My 4-month-old.

Weighing in at 17.6 pounds:

Officially teething......

....hence the hand in my mouth in most pictures.

Oh, wait.  Momma forced his hand down for a picture.

But it quickly ended up right back in there.

It's pretty friggin' adorable.

Monkey for dinner.

Those eyes.....I die.

Still not much hair.

"Talking"

Parker is smiling, laughing, and trying to grab anything he can.  He is 25.75 inches in length.  He is in the 88th percentile for his weight, and Mommy gets an arm workout every day.  He found his voice over the weekend, and this boy can make some noise.....seriously.  He's not rolling over just quite yet, but I'd like to think that might have something to do with him being the weight of a 7-month-old. 

 

If you hang in there, you can hear that sweet voice.

Parker, you are everything to Mama and Dada.  We could not imagine a day without you.  I love waking up to your sweet smile and laying your sweet, "tiny", perfect body down at night.  It is so amazing to watch you discover and learn new things.  You make life so much better.  I have never been this happy.   

Let's play catch-up

My first airplane ride/trip to West Texas

I did great on the plane.  I loved looking at all the different people and smiling.

This is how I took my morning nap each morning.  Spoiled much?

Watching football with my PawPaw

Cousin Gentry. **this sweet girl calls her baby doll Baby Parker**

My future wife

Logan Brannan

Love at first sight. **he was HUGE compared to that tiny baby**

My big boy

I'm 4 months old today **mommy will post more about this after my trip to the doc tomorrow**

My lil' artist.

I was told on Friday that Parker is the artist of the week at school.  His masterpiece will be displayed in the hallway next week.  It's beautiful. :)  Mommy is very proud.  This is what he painted last week:

I lol'ed when his teacher handed me this.  This helps with some of the guilt I feel every time I drop him off.  My 3-month-old already has refrigerator art.

A few new pics of my cutie monster:

I love him.  THE END.

Mommy Time

Most who read my blog have sweet little babies (or grown babies) of their own already......but if for some reason you read this and you are either pregnant, close to being pregnant, have a new sweet thing on your hands, or a few more years to go, this is a great tidbit of advice (stole it from another blogger):

Know that you need to take care of yourself.
Perhaps the best piece of advice I could offer for the postpartum period is that as a new mom you need to take care of yourself! I know, I know, you just had a baby you’ve got loads of wash to launder, dozens of diapers to change, lots of bottles to scrub and oh-so-much cuddling to do. And, don’t get me wrong, all of those things are important (especially the last one) but it is also very important that you take a few minutes to yourself. I always rolled my eyes when someone said I needed to be napping while my baby napped (especially after the delivery of my third) but it really is important. Most other things can wait. Your body just underwent huge stresses and it needs to recover. Taking time for yourself might look like napping but it could also be a nice, hot shower while hubby holds baby or a short walk down the block while grandma spoils baby. Whatever it is, it is necessary and you deserve it!


This was and is the hardest advice for me.  The day after I was home from the hospital, I wanted to take care of my home and my family all by myself.  My mom was home with us and had to remind me that I had just undergone surgery (I know not all of you experienced this) and I needed to lay down and rest.  It is still hard for me to remember sometimes that I need "Mommy time," but when I actually give myself "Mommy time," I am so refreshed and appreciate being a mommy so much more. 

SERIOUSLY.....

How could life be any better than this?

Who says....

.....mommies and their boys can't match?

You think he'll let me do this when he's 13?

My man.

The night before last, this momma was exhausted.  It was 11:00 and there were dishes that needed to be unloaded from the dishwasher, dishes that needed to be loaded into the dishwasher, and bottles that needed to be washed.  I looked it all, did a 360 and went straight to bed, knowing I would just have to do it in the morning.  When I woke up, I found this:

Hand-washed bottles and breast pump accessories.

......along with the rest of the kitchen clean.  My awesome husband, who has been stressed, busy, and who coached a late soccer game, managed to fit in a little late-night cleaning (without me mentioning it to him) so that I could wake up to all of it done.  I fell a little more in love with him yesterday morning.  :)