Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Thank You Grammy

Thank you for the very pretty flowers and neat balloons.  I am feeling better already (Parker has RSV, a bronchial infection).  I am entranced by the shiny balloons and the flowers smell really good so these are things that are very neat to a developing brain.....thanks grammy.  I send hugs and kisses your way.



Love,



Parker



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Meeting the Family

Saturday Parker had the pleasure of meeting most of my side of the family.  She was able to meet my grandparents (see the 4 generation photo...don't get this very often).  She also met Granny, Grandma Pat , Glenn, Debra, Uncle Steve, Kim, Alex and Tyler.  She had a great time and was very well behaved.  After visiting with my Dad and his family we went to meet my Aunt Bobbie.  She was thrilled to also meet Parker.  After her big day we were very hungry so we were lucky enough to also get to meet up with Emily and Greg (who we were meeting for the first time...we REALLY liked him Em!) for dinner.  It was good to catch up and Parker again was the perfect child and let us (and all the other restaurant guests) eat in peace. 



See the photo album on the left side called "Parker meets her great grandparents" for more pictures.



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Drumroll please

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Here are the pictures of the kitchen and dining room.  I LOVE it all.  I love knowing where everything is and that it all has a home...except the food as we have yet to put the pantry shelves up but that is next.  It was weird to shop for real food yesterday versus frozen meals.  I got test drive the kitchen last night as I cooked dinner and everything was perfect.  We even ate dinner at our new dining room table and it was so nice to feel at home again.  Look at the photo album called "Home" on the left side for more pictures. 



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Sunday, January 28, 2007

Ahh....Pancakes

We had pancakes for breakfast today!  Which means we have a (drumroll please.....) a working KITCHEN!  I will take pictures tomorrow and upload them as our tables (dining and kitchen) are arriving tomorrow so I can take pictures of 2 completed rooms (for the most part....just a couple of odds and ends to complete).   The pancakes were great and I look forward to cooking lots more stuff.  I got most of the kitchen items unpacked, washed and put away so I feel much better.   The house is starting to come together. I even got some scrapbooking completed this weekend as I went to scrapbook night with the Newcomers group.  Parker's book is coming along.  Lynn, I was able to work on the "All About Me" album you got me for Christmas and I finished putting together the album we started at CKC in Donna Downey's class...the "My Life Then...My Life Now" flip album.  All I have to do is add some pictures and the journaling.



I will upload pictures tomorrow of the kitchen, dining room and will post about Parker's big day this past Saturday where she met lots more family.   



Thursday, January 25, 2007

Parker Life Lesson for Mom #1

Disclaimer: not for those with weak stomachs



OK, I should have known....since Parker had her shots this week and was taking tylenol her BM's were not all that regular...in fact, they were non-existent.   So, one would think that I would know by now that it is the calm before the storm.  Oh man, was it ever the calm before the STORM.  Go figure.....she let loose this morning and exploded.  So, next time, I have fair warning...don't put her in my favorite outft, don't be far from the changing table, AND make sure there are wipes loaded in the wipe dispenser AND pick her up carefully when she appears to be crying for no reason....as there was definitely a reason.  At least we were home when it happened. 



Just one of many life lessons Parker will  bestow on her parents (Kelly, take note as your day is coming).



Hope everyone is having a great day (and of course I just made it immensly better by sharing the above entry about my child's potty habits). 



Countertops are being installed NOW!  Yippie! 



Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Kitchen Update

By Saturday afternoon we will have a fully functioning kitchen again...yippie.  The m-wave and downdraft were installed today as was the under cabinet lighting.  The handles are going up on the doors and drawers and tomorrow we will have countertops!  It will then look like a real kitchen.  Saturday the sink, dwashwer and cooktop will be hooked up and we will be in business.  I plan on cooking pancakes Sunday morning on the new cooktop with the bridge griddle plan I received for Christmas.  Yummy.  Guess next week will be spent finally unpacking the rest of the boxes out in the garage and getting the kitchen in order.  I will teach Parker about organizing :) 



By the way, I did bake cookies in the new oven and they were yummy. 



So, the next time anyone visits, we will have a wonderful home cooked meal (for at least one meal while you are here...we would not want the area restaurants to go out of business now that we have a kitchen).



Also, in other remodeling news, the hinges arrived for the shutters and Michael got one pair hung last night....they look great.  One window down...7 more to go. 



Once we get the countertops installed tomorrow I will send some pics.   



Tuesday, January 23, 2007

2 month check up

Parker had an excellent report at the doctor today.  She weighed 9.5 lbs (wow, she is growing fast) and is 21 inches long.  She is in the 40th percentile for her weight and the 25th for her height.  The doctor said she is doing well and is well proportioned.  She had her first set of shots (was worse for me than for Parker).  She cried when they stuck her but when I picked her up she calmed right down and is now sleeping peacefully....they said she would sleep a lot today....yippie!  I have a cold and can use the extra down time to nap myself.  Next check up at 4 months. 



5 hours

Wow!  Parker slept from 12 am to 5:15 am this morning.   I made Michael go and check on her around 5 as I realized I had not heard her in a while and got worried and I could not be the one to peek in.  She was starting to wake up and had slid down in the bassinet to get extra cozy.  They technically say that sleeping from 12-5 is considered sleeping through the night :)  My body did not know what to think of 5 hours of sleep at a time so I woke feeling like I had a hangover (does not help that I have a cold).  However, I am very glad to have gotten 5 whole hours of sleep.  I hope this is a trend.  She also slept from 5-8:30 pm earlier in the evening so I was actually able to get a decent dinner together and Michael and I were able to eat in peace (She usually senses when Mama is eating and wakes up and is fussy as she thinks she should be eating too).



On another note, we go for her 2 month check up today and she will get some shots so the rest of my day is probably going to be spent consoling a fussy baby.   I will post an update of her appt when I get a minute. 



Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Changed sites

Please go to http://thesearethedays.typepad.com/these_are_the_days/ for our new blog.

Sleep...

A much discussed topic in the Stewart household.  We are proud to announce that the past 2 nights (and days) Parker has slept in her bassinett on her back.  This makes me very happy as I can now sleep in my own bed instead of on the sofa or recliner with a baby on my chest.  I don't want to jinx it but she has even put herself back to sleep after waking up crying.  We swaddle her up really good, arms too, and get her to sleep in our arms and then place her in the bassinett.  We owe a coworker of Michael's a huge THANK YOU for telling us to go back to swaddling all of her.  We thought she did not like it anymore but it has worked. Of course, she has managed to get her arms out of the swaddle before her nap is over but she stays asleep for the most part.  Now we just need to work on the sleeping all night thing so I can get more than 3 hours of sleep at a time. 



On another note, the kitchen is coming along.  I now have a working oven and warming drawer installed.  The m-wave works too but is not installed yet as they ran out of lumber to build the shelf for it.  Now, I just need to get the downdraft and blower figured out and installed, countertops in and then we can put in the cooktop and sink and hook up the dishwasher and we will be in business.



Hmm, maybe I should go bake some cookies and keep them in the warming drawer so we have warm cookies tonight :)  Sounds good to me....now where the "heck"  are my cookie sheets?



Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Contentment

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Happy baby after eating.



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OK, now I am getting sleepy since my tummy is full.



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And now I am asleep.



Man, life as a baby sure is good.



Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Dr Visit update

Went to the doctor this morning and all is well.  Parker is growing by leaps and bounds. She now weighs 7 lbs 14.5 oz and is 19.5 inches long.  I am excited as this means in a couple of days I can put her in the front carrier (you have to weigh 8 lbs).  Everything else looked good too.  She even rolled over from her tummy to her back for the doctor...4 times.  She is developing well.  Pray for us as we are going to begin the process of getting her to sleep on her back in the bassinet.  This will mean lots of crying on her part and a lot of patience on ours (something I am finally learning to get).  However, for me to be able to finally sleep in my own bed without a baby on top of me will make this process worth it. 



Anyways, Parker says hi to all and sends hugs, kisses and smiles your way.



New blog

Welcome to the new blog.  This hosting site has better options for sharing photos so I have switched over since we will have lots of photos to share of little Parker.



Hope all is well.  Parker has a well baby visit today so I will update the blog later with all the details.  She had a big day yesterday as I took her with me to get my hair done and then we went on a shopping trip for non maternity clothes (very depressing).  I am sure this is the first of many shopping excursions she and I take together.  Fortunately for me, she can't tell me what she wants so therefore this was one of the cheapest trips we will take together. 



More info and pics soon.



Sunday, January 07, 2007

Beginning to look a lot like....a Kitchen!



So here it is.....the first pics of our almost completed kitchen....cabinets were installed this past week and the countertops should be installed in about a week. There were a couple of glitches with the appliances (wrong blower for the downdraft and the cabinet has to be rigged to house the m-wave, oven and warming drawer). Hoping we get that all worked out this week and then all we will be waiting on is the countertop, sink, and cook top. More pics to come when it is completed.