VBS 2011

I just thought last year's VBS was great...this year by far exceeded it! I don't know if it was because Braden was year older this year or what, but he was really into it and couldn't wait to get to church each evening for VBS! It was awesome seeing all of our kids and the friends that they bought learning about Jesus' love, singing songs of praise to Him and worshipping our Savior! The "location" this year was down in the bayou and the mission was for crazy Carl and Earl to capture that pesky gator that kept creating havoc around our church! The children were on a mission all week as Jr. Gator Hunters to help Carl and Earl find the gators! By Wednesday night it was Mission Accomplished and Thursday night was an awesome party night!

craft time

worship- even Parker was dancing!

Braden all dressed up as Jr. Gator Hunter

Buzz Time with Andy

Offering- Boys vs. Girls- proceeds went to support Mission 25

Baby Shower Tea Party

My wonderful sister in law, Erica, and her sweet mom, Judy, hosted a baby shower for me and Emersyn this past weekend. The theme of the shower was a tea party which was Erica's idea and I absolutely LOVED it! She wanted it to be super girly since our family has been under a dry spell with girls since I was born in 1982! I am the only girl out of all of my cousins and Emersyn will be the only girl since all of us have grown up and started having children, which so far have been only boys!

The tables were set up with china and each table had a rose centerpiece since her middle name is Rose. The vases were filled with pink bubble gum balls and three little ducks. At each place setting they had special M&Ms for Emersynn in pink and purple with her name and initials. The food was delicious also. We had sandwiches, waldorf salad, cucumber salad, cranberry relish, and watermelon with basil, just what I would imagine having at a tea party. And for dessert, which since I have been pregnant with Emersyn has become my favorite part of any meal, we had a sponge cake filled with bavarian cream and topped with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, along with chocolate covered strawberries, and little tea cookies. Each detail was incredibly thoughtful and absolutely perfect!

It was such a special day filled with special family and friends, delicious food, and lots of fun. I can't imagine a more special way to celebrate our sweet baby, Emersyn.

Emersyn Rose

This evening Brad and I headed to Stork Vision to see our little girl. We did 3d ultrasounds fro both boys and we didn't want to leave Emersyn out! I also wanted to double check and make sure she really had little girl parts and we didn't get a BIG surprise on delivery day! She definitely is a girl and she is incredibly beautiful! She looks like she has Parker's chubby cheeks, Braden's little chin and nose and Brad's long toes! The sonographer also pointed out that it looks like she has hair! When we got home we watched the DVD that we got with the boys and Braden was so excited. He kept pointing things that he saw, her lips, her fingers, her nose and then he came over and started talking to her in my belly telling her that he was her big brother and she also had another big brother named Parker and that she should come out now! It was incredibly sweet and special and we are so looking forward to meeting our little girl!

Parker's Surgery

A week ago today Parker had surgery to remove his swollen lymph nodes. Friday, June 24 we met with Dr. Mark Stovroff, a pediatric surgeon, who right away diagnosed Parker with Chronic Lymphadenitis, and let us know that the only treatment for it was surgery and that they needed to come out as soon as possible. As worried as we were about him undergoing surgery, we were also very relieved to finally know what was wrong with our baby. It is pretty scary and frustrating to know that there is something going on with your child, but not know what it is or how to take care of it, especially after going to the doctor 4 times in the last 5 months and having extensive bloodowork done.

Parker's surgery was scheduled for 8:00 am last Monday. Brad and I were a ball of nerves and hardly got any sleep the whole weekend worrying about the surgery. We were so thankful for all of the prayers that our family and friends were sending up on Parker's behalf. We arrived at the hospital at 6:45 Monday morning to check in and my parents and Brad's mom met us up there. We took Parker back around 7:00 and spent the next hour sitting with him and trying to entertain him before his surgery began. The nurses were very nice and tried to entertain him with blow up latex gloves and by walking him around, but he was less than amused. All he wanted was food and few more hours of sleep and neither of those were going to happen! They took him back for surgery around 8:25 and we went to sit with our parents and Braden in the waiting room. We were so relieved to see the doctor just after 9:00 and he told us that the surgery went well. He removed a large portion of the lymph nodes and he was sending them off to find out the cause of the problem. He said he cut under his ear and used glue over his stitches rather than a bandage because he was afraid that Parker would rip the bandage off. He didn't have to put in in a stint, which I was really relieved about. The only thing we had to do was wait and make sure there wasn't going to be any nerve damage.

A few minutes later the nurse came back and we headed back to recovery. We were warned before he went into surgery that he would probably be "raging" after his surgery, but I never expected it to be as bad as it was. He was half awake, half aslep from the anesthesia, but he was screaming and trying to rip his IV out. They let me hold him and he calmed down a little, but would still go into fits screaming, throwing his paci, and trying to rip the IV out. It was so pitiful. This lasted for the next half hour or so and he finally started to calm down. He was discharged around 10:30 and we headed home praying that he woudl be able to have all of his nerve function on that side of his face and that he woudl be able to rest. My parents took Braden home with them so that we could focus on Parker and get some rest. He fell asleep half way home and napped for the next 5 hours. When he woke up I was so relieved to see his mouth and cheek moving- Thank you Jesus!
The next 2 days we spent with a VERY CRANKY Parker, but by Thursday he was feeling MUCH better and he seems to feel better than he has in a long time.

We are still waiting on the results of the tests, but we go back next Monday if we haven't heard before.

Haircut

At 18 months Parker still didn't have a haircut becasue he had this one curl at the back of his head and I just kept parying that the rest of his hair would decide it woanted to be like that one little curl and join in...it didn't and instead it ended up looking like a mullet...not so much Billy Ray, but headed more towards looking like Joe Dirt. Can you say business in the front and party in the back?

So after we found out he had to have surgery, I decided we might as well trim his hair up too. I feared part of the mullet would hinder the surgeon's view! So my sweet mama trimmed him up and now he looks about 10 years older! Sad!

Cars 2

On opening day of Cars 2 we took Braden to the theatre to see it. We were really excited because it was his first movie at a big theatre! We bought him the kid's laptop with popcorn, candy and a sprite and he thought he was the coolest kid in the world! Several times during the movie, he leaned over to whisper, "This is the best movie ever" or "I'm so glad you and daddy brought me to the movies!" He was so happy and sat mesmerized the entire movie. He even started tearing up at the end of the movie and when I asked him why he said he just didn't want it to be over!

Summer at Grr and Palpaw's

Everyday is fun at Grr and Palpaw's house, but the summer is especially exciting!

Playing on the slip n' slide...

Taking a break with a treat...
Helping in the garden...

Splashing and throwing rocks in the creek...

Riding the Ranger...

Parker 18 Months

Today my precious little Parker is 18 months old. I can't believe how quickly these 18 months have flown by and that he is only 6 months away from being a 2 year old!

Parker is a bouncing ball of energy- we have to constantly watch him because he is always getting into something! He watches everything that Braden does and then tries to do it himself- I always think that he has that song "anything you can do, I can do better" playing in his head at all times because he is always copying his big brother! He loves to climb, explore, touch, and run! He is our hands on boy! He also loves to cuddle which I surely don't mind for 2 reasons- 1. it is the only time he usually stops opening drawers, cabinets, etc and 2. I love to cuddle with my baby boy.

Parker's personality is hard to describe- he is serious, yet very silly. He is independent, yet wants to be held. He is an explorer, yet spends a good portion of the day at my feet. He doesn't like for me to be out of his sight and follows me from room to room, unless he finds something interesting to "discover"! He is stubborn and very strong willed. We have to be very consistent about getting onto him. He is getting better about throwing temper tantrums- thank goodness- but every now and then he will still throw himself on the floor kicking and screaming. We just step over and ignore him and this seems to work well. He is one of the toughest kids I know... he always has some sort of bruise or boo boo from his escapades, but when he gets hurt 99% of the time he keeps going like it was nothing!

Parker is the best hugger I have ever met (he squeezes around the neck so tight and kicks his feet while he squeezing) and will finally give kisses on command...we sometimes. Sometimes if I ask for a kiss he shakes his head no and takes off running! He has the cutest smile that lights up his whole face and makes him look like he is up to something! He loves his brother and he also loves to bother Braden. He loves to sneak up behind Braden and steal whatever he is playing with and run off!
Parker can say several words now, but he doesn't say them all the time and will say a word a lot and then go for awhile without saying it again. Here are the words he says: mama, grr, uh-oh, ooh (juice), nana (banana), ball, dada, palpaw,cat and bye. Mostly he just walks around saying "mama, mama,mama" over and over. He can follow directions and understands what we are saying.

Some Parker 18 Month Facts:

*He has all of his teeth except his molars

*He loves to eat blackberries, raspberries, bananas, grilled cheese, hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches

*He doesn't like strawberries, watermelon or potatoes- even french fries

*He loves shoes and will try wearing any one's shoes he can find! At random times during the day he will bring us shoes to put on

*He has finally started sleeping through the night! Woo Hoo!

*He loves to brush his teeth

* He has had 2 bumps on the side of his neck for several months now and after several trips to the doctor and blood work we are meeting a children's surgeon for a consult tomorrow.

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head

Today while I was cleaning out Parker's closet, Braden came across some Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head window clings that I aquired on clearance somewhere a long time ago. I had completely forgotten about them and Braden was thrilled to to find them. Both boys actually spent a long time playing with them on the door and there was minimal fussing- Parker kept grabbing Braden's pieces to put on his potato head!



And yes by the way, my kids are still in thier jammies- Braden calls these "jammy days" and we usually stay this way unless we have somewhere we have to go!