Since you've been gone.....

...Er, actually, since I'VE been gone a lot has happened. Obviously it would take me forever and a day to update everything that we've done in the last 3 months, so I'll give you the quick rundown.

• I got another tattoo! Well, it's technically two (one on each shoulder) but I say one. It's a pair of swallows. I got them for the kids. Swallows represent loyalty and pride. They always come back home and I would like to think that I am home to Graycen and Parker.

• We got family pictures done by Emily Schnick, who happens to be an old friend of David's family. It was sort of a One Year birthday shoot for Parker/family picture day. We went down to Hidden Falls in Highland Park and Emily shot our pictures. She did a FANTASTIC job! You should go check her out!


• Parker turned one! Woo hoo and Boo Hoo all at the same time. My little baby is officially a toddler now and it's such a bittersweet moment. He started walking about a month after his birthday and now he's all over the place.

• Parker was officially diagnosed with food allergies. After a scary discovery that he was allergic to peanuts (I had to call 9-1-1 even) we had the allergy testing done again. Turns out he is allergice to peanuts, eggs and soy.  We now have to be very aware of what he eats and always carry around EpiPens. I'll write more on this one later.
• Our sweet niece, Ava Mae, was born to my little brother, Zach and his fiancee, Emma on June 28. She is absolutely adorable!
• Graycen went and spent the weekend up north with Grandma, Grandpa and Buttons. Now, Buttons is their dog and while up there those two created such a bond. She sure loves that puppy. This was her first time away from home so it was pretty rough on myself, David and Parker. Parker was so grumpy and whiney the whole time she was gone. Poor guy missed his sister. She had a great time though! There's another trip in the works, we'll just see when it will be!

• We made a trip to Como Zoo and the kids enjoyed it like they always do!

• As a family we went out to this mini family fun day at Arbor Lakes in Maple Grove. Graycen had fallen asleep on the way out there so she was a grump for the first little bit that we were there. She got to do a few little crafts, but her favorite thing was when she got "a tattoo" on her cheek. She sat till long enough for the lady to paint a tiger with a rainbow on her cheek. It was pretty cute.

• Graycen was a flower girl in our friends, Dino & Dana's wedding. She was adorable in her little dress and tiara. She wouldn't cooperate for pictures, but did so well walking down the aisle with Bobby (the ring bearer) It was a beautiful wedding and we couldn't have been happier to have Graycen in it.

• Graycen was asked to be flower girl in another wedding! Our niece, Katie, is getting married next August and her and Josh decided to ask if Graycen would like to be their flower girl. She was super excited when I asked her if she would like to. Of course we accepted!
• David and I got a night out and went and enjoyed Jason Mraz at the Xcel Center. He was amazing, as he always is. His openers were Bushwalla, K'Naan and G. Love & Special Sauce. The show was fantastic!!

• The whole gang made the trip to the fair. The kids were great and they both fell asleep in the stroller, which allowed more time for David and I to stroll around and look at more stuff (and of course, eat more!)

• I made Ambassador at school. In short, what this means is I'm kind of like an honors student/teacher's aide. I will be graduating with additional honors because of it. You're chosen based on your grades, attendence, behaviors and participation. I'm very proud to say I have kept my GPA at 3.89 and have only missed 2 days of school. Not too bad!
• We met up with my aunt Diane at the MN Zoo. Graycen instantly became her bestie and they hung out the whole time. It was a great time, the weather was perfect and since the fair was going on - we really had no traffic there!


• We tried to get Graycen into Head Start. Did you know there are income guidelines and waiting lists to meet to be able to get into this program? That's crazy to me, but whatever. Anyways, because I am in school we actually meet the income guidelines right now BUT there is a huge waiting list. There were 174 kids on the list ahead of where we would be had we chosen to put Graycen on it. The average wait time to get her in - 8-14 months. No thanks, we'll find somewhere else.. even if it means we have to pay to get her in there.
• Graycen turned three! We had a mini celebration at my aunt Rae's house last Sunday when they had a BBQ and we brought a cake and it turned into a little party.

• 
  
  Saturday was her actual birthday and Ma (David's mom) came down for the day. Our plan was to hit up Como Zoo after we went brithday hopping for the girl, but there was seriously no place to park over there. It was horrible. Change of plans - we went to Applebee's for some lunch and then went back home. Both kids fell asleep in the truck on the way home and Graycen stayed asleep. We waited awhile then woke her up so we could do cake and presents before Ma had to leave for home. It was a good day.

(don't know why the cake is sideways)

I'm sure there's more but my brain is fried for the moment. If I think of something I will add it in.

I swear I'm still alive.. I promise.

I know, I know, I know. You don't need to give me the third degree for being away for so long. I'm sorry. Life has kind of gotten in the way and my blog was the first thing to be let go once I got too busy. Also, I will admit, I am having an affair with Facebook was spending a few moments each day over on Facebook and my blog got the back burner because of it.
If you haven't noticed, I've given the blog a huge overhaul. I'm hoping this will bring back some of my motivation to write over here. I do miss being able to speak in more than 3rd person (like you do on your Facebook status) and being able to write in more than as many characters that can fit into my little status update box. I miss talking - even if nobody is listening. Boy, oh boy, do I miss my Works for me Wedneday posts! Heck, I just miss blogging.
I've missed you, friends. Hopefully some of you still come back and you'll be happy/surprised to find that I'm here again. I can't wait to write some more!

1? Already??

Ok, not quite yet. Our dear little Parkey (that's Parker's nickname. Well, that or Bug) is going to be turning one in just over a month. I don't know where the time has gone but it sure flew out the window.
He's crawling all over the place, pulling up to standing in just seconds, "talking" all the time, adoring his big sister, getting into trouble already, no longer eating baby food (his choice as of like 2 months ago!) and so many more things that I can't even think of. It's crazy to see him developing into a little toddler. It'll be too soon before he's walking and then I really don't know what we'll do. Yikes!

**Both of these pictures were actually taken by Graycen. Now that's nuts!**

Making the Director's Honor Roll

Whoever said being a mom, wife, homemaker, employee and student was hard work sure wasn't kidding. Since I have started school and had to pick up some hours outside the home at my grandparents' office I feel like I just don't have time for anything.
By the time I get home at night (around 10:30pm) I'm just exhausted. I usually have homework or a test to study for so I can't just go right to bed like most people probably would. My days are long and feel as though they will never end. It sucks.

Being back in school makes me feel like I can do more. I've always known I could do more and be more but I think I've just never actually fully acknowledged it. I love getting out and actually talking to other adults - it's a breath of fresh air. As much as I love my family, I do love me time. Even if my me time is at school learning.

I just finished my first Mod (which was 5 weeks) and had perfect attendance as well as a 4.0 GPA! Now that's awesome! By getting the two of those things, I made the Director's Honor Roll. There were 4 other people that started at the same time as I did and none of them made it with me. I'm the only one with a family at home, a job outside of the home and attending school. Two of the girls work full time outside of school, one stays at home with her son and the other is straight out of high school without a care in the world. This makes me think if I can do it, anyone can.

Oh Blogger, how I miss thee..

So, I realized this morning that it has already been 2 weeks since my last post. I know this is way better than the running record I was creating but it seems too long. I mean to come in and write up all of these posts and it never happens. You see, I have a list of posts I want to write about but I never carve out time to come and actually do it. I don't know why. Sure, I take care of my kids and family all day long and keep house, but by no means am I so busy that I can't type up a post in 5 minutes or so. I'm trying though and I think that speaks for itself.

In the past couple of weeks not a whole lot has happened. Here are the main things:

• Parker is crawling! He turned 9 months old on the 22nd, which just seems way too early to me for him to be crawling. I know it's not, but it just feels like it. Graycen didn't start crawling until she was almost 11 months, I think. I should go back and check on that. (**Ok, I went back to check and Graycen actually started crawling 2 days before she turned 9 months. Where is my head?!**) He did it for the first time last night. I didn't catch it the first time so David grabbed the bowl of popcorn and baited him with it. I grabbed my phone and caught it on video. I will try to post it here. All day long today he kept crawling. I tell ya, give it a couple of days and he will be all over the place. He has even started with a little rug burn on his knees. Time for him to wear pants for sure - at least until he gets the hang of it.
• Parker cut another tooth. He now has 3 teeth and a 4th one is getting ready to cut. He has 2 on the bottom, 1 on the top and it's so cute!
• I am going back to school to become a medical assistant. I start on Thursday of next week and I'm stoked! Long story short is - I wanted to go to school to become a MA but realized thought about how much more money I would make as a nurse so changed my mind and was going to go to nursing school. Well, I have hit so many road blocks with trying to get into nursing school that it made me take a step back think about things. Through my thought process I realized why I was going to nursing school and decided to call about becoming a MA the next day. I called Everest Institute the next morning and said I was looking for some info. Our conversation went something like this. Rep: When are you looking to start? Me: Well, I want to start as soon as possible, but I'm interested in the evening class and I know that one is tougher to get into right away. Rep: Actually, we have one starting April 2 that has a couple of openings. I thought she was totally kidding since that is next week. I asked if there was enough time to get me in, registered and financing stuff taken care of by then. I went in on Tuesday for my entrance exam and to get going on paperwork. The finances lady I needed to see wasn't taking anymore people for the night so I had to go back yesterday to finish it up. I have orientation on Wednesday where I will get my paperwork, info, scrubs (yay!) and some books and have my first day on Thursday. My school week will be Mon-Thu from 6-10pm. The course is 10 months and I will graduate in January. I am so excited! Now if this wasn't meant to be then I don't know what is!
• Graycen is still a little miss smarty pants. She amazes us every day with her vocabulary and the things she has figured out. It's just nuts. She's growing like a weed. The girl is only two and a half and wears 4T clothes. I can't believe how big (tall) she is. She can definitely tell you what she does or doesn't want to do or eat. Sometimes we just step back and really say, "Wow."
• Ive started Weight Watchers again, too. I started up again on the 8th of this month. It always seems the first week is the adjustment week for me. So my first reall week into it again was the week of the 15th. I lost 3lbs my first week and I weigh in again on Sunday. I am excited bacause I know it's making a difference again. I can feel it in my clothes that I am losing! YAY me!!

I promise I will get better at blogging again. I really do miss it, even when it seems like a chore..

The long(ish) update!

Ok, so I actually typed up the update and thought I posted it just over a week ago. I wondered why I wasn’t getting any comments on it. Not even one... It was kind of strange to me. Well, turns out, I only saved as a draft rather than publishing. So sorry! I swear I did it! Ha ha! I don’t think I’ve ever had that problem before. I am adding a few things since it didn’t post when I meant for it to and more has happened since then. Somehow I lost the pictures that were here so I will have to add all of them in a separate post.

We really haven’t been up to too much; just hanging out.

Mommy:
I have been doing the same old thing… watching kids and taking care of the family. One of the girls I watch is my friend, Steph’s daughter. Graycen will soon be disappointed as her last day here is in a little over a week. She is only 12 days older than Graycen and its Graycen’s first real friend. Sometimes they don’t get along so well, but hey, that’s 2 year olds.
In honor of Emilie’s birthday a few of us ladies got together for some chatting, nummy food and smiles. It was so nice to see some familiar faces and get to munch on some great Italian food. We met at Buca and it was so good. I had never been before. And can’t believe all along I had been missing out on that food. Thanks for the good time Missy, April, Liz and Jill!
I was lucky enough to be able to make it out to one of David's shows - FINALLY! If you can believe it, it was my first time. I had a blast and it was fantastic to finally see him perform. I know he was happy I was able to come. He only thanked me about a million times. It felt good to go. It felt good to get out. I even had some drinks.. something I haven't done in years. That is nuts!
I got the tattoo on my foot that I have been longing for! Its 3 flowers on a small branch. It is on the top and side of my foot and the end of the branch kind of wraps up around my ankle bone. I was going in expecting the pain to be just the worst ever and I can honestly say it wasn’t that bad. Sure, it hurt like hell, but it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I would definitely do it again. So I guess that means I will be getting one on my other foot – eventually! It’s been like 5 years since my last so I was LONG overdue! If you're looking for a good place to go - we found a good guy! His name is Benny and he works at Fluid Ink in St Paul.
For Valentine’s Day we lucked out and were able to go to a movie together. We have already seen more movies in Parker’s 8 months of being born then we did of Graycen’s 2 years. Isn’t that crazy?? My sisters came over during the day while we caught a matinee. It was nice to get out even if it was only for a little bit.
I'm sad because my friend, Steph, is only going to be here in MN for another week. Her husband is in the Marines and they are relocating to Virginia next week to be with him. :-( Steph, you will be missed very much! You and Hailey!
My mom is coming over to watch the kids tonight. David has another show and I am able to go. It'll be a super easy babysitting job as both kids will already be seleeping when I leave. They don't go on until between 10 and 11 so I have plenty of time to get those kids to sleep first!

Daddy:
David has been working, like usual. He’s had a couple shows lately and they have been good for him. They’re trying to build up more of a fan base before their cd release party. It will make it all the more successful and with a bigger turnout too. He and Dino have also had my cousin, Nelle, in the studio lately. She plays the acoustic guitar and has a great voice! They’re trying to help her get her stuff recorded and I think they’re doing a pretty good job!
David went the week after I did to get another tattoo himself. It’s been about 2 years since his last tattoo so I am glad he finally went. He got it on his chest. It was an unexpected place for him but I like it. It looks good.

Graycen:
Graycen is rapidly approaching 3. In just about a week she will be 2 ½ and that is just nuts to me. Where does the time go? Her vocab is ever expanding and I swear the girl is older than 2 ½. She talks in sentences and she can definitely voice her opinions. Sometimes I have to kind of stand back and soak it all in. The fact that she can communicate with us so well makes my days so much easier. She loves to play with the food for her kitchen and with her kitchen. She’s all about pretending lately. It’s so cute.
Last week we were lucky enough to go to the Children’s Museum just Graycen and myself. It was a day that I didn’t have the youngest girl I watch and Hailey was home sick with her Steph. David had gone into work but came home early so Graycen and I could get out! We had such a good day. We went to the museum and played. It was probably about 2 ½ hours that we played. Afterwards we had some McDonald’s. I swear she was in heaven getting all of mommy’s attention all day long. What a lucky girl. It was the day of the nasty snow storm that we had. The ride home took us 1 ½ hours to get from the museum to New Brighton. It was horrible!
Over the weekend we were asked if Graycen could be a flower girl in our good friend's wedding. I am so excited to shop for a flower girl dress for her! She's going to look adorable!!! One thing that is really nice is Dana said we could get whatever dress we wanted. That will make things easier. I still requested a picture of her dress so I would have something to try and coordinate with. If you have any recommendations on where to get a good dress please let me know!

Parker:
Oh Parker. The boy is not a good sleeper at all. Never has been. He naps for 30 minutes at a time and has almost since the day he was born. Well, minus the brand new baby sleeping all the time sleep. It pretty much sucks. Don’t even get me started with bedtime. He needs to be rocked to sleep and then for the first 2 hours or so, he wakes up like every 25-40 minutes. It sucks. We attempted sleep training but I realized (after about 3 weeks with great progress and then a HUGE setback) that I was rubbing his back in the middle of the night to get him back to sleep. He then was relying on it in the middle of the night to go back to sleep. After that he got an icky cold so we had to completely stop. Now, we are ready to start up again. Wish us luck!
He’s got two teeth on the bottom and they are so cute. He talks (babbles) all the time. He is sitting so well and playing with toys. Just the other day last week I had set Parker down in the living room to play with the toys while I was doing the dishes when all of a sudden he was screaming bloody murder. I come out and he is sitting in front of the TV with his face smashed into the safety gate in front of it. He scooted his way almost all the way across the living room. When did this start?? Now within 10 minutes he makes his way across the room to play with different stuff. It’s adorable! I swear, before we know it, he will be crawling, standing and cruising. Oh man. Just last night he pulled himself up using the laundry basket. He was sitting and pulled himself up to a position where he was propped up on his knees. I know it’s not all the way but he’s working on it.
Parker was just introduced to the Baby Einstein video “Baby Neptune” last week. He had never seen one before. I totally should have gotten out the camera and caught his reaction. He just loved it. I have never seen him smile so much and get so excited about something. He seemed to especially love the puppets that they show. Graycen loves Baby Einstein videos, too. I guess they both do now!

I am sure more has happened for all of us but I just can’t seem to remember what. It’s been so long that I posted that I forget everything we’ve done in between. As I think of things I will post them.

Oh, we finally got our big TV that we’ve been wanting! We bought a Panasonic 50” Plasma. Let me tell you, it is amazing! I never really thought I would enjoy it as much as I do. I also got my Wii and Wii Fit that I have been wanting so bad! If only I used it now. Ha!

Huge Update

So, I realize I haven't posted for real in like a month now. That is just crazy. I'm sorry everyone! I will try to be better at this (again!) In the last month a lot has happened:
We went to the fair, Graycen turned 2, we had a visit from ma, Parker turned 3 months, Graycen started potty training, Graycen attended her first Mary Kay party, we went to the apple orchard.. see a lot of stuff happened!
Since I have already started this post I am going to write everything out and then I will create another post with the millions and millions of pictures.

August 30 - Graycen and Parker's first trip to the MN State Fair
David happened to have a half day at work. He got home at like 12:30 and we decided just right then and there that we were going to the fair. We found a parking spot (which was a good close one!) got everyone unpacked and headed in. We no more than left the gates when David got a call from Dino. They were on their way to the fair and wanted to know what we were up to. Since we were already there he asked if they could meet up with us. Sure! So, we ate some stuff, walked around and just had a good time. I had been waiting for the fair since I was pregnant with Parker so I could eat all of this nummy stuff and since I am on Weight Watchers, i chose not to indulge in everything I had wanted. I ate corn on the cob, a couple of fries and too many of Sweet Martha's cookies. Graycen had her first roasted corn on the cob as well as her first Sweet Martha's cookies - oh no, she's hooked! Graycen fell asleep right before we left and slept until we got home. She was a mess and definitely needed a bath when we got home. My feet were also disgusting. I couldn't believe it. Parker slept the entire time we were there. Go figure.

September 5 - Graycen turned 2 years old!
Graycen woke up in a good mood this day. It's like she just knew it was something special. We didn't do anything, really. I had the boys to watch and we celebrated her birthday with them with mini, pink, sprinkled cupcakes at lunch. After the boys left her aunties and nana stopped by to deliver some birthday gifts. She had a blast and was a riot - dancing for everyone! Later on we played some Guitar Hero III (Graycen absolutely LOVES GH) ate some pizza and bread sticks, which David picked up from Little Caesar's and just had a good family night with the birthday girl. We put her to bed and reflected on the last two years. Always a way to make me cry!

September 9 - Graycen attended her first Mary Kay party and was a total diva!
So, I had a Mary Kay party. Graycen was home and awake while this was going on. Being the total girl that she is, she wanted in on this makeup thing. So Natalie made up a little makeup tray for her and let her go to town. I didn't mind! Graycen put lipstick, liner, eyeshadow, blush and lotions all over her face. She definitely looked like she was ready to go to war with her war paint. It was so cute!

September 13 - Ma came down to visit and celebrate Graycen's birthday
Ma was unable to come down the weekend of Graycen's birthday to celebrate it with her so she came down the following weekend. Ma did the traditional grand kid birthday day - took her shopping! Graycen got her winter coat, some footie pajamas, socks and a new pair of shoes.Oh and of course, it wouldn't be a birthday without a toy too. She bought her a bag of Mega Blocks (which Graycen just loves!) We were sad to see her go - as usual - and always wish she could stay longer.


September 17 - Graycen started potty training - successfully!
For some reason today was the day that the whole potty thing really struck Graycen as something she wanted to be involved in. We have been trying the potty thing but haven't been pushing it. Lately we kind of pushed it to the side since it seemed like she really wasn't too interested. Well, today was different. She decided at one point she wanted to go potty while I was going. I said OK and let her hop up on the big potty (she LOVED this!) she went and was super excited. She jumped down and yelled, "I did it! It's awesome!" we high-fived and she ran out to tell David. He got excited and came in to look. She repeated the above again. It was too cute. All day long, about every 5-10 minutes she said she had to go potty so we decided to bring her potty chair out of the bathroom and let her run around sans undies all day to see how it went. Much to our surprise, she came to me telling me she needed to potty but kept pointing to the big potty. I took her in and she pooped. First day really on the potty and she pooped. Of course, I had to get a picture of it. She was so proud and so were we!
Since that day she has been doing GREAT with potty training. She doesn't wear a diaper during the day and uses the potty all day long (the big and little - whichever she feels like at the time) She only wears a diaper to bed and nap time which the past few days she has been waking up dry!! YAY!! We were out for about 5 hours this weekend and had her in a pull-up. She kept it dry the entire time- telling us when she needed to potty. As a reward/motivational tool we let her pick out big girl undies on Saturday. She picked a pack of Dora and a pack of Ariel. She loves them and is so excited to wear them! This is going great *knock on wood*


September 20 - Our trip to Emma Krumbee's Apple Farm
We had anther family day and went out to Emma Krumbee's in Belle Plaine. Let me just say, I feel like we wasted our time and money. We drove for an hour to get to a place that wasn't worth the $5/adult we had to pay to get in. Basically we spent $20.95 on a half peck of Honeycrisp apples. Yay!
There was a hay pile that you could jump in, on and off of. Graycen enjoyed that part! They had scare crows which people made all around. We looked at them but Graycen didn't really care about them. They had, what they would like to call a petting zoo. It wasn't. It was a fenced in area which contained some miniature horses, donkeys and goats. All of the animals were in the shade next to the barn and really only came up to the fence if you had some feed. We made our way back to the car and that was about it. Boring, right? Next time (which will be later this season) we are going to try out Afton. We'll see how that goes!

September 22 - Parker turned 3 months old!
Where has the time gone? Parker is already 3 months old. He smiles like crazy, has GREAT head control, sits in the Bumbo chair, chats with you like he's never going to talk again, sleeps through the night, naps so well and well, he's just a great baby! He's continuing to be huge! He is rapidly growing out of the 6-9 month clothes that we have already. It's just nuts! He watches Graycen with so much intensity. It's adorable to watch him stare at her. Graycen is doing so much better with him than she had been. She doesn't hit him anymore, thankfully! when he cries she gets concerned. It's cute.

Parker at two months

So, Parker is 2 months old today and I can hardly believe it! I just don't know where the time goes. It honestly makes me kind of sad. Before we know it, he'll be turning one.
Parker surprised me with his first laugh today. I was bouncing him on my knee (trying to get out a burp) when a huge smile emerged and then came a laugh! I thought it was a fluke. I continued to bounce him and he laughed again....and again! I tried to duplicate it when David got home, but no luck. Maybe tomorrow?
He is awake so much more during the day. It's great! He is an AWESOME sleeper at night (something we didn't have so much with Graycen) He typically sleeps for about a 7-7.5 hour stretch from between 8-9pm and 3-4:30am, wakes up to eat and then back to sleep until between 7-8am. I was lucky enough to get an 11 hour stretch on Tuesday night. He slept until 8:30am with no middle of the night feeding. I couldn't believe it!
He does great with tummy time. Graycen (and just about every other baby I know) hated tummy time.
Here are some pictures of him from today.

Mad because I put him down to take his picture.

Happy because I picked him back up and put him on my lap.

I have a job!

I am so excited to finally announce: I have a job that I am thrilled about!!! I can't talk about them too much but can give you all a quick rundown.
I have been lucky enough to be connected with a family that needed care for their two boys: ages 3 and 15 months. The whole family is sweet - just sweet. I will be caring for them in my home M, W, F and in their home T & Th. This situation is so nice. I get to spend all day with my kids and make money caring for other people's as well! I did 2 part-time days this week. I'm doing 2 part-time days next week. We have the following week off since they will be out of town and I start full-time days August 25. YAY!
I had a childcare position before (from August - November last year) that didn't work out. Long story short: The mom gave me some lame excuse telling me she didn't know if I could handle 3 kids (her 2, my 1) at once. It came out of nowhere and I didn't know what to think about it. A while later, she told me she was insecure in her own being as a mother and the previous reason for letting me go was what she could come up with. Her son told me he loved me and that he always wanted me there. He also told his mom and dad that he wanted Graycen and I to live there and I was a "great mommy." The mom had a hard time with that and as a result, she actually quit her job to stay home with her kids.
I had a really hard time with this because I felt it was unfair. I would think that because her son cared for me so much that would be a great thing. I was doing something right. Not until i really thought about it, did I realize I didn't know how I would feel if I were in the same position. I discovered it would probably be something really hard to deal with. Especially if, financially, I didn't need to work (which the mom didn't)
If you're wondering, I didn't post this on here before because I didn't want to have any bad blood between the mom and I.
After that I slid into my spot at Best Buy since I was already minimal part-time there for the season. I stayed until Parker was born. I happened to get lucky and get this new position while I was on maternity leave from Best Buy.

Parker at one month

So, Parker is one month old (yesterday) I really can't believe it and don't know where the time has gone.
Parker is now awake a lot more, eating (a lot more) and sleeping well at night (thankfully!) His littler personality is starting to emerge and it's so cute! He squawks at you when he wants attention and its just hilarious! Graycen is doting on him even more and now if you ask her if she loves Parker, she will say yes. She kisses him all of the time and rubs his head when he's crying. When she wakes up in the morning, she comes into our room, peeks into the pack 'n play and asks if he is awake. She expresses a genuine interest in him and I am so excited to seeing what their relationship grows into.
Here are some pics of the little man at one month

Just chillin'

The smile that emerged yesterday -we're not 100% it's the real thing. Maybe it is and he is just happy because he is one month old!

The 'squawk face'

Graycen being big sister (doesn't she look huge next to him?)