Sunday, December 28, 2008

Merry Christmas from the Parks

Some pictures from Christmas day (courtesy of Debby).








Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Seven Months

Dear Emma,

You are now closer to being 1 year old than 0. It amazes me how quickly time passes. You are continuing to grow and thrive. You now weigh 13 lbs, 6 oz. You love to eat food. Your favorite foods are pears, pumpkin, applesauce, carrots, and sweet potatoes. You like the sweet stuff just like your mommy! You also eat Mum Mum rice rusks and love to hold them and shove them in your mouth. You can get up on your hands and knees and scoot about a foot or so. And o course you love to scoot around in a circle. You can also sit up for extended periods of time now (about 30 minutes)! This is wonderful because you are content to sit and play on your own. Though you have had many milestones this past month, it has been quite a rough month. You have been through three rounds of antibiotics for your ear infection and we think you are now teething. You are quite the fussy little baby! But we still love you and are enjoying each new day with you. This Christmas is sure to be a special one!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

A few pictures to share

Emma and Liam making out (while the parents applaud nearby)!

Emma holds the reins in this relationship.

And steals the toys.

Wanna hold hands?

Remember that time it snowed in New Orleans?

I do!
Leaving you with a smile...

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Six Months

Okay, I better write this letter because she will be 7 months in 8 days and it would be a tragedy to not have a 6 month letter.

Dear Emma,

Six months. You are half a year old. It is hard to imagine that in six more months you will be a year old. Wow, time flies. This makes me realize just how much I want to cherish each moment with you. Each night that you wake up a million times. Each smile and laugh. Each squeal. Each cuddle that you give. Pictures just don't do justice. I want to replay these sweet baby moments in my head forever. And I'm sure I'll need to when you are 16 and giving me a run for my money.

You are such a fun baby these days. You love to be out and about and having fun. You get bored at home, which is nice, because so do your Mommy and Daddy.

You are eating more solids now. You are now eating oatmeal cereal, carrots, prunes, applesauce, and soon we'll be adding more to the mix. You are not a big fan of green beans, squash, or bananas at the moment.

You are really getting into toys these days. You still love to chew on them, but you also like to look at them, shake them, and push their buttons. You can really grab and hold onto things these days as well. Another one of your favorite things to do is to grab your Mommy and Daddy's nose and poke our eyes. :) You think that is quite funny.

Your Grammy and Aunt Kay just spent a week in New Orleans visiting you and you enjoyed their company lots. We toted you all around the city and you were oogled over everywhere we went. You are such a trooper! We then went back to South Carolina and spent time with you PaPa, Uncle Stephen, Grandma Parks, Grandpa Parks, and even got to see Uncle Michael, Aunt Amy, and Cousin Will. We had a fun time and you were wonderful on the flight home. Mommy was so proud of you.

You continue to be the light and joy of our lives. We love you so much. Happy half birthday!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Long overdue

Now that I am a working woman, I have been slacking on my blogging duties. I am, however, doing well on twittering. :) Here's what has been going on with us lately...

*The nights have been very long in the Parks household lately. Emma is still sick. Now she has an ear infection and is on her second round of antibiotics. It appears to us that her congestion has gotten worse this weekend. She heads back to the doctor on Wednesday or Thursday. Hopefully this won't be the beginning of a journey of ear infections.

*I am sick as well. It's time for my yearly sinus infection. Went to the doctor this morning and got some antibiotics and a cortizone shot. Definitely starting to feel better.

*Work is fabulous. We have so much fun and the kids are great. Some of the cutest kids ever. Emma has adjusted well. Some days she needs to be held more than others, but I think that's been because she hasn't been feeling well. Emma LOVES the other kids and LOVES all the toys to chew on!

*Emma is now eating some "finger foods". Her favorite thing to eat is Baby Mum Mum Rice Rusks. She has also tried some Puffs, but I think only one or two made it in her mouth. She thinks she is big stuff eating like the bigger kids at ESI.

*Emma is now scooting and rocking on all fours. Crawling, here we come! Our lives are about to drastically change!!!

*We will be heading back to South Carolina for Christmas and are looking forward to a spending the week with our families.

*Oh and some big news...it SNOWED in New Orleans on Thursday! How crazy is that?!?! It even stuck and there was enough snow for the kids at work to make a decent sized snow man. So much fun! When I moved to New Orleans, I never thought I would see snow here. I'm pretty much convinced that the world is coming to an end. Especially since two days before it snowed, it was 75 degrees and we were wearing t-shirts and capris. I have tons of pictures, but I left the camera at work (and am praying the cleaning crew didn't nab it).

*I do, however, have some pictures of the cute kiddos at work to share. Sorry they are not the best quality; they are from my phone.

Emma and M (the happiest baby on earth!)

Emma and L (our handsome boy)

P cheesin' it up. This girl cracks me up!

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Mouse trap!

When I was little, I used to love the game Mouse Trap. Here's how we play the game at work...

We have mice everywhere in the office, so we have these sticky glue mouse traps set out all over the place. The other day I'm in the nursery with the kids and I hear P (age 1 1/2) say "ouch". I turn around and her finger is stuck to a mouse trap, along with two plastic toy cups and a dead mouse! Gross! I immediately get her finger off the trap and put the trap out of reach of the children. I then call Matt (who was upstairs) to see our little "toy mousetrap". While it was gross, it was hilarious at the same time. Matt disposed of the mousetrap/toys/mouse and little P washed her hands very well. At least we know the mouse traps work!