A Leap of Faith

I know it's been awhile since my last post and that's because life for our little family has been nothing short of hectic! We have totally begun a new chapter in our lives. Here's the scoop: we won the lottery!!! Nope, just kidding, but that would be awesome, huh? OK, now this other stuff probably isn't going to sound as cool and exciting, but that's alright. Here we go.....

1. Greg quit his job. Yup, my husband is no longer a wind turbine technician. To catch some of you up; we packed up and moved from Colorado to Texas back in April so that we could be closer to our lake house. As you'll recall, we were not having any luck finding a new house to purchase. Perhaps this was fate, because a few weeks into his "new" job (which was with the exact same company that he worked for in Colorado) he began to hate it. I will spare you the gory details, but lets just say that poor management can really make or break a work place.

Ever since I've met Greg he has talked about being his own boss and having his own business. But, we all know that having your own business is a little scary. OK, it's REALLY scary! Once Greg began loathing his job, we started plotting a way to change our lives. It kind of happened faster than we anticipated, so things are kind of a crazy mess right now....read on.

2. We moved back to Oklahoma!!! To our lake house, that is. This happened just under two weeks ago when Greg quit his job. Don't get me wrong...we had been plotting a move so it wasn't completely sporadic. All of our stuff that we had in storage when we moved to Texas was slowly moved into the shop here at our lake place. This past week has involved unpacking and trying to attempt to fit all of our stuff into a house that is smaller than any of the other homes we've ever lived in. To add a little more confusion to the mess.......

3. We are remodeling our house! This began almost a month prior to Greg quitting his job. The living room and dining room are finished, the kitchen just lacks the backsplash being tiled and a little trim work, and Parkers room was just finished on Tuesday. We plan on remodeling both bathrooms soon as well, but they will have to wait. I want the house to look "beachy" so it has a little different feel than any of our other houses. I think my decor will make it more beachy and I haven't had time to shop for un-tacky beach accessories yet, but it's on my never ending to-do list! Don't worry, I will post before and after pictures in a future post. Now I mentioned that this is the smallest house we've lived in; it only has two bedrooms. Our last two houses both had four bedrooms. Are you starting to understand why I said unpacking is slightly difficult. Because of this, Greg is currently building a guest room/hobby room in our shop that's next to the house. If everything goes according to plan that space will be finished by next weekend. (I'm telling you our list never ends). Everyone who knows me well, knows that Greg and I always finish remodeling and then sell a house. We are busting our butts so we can have this house finished so we can actually live in, and ENJOY, our remodel! We are also trying to work quickly because....

4. Greg is starting his own handy-man/remodeling business! The guy has skill, let me tell ya! Although a few people have not been very encouraging about this move because of the economy, Greg is optimistic enough to believe that he will be able to stay so busy with work that people will hire him to do that he won't have enough time to work on our house. With that thought in mind, we are doing every thing we can to quickly make this "house" feel like a "home". Finally, this whole "new chapter in our lives" wouldn't be complete if we didn't also throw in the fact that...

5. I have re-activated my Oklahoma real estate license and will begin working full time next week! I hung my license with a broker in town back in July (told ya we'd been plotting) with hopes to buy up a couple of rental properties before Greg quit his job and we were both self employed (ie: no lender will probably touch us for a loan for the next few years). Unfortunately, I forgot how long it actually takes to get the ball rolling when you first hang your license with an office and by the time I was able to start scoping out properties, there weren't any we were interested in and we weren't willing to wait around for them to pop up either. Things have changed since 2007 when I put my license on in-active to travel around the country with Greg, but I'm excited to jump right back in! My office is extremely small: just me and two other ladies. In a weird twist of fate, one of the ladies who used to work there just quit to work in another aspect of real estate, and they said I could have her office!! This is a bonus for me, because if I ever have to take Parker to work with me, I can somewhat corral him! And, since I know you're wondering, no, I don't plan on putting Parker in a day care just yet. Greg will watch him on the days that I'm at the office answering phones (which is two days a week) and if I'm showing properties and Greg is off on a job, I'll just take him with me. However, we are both prepared that if both of our businesses take off, we will have no other choice but to put him in day care.

Whew! I feel like I can breath better now that I'm able to tell the world what we've been plotting/scheming/dreaming about for the last several months. What is odd about our whole situation is that I'm not stressed out about it at all. And let me say, I can get stressed out pretty easily! I know that we're taking a leap of faith by Greg quitting a job that more than provided for our family, only for us both to begin working without a guaranteed steady pay check. I was more stressed out when I couldn't find a house I wanted to purchase in Texas. Maybe I'm being completely naive, but I know that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. And I have faith that we are exactly where we need to be, doing exactly what we need to be doing.

Parker is 1 year old!!

What a busy time this past month has been for my little Parker! He survived the confusion of packing and moving all of our belongings out of our Colorado house, and he celebrated his first birthday at his nanny and papa's house in Oklahoma, which is where we are until we venture down to Texas tomorrow.



I packed away his calendar that I mark all of the exciting "milestones" on, so I'm relying on my memory for this post (which means I'll forget to write something really important)!

He began walking with a push toy that he has. I'm sure most of my friends and family saw that on youtube. Then, last Thursday, he took his first steps! Granted, life has been a little hectic and fast paced for Parker this past week, so I haven't really seen him try to do that very often. He does like it when someone holds his hands so he can practice walking.





He loves watching his Baby Einstein videos. Sometimes they will hold his attention for twenty minutes, other times he will only tolerate them for thirty seconds. He loves watching the puppets on that show, and of course he loves anything that has a dog on it!

He has finally began to take an actual interest in books. Before, whenever I would read to him, he would just look away or try to eat the pages. Now he actually seems to look at what I'm reading to him. I do have to use books that have very simple pictures and not a long story line.


He began blowing kisses. Although he doesn't actually blow them. He just covers his mouth, and as he takes his hand off he tries to say, "Muah" but it just comes out as, "Ahh!" It's precious!

He is fascinated by other kids. I had several friends who either baby sat or came over with their baby so I could get some packing done these past two weeks. He is very affectionate with them and loves to give them kisses. Unfortunately, Parker's kisses quickly turn into bites. That's something I'm trying to work with on him, although I'm not sure how to break his habit at this age, especially when he thinks he is being sweet.



As far as food goes, I know I need to be more adventurous on allowing him to try more "table" food, but things were just so hectic that I relied on the tried and true 2nd and 3rd stage baby foods. I think once we are more settled into a new routine in Texas I'll start letting him have more fun exploring new foods. He does love feeding himself and his favorite food is still Cheerios! I'm pretty sure he can spot a bright yellow Cheerio box a mile away!



His new favorite activity was climbing up the stairs. He loved it so much that if I started going up the stairs with him in my arms, he would practically leap out of my arms so he could climb up them himself. What really cracked me up was that he knew what the phrase, "wanna go upstairs?" meant. If I said that, he would immediately begin to speed crawl to where the stairs were so he could have a go at it!

I can now tell him to say, "Hi" or, "Bye" to someone, and he will wave at them and say "I", without me having to wave. I was pretty impressed by that!

We are currently staying at my mother-in-law's house, and while we are here Parker has been having a lot of fun with this partiular toy:





Unfortunately, a few days before the big moving day Parker began showing the symptoms of the same illness he had a few months ago. I had already scheduled to have his one year well-baby doctor appointment for Friday since we would be in Oklahoma on his birthday. It started out as a runny nose on Tuesday, then vomiting on Thursday, and finally diarrhea on Friday. The doctor did prescribe him an antibiotic since we would be driving an eight hour trip the next day and warned me that the meds might make his diarrhea worse. (Greeeaaattt, was my initial thought) Parker and I would be driving in the truck while Greg drove the U-Haul so I was not looking forward to the drive. Luckily, Parker was a little champ on the trip. He didn't have diarrhea and he only cried for a total of maybe ten minutes during the entire drive! Tomorrow I have a three hour drive ahead of me so hopefully I will continue to luck out with a happy baby! Unfortunately, he did begin running a fever on his birthday and it has not broke today, so I'm hoping it's just a reaction to his meds or that it's just a reaction from all the stress and running around we've been doing. I'm trying to take it easy today for his sake.

I am 1 year old today!!! On Friday I weighed 19 pounds 9 ounces and was 28 1/2" long.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Click here to see what others are loving this Wednesday!




It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago I blogged about what I was loving that particular Wednesday. Little did I know that just a few hours after posting that blog my husband would receive an unexpected phone call saying that his Dad passed away.

It's strange how such a normal Wednesday can take such a drastic turn. Greg received a phone call that his Dad wasn't doing well after a surgery to remove a hernia. He decided to come home because he thought we may be making a trip to Oklahoma. I was completely unaware of what was taking place and was out running errands with Parker when I got a phone call from Greg asking where I was and when I'd be back home. I knew that his dad was having complications after his surgery but I never once thought it was something that was life threatening. However, I could tell in my husbands voice that something wasn't right. Once I got home Greg said he thought we should head towards Oklahoma, where his Dad lives. I frantically began packing and shortly afterwards we received the phone call that no child wants to ever get. His dad had a massive heart attack and passed away.

The 8 hour car ride to our grandmothers house in Oklahoma was long and depressing. It was also pretty quite since Greg was driving and I didn't want to ask questions and get him upset. I thought about what I had done earlier that day and inwardly scolded myself for blogging about something as trivial as a scrapbook.

Several days later we had the memorial for Carl. The chapel was packed and several friends and family members spoke about memories they had of Greg's dad. Some of the stories were humours while others were touching. Greg's dad lived on Lake Texoma and after the service that is where Greg and I headed to spend a week. During that drive I had more thoughts crossing my mind. In the end, I realized that I shouldn't have berated myself for blogging about something as simple as a scrapbook. Carl lived life to the fullest. And I realized that part of living life to the fullest is embracing the small things in life that give us pleasure.

With that being said, this Wednesday I'm loving:

That Greg had the honor of having his dad stand beside him at our wedding and proudly serve as our Best Man.


I'm loving all the fun memories Greg and I have with his dad at Lake Texoma.


I'm loving that we were able to make one of Carl's wishes come true: He became a Grandpa in April. The cherry on top of the sundae was that I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Parker. Greg was the last of our family name, and now Parker will continue to keep our name going. (Hopefully he'll have a wife who will give birth to four boys just to insure our name doesn't end soon!)


I'm loving that Carl drove eleven hours to meet his grandson when he heard I went into labor.


I'm loving that despite the distance between us, Carl was able to spend time with Parker on a handful of different occasions.


I'm loving that Greg and I will keep Carl's memory alive with stories that we'll be able to share with Parker as he gets older.


Happy Wednesday, ya'll! Enjoy and embrace today and make all the small things count!

8 Months Old!

Parker is a few days past 8 months old now! I really don't want to write, yet again, that time seems to just be flying by...but I can't help myself! Time really is flying by! Some VERY exciting things happened in Parkers world this past month! We took a trip to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving! We didn't get to see nearly as many friends as we would have liked, but we did see a lot of family! And, I would post pics of Parker with all of his extended family, but there are just so many that would take awhile! But, here are a few cute pics from our trip home.










One of my best friends, Shannon, made this adorable Turkey onesie for him! Is that not the cutest thing? I loved it! Thanks, Shannon!


While we were "home" I desperately wanted to have Parker's picture taken with Santa. I had heard in the past that the "best looking" Santa Claus is at Bass Pro Shop. Unfortunately, we just couldn't seem to make our way up to downtown OKC, so I settled for the Santa who was at Sooner Fashion Mall in Norman instead. Parker did great! I was curious what he would do once Santa took him. He looked at him kind of funny, reached for his glasses, and then gave him a big smile. We had a picture taken (not on our camera, so I won't be able to post it on here) and he gave the best smile on the second click. Everyone who was waiting in line behind us said, "Aww" when he did. As satisfied as I am with the picture, a few weeks ago a fellow friend of mine posted pics on her blog with her kids visiting Santa at Bass Pro. Needless to say, he was a much better looking Santa!

Parker loves it when I sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and do the motions with him!


When we got back to Colorado Parker had what I thought was his first illness. Luckily, the doctor disagreed. He just had a major runny/congested nose. Let's just say Parker got a little unhappy with the bulb syringe and would begin crying at the mere sight of it! Luckily he is much better now!

As far as food goes, we have added green beans, apples, and peaches to his menu! I try to get him to drink water out of his sippy cup. He loves "drinking" from it, but I think more than anything he chews on it. I actually bought him some straw sippy cups for Christmas to see if he can get the hang of those better.

At the beginning of December a big milestone happened! He crawled and sat up all in the same day! He could kind of sit up for awhile now, but always toppled over after a few minutes. I had read that babies should be able to sit before they can crawl so I was starting to get a little worried. Now when he sits, he is leaning on one arm. If I put him in the normal sit, or tri-pod, position, he still doesn't last that way very long. Now that he's crawling, I can barely keep up with him! Child-proofing is in full swing here at our house!


A week after he finally mastered crawling, he began clapping his hands. He doesn't make any sound when he does it, and he doesn't do it very often, but it sure is cute when he does! The evening of the day he clapped his hands, I had him in his nursery playing on the ground. I was doing something in the bathroom and walked by the nursery to go into the office. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something that shocked me. Parker has a little fisher price chair with a desk attached to it that has a singing lamp and book attached to it. Parker has always been fascinated with it, constantly crawling or rolling over to it and banging on the seat with his hand. Imagine my surprise when I walked by and saw that he had pulled up on his knees for the first time to get a little bit closer to the desk! He doesn't pull himself up to his feet, just his knees. In fact, he doesn't ever place his feet on the ground correctly if you hold him in a standing position. I hope this will be a problem that will correct itself shortly.

Parker is all BOY! He loves BALLS and DOGS! In fact, chasing a ball on the floor is what made him learn to crawl! His most recent favorite toy also includes: a plastic cup!





Another random fact about Parker is that he always has a scratch on his face. I just cannot keep his nails trimmed short enough.

He loves to be carried in his baby bjorn. It comes in very handy during shopping trips. Too bad he's getting so heavy now that it hurts my back!

This is a typical Parker pose in his car seat! He loves to chew on the puppy's ear!


I am 8 months old! I weigh 19 pounds and am 27" long!


This is another one of my favorite toys: the doorstop!

I'm gonna get you, mama!

Showing Off!

A few weeks ago we made a journey to the Sooner State so Greg and I could show off our most prized possession to our family. (That would be Mr. Parker in case you didn't know). He did as good as you can expect from a 10 week old baby during our traveling (although Greg would probably say otherwise!) He got to meet a lot of family! As in, two great grandmothers, a grandma and grandpa, three Aunts and Uncle, and lots of cousins!!! I had a great time showing him off to everyone but of course there was never enough time for me to meet up with all of my friends...which is why I didn't even tell many people that we were going to be in Oklahoma. There's always next time!

The last part of our trip was spent at Lake Texoma. Greg actually planned a huge fishing trip for a bunch of our friends. We had friends from Oklahoma, Texas, Tennesse, and even some of our friends from here in Colorado that met us at the lake. I spent most of my time with Parker, but from what I hear everyone had a great time. It will be fun to take Parker to the lake this time next year; I can't wait! Luckily I had two of my really good friends come down to my father in laws house so they could meet Parker and so that I could visit with them. My friend Misty just purchased a professional camera and so we had an all day photo session. I was eccstatic that she was willing to do that and I had to show off a few of my favorite shots of me and my little man! Enjoy!!!

My First Baby Shower

A week ago today I went to my very own baby shower. It was held in Oklahoma and it was so nice to be able to spend a few short hours with many friends and family members. I had four amazing friends (Amber, Shannon, Kayl, and Misty) host the event for me.


I actually hadn't seen Amber and Kayl in almost two years so it was nice to reconnect with them. It was also a chance for me to see one of my former college roommates (I hadn't seen her in over a year) and one of my friends since I was six years old (I hadn't seen her in over four years). It is truly nice knowing I have such long term, life long friends!

The shower itself had a "Fill Her Nest" theme, complete with birdhouses, bird statues and feathers. It was pretty darn adorable! My cake was fantastic! A chocolate chip cake with rolled fondant icing. It tasted as good as it looked, if not better!




I received all kinds of useful presents!!




One thing I do regret is not getting a group picture of every one who attended before my guests began to leave.

My awesome day was also very bittersweet. That's because I had to say an actual good-bye to someone for the first time in my life. It was this gal:


My amazing sister. She's moving to China in March. Needless to say, the waterworks started, and things weren't quite the same after she and our mom left.


Speaking of my sister, because of their big move, she loaded Greg and I up with all kinds of baby essentials, toys, and clothes. We honestly had to rent a U-Haul trailer just to get everything back home. I still need a few baby items, but overall I feel completely set to bring Baby Parker home in a few short months!