December Fun

Sorry there's not going to be a lot of commentary on this one. It's 12:15 in the morning and I need to go to bed :) Just a few cute pictures from us. Pardon my non make-up face in this first one. It was too funny of Brody so I had to post it. I was taking some pictures of Parker one day and Brody wanted to participate :)

Pre-gingerbread house making FHE. Yes I realize it was a kit and not one made of graham crackers, but this was a little easier this year :)

Very serious

Eating the candies. It was a pretty sad looking gingerbread house. Let's be honest...

Aunt B's photography Parker 2 weeks and Brody 27 months

Look who started smiling this week :) 5 weeks

Thanksgiving 2009

Okay, so some of these pictures are a little out of order, and I'm hoping maybe someone has some expertise that they can help me figure out a little problem I'm having with blogger. When I crop a picture horizontally it loads sideways. The only way to get the to load the correct way is to crop them vertically. Anyone else have this problem?? Anyway, it took me forever to figure out how to temporarily fix the problem, but I'd like to be able to do them both ways. Here are a few pictures of our last few weeks. Parker continues to be a very sweet baby. I think we may be finally figuring out our days and nights which is exciting as I've been a very tired Mommy! He has some reflux problems, but we started some Zantac yesterday (which he absolutely hates...pictures to come) so hopefully that helps the little guy get some relief. This is from Parker's first bath. Not a super exciting picture, I know, but I like it because it illustrates one point: Brody is in on every action having to do with Parker. He loves watching his baths, feedings, tummy time, etc. He's such a great big brother!

This last week we ventured up to Bakersfield for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to be able to spend some time with Jared and his family. We had a great time! This is Parker with Grandma Musick

This is a demonstration of Parker doing a little tummy time. He's not a huge fan yet, but Brody thinks this is his contribution to Parker's tummy time. He likes to just lay next to him on the floor and entertain him (though he's upside down here....we haven't quite mastered the concept I guess)

Just a sweet picture of little Parker sleeping. We have a few pictures of Brody sleeping this exact same way when he was a baby

Just a funny face Parker was making one day when I was burping him. My mom grabbed a camera, and look who hopped in the background!

My Dad came to visit a couple weeks ago to meet baby Parker. Brody is a huge fan of his Grandpa's, so he was happy to have him here visiting. Parker already loves him to!

Now this is Brody with his other best friend, Poppy. In Bakersfield Poppy is Brody's buddy and they do lots of fun things together. This night Brody had convinced him that making popcorn was a good idea :)

This is Mimi (Jared's mom) with Parker man. She helped me many a nights while I was there and boy was I grateful! Thanks Cathy!

Mimi with both the boys

One day Jared was sitting holding Parker while he slept and next thing he knew he had the other knee occupied. Again, Brody loves everything involving Parker (and his daddy!)

I finally caught him awake! 3 weeks old

Parker is now 4 weeks old and growing like a weed. When I took him to the Dr. this week he was over 9 lbs.! He's a handsome little guy and we love having his sweet little spirit in our home. I love my little boys :)

My Boys

Thursday marked the homecoming of Daddy and Brody! We were so excited to see them and Parker was very happy to meet them. Brody has been so excited about his baby brother. He wants to give him kisses all the time and look at his toes. He also asks to hold him every time he sees him! It's very cute and it makes me happy that so far he loves his baby brother. This was their first meeting outside the house. Brody gave him kisses!
Daddy was also very excited to meet Parker. He was only able to spend a few hours with us before he had to go back to Bakersfield, but we enjoyed every minute of it! We hopefully get to see him again next weekend, so we are looking forward to that :)

Being soft :) Yesterday I was nursing and had a blanket over me for some privacy. Well, my two year old came under my blanket with me and was patting Parker's head saying "It's okay baby" over and over again. I don't know what he thought was bothering Parker, but it was pretty funny.

Getting to hold his baby brother :)

My boys :) Parker's head moved at exactly the wrong time and then Brody was done with pictures, so this is the best we got!

Telling his baby brother about things. He does this frequently and just babbles to Parker telling him about all sorts of things.

Okay, now these last two pictures go together. I appreciate all the kind people who thinks Parker looks more like me. We'll have to see as he grows up if that's actually true as it would be fun to think that I contributed somehow :) However, right now he is looking a lot like his big brother. We didn't realize how much they looked alike until we got out Brody's baby pictures. In some of the pictures they look like the same baby. It'll be interesting to see how they grow up! This first picture is Parker sleeping on Daddy's chest

This was Brody's birth announcement picture. They have very similar features, just a little different hair. We've had some people ask how things are going with both boys being home. It's been interesting, but not too bad. It'll be better when Parker figures out his days and nights. He is awake most of the night which makes for interesting days for me, but thankfully my mom is here to help out with Brody. Parker is still a very good little baby and even when he's awake all night he's happy, just wide awake! Thank you all for your sweet comments. I really appreciate all of them :) We're very grateful for both of our sweet little boys!

Introducing...

Parker Donnan Musick

Our sweet little Parker joined us last week as scheduled. First of all let me explain his name since we finally decided on one! I already explained where Parker came from. His middle name we struggled with only because we had a few we couldn't decide between. We finally decided on Donnan and I'm very happy with it :) I'm not really sure it's a real name, but hey, it works. I originally got the idea because of a place that Jared and I went in Scotland shortly after we graduated from college. We have had this picture over our couch for 5 years and we both think it's the most beautiful place we've ever been. It's called the Eilean Donan castle in Scotland. It's on this little place where 3 lakes meet and it really is just beautiful! We also decided to name little Parker after Jared's Papa Donn (why there are 2 n's instead of just 1). We thought it was a good way to combine two things that we love and create a middle name :) We are very excited we found one that suites him and has meaning to both of us :)

Eilean Donan Castle

Okay, now on to our little man. You will notice that in all of these pictures there is someone missing: Jared. Unfortunately while Jared was in Bakersfield last week he picked up something that made him very sick. Not the flu or anything like that, but Jared is actually still sick. Seeing as he normally only gets sick for a day or two at the most, this has been rather unfortunate timing for my poor husband. He was supposed to come home the night before my surgery, but at my Drs. appt. that day, my Dr. said if he was sick at all he wasn't allowed in the hospital. We thought maybe he could wear a mask or something like that, but I watched the nurses on my floor turning people away in masks and telling them they couldn't be there. Unfortunately this is just the worst season ever to be bringing a newborn into the world and the hospitals are being very stringent on visitors. Brody couldn't come either as they weren't allowing visitors under the age of 16. Anyway, after much deliberation and thought, we decided it'd be best if Jared didn't come to the hospital and kept his germs in Bakersfield. My sweet mom stepped in and accompanied me through my C-section and hospital stay. I don't know what I would've done without her. Jared came and picked up Brody the day I went in to have Parker and took him back up to Bakersfield. Thank you to everyone in Bakersfield that has helped Jared with Brody while I've been having little Parker! They are actually still in Bakersfield and depending on when Jared gets better, hopefully they will get to meet little Parker soon! He's a very sweet, content little baby and I'm loving every minute of it :) I'm hoping Jared gets to enjoy him soon!

This is Me on my way into the hospital. I took another picture of my pregnant belly, but for some reason it's only loading sideways, so I'll have to see if I can fix it...

All ready to go in for my C-section (which was much better the second time around for me!)

These pictures are a little out of order, but here goes. This is my Grandma with Brody. She has been such a trooper! She took care of Cheyenne for my mom the whole time she was in the hospital with me. Thank you so much Grandma! We love you!

Little man got a little too close to the side of his basinette and I thought it was funny he was squishing his forehead! :)

I think this picture is cute because it showcases a unique feature about Parker that was actually the first thing I noticed when they brought him over to me crying. He has a little double dimple in his chin! I wasn't sure about it at first, but now I love it! It only shows up when he cries and it's not very pronounced, it's just something very unique to Parker

This is Parker with my Mom. I love how he's looking at her! She's been such a trooper also. She's been helping me around the clock and I actually don't think I've changed a single diaper yet (I tried one day at the hospital and I paid for it for about an hour afterwards. It's a little tricky standing, balancing, and bending over after having a C-section and being on a bunch of pain medication!

Mommy and baby Parker

First car ride home

We're home!

Just a few last pictures of the last couple of days. Parker and Brody actually look a lot alike. I wasn't sure at first, but now that I've come home and compared pictures they have very similar features. It will be interesting to see how they are as they grow up!

Looking around! He's very alert

I'm so lucky to have two sweet boys now :) He's a little Angel so far, so I'm going to enjoy that while it lasts!

Welcome to the world Baby Parker!

Advice?

Okay, so this post is going to be a little out of the ordinary, but I'm having a little problem that I'm not quite sure how to help. I was hoping maybe one of my seasoned Mom friends (or just someone with good advice!) had any words of wisdom for me. So here goes....

Brody has been a champion sleeper since the time he was about 8 months old. Before that time he had tons of issues but we figured them out and then he was great. He gets very excited to go to sleep and often goes and climbs into bed on his own accord. He usually goes right to sleep with little problems. However, since we've moved into a big boy bed we've developed a terrible habit that I have no idea how to break. The first 3 or 4 days he was in his big boy bed he did great. He slept all night, never got out, and woke up in the morning ready to play. However, at that time Brody boy developed pneumonia and was very sick for probably 2 weeks. He was having trouble breathing so when he'd cry in the night we'd go back in there and prop him up so he could breathe a little better, check his fever, and give him medicine if he needed it. Well, Brody has been better for a couple weeks now, but the waking up in the night hasn't gone away. He never needs anything per se, he just calls out "Mommy" or "daddy" until one of us opens his door (or he opens his own door....the knob is a little too big for his little hand to open easily, but he does get it sometimes). He just turns around and runs right back to bed and hops in. He usually doesn't require more than us just telling him it's not time to wake up yet and he goes right back to sleep. If he gets his own door open, he'll run into our room until he sees us and then run back to his bed. I don't sing or do extra cuddles or anything like that in the middle of the night, so I'm not sure what about this little arrangement he's needing. Maybe just reassurance that we're there, but I don't know why he did fine before that and now he's having trouble.

This has been happening at least once a night and sometimes two or three times. I have no clue what to do. I have been a passionate follower of the "Baby Whisperer" techniques since Brody was a newborn and I had to fix his sleep issues. Everything she teaches in her book has worked for Brody, but there's not really anything in there that fits this problem or how to solve it. I haven't really cared up until now because it would only take me two seconds to get out of bed and open his door for him to go back to bed. However, the last week or so everytime he wakes up I can't go back to sleep (hence the fact it's 4 a.m. and I've been up for an hour unable to go back to sleep!) I know in a few days I'll be so exhausted from having a newborn that I'll be able to go back to sleep, but it's not going to be me helping him in the middle of the night. Since I am having another C-section, I can't get up the stairs in the middle of the night for a while and my poor mom is going to be waking up with both my 2 year old and helping me with my newborn. I am just hopeful that I can figure something out to help my sweet little boy and my mom.

I know that having a new sibling is a difficult transition for a 2 year old. Unfortunately for my 2 year old, his best friend (Daddy) also moved to Bakersfield last weekend. He's struggling a lot just with that and we haven't thrown in a new baby brother yet. I know this is going to be a tough time for Brody all around and not sleeping at night is not helping him. So, that's why I guess I'm at the end of my ideas and asking for some advice. Any suggestions on that or on how to make this new transition to big brotherhood a little easier would be great :) Sorry to bore you with my issues, I'm just a little lost, sleep deprived, and worried about my Brody boy. Thank you in advance!!

Paging Dr. Musick

In light of the fact that Brody's Mommy is having a baby in less than a week, we thought it'd be fun to dress up Brody like a little Dr. He loved his costume! He especially loved the stethescope. However, I think I spent a little too much time having him listen to baby Parker in mommy's belly because he now thinks that's where stethescopes go (he tried to "listen" to several other bellies) :)

Cheyenne and Brody

Little Doctor

This is Brody and his friends the Picketts. They have known Brody since he was born because they are good friends with my Aunt and Uncle. Sister Pickett is also Brody's nursery teacher and they are great friends!Abbie thought she'd borrow Brody's stethescope to listen to her belly

So, Brody decided he'd help out!

Enjoying his first ever Halloween candy (last year he went trick-or-treating, but Daddy got all his candy!)

Okay, now for this next part I'm going to sound like a California-hater. I assure you I'm not, I just have issues with a couple things here. Currently, it's the lack of a fall! Fall is my favorite season for many reasons. Here are a few: Baseball playoffs (my Red Sox didn't do so hot this year, but it is still fun to watch!), Pumpkin patches, cooler weather, the beautiful trees, playing in the fallen leaves, etc. Well, unfortunately, the only thing on that list that exists here is baseball playoffs (which again didn't really go my way this year). I hear there are real pumpkin patches, but they must not be here in Orange County because I haven't found one! So, I'm left feeling a little homesick and wishing my son could really understand what fall is supposed to be. Maybe someday!

Now in contrast is our little trip we took to the "pumpkin patch" here in Orange County. Thankfully Brody really doesn't care yet and I'm sure he had just as much fun as he would have in New England. There are just a couple things seriously wrong with this picture....see if you can find them....

1) That's a VERY blue sky. So blue in fact, that it was 95 degrees and I actually got SUNBURNED at the pumpkin patch. I can honestly say that's never happened before, 2) Notice the semi-truck?? Yep, that's because this pumpkin patch was set up in a mall parking lot right next to the freeway, 3) See that hay? Is that concrete underneath? 4) Lastly, (this isn't part of the picture, but a problem just the same) they had all these poor animals in cages looking like they were about to die. It was so hot and they're food was in a little vending machine type container that you had to pay $0.25 for. They all looked like they were starving so people would pay money to feed them. It was so sad! Okay....my soapbox is done now :) We did still have a fun time, though you'll see Brody was slightly overdressed. It wasn't supposed to be that hot and we just picked a terrible time to go!

Daddy and Brody are inside a pumpkin here

Brody did get to ride a choo choo train which he thought was pretty cool!

One more at the pumpkin patch

Baby Parker dressed up as a pumpkin this year for Halloween. My cute friend Katrena made this shirt last year when she was pregnant with her little pumpkin and let me borrow it. He makes a pretty cute pumpkin :) Not the best picture of me, but hey, I'm having a baby in 5 days.

This next picture was of Brody after church last week. He looked very handsome, so I thought I'd add them :)