Ultrasound

Shane and I decided to have an ultrasound to be sure baby Parker is growing fine and healthy. Praise the Lord, the report we got so far is that all looks well! Baby weighs about 15 oz and looks to be measuring right on time for a March 22nd due date. We just wanted to share baby Parker's photo with you all. We immediately told the technician that we did not want to know the sex before she even began the ultrasound. Not even 2 minutes in to it, Shane said, "I think I saw something." I replied, "Well if you think you saw something, it's obviously a boy!" So throughout the rest of the ultrasound our conversation sounded like this...

Lydia: "I don't want to find out the sex, but if you are pretty sure you know what it is then maybe we should ask."

Shane: "I'm not a technician, but I'm almost positive it's a boy."

Lydia: "Well should we find out. I don't know. I don't want to know but if you think you know then maybe we should find out."

(I'm sure the technician just loved us!!!) So just to be nice (or to torture us) at the end of the ultrasound, she scrolls down to the genitals and just leaves the screen there with the arrow pointing at "it". As we look, still undecided if we want to know the sex, we both see... I say, "Shane, there's no penis there!" I think I repeated this over and over, each time getting louder and louder! I immediately changed my mind at this point and said, "Should we find out? Don't you want to know? I think we should find out. Let's find out!" To which Shane replied, "That's up to you!" with a huge grin on his face. So after all of that, we decided to find out. The verdict: Baby Girl! Needless to say we are very happy and can't wait to see Wiley with his baby sister. (Of course, one can never be too sure of these things until baby is born! Let's just say I'm not going to buy too much pink stuff before baby arrives - just in case!) Anyways, I just thought all our family and friends would love to hear our cute story of finding out the baby's sex. I guess we'll have to wait and be surprised with the sex of baby #3 if God allows us to have another! We love you all and appreciate your prayers for the healthy growth of our little one!

The verdict is in... Baby Girl!

He's All Boy!

I just wanted to share some cute "all boy" moments with you.

It isn't every two year old who will sit at the breakfast table reading a magazine, but this little man sure will - especially if it is a sports magazine. Motty and Poppy, check out the guy's jersey number in the photo!

There's nothing more special in a boy's world than spending time with his Daddy. I'm so thankful we have the technology to capture moments like these. (Wiley and Shane just watching the cars drive by.)

Ok, so maybe there's nothing more special in a boy's world than doing two of his favorite things at the same time - spending time with his Daddy, WHILE playing the drums!!!

God, thank you for making Wiley a boy and please grow him daily into the man You desire him to be.

Belly Shot - 21 Weeks Pregnant

For all our dear friends who we no longer live near, thought you'd enjoy belly updates as Baby Parker begins to show himself/herself. Shane took this photo at 21 weeks pregnant. I'll try to keep them updated every month or so.

I am enjoying being pregnant again (especially now that I'm past the nausea). I am so in love with the family God has given me, but cannot wait to meet this new little one! I want to share some of my favorite moments with this pregnancy:

1. Any moment when this little one kicks and makes his/her presence known.

2. When Wiley rubs/kisses my tummy.

3. When Wiley tries to "feed the baby" (Apparently he thinks the baby is in or behind my belly button since he always pokes his finger in my belly button to "feed" the baby.)

4. When I am rocking Wiley on my lap and his little brother/sister kicks him. (Still in the womb and already experiencing sibling fueding :) This always makes me smile to think of all the playing and wrestling moments to come between the two of them.

5. Every time I hear Shane remind Wiley that he has to be gentle and "take care of Mommy and baby" as Wiley is trying to use me as a spring board. I am so grateful for a loving husband who is also a loving father that takes the time to teach his son the roles of a man.

We are so thankful that God has chosen to give Wiley a sibling and cannot wait to see them together over the years. Though we know they will not always treat each other with love, I know they will love one another and will be, in many ways, best friends.

Halloween Parker Style

We had a great halloween this year with family and friends! We took Wiley to a fall festival/trunk-or-treat at a local church and then came back to our house for a Halloween party. Our Friday night Bible Study group decided to do a party complete with costumes and fun foods! We all had fun with our costumes this year - Wiley was a USC football player and Shane and Lydia reached back to the 80's with Shane dressing as Magnum P.I. and Lydia as Rainbow Brite. Of course, Wiley had fun wearing pieces from everyone else's costumes too. Overall we had a really fun night. Here are some photos from our night!

Wiley enjoyed trick-or-treating with his cousins Ethan (who dressed as Indiana Jones, or "Cowboy Jo-nas" as Wiley called him) and Wyatt (who dressed as the young Anakin Skywalker).

Photo Updates

We've had a busy week. Thought I'd update everyone on all the Parker happenings with some photos:

We went to the state fair and Wiley was on TV with Mr. Knozit! We saw lots of animals.












Wiley got to experience being a farmer: picking apples, gathering eggs, and digging for potatoes. Wiley also drove a large green tractor!










Our dear friends David, Katie, and John David Kizziah came to visit us for the weekend. The Kizziahs are leaving for Zambia to serve as missionaries for the next two years. God blessed us with a visit from them before they left for their missions training. We went to the zoo while they were here, and Wiley and John David loved it!












Katie and John David liked watching the koala bears. Wiley liked feeding the birds. Shane wasn't too crazy about the bird that peed on his shoe!









We have had a great week and have enjoyed the blessing of family and good friends!

Breakfast with Wiley

Friday morning we all got up and had breakfast together. We were glad to have daddy back home. I made us all cinnamon toast (my dad's recipe that I always loved as a kid - not exactly super nutritious, but oh so good!!!) Baby Parker has really been loving that the past few weeks so I make it every now and then for Wiley and myself. Today was the first time Daddy's eaten it with us. We did, however, eat some of it on our healthy Ezekiel bread so for all you health freaks out there...maybe I'm not that horrible of a mother! :) Anyways, we sat down to enjoy our cinnamon toast and Wiley quickly discovered there was a small hole in his bread. After saying it was broken and asking us to fix it several times, we eventually were able to convince him that it wasn't broken and it could not be fixed. He then began to enjoy putting his finger through the hole and playing with the toast. He was getting very tickled at his own antics and we were laughing at his cuteness too. He hit the jackpot with the humor when he made the hole a bit bigger and fit it over the spout of his sippy cup and then began drinking his milk with the toast attached to his cup. Needless to say after finishing his milk, his face was a mess! I took these photos and couldn't resist sharing them. We get so tickled when he makes himself laugh. Needless to say, breakfast with Wiley is never dull! :) Thank you God for the sense of humor and creative minds You've given to kids.

We Miss You, Daddy!

Daddy is the best! He teaches me all sorts of things, including how to be a man. He taught me how to shake hands with people and say, "Nice to meet you!" Jed is not a big fan of shaking hands though. He gets pretty tired of it after about the tenth time I say, "Nice to meet you" while shaking his paw. Hurry home, Daddy! (Jed says hurry home too.)

Daddy also plays with me everyday. My favorite time of day is when mommy is cooking dinner because that's when Daddy and I play the best! I love it when he puts my helmet on and we chase each other around the house each carrying our footballs. "Hike!"

Mommy really loves this time of day too. She loves watching her "men" play and laugh. Here's a picture of mommy trying to fill in while Daddy is out of town. Cooking and football just don't go that well together. Mommy says hurry home too, Daddy! We love and miss you!

From the mouth of babes...

Today after church our family went to a little country cooking restaurant for lunch. After a not so relaxing lunch with our wild little man, Shane went to pay and found out they don't take plastic. So he ran up the street to get some cash while Wiley and I waited at the restaurant. I was trying to keep him occupied so I asked him if he wanted me to tell him a story. He said yes so I asked him who he wanted to hear a story about. He said, "Jesus". So I told him the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. After the story, I asked him to tell Mama a story. He thought for a moment and then turned to me and said, "Jesus loves you this I know." There is no greater story I can think of that I would rather hear my son tell! :)

Silly Man!

Today Shane took our family to a nearby pumpkin farm to "pick a pumpkin". On the way there, we heard Wiley laugh real loud and then say, "Look, two feets!" We glanced back and saw that he had somehow managed to slide both feet into the sock on his left foot. It looked like he had one giant foot! He was so tickled with himself. Needless to say we were too. We are so glad that God has given Wiley such a sense of humor!