05.06.10

We donated your clothes today! Six boxes! A little box of toys. Mommy and Daddy put together a HUGE bag of clothes. Your Grandmama and Grandaddy even chipped in 3 bags. YAY!

Today we're going to donate your last box of formula and some sippys! YAY!

When times are difficult it is absolutely imperative that you take stock of your situation and see what you have to give. It helps tremendously to give what you can when you can. It reminds you to be thankful for what you have and to be mindful that there are always people you can help.

This is one of the most basic lessons I want you to learn. To be giving, generous. You already share your food with me. You're going to be great at sharing your heart when you're older!

I love you Parker!
Mommy

05.05.10

Lots of bad stuff has happened in the last couple of days. A good portion of Nashville has flooded, including the hotel your Daddy and I work at. One day I'll show you pictures. It truly is a disaster. So far, your Daddy and I both have our jobs. I'm pretty sure that your Daddy will keep his job completely. Next week I'm going to start looking for a new job. It's sort of scary, I've worked at one place for the last seven and a half years. I'm still looking for a place to donate your clothes.

I have some pretty exciting news, you had your hair cut for the first time yesterday! You look adorable! You were such a big boy. I'll put pictures up on your blog.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

05.02.10

The last two days have been absolutely terrifying. We've had record flooding here. Over 10 inches of rain fell in less than 48 hours. Most interstates are closed, hundreds of roads closed. So many people have lost everything. Luckily, we're safe. We're dry and we have power. We have food, you have food. We're okay.

I'm going to work hard tomorrow to see where we can donate your clothes and some of our old clothes to people who've lost everything.

It is truly a disaster. And what you must do in a disaster is to first, make sure that family and friends are okay and second, do what you can to help those in need. And that's what we'll do in the coming days.

Know that I love you and I'm so glad that we're all okay.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.25.10

We're on day 3 of no Daddy at bedtime. You went down really well so I'm a little afraid of what the night will bring.

Today I realized that one day I won't be the most important person in your life. You're going to have a best friend and later (hopefully later), a girlfriend. Those days are going to crush me. But it will be good. It will mean that I've raised a boy other boys will like and a boy someday a girl will love.

It's the days I find myself counting down time until bedtime that I kick myself after I've put you down. I can't get any of these minutes back. I think that's why I write this to you.

You're understanding more and more every day. You understand what I'm saying to you. Wow. I hope you understand how much I love you.

Sleep well.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.24.10

It was sort of a stormy day. We ended up spending most of the day at your Grandparent's.

You waved 'bye' to the cashier at Publix this morning. YAY! You continued to wave all day. You were so proud of yourself!
Teething is going *okay*. You were pretty crabby this morning. I think we got ahead of the pain with your second dose of tylenol. I feel so awful for you. I wish it didn't hurt so much.

Today is day 2 of Daddy working at night. I have a feeling that tomorrow's bedtime is going to be rough. We just have to get through tomorrow and Monday. Then you'll get to spend all day Tuesday with him.

Please sleep well tonight.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.23.10

Oh teeth! You're working on getting more. I think you're doing well. You're just a little grumpy during the day. You slept all night last night. I hope you do it again tonight.

 You're getting so big. Just watching you every day, it's amazing. You smile and laugh. You clap and 'wash your hands'-it's this motion where you rub your palms together up and down like you're wiping off your hands. You shake your head 'no'. You run. It is so adorable, it's sort of a stumbly run but it's yours.

You dislike walking in grass, you get so focused and really swing your arms back and forth hard. You have a look of total concentration on your face. One day, it will all be so easy. Walking, running, being silly. I'm loving watching it be challenging.

I love watching you learn things. You're facinated when Daddy does 'Johnny pick 'em up' on the counter. You try to mimic his hand moving. It's beautiful.

It's going to be a stormy day tomorrow. We may go up and stay with Grandmama and Grandaddy.

Please stay asleep tonight.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.22.10

The last couple of days have been really difficult. We were scared that we might not get to buy this house. Now, we're scared (happily so) that it's really going to happen. Lots of tears and fears.

Last night my friend, Kim, stayed with us. She and her boyfriend split up. That put even MORE stress on all of us. You woke up at 11:30 pm and cried and cried. I'm not sure if it was all the stress plus the fact that youre getting MORE teeth. I'm also not sure that any of us got more than minutes of sleep at a time.

I'm really hoping you'll get your rest tonight and we'll be able to get ours. I love you so much and I'm SO TIRED.

I love you Parker!
Mommy