Happy 4th Birthday, Parker!

I'm a little (ok a lot, but my computer has been acting crazy so I've been avoiding using it) late posting this...Parker's 4th bday was on September 10th. My dad I think has finally given up on seeing pics from his bday! lol

How is it that the little baby who  made me a mommy for the first time is FOUR YEARS OLD?!? Time has flown by! It seems just like yesterday that Kevin and I went in for my 38 week appointment for a regular check up and was told by Dr. Miller that I was 3-4" dilated (when I was at 0 just a couple of days before) and needed to go to the hospital. I was in denial b/c my contractions weren't coming in at regular intervals and I only had a few hard ones. I think I was lucky to have this appointment b/c if I hadn't I probably would have had Parker at home! My contractions weren't bad at all when I got my epidural, but I knew I wanted one! I thought he was going to be born on 9/11 and I told the doctor (Dr. Todd) who was going to be delivering Parker that I was really bummed about that, but he insisted Parker would be born that night. I loved his optimism, but my sisters in law and friends all had labors that were long and had to push for like 2 hours so I assumed Parker wouldn't arrive until the next day. I checked in around 5:30 pm and wouldn't you know it, Parker came at 9:21 pm. It took like 6 pushes and he was out! I was so shocked at how quickly he came that I didn't really have time to process the whole thing. My mom didn't even have time to drive down from Jacksonville, which is 4 hours away and I had to call my best friend, Lauren, and ask her to come for support (for Kevin and me). She lives 1 hour away and literally walked in as I was scooting down the bed, both legs up, and getting ready to push!

i ordered the same delicious chocolate cake w/ chocoalte mousse filling that i ordered for Avery's bday. it was from Costco and was only $18 for a sheet cake. absolutely delicioius! i kept the actual cake simple and just dug through Parker's stash of cars. He actually got the "Lemon bus" (London bus) along with lighter weight Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater from my aunt earlier that morning. He was attached to the bus and did not let it out of his sight. The Lightning and Mater cars were actually perfect b/c Parker's other ones were heavier.

blowing out his candles

a little smile b/c of his trick candles

 my aunt made this cookie cake for Parker...she's uber talented! she makes the kids cookie cakes every year and they get more amazing every year. my favorite was Avery's owl cookie cake this past May that she made without a mold.

my aunt also made cookies for party favors

we had Parker's party at a pottery painting place

it's not the best pic, but at least we got a family pic in...plus my niece and nephew's heads

Kevin and I were in heaven the first couple of hours after I delivered Parker. But then I had some complications and had to be rushed for an emergency surgery a few hours after delivery. I remembered praying to God to let me live and see my newborn baby boy grow up. I pictured Kevin having to raise him alone as I was being wheeled down the hallway to the OR. It was a crazy night. God answered my prayers and here we are 4 years later. Parker was not an easy baby and he's not an easy kid now. He's crazy, stubborn, and opinionated, but he is also very sweet, loving, and has a kind heart. He still loves to cuddle and give "nose kisses". He completely melts my heart when I come home from work and runs up to me yelling "Mommy, you're home. I miss you so much. I love you!".

painting...most of the boys chose cars and most of the girls chose mermaids or fairies

present time!

Parker went to the pediatrician the day after his bday for his 4 yr check up. He passed his hearing and iron test. His BP was normal. He also got 4 shots and shrieked, but thankfully Kevin was there to help out. He was pretty brave and didn't thrash around, but the shrieking in pain always gets to me. Here's his stats:

Weight: 40 lbs (80th percentile)

Height: 43.5" (97th percentile)



From this past year:

He started going to speech class on 1/14/13 and while I worried how he would do if I pulled him from his preschool, he did absolutely wonderful with the change and loved Ms. Phyllis. His first task at speech was mastering the /s/ sound, which he started to do better within 2-3 weeks. The next task was /l/ sounds. He still stumbled over it for a long time and had a harder time mastering it. Likely because I had started working full time again and we didn't get to do homework every night like we did when we working on /s/ sounds. But Ms. Phyllis said she doesn't expect him to fully master /l/ sounds until he is mid/late 4 yrs old. Now at 4 years old he is doing a lot better, but he sometimes has to stop and say the word slowly and carefully. Ms. Phyllis has been such a fabulous teacher! His speech has really taken off and everyone has noticed how much he has improved. Last year, I was praying for him to really start talking and this year I find myself wishing for a few moments of silence. He is constantly asking questions: why, what, when, where.

loves being sung to!

Avery wants in on the action....and yes i reused the cake from his party and it's the same candle. don't judge!

poor kid can't catch a break...last year one of his good friends blew his candle out at his party (twice) and then this year his cousins helped blow out his trick candles that kept lighting back up. but all hell broke loose when sissy blew out his candle. he didn't even really see it coming b/c she was sitting down the whole time and singing w/ us and then she just popped up when it was time to blow out the candle. poor kid didn't even have time to think of a wish! we did re-light the candle and sang a second time and made sure avery was no where near the candle.

the meltdown was inevitable. it had been a long day. he went to speech class that morning, skipped pre-school and we went to lunch at PF Chang's, then decided to go to Celebration Station where they have go-carts, mini coasters, arcades, mini golf, and bumper cars. Only the outdoor stuff wouldn't be opening for another couple of hours so we decided to go back home and go for a swim. we were going to skip nap, but the kids seemed to really need a nap so we laid them down for a quick nap...and that was our mistake. parker gets cranky when he doesn't get enough sleep or gets woken up before he is ready to wake up. the tantrum lasted 1 hour and we almost skipped going to Celebration Station, but he calmed down enough where we could go, but it ended up being later than we planned so cake time was later than i wanted. 

we kept our presents for parker's actual bday so he could open a few gifts. he got a police car from Lola...he has been asking for one for months. lola also got him a fire rescue helicopter. we got him a fishing pole and avery got him a tackle box and net

With me going back to work, Parker also started to ride the school bus to his new pre-school. He loves riding the bus and thinks he is such a big boy. His teacher last Spring, Mrs. Robinson was fabulous. Parker loved her! Now with the 2013-2014 school year, he moved up to pre-school 3's (he turned 4 after Sept 1st so he is in the 3 yr old class), he has new teachers at pre-school: Mrs. Schwartz and Ms. Cole. Love them too! We still see Mrs. Robinson b/c she has Avery in her class. The second teacher in her class, Ms. Milgate dote on both kids. All of the teachers at the pre-school are truly fabulous and I love it that they all seem to truly care about my kids and have little stories to tell about their crazy antics.

from Parker's newborn session w/ jenn hopkins

look how tiny he was!!!

one of my favorite shots...minus all the swelling in my face and fingers from all the IV fluids i had to have at the hospital

This past year he has come to really love swimming and while he refused to jump into the pool last year and the beginning of the summer, he has started to jump into the deep end. He does this without a puddle jumper and paddling to Kevin in the middle of the pool for a quick rest and then on to the steps in the shallow end. I think it helped taking swim lessons at the YMCA for 2.5 months. He and Avery took private lessons and both really trusted Mr. Josh and would do things he asked b/c it wasn't Mommy or Daddy telling him to do it.

from parker's 1st bday party...he tore into the cake and made a huge mess. he also cried when we took the cake away!

2nd bday party was combined with avery's baptism. parker was covered in pink icing since he prefered avery's cupcakes to his blue cupcakes.

3rd bday party had a train theme. this was from his actual bday and it was just us. my aunt who made the cookie cakes made the 3 train tracks out of black licorice. she also was going to bake and decorate the cakes using the train mold, but i asked to borrow her mold and make brownies instead.

Trains were huge for a while, but have recently taken a back seat to cars. He is currently obsessed with Match Box cars. Every time we go to Publix or Target he asks for one. Since it's only $1 he usually gets one if he has been good. We have big bins/buckets filled with cars. It wasn't such a surprise that he wanted a car themed birthday this year. We had gotten him a rug with a print of streets, parking lots, buildings, etc from Ikea a couple of years ago, but it has once again become popular and it is laid out on top of his regular rug 24/7. After we brush the kids teeth I usually put Avery to bed while Kevin and Parker sprawl out on the rugs and play with cars for "5 more minutes" as Parker likes to put it. He is still big on getting warnings so we usually tell him he has 5 more minutes when it's really about 10 minutes and then the I think my dad can even hear him all the way in San Diego! Usually I can get him to calm down by talking calmly and telling him to make good choices. His teachers are big on making good choices so he usually starts to calm down.

Nov 2012

Jan 2013...first day of speech class

April 2013

Speaking of tantrums, his default voice right now is to yell. He yells EVERYTHING! "MOMMY, I HAD A GOOD DAY AT SCHOOL. I PLAYED. I ATE MY LUNCH ALL GONE. I TAKE A NAP." It drives me nuts. Between Avery and Parker my eardrums are getting ready to burst! They are really starting to play together and actually get along...well for the most part. Parker is on a tattle-telling phase: "Avery hit me! Avery's jumping on my bed! Avery took my toy!". He just wants justice to be served and will even tell her you're going to go to time out...at which point Avery usually laughs hysterically just to annoy him. Avery knows all the buttons to push to annoy her big brother. Parker has a bit of OCD in him and will line up his cars when he's playing. Avery will watch quietly and wait until Parker finishes lining up all 200 of his cars and then with a war cry run over with arms and legs flailing and scattering the neatly lined up cars, which causes Parker to absolutely lose it into a pile of tears and will occasionally chuck a car at his sister. I know it's not right, but sometimes I find myself thinking, well Avery kinda asked for it. Of course, both get sent to time out and have to apologize and as extra punishment they have to kiss and hug it out.

June 2013 

He has also started to really like music...he gets this from Kevin. Kevin likes to play music in the car while I prefer to talk to the kids. His favorite earlier this year was "We Are Young" by FUN. It was hilarious watching him bob his head along to the music as he sat in his carseat. If we played it in the house he would literally ask to keep playing it over and over again. Kevin said it was one of his favorite songs until the kids started to like it and would ask to play it over and over. lol

Aug 2013: so excited to get a puppy!

I love you a whole bunch, little peanut! I can't wait to see what craziness your 4 year old self brings us this year!