Since Parker has been born so many things have happened, and
it is over whelming to think about where to start. After Parker was born I had
the luxury to have my mom here for three weeks, and I have never been so
spoiled and well taken care of. She showered Levi with more attention than he
knew what to do with, did all the cooking, shopping, and believe it or not she
also did all the dishes. I was so grateful for all of her extra help especially
in those first couple weeks, because it took me almost a month to start feeling
like myself again. Breastfeeding is always hard for me because I get extremely engorged
when my milk comes in. To the extent that the lactation consultant said it has
been over three years since she has seen somebody with so much milk, and my
midwife said I was one of the worst she’d seen. With the engorgement came mastitis,
clogged ducts, and an intense amount of discomfort. My mom was so supportive
and sweet, and I am just grateful I had her through all of my tears and
struggles. While she was here I was also able to go to the zoo, celebrate
Thanksgiving, black Friday shopping, set up our Christmas tree, and all kinds
of other fun outings. Spending time with my mom will always be some of my most
cherished memories.
Levi Loves holding Parker!
My mom loved to cuddle Parker!
First family picture!
Right after my mom gave Parker his first bath
I love the turkey leg pictures on Thanksgiving!
My family is obsessed with Rudys
setting up the Christmas tree
My mom got Parker a superman outfit, and we recreated the pictures of his uncle Aaron
Morgan asked me if I put that ball there...I said haha ask Levi
Levi was excited to ride his favorite animal!
We will need to get a coy fish pond!
Shortly after my mom left, Morgan’s parents came in! I was
so excited to see them, and to show off Parker. Morgan’s mom (Julie) was so
helpful! She helped with all the cooking and cleaning. She loved holding
Parker, and playing with Levi. Morgan’s dad (Brad) is Levi’s biggest fan! He
just loves him to pieces and had so much fun playing ball with Levi, and taking
him outside. It is one of my favorite things to watch my kids spend time with
their grandparents. I had the luxury of seeing my grandparents almost every day
when I was growing up, so I love it when my kids can have the opportunity to
see theirs. It was so great that they were able to come out for a full week. I
almost forgot that we also blessed Parker while they were here, and Morgan gave
a beautiful blessing. It was a very fun and special week.
we went out to dinner at my new favorite restaurant "Love and War in Texas"
Grandma and Grandpa
our little family
I literally dropped Brad and Julie off at the airport and
picked up my sister in the same trip. Wendy was on her way back from a work
conference and she happened to have a layover in Dallas! She was able to stay
for almost a week, which was awesome because I love the company. We were able
to do a trip to the zoo, which Levi loved! He is obsessed with the brass
animals scattered around the zoo. Wendy called them his animal friends. It was
nice having Wendy because she chased Levi around the zoo while I took care of
Parker. My favorite part of the trip was the gorilla who came right up to the
glass. As many of you know gorillas are mine and Levi’s favorite animal. So seeing
one so up close was like a dream come true! Outside of going to the zoo we
spent a lot of time lounging around. It was nice to just relax and chat. We had
a good time catching up and spending time together. Wendy was also able to be here for our ward Christmas party, I was one of the people in charge of the planning, so it was cool for her to get to see the activity that I worked so hard on come to life. Parker got to be the baby Jesus in the nativity scene, it was the beginning of his acting career. I was also very grateful that Wendy was able to babysit the boys so that we could go to Morgan's work cocktail party. I wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving Parker with anyone outside of family, so I was very fortunate that my sister was able to be here. she will always get to be the first one to babysit Parker. I was sad to see her go,
but I knew that we would see each other again real soon, so that made it
easier.
baby Jesus
Can you tell that Penny was insanely Jealous
Morgans work cocktail party
The gorilla
More of the Gorilla
One of Levi's brass animal buddies
I felt pretty down once all of the company was gone. I don’t
really get bored of having family around, and I am not really a person who
needs a lot of “me” time. I like to be around people all the time and I hate to
be alone. Luckily I knew Christmas would be coming up fast, and Morgan had
another week off of work.
Before I knew it Christmas came…and to my surprise it was
not as exciting as I anticipated. I blamed the lack of excitement on Morgan for
being sick, but to be fair I don’t think it was really his fault. When you’re a
kid Christmas has this special magic to it. I am not sure if it is the presents,
Santa, or all the sugar, but there is something that makes it so exciting. Once
your grown up it feels more like just another day of the year. I don’t really
know how to explain it, but the feeling of Christmas changes as you age. I feel
like the magical feeling I am describing will come back once Levi is old enough
to get more into the Christmas spirit. We did not really do a whole lot on
Christmas because Morgan was pretty sick, but it was nice to just sit around
and enjoy the piece and quite.
A couple weeks after Christmas my grandma and Sister Wendy
came into town. It was a short trip, but it was still so fun to see them! We went
to David’s Bridal and I got to see my sister’s wedding dress! It was beautiful!
I also got to pick out my bridesmaid dress for her wedding this summer. I can hardly
wait! On Friday we decided to brave the 30 degree weather and go to the zoo.
When I pulled into the parking lot I could not believe that there were only two
other cars there, and when I got our tickets I asked how many people were in
the zoo and she said there was only 6 other people in the entire zoo. Crazy!
Once we walked in I noticed the fountain had icicles on it, and I was freezing.
We immediately went and found the reptile room, and of course it was much
warmer in there. Lucky for us we happened to be there on feeding day, and we
got to watch the snakes swallow frozen mice. Apparently this event only happens
once every six weeks, so you could say we were lucky to get to witness that (sarcasm).
I thought it was disgusting and reconfirmed my decision to never own a reptile.
Parker has been an amazing baby, and I am so grateful for
him every day. When we first came home from the hospital he was sleeping for
about six hours at night, but currently he is up to 8 hours! He also takes two
four hour naps. He is seriously the world’s best baby. He hardly ever spits up,
and is happy almost all the time. Levi just loves to hug him and hold him. He almost
says the word “baby” more than “ball”. I was so worried Levi would have some jealousy
trouble but he has been more interested in playing with Parker then he has in
competing with him for attention. Parker LOVES being swaddled, and of course no
one can swaddle him as good as Daddy. When Morgan swaddles him he sleeps for
twice as long. I need to learn his skills. I am trying really hard to just soak
up this newborn face because I know it will go by fast, but I am excited to
watch Parker grow. I just love my boys so much!
Parker Loves to be swaddled
my buddy!
Grandma got him a new bike for Christmas!
I am still really into cooking, and I am loving that I have
still been able to find time to cook. Last January was when we made the goal to
cut out processed food, and although we are not perfect I still feel like we
have done a darn good job! This year we have made the goal to cut out sugar. So
far it is going well, but I look forward to seeing what the future holds!
