"Are you ONE?"

My sweet baby has learned a trick. When I ask, "Are you ONE?" he raises one finger. We've been practicing for a few weeks and I think it is absolutely adorable! Below is a cute clip of him trying out this new trick:

I sit here looking back at the past year, amazed at the blessings God has poured on us. Parker has completed our family and made us feel whole and content in a way I didn't know was possible. I never knew what it was like for older siblings to adore younger ones, because each older brother was still a baby when a younger one was born. With the gap between the first three and Parker I am seeing a whole different side of "big brother-ness" and I love it.

Hayden is an absolutely adorable big brother who enjoys showing off his baby. He ALWAYS asks if he can hold him in public, wants to make sure that others see him with Parker. Carson, I can tell, already misses the infant stage of Parker's life, as he wants to hold Parker in that snuggly position while Parker wants to be on the go! Bailey loves to tickle and generally mess with Parker, and it rarely bothers the little guy. These three brothers have definitely helped Parker to have the easy-going personality we so enjoy.

Here are some of the things I love about Parker:

his wild and crazy hair that I plan to have tamed (i.e. cut) by his actual birthday;

his infectious laugh that starts small but grows until it envelopes the entire room;

the way he still can't get from belly to bottom while roaming around the house;

the fact that he's content to lie on his belly and play since he can't get to his bottom;

how he will not swallow those stinking little legos we have everywhere, but will just gnaw on them until one of us digs it out of his mouth;

that he will eat anything I make for him, except spaghetti (which just so happens to be his big brothers' favorite meal), or plain yogurt, but who can blame him;

his blue eyes that both captivate me and melt me simultaneously;

that he sleeps 12 hours at night, 2 hour morning nap, 3 hour afternoon nap, and sometimes an hour evening nap;

how he about jumps off the changing table if he hears his big brothers in the hallway;

that no matter how I tried to prevent it, he still sucks his left thumb (and only his left);

how he can eat more than I do;

that he no longer throws up after each meal due to his acid reflux getting so much better;

how he has a crush on my friend, Jessica, and has since he was itty-bitty;

that he will sit quietly and enjoy his stroller while I run (even if I'm not really enjoying the run);

how his mouth gapes open in wonder as he explores his surroundings;

how he looks so much like his oldest brother, Hayden, with whom he has an extra close relationship;

how he will say "NANA" instead of "MAMA" much to my mom's delight;

that he's learning the meaning of "no" and will actually listen to me, sometimes;

how he loves his walker and can RUN through the house;

that I have to wear slippers or he get up to top speed and run into my heels, excited to see mama...

and I will continue to find things about Parker that I love with all of my heart.

What a blessed woman I am!

(And wait a bit and I'll post a blog about his absolutely wonderful first birthday party!)

Absolutely Random

After our wonderful trip to Crested Butte, Hayden and I ended up quite sick.  We had the worst colds we've ever had, and are still praising the Lord that Matt and the other two boys stayed well.  I will say it was kind of nice being sick while another parent was in the house.  Not only did Matt take amazing care of me and Hayden, he also kept the house clean, laundry washed, and all of us fed.  We are better now, though that annoying persistent cough is tagging along for a long ride. 

Last week we spent catching up on school work (Hayden has tested at 5th grade reading level!!) and getting more in before our "Spring Break."  I have been working constantly on preparing things for our cruise.  Things like renting our convertible for the 4 days in LA before our cruise.  Like cooking 14 meals and freezing them so mom and Linda simply thaw and heat.  Like shopping for a new bathing suit and spring clothes (honestly, my spring wardrobe was quite lacking from last year, and it hit me last week that I'm still wearing winter clothes...won't need those in Mexico!).  I wrote all the instructions for mom:  not that mom can't do this without instructions, but I figured if I've already done things the hard way and figured out what works, I could at least share those with her.  Whether or not she and Linda do things the way I do doesn't matter to me.  But I really do want to leave them with as little to try to figure out as possible. 

My final job is to clean the house today.  That's my Monday job, but yesterday I was quite busy.  I cooked, got my nails done for the cruise, cut the boys' hair, then I went to dinner with a friend who is moving.  When I say "moving" I mean to KANSAS and while I'm on my cruise!  This is the person God put in my life to be my back-up parent while Matt was in Iraq.  She lives right across the street and I could count on her to watch my boys in an emergency or while I went out for a run.  She and I swapped child care and food, ate pizza every Tuesday night for a year, and generally enjoyed watching each others' backs during deployment.  

Before I could even consider working on the house or packing, I needed to make sure my SC cards were put on computer and CD.  Fortunately I only had about 15 pictures that were not uploaded and burned.  These were of Bailey's birthday party!  I am so amazed that my youngest child is 5 years old.  I look through the scrapbooks I've made and they take me right back to the moment he was born, the baby years, and I miss them.  Bailey has been a blessing, though he has been our most challenging child!  In the past year he has been diagnosed with SPD (originally by the neighbor I mentioned in previous paragraph, then by our doctor, and finally by Occupational Therapists).  After diagnosis, he spent 6 months in OT and graduated the program in record time.  Bear with me while I give you the stats:  At the original testing he was 50 months old but tested at 28 months in fine motor skills.  6 months later he was 55 months old (not quite 56 months old) and he tested at 55 month level.  Right on track for his age!  Most kids take a year to get caught up, and he came from WAY behind!  He's a great learner, just needed some help with his sensory issues.  Last year in preschool he wouldn't TOUCH a crayon, much less scissors.  This year his teacher has to drag him out of "art center" and encourage him to go to others to achieve a variety of preschool experiences!  I'm floored by his transformation!

Birthdays this year have been very low-key.  Those in NC know I love to make a big deal out of them, but this year with Matt coming back just 11 days before Carson's, we were in no state of mind to do anything major.  We went to a movie in the afternoon, then had two families over for cake and ice cream.  For Bailey, we went to Chuck E Cheese's and then had families over.  But he had asked for the same families with an additional two.  Well, let me tell you, this drained Matt.  He had a good time visiting, but for two days after that he was in silent mode.  We've decided (with Hayden's approval) to host his party outside of the home.  Matt's still not accustomed to large crowds in tight spaces.  (I will say something fun about Bailey's party:  We had 5 families here, and in those families we had 11 kids here:  10 boys and 1 girl!  Bless her heart!)

Well, I just spent an hour on the computer updating, uploading, and burning.  I guess I need to get to the real work of the day!  I'll post after the cruise!  I still can't believe I'm going on a cruise!  First of all because we've never been in a financial position to do so, but also because we're not beach people.  BUT:  We LIVE in the mountains so to see the beautiful beach will be nice!  (Poor Matt...he said while in Iraq that he could live the rest of his life never seeing sand again!  Hehe!!  But don't let him fool you...he's really excited about this trip, too!)