The First Months with Two

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!