Cereal

Parker,
Your dad and I plan on making this blog into a scrapbook for you. I know one day you're going to love going back and reading about how crazy we were and how you completely changed our world. I also know you'll probably roll your eyes when you get to posts like these..you probably won't understand why I write about your first cereal, rolling over, and bathtime (just to mention a few). But you see, buddy, I am not a sentimental person. Seriously, I am not at all. But when you came along, you changed all that for me. Now, everything you do is a big deal.

Tonight, you actually enjoyed the cereal we fed you. You weren't really excited at first. I tried to feed you, and you quickly clamped your mouth shut. After we tried a few bites, I grabbed you and just held you in my lap. (I try to get all my lovin' in while I'm home in the evenings.) When I was holding you, Daddy noticed you were opening your mouth and leaning toward the bowl. So, he gave you a big bite of cereal, and guess what-you actually liked it! You liked it so much that you started lunging toward the bowl with your little lips poked out! You were so cute!! You ate a lot, and I finally made him stop feeding it to you because I was afraid you would throw up!

Please don't get bigger, buddy. I don't know how much more I can handle.

Let me repeat what I tell you all the time: I love you more than you'll ever know-at least until you have kids yourself.

-Mommy

Sleeping...

This past week marks a milestone for Parker..he has consistently been sleeping through the night! If you read my 4 month post, you may remember that I reported that our pediatrician said not to feed him during the night anymore. Well, it took about 3 nights, but once we got him out of the habit and made it through those three nights, he's been sleeping great! The funny thing is, now that he's sleeping better at night, he's taking these 2-4 hour naps during the day! Yes, I said 4 hrs! I've always heard that good sleep breeds more good sleep, and now I am a firm believer in that theory!

This picture captures his personality! He is such a happy boy!

Here's a great picture to capture the amazing sleep Parker's been getting lately!

He's so happy when he wakes up!

4 months old

A sweet lady from our home church made this especially for Parker...he wore it last Sunday to church and looked precious! You can't see it, but he has on knee socks with it!

Yes, I know you're not supposed to put them in a Bumbo on an elevated surface, BUT we were right there, holding on to him the entire time!

As you can see, he's not too sure about the cereal!

Parker,

You turned 4 months old this week! Your daddy and I cannot believe our tiny baby is getting so big! We took you for your shots, and you weighed 14.1 lbs. You were 25 inches long. You measured about average for your age. You didn't like the shots at all, so after she gave them to you, I nursed you to calm you down (that usually always does the trick). However, that really didn't work this time! You were angry, and you let everyone in the doctor's office know it. You only calmed down when we walked outside-such a little boy!

You have alot of new tricks! You can roll from your back to your stomach, and sometimes you strain so hard, you let out a little gas! I had to put that in there because you'll think it's funny one day! Your doctor said we could try out a little cereal, but that you don't need it. He said we could try it for practice-to get your coordination down to prepare you to eat baby food in a couple of months. You didn't dislike the cereal as much as you disliked the spoon! We'll wait and try again in a few days. He also told us that you didn't need to nurse anymore during the night, so we're trying that out. Daddy and I look like zombies these days! But, we're going to keep at it, and we know you'll figure it out soon enough. The funniest part of the doctor's visit was when he told us you knew how to cry to get what you wanted! You see, you were great until I sat down with you for him to examine you. You really let him have it! That's when he said, "You know, I think he's crying for effect." In other words, he confirmed what we already knew, you were crying to get your way! I told him we'd never make excuses for you, we know you're spoiled! Now the doctor has confirmed it!

You are really holding yourself up well, and you're enjoying time in your Baby Einstein jumperoo!

Parker, you really are the happiest baby! You have the deepest gut laugh-it's like when I heard your heartbeat for the first time...I just wanted to record it and play it on a cd so I could listen to it all day. That's how I feel about your laugh-it makes everything in the world seem ok. You just make like so much more fun. Thank you, baby boy. We love you so much!

-Mommy and Daddy

Guess who's 4 months old???!!!!

Parker turned 4 months old yesterday! More info. with stats to come....he goes to get his 4 month shots on Thursday! I wanted to go ahead and get pictures out (so my mom would be satisfied and so I wouldn't forget!)

I had a hard time getting him to smile!

This picture pretty much sums up our life.....

Baby Dedication

"And this is His command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us." 1 John 3:23

Parker,
This weekend was your baby dedication at church. It was such a special weekend for our family. Your Gigi, Grandad, Marmee, Poppa, Aunt Courtney, Uncle Shelby, Aunt Mere, Lily, and Abby all drove up to celebrate with us. You were absolutely perfect the entire day! I was really nervous you might get a little fussy as we went up on stage, but you didn't!

Your daddy and I want you to really understand what this day meant. Parker, we stood in front of the church and God and promised we would raise you to know Jesus. We promise we will raise you in church and in a Godly home. We promise to teach you how to love the Lord and truly serve Him, not just how to go to church on Sundays. We promise to set a Christlike example for you in our speech and our actions. We promise to always love and support you, but we also promise to discipline you when needed!

The verse above is the life verse we promised to use to teach you as you grow. Before you were born, we prayed for a healthy, happy baby. We are so lucky that God heard our prayers and answered them! Our prayer for you now is that you'll learn to love the Lord and to follow Him. We want you to always walk in His path, even if it's not the "cool" thing to do. We want you to be a strong man of God and to help lead others to Him. If you follow the commands of 1 John 3:23, you can't go wrong. He tells us to believe in his Son, Jesus Christ and to love others.

We love you, sweet baby boy, and we can't wait to see what amazing things are in store for you!

Rolling Over

I don't have any pictures to post tonight, but I wanted to be sure I marked this one down (since I've forgotten to mark dates on his other milestones)-Parker rolled from his back to his front today! He's really been working on it for the past couple of days, and today he finally got all the way over. I took the afternoon off to prepare for our crazy weekend, so I got to be the first to witness it! I had sent Phillip to Sonic Happy Hour for a green apple slush and was in Parker's room laying on the floor with him. He was laying on his back/stomach and before I knew it, he'd gotten himself all the way over!

(I really like how I mention that I took the afternoon off to prepare for my company, yet I admit I was laying in the floor playing with him.)

I really can't believe he's old enough to do that....he tried to do it again for his daddy, but never quite made it all the way.

I think tonight I realized how big he's getting. Rolling over, outgrowing clothes..you see, before he was born I bought the CUTEST outfit for him at the childrens store in Meredith's town...I mean, it is the cutest outfit ever! When I bought it, all I could think about was how sweet and precious he was going to look in it one day. (This week, Phillip finally convinced me to wash all his 3-6 months clothes....for some reason I kept putting it off..I think because I'm not ready to admit he's almost 4 months old and not wearing newborn outfits anymore) Anyway, I was getting out of the laundry basket to hang after I washed it, and realized it looked a little short...I quickly decided to try it on him, and could barely get it over his head! It was way too small! I kept trying to convince myself he could get away with it, but it seriously looked like he was wearing capri pants. It was pulling in the crotch area...it looked ridiculous!

I really can't believe that my baby is almost 4 months old! Where is that tiny baby who used to just eat and sleep all day? I really am not a sentimental person, but having a baby is really making me turn mushy!

Lately....

This is the picture we submitted for his baby dedication photo...

His new trick-leaning forward....