One Month Old

Parker is one month old today! I can't believe it. Her entry into the world was kind of hectic and scary, but she's a strong little thing! I'll never forget when they finally got her out and Marshall peeked around the screen and said, "It's a girl!". I was so happy. I saw her for just an instant, she didn't cry nearly as much as Eli did when he was born so my joy quickly changed to concern.
So Marshall and Parker left and I went to recovery. Then a phone call. Parker was having trouble breathing and they sent her to the NICU. I wouldn't be able to see her for at least 24 hours because I had a fever. It was the longest 24 hours of my life. When I finally got to go and see her I wasn't ready for all of the tubes and machines. Had a little breakdown, but the nurses (God bless them, they were wonderful) explained everything and that she really was getting better.
We had to leave the hospital without Parker, which was so hard, but she came home only a few days later. I hated leaving her there overnight because I was afraid she would wake up and wonder where we were, but Kate and April (both WONDERFUL NICU nurses) held her a lot during the night. She's a tough little thing. When she finally came home she slept solid for like three days. I think the was exhausted from all she had been through. I can't imagine how difficult it is for the parents who are there for weeks and months, not just a week like we were. We are very thankful that she got better so quickly.One month has gone by so fast! We love you Parker!

Friends

Eli LOVES to get together with his friends. He's been an only child for so long that it's been a big treat to be able to have someone to play with. Cade and Eli had fun wearing "hats" when he and I went to visit the Morses in February.

We also love getting together with the Hensleys (Carson, IA). Ella, 5, and Hayden, 3 posed for this photo in March. Eli, Ella, and Hayden all have May birthdays so they're all exactly a year apart from each other. Parker will have a hard time keeping up with them!

The Hensleys came to visit us a few weeks ago to see Parker for the first time. We had fun playing in the pool. I think Ella's comment was, "Eli I love your big honkin pool!" It's really not all that big, but to a five year old I think it probably seems big. They had so much fun I definitely want to do it again. Eli and Ella look pretty cute embracing in the pool. I asked Eli once if Ella is his sweetie and he told me "She's just my friend Mom!" He gets really embarrassed if you talk about him having a "sweetie".

Parker's First Camping Trip

We got back yesterday from taking Parker on her first camping trip! She's four weeks old today so she may have been the youngest one at the campground (Mahoney State Park), but she did great and we had a great time. We camped with our good friends Jim and Erin Morse (Waukee, IA) and their kids, Cade, 3, and Brecken, 7 months. Eli and Cade love to play and love to camp. Parker and Brecken were really good too. I realize a good blogger would have photos to accompany this post. I am clearly not a good blogger at this point, but plan to do a better job as I go along.

Erin and I happened to notice a young couple camping not far from us and noticed they didn't have kids. We kind of joked how relaxing that must be! They were in their reclining camping chairs reading their books. Cut to our campsites with strollers, baby equipment, bottles, pacifiers, action figures, scooters, play doh, moon sand, and various other kid related crap strung about. We wouldn't have it any other way, but it's so comical how much extra stuff we have to bring for the kids, which usually ends up being a waste because Cade and Eli spent a good amount of time inspecting tree bark, bird poop and various other things in nature. It's so time consuming packing everything up and setting up, tearing down, etc., but it's really some of the best times we've had. We both would like to buy bigger campers (we both have pop up campers) but I'm pretty sure if we had more space it would just get consumed with more kid stuff!

Photo added!  Yay!

Just Learning

I'm attempting this as a way to organize photos and memories of our family. More to come later as I figure this out....