorites but the real story is.... everything is her favorite.

Parker loves playing and we can tell she is just ready to get on the move to chase after her big sisters. She claps her hands, signs more (sometimes), says baba and (I think) she says hello when she puts her hand to her ear like she's on the phone. She loves mamas glasses and would love for mama to hold and be near her ALL.THE.TIME... and mama would love the same.

I wish daily for time to slow down but until that happens I'm just going to love on this little one for as long as she will let me.

We love you Parker Elaine... Happy Ten Months!

PS Did I mention my child has EPIC hair?????? No.... see below

















Wednesday, January 4, 2017

2016 Year in Review




2016 was a wonderful year for our family, we moved, welcomed our fifth daughter, traveled north for my sisters wedding, and had tons of fun with family and friends.
Here's a little recap of 2016...

January...

I hit 27 weeks pregnant with baby girl Parker... there was very little sleep because of the pregnant belly as well as two toddlers that were resisting sleep because of sharing a room with mom and dad; and our family was strengthened through some changes and difficulties.


February ...

We had a big change in our pregnancy plans when I was diagnosed with Cholestasis  causing my due date to change and baby girl to be born a few weeks earlier than expected. We had our annual family photos along with maternity photos taken and they were more than perfect.We had another change in pregnancy due dates but the plan remained the same to have Miss. Parker join us sometime around 37 weeks. And let's not forget we moved back into our own house!





March ...

The month our FIFTH Daughter joined us and I wrote some letters to the big sisters and the big sisters to be. I shared my feelings on welcoming Parker to world and a recap of our first week at home.







April ...

Daughter number two turned TEN and my how much Madison has changed over the years, still so much like her daddy and one of the best big sisters around. Through lots of tears I was able to share Parker's birth story. It's so clear Parker has been loved from the very beginning. We had some fun "re-sleep training" the twins and Parker turned one month!




May ...

Mother's day is always a fun time but this year becoming a mom for the fifth time was extra special. I struggled a bit with breast feeding but knew as long as my baby was fed all would be ok.



June ... 

We celebrated the beginning of summer and the kids took over our bed. The twins really started to let their individual personalities show and we recapped our potty training adventures





July ... 

We had a great 4th of July with family and friends, traveled to New York state for my sisters wedding, and were able to visit with family we haven't seen in a long time. 








August ...

Parker tried her first cereal and Kendal turned 12 while the twins turned the big THREE. 





September ...

 I started my new "series" called  mom talk (it's coming back I promise!), Parker turned 6 months old celebrating her half birthday! We had our first family broken bone when Olivia broke her collar bone falling out of bed. 




October ...

I talked about what it's like to have big family and "a lot" of kids, and we had some fall fun at the pumpkin patch. Parker and I made the trip to PA to celebrate Paisley's 1st Birthday.  










November ...

We started to learn what life was like with not ONE but TWO three year old toddlers, Parker turned 8 months and seemed to grow so much more quickly that we want.  





December ...

I was busy from right after Halloween until Christmas Eve with Holiday photo sessions keeping me away from the blog for what seemed like a very long time. My hubby and I celebrated 20 years as a couple. We had a great Christmas making cookies and watching Parker celebrate her first Christmas (Post soon to come... ).














We had a great year... we learned a lot and grew many ways as a family. Each year we learn new things about ourselves and our children... I know there is so much fun to come in 2017!




Years in Review ... 2015, 2014








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