Sunday, June 29, 2008

Out of Town Family Invade Dallas :)

We had several out of town visitors this weekend. Jared's dad, Keith, came to visit. Parker has decided that although we call him Grandpa, he shall be known henceforth as Umpa. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the real Umpa, so this will have to suffice. :)

We hope Grandpa does not mind being called Umpa too much. They are quite cute and cuddly. Parker was a bit of a toot while Umpa was here. Parker needs time to warm up and get accustomed to new people in the house and this visit was a bit too short for his defrosting period. Hopefully Umpa will forgive Parker and come back soon to visit. We really enjoyed having him here.

Then, Micaela, Jared's niece arrived. Sunday was spent eating out, swimming and battling at Guitar Hero. Jared is soooo competitive.

We are looking forward to the invasion of the rest of the family this week. Jared's mom's family arrives this week for 4th of July festivities, so I am sure there will be many more pictures to share.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

I am smart!

What do you know? I figured out how to get an enormous video file on my blog through YouTube. So, if your work blocks YouTube like mine does then you will have to watch at home.

Sorry it is kind of long, but exciting to see how much she has grown. She yawns a lot, sticks out her tongue and seems to examine her hands. Too cute. At 1:57 you can see her sweet face really well and around 7:00 you can see her yawning and sticking out her tongue.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

30 week Sonogram

Today we had another sonogram. Avery is 29 weeks and 4 days, but I am rounding up!!! She weighed in at a whopping 3.3 pounds. She's a bit bigger than average, but that is normal for our babies. The good news is that I didn't gain any weight, which is amazing since I am eating so much. Maybe she will keep using all my stored up fat and I'll only gain 20 pounds with this pregnancy. One can only hope. Jared and I had a blast watching her yawn, stick out her tongue, swallow amniotic fluid and practice breathing. Jared said hopefully she will look like one of us, since Parker looks like the mailman :)

We are so thrilled that things are going so well. I must confess that I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and to find out something is wrong, especially with all the complications we had with Parker. But praise God, Avery is perfect and this pregnancy is complication free. (not puke free, but complication free) No swollen legs and high blood pressure. Hooray. So as much as I complain about the puking and feeling tired, I am truly blessed that everything has gone as smoothly as it has.

There is something so exciting about new life and it is surrounding us lately. It seems as though all of our friends are expecting or have recently delivered. We have plenty of playmates for our kids to grow up with, that is for sure.

Just so everyone can see the amazing journey Avery has made... I have attempted the impossible.... uploading videos. Below is her first video on 2/23/2008 at about 12 weeks. The video from today is going to be harder to upload because it wasn't taken on our camera. So, I will try to post it tomorrow so you can see how amazing the change in space and her much more distinct features. It is awesome to see her hiccuping and moving around so freely at this early stage in my pregnancy before I could even feel her.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Father's Day Weekend Festivities


The weekend started off with Parker's first full length movie. Jared and I decided to take him to the dollar theater so we could sneak out if it was disaster... but he loved it! Mostly he loved the popcorn, but he's been talking about Horton and his flower all weekend, so it must have made a big impression.


Then, we spent Saturday swimming at my parent's house and cooking out. He loves swimming and asks to put on his Nemo diapers to go swimin' almost daily. (maybe I will actually get a little tan this summer) After dinner we were entertaining Parker by showing him the piano. My parent's have a nice piano that they converted to a player piano for dinner parties. We put on the player piano and Parker's performer genes came shining through. He started bouncing, dancing, playing along and even took a bow at the end. It was a good 15 minutes of side splitting laughter. I don't know what we did to entertain ourselves before he came along. He seems to have inherited the performer genes from his father.

We then discovered that some of our best friends are expecting this winter... we are thrilled but won't reveal who they are just yet! They decided to make it special by telling everyone in person, which is really neat.

But I really want to dedicate this blog to my awesome husband and Parker's wonderful daddy!

Top Ten Reasons Jared Should Be Father of the Year:
1. He stays home late every morning just so he can see Parker when he wakes up and feed him breakfast.

Can't imagine why he would stay home to see me every morning... how could you resist this wake up smile??


2. He loves to read Parker stories and tuck him into bed at night.
3. He plays football and soccer with Parker anytime he's crabby to cheer him up.
4. He always makes a big deal out of talking to Parker on the phone, even when he's at work.
5. He takes turns cuddling and rocking whenever Parker is sick. He just hates it when the little man feels bad.
6. He does funny voices to make Parker laugh, like Donald Duck.
7. He loves the girl nights I have so he can have alone time with Parker.
8. He kisses my belly good night so that Avery doesn't feel left out.
9. He always says hello to Mommy and kisses her first when he gets home from work.
10. He gives the best tickles and kisses ever!

Happy Father's Day!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Sunny Days


Summer is definitely here. The days of 90-100 degree heat have arrived. Swollen ankles here we come. We decided to take refuge at the nearest waterpark this weekend. Parker had a blast and wore himself out. He kept saying "I swimming Dada, I swimming Mama!" Too cute!





On Sunday, I hosted a baby shower along with some other awesome ladies for my friend Michelle. We have been friends since the 4th grade and it was so exciting to get to be a part of her shower. Not to mention she is having a boy, so Avery will have a boyfriend just a few weeks older than her! Congratulations Chelle!!!

Me, Heather Zisler (another buddy from 4th grade), Michelle, Michelle's mom Lilly, and Michelle's sister Yvette