Crawling and Hats!

Busy! Busy! Busy! I really hope life will settle down for a little while. We have had too much going on! I am tired!! So Parker is just growing like a weed. He is still in the 4th percentile for weight, but he seems big enough to me. At the beginning of 7 months Parker began what I call the inch bug crawl...you know where he gets up on his knees and pulls with his elbows? Well this week at 7.5 months he got up on all fours and now is into full blown crawling. On that same day he realized his freedom and pulled himself up into the standing position! Talk about not wasting time! I cannot believe how fast these kids are growing. Landon's latest love are hats. He pretty much wears a hat from the time he gets up in the morning till the time he goes to bed. I have included some of the hats that he prefers to wear. He is a funny little kid and Chris and I love most of the moments that he has (he is two so it makes it difficult to enjoy all of the moments)!

Isn't this funny!
EASTER
Landon was very excited when he saw his basket.

Parker loved the colors.

I see this more than I want to...due to safety!
Hats!

His favorite hat below is from Nina!

His bumble bee hat-correction Yellow Jackets.

a little update!

As you can probably tell I am not into blogging these days. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day for all I want to do. And well honestly blogging is like the last thing on the list. I am trying to cook more and spend more time with the boys. And the list goes on and on and on. I know that some of you have it all worked out, but it has been a rough transition for me. I know that I am a baby and I do not mean to sound like I am complaining. I had no idea how difficult it was to have more than one kid! Now I am learning. So I commend all of you who make it look so EASY!! I am open to any tips you might have. I do have to say that I totally love being a MOM! I remember thinking when I was younger that I wanted to be a mom when I got older. Now I am living that dream. I am so thankful for a husband who supports me and makes that possbile! Thanks Chris! Here are some pics of what we have done lately. Hopefully I will get more to you soon!!

Parker and Madison--If you can't tell Parker was stealing her pacy! He put it in his mouth then tried to put it back in her's. It was so cute. They loved looking at each other and talking. It was adorable!

Speaking of adorable! I just had to take a picture. Landon loves to cuddle. I hope he does not grow out of it anytime soon!

Landon has really grown to love Parker. Thank goodness! I always think they look so cute in their church clothes!

Trying to Catch Up!

So I am gonna try to update my blog with lots of new stuff. As most of you know the past... umm lets see 11 weeks have kind of been a whirlwind for our family. I am going to try to post some of the highlights over this week to get caught up. As a side note Landon's traumatic experience will not be part of the blog due to the nature of the pictures. He did suffer a staph infection in the form of Staph Scalded Skin. Basically he shed his skin and the pictures are pitiful. I have never seen anything like it. I don't want to leave him out, but I feel that he probably would not want those pictures shared and I do not exactly want to share them either. With that said Landon is a warrior and he did awesome through that terrible experience and I am so grateful it is over!! It could not have happened at a worse time though. Even though my Mom came to help me because I was having contractions I still went into labor that night and we had Landon brought up to the hospital hours after delivery. Landon spent 4 days in the burn unit and it took about 2 weeks for him to fully be recovered. That was is the short version of the story. I am so grateful for prayer and priesthood blessings. That is how we made it through!

Now we go to Parker. Parker was a lot bigger than I expected. Had I know he would be 8lbs I would have opted for the epidural! Here are my few minutes of glory. I don't mean to brag, but I am kind of proud of myself. My water broke at 2:20am...headed to the hospital at 3:30am...got checked in and in a bed at 4:20 and checked, dilated to 9...contractions hurt but not that bad...about 5am the pain really started...approximately 3 pushes later Parker was born...5:11am! This is the abbreviated version, but it went so fast and it was so amazing. I can say now that I have experienced it and if I get to the hospital in time next time I might opt for the epidural! We shall see!

The pictures below are of our new bundle of joy up to his surgery and lots of miscellaneous pics. Parker has already had such a tough road. He was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate. He spent 8 days in the NICU after birth. The day he was suppose to leave he bled profusely after his circumcision. So that bought him another day and another set of problems that later turned out to be nothing. On top of all that and tons of test done in the hospital he has had a problem gaining weight which we are still working on! He had surgery on October 15th to correct his lip and some preliminary nose work. He will have many more surgeries to correct everything. As for today he has had his first and it looks great! For more professional pictures please visit:

http://www.findingtheartinlife.com/

Angela Crutcher, a professional photographer, offers free before and after sessions for children with clefts. She did amazing and we look forward to seeing all the pictures from the session. Once you get to the site scroll down for Parker's pictures.

Enjoy the pictures and know that we are eternally grateful for the out pour of love and prayers on our behalf! I will post after surgery pictures tomorrow.

This was enough for one day!

Parker's First Week (NICU)

This is Parker's first week of life!

Coming Home Finally!

We took the boys to see my grandparents. Parker didn't know the difference, but Landon had lots of fun at Naw-Naw and Gramps' house. We wish we could go down there more often it is just hard!

Blessing Day

Just a few pics from the Blessing Day. We were privileged to do it on the same day Baby Clara was blessed. Thanks for sharing this special day with us! And yes I dressed Parker in the Blessing Gown that my siblings and I were blessed in. And most of the grandkids. Chris did an awesome job on the blessing. It was so sweet. Thanks Honey for being worthy to do so!

Landon's Birthday-TWO

I can't believe that Landon is already two. These past 2 years has flown by so fast. It makes me very sad. I wish they could stay little forever! He has brought so much joy to Chris and I. We feel very blessed to have him in our lives! Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Uncle Darren came all the way up here for the party!! Just kidding! We were glad to have him though. Maybe next time we will get the ladies of his house too!! We miss ya'll!

Candy from the pinata!

Breaking the pinata took a real long time!

Mommy's yummy cupcakes!

My first attempt to be crafty...I think they turned out okay?!

I told Landon it was time to open presents and he went after the biggest one. We made him open it last. He thought it was fun to open presents.

Grandpa had Parker laughing and talking at the party. It was adorable!

We had singing and dancing. It was fun too!