Thank You MiMi!

Erika's Mom arrived from Chicago just in time for Parker's birth last Monday - she has been the biggest help, I can't imangine what I would have done without her! I'm sure the house would be a complete disaster by now if she hadn't been here. She even stayed up with him almost all night for 3 of the last 5 nights since we've been home just so we could sleep, we love you Mom! I promised her Parker wouldn't grow too much by the time she comes back in town, beginning of October :)

1 Week Check-Up

Parker's 1st Dr.'s appt. was yesterday, Parker is doing great! He left the hospital at 6lb, 9oz, it is normal for them to loose a little in the hospital. He was 6lb, 12oz yesterday, so that is great, & 19.5 inches long. He got his first shot too, he didn't like that too much :(

Parker with Dr. Rich

Sweet Baby

4 Generations: Erika, Parker, Grandpa, & Great-Grandma -Parker was born on G-G's Birthday!

Sweet Sleeping Baby

Parker!

Yea! Cutie-patutie Parker is finally here, I have to say we think he is just the cutest little guy we've ever seen! Here are some Stats on him:

Full Name: Avery Parker Howell
Birthday: 8/18/08
Weight: 6lbs, 15oz
Length: 19.5 inches
Favorite Pastime: Sleep all day, Party all night

Parker 2 days old, all dressed up for his picture the hospital takes & posts to their website

About 24 hours old, with his proud Mommy. Kind-a scary of me but I couldn't shower yet...

2 days old

Thank You everyone for the beautiful flowers! This isn't all of them either, everyone has been so sweet to welcome Baby Parker to the world.

Fussy Parker in his going home outfit, this is the outfit Ace wore home from the hospital when he was a baby, Ace was even smaller than Parker so this was kind-a big on him too, Adorable!

Our New family heading home, Bringing Home Baby

Mr. Bo thought we got him a new bed, he obviously can't read :)

Parker's First night at home, this was a wild night. Don't let the closed eyes fool you, he was definately awake the rest of the night. We are crossing our fingers for night #2.....

Baby Parker is Here!

OK, so like I said last week, something more interesting did happen! I went into the hospital on Sunday with high-blood pressure & they decided I had severe Pre-Eclampsia so they did a C-section on Monday & got Baby Parker outta there! He is here & so perfect & healthy. Thank you everyone for praying for him these last 9 months, we feel so blessed to have a perfectly formed healthy baby boy, it is just such a miracle. I have just posted a ton of pics on Facebook so I am too tired to do it on here tonight but promise I will post pictures tomorrow!
We are home now too, feel free to come visit!!

Officially Full Term!

Yea! I am officially Full-Term now so if I give birth tomorrow, Parker's lungs & everything else would be fully developed. I had my 37 week Dr. appointment this morning, I have a Dr's appt. each week now up until I deliver. My Dr. appt. went well, no dialating yet, but my blood pressure was up a little, 120 over 88, the first number is fine, but if the 2nd number is over 90 they start to worry because of pre-eclampsia. So they did some bloodwork just to make sure all my levels are good, etc. The Dr. did feel his head today so he is dropping, getting ready for the big day!
I keep up with a few other girl's baby-sites & everyone seems to be proud to post their weight gain, well I don't think I'll divulge that information but I did only gain 3/4 a pound since last week - ha ha, I made sure to tell the nurse that so it was clear it wasn't a whole pound :)
My next appt. is next Thursday, hopefully something is happening so my post is more exciting!!

Home Improvements

We had hardwood floors put in the kitchen & sunroom, we wanted to get it done before baby gets here because the sunroom is going to be Parker's playroom & Ace read that it's not good to let a baby crawl all over carpet because of the alergens, etc. And not to mention it was impossible to keep that white carpet clean with our dogs. But it turned out great! Here are the before & afters:

Before:

After:

I spy a Mr. Bo

Mr. Bo is trying to show us he is ready for Baby!

9 Months Pregnant

I can't believe how time has flown by, well actually it seems like forever ago that we found out I was pregnant so maybe this has been a long-time-coming...I am finally officially 9 months pregnant! It's hard to believe that in a few short weeks we will have a baby boy to bring home. Ace is so excited to have a little boy. The nursery is complete, I have all the gear, we can't wait!

I had a Dr. appt today, nothing new to report, nothing new "happening" quite yet, except for that he is head-down, so that is good. They did a sonogram today just to make sure he was head down, so I could finally ask what exactly those body parts were I feel so often. His booty is right below my ribs, at the top of my baby bump, & he sticks that out alot, and his foot sticks out of my right side all the time. I have an appt. every week from now on, so I'll update each week.

Here I am at 36 weeks pregnant, Ace actually just rolls me wherever I need to go ;)

New Additions to Parker's Nursery

Crib, Parker in wooden letters & the Girafe

Changing table from Mom & her friends!

Jungle chair from Dad & Kim



His packed out closet


Toy bag full o'toys - all gifts!

Erika & Erin's Joint Shower

Yes, shower #4!

Our sweet Sunday school class threw Erin & I a joint baby shower on Sunday. Erin is due on Sept. 20th, she is having a baby girl, Arah. Thank you for doing this for us girls!! I wish I had gotten a belly shot of both of us, my memory card was full...oh and this is a good shot of my cankles, Liz! ha ha :)