LOOK MA - NO HANDS!

Yep, I'm big man on campus around here now! (even if my jammy pants say otherwise....don't blame me, I still can't dress myself and these weird grown-ups think these pajamas are just "SO CUTE!" barf.)
I just surprised mommy and daddy this evening and started doing this all around the house. They actually started CRYING when they saw me doing this. CRYING! Can you believe that?!?! Yeah, they'll have reason to cry soon enough when I'm running everywhere and getting into EVERYTHING! MMMMWWAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I'm off to practice for my first marathon. Or maybe just to have a cup of milk and watch some Sprout to get ready to go to sleep.

Keep on truckin,
Parker

Does absence make YOUR heart grow fonder??

We hope it does, because it's been a LOOOOOONNNNNG time since we sat down a wrote a little about what's new with us. So here we go.
The monster is becoming more and more mobile. He's a year old now, so we are pretty sure he thinks that gives him the right to torment us even more than he used to. Sometimes he crawls around chasing us, and that kid has gotten FAST at the crawling! Fortunately we are still faster (unless he catches us off-guard, like during a nap. In which case he LOVES to pull our tails.) He still uses crawling as his primary mode of transportation, which is fine with us - using all fours to ambulate has worked fine for us for all of our 7 years. Why anyone would want to ditch using the front paws and only walk on the back paws is beyond us. But he's trying. He can make it about 4 or 5 steps now before he falls down, but Sarah hasn't been quick enough to get any good video of it yet. Maybe one of these days.
And did we mention the kid is still huge?? His 1 year old check-up put him at about 26 1/2 pounds and almost 31 inches long. So in one year he has gained about 17 pounds and has grown 10 inches. He has FINALLY started to slow down and level out on the growth charts though - he's now in the 75th-90th percentile for weight and length instead of the >95th like he has been until now.
Tooth count update - we are up to 7! And he has figured out how to use them on people. Luckily he hasn't tried to chomp on us yet, because we are pretty sure he won't like it very much when we bite him back....
Sarah STILL doesn't have any pictures from Christmas or Parker's birthday to share. If anyone knows how to download full size pictures from Snapfish without having to pay for them please let her know! Otherwise, she will need to get the pictures emailed to her by their respective photographers. Stay tuned...
In the meantime....the lady human is back to school. This semester she is studying pediatric nursing and nursing care of parents and newborns. And the man human is addicted to video games. That's all he does once the lady human and the baby human go to sleep.
So here's just a couple pictures and a short video of Parker and his friend Mason playing with some of Parker's Christmas and birthday gifts. Those boys are going to be heartbreakers one day - at least that's what their mamas say.

The boys playing basketball and tee-ball.

Parker showing Mason how his new car works. (I don't know why this is hyperlinked and I can't figure out how to unlink it...)

Here's Parker taking Mason for a spin in the ol' coupe. Mason wasn't having a lot of fun...

That's all for now. We will try to update you again sooner than it was this time.

Until then,
the cats

Remembering

So I have figured out that when it comes to taking pictures of my child at special occasions I pretty much suck. I don't have very many pictures of Parker at Christmas, so I'll have to wait until his Aunt Heather sends me some that she took with her camera to post to the blog. But that's not the point of this post anyway. This post is for remembering....

It's been a year. (ok, so technically Saturday it will be a year). OH MY GOODNESS IT'S BEEN A YEAR. I can't even believe that my little man has been with us for a whole year. For those of you who aren't familiar with his entry into the world, here's the story.

Ryan and I found out on April 25th, 2007 that I was pregnant. I was excited. I was terrified. Ryan was all giddy like a kid at Christmas. That started what were 9 of the most uncomfortable, nervous, and wonderful months of my life. I battled through the 14 weeks of all day sickness (anyone who has ever been pregnant knows that "morning sickness" is a load of crap - that stuff lasts ALL DAY!), as well as heartburn, expanding waistlines and bra sizes, seemingly sleepless nights, couch sleeping, gas, shortness of breath and endless hunger. I cherished every kick, roll, punch and hiccup that I was blessed to feel on a daily basis. I became attached to this little guy growing inside me and felt like I already knew everything about him before he was even born. My due date was January 2nd or 3rd (can't remember exactly), but I prayed that he'd be born before the end of 2007 for tax and insurance purposes. But no such luck. My little miracle had no intention of joining us on the outside. I had my 40 week doctors appointment on January 2nd. Up to this point there had been no changes to my cervix to even begin to suggest that this baby was in any hurry to be born. But I was optimistic for this appointment. I brought in 2008 by spending hours on New Year's Eve sitting on my couch having contractions that were 7 or 8 minutes apart (they stopped after about 5 or 6 hours). So I thought surely this check up would be different. Dr. Holt would tell me that I had begun to dilate and we could go ahead and induce. However, there were still NO CHANGES to my cervix. No dilation. 50% effacement. The baby hadn't dropped into my pelvis. I cried. I actually sat in my doctor's office and cried. I told him I was done being pregnant. I told him I couldn't make it the 5 more days he wanted to let me go before he would induce. We knew my baby was going to be big - a 38 week ultrasound estimated his weight to be 8.5 pounds already - that's in the 95th percentile for 38 week fetuses. I asked Dr. Holt what the likelihood was that I would end up needing a C-section even after we induced, since we knew the baby was big and my pelvis was narrow. He said it was pretty likely. So we opted to schedule the elective C-section for the next day, January 3rd. Was I bummed that I wouldn't experience actual labor? Yes. Childbirth the way I had imagined it was not going to happen. I look back now and couldn't care less - the end result is the same.

We were scheduled for a noon C-section on January 3rd. So we got checked into the hospital and we waited. They put me on the monitor to keep an eye on the baby's heartrate and any activity I was having as far as contractions went. (Turns out I was actually having contractions when we were admitted - but they were very weak and pretty far apart. We proceeded with our plan to have the C-section). We watched the clock and it seemed like an eternity until we'd meet our son. Noon came and went. And I was still not being taken to surgery. Dr. Holt had been called over to deliver a lady that had just been admitted next door whose baby decided it was coming NOW and would not wait until we were done in surgery. So she welcomed her miracle. And I was still pregnant. The nurse came in and said it was going to be awhile before we went to surgery - Dr. Holt had just delivered a baby and was going to go back over to his office for a while to see a few patients. This did not make me happy. More waiting to meet my son.

Since it was going to be awhile, the sisters went down to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. While they were there Dr. Holt went in there to get him some lunch (going to see patients at his office?? Nice try, doc). My sisters must have sent him some evil glares as he perused the food line and tried to make his choice. He put 2 and 2 together and realized that these were my sisters and they were waiting to meet their nephew. He dropped his plans for lunch, walked back to the Birthing Center and told the nurses it was time for my surgery.

I was taken to the OR at about 12:20. The anesthesiologist got my spinal anesthesia in place (on the 2nd attempt - OUCH!), I was laid out on this tiny operating table and Dr. Holt came in to prep my belly. "I just saw your twin sister Sarah! Y'all are definitely identical!" Little did I know at the time that this encounter with Heather was what made him decide to get the show on the road! Anyway, Ryan was brought in and the operation started. I felt lots of tugging and pulling, but no pain. And then the geyser erupted when he broke my water and I knew I was just seconds away from the best moment of my life. "This is a huge baby!" was what I heard over the sheet. And then the cry. Oh that cry. The sweetest, most invigorating sound a mommy can ever hear. The tears started to flow. Ryan looked at me (tears flowing down his face) and said "He's beautiful!" I was given a quick glimpse before the pediatrician took him over to the bassinet to check him over. I watched as she checked him out and gave him a passing grade. And still I was crying.

They got him all cleaned up and wrapped up and let me have a few seconds of snuggle time to meet my sweet baby boy before they took him back to our room for more checks and to weigh him.
Then they handed him to his daddy who took him to meet the crew. So Dr. Holt finished closing me up while Ryan was introducing Parker to everyone who was there for his arrival - 3 sets of grandparents, Aunt Laura, Aunt Heather, Aunt Megan, Uncle Jason, Uncle Travis, and Pastor Karl. That scale reads 9 pounds, 11.5 ounces. Dr. Jatzlau (the pediatrician) poked her head into the operating room to let me and Dr. Holt know just how big this kid was. Upon hearing the weight, Dr. Holt told me that he was sure I'd made the right call when deciding to opt for the C-section rather than waiting and inducing in a few more days.

I was taken to recovery and everyone was kicked out of the room so I could finally meet my baby.

And thus started the most challenging, exciting, rewarding, trying, beautiful experience of my life - the experience of being a mommy. Parker's mommy. I was in love. And now, a year later, I'm still just as much in love with him as I was that day - January 3rd, 2008. Happy Birthday my little monkey. Mommy loves you today and always.