1st Halloween!

Parker had his first Halloween....we had a blast!!!

Dallas Arboretum

Last weekend we took Parker to the Dallas Arboretum Pumpkin Patch and had a blast!!! Pretty much as long as he's doing ANYTHING outside, he's having a good time!

First Surgery

I just realized I'm a horrible blogger and let too much time go by between posts, so I apologize!!! Parker had his first (and hopefully only) surgery this past Friday. He had to have a circumcision revision and go under general anesthesia! He definitely did MUCH better than I did! We had to be at the hospital at 6am to get admitted in Day Surgery and fill out paperwork. Everyone was so sweet and patient...but most of all they treated me like a mom and not as a nurse (they found out I worked there). They answered all my questions and I had a ton of them!!

We then moved to the OR holding area where we met his nurse and met up with the doctor. About 8am, they said it was time and came to get him. I gave him a kiss and the tears started pouring out! I knew it was a simple surgery, but as a nurse I know too much about general anesthesia! Scott was awesome and very patient with me. The nurses and staff were very understanding and were just as incredible!! We went out to the waiting room and sat with my mom and in about an hour, it was over and we were taken to the recovery room.

The recovery room was difficult. I was warned about how babies and children come out of anesthesia and are not happy with the world! This was definitely the case with Parker! He was less than pleased and then would pass out for a few minutes. Then wake back up and scream, then pass back out. Luckily he did more passing out than screaming!! I felt completely heart broken for him!

Once we got home and got him since and medicated, he did a lot of sleeping the rest of the day and actually slept alot the entire weekend. He didn't eat or drink much and still doesn't have much of an appetite, but I think he's teething as well! FUN! All in all, he did well and things look much better down below! It was a rough weekend and I'm glad it's behind us! Hopefully someday he'll thank me for it!!

Kinda boring

I know I haven't blogged in a while, but really nothing exciting has come along. Scott is currently out of town dove hunting with my dad, so Parker and I have had some "mother/son" bonding time....and will until Friday night!

My sister, bro-in-law, and nephew (Lindsay's step-son) all came in town last weekend and we had such a good time with them. I definitely don't get to see them enough! We went over to my dad's house and cooked out, swam, talked, etc! It was a blast catching up and especially watching Josiah swim in the pool. Things get a little cold up in New Jersey, so not a lot of swimming goes on! He loves it, except he's not a fan of going under and getting his head and face wet.

Other than that, we're boring which is not necessarily a bad thing!

Virus...

Is it bad when you pray for a simple ear infection instead of a virus??? You can at least get medications for ear infections!!! Parker has his very first virus with a low grade fever and we're not enjoying life at the moment! He has had a sinus infection before, but meds fixed him right up!! I feel horrible for him! He's fussy, clingy, not eating alot and just plain miserable! Scott took him to the pedi this morning and sure enough, ear and throat were clear, so of course it just HAS to be a virus! We get to ride it out with some Tylenol and Motrin! GOOD TIMES!!!

Other than that, not alot to report. My sister, bro-in-law, and nephew are coming in town from New Jersey next weekend and I couldn't be more excited!! Not sure what all we have planned just yet, but I'm sure we'll think of something! It sure is hard having them live so far away, but it makes their visits sooooo much fun!!! Can't wait!

Houston trip/Parker's 1st airplane ride!!!

This past Friday Scott had to go outside of Houston for business, so Parker and I decided to join him and FLY down there to meet him. Yep, that's right....by myself, I took Parker through the airport, through security, and on the plane. Thankfully, we sent all our luggage and big stuff in the car that morning with Scott, so I only checked 1 bag and then checked the car seat and stroller at the gate. I was actually shocked at how nice and helpful security was! They are normally completely rude every time, but this time they were patient and even helped me pack him up and get through with some sanity (they did make me take HIS shoes off too which was a little ridiculous, but oh well).

We made it to the gate and then boarded the completely full flight! We sat by the window and couldn't have been more blessed by the husband and wife that sat beside us! She used to run an in-home daycare with babies! She was super sweet and understanding!!! Parker did really well and just wanted to stand up and bounce for the entire hour! My arms were VERY sore afterwards. About 20 minutes before we landed, he started to get restless, but was easily distractable with toys. We finally made it and I was very impressed with my little man!

We stayed with our friends, Brooke and Micah Johnson, and they have a little 6 month old girl named Anna Kate. We got to see several more friends while we were in town which was so fun and soooooo chaotic all at the same time. I think there were about 5 kids there at the Johnson house at one point all under the age of 2...and 3 of them were under the age of 8 months! Again, little hectic, but fun! We had a great time with everyone and hope to see everyone again soon!

As we were packing up Sunday morning and getting ready to head home, sweet little Anna Kate had a febrile seizure (due to a fever). In my entire nursing career, I have never seen a child seize....much less a very good friend's child!!! This was definitely one of the scariest things I have ever seen in my entire life and it will always stay with me. I knew that there was nothing that I could do while she was seizing (911 was already being called), so just had to wait it out and protect her airway and from hurting herself. It felt like an eternity though!!! I felt completely helpless and just wanted to do something to make it stop, but there's nothing. The body has to stop on it's own. Poor, poor Brooke! All she could do was watch, cry, and pray. Once it was over, we got Anna Kate to cry and perk up a little bit, but I also informed Brooke that she was going to be pretty out of it for awhile. Once EMS finally arrived, Brooke and Micah were "ok'ed" to take AK to the ER themselves. So they did and unfortunately, she had a virus and they just get to wait it out and let her get well on her own. They were also informed that it's not how high the body's temperature actually gets, but rather how quickly the temperature rises to cause a febrile seizure. She is on the road to recovery, thank goodness, but is now prone to having additional febrile seizures until about the age of 6. Poor little Anna Kate (and poor mommy and daddy)!!

Again, I will never forget what happened that Sunday morning. I will always remember the exact picture of her in my head. I will remember the helpless feeling that I felt....how scared I was.....how the nurse in me somehow took over thankfully....the look of desparation on Brooke's face with tears pouring out. All of this I will never, ever forget! I was most certainly glad to be there to help out, but I don't feel like I did much of anything. They have both said that because of this, they are getting enrolled in the very next CPR class! I highly encourage anyone and everyone to take a CPR class, because you honestly never know when you're going to need it!

Feel better Anna Kate!!! We love you!!!!

New favorite word!

I just love it....Parker's new favorite "word," is..."ma...ma....ma!!!" It's the sweetest sound in the world! I know that he doesn't picture me in his head and then say "ma ma ma," but it's kinda fun to at least hope! His first word/sound was "da...da...da" so Scott was thrilled at the time. Now though, Parker won't even say da da da! Every now and then we get a "ba...ba...ba" so not sure what he's trying to tell us!

This past weekend we went to some friends' house that live not too far from us. They have a beautiful 3 year old little girl that LOVES attention, but then again what 3 year old doesn't??!! Anyways, she would get excited a few times here and there and would kind of shreek/yell/scream just like little kids do. Well, Parker was not a fan and would stick out that lower lip, quiver, and then start crying. Poor thing, but I was laughing the whole time! So, we'd get him calmed down again....then the little girl would get excited, yell again, and then he'd get scared and start crying again. Oh well...he's going to have to get used that sooner or later!

My hot date!

Scott left town this afternoon for the 2nd weekend in a row, so it's just Parker and me until Tuesday night. He definitely is the hottest date ever though!!! I grew up with a single mom and now a days, I have the upmost highest respect for all the single moms in the world!!! I don't have a clue how they do it!! Just trying to get myself ready before he wakes up in the morning is nuts (I'm up at 4:30am), then he wakes, feed and dress him, off to the sitter's, work all day, pick him up, come home and entertain him, feed the dogs, bath time, feed him, down for bed, wash bottles, feed MYSELF, pick up the house, and then finally crash for the night....all to wake up and do it again!!!! EXHAUSTING!!!! Have I mentioned yet I don't know how they do it???!!!! Those are some amazing women out there, because I wouldn't last more than a few days for sure!

Parker and I got to meet up with an old friend from high school this afternoon. It was one of those friendships that even though we've spoken, e-mailed, etc every now and then...we haven't seen in each in about 11 years! CRAZY!!! As soon as we got together, it was like nothing had changed! We laughed, talked about old times, where people were now and what they were doing....you name it! It was so good getting back in touch with her and am so excited that she even lives in McKinney!!! We promised to have MANY more get togethers!

Fun with pictures (6 - 7 months)

Parker at 6 1/2 months...he really wanted to help mommy put things up in storage!

Parker already is a RED RAIDER baby!!!! Get your guns up!

Four generations of Kennedy men!

Parker and Charlie....say "cheese!!!"

Parker with his Donald Trump comb-over do

He's just chillin'

7 months old!!!!

I honestly can't believe I just wrote that, but it's true....Parker is 7 months old!!! WOW time has flown by! I'm soooo glad that he has outgrown certain things, but miss some of the little baby things too!!! He constantly amazes us and we are having such a blast with him at this stage! Parker just laughs and laughs, talks nonstop (lots of da, ma, ra, ba, etc), and his favorite lately is a very high-pitched screech! That's fun for all and he really thinks it's hilarious (especially in public)!!! He's not crawling just yet, but I don't think it will be long. Honestly, I think he might just skip the whole crawling thing and go straight to running!!! He's quite the busy little man and would MUCH rather be standing than sitting!

As he was squirming around the floor the other night, he found Charlie's (our male yellow lab) tail! He had the grandest time with it....Charlie, however, not so much! Charlie took it for a little bit, but then was over it. He got some good video of it too! It was hilarious! Then there's our female lab, Delta. She is in LOVE with Parker! Each morning we tell Delta, "Let's go get the baby." She immediately runs upstairs, sits and waits outside his bedroom door until we let her in, then jumps up on the side of his crib and stares in. It's the cutest thing ever!! Once we lift him out, we have to bend over and let Delta give a little kiss to Parker. She stays at our feet while we change him and get him ready! If he's in his swing and we tell her to "go check on your baby," she will run over and give him a few kisses....sometimes a few too many! He thinks it's hilarious and just watches both dogs constantly!!!

Again, like I always promise....I'll post pictures ASAP. Our computer is from the 1920's it feels like sometimes, so it doesn't really cooperate! He's so much fun to show off and quite the "lady's man," so I can't wait to post pictures!!!

Playing with pictures...

Parker at 6 months

4th of July

Parker celebrated his first 4th of July! We did a whole lotta notta and it was great!!! We did a little swimming...a LITTLE napping...some cleaning...and that might be about it! My mom came over Sunday afternoon and we (Scott) cooked dinner and hung out. It was great to see her because she had been out of town all week in Missouri working on her PhD school work stuff. I sure did miss her! We did get to watch NYC's fireworks on TV which were incredible! Then of course around 9:30pm the fireworks in our neighborhood started going off and let me tell you...the dogs are NOT fans of fireworks!!

This 4th tooth of Parker's is quite the killer for all of us! The first 3 teeth came in so quick that he hardly had any time at all to be fussy! This one is taking it's sweet time and making my little man miserable! We've tried anything and everything from teething tablets, Motrin, Tylenol, our own fingers for him to chew on, teething rings...you name it! He absolutely HATES anything cold, so frozen teething rings or washcloths aren't an option. Poor little buddy! I think it's about to break the skin literally any second, so hopefully it will SOONER rather than later!!!

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and stayed safe! I promise to learn how to post pictures soon! I've tried and it hasn't worked yet, but at least I'm working on it! HA HA!

new to this!

So this is my very first blogging experience and it's been quite interesting so far to say the least! Apparently you have to have a little bit of creativity and I did not inherit ANY of that! I decided to create this blog so that our friends and family could keep up with us!

Parker is 6 1/2 months old already and is completely amazing!!! Scott and I are having a blast with him! The greatest thing so far is that he thinks I'm hilarious! I can do anything and he just laughs and laughs at me! He is sitting up on his own, reaching for anything and everything, and then of course if and when he gets his hands on something, it goes straight to his mouth! He's got 3 teeth all on the bottom and I'm thinking the 4th is about to come through soon (on the bottom too). The dogs (Delta and Charlie) absolutely LOVE him....well...Delta loves him and Charlie pretty much ignores him! If you tell Delta, "Go check on the baby," she immediately goes to find him! It's super cute! I've started to take his hand and let him pet them as I tell him "easy." He pretty much immediately grabs a handful of hair....so much for "easy!" He's sitting up on his own and scooting and rolling ALL over the place! Scott took his eyes off of him for a few minutes one day and he was literally hanging from the fireplace tools that were completely across the room!

I'll stop blabbing for now and try to keep figuring out this whole blogging thing!!! Until next time....