8 Months Old

Parker is 8 months old today! I know I say this every month, but time is flying by and he is growing up too fast! He is such a HAPPY boy and gives us so much joy:)

He started crawling on Monday...so it is time to say goodbye to a clean house. He can get into everything and climb up and walk along the furniture. His favorite thing to do lately is talk to his daddy on speaker phone while he is at work.

Eating Habits:
Eats @ 8am, 12pm, 4pm & 8pm
Eats 1/2 Jar Stage 2 Jar food mixed w/cereal at 8am & 4pm feedings
LOVES veggie puffs, graham crackers and drinking from mom & dad's cups

Sleeping Habits:
Oh....I'm hoping his sleeping patterns return to normal soon! He was sick for almost 2 weeks this month & it really threw him off schedule. He still goes to sleep about 8:30pm and wakes up about 8:30am...but has been waking up several times throughout the night. He usually falls back to sleep pretty quickly, but sometimes won't sleep unless I hold him. We are hoping now that he is feeling better, he will start sleeping better!

Play Habits:
Loves to stand! I can barely get him to sit down an play anymore...he always wants to be standing up. He enjoys taking steps(with mom/dad's help) and just started crawling this week. He has several toys to play with, but would rather play with computer cords, cell phones, cameras, kitchen utensils, papers, magazines,etc. He likes to play Patty Cake & This Little Piggy. He loves all his cousins, aunts & uncles...but mostly loves his grandparents! Parker gets special time with each Grandma every week while I teach preschool and he LOVES it! (I'm so grateful to my mom and my mother-in-law who are so willing to watch him during preschool!--THANK YOU!!!)

Any 1sts This Month?
Crawling! Hadn't even shown interest in crawling & just decided to start crawling on Monday! You can check out our Video Blog to see his FIRST video of him trying to crawl. Walking along furniture. Stage 2 Jar Food. Croupe & Thrush(yuck!).

2 Peas in a Pod

1 1/2 weeks apart, Parker & Talia have SO MUCH FUN together!

Parker especially LOVES Talia's bows & is always tugging on them. Good thing Talia is such a good sport and doesn't even make a peep when he snaps them in her face.

The FAVORITE toy at the Allen's! These 2 love playing with this toy that shoots the balls up in the air!

Aren't they SOOOO cute in their Sunday best?!?

"Give Him a Popsicle"

Popsicles...Cure for all? I don't think so!

Let me explain...

Parker has been acting sick the past week or so, but he seems to have a really high pain tolerance and has still been acting really happy...which to doctors means that there is nothing wrong...but I am his mom and I know him REALLY well & I know when something just isn't right.

So...I try not to be a paranoid mom or anything, but Parker was having a rough couple of nights and he was really congested & Saturday morning woke up with a hoarse voice & a raspy cry and white stuff inside his mouth. My diagnosis...Thrush. So, we took him to our Pediatrician's office around 6:30pm Saturday night(they have a doctor there Mon-Sat from 6pm-10pm, because they understand that children don't only get sick during the day-SO NICE!) Anyway, the doctor checked him out. She didn't think it was thrush-because there wasn't a lot of white stuff, she took a strep throat culture-it was negative, she checked for an ear infection-they looked great, she listened to his raspy cry-said it didn't concern her!? I asker her if it was Croupe-she said he was raspy, not whistly sounding. So...she told us to give him a popsicle and be on our way.

Ok...not really, she was REALLY nice and extremely thorough, but during the appointment told us that we might want to give him a popsicle if he has a sore throat, because it would numb the pain & he would like it. (Silly me...I thought giving a popsicle to a 7 month old would just coat his little throat with sugar)

So...I kinda felt silly that I had taken him to the doctor for nothing. She DID give me a prescription for Thrush and said maybe I just caught it early on.

Sunday-He seemed to be feeling a little better and slept good Sunday night-Temperature Sunday afternoon was about 100.5 degrees. We went to church & family dinner & he was happy.

Monday-He was happy in the morning & I dragged him around town on errands that I needed to run, a Relief Society visit & came home in the afternoon, put him down for a nap & when he woke up he was burning hot. His temperature was 103.5 degrees! He had also started coughing during the day. I called the Pediatrician & the nurse called me back. I explained all of Parker's symptoms(same as on Saturday...but added a high fever and coughing) and she diagnosed him with Croupe.

She said I just needed to treat each symptom separately...Tylenol every 4 hours to keep the fever down, Saline Drops for the stuffy nose, humidifier in his room for his cough.

Tuesday-We kept his fever down and although he wasn't napping well(wakes up crying after about 30 min)& wants me to hold him every second, he has been pretty happy.

Last night was so sad---woke up about 12:30am with bad coughing spells & runny nose. After trying everything(rocking him, feeding him, sitting him in front of humidifier, tylenol, changing diaper, swing, letting him suck on ice) It was about 2:30am and I was so tired...I finally layed him down in the family room, turned on Baby Einstein & went to bed. About 30 minutes later I heard some rustling & I went to check on him and he'd fallen asleep.

Today he has been a good sport (so good through my 2 1/2 hr Pres. Meeting), but the white stuff in his mouth has increased (I was pretty sure about the Thrush...so I'm glad I already got that prescription) & he is still coughing and congested and has a low fever & wants me to hold him all the time (my house is a mess!) He just went down for a nap & I'm hoping he gets some rest! We have had an interesting week, I really really hope he is feeling better soon!

Poor Boy! Croupe AND Thrush

Messin' with Movies

I left Parker in front of the TV cabinet this morning...with the door slightly open. I came back in the room to find this...

This is way better than toys!

What? I don't know how all these movies got scattered on the floor?

New Favorite Toy

Parker has fallen in love...with this toy!

This used to be one of those things he could lay under when he was just a little thing. Then it turned sideways so he could bat at the toys while sitting up & just recently we had to rotate it one more time, turning it into a TABLE...so he can STAND up and play with it! Yes, he can pull his way up all by himself now!

He basically NEVER wants to sit anymore

He is growing up way too fast & I'm just not ready. Can I stop him somehow?!?

Blog Updates

I haven't even opened my blog in awhile...been taking a little vacation:) And now decided to post 10 in one day...okay, actually 4...but that is a lot! :)

Catherine's Baby Shower

I helped give Catherine her baby shower lastnight & I have to brag about how CUTE it was!!! Not at all because of me, but because of her cute mother-in-law, Sally that did a MILLION little things that were all absolutely adorable! I took pics of almost everything, because I couldn't get over how cute everything was!

Paradise Bakery catered these SACK LUNCHES-YUMMMY!!

chicken sandwich, fruit salad, carrot cake...each in their own bag, tied up with a cute bow & candy bracelet, compliments to Sally(mother-in-law)
We placed these all the way up her walkway to her house
This is the bassinet that Sally made for her own house for Catherine's baby to sleep in when she visits Grandma---which doubled as an ADORABLE decoration for the shower!

Sally made these aprons for the "Royal Blood Line"...notice the tiaras too!

G-ma Sally*Catherine*G-ma Cindy

Only Sally could make Kermit look cute at a baby shower!

Cutest Diaper Cake I have ever seen

"Paper Quilts" under the coffee table AND her kitchen table added even more cuteness!

Candle centerpiece

Can you tell that this is Sally's 1st GIRL grandkid AND she is REALLY REALLY excited! She had all sons, so I guess she is allowed to go to th extreme for little baby Chloe!

Preschool

Tuesday was our 1st day of Preschool! My sister has taught preschool for the past few years & I joined her this year. We have 13 boys & 1 girl right now, so I'm sure it will get a little rowdy at times...but I'm so excited & had so much fun on our 1st day:) I will have to post some pics later!

Graduation Party

Matt's LAST day of school was Monday(Labor Day) so I decided I wanted to have a CELEBRATION party for him! I invited all of my family & his family over to my parent's for dinner & swimming. Well...we get there & my mom has a HUGE sign up that says Congrats to Staci & Matt & all these tables set up with cute graduation tablecloths on them! My mom felt bad that they never did anything when I graduated a few months ago & decided to combine the celebration. So...I felt stupid, because I had called everyone and invited them...to my own party!!! Oh well, it was SO NICE of my mom:) We had fun eating pizza, talking, laughing, swimming & topped off the night with rootbeer floats! Then...my mom had another surprise. She pretty much FORCED these caps & gowns on us for a picture. I guess I will be happy down the road, we can show our kiddos that we graduated & even have the cap & gown to prove it! (since neither of us decided to walk in an actual graduation)

I'm SO proud of Matt for finishing his degree---in Business Marketing, I know it wasn't easy!

Way to go Babe!

Labor Day Weekend

Matt surprised me by taking off Thursday & Friday and planned to go to the Ranch for a relaxing weekend! Since he has been in school since we have been married, it is a rare occasion when we get to go on vacation for more than a day or two...but now that he is DONE WITH SCHOOL, we got to enjoy a 4 night-5 day vacation! We went up on Thursday & came home on Monday. It was the BEST vacation, so relaxing & I LOVED the cool weather & it rained almost every day we were there! My mom & dad came up too with my bro. Jeff & sis. Heidi & my nephew Mason...we all had a GREAT time!

Father & son swinging on the tire swing!

Parker loved his dinosaur pj's that we broke out of the closet for the cold weather!
Playing video games at Buffalo Wild Wings...we ate dinner there Thursday & lunch there on Friday...so that my dad could watch the Chicago Cubs play while we ate (He is there #1 fan!)

He loved hanging out in his pajamas til noon!

Parker loves his cousin Mason!

Going on a walk in the meadow!

Gotta have a picture on the tire swing!

Linkin' Logs is one of the reasons why the ranch is so much fun!

(You like the green/orange decor of our cabin!?! It is my favorite!)

Parker got to see his very 1st fire! He LOVED it & practically wanted to jump in!

What a cutie! I'm surprised we got this pic, he kept turning around to see the fire!

Hangin' out at the fire!

These 2 were the happiest little boys when they woke up in the mornings!

Hanging out on the porch with daddy!

WE LOVE THE RANCH!

Thanks Babe for a much needed vacation!!!