Happy New Years!!

Well looks like the baby is going to wait until the New Year to get here so we went ahead and made New Year's plans. Hope everyone has a great and safe new year celebration.

Parkes turns 3

Yesterday was Parkes' birthday. It is so hard to believe that he is already 3 years old. We did a "small" family birthday party for him this year....he wanted one with all his friends but with having the baby soon and his birthday when most people are out of town we decided this would be the best this year (he'll have a big birthday next year for all his friends to come to). He might go through withdrawal today from not having people bringing him presents all the time and not having so much activities going on. We did go to the doctor yesterday as well and found out I am almost halfway dilated which was quite a jump from the week before so I was informed to take it easy and gain weight this week, but if the baby wants to come on before the end of the year I won't complain.

Santa Came!!!!

Parkes was a little in shock and overwhelmed this year with all the festivities that happen. We started out Christmas Eve doing Christmas with Brandon's parents in Lexington who came up for the day and then all headed out to my parents for dinner that night. Then we came home to find Santa's elf had left Parkes some Pj's and got him to bed. Brandon was more excited then Parkes to wake up the next day and woke up about every hour throughout the night and finally asked if he could go wake Parkes up about 7:15, and even though I said it would be best to let him sleep until he was ready to wake up I told Brandon he could.... So this is what Parkes looked like when he came out to see what Santa had brought him. And it took him a long time to actually register what was going on which Brandon was hoping for him to come running out yelling about his Yellow Hummer. He finally started to warm up to the idea that Santa had actually brought him his Yellow Hummer that he had talked about for so long. Then after having Christmas at home we headed over to my parents to have lunch and Christmas over there which is not small in my family as I come from a family of 5 kids (3 of us which got married within a year of each other, and then we've added a baby every year since Parkes was born) Parkes was completely warmed up to his Hummer and gave the dogs rides around the yard. And then my sister, Hayley, got a ride too. When we finally got back home we expected Parkes to crash, but he was still too excited and Brandon and I finally went to bed around 11 with Parkes still awake in his room watching a movie and playing with cars. A little side note that made Brandon and I laugh the other night...We had put Parkes to bed which we have always been able to put him to bed awake and he plays for about an hour and then falls asleep on his own (except right after we moved our room upstairs and we had about a 3 week adjustment phase) so we had put him to bed and Brandon and I were watching TV and all of a sudden we here little footsteps running down the hall. Parkes runs right past us into the kitchen informing us, "don't worry just getting a night night snack." Then he opened the cabinet got a couple of crackers and ran back to bed.

Gingerbread House

Well I had high hopes for making our gingerbread house. I saw in the Rachael Ray magazine were they made one out rice krispie treats and thought well I could do that. I've never been really talented in regular gingerbread houses but how hard could it be out of rice krispie treats (and of course the picture in the magazine was so cute). So we made the treats and let them cool in the fridge to harden up before I pulled them out to start assembling....after about three attempts I finally got it to stay like this (Brandon got a good laugh at my many attempts, but he wouldn't take a try at it). So then Parkes decorated it with his M&M's which I think he definitely ate more then what made it on the house, and then shortly after this picture was taken the walls started to all fall down, but at least we have a picture of my attempt and Parkes had a good time. Then Parkes had his school Christmas party yesterday which I heard he had a great time (my doctor's appt got moved up so I missed it, but I have pictures coming). And he sat in Mrs. Claus' lap, but still wants nothing to do with Santa. As far as the baby goes, everything is still looking good, but I have been uped to Ensure once a day (it is really nasty especially since I don't like sweet things) and am showing signs of labor which I showed the whole last month with Parkes and he only came 3 days early so I'm not really expecting anything to happen. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!!!!

Christmas Outing to Opryland

Last night we decided to make an impromptu trip to Opryland Hotel so Parkes could see the decorations as we are running out of time before Christmas is here. Parkes had a great time looking at all the lights and the elves hiding in the trees. Today we are making a gingerbread house because Parkes has been talking about wanting to make one for over a month now and tomorrow he has his school Christmas party so I'll post some of those pictures sometime soon. I, also, have a doctor's appt tomorrow so we are getting close just over two weeks left before we are a family of four!!!!

Santa is Coming to Town...

I will get some pictures up sometime soon...I have been really bad about taking pictures lately so I really don't have any and Parkes was away all weekend with his grandparents which I should of gotten some pictures of me and Brandon at some of the Christmas parties but I didn't, so I promise I'll get some up soon. Just thought I would share how obsessed Parkes is with getting a "yellow Hummer with a radio"....when he hears the song Santa Claus is coming to town he starts singing really loudly "Santa Claus is coming to my house to bring me my yellow Hummer."

Well Parkes has decided very adamantly that this baby is a boy. He won't even think that there is a possibility it could be a girl. He got so mad at me yesterday when we went out to look for a gift for his friend's Emery's new baby sister because he thought I was buying it for "his baby" and I was buying "girl toys" and not "boy toys". He, also, got to feel a nice strong kick from his baby sister or brother the other day. Parkes has gotten were he likes to listen to and hug and kiss the baby all the time. So he was listening and all of a sudden the baby had a big kick right at his face which Parkes thought was so funny. He is getting really excited and likes to point out the baby's "that just came out" as he calls newborns when we go out. And then informs whoever will listen to him in the store that "his baby has not come out yet". He has become quite the social butterfly in stores talking to every person that will listen to him which he gets from his daddy as we can't go anywhere without Brandon making new friends too. I have had several people tell me where all they seen us and what Parkes was talking about. So that is what Parkes has been up to lately as we enjoy the last month before the baby gets here. Parkes has gone to his grandparents for the weekend while Brandon and I enjoy a weekend of Christmas parties with friends.

Breakfast with Santa

Parkes had Breakfast with Santa this morning. He actually had the one from his school and the one from our church both this morning so we asked him which one he wanted to go to and he picked his school one since his friend Holden was going to be there...he and Holden have become good friends. So we woke up this morning and I got him dressed in a cute plaid button up shirt with his jeans all tucked in with his belt, but he was not happy with the outfit I had picked out so he wanted to add his Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer shirt on top of it (I had hopes of taking it off before the Santa picture, but that was not happening). Parkes was very friendly and liked to talk to Mrs. Claus, but Santa was different story. As you can tell in the first picture, Parkes clinged to Brandon and would not allow him to let him on Santa's lap. So we took the picture with Brandon and Parkes kneeling next to Santa. After Playing around with his friends for a little while he decided he might want to give Santa another shot and went back up. He sat on his lap this time, but would not put his hands down from crying. Finally when Holden joined him on Santa's lap we got to see his face. Of course when we got home Parkes wanted to go back because he forgot to tell Santa that he wanted a yellow Hummer for Christmas.

New Bed

Parkes finally got his new big boy bunkbed the other day thanks to my grandparents for giving it to us and my parents for picking it up on the way home from my little sister's cheerleading competition in Sevierville (where both her squads won). He was a little worried about giving up his toddler bed as Parkes does not like change at all, but when it got all put together he decided he did like it. We will still have to go pick out a football quilt to go on it to match all the Alabama football pictures he has up in his room (Brandon has way too many to fit in the upstairs game room that they needed to go somewhere). As far as our job/insurance situation, Brandon is starting a remodeling sales job on Monday that he is excited about the job, but there is no insurance with it so if you or anyone you know is looking to remodel your home give him a call and he can quote it for you. So Brandon is also looking into some part-time jobs that offer benefits. He has been offered one at Ross as a door agent aka rent-a-cop or another one at the Y in customer service aka door greeter so we will have to see what one works for us (i like the one at ross because i would get a discount and on things at ross that would make their clothes almost free, but he is leaning towards the y because the hours are in the early morning and he would get to be home in the evenings and weekends with the family which makes me love him even more that he is a father and husband who will do what it takes to be home and wants to be home). So that is where we are...thanks to everyone that cares to ask and check in on us.

I really don't have any pics to post this week except this one of Parkes where he was wearing my Uggs around the house yesterday calling them his work boots playing with his tools. Parkes also found a new friend this weekend in our friend Frank who Friday night at dinner entertained Parkes and Jay with sorting sugar packets, and Parkes hasn't stopped asking when he's coming over since then. I, also, need to tell our mystery person or people who are paying for Parkes' school thank you once again. I really wish I knew who you were so I could tell you in person just how much it means to us.

Thanksgiving

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was busy with Brandon's parents from Texas coming into town and we celebrate Thanksgiving with Brandon smoking a turkey (he is really obsessed with his smoker) and then head to Memphis for the day to eat again with some of Brandon's family over there. Then on Saturday we celebrate Christmas with Brandon's parents since they won't come back until after the baby is born and so Parkes could get the attention he deserves opening their presents so that is what the pictures below are from (don't really have any from the Thanksgiving festivities). Then the last picture is Parkes last night as we were cleaning out the closet in his room which I think he will forever refer to as his "new room". Sorry for the no pants, but last night as Brandon was changing Parkes diaper he announced that he needed to go peepee so they went to the bathroom and sure enough he went. So afterwards he wanted to put on his Shrek underwear and refused to put pants on, but then told us again when he needed to go and even fussed about putting on a diaper for bed. I was really excited as I have tried potty training several times over the last 8 months to only get screaming when it came time to go to the bathroom, but I should of known better as he has always needed to do things when he wanted to as if it was his idea and not yours. So this morning didn't go as well and ended up wetting his pants at Bible study, but at least he is interested in it so maybe I won't have two in diapers. Oh and a funny story from the week, we went and visited my grandparents right before Thanksgiving, and my grandmother has broken her foot and had a boot on her leg. Well the next day after our visit Parkes woke up telling me he had hurt his foot and needed to put his boot on. So for the whole day he wore one snow boot around the house and a sock on the other foot.

School Program

Well I actually did two posts in one day. Here are the pictures of Parkes at his school program. We had a Thanksgiving dinner beforehand which Parkes spent most of his time running around with his friends rather then eating. Then each class got up and sang 5 songs...we have it on video for anyone who wants to see just how cute it was.

Parkes has gotten really into thanking God for everyone and everything so I put up a "Thank You" tree which we felt was fitting to put up for how much love has been shown to us from family and friends that we wanted to make sure Parkes starts to understand the blessings that he has. So everyday Parkes adds someone or something else to his tree (I have to limit how many he can put up a day though because otherwise I would spend all day cutting out leaves for it).

And finally for a baby update...I had a doctor's appt today which I almost missed because I couldn't remember if it was this Monday or next but they didn't call to remind me like they always do so I figured it was next, but decided to call and check and happened to call right at the time of my appt so luckily it is just 5 mins down the street so I told them I was walking out the door which meant Parkes went with me in a very interesting outfit. The baby is good and size and heartbeat look right on, but they're a little worried I'm not getting enough protein so I get to start drinking Ensure at least every other day which I am not looking forward to on top of my added iron pill everyday. And as for the job hunt, Brandon's still interviewing with some of the same companies and some new companies...he's got two more this week and has been told from one company he is the guy that they will hire once they get the okay to hire another sales guy, but aren't sure when that will be. He has been very busy though doing handyman work which he enjoys that he hasn't been around the house too much. Thanks for all the prayers and please continue to pray.

Finally Pics of Upstairs

Okay well I had been asked awhile back from a friend to post pictures of the upstairs and Parkes' room, and I have been a very bad blogger lately. So here are pictures of half the upstairs (I will not post pictures of the bedroom side until I finally get through the mountain of clothes I am trying to weed through or Parkes' room until we get his new bed and furniture painted). We have been asked by several people about cutting cost on doing remodeling and although our most cost cutting tool was having Brandon do all the work which is not possible for everyone, here's a few tips. First, we saved tons by shopping on craigslist.com for building materials...we were able to get all the shingles, tar paper, carpet, and more from there were people had over bought for their remodels and would get it at a third of the cost or less (always check out the free section too you just never know what you'll find). Second, we took stuff like doors and trim out of houses that were being torn down for bigger house to go up which takes some labor time but you are recycling perfectly good materials. On that same note we tried to reuse everything we could from our house...some didn't happen like taking the oak planks from the roof to use as floors due to Brandon is just one person and time, but then we could resale the stuff we didn't use on craigslist to make some extra money for the new stuff. And thirdly, although not a huge savings but every little bit helps is "Ooops" Paint at Home Depot. It is how we paint our house and one of mine and Brandon's favorite things to go look at to see what colors are out there. It used to be much better when you could return any color if you didn't like it when you got home but they stopped that, but you still have the colors that are mixed wrong or the ones people don't pick up and can buy a $20 can of paint for $5. We just check out the colors everytime we are there until we find the color we were looking for which eventually shows up if your patient. Now these tips are not for those that need things done quickly as they do take patience and storing issues as you collect materials, but can drastically cut down the cost of renovating and remodeling. I put the picture of the bathroom to show the radius wall my extremely talented husband built (it might be hard to tell but the wall is a semicircle).

And then here are some pictures of Parkes painting canvas that are going into the baby's room. I am going to write some Bible verses over them so I'll take pictures of that when we get the baby's room completed. It is getting close, I got it painted chocolate brown the other day (don't worry I wore a mask and checked it out with my doctor before I painted). Parkes and Brandon flew to Houston last weekend to go see Brandon's mom so I had a quiet weekend to work on things and rest because we have 7 weeks left until this baby is here and I'm sure it will fly by with the holidays (actually I know it will as I had Parkes 3 years ago around this time, but like when I was pregnant with Parkes I have all my Christmas shopping completely done and actually wrapped...don't get too impressed if I weren't pregnant I would still be shopping Christmas Eve). Okay I do have more pictures to post from the week....Parkes had his first school program which was adorable and he did a great job singing which when he sings he sways back and forth the whole time so it was very funny. So I will get those pictures up as soon as I can, I'll try this afternoon, but no promises as we are still on dial-up internet so it either works or is too slow and I get frustrated and just get off the computer.

Thank You

I went to drop Parkes off at school this morning and realized I had forgotten my checkbook to pay for his monthly tution so was thinking to myself I needed to remember to bring it when I picked him up. And when I went to put his lunch in his cubby there ws a note for me, I opened it up and saw the word tution and then just folded it up not really thinking much of it because I knew I still needed to pay. So then as I was talking to the director on my way out she pointed to the note and said that she was not suppose to say anything about that which I thought was a little bit of an odd thing to say but I just said that I had forgotten my checkbook and I'd pay that afternoon. Which she responded no you didn't read the note, so then I opened it and saw that it said that his tution had been paid for Novemeber and immediately started crying. The director said she had been ordered not to tell us who had paid, but that we had very good friends. So thank you to whoever did this it means the world to us and to Parkes as he loves his school. It even made Brandon cry although I'm sure he doesn't want me telling people. It has been a very hard month on us and me being pregnant has not helped with my crazy emotions, but I know we'll get through it especially with such great family and friends. God has blessed us so much that I know he has a plan for this next part of our life that will be wonderful and better then we could ever imagine.

Trick or Treat

On Saturday we went up to Parkes' School for a Fall Fest and Trunk or Treat. He had a great time once he realized all the games resulted in him getting prizes. He, also, very much enjoyed Trunk or Treat but returned all candy to the people if it was not yellow (the yellow phase continues). Yesterday morning he had his Halloween party at school and I completely forgot to take my camera, but it was lots of fun with cupcakes and cookies with his friends. Then last night for Halloween we went over and meet his cousins, Abby James and Draper, at their grandparents house and my parents and sister came as well. Parkes had had a rough night and day with some asthma and allergy problems that only got worse when we got out in the cool air and he was running around from house to house so we only did a few stops before heading to the pharmacy to pick up some medicine. But we did get one funny story from the night where instead ofsaying "trick or treat" when one guy opened the door Parkes instead said, "I come in." And then proceed to let himself in and try to go up the stairs in their house as Abby James followed him in. Brandon went in and got them and luckily the people were really nice. Parkes' lastest thing is pointing out everyone's favorite football teams. He himself goes back and forth from his team being either Roll Tide or Hotty Toddy, but then he likes to point out the gators for Matt, Georgia for Keri (which he added Green Bay as one of her teams since they have a G on their helmets, Broncos for Ms. Laura (she's the only one that gets a ms. for some reason), and then he likes to tell us that "we don't like Nathan's team" whenever he sees a big orange T (sorry Tennessee fans but he's right, I still say they would be more likable if they would get rid of the prison orange color...there is just no need for that much of that color). I am very proud of some of the SEC schools for letting their bands wear t-shirts and khakis....i have been saying for a very long time that it is just cruel to make the band were those polester outfits for the heat and the looks so finally someone listened to me though I said they should wear polos and khakis. But I have noticed it on Ole Miss and Georgia's bands so far so hopefully everyone else will follow. Okay well enough of my random thoughts, I leave you with the best picture I got of Parkes and Abby James from last night (Abby James is the poodle and Parkes is in midcough).

Baby's Coming Jan 7th!

I had my first doctor's appt of the third trimester so we scheduled the the c-section and as long as everything goes as planned (hopefully picking up some insurance in the next 2 weeks because my doctor doesn't take TennCare which was our backup plan since cobra is ridiculously high for us with Brandon being diabetic) we will have the baby on Jan. 7, the day after Brandon turns 31 and 11 days after Parkes turns 3. So we don't get two tax breaks this year like we wanted, but I really didn't think that my doctor would of let me have it that early with Parkes being just 3 days early and weighing 7 lbs (this baby should be bigger then Parkes though because with him I measured a week small the whole time and this time I'm measuring a week big). And I tried to push for the Friday before the 7th so my little sister and Brandon's wouldn't be in school, but she didn't want to go any earlier with my due date actually being the 16th.

Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkin last night so we could make some curry pumpkin soup. Parkes enjoyed helping get all the seeds out and very much enjoyed eating the roasted pumpkin seeds but would not try the soup. I absolutely love themed dinners and have all sorts of recipes printed out for all different occasions, so I'll leave you today with my Halloween Dinner for anyone that might want to try it.

Curry Pumpkin Soup

2 cloves garlic

1 med. onion

1 lg jalapeno

2 stalks celery

3 lg carrots

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 3/4 lbs pumpkin (peeled and seeded)

3 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

2 tsp curry (for Brandon I have to double that and then he still adds more)

1 tsp turmeric

pinch of cayenne

1 1/2 tsp salt (I don't use because we don't really use salt)

ground pepper

sour cream

Chop all of your veggies into small pieces. Heat olive oil in a lg pot. Add onions and garlic and let them saute for about 6 mins. then add jalapeno, celery and carrots and saute 5 more mins. Add pumpkin, chicken stock, bay leaf, curry, turmeric, cayenne, and s&p and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover for about 20 mins or until veggies are tender. Then the recipe calls for putting it into a food processor where I cheat and use an emersion blender instead to make the soup smooth. then serve with sour cream piped out of a zip lock bag with a corner clipped off to make a spider web over the soup.

Hairball Salad

Avocado

Mix spring greens

Dressing of choice

Mash avocado and mix in the greens. Then form into balls and serve with favorite dressing.

Making a Scarecrow

As promised here are the pictures of Parkes at the Scarecrow Workshop at his school. He had a blast. And last night thanks to the hard work of Brandon and Matt, Parkes slept in his own new room!!!! After a year of sleeping in his toddler bed crammed in the office next to the desk he finally has his own room, and we finally were able to bring his train table home from my parents house which made him so excited. Also, please continue to pray for Brandon's job search as we found out he no longer has 5 weeks left but only until the end of October (we really wonder if he ever had the 6 weeks he was initially told as the person that told him seems to be contradicting everything that is coming out of the head management team at their headquarters who Brandon talked to yesterday so who knows who is right, and it really looks for the best for Brandon to start a job search as where this company is heading so things do happen for a reason we just are waiting for the rest of it all to fall into place). As for now he is doing handyman jobs so anything you need done let him know and he can get that done starting the end of next week (he still has to finish up our house by midweek). Thanks to everyone that has helped him on the house or volunteered to help this weekend or volunteered to help yet we never took you up on it we sometimes feel bad asking for help even though we know y'all do want to help...we really appreciate how wonderful all of our friends and family are for being so selfless and volunteering their time. We are so blessed to have y'all in our lives.

Annual "Wee" Vacation

We headed down with the Essner's and Engesath's last Friday to Gulf Shores for our annual vacation. This year we had scheduled to rent a 3 bedroom duplex with a pool, however, a month

ago I got a call saying that they were actually not suppose to rent that house in the month of October and they would be moving us. After a few calls back and forth and some explaining that we would not take less then we had booked we ended up in a 6 bed/7 bath beach house with a pool. (I highly recommend Meyer Realty if you book a beach rental on the Alabama Gulf) So each family got their own floor and we were spoiled with how nice and spacious the place was. The weather was beautiful, the company was wonderful, and we had a fabulous time. We went to the beach each morning where Parkes enjoyed playing in the sand, each morning Brandon and he would dig out a hole and he would play in it by sliding, diggin or fishing in the hole. He finally got in the ocean the last day which was surprising as he was running in it last year, but did make it easy to watch him on the beach and not worry about the water. Then we would head back to lunch and put the boys down for a nap and we could go hang out by the pool. Brandon and I, also, celebrated our 4 year anniversary while we were down there and enjoyed some alone time with a drive along the coast down to the edge of the pennisula and then took Parkes over to Orange Beach that night to ride the huge ferris wheel and have some dinner. After our relaxing week at the beach we all headed up to Huntsville for our friend Joel's rehersal and wedding. And finally got home at midnight on Saturday night with a very worn out Parkes who actually slept until 9:30 on Sunday morning. However, with the mess of the house there was no time to rest and we got up and got what will be Parkes' room (currently was being used as storage) all cleared out and went and picked up his floors which Brandon will be installing Tuesday night. Then we headed over to Parkes' school where they were doing a scarecrow workshop...I'll post those pictures later, but Parkes had a great time playing with some of his friends in his class....he kept running over to tell us who all his friends were (it was nice to get the faces with the names we have been hearing). And now it's back to our normal life. Please say a little pray for us as Brandon's company is shutting down all of their small markets and that includes Nashville so we have 5 weeks left for a job and insurance. I know Brandon will find something as he is the hardest worker I know just not the best timing with the baby, and he was happy in his job and I have told him not to take a job just to take it because I would much rather him be happy again the rest of it will somehow figure itself out. So anyone that knows of any builders, building supply companies or related companies looking for a sales or account management position let us know. He's got a few leads going already that he talked to while we were on vacation, one of which he is excited about finding out more and would be an even better fit then his last job so hopefully something will come up in the next few weeks.

Me at almost 7 months pregnant

Parkes and Jay taking a break to play during picture time

Parkes and his Hole

Brandon being buried in the sand

Then deciding they should bury me

Keri teaching Parkes some dance moves

4 wonderful years together!!!