The Parker Family - duncanparkerwedding

Winter 2010-2011

Christmas Day 2010
@ Nana & Papa's

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Christmas Day 2010
@ Nana & Papa's

Fun in the SNOW!!!
The week of January 10th 2011!

Thanksgiving 2010
@ the Collins'

Merry Christmas!!
2010 Christmas Card

Decorating the tree
2010- This was done late one evening...excuce the way we look :)

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Decorating the tree
2010- This was done late one evening...excuce the way we look :)

Time to Color!
Our two little artists!

"Dog" Tired
Sadie & Otis after watching "Santa" put together all of Demi & Duncan's gifts.

Christmas 2010
"Christmas Morning"

Mommy
heading upstairs to play

Fall 2010

Fall Photos
November 2010 -Canon T2i

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Halloween 2010
Salisbury Halloween Fest & Trick-or-Treating in the neighborhood.

Auburn's 6th Birthday Party
10/02/10

Playing outside
on a WARM Fall afternoon

Our little Rocker!!
Duncan loves to play Rock Band with Daddy

Sadie-16 weeks
Taking a nap in Duncan's chair.

3rd Annual Trip to Patterson Farms
Pumpkin Patch 12/23/10

Playing with Sadie
10/24/10

CLEANED UP!
I asked Demi to help Duncan pick up his room and this is what I got.....EVERYTHING in the crib, but it's all picked up....

Papa D's Birthday Cake
60th Birthday

Nana & Papa's
playing with Butterscotch & dress-up

Water Table Fun
while Mommy & Daddy do some Fall yard work

Childress Vineyards
for GK's birthday

Childress Vineyard
for GK's birthday!

Sadie
Our new Great Dane puppy

Summer 2010

Pool Fun!
Summer 2010

Pool Fun
Summer 2010

Spaghetti Night
yum yum....and what a mess!

Atlanta Summer 2010
A trip to Nana & Papa's and lots of fun at Will's Park

Demi feeding Duncan
Dora yogurt

Community Night Out
August 3, 2010 @ our clubhouse

Our silly kiddos!
Summer 2010

yum yum!
looks like it's definitely a bath night :)

July 4th, 2010
Myrtle Beach

Demi & Auburn
"laying out"

July 4th, 2010
Myrtle Beach

Beach Trip 2010
Myrtle Beach

Photos on the Beach!
2010

Demi
First time using chop sticks

Noodles!
yum yum

Duncan is one cool little guy!
wearing Daddy's glasses

Beach Trip 2010
Myrtle Beach

Duncan
yes...he's naked. He will kill us one day for this one :)

Beach Trip 2010
Myrtle Beach

Parents Night Out
Barefoot Landing with Christy & Reed for an "adult" evening!

Beach Trip 2010
Myrtle Beach

Preston, Melissa & Ella Ruth
2010

Cooling off
on a hot day!

Demi is 3!!
5/30/10

Baby Birds 2010
This year's baby birds. Every year the same two birds build a nest and we get to see the babies hatch!

Playing Outside
Poor Duncan.....always riding in something pink or purple outside. We're going to have to get him some boy toys for outside :)

First Car!
Demi & Duncan got a 2010 Mustang for their birthday this year! As you can see they love it!

Silly Boy!
Duncan has discovered a way to get what he wants off the counter.....going to have to be sure to keep the dishwasher locked now!

Birthdays 2010

Demi & Duncan's Birthday Party
June 19, 2010 Demi-3 Duncan-1

Birthday Pictures
Duncan 1 year old, Demi 3 years old 5/29/10

Spring 2010

Going for a Ride!
Demi LOVES to ride in "Daddy's Mustang"

Swing Time!
Demi & Duncan love to swing....

Sleepy Boy!
Still loves his boppy

Princess Demi
playing dress-up

Skating
Demi on skates in the house...

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I'm WALKING!
Obviously teething too and won't keep a bib on...that would be why my shirt is soaked!

First Pool Trip of 2010
May 15, 2010

Fun Outside!
They love playing outside....Duncan just needs some "boy" toys!

Fun Outside!
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Fun Outside!
They love playing outside....Duncan just needs some "boy" toys!

Amy & Scott's Wedding
5/22/09

Mascara!
Demi loves make-up.....didn't she do a great job putting on her, mommy's, mascara?

Easter 2010
Annual trip to Memorial Gardens......what a beautiful place!

Easter Morning 2010
A few candid shots of the kids before heading to church

The Easter Bunny Stopped By!
Alvin & Brittany.....and more goodies

Duncan
April 2010

Demi
March 2010

Duncan
March 2010

Demi 2010
LOVE this picture of her!

Duncan & Einstein (the bunny)
March 2010

Demi & Einstein
March 2010

Duncan's First Easter
He loves Easter eggs! These have been a great toy this month!

Mommy's Little Man
Not walking by himself yet, but definitely into EVERYTHING!

Coloring Kids
They love to draw!

Playing Outside
Enjoying a beautiful Spring day!

Mommy's Flowers
A few pictures of our flowers that have come up so far this Spring!

Playing Outside
Enjoying a beautiful Spring day!

Daddy & Duncan
watching basketball

Mommy's little helper
I actually have 2 little helpers now :)

Riding Demi's 4-wheeler
looks like someone needs one of his own....he loved it!

9 months
an attempt to get a few "9 month" pictures of Duncan

The Parker Family
Spring 2010.....kids looking away, but everyones happy :)

The Parker Family
Kids looking away...but everyone is happy :)

Demi
Spring 2010

Demi & Duncan
Spring 2010

The Parker Crew
Take 3

The Parker Crew
take 2

Silly Boy!
Duncan: This so isn't the beach Mom

I love you Duncan!
You're not too bad either Demi

Silly kids!
Demi: Duncan, on the count of 3 we're both going to take off in opposite directions....1...2...

Demi: Bow's good.....cheese
Duncan: I already smiled....you didn't get it?

Demi: My Hairbow!
Duncan: I'm smiling...you got it?

Easter 2010
The whole Parker crew

Swimming Lessons
Duncan's first lesson....Demi's in big girl class!

Swimming Lessons 2010
Duncan's first trip and Demi's big girl class!

The Parker Family
Easter 2010

Little Man!
Cute shot of Duncan from a picture of them both

Duncan
Are we done yet??

Duncan
Spring 2010

Duncan
Easter 2010

Cheese
can I get down now?!

Demi
Easter 2010

Demi
wouldn't be a trip to PI without the rocking chair...Demi loves it!

Demi
Spring 2010

WE'RE DONE!!
We've had enough for today......

9 months
an attempt to get a few "9 month" pictures of Duncan

I'M DONE TOO!
Little bit of attitude from Little Miss.....

Demi
our baby girl is looking SO GROWN UP!

A few extras....
Spring 2010

Winter 2010

Mohawk
silly girl

A trip to the playground
2/3/10 An evening at the neighborhood playground

Look who is crawling!!
He's on the move!

A trip to the playground
2/3/10 An evening at the neighborhood playground

Riding the Potty Train
Demi's potty trained! And just like her favorite book....she's "riding the potty train"

Silly Boy!
Daddy trying a hat on Duncan at CP....silly guys!

Look who is crawling!!
He's on the move!

Farrell's 1st Birthday
A few pictures from Farrell's birthday party

Making a mess!
silly boy is into everything!He's on the move!

Duncan is 8 months old
and getting so big!

A trip to the park!
Enjoying a beautiful day at the park

Look who is crawling!!
He's on the move!

A trip to the park!
Enjoying a beautiful day at the park

Look who is crawling!!
He's on the move!

A trip to the park!
Enjoying a beautiful day at the park

Look who is crawling!!
He's on the move!

A trip to the park!
Enjoying a beautiful day at the park

A trip to the park
Enjoying beautiful weather!

Look at these two!
how we found them playing in Duncan's room.....silly kidos

Duncan is 9 months old!
2/18/10

A visit with Conner
he's precious!! and so tiny!

SNOW!
They didn't last long in the cold, but it's their first "BIG" snow :)

CHEESE MOM
silly girl!

Having a snack
...Otis likes Mum Mums too!

PLAYTIME!
not quite crawling yet, but definitely able to get where he wants to go and into everything :)

Peek-a-boo
Look who is peeking over the side at us!

Yum Yum Yum
First time trying spaghetti

Playing with Otis
Duncan LOVES his doggie

Playtime!!
loving all of their new toys

splash, splash, splash
bath time fun!

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009
our tree, stocking & ECU collection

Christmas Eve 2009
@ the Collins

Santa Blake came to visit
everyone was scared except Duncan & Auburn

Christmas Eve 2009
@ the Collins

Santa Blake came to visit
everyone was scared except Duncan & Auburn

Dress Up!!
Demi & Auburn loved their princess dress up from Aunt Charlene!

Santa Blake came to visit
everyone was scared except Duncan & Auburn

Dress Up!!
Demi & Auburn loved their princess dress up from Aunt Charlene!

Duncan opening presents
poor little guy didn't feel good at all :(

Christmas Eve 2009
@ the Collins

Christmas Eve Night
@ GK & Papa D's

Christmas Eve 2009
@ the Collins

Christmas Eve Night
@ GK & Papa D's

Christmas Day
having a snack after some much needed rest!

Christmas Day
@ our house

Christmas Evening
opening gifts with Nana & Papa

Christmas Evening
opening gifts with Nana & Papa@ GK & Papa D's

Santa came to visit!!
and boy did he bring lots of toys :)

Our little Santa
what a sweet little man!

Christmas Evening
opening gifts with Nana & Papa@ GK & Papa D's

Duncan is 7 months old!
growing up way too fast

Playing Backyardigans
Demi & Duncan BOTH love The Backyardigans....

@ the big boy table
Japanese...what else?

Santa visit #1
Our first visit to see Santa....Demi did great up until it was her turn....

Sleeping in the cart at Target
while Mommy gets some Christmas shopping done!

Getting ready to leave for church
pictures in front of the tree

Santa
Take 2

Duncan & Santa
12/14/09

Santa
Take 2

Christmas Party @ Rhonda's
Our reindeer headed to party at Rhonda's

Duncan's first present
from Ms. Stacy....he loved the wrapping paper as expected :)

Parker Family Christmas Card
2009

Christmas Pictures 2009
Demi 2 1/2 Duncan 6 months

Reading Together
Which they do so often...love it!

Christmas Pictures 2009
Demi 2 1/2 Duncan 6 months

Santa giving Demi an ornament
Love these!!

Fun Family Picture
Mommy & Daddy with our little reindeer!

Christmas Pictures
2009

Our Little Reindeer
2009

Christmas Pictures
2009

Our Little Reindeer
2009

Duncan @ 6 months
A 6 months pic for Duncan....doesn't he look like such a little man!

Our little Santa
what a sweet little man!

Fall 2009

Playtime in the jumper
such a happy boy!

Mascara? Yep
Demi LOVES make-up! Somehow she got Mommy's when no one was looking!

Thanksgiving 2009
and a cake for Daddy too

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Thanksgiving 2009
and a cake for Daddy too

Duncan's first taste of a lemon
he didn't seem to mind it

Cousins playing
Demi, Duncan & Farrell having a blast at Aunt Charlene's

ICE CREAM!
Nothing like Rainbow ice cream from S&T's yum yum!

Happy Boy!
Does he look sick to you? We had no clue he had a double ear infection!!

Rubber Duckie
Duncan's first bath in the rubber duckie...he loved it!!

Mommy's little man!
such a little cuddle bear!

6 months old!!
where has the time gone?

Ready for church
looking so grown up!!

6 months old!
where has the time gone?

Wes & Jared's Birthday
we celebrated Wes & Jared's birthday a little early...at Casa Grande, where else?

Yes she's in the dryer!
not sure what made her climb in...guess it looked like fun place to go when we took the clothes out!

Silly girl!
don't worry she can't get the door open herself :)

Give me that pig tail!!
11/8/09

Daddy's Little Tarheels
11/8/09

Tummy Time
Playing with Otis during some tummy time

Jump Jump Jump
Our little man is getting so big...and loves to jump

Mr. Blue Eyes
growing up way too fast!!

Halloween
2009

Halloween 2009
our Ladybug and Nemo ready to Trick or Treat!

Halloween
2009

Halloween 2009
our Ladybug and Nemo ready to Trick or Treat!

Halloween
2009

Pumpkin Carving!
Carving our pumpkin, Halloween 2009

Halloween 2009
our Ladybug and Nemo ready to Trick or Treat!

Halloween
2009

Pumpkin Carving!
Carving our pumpkin, Halloween 2009

Pumpkin Carving

Halloween 2009

Pumpkin Carving

Halloween 2009

Pumpkin Carving

Halloween 2009

Pumpkin Carving
Halloween 2009

Pumpkin Carving

Halloween 2009

Pumpkin Carving
Halloween 2009

Eating a banana
YUM!

Sleepy Babies
So much for Mommy & Daddy sleeping in their bed!

Eating a banana
YUM!

Sleepy Babies
So much for Mommy & Daddy sleeping in their bed!

Lindsay & Will's going away party
they leave for Minnesota in about 1 week!

Yum Yum!
I love to eat!

Ready for church!
Let's go Mommy & Daddy, we're ready!

Happy Halloween!
It's party time!!! off to Rhonda's for the Halloween party!

ENOUGH!!
no more smiles from us!

Happy Halloween!
It's party time!!! off to Rhonda's for the Halloween party!

Duncan is 5 months old!
19lbs 8oz and 28 inches long!

Duncan & Demi
Duncan LOVES his big sister!! He spends hours just watching her and laughing at her

Duncan is 5 months old!
19lbs 8oz and 28 inches long!

Happy Boy!
He loves it sit in the bumbo and watch Mommy fix dinner

See my Mohawk?
Silly Daddy!

Our little Halloween Skeletons
They even "glow" in the dark.....scary!!

Childress Vineyard
October 10, 2009

ECU Truck
Daddy saw at the car show

more car show pictures
Daddy's favorites

The first "Real" Honda Civic
@ the car show

4 months old!
Duncan 9/18/09

Sweet Boy!
Mommy could just eat him up!Mommy could just eat him up!

Sweet Boy!
Mommy could just eat him up!

4 months old!
Duncan 9/18/09

Watching Backyardigans
1 thumb, 2 blankets, and 2 happy babies!

Tummy Time
getting so big!

In the Bumbo
Duncan loves to sit in the kitchen and watch Mommy fix dinner

First time eating cereal
yum yum! 9/20/09

Swinging
still loves the swing, but getting a little big for it :)

CHEESE!
silly Demi loves the camera!

Sweet Boy!
sleeping

NEMO!
How cute is Nemo!!! We couldn't resist when we saw this costume.

Little Ladybug!
Demi picked out her own costume this year...cute little ladybug!

Summer 2009

Nana's visit
a few pictures Nana took during her stay with us

Duncan's 1st Day
@ Rhonda's 9/8/09 -all packed up and ready to go!

Labor Day!
@ Chick-fil-A for a free chicken sandwhich! YUM!

Playtime
in the bumbo

NC Zoo Trip
9/5/09 Labor Day Weekend

Demi's Photography
A few pictures Demi took of Duncan....actually cute...look at those blue eyes...Demi LOVES to take pictures!

Watching the Backyardigans
they both love them!

Duncan
getting so big! and loving the bumbo!

Duncan
getting so big! and loving the bumbo

Enterprise Pool Party
8/29/09

Cartoons!
early Saturday morning....

3 months old!
Duncan is 3 months old! 8/18/09

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3 months old!
Duncan is 3 months old! 8/18/09

brother & sister
Demi loving on Duncan

The Family
at Texas Land & Cattle after the baby dedication...yum yum!

Baby Dedication
Demi & Duncan's baby dedication at The Refuge 8/16/09

Enterprise Softball
Tournament in Hickory...Nana & Papa also played on Daddy's area team and had a great time

Summer Fun
it's pool time!

Good morning!
enjoying Saturday morning with our babies!

A trip to the barn
to see Aunt Lindsay's horses....and new baby Maddie

A trip to the barn
Demi loves to ride Moe and visit Aunt Lindsay's horses!

A trip to the barn
to see Aunt Lindsay's horses....and new baby Maddie

A trip to the barn
Demi loves to ride Moe and visit Aunt Lindsay's horses!

Visiting Nana & Papa
and their new puppy "Grady"

with Nana & Papa
8/8/09

Georgia Aquarium
8/8/09

Big Sister Demi
giving Duncan a bath....along with the cabinets and kitchen floor :)

Mommy, Demi & Duncan
such sweet babies!

Big Sister Demi
giving Duncan a bath....along with the cabinets and kitchen floor :)

Mommy, Demi & Duncan
such sweet babies!

Ready for bed
warming up after a bath and getting ready for bed

Duncan & Momma
getting big isn't he?

Ready for bed
warming up after a bath and getting ready for bed

Fun at the pool!
Demi playing with friends she made....she'll talk to anyone

Fun at the pool!
Duncan resting after playing in the water for almost 2 hours

Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Demi & Duncan 8/1/09
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Profiles
Excuse Demi's hair....trying to cover her boo boo so it's kinda a mess

Daddy's Tarheels
Nana & Papa would rather see UK clothes on them :)

Demi is 2!!
Silly Girl!

Our babies
Duncan has had enough.....Demi used to stick out her lip too....too funny!

Our little bunny
she still loves this towel

Bath Time!!
The kids taking a bath

A day at the park....
We had not been in a while....Demi had so much fun this time because she was big enough to really play on the equipment

Going for a ride!
around the block that is.....Demi loves Daddy's mustang, but it has no carseat in it.....so they take short rides around the block every now and then. She loves it!

BIG SISTER!
Demi feeding Duncan.....she loves to take care of him!

Duncan 2 months old!
14lbs 6oz 25 inches long!!!

"Playing Together"
Demi loves her baby brother and now that he's smiling she talks to him all of the time to get him to smile at her....it's very cute!

Demi having a blast!!!
Playing with her water table.....she has loved this since she got it for her 1st birthday!

Dora "stunting"
Since Demi is into stunting with Daddy, she now "stunts" with all of her dolls.

Demi having a blast!!!
Playing with her water table.....she has loved this since she got it for her 1st birthday!

Dora "stunting"
Since Demi is into stunting with Daddy, she now "stunts" with all of her dolls.

Demi having a blast!!!
Playing with her water table.....she has loved this since she got it for her 1st birthday!

7 days at the beach.....
Any questions?

ONE TIRED GIRL!
on the way home

Nana, Demi & Duncan
beach trip '09

The Parkers
enjoying a night on the beach

Us on the beach
not sure what's going on with Duncan's eyes!

Beach Trip '09
Fun in the sun!

The Parkers....
all 4 of us at the pool :)

Duncan tries the pool..
it's COLD!

Farrell takes a swim
with Blake and Wes

Fun at the pool!
Demi has NO fear....as you can see

Auburn's turn
Yeah! Auburn!!

Fun at the pool!
Demi has NO fear....as you can see

Our little cheerleader
LOVES to stunt with Daddy!

This is the life!
swinging in the shade at the beach....what more could a guy ask for?

OREO'S Yum Yum!
Demi taking a snack break

Time for dinner!
"where are we going guys?"

OREO'S Yum Yum!
Demi taking a snack break

Beach Trip '09
Duncan's first trip

Time for dinner!
"where are we going guys?"

Beach Trip '09
Duncan's first trip

Duncan heading to the beach
7 weeks old

Beach Trip '09
Duncan's first trip

Duncan heading to the beach
7 weeks old

Sleeping good!
being at the beach does this to us all!

Duncan heading to the beach
7 weeks old

Playing with babies
Ride a little horsey go to town...turn the corner, but don't fall down....Demi sings

Beach Trip '09
Duncan's first trip

Playing with babies
Ride a little horsey go to town...turn the corner, but don't fall down....Demi sings

Beach Trip '09
Duncan's first trip

watching late night Fireworks
7/4/09

Farrell
July 4th

watching late night Fireworks
7/4/09

Duncan & Farrell
sure to be best buddies next year in the sand!

Farrell
July 4th

July 4th 2009
Myrtle Beach

Duncan @ the beach!
we're here....hanging out in the swing while Mommy & Daddy unpacked

Demi & Duncan
she loves to hold him! Such a great Big Sister!!

Hugs from Demi
she loves him so much!

TV with Daddy
too cute

SILLY GIRL!
caught stripped down and playing in the water.....too funny! She had a blast, as you can see!! She even had the neighbors laughing....

"on the potty"
Demi wanted to read on the potty one night....this is what we found when we walked into the entry hall

New bike!
Oh my goodness this girl loves this bicycle!

Best Friends Already
too cute together

Duncan
already growing so fast

Such a cutie!!
Not sure who he's going to look like yet!

Duncan!
3 weeks and 4 days old!

Duncan has one too
our little monkeys

New Big Girl Chair!
She loves it!

Do I smell good?
look who found Daddy's deodorant!

Everyone loves a Boppy
Around our house, there are multiple uses for the Boppy :) Big Sister winding down before bedtime

Proud Big Sister
She's such a good helper! and loves her baby brother!!

Demi loving the pool
A trip to the pool while Nana was here to show her what a good swimmer she is :)

"Throw me Daddy!"
Demi loves to be thrown into the pool. She has absolutely NO FEAR!

In the big pool with Daddy
Around our house, there are multiple uses for the Boppy :) Big Sister winding down before bedtime

Everyone loves a Boppy
Around our house, there are multiple uses for the Boppy :) Big Sister winding down before bedtime

In the big pool with Daddy
Around our house, there are multiple uses for the Boppy :) Big Sister winding down before bedtime

In the big pool with Daddy
loving the water!

In the big pool with Daddy
Around our house, there are multiple uses for the Boppy :) Big Sister winding down before bedtime

In the big pool with Daddy
loving the water!

Duncan 0-3 months

3 months old!
Duncan is 3 months old! 8/18/09

Happy Little Man!
our little man is growing so fast and such a happy little guy

Bath Time!!
Duncan loves to take a bath! He's a little fish like his sister

"Were You This Cute?"
Little man in his sperrys like Daddy

more tummy time
smiling away

Happy Boy!
getting ready to go have lunch with Daddy

Duncan 2 months old!
14lbs 6oz 25 inches long!!!

Duncan
@ 6 weeks and YES getting so big!!

Demi & Duncan
she loves to hold him! Such a great Big Sister!!

Bath Time!
We just realized we had not taken any bath pictures yet....bad parents I know!!

almost 6 weeks old...
where is time going??

So Happy!
he cracks himself up

Duncan's first trip to the pool
6/27/09

"LETS GO"
Duncan's first trip to the pool...not happy about waiting for us to get ready

Duncan's first trip to the pool
6/27/09

Hugs from Demi
she loves him so much!

Chunkey Monkey
eating us out of house and home!

Having a good time in the swing
"talking" and smiling away

TV with Daddy
too cute

Mr. Personality
Duncan's personality has really started to come out....he's 5 1/2 weeks old and is smiling now too!

FIRST "REAL" SMILE
5 1/2 Weeks old

Mr. Personality
Duncan's personality has really started to come out....he's 5 1/2 weeks old and is smiling now too!

Go Heels!
In his Carolina shorts....

Mr. Personality
Duncan's personality has really started to come out....he's 5 1/2 weeks old and is smiling now too!

Go Heels!
In his Carolina shorts....

1 month old!
getting so big, so fast!

working on my smile
I've almost got it....

1 month old!
getting so big, so fast!

working on my smile
I've almost got it....

1 month old!
getting so big, so fast!

Sleepy Boy!
napping in the swing....still one of his favorite places to be

1 month old!
getting so big, so fast!

Sleepy Boy!
napping in the swing....still one of his favorite places to be

Mr. Serious
"I'm not cracking a smile no matter what you all do!"

Sleepy Boy!
napping in the swing....still one of his favorite places to be

Mr. Serious
"I'm not cracking a smile no matter what you all do!"

Duncan 2 days old
We are so happy with how these turned out!...wish we'd done this with Demi!

Duncan 2 days old
LOVE THIS ONE! This is our absolute favorite....again in Daddy's hands.....so precious!

Duncan 2 days old
"In Daddy's Hands"

Duncan's First Photo Shoot
2 days old This one is too big to scan, so this is a picture of the picture. Much better in person, turned out great and definitely our favorite!

Such a cutie!!
Not sure who he's going to look like yet!

Duncan
already growing so fast

How cute am I!
just hanging out with Mommy in her bed...I'm awake, Mommy isn't so much

Napping on my tummy
He sleeps 4-5 hours on his tummy with us checking on him very often of course...too bad he can't sleep this way at night yet

Watching his mobile
in his crib

Tummy Time
almost 4 weeks old.....do you see me trying to crawl....I'm a strong boy!!

Snoozing again....
when he gets on his stomach he's totally gone....too bad he can't sleep this way at night yet :(

Sitting up like a big boy
watching TV with Daddy

2 weeks old
already getting so big!

Just Chillin'
on the couch, he is soooo laid back 2 weeks old

Just Chillin'
on the couch, he is soooo laid back

"I have hands!"
Duncan has found his hands and discovered he can make them move all around.

Lovely pics of Mommy & Duncan
This is what sleep deprived looks like, Daddy thinks it's funny that Mommy can literally fall asleep in any position....even sitting up!

Completely Out!
our little man, sleeping good!

Going to Mommy's work
time to meet everyone who's been waiting on him to arrive at Mommy's work....everyday the question was "Is he coming today?"

Little Cutie
wrapped up after a bath....time to eat!

Good night!
sleepy boy down for the night....well 3-4 hours anyway

In the bouncy seat
sleeping away

Duncan's 1st walk
heading out for a walk with our little onesP1120229.JPG 2009-05-25

Duncan's 1st walk
heading out for a walk with our little onesP1120228.JPG 2009-05-25

Duncan's 1st walk
heading out for a walk with our little onesP1120227.JPG 2009-05-25

Duncan's 1st walk
heading out for a walk with our little onesP1120226.JPG 2009-05-25

Little Angels
Our precious little angels....amazing!

1 week old
Duncan is 1 week old today 5/25 (his due date)

BIG SISTER!
Demi is loving being a big sister! It's amazing how much she has grown up this week! She's becoming such a "big" girl :)

GK with her babies
Demi & Duncan with GK

GK & her babies
Demi & Duncan with GK

Duncan has visitors
Christy, Farrell, Elaine and Charlene come by for a visit with Duncan

Duncan's 1st week
we're loving our little man and so glad he's here with us!

Our little hands & feet
love these!

Duncan's hands & feet
his frame, just like Demi's with his hands and feet done at the hospital

sweet baby boy
sleeping, yep, in the swing

1st trip to the pool
to watch is big sister swim :)

making faces
still swinging......he could sit there all day

Loving the swing!
He loves the swing.....all snuggled up

1st Day Home!
Duncan's first afternoon at home 5/19/09

Demi's picture
One of the maternity prints we had made especially for Demi and her room. This is a definite favorite of ours!!

Maternity Photos
Taken 5/2/09 at 36.3 weeks. These are the ones we purchased with the changes made. They turned out great! and we had them taken just in time :)

Demi's 2nd Birthday

Demi's 2nd Birthday!
getting ready to go to Rhonda's for her party and loving her Dora shirt that says Happy 2nd Birthday Demi, she thought Dora sent it :) 5/29/09

Casa Grande Birthday
Celebrating with her Amigos at Casa Grande. She loves them as much as they love her, we had a great time!!

Demi's 2nd Birthday Party
6/6/09

Dora the Explorer Cake
The cake...yum yum and very cute too! Thanks Erica you did a great job!

Demi's 2nd Birthday Party
6/6/09

Demi's 2nd Birthday Party
6/9/09

Demi's 2nd Birthday Party
6/6/09

Time for presents!!
SOOOO much great stuff she had a blast! Thanks everyone!!

Demi's 2nd Birthday Party
6/9/09

SURPRISE!!!
The two gifts Demi asked for....a bicycle and new "Demi" chair. She was soooo excited and loves them both!!

Demi's 2nd Birthday Party
6/9/09

"Dora"
trying on her Dora dress from Miss April

SURPRISE!!!
The two gifts Demi asked for....a bicycle and new "Demi" chair. She was soooo excited and loves them both!!

Demi's 2nd Birthday Party
6/9/09

Duncan with Papa
6/9/09

Duncan & Papa
6/6/09

Duncan with Papa
6/9/09

Demi's 2nd Birthday Party
6/9/09

Demi's 2nd Birthday Party
6/6/09

Demi's 2nd Birthday Party
6/9/09

Happy Birthday Duncan!!!

Happy Birthday Duncan!
5/18/09 5:42am 8lbs 4oz 21 inches long!

New Parents
of 2 under 2!! Exhausted, but totally in love with our new little angel!

Duncan's Birthday!
5/18/09

Duncan's First Bath
in our "family" room, "Total Family" is a neat experience!

Big Sister Demi!
opening her big sister gifts from Duncan and grandparents

Our Growing Family!
5/18/09

Duncan's Birthday!
5/18/09

Daddy's Little Tarheel
5/18/09

Mommy & her Little Man
5/19/09

Duncan's Birthday!
5/18/09

Going Home!
5/19/09

Ready to go home!!
12;30pm 5/19/09

Duncan's Stork
or duck as Demi calls him

We're Home!
first few minutes @ home!

Spring 2009

Happy Mother's Day
Mother's Day morning telling Mommy "Happy Mother's Day"

First trip to the pool!
Our neighborhood pool opened this weekend and the weather was beautiful so we headed down! 5/10/09

Mother/Child Necklace for Mommy!!
2 diamonds for her 2 babies!! Mommy has been wanting one of these since Demi was born!

Mother's Day 2009
Daddy & Demi surprised Mommy!

"I'm a Star!"
Playing with her kitchen in her "star" hat she made at Rhonda's. too funny :)

Silly Girl
She loves wearing Mommy's shoes....the higher the heel the better, it was right before bath time so that is why her shirt is missing :)

Riding the Merry-go-round
with Daddy

Motorcycle Girl!
trying on Mommy's helmet

Sleepy Girl!
Our sleepy baby girl on the couch after church

It's Spring!
4/18 Demi enjoying the 80 degree weather with her favorite toy the water table!...... what a beautiful day!

Sleepy Girl!
Our sleepy baby girl on the couch after church

It's Spring!
4/18 Demi enjoying the 80 degree weather with her favorite toy the water table!...... what a beautiful day!

Demi & Duncan's bathroom
new rug, curtain & towels to get ready for sharing with Duncan

Egg Hunt
@ home Easter 2009

Easter 2009
@ Memorial Gardens after church.....all candid shots, there is NO getting her to sit still for a picture :)

Easter 2009
heading out the door for church....not a happy camper because she couldn't eat anymore candy from her basket once her dress was on :)

Easter 2009
a few silly pics

Easter 2009
heading out the door for church....not a happy camper because she couldn't eat anymore candy from her basket once her dress was on :)

Easter 2009
a few silly pics

Easter 2009
heading out the door for church....not a happy camper because she couldn't eat anymore candy from her basket once her dress was on :)

Easter Morning 2009
getting ready to head to church

Chocolate Bunny!
Demi eating her very first chocolate bunny! yum yum

The Easter Bunny Came!!
checking out her baskets from the Easter bunny!

Coloring Easter Eggs!
having fun & making a mess coloring eggs

P1110891.JPG
P1110891.JPG 2009-04-11

Coloring Easter Eggs!
having fun & making a mess coloring eggs

After the Easter Party @ Rhonda's
Thursday afternoon showing us all of her goodies from her Easter party at Rhonda's. Don't you love the hat?

The ball pit
As Daddy's "man-cave" is turned into a playroom, the ball pit is back out and Demi loves it!

Getting In
we couldn't stop laughing......

The ball pit
As Daddy's "man-cave" is turned into a playroom, the ball pit is back out and Demi loves it!

Getting In
we couldn't stop laughing......

The ball pit
As Daddy's "man-cave" is turned into a playroom, the ball pit is back out and Demi loves it!

LMS Car Show
a few pics Daddy took while at the show with Papa D and Uncle T

Time to go home :(
Taking one last picture with "Wolfie" Demi's "build a wolf" We had a blast, can't wait to go back!

Waterpark Day 2
Sunday we headed back after church for more fun!!

Great Wolf Lodge
A few outdoor pics taken Sunday b/c Saturday was so yuckie outside...it's an amazing place!!!

There she is
growling like a wolf....isn't she mean looking ha ha

Where is Demi?
is she hiding?

Hair blowing in the wind...
Demi thought it was so funny the air conditioner was blowing her hair....she was telling her baby all about it

Arcade
spending lots of tokens at the arcade and not even 2 yet....we're in for it with 2 little ones wanting to do everything!!

P1110774.JPG
P1110774.JPG 2009-03-28

learning the wolf howl
up stomping, clapping and howling the Great Wolf Lodge howl

learning the wolf howl
up stomping, clapping and howling the Great Wolf Lodge howl...she has her blanket b/c it said to bring them to storytime

Bedtime Story
Bed-time story reading....which she loved too!

The Clock Tower Show
in the lobby....so cool! and Demi loved it!

Bedtime Story
Bed-time story reading....which she loved too!

The Clock Tower Show
in the lobby....so cool! and Demi loved it!

Snack Time!
Having some home-made chocolate chip cookies & milk, yum.....Mommy had home made fudge it was great too!!

Waterpark!
Saturday

Checking out her "room"
The Wolf Den, just for Demi :)

Hugs for the bear
how cute

Great Wolf Lodge
We're here! 3/28/09

Fun with Brian!
Thanks to Uncle B, Demi now knows how to drink water like a puppy.....thanks Brian! They were having a blast though.

Having some fun...
@ Concord Mills. She behaved so well while Mommy searched for a bathing suit, this was her "reward"

Demi enjoying the cake!
She loved it as you can see!

Demi enjoying the cake!
ice cream cake! yum yum! She loved it as you can see :)

Mommy's 30th Birthday!
3/26/09

Saying Good-bye to Farrell
Demi's last few minutes of playing with Baby Farrell before he had to head home. Thanks for the visit Christy & Farrell!!

Duncan's bag & hat
too cute!

Duncan's beach hat
From Aunt Tracy! THANKS! we love it!! Can't wait until the beach!

Duncan's Diaper Bag
Turned out great!! Thanks GK & Tracy!!

Demi's turn
trying it out herself now.....it holds up to 27lbs, but this is too funny!

Entertaining Farrell
She loved talking to him and bouncing him in Duncan's bouncy seat.

Loving Farrell
Demi loves Farrell! We can't wait to see her with Duncan!

Helping Mommy
open Duncan's gifts! We got so many great things!!!

loving her puzzle
from Ms. Stacy

Helping Mommy
open Duncan's gifts! We got so many great things!!!

Demi opening
her "BIG SISTER" gifts from everyone....thanks guys, you're too sweet!

The yummy food!
In addition to yummy snacks, we had a candy bar!

Demi opening
her "BIG SISTER" gifts from everyone....thanks guys, you're too sweet!

Baby Duncan's Shower
3/21/09- The gift from the girls-Carissa Alicia, & Megan...how cute it this!!

The yummy food!
In addition to yummy snacks, we had a candy bar!

Demi opening
her "BIG SISTER" gifts from everyone....thanks guys, you're too sweet!

Now Mommy's Shoes
This girl LOVES shoes!

Daddy's Shoes
Demi is sooo into shoes and loves wearing ours around the house

Enjoying some SUN!
With highs in the lower 80's! We had to get out and enjoy the weekend.

Silly Girl!
Found a ziplock of hair bows from Auburn. How pretty :)

Winter 2009

Heading out to play!
in the snow we got last night.....they are saying about 5 inches!

March 2, 2009
Demi liked the snow, but she didn't want it on her mittens and worried about this the whole time. I think she thought it wouldn't ever come off.

3/2/09
We thought Spring was on the way......

Demi's Mini Snowman
He looks a little more like a ghost, but she likes him. Don't tell Daddy we used the Thin mint cookies for his face :)

SNOW
March 1, 2009

Baby Farrell
our first visit with Baby Farrell. Demi LOVED him!

Lander Baseball 2009
@ Uncle Chris's game at Catawba! They won the series!! We had a great time!

making friends
Demi made friends with everyone at the stadium. She had a blast!

Lander Baseball 2009
@ Uncle Chris's game at Catawba! They won the series!! We had a great time!

Valentine's Day Party
@ Rhonda's 2/13/09

playing outside
taking advantage of the beautiful weather!

A beautiful weekend!
70 degrees on February 7th! We headed to the park!

Another SNOW DAY!
When we woke up we were surprised to find 3 inches of snow!!

My Hands!
Demi's handprints she got to put in her new closet. So proud of her "picture" as she calls it.

saying "Hands"
See my hands...I did this all by myself!

My Hands!
Demi's handprints she got to put in her new closet. So proud of her "picture" as she calls it.

Our circus clown
Saturday morning....still talking about the circus!

Demi's 1st trip to the Circus!
She absolutely LOVED it!! We're so glad we decided to go!!!

having a little fun....
with some pictures of Demi

Baked Ziti!
Yum Yum, I love Mommy's baked ziti :)

New Seat!
Demi testing out her new car seat for Daddy's car.....well at least until Duncan needs it.

Christy's Shower
just a few pictures.....Demi kept me on the move so I didn't get a chance to take too many.

Going Potty!!
Oh, she's going to kill us one day for taking these pictures! We're working on the potty....she loves to sit on it, so we're not saying no :)

snow day
if you can call it that....we didn't get anywhere near the predicted 3-4 inches.

Playtime!!
our silly girl enjoying some playtime in her almost empty nursery......she STILL loves this toy from her 1st birthday, thanks Baby Jack:)

Corn on the cob!!
yum yum, definitely one of Demi's favorites! (At Chili's with Ron & Sharon)

remote?
Yep, she's figured out how to change the channel in hopes of finding Noggin

Too Funny!
Waiting patiently to go somewhere. She will pick up anything and "read" to herself. She loves looking at magazines with babies in them.

Basket Toss with Daddy
Demi's version of a basket toss....she loves it and wants Daddy to toss her again and again.

Living Room Disaster!!
Demi LOVES her kitchen! This is the daily disaster in our living room until we turn the bonus room into a real playroom!

Rocking her baby
Demi rocking her baby in the bouncy seat she found when putting away the Christmas decor. We're letting her use it for her babies since it's pink and we'll get another

Living Room Disaster!!
Demi LOVES her kitchen! This is the daily disaster in our living room until we turn the bonus room into a real playroom!

Rocking her baby
Demi rocking her baby in the bouncy seat she found when putting away the Christmas decor. We're letting her use it for her babies since it's pink and we'll get another

Demi's Room

Let the fun begin!
we're painting Demi's big girl room today!

You guessed it......
she HAD to help! and of course we let her! It's her "Big Girl Room"!!!

Silly Girl!
Whew! glad there was NO paint in there yet :)

ceiling is done!!!
It's a dark purple and turned out great!

It's done!
The walls are light lavender and the niche is the same color as the ceiling. We love it! Now it's time to move her in!!

Demi's New Room!
All finished!! and she loves it:)

Christmas 2008

Baby Parker says...
Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2008!
Mommy made this pic using a cool tool she found out at the Tech Conference!

the stockings are hung!!
we're ready for Santa to come!

the stockings are hung!
We're ready for Santa to come!

stockings again
2008

we'll add another next year!
Daddy, Mommy, Demi & ?

2008 Christmas Tree
a little different from years past....new plastic "baby proof" ornaments actually look great!

Holiday Decor
2008

Demi's little trees
she loved helping decorate these, they are just her size!

2008 Christmas
of course everything lights up at night! We love the holidays!

Letter from SANTA!

Demi's letter from Santa has arrived!

Demi cooking
making blueberry pancakes on Saturday morning.

Uh-oh!
we had a little bit of a mess, but she LOVED helping!

Rock Band with Daddy
She's a drummer

A Family Christmas
@ LNBC 12/6/08

1st trip to see Santa
thank goodness this was a free trip! She loved him until he picked her up.....maybe she'll like him when we take her next weekend! (Lets hope!)

A Family Christmas 2008
LNBC 12/6/08

thought this was cute...
Demi reading a magazine in the car

Hey!!
look at me coming down the stairs! Don't worry Mommy was watching me!

I'm such a BIG girl!
this is how I usually come down....the safe way, but I'd rather walk like a big girl!

2008 Christmas Pictures
12/13/08

2008 Christmas Pictures
She had a lot of fun.....cracking herself up along with the rest of us!

Christmas/18month pics
12/13/08

W/Mommy's new editing tool

it's really cool.....still learning what all it can do!

Christmas 2008
Parker Family Christmas Card

Our little Elf
last pic for today.....this is addicting, but aren't they cute!!

"Christmas Fun"
still playing around the editing software....it's so much fun!

Snow?
No, Mommy is just playing around with her photo editing software again.....check out the next 2 pics as well :)

Riding in the horse drawn carriage
12/13/08 waiting for Demi's Christmas pictures to be ready

Christmas Party @ Rhonda's
12/19/08

Saturday morning cartoons
watch Dora with cereal & juice

Happy Birthday Jesus!
baking a cake for Jesus' Birthday!

Santa has arrived!!! 2008
Christmas Eve morning after Santa had come to our house!!!!

Christmas Eve
At Charlene & Jay's....a blast as always!

Christmas Eve
At Charlene & Jay's.....a blast as always!

"Moms to Be"
March 1st & May 25th

Mom & Dad to be!
next year they will have a little boy to celebrate Christmas with :)

The Parkers
Christmas Eve 2008 with a little BOY on the way :)

Christmas Eve
At Charlene & Jay's.....a blast as always!

Santa AGAIN!!!
At GK & Papa D's house!!

Santa a 3rd time??
At Nana & Papa's house Christmas Day 2008

P1110014.JPG
P1110014.JPG 2008-12-25

Santa a 3rd time??
At Nana & Papa's house Christmas Day 2008

Rock Band
Of course!

A visit with Nanny
My Great-Grandma that lives in Kentucky....I don't get to see her very often!!

Nice pic Daddy!
Mommy & Otis exhausted from all of the Christmas festivities!

Baking a Cake
with Nana....don't tell anyone I ate some batter while cooking! yum yum!

Christmas @ The Perkins
Another Christmas dinner @ Cheri & Happy's. (Chas's aunt & uncle)

with Uncle Chris
watching the Backyardigans.....my FAVORITE!!!

Riding Moe
Lindsay's horse....he's going to be in an Eddie Murphy movie & Little John Rap video this year!! He's famous :)

Loui
Dressed in Demi's clothes.....yep we're silly!

Merry Christmas to US!
Mommy & Daddy's Christmas present :)

Fall 2008

Daddy's 30th Birthday
where else, but Karama!

Demi & Mommy
visiting Aunt Lindsay's barn

Demi
created with Mommy's new photo tool.....pretty cool huh?

Daddy & Demi
at Aunt Lindsay's barn....created with new photo tool too.

Demi on whatelse......but a 4-wheeler
Not sure what to think about it, it's so much bigger than hers! I think we'll wait a while before getting her this one Daddy!

already into bikes...imagine that!
these pics aren't very clear, they were taken on Daddy's blackberry.

It's Christmas Time!!
Helping Mommy decorate the little Christmas trees for the front porch.

Riding the train @ Concord Mills
Demi loving the "Concord Mills Christmas Express Train"

Thanksgiving & Daddy's Birthday
at GK & Papa D's house

Riding the train @ Concord Mills
Demi loving the "Concord Mills Christmas Express Train"

Thanksgiving & Daddy's Birthday
at GK & Papa D's house

P1100586.JPG
P1100586.JPG 2008-11-28

Thanksgiving & Daddy's Birthday
at GK & Papa D's house

Happy Birthday Daddy!
very excited about his birthday present.....a 45 pistol.

Thanksgiving & Daddy's Birthday
at GK & Papa D's house

vacuuming with Mommy
Helping GK get ready for all of the Thanksgiving guest! She loves to vacuum!

OREOS!
yum....after an Oreo snack.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Demi with her hat and turkey she made at Rhonda's....this girl loves crafts!

Reading before bed!
Demi LOVES to read! She climbs up in her rocker and reads to herself.....it's very cute!

Halloween 2008
Trick or Treating for the first time and loved it. She didn't want to come inside....we were out until 8pm!

a few pics from Rhonda
thanks Mrs. Rhonda for a great time!

Halloween 2008
Trick or Treating for the first time and loved it. She didn't want to come inside....we were out until 8pm!

a few pics from Rhonda
thanks Mrs. Rhonda for a great time!

Happy Halloween 2008
Heading to Rhonda's for my Halloween party!

P1100485.JPG
P1100485.JPG 2008-10-31

Happy Halloween 2008
Heading to Rhonda's for my Halloween party!

pumpkin carving
Halloween 2008

Daddy & Papa's Race Weekend
pics from the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. As you can see, they were right down in the middle of everything, and LOVED it!

visiting the barn.....again
We HAD to make another trip when we headed back down to Atlanta for the race. Demi loves the horses or "horsie" as she calls them.

Patterson Farms 2008
our trip to the pumpkin patch 10/11/2008

Stunting @ Patterson Farms
I love to stunt with Daddy!

Patterson Farms 2008
our trip to the pumpkin patch 10/11/2008

Stunting @ Patterson Farms
I love to stunt with Daddy!

w/ my Daddy
we have this same picture from last years trip.....she still loves to "fly"

Patterson Farms 2008
our trip to the pumpkin patch 10/11/2008

w/ my Daddy
we have this same picture from last years trip.....she still loves to "fly"

Patterson Farms 2008
our trip to the pumpkin patch 10/11/2008

Patterson Farms 2008
our trip to the pumpkin patch 10/11/08

Patterson Farms 2008
our trip to the pumpkin patch 10/11/2008

she loves her babies!
silly girl, loves hats too! This one is from Auburn and she wears it all over the house

feeding her babies
while Mommy washes their clothes

more Tinkerbell pics
isn't she the cutest?!

Tinkerbell w/o her shoes
trying on her new Halloween costume.....we couldn't wait! She likes it. Anything that resembles a princess makes her happy!

a trip to the barn
to see the horses

Demi & Papa
on the hayride

Scarecrow Festival
Alpharetta, GA 10-4-08

16 months old!
and not willing to sit still for even a minute to take a picture. She's busy busy!

Robin Park's wedding
September 27, 2008

on the dance floor!
this girl LOVES to dance!!

Demi loved the band!
They let her help play

Robin Park's wedding
September 27, 2008

stunting w/ Daddy
well kinda...Daddy was laying in the floor & Demi decided to show off for GK and Grandpa Dennis

more pushing the baby
showing GK & Grandpa Dennis how I can push my baby

pushing her baby
Demi is so into babies right now. She absolutely LOVES this stroller......what perfect timing:)

Yum Yum
rolls & cinnamon butter from Texas Roadhouse.....a favorite for sure!

pushing her baby
Demi is so into babies right now. She absolutely LOVES this stroller......what perfect timing:)

Yum Yum
rolls & cinnamon butter from Texas Roadhouse.....a favorite for sure!

OUT
Daddy took this one morning after his attempts to wake her were unsuccessful. This girl likes to sleep 14 hours a night!

another fall day
on the 4-wheeler

playing in the water
on a beautiful day....what nice weather we've been having!!

Summer 2008

Lowes Motor Speedway
Daddy's favorite car...signed by Carroll Shelby. You should have heard this thing!! Demi is still making its sound.

All over the place!
Demi had a ball! She ran all over the Speedway.

more car show pics
we had a great time!!

for Grandpa Dennis
It's a Ford Bronco

Demi
So into glasses now. She used to hate anything over her eyes.

Daddy & Demi
what a beautiful day it was....we were thankful since Hanna was predicted to hit.

Demi in a race car
In a real race car. She loved it! She was ready for it to move.

A drag car
with the new drag strip at the Speedway opening this weekend, this car was a hit.

LOOK Uncle T
These pictures were taken for you....Daddy says can your Mustang do this?

OUT!
This is what you call EXHAUSTED! after a big day at the car show

OUT!
This is what you call EXHAUSTED! after a big day at the car show

OUT!
This is what you call EXHAUSTED! after a big day at the car show

Miss Priss
With her sunglasses, excuse the cookie in her mouth!

look who found her Easter ears
our little bunny

she thinks they are so funny!
and loves to look at herself with them on

we're @ the beach!
after a long ride Friday night

loving her baby
Demi is soooo into babies right now!

playing at the pool
on Saturday morning

breakfast time!
I love cereal!

Daddy....
your cooler is ready

the girls
playing before heading out for the day

loving the pool
on a beautiful day

more pool pictures
we spent most of the day Saturday, at the pool

Demi found Mommy's drink
yum yum

driving the golf cart
she LOVED riding it to the beach!

a Carolina Panther
cart we parked beside at the beach

at the beach
on Saturday

rinsing off the sand
Demi LOVED to rinse off....well play in the water

15 months old today!

Mommy & Daddy are wondering when time will SLOW down :(

rinsing off the sand
Demi LOVED to rinse off....well play in the water

Demi & Auburn
sharing a goldfish snack

time for a push-up
we headed outside to eat these, and it was a good thing we did!

Demi helping Auburn
rinse off her feet.....too cute

the girls

loved to "rinse" off

another morning
at the pool

Demi & Mommy
blowing bubbles. Demi has no fear what so ever, putting her whole face in the water to blow bubbles.

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P1090912.JPG 2008-08-31

Demi & Mommy
blowing bubbles. Demi has no fear what so ever, putting her whole face in the water to blow bubbles.

at the beach
on Sunday afternoon, maybe a little too close to nap time:)

yelling at the seaguls
on Sunday afternoon, maybe a little too close to nap time:)

at the beach
on Sunday afternoon, maybe a little too close to nap time:)

trying on Daddy's hat
what a silly girl!

Daddy!!!!!
see me?

is that underwear?
YEP! anytime anyone folds clean laundry Demi sneaks a pair and plays with it. She evidently thinks it's some kind of hat...........SO FUNNY!

Demi w/ underwear
we laughed until our stomachs hurt.....guess you had to be there :)

look who loves the boppy!
perfect for watching TV

summer fun @ the pool
Demi's favorite summertime place!

How big is Demi?
sooooooooo BIG

Demi's first PopTart
as you can see, she loved it!

Playing with her new water table
Mommy put just enough water in it while inside for Demi's fingers to touch.

she loves this table!
which is no surprise! The girl loves water!

another favorite toy!
the ball pit and all of the balls

eating Papa's lemon at lunch
Lunch with Nanna & Papa at Mac's

Papa wanted to see my lemon face!

there it is!

yuck!
Mommy & Daddy don't usually let me eat lemons.

facing the front now in the car
and loving it! It's amazing how happy she is to ride in the car now that she can actually see out!

playtime!
bringing all of the new toys out to play

Lets go for a walk!

Daddy, you coming?

Hi, here I come!

she definitely knows how to make it go, just needs a few driving lessons to stay out of the flower beds!

Daddy is so proud of her!

going down the street with Daddy.....so cute!

we're back Mommy

cheeseeeee, can we go now?

It's water time
finally got outside with the water table

I think I'll get a drink

Are you watching?

I'm going to get on....
all by myself!

I did it!

look who has noticed the stairs

playing in the ballpit

I love my ballpit
thanks again GK and Grandpa

A day at Lake Norman
@ Mr. Hunter's house relaxing on the dock

Mommy can I have a drink?

silly girl

Mommy & Demi in the lake

nice hair Demi

just left the no wake zone
and she's already asleep!

sleepy girl

hanging out at Cocktail Cove

we tied up with 2 other boats
of friends

Wes........having a good time

Demi & Daddy

Demi, Daddy & Hunter

Can you tell I love this toy?

getting on
when I'm not in the ballpit, I'm on here

poor Otis
playing dress-up......this is what happens when you have a sister

you look pretty Otis

you look funny Otis

1st time in the pool
in our neighborhood.

what a perfect place to be on a 100 degree day!

she loved it!
so did Mommy.....she's been waiting to get in the kiddy pool for 3 years!

Daddy & Demi keeping cool

yeah! the big slide
one reason Mommy has been wanting to play in the kiddy pool!

playing with Daddy
I want to do everything by myself so swimmies are great!

what a fun "water weekend"
lake Saturday and the pool Sunday!

Uh-oh...
as the puffs go all over the floor!

What happened to my puffs?
are they all gone?

Riding my 4-wheeler

Daddy helping me get back up the drive way

Demi and her new beach ball
I love it

I love my beach ball
thanks Mommy!

she played with it for almost an hour
gotta love cheap entertainment!

beach ball in the fireplace?
silly girl!

look where Mommy found Demi
on the tray that goes on the ottoman

silly girl
we are not sure what made her pull this off the ottoman and sit in it

she's a mess!
we've definitely got our hands full!

another trip to the pool
on a HOT day!

Mrs. Sharon went with us
I couldn't wait to show her how I swim!

I LOVE the pool!
watch me!

trying out my new lady bug
Mommy found this for me since my swimmies didn't keep my mouth out of the water.

I can float on my back
are you watching Mrs. Sharon?

kick kick kick
look at me go!

blowing bubbles
and making Mrs. Sharon nervous

Having a blast!
looks like we will be spending a lot of time here this summer!

Hi guys!
Miss Independant! She doesn't want anyone touching her in the pool...and the baby floats, forget it!

Talking to everyone as the enter the gate
she's got quite a personality these days

walking in the pool
but still very careful at home. She will still walk holding just a finger, but not ready to let go all of the way.

a few more pictures of my day at the pool
I love to swim!

I'm a cute little lady bug
aren't I?

Father's Day 2008
Daddy look what I made you!

do you like them?
they are pretty aren't they

Daddy & Demi on Father's Day
Demi holding her card and Daddy's photo book

cheese!
I love you Daddy!

Demi & Daddy's First Year
One of Daddy's Father's Day presents.

the whole family
on Father's Day

Daddy's card made by Demi
@ Rhonda's

can I have one of those balloons?
just one??

watching SpongeBob in the car
Daddy put the headphones on me and I actually kept them on!

Too funny!
now my Daddy & Mommy can listen to the radio instead of what I'm watching

good thinking Daddy!
We didn't think she would wear these for at least another year or so

Demi brushing her teeth
while Mommy sings...brush brush brush your teeth

she loves to brush her teeth
which we are happy about!

On the big balcony
@ a house Nanna & Papa were looking at

Mommy infront of the fireplace
this house was beautiful!

look who found Nanna's tupperware
my favorite cabinet!

this is so much fun
she likes to take everything out of the cabinet, then she actually puts it all back

more tupperware fun
great baby entertainment!

see my mess?
don't worry Nanna, I'll put it all back!

Where did Demi go?
she thought she was totally covered up

Here I am!
you really thought I was gone, didn't you?

playing with the puppies
actually barking at them

Having a margarita Mommy?
Daddy had to take a pic of this, silly guy!

breakfast @ Nanna & Papa's
yum yum

mini pancakes
one of my favorites

mmmmmmm
why is everyone watching me eat?

LOOK AT ME!!
I'm walking

Playing with the puppies
she loves them!

they like her too
especially since she can throw the ball quite far!

Spongebob!
Nanna made this Halloween costume a long time ago and thought Demi might like to see it

he's one of my favorites!
Hey Spongebob

Aunt Lindsay! what are you doing?
do we need to get one of these for you?

pushing my car around
I STILL love this thing! I haven't stopped playing w/ it since my b-day!

I'm a big girl
my pants are a little big too

Daddy & Demi
Demi taking a break from walking

happy girl
cheese Mommy

Ok Daddy, I'm ready to walk again
here I go!

I'm WALKING
do you see Daddy behind me? I'm doing good!

walking to Papa
pictures of a walking baby are hard to get!

here I come Papa
you're going to catch me, right?

Rockband time!
you know we didn't go to Atl without playing Rockband!

Chris & Haley
Nanna had to take pics of everyone before they left

close up
Haley & Chris

The Parkers
squinted eyes and all

the whole gang
minus Chris & Haley who were taking the pics

My Nanna LOVES me!
can you tell?

Demi with uncle Chris
I love him

What is on your chin?
itchy hair

What does your shirt say?
Lander! I remember watching you play ball

silly girl
she loves her uncle Chris!

13 months old
well close, we had to take this pic a few days early since we were heading to the beach.

Demi's first ride on
a Merry-go-round

Talking to the horse
she was excited to ride

Daddy! be sure to
get a picture of me!!

here we go!
yeah!

Hey, we just passed
my Daddy

this is great
Mommy!

CHEESE!
so cute, she actually says it everytime the camera comes out.

peak a boo
hiding under her blankie

CHEESE again!
what a silly girl.....what a personality!!

here I come!
I'm walking all over the place now!

bye bye
I'm out of here!

see my boo boo?
I got it while playing outside

it's right here!
you see it?

I was caught reading
so funny to listen to her "read"

reading
2

hi Mommy!
I'm just reading a book

reading
3

reading
4

I'm going to get you!
watch out!

ballpit fun!
it's going to be put away soon, with the house going on the market

ballpit fun
2

ballpit fun
3

ballpit fun
4

ballpit fun
5

ballpit fun
6

ballpit fun
7

ballpit fun
8

ballpit fun
9

ballpit fun
10

ballpit fun
11

ballpit fun
12

ballpit fun
13

ballpit fun
14

ballpit fun
15

ballpit fun
16

ballpit fun
17

ballpit fun
18

ballpit fun
19

ballpit fun
20

ballpit fun
21

ballpit fun
22

ballpit fun
23

ballpit fun
24

ballpit fun
25

ballpit fun
26

ballpit fun
27

ballpit fun
28

ballpit fun
29

ballpit fun
30-she could not stop laughing!

ballpit fun
31

ballpit fun
32

an evening at the park
1

an evening at the park
2

an evening at the park
3

an evening at the park
4

an evening at the park
5

an evening at the park
6

an evening at the park
this mini play set is perfect for me!

an evening at the park
what is this? It's not grass or sand

an evening at the park
you see this stuff?

an evening at the park
bye bye

an evening at the park
on the go now for sure!

an evening at the park
7

an evening at the park
very independant!

an evening at the park
8

an evening at the park
9

an evening at the park
lets to swing!

an evening at the park
10

an evening at the park
can I go this way?

a few walking pictures
1

a few walking pictures
2

a few walking pictures
3

a few walking pictures
4

a few walking pictures
5

a few walking pictures
6

a few walking pictures
7

a few walking pictures
8

a few walking pictures
9

a few walking pictures
10

time to swing
1

swinging
2

swinging
3

swinging
4

swinging
5

swinging
6

more walking
around the park

more walking
1

more walking
you coming Mommy?

more walking
2

more walking
3

fun @ the pool
finally got her to sit in the baby float, but only while playing with water toys

fun @ the pool
1

fun @ the pool
2

fun @ the pool
3

fun @ the pool
4

fun @ the pool
5

fun @ the pool
6

fun @ the pool
7

fun @ the pool
8

fun @ the pool
9-trying to put her face in the water.....she forgot she's in the baby float

fun @ the pool
10- about to go over!!

fun @ the pool
11

fun @ the pool
12

fun @ the pool
13-I did it!

fun @ the pool
14

fun @ the pool
15-face in the water

fun @ the pool
16-finally back in the "BIG" pool

fun @ the pool
17

fun @ the pool
18-watch me go up the stairs by myself

fun @ the pool
19

fun @ the pool
20

fun @ the pool
21-her favorite place to be!

I'm going on a walk!
I love my car!!

Lets get going!
Come on Daddy

pushing her bubble mower
around the house

I love to mow
just like my Mommy

Mommy will have to
teach Demi to cut patterns, hee hee

Us
heading to Kane & Lauren's wedding 7/19/08

us, again
we don't have very many pics of just the two of us anymore.

yet, again
Kane & Lauren's wedding

ok, last one
Kane & Lauren's wedding Demi stayed with Nanna while we headed to their wedding.

Demi's 1st time eating
corn on the cob

where shoud I eat next?
she loved it! and it kept her busy so we could eat

corn on the cob
3

corn on the cob
4

corn on the cob
5

corn on the cob
6

BIG BITE!
7

on Daddy's motorcycle
after Mommy & Daddy got finished cleaning out the garage

this is fun!
when do I get to go for a ride?

playing soccer
with her ball

I'm getting up
almost there!

kick it to me Daddy
she love to kick the ball, or try to

kick kick kick
here it comes back to you Daddy!

See my new shoes?
These are my big girl shoes! I'm so proud of them!!

playtime
playing with my popping balls

yeah!
I caught one!!

did you see me?
I can catch the balls

sleepy puppy
napping on the couch

you think he's spoiled?
just a little bit

cheese!
do you see all of my teeth? I have a whole mouth full now!

I'm 14 months old today!
7/30/08

Did you get me?
she loves the camera!

so silly
cracking herself up!

I'm growing up!
and so quickly!!

14 months
7/30/08

enough pictures
time to play!

I love to read!!
especially SpongeBob

reading
2

reading
3

reading
4

on the way to GK's
smiling with a paci

I love my baby!
I can say baby too!!

sleepy girl
with her baby and blankie of course

Demi & her baby
sleeping

look who's driving
Daddy's Mustang

car sound and all
too funny!

this is fun!
when can I really drive it Daddy?

Mustang
1

mustang
2

mustang
3

"driving"
with Daddy

@ GK & Grandpa's house
riding the rocking horse

this rocking horse was
made for Uncle T when he was a baby

I'M A BIG GIRL NOW!
taking a bath in the big girl tub

big girl bath
2

big girl bath
3

Parker Family Beach Trip '08

We're at the beach!
Auburn has been waiting for me to get here!

I love Auburn
it's playtime!

walking with Auburn
I'm walking, but still being a little on the careful side

First day on the beach
I wasn't too sure about the sand today.

hey everyone!
see my sunshine

what a beautiful day
we had great weather all week!

w/ Aunt Christy
getting ready to go to Hamburger Joes for dinner

walking w/ Christy
our condo had tile throughout so Demi was extra careful when walking

smile Demi!
silly girl, why the serious face?

I see you Mommy
@ Hamburger Joes

walking around
with my Daddy at dinner

back at the condo
playing with Anna

watch this Anna!
I love to watch the balls

catch!
throwing the ball to Anna

hanging out
I'm the center of attention, as always

you watching Uncle Blake?
I can do it all by myself

yeah!
I love this toy!

playing with Charlene
I love Charlene! she looks like GK, sometimes I get them confused.

playing w/ legos
build me a castle Charlene!

I'm a BIG girl!
Watch me get a drink of water

I did it!
just a little on my shirt.....and the floor

back on the beach
with Daddy

squishing sand
between my toes

I LOVED the ocean!
which was to be expected. I love the water!

splash splash splash
can you believe I didn't get salt water in my eyes all week!

big steps in the water
so in awe of the ocean

@ the pool
with Auburn, Aunt Tracy & Aunt Elaine

Cheese!
Demi & Auburn just want to play, forget pictures!

part of the gang
@ the pool

bubble mustache
Daddy is silly!

lets go for a walk!
Auburn & Demi in the wagon

LETS GO!
Demi's ready!

yeah!
clapping.....the grown-ups are finally ready to go!

the girls
heading in the ocean

Auburn & Demi
watching the waves

Hey Auburn,
come on, lets go!

more pictures
w/ Mommy on the beach

beach 2
w/ Mommy

beach 3
w/ Mommy

beach 4
w/ Mommy

beach 5
w/ Mommy & Auburn

beach 6
walking down the beach with Mommy

beach 7
w/ Mommy

swimming in the ocean
with Daddy & Preston

BIG waves
for a little girl!

Daddy & Demi
having a ball

ocean 2
w/ Daddy

ocean 3
w/ Daddy

ocean 4
w/ Daddy

ocean 5
w/ Daddy

Horseshoes Tournament
Robbie & Uncle T warming up

this is an annual event
they really take it serious too!

marking the line
everything has to be perfect

beach baby!
by this time she was loving the sand!

hanging with Daddy
on the beach again

I love my Daddy
as if you couldn't tell!!

Daddy, can I have a drink?
please!!

yum yum Budlight?
no, just kidding

Mommy & Demi
loving the beach

can you believe
we got her to keep her hat on?

Uncle Jay Bird
waiting to play horseshoes

some of the crew
taking a break from the sun

Demi's ready
to go back in the ocean, come on Charlene!

Anna, you want to go?
please!

little cutie
never sits still

playing with Anna
on the beach

put your glasses on
I'll help you!

come closer
I've almost got it

ok,
I'll just wear them myself!

Mommy, Daddy & Demi
playing in the ocean

waiting for a wave
to come so Demi can jump it!

yeah! this is great!
family fun in the ocean :)

coming out to take a break
not sure what we are all looking at

The Parker Family
Myrtle Beach 2008

how does sand taste?
apparently good to Demi

playing in the sand
oh, and tasting it every now and then too

yuckie yuckie
it can't taste that good!

playing in the sand 2
on the beach

playing in the sand 3
with Anna

playing in the sand 4
on the beach

playing in the sand 5
on the beach

it's pool time!
I loved the ocean, but the pool is still my favorite because I can do it all by myself!

blowing bubbles
in the pool

I had to show off
for everyone!

pool
4

pool
5

pool
6

pool
7

pool 8
with Christy & Molly

pool 9
w/ Christy

clap clap clap
pool 10

our favorite!
little fish!

Parker family
headed to Barefoot Landing

dinner & some shopping
you can't go wrong!

Demi's ready
to go eat!

Aunt Elaine & Demi
coloring while waiting to eat

our little tan berry
as Daddy calls her, she got a little sun this week!

yeah!
time to eat!

watching the chef
at Nakato

clapping for him
he was good

Krispy Kreme donuts!
yum yum!

special treat!
we were on vacation

uncle T you want some?
too funny in that hat!

strawberry shortcake
on the beach

on the beach
2

on the beach
3

Demi!
are you eating sand again?

yep
it looks like it

on the beach
4

on the beach
5

caught in the act
shoving in more sand

relaxing in her chair
on the beach

relaxing
2

relaxing
3

Back in the ocean
with Daddy

ocean
2

ocean w/ Daddy
3

waving @ Mommy
4

Daddy here comes a wave!
5

oooooh
says Demi

ocean w/ Daddy
7

Uncle Blake & Us
smile!

Mommy & Demi
going where?.....you guessed it, back in the ocean! She loved it!!

Mommy a wave is coming!
watch out Mommy!!

Daddy's girls
enjoying the beach

Mommy & Demi
making the "crashing" sound of the waves

Stunting on the beach
well, actually on the way down from a cupie

Demi's lazy chair
look @ me everyone!

my flip flop came off
can someone help with this!

SOMEONE! come here!!
I need help with this flip flop!

happy girl!
but, still waiting for some help with my shoe!

oh well,
I'll just take them both off!

run run run
G-pa Dennis is going to get me

where did he go?
I'm going to get him now

Talking to Otis
in my photo book. I miss you Otis!!

looking @ Nanna & Papa now
I miss you all too!

It's July 4th!!
sitting on the beach with GK

talking talking talking
what else is new?

Demi & Auburn
July 4th 2008

The Parker's July 4th
2008

another of us
Demi waving

Daddy & Demi
heading out into the ocean

July 4th
1

July 4th
2

July 4th
3

tasting the water
5

July 4th
6

July 4th
7

July 4th
8

July 4th
9

Do your feet splash
too Daddy?

July 4th
10

on the beach
with Blake, Daddy & Uncle Jay Bird

watching the girls
dig up sand fiddlers

I want to touch one!
give him to me!

have they found
another?

looking @ the
sand fiddlers in my bucket

back in the water
with Mommy

lets go deeper
Mommy

M & D
7/4

M & D
7/4

M & D
7/4

M & D
7/4

getting ready to
"jump" waves with Anna & Auburn

"jumping" a wave
this became Demi's favorite game

loving it
7/4

getting ready for the
next wave

whew!
that was a big one for a little girl!

I love this Mommy
can we play some more!

playtime!
by this time she had pretty much stopped tasting the sand

lets build a
castle Auburn

the girls
playing in the sand

relaxing in Mommy's chair
I feel really big now!

I got in your chair
all by myself Mommy

WOW!
look at that CRAZY hair!

Mommy & Demi
@ the annual July 4th cookout

cheese
it's so cute when she says it!

just waiting to eat
a hotdog

Demi having a
blast and keeping everyone laughing

Happy July 4th!
can't wait for the fireworks!

yeah!
I've even got a flag

GK cranking the homemade
icecream

Anna's turn now
it's strawberry, yum!

trying on a hat
that Auburn just gave me

Do you like my new
hat Momma?

Daddy's turning it now
it's getting thicker!

Mommy even tried
it was pretty much too thick for her to turn

muscles please!
I need some help!!

Demi and Daddy
watching the fireworks on the beach

she loved them
we weren't sure what she would think

Did you see that
one Daddy?

a few pics of
the fireworks

fireworks
2

fireworks 3
Mommy caught this one just perfect!

fireworks
4

fireworks
5

fireworks
6

Demi's seashells
she was so proud of them

this is what a
week at the beach will do to you! We're on the way home!!

Demi's 1st Birthday!!

Our Little Birthday Princess
Demi's 1st Birthday professional pictures 5/24/08

we can't believe she's 1!

How old is Demi?
Telling us she's 1

I'm ONE!

Mommy's favorite!!

Little Priss
rotten as can be!

I know.... I'm adorable!

another one of our favorites

our precious baby is one!
It's so hard to believe!

a few beach pics
we decided to do something a little different w/ summer right around the corner

always on her tip toes

such a ham, especially when the camera comes out!

you guessed it, I'm in a chair!!

As you can see, we loved them all and went overboard w/ 1st birthday pics!

her new phrase is "ooo pretty"

profile pics are always are favorites too!

always a happy girl!

those teeth crack us up!

yet, another pose
not our favorite background, but she's cute as always!

cheese!

I loved this bear!
Demi kept pointing at Mr. Bear and saying "ooo pretty" so our photographer stuck him in too!

Demi's little cake for picture day!

checking out her cake

Demi's first taste

yum, I think I'll have some more

mouth full!

she definitely likes cake!

yeah! Happy Birthday to me!

sweet baby feet

what's left of the cake

shoving it in!

It's Demi's Birthday!!!
5/30/2008-getting ready to go to Rhonda's for her party!

Daddy & Demi on her birthday!
Mommy & Daddy have lots of perparations to do today while Demi's at Rhonda's

Yeah! It's my birthday!!
she's such a happy girl!

ooooooo it's my day today!

5/30/2008 1 year old today!

singing happy birthday

a few pictures from Rhonda

Ryker, Demi, Jackson & Olivia
Demi's birthday party at Rhonda's. Not all of these children come to Rhonda's everyday, but they came today for Demi

cupcakes @ Rhonda's!
this was Demi's first cupcake

what do I do with this?

oh, eat it! yum yum

looks like they all had a blast!

time for presents!

Jackson & Demi
Demi's boyfriend!! They are in love already!!!

Jackson helping Demi

Brooke stopped by after school
Demi loves Brooke too!

balloons.......my favorite!

showing Sashae my party favor

Sashae loves Demi
Demi loves her too!

Daddy getting the house ready
for Demi's party 5/31/08

more balloons

yum yum!

lots of pink & purple...

Demi's chair is ready too!

more decor

Demi's BIG 1 balloon

ready for guest!!

1st Birthday Plate
This is a really neat plate Mommy found....everyone will sign it, we'll bake it and the names will stay!

good decorating Daddy!

Aunt Charlene has arrived!

telling Charlene she is 1

walking.........well kinda

I could do it all by myself.....
but I'm still being very careful! She will hold onto 1 finger, but still too cautious to let go

the birthday girl!

oh, Mrs. Stacy is here!

I love Mrs. Stacy

Daddy showing Demi all of her balloons. She loves balloons!

GK & Grandpa are here!!!

Grandpa saying ear muffs
Daddy taught Demi to cover her ears when he says ear muffs....it's really cute!

Aunt Elaine & the birthday girl

Birthday lunch!
hotdog, pickles & chips!

yum yum!

YEAH! Jack is here!
and he's getting so big!

smiling at each other, too cute!

Hi......I'm playing with Jack

nice hair baby Jack

I love him

are all of these presents mine?

time to open!!!!

tearing into the wrapping paper
she got really good at this during Christmas

a little help from Mommy
thanks Jack I love this 3-1 rider!!!

I love this thing Jack!!! Thanks

it's a water table from Nanna & Papa

a bubble mower & leappad book from Mrs. Stacy & Mr. Jared

this one is from Mommy & Daddy

Yeah! it's a little touch leappad!

not interested in the dress at all, but it's very cute!! Thanks Tracy & girls!

Mine!
look who was interested in Demi's new stuffed animal.....Otis.

giant legos!
they are pink too...perfect for a princess! Thanks Sharon & Ron

more clothes from Aunt Christy
Thanks Christy we missed you at the party!!

more presents
Demi definitely knows how to open them!!

She got so many nice things....thank you everyone for sharing Demi's special day with us!!

What is in this big box?
It's from GK and Grandpa Dennis

it's a push around buggy!

this will be perfect for our evening walks!

another present from GK & Grandpa.......it's a ball pit! Yipee! I have one at Rhonda's & I love it!

Daddy get in with me!!

Thanks GK & Grandpa Dennis
This will be so much fun this summer!!!! Inside or out!

What is Daddy bringing Demi?

it's a Barbie 4-wheeler
Daddy had to get it for me!!

making the "engine" sound

everyone in their birthday hats

Stacy & Jared

Ron

Daddy and his birthday girl!

All of us.....ready for cake!

baby Jack

Demi's birthday cakes

the adult cake

Demi's cake

singing Happy Birthday to Demi

clapping after blowing out the
candle

TIME FOR CAKE!

Mommy got chocolate this time

yummy

I'll try a fork now

we think she likes chocolate
she loved this cake!

riding her 4-wheeler

so cute!

pushing the button to make it GO!

taking out a flower bed

she absolutely loves it!

going for a ride in my car

thanks for pushing me Joyce

what a great day today was!
Thank you to everyone for making the trip to Charlotte to share Demi's 1st Birthday with us!!

Winter/Spring 2008

Sleepy Puppy
This is how Otis rang in the New Year!

Happy New Year Otis!

this was a late night for Otis
not to mention Demi wears him out!

I love all of my new toys!

no longer interested in the toys she had before Christmas

the sweetest face

finally starting to grow into those cheeks!

look @ my mess

I think it's funny!

Hi Mommy, see the mess I made for you!

our little talker

our little cutie after a bath

obviously, quite the little ham!

our little bear, bundled up ....
and ready to go!! It's been very cold in Charlotte!!

what happened to my feet?

TOO CUTE!

silly Otis
throwing all of his toys out to find his ball.

I'm having some juice from a
sippy cup

I'm doing really good with this!
Mommy found a cup for me that is soft and I think I'm a big girl drinking from it!

another 15 degree morning

playing ball with my doggie

I'm working on crawling!!

more practice with my sippy cup

Yum! apple juice....
she doesn't know it's half water

Jumping again!!

I'm getting so tall!
daddy had to raise my jumper for the first time today

Yeah!! I love this thing!

Playing with Daddy

I love my Daddy!

Hi dada

Where is everyone?

I'm awake! and ready to play!!

Sleepy girl!
......was walking her doggie, but didn't make it.

Bathing suit in January?

I have swimming lessons today!

early Saturday morning 1/12/07

Daddy & Demi getting ready
Daddy had to do the lesson with Demi since Mommy came down with the stomach virus Demi just got over.

.....the only Daddy

We thought Demi would love
swimming since she loves a bath..........

she wasn't very happy at first

What is Demi getting ready for?

Time to swim to Daddy!!!

Demi swimming!!!!

12 more lessons to go!!
Mommy can't wait to do it with Demi next week!

The Starlings
Dave, Dana, Katelyn & Hadley

Dana & Katelyn ice skating

Hadley is almost 4 months old!!
they grow SO fast!!

Happy Girl!

it's so hard to believe she is almost 8 months old!!

So glad to see that smile again
everyone is finally well at our house!! What a nasty stomach bug....

working on that crawling again!

I'm getting very close!
I'm scooting all over the place, just not using my knees very much yet!

Mommy & Daddy are ready!
they've already "baby-proofed" the house!!

Watching Backyardigans!
I've become addicted to them @ Mrs. Rhonda's!!

I watch them every night @ 5:30!

what a mess!
I also have realized I can throw all of my toys out of the basket and have a blast doing it!

Bath Time!!
I'm quickly out growing my tub!!

I still love pouring water over my head! Silly girl!!

Snow! 1/17/08
Just an inch, but you know how panicked people from NC get over snow!! Everything was closed!!

looking down the street
they came through and scraped our streets about 5am

Since we've been sick and it's only 21 degrees, we didn't go out to play, just took a few pics and back inside!!

Demi see's snow!
Daddy talked Mommy into letting her go out for a few minutes....it's her first snow!

not sure what to think
not to mention so bundled up she could hardly move!

Burrrrrrr can we go in now?

watching Dora on my "snow day"

Demi's first Checkers game!
1-18-07

with Amy @ the Checkers game

she loved watching the game!

Zamboni-which Demi loved!

Checkers win 3-2

Daddy this is fun!!

Demi was the entertainment.....
playing with the people in front of us, she had everyone around us laughing

I'm the cutest! and I know it!!

I love you Daddy!

waving @ the people behind us
she's such a little flirt...... and always the center of attention!!

hard to see, but it's the LYNX
Charlotte's new light rail system going through downtown. So cool!! We're going to take a ride very soon!

leaving the hockey game
Bobcat Arena lit up

cool pic of downtown Charlotte
we love it here!!!

looking downtown from
Bobcat Arena

Mommy & Demi

both laughing.....silly Daddy!

Talking to my baby

after saying Dada, it's amazing
how many words she has learned and so quickly!!

See my teeth?
I have 2 more coming in on top!

Look @ me!! I'm a BIG girl!!

talking away!
I love my chair.....I think I'm so big when I sit in it.

what a little stinker!
should be getting ready for bed, but she's wide open!

I'm so BIG!
so proud of herself!

what a sweet girl!

Mommy loves her baby girl!

LOOK! I'm up on all fours!

now what do I do?

I'm trying to figure this out!

she just rocked back and forth

no crawling tonight,
but I seem to be getting closer!

what a precious little face

guess who figured out splashing?

despite the towel,
she still had the floor covered!

looks like bath time will be moving into the bathroom!!

splash, splash, splash
we're so excited about this weeks swimming lesson!! Especially since last week's had to be canceled.

our little bunny!
warming up by the fire

too cute!

a little ham, as always

our little princess!!
who could resist this precious smile?

Yeah!!
Look what Daddy brought me from St. Louis!!

"Dale" the clydesdale!

the perfect present.....
I'm so into hair right now and he's really furry!! Maybe Otis will get a little break from the hair pulling!

Thanks Daddy!! I love him!!
and you to, of course!!

It's swimming lesson time!!
Mommy finally got to do a lesson with Demi!!

she did much better this time!!
It helped that the heater was working too, and the water was very warm!!

swimming under water to Mommy!
It's amazing how they instinctively know how to swim.

doing the hokey pokey

Mommy & Demi having a little playtime after the lesson

Watch me swim Daddy!!
I'm such a big girl!!

swimming to get the ball

kisses from Mr. Turtle

kick kick kick

Yeah! Time to go shopping!
......by the way GK, I love this chair!! I can get in and out of it all by myself now!

See my shoes!! cute huh?

I love them!!

especially the reflectors

Being silly!
This is what happens when you blow raspberries while eating carrots

blowing raspberries w/carrots
is FUN!!

I'm a stinker!

Oh yes, I can make my mean face while eating too!

she couldn't stop laughing
neither could we!

"brushing my teeth"

Mommy's dentist gave this to me and I sure do love to chew on it!

how do my teeth look?

maybe if I brush on top those
stubborn teeth will go ahead and push through!

tomorrow I'll be 8 months old!

I'm growing up way too fast!!

chunkey monkey!

time to stunt with Daddy

Daddy and his baby girl!....oh, what little girls do to their Daddys!!

this is boring.....
can we do something else?

GO HEELS!!

This is so easy.....
I can chew on my hands at the same time!

Demi "working" on Mommy's
laptop.

she loves the computer!

I'm 8 months old!!!

Our little Valentine!

cute little baby bottom

I'm ready for Valentine's Day!

definitely our heart!

precious girl!

lounging in my chair

still working on that crawling

I've almost figured it out!

completely out!
she went back to sleep while watching cartoons Saturday morning

Another Saturday of swimming!

fogged camera lens
it's so warm in there!

she did awesome!!
we think she was scared @ first because it's so loud at the indoor pool! (everything echos)

getting ready to jump to Mommy!

Mommy pulling her up

Super Bowl party @ Uncle Brian's

"uncle" Brian bought celery for me!! YEAH!! my favorite!

this makes my teeth feel so good

watching the game with Daddy

I love uncle Brian
I wore my Valentine's Day outfit just for him!

kisses for Demi

Otis, you ready?

Lets go Daddy!

time for a walk! I love to walk!
enjoying some 70 degree weather in February!

trying out my new duckie!

Demi quacking
the duck quacks and she was trying to imitate him

she loved him....
a little afraid of him when Daddy was blowing him up, but once we put water in him she was excited!

sweet girl

playtime!

look @ all of my hair!!!!!!
it's just recently started growing, and so fast!!

soapy hair

splash, splash, splash

naked baby

Swimming!
I'm getting so good!! and brave!

Mommy pulling Demi up

blowing bubbles

swimming to Mommy

Hula Girl!
In my hula outfit from Aunt Elaine's trip to Hawaii

what is this stuff anyway?

Yep, I'm standing by myself

I think I'll taste it

Thanks Aunt Elaine!!!!

Swinging!

Yeah!!!

blowing raspberries

I love to swing!

Can I get down and play in that?

more raspberries!!
such a stinker!

I'm rotten! Can you tell?

sweet baby girl!

sliding with Mommy

I can go down this one by myself

time to shop, and cute as can be

More hula girl pics

Trust me, I know...I'm too cute!

What are these coconuts for?

pulling up!! to play

Mommy & Daddy are starting to think I might walk instead of crawling first

Look @ me! I'm a big girl now!!

Hi, Mama

watch what I can do!

All of the ingredients layed out
for Demi to make her first cake!

Mommy & Demi ready to bake!
The cake was for Demi's Valentine's Day party @ Mrs. Rhonda's

opening the cake mix

I've got the mixer Mommy!

what is this stuff?

she loved playing in it
this summer might be a good time for a sandbox!

this is great!!

what's next??

picking out the eggs

getting the mixer ready

Demi's turn

I have to feel this stuff again!

too funny
she never tasted it, but loved the way it felt between her fingers

time to put together Valentines!

Mommy & Demi working on them

shake, shake, shake
I love making noise!! The louder the better!!

YEAH!! This is fun!!

Demi's cake!
No icing.....Jackson and Olivia don't like it!!

My 1st Valentine's Day!!!

It's Party Time!!!

Lets go to Rhonda's Mommy!!

silly girl!! always happy!

Valentine's Day morning

finally, we're ready to go!

Valentine's Day @ Mrs. Rhonda's
I had so much fun! I loved all of the balloons and little taste of the treats I had!!

Demi & Olivia
Jackson didn't come today.....but he did leave a Valentine for his girlfriend, Demi!

Demi's Valentine for Mommy & Daddy!

Now this is what you call POOPED

Brooke Stewart Brown is a Mommy!
Adalyn Rose Brown was born 2-15-08 @ 10:44am!!!!

New Mommy & Adalyn

6lbs 15oz - 19 3/4 inches
Mommy is recovering well from her scheduled C-section (Adalyn was breech) & all is well with Adalyn!!!!

Look @ me! I'm getting SO big!

I love my chair!!
I can get in and out all by myself! Thanks again GK!

such a happy girl!

"Talking"
always talking......and learning so many new words!

Otis & Demi

Hey Otis, come here!
he's being SO good with her!

Can you pet me a little softer?
She's learning to be gentle with him, but sometimes is a little too rough!

the usual toy mess!

sweet baby girl!

playing ball with Otis

making my mean face

she loves to throw the ball....
and gets so excited when Otis brings it back! It's really cute!

yeah! he got it!

he's bringing it back!!!!

you ready little buddy?

what a little stinker!

precious little face

mean face again
the only way to show my new 2 front teeth! They came in about 3 weeks ago!

now pulling up in the crib!

Daddy, time to lower the mattress again!

I'M CRAWLING!!!
first started on 2-18, but a pro now!

I'm getting into everything!!

catch me if you can.....

teething again too
as you can see

loving my swimming lessons
so hard to take pics in there! It's so warm, the camera lens fogs up instantly!

playing ball with Otis again
this is my favorite thing to do!

our two babies
looks like Otis is tired!

more crawling.......

Melissa & baby Jack
he's already 8 weeks old! so hard to believe

what a sweet little guy

baby Jack, can I feel your hair?
the first time Demi has been around a baby younger than her

too cute!

Mommy, he has my fingers

Wes & Jack

silly girl

playing in my duckie again

now that we have the duck, we can't get her out of the tub!

splash, splash!

everyone's soaked after bathtime

more playtime with Otis

I'm all over the house now!

I'm 9 months old today!
where has the time gone?

so stinking cute!

Little Miss. Personality

more crawling.........

out of my way! here I come!!

Hey, who is that?

Demi found herself in the mirror

so funny!
she hasn't noticed the floor length mirror in Mommy & Daddy's room until now....crawling

talking to herself

waving to herself

Mommy shouldn't mind if I put a few more slobbery finger prints on here

loving her baby

enjoying celery
@ BWW

dinner with GK, Grandpa, and Uncle T

you got my order, right?
CELERY!

silly girl!

she has quite a personality as you can see

Tasting a lemon

THIS FACE IS PRICELESS!

What a beautiful day!
74 in Charlotte!!!!

Daddy & Grandpa working hard
to finish the garage!

Otis sleeping in the sun

look who sees her shadow

playing w/ her shadow

too cute

hanging with Uncle T
like my bunny ears? they are for Easter!!

I love you Uncle T

Daddy is one cool rabbit!

garage is finished!!

looks great!

cutie
watching Mommy & daddy put all of the stuff back in the garage

another trip to the park

I love to swing
the higher the better!

higher Daddy!

Mommy & Demi on the slide

Yeah!!

time for the BIG slide!

waving @ Daddy

Wow! I'm getting so big!

having a snack

yum yum

Bite anyone?

teething cookies & toast, yum

she's such a little mess!

playtime!
now involves climbing on everything and crawling from room to room!

Oh, and pulling up too!

the best toy we've bought

such a cutie

I graduated!
from swimming lessons!

see my certificate!

I passed the Shrimp & Skipper class! Ready for summer to get here!

Katelyn....has grown up so fast!

WOW! this is Hadley!!

blue eyes like Mommy!

The Starlings
we sure do miss living in OBX with them!!

Katelyn's first competition

1st place on her individual!!!
her team got 1st too!!

Katelyn & Mommy

Demi's new bookshelf

I think I'll read a book

Yeah! I can ready my "Demi friendly" books all by myself!

Pulling up all over the place

Is he here yet?
waiting to see the Easter Bunny

Yeah! It's my turn!!

I love the Easter Bunny!

bye bye Easter Bunny

Where are we going?
I want to see him again

Look at my coloring book
it's from Mr. Bunny

Time for Easter/9 month pics!!

ready to go! Is it my turn yet?

I'm going to get that bunny!

talking to the bunny

still talking.....
as usual; if she's awake she's talking

cutie

Yeah! I get to sit w/the bunny!

our little Easter bunny

making her bunny face?
w/her top teeth still not all the way in, looks like she has bunny teeth

wardrobe!!!!!! change me!

9 1/2 months!
where has the time gone?

photo shoots are interesting with a crawling baby!

D is for Demi

enough of my knees......
I'm getting up!

Yep, I'm a big girl now!

so sweet
contrary to what most say...she looks just like Daddy in this pic

precious little face

these pics always seem to be the favorites!

Demi's Easter cards

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our Little Lepracon

excited! can't you tell?

Mommy & Demi "in green!"

playing ball with Otis

so cute to watch them play

Otis & Demi; so cute!

Demi helping Uncle T

opening his early b-day gift

what is it Uncle T?

Just what he wanted......
a Carl Edwards jacket

Demi loved the box

Cool jacket Uncle T

just in time for the race!

the Easter Bunny came!!

puffs & biter biscuits, YEAH!

Demi's 1st Easter

@ GK & Grandpa Dennis's church

w/ Aunt Tracy @ Easter lunch

silly girl!

w/Great-Grandma Peggy

.....and Great Granny Parker

too busy to look @ the camera

sweet picture

Aunt Linda's turn

waving bye bye

pretty sweater Aunt Linda

Easter 2008

Grandpa, Travis, Granny Parker & Linda

I love my Uncle T

w/ Blake & Aunt Elaine

rocking in GK's rocking chair
this was GK's when she was a little girl!

I love to rock!

back in the rocking chair

I'm such a big girl!

Daddy & Demi

playtime

yep, my table goes everywhere
it's my favorite toy!!

GO HEELS!
ACC Tournament Champs!

YEAH! we're going to the final 4

little chunk!
I'm 20lbs and 29.5 inches long!

clapping her hands! GO Tarheels!

new kitchen backsplash
Mommy & Nanna put it up!

the wall behind the sink

just waiting for it to dry

Nanna working on the other side

looking good!

Daddy checking out the progress
he & papa were doing the bathroom floors!

master bath

all we need now is grout!

grout down in master!
once the shoe molding is down we'll post a "cleaned up" pic of the master bath!

working on Demi's bathroom now

Daddy still has to grout. We'll post a new pic when it's done!

Daddy & Papa did a great job!!
they did both bathrooms in one day!

Demi & Papa
playing after a very long day of tiling

Papa your hat head looks silly!

I love my Nanna!

"barking" like Otis
when asked what does Otis do she now barks.......so cute!

growing up way too fast!

so fast @ crawling now!
she crawls faster than we can walk!!

mac & cheese and turkey sticks!
Demi's favorite foods right now

yum, yum!
pretty much eating all table food now!

silly girl!
trying so hard to get into the kitchen where all of the tiling materials were

grout is done in the kitchen!!

the design turned out great too!

we love it!

thanks for all your help Nanna!
and Papa too!

10 months old!!
March 30, 2008

saying Hi

I finally have enough hair for my bows!

kissing
yes, Demi knows how to kiss now, it's precious!

I'm rotten and I know it!

BIG kiss!

wearing Grandpa Dennis' hat

I love Grandpa's hat!

Demi sitting on the front porch
watching Mommy plant some flowers

Miss Personality!! saying HI
talking to anyone and everyone who happened to be out walking

See my new teeth?
maybe not, they are not completely in, but I just got 4 new ones! 2 on top and 2 on bottom!

Ta-Da
one of her many words she's saying now!

our little cutie!

saying Hi

checking again to see if her hat was still on.....she likes to wear them.

the sweetest face

what is this stuff?

I don't like it!!
first time she has sat in grass with shorts on....she wasn't too sure about it!

maybe it's not so bad...
she would not put that one leg down

still holding that leg?
practicing a heel stretch maybe?

happy now!

sweet baby girl

time for a walk!
I'm a little stinker, can't you tell?

uh-oh.....
Is what Demi was saying as she poured Otis' water all over herself!

Am I in trouble?

water everywhere!
Mommy had just filled it a few minutes before, time to change pj's

Mommy & Demi

there is that pretty smile!

Daddy playing Guitar Hero

the family
fuzzy pic, but it's all of us together!

1st visit to Memorial Gardens
4/20/08

checking out all of the beautiful flowers! Everything was in bloom.....we picked a great day!

Hey! where are you going?

I think I'll stand up

Demi loved all of the colors

what a beautiful place!

sweet little face

happy girl!

so pretty

Demi is into clothes right now..
anything she can find she tries to put on! This is one of Daddy's shirts she found.

silly girl!!

playing in my room

and pulling up on EVERYTHING!!

I love books!

they taste yummy too!

"reading"
she is saying so many words now, it's crazy!! She will repeat almost everything you say to her!

making a mess is FUN!

yum! blueberry pancakes!

Daddy made them for me!
yep, home-made!

our azalea this spring!

so pretty!
last summer it didn't bloom, so we were happy to see it like this!!

are we ready yet?

such a big girl now!

walking around the play table

I have 8 teeth now!

Who me?

w/ uncle Brian

waving Hi

watching Uncle B play the guitar

YOU ROCK! uncle B

..........yes, she's everywhere!
helping Mommy load the dishwasher

Looks like I'll be walking soon!

trying to take steps and let go

11 months old!! 4/30/08
WOW! we can't believe it........oh, where has the time gone!

rocking all by myself
she loves to rock in her chair

amazing how quickly she's grown

little stinker!

Look at me!

determined to walk!

ball with Otis

playing with my Sponge Bob ball
I love Sponge Bob! I start dancing when it comes on!

Yeah! Sponge Bob!

Let's eat!!
In my new highchair! I feel like such a big girl in this big seat!!

Talking.........
Now I can eat messy things w/o making such a mess!!

Ta-Da!

new toy.......
I love this ball popper!

turning it on

Hey! Where did the balls go?

It's Relay for Life day!!!

Ready to go!!!
see all of my new teeth? I'm working on my 9th one!

See my relay t-shirt!
It was quite big, but I was cute.... as always!

Mommy & Demi getting ready
to go to Relay for Life w/ Mrs. Stacy! Daddy's Orlando trip was in May this year so he missed it.

Bye Bye

hanging out at Relay 4 Life
what a hot day!

Mr. Relay Contestants.......
Men dress up for donations & compete to win Mr. Relay, it was TOO funny!

Mommy they are funny!

one of the many bands

staying cool

I love my puppy!

GK and Grandpa came to visit!
Look @ what they brought!

playing with Uncle T

I can push it too!!!

this thing is great!

I can get on by myself!
she wants to do everything by herself!

pooped!

playing with GK

little cutie

Isn't this cool GK?

outside on my car

I'm going to get you Daddy!

getting off of my car

Hey!! Mommy come back!

Look @ what Demi found!!

Uh-oh
is what she was saying when Daddy & Mommy caught her!

silly girl!
into EVERYTHING!

watching the birds at the feeder

playtime!

Mommy's Mother's Day present
Demi made it at Rhonda's

Mommy opening it

It's a plate that Demi decorated

I colored this for Mommy!

Mommy's plate
Isn't it pretty!

In my new chair!
Demi is really into little people chairs right now so we got her one for outside!

I'm a big girl!

talking......as usual

so proud of herself!

I think I'll put it in the grass

tickling her toes on the grass

I'm going to get you!

back in her chair

Mommy & Demi
Mommy's got my arm!!

Hi Daddy

Daddy & Demi
enjoying a beautiful day outside

playing pat-a-cake

sneaking up on Demi
who was reading a book to herself........so funny!

amazing how she has a full conversation with a paci in her mouth!

Mothers Day 2008!
Mommy's first

this girl loves jewelry!

Mommy & Demi ready for Mother's Day lunch!

@ Outback for Mother's Day lunch
Demi looking at Mommy's flower

Thanks Daddy & Demi for the purse and flat iron Mommy's been wanting!!

Mother's Day storm!!
It's starting to hail!

WOW! Look at the hail!
This was the worst storm we've ever been in, other than the hurricane we went though in OBX

hail and funnel clouds.....not too much fun, but it was over quickly and we have no damage, thank goodness!

funnel cloud?
This was a scary storm, we had to get in the little bathroom until it was over!

Rainbow after the storm

A day on the boat
@ Lake Norman. Demi's first trip!! She was too little to go last year!

leaving the marina
Demi loved watching the wake

making the sound of the boat
she's into making car and truck noises......looks like boats too!

a beautiful day on the lake
as a family w/ Kristie and Paul too

time for Demi's life jacket

napping on the boat

crazy Daddy!
the water was too cold for Mommy & Demi!

Demi & Joyce

relaxing in a cove

Daddy & Demi relaxing

Daddy was so happy to get out on the lake!

heading back to the marina

not too happy about the jacket
but I'll get used to it this summer!

Yep, another chair
Demi LOVES chairs!

this one will be perfect for the beach!

Demi..... loving being outside on a beautiful day, and in another chair!

this is GREAT!

pointing @ Daddy
she points and talks about everything!

I LOVE MAC & CHEESE!

The Starling Family
May 2008

Hadley and her Daddy

Baby Hadley is getting so BIG!
she looks just like her Daddy!

Katelyn & Hadley

so sweet!

Hadley loves living at the beach

off with the hat

Katelyn

silly girls!

we sure do miss living at OBX with them!! Can't wait to visit this summer!

Princess Katelyn

Lander Baseball '08

"Family Weekend"
11/3/07- The team was playing itself.......followed by a cookout!

the field

a beautiful day for baseball!
great field too!!

excuse the netting, obviously we sat right behind homeplate

Chris playing center field

Chris's "team" in the dugout
he was on blue

Aunt Lindsay and Demi

Our little Bearcat!
Demi's first trip to Lander

Demi enjoyed the game!
she pretty happy doing anything outside

Demi showing Grandma her shoes

GO BEARCATS!!

praying mantis in the stands

Uncle Chris up to bat!!

such an awesome player!!

we are soooooooo proud of him!

Blue won!!
We can't wait for the season to start in February!!

We're now a Bearcat Family!

The Duncans and Parkers

The Parkers @ Lander

hanging out at Chris's place

Will playing guitar hero!

Wes playing
he reminded us all that his birthday is right around the corner!

Demi's turn

Grandma's turn
this game is a blast!! We know what we will be buying ourselves for Christmas!

Daddy @ Demi watching

Daddy trying to get Demi to do her cupie

too distracted by the game

Demi's chair with Daddy

Demi playing the guitar

IT'S BASEBALL SEASON!!!!!

Double-Header against Catawba
2/3/07

Uncle Chris warming up!

what a beautiful day!!!
65 degrees!

Demi @ uncle Chris's first game

Chas's dad & Wes

GO #19!!

Daddy & Demi enjoying a beautiful day at the ball field!

silly girl!

Mommy & Daddy @ the game

Nanna & Papa

Mommy & Demi waiting for the 2nd game to start

Hey Daddy!

Playtime at the game

GO BEARCATS!!
Each team won a game

#10 up to bat

more of Lander up to bat

Chris heading onto the field

Chris on the right

awesome pitcher!

Nanna with sleepy Demi
by this time we're half way into the 2nd game

Wes & Chas's dad

Demi bear all snuggled up!
it sure did get cold quick, once the sun started going down

Papa & Demi
going to be spoiled after napping in everyone's arms

Nanna, Papa & Demi

Yeah! Uncle Chris! I love him!!

Demi, Chris & Chasidy
soooo proud of him!

Parker's @ the end of the game

what a great day!!
can't wait for the next game!!!

snuggled up & ready to go eat!

CELERY!! my favorite!

@ Outback with the family
after the game

nice face!

Lander @ Georgia Soughwestern

Uncle Chris up to bat!

Uncle Chris's bunt

he's up again!!!

triple this time!!
Chris is doing AWESOME! and we're loving the games!!!

Lander vs West Virginia State
3/7-3/8

Chris warming up

Lander warming up
what a COLD day!!

40 degrees with a wind chill of about 30! burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

game time!

Burrrrr Mommy!

snuggled up with Nana

more game pics........

Demi watching the game
trying to stay warm!

Chris coming off the field

Uncle Chris headed back out

Bearcats win 2 of 3 games!
so this goes down as a conference win for Lander!!

eating some toast
back @ the hotel with Nana & Papa

Papa playing with Demi

Nana's turn!

Ta-Da
Demi's new word

look who found the mirror

Demi checking out the lobster
@ dinner after the game

touching him, not at all afraid!

He feels funny Papa!
I think I'll touch him again

Demi's 1st Thanksgiving & Christmas!!

Demi's turkey
she made at Mrs. Rhonda's

Demi's first Thanksgiving
@ GK's. Daddy's birthday too!

Demi has just started to have some separation anxiety from mommy

Uncle Jay & Demi
still making sure Momma hasn't gone too far

Auburn & Demi

Wes opening his cards

Happy Birthday DaDa!

Demi enjoying Daddy's envelopes

Aunt Christy giving Demi a taste
of fat-back. Mommy says yuck! Demi wasn't a big fan either.

Aunt Elaine with Demi & Auburn

Uncle Travis & Grandpa Dennis won Demi some new stuffed animals.

showing Christy how I can jump!

Uncle Blake with a full tummy

showing everyone how I can say
DaDa

My first bath a GK's

"Hey guys, I'm sitting up!"

A visit with Great Granny Peggy

she loves me

Otis watching for deer

he is not used to them coming
right up to the window at his house

cutie

showing off for everyone
I'm definitely a little ham!

Heading to Karama for Daddy's
birthday

"I love my Uncle T"

Yeah! Karama!!

Burrrrrr! What a cold night!

Soup spoons at Karama are great toys!

Daddy's Birthday
11-23-07 (not the best pic,taken with Kurama's camera)

Visiting Katelyn & Hadley

They loved each other!
Funny how we didn't take any with baby Hadley. Dana & Chas have mommy brains I guess!

Dana reading a book to Demi

Katelyn just had to stunt!

Demi's first trip to the Rat
another one of Daddy's favorites!

Time to head home!
I'm in my big girl seat! My travel system has been sent back to Graco for falling apart!

my new "little" seat should be here soon!

Little Tarheel

We can not believe she is a week
away from being 6 months old!

growing too fast!

I'm waiting to see Santa!

YEAH!! He's coming!!

Santa waving @ Demi!

Santa was part of the Fred Claus display. It was really neat!

Mommy & Demi checking out
one of the huge snow globes.

It was "snowing" on us

another globe

Us inside our own snow globe
Demi loved the snow falling on her

peeking out of our globe
Demi still looking at the snow

Demi & Momma being silly

We had just as much fun as Demi

Ok! I'm ready to see Santa
(watching other kids with Santa)

Mommy stealing some kisses

Demi with Santa!
12/1/2007

she absolutely loved him!

Telling Santa what she wants....
Yes, she talked to him, it was sooooo cute!

"I love Santa!"
the most precious picture!

Trying on a Mrs. Claus hat

"This hat feels like Otis"

I'm on the Nice List, Trust ME!

Ho Ho Ho

Our 2 Santas

see my shirt?

too cute

Demi making her mean face

Otis, where are you going?

Daddy is getting me ready for
All-Stars!

ERAC Christmas Party 2007

At the party

picture taken by photographer
@ the party.......we think it's funny, looks like a prom picture haha

couldn't resist buying this for the front yard

Demi's first Christmas stocking!

Daddy, Mommy, & Demi
waiting for Santa!

Demi looking at her first
ornament

Of course I need to see how it taste

Demi's first ornament
from Mommy & Daddy

Demi's ornament was the very first to go on the tree this year!

she loves the Christmas tree

looking @ the lights

Demi's Teresa Thibault ornament
We love these, our neighbors got us one last year. They are hand painted and so pretty!

Mommy & Demi picked it up today!

Mommy & Demi
getting ready to put Demi's ornament on the tree

Demi holding her ornament

2007 Christmas Pictures
Demi 6 1/2 months old

Miss Personality finally decided
to come alive!

she has learned she can stick out her tongue

now for our favorites.......

our little lady!

there is that tongue again

the sweetest face we've ever seen!

Precious baby girl!

Mommy's Favorites...........

get this dress off!

We're not finished yet?

Didn't I tell you...I'm DONE!

Ho Ho Ho

I'll talk, but no more pictures!

A few special pics we had made

2007 Parker Family Christmas Card! (Demi 6 1/2 months old)

Mommy & Daddy I made this.....
it's a Christmas card for you, I made at Mrs. Rhonda's!

yep, it taste good too!

I painted so pretty

putting out cookies for Santa
well, trying to anyway.........

I think I'll eat one now

yum yum, oreos

maybe I'll have two

Otis! Want a cookie?

Santa's cookies & milk

Looks like Santa stopped by!
Christmas @ our house, Christmas Eve am.....Santa had to come a little early.

the cutest shoes!!
they look huge in this pic, but they are so tiny!

he left a special bag for Demi!

Demi checking out her gifts.....

You mean I can play this??

looking @ Daddy videoing me

this looks fun....

thanks for taking the legs off Daddy!

this seems to be the favorite

Mommy showing Demi her books from Santa

I can do it Mommy!

"Is this for me?"

she was a little overwhelmed with what to play with

checking out her stocking

eating my stocking gifts

opening her first presents

how does wrapping paper taste

I'm getting good @ this.....

driving my car

too much to play with....

Watch me Daddy!!

our 2 babies

Daddy opening his gift from Demi

look @ that face

Guitar Hero 3!!

he was excited to say the least

putting it together

Parker Family 1st Christmas!

playing guitar hero at 7am!

definitely a big kid!

Demi watching Daddy
she loves music, so she loves to watch the game

Mommy's turn

watch me eat my shoe, Uncle T

heading to Charlenes for
Christmas Eve with GK & Grandpa Dennis

with Great-Grandma Peggy
@ Charlenes

Aunt Christy & Demi

Santa came to the Farrells

Rudolf came too

CANDY!!!!!!

Thanks!! Santa Blake!

My first candy cane

time to open presents!

Mommy & Demi-Christmas Eve

What is it Mommy?

slippers & a ducky!

tasting wrapping paper again!

WOW! This is a big one!

It's a big girl seat!
I have this at Mrs. Rhonda's and LOVE IT!!

first cell phone @ almost 7 months old??!

get it out Mommy!

happy as can be!

Uncle T loves Carolina!!

Auburn & her babies

Chinese Christmas game begins!

Uncle T opens potty golf
this was Wes's gift....too funny!!

What does uncle Blake have?

GK gets a propane tank

what do you have GK?

A VERY silly gag gift from Christy

Auburn & Demi

Demi with uncle Jay

the whole gang
Christmas Eve 2007

Wes & Blake playing Guitar Hero

Anna & Demi

Demi waving bye bye

Christy's turn

this game is addicting!

Someone's getting sleepy

out like a light
what a big day!!

Christmas Morning @ the Parkers

yeah! another cell phone!

Demi's first chair!

In my new chair......
with my Carolina Girl hat on!

I love my chair GK!

she knows exactly what to do

Mommy & Daddy's precious gift!
What more could we ever want??

Otis eating his present

GK, Grandpa & T opening thier gifts from Demi

Ornaments!!

Mommy loves her PB ornament

waving bye bye
to GK and Grandpa Christmas morning......we're off to Atlanta!

Christmas Day @ Nanna & Papa's
Since Demi is now saying Nanna, Chas's parents now have their "names"

14ft Christmas Tree
Demi LOVED it!

Demi's Santa pics near the tree

Demi's stocking
@ Nanna & Papa Duncan's house

Everyone's stocking......
it's getting full up there!

Chris, Will, Lindsay & Loui

Chris & Lindsay

Demi & Papa

so happy to see his princess

eating a candy cane she found
on one of her gifts

opening presents.....

Baby Uggs.....so cute!

thanks for the Uggs aunt Cheri!

Fairy dress up from Nanna
Nanna said it's a little early, but she couldn't resist buying it!

Never too early for dress up...
Demi's fairy outfit! SO CUTE!

Silly girl! fairy outfit & Uggs?

Yeah! Mommy's favorite outfit!

Thanks Grandma I love these!

look Mama, a baby!

"Little Bailey"
a Middleton Doll

Demi's first Middleton Doll

"I LOVE! this Christmas thing!"

bows & wrapping paper are great!

already eating my photo/teething book

Demi's gift to Papa

Daddy & Mommy's turn

Mom, Chas & Aunt Cheri

same pic was taken last year, but Chas was 18 weeks pregnant!

Mommy loving her baby girl

sweet girl
snuggling with mommy

ROCK BAND!!!
Chris got Rock Band for Christmas!!!

the same as Guitar Hero, but now 4 can play. 2 guitar, drums and a singer!

Mommy playing Rock Band!

a full band

Mommy on drums, Daddy on bass guitar

So addicting & a blast to play!

Nanny (Demi's great grandma)
playing too! How funny is that!!

Breakfast time!

playing @ Nanna & Papa's

sleepy girl!

Exhausted from all of the Christmas excitement & travel

like my hat from Nanna?

baby Chloe scared, but getting
closer to Demi

joining in on Rock Band

Bathtime in Nanna's sink!

she thinks it's funny to pour water over her own head!

Dinner @ the Perkins 12/29/07
Chas's aunt & uncle's house

Demi meets Scarlet & Rhett

she absolutely loves animals

they loved her too

Scarlet, Rhett, come back!

Amanda, Jake, Samantha, Chris, Chasidy, Demi & Wes

We're home!
what a great Christmas we had!!

Summer, Fall, & Winter 2007

Mommy & Demi
Heading to Daddy's work party at our pool/clubhouse.

Jeremy meeting Demi for the
first time.

Kane, Demi & Jeremy

Haji

Everyone checking out Demi
At our last Enterprise party Chas was was VERY pregnant!

Demi had a visit from her
Grandparents this weekend

precious girl

smiling at Grandma

Grandpa Dennis loves his
Demi

Daddy & Grandpa relaxing

Demi's 1st trip to the pool
outside mommy's belly

Uncle Travis talking to Demi

Uncle Travis putting his
favorite hat on Demi

she seems to love being outside

Cutie going to dinner w/
Grandma & Grandpa Parker

Demi outside while mommy
& daddy do some yard work.

a little too bright to open
those eyes all the way

There are those pretty eyes

Patch comes to see Demi

Otis right behind him

Demi gets doggie kisses

out for a walk

"lets get going"

Katelyn's 3rd Birthday!!

I'm sure her little sister due
to arrive in October will love her singing!

Birthday Princess

Katelyn on the left

Charlotte Knights vs Durham
Bulls 8-11-07

Demi's 1st baseball game

Amy & Demi
enterprise party @ the game

Mommy & Demi
Demi fell asleep while having this pic taken

Completely Out! @ the game

Grandma & Grandpa came to
Demi's house this weekend!

BIG YAWN! We just spent the
whole day seeing "Bodies" at Discovery place.....we were all tired!

Parker Family 8/12/07
Do you think Demi is tired?

good morning Demi

Where did everyone go?

waking up after catching a few
extra z's in mommy & daddy's bed

Demi is getting so big!

"Harley Girl"
getting ready for aunt Charlene's surprise harley themed party

Demi even has a tattoo

silly girl blowing bubbles

waiting for Charlene to arrive

Grandma Karen talking to Demi

Auburn & Demi

Charlene & Jay arriving

Uncle Jay's new harley
Charlene is now a biker babe! haha......the reason for the theme

so surprised!

Happy 50th Charlene!

Wes seeing Jay's harley for the
first time.

checking out the bike

...all we need is something else
to put in the garage!

Wes, Demi & Uncle Jay Bird

Daddy & Demi

happy as long as she can blow
bubbles...........look at that dimple!

Happy Birthday Charlene

yum, the cake

Christy & Demi

Grandpa Dennis as a biker!

Auburn holding Demi & she's
still blowing bubbles

Momma & Demi

Auburn

Mommy & Demi hanging out
at Charlene's party

Uncle Travis heading up the
slide

Rick, Jessica & Blake

looks like Wes is having a good
time

Travis dancing

Demi fell asleep sitting up

Mommy telling Blake NO when
he tried to wake her up!

this biker chick is tired!

blowing out the candles

time to open gifts!

Demi got aunt Charlene a new
Vera

Demi wiped out! from the party

when the mouth falls open.......
she's gone

Demi with Grandpa Dennis's
bandana

silly girl

visiting with Great-Grandma

watching football with uncle
Blake

Now it's Grandpa Dennis's party!

Demi with Brooke

A surprise for Grandpa Dennis

it's a hotdog all the way
it's a long story, but this would have been about his 12th hotdog in 3 days

Demi was not too sure about
the cook karama

All of the Parkers

Katelyn's 1st day of preschool

Katelyn & her daddy
ECU/UNC game

she's too cute!

Katelyn & Mommy

the whole Starling Family
baby Hadley coming in 3 weeks or less!

Demi watching her baby einstein
video

she loves it!

Otis likes it too!

in a video trance

playing before bedtime

Daddy & Demi napping

I'm almost 3.5 months old!

What's on my feet?

yeah! a pair finally fits!

Demi loving her baby
.........yes that's drool!

growing so fast!

and cute as can be!

she's really laughing now!

this looks interesting........

like everything else, lets see
how it taste!

....not so good!

Are we ready to go yet?

"ooooooooooh wrapping paper"

helping momma wrap Jackson's
birthday present

so entertained
Christmas should be a blast!

taking a bubble bath

my mommy & daddy can't
believe I'm almost 4 months old!

look @ all those fat rolls
I've been eating good!!

mommy & Demi

getting cuter everyday!

naked girl in our bed

sleeping in on Saturday morning

so cute we could just eat her up

sweet dreams!
Wes says she's dreaming of her milk cow!

It's Grandma Karen's birthday
........another trip to Childress Vineyard!

such a beautiful place!
and what perfect weather!

the whole crew

what a beautiful place!

look at all of those grape vines

back of the vineyard

Daddy Wes
enjoying a glass of wine, while doing a little business on the phone

guess that's the price you pay
for running the largest location in NC!! We're so proud of him!!

Uncle Robbie is so silly!
he's always making these crazy contraptions!

Christy & Charlene

Christy, Charlene & Dora

Demi with Lynn

Aunt Elaine opening her
birthday gift from us

she gets a Vera from Demi too

GK's turn

GK opening her gift from Demi

she loves pictures!

Jerry gets to hold Demi

Grandpa Dennis loving Demi

sweet picture

Happy Birthday GK!!

Grandma with her boys and baby

bright eyes

Demi was worn out!

the swans came to visit us

Miss Priss

laughing at Christy

Us at the Vineyard

Demi with Grandma & Grandpa

what a sunny day!

Demi's first Panther game!
9-16-07

ready to go!

My Daddy did good on my outfit

"GO PANTHERS!"

a few tailgating pics.....

Wes & Brian getting the grill
going

Demi spent her first hour
tailgating like this

"Uncle Brian" on the grill

hanging out in the bumbo

Looks like Demi & Daddy are
ready for football season!

Momma & Demi
What a beautiful morning!!!

It's game time!

Don't ask..........
Demi with 24" rims

the guy beside us wanted to
set her in front to show how big his new rims are, silly

Parker Family Tailgating
cool pic with city in the background

heading to the stadium!

Brian & Demi

a few shots of the game

Packed House!

sleeping during the 3rd QTR

Demi & Mommy checking out
the game

panthers didn't play so well,
but we had a blast!

Daddy getting strapped in to
head to the car

"lets go home!"

lots of drool!
I may be starting to teeth!

Do you like my double chin?

playing w/ momma

I'm a happy girl!

Demi @ 4 months!

chunkey monkey!

Otis waiting for Daddy to take
him for a ride!

Demi playing with Amy's niece

she loves her new einstein links

we're glad she came to the party
Demi was so entertained!!

so sweet!

Grandma & Grandpa came too
Demi obviously did something very funny!

Posing.......
for Grandpa's cell phone camera

very tired puppy!

too much excitement for him

Our little angel!

too cute!

our little cutie!

taking a break from playing

little drooler!
it feels like she may be starting to get her first tooth!

"really" playing now!
it's amazing to watch her play now.....she picks the toy she wants and knows how to make them work.

a much happier traveler now!
she used to get bored in the car, but is doing much better entertaining herself now

Daddy & Demi watching
football on a Saturday afternoon

Ready to go hunting with
Gramps!

she thought that was funny!

Auburn's 3rd Birthday!

visiting with aunt Tracy

Annabell & Auburn

they are too cute!

blowing out the candles

Auburn opening her gifts

Demi enjoying the wrapping
paper

Demi in the moon-walk

rolling over

she loved it

Demi & Auburn eating smores
.....Demi got a taste of marshmellow anyway

getting a taste for Demi

Good Morning Demi
@ gramdma & grandpa parker's house

ready for church
Grandma can't wait to show me off!!

telling us how excited she is to
go

so chunkey and cute!

Did you say the Tarheels won?

Are you sure they beat Miami?

Daddy's little Tarheel

GO HEELS!

Outside enjoying the warm
October weather!

We're ready for Halloween!

Demi with her pumpkin

Playtime!

Look @ me I'm such a big girl!

hanging out in the bumbo

That's my puppy right there!
her favorite place to be is in the floor with Otis

WHAT A LOOK!!!!!!!!!

Otis bringing Demi the ball
he doesn't understand she can't throw it yet

giggling when asked if she
wants to go outside

bundled up and ready to go
out with Daddy

Daddy out for a walk
Burrrrrrrrrrr it was 56 degrees!!!!!

Heading to the doctor for my
4 month well check and some icky shots!

checking out my trumpette's
(those are cute socks with colored ballerina slippers) I have all different colors

closer pic of them

we don't go anywhere without
her baby

out of the whole house.........

Otis picks Demi's Halloween
costume to lay on!

Yep, she's a mermaid for
Halloween this year! Wait until you see it on her.......SO CUTE!!

Ready for my first "meal"

Cereal Time!!

Demi's first cereal 10-12-07

mommy showing Demi her
cereal

mixing it up........time to eat!

ready to eat!

first bite

What do I do with this stuff?

looking @ her bowl

I have a little on my fingers

much better off my hands

get this bib off me!!!!!!!
and hand me the bowl!

off with the bib and shirt

loving it now!

I know, I'm so cute!

Eating is fun!! Look @ my mess!

give me the spoon mommy

All Done!

where did it all go?

time to clean up

I'm almost sitting up by myself!

starting to get sleepy

Little Wildcat
My grandpa's are so divided when it comes to sports!

GO CATS!!

Basketball season should be
interesting

BEAT LSU!

my first fruit!
bananas! YUM!

what a mess!!
Daddy couldn't believe it!!

she's growing up so fast........

getting better @ eating from a spoon

Mommy & Demi
Demi has just realized she controls her feet

Momma's 15lb girl!

stealing kisses

I'm 4 1/2 months old!
I weigh 15lbs & I'm 25 inches long! Still in the 50-55th percentile!

Daddy's Dreamy and So Am I!!

such a ham!

Hadley Starling

Katelyn is such a proud big sister!!

so sweet!

the little sister

seeing her makes Daddy ready
for another......but Mommy says we have to wait a little while longer!

Sleepy Girl!

Looks like she is going to have
a pink silky binki like her Mommy did!

I love my new bear slippers

Otis posing for his picture

Happy Halloween!!

what's mommy got on me?

our little pumpkin

playing in her Einstein jumper

we've been dying to get this out
but wanted to wait until she was big enough to play in it!

she loved it! drool and all!

Daddy brought home roses for
Demi and Mommy!!

she was so interested in the
color and how it felt

lets see how it taste

Watch me jump Daddy!!!

screaming while jumping

We finally hung our stork
announcment

better late than never right?

1st Annual Parker Family Trip
to the pumpkin patch!!!

playing with Mommy

Hey Daddy!

Super Girl!

she loves "flying"

Wearing her Chuck Taylors
daddy's favorite shoes right now

320lb pumpkin!

Demi had a blast!

Daddy & Demi with the BIG
pumpkin

wagon ride to the patch!

this place was really cool!
lots more to do other than just being a pumpkin patch

Demi & her pumpkin
dark with Daddy's shadow

a big pumpkin we found in the
patch

a few pictures of the patch

back on the wagon.......
with the pumpkin we picked

enjoying homemade icecream
after getting off the wagon

yum yum!!

We picked our pumpkin @
Riverbend Farm!! 10/20/07

wearing her crocs from aunt
Elaine for the 1st time!

Ready for a walk!

I know..........I'm the cutest!

the jumper has become a real
hit at our house!

such a happy girl!

spoiled rotten!

Trick or Treat!

Today is my Halloween party
@ Mrs. Rhonda's!!

Did someone say party?....
that involves ice-cream!!

Olivia- the hula girl

Demi's "boyfriend" Jackson
Demi loves Jackson!!

Mrs. Rhonda as Raggedy Ann

our little mermaid

Halloween Party @ Rhonda's

Demi's first Halloween, well
almost! October 2007

I like my pumpkin shoes

I've had so much fun at all of
the fall festivals and halloween parties this year!!

Halloween raspberries!

I know, I'm a stinker!

Mermaid Demi!

her costume is so funny....
when she kicks her legs, the whole tail moves!

I know, I'm the cutest!!

It's almost Halloween!

Demi's first pony ride
at our neighborhood fall festival

5 months old! 10/30/2007

growing up too fast..........

ok, I've got my costume on
now what??

Halloween 2007

"talking" to her pumpkin

costume is off!

Good Morning Mommy!

wide awake!

SO CUTE! watching her new
einstein video-Baby Santa's music box

video coma
she LOVES baby einstein videos

too cute in her hat
we've had some COLD! mornings here!

Otis enjoying the fire

napping on the couch

Otis napping w/ his baby sister

who doesn't love the boppy?

Daddy taking a pic if his girls
on the way to Melissa's baby shower

Today I said my first word......
11-14-07

DaDa!
Daddy is so proud of me! He was the first to grab the video camera!

"I'm not sure what the big deal is!"

Momma & Daddy found me
up-side-down this morning in my crib

silly girl

"Yes, I did this all by myself!"

she's on the move!!!

Happy Girl!

getting so good a jumping!

precious baby!

I've learned to spin around
and I can jump really high!

nothing sweeter!

getting ready for bedtime
my robe fits now, it's too cute on me!

DaDa, where are you?

6 months old today 11/30/07

our baby girl is growing up!

.....and way too fast!!

Miss Personality!

laughing @ Mommy saying,
"Let me see your toothy"

checking out my new outfit!

Yes, I'm cute!

check out my tights

Thanks Grandma Robin!!
I love my new outfit!!

I'm sitting up all by myself now

sitting up with some help from my boppy

I get lazy and start falling over @ night

Yelling DADA!!!

Otis has claimed another toy
he has claimed several of Demi's toys

Doing my "cheer" with Daddy

Now for my stunt!!

I love my Daddy!

sweet picture

hanging out with my uncle T

"Lets go eat & shop!"
lunch with GK and Grandpa Dennis, then some Christmas shopping with Mommy & Daddy!

It's dinner time!

I'm ready to eat

time to play!!

I really want to crawl!

I've been getting on all fours

This is what I do when told to
make my mean face......so funny!

MAMA!!! Yes, I'm saying it now!

another one of my mean face

look closely on the bottom......
can you see my two front teeth?

I'm a happy girl!

Playing ball with Otis

getting ready to throw it

best buddies

getting my balance

CUPIE!
Demi's first cupie!

baby cupie 6 1/2 months old
...........cheerleading is definitely in the genes!!

Just home from my 6th month
check-up!

I'm really growing!
17lbs 10oz and 27 inches long! 75th percentile for length & 60th for weight

wonder how my feet taste

Sleepy Claus!

after a long day of pictures then dinner @ Hunter & Cosby's house

MAMA!
Her new "word"

Daddy hung some ornaments
for me

I love ornaments!

.....especially the glittery one

I'm 7 months old!

and becoming such a big girl!

such a cutie

"ba ba"
waving & saying bye bye

Parker Family Beach Trip '07

Arriving @ the beach!

Everyone was waiting for Demi

Blake & Garrett

Wes, Blake & Garrett

Blake & Demi

Garrett & Demi

Jay Bird's annual pose!

Blake gave Demi some $$

She wasn't giving it back!

Completely out on the beach!

Horseshoe tournaments will
be going on all week.

Silly Christy!
Trying out Demi's sunglasses

Bath Time!!!

Daddy put a little too much
soap....

Too cute!

Great Aunt Charlene holding
Demi after her bath.

Swinging in her travel swing

Demi in her butterfly bikini

We could just eat her up!

Miss Priss ready for the beach!

Christy, Alicia & Auburn

Rick getting ready to tuck off
the sand

Abby & Auburn

A few of the guys

Auburn

Next year Demi will be able
to play with her.

Christy & Demi

"Does this Diaper make my
butt look Big?"

Time to get up!

Daddy & Demi

Demi in her Zebra suit

She's ready

Giving us a little smile

New Mommy & Daddy

So nice to be back to normal
size when it's this hot out!!

Napping in the stroller on the
beach

Demi laughing at Grandpa

Demi's 1st 4th!!
Demi was also 5 weeks today!

So Precious!

July 4th Bikini

Is she ready for the beach or
what??

5 weeks!
7-4-07

back of her bikini

Blake, Molly & Wes

What a beautiful week!

Tracy & Demi

Us on the 4th!

Demi ready for the annual 4th
cookout

Annual 4th Cookout

This year we had a crew of 60!

Auburn the Mermaid

What is Blake doing?

Crazy boys enjoyed jumping
into the pool from here all week!

Jessica and Demi
It was chilly the night of the 4th!

Us July 4th 2007
Demi 5 weeks

A few fireworks fromt the 4th

More pictures of Demi

Daddy's blue eyed girl.......
yep, her eyes are blue for now anyway we'll see if they change in the next few weeks

What a little ham!

Happy Girl!

Mommy & Demi

We just can't stop taking
pictures of her!!

She did lots of sleeping on
the beach

SO in Love! with her!!

Brynna & Nick

Nick

Having some fun @ the pool!

Elaine, Christy, Tracy, Auburn

Grandma & Grandpa

Travis & Robbie

Elaine & Robbie

Chas & Demi
1st time in the pool

We only got her feet a little
wet

Baseball on the beach

Lots of seaweed on the beach
this year

Looking down the beach from
our place

Family Pictures on the beach
Our last night

Uncle Travis & Demi

Fogged up camera lens actually
made some neat pics

How sweet

Mommy & Demi

What a windy night!

Baby Demi

Daddy & Demi

Grandma & Grandpa with Demi

We're not in Corolla are we?

Silly Daddy!

Grandpa Dennis sleeping with
his mouth open!

Laughing because they are
about to put Demi's gas drops in his mouth!

A few more pics of Demi @ the
beach

Time is flying by! We can't
believe she's already 5 weeks!

Sleeping with Grandpa

Kissing Daddy

Pretty Girl

Demi (0-3months)

Demi in the swing for the first
time!

June 1, 2007
First full day @ home!! and her original due date!

Little Angel!

Swaddled in the swing

Peeking @ us with one eye

So Sweet!

She is so alert and interested
in what is going on around her

Playing with Daddy

Sleepy Time!

Mommy & Daddy just can't
stop taking pictures of her!!

Sleeping again!
She's often awake, but today was very sleepy!

Otis is VERY protective of Demi
He will not let anyone near her!

He loves her!
We all do!!

We can't decide who she looks
like!

Pretty Girl!

1st Doctors Appointment
June 2, 2007

Going in for a weight check!
She's down to 6lbs 15oz, but all babies lose weight after birth.

Uncle Travis meeting Demi for
the very first time!

She has all of the men in her
life completely wrapped!!

Kane comes to meet Demi

Wes is such a proud Daddy!
He's been inviting everyone over to see his little angel!

Dreaming!

She loves her bouncy seat!

Demi's frist trip to Nakato
Her Daddy's favorite!

Mommy's delivery was easy
and she's already feeling great so she was more than ready to get out of the house!!

She slept through the whole
dinner

Our new family!
We never knew we could love someone so much! Our hearts are now on the outside of our body!

Daddy, Dennis, Karen & Travis

Chas & her mom

Blowing Bubbles!

Too Funny!

Demi's first bath at home

She wasn't very happy!

Wes is so good with her!

Bunny towel was a little too big

All snuggled up after her bath!

So amazed that she is here
in our arms!

OUT!!

All it takes is her swing and
purple blanket and she's out everytime!

Wes & Otis checking on Demi

Daddy with Demi again!
Can you tell he never leaves her side??!

Zoey checking out Demi

2nd Doctors appointment
June 4, 2007

Are we looking a little sleepy
or what! We can't complain she only gets up once during the night, usually.

Our future cheerleader!

Looking around

Checking everyone out!

Lindsay & Demi

Will & Demi

Loui checking out Demi's toes!
All of the dogs are so interested by out little girl!

Lindsay's new baby Chloe!

So cute!!

It's a good thing we just had a
baby! otherwise I think we may have had to get another puppy!

3 generations
Robin, Chasidy, Demi & Lindsay

Chas, Demi & Lindsay

The Parker Family!!

Sleeping on mommy with Zoey
close by!

Soooo Precious!!!

Little Angel!

Demi & Grandma Robin
We're interested to see what Demi calls her grand-parents when she starts talking!!

1 week old!

Mommy & Demi

Looking @ Mommy

Mommy's pretty girl!

Demi all dressed to go meet
everyone at Daddy's work!

Getting some kisses from Mommy!

She loves kisses

Can't get enough of her!!

Demi's hands & feet
5-31-07-before leaving the hospital

She's got Mommy's feet for sure!

We're not sure where she got
her long fingers.

Daddy with his 2 babies!

Outside Chasidy's classroom
at school.

Demi got to visit Mommy's kids
at school Friday! They loved her!!

Trying on her sunglasses
Look @ that face!! That lip gets Daddy everytime!! She's already learning!!

She loves to be out in the sun!
Guess she'll be a sun-bather like her mommy!

Great Grandma Peggy
meets Demi for the 1st time! 6-9-07

4 Generations!

Us with Great Grandma Peggy!

Karen, Dennis, Peggy & Demi
Demi with her grandparents and great grandma!

Demi meeting Great-Grandma
Parker for the 1st time!! 6-9-07

Demi is so blessed to have
grandparents and great grandparents!!

4 Generations!

Mommy & Great Grandma Parker
changing Demi

Very cute!!
She's not the baby anymore

Auburn holding Demi

Demi's birth announced @
Rock Spring Baptist Church!

Starting to wake up

Waving @ the camera

Daddy's Girl

Making faces while sleeping

So Precious!!

She looks just like her Daddy
when sleeping!!

2 Weeks old!

She looks more like Mommy
when awake.

Daddy & Demi

Playing before bedtime

Sleeping again

Sweet Baby Girl!

FATHER'S DAY 2007
6-17-07 Wes's 1st Father's Day!!!

Grandpa & Uncle Travis with
Daddy & Demi on Father's Day!

Getting ready for bed

Demi @ 3 weeks!

Demi is getting so big so quick!

Sticking out her tongue

little bit of a smile

She loves to sit up and look
around

Our little cutie!

Mommy & Demi

Can't get enough of her!!

Happy Girl!

Playing with wrist rattles for
the first time!

Good Morning Demi

Definitely a sweetheart!

1 Month Old!

Mommy & Demi
1 Month Old today!! Can't believe it's already been that long!

Demi loves bath time now!

Daddy keeping everything
covered for the camera!

Bath robe is a little big, but
cute

Getting ready to snuggle with
Daddy before bedtime

Tummy Time!

She loves the bright colors

This is what happens after
bath time!

Completely out!!

Demi in her butterfly bikini

Miss Priss ready for the beach!

Demi in her Zebra suit

Giving us a little smile

Demi's 1st 4th!!
Demi was also 5 weeks today!

5 weeks!
7-4-07

So Precious!

July 4th Bikini

What a little ham!

Happy Girl!

Time is flying by! We can't
believe she's already 5 weeks!

Pretty Girl

Such a happy girl in the
morning

6 weeks old!

...and getting so big!

We can't believe it's been
6 weeks already!!

Our little Pirate!

Finally getting big enough to
wear some of her clothes!

6 weeks!
7-11-07

Demi in her capris
6 weeks

She has to be sitting up where
she can see everything.

Finally getting some meat on
those bones! She was 7lb 10 oz when born but very skinny!

She looks a lot like Daddy here

There is that lip!

She's learning how to use it!
especially with Daddy

Our 2007 Tax Deduction! haha

Mommy's cutie!

6 1/2 weeks

Smiling more and more each
day!

Big Yawn

......after the yawn

Demi has discovered the TV

little cutie after a bath

I believe we've got our hands
full with this little miss

Mommy & Demi snuggled up
and ready for bed!

.....not long after

1st time sleeping in her nursery
6wks

Playtime!

Baby Demi 7 weeks old!
7/18/07

Little Cutie!

Nothing more precious!

Trying on a pair of her shoes-
still way too big!

Little chipmunk cheeks
heading to see Daddy at work

Shhhhhhhhhhh
6:30am- did Demi really sleep through the night? Yes!! first night 7/18/07 11pm to 6:45am!

really liking the swing now!

morning tummy time

Otis & Demi watching TV

those legs are always moving

boppy's are great!

she's awake

she's so much fun!

Miss Personality

laughing @ Otis

8 weeks old!

smiling at mommy

Thinking about something

Cutie.......as always!

Definitely put on some weight!
we can't wait to see how much!

Milk Coma!

hanging out in her bouncy seat

w/ daddy after a bath

Daddy's Girl

Can you believe...........
Demi is 9 weeks today!? 8/1/07

the cutest thing we've ever seen

"talking" all of the time now

growing so fast!

Mommy & Demi in the nursery

heading out for the day

she's an arm full now!

trying out the bumbo

she likes it!

"party in my crib 2am!"
Thank goodness these parties are a thing of the past! After 7 weeks of parties you start needing some sleep!

Demi's first "cell phone"

Not really sure what to do with
it yet

eating it sounds good!

Tasting mommy's dreamsicle

Yum! that was good!!

Demi's first trip to Atlanta

hanging out watching the dogs

3 of the puppies
Zoey, Otis & Loui

little Chloe checking out Demi

"Hey Chloe where ya going?"

Soooooooo Cute!!

having Demi visit is too much
excitement for Zoey

Big Buster

Chris & Stephanie
talking to Demi

Mommy & her angel

snoozing on the couch @
grandma & grandpa's

playing with grandpa Mike

Daddy playing Xbox 360 with
Chris

Family get-together at the
Jacksons in Atl

Chris & Hyatt

Nanny meets Demi for the first
time!

Her first great grandchild

Maggie, Callie & Erin meeting
Demi (chas's cousins)

holding Demi

Demi loved the girls

Erin holding Demi

Maggie & Erin loved Demi

Maggie & Demi
Maggie loves babies

Chris & Stephanie

Duncan playing with Chloe

4 generations
Nanny, Mike, Chas & Demi

Heading to my 2 month check-up

happy now........
but I don't know I'm getting 3 shots today!

I'm 11lbs and 23 inches today!!
8/6/07- 40th percentile in weight, 50th in height

Laughing @ mommy who is
calling me a chunky monkey

Smiling all of the time now

"cute as a bug"

and knows it!!

Trying on a pair of her shoes...
still way too big!

What's on my feet?

These big shoes are silly!

Pretty Girl! talking to mommy

reaching for her bear
first time she reached out for a toy

almost 10 weeks old!

checking out her feet again

everything goes in her mouth
now

she likes her phone

Playtime

she loves it!
for about 20 minutes anyway then it's time to move on to something else!

BIG eyes! so much to look at!

10 weeks old today!
8/8/07

growing so fast!

What is she up to now?

Silly Girl!

hanging out in her swing

it doesn't take long and she is
out!

Demi @ 10 weeks
we can't believe how quickly she's growing and changing!

BIG stretch!

Where is my milk cow???

10 1/2 weeks
she loves to sit on the couch and look around

It's tummy time

holding her head up!

cute as can be!

Otis wants Demi to play ball
won't be long!

I'm a big girl!

You still there Mommy?

Yeah! you are

She's learning to use those
arms and legs to get what she wants

keys & a phone........
what more could a girl want?

her keys are her favorite toy
right now

Almost 11 weeks old!

She's loving her bumbo seat!
She can see everything that is going on!

How cute am I?

I've learned how to blow bubbles

slobber everywhere

Giggling! at Daddy

naked girl!

Demi is 11 weeks old today!
8/15/07

Demi never stops moving
She loves to lay and kick her legs

our little hoot owl
oooo is her favorite sound to make right now

Daddy!!! she can't have Oreo's

pretty girl!

happy as can be
fist in mouth and belly out

Hey Otis, I've got your ball!

she loves to be in the floor
with Otis

" I love you sis"

Our little pirate is getting big

Demi's first photo shoot!
11 weeks 2 days 8/17/2007

.........a few of our favorites

tiny feet

so sweet
posing for the camera

this is getting boring!

our little angel

practicing her high V

silly girl!

this picture thing is hilarious!

our little china doll

hey, there is my foot

Our favorite picture!

yep, she even showed her lip

Yeah! this is almost over

relaxing in the swing

"talking" to the stars & bears
she loves to watch them

"It's early....
what are we doing Mommy?"

"Shouldn't I be sleeping?"

1st day going to Mrs. Rhonda's
8/20/07 Demi was a little tired, but happy. Mommy was the one who had a rough time!

Demi trying out her Big Girl
seat we got today

She loved it!, but it will be a
little while before she uses it

I'm a BIG GIRL!! Look @ me!

Telling us how much she likes
it!

3 Months
8/22/07

Always "talking" now! so funny!

where has the time gone.........

still LOVES her keys
Daddy is a little worried about her liking keys so early! haha!!

OOOOOOOOO (still our hoot owl)

sweetest face we've ever seen!

Happy Birthday Demi!!!

We're in Labor!! 5:30 am 5-30
smiling after epidural! Mommy's water broke at home at 3:30am and contractions were 30 sec to 1 minute apart!!OUCH!

This is where she will go!!
We were overwhelmed with excitement!!

Room 4 was our room!

Tired, but sooooooo excited!!!

WOW look @ those Contractions!
and the best part was not feeling a thing!!!!!

They were not even coming all
the way down!! Must be why at 10:30 it was time to push!! from 3cm to 10cm in 5 hours!

Grandpa Dennis waiting for
Demi to arrive!

Where did she find an open
Bojangles?!!

Pushing was the HARD part!!
She was MUCH bigger than anyone expected!!

After 3 hours and a little help
from the vacuum, SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!

The most incredible experience
of our lives! Babies are such a miracle and blessing from God!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEMI!!!
5-30-07 1:55pm 7lbs 10oz 20 inches

Our Beautiful Demi!

Daddy cutting the cord!

Cleaned up and calming down

New Daddy checking out his
little girl

Getting Weighed

7 pounds 10 ounces!!!!!!!
Much bigger than ANYONE expected!!

New Mommy & Demi

Our New Family!

Grandpa Mike seeing Demi for
the first time!

Grandma Karen meeting Demi
for the 1st time!

Proud Daddy!
She's already got him wrapped around her finger!

Grandma Robin meeting Demi

New Daddy on the side already
on the phone! letting everyone know his little girl has arrived!!

Wes was so amazed by the
whole birth process

The Grandma's, Chas & Demi
1 hour old

Grandpa Dennis meeting Demi

Daddy, Demi & Grandpa Dennis

Proud grandparents

More proud grandparents

Getting Demi ready to go to
mother/baby room

She was so alert and just as
ready to meet us as we were her!

Nurse board in our room

about 2 hours old

"Uncle" Brian can't believe
Chas's belly is gone!

Almost just as excited as Wes

How sweet

Sleepy Girl!

Exhausted Daddy!
Wednesday was a VERY long day!!

Not so happy Demi!

Thursday! We're going home!!

Demi- 1 day old

So in love!!
More love than you can ever imagine!!

Going Home! 7pm Thursday
5-31-07

In the car! Ready to go!!

Our little princess

Can't get enough pictures

Our Stork

WE'RE HOME!!

Otis meeting Demi for the
first time!

I'm the Little Brother
He was here first, but eventually she'll be bigger!

Arriving June 1, 2007!!!!

First test while Wes was out of
town!! The lines are faint, but they were there!!

2nd test!!
This one is very clear!!

Baby Parker!!
Arriving June 2007!!!

I think 4 test confirms it!!!!
It took this many for us to really believe it!!!

Grandma, Chasidy & Wes

Mommy & Daddy to be!!

First Belly shot!
Nothing much yet!! Maybe a little pooch!

The second half of Wes's mom's
Birthday present! She's going to be soooo surprised!!!!

We're wrapping them in with her
"regular" present!! We can't wait to see her reaction!!!!

Surprised Grandma Karen!!
She had NO idea!!

Mommy & Grandma to be!

ECU Dress for a girl......

or for a boy!!
From Aunt Elaine!! They are so cute!!!

Our very first baby gift!!
We just told everyone today!! It says "Our Royal Highness" on the front! Also from Aunt Elaine! She's very excited!!

First Bib from Tracy!
We didn't expect all of these gifts the weekend we told everyone!! This baby is going to be SPOILED!!!

First Baby Bible from Tracy too!

Baby's first gifts!!

Jogging Stroller from
our neighbors! This will be great for the beach next July 4th!!

Mommy to be with her new
stroller! We just had to put it together!!

Ok, we're really excited!!!
Trying on maternity clothes at Baby Gap with belly pillow!!!

How funny!!! Wes got a big kick
out of seeing Chas with such a big belly!!

First Pictures of Baby Parker
All of the parts visible at this point have a label.

8 1/2 weeks

2cm long!

Heartbeat 182
We won't know what we're having until Jan 3rd!!! It's going to be so hard to wait until then!!!!

10 Weeks!!

A definite pooch now!
Clothes are starting to get a little tight in the waist!!

11 weeks
Not very clear, but too sick! to care! Nothing there yet, last weeks belly is gone.

First trip to L&D 11-13-06
Sick with a virus @ the hospital for fluids. Wes took pics with his cell phone of sick mommy!

12 week belly shot

12 weeks 5 days
2 days until 2nd trimester!

Just looks like a little bump
under there!

Belly Shot

Chas loves her growing belly!
Wes does too, he think's it's so funny her see her with one!

Even through all the sickness
Chas loves being pregnant!

14 weeks

Little 14 week belly

15 weeks 2 days

Belly looks so big to us, but no
one else can really tell unless I lift my shirt.

Little Parker Pooch!!
Finally starting to grow a little bit!! 3 more weeks and we'll know if it's a girl or boy!!!!!

First Maternity Outfit
Regular clothes still fit, but pants are definitely snug in the waist!!!

Maternity pants are so comfy!!!

16 Weeks

This will be one to show the
baby one day!!! (16wks 1 day)

Ornament from our neighbors
"Expecting a Precious Gift" with our names, Baby Parker, & the date. They had it hand-painted for us!

The back

17 Weeks

Maybe a little bigger!

Baby Parker trying on
next years First Christmas Bib! Looks like a great fit!

18 weeks!
Loving maternity pants!!

Starting to show a little more!
The baby kicks and rolls non-stop!! We've definitely got a future athlete inside there!

Baby Profile 18 1/2 weeks

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone was right, our baby girl is inside there!!!

Sweet girl looking at us!

Full Body of our little princess

Bottom of her foot she's been
kicking mommy with. We know she's been tumbling in there too!!

Enlarged pics picked up today!!

Enlarged Profile of our Angel!

Collage of her at 18 1/2 weeks
It's an 8x10 and really neat in person!!

Daddy leaving for work in his
PINK tie! to let everyone know of yesterday's results!!

Mommy leaving in her bright
PINK!! No mistaking she's having a BABY GIRL!!

First outfit we've bought!!
After finding out we've got a baby girl on the way!!

Another outfit!! Very cute!
It was given to Chas at work today!!

19 weeks & growing!

"NOW SHOWING!!"
20 weeks

20 weeks.....Half way there!!!

Lots of growing this week!!!
Chas is finally showing "all of the time!" This belly has been here all week instead of coming and going!

Our baby girl!

Bikini from Marcus!
Wes says she can wear it at 3 weeks instead of 13 years!! She will have to wear a 1 piece then! haha!

Can't wait to see her in it!
She's all ready for July 4th beach trip!!

21 weeks

Yep, belly is still there!
It's definitely going to stay this time!!

21 week belly!

Baby's First Shoes
Converse tennis shoes for our baby girl!! SOOOOOOOO CUTE!! and very tiny!! We got them today!

How Appropriate!!
She's already practicing inside mom's tummy!! She moves non-stop all day long!!!

22 Weeks!

Really showing now!

Look @ that belly!!!

23 Weeks!

1 week from 6 months!!
It's going by sooo fast! We're getting more and more excited each week!!

A definite side view now!

24 Weeks/6 months!!

Only 12-16 more weeks!!
Depending on when our little angel decides to make her grand entrance!

Even showing from the front!

24 week belly!

25 Weeks

Getting bigger & bigger!

She's hanging out right in the
middle, which has been nice until she decides to stretch out her neck!! (head is down)

26 or 28 Weeks??
Our baby girl is measuring 28 weeks instead of 26! Our new due date is May 15th!!

Really growing now!

Getting the belly line!

Loving the belly!

Our Precious Baby Girl!!

Sleepy Girl!
She slept almost the whole time!

Her Spine

Looks like her Daddy!

She's still head down!
and has been the whole pregnancy!! Let's hope she stays that way!!

26/28 week profile

Bottom of her tiny foot

Smiling or laughing at us!

Keeping the cord close by!
This must be what she's playing with when rolling around in mommy's tummy!

It's still definitely a GIRL!

Waving at us!

Sweetest face we've ever seen!

Isn't she cute!

Our beautiful little angel!

We can't wait to meet her!
Not much longer at all now that our due date was moved up 2 weeks!!

27/29 Weeks!

Chas's little basketball!

Getting bigger & bigger with
each passing week! We're almost there! YEAH!!

"Coming This Spring!"
Another gift from a very excited daddy to be!!!

28 or 30 Weeks

Looks more like 30 to us......
We should know more on Thursday!

29/31 weeks
Dr is still uncertain which date we should follow! She said be prepared May 1st! for delivery anytime!

and the line gets darker........

Belly growth has slowed down!
She's getting cramped in there!!

Still not believing how BIG
the belly is!

Don't ask!... a bet from Marcus!
30/32 weeks!

When's the next competition??

Sleepy Mommy @ 30/32 weeks

All Belly Now!

Baby Girl Parker!
Lets hope she likes to sleep as much when she's born!! (she opened her mouth)

Smashed against mommy!
She's really running out of room!

31/33 Week Mommy

Not really getting too much
bigger........there is not much room left!

Just getting rounder!

Belly Close up 31/33wks

32/34 Weeks

REALLY BIG!!!!!!!!!
It doesn't help she has her knees under her!

About to Pop!!

Otis thinks all of the baby
gifts are for him! We've given him a few things, but he's not getting Chas's favorite blanket!!

YEAH!! Travel System came today!
With showers coming up this weekend, many of the big items are arriving at our house this week!!

Of course, it was put together
as soon as we got home!

Won't be much longer............

Pack n' Play all together now!

Swing too!!

33/35 Weeks
Getting very close!!!!!!!!!

It's SPRING!
Everything is in full bloom!!

34/36 Weeks

Feeling HUGE! but not really
getting any bigger, there is no more room!

Maybe just getting more round

35/37 Weeks
After a Friday of early labor!

Totally out of room!

Soooo READY!!! to meet our
Baby Girl!!! We're so excited to know it could happen any day!!!

36/38 Weeks
We made it another week!

No bigger, just waiting!!!

Maternity Photo Proofs
Saturday May 5, 2007 We will have the pictures in about 2 weeks!

With over 60 shots taken........
these are some of our favorites!

Too Funny!

We weren't sure we would get
to have these taken before our baby girl decided to arrive!!

A few intimate shots of
Mommy & Daddy to be!

Very cute!

Daddy loves his Baby Girl!!!

Mommy pictures..........

We're having a special
collage made up with several of these photos for the baby's room.

37/39 Weeks
Doctor is leaning toward 37 weeks due to her being on the small side now.

Can't believe we made it another
week!!

We're very anxious!!...........
but also want her to be healthy and weigh enough to come home with us!!

38 Weeks!

Now that's a BIG BELLY!!!

2 MORE WEEKS!!!!!!!!!
We are beyond excited!!!!

39 Weeks
Aren't you ready to come out baby??

We're so ready to meet you!!!
Little did we know.........she was ready too! Chas's water broke at 3:30am after this picture was taken!!!

Baby Showers!!

Family & Friends Shower
Rock Springs Baptist Church April 1, 2007

Cake squares! Very cute!!

Mommy to be arriving @ shower

31-33 weeks! 1st Shower

Time to start opening gifts!

Pink Diaper Champ!

Bath-tub!

Pack n' Play

Jump-a-roo!

"Daddy Does My Hair"

Silver brush & comb set!

"If Mommy Says No, Ask Grandma"

Preemie outfit, just in case!
Doctor told us to buy one just in case, but now we won't have to!

"Coming Home" Outfit!

"Coming Home"
with matching hat, blanket, booties etc! Now we just need our baby!!

The gifts just kept coming......

UNC Bib-Daddy will love this!

Baby Crocs from Aunt Elaine!
Chas has been dying for a pair of these!

Birth Certificate Holder

She will be very well dressed!
We got tons of clothes!

Baby Bible.........can't take it
out of the box, her name is on it!

Mommy's favorite blanket!

Baby Book

Bedskirt, Curtains, Shower
curtain etc.

Baby Announcements!
Her name is on each Kit Kat!

Grandma Karen got some too!

& Grandma Robin

Travel Swing Frame

"I Love Daddy"

Mommy opened for 2 hours
with no break! We are so thankful for all of the great gifts!

Our Hamper, and full of goodies!

Monitor

WOW! What a gift table!!
How are we going to get all of this home?

We are so glad a lot of the very
large gifts were sent to our house!

Chas & Her Mom
Wes is going to die when he comes back to pick us up and has to load all of this stuff!

Not much longer! WE CAN'T WAIT!!

School Shower for Chas
Very cute cake! Yummy too!

Lots of good stuff!

Time to open!!

Just a few pics were taken....

Cute Monkey holding a gift card

So many nice things.........

Not sure what that look is for
can't remember which gift was in that bag

Renee, Chasidy & Stacey
It was so nice of them to have this shower for us!! Don't think we have enough stuff left on our registies for another!

Diaper Bag
It turned out perfect!!

More stuff from school shower!
after we unloaded and brought it into the house

Shower with friends from
Lexington. May 11, 2007 Texas Steakhouse in Concord

Chas, Hillary & Bryson

Chas with the kids
We're getting ready to add one of our own to this group!!

Taylor, Laura & Hillary

Big Mommy added to the picture!

Laura & Taylor

Blury....but starting to open
gifts

Diapers, always a great gift!!!

Not sure what this is.......
leave it to Wes to get a shot like this!!

"D" will definitely be the best
dressed baby around!! We have been given so many cute clothes!!!

tiny shoes & hat to match

Mommy Bear
makes sounds from the womb. I think Addisyn liked him too!

Floppy Seat

Chas & Camden
He's gotten so big!!!!!!!!!!

Wes & Chas before our Princess Arrives!

First pic of us in 2007!!
1/1/07 12:00am!

Baby included in this one!
2007 is going to be a very special year for us!! We're so excited!!!!

Rick & Jessica in 2007!!
Newlyweds! Just married 12/30/06!

Blake ringing in the new year!
He's graduating this year!! We are starting to feel really old!

Otis want to go for a ride??
Waiting for his daddy to take him for a ride!

Nationals Jan 13-14th

CCA Youth
Austin's team taking the floor!

Getting ready to tumble

Dark pic, but that's Austin
in the middle!!!

Awards! Seniors & Youth 1st
@ this awards ceremony

Junior Jags taking the floor

Taylor!

Taylor, Chas, Laura & Camryn
after a great day of National Championships!!!

Wes & very tired Otis
enterprise party @ our house 1-13-07

Very glad all of the guest have
gone!

It SNOWED! in Charlotte!!
Chas & Otis heading out to play in the snow!

Otis waiting to go out!

Our House w/snow!
It hasn't snowed here since our home was under-construction almost 2 years ago!!

Otis & Mama enjoying their
"Snow Day"

Otis in the snow.......1st time
since we lived in the Outer Banks and he was 6 months old!

What is this stuff??

Warming up by the fire after
playing in the snow!

Wes & Ashlynn (our neighbor)
She's 6! She rang the door bell and asked Wes to take her for a ride! Very cute!!

He can't wait to do this with
his own daughter!!

A few pics from our neighbors
of Otis & Patch!

They love to play!!

Kaitlyn playing in the snow!
It does snow in OBX!

Kaitlyn!
Yep, she's ony 2 and already cheering!

Kaitlyn's Valentines Day Party

Kaitlyn & Mommy

Already going after the boys!!

She's a mess!

Heading to Amanda's rehearsal
dinner! yum!!

All of the white "fuzzy stuff"
is snow starting to fall!! Great for Amanda's Winter Wonderland themed wedding!!!

Otis, Zoey & Louis checking
out the snow!!

Our little man loves snow!

Lindsay coming down the aisle

Beautiful Bride!

Introducing Jake & Amanda!!!

Lindsay & Dave leaving

Chas's mom's side of the family!

Jake's family!

Amanda with her mom, dad &
sister! (Chas's aunt Cheri)

Reception Pics!
Everything was beautiful and the snow falling outside was perfect!!

Will & Lindsay (Chas's sister)
at the reception!

Amanda getting some food!

Her cake!
Each layer was a different flavor! yum yum!!

Cutting the cake.........

First Dance
Jake & Amanda 3/3/2007!!

Father/Daughter dance

Us with Grandma Barbara
& Great Aunt and Uncle Bobby and Jim!

Group Shot!
It was so good to get to see everyone!!!

Mommy & Daddy to be!
at the reception!

Dancing!!!
Chas's great aunt and uncle! They can't wait to meet our baby girl! and be her great great aunt and uncle!

Duncan/Parker family!
only one missing is Chris, he had a baseball tournament and couldn't come!

Will, Lindsay and Us

Chas's Birthday Surprise!!!
Cirque Du Soleil- Delirium!!! March 22, 2007! She's wanted to go since last year!!

Another one of Wes's surprises!
She had no idea where they were going, but brought the camera......she knew it would be a good one!!

The show was amazing!!

These guys were un-real!

Lots of singing, dancing and
acrobatics!

Very cool!

We thought cheerleading was
strenuous!

Can you tell they were our
favorite?!?

Giant Balloons sent into the
crowd at the end of the show! It was awesome! now we know why it sells out each year so fast!!

At The Capital Grille
for Mommy's Birthday!

Otis in Zoey's tennis shoes
Yes, doggie tennis shoes!

He wasn't too sure about them!

Otis with his monkey!
He definitely knows something is up!

He has claimed a few of the
baby's things and is very protective of them!!

A few pics of Enterprise cookout
@ our house.

Wes loves to grill & entertain!

Wes's old employees
He starts @ his new location Monday!!

I think he was having a great
time.........

Stacy & Jared came too!

We had a great time!
It was a perfect night to be outside!

Otis sleeping with his head up
he's too funny!

Throwing a few passes with
Brian while Chas caught some rays!

What a beautiful weekend!

Monday morning surprise!!
Chas's aunt had a surprise waiting for her when she went to check on the horses Monday am!!

A little wobbly on those long
legs!!

Mommy & Baby

Thanksgiving & Christmas 2006

Otis getting ready to leave
for Grandma and Grandpa Parker's house for Thanksgiving!!

Daddy's birthday is tomorrow
too!!!

Bundled up in his winter coat
getting ready to go out in the yuckie, cold weather we've been having!

Wes's favorite!! Ice cream cake
from Chasidy, Otis & Baby!

Auburn ready for Thanksgiving
in her Indian hat she made at school!

SO CUTE!

Starting to eat!!

Blake on plate #???

What plate are you on Travis?
Hee Hee!

Auburn again! Showing off that
hat!!

Alicia resting after eating all
of that yummy turkey!

Auburn coming to tell Wesley
Happy Birthday!

Birthday Boy!

Wes says DON'T EVEN ASK!!

Another one of his favorites!
Pineapple cake!

Making a wish and blowing out
the candles!

Alicia & Wes

Opening all of those "cards"

Alicia trying to get a peek at
how much $ was in the card! Wes won't tell anyone!!

Determined to get the card!

They just keep coming!!
It's not so bad having a birthday!! Especially around the holidays!

We all enjoyed making him feel
really old!!

Laughing at one of the halarious
cards he got!

Looks like Alicia is finally
getting a peek!

Auburn

Johnna checking out the
all of the desserts!

Ready to go........
but she's picked up the wrong shoes!!

Otis really thinks he's human!
Sitting at the table.

Otis ready to head back home!
Nose prints and all!

Decorated for Christmas 2006

Christmas Wreaths

Front Porch

Night pics

Front door wreath

Stockings are ready for Santa!!
Next year we will have another one to hang!!!

The tree is up!!
All we need now are some presents!

Dining room table ready for
Christmas!!

ECU collectables out this year!
We have 2003-2005....wonder if we'll get 2006 this year???

Otis trying on his Santa suit

Santa Otis

2006 Christmas Picture Proofs
Wes, Chasidy, Otis & Baby Parker

The Parkers 2006
We chose this one!

'06 Parker Family Christmas Card
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!! Love, Wesley, Chasidy, Otis & Baby Parker

2006 Enterprise Christmas Party
"70's Disco" 12/16/2006 Hilton Uptown, We had a blast!!!

Chasidy in her 70's outfit

Wes in is 70's gear!

This will be one to show the
baby one day!!! (16wks 1 day)

70's couple
We knew those boots would come in handy again! hee hee!!

Kane in the money booth

He won $500

Giving out prizes!!

Party Pics

It was 2 levels this year!

Not everyone dressed the
theme, but we wanted to have some fun!!!

From the top level

70's band downstairs.....
dj upstairs.

Otis's stocking filled by Santa!
Santa came to our house the morning of the 23rd since we'll we out of town all next week!

Realizing something is in there!

Barking for us to get it down!!

Checking out his goodies

Anything else in there???

Deciding which to eat first!

He's picked one!

Enjoying his new candy cane
bone!

Christmas Eve with the Parkers
@ Charlenes this year!

Everyone starting to arrive!

Auburn

Charlene's tree w/ all the gifts

Auburn is happy Santa is coming!

Collins family getting ready to
open gifts!

Singing "Here comes Santa"

Auburn will have someone little
like her around next Christmas!!

Santa arrives with a gift for
Auburn!

"Santa Blake"

Johnna with Santa

Karen & Christy

Little ones opening gifts

Loving her new dress up shoes!

Wes opening a few gifts!

He could have used that wine
months ago when Chas had morning sickness for so long!!!

4th ECU Santa collectors item
added this year!! YEAH!! Thanks Charlene!!

Wes, Chas & Baby Parker
The baby is sure active!! Everyone got to feel it kick!!!

What's Blake got??

A gift from Charlene!!

Since almost everyone thinks
we're having a girl............

It says Daddy's Girl!!
This may have to go back.....we'll know real soon!

Chinese Christmas game starts
with Blake!

Reid taking Blake's gift!

Country Ham? Must be from
Dennis!

Carolina glasses, he'll keep 'em

Jay always gets silly gifts!

Chas & Christy

Catch Phrase time!

Off to Atlanta for Christmas Day

Christmas with the Duncan Family

Chas's dad opening gifts!

It was late when we got there
so everyone looks a little sleepy!!

Chas's first gift!
This is a new collection for us. This one is called "Expecting a Miracle" Next years "New Family" They are really neat!

Another Christmas Present for
Baby Parker!! Cute Burp Cloth!

Whew!! The baby is already
SPOILED!!

Sleepy Zoey!

Otis & Zoey

Buster! New boxer puppy!
Chas's mom got him for her birthday in November! He's very cute!! and going to be huge!

Chas, Mom & Aunt Cheri
Our 3rd Christmas Dinner 12/28!

Us, last Christmas before our
precious baby joins us!!

Buster, Chas & Otis

Otis giving his mommy a kiss!

Otis trying on the baby's new
bib!

Buster
What a good boy!!

Zoey
The dogs love their picture taken!

Baby's new penguin suit for
next winter! Very cute!!

Zoey trying on the baby's new
penguin outfit.

How funny!!

Buster's turn!

TOO FUNNY!

YEAH!! We got our
Hand & Foot print frame!!

First Year frame too with a spot
for each months photo!!

Chas really wanted these!!

Baby Einstein Gym
The baby got more presents than anyone else!!

All of Baby Parker's Christmas
Gifts and he/she is not even here yet!

We can't imagine what next
Christmas will be like!

Happy New Year!!!
First picture of 2007!!! After the ball had just dropped!

We included the baby in this
picture!

Newlyweds in 2007!!
They can't wait to leave for Costa Rica tomorrow morning!!

Blake.......surprised to see him
after last nights wedding!

Parker Family Beach Trip '06

The guys picking teams for
bocce ball.

Day 1 at the beach
Playing bocce ball.

Alicia getting ready for basket
toss with Blake and Wes.

Auburn playing in the sand.

Preston, Reid, Blake & Wes
playing a game of frisbee

Garrett with the steal!

Wes with his catch!

Wes cooling off

All of the guys taking a dip in
the ocean

Jessica & Rick
Soon to be married!!

Jessica & Jay Bird

Charlene & Reid

Travis & Rick

Molly & Justin

Larkin & Chasidy

Wes, Blake & Jay

Christy trying out the skim
board!

It's not as easy as it looks!

Yeah Molly!!

Silly Blake! Chas & Wes
Getting ready to go out for some seafood!!!!

Auburn in her July 4th Bikini

The whole group?...Almost
As many of the 25 we could get together!

Chas, Wes & Christy

Headed out for a swim

The guys buried Russell

Silly!!

Chas & Wes

Our famous toss to the top!
We have a pic like this for everywhere we've been!

One year of marriage!!
It's goes by so fast when you're with your soul mate!!

More stunting

On the beach waiting for
the fireworks to start!!

July 4th 2006

It was hard to get good pics,
but the fireworks were awesome!!!

Jay enjoying the fireworks
Hee Hee!!

Charlene & Jay
Dancing @ Ocean Annies

The whole group!!
What a blast we had at the beach!!! How could you not with this group??!!

At Nakato

Wes's favorite restaurant!

I don't think they liked us very
much for our party of 20!! It was worth the wait though!! YUM YUM!!

Chasidy & Wes
Enjoying Nakato!

Blake & Russell

The Parkers

Brynna, Nick & Austin
came to visit us!!!

Brynna in the ocean

Nick in the ocean

Austin & Brynna

Austin

Wes & Nick

Heading out to catch another
wave!

Hang on Nick!! Here it comes!

Brynna on the beach

Austin & Nick

The Jellyfish were out today
so we headed up to the pool!

Nick the "Frogman"

Blake doing a gainer

Austin said "That's easy, I can
do that watch!"

Ms. Priss #1 and #2
Blue tongues after sharing a slushie on the beach!

More fun @ the pool
I think the big kids had more fun than Nick, Brynna & Austin!!

Nick in the chokehold!

Nick getting Wes back after
the chokehold!!

Travis just had to dunk Chasidy

Brynna's cupie!

What a hot guy in the pool!!
(Glad he's mine!!)

Nick on Blake

Nick on Travis
It was the big boys idea for a chicken fight!! Imagine that!

Chicken Fight!

Blake on Wes's shoulders
chicken fighting with Austin!

Blake & Austin

One out of 10 days rainy!!
We couldn't complain!

It didn't even start until 3pm
so we actually got 1/2 day of sun!!

Very hard to see, but the gray
streaks are a water spout! Very Cool to see!!!

Austin riding the bull at T Bonz

Nicks turn!

Silly Nick

Austin & Wes
He just had to get a toothpick when he saw Wes with one!

Monkey drinking out of his
sippy cup at Barefoot Landing.

Baby Tiger Cubs
also at Barefoot.

Austin & Brynna @ Barefoot

Checking out the Koi
at Barefoot Landing

Giant Koi at Barefoot

Chasidy & Wes at Barefoot

At Crab Catchers for dinner
on the waterfront.

Our Home

Our Neighborhood Entrance

The Monarch Club
Our neighborhood amenities(club house, pool, playground, tennis courts, basketball, trails and much more!!)

Pools
We can't wait to move in here!!

Playground & Kids Pool

Tennis Courts

Basketball Courts

The Start of our New House!!!
We started building our new house in Oct. 2004. It was complete April 2005! We had a few weather delays as you can see.

SOLD!!

Drywall is going up today!!
Guest room 1

Guest room 1 closet
We're going to use this room as an office.

Guest Bath

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

Living Room

2nd guest room

Brick went on today!!

We're getting there!!
More weather delays!!AHH!

Landscaping & Irrigation
went in today!! Stopping by to check out the progress!

Plants go in!

Waiting for sod to be layed!
Can't wait to get rid of all of this mud!!

Side view
won't be long we'll have neighbors!

Entry Hall
Hardwood all finished!

Looking into the kitchen.

Kitchen
Silestone and appliances went in today!!

Yeah!!
Paint and closet doors!!

Dining room
Yuck!! Can't wait to put up our new chandelier!!

Master Bedroom

Master Bath
His & Hers sinks

Master Shower

Guest Bath

Looking into the guest bath

Looking into the guest bath
from it's second entrance

Guest room 2
Finished!

Almost time to move in!!

TV niche & plant ledge
in the living room

Stairs get carpet!!

Bonus room
Wes is going to have fun up here!!

Wired for EVERYTHING!!
Wes can't wait to get that new HUGE tv up here!!

Kitchen 1

Kitchen 2

Breakfast Bar

Kitchen 3

Eating Area

Eating Area 2

Looking into the Living room

View from entry hall

Living room
We're still working in here, but almost finished! Wheh!

Plant ledge

We painted the livingroom
Milk Chocolate. Now we just need some finishing touches!

Looking into the kitchen area

TV Niche & Fireplace

Another Plant Ledge

Guest Bath

Guest Bath entry 2

It's spring in Charlotte!!

We've been enjoying working
in the yard with temperatures in the 70's and 80's!!

Chas is the family green thumb!
She always has fresh flowers in the window boxes!!

Tulips are starting to bloom!

Easter Egg Wreath
We love spring!!!

Spring is here!!!
Our favorite time of the year!! We love working in the yard!!

Everything is starting to bloom!

Backyard
We're getting ready to start a BIG landscaping project back here!! We'll post results when we're done!

Chasidy's "carpet"
Wes calls the lawn "chas's carpet" because it's so lush it's better than walking on the carpet!

Our new Topiaries

It's going to be a lot of work,
but hopefully we can keep them spiral!!

Front flower bed finally
complete!!! YEAH!

Side flower bed also complete!!

Tulips are gone for this season
Now the Daylilies are coming up!!

With the front and side complete
it's time to head to the back!!

WOW these Lilies are getting so
big!! and starting to bloom!!

The side flower bed is really
growing too!!

These are so pretty!!

Backyard project #1 complete!

We still have 2 more backyard
projects!! We'll post the results when they are complete!

Front Flower Bed
Everything is really blooming!!

Wes laughs at Chas because she
cuts patterns in the yard when mowing!

Master Bedroom
Curtains are finally up!! They turned out great!!

Close up of the duvet
Yep, you guessed it, another one of Chas's potterybarn favorites!!

Master bath done too!

It's hard to tell.....
but it's painted light blue

Baby's Room!
We'll post more pics of this room once it's complete!!

We're very happy with our new
moldings!

Demi's Nursery

DEMI! name is up!
It was going over the crib, but we decided to move it so you could see in upon entering her room!

"Thank Heaven for Little Girls"

Maternity Collage made for
Demi's room!

Baby's bathroom!
It's yellow!

Not her towels or shower curtain
Her's have her name on them so we'll have to post pics of this room completed after she is born!!

Demi's Bathroom

Demi's butterfly rug

Demi's bathroom

Demi's towels!

Shower curtain
Matches her room curtains and duvet.

Close up

Entry hall finally complete!

Heading up stairs

Living-room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Bonus room
Not much done up here! It will most likely turn into a playroom so we're waiting!

Married Life......

Wes & Chas

Wes & Chasidy

At the "Grammy Awards"

Otis in the snow

Otis on his couch!
It's even a fold out sofa bed! Hee!

Santa

Jackson & Otis

Otis
His favorite spot on the couch!

Is Otis doing laundry?
Wouldn't that be great!!

Marcus, Chasidy & kids
All-Star of the Year trip, Hollywood, CA July 2005

Wes & Meishca
Universal Studios Hollywood

Wes & Chasidy
Universal Studios Hollywood

Wes & Taylor
Universal Studios Hollywood

Taylor & Courtney

Wes & Chasidy

Marcus & Marisa
Universal Studios Hollywood

Marcus, Chasidy & Kids

Wes & Taylor

Spider Man

Fear Factor Live

Hollywood, CA

Hollywood 2

Hollywood 3

Warner Brothers Studio

Mime on Hollywood Blvd

Another Group Shot

Wes & Chas

Chasidy & "Daniel"
From The Young & The Restless!!!

Melrose Place

Chinese Theatre
Hollywood

Hollywood Boulevard

Hollywood Boulevard 2

Walk of Fame

Kodak Theatre
Home of the grammy awards

HOLLYWOOD

Wes & Chasidy
House of Blues Hollywood

Jimmy Kimmel Live

CCS Group
All-Stars of the Year!! Samantha, Taylor & Kristin

Chasidy & Ishna
Hollywood, California

Marcus, Kristin, Chasidy

Wes & Chasidy

BMW Z-4
From my husband to me!!

National Champions!!

Chasidy, Larissa, Wes

Decorated for Christmas!

Our Christmas Tree
First Parker tree!

Our ECU Christmas Collection
Each Christmas we get that year's collectors items. We started this Christmas 2003.

ECU Ornament
We've collected the yearly ornaments too. This year's was a cheerleader!! How appropriate!

Christmas Decor

Christmas 2

Wes & Chasidy
At Chuckie Cheese with the PeeWee team for winning Nationals!!

Brynna, Chas & Austin
I'm not sure who had more fun, us or the kids!

1st Parker Christmas Card

Wes & Chas
Christmas Party at Nora & Jimmy's

Otis spotted his FULL stocking!
Christmas Eve morning Otis realized his stocking was no longer empty!

Otis getting into his stocking!

YUM lots of doggie goodies!

Still checking out his stocking.

Happy Doggie with holiday treats

Taste just like a
real candy cane!

Christmas Eve
Chas, Wes, Christy & Reed with Travis sneaking in!

"The Mrs. Parkers"
1st Christmas as mother & daughter in law!! Hee Hee!

Otis & Lily
Alicia, Johnna & Auburn's dog.

Auburn playing with Otis

Auburn
She's soooo CUTE!!

Santa came to visit!

Elaine with Santa

Johnna & Santa

Auburn gets a gift from Santa!!

Otis with Santa

He loves Santa's beard

Wes & Christy
Silly cousins!

Christy, Reed & Lily

Otis, Chas & Wes

Elaine
Explaining Chinese Christmas! This has become tradition!

Chinese Christmas Game
This game is always so much fun & very funny!!

What's Reed got???

What is Karen going to get?

Stuck with a "pro-pot" Hee!
Don't you hate it when someone takes your gift!!

Robbie & his scale

Blake
So excited to get tupperware

Christy's turn!

Wes checking out Jay's gift!
Cocktail Carousel!

Chasidy got a fire extinguisher!
But she traded it for a pretty fur blanket!!

Still laughing about our gifts!

Chas, Wes & Otis
1st Parker Christmas Eve!

Otis and Lily
Checking out the unwrapped gifts

Group Shot!
I can't believe we got everyone together!!

The Farrells & Blackburns!

Granny opeing her gifts
Christmas morning

Granny, Linda & Jerry

Yeah! Linda got wine!

Granny checking out her
Bath & Body Works!

Granny & her wedding photo!

Showing Linda

Wedding Photos made great gifts!

More gift opening!

YUM! Granny's favorite!!
Chocolates!

Checking out her "Pot of Gold"

Last Few gifts Christmas Morning
We're off to Atlanta!

"Winterfest 2005"

300ft Christmas Tree
Everything was lit with Christmas lights! Much more beautiful in person!!

Star lit walk way to
the ice skating rink.

Ice Skating!!

Chas & Dora the Explorer!
The Tiny Tots will LOVE this!!

Dancing Waterfalls
The next sevaral photos are of waterfalls that danced to Christmas music!

They also changed colors!!
while dancing

Very Cool!!

Ebenezer Scrooge
Dark photo

Candy Land!

HUGE Christmas Tree
in the middle of the park! You could walk inside it through the drum!

Covered bridge to
Santa's Workshop!

Santa's workshop was beautiful!

Chas & Wes
Inside Santa's workshop

Parade of lights
Frosty! (It was hard to take pics of the parade because it was so crowded!!)

More of the parade

Gingerbread man in the parade

Jack-in-the-box!

North Pole with Santa's list
of all the good boys and girls

Leaving the park after
lots of fun!!!

Wes & Chasidy in Atlanta
at Chas's parents house

Zoey
Otis's sister & the Duncan's dog.

Otis & Zoey

Otis
in Atlanta checking out the Christmas deer across the street. They move!!

Wes & Otis
Otis inside his stocking.

Christmas 2005
Last shot of the house before taking down all of the decor!

Christmas 2005
We've been out of town for almost 2 weeks, now comes the not so fun part, taking all of this down!

Otis & His Mommy
Relaxing after a very busy Christmas!

Warming up!
It's much colder here than in Atlanta!!

Coach Chasidy
Resting in a wheel chair at Nationals!! Hope this isn't bad luck!!....open is going on late tonight!

Otis
He loves having his picture taken!!

Silly Puppy!!

Wes & Chas at the Concord Mills
Mall Cheer Competition 2-04-06

Chas and some of her tiny and
peewee all-stars.

Otis & his "Valentine"
Otis is VERY smart!! All of his toys have a name and he will go get them. This is his newest his "Valentine"

Loving his Valentine

Silly Puppy!!
He loves getting new toys!! How he remembers all their names we'll never know!!

Otis & Chas
Valentines Day 2006

1st Valentines Day as a married
couple. Getting ready to go out on a evening all planned by Wes!! Chas has no idea where they are going!

Chasidy is dying to know what
they are doing and where they are going!!

Otis and his daddy
Both tired after playing ball!

Waiting for someone to throw the
ball!! Otis loves to fetch!

Laying in his favorite spot!
On his fur blanket!! (actually ours, but taken over by Otis)

The Greatest Show on Earth!
We went to the Ringling Brothers & Barnum Bailey Cirucus Feb. 25th at the Bobcat Arena!!

Yep, still kids at heart we went
to the circus!!

Pre-Show Hula Girl

Human Slinky
Very cool!

Pre Show with the Windy City
Acrobats

It's getting ready to start!

Opening Parade of "Stars"

Parade of "Stars" 2

Husband & Wife Human Cannon-ball

Human Cannonballs!

Human Cannon 2

More Circus Fun with Bello

Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia
They climb poles and do tricks on them as a group. It was AMAZING!!

Taba and his tigers

Tigers 2

Highwire Act

Sachn & his animals

Elephants & Sachn

Sky Surfers (acrobats)

Sky Surfers 2

Sky Surfing

Chas in her circus hat!

Wes wearing his circus hat.
We had a blast at the circus!!

Brynna-"The Princess"
She most definitely "Made the Honor Roll in Drama School"

Austin-"Mr. Cool" (as always)
Can you believe how much he and Wes look alike??

Nick -"Muscle Man"
The youngest of the "trio"!! What a handful they are!!, but so cute...how can you not love them!

Taylor & Wes
CANAM Nationals Myrtle Beach March 17-19th

Taylor & Wes
CANAM Nationals

Chasidy in her "magic" boots
These came all the way from Hollywood CA, but brought good luck to Junior teams in Myrtle Beach!!!

These boots were the highlight
of the weekend!!

Chasidy & her Junior Cheer
team at Nationals!

Brynna & Nick
Myrtle Beach March 17-19th

Austin
Austin wanted to swim in the ocean in March, so this was the compromise!

Nick

Brynna & Austin
As wet as they got, they pretty much did go swimming!

Brynna

Brynna & Austin

Austin

Chasidy's favorite picture!!!

An early birthday present for
Chasidy!!

We've been wanting to get
the College Preview Magazine framed for a long time!!

It turned out perfect!!

Wes always has a surprise up his
sleeve!!

The BIGGEST surprise!!!

Wes's new baby!!

He's been dying to get a new
bike!! You would have thought Chas's birthday was his!!!

He was so excited.....couldn't
keep him off it (even in the 30 degree weather!!)

Zoey came to visit Chasidy for
her birthday! (her parents dog & Otis's sister)

She was so tired after playing
with Otis all day!

Otis and Zoey

He's so cute (and he knows it!)

Zoey

It's play time!!

Laying in her bed.

Wes & Chas
With her Yummy ice cream cake!! (not sure why the photo is so dark)

Wes & Chas
(Wes's head cut off, but still one of our favorite pictures!)

Auto Fair
Lowes Motor Speedway April 6-9th

"Xtreme General Lee"
Dukes of Hazzard Car done extreme.

DSCF2

Xtreme '65 Fastback
Wes's favorite!!

Chasidy's Favorite
The new Ford GT

More cars from the show.....

Chas & her dream car!!

Smaller than a Mini Cooper
This FIAT was tiny!!!

"Herbie"
The LOVE-BUG!

Back to the Future

Lamborghini
This car was awesome!!

1934 McQuay Streamliner

Amphicar
This car is also a boat!!

Copper 40 GT (all copper)

Flying Car
Very Cool!! Created by "Monster Garage" from the Discovery Channel. It really flys!

The guys looking for a Mustang
for Travis!

They liked this one!

There were cars everywhere!
All around the track, infield, and even in the parking fields!

Chas in turn 4
You can't believe how steep the turns are on the track!

A storm was coming!!

Medieval Times Competition
April 22-23rd 2006

After the competition we stayed
for the show!! It was very cool!!

Our Knight

Yellow & Red Knight

This horse could walk to his
hind legs across the ring!!

All of the knights

The horse taking a bow!

And of course a stunt pic!!
Wes & Chas Medieval Times 2006

Nick, Austin & Brynna
Medieval Times

Camryn & Brynna
At Medieval Times. Everyone is missing their front teeth!!

King Nick

Austin on the beach
(With missing front tooth! cute!)

Austin, no matter how cold he's
going to swim!

.......And tumble!
Back-handsprings on the beach

Miss Priss on the beach
(Brynna)

The Hunt Gang
Pretty cool they have their own stunt group!! hee hee

Nick playing in the sand.
He's got to be thinking about throwing that on Brynna!!!

Nick Tumbling

CCA-Lexington Banquet
April 29th 2006

Everyone starting to arrive!!

Chasidy & Hillary
"2005-2006 All-Star of the Year!!!" for CCA-Lexington

Chasidy, Taylor, Hillary
"2005-2006 All-Stars of the Year....bet they can't wait until thier BIG trip this summer!!"

Chasidy & Taylor

The kids presenting Chasidy with
her photos!! A frame with photos from each team throughout the season!! Yep she was crying!!!

Looking at each frame!!

Chasidy & Alex
One of her tiny tots!!

Chasidy & Audree
Another tiny!! She loves all the kids, but the tinys have an extra special place in her heart!!

Katelyn Starling
Dana & Dave's baby girl is growing up!! and loving living at OBX!

Katelyn & her Daddy!

Enjoying the OBX sunshine!!
We sure do miss it!!

SO CUTE!!!

Austin, Look at that face!!
His team is undefeated so far this season!!

Nick playing T-ball!!

Our Baby!!
Sleeping in our bed.

NASCAR week / BIKE night at
Quaker Steak and Lube 5/24/06. Over 2000 race fans and 1300 bikes! It was HUGE!!

Race Car Limo
Very Cool, and a big hit with all of the die hard NASCAR fans!

In side the "Race Car" Limo

You would not believe all of the
bikes and people! We think it's even larger than last year!!

We're not big time NASCAR fans,
but race week is a blast!!

This bike had 2 engines!
Wes should have NEVER seen this!!!

Wax Gurus, the band
We had never heard of them, but they were great!

So many bikes you couldn't move
in the parking lot!

Every night this week there is
an event leading up to Sunday's big race... Coca Cola 600!

Kane
Silly as always inside Quaker Steak!

Amy, Chasidy & Wes
With helmet head of course!

Kane & Brian, these guys are
complete nuts and a blast to hang out with! There is never a dull moment!

Getting ready to head home.

The only way to travel during
race week!! In a car it could take hours to get anywhere!!

Austin's 8th Birthday!!!!

Field Day-Nick, Austin, Brynna
2006

Austin

Brynna missing BOTH front teeth
She's so cute!!

Bouncy Ball @ Field Day

Can you tell he loves the water?

Nick racing with shoes on his
hands!! How Silly!!

Otis caught on our bed!

He thought he was in trouble!!

Once he realized he wasn't

Otis & Patch
At our neighbors playing with their new Boston Terrier puppy!

Ouch Patch your teeth are sharp!

Patch loves Otis

He is so cute!!!

Resting at Patch's house after
playing hard!!

Otis loves having a friend right
next door!!

Katelyn
July 4th '06

She is so cute!!!

Patch
He came next door to stay with us a few days while his mommy & daddy were out of town.

He's getting so big!

Patch & Otis playing

Otis
You know he loves Patch when he actually shares his toys!

Headed outside for a walk!

Patch is Wes's buddy!
Otis is a little jealous!

Tired puppies laying on Wes
after a long walk around the neighborhood.

Out for the night!
Our long walk did the trick!!

Hopefully he'll sleep all night!

Have you ever seen a dog...
Eat CORN ON THE COB??!!

Otis kept begging for a piece!

Silly dog!!
We couldn't believe he actually ate it!! Grandpa Parker is going to love this!!

He's not really a dog though!
Right??

National American Miss
Brynna's 1st Pageant!! Friday July 28th 2006

Brynna ready for the Pageant!

Austin ready to go!
Brynna in the back looking at the fish!

What a little princess!!!

Brynna & Austin

Austin escorting Brynna for
the judges!

The Princess taking her walk on
stage.

Getting roses from Austin
How cute are they??!!

Doing the Pageant dance
"Shake Your Tail Feather"

55 girls in the division!!
Top 15 announced!!! Yeah Brynna!!!!

Waiting for the results!!!

YEAH!!!! 2nd runner up out of
55!! WOW!! Queens Court.

Brynna also won....
MISS. PERSONALITY!!! Not shocked at all!! That's just what she is!!!

Way to go Brynna!!
We're so happy we could come watch!! Can't wait until Atlanta this weekend!!! WE LOVE YOU!!

Katelyn's 2nd Birthday!!!
Saturday July 29th 2006!!

Opening her gifts!
She loved everything!! It was so funny!

New tricycle

Singing karaoke with her
new helmet on! Hee Hee! She's so funny!! It was so good to see her!

AWWW Katelyn's first
Birthday kiss!!

Brynna's Trip to Atlanta
August 4th-7th

Lindsay's farm we visited
(Chas's sister) It was a beautiful place!

Brynna's shot of the barn

The horses at Lindsay's barn are
all show horses. Most of them are worth $500,000 or more!! They were very beautiful!!!

Charlie
One of Brynna's favorites

Feeding Charlie

Wes & Charlie

Chas & Charlie
He loved all the treats we brought for him!!

and spit out the ones he didn't

We called this horse Mr. Ed!

Chasidy & Mr. Ed
He was nudging her with his head toward the treats!

Mr. Ed smiling at Brynna
Yep, Brynna took this picture all by herself!

One of Lindsay's horses
Kalil

Brynna excited to ride Kalil

Brynna ready to ride!!

Getting Lindsay to lead the
horse at first.

Riding all by herself!!

Stopping Kalil is a tough job
when you are 7!

Kalil stopping for a bite to eat

She's a professional now!

Lindsay showing Brynna
how Kalil can jump.

Kalil usually jumps 5-6 foot
jumps so this little one was easy!!

Taking Kalil back to the barn
after a bath! What a fun day at the farm!!

Brynna bubble bath in the
jacuzzi tub!

The bubbles kept growing!

Sunday we went to the Georgia
Aquarium

Tropical Tank

Sea eels coming up out of the
sand.

Jelly Fish
Tropical with lots of stingers as Brynna called them!

Another tropical Jelly Fish

These Jelly Fish turn colors to
protect themselves.

Very Cool!!

Another Tropical Tank!

Brynna

A Shark swimming above us!

NEMO!!!

A whole tank of Nemo's!
All of the kids loved the clown fish! This was the most crowded tank!

Touch Tank with Sting Rays
and shark

Brynna touching the Sting Rays

Chasidy, Brynna & Wes
Infront of the HUGE waterfall inside the aquarium!

Chas & Wes

Chris, Chasidy & Lindsay
Brother and Sisters all grown up!!

Chas's mom & dad

Wes, Chas, Chris, Lindsay, Will

Brynna

Garr
Their mouths look scary!

Piranhas!!!

Another tropical tank with a
star fish.

Beluga Whales!!!

They came all the way from
LaFeria de Chapultepec in Mexico City!

They flew to Atlanta on a 767
airplane from UPS!

We loved the whales!!

Seaweed Seahorses!

African Black-footed Penguins

It was feeding time!

Next few photos are shots from
the enclosed fish tank. It was huge and completely surrounded you!

Inside the aquarium

This place was awesome!!

The different tanks you could
visit.

SHARK!!!
Just a baby, but scary to Brynna!

The tropical tanks were our
favorite!!

Brynna on the deck grilling with
Mr. Mike after a long day at the aquarium.

Brynna & her baby Seal she
got at the aquarium.

He turns into a puppet!
She was so impressed!! heehee!

Getting ready to go back to NC
What a blast we had!!!

Carolina vs Buffalo
August 12, 2006

Leaving for the game
Can you believe it was only 64 degrees today!!! And the rain has stopped! What a great day for a game!!

Arriving @ the stadium!
We have field passes!! & so glad we got them!!

John Kasay warming up

Bills player Brian Moorman
watching the Panthers warm up.

John Fox (Panthers coach)
Taking the field

Jake the snake!
Delhomme warming up

Chasidy & Sir Purr
GO PANTHERS!!

More of Panther warm up!

Billy Parker #27

We had to get some shots of
him...he's got our last name!!

Parker getting pumped up for
the game!

Panther Huddle

We were so close to them we
could almost touch them!!

Keyshawn Johnson

It's game time!
Topcats waiting to take the field!

Bills taking the field

Introducing Carolina's starters
Shaun Williams

#20 Chris Gamble

#21 Ken Lucas

#53 Na'il Diggs

#55 Dan Morgan

#58 Thomas Davis

#93 Michael Rucker

#77 Kris Jenkins

#99 Maake Kemoeatu

You can't see them, but
#26 DeShaun Foster & #90 Julius Peppers

A few pics from the very top
of the stadium!

The view from up there was
AWESOME!!

Charlotte Skyline

Next several pics are shots
throughout the game!

We had so much fun!!!
Boy, are we glad we got season tickets!! since all the games are sold out!

Austin's a "Pro" now!!

Krisit's Baby Shower
Sept 9-one of Chas's friends from work.

Opening Gifts
She's having a girl!!

What a cute bag!!

These were too cute!

Lots of pink!!!

The baskets she registered for

Filled with goodies from
Stacey & Chasidy

Opening basket #2

& her bouncy chair also from
Stacey & Chasidy

Austin "warming up" befoe
leaving for football.

Nick can't wait until he's old
enough to play!

Nick, Brynna & Austin headed
to football!

Austin's football practice
GO AUSTIN!!

Austin, Camryn, Brynna
@ Camryn's Birthday party

Camryn blowing out the candles!

Taylor, Samantha & Sommer
3 of Chas's favorite CCA -lex girls!!!

Camryn & Brynna

Baby Addison kissing her big
sister Taylor. How cute!

Katelyn @ the beach
What a beautiful little girl!!

Katelyn & Dana
Chas's best friend & college roomate! We sure to miss living @ OBX with them!!

TOO CUTE!!

Katelyn loves to play dress up!!

Austin's first football game!!

warming up

Austin's "Game Face"

Childress Vineyards for Karen's
Birthday!!

What a beautiful place!!

All of the grape vines!

Getting ready to go inside to
eat and drink some yummy wine!!

We love it here!!

Mom & Dad Parker

What a beautiful day it was!!
Happy Birthday Karen!!

Fountain in the foyer

Inside the vineyard

Otis resting with his blankie

Otis & Zoey
Zoey came to visit with Chas's mom last weekend.

They love playing outside

Zoey resting in the grass

She's too funny!

Otis in his "Bat Hat"
(Last years Halloween hat we found)

Katelyn & Dave at the ECU
West Virginia game

Katelyn at the pumpkin patch!

So cute!!!

Picking out her pumpkin

She found a pumpkin just her
size!

Miss Priss

Taylor's Football Game

Taylor flying!

Can't wait to see her on OPEN
this year!!!

Nick, Brynna & Austin
Ready for Halloween!

Austin the priate!

What a mean face!!!

Nick the vampire!

Brynna the fairy!

Our Honeymoon-The Caribbean

JUST MARRIED
Wesley & Chasidy June 25, 2005

Getting on the ship!

Tampa Skyline

Tampa Aquarium
Swimming with the dolphins

Hope that luggage gets on here!

Carnival Miracle
Our home for a VERY LONG time!

Water Slide
The slide on our ship

Pool
One of the 3 pools on our ship

Wedding Chapel
There were 2 weddings on the ship during our cruise.

Chasidy
Relaxing on the ship in a huge chair before leaving Tampa

Wes
Are you already finished with that drink??

Port of Tampa

Port of Tampa
Almost out of the canal!

Leaving the canal
Next stop Grand Cayman!!!

First Carribean Sunset
Out of US waters and almost to Grand Cayman!

Sunset
The beautiful view from our room!

Sunset 2
What a life....

Grand Cayman
Wes & Chas's favorite!!!

Grand Cayman Hard Rock

Grand Cayman
We could have stayed here for 2 weeks! It's beautiful!!

Pirates of the Carribean
Yep, they have pirates

Wes & Chas
Getting ready for a day full of excursions in Cayman Islands

Grand Cayman
Wes and Chas's FAVORITE stop!!! We could have spent the whole trip here!!!

Seaport at Cayman Islands

Turtle Crossing
Grand Cayman

Baby Turtles
Cayman Island Turtle Farm

HUGE sea turtle
Cayman Island Turtle Farm

Huge Sea Turtles 2
Grand Cayman Turtle Farm

Baby Sea Turtles
Grand Cayman Turtle Farm

Baby Turtles
Grand Cayman Turtle Farm

Grand Cayman Beach

Grand Cayman

Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Downtown Georgetown

7mile beach Grand Cayman

HELL
Yes, we went all the way to hell and back at the Cayman Islands!!

Hell 1

Devil
We even saw the devil himself

Hell 2

Hell 3

Hell 4
Limestone rock resembling hell has been there since Cayman Islands were founded!

Hell's Post Office
We sent post cards to the US from Hell

The Devil or Chasidy???

Wes the Devil
That's more like it!! Hee! Hee!

Stingray City
Grand Cayman

Stingray City

Wes & Chas
Holding our first stingray!

Wes & Chas
Stingrays are swimming all around us! VERY COOL!!

Stingray Back Massage
AHHHH

Chas & Stingray
More comfortable now! Stingrays are really soft!!

Wes & Stingray
He's not scared! Watch out behind you....

Stingray Back Massage
Kinda scarey!!

Wes & Stingray 2

Stingray Kiss
Cayman Islanders believe that a stingray kiss brings a lifetime of good fortune.

stingray-1

stingray-2

stingray-3

Chas Relaxing
Weh! What an exciting day!!

Wes
Getting ready to jump back in for more fun with the stingrays!

Costa Maya
Stunting our first day at Costa Maya

Our Village at Costa Maya

Costa Maya

Costa Mayan Seaport
What a LONG walk!

Costa Mayan Seaport 2

Our Village at Costa Maya 2

Village 3

Wes & Chasidy Parker
JUST MARRIED!!

Chas
The flip flops didn't work in Mayan sand!

Wesley
How Cute!!

Our Village 3
It sure was HOT!!

Wes & Buddies
Wes can make friends ANYWHERE! especially with a mayan beer.

Mayan Dancers
Indians from Mayan remains dance in town square

Mayan Dancers 2

Back on the ship

Back on the ship 2
Next stop BELIZE!!!

Wes & Chasidy
Captian's Dinner...

Costa Maya Sunset

BELIZE!!
We made it to Belize....Hurricane Dennis seems to be following us....

Happy Honeymooners!

Belize 2

Sailing Excursion in Belize

Our Home 2
Our ship was HUGE!! and had lots to do!!

Belize 3

Cozumel

Belize 4
Sailboat water docks

Cozumel Mexico
Stunting our first day in Cozumel! We do this everywhere we go....

Chasidy
Boots look a little too big! Hee! Hee!!

King of the Mountain
Wes playing with the kids....looks like hurricane Dennis might be getting closer!

Paradise Beach Cozumel Mexico
Wes & Chas's 2nd Favorite Place!!

The Newlyweds at Paradise Beach

Rehearsal Dinner & Wedding Day Photos

Dana & Chasidy
Arriving at the Rehearsal Dinner!

The Rehearsal dinner was at Maggiano's Little Italy! YUM!YUM!!

Travis & Chris
Enjoying that YUMMY food!!

The Duncans

Last night as an engaged couple!
It's going to be hard to get any sleep tonight with all the excitement!!

Jay & Charlene

Wes & Chasidy
Wes looks to be explaining something important!!

Jay & Blake

Johnna, Alicia & Christy

Reid & Charlene

The Parkers

Will & Lindsay

Marcus & Demarques

Christy & Lisa

Austin, Brynna & Leigh

Elaine & Robbie

Jerry & Linda

Christy & Reid

Granny Peggy & Granny Parker
Wes's Grandmas

Louanne & Bill

Renae, Dana & Dave
Dana with a mouth full of the great food!! We love Maggianos!!

Linda & Renae
(Renae's Mom)

Chasidy and Brynna

Chasidy & Johnna
In the brideroom getting ready for the ceremony!

First Baptist Church

The Church

First Baptist Church
Downtown Charlotte

Getting Ready for the BIG day!!

Getting Ready 2

Wes's 1st Baby Bonnett
Wes wore it home from the hospital, pinned in Chasidy's dress on their wedding day!

Chas putting on that HUGE dress

Marcus, Brynna & Austin

Austin

Austin & Brynna

Runaway Groom?? Hee Hee!

Wes before the wedding

Wes & Mike

The Guys

Chasidy & Brynna

Chasidy & Jr. Bridesmaids

Chas before the wedding

Chasidy & The Girls

Dana & Chasidy
Getting some air!! before heading down the aisle. That dress was HOT!! but it was worth it!!

Austin coming down the aisle

Brynna coming down the aisle

Here comes the BRIDE!

Ceremony

Saying our vows!!

Lighting the unity candle
Austin is so cute!

Kiss the Bride!!

Wes & Chasidy Parker

IT'S OFFICIAL!! WE'RE MARRIED!

Wes, Chas & the girls

How Cute!!

Chasidy, Wes & parents

Chasidy & Wes
First stunt as a married couple!

Wes & Austin

Brynna & Wes

The Wedding Party
What a good looking bunch!!

Silly Wes!

Mr. & Mrs. Parker
Chasidy and Wes outside church

Mr. & Mrs. Parker leaving the
church!!

limo 2

Another shot of the newlyweds
leaving the church, headed to the reception!!

Introducing Mr.&Mrs. Wes Parker

Our First Dance
was choreographed and took many months of practice, but was a highlight of the day!

Along with ballroom dancing we
learned & incorporated many "lifts". It was awesome!

First Dance

Wes & Chasidy
First Dance

The end of our first dance! It
was much harder in the dress! Wes had no idea he would have to lift all of that!

How Sweet!

Chasidy & her Dad

Wes & his Mom

Dana & Renae

Dave and Dana

The Parkers and Dana

The cake

Johnna
Sneaking a taste of the cake!

Cutting the Cake

Cake

Chas

Eating the cake

Wes

Wes & Chas
Wes's toast sure was sweet!

Wes & Chasidy

Wes & Victoria

Wes,Chasidy & the Knights

Chasidy & CCA girls

Wes & Krystle

Victoria, Chasidy & Krystle

Reception

Wedding Party
Taking some outside shots at the reception

Beautiful View at the Reception
From the balcony

Wes & Chasidy
At our sweetheart table.

Reception

Wes & his Mom

Wes, Lisa & Natalie

Renae & Chas's parents

Renae & Linda (her mom)

The garter
Wes had a little trouble searching under all those layers!!

Leaving the reception

Leaving the reception
Wedding Photos 036.jpg 2005-11-24

Wes & Chasidy
Leaving the reception

Leaving the wedding party dinner
After the wedding the wedding party went to dinner downtown at Zinc! YUM!

Back at the Westin after dinner!

Chasidy

Chasidy's Portrait

Bridal Portrait
from the reception

Signature Portrait
from the reception

The Rings

Our Rings
More than I EVER dreamed of!! I thought only "stars" had rings like this!!

Before Our BIG day!!

Where it all began.....
Our first year as partners. Who would have thought we would end up married!!!

ECU team photo
Summer 2000

Wes & Chasidy
Our last football season before graduating. October 2000

Big East Preview Magazine
December '99. Wes bought the magazine to get football picks.....

When Wes saw Chas in it,
they went all over Greenville buying as many copies as they could!! She had no idea she was in the magazine!!

September 2000

Our OBX house 2001
Moving in day! Can't wait to get some grass!! Everything was sand!

Car-Port under the house

The house was on the sound,
this was the view from the back balcony! Very peaceful! We loved living at the beach! (It was across the street!)

Chas checking out where the
dock will soon be!

Enjoying the day with
our OBX friends Kristin & Jon at Bush Gardens Williamsburg, VA

Stunting at the entrance
of Bush Gardens, May 2002

Inside the Park

Baby Otis
Otis was born Dec. 9 2002. This photo was taken Jan. 2003. He was 6 weeks old!

He's soooo cute!!

Playing with his toys.
They were bigger than he was!

Our Apex/Holly Springs house
We moved to Apex in 2003 for Wes's BIG promotion! (Apex city limits with HS address)

We sold it and moved to
an apartment in Charlotte June 2004.

Wes & Chasidy
Cheersport Regional

Wes & Chasidy

2-1-1
Wes & Chas

Wes & Chasidy

Wes & Chasidy at Carowinds
for the NCA competition.

Sweetheart Classic Feb. 2003
CCA OPEN TEAM, of course we got 1st place!! Hee!

Dancing

Group shot of the libs

Chas & Brook

Ending Pyramid

CCA girls being silly!

CCA Girls
All of the CCA coaches at Nationals 2005. Yep we still compete!

Brynna & Chasidy
Nationals 2005

ERAC Christmas Party 2003

We stunt at Christmas
parties too!!

Universal Studios Florida
We went to Florida a few days early before the cruise and spent them at Disney!

Wes & Chas at Univeral FL

Shrek

Wes & "Fiona"
At Universal Stutios (doesn't really look much like her though)

Ghostbusters
At Univeral Studios Florida

Marcus & Tessa
Margaritaville, Univeral FL

We even threw baskets at
Margaritaville

Ok after a few margaritas we
got really silly!

Krystle

The Ship Wes proposed on!

The Bahamas!
It was beautiful!

1st Day on the ship!
These silly girls knew all along what was about to happen, and didn't tell WOW!

1st Night on the ship
Going to dinner

Wes & Chasidy with the Pirate
on the ship.

Our Drink Waiter
After waiting on all of us he decided it would be easier to carry them on his head!!

Banana Boat Ride
Chas & Allie had to ride in the front!!

What a rough ride!

Headed to the pool!!

Paradise Island Resort

Parasailing!

Wes & Chasidy in the Bahamas
Everyone knew he would propose that night, but Chas!

The Girls!
"All-Star of the Year" trip, that ended in our engagement!! How cool!!

The guys!
Wes, Jon, Marcus, Quinton, George on the BIG night!

Marcus & Chasidy
Before dinner

Captains Dinner
(and night of the proposal) Headed to dinner first!

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!
Minutes after the proposal! Can't wait to get off this ship and start planning!!

The RING
Chas couldn't believe her eyes!!! or all of the diamonds!

We're engaged!!
The beautiful Bahamas where Wes proposed!

Lisa & Jon

Wes & Chas
Spending the day at Coco Cay after the proposal.

Newly Engaged Couple
Enjoying the last day of our trip as an engaged couple!!

Coco Cay
Very beautiful, but the hottest place we've ever been!!

What a beautiful place!!

Shops at Coco Cay

Wes & Chas at Coco Cay

Lisa & Lisa Marie
Coco Cay

Sovereign of The Seas
The ship wes proposed on!

Our Save The Date!

Engagement 1
With all of the planning many have not seen our engagement photos.

Engagement-2
The following are just 5 of over 50 shots taken!!

Engagement-3
We had a hard time picking just one for our signature portrait!

Engagement- 4
Then the task of picking just one for the newspaper!

Engagement-5
We chose a "fun" shot for our signature portrait!

Trying on THE dress
Is this the one??

Back View with train

THE DRESS
With sample veil and tierra. Can't wait to see it in snow white!!

Looking for a Cindrella Gown
I think I found it!!!

First Baptist Church

Inside of the church
The church is huge seating over 3600 poeple and very beautiful!!

Northstone Country Club
Reception site

Back view of clubhouse
Reception area is the top balcony. This will be open for our guest.

Northstone Country Club
Reception location, this will be a great spot for photos!

Northstone 2

Mini wedding cake
Our cake at the CCA shower.

Wes & Chasidy

Cake 2

Eating!!
You know Marcus ordered more than enough food!

Yum! Yum!

Still eating!!

Opening some of our gifts

We LOVE Pottery Barn!

Gifts 2

Some of the guest

A pitcher
What a face!

More gifts.....

And more...

Yeah! Another vase for the ledge
Not sure why such a straight face, we love the vase! It's 1 in a set of 3 we got. They look great in the house!

gifts

Gravy boat and butter dish!
So many gifts!! We'll be writing thank you's for years!!

Wes loves these huge coffee mugs

Mall Money Jar
This jar will ALWAYS be empty!

Wes & Chas
Wes trying to hide the mall money jar!!

Just Married Flip Flops
For the sandy beaches!

Our BIG wedding gift
Wes's favorite gift of all!!

Our home theater is now finished
Wes loves his 50" TV, now if we can just get it hung on the wall!!

Parkers

Christy
Getting the cake ready to cut!

Cutting the Cake

Cutting the Cake 2
We're getting lots of practice before the BIG day!

Feeding each other the cake
Practice for the wedding!! I won't smash it on your face if you won't do mine...

Yummy!

What are those two up to now?
Marcus & Chasidy = Bonnie & Clyde!

Chas, Wes & Lindsay

The Bride & Groom!

Some Bridesmaids with the Bride
At Childress Vineyards!

The girls & Wes's mom

Chasidy & Karen
Soon to be mom-in-law!

Yeah!! THE DRESS is IN!!!
Much prettier in white!

Back with train
Will be perfect with a little steaming!

Front of Bridesmaids Dress
We're getting black dresses with white sashes. (not blue with gray as pictured)

Back of Bridesmaids Dress

Chasidy's Portraits
Below are 7 of over 100 shots for Bridal Portraits!

Chasidy's Portraits-2
These were taken all over downtown Charlotte infront of different monuments!

Chasidy's Portraits-3
What a windy day!

Chasidy's Portraits-4
Wes & Chasidy 086.jpg 2005-12-16

Chasidy's Portraits-5
The waterfall was everyone's favorite!

Chasidy's Portraits-6
This is the one chosen for the newspaper!

Chasidy's Portrait
Chosen to be displayed at the reception!

CCA-Lexington Shower

Lexington Shower
Table to goodies! YUM!

Lexington Shower

Wes liked those canisters

Lexington Shower

Lexington Shower
2nd broken ribbon, we're up to 2 children now!!

Lexington Shower

Chasidy & Hosts
Shower at Rock Springs Baptist (Wes's parents church)

Chasidy

Chasidy & Christy
Yeah, more place settings!

Bakeware!!

Chasidy & Christy
So many gifts....Christy never stopped writing!

Church Shower

Chas & Christy taking a break!
from opening all those gifts!

YUMMY table of food!

Church Shower

NEW WEBSITE IS UP!!!

Our new site is set up and ready to go!! From now on that is where we will update. Our new address is www.theparkeradventure.blogspot.com be sure to bookmark it and don't worry we'll keep the link right here in case you forget!! Can't wait to see you at our new site :)

WE'RE MOVING

Websites that is.....our new site is under-construction, but be looking for a new link. It's definitely time for a change and the "new" site is less time consuming hopefully meaning I will update more often :) Keep checking back for our new link. Have a great week!

Let the Games Begin!!!

Soccer games that is.....Demi has decided she wants to play soccer. I think it's mostly because Olivia, a friend from Rhondas, gave her a pair of cleats. She has asked repeatedly since receiving them to wear them to church. My response has always been, "those are for soccer only" so soccer it is! Unfortunately the cleats are 2 sizes too big, but don't worry we found a pair at Dick's that are hot pink and black nonetheless, so reguardless of her soccer skills she will look like a pro. Daddy has her outfitted for the World Cup I think! Tonight we have a "meet the coach" meeting and Saturday she has a skills camp. Wes got her a pop up goal and she has been practicing so we'll see how it goes. This will be her first attempt of playing on a sports team. My only hope is that she will enjoy it and that after 2 or 3 weeks we won't have to drag her there. (especially since it runs until mid-May :)

As far as the rest of the Parkers....we're doing great. We're busy as usual, but life is hopefully about to get a bit easier when I finish my masters program in just a few shorts weeks!! I take my comps on March 19th and class runs until the end of the month, but after those we're pretty much done!! I know something else will replace the "free time" I think I am going to have when it's over, but I'm just glad classes will be done!
We are sooooo ready for Spring. This past week we had highs in the 60/70's and we're ready for that to stay. This Winter has been a tough one for us as far as sickness goes. It seems like someone including Wes and I has always had something going on from ear infections, sinus infections to strep. We have luckily avoided the flu thus far and pray that Spring will arrive before anyone brings that home.
We hope everyone is doing well. I have a lot of new pictures to upload, but since my new camera takes them in 20 megapixels it takes FOREVER to upload them to Shutterfly. I am going to try and let them upload this weekend and will post them when I can. It's time for the snow pictures to go!! Have a great weekend!!!!

Welcome Baby Ryan!!

Lindsay and Will became parents today to a healthy, beautiful baby girl this morning!!! Ryan Nicole Haselden was born at 10:21am. She weighes 6lbs 2oz and is 18 inches long. Demi and Duncan are so excited and can't wait to see her (as we all are!). They have been asking Aunt Lindsay when Ryan could come out since Christmas. We are so thankful God has once again blessed our family! We know Will and Lindsay will be excellent parents to this precious baby girl!

SNOW!!!!

Monday morning we woke up to about 4 inches of snow!!! Demi and Duncan were very excited since the snow in Atlanta over Christmas melted so fast we were not able to get out and play in it. Sunday afternoon Concord was CRAZY with everyone preparing for the "big" storm. We joined in the chaos and headed to the mall to try and find the kids some snow boots, bibs, a sled and gloves. We were not so successful. We did find great snow boots for Duncan and a pair of rain boots for Demi, but no luck on the sled, gloves or bibs. At one store we were told an entire rack of kids gloves were gone in less than an hour so everyone had the same idea. That wasn't going to stop us though, we made due Duncan in his pink gloves and layered pairs of pants and we played in the snow. Daddy even made a "home-made" sled from a knee board. I am sure we looked like total rednecks but the kids had a blast. Sadie loved the snow as well. We could not get Otis to join us, but she loved it. Today is our second day "snowed in". We have been out, but pretty much everything is closed. After the snow stopped falling we ended up with about 6 inches and 1/4 inch of ice. It's the ice I think that has pretty much closed everything. It doesn't look like we're going to see much melting over the next few days with lows in the teens and highs around 33 degrees. Oh well, it's been great relaxing at home in our pj's with the kids :)

Selah

Selah begins tomorrow!! At the Refuge we participate in Selah which means "stop and listen, let those with eyes see and ears hear." Basically we participate in a "fast" of things we enjoy eating and drinking in life to press into Him and grow closer. This is a time to really stop, look and listen to God. We will be giving up all drinks except water, junk foods including chips, french fries, candy/chocolate etc. This doesn't really sound that hard, but believe me it's hard! We hope during this time God will make our eyes clear so we can see and open our ears to we can hear what he wants us to focus on this new year!!

2011!! Happy New Year!!

It's so hard to believe it's 2011! 2010 went by way too fast, but was a great year for the Parker Family. We were definitely blessed beyond measure and are so thankful for what God continues to do in our family. As our little ones continue to grow so fast I wish there for a pause button on life. We feel like we blink and they are 6 months older. So for 2011 resolutions......Definitely spending more time with God. We often find ourselves so busy with life that He gets our smallest amout of time in comparison to other activities when he should get more time than all other areas. This is exactly where the devil wants us and we're not going to let him keep us there any longer. I'm going to really try and put my (OCD) clean, organized house on the back burner to allow more time for more important things. For those of you who know how OCD I am about a clean, picked up, organized house this will be the hardest for me by far!! I'm also going to get back on my schedule of 3 days a week at the gym. I know that doesn't sound like much, but with 2 kids, work and grad school it's often put on hold. Last but not least, we're going to really focus on eating at home even when going out would be easier. In May I will graduate with my masters in IT and that will free up a lot of time as well!!

2011 is going to be a great year!!! We are really excited about what God has planned for our family in 2011. We hope you experience his blessing all year as well!!

Pictures Added

A few pictures have been added to the Winter album. I've added a few from Thanksgiving & Christmas morning at our house. Once they finish uploading I'll add Christmas Eve at Christy & Reed's and Christmas at Nana & Papa's. Sorry for the delay.....they take FOREVER to upload :)

Santa Claus is coming to town......

TONIGHT!! Yes, that's right....Santa is coming 1 week early to the Parker house! This year it just works out better to have Christmas with the Parker's and Santa 1 week early. It will make things go much more smoothly the actual weekend of Christmas. So tonight Santa will visit Demi & Duncan. They are so excited. Demi has been asking if it was time to open presents since the tree went up. It's funny how neither of the kids want to get too close to Santa, but they sure do want him to come and drop his gifts off. So today will be filled with wrapping, wrapping and more wrapping along with assembly of a few items tonight. I'll post pictures soon :)
Christmas Eve we'll head to Pittsboro to have Christmas with the rest of Wes' family. That night we will head home, hopefully get a good nights sleep and head to Atlanta the morning of Christmas Day. We will most likely be in Atlanta until the following Friday and then back home it is.
We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. Through the worldly glitz and glitter of the holiday season may we be constantly reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. Without the birth of Jesus we would have no reason for any celebration in life. Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas From Shutterfly!!!

It's that time of year again.....time to make your Christmas cards!!!! This can be a long hard process unless you make them at Shutterfly. Shutterfly has over 700 different cards to choose from and it's so quick and easy. This will be our first year using Shutterfly for our Christmas cards and I'm super excited to see how they turn out. I have no doubt the quality will be great since our photobooks and videos we've ordered in the past have been great! Click here to start making your Christmas cards now!! Here are a few of my favorites. Click below......

Favorite #1

Favorite #2

Already have your Christmas cards taken care of? How about making a calendar! Calendars personalized with your own photos make great gifts!! Click here to start making your calendar. In addition to calendars you can order prints, photo mugs, canvas prints and much more! Shutterfly has a gift for everyone on your list!!

Once the Christmas season is over, be sure to keep shutterfly in mind for party invitations, holiday cards, birth announcements and much more!! You can always visit www.shutterfly.com or click here to begin looking at these types of stationary.

For those of you who are bloggers Shutterfly is also offering a promotion right now that involves 50 FREE Christmas cards!! For more details click here. Happy Christmas Card making!!!

Thankful.....

This Thanksgiving most would say they are thankful for their families, friends, children etc. In fact I just finished reading numerous post on Facebook saying just this. While we are thankful for such "common" American things as mentioned above, there are people in this country and around the world who are thankful for having 1 meal today, having something to drink,having running water, warm weather so going to the out-house isn't so cold, being cancer free, surviving one more day, having a pair of shoes, having a shelter to stay in, not freezing to death last night etc. Are our lives really too busy to stop and think or even help those who are hurting around us?? While many of us sit down tomorrow and eat a traditional Thanksgiving meal with our families and friends there are many who will have nothing to eat and be completely alone......but many of these very same people are so much more "thankful" for what they do have than we are. This Thanksgiving stop and think of how truly blessed you are and keep in mind what God says our job is as blessed people.....

..... "He appointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD...." Luke 4:16 21

"If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks." Deuteronomy 15:7

"....If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me...." Matthew 19:20

So this Thanksgiving I am thankful for my family, friends, children, health etc. But ultimately I am thankful for Jesus, the blood he shed, and that I am one of His disciples who has the privilege of serving Him and those around me through Him. For without Him I would have nothing to be thankful for. We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels!!!

New Fall Pictures

I've posted several of the Fall pictures I took last weekend of the kids with my new camera. I am far from being a professional photographer, but I do love the pictures my camera takes. We took over 500 photos so I've only posted part of them. Enjoy!

Canon T2i

Santa came to visit me a little early! Most of you know I love to take pictures. I've always wanted a nice professional grade camera, but couldn't stomach the cost. Since Demi & Duncan have been born my desire for a digital SLR camera has increased. We pay so much for "professional" photos every so often and I really wanted a camera that would produce these results without a photography studio. So bye bye point and shoot!!!!

HELLO Canon T2i Digital SLR!!!!! I'm so excited to learn how to use my new camera!!! I am very thankful it has an "auto"mode as well that has allowed us to take it out of the box and start taking pictures. The quality of the photos is amazing!! We also purchased a zoom lens as well that takes awesome pictures!!! So over the next few weeks I will be learning all I can about SLR photography in hopes that I will get some great shots during Christmas this year!!!

Catching Up...long post!

I apologize to those of you who regularly read the site for the lack of updates. I've been very slack at keeping it updated, but I just can't find the time to sit down and update like I used to. I've pretty much come to the realization that weekly updates are a thing of the past. Spending time with Demi & Duncan is much more important anyway :) I'll do my best to update as often as possible......

Now that Halloween is over Demi & Duncan are both looking forward to Christmas. Demi knows exactly what she wants Santa to bring this year which is fun for us. Duncan still doesn't really understand so shopping for him will be a bit more challenging. Why is it so much harder to shop for boys? Those of you that have boys and girls understand I know, that it's so much harder to find cute things for boys. Toys, clothes etc. it's all geared toward girls. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of cute things for boys, but you have to really shop around and search for them. Anyway, we have a few things on the list to get him, but Santa is going to have to think hard to come up with a few more items for him. Since they are so close in age, Demi & Duncan usually play together so what we buy for one of them they will both benefit from.

The next few weekends before Thanksgiving we plan on going to a few Christmas parades and possibly starting to decorate for Christmas. We never decorated before Thanksgiving until last year. With two little ones it takes TIME to get everything out and up!! We found out very quickly that if we waited until the first weekend of December to decorate we felt we were packing it all up as soon as we finished getting it all out. Demi is already asking about our Christmas tree since they've been up in the stores since the day after Halloween.

It's hard to believe Demi is 3 1/2 and Duncan is 18 months old!!! Where is the time going? Time definitely goes by much faster with the second child. I feel like Duncan was just born and now I've got two "little people" who are definitely in charge of our household :) Demi is doing great. We're amazed at all she has learned and continues to learn. She's writing her name now and is working on all of the other letters of the alphabet. Rhonda is awesome! and has worked really hard with her and all of the other little ones she keeps. She is tall and skinny. A few weeks ago at her flu shot appointment she weighed 34lbs. She's wearing 4T pants for the length, but an adjustable waist band is a must to keep them up. Thank you Children's Place for putting these in all of your pants!! She's definitely growing up and keeps us laughing with all of her new phrases she's picked up. Since Jared Anderson came to our church she's decided she loves his new CD and wants to hear it everytime we're in the car. She even knows every word to a few songs. I will have to try and video her belting it out in the back seat. It's very cute!

Duncan is our little tornado (he can destory a room in less than 30 seconds :) He is definitely more active than Demi ever was. He is climbing on everything, running, jumping etc. all of the time. He loves to throw his football, play basketball and baseball. We've definitely got one active little man on our hands. He is also doing great. At his flu shot appointment he weighted 30lbs. He is wearing 18months/2T. He is talking so much now I can't keep up with what he is saying new. He is saying Demi, Sadie, Otis, please, thank you, no no, yes, and so much more.

As you can imagine there is never a dull moment at our house, but that's the way we like it. Wes tells me all of the time that I work best in organized chaos and I guess he's right. I have to say having Duncan, starting my masters and taking on a new job all within 3 months of each other was one of those moments, but I wouldn't change a thing. I am getting excited to be finishing my masters in May though!

Sadie and Otis are also doing well. Sadie was spayed the Friday before Halloween and all went fine. At that appointment she weighed 40lbs. On Monday she went for her follow up and weighed 57.4lbs!!!! GROWTH SPURT!!! She's definitely getting big! She is 18 weeks old. Otis has decided Sadie isn't all that bad especially since it's been so cold at night. She makes a great heater for him to snuggle up next to.

I think that pretty much sums everyone up here at the Parker household. We hope everyone is doing well! Until next time.....

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween weekend and Demi and Duncan are so excited!! This afternoon Superman and WonderWoman will head to the Halloween Fest in downtown Salisbury for some kiddy fun. Tomorrow night they will of course be trick-or-treating. We hope everyone has a great, safe weekend! Happy Halloween!

**New pictures have been uploaded to the Fall album. Enjoy!**

Relaxing...ahhhh!

This weekend we're pretty much taking it easy and relaxing! It seems we've been going non-stop since before Summer began. Every single weekend we've had somewhere to be or something that had to be done......not this weekend:) Last night (Friday) we went to church for World Wide Worship's event- My Worship Can Change the World. It was great!! Lots of our favorite songs and just some time in the presence of God. This morning we made pumpkin pancakes then spent some time playing outside with the kids and enjoying a beautiful Saturday! Who can complain when it's 75 and sunny! It's perfect out today. This afternoon while Demi & Duncan took a nap we patiently waited for the Direct TV man to get our new equipment hooked up. We've decided to leave the world of cable and try them out. Tomorrow we'll head to church and then I'm sure we'll spend some more time outside. Demi and Duncan are loving their Power Wheels Mustang and Otis and Sadie don't mind being out running around either. We hope everyone has a great weekend and week ahead! Next weekend we'll be making our annual trip to Patterson Farms to the pumpkin patch!! I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures to post after the trip!

An AWESOME Sunday!

This Sunday Jared Anderson, Christian singer and song writer, came to The Refuge. We had an amazing time of worship with him followed by an excellent message from Pastor Jay. The presence of God in The Refuge this weekend was amazing. We are so blessed to be a part of this church! You truly know you are in the right place when your 3 year old comes home excited about Little Church and tells you the star sticker she got was from Jesus and that Jesus loves us.

After such an awesome Sunday it was also a blessing to hear that The Refuge was voted "Best House of Worship" by the Trib for the Reader's Choice Awards!! Again, we are truly blessed to be part of such a wonderful place doing wonderful things for the city of Concord, as well as, countries all over the world! Thank you Lord for leading us to Concord. We thought we were simply moving for a job promotion, but now know it was for so much more including things we are still yet to be a part of.

All of our worship services at The Refuge will be posted in video format starting tomorrow. In the past you've been able to dowlnoad podcast, but video will be the format from here on out. Check it out at www.therefuge.net

Finally Updated!

I've finally added all of the new pictures to the Summer & Fall albums. I've got to do a better job keeping up-to-date so it doesn't take so long to upload and post next time!!! Hope everyone has a great week!!!

Meet the newest addition to our family...Sadie

No we're not expecting another baby, but we did add one more to the Parker family Saturday. Sadie is our new 10 week old Great Dane puppy. I know you are thinking GREAT DANE!! Holy Cow!! Getting a new puppy was not on our list of things to do.....here's what happened.

A several weeks ago a lady I work with announced she had Great Dane puppies for sale for $950. I deleted the email and thought "I'd never pay $950 for any dog!!". A few weeks later she came up to me and said "You should come see my puppies, your kids would love them and they are great pets" When I asked her how much she told me $450. I still thought there was no way I'd pay that much for a dog. Well on Friday she came up to me and said she had 1 black (with a little white on chest and paws) female and if we came and got her over the weekend we could have her. That's right FREE!! I called Wes and after telling me I was crazy he later said "lets go look at her." I think he knew that "looking" would turn into "getting". He knows me well enough to know that I can't just "look" at a puppy. Friday afternoon/evening we tried to find out as much information as we could on Great Danes. Everything we read said they were "gentle giants" and great with kids. Long story short, we went and "looked" at her and yes she came home with us. I still can't get over the fact we got an AKC registered Great Dane for FREE. The other 5 were sold for $950.

After picking her up we headed to Petsmart and got the biggest crate they sell and a collar. Much to my surprise Sadie has been GREAT this week. She goes right in her crate at night and goes to sleep. No barking or crying, which is what I expected at least for the first few nights. We're still working on house-breaking and she's doing great. If she has an accident it's usually because we get busy with the kids and don't let her out. We are really shocked at how well behaved she is for a 10 week old puppy. The kids LOVE her. Duncan especially...he lays on her, kisses her and loves to play with her.

This weekend we'll be installing a invisible fence in our backyard. It actually should only take a few minutes because it's wireless. No digging and placing cables around the yard. I will post pictures of her this weekend. Last weekend I got most of my pictures downloaded and now I need to get them posted. Have a great Friday!

Congrats Will & Lindsay!!

I posted last month that my sister Lindsay was pregnant! Yesterday Lindsay & Will found out they are expecting a baby GIRL!! We are so excited for them and can't wait to meet that precious baby!!! Nana & Papa are excited as well! Congrats guys!! We love you!

It's been a LONG time.....

since I've posted/updated the site. Things around here have been CRAZY since the beginning of August. It seems like every weekend we've had a full schedule and I've just not had the time to upload pictures or even post a journal entry.

Demi & Duncan are doing great. They are growing up so fast! I can't believe Duncan is already 16 months old. Demi is a little lady now and loves to help take care of her brother. She's definitely a little mommy. Duncan is a destruction machine!!! He is so different than Demi was at his age. He's into everything and willing to climb up onto whatever needed to get what he wants. I've caught him opening the dishwasher and using it to get something off the counter. He hasn't completely climbed out of his crib, but we don't think it will be long before he does. He's definitely non-stop from the time he gets up until naptime and then naptime until bedtime He is a very happy little guy and creates a lot of laughter in our house.

I can't believe it's already mid-September, but we're excited to take the kids to the pumpkin patch and other Fall activities. The will have a great time at their ages and Duncan will love that he gets to participate this year. Demi already can't wait until Halloween and changes what she wants to be everyday. Should be fun this year!!

In other news....our church, The Refuge, just purchased 30 acres of land to build a brand new campus!!! We are very excited especially since it's going to make our already short drive even shorter. Easter Sunday 2012 is the goal for our first service in the new building!! The Refuge is also opening a satilite campus in Salisbury January 16th 2011. That's exciting news as well!! It's been amazing to watch our church continue to grow and expand the Kingdom of Heaven!! We are so thankful to be a part of it!! Working in in that area I have discovered many people looking for a church or even just looking for hope somewhere or in something. I'm excited to start spreading the word about our church and have felt, since hearing the announcment, that I need to be a part of that location in some way. I'm not sure how God wants to use me there, but I know he has a plan. I'll keep you posted....

We hope everyone is doing well! We're still here and hanging in there. I will try and do a better job of keeping things up to date! Once I graduate from grad school in May I think it will be easier!! I'm uploading new pictures now and will try to have them up by the end of the weekend. Have a great day!

90 Minutes in Heaven

I just finished reading 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper. This true story tells the experience Don has in Heaven for the 90 minutes he was medically dead on Earth. Don was a pastor at a church in Houston Texas and is now sharing his experience with people all over the world. If you haven't had a chance to read this book READ IT! It's definitely inspiring and really makes you think about how fragile life is. It's one of those books you can't put down ( I read it in 2 days) but he gives a glimpse of what we all want to know, "What is Heaven like?" The only day we are guaranteed is today and he really talks about the "wasted time" we have in our daily lives. With that said I'm not going to waste anymore of my time on here. Have a great weekend!!!

**Don't forget to join us for ONE STREAM!!!!** Downtown Concord on Union Street 6-9pm Sunday

ONE STREAM THIS SUNDAY!!!

...that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:21-23

This Sunday 6-9pm we will join believers (and hopefully non-believers as well) all over the city of Concord on Union Street to celebrate Him!! JOIN US!!!

The end of July already?

It's been a while since I've posted.....it seems like we've been busy all summer. I'm not complaining busy is what I like, but can it really be the end of July already? Time flies when you are having fun I guess :) We are all doing good. It's been so HOT!! most of our days have been spent at the pool keeping cool. The kids are growing up so much and I can't believe we are well into Summer.
This week we are heading to Atlanta to pick up Otis, who we've been missing since we left for the beach, and to visit with Nana & Papa, Chris & Lauren, and Lindsay & Will. Demi is very excited to be going to get her doggie and to visit Nana & Papa's. She has been asking for several days "Is today when we go to Nana & Papa's?" It's not looking like the weather will be any cooler in Atlanta so I'm sure our days will be filled with indoor activities and a few trips to the pool.
I will post new pictures when we get back. Every weekend is filled from now until I go back to work so I will do my best to get them up ASAP. We hope everyone is doing well! Stay cool!! Have a great week!!

ONE STREAM CONCORD!!

Check out ONE STREAM CONCORD to view the video!! One Stream is an event that will take place on Union St. here in downtown Concord on August 8th bringing all Christians together for One Purpose, Worshiping God!! We are very excited to be part of this event and to attend The Refuge. COME AND JOIN US AS WE BECOME ONE!

1 year well-check

July 15th Duncan went for his 1 year well check. At some point during the last year we got off schedule a bit due to scheduling and since insurance will only cover each visit exactly 3 months from the previous we've fallen a bit behind. Anyway, it's really no big deal just the reason he just had his visit.
Our little man isn't so little anymore! He weighed 27lbs 8oz and is 34 inches long/tall. He is in the 90th percentile for weight and off the charts in height. He has been walking for sometime now and has pretty much mastered running as well. He is talking a lot now and is learning more and more words each day. What is he up to at this point?.....
He LOVES......
the pool and will play 2-3 hours there happily
Demi and looks for her if he wakes before she does
playing outside
riding in the wagon
Otis
going to Rhonda's and playing with his friends
waving hello and good bye
gold fish crackers

He has a mouth full of teeth. Literally we can't get him to keep is mouth open long enough to count all of them. He does like brushing them :)
He is a little talker saying so much, a few of his favorite words are Mama, Dada, Nana, Demi, Rhonda, dog, snack, juice, trying Demi, lunch, hotdog, Otis, Bye-bye, up etc.
He is a very happy little guy and is mostly smiles all day.

We are so blessed to have both of our children and thank God for them each day. They definitely keep us busy and bring so much joy into our lives.

We're Back from the Beach!

We are back from the beach and can't believe the week has come and gone! We had a great time and both of the kids loved the beach. The weather was beautiful and we only had rain one day with the sun coming out by noon!! Demi and Duncan enjoyed playing with Farrell, Campbell, and Auburn. Duncan even made a new friend Mr. Mike whom he loved all week. The kids played at the beach and pool everyday. Sleeping at nap time was no problem for either of them :) In fact they have been sleeping even longer since we got home still catching up on sleep. Mommy & Daddy enjoyed a night out with Christy and Reed at Barefoot Landing. T-Bonz & Maggie Moo's filled our tummies and then we shopped around a bit. We all had a great time and are already looking forward to next year!

**All of the pictures are posted! Check them out in the Summer 2010 album**

You Are My Hope Releases!!

The Refuge : You Are My Hope [Live]

Our church, The Refuge, just released it's first worship CD called You Are My Hope! This cd was recorded during 2 worship services. It's a selection of a few of our favorite songs. Click here to preview the cd and purchase a copy of your own. It will be released to iTunes in July where you can download to your iPod or purchase songs individually!

It's Almost Beach Time......

One more week until we leave for our annual trip to Myrtle Beach!! I can't believe it's beach time already! The kids got tons of beach/pool toys for their birthday and can't wait to use them. This week will be spent doing laundry and trying to get everyone packed up and ready to go! Since Duncan was only 5-6 weeks old during last years trip we are anxious to see his reaction to the sand/beach. If it's anything like Demi's reaction we will be spending a lot of time at the pool, which is ok too. It will be nice to get away with family & friends for the week!! Once we get back I am sure I will have literally hundreds of pictures to post. I will do my best to get them up ASAP! We hope everyone has a happy & safe July 4th!! Have a great week!

Our 5th Wedding Anniversary!

Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary to us!! It's hard to believe that we have been married for 5 years! We are so thankful for how blessed we have been over the past 5 years and are looking forward to many, many more to come!

Demi & Duncan's Birthday Weekend!

This weekend we finally celebrated Demi & Duncan's birthdays. They had parties at Rhonda's on their real days, but we've been so busy it has taken us until now to have their "real" birthday party. Today was the big day!! Demi & Duncan had a blast and I think all of our guest did as well. It was a beautiful day, we could not have asked for better weather. Check out their birthday photo album to view the great pictures Alicia took for us during the party. We were so greatful to have a professional photographer come and take pictures for us, so we would not have to worry about it. THANK YOU ALICIA!!

Congratulations Lindsay & Will

I'm very late....but last Saturday my sister Lindsay & Will got married!! The wedding turned out great! It was a little warm outside, but it didn't rain during the ceremony or reception, which we were very thankful for!!! Congrats guys! We love you!!

It's been a while since my last post. We've been extremely busy and it doesn't seem like there will be an end to the chaos anytime soon. Last Thursday we left for Atlanta and came home Monday. Work has been crazy for us both as Wes is getting close to the end of his fiscal year and we're winding down a school year. My summer class for my masters program also began Saturday and will run through July 19th. Today was my last day of work, but I have a workshop to attend next week Monday-Thursday. Once thats over I'll run around crazy Friday getting ready for Demi & Duncan's birthday party at the pool Saturday. The following Monday our friends Stacy & Jared close on their house and move to Atlanta. While we are very sad to see them go, we know it's for the best since Jared is a pilot and his based out of Atlanta. It will have him a lot of travel time to and from NC.

The kids are doing great. They are loving the warm weather and trips to the pool. Once things settle a bit we plan on relaxing a few days by the pool ourselves. It won't be long and we'll be heading to Myrtle Beach for our annual trip.

We hope everyone is doing well. I will do my best to post pictures of the kids party ASAP. We actually have a real photographer coming to take pictures for us!! Thanks Alica! Have a great weekend!

Help Achile

As many of you already know, I became a "Compassion Blogger" a few months ago. Basically, my job is to tell others about Compassion and the amazing work they do all over the world. My newest assignment came today....HELP ACHILE! Read below and please help Achile. Compassion is a wonderful organization based on the love of Jesus and our calling to help those in need no matter where they might be. The Bible tells us we are responsible for helping the needy and the orphans of the world. Will you help this time or let another chance pass you by??

Achile is an 8-year-old boy in Burkina Faso with a congenital heart defect known as tetralogy of Fallot. Because of Achile's heart condition, he has been in pain for five years and hasn't been able to attend school regularly and receive the full of benefit of sponsorships through Compassion International.  Compassion International has provided medical care for Achile for the last two years at the National Teaching Hospital Yalgado Ouedraogo in Burkina Faso in western Africa. However, doctors there now believe his condition requires urgent heart surgery, which is not available in Burkina Faso.

Achile will be transported to a specialized hospital in India for a lifesaving operation that will cost an estimated $20,449. Please click here http://compassion.com/Achile to donate anything you can for Achile's survival. Every cent counts so no matter what donation you make, you will be helping to save this little boy's life!!!

Any funds raised in excess of the cost of Achile's surgery and transport will be rolled into Compassion's Medical Assistance Fund to aid children in need of medical help in the future.

Happy 3rd Birthday Demi!!!!!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY TO MISS DEMI!!!! It's so hard to believe she is 3 already!! Friday she had a birthday party at Rhonda's and had a great time. She came home with a bag full of goodies! Today we plan on going to church, having lunch and dessert for sure!! The kids party will be June 19th at the pool.....they are getting excited to say the least!

Here is what Demi is up to.....She can count to 20 in English and 10 in Spanish. She knows more Spanish than we do! She can recgonize her letters and numbers on paper and is learning to write them. She is also learning to write her name, which she almost has down with a little help. She is a little princess for sure and loves to play dress-up. She also loves to wear dresses and can't wait to be the "flower princess" at Lindsay's wedding this coming weekend.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

We Love You!!!

Birthday Pictures Added

Yesterday we took the kids to have their 1st and 3rd birthday pictures made. As you can imagine with Duncan now walking it was quite an experience. We did get some good shots. Take a look :)

Pictures Added :)

About 100 photos were just added. I'm sorry I've been so slack in this area, but it takes so much time to download, organize and post them. I will most likely not have a chance to add anymore until after Lindsay's wedding. Enjoy! The kids are getting so big!!

PINK EYE!!!

If you have ever had the pleasure of experiencing pink eye you know it's so much fun! NOT REALLY! I had pink eye when I was in elementary school and vaguely remember it, but this is one case I don't think I'll ever forget! Not only do I have pink eye, but I have it in BOTH eyes!!! It all started Tuesday when my left eye began to be somewhat bothersome. Thinking it was most likely allergies, I dealt with it until Thursday. Thursday afternoon both eyes were bothering me, my lymph nodes were swollen and I had a terrible headache. Needless to say, I headed to the doctor that evening and received the diagnosis of PINK EYE IN BOTH EYES! Wes, Demi & Duncan do not have it and we are praying that I have kept my distance and washed my hands, clothes, sheets etc. enough to keep them from getting. The doctor I saw Thursday said adults usually don't spread pink eye like kids do mainly because we keep our hands out of our eyes and wash our hands more. He felt like the rest of the family was safe if I had been around them since Tuesday with it, and they didn't show any symptoms up to that point. Boy am I hoping he is right!! So far so good.
As far as our weekend......Friday night I was feeling pretty bad so we just hung out at home. Saturday was spent mostly the same way except we did go to Amy & Scott's wedding in Rutherfordton. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding!! Since it was "kid friendly" we took Demi & Duncan with us. They were great and had a good time. We headed home around 8pm. Today we went to church and the kids are napping. Not much planned for this afternoon except maybe a trip to the mall to pick up a few things in preparation for Aunt Linday & Will's wedding in 2 weeks!!! I am uploading pictures as we speak. I will get them posted ASAP. Duncan has changed so much. He is trying to run at this point and is doing great. Demi is starting to look so much like a little girl now and is losing her "baby face" all together. It is kinda sad to think about them getting so big.....it's happening so fast, but it's exciting at the same time to watch them grow and learn so much. We are beyond blessed that is for sure!! We hope everyone had a great weekend and has a great upcoming week!!

Happy 1st Birthday Duncan!!!

One year ago at 5:42am our little man made his big arrival!! We have been so blessed over the past year to be his parents and to watch him grow and develop! He's an amazing little guy that brings us so much happiness and joy. We are constantly amazed by him......he is so much like Demi, yet so different at the same time. He is 27.5lbs and about 32 inches long. He is walking everywhere now and has become quite independant. He LOVES to play with Demi and pretty much wants to do everything she does. He is saying/trying to say new words everyday. His newest "trick" is to sing with the radio. It's very cute! I promise to post new pictures this weekend.

Happy Birthday Duncan!!! We Love You!!!

1 year ago....

One year ago tonight, we were doing pretty much what we are doing now. Demi was in bed and Wes and I were watching the season finale of Desperate Housewives. GK, Papa D, and Uncle T had spent the entire weekend with us "waiting" for Duncan to arrive. After no "signs" of his impending arrival they headed home a few hours before we sat down to watch tv. Anyway, at about 10:45-10:50 my water broke completely unexpectedly!! It was TIME for Duncan to make his arrival. As we waited for Stacy to arrive to watch Demi, I paced around the house looking for anything I might have forgotten to pack and repeatedly asked Wes "Is she here yet?" (meaning Stacy). I remember my back was KILLING me and I really didn't understand why. No one tells you that you might have back labor, which is so much worse than regular labor by the way :( After arriving at the hospital we called everyone and told them I was in labor. GK, Papa D, and Uncle T had only been home maybe an hour or so before they were heading back. Since it was so late we encouraged Nana & Papa to leave in the morning. IV's were started, we settled in, and laughed as I started to complain about missing the last 10 minutes of the season finale of Desperate. We tried to rest, but couldn't with inticipation of our 2nd little miracle......to be continued.....

He's WALKING!!

Yes, that's right! Duncan is walking. He actually started about 2 weeks ago by taking 10-12 steps at a time. He surprised us by walking from our living room and the length of our kitchen. Now he's pretty much on the go! He is still working on getting faster and crawls when he needs to get somewhere extra fast, but he's definitely a walker now!! I have to say I wasn't expecting him to walk so early. Demi didn't really walk all of the time until she was about 16 months old. She was our careful walker. Duncan on the otherhand is definitely the opposite. He's not worried with being careful and gets right back up when he falls. He's all BOY that's for sure!

It's so hard to believe we have 2 birthdays coming up very soon!!!! It's amazing how quickly time goes by. I can't believe my babies will be 1 & 3 years old!!! The good news is we do have a party date...finally. After trying, trying and trying some more to get things worked out at Great Wolf we've decided to just have their party at our neighborhood pool. With 2 NASCAR races and kids getting out of school, Great Wolf is pretty much booked! We're excited though, we know the kids will love our pool. We have an awesome kids pool and now 3 adult waterslides. It's sure to be a great time for all :) When you might ask???....well that is another story. With Amy & Scott's wedding, NASCAR traffic 2 times this month (which is unreal), and Lindsay & Will's wedding the party won't be until June 19th. Now we're just keeping our fingers crossed for great weather that day!!! With parties at Rhonda's they will actually celebrate 3 times.

What have we been up to? I've been pretty slack with updating the site. I apologize and will try and do better! We've just been BUSY! I just finished up my 2 grad classes for this semester. My summer class starts June 5th (online of course) but that is Lindsay & Will's big day so I will not be there. Thank goodness I only have 1 class this summer!! The second one has been removed from the course of study all together so I don't have to worry about that one! Last weekend, Mother's Day, was great! GK, Papa D, and Uncle T came down for a visit. We had dinner at Texas Land & Cattle Saturday night, YUM, and lunch at the Parkway House Sunday after church. It was a great Mother's Day and the weather could not have been more beautiful!! Other than that, we've kept ourselves busy with work, getting ready for the upcoming weddings, and our babies. We now have 2 mobile children that usually choose to go in opposite directions :) one walking and the other running! This weekend we will be getting last minute wedding things done for Amy & Scott's wedding and relaxing. Next weekend is their wedding and then we'll start getting last minute things done for Lindsay & Will's. It's so hard to believe we are 1/2 way into May already!! Anyway, I will try and get some new pictures uploaded as soon as I can. Have a great week/weekend!

The Ultimate Road Trip

The Ultimate Road Trip is our pastor, Jay Stewart's, newest book. It's now available, in stock, and ready for you to purchase!! To learn more about the book and to place your order click here. My copy hasn't arrived yet, but I can tell you just from being under Pastor Jay's leadership, it's a book you won't want to miss!

Update...It's been a while!

It's been a while since I've done an update.....grad classes are coming to an end, work is CRAZY, and we've had 2 sick babies. Let me back up a bit.....last week Papa D and Travis came down for the annual car show at LMS. Wes took of Thursday and Friday and I think they had a good time playing golf and going to the show. The weather was absolutely perfect for them for once! Saturday Nana flew in for a visit and to watch Demi and Duncan on Monday and Tuesday since Rhonda had jury duty. We had a great time with Nana and hated to see her go on Tuesday night. GK was supposed to head down Tuesday night to keep Demi and Duncan the rest of the week, but Rhonda was released from jury duty.

This week I've been busy completing final projects for school. Thankfully, my 2 classes this semester are coming to an end a bit early. I'm not complaining at all other than that means everything is due earlier than expected. I've been busy to say the least! Wednesday Demi's tummy started not feeling well. She's had tummy issues all week/weekend. Yesterday Wes took her to the doctor who said it sounded like she had the rotavirus, which kids get often. We decided to skip swimming this weekend and church so she has a chance to rest. Hopefully she will be fine this week. She really doesn't feel bad, just has to stay close to the bathroom. As far as Duncan goes, he has been teething, but we also think he's got a little bit of allergies going on. The pollen is TERRIBLE right now so we're pretty sure that is causing his continued coughing and runny nose. I'm hoping he starts feeling better soon or we'll be heading to the doctor to have him checked out too. With Wes flying out on Friday I want to have everyone well before he goes.

We've pretty much laid low this weekend trying to get everyone well. We are going to do a little yard work today while the kids are napping and make a trip to Walmart this afternoon, but other than that we're taking it easy. We hope you've had a great week/weekend!

Duncan is 11 months old!!

My goodness, where has the time gone? Duncan is 11 months old today! Each day we are amazed at how much he is learning. He's definitely turning into quite the little man! He is not walking totally on his own yet, but is walking around all of the furniture. He also loves to push his "walker" all over the house and outside. His newest trick is to stand up anywhere in the room all by himself. We were just laughing at him last night doing this, because he stands up so proud and has the biggest grin on his face when he does it. He has no fear what-so-ever, which is a little different from Demi. She was so careful when learning to walk. He is the complete opposite and will try to walk on his own over and over no matter how many times he falls. He is also a climber. This is new to us.....he climbs on everything. We are hoping that is not a sign that he will one day try and climb out of his crib! So even though he is not really walking on his own yet, lets just say he gets where he wants to go with no problem.

He is now pretty much eating all table food with the exception of breakfast. He still loves oatmeal and fruit. I think having Demi around he has decided he wants what she is eating and sometimes gets upset if his food "looks" different. It's been nice letting them share a meal when we go out to eat. He seems to be a good eater, but is kind of picky with certain textures, just as Demi was/is.

As far as size goes, he's pretty much the same as the last few months. He weighs 25lbs and is 30inches tall. He is wearing 12-18 month clothes and still in size 4 diapers. Now that he is on the go, we think he's growth will start to slow down a bit. We are just so thankful he is a healthy little man!

Next month he'll be 1 and Demi will be 3! It doesn't seem possible. We've already started working on the birthday party plans as May is going to be a crazy month for us. We are trying to pick a date in June for their party and will possibly have it at Great Wolf Lodge if they are not booked up. Between Lindsay and Will's wedding, Amy & Scott's wedding and everything else we have going on it's definitely going to be interesting. We'll let you know more once things are a little more final.

Pictures!!

New pictures have been posted!!! One of the many things I want to get done over the next few days can be checked off :) I've added a few pictures of the kids playing outside, enjoying this beautiful weather we've been having. I also added the pictures we had taken a few weeks ago of them with a live bunny. We did purchase a picture of the two of them together with the bunny, but it hasn't come in yet. It's a rather large enlargement so once it comes in I'll see if it's even possible to scan it and post it if I can.

Like I said in my previous post Demi unexpectedly wanted to see the Easter bunny on Saturday so I've added the picture of Duncan and him. Duncan is totally not dressed "Easter like" but we weren't planning on visiting with the bunny that day :) It's a great picture though. I also posted all of the pictures we took yesterday afternoon at Memorial Gardens. It was beautiful as always. Majority of the pictures are of our kids being kids. They are candid shots, no one is posing, which are easiest to take of them in this type of setting. I have to say, each year they are my favorite pictures taken pretty much all year other than the beach. A few favorites off the top of my head are.....Demi & Duncan looking at each other while sitting in the tree (there is NO WAY we could "set that up") Demi in the water and walking around the brick path, Duncan on his tip toes to reach the water on those chubby legs......Like I said, I love these pictures because the are so "real" and innocent. Anyway, I hope you enjoy them! Have a great week!!!

HE IS ALIVE!!!!!

He is Alive!!! Happy Easter!!!

What a great day to be alive, knowing He is alive and well and working throughout the Earth! Not only did he die on the cross and rise on the 3rd day, but my goodness the blessings he has given us......we are overwhelmed by Him daily, but especially today!!! Just looking back even 2 years ago to where we were before The Refuge to where we are now.......the amazing things he has done in our lives.....our family is totally different and in such an awesome way. There is no doubt He put us right where we are, right now, for a definite purpose.

This morning the Easter bunny stopped by leaving the kids some goodies in their baskets. We then packed up and headed to church. This year The Refuge had 2 services on Saturday and 3 today!!! We went to the 10am today. AMAZING....is pretty much all I can say. Wes stayed and worked the last service while we headed home for naps. I guess naps are not part of our Easter celebration, as BOTH Demi and Duncan slept for about 30 minutes and then were up as if they'd been sleeping for hours. Too much excitement I guess. We're now getting ready for an egg hunt and trip to Memorial Gardens to take a few pictures of the kidos with the beautiful flowers. We hope everyone has a great Easter!!!

***Yesterday, while at the mall, Demi asked to see the Easter bunny. She's been scared the past 2 years so I was shocked. Anyway, while Daddy finished up some shopping Demi, Duncan and I headed to the bunny. She walked right up to him and said "Hello Mr. Easter Bunny" but would not get any closer. She quickly told him good-bye and got back in the stroller. Progress :) Since we had waited in line, I thought I'd try out Duncan.....he thought the bunny was totally funny and sat right down with him with the biggest grin on his face. Yes, I did buy the picture and I'll get it up this week. Maybe next year we can get a shot of both kids without anyone crying :) Have a great day!!

Indescribable Friday

If you really think about what Good Friday symbols I think you'd agree it's not just a "good" day but a day that really can't be described by words. Today is the day Jesus was crucified. While that event was not great by any means, what it meant for all of us is beyond GREAT! It's overwhelming, wonderful, unmeasurable.....I believe we really aren't even able to fully understand how awesome it was for us. Think about this, we love our kids beyond belief and would die for them, but would you want your only Son to die for the whole world? He didn't just die for the "good" people on earth, but for all.... Amazing selflessness, which is why we celebrate the most wonderful "Friday" in history. Thank you God for sending your son and for loving us so much, thank you for death and for life in you! What a sacrifice....we can't even grasp.

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes! I had a great day!! Last weekend was filled with birthday events, swimming lessons & church. This week has been a busy one as well. Today the kids and I headed to school for a few hours. Yes, on Good Friday. For some reason the county decided it would be a great day for a mandatory workday. As you can imagine, no one was happy about it! Thank goodness for a great principal who let me bring the kids and pretty much told us to go home and enjoy the day. The rest of the weekend we plan on having a great time outside!! It's 87 degrees today and should be in the low 80's all weekend.

A few weeks ago we had the kids pictures taken with a live bunny for Easter. They just came in so I'll get them scanned and posted this weekend hopefully :) Next week is Spring break so if not I promise I'll have them up in the next few days. Have a wonderful Easter!!

Pictures Added....Finally!

I FINALLY added some pictures to the Winter & Spring albums. I am hoping to do a better job now that I have cleared my camera. Hope you had a nice weekend. Have a great week!

Duncan is 10 months old!!

Today Duncan is 10 months old!! Just since my last update he's changed quite a bit. At his 9 month well check (we're a month behind due to a busy peds office) he weighed 25lbs 8oz and is 30 3/4 inches long. Yes, he's a big boy!! He has got to be the fastest crawler I've ever seen!! He's so quick! Once minute he is right beside you, the next he's in a totally different room and into something. He is also walking all around the furniture and loves to be standing up. We have to keep a little bit of a closer eye on him than we did with Demi at his age because he is so strong. Being 25 pounds he can pull things over on him self very easily....barstools, chairs etc. It goes without being said, he's a great eater. We haven't found anything he doesn't like at this point. He is still eating some stage 3 baby food, but we've also started letting him have a little bit of whatever we're having as well. He's doing a great job chewing and is in the process of getting more teeth right now.

Our little man has a BIG personality. He is now saying "bye bye", "hi", "da-da", "ma-ma", "dog", "uoof" which is woof for Otis and will pretty much try and repeat anything you ask him to. He and Demi are best friends and literally play together for hours. Duncan also loves to play with Otis and they've become best buds especially now since he can throw the ball for him. He's a happy little guy and we're so blessed to have him in our lives. It's so hard to believe in 2 short months we'll be celebrating his 1st birthday!

Picture Day!

Today was picture day! .....one of the hardest days with the kids we both have to admit!!! Not that Duncan is crawling, standing, and pretty much trying to walk it was not easy trying to have pictures made!! The people at Portrait Innovations are GREAT! and did everything imaginable to help get great shots of the kids and of the family too! Yes that's right, we actually got several family shots since we have not taken any with Duncan except for our "fun" shot at Christmas in the santa hats. Anyway, we survived what was definitely our toughest experience with picture taking and got several great shots! I even posted some of the candid shots, that are too funny! Our kids definitely didn't hold back their personalities :)

We hope you had a great weekend!! We had a busy, but good one! Have a great week!

You Haven't Forgotten Haiti, Have You?

As we go on with our busy lives here in the US, those who call Haiti home are still trying to survive through the chaos of their surroundings. Houses destoryed, families torn apart, food and water scarce.....You haven't forgotten have you?? Compassion is still working 24-7 in Haiti to help those in need. Right now their focus is on supplying temporary shelter to those who are still in need. Tarps and temporary homes are being set up for thousands of families thanks to your donations. Compassion has also been able to account for thousands of the children their ministry helps and have notified their sponsors of their status at this time....the works continues and will for quite sometime.

Schools remain closed in Haiti at this time, but they are hoping they will be up and running again in April. The people of Haiti need some normalcy back in their lives for sure! Especially the children affected by the Earthquake. Compassion will begin providing therapy for those children who have lived through the tramatic stress of the quake. Food kits are also being distributed by Compassion and 16,500 have been give out so far......Click here to view photos of Haiti.

As you can see Compassion is making a HUGE difference in the lives of the people in Haiti but definitely could use your continued support to reach more and more children and families. Visit Compassion to donate or to adopt a child of your own. God calls us to help those in need and to minister to the nations of the world.....will you obey him today?

Little Fish

Today Demi & Duncan attended their 1st of 12 swimming lesson sessions at the Y. THEY LOVED IT!! Duncan got right in and was splashing and kicking. He's favorite part was swimming to the ball that I threw for him. He did so good! Demi did great too. She was a little distracted by the big water slide, but other than that she did great!! She's taking the 3 year old class because she's already mastered all of the skills in the 2 year old class so I was a little concerned....I was hoping she would listen and follow directions as well as the older kids and she did. We were so proud of our little fish today!! I promise I will get pictures up tomorrow after our Easter photo shoot.

As for the rest of today, it's beautiful outside so we plan on working in the yard a bit. Planting a few flowers and getting some fresh pine straw down. Tonight we will go to church so we can head to Portrait Innovations in the morning. We hope you are having a great weekend. Enjoy this beautiful weather!!

Not Sick, Sick day!

Today Demi, Duncan & I had a not sick, sick day. Rhonda has been sick since Friday and needed an extra day to get better before the kids return, so I took 1/2 a sick day. Wes took off this morning and I took off the afternoon leaving me to work only from 8-11:30am.... We could not have asked for a better day to have a not sick, sick day! It's 70 degrees and nothing but sunshine in the Carolinas today!! After Wes headed to work I asked Demi what she wanted for lunch and she replied "Ol' McDonalds Mommy" and so that is exactly where we went. After a stop at McDonalds for chicken nuggets we headed to the park to enjoy this beautiful day! It was great, not crowded like it usually is on the weekends. Demi & Duncan spent almost an hour on the swings before playing on the playground for a bit. After almost 2 hours at the park we packed up and headed home. When I pulled in the garage I couldn't help but laugh at my two babies out cold, mouths open and heads to the side. They were exhausted, but it was all worth it to have a not sick, sick day together......it's moments like these I am most thankful for :)

**I do have about 250 pictures downloading right now. I will do my best to get them up at some point today, but I can't make any promises. Have a great week!**

A Lot Going On!

It's been quite a while since my last post, but we've got lots going on and keeping us busy!! Let me back up to last week. Thursday Wes went out of town overnight so I was busy to say the least getting the kids ready for bed and then up and to Rhonda's on Friday all by myself. Last weekend we spent Saturday with Jared, Stacy & Conner. It was great to see them and spend some time with them. Conner is getting so big!! He's 6 weeks old and is weighing in at 10lbs!! It doesn't look like his prematurity is going to have much effect on him, praise God! He is doing so well. Sunday we headed to church, which was awesome as always. We truly are so blessed to be a part of The Refuge!!! So many awesome things taking place...last Thursday & Friday we recorded our first live worship CD which will be out soon...can't wait!! Just a wonderful place to be and we are thankful God has placed us there!!

This week I was really busy at work trying to get things done and caught up in preparation for the conference I attended Thursday and this morning in Raleigh. So as I was last week, Wes was busy with the kids. The conference was great, but I missed my babies!! Rhonda wasn't feeling well today so I headed back a little early to get the kids so she could rest. This weekend we plan on getting everyone's Easter outfits after I get home from an IMPACT class Saturday afternoon. We have pictures scheduled next Sunday at 9am which means we will go to church Saturday night. Saturday is usually our picture day, but Demi & Duncan start a 12 week session of swimming lessons Saturday morning at 9. So yes...a lot going on over the next few weeks for sure!

It's so hard to believe we are already into March!! Both kids will be having a birthday before you know it!! I have to say this has definitely been the fastest year of my life! I find myself wanting to put life on pause to just soak up everything going on around me. 2010 is off to a great start and we know so much more lies ahead for us. We are blessed in all areas of our lives....thanks to a living God. Have a great weekend!! I'm not going to promise any pictures this week, but I will promise the Easter ones next weekend :)

FEAR

A few weeks ago I experienced a fear I've never felt before......February 15th I headed to my annual appointment with Dr. Long. Expecting to be in and out like I usually am....not a care in the world. Before seeing the doctor we went through the usual questions and a finger prick that would change everything. The nurse pricked my finger and put the slide in the little machine. When she went over to read the results I watched as her face completely changed. As she began asking me question after question I could hear and feel the panic in her voice. I was quickly wisked to the nearest room and told Dr. Long would be in shortly. Shortly wasn't the word!! He literally followed me into the room and began asking the same questions the nurse had just asked.....Have you had any bleeding from your ears, eyes, mouth etc. Any shortness of breath etc. I was confused at this point as I was feeling fine, just there for an annual that didn't seem to be taking place. As each question was asked I felt a strong sense of fear begin to over take me. You see, Dr. Long is very laid back, easy going, relaxed kind of guy, but he wasn't today. As I looked at his very serious face and heard the extreme concern in his voice I knew something wasn't right. He began explaining my hemoglobin was at a 6 meaning my blood level was extremely low...I still didn't really understand....he continued to explain that blood transfusion are usually done at around a 7 and that he was very concerned about me. When I asked what could cause this I head words that made the fear that had already over come me turn to FEAR in the strongest sense. I can't explain how I felt, how big the lump was in my throat, or how the knot in my stomach started to squeeze the life out of me.....internal bleeding, cancerous cells....after those two I pretty much tuned him out and a million things started running through my head. I'm only 30, I have 2 babies.....I can't leave them yet, Wes, my family, My babies....they won't remember me, Wes......, they will grow up without a Mommy..... FEAR at it's strongest.....Why does the devil do this? Because of him and the fear he instilled in me at that moment, I had myself buried and gone...WHY?

I was handed a piece of paper to take to the lab to have test done to aid in determining the cause of this. As I headed to the lab I called Wes who didn't respond to the news as I had at all. I explained what was going on and he responded "Once they figure this all out, we will deal with it....we know nothing right now...it's in God's hands...I love you". For a split second while waiting in the lab I felt uplifted...It's in God's hands.....I'm going to be ok.....and then all of the terrible thoughts of before came flooding back.....

Needless to say I didn't sleep a wink that night....I talked to God, pleeded with God, begged God, thanked God.....but each time I will filled with FEAR. The next morning I headed to work, wasn't myself at all...RESULTS was all that I could think of. Dr. Long was going to call as soon as he knew something. He had said it would be around lunchtime most likely. 8-12 that day seemed like eternity to me. At 12:15 I missed a call from his office and returned it ASAP only to get an answering machine saying they were closed for lunch until 1:30. That hour was definitely the longest in my life. At 1:30 I called back and was in tears as the nurse pulled up the information in the computer. What would it be? The possibilities went through my head one by one. As she began reading the report she started with "I'm very sorry...." TEARS, and MORE TEARS....and she continued " that you had to go through all of this....the lab results came back perfectly normal with a hemoglobin of 14...I'm guessing you haven't slept or really been able to concentrate on much of anything after yesterday's visit, but everything is great. Must have been faulty equipment....I'm extremely sorry Ms. Parker....I'm sure Dr. Long will be calling you himself tonight as well......

I couldn't speak....catch my breath.....they will have a Mommy, he will have a wife, they will remember me......I quickly told her thank you and hung up. As I sat at my desk I must have said "Thank you Jesus" 100 times. The fear that had held me captive for almost 24 hours was completely gone in an instant......and I heard God telling me "He was right, I am in control....do you believe me now?" WOW.....if you asked me that question before all of this I would have said yes for sure, but if you ask me now my heart says YES! I know that everyone doesn't always get good news like I did.....but God taught me a lesson....HE IS IN CONTROL not only does my brain know it, but now my heart understands too....."place your burdens upon Him" now has a totally different meaning to me. In all situations good or bad we have to place our trust in Him and remember he is the Creator, Healer, Father, Comforter.....all we need. He is in control of everything and His plan is perfect even if we don't understand it here in the natural. My goals is to never let the devil put me in that place of fear again, but to seek Him and remember he's in control.

Really...Who has the time?

Please tell me who has the time to keep their blog/website up to date?? No matter how much I "plan" on adding an entry, photos, videos etc. I just can't seem to find the time. As my friend Megon and I looked at a few friends blogs/sites a few days ago we both looked at each other and said....How do they find the time? The sites were totally up to date with daily themed post, contest, pictures, videos, etc. Please tell me....how in the world do they have the time?? Most of our friends don't work so we're thinking that gives them a big advantage. Don't get me wrong, I know staying at home is a full time job, but our guess was they had time to update during naps or something. Who knows..... I just can't seem to get it all together with work, 2 little ones, and class of my own....I've become quite slack in the area of keeping our site up to date. It's pretty bad when a technology coordinator doesn't keep her site up to date. (Maybe that's it..I'm in front of the computer all day and really don't feel like getting on at home too) Megon has a blog instead of a Shutterfly site and said it's much faster to update, add pictures etc , but at this point I don't think I could even find the time to make a switch :)

Anyway, I apologize for not keeping this updated as I used to, but things are pretty busy around here these days. I really can't complain...that's just how I like it...busy busy busy! As I've said before, I'll try and do a better job. We'll see how that goes. I might have to check out blogging as well to see if Megon's right...Thanks Meg. Have a great rest of the week! Hopefully a family update this weekend.

Duncan is 9 months old!!

Today Duncan is 9 months old. As I said in my previous post, he is crawling now and getting faster and faster with each passing day. He is growing up fast and it's amazing to watch him explore and learn. He and Demi are playing so well together. Now that he's on the move you can find them in his room, her room or in the living room with toys EVERYWHERE! Picking up before they head to bed is definitely a lost cause at this point. At 9 months we're guessing Duncan is weighing 22-24lbs. He is eating 2-3 meals a day with a snack here and there in between. He is "talking" non-stop. A few of his favorites are "uh-oh", "ma ma", "da da", and "bye bye" which he says while waving his hand. Just within the last week or so we've begun to see a little seperation anxiety. He doesn't like mommy to be out of his sight for very long. His 9 months check-up is not until March 13 since we got off a little bit down the line due to a busy Peds office. In the next week or so we will also have professional 9 month/Easter pictures taken as well. I'll be sure to add updated pictures/info asap :) Have a nice weekend!

He's Crawling!!

After months of definitely getting where he wanted to go by scooting, army crawling or rolling, Duncan has decided it's much easier to crawl! Last week we knew it would happen very soon as he was testing it out. He would do one or two "crawls" and then stop. He has been on the move for about a month now, but I think he's going to be much faster now! He is also pulling up on everything....toy basket, couch, doors, etc. He is very proud of himself and laughs and talks to get our attention so we will make over him. Watch out Demi & Otis!! Duncan's on the move...or moving much faster than before :)

Snow Again?

What a winter for NC! 2 weeks ago today we got 5-6 inches of snow and they are calling for more tonight! This time it's hopefully going to be more like 1-3 inches, but that's still enough to put Charlotte at a stand still :( We're not as excited this time around. Being a beach, warm weather kind of family it's nice to see snow about once a year, but more than that and we're ready for Spring! The flakes are starting to fall so we'll see what is to come in the morning. We're hoping for just a little bit of snow as we are supposed to head to Winston Salem tomorrow morning for Farrell's 1st Birthday Party!!! Only time will tell.....We're not as "prepared" for the weather this time around. No home-made soup or chili on the stove tonight. Instead it looks like a good pizza night. Not really wanting to fight the grocery crowds if we don't have to. Have a great weekend.

Happy Birthday Farrell!

Happy 1st Birthday Farrell!! We can't wait to come to your party on Saturday! See you soon!

Love,

Demi & Duncan

We're Riding the Potty Train!!

A few weeks ago I posted about Demi deciding on her own, one day at Rhonda's, that she would use the potty. We were shocked because her interest had totally disappeared after Duncan's birth. Anyway, I've been hesitant to post more just waiting for her to lapse, but she hasn't!!! For a few weeks she would only pee-pee in the potty, and had an accident here and there (in her pull-up) but now she's doing everything! I am finally confident enough to post that she is POTTY TRAINED!!!

How did we do it? "We" really didn't. Demi decided on her own she was ready and we just went with it. She started by going pee-pee in the potty with an accident here and there in her pull-up. Each time she went in the potty we rewarded her with 2 M&M's (she's easy to please). About a week later she started pooping in the potty at Rhonda's but not at home. A few days later she started doing both at home and now she's pretty much going on her own. We no longer have to ask her if she needs to go, she just walks in the bathroom and starts going often before we realize she's in there. The last week or so she's even waking up dry in the morning and going first thing after a full nights sleep. I was really thinking that would take weeks/months to accomplish. She is still wearing pull-ups, but that is her preference. She LOVES them for some reason and would rather wear them over big girl panties anyday. Whatever works right?! So I guess it's official....our little girl is officially out of diapers and she did it before age 3! which was my goal all along, though I wasn't pushing it at all. Before Duncan was born I always thought I'd have her trained before age 3, but once he arrived I was starting to wonder when I would ever find the time to push the issue. Looks like I won't have to! Demi's a big girl and getting bigger by the minute :) Demi's riding the "Potty Train" just like one of her favorite books says.....we plan to take her to ride the Concord Mills "Potty Train" this weekend! Have a great one!

A Snowy Weekend

Well the snow did arrive....we ended up with 4-5 inches once it was all said and done. Saturday morning the snow turned to sleet so Demi and Duncan were ready to come inside at that point. We didn't last too long outside.....they get their love of warm temperatures from both of us that's for sure! I love snow, but from inside a warm house, so when they were ready to come in, there wasn't any complaining from me. Demi & Daddy went back out once the sleet stopped, but again they were back inside in about 15 minutes. Nothing fun about being COLD and WET! Who knows how long I will be out of work for all of this! The roads are clear to us, but apparently not clear enough as all of the schools in the area are closed today. Hoping for just a delay tomorrow, as I'd like to have spring break in April :)

Sunday we ventured to church....we were all getting a little stir crazy being side all day Saturday. The service was great, as always, and packed too! God is definitely at work doing amazing things here in Concord, NC and at The Refuge. After church we headed home for lunch, naps and to make Stacy and Jared some home-made chicken noodle soup. After naps we went over to their house to visit baby Conner. Demi LOVED him and wanted to hold him right away. Duncan didn't seem bothered by him, but did stare Mommy down while she was holding Conner. He's such a little sweetie. I held him pretty much the entire time we were there and he just snuggles right up and snoozes. We are so happy for Stacy and Jared!! They've just begun the most amazing journey of their lives! God is GREAT!! and they are so blessed by their little man.

We hope all of you had a great weekend! We have lots going on the month of February so I'll do my best to update when possible. I did add a few pictures today and plan on trying to get a video or 2 up as well. Have a great week :)

LET IT SNOW!!

Yes, that's right!! It's SNOWING!! A big deal for us here in NC :) We are "expected to get 5-8 inches by tomorrow night. I'd say we already have an inch or so and it's still coming down strong! Demi's really excited and keeps asking if we can go out and play. We're hoping in the morning there will be enough snow for her to really enjoy it! For now I'm cooking home-made chicken noodle soup and we're relaxing in front of the fireplace. Not much time to update, but I'll post more later this weekend! Have a great weekend!!

Conner is HOME!

Exactly 2 weeks ago Baby Conner surprised us all and decided to arrive 7 weeks early! Today around 11am he went home!! Jared and Stacy are so thankful and excited to have their baby boy home with them!! Praise be to God! We hope to visit the whole Wood family this weekend! I'll be sure to take my camera and get a few pictures of him. He's adorable :)

A Visit with Conner!

This afternoon Wes and I went to visit Conner, Stacy & Jared. We were very excited to see all of them!!! Conner is doing great. He is breathing on his own and pretty much maintaining his body temp. We just need him to start eating!! Right now he's totally not interested in the breast or bottle so he is still being fed through a tube in his nose. We got to see him move around, make tons of faces, yawn, and take a few peeks at us. He's precious!!!! Jared and Stacy are doing well. They have continued to stay at the hospital since Conner's birth. They plan on going home this weekend which will be tough for them. Please pray for them as they leave without Conner. We know Conner is in God's hands, but being a mother I know it's not going to be easy leaving the hospital without him. Pray for strength for Stacy and Jared and that Conner start eating so he can go home and be with them. It was great seeing you guys today!! We love you!

Demi is growing up too..........

It's been a while since I've posted on what Demi is up to and she's definitely growing up as well! In 4 short months she will be 3!! It just doesn't seem possible. Everyone at work tells me once they start school time will pass even faster :( I'm not ready for that yet! Miss Demi.....where do I begin....she is almost 3 going on 16 that's for sure! She's quite the little Diva and loves to play dress up, with her babies, in her jumpolene, with her kitchen cooking meals for us all, which we HAVE to eat, she still loves clothes, shoes and shopping when it is for her. She still loves the Backyardigans, Dora & Olivia. She is also starting to pick a few new favorites from Nick Jr. Her imagination is unreal! She tells us "who" we are going to be when we play with her and the whole "scene" of what we are playing. She talks and sings non-stop...if she is awake she's doing one of the two. She loves to dance, play outside, JUMP, going to Rhonda's and church. We are working on letter and number recognition now. She has been counting and saying her ABC's for sometime now, but doesn't really recognize them on paper. We are also working on writing her name. She loves to write, color and read books. We often have to remind ourselves that she is 2 because she can really carry on a conversation a 4 or 5 year old would. Since she started talking everyone has told us she is advanced and I've really noticed this myself after being around the Kindergarten students at work. She isn't far behind them in skills and is right along with them in speaking and comprehension.

Just last week Demi decided she was ready to give potty training a second chance. Before Duncan was born she was very interested in using the potty, but after his birth she totally lost interest. Last week at Rhonda's she decided she was ready telling Rhonda she needed to use the potty. Since last Thursday she's been going and has only had accidents at night while sleeping, which we aren't concerned about at this point. She's doing great during the day we'll see how this week goes.

Duncan is 8 Months Old!!

As I just typed the title of this post I had to stop and think for a second....really is he 8 months old already?? He has grown up so much faster than Demi that is for sure!! I guess when you have 2 (or more) you are just so busy all of the time, that time goes by much faster! Anyway, he is 8 months old today and is turning into quite the little man. His new favorite word is "uh-oh" which he started saying this week. He is also saying "da da" and "ma ma". He is not crawling yet, but is certainly working on it and gets frustrated because he can't quite figure out how to get his arms and legs going at the same time. He now has 4 teeth in front that are all the way through and 2 in the back that are on the surface so I've started giving him a little bit of table food. This weekend he tried spaghetti noodles and some of my sweet potatoe at dinner one night. He really likes feeding himself so anything he can pick up and eat is always a hit. He loves to play with his toys and can now completely dump out the toy basket, which is pretty heavy. We love to watch him and Demi play together. He LOVES her and gets so excited when she sits down to play with him.They are really playing well together now. We have been putting them in the bath tub together and he loves the water. We have to hide behind the curtain to keep from getting soaked...his favorite thing to do is splash. I'm sure I'm leaving somethings out, but that pretty much sums up what our little man is doing. It's hard to believe in 4 months we'll be celebrating his 1st birthday!

I've been a little slack with pictures lately....I'll get some up as soon as I can.

A Picture of Conner!!!!

To potty or not to potty?...that is the question...

Much to our surprise, Rhonda told me when picking Demi up on Thursday she had used the potty all day without 1 accident. No, we've not been potty training since Duncan was born because Demi seemed to completely lose interest when he arrived. Anyway, Demi just told her she needed to go and she went....it continued for the rest of the day. I was even more shocked to find out she continued to use the potty Friday as well and came home with a pull-up on instead of a diaper. For some reason the pull-up has made a much larger impression on her than the drawer full of Dora panties she has, so last night we headed out for a pack of pull-ups. They too have Dora on them of course, but she's much more exicted about them than panties. Demi has continued to use the potty with no accidents so we shall see how this goes. I never thought she would just decide to start going on her own, but it seems that may be happening. I had planned to work with her over spring break, but fingers are crossed that she will be a pro by then :)

Baby Conner Update 2

Stacy called this morning with some GREAT news....At only 24 hours hold baby Conner was taken off all breathing machines and is now breathing on his own!! Praise God for the miracles he does! I know this is a definite answer to prayers for Conner!! He is doing great and now they are working on feedings. Stacy is alternating with the NICU on feedings, as Conner has been fed through IV's since birth. He's not very interested right now because he's not hungry due to the IV's but we know he will catch on very soon! Thank you for all of your prayers during this time. They are obviously working as Conner is doing amazing for a 33 week baby.

Baby Conner Update 1

I just got off of the phone with Stacy and have a little more info on Baby Conner. He was good size to be born at 33 weeks weighing 6lbs 9oz and is 19 inches long. He did have a bit of a rough night last night, but is doing much better this morning. He checked out perfectly other than his lungs being under developed and him needing assistance breathing. He is expected to be in NICU for about 2 weeks (worst case) and about 1 week (best case). Please continue to keep Stacy, Jared & Conner in your prayers. We are praying his lungs develop quickly so they can all go home very soon!! Jared & Stacy are very appreciative of your thoughts and prayers! God is amazing as He has brought this little miracle into their lives after a very long wait and we know he will continue to keep Baby Connor in the palm of His hands over these next few weeks! We hope to go visit Baby Conner tonight...I've been told he has lots of black hair with little curls. Can't wait to see him! I'll update as I find out more!

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

It's a BOY!!! Our friends Jared & Stacy welcomed their baby boy Conner into the world tonight at 8:10pm!! Stacy called me at work this afternoon a little panicked because her water had just broken and she wasn't due until February 25th!! What they were having was a surprise so we were very excited to hear it was a boy!! Conner was born at 33 weeks so please keep him in your prayers!! When Jared called this evening he said that he and Stacy were able to hold baby Conner for a few minutes before he was taken to the NICU to be checked out. They had not been told his weight or length yet. More info to come as we hear. I plan on visiting them tomorrow at the hospital. For now, pray that baby Conner's lungs are healthy and developed enough for him to breath on his own. We can't wait to meet Duncan's new playmate!! We love you guys! Congratulations!!!!

Big Win in 2010!

Have you ever played the grocery game? If not you should try it!! We've been doing it for the past few months and tonight was our biggest saving yet!! We are only playing at Harris Teeter because clipping coupons, organizing, and preparing to shop does take some time, but it's so worth it! Tonights grand total was $311.71 and we only paid $112.74!!! Yes, we almost saved $200.00 dollars!!!!!! It took a few weeks to get in the swing of things, but when you save money like that it motivates you to keep going!! I know you are proud of me Kristie :) You and Tammy were pros at this and didn't use the grocery game!!
This weekend GK, Papa D & Uncle T came to visit us. We had a great time. Saturday we went to lunch at Texas Land & Cattle, YUM YUM! then we went to Concord Mills for a while. Later that afternoon we watched Kentucky beat Georgia, yes the Tarheel fans watched the Cats play!! Saturday night we headed out for mexican then brought our two exhausted kids home for bed.
This morning we went to church and then home for the kids to nap and prep for our shopping trip. Not much going on around here yet, but things are about to get really busy! Class starts back up for me this week or next so between classes, work, the gym, and the kids we'll be running non-stop. We hope everyone has a blessed week!

Pictures Finally Added :)

I was finally able to get Shutterfly to cooperate and have the pictures from Christmas added. They may be out of order somewhat, but they are there!! I'll work on videos maybe this weekend at some point. Have a great week!

Shutterfly Issues

It seems Shutterfly is having issues tonight.....our Christmas pictures are ready to go, but it won't add them. I'll try again tomorrow. Good night :)

Remembering Nicole....

On Monday (December 28th) my sister's best friend and roommate Nicole was killed in a car accident. Please keep her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. We're all devistated and in shock as you can imagine. At 25 years old, she was just taken way too soon for us. We love you Nicole.

A Christmas to Remember.....

Well it was definitely one we won't soon forget, this is how it went......

Christmas Eve Wes was supposed to work until around 1pm and then we were going to pack up and head to the Collins. Well he ended up working until around 3:30 and had no idea I was at home unable to pack and do the things I had planned because Duncan was having a rough day. His top two teeth were right at ths surface so I just thought he was having a hard time with them. I did my best to try and get things together, but spent most of the day holding him. Needless to say we arrived later than expected with a fussy baby. That night he was fussy, but had moments where he seemed ok. We still thought it might just be teeth. After a night at the Collins we headed to Wes's parents. We decided to go ahead and do Christmas there as well since Duncan was fussy and we planned on leaving in the morning to head home for Christmas there with my parents. It was a good thing we decided to do it that way because Duncan slept 1 hour after being put down for the night and was up screaming. He screamed for about 2 hours. Nothing seemed to make him feel better. We knew something other than teeth had to be bothering him. Let me back up a bit and say we had taken him the Tuesday before Christmas to have is ears checked before the holidays just to be safe and they were perfectly clear. So at 4am we packed up, put Demi in the car and headed home. On the way I called the peds office where I was told he'd have to go to the ER because the doctors were only on call over the holidays, which was expected. We went straight there and Duncan cried the whole time. They tested him for several things like RSV and strep, but everything came back negative. The doctor said he most likely had an upper respiratory infection and unfortunately there were no meds to help. About 8am we were on the way home totally exhausted to say the least. When we got home he got another dose of tylenol, a warm bath, and slept until about 11. The rest of the day we continued tylenol every 4 hours at the increased dose recommended by the doctor and he seemed better at times, but not so good at others. He did nap and was happier after that. That night we celebrated Christmas with my parents and Santa came! Demi was so excited!! Santa brought her Jumpolene which was pretty much the only thing she told us she wanted for Christmas. We had a great time and Duncan seemed 100 times better.

Sunday Demi started running a fever.....we're thinking she had whatever Duncan had on Christmas day, as it only seemed to last a little over 24 hours. The rest of the week we just relaxed and tried to get everyone well around here!! Knock on wood everyone is healthy right now. Duncan's top two teeth did push through and now he's working on a few in the back. Like the post says, this Christmas was one we won't soon forget. We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!! We're excited to begin a new decade/year! We've been so blessed and can't wait to see what God has planned for us in 2010!

A Message from Santa.....

Since Santa will be coming to our house tonight, Demi just received a SPECIAL MESSAGE from him. This site is great! Demi loved it and answered each of Santa's questions!

Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday to "Baby" Jesus as Demi says!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours we wish you a very Merry Christmas!!! May Christ be the center of your celebrations as you spend this season with your family and friends. As I saw on a church marquee yesterday as I was finishing up my shopping "What we need cannot be purchased" Travel safely!

YES! I finally added pictures....my camera is now clear for the holidays where it will be filled again! I promise I will get the videos added once things settle a bit :)

Christmas Already??!

It's my favorite time of year for sure, but it's Christmas already??! Where has the month of December gone? No, I don't have my Christmas shopping done and actually won't be able to get it finished up until Wednesday! It's been a little harder this year to shop because Demi is fully aware of Christmas this year and we can't buy her gifts in front of her like previous years. It just seems that Christmas has snuck up on us this year!! Last weekend we took the kids to see Santa. We weren't expecting much out of Demi.....she's been scared of him since last year. Every year there is a themed set where Santa sits. This years theme is The Polar Express. While she loved everything that went along with that, she didn't love Santa. There was no way we were getting her to have her picture made with him. Duncan did fine. He's at the age where he likes everyone so we did get a cute picture of him with Santa. I'll get it posted as soon as I can. I know I've been promising photos and videos for a while now, just can't find the time to get them loaded!

This weekend we had a Christmas party for Wes's employees at our house. It went well and the kids had a great time. Stacy was able to join us as well. Today we headed to church then just relaxed. This week we'll finish up our Christmas shopping then head to Tracy's for Christmas Eve. Christmas Day we will actually head back home to celebrate Christmas with my parents. We've never done this before and usually head to Atlanta, but this year they offered to come to us so we won't spend our whole holiday traveling from place to place with the kids! Thanks Nana & Papa!! While we love going to Atlanta, it will be nice to not be on the road so much this Christmas! We haven't decided when Santa will come this year, but we thinking about having him come Christmas night so the kids will wake up the 26th to see what he has left for them.

In case I don't get a chance to post again, we hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!! Safe travels!!!

Duncan is 7 months old!

Duncan was 7 months old on Friday! Hard to believe I know!! He has turned into quite the little man over the past few weeks. He is a happy little guy and is usually all smiles unless he's tired or hungry. He is getting ready to get is top 2 teeth in, to go with the bottom 2 he already has. He LOVES to eat MumMums! He is saying "DaDa" and knows how to play "Patty Cake" clapping his hands when anyone starts singing it. Like I've said before, he absolutely adores Demi. He thinks she is just the best and lights up whenever she enters the room. Now that he is sitting up all by himself they spend most of their days playing together. It's very cute to watch them play and share together. Demi has even shared her pink blankie with him while his is being washed. Those of you that know how she is with her blanket know that is a BIG sacrifice on her part :) He is not crawling yet, but gets where he wants to be by rolling or scooting himself. If he wants to get to something he finds a way to get to it. It won't be long and he'll be on the move!

SNOW??!!

Yes, you heard right, they are calling for 1-3 inches of snow tonight/tomorrow! Will it really come? That is yet to be seen and we aren't holding our breath, but we shall see what the morning brings :) I know Lindsay, 1-3 inches is nothing compared to the 28 inches you have in Minnesota! I'm just thankful we aren't experiencing the -30 wind chill you all have. Keep warm!!

It's been forever since I've posted anything especially pictures. I will try and get some added this weekend, but with our Christmas party Saturday night I'm not making any promises. We hope everyone has a great weekend!! Keep warm and enjoy the snow if it arrives!

Christmas Pictures WHEW!

Our Christmas pictures are done!!! If you've never had the experience of taking a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 month old for pictures, you should try it sometime :) It actually wasn't too bad, but catching them both smiling and looking at the camera at the same time is definitely a challenge!! Not to mention the place is PACKED this time of year with families like us attempting the same thing! Oh yes, and I failed to mention Duncan's double ear infection, Mommy's sinus infection, and Demi and Daddy's colds! Anyway, we got some great individual shots of the kids and a few good pictures of them together. This year we decided to not do a family portrait for Christmas, but a fun shot instead. We will most likely attempt another family portrait at Easter. We haven't chosen the picture we will use for our Christmas card yet, but will tonight so we can get them in the mail. Christmas is sneaking up on us this year!! I feel so behind!!!

Our weekend consisted of Christmas pictures, a hair appointment for Mommy, and just some R&R as we all try and get well! This weather of 70 one day and 30 the next is keeping the sniffles around our house. We are ready for cold weather to come and stay so all of these little bugs going around will go away! We hope everyone had a nice weekend and a great week ahead :)

Photos & Video

I have finally added a few new photos and 1 video of Demi reading to Duncan. I know I've behind....I just can't seem to find the time to update. Have a good rest of the week :)

DOUBLE ear infection

So last night we had our first experience ever with a child with an ear infection!! Yesterday Duncan was totally himself laughing, playing, eating etc. He took a bath for the first time in Demi's yellow duck and loved it (check out the pictures). At bedtime he didn't finish his bottle which was unusual, but we didn't think much of it. Around 8 he went to bed like always.....around 9 he woke up screaming. That is unusual for Duncan! If he wakes up during the night it's not until around 4am and he doesn't scream like he was. Well the screaming continued, and continued, until 3am!! We rocked him, held him, walked around, gave him tylenol....nothing seemed to work. He was beyond exhausted and would fall asleep, but a few minutes later he would be screaming again. After trying all we knew to do, the only thing we could think of was his ears. We've never experienced an ear infection with Demi or Duncan so we had no idea of what to expect. Anyway, at about 5am he finally fell asleep and slept until 8. I stayed home with him today and at 10 we were seeing Dr. Douglas. He said Duncan did indeed have an ear infection in not 1 ear but BOTH!! Poor baby! On the way home we picked up his meds and he slept in the car. He took his first dose around 11 and was sleeping by 12. I think he is feeling somewhat better and hopefully he will get some much needed rest. Wes is off work tomorrow and Friday so he will be home with him, which will be nice. Say a little prayer for our little guy!! We hope his ears clear up fast!! and that this is not the start of repeat infections.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving in Pittsboro with all of the family. It was nice to get to see everyone. Demi and Duncan had a great time playing with cousins! We left on Thursday morning and headed back home Saturday afternoon We did not participate in Black Friday this year....there just isn't anything on our list worth fighting the crowds for. I did get myself a little Black Friday gift though...my new Flip video camera should arrive this week!! Our video camera is great, but we often don't have it in the car, or charged, or with us etc. when we need it. The Fip is small enough to throw in a bag and keep with us at all times like we do the regular camera. Can't wait to try it out!! We hope everyone had a great time with family and friends this Thanksgiving, as we all have so much to be thankful for!

The Parker house is now in the Christmas spirit!! Can you believe it's only weeks away?? We have all of our decorations up, including the tree!! Only a few last minute things to go like our stocking holder (JOY isn't going to work now that we are a family of 4 :), tree skirt ( I've been wanting to get for the last few years, but it sells out so quickly!), Duncan's stocking (We have a baby's 1st, but wanted to be sure to get him one like ours in fear that the pattern will be discontinued at some point) and Duncan's "Santa" bag. I was a little late in ordering them this year, but they should arrive anytime. Now it's time to start working on some shopping. It is sure to take longer this year with 2 little ones!! We are also going to have to shop without Demi, as she knows what she wants Santa to bring. Gone are the days of slipping a toy in the cart without her knowing. Anyway, back to the grind tomorrow, as we head back to work and class starts back up for me. Only about 2 weeks until I'm done until January! Now to find time to get 2 projects done before the 9th uggggg! Have a great week!

I do have new pictures downloading now to add....I will get them on here as soon as I can!

Thankful...

As I went from classroom to classroom this week the projects students were making were very different, but the question behind each was the same "What are you most thankful for?" You would be amazed at the answers you hear ranging from Kindergarten to 5th grade.....my mom & dad, my dog, my grandma, my teacher etc. but 2 answers really stuck with me. The first was of a child who had drawn a hand on his paper. Just a hand...nothing more. I thought me might be making a turkey from this hand as most 1st graders do, but he never did. When I went over and asked him why he was thankful for that hand he responded " It's Ms. J's hand." "Ms. J takes my hand when I am lost and shows me how to get where I need to go", I thought he was finished but he continued..."Ms. J's hand pats me on the back when I do a good job", "Ms. J's hand even brings me lunch when I have no money" Amazing answer for a 1st grader huh? The other student was in Kindergarten and had drawn a picture of a lady carrying bags of some sort. When I went over and asked her to tell me about her picture she responded, " I am thankful for the lady that sometimes brings us food when we don't have any at our house" Totally heartbreaking!

After talking with these two children, I was reminded of the quote that hangs in our teachers lounge "Even on your worst day, you are some child's only hope" Am I, are we, worthly of being a child only hope? My mind began thinking and listing of all of the things I am thankful for......God, and that he loved me enough to send his Son so that I may live, my husband who is an amazing man of God and does everything humanly possible to take care of us, My two beautiful little blessings Demi & Duncan who are a challenge at times, but my most cherished possessions, of course both of our families, friends, The Refuge, our jobs which supply us a safe place to live, food, clothes, a car to drive etc. and as these thoughts ran through my mind I stopped and was reminded that all of the things I was listing were only possible because of Him. You see, if we were to lose everything on the list we would still have Him. He is always with us, and will always be. He is our provider, He is the one to gives and takes away, He knows our thoughts, worries, and hearts inside out. So yes I am thankful for everything on my "list" this Thanksgiving, but I ultimately need to thank Him for sending, providing, allowing, giving, loving.....me enough to put each of these in my life. For without Him there is no Hope for any of us. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!! May He be thanked for all that he has given you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy! We hope you have a great day and can't wait to celebrate with you tonight!!!
Love,
Mommy, Demi & Duncan

Duncan is 6 months old!!

Can you believe Duncan is already 6 months old??!! We certainly can't! It's so hard to believe in another 6 months he'll be a year old :( As I think I have said every month, it's going by way too fast and definitely much faster than with Demi, although she now seems to be growing faster than ever too!
So what is Duncan up to? A lot!! He's growing and changing so much each day! Sometimes it seems he has grown during the night! He is almost totally sitting up by himself. He still leans forward and ends up on his side at times, but he's definitely getting better at it. He is "talking" and babbling non-stop. Looks like we have another talker on our hands. It's very interesting at our house with BOTH of them talking all of the time! He is also rolling to get where he wants to go. He's obviously rolling both ways now and makes his way all over the living room when he's playing in the floor. HE LOVES HIS SISTER!! Oh my goodness....he just laughs at her, talks to her, and thinks she is the greatest!! She can usually get his to stop fussing before we can if he gets tired or board with what he's doing. He also LOVES Otis. He's really been watching him lately now that he can sit in the floor and play. Otis seems to like him as well. Duncan loves for Otis to lick his fingers and just giggles while he's doing it....it's so cute! He doesn't seem to ride in the car anymore. Both of our kids were not very excited about riding in the car facing backwards...who would be?, but now that he's in his big boy seat, even though backwards, he seems to like riding much more. He now sits up high enough to see out the window and is usually looking that way. Not to mention the extra room seems to help as well. He is still a big boy! but, doesn't seem to be eating as much as before. He is eating 2-3 meals of veggies and fruit a day and drinking milk every 4-5 hours, so he's definitely cut back. He has also developed pretty good sleeping habits as well. He now goes down between 7:30-8pm and sleeps until 4-5 am, has a bottle, then back to sleep until 8-9am unless it's a week day of course, then we have him up around 6:30-7am. He is also taking 2 naps during the day usually lasting 2-3 hours. He also already has a best friend at Rhonda's.....Brooks was born almost exactly 1 month before Duncan and now that they are getting older they seems to recognize each other. Once Duncan gets better at sitting up I'm sure they will play more and more together. We are so thankful we have such an awesome sitter keeping our babies! We couldn't ask for anyone better :) I will try and get 6 month pictures posted this weekend. We have lots to do....but hopefully I'll get a few minutes to get them posted. I may even try later today or tomorrow...Have a good rest of the week!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to Nana & Aunt Lindsay who shared a birthday weekend this past weekend!! This post is a little late, but we called them of course :) We hope you both had a great day!! Wish we had been there to share it with you! Enjoy that new iPhone Nana :) You're going to love it!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to Lindsay and Will on their engagement!!! Yes, my baby sister is engaged!! Oh my am I getting OLD! Will was also recently offered a promotion with Best Buy and they will be moving to Minnesota in about 2 weeks!! We are definitely going to miss them and hope that the Minnesota weather will allow them to make it home for Christmas!! Good Luck guys!!! We will miss you and we love you!!!!!!!!!!!! May God bless you in every area of your new journey together!!

Update: Our friends Stacy and Jared are doing well and are still on track to welcome Baby Wood into the world around February 25th!! We're so excited for them!! May God continue to protect Baby Wood and Stacy during these last few months of pregnancy!! Isn't God amazing?!!

Long Overdue!

I'm sorry I've been so slack in updating the site....it's definitely long overdue! We've just been busy as always and this site is at the very bottom of my "to-do" list. Last weekend was of course Halloween. Demi had so much fun going from house to house. The weather wasn't cooperative to say the least, we were rained on several times, but that didn't stop her. Duncan enjoyed riding around and people watching until that became boring and he decided to just sleep. His costume was a hit. He was too cute all stuffed into his Nemo suit. Demi was little Miss Priss as always. Not a hair out of place as she went from door to door saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" to each person. She's growing up way too fast!! It's so hard to believe she will be 3 in May!!! And Duncan.....yep he's growing too! I can't get over how quickly!! Time definitely goes by so much faster with the 2nd one. He will be 6 months old in a few weeks....whew! It doesn't seem possible! Anyway, we did not end up going to the pumpkin patch as planned due to the weather, but did pick up a nice pumpkin from Harris Teeter. We carved him and Demi wasn't too impressed this year. She kept saying, "the pumpkin stinks Mommy!" and didn't want to help too much, so Daddy quickly carved a smiling pumpkin face and we were done with that. It was a great weekend!

This weekend we plan on just relaxing and getting some things done around the house. Our grass is high as ever due to all of the rain so that will get cut along with putting away all of our patio furniture for the winter, laundry of course, and just some family time. Can you believe the first week of November has already come and gone!! I can't!! Next time we turn around it will be Christmas, and then Spring again! We hope everyone is doing well!! Have a great weekend!

Chilly Weekend!!

Last weekend we did make it to Childress Vineyard. It was cloudy, but it never actually rained and was aobut 70 degrees. We had a great lunch with GK, Papa D, and Uncle T. Demi had a good time running around and looking at the water. After eating lunch Duncan slept for most of the time we were there.

This weekend we had plans to take Demi and Duncan on our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Well the weather didn't cooperate! It was very CHILLY this weekend. Our highs Saturday and today were around 50 and we didn't have sun at all. So our trip has been put on hold. We're hoping this weekend will be better, but who knows. I guess if it's cold or yuckie we won't make it this year. It's definitely not worth getting sick kids over!! We would have all had runny noses and colds if we had attempted it this weekend.

Tonight we're just packing up diaper bags and finishing up last minute laundry to get ready for another week. I've got an EXTREMELY busy week at work this week, as does Wes, but taking it one day at a time and keeping in mind "tomorrow". We are truly blessed......2 healthy children, jobs in this economy, and each other :)

Oh, please keep our friends Stacy & Jared in your prayers!! Stacy is about 22 weeks pregnant now and getting very excited to meet Baby Wood. We pray God will protect her unborn child for the next several weeks and that all continues to go well :) We can't wait to meet him or her!

I had lots of pictures to post and will do so ASAP! Have a great week!!

Duncan is 5 months old!!

Today our little man is 5 months old!!! and boy is he growing. On Tuesday he went to what was actually his 4 month well-check appointment since the office is so busy. Anyway, he's 19lbs 8oz and 28 inches long!!! A BIG boy to say the least!!! I told you he was eating good and ready for cereal!! Dr. O'brien said he looks great and is in the 97th percentile for height and weight. He told us to keep doing what we are doing and that our little guy looks great.

Duncan is doing really well with his cereal. He gets really excited when he sees us start to make it. He is also now eating vegetables and fruit. I think his favorites are pears and carrots right now. He is also "talking" like crazy. He still loves to interact with Demi and is now really starting to love Otis. He's doing well at bedtime with his thumb and blankie, but gets mad and wakes himself up when he rolls onto his tummy. He likes to sleep on his side, but often rolls himself over. We think this weekend he may have figured out how to roll from tummy to back, as he was on his tummy when we checked on him during the night, but in his back in the morning. We'll see... we haven't actually seen him do it yet. Hopefully now that he can go both ways he won't scare himself during the night.

This weekend we went ahead and moved Duncan to his "big boy" carseat. We actually bought 2 new seats for Demi and put Duncan in Demi's seats. After much research and being the Britax girl that I am.....we went with the Graco Nautilus 3 in 1. This seat is a regular carseat, then a high back booster, then the back removes and it becomes just a regular booster. Thinking ahead....we knew this was the best choice for Demi. These new seats will be with her until she no longer needs a booster. Many years away.....oh I hope they go slow :) Duncan seems to like sitting up higher and being able to see out the window. He still fit in his infant seat, but it just didn't look very comfortable and at 22lbs we would have had to move him anyway. A little sad....by new baby is already growing up :( doesn't seem possible!! Why do they have to grow so fast???

Today or Tomorrow?

Do you ever find yourself saying "I'll do that tomorrow" or "Not today, tomorrow" ? I know I do especially now that we have 2 children, I'm back at work, and in school. This week as our church has struggled with the loss of Pastor Porter & Elizabeth's baby boy at 35 weeks and I've really been thinking about "tomorrow". Their baby was due in 5 weeks! They had a baby shower at church on Sunday and then lost the baby on Monday.....I know God has a plan for us all and this was certainly part of his ultimate plan, but it still left me with the tomorrow issue. I cannot begin to imagine the pain they must be feeling and get tears in my eyes and that lump in my throat that almost won't allow swallowing. I thank God each day for blessing us with Demi and Duncan and for allowing us to take care of them for him, and that he will continue to trust us with them and watch them grow into adulthood. I'm not sure I could go on if they were taken from us early.....I know the Lord is hugging Pastor Porter and Elizabeth and that he will help them continue to move forward, but what about tomorrow? We really don't know what "tomorrow" will bring. I think we get in such routines that we continue with life each day and let tomorrow roll off our tongues ever so quickly. How do we know that we will be able to do the task "tomorrow"? Since all of this has taken place I've really been trying to do TODAY what I would normally put off until tomorrow. School work, work, trips to the grocery store etc. can all wait until tomorrow, but Demi, Duncan and Wes can't. They are what I would wish for if tomorrow didn't come. I encourage you to think about "tomorrow" and what might you wish you had done if it didn't come tomorrow......
On a lighter note our friends Lee and Kim that lost their baby on Easter this year are pregnant again! We can't wait to meet Baby Fowler number 6, yes that is right number 6! They are great parents and we know that God will continue to bless their family!
This weekend we plan to go to Childress Vineyard's since our trip was canceled a few weekends ago due to rain, but it's not looking good. It's pouring right now and supposed to rain all weekend. If it rains, we will most likely head to the mall to get a few Fall items for the kids and just hang around the house. I have class on Sunday and Monday nights so the weekends are usually spent relaxing then working on "school" stuff for class. I hope everyone has a nice weekend!!

I've FINALLY added a few Fall pictures and Shutterfly has a video upload section now so I've uploaded 2 short video we took recently. I'm not going to go back and upload videos from Demi's birth forward.....too many and not enough time, so we'll just add a few here and there from this point forward. Enjoy!! Our babies are growing up way too fast!

Ever Had 2 Teething!!??

So have you ever had 2 little ones teething at the same time?? It's pretty rough!! Demi must be getting her 2 year molars. She's been drooling like crazy which hasn't happened since she was under a year old and just this weekend started telling us her teeth hurt. She's been restless at night and we've been trying to keep the Tylenol coming every 4-6 hours! Duncan is teething as well. He is eating whatever he can shove into his mouth and has also been very restless at night. Some nights he sleeps 8-10 hours straight while others he's up every 2 hours. You just never know what you're going to get around here, but last week and this the theme seems to be no sleep! Poor babies! Hopefully their teeth will push through soon and everyone will get some rest :)

This past week Duncan started eating rice cereal. He's loving it!! Tonight I added a little sweet potatoe and he ate every bit. I really wanted to wait a little longer to start him on food, but he's doing just fine. He was definitely ready and showed all signs of being so. He's getting so big!! My goodness where does the time go? He's "talking" and laughing all of the time! He and Demi are playing so well together already!! I love to watch them together. He just laughs and smiles at her!

This past weekend we had plans to go to Childress Vineyard, but it rained all day Saturday so we ended up going to Concord Mills instead. It was packed, but we had a nice time and both kids were great!! Duncan loves to ride in the stroller and just people watch. Sunday we went to church and then came home and worked in the yard. We wanted to get our seed and lime down before getting too much farther into Fall. With it getting dark now at 7:30 we were in a rush to get it done, but we did it!! We're slowly but surely getting into Fall mode! The weather is beautiful and our weekends are filling up fast!! We're looking forward to taking Demi and Duncan to Patterson Farms to the pumpkin patch soon!

We hope everyone had a great weekend! I'll get new pics posted as soon as I can! Christy reminded me tonight of how slack I've become with the site, but I really dont' have a second to work on it!! I'd say I have enough to keep me busy....Demi, Duncan, work and class.....WHEW! Have a great week!

Duncan is 4 months old!

It's so hard to believe that our little baby is 4 months old today!! I know I keep saying it's going by so much faster with him than Demi, but it really is. I literally feel like he's maybe 2 months old at the most.

At 4 months Duncan is rolling over, "talking" like crazy, scooting all over during tummy time, and eating like crazy! He is such a happy little guy and usually spends most of the day laughing and smiling at Demi. He absolutely loves Demi and will sit and watch her for long periods of time. Because the peds office is so busy we aren't scheduled for his 4 month well check until October 13th. He will be 5 days short of 5 months old then so we're debating on when to start cereal. I feel that he is actually ready to start now. He is so interested in real food and watches every bite go from our plates to our mouth. Demi didn't start cereal until 6 months and even then she didn't do that. I haven't decided when to start him yet, but it will most likely be sooner rather than later. I guess it's because he's so much bigger than her....and definitely doesn't act like a 4 month old, but more like a 5 or 6 month old. We'll see...

4 month pictures coming soon...just have to find the time to upload and add them!

**Pappy Update** Since the "pappy" got lost Demi hasn't had one at all. In fact she never really seemed to miss it at all. We never had a night of crying for it or anything. It just got "lost" and that was it!! Thank goodness Duncan sucks his thumb because it may have been more difficult if he had a paci too. Now to get the potty training mastered...... :)

"Pappy" is Lost!!?

A few weeks ago, in effort to start the process of making the "pappy" disappear, we put all of Demi's pacifiers away except for one. We told her that was the last one and that she had to make sure she didn't lose it......the days before this Rhonda had been telling us she was forgetting to get it for nap and that it might be a good time to make it disappear. Anyway, on Thursday when we got home she had thrown it on the floor. I picked it up and put it in drawer. That night at bedtime she started looking for it....couldn't find it.... We told her it must be "lost" and waited for a reaction. Surprisingly we didn't really get one. She said "Mommy pappy is lost, we'll have to find it". We headed to bed and she asked me to lay with her. I expected to be there forever since she didn't have her "pappy", but she was out in 5 minutes!! Friday morning we told Rhonda how the night had gone and gave her a pacifier just in case, but Demi didn't even ask for it. She just told Rhonda it was lost and got her blanket and layed down at nap time. This weekend she has done just fine without it......we were really thinking we would have a hard time getting rid of it, but as it turns out she kinda did it herself. So the "pappy" is officially GONE!! I guess I should not be shocked since she's pretty much weined herself from everything...nursing at 8 months, bottle at 11 months and now the pacifier. With each she just got to the point they were no longer important anymore and gave them up!! Yeah for Demi....she's such a big girl now! Wes and I can't get over it...she's such a little girl now and not a baby at all! The things that come out of her mouth amaze us....she has such an adult vocabulary. I can't think of anything better than watching her grown and mature. A little sad at times I have to admit....my baby is getting so big, but so rewarding at the same time!! Thank you God for both of our little blessings....they are truly amazing!! and we are so blessed you have given them to us to take care of for you!

Photos & Music Added

The photos are finally up! Amazing I know.....sorry it's taken so long, but if you don't already have 2 or more children of your own, you'll understand one day! It's just so hard to find the time to be able to sit down for even 5 minutes to get the upload started, then to add them to the site....forget it. I managed to do it today because Duncan slept for about 30 minutes after we got home from Rhonda's. I say I'll do better getting pictures updated in the future, but I can't make any promises! Have a good rest of the week!

**If your computer volume is down, turn it up! we've added a few of our favorite tunes to our site! If you hit refresh the song will change. Enjoy**

Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day!! Hope everyone had a nice day off with friends and/or family to celebrate!! We've definitely enjoyed our weekend together......

last week Nana was here to watch Duncan during the day. We had a great visit with her and Duncan continues to grow like a little weed! He is officially a thumb sucker, as he has been trying to suck it since he was about 3 weeks old, but has definitely mastered it now. It will be nice not to have to keep up with a pacifier, but I'm hoping when it comes time to give up the habit we won't have a hard time. Demi still has her pacifier at nap and at bedtime....we're hoping she gives it up soon, but we're not pushing the matter quite yet. Dr. O'Brian said we should just "see what happens" for a few more months. He said with Duncan coming along we shouldn't make a big deal of it yet.

Anyway, this weekend we headed to the Ashboro Zoo. I'd never been since I didn't grow up in NC and go on a ton of field trips there as Wes had. Demi loved it and Duncan enjoyed riding around and people watching in the stroller. It was a beautiful day Saturday, and we had a great time. Sunday we went to church and then on our big Walmart trip. It was a very relaxing day! Today we've been hanging around the house. We went to the pool for a while, worked in the yard and now we're getting ready to go to Chick-fil-A in our Carolina gear for a free chicken sandwhich, yum yum! Tomorrow begins a new, filled week with Duncan starting Rhonda's, work and class! I think weekends are going to be filled with relaxation for a long time to come with our weeks being so crazy! I love my job though so the only thing I might be willing to give up would definitely be class! We hope everyone had a nice weekend! I have pictures downloading as we speak so I'll try my best to get them up tonight....we'll see how that goes. Have a great week!

It's been a long time....again!

Oh my! It's been a long time since I've updated and I've really been trying to do a better job!! It's pretty much impossible to do with all we have going on at home, but I promise I'm making an effort! Let me catch you up on what we've been up to....

August 18th Duncan turned 3 months and I headed back to work. It was difficult to leave him, but at the same time I was excited to return to work since I only worked at my new school last year from the end of February to mid May. My first day/week went great. It was so nice to see everyone again!! That week Duncan stayed with a variety of people. Wes kept him, he visited Rhonda's for a day and GK watched him as well. He did good being away from Mommy, just didn't eat as much as usual. Last weekend we just relaxed and went to church. I was exhausted from returning to work and Wes was pretty tired from the week as well. This week the kids returned to school which doesn't really affect my job, but it did increase my to-do list by about 100 times! I've been working hard to get all of the kids in our system so they can use the computers. We have a brand new intel-iMac lab that I am super excited about!! It's amazing what macs can do compared to pc's!

This week Duncan visited Rhonda's Monday and then was with GK the rest of the week. One more week at home next week with Nana, then he's at Rhonda's with Demi full time starting Sept. 8th! I'm hoping once he gets into a regular routine he'll get back on schedule with his feedings. He's had a few strange nights as well and I think it's all related to things just being "different" to him. Anyway, another great/busy work week this week! This weekend isn't going to be any slower with us hosting an Enterprise party at our neighborhood club house/pool Saturday night and church, community group, and our church dinner picnic on Sunday. We're definitely on the move all of the time!! I hope everyone has a great weekend!! and like I said before I'll do my best to update more often. I do start my 2 fall classes next week so we'll see......

**Lots of pictures that need to be added and I'm going to work on that as well**

Duncan is 3 months old!!

Duncan is 3 months old as of August 18th. I know, I know, I've been terrible keeping this site updated, but it's nearly impossible with 2 little ones!! Anyway....our little man is growing so fast!! He is definitely much stronger than Demi was at this age. I think it has a lot to do with him being much larger than she was as well. Here's what he is up to...... He is holding his head up and has been for several weeks, he loves to stand in our lap and kinda jumps (he's definitely going to love the jumper!), he rolled over from tummy to back this week for the first time, he smiles all of the time and laughs out loud, which Demi thinks is so funny, he's still a good eater eating every 3-4 hours and is pretty much in the same sleeping pattern of 5-6 hours at a time at night, he is not much of a napper and just cat naps throughout the day, he loves his big sister and is entertained by watching her play, his eyes are still blue and we think they are here to stay, his dark hair has almost all fallen out and is being replaced with blonde like his sister, I'm guessing he weighs 16-17lbs we'll find out for sure at his 4 month check up.

It's amazing how quickly he's growing. I guess since we're busy all of the time, time seems to pass much quicker this time around. As I watch them both I think "You're going to miss this, your gonna want this back, you're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast....." Can't believe it's already been 3 months.....they do grow way too fast!

It's been a long time.....

since our last update! It's been extremely busy around the Parker house and it doesn't look like it will be letting up anytime soon ;) Last weekend we did head to Atlanta to visit with Nana and Papa and to take the kids to the Aquarium and Zoo. Demi loved the aquarium and we all had a great time. Duncan even enjoyed looking at the fish. Saturday we decided not to venture down to the zoo after hearing that the interstate we'd need to take to get there would be down to 1 lane from it's normal 6 for construction. Needless to say, traffic would have been a nightmare so we went to the barn instead. Demi rode Moe and played with the dogs and had a blast. It was extremely HOT that weekend so when we weren't out running around we were inside trying to stay cool :) It was great to visit with Nana & Papa and to relax for a few days.

This past week was a very busy one as I've been running around getting some last minute things taken care of before I return to work. Tomorrow is the big day.....I have to say it's not going to be any easier this time around to leave my baby boy....I'm already dreading it just as much as I did with Demi. I know that I will be fine once I get to work, it's just getting out of the house and getting there. For the next 3 weeks Duncan will be at home with Daddy, GK and Nana taking turns watching him so that Rhonda can get settled in with Brooks (Jackson's new baby brother) before we add him to the mix. Brooks was born almost exactly 1 month before Duncan so Rhonda is going to definitely have her hands full! (Jackson-3 Demi-2 Brooks-4 months and Duncan 3-months) She's the best though so we know she'll do just fine!!! Duncan starts out tomorrow with Daddy.......

This past Saturday Nana & Papa came to our house to play in the Enterprise softball tournament on Wes's team and for Demi and Duncan's baby dedication yesterday. GK, Papa D, Stacy, Sharon, Amy etc. also met us at church to celebrate. We had a great service/dedication. Pastor Jay could not have said it better than when he said, "Wes and Chasidy want to declare that these children, Demi & Duncan, belong to Him and they feel so blessed He chose them to take care of his children." We have been and continue to be blessed by our Father!! Thank you Jesus! We are so thankful to be part of The Refuge and know our children are exactly where they need to be to learn about Jesus!

Last but not least....GOOD NEWS! I went back to Rheumatology today for my test results and everything is great! I had been sent a several weeks ago by my OB-GYN because my finger joints had been killing me since Duncan was born. Tons of test were run for thyroid, liver, kidneys, RA, and much more. Over the last fews weeks the pain has gone away and today all of my results confirmed that it was most likely due changing hormones from pregnancy, delivery and nursing. Praise God!! There were times I was in so much pain I could hardly move my hands so we were pretty concerned. I am so thankful to be feeling my old self again and that it was just related to pregnancy. It's still amazes me what hormones can do! Dr. Lam said today that pregnancy is the hardest strain on a body and can cause all kinds of strange things to happen. I'm just thankful that all is well :)

That pretty much catches things up with us. Duncan will be 3 months old tomorrow and I head back to work....I also start my 2 Fall classes Friday so it will be pretty crazy around here. I'll do my best to update when I can!! Have a great week!!

**Pictures uploading now.....I will get them up ASAP**

On the Road Again....

It seems like we just got everything unpacked from the beach and we're packing up again. This time for a shorter trip, but any trip with 2 little ones involves lots of packing right now. We'll be heading to Atlanta Thursday for a long weekend with Nana & Papa. We've got a lot planned in just a few short days.....Friday we plan (weather permitting) to spend the day at Zoo Atlanta. We've never been to the Atlanta Zoo, but have heard great things and we know Demi will love it. Saturday we plan on spending the day at the Georgia Aquarium, which we love, but have never taken the kids to. We're excited to see everyone....Nana, Papa, Chris, Lindsay, Will, Chloe, Loui, Zoey, Otis (who we haven't seen since July 2!) Moe, Poppy, Poppy's new baby & the newest addition Grady a weimaraner puppy Papa got Nana while we were at the beach. Demi is so excited to see the new "babies". I'm sure we'll have tons of pictures to post when we get back! Have a great week/weekend!!

I've added a few pictures to both the Summer & Duncan's album as I am clearing my memory card in preparation for this weekend. Both of our little ones are growing like weeds!! More pictures to come :)

Photo Shoot!

This morning we had Demi and Duncan's first photo shoot together. The pictures turned out better than we expected, we actually love them!! We never dreamed we'd be able to have 2 happy kids in the same photo! Toward the end they both started getting tired and cranky, but for the most part it went really well! Duncan is 10 weeks and Demi is just 26 months. We're counting these as their 3 month and 2 year pics. They are uploading now and should posted shortly. All shots taken are on our cd so some are better than others....but you'll get the idea :) Let us know if you would like a copy of any certain pictures. We did get the cd so we can make prints of everything. Enjoy!

Washing & Drying Again

Our washer and dryer had been on the brink for about a month. The agitator in the washer was hardly moving our clothes and at times the dryer would run a full cycle and not dry at all so we knew it's death was coming.....

Saturday night we spent the evening at Home Depot checking out new washer & dryers. We were actually excited to be getting new ones....yes we're getting OLD! but with the amount laundry we are doing now who wouldn't be excited to be purchasing something that would hold more, wash faster and dry quickly!!! So many choices and such expensive prices......but we did find one and we're washing and drying again!! They were delivered Wednesday morning and believe it or not we only managed to pile up 2 loads from Sunday to Wednesday, thanks to the huge washer!! What normally would have been 4-5 loads fit easily into 2 and was washed and dryed in less than 1 hour!! Oh yes, life will be a little easier at the Parker house as far as laundry goes :) Oh, the things that make a mother of 2 with TONS of laundry happy............

It's been a while since we updated....but last weekend was pretty much consumed with picking out and purchasing the washer and dryer. We did spend the morning/afternoon at the pool Saturday. Both kids did great. Duncan loved the water and had his first "mini" swimming lesson. He went under the water twice and didn't seem to mind at all. Demi, of course, was a little fish and didn't want to leave 3 hours later. Once we got home both of them took a 3 hour nap. Sunday we went to church and then our community group. Pretty much a laid back weekend with not much going on. We'll appreciate those more in a few weeks when I go back to work....yes it's 2 1/2 weeks away....part of me is looking forward to it and the other part is not. It will be a whole new adventure getting 2 kids ready each morning and getting to work on time :) Not worrying about it quite yet, still is summer mode! Hope everyone had a great week. We'll update again sooner and upload new pictures soon as well! Have a great weekend!

BIG Boy!

Today Duncan had his 2 month check up and he's a BIG boy!! He is 14lbs 6oz and 25 inches long!!! He has been doing some growing these past 2 months to say the least!! He's in the 97th percentile for both height and weight, which is great!! Dr. Douglass was very pleased with his development and said we've got a healthy little man. He did have to get 3 shots today, but he did great. He cried, of course, but once I picked him up he was ok. Hopefully he won't have a hard time with immunizations.....Demi never did.

Once the pictures are finished downloading I'll get them posted! Have a great week!

Stella's House

Today was an amazing day at The Refuge, as Phil Cameron and the girls from Stella's House visited again. Phil and his wife have an amazing ministry in Moldova that saves girls who are forced out of orphanages at the young age of 16, from becoming victims of human sex trafficking. It was an indescribable experience to hear these young girls tell how monies sown into The Refuge by us as members, have saved their lives! Please help this ministry continue to rescue young girls by making your donation! Every penny helps, as they are expanding to accomodate as many young girls as possible and put an end to human trafficking in Moldova. Click here to learn more! and for those of you Facebook users it's listed under my causes as well :)

Our weekend....

Friday we spent the evening with Dana, Katelyn and Hadley! Demi and the girls had a ball together!! After they played for a while we headed to dinner with Wes at Texas Land and Cattle. We should have gone to dinner long before 8pm, as the kids were tired to say the least, but we made it through and had a great time! It was so good to see them....we're definitely going to have to take them up on their offer to visit them in Wilmington!! Love you guys!!

Saturday was a lazy day around the house. We did some laundry and napped, yes all 4 of us, and then headed to dinner and Concord Mills around 6pm. We did a little shoe shopping for Wes and then headed home.

Today we went to church, the kids napped, and now we're heading the the park. The weather is absolutely beautiful! It's about 81 degrees and no humidity!! A complete shocker for July in the Carolinas!! We hope everyone had a great weekend!! More pictures to come soon.....Have a great week and don't forget to check out the site above and make your contribution to save the girls of Moldova!

Duncan is 2 Months Old!

Duncan is 2 months old today!! He's gone from our little newborn to a laughing, cooing, playful little boy! I can't believe how quickly he's grown and changed!! Wednesday he goes for his 2 month check up so we'll update again then, but here is a little bit of what he's up to.....he's smiling and laughing out loud all of the time, he loves the hanging frog and duck on his carseat and bats at them so he can her them make noises. He LOVES his bouncy seat and is already interactive with it as well! (wish we had this one with Demi....the toy bar is great!) He is eating about every 3-4 hours during the day and staying awake a lot more, only taking 30 minute to 1 hour cat naps in between feedings. At night he is sleeping 4-5 hours at a time so Mommy is a little more rested :) He loves his sister and watches her run around and play. If he's crying he will stop almost instantly if she starts talking to him.

He is definitely a growing little boy and we'll update with his weight and measurements after his upcoming appointment. We're very blessed to have him in our lives, and thank God daily for our 2 healthy, happy babies. We've pretty much adjusted to life with 2 little ones for now, I'm sure when I head back to work we'll face another adjustment period as our daily schedule will change a bit.

**2 month picture will be posted Wednesday with his update from the doctor**

Cole Franklin Eichenberger is here!!

Congrats to my cousin Amanda and Jake on the birth of their little surprise today!! Cole Franklin Eichenberger arrived at 3:07 pm this afternoon weighing 8lbs 3oz. As you can see he's absolutely perfect! Congrats again guys! and welcome to the amazing journey of parenthood :)

Love,

Wes, Chasidy, Demi & Duncan

Beach Pictures

I just finished uploading the beach pictures and have posted them to the site! It took over 5 hours to get them downloaded!!! Like I said before, I was pretty slack with the photo taking this year, but there are a few good ones. Enjoy!

BOO BOO!!!!

Today we experienced our first "real" BOO BOO!!!! Duncan and I were getting ready to leave to head to my hair appointment in downtown Charlotte and Wes was working in Albemarle when the phone rang.......It was Rhonda saying that Demi had fallen and hit the buffet in her dining room. She explained that Demi wasn't running or doing anything she should be, just walking and tripped and fell. She had cut her forehead and Rhonda wanted one of us to come by and look at it. So Duncan and I quickly packed up and headed over. I called Wes on the way who started the trip back home. Once at Rhonda's Demi was up playing and seemed completely fine, but when we took the bandaid off to look at her cut it definitely needed stitches! Rhonda said when they were looking at it, it was bleeding pretty bad so it was hard to tell, but we both agreed that she needed to go.

On the way to the peds office I called and updated Wes who was still driving back. Demi, Duncan and I arrived at the doctors office where we talked with Dr. Lam and the nurses about what had happened. Dr. Lam said that she does not like to put stitches in the face of a child unless absolutely necessary because of scaring so she decided to do dermabond. Demi was so brave as they irrigated and cleaned her cut. The dermabond only took a second and after a handful of Tinkerbell and Dora stickers we were ready to go. On our way to the car Wes pulled up and Demi got to show Daddy her BIG BOO BOO! She really wanted to go back to Rhonda's and play in the pool, but Dr. Lam said she could not get her boo boo wet until about 5pm tonight so we headed home. She agreed that Chick Filet would be ok instead of the pool so we ran through the drive through on the way home. Once we got home I carried 2 sleeping babies inside and ate lunch myself while they took a 3 hour nap! Demi is up now and seems to be doing ok. Every now and then she wants to see her boo boo in the mirror, but other than checking it out she's her normal self. She's already asking to go to Rhonda's tomorrow to play in the pool so as long as she continues to feel ok tonight, she'll head over in the morning. To us this was a "big" boo boo, but we are thankful it wasn't much worse!!

We're Back!

We're back from the beach and we survived our first trip with Demi & Duncan! After spending literally a week trying to get everyone packed up and ready to go, we arrived in just over 4 hours on July 4th. That afternoon was spent unpacking and getting settled. Saturday night we had our annual 4th of July cookout and watched the fireworks. Our entire family was exhausted, especially the kids, so we lasted about 30 minutes out on the beach then headed in for bed.

The rest of the week was spent between the beach and the pool. Thank goodness our condo has a pool because Demi wasn't very interested in the beach this year. She went down a few times to play with Auburn, but really just wanted to play at the pool. She quite the little fish and has absolutely no fear. She jumps in by herself, loves to stunt in the pool, and even be thrown up to flip. She had many people at the pool on edge as they watched her, but we're used to it. We're so glad we bought her "lady bug" last year, it allows her so much freedom and we don't have to worry. Duncan didn't really care to be outside at all the first few days, but by mid week we had him in his travel swing at the pool in the shade and he was happy for the most part. As long as his tummy was full he was content. He's just so active and does not sleep much during the day at all. Demi slept so much more at his age.....I remember her sleeping pretty much the whole beach trip when we took her. I guess there is just too much going on and he doesn't want to miss it!

Vacation this year with 2 was a little bit of a challenge especially having one so little and the other able to do so much more, but we did it. Next year should be a little easier since we will not have as much baby stuff to pack and both kids will be walking (or close to walking) and playing. We had a great time and it was great to see everyone! We met baby Campbell for the first time and also got to see baby Farrell again. Demi is still asking "Where is baby Campbell/Farrell?" she loved seeing them! We hope everyone had a great 4th!

**I have to admit, I was quite the slacker when it came to photo taking this year at the beach, but I'm sure you understand why :) With 2 little ones, neither of us had time to even grab the camera to take pictures at times. After looking through them last night we realized we have quite a few of Duncan since he's so easy to photograph because he isn't mobile yet, tons of Demi swimming since that is where she spent most of her time, 1 of the 2 of them together because it's so hard to get them together and happy at the same time, and 1 or 2 of the family. I promise to do better next year..... They are uploading now, I'll get them posted by tonight, hopefully!**

Pictures Added

Inspite of the craziness, I just added a few new pictures of Demi & Duncan to the summer 09 album and Duncan's album. Yes, we're still working on getting everything together for the beach. After packing up the sand toys literally 25 times, they are hidden until we put them in the car Friday night. That is pretty much how all packing is going....we pack it, Demi unpacks it. Today I'm really trying to pack as much as possible since she's at Rhonda's, hide it, and clean up a bit before she gets home. That would be very easily done, except for a sweet little boy named Duncan. Why is it he's having a Mommy day and wants to be held all day when it's my only day to get anything done? I'm sure tomorrow he'll be content, but not today.....so picture this for a laugh....me packing, cleaning etc. with Duncan in the sling, carrier or anything else I can use to tie him to me :) Funny I know.....but it's working for now. We could win America's Funniest Home Videos for sure if I just had time, even a split second, to video the madness at our house, but I don't. I really haven't even had a chance to use the bathroom in the last 4 hours!

May sound like I'm venting, but I'm really not.....it's our life....as crazy and busy as it is, I wouldn't want it any other way. Wes tells me all of the time that I wouldn't function in a life without total chaos. He's right, I actually do better in the mist of what looks like chaos to everyone else, but is actually a well oiled machine to me. Well, check out the pics....got to run and try and get as much done as possible before 5! And NO, I haven't even started on the 2 presentations and the paper I have to have done by Friday....that will begin tonight :) Have a safe and happy 4th! We're out of here, with whatever is in the car by Friday!

Packing Up!

Packing Up! That is this weeks theme at our house as we begin getting ready for our annual July 4th beach trip! Where to begin!!! Packing for 2 little ones is a job in itself, not to mention we'll need to bring some things of our own as well! It will literally take us all week to get laundry done and be sure that we have everything. Thank goodness there is a 24 hour Walmart right around the corner from the condo for anything we might forget and need to pick up!

Along with packing this week, Duncan and I are meeting Nana on Tuesday 1/2 way between Charlotte and Atlanta to do the "Otis switch" and for lunch. Uncle Chris isn't going to make it to the beach because of his crazy baseball schedule so Otis is heading to Atlanta to stay at Nana & Papa's house. I've also got 2 online presentations to do for class and a paper due......all by Friday afternoon.....uggggg! Thank goodness one of my online classes will be FINISHED on Friday! The other runs until August 16th. Anyone who thinks online classes are a breeze (which was once my opinion) hasn't gotten their masters in technology! I'll be so ready for vacation, just to get away from the computer!!

Other than that, I plan on trying to take Demi to the pool on Thursday and Friday to get her out a bit since Rhonda will be out of town and of course I need a pedicure before heading down! Should be an interesting week!! Life is definitely non-stop :)

This past weekend was great. Friday we headed to dinner and then picked up a few things for the beach. Saturday we went to the pool. I've got a few really cute pictures of Duncan in is bathing suit. I'll post them this week. He slept while we were there, so no pictures of him in the pool, but I'm sure we'll get plenty next week. Sunday we went to church and then to lunch. Sunday night we headed over to the mall to pick up a few last minute things for the beach. I think all of our "beach shopping" is officially done. Now it's just time to find a way to get it all there!! Thank goodness we bought the van! Even though I swore I'd NEVER own one, it's the best car I've ever owned!! A must have for Mommies!! I recommend the Honda Odyssey for those of you who find yourself becoming a "Minivan Mommy" like me!! I absolutely LOVE IT!!!

Hope everyone has a great 4th! We'll be heading out Saturday morning......lots of beach pictures and a large update after the trip I'm sure! Have a great next 2 weeks!!!

Our 4th Wedding Anniversary!!

Today is our 4th Wedding Anniversary!! I can't believe it's been that long already!! We have experienced so much in the past in 4 years together.....and we couldn't be happier!! God has definitely blessed our marriage and we know he will continue to do so.

Thank you honey, for being the best husband in the world, and an amazing father to our children! Looking forward to many, many, many more years to come! I love you!

2 year Well-Check

Today was Demi's 2 year well check appointment. She did very well and was very brave when getting her shot. She did cry a little bit, but was quick to dry her tears when the stickers were brought out! She chose 2, 1 Cindrella & 1 Nemo to bring home. She now weighs 26 1/2 pounds and is 31 inches tall, putting her in the 60th percentile for weight and 90th for height. She's becoming quite tall and skinny making shopping for clothes a little difficult. She needs a 2T for length, but the waist is too big. Lots of washing with hot water and drying on high heat to make things fit!

This was a pretty uneventful appointment. Dr. O'Brien asked her several questions and was very impressed with her answers. He said she is more on the level of a 3 year old as far as comprehension, speech and coordination. Her next well-check is at age 3, which will be nice since the weekly/monthly appointments have begun with Duncan.

For you?

I felt the nudge to to share these two songs with you. I am not sure who they are intended for, but after being touched by both of them myself at The Refuge, I felt the Holy Spirit asking me to share them with you...... just click below to view.

The More I Seek You- To just sit at His feet.....overwhelming...

Revelation Song

God is our Refuge and strength, a very present help in trials. Therefore we will not fear,

though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the sea!

Psalm 46:1-2

Lost: Cell Phone & Mind PLEASE RETURN!

All of you mothers know what I'm talking about when I say "Mommy Brain", but for those of you who haven't had the privilege of experiencing it, it's the total loss of your mind after having children! After giving birth to Demi I had a slight case of "Mommy Brain" for a few weeks doing some silly things like driving through a drive through and never ordering, and not knowing it until I got to the window.....there is just so much on your mind with a new little one...after a few weeks I was back to "normal".

Well with Duncan's arrival I'm not sure "normal" will ever return. My mind is now consumed with 2 children instead of 1 and my mind hasn't returned yet!! Mommy brain should be gone by now, but it's only getting worse! Until Friday I was mostly losing my keys, pacifiers (who wouldn't I have to keep up with 2 now!) and other little stuff like that, but Friday I lost my cell phone! I had gone shopping for Father's Day for the grand-fathers and only went into one store. I did really good for once in my life going straight to the mens and sticking with what I needed to get instead of shopping around. Duncan was due to eat in an hour so I wanted to get what I needed and head home. I literally went to 2 racks got what I needed and checked out. I remember pulling my phone out at one rack to call and ask Wes a question about the shorts I was getting for his dad, that is when "Mommy Brain" must have taken over. I somehow got distracted and must have laid my phone down.

After I checked out I went to grab my phone again to call and tell him what I had bought and could not find it. I took everything out of the diaper bag, went through every part of the stroller and it wasn't there. I went back to the check out and asked if anyone had turned in a phone, but no luck. Someone had to have picked it up....I was right there the whole time. A nice lady behind me allowed me to use her phone to call Wes, tell him what happened, and have him disconnect my phone. There were tons of kids running around and in case one of them had picked it up I didn't want my bill run up with calls, text and internet usage. So my phone has been disconnected since Friday afternoon.

Saturday morning we called to see if someone had turned it in, but still no luck. It seems my phone is gone forever....yesterday I ordered a new phone and it should be here tomorrow or Wednesday. It's crazy how lost I feel without a phone! Duncan and I are not doing much but hanging around the house, so don't worry we're not out without a cell phone.

So out of this situation....... on a good note I'm getting a new Blackberry, but on the other side I'm reminded that my mind is lost too! Having a 2 year old and 1 month old will do that to you!! Being so scatter brained is driving me crazy because I'm usually OCD about being organized and "with it"! So if you find my mind please send it back to me! I shouldn't complain it was just a phone, I love life with Demi and Duncan and wouldn't change it for a second, but at some point my mind has to return right? So today if you get the email asking for your phone numbers, just laugh and send them to me. Hopefully this phone will last longer that 9 months, yep my other phone was only 9 months old. (Not because I lost the one before that, but I had just signed up for new service). I believe my husband will kill me if I lose this one too. We joked last night about getting some kind of necklace I could clip everything to...paci's, phone, keys, wallet etc. I believe he may do it, if this phone disappears. Wish me luck hanging on to it and finding my lost mind..... ha ha :)

I have pictures downloading as we speak, I'll try and get them up in the next few days so check back!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to all of the Daddy's in our lives....especially Papa D, Papa, and of course Daddy! We are so blessed to have you in our lives!! We love you!!

Duncan is 1 month old!

One month ago today at 5:42am our little man Duncan Murray made his grand entrance into this world! He surprised Mommy & Daddy by deciding to send Mommy into labor late Sunday night and even made his grandparents get right back in the car and head back to Charlotte after they had just come home from a visit with us!

It's amazing that 1 month has passed already and he has changed so much. He's gained exactly 2lbs since birth going from 8lbs 4oz to 10lbs 4oz. He's an active little guy and VERY strong! We are truly blessed to have him in our lives.

A Conversation with God Before Birth

This is very cute....thought I'd share, especially for all of the Mom's. Isn't God amazing....and our children are such a miracle. Thank you God for allowing them to be conceived, grow in our tummys, and for trusting us to take care of them!

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow,
but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have
to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you.
And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the small child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand
when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words
you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will
teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach
you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach
you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth
could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave
now, please tell me my angel's name."

God said, You will simply call her, "Mom."

Duncan's 4th week.....and stroller disappointment

Duncan was 4 weeks old yesterday and continues to change daily! He's 10lbs 4oz. He is nursing much better now and has been refusing the formula supplement we offer him after each feeding since yesterday. That's a blessing because remembering to pack a bottle and formula each time we leave the house has been a challenge for me. I've actually had to buy a can at Target when I left it at home and he was starving for his extra 1/2 ounce! Since about 2 weeks of age it seems that Duncan has had some stomach issues. We thought it might be that he was having a hard time digesting the formula, but he wasn't drinking enough to seem it would matter. On Tuesday we headed to see Dr. O'Brian and he thinks Duncan may have a little bit of acid reflux. He has started him on Zantac 2 times a day and said that babies often feel the need to eat more with stomach discomfort, which may be why he feels he needs an extra 1/2 to 1 ounce of formula after each feeding. We started him on the Zantac last night so we'll see how it goes. Hoping it helps relieve his tummy issues. Sometimes he's nursing and will stop and start screaming like he's been hurt, but he has just been eating. This is why Dr. O'Brian thinks reflux is causing the pain. It takes up to a week for the medicine to get in his system and for real results so I'll keep you posted. For a baby with reflux (if that is what it is) he's sleeping great at night. Most tummy problems are from about 8-10pm and then he seems ok. Praying this helps, we hate to see him in pain.

On a good note, Duncan is definitely trying to smile. He's been working on it all week. Of course he smiles while he's sleeping and having gas, but not actually smiled at us voluntary yet. He's VERY alert and watches Demi and Otis the most as they run around and play. It's amazing how quickly he's growing up! It seems even faster than Demi did :(

As for the stroller disappointment......thought we'd found the "perfect" double that would hold our carseat, but we got a call yesterday telling us it's been back ordered and would not ship until the end of August or early September. We can't wait that long with it being summer and we want to get them out as much as possible.....the search began again.....so we've gone back to what we had planned on getting at first which is the Bumbleride Indie Twin. The only problem is the 2009 colors are all back ordered except for the black. So black it is. Some of Bumbleride's colors are a bit crazy anyway and all of the retailers I've spoken to say people often get tired of them and end up getting new ones in a few years so black should be a good color to go with. I was worried about it being too hot, but Bumbleride assures me that the fabric is spf50 and made for outdoor use. I'm excited to get this stroller since it's what I had wanted at first, but OH GOSH are doubles expensive! I'm hoping I love it.....it should be even better than the Tike Tech I was going to go with. Ok, enough rambling.....I'll let you know how it goes.

Parker Family Update....

I haven't posted in a while about "The Parker Family" so I thought I'd do a quick update........

As you know we just finished celebrating Demi's 2nd birthday. The party was great and she had a blast which is all that matters. She's getting so big and is no longer a baby anymore. She will be the first to tell you she's a big girl and Duncan is a baby. She is now counting to 20 sometimes skipping a number here and there and knows the words to more songs that we do combined it seems! She's a big time talker and is only quiet when sleeping. She loves going to Rhonda's and will continue to go at least 4 days a week during the summer, which is a big help to Mommy. She is starting to work on potty training and loves to sit on the potty and read books, but rarely goes. She's very good at going in her diaper and then demanding we change her immediately. She continues to be off the charts in development which we contribute mostly to Rhonda. She is wonderful with Jackson and Demi and we are so thankful that she will be watching Duncan as well. We could never find a replacement for her!

Duncan will be 4 weeks old tomorrow and is getting so big! At our visit with the lactation nurse on Monday he weighed 10lbs. He's not wasting any time getting big and is obviously a good eater. With his continued increase in milk intake, it may be that the mastitis set Mommy back too far to "catch up" with his growth. Right now we're supplementing about 1oz of formula after each feeding to be sure he is full and he's drinking every bit of it. He's doing well and is very strong for his age. He can already scoot himself around on a blanket, wants to stand up on your lap and has great control of his head. He's definitely a lot more active at 1 month of age than Demi was.

As for Wes and I, we're doing great as well. I think we've done a great job adjusting to life with 2 little ones....not sure how we appear to everyone else. Life is definitely very busy for Wes with work and then the kids, and is not much better for me. I don't go back to work until August 18th, but I'm taking 2 classes for my masters this summer and that will continue each semester until May of 2011. So between the kids and class and scheduling appointments etc. I'm working a full time job at home too. No complaints from either of us, other than we both could use a little extra sleep, but we are very blessed and thank God each day for all that he has given us. We make a great team!! Love you honey! :)

What have we been up to?

This past week was pretty crazy for both of us...Wes has been interviewing and hiring and I've been running around doing errands and showing off Duncan. On Thursday Demi woke up with a fever so she stayed home with Duncan and I Thursday and Friday. She'll head back to Rhonda's tomorrow. This weekend we just took it easy. With Demi not feeling well we just layed low and relaxed, which was nice. Tomorrow starts another busy week for us all....

I made a big purchase this weekend that I'm pretty excited about.....In Feb. after months of trying to find a double stroller compatible with our carseat we only ended up with about 2 strollers to pick from. We decided to go with the Baby Trend that turns into a sit n stand for when Demi got older. The stroller came and we loved it, color, quality, etc, but it's a 2009 model and DOES NOT hold a Chicco carseat the way the older models do. It still claims to hold one, but it's very wobbly and with Demi in the back seat, she could tip Duncan right out with her feet, which has actually almost happened. So after 2 or 3 disappointing trips to the mall with the stroller, the search was on for another......GOSH! double strollers are expensive!!!

We'll I've found what seems to be as close to perfect as you can get! It's a new 2010 Tike Tech City X3. It's similar to a jogging stroller, but also made for the mall. The make a carseat adaptor and have promised me to hold my Chicco seat. So I ordered it! It should be here this week and I can't wait to try it out. Just hoping I'm not disappointed as I was with the first one. So the Baby Trend and our jogging stroller are both for sale.....as this new stroller will replace both! I'm so excited!! .....the things that make a mother excited, I know :), but right now we've got 4 strollers, yes 4, not all doubles, but this will replace 2 of the 4! If your in the market for a double, stay tuned, I'll let you know how I like it. It's pictured below....for those of you Mommy's who may be searching as I did....also the website is tiketech.com Well that pretty much catches us up. Hope everyone had a great week/weekend! Until next time....

Pictures

More pictures were just added. Demi's birthday pictures are finally up and it wasn't until I got them all downloaded that I realized we didn't take a family picture are her party....things change quite a bit with 2 little ones, and yes I've got a definite case of "Mommy brain". I've also added the pictures we purchased from Duncan's first photo shoot at 2 days old. They turned out great...wish we had taken Demi that early for some. Last but not least, I've added a few to our summer album. I think I'm caught up for now.....more are taken pretty much each day so I'll continue to add them when I get a chance. Enjoy!

First round of pictures

I just finished posting the first round of pictures. Still have tons downloading and will get them up ASAP! Enjoy!!

Duncan's 3rd Week

Duncan is 3 weeks old today and already growing way to fast!! He is so strong and is almost already totally holding up his own head. He also likes to stand, yes stand, up on our laps and look around. He is much stronger than Demi was at this age. Dr. O'brien and several nurses have all commented on how strong he is and how he is doing things that infants don't usually do for several more weeks. Looks like we're going to have another "over-achiever" on our hands, as Demi was and still is off the charts when it comes to development.

This week we've noticed that he is trying to smile, staying awake for longer periods of time, and turning to look at pretty much everyone at the sound of their voices. He loves his big sister to sit beside him and talk to him. Demi also loves to read to him, it's really cute. She's such a good little mommy! He is still sleeping/ eating in 3-4 hour intervals and eating like a little pig! We've actually had a few days where he eats more like every 2-3 hours.....he's a growing boy!

We have TONS of pictures to post including his first photo shoot. We'll get these posted ASAP, but with 2 little ones and 2 summer school classes, it's tough to get everything downloaded in a timely manner, I'll get them up soon I promise :)

A GREAT Birthday Weekend!

This past week Nana was in town from Atlanta to help out with Duncan and help Mommy get ready for Demi's 2nd birthday party. Monday we took Duncan to his 2 week doctors visit and just hung out and relaxed. The rest of the week was pretty much spent at the grocery store, Party City, Toys R Us, or Concord Mills as we prepared for Demi's 2nd birthday party. The week went by so fast, but it was great to have Nana here to help out. We were definitely BUSY!

Saturday morning we went to the Fowlers house for Jayden and Caleb's birthday party, then rushed home to do the final prep for Demi's party. There was no doubt the theme of her party was Dora the Explorer as our house was covered in everything Dora. We had about 35-40 people come including family and friends so our house was packed. Rhonda even stopped by to wish Demi a happy birthday. Demi had an absolute blast and loved the "bouncy house" that Aunt Tracy was nice enough to let us borrow. It was a hit with all of the kids for sure! She got way too many gifts and loves everything. Thank you to everyone! Duncan also says "thank you" for the gifts he got at Demi's party as well!

Saturday night Nana and Papa headed back to Atlanta and GK, Uncle T, and Papa D stayed the night. Sunday morning we headed to church and then to lunch at Texas Land and Cattle, YUM! We spent the afternoon relaxing at home before they headed back. Sunday night Duncan and Mommy took a 3 hour "nap" while Demi and Daddy played with all of her new stuff. Thanks Daddy for entertaining Demi while Mommy caught up on some much needed sleep :)

We had a great weekend celebrating Demi's 2nd birthday!! Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us, we love you!! Have a great week!

Duncan's 2nd Week

Duncan is 2 weeks old and getting so big! At his 2 week doctors visit yesterday he weighed 9lbs 3oz and is 21 3/4 inches long!! He's gained almost a pound since his birth! It's really not surprising since he's quite the eater! He's eating every 3 hours with 4 hour stretches at night, but at times he's taking in as much as 4oz! My milk supply is trying to keep up with him!! He's nursing much better since my mastitis is gone, but I'm pumping in between to supplement so he gets enough. We've got a little pigglet on our hands!! He loves to eat :)

As far as our life goes....we're definitely exhausted, but loving our new little man. Demi is being so good with him. She loves to hold him, feed him and push his stroller. She's really grown up so much in these past 2 weeks. She's a little woman now. It's amazing how big and grown up she seems to us now that we have a newborn again. The biggest challenge so far has been getting them both ready to leave the house to go anywhere. Duncan's first trip to church was at 7 days old and I think it took us 2 hours to get ourselves, Demi, and him ready and out the door. This past Sunday wasn't as bad, we actually overslept and made it out of the house in 1 hour, so we can do it in a pinch :)

This week my mom is in town. Yesterday we went to lunch, Duncan's doctors visit, and to Walmart. Duncan slept almost the entire time, except when he was eating, of course. Today we're just taking it easy. We've got lots to do the rest of the week in preparation for Demi's birthday party on Saturday. I'm thankful she's here to help out, especially since I have a hair appointment tomorrow. I was going to take him with me, as he will sleep most of the time, but with Mom here I'll have a second set of hands!

I've got tons of pictures to post... and will have a ton more after Demi's party Saturday. I'll do my best to get them uploaded ASAP, keep a look out for them :) We picked up Duncan's newborn portraits last week and they are amazing....I'll get them posted as well! Have a great week!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY DEMI!!!!!!!

Today is Demi's 2nd birthday!!!! Oh my! how time has flown by!!!! It's so hard to believe that she is already 2!! Yesterday she had her party at Rhonda's and had a blast! She came home covered in tatoos and with bags of goodies!! Last night we went to Casa Grande and the "Amigos" as Demi calls them, brought her a big fried ice cream and sang to her. They also got her with wipped cream in the face.....pictures will be posted soon :)

Today we're having an area outing for Wes's area at our house. Demi's birthday party is next Saturday, but we plan on possibly going to Chuckie Cheese tonight to celebrate, just the 4 of us. Nana comes into town tomorrow, so this week is sure to be filled with tons of shopping and preparation for Demi's big party next weekend! Her party is a Dora the Explorer party. She had a hard time deciding between Dora and the Backyardigans, but Dora has won, so we're off to find everything Dora for next weekend :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR LITTLE PRINCESS!!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Duncan's 1st Week

We've had a great first week at home with Duncan this week! Tuesday afternoon we came home from the hospital and went to dinner with GK & Papa D. Wednesday and Thursday Demi went to Rhonda's to get back on her normal "schedule" while we ran a few errands, took Duncan to all of Wes's offices to see everyone, and tried to catch up on some rest. Duncan had his first doctors visit on Thursday. He weighed 7lbs 8 oz. Dr. O'Brian wasn't too concerned, but advised me to go visit Phyllis the lactation consultant at the hospital to be sure he was eating enough. With Demi, I met with Phyllis to increase my milk supply, which worked in just a few days so we headed over to see her. Duncan had been eating ok, but falling asleep within about 5 minutes of feeding. No matter what we tried, getting him to wake up was almost impossible.

Once we discussed with Phyllis what was going on and she watched Duncan eat she agreed that he wasn't staying awake enough to get full or help me. She also saw signs of mastitis starting to develop. I was sent home with a strict plan of action to help relieve the mastitis and get Duncan eating as he should. Things did get better, but not before they got worse. Thursday night I was in so much pain I was pretty much in tears the entire night. Friday I called back to the lacatation office and was given a few other methods to try. Finally by Saturday things seemed much better and Duncan is doing much better. At Saturday's weight check he was up to 7lbs 18oz and his doctor was very pleased. Who would have thought that I would have too much milk this time after not enough last time. Just goes to show you that each pregnancy/delivery is so different!

As for Duncan......he's sleeping great at night (for a newborn), getting up every 4 hours. During the day he just hangs out and only cries when he's hungry or needs to be changed. He seems to be very laid back and just kinda goes with the flow. He likes to watch Demi and absolutely loves the swing! He also likes riding in the car, his bouncy seat, and the peanut shell (Mommy's new sling) I'm so excited he likes the sling, since it allows me to be totally hands free, which comes in handy with an almost 2 year old running around. Adjusting to 2 little ones hasn't been bad at all. I was a little nervous about it, but it's actually going very smoothly so far. I'm sure once he's mobile things will get a little more hectic. I think we are much more laid back as parents as well, which has made things seem much more relaxed this time around. We're loving our new "job", as the parents of 2 little ones!

Friday evening GK, Papa D, and Uncle T came back for another visit. Uncle T, Wes, and Papa D had plans to be at the race track all weekend, but it rained on and off the whole time. Both races were called before they were actually over due to the weather. Instead of sitting out in the pouring rain, they hung out at home and just watched them on TV. We had a great weekend/Memorial Day. Christy, Farrell, Charlene and Elaine came down to visit with us, which was great. It was nice to see them and baby Farrell is getting so big! It's amazing how quickly they grow in just 3 months.

Today Wes headed back to work and I'm home with Demi and Duncan alone for the first time. So far things are great. Demi is playing and Duncan is napping. We don't plan on doing much this week other than visiting my work, but maybe next week we'll venture out, just the 3 of us :)
New pictures added, I have several more to add, just no time right now........they will be added soon :) Have a good week.

Baby Duncan's 1st Photo Shoot- 2 days old

Wes's first journal post! :)

We had pictures of Duncan made today. I've linked the website I received after our session. All pictures taken are included so keep in mind some of them were taken quickly and others were snapped at inopportune times. We did purchase some of them, but made lots of changes to their coloring, etc. Once they come in (about 2 weeks) I'll post the actual pics we purchased. CLICK HERE and Enjoy!

A helpful hint..... when the pics come up if you keep clicking on the left of the pictures they will move to the beginning, otherwise it will start you off in the middle. Then click the first picture to enlarge it and you should be able to click through the whole set of pictures.

CLICK HERE for the slideshow, then click the play button.

So this was Wes's first journal post ever! He did a great job didn't he :) We did have Duncan's first photo shoot today at 2 days old. Can't wait to get the pictures back in about 2 weeks! I'll definitely post the final results. All photos taken today are just "images" and will be turned into professional photos that are absolutely amazing! Can't wait to share them with you! Enjoy the "rough" photos for now.

Happy Birthday Duncan!!

Duncan Murray Parker arrived Monday, May 18, 2009 at 5:42 am. He weighed in at 8lbs 4oz and was 21 inches long!! Quite a BIG BOY for Mommy!! Here is the story on his birth........

Thursday and Friday Mommy was having what she considered as moderate cramping in her lower stomach and just really didn't feel good. Since we were supposed to have our 38 week appointment on Friday afternoon she didn't call Dr. Long because she didn't feel it was anything more than just the end of pregnancy discomfort. On Friday we ended up being sent to L&D for observation around 11:30am due to contractions that were 1-3 minutes apart. It turns out that cramping feeling was actually contractions. After an hour of monitoring, Dr. Long decided it would be best for Mommy to rest at home since she was stilll at 2cm. Completely unsure of when Duncan could arrive, he told us to get some rest and that maybe he would see us before his call shift ended Monday at 8am, but at this point it was really anyone's guess.

Friday night GK, Papa D, and Uncle T came into town for the All-Star race on Saturday night. Saturday we spent the morning together then grabbed some lunch before they headed to the race. Demi, GK, and Mommy headed to dinner at Chili's and just hung out around the house. Mommy was still feeling crampy, but there wasn't really any noticable change. So Saturday came and went.....Sunday morning and afternoon we again went to lunch and just hung out with GK, Uncle T, and Papa D. We joked that since they were in town Baby Duncan wasn't going to come and that he might change his mind once they were back home later that night. They left our house around 4pm and still no change with Mommy........GK called one last time around 8pm to double check on Mommy before heading be bed. We assured her that we were getting ready for another Monday at work and felt sure all was well.......

WRONG!! At 10:45pm while watching the final episode of Desperate Housewives I felt a strange sensation. I felt like I needed to use the bathroom, but wasn't even sure of that. Wes looked at me and said, "You ok?" I said I was and was just going to use the bathroom. Well it wasn't the bathroom that I needed to use, but my water that was getting ready to break!! My water broke around 10:50pm and I immediately started feeling severe back pain. Back pain? did my water really break? I wasn't sure if I wanted to call Stacy and have her come over to stay with Demi since she had EOG's starting Monday morning. What if it wasn't my water? The more time I spent trying to decide if I should call her the worse my back got. Needless to say she was called and at our house by 11:30.
We arrived at L&D a little before midnight and were taken to triage. I was hooked up to the same monitors I was on Friday and wasn't surprised to hear my contractions were 1-3 minutes apart. Unfortunately I was STILL only 2cm, but my water had indeed broken so I wasn't going home, I was going to deliver!! Everyone was called, and yes GK, Uncle T and Papa D were back in the car around 12 heading back to Charlotte after leaving just a few hours before!

All I can say is that back labor is TERRIBLE!!! Oh my goodness, I've never felt that much pain in my back in my life!! My stomach was totally fine and wasn't even getting tight with each contraction, it was all in my back! OUCH!!! My first, yes first, epidural was put in at 1am, but it only worked on my left side so I had the very strange sensation of no pain on my left side, and complete pain on my right. At 2 am another eqidural was done and it was AMAZING!! I was so numb I couldn't even move a toe. I was finally able to relax and by 5am had gone from 2cm to 10! WOW! It was time to push already?? I have to say this was the part I was dreading the most because I had pushed for 3 hours with Demi. I was extremely excited to be at this stage of labor, but wondered if it would be a repeat of before. It definitely wasn't.....after 6 pushes I was told to stop pushing so Dr. Long could finish getting set up and that my next push would deliver Duncan! At 5:42am we welcomed our little boy into the world!!!! It was another amazing, life changing moment, as he was placed on my chest for 45 minutes of "skin to skin" contact with me. Since having Demi the hospital has gone through a few changes one being a new "family approach" to the whole birth experience. We were given time to bond as a family before he was weighed or anything else. It was great.Once he was weighed we learned he was 8lbs 4oz and 21 inches long. Quite a big boy for me to be carrying around, but I wouldn't have it any other way! As crazy as this may sound, giving birth is definitely the most amazing thing I have ever done and I would do it 100 times over. I've been very thankful for the easy deliveries I've experienced. It's such a miracle from God and I'm definitely blessed.......already looking forward to experiencing it again :)

We came home today (Tuesday) and he's absolutely perfect. Demi wasn't too sure about visiting us at the hospital, but now that we're in a familiar place she absolutely LOVES him! She's got a "real-life" baby to play with now. Right now we're just spending some time as a family -just the 4 of us!! We plan on having lots of friends and family around to see our little man over the next few days/weeks. We can't wait to show him off to you all!!

We have tons of birth/home pictures to share. They are uploading now. I'll get them posted later today/tonight. One of our nurses offered to take birth photos for us, so we actually don't have too many from the hospital we will share on here. Some are a little too personal to be posted on this site, but we'll get all of the others up ASAP! Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and prayers over the last few weeks leading up to Duncan's birth. We are loving our new family and so thankful to God for blessing us with another angel. More to come!

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a great family weekend this weekend!! It was really nice to spend time together, just the 3 of us, since all of our lives are about to change with Duncan's arrival. We are all overly excited and can't wait for him to arrive (especially Demi who says each day to my belly "Baby Duncan come out and play with me", but we also know it will be an adjustment as well.

Friday night we went to our Friday spot Casa Grande and then to Walmart for a little while before heading home and just relaxing. Daddy & Demi gave me my Mother's Day presents because they couldn't wait until Sunday and "just in case" Duncan decided to arrive early. I was so surprised to get my Mother/Child necklace!! I've wanted one since Demi was born, but had kinda forgotten about it. It's perfect! and already has my 2 diamonds in it for Demi & Duncan! Thanks Daddy & Demi!! It's perfect, I love you!! Demi also had a poem and home-made flower for me, along with a CD with a slideshow from Rhonda's over the past 2 years. I cried the whole time I was watching it......it's amazing how quickly time passes and how precious every moment is.

Saturday we went to Lowes to pick up some new flowers for the window boxes and Wes power-washed the house, which looks great by the way. We finished up right before our BIG afternoon thunderstorm which came out of no where! With Mother's Day being Sunday, we decided to head over to Carrabba's for dinner to celebrate a little early. We knew the waits on Sunday would be long and church gets out so close to nap time, that Saturday night was perfect. Dinner was great and Demi ate all of her Ravioli. After a piece of our favorite cake we headed home. Saturday night we just hung out together and watched a movie.

Sunday we went to church and then Panera for lunch. After lunch we stopped by Jared to have Mommy's new necklace sized and then headed home. Our neighborhood pool opened this weekend and we didn't get a chance to go Saturday so we decided to head down. Demi had been dying to go, especially since we just had 3, 3 story water slides installed. The weather was beautiful and despite the COLD water Demi had a ball! We hope everyone had a great Mother's Day weekend! We've posted a few pictures of ours to be sure to check them out. Have a good week :)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day!! to all of the mothers out there!! Especially the brand new mommies! Mother's day takes on a whole new meaning when you are a mommy yourself :) I am so thankful for my beautiful daughter and my little boy that is going to arrive soon! I'm also thankful for being blessed with a wonderful Mom, Grand-mothers, and Mother-in-law! It's been said that God created mothers to be the angels around His children, and I can't say I disagree. We'll see what Pastor Jay says about mothers this morning!! Just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day! and we'll post a weekend update later today :)

CONGRATS RICK & JESSICA!!!

Campbell Thomas Parks has arrived!!!! He was born at 3:17 am this morning. He weighed 9lbs. 3ozs. and is 22 inches long!! We can't wait to see him!!
Love,

Wes, Chasidy, Demi & Duncan

May already?

Can you believe it's already May?? We can't, although we're very excited about what this month brings to our family! Our little girl will turn 2!! (Oh! My! where has the time gone!!) and our little boy will arrive! What more could you ask for? It's going to be an amazing month at the Parker house! We feel so blessed......

This weekend was a relaxing one for us. Friday after my doctors appointment we met Stacy and Jared at Casa Grande (where else??). We had a great time with them and the food hit the spot as it does almost every Friday :) After that we headed home and just hung out for a little bit before heading to bed.

Saturday morning we went for pedicures! Demi loves to go and get her toe nails painted and Wes doesn't mind going either for the chairs and foot massages. It was very relaxing....what pregnant woman doesn't like her feet massaged?? After that I headed to my hair appointment and Demi and Daddy went to lunch, then home for a nap. Yes, I know, Saturday was kind of a pampering day for me, but I believe I deserve it!! Thanks Daddy for keeping Demi while I had such a relaxing "me" day. Saturday evening we had our maternity photos taken, which turned out great. They are emailing me a website to share them, so I'll post once I get it. We made a lot of changes to the photos we actually purchased (color changes etc.) so once we get them back I'll post them as well. Demi was too cute! and the pictures turned out better than we expected. After our pictures we walked around Concord Mills, rode the merry-go-round and grabbed some dinner. We had no idea it was storming outside until we got ready to leave.....When we got home it wasn't long until Nana & Papa arrived!! They had been in South Carolina watching Chris's last baseball game of the season, so they decided to come visit us. Demi was so excited to see them. Nana had lots of surprises for Demi including a "horse on a stick" which was really funny since we had to have a few maternity pictures taken with a horse they had at the pic place because she loved him so much. Perfect timing Nana!! It was after midnight before we all headed to bed!

Sunday we went to early church then to Soho for lunch. It's a new Japanese restaurant and was really good! After lunch we took Nana & Papa over to Great Wolf for a little while, which they loved. Once we got back home we just hung out with them until around dinner time when they left to head back home. We'll see them again really soon!! We spent the rest of our evening by ordering pizza and having some family time. It was a nice relaxing/pampering weekend for me and I think Wes would also agree it was relaxing for him as well. With the house "ready" for Baby Duncan to arrive, we've been trying to make ourselves relax as much on the weekends as possible, before our house becomes a little hectic with his arrival.

We hope everyone had a great weekend!! 3 weeks or less until we meet our little man!! We'll keep you posted :) Have a good week!!

Cardboard Testimonies-The Refuge

A few weeks ago our church, The Refuge, did it's own "Cardboard Testimonies" as part of the 5th anniversary celebration. They just posted them on YouTube so I thought I'd share. It was completely amazing and much more meaningful when you know the people holding the signs. Everyone has a testimony they could put on cardboard.......what is yours?

Happy 50th Birthday!!!

Happy 50th Birthday Papa!!! What a year it's been with Chris turning 20, Chasidy 30, and Papa 50! We're all getting so old.... but life just keeps getting better and better :) Wish we could be there with you to celebrate, but we'll see you soon!! Hope you like your new iPhone!!!!

Love,

Wes, Chas, Demi, Duncan & Otis (of course!)

A LONG WEEKEND.....

Oh, my goodness what a long weekend for me this was!!! Bed rest is definitely not something I enjoy!! You think it would be great to be able to sit and do absolutely nothing, but when you're told you have to do that, it's not much fun at all!! Especially since I'm definitely "Nesting". I had so planned on taking everything out of the cabinets this weekend and totally reorganizing, but that plan didn't happen of course. Poor Wes has vacuumed twice this weekend for me because I just can't stand it......and can't do it myself, grrrrr this is frustrating :(

Friday evening was a quite one with us ordering pizza and hanging out. Saturday was a little more eventful because Brian came over and hung out with us all day. He and Wes went to the grocery store for me to get what I needed to fix dinner for our friends Kim & Lee who just recently lost a child, and picked up plenty of yummy stuff to grill for both lunch and dinner. They grilled burgers for lunch and ribs and scallops for dinner. The food was great and it was nice to have some company around since I couldn't do much of anything. I did get up long enough to fix spaghetti for Lee & Kim and rode with Wes to deliver it. (my big outing for the day!) They are hanging in there. Friday afternoon they had a memorial service for baby Aaron so they have a little closure, but since doctors found nothing "wrong" with him it's been difficult understanding what went wrong. All they can do is trust God and know that Aaron is with him and that their was indeed a devine purpose for his birth.

Today my only outing was to church. I know, I know, I'm not supposed to be going anywhere, but you know me well enough to know that's impossible. I figured I would be sitting at church anyway so I went with Wes and Demi. It was a great service with Pastor Chad preaching today. Pastor Jay was out of town with the family on Spring Break. It was also nice to see our community group since I will most likely not be able to attend next weeks meeting. After church Demi went down for her nap and Wes and I decided to do the belly cast we bought at our 4-D ultrasound. I searched for one of these kits when pregnant with Demi forever!, but everyone was always sold out! I was so excited to get this one and wanted to be sure I got to make it. With Wednesday being "uncertain" as far as the next steps in this pregnancy we decided to go ahead and do it. It was definitely a messy process, but it turned out awesome! We've decided to have it painted and can't wait to see how it turns out. (I posted a few pics of the cast and will post more once it's painted, which most likely won't get finished until after Duncan is born)

After making the belly cast, we did a whole lot more of nothing, but I keep reminding myself it's very important for a healthy baby & mom. Tomorrow I'll head to work and do some more sitting, but plenty of socializing I'm sure. Hope everyone had a great weekend. We'll update Wednesday once we know more about where we go from here with Duncan.....

Interesting....again

ok, Lets try this again.....This is one of

the messages I wanted to share a few weeks

ago, but couldn't find it..... here it is....

for some reason it didn't post correctly the

first time.

It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7):

'Be not deceived; God is not mocked:

For whatsoever a man sow, that shall he also reap.

Here are some men and women who mocked God:

John Lennon (Singer):

Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:

'Christianity will end, it will disappear.

I do not have to argue about that. I am certain.

in bsp; Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more

famous than Him' (1966).

Lennon, was shot six times.

Tancredo Neves (President of ):

During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from

his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency.

Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President,

then he died.

Cazuza (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):

During A show in Canecio (),while smoking his cigarette,

he puffed out some smoke into the air and said:'God,that's for you.'

He died at the age of 32 of LUNG CANCER in a horrible manner.

The man who built the Titanic

After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the

Titanic would be. With an ironic tone he said:

'Not even God can sink it' The result: I think you all know what happened

to the Titanic!

Marilyn Monroe (Actress)

She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show.

He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her.

After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said:

'I don't need your Jesus'.

A week later, she was found dead in her apartment--20

Bon Scott (Singer)

The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC On one of his 1979 songs he sang:

'Don't stop me; I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell'.

On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked

by his own vomit.

 (IN 2005)

In Campinas,  a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a

friend..... The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried

about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter holding her hand, who was already seated in the car:

'My Daughter, Go With God And May He Protect You.'

She responded:

'Only If He (God) Travels In The Trunk, Cause Inside Here.....

It's Already Full'

Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident,

everyone had died,the car could not be recognized what type of car it had

been, but surprisingly, the trunk was intact. The police said there was no way

the trunk could have remained intact.. To their surprise, inside the trunk was

a crate of eggs, none was broken!!

Christine Hewitt (Jamaican Journalist and entertainer)

Said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written.

In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.

Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was

given so much authority as the name of Jesus.

Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive.

Pictures FINALLY Added

I finally had a moment to get the pictures downloaded and posted to the site tonight. There are a few from the car show, Demi & Duncan's "new" bathroom, and Easter activities. Enjoy :) Have a good night.

Easter Weekend

Sorry it's been forever since our last post, but we've had quite a bit going on! Last week was Spring Break for me and we had NO plans which was great!! Of course it didn't stay that way, but we still had a great time doing what we wanted to do.

Monday and Tuesday I actually worked. Monday was a make-up day due to snow and Tuesday I spent all day working on a grant worth $60,000 for my school. I was literally in front of my laptop from 8am to 3pm, but it's DONE! We head to Chapel Hill to present it Thursday morning at 4:30am ugggg I haven't been up that early since Demi was an infant :(

Wednesday Demi and I headed to Winston Salem to spend the day with Christy & Farrell. We had a great time and baby Farrell is getting so big, not to mention very cute!! We had a nice visit with them and headed back home around 5pm.

Thursday Demi went to Rhonda's for her Easter party. It was scheduled for Tuesday, but with temps in the 40's, Rhonda decided to move it to Thursday when it was expected to be back up in the 70's. Demi had a great time and came home with a bunny hat she made, tons of eggs and candy from her egg hunt and a BIG SMILE! They had a blast according to Rhonda. Wes and I went to one of his branches for "customer appreciation day" hung out, and ate hotdogs and burgers. It was absolutely beautiful outside so it was a great day to be out. After that we went to Home Depot to pick up another gallon of paint for Demi/Duncan's bathroom. We didn't change the color, just added a much needed 2nd coat of paint that should have been done when we first painted it. It looks much better! We've put up a new shower curtain and towels to make it ready for Demi and Duncan to share.... pics coming soon!

Friday was pretty much a lazy day! It rained so we watched a few movies and hung out around the house. It was GREAT!! That afternoon we finished up a few things in Duncan's room and washed some baby stuff to get ready for his arrival. When that will be, no one knows, but hopefully we'll have better insight on Friday :)

Saturday was another beautiful day! We spent much of the day outside enjoying the weather!! That night we colored Easter Eggs with Demi then all headed to bed to prepare for Easter Sunday!

Sunday was awesome! Wes was up and gone long before Demi and I so that he could work the 8am, 10am and 12noon service. Demi and I got up about 8 and started getting ready for church. First we had to check out what the Easter Bunny left, and of course eat some candy! Then it was bath time! After getting ready for church I attempted to take a few pictures of her before leaving the house, knowing her dress would be a wrinkled mess afterwards, but she wasn't too happy about it. She was upset that her candy the Easter Bunny had left had to be put away once her dress was on. I'll get them posted tonight. Church was unreal! We had a totally packed house and so many people declare a personal relationship with Jesus for the first time! According to Wes the 8 and 12 service were the same way. What an excellent day to be in the presence of the Lord. What a celebration we had at The Refuge!! God was definitely there and moving among us, you could feel him!

As Demi and I were preparing to leave church (Wes was staying for one last service) we were given some very tragic news. Our friends Lee & Kim were expecting their 6th child, yes #6! They are a few years older than Wes and I and are amazing with their kids, as this is definitely their "calling" in life. So baby number 6 was great news for everyone!! Unfortunately Saturday night Kim delivered a little baby boy stillborn at 22 weeks. Not only an emotional pain, but physical one as she had to be induced and actually go through labor and delivery. Not able to even imagine what they must be going through, Demi and I decided to go visit them at the hospital and take flowers for Easter. When we arrived they were holding up much better than expected. After a few tears, hugs, and praises to God for the blessings he has provided them, we left them to spend some final moments with the baby before Kim was released from the hospital. It was absolutely heart-breaking..... Please pray for Lee, Kim and their 5 children as they continue to grieve for their little one. May God fill them with His Peace and may they feel his arms around them during this time. We plan to visit with them and take them dinner Saturday night, we'll keep you posted.

After a very surreal visit with them, Demi and I headed to Memorial Gardens to see the beautiful Spring flowers, and try and get a few shots of Demi despite her wrinkled mess of a dress. This is the same garden we took her to last year, it's absolutely beautiful. I'll post pictures tonight, all shots are candid, as she is impossible to keep still, and yes her dress is wrinkled beyond belief, but she's precious! We hope everyone had a great Easter. As Easter has come and gone, may we continue to remember that Jesus Has Risen! and it is because of Him that we will live forever!

HOW ABOUT THOSE HEELS??!!

HOW ABOUT THOSE TARHEELS??!! NATIONAL CHAMPS! THE PARKER FAMILY IS ONE HAPPY FAMILY!! TIME TO BUY NEW TARHEEL GEAR :)

Pictures Added

A few pictures of Mommy's birthday and our weekend at Great Wolf have been added! I actually even got the pregnancy picture posted today!! Enjoy!

Great Wolf Weekend!

Our weekend started off at Concord Mills Friday evening with a desperate search for a maternity bathing suit. I didn't buy one with Demi and wasn't planning to this time either since I'm due the day our pool opens, but after trying to "make due" with something I already had for Great Wolf, I decided it would be best to get one. Luckily we found one at our first stop, it's very cute and they actually had my size so we got it. After dinner we met Brian at Casa Grande. We haven't seen him in forever so it was great to see him. Demi loved him, which was a little shocking. It sometimes takes her a while to warm up to someone she hasn't seen in a while, but she went right to him. Dinner was great and Brian and Demi had a blast playing in a glass of water. I've got a few pictures of the two of them being silly, I'll post later. After dinner Brian and Jenn (one of Brian's friends) came over to watch the Carolina game that started at 10pm.

Saturday morning we spent a very relaxing, lazy, morning at home. We all slept in until 10am, which I don't think has EVER happened. It must have been the dark skies and rain that kept us all asleep. It was still pouring outside and we didn't plan on meeting the 2 other families from Enterprise at Great Wolf Lodge until about 3 or 4 so we just hung out at home.

Later that afternoon we packed up and headed to the lodge. IT'S AWESOME!!!! Completely unreal how large it is, and how much is housed under 1 roof! As soon as we arrived and got all checked in to our "Wolf Den", we changed clothes and headed to the water park. Demi absolutely loved the toddler area and didn't want to leave when it was time for dinner. She was totally amazed at all that was going on around here. (Possibly a little over-stimulated:) Wes, Dave & Matt ventured down all of the water slides that were great according to them. I pretty much hung out at the wave pool and toddler area with Demi due to my enlarged tummy :) but still had a blast. Back to our room......the rooms all have different themes and ours was a "Wolf Den". It was very cute. In addition to what you expect in a normal hotel suite, we had a 2 story, tree house like area with bunk-beds for Demi. She really liked it, especially since it had it's own tv on the wall and was painted like a forrest, but for some reason didn't want to sleep in there. She ended up sleeping on the pull out couch. Our room was made to sleep 6 so we had plenty of space.

About 7pm we left the water park and headed to dinner at the lodge restaurant. It was great, expensive, but we were paying for the atmosphere of course. After dinner we spent the evening doing lots of activities. First we went to the "clock tower show" in the main lobby and then stayed there for story time. Shockingly Demi sat there and watched the whole show. We were thinking she would like it, but get bored and be ready to go, but she surprised us. She danced with the wolf, tried to sing the songs, etc. She LOVED it! After that we went to the arcade for a little while then tried out a few of the other attractions. A lot of what Demi wanted to do had closed earlier in the night so we headed to bed.

Sunday morning at 1am we woke up to some type of alarm going off. I thought I had set the alarm clock wrong so I was swatting at it, while Wes wasn't sure what was going on. We finally realized it was the fire alarm (it totally didn't sound like one at all). Like every other family on our hall we were peeking out in the hallway trying to decide if we needed to get Demi up and go out. One guest called the front desk and they said not to go outside, but head to the lobby, so that's what we did. Once in the lobby we sat for about 30 minutes while firemen were in and out and then got the all clear to go back to our room. Something in the water park had somehow set off the alarm. Great Wolf doesn't open to the public until Wednesday so I guess the kinks are still being worked out. We were all exhausted so we had no trouble going back to bed!

Sunday morning we got up and went to church. After church we went home to check on Otis and let Demi take a nap. While she was napping we mowed the grass for the first time this Spring. With all of the rain we've been getting the grass had really grown. I love this time of year because everything is getting so green and starting to bloom! After Demi's nap we packed up and headed back to the water park for some more fun. Demi was very excited to build her own wolf (like build a bear) before heading home about 7pm. She's named him "Wolfie"

If you haven't been to a Great Wolf Lodge you should go!! It's awesome! and great for kids especially ages 2-12. We had an absolute blast and can't wait to come up with an excuse to go back. I have pictures to post and will get them downloaded and up ASAP. Not all of them turned out great because of the lighting in the water park, but you'll get the idea. Hope everyone had a great week! Once more week until Spring Break :)

Happy Birthday Uncle T

Happy Birthday Uncle T!! We hope you have a great day!! See you this weekend for the car show!

Love,

Wes, Chasidy, Demi, Duncan & Otis

Thank you!

Thank you everyone for all of the birthday cards & wishes yesterday! I had a great 30th birthday (Thank you Lord for 30 wonderful years!) and know that is going to continue into my weekend at Great Wolf Lodge! I can't wait to head over there!!! We are all very excited!!
Wes took off work yesterday & today to get some things done around the house and to be there so we could have the carpets cleaned. While hanging out at home (watching them clean carpets) he cooked my birthday dinner which consisted of salad, lobster bisque, prime rib, roasted potatoes, bread, & an ice cream cake! YUM YUM! It was SOOO good. Not only was it great, but it also kept us from having to go out and rush home so that I could get online for class. Demi enjoyed herself as well, and may have thought it was her birthday. She kept saying "Happy day to me" We have some cute pictures of her blowing out my candles and eating the cake. I'll try and get them posted by the end of the weekend along with the Great Wolf pictures I know we'll be taking.
We hope everyone has a great weekend! Try and stay dry....which may be hard to do with all of the rain we've had and are expected to get!! Can't wait to see the SUN on Sunday!!!

Miss Demi

It's been forever since I've done a "Demi" post and she has changed SOOOO much so I thought I'd do a quick one. It is so hard to believe that she will be 2 in a few months! Each day Wes and I look at each other in amazement at our running, talking, smart and of course cute little Miss. She is almost 2 going on at least 10! We are now understanding why Dr. O'Brian tells us each time he sees us how advanced she is for her age.....she truly is! She definitely keeps our house full of laughter and joy.

What is she up to these days?......Well she can sing her ABC's, Jesus Loves the Little Children, and say the blessing, all of which she is very proud of. She is speaking in full sentences and often goes into 15 minute "stories" of things that happen throughout her day, which are very dramatic with arms and all. She definitely knows what she wants and doesn't want and will let you know. She is very independent. She's very good at sharing and often reminds us to "share" when we have taken something from her that she wants. Wes took her drink from her a few days ago because she was just playing with the straw and she said "No Daddy! Share!" How could we not laugh! The things that come out of her mouth on a day to day basis are so funny!

She loves church, "Jesus" whom she is learning about at church and home and to whom she is very thankful for her flowers (she tells me "Jesus made them", playing outside, bicycles (which she may get for her birthday since she is dying for one), Otis who has become her best buddy and is now sleeping with her or on the couch to "protect" her at night, GK, Papa D, Uncle T, Elaine, Baby Farrell, Christy, Charlene, Nana, Papa, Lindsay, Will, Chris, Zoe, Chloe, all whom she ask about each day and night, her kitchen, her 4 wheeler that she can steer now, going on walks, flowers, poka dots, purple, yellow, pink, cookies, and list could go on and on.....

She is going to be an excellent Big Sister to baby Duncan and we know this by watching her with her many babies. She feeds them, changes them, burps them, walks them, rocks them, sings to them, puts them in their car seats, strollers etc. Everyday when we get home from our day at work/Rhonda's she goes into her room and gives each baby a hug and kiss and plays with them until bedtime. She's an excellent little mommy and watching her melts our hearts. She's definitely a child full of love and compassion. We thank God each day for our little Miss Demi and the love, laughter, and joy she brings to our home! It's amazing what God shows you about yourself through the innocence of a child......Just 2 more GK!! (Don't have a heart attack :) ha ha!

Weekend.....

What a beautiful weekend! Spring definitely arrived on Friday! Both Saturday and Sunday were beautiful with temps close to 70! We were very busy, but made some time yesterday to get out and enjoy the weather!!

Friday, we began our busy weekend by having a storm door installed on the front door. We've been wanting to do this for a while, but with other projects going on (Demi & Duncan's rooms) it was kinda put on the bottom of the list. Home Depot was running a special on installation so we let them do it, which was great because it was done in less than an hour! After work I was getting ready to head to my hair appointment when I got a call saying a water line had broken and they were going to have to close. You can't do much hair coloring without water! A few minutes later my stylist called saying she would be more than happy to come and do my hair at our house. I wasn't going to argue if she was going to save me a trip to Southpark so I agreed. She arrived about 5pm and by 7pm we were heading to dinner at, yep you guessed it, Casa Grande. After dinner we headed home, put Demi to bed, and worked on getting the house ready for the shower.

Saturday morning Wes headed to church for a meeting regarding Easter services while Demi and I did a few final things around the house to get ready for our shower guest. Demi was very excited about the shower....I think she thought it was a party for her. Around 1pm Carissa and Alisha arrived to start setting up and the shower began at 2. We had a great time and the food was awesome! We are so thankful for our friends and family who are so generous! We got many much needed essentials (tons of diapers, wipes, bottles etc). It's hard to believe in 60 days or less we'll be meeting our little man! We're extremely excited and Demi is beginning to wonder when he will arrive. She's getting tired of waiting :)

After the shower, Wes offered to keep Demi and watch the Carolina game while Sharon and I headed to the mall. I wanted to do a final shopping trip to the maternity store to get a few Spring, Easter & Summer items. It's difficult to find something to wear for Easter when you're going to be 34 weeks pregnant, but our church isn't dressy, so I was able to get something I'll also be able to wear to work :) As we walked around we found great deals at Gymboree, Carters & The Children's Place so I also picked up some shorts and t's for Demi. I figured better to shop now than try and get her stuff with 2 little ones in June. It was great to be able to run in and out of each place quickly! Thanks Daddy for watching Demi! Sharon and I had a nice girls evening at the mall! When we got home we ordered pizza and watch some basketball before heading to bed.

Sunday morning we went to early church and then had our community group at 2. Our group is going great! We're really enjoying it and all of the kids are playing so well together now. After group we ran to Babies R Us to take advantage of the Carters sale they were having and picked up a few things for Duncan. We got the cutest surf shirt and swimming trunks for the beach! He'll definitely be styling :)

We hope all of you had a great weekend! Yes, I'll be turning 30 this week on the 26th! Happy Birthday to Brooke too who will be right behind me on the 27th! Whew! we're getting old, but life is great! and if this is what getting old is, we don't mind it :) This weekend we'll be heading to the Great Wolf Lodge which is supposed to be AWESOME! They just built it and it actually opens April 4th (I think). We've been invited to the "soft" opening by the general manager since they are a corporate account of Wes's. Wes went on a tour last week and says we are going to love it. There are several around the country, but neither of us have ever been. You can check it out at http://www.greatwolf.com/concord if you're interested in seeing if one is close to you. I'm excited! Well, have a great week! I'll get pictures posted of this weekend soon and I'm sure there will be lots of pics after our visit to the lodge next weekend!

Blessings.....

As I enter the "Dove" classroom at my new elementary school I am suddenly reminded of the many blessings the Lord has placed on my life. You see the "Dove" classroom is the class for special needs children. These are not children with just minor developmental disabilities, which most schools house, but a classroom for severly and profound disibilities both physical and mental. On this particular day as I entered to check a computer that wasn't working, the teacher was working with several children in a small circle on the floor. She was teaching them to say "MaMa". As my eyes filled with tears, I felt God wisper in my ear "count your blessings" While staring at the computer I began thanking Him for all of the blessings in my life, that at times go unnoticed or unmentioned. Not just for my healthy baby girl, but for every minor detail that is often overlooked such as a nice place to live, a job (especially in our current economic situation), the sunshine, the rain, smiles, etc. (you get the point) As I left that classroom, I found myself asking "Why does it take witnessing something like that for us to sometimes realize all of the blessings the Lord has placed on our lives?" It is because of Him that I take each breath, wake each morning and live each minute. I think all of us in general become so over-come by our daily lives that we often don't take the time to remind ourselves that we do everything because He has created us to do so. As I left for the day, I simply prayed a little prayer to God asking him for all of his strength if it is in His will for me to have a child with such needs of my own. I also prayed for strength of the parents who those little ones are so dear to. May you take a second each day to "count your blessings" as I was asked to do.....it's truly amazing!

Yuckie Weekend

What a yuckie weekend we've had weather wise! Temperatures dropped into the low 40's on Friday and rain moved in. It has been that cold and rainy all weekend and is actually still that way today. Quite a BIG change from last weekend when we had sunny skies and temps near 80!! Not to worry though, the rain is predicted to stop this afternoon and by Wednesday we're expected to be back in the 70's! We're ready for warm weather!! Everything in the yard is starting to bloom. Our tulips are popping up and there are buds on all of the trees. Spring is on it's way!!
Friday night we had dinner at Casa Grande. We actually hadn't been in the last few weeks for our weekly Friday night dinner there. It was great, as always. Friday evening we rented Beverly Hills Chihuahua. It was a cute movie and Demi & Otis loved it, I think Otis actually enjoyed it more than Demi :)
Saturday we enjoyed a very lazy, wonderful day at home. With it cold and rainy outside there was no better day to stay in PJ's until noon and relax!! Demi & Mommy even took a 3 hour nap! About 5pm we decided to head to IKEA to return the bed rails we had bought for Demi's bed that didn't fit and walk around a bit. We ended up having dinner there (yes they serve dinner too, it's awesome I'm telling you!) and stayed until 8pm. We got the bed rails returned and somehow our list of 2 or 3 items to pick up became a cart full of goodies. That place is great! Having one so close could be really dangerous! We're no longer separated by a 3 1/2 hour drive :) Once we got home we unloaded and Daddy put a few things together that Demi picked out before heading to bed.
Sunday we slept in (well until 8) and had plenty of time to get ready for church. Daddy left early so he could be there to usher the first service, but Demi and I took our time and headed up around 10:30 for the 11:00 service. The service was great and pretty funny too! We are in week 5 of 6 on the Ten Commandments. Today's commandments were do not commit adultery and do not steal. Pastor Jay was too funny! We had an excellent service then headed to lunch with Sharon at Chili's. After lunch we headed home so Demi could take a nap. With it still raining we were hoping it might let up a bit before we made our Walmart trip. Luckily it did and about an hour and a half later when loading our ton of groceries and other stuff we didn't get soaked.
We had a great relaxing weekend! and hope you did as well. This week is going to be quite crazy for both of us with work, class, and preparing for the shower that Carissa is hosting at our house on Saturday for us. All we have to do is have the house ready for guest, as she's taking care of all the rest, but with Demi that could take all week :) Next weekend will be non-stop with baby shower Saturday and church & community group Sunday. Have a great week :)

AMAZING MESSAGES.....

Over the past few weeks I have received some amazing messages from friends that I would like to share. Check them out, you'll definitely be blessed :)

The first is a link http://www.jrsbible.info/bible.htm

FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY-This is a true story!

In Florida , an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Passover holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews and observances of their holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days. The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring,"Case
dismissed!"

The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays."

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, "But you DO. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant."
The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists."
The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day. Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God..' Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.

You gotta love a Judge that knows his scripture!
"Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again: REJOICE!" Phil. 4:4

If you would like information and study materials for The Truth Project (the group study we've been doing in our community group) you can visit www.mytruthproject.org You will have to register as a participant, which is free, and you will be able to access wonderful, valuable information!!

Unfortunately it looks like I accidently deleted a few of the others. If I can get them again, I'll post them here in addition to these. Enjoy!

Another snow day & sick :(

Tuesday we had another snow day due to many roads still being covered with snow and ice. Looks like Mommy will possibly lose 2 days of Spring Break due to those snow days:( Monday Demi and Mommy had fun playing in the snow, but Tuesday they were both sick! Nothing serious, just bad colds with runny noses, coughs, aches, etc. It started over the weekend when we went from 70 degrees to 32 with rain all weekend. I guess after a day of playing in the snow, we should have expected our colds to be in full swing. With another weekend ahead with temps in the 70's we're hoping this will quickly clear up! We hope all of you that got snow are doing well. We had a 2 hour delay today, but the temperature got up to 48 so the snow has pretty much melted. Lets hope we don't see anymore snow this year!! We're ready for Spring :)

Happy Birthday Uncle Chris!!

Happy 20th Birthday Uncle Chris!!! We hope you are enjoying your Spring Break and wish we could come watch you play this week, but unfortunately we have to work :( We'll catch your next weekend game!! We love you & miss you!!

Wes, Chas, Demi, Duncan & Otis

Snow Day!

BURRRRRR it's cold outside and the weather men are saying we got about 5 inches of snow!! We were excited to wake up to a beautiful white blanket of snow this morning :) Daddy braved the unscraped/unsalted roads and headed on into work. This is actually a blessing in disguise for him, as snow related car issues mean lots of business for his area.

Demi and I are enjoying our snow day thus far. After breakfast we headed out to "play" in the snow. Demi likes the snow, but doesn't want it on her mittens. I think she is worried they are ruined. After about 20 minutes of freezing (it's 16 degrees out this morning) we headed back inside to warm up in front of the fireplace. Demi has been checking on her little snowman from her bedroom window since we came in. She LOVES him and I'm hoping we don't have a total melt-down inside our house when he decides to melt outside. It's not looking like the snow will be going anywhere today. Our temps aren't supposed to get over 30 and are expected to go back down into the teens tonight. I'm just hoping we can get to school tomorrow, as I would like to have a Spring Break in April :) A delay would be nice, but I'm really not wanting to miss anymore days, but at the same time I'm now taking little 2 lane country roads to work, so I'm not trying to drive on them with this snow either. (I know they are not cleared at all ) Not much planned for today. We've seen a few episodes of Dora and played with babies for a while. I'm still not sure that my OB-GYN is open today for my glucose test. I haven't been able to get a hold of anyone yet to confirm. I'm hoping they are open at some point today so I can get this test over with!

Well, other than definitely enjoying a day in PJ's in front of the fireplace, not much going on around here. If you got snow of you own be safe! Happy Snow Day!!

**A few pics added from out little time outside this am**

It's SNOWING!!

Well, as predicted it's snowing!! We came out of Harris Teeter and it was coming down and already sticking to both the ground and roads! We are supposed to get 4-6 inches by the time this is all over tomorrow. We shall see...... It's not looking like we'll be going anywhere tomorrow as far as work goes.

This weekend was great! Very relaxing, which was nice since we've been so busy for the last few weeks. The weather has been terrible though, with temps in the low 30's and rain. Saturday we headed to the mall and did some shopping. Where else should you spend a rainy day? Saturday night we had Stacy and Jared over for a while and then all went to dinner. It was great to just hang out with them, since we haven't seen them in a while. Today we headed to church and then to Concord Mills and Harris Teeter. Another day of rain and cold weather, so we talked Daddy into another day of shopping. Hope everyone had a great weekend! We'll keep you updated on the snow! If we do infact get what is expected, I'm sure we'll be out in it and have a few pictures to post. Have a good night :)

**SNOW UPDATE** More and more snow is falling!! They are now predicting 5-8 inches and we're definitely out of work for snow! Can't wait to see how much we have in the morning!!** The picture above was taken about 8pm tonight

New Job!!

Just a quick update for all of you who have been emailing and calling to ask "How's the new job?"

So far it's GREAT!! I am loving it! The staff at Millbridge has been so welcoming. I got a gift basket my first day from them, which was very thoughtful. For the past 2 days I've been working with another coordinator to get all of my passwords and other "procedural" information set up. I think the hardest part of this job is going to be remembering all of the passwords. I have about 25, seriously! Today was my first day alone and I was very proud of myself. By 9am I had fixed 2 teacher problems, put in a work order, and started organizing all of my paper work. I have to say my favorite part of the job so far is my new Mac laptop!!! I've been telling Wes how much I wanted one for a few months now, and now I've got one!! It's awesome! Anyone who prefers a PC over a Mac just doesn't know the capabilities of a Mac. They can do so much more, it's awesome! I haven't worked at an all Mac school since the Outer Banks so I admit I'm having to adjust a bit, but I'm learning so much! It's all still very new, so I'll post an update in a few weeks once I get a real feel for the job, but I think I'm going to love it!!

The Rooms are DONE!!

Demi and Duncan's room are finally DONE!! with just a few minor things left to do. In Duncan's room we're just waiting for our curtains and glider cushions to come back from Nana. She's recovering the glider cushions and making curtains to match them. Other than that, we have a few picture frames to fill, which we can't do until he's here, and just a few accessories to put here and there!

Demi's room I have to say, has been the biggest project! Picking out bedding, furniture, paint, etc., while allowing her to help, has not been easy. This weekend we got all of her furniture and she's now totally moved into her new room! Just a few minor things, like ironing her curtains and filling a few picture frames are left on the to-do list in her room. She's SO excited about her new room. Even though she's been sleeping in there for about a month now, it looks totally different with the changes we made this weekend. "Purple" & "Poka Dots" are all we've heard! We're glad that she loves it!

Pictures.........well we've taken quite a few and I know I promised many of you I'd get them up tonight, but it's not going to happpen. They are downloading now and have about 2 1/2 hours left. I'll be in bed before they are done, so I PROMISE I'll get them up by early evening tomorrow. Some of you have seen the "work in progress", but now that they are done, the rooms look totally different! Be sure to check back tomorrow for pictures.....you're going to love them :) (Demi's pics will be posted in the album on this page, Duncan's will be on his page in the nursery album)

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We did, but it's now time to get ready for my BIG day tomorrow, as I start my new job! We're all exhausted and are getting ready to head to bed, yes I know it's not even 9, and I'm so excited about that :) Good night!

Last Day!

Today is officially my last day in the classroom!! I have to admit it's a little bitter-sweet, as I am leaving the most amazing group of people anyone could ever ask to work with. In the short time I've been at KIS I've made so many awesome new friendships that will continue. I'm going to miss all of you guys! I am however, very excited and a little nervous to begin my new position as Technology Coordinator on Monday! Hopefully over the next few months, before I go on maternity leave, I'll get settled in and ready to start a new year next fall. Working next year? I know it may surprise a few of you, but being offered this new position, getting my masters, and having the BEST babysitter in the world, I've decided there is no reason not to. I am very thankful and blessed with the economy the way it is, to have a job, as many no longer do. The Lord has blessed both Wes and I in our careers so much over the past few months, we know we are "where we should be" at this point in our lives and we thank Him for showing us that. Thank you God for providing us with jobs that have surpassed the earthly economy so that we may honor you and your Kingdom in all we do.

Rest and relaxation this weekend? I wish I could say it was in the plans, but it's not. Saturday morning we plan to head to our brand new IKEA! It's been almost a year since we visited the one in Atlanta and we're extremely excited!! Demi has been sleeping in her big girl bed for about the last month and is doing great! She loves her new room and we haven't had any problems with her sleeping in there. It just happened on it's own. So we're mainly heading down to hopefully pick out some new furniture for her. There are several things we've seen online and like, but sometimes that can change when you see them in person. IKEA is great, so we're sure we'll love the stuff we've seen! After that we plan on making the dreaded Walmart & Harris Teeter trips to get us caught up on household and grocery items for the next few weeks. Getting Demi's new room all settled will be complete by Saturday afternoon/evening. Once all of her stuff is completely out of her nursery we'll load up the drawers with Duncan's things and finish up a few little items in his room. I'll get some pictures of both rooms posted this weekend. As far as Saturday night goes, we don't have any plans right now, so yes rest and relaxation are first in line!

Sunday we'll head to early church since we have community group that afternoon. The Truth Project is going great and we're so blessed to be a part of it! Sunday evening will consist of laundry I'm sure, and preparing for next week! Wes will be taking Demi every morning starting on Monday since Rhonda's will be somewhat out of the way to my new job, so we'll have to get him all set up to go! We hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Kristi Winters Walker

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Linked from the News & Observer

http://www.legacy.com/newsobserver/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=124103132

Kristen Winters Walker

Kristen Winters Walker, 30, died Friday, February 13, 2009.
She was born December 17, 1978 in Wake County to Mike and Anne (Terrell) Winters.
The earthly loves of Kristi's life were Chuck and her boys. She spent every day selflessly loving and serving her family. Prior to having children, Kristi taught school in Texas and in Apex. That background prepared her to teach her children about life, but most importantly she taught them to love the Lord. By all accounts Kristi was an excellent mom. We know that God has a great plan for her boys as He decided that He needs her with Him instead of with the boys as they continue to grow. God's ways are higher than our ways.
Kristi gave her life to Christ at an early age and personified the godly woman of Proverbs 31. Throughout her life she was a true example of Christ. Kristi was consumed with a passion for her Heavenly Father and her Lord Jesus Christ. She loved to study God's word and learned to apply it to her daily life. She started each day with a Bible devotion with her boys. She knew that Bible truths were the only way to train and teach our children.
Kristi loved sports. Baylor and Carolina were her favorite teams to watch. Both schools will miss her support. We'll miss the excitement of watching Carolina baseball and basketball together. She was an excellent athlete. She enjoyed playing basketball, volleyball and softball. A three time all conference softball player, she often challenged the notion that boys were better than girls at sports.
Kristi met Chuck on a mission trip to Honduras. Their relationship developed at Baylor and they were married in March, 2001. We give the God the glory for giving Kristi a godly husband and friend. Eight great years of marriage took them from Texas to North Carolina. They developed friendships in both states with some of the finest young people in the world. No couple has ever been blessed with more wonderful friends.
During the last months of Kristi's life after being diagnosed with breast cancer following the birth of her last son, she was served by outstanding medical professionals at UNC and WakeMed Cary. The nursing staff at both hospitals demonstrated compassion beyond obligation. Her attending physician, Dr. Mark Graham cared for her with a passion and diligence that surpasses any the family has seen. His team, within his office and other consulting physicians, cared for Kristi with great skill and love. We thank all of the doctors and nurses at WakeMed Cary who were there for her over these months.
Kristi's friends, church community, and the community at large have been wonderful to her family. Numerous individuals provided food, child care, yard care, prayer support and other acts of care that are greatly appreciated. This community, which includes loving family and friends in Texas and North Carolina, has provided encouragement to all of us and have been a testimony to us of God's love during this trial. We thank everyone who has supported Kristi and us during her illness.
Kristi is survived by her husband of eight years, Chuck Walker of Holly Springs; three boys, Cade Michael Walker, Mason Daniel Walker and Zane Elliott Walker; mother and father, Mike and Anne Winters of Holly Springs; sister, Amy Savage of Raleigh; brother, Matthew Winters of Holly Springs; paternal grandparents, Glenn and Gailya Winters of Cary; maternal grandmother, Lee Goodman of Cary; maternal grandfather, Ben Terrell of Louisburg.
A celebration of her life will be held 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at Colonial Baptist Church. The family will receive friends immediately following the service. Pastor Stephen Davey will preside. A private graveside service will be held earlier on Tuesday.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Kristi's memory to Pretty in Pink Foundation, 2501 Blue Ridge Road, Suite 250, Raleigh, NC 27607.
Arrangements through Brown- Wynne Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.brownwynne.com

Our Weekend

Friday night we headed to Jason's Deli while waiting for Nana & Papa to arrive. Once they got here we just hung out for a bit before heading to bed.

Saturday morning we just relaxed then got ready to go to Catawba for Chris's game. On the way we stopped at LongHorn for lunch. We had never been and it was yummy! We'll definitely be going back. Chris's game was great! Lander won 2 of the 3 games this weekend, which means they won the series. We weren't sure how Demi would do since she's mobile this year, but she loved it. She walked around right in front of us and literally met everyone within 20 seats of us in all directions. She had a blast! The weather was much nicer than predicted with no rain and highs in the low 60's so we all enjoyed ourselves. Saturday after the game we called tons of restaurants to go eat, but since it was Valentine's Day everyone was SO full. We ended up going to Casa Grande and it was great as always. It was good to see Uncle Chris for the evening as well.

Sunday we went to early church with Nana & Papa. They loved The Refuge, which is very similar to their church, just a lot smaller (Their church has over 10,000 members!) After church we parted ways for a little while as they headed back to the baseball stadium and we went to Winston Salem to see Baby Farrell. He's 4 days old today. He was too cute and tiny, which we have so quickly forgotten. Seeing him made us so excited for Duncan to get here! Demi absolutely loved him. She has not been around a baby so young and we were impressed with how gentle she was with him. All she wanted to do was look at him and touch his head. It was cute. It was great to spend some time with Christy, Reed & Charlene too. About 5:30 we headed home where we met up with Nana & Papa again. They hung out for a while then headed back to Atlanta. We're glad they came up this weekend! It was great to see them.

We hope everyone had a great weekend. Please continue to pray for the Winters/Walker family. Services for Kristi will be Tuesday. They are doing well and are amazingly strong during this time, as they cling to God's promises. What an inspirational family!

In Memory of Kristi Winters Walker

For those of you who have not been following Kristi's story through her carepage and don't already know, Kristi Winters Walker passed away this morning shortly after 8am. Her battle with cancer began October 17, 2008, the day her 3rd son was born, and has come to an end today. We rejoice in knowing that Kristi is now cancer and pain free with the Lord in Heaven, but this time is tremendously hard for her family and friends. Please continue to pray for her sweet little boys and her husband, as well as, the rest of her family. At the same time they rejoice for her now being with her Father, their hearts are also breaking as their time with her here was short. Please pray for comfort and peace in their hearts, as they are an amazing group of people who have praised God through this entire process.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FARRELL BLACKBURN!!

Reed & Christy are the proud new parents of Farrell Reed Blackburn!! Christy began the process of induction on Tuesday evening and Farrell arrived Wednesday February 11th at 7:59pm. He weighed 7lbs 6oz. Mommy & Baby Farrell are both doing well and should be home tomorrow!! Right now this is the only picture we have of him via cell phone, but we plan to visit them on Sunday so check back for better pictures!! Congrats Reed & Christy!! You've just begun the most amazing journey of your life :) May God continue to bless the Blackburn family and the new little angel he's put in their lives!

We love you!

Wes, Chasidy, Demi & Baby Duncan

What a week/weekend!!!

Sorry for being so far behind on updating, but we've had quite the week and weekend!! We've been so busy, and literally not had a second to get on here!! Let me catch you up a bit........

Last Friday we took Demi to the circus! We had a great time, seats were awesome, and we've heard about it (from Demi) every since. She absolutely loved it!! We are so glad we decided to go after all. Saturday we decided to go ahead and start on the nursery. We knew with covering the high gloss paint from Demi, that this was going to be a long process. After debating for several weeks on what to do in there, we decided to go with the same paint theme as Demi's new room. We painted the ceiling and are so happy with how it turned out!! Sunday we headed to church, then back home to work on the nursery some more!!

Monday I headed to Salisbury for "orientation" for my new job! I'm super excited, but wasn't looking forward to driving there after working all day. The school I will be based out of is very close to the house, but the county office if NOT! Anyway, that went well and I'm all set to go, except for an insurance meeting this week. Hopefully after that, I won't be making anymore trips to the county office for a while :) Monday night I had class online for my masters. That is going well, just keeping me completely busy! After class we headed to bed!

Wednesday morning we woke up to the phone ringing at 5:30am! Of course we jumped up and panicked because no one calls that early. It was a message saying school was out due to weather. WEATHER? what weather? Upon flipping on the porch light and peeking out we realized it had SNOWED! We were totally shocked as snow wasn't even mentioned in the weather forecast! Once the sun came up we were welcomed with 3 inches of snow!! Since I was going to have the day off, and most likely lose February 16th, Demi headed to Rhonda's so I could work some more on the nursery. She would have rather gone there anyway, since she'd be playing in the snow with Jackson and Olivia.
That night Wes had an area outing for his area at Quaker Steak so Demi and I headed over for dinner.

Thursday was another normal day of work, cooking dinner and class.....

Friday after dinner at Duckworth, we decided we were going to finish the painting part of the nursery re-do and we did it!! We finished up around 11pm and are done painting! Now comes the fun part of decorating!!

Saturday I headed to my hair appointment and was shocked when leaving that it was almost 70 degrees! By the time I got home it was 70 degrees so we decided to take Demi & Otis to the park. They both had a great time since it's been freezing over the last few weeks and we haven't been out much. It was a beautiful day!

Finally today.....This morning we headed to early church because of our NGage group meeting this afternoon. Church was awesome! We had a guest speaker, who is also on our board of directors. Along with a great service we were shown the plans for an outside model of our church that will be complete by Easter! We're so excited! It's going to be amazing! Lots of amazing things taking place at The Refuge and we're ever so thankful to be a part of them!!

This week is another busy week for us!! Monday and Thursday are class days. Thursday I'll also be taking the GRE for graduate school. I'm already accepted and in obviously taking classes, but my continuation is dependant on me passing this test! Please pray that everything goes smoothly and I do well. With everything else going on, I haven't had the time I would like to prepare, and it's been 9 years since I graduated from college! I'll be glad when it's over!

That's about it for the life of the Parkers! I promise I'll try and do a better job keeping up, but as you can imagine with all we have going on, it's hard. Hope everyone has a great week & Happy Valentine's Day!

Reed & Christy's NEW SITE!!

Reed, Christy and Baby Blackburn now have a website with Shutterfly!! I've linked it to our page under our links. It's still under construction so be sure to check back often for new additions to the site!! Won't be much longer and Baby Farrell will be here!! At this point everyone is anxiously waiting :) Enjoy!

We're going to the CIRCUS!!

This Friday night we're heading to the Circus!! It will be Demi's first trip and we're so excited! We actually debated on going because Demi is still so young, but we know she'll love it, so we've decided to GO!! We're just hoping our seats are decent since we bought our tickets today. All we know is that they are on the lower level, so fingers crossed that we've got a good view for Demi. Since we've told her we're going and shown her the Barnum & Bailey website with the circus train, all we've heard is "Circus", it's very cute!

It's been quite a while since our last post so here is a quick version of what has been going on with us. Last weekend we headed to Pittsboro for Christy's baby shower. We had a great time and Christy got lots of great stuff!! Demi loved playing with Auburn, Olivia, and all of the other little ones that stopped by. She also enjoyed eating lots of cake! After the shower we headed to S&T's for a gambler! Yep, just like the Rat had. YUM YUM it was so good!! We finished up dinner with ice cream since S&T's is a soda shop! How could you not get ice cream?

Sunday we attended the early service so that Demi could have a nap before our NGage meeting. NGage is our community group and we were so excited to start The Truth Project. It was awesome!! We're looking forward to the next 11 meetings as we continue this study as a group. If you've not heard of The Truth Project it's a Focus on the Family Bible group study that is entirely about the Truth of the Word of God verses society and lies. We're already excited about our next meeting in 2 weeks! (we meet every other Sunday) We'll try and post a few links with more info if we get them during the study.

As far as this weekend goes, we're heading to the circus Friday night. Saturday morning Wes is going to the church to help out with some "home improvement" type items until about 1. We may start on Duncan's room after that, just depends on how motivated we are :) Not much else planned other than dinner at some point with Stacy & Jared. Sunday we'll head to church and most likely spend the afternoon relaxing, unless we do start Duncan's room Saturday.

Since everyone is asking.....New Job.....I'm really excited to be leaving the classroom and going into a support role!! It is what I have always intended on doing if I stayed within the Education field. I head to Salisbury to complete all of my paper work on Monday. After that I'm all set and will start February 23rd!! I can't wait :) I do hate to leave KIS, as I have really enjoyed working there and the staff is GREAT, but this is an opportunity I can't pass up!!

Oh, almost forgot...Kristie just reminded me, as many of you have, to add some recent video of Demi. I have a video of her talking (saying her name, Duncan's name etc) and will try and get it up ASAP.

BIG NEWS!

A few weeks ago I posted my plans for attending school....again. After orientation, what I had "planned" to do suddenly changed. I had "planned" on getting an "add-on" in Instructional Technology & then going to get my masters in Administration, but once again God has shown me he is in control not me! After finding out more about each program, it only made sense to take an additional 6 hours and get my masters in Instructional Technology which would allow me to work at the county level as well. So that is what I'm currently working on.....

With all of that being said, I need to back up a little bit......Last February when I began my original job hunt I applied to all of the surrounding counties to be their Technology Coordinator. At the time none of them had openings,as this position is rarely open, but I wanted my name to be out there just in case. In fact that is how I ended up in the positon I have now. Anyway, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as we were heading to Pittsboro, I received a call from Rowan-Salisbury Schools asking if I would still be interested in such a position. Completely caught off guard, I really didn't know what to say and set up an interview for the Monday after Thanksgiving. After several days of processing this, I actually decided that since I liked my current job and had so much going on in my life with a new baby on the way, and some schools in Rowan Salisbury are FAR away from our house, etc. I was going to cancel the interview. This position had just come open at the wrong time in my career! When I called to cancel I explained the situation of getting ready to go back to school, new baby, etc., but the man on the other end would not let me cancel. He kept telling me that he really wanted to meet with me and he had specifically pulled my application from a stack of 50 or more, so I gave in and went to the interview. Long story short, the interview went well, I learned that the school is actually very close to our house and is barely over the county line, but I had not heard much since then. Well today I got a call from the HR department offering me the job!!!!!! As much as I hate to leave my current position, I have to say I'm extremely excited!! This is what I really want to do, although it means moving in the middle of the year. I've decided that it's what God has planned for me. Looking back at this whole process there were so many "signs" that he was leading me to this job, I just didn't see them at the time. So I'm officially going to be the Technology Coordinator for an elementary school in RSS:) I will start Monday February 23rd.

So yes, along with getting my masters, working full time, taking care of a 19 month old & being 22 weeks pregnant........I'm about to start a new career WHEW!!!

**Almost forgot!!!! Demi went potty on her big girl potty tonight for the 1st time ever!!! She has sat on it everyday since Santa brought it, but never gone. Tonight she said poop Mommy and sure enough she had gone!!!** Oh, the things that bring a mother joy :)

Photos added & snow!

The pictures of Demi's new room were just added. We just finished up putting the guest bed back in and went ahead and moved her bookshelf and a few other decor items into her new room. She's so excited! Once we have her new furniture we'll take a few pictures of her completed room :) Wish us luck over the next few weeks as we start to make the transition from nursery to big girl room :)

SNOW?? Every news station in the area is reporting 3-4 inches for our area. Right now it's drizzling a little bit so we shall see what happens while we're sleeping!! Not getting my hopes up, but wouldn't a little snow be nice!

SNOW?

Will it snow tomorrow? Every weather man in Charlotte seems to think so.....we're not so sure. Guess we'll have to wait and see. It seems that usually when predicted the snow never falls, but when it's not expected to hit us it does. From what they are saying right now the front is expected to actually stay together as it crosses the mountains and hit us tomorrow. We'll let you know.....maybe you'll see snow tomorrow too :)

It's PURPLE!

So this weekend was much more relaxing than last and we're thankful for that!! Friday night we headed to dinner at Chili's, but after finding out they had a 45 minute wait at 8pm, we headed across the street to O'Charley's. After dinner we headed to Home Depot (our favorite place!!) to pick out paint for Demi & Duncan's rooms. Shortly after we were on the way home with 5 gallons of paint. (yes, 4 different colors and 1 can of primer)

Saturday morning it was 5 degrees! BURRRRRRR! The best daddy & husband in the world got up early and went to get breakfast for his girls! As hungry as Mommy has been this week, this was the best thing he could have done!!!! On his way home he even stopped by Harris Teeter to pick up ingredients to make Chili so we wouldn't have to go out. Best of all he made the chili when he got back!! Thanks Daddy! We love you!

After breakfast, we started working on Demi's room. We got all of the painting done except the crown molding that was never painted since last January when it was put in! I know we've been slack, but we never go in that room so it easily went unnoticed! We're going to get that finished up today. Her room turned out great!The walls are a very light lavender and the ceiling and window niche is a darker purple. I was a little nervous about painting the ceiling dark purple, but it's awesome! I'll post pictures this afternoon. We still have quite a way to go in there. We're adding a little more to the wall her bed will go on, but aren't doing that until her furniture comes in which will be mid to late February :( We're thinking for now we'll go ahead and set the guest bed back up with her bedding so that she can start taking naps in there and getting used to her new big girl room. She's very excited about her room and has told literally everyone we've seen since Saturday it's purple!

Saturday night we went to dinner with Ron & Sharon and ended up at Chili's! We had a great time with them and it was good to see them. It had been too long......After dinner we made a quick stop by Home Depot to pick up another gallon of paint to finish up Demi's room.

Sunday we went to church then came home and finished up Demi's room while she took a nap. I had to meet with my study group online at 7 so we quickly ate dinner and I headed upstairs for my meeting. After class, we just relaxed and watched Extreme Home Makeover and Desperate Housewives.

Today, we had planned on taking Demi to Rhonda's so we could get things finished up and moved back into her new room, but Rhonda called this morning and is sick. We still plan on getting things back to normal, but it may take us a little longer. Demi wants to help so badly, but I'm not wanting purple paint in every room of my house :) I promise I'll get the pictures posted by this evening. They don't do the room justice, but it will give you an idea until you can come see it yourself :) When does the work begin on Duncan's room? Maybe in a few weeks. We have a few busy weekends ahead and his room will take much longer since we have to prime it due to the high gloss stripes that are in there now. It will be a 2-3 day project and we want to kinda have Demi somewhat adjusted to her new room before forcing her out. We'll see how it goes.......

As far as the rest of our week goes, it will be a rather relaxed one! Thursday and Friday are the only days I have to work this week so I plan on working on my class stuff the next few days. We missed our Friday Casa Grande night this weekend so I'm sure we'll end up there Friday! Saturday we'll head to Pittsboro for the day for Christy's baby shower. So pretty relaxed week/weekend ahead!

Oh class..........many of you have asked how my masters program is going...........well so far so good. It's set up really neat! It's a virtual world that we interact in using avatars. We only meet once or twice a month as a whole class, but have to set up smaller meetings with our groups to complete our assignments. It's not going to be hard, just a little time consuming and finding the time is the challenge! I know things won't get any easier as far as time goes come May, but at least it's all online. I can feed the baby, change the baby etc. No going anywhere, and no one can see what I'm doing, just hear me, and that is only when my mic is on. I'll survive! It will be over with May 2010 (that's when I graduate) so I can make it until then!

GOD IS GOOD!!!!

Airline passengers wait to board a ferry to be rescued on the ...

Amazing isn’t it? That 155 people survived the US Air flight that crashed into the Hudson River on Thursday. Simply a miracle from God himself!! This flight touched our hearts, but especially since many survivors are from right here in Charlotte. It was incredible to see them welcomed home (back to Charlotte) by friends, family and even strangers! Brad Wentzell of Charlotte said, talking about his daughter, "She's in bed right now, and when I get home, I want to take my nose and put it by her ear and feel her warm body and give her a nice kiss from daddy -- because I'm alive." "This pilot, this guy doesn't get the recognition he needs," Wentzell said. "He's the reason my 2 1/2 year-old has a dad, and my wife still has a husband." Truly a "Miracle on the Hudson!!" Thank you Lord for protecting those on this flight. May they give you all the glory!

Passengers in an inflatable raft move away from an Airbus 320 ...

One BUSY weekend! Whew!

This has been one busy, but enjoyable weekend!! After work on Friday Demi and I headed to Toys R US to get baby Jack a 1st birthday present. On the way we decided to stop by one of Daddy's offices and surprise him. We brought him a cherry limeade from Sonic, yum! After picking up Jack's present we went across the street to Babies R Us to pick up some new sippy cups and just look around a bit. As we walked through the bedding section I spotted a set I actually liked. I've never been a fan of the bedding sets at Babies R Us, so this was surprising. (They do have a few cute ones every now and then, but I'm not into "character" rooms and have always found most of their's to be a bit corny) The more I looked at the set and accessories, the more I started picturing what we could do with it in the nursery and liking it. I called Wes who was getting ready to leave work anyway, and told him so he met us there. Once he was there, the set really grew on him too and we started to no longer like the bedding we had bought in Atlanta back in October. Now that we know we're having a baby boy, it just wasn't our favorite like before. We decieded to head to dinner at Casa Granda to take care of our weekly mexican food craving, and check out this set again online at home. Our dinner was excellent as always! At home, once Demi was down for the night, we checked out the photos online and decided for sure we wanted the bedding set. With Babies R Us new return policy we decided it was best to add it to our registry before buying. (It's much easier now to return a registry item than "regular" purchase). We then headed to bed, as I had to get up early for orientation in Hickory.

Saturday morning I was up early and out of the house headed to orientation for grad school at App. State. What I pictured as a long dreaded day, actually turned out to go really well. I did make a change on my status as a student while there. I'm officially now in the masters program seeking a Masters in Media and Instructional Technology. After the morning session I learned it would only take about 9 more hours to earn a masters so I switched. The program is totally online in a virtual world. It's really cool! We all created our avatars and profiles and I'm ready for my first class session Tuesday night. I'm really excited about this opportunity, this is going to be school, but not really. It's going to be an awesome experience. Right now I'm set to graduate in May of 2011. I'm going to have a lot on my plate on 2009 with a new baby, a 2 year old, and now earning a masters, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. I also know that my very supportive husband with be right there with me, doing all he can to make it go as smoothly as possible for me! Love ya babe!

After orientation, which ended about a hour and a half early, I headed home for Jack's party. Jack's birthday party theme was Spongebob so Demi absolutely loved it. She's definitely moved more toward Dora & Backyardigans as her favorites, but still likes him. There were tons of kids there and we had a blast. Happy 1st Birthday Jack!!! After Jack's party we ran by Babies R Us and picked up the major parts of our new bedding set. At the request of anxious grandparents, we left a few items for them to pick up as well. I've posted a picture of the nursery bedding on the baby's page. We're not painting exactly how they did, but kinda similar. We'll post pictures once we get that project going......Demi's room must come first :)

This morning we were up early once again and headed to early church. It was refreshing to be there since we've missed the last 2 Sunday's since we were out of town. We have community group this afternoon and are looking forward to hearing more about The Truth Project, which we'll start Jan. 25th. So our busy weekend is not over yet. It's been kind of a crazy one, but we've had fun. I do have to admit as I get more and more pregnant, I am looking to this weekend and Monday-Wed off for a little relaxation.....and some painting too. We hope everyone had a great weekend. Have a good week, my post may come a little slower now with school starting.....

Back to School.....again....

It's official.....Mommy was accepted to the Graduate Program at App. State yesterday. Yep, as crazy as it sounds I'm heading back to school for my 3rd degree! The funniest things is that none of them are related, all totally different. I'll be earning a degree in Instructional Technology which allows me to become a Technology Facilitator or Coordinator in or out of the public school system. I start class in a few weeks and have orientation in Hickory this Saturday from 9-4.

That's not all.......in the Fall of 2010 I will begin my Masters in Administration. I know a 4th area, but I don't want to work in the school setting forever. I would like to eventually end up as a Middle School Curriculum Coordinator for a county office or a Technology Coordinator for an entire county as well. We'll see what happens.......there actually may be a change sooner than we think, we'll let you know if it takes place, a few unexpected things are possibly in the works :)

Memories

As we began the dreaded task of taking down all of the Christmas decor & organizing the attic so that we could get to all of the baby stuff in a few months, Wes ran across a bag full of memories. "Chas you've got to come down here and take a look at this stuff" was what I heard from deep in the attic. As we sat down on the couch and went through the bag it was full of cards for every occasion and even some for no reason at all. Looking at the dates I realized, once again, we've been together 8 years! Wow are we getting old or what! As we sifted through the cards and old photos, suddenly the dreaded task we thought we were taking on took on a whole new meaning. Memories..........what a blessing and what smiles came to our faces "remembering when". Memories are truly what our lives are built of. As I think of Demi growing up so quickly it saddens me to think that in a few short years we could be running across these same types of items, but instead of being ours they will be of her. What seemed like such a simple task reminded me to cherish each day with both my husband and daughter. Time is our most precious possession and we can't take it back or earn more. Thank you God for taking a dreaded task and turning it into such a special moment. I love you Demi & Daddy and look forward to a new year of brand new memories..........

**Lots of Christmas pictures finally posted!**

Heading Home in 2009!

As this Holiday season comes to an end, we're all packed up and heading back home today. It feels like we've been gone forever and we're anxious to get home and start taking down the tree and other Christmas decor, although it is so hard to believe that Christmas/New Years has come and gone already! We've had such a great time this year with our families! (Lots of pictures coming soon :) We plan on leaving sometime after 3pm today so we can get home and unpack and of course Daddy can't wait to hook up his/our new TV!! Tomorrow we'll be heading to church, then back home to unpack some more and hopefully get all of the Christmas stuff put away. It's a little bigger of a job this time, since we are also going to pull all of the baby stuff out for easy access in a few months!

This morning all of the men headed to the firing range. I'm sure they are having a blast! They were like little kids.....so excited. Once they get back we're heading to lunch with the family then on the road again we go.

We hope everyone had a great New Years!! We're so excited about what God has planned for us in 2009!! We know He has big plans for our church & community, as well as, us as a family! May His blessings rest upon your home in 2009 as well! He is good.....always....

Speaking of GOOD! Kristi (Chasidy's friend, mother of 3, 29 yrs old) spent Christmas in the hospital. This may not sound like good news except for the fact that her doctor, Dr. Graham, was able to really spend a lot of time with her. Her cancer seems to be responding well to the chemo and for the first time ever she heard from Dr. Graham that he felt she would live. This is such a praise from God because for the last 10 weeks of this battle she has not heard this at all, but much to the contrary. You can read more about this on her carepage link on our page. Keep praying for full recovery for Kristi!! Her 4,2, and 10 week old boys need a Mommy!!

A Wonderful Christmas!

Christmas this year was a blast!! Demi absolutely loved it and could not wait to get to our next stop to open more gifts.   She is definitely now aware of the events that Christmas brings!
Christmas Eve we headed to Charlene's house for the Parker Family Christmas.   We had a great time! Demi opened up her gifts and even some that were not hers. Between her gifts and Auburn's they were busy busy!! It was exciting for us as parents to watch her have so much fun.
That night Santa came to Grandpa Dennis & GK's house so that we could get on the road early in the morning.   Demi was so excited! Santa left Demi her big girl bedding for her new room, a complete baby set with a carseat, swing, stroller etc., a dora backpack and lots more. Ho Ho Ho was all she could say! It's amazing at just under 2 how much she already knows about toys. She could pretty much tell us what she wanted this year and to see her get so excited when opening it was a blast for us!
Christmas morning we headed to Atlanta for a Duncan Family Christmas, but stopped by to see our "adopted" family first. Jerry (the elderly man) told us that Carol (his wife) was in the hospital. This elderly couple both are in pretty poor health, but we didn't expect this. We stayed a little longer with Jerry than expected since he was alone on Christmas. He was very upset and worried that Carol may not make it. Please pray for her and them! No one deserves to be alone on Christmas. We told him we would pray for her and stop by and check on them when we returned. We left him their Christmas presents and he said "These are the only presents we got for Christmas". That is when we knew the Lord put us in their lives for a definite purpose. We pray that Carol's health is restored and that she is home with Jerry for the rest of this Holiday Season. As we headed to Atlanta our hearts were heavy for them....   As soon as we got there Demi started with Ho Ho Ho. She really thought Santa had stopped at each house. (which he had) Lots more fun stuff was left at Nana & Papa's. Her favorite toy is definitely the rocking horse Santa left that makes all of the horse sounds when she rides him. She's been on him since we got here! Mommy & Daddy even got themselves a Christmas present here too. We weren't in the market for a new tv, but ended up with a 42' plasma. Daddy can hardly wait to get home and get it set up in the living room! I have to say I'm pretty excited too. It's funny what excites you at 30! Lots of pictures to post, but no time right now. We'll post them once we get home and settled.
We're still at Nana & Papa's and will be until Saturday. We are having a great time just relaxing with family. We've shopped of course, been to the barn and Papa, Daddy, Chris & Will are heading to the firing range this week to shoot Daddy's new gun. They are pretty excited about that too. Wes is trying to get me to go too, but the outlet mall may win that decision. We hope everyone had a great Christmas. We are so thankful for the family and friends that surround us this Holiday season. We love you all!!
Happy New Year tonight!! We'll see you in 2009!!!

19 months/ 18 month check up

Demi is 19 months old and growing like a weed! It's amazing how much she is talking now, and in complete sentences. She'll say anything! Monday Dec. 22 she had her 18 month check up and Dr. O'Brien was very impressed. He said she is at least 6 months ahead in the areas of vocabulary and comprehension. Many times he said he felt as if he was having a conversation with a 3 year old. She only had to get 2 shots, one being the flu shot, and did very well. She was so excited when the nurse gave her 2 Dora stickers for being such a big girl. We continue to be amazed daily by our little girl who turning into such a big girl!! She's going to be a great big sister to her little brother!!

Before heading out of town.........

As we are quickly approaching Christmas we wanted to do a quick catch up before leaving town. Last week started out with Demi running a fever. Monday Mommy stayed home with her and we thought it was her teeth. Tuesday morning she woke up quite hot again so Daddy stayed home with her and took her to the doctor. They could not find anything wrong and even pricked her finger to test her white blood cells to see if their was infection or a virus present. Everything came back normal so we just thought it was a bad case of teething. That was until Friday when Daddy came down with the same symptoms.

Saturday Mommy was hesitate to leave to go to her hair appointment, but Daddy said he'd be fine with Demi so she headed out along with everyone else who was Christmas shopping. Saturday night we had our Christmas Party and it was a great time!!

Sunday we headed to church then off to finish up our Christmas shopping. It was a great day! We absolutely love this time of year!! that is except for the traffic!

Last night we made a Birthday cake for Jesus. Demi had a blast making the cake, then icing it afterwards....you'll have to check out the pictures, she actually did a great job for a 18 month old!!

Tonight Santa will be coming to our house!!!! We're very excited!! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we will head to Pittsboro for a Parker Family Christmas at Aunt Charlene's. Christmas morning we will see what Santa left at GK & Grandpa Dennis' house then we'll head to Atlanta for a Duncan Family Christmas dinner! WOW! what a busy 2 days we have ahead, but isn't that what this time of year is all about? We're excited to see our family and friends. We hope all of you have a blessed Christmas with your family and friends and may you always remember the true meaning of Christmas, Christ. Without the birth of Jesus we would have nothing to celebrate, but because of him we live! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

** A few pictures added **

Another weekend closer to Christmas......

We had a great weekend and it's getting closer and closer to Christmas!! The weekends seem to be coming and going so quickly.....and there is still so much to do!

Friday night we met Stacy and Jared at Casa Grande, where else? This seems to have become our Friday night spot, but you won't hear any of us complaining, we LOVE it!! It was the last chance we had to see Stacy and Jared before Christmas, as they leave December 20th for their long journey to visit all of their family! Merry Christmas guys! We love you!!

Saturday we were all up pretty early so we decided to go ahead and do our Walmart trip to get all of the stuff we need for upcoming Christmas parties. Mommy had been asked to make cowboy caviar and pimento cheese for tonights party. Of course, you can't just go and get what is on the list......we were there forever and ended up with a cart full of stuff. After surviving the check out line, we headed to Shake & Steak to grab a quick lunch. Demi was in need of a nap before her Christmas pictures at 4! She did get one and we were off for pictures. I have to say, we were a little nervous about these pictures because it was our first session since she's started walking/running. I just knew she wasn't going to sit still long enough to get any pictures taken. Surprisingly, she did a great job. Our photo session was much shorter than normal because she was so busy, but we did get some good shots. They do such a great job with the kids!! (Pictures are posted....just a few to add later today) After Demi's pictures were all done we headed home to get ready for the party, but Aunt Lindsay and Jaime were already in Charlotte! We knew they were coming to stay the night after taking a horse to VA, but didn't think they would arrive until around 9 or 10. Mommy & Demi decided to stay home with them, while Daddy went to the party for a few hours. It was great to have them stay!! We ordered Firehouse Subs and hung out at home.

Sunday we headed to church a little earlier than normal because we were in charge of the Christmas Outreach table and Daddy was an usher again. It was great to see all of the families get adopted for the Holidays at our table! We hope they all will have a Merry Christmas! This week began our 3 week service titled "Expectations" It's part of our Christmas program and was great!! We laughed a lot and even cried a little. What an awesome service! We can't wait to go back this Sunday and hate we will be out of town for the 3rd and final part of the series. I know we've said this a million times, but we feel more blessed than we ever have in our lives to be a part of The Refuge! So many great things are taking place there right now, and in our community and we're honored to be a part of it. The transformation in ourselves has also been an exciting adventure. It's amazing how much closer God has brought us, especially when we thought we were as close as you could get. God has shown us a whole new element to our lives together........We're also excited to say that Sharon has been joining us for the last several weeks. It has been such a blessing to have her attending with us and witness what God is doing in her life as well. Love you Sharon!!

After church Lee, Kim & their 5 children asked us to go to lunch with them (they are in our community group). YES!! I said 5 children! They are our age and have 5 little ones.... 8, twins 6, 4, and 1. We really enjoyed going out with them. Seeing them with their 5 kids has been inspiring to us. Everytime we think about how challenging it will be with 2 under 2 we just think of them!! They are a great family and we're thankful they have been brought into our lives! They are just one example of the wonderful friends and support system we've developed at The Refuge, which is awesome since our families are not here with us.

This is the last week Mommy has at work before the Holidays, and she's home today with Demi. This morning Demi was running a fever and was very grumpy! I decided to stay home with her and she's doing ok now, which I am thankful for! She is getting a few teeth in the back so we're thinking that was it. We definitely don't want a sick little one over the holidays :) This week should be a fun one anyway with Christmas parties on Thursday, Friday and Saturday! Sunday we plan on cleaning up our house from Saturday's party, getting the rest of our shopping done, and FINALLY taking Demi to see Santa again. It's going to be busy, but it's our favorite time of year!! Have a great week..... 10 more days until Christmas!!!!!

Santa vs Jesus

Kathy sent this to me today and I thought it was cute. Thought I'd share with you all........

Jesus is Better than Santa

Santa lives at the North Pole.

JESUS is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh

JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

Santa comes but once a year

JESUS is an ever present help.

Santa fills your stockings with goodies

JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited

JESUS stands at your door and knocks..

And then enters your heart.

You have to stand in line to see Santa

JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap

JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is

"Hi little boy or girl, What's your name?"

JESUS knew our name before we did.

Not only does He know our name,

He knows our address too.

He knows our history and future and He

even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly

JESUS has a heart full of love.

All Santa can offer is HO HO HO

JESUS offers health, help and hope.

Santa says "You better not cry"

GO PANTHERS GO!!

Way to go Panthers!!!! Last night at BOA Stadium the Panthers beat Tampa Bay!! By beating the Bucs, the Panthers are in sole possession of first place in the NFC South. YIPEE!

Christmas Filled Weekend!

We had a great weekend filled with Christmas festivities! Oh, how we love this time of year. Especially now, with Demi. She's so excited!! All we hear day in and day out is "Santa" & "Ho, Ho, Ho" I'm looking forward to taking her to see Santa again....I think (and hope) that she'll like him a little more the second time!

Friday night we headed to Casa Grande for mexican! YUM YUM! This seems to be a pregnancy favorite this time around too! I can't get enought Mexican food!!

Saturday we just relaxed around the house then headed to A Family Christmas at Lake Norman Baptist Church. It was a COLD night with some drizzle, but we bundled up and headed out anyway. We had a great time! Demi loved the petting zoo, train and carriage ride. She ate her first marshmallow that Daddy roasted for her. The live nativity was great!! and homemade Chili yum yum! We will definitely be making this a Parker family Christmas tradition for as long as we are in the area. It was GREAT!!

Sunday we headed to church where Daddy was an usher! Great job Daddy!! After church we ran home to eat lunch, then we were off to our first community group meeting. We are blessed to be in the group we joined! It was a great time of fellowship and worship! We also told our group about the family we've been helping and decided we would adopt them as a group for Christmas. We plan to go to their home on Saturday and do some "handy" work and then provide them a Christmas meal, presents, etc. I am so thankful for this blessing! We don't mind helping them, but they need so much it has been overwhelming. Trying to figure out how Wes and I could somehow help them do things like this, with Demi has been the challenge. God has taken care of this for us! The men will work on "manly" repairs while the women help with laundry, groceries, etc. I'm so thankful that our group will be helping us with this!! We will be able to provide this family with the Christmas the deserve while showing them the love of our Father.

Only a few more weeks until Christmas! and we've still got a lot of Christmas shopping left to do. Our weekends are filling up fast......but we love staying busy with Christmas activities! We will also get a very special Christmas surprise this year when we find out the sex of our second little one!! We'll know December 23rd! Have a great week!

*Lots of pictures to upload.....just trying to find the time! I'll get them up asap.*

A Letter from SANTA!!

Demi's letter from Santa has arrived!!! She's not too sure about him this year, so we shall see how she does when we go visit him for the 2nd time! The holidays with a little one are SO much fun!! I think we're enjoying this much more than she is! Merry Christmas!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations Rick & Jessica!!! They found out today that Baby Parks is a BOY!!!! That means there are 2 baby boys on the way to the family............will we make it 3????

Fitting Verse!

I just realized as I looked at our site that today's Compassion Verse on the widget is so fitting for the update I added this morning. It says:

"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:3-4

God has shown us this promise over and over again. The blessings he has poured upon us since we became actively involved with foreign missions and also with helping those in need in our area are unexplainable. If you don't believe us.....try it for yourself. It's rewarding in so many ways and you will be blessed.

Finally a Catch Up Entry!

I've been saying I'd post a "catch up" entry for weeks now so here it goes...........

The weekend before Thanksgiving was a CRAZY one!! Friday night we attended NGage at The Refuge to find and join our community group. It was a great event and we met lots of new people. We joined a group that meets near our house and are excited to start!! Our first meeting is December 7th and we start The Truth Project in January. Awesome things continue to happen through The Refuge and we are so blessed to be a part of it. Everyday it's more and more evident to us that we were truly led there by God and that He has a purpose for us being there!! What an Awesome God we have!

Saturday Mrs. Stacy came over to watch Demi so we could go out and celebrate Wes's 30th Birthday!!! We went to his favorite.. a Japanese Steakhouse, Tsuanmi. The food was great! and while we were gone, Mrs. Stacy and Demi were busy making Daddy some birthday cupcakes. Demi had a blast and actually cried when Stacy left. After dinner we headed over to Concord Mills to just walk around and get Christmas ideas for mainly Demi & family. We had a very nice relaxing evening, which is what Wes wanted most for his birthday.

Sunday we headed to church and we were truly blessed by the "Thanksgiving Service". The most amazing part was......in the middle of the service Pastor Jay challenged us all to give a Thanksgiving offering in addition to our tithing to thank God for all he has blessed us with. Pastor Jay said when most people are asked, "What are you thankful for" they answer with things like family, friends, health etc. Rarely do people say God and all he has done for my life and family. So as we participated in this we felt very blessed to be "showing" our thankfulness to the Lord. At the end of the service as we were getting ready to leave I was stopped by a young lady in the church. She pulled me aside and said I have something for you. As she handed me a check, I looked at her with shock. She said, "As Pastor Jay spoke about giving a Thanksgiving offering today, I felt led by the Holy Spirit to bless your family this Thanksgiving" I was totally shocked and told her I could not accept the check and she replied, "If you do not take this from me then I am not fulfilling what God has asked me to do." How do you argue with that?? AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!! I was so totally overwhelmed by this experience that as I walked over the Wes, who was picking up Demi, and handed him the check I started to cry. Through the tears I explained where it came from. Wes himself teared up and said to me "Think of all of the things you have been doing to help families in this area, God is thanking you" What an awesome blessing from the Lord. Through this experience and being on the receiving end I was able to see through "His eyes for just one second" and feel what the families we've been helping must feel when we've come to their rescue over the last few months. Thank you Lord for giving me a glimpse of you and showing me "both sides" of helping those in need. WHEW! I still get goose bumps thinking about it..........

After all of this, we participated in the Thanksgiving Outreach with church. We delievered pecan pies to families in needy areas. Another amazing day, as we literally had people crying because a pecan pie!!! These families were in such need they were so thankful for just a pie. What a humbling experience!! We were able to pray with some of the families and also welcomed them to The Refuge. We hope to see some of them soon!!

The next week was Thanksgiving so we headed to Pittsboro on Wednesday, but before doing that we delivered a Thanksgiving meal to the elderly couple we've spoken of before. Another very humbling experience as we entered their home for the first time. They were so thankful for the meal. We asked them if they needed anything else and their response was help with the power bill and some sheets. Needless to say we took care of both! It's a heart breaking situation and we feel blessed we can help them. They have never once asked us for money, but just the necessities to live. Anyway, we met GK and Papa D at Johnsons for a yummy burger!! We had a great time and I have to say Demi loved it. She ate very well and even though it was Daddy's birthday somehow she ended up with 3 or 4 gifts that were going to be for Christmas, but she's so cute, she got them early :) Wes was super excited on Friday when he got is new gun,a 45 pistol. He spent his afternoon outside shooting at a target. He can't wait to go to the shooting range over Christmas in Atlanta. While we were having a blast in Pittsboro, things weren't so great in Atlanta. Uncle Chris was home for the holidays and playing flag football with high school buddies, when he broke his jaw! He is wired shut for 3 weeks. Yuck! We're praying for a speedy recovery for you Uncle C!! Luckily he just has to go back to school for 3 days of exams then he's done for the semester and can come home and heal!

That pretty much sums up the last few weeks. Oh, Wes sold his motorcycle too....well, we think. A man came and put a deposit down and we're just waiting on him now to come and pay the rest and pick it up. Wes loves his bike, but just doesn't have the time to ride anymore with work, Demi etc. His bike has sat pretty much all year and with another little one on the way it isn't looking like he'll have much time to ride in the near future. We'll let you know how this story unfolds. We hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving! Only 2 1/2 weeks until Christmas!!!!!!!!! It's our favorite time of the year! As it draws near, may we be reminded of the reason for this very special Holiday!

MISSING YOU!!!

Hi Daddy & Demi!

It's Mommy and I just wanted to say hello. We made it to Greensboro safely this morning and the Technology Conference is in full swing. Just wanted to tell you both I miss you bunches and bunches already!! Have a good evening, Demi be a good girl for Daddy and not a little Devil

! I will call you later........Already looking forward to seeing you both tomorrow night!! Thinking of you both....

Love you!

Mommy

18 Months Today!

Demi is 18 months old today which is completely unbelieveable!! It also means Baby Parker #2 will be here in less than 6 months!! WOW! we've got a lot going on!!

As for Demi, she is a walking, talking, little woman! She talks non-stop and is a definite people person. She is 1 1/2 going on 5! When we go anywhere, she has to say "Hey" to everyone! and I mean everyone! Believe it or not she can almost say her ABC's! They have been working on them at Rhonda's and Rhonda says Demi is learning them the fastest, which is amazing since she is the youngest! Everyone she meets is impressed by her.....they usually say "she's so advanced for her age". Looks like we have one smart little girl on our hands!

We are putting up the final Christmas decor today and it doesn't look like the ornaments are going to stay on the tree very long. Demi calls them balls and is picking them off one by one and throwing them across the room. We just got home from Garden Ridge where we bought all new "plastic" ornaments for this year. Can't have the glass ones hitting the hardwoods! She's soooo busy and is never still unless she is asleep. She definitely keeps us BUSY, but we wouldn't want it any other way!

This afternoon we ran into the Bass Pro Shop at Concord Mills after church for Daddy to look at something and Santa was there. We plan to visit Santa in a few weeks, but Demi kept saying "Santa, Santa" so we got in line. She was so excited to see him..........until it was her turn. She SCREAMED! Pictures are downloading now....we still plan to take her back to the Santa we saw last year, and are hoping that she'll do better. She was running on no nap, so maybe in a few weeks we'll get a better picture. Pictures at the Pro Shop are free so we took ours.....it's quite funny.

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We did and still need to post a BIG update to cover several events that have happened over the last few weeks. Maybe later tonight, for now we've got to get this Christmas stuff up!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Before we hit the road, we wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for. Please continue to remember Kristi Winters in your prayers,she has taken a suddden turn for the worse and is in ICU at UNC. Pray that her 3 little boys won't have to grow up without a Mommy!! We can't even begin to imagine the pain her family is feeling at this time.

We'd also like to thank God for the many blessings he has put in our lives and continues to bless us with each day. Thank you for great friends and family that surround us. We love you all!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY DADDY!

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST DADDY & HUSBAND THESE TWO (MAYBE 3) GIRLS COULD EVER ASK FOR!! WE LOVE YOU!

CHAS, DEMI & BABY PARKER 2

**weekend update coming soon....it's been a busy one, but we've been SO blessed this weekend....can't wait to share :)**

A Little of This & That

It's been quite a while since our last post so this is our "catch-up" post. Last week was a busy week with work, meetings, doctors appointments, etc. We ended our week by having a Thanksgiving party at our house on Friday for the employees in Wes's area. We had a great time and the cajun fried turkey and home-made pumpkin pie was so YUMMY! Everything else was great too, but those two really stand out even almost 2 weeks later Saturday we "winterized" the yard. We did our final cut of the grass and raked up all of the leaves. We cut down all of the perennials and coverd them with pinestraw to keep them warm this winter. Then we put the patio chairs and umbrella in the garage. It was almost 70 degrees so it was a great weekend to be outside. On Sunday we headed to church and Ms. Sharon came along. We were so glad she joined us and hope she'll join The Refuge too! The services could not have been better and she loved it. She said she was hooked, just as we were after our first visit. She signed Ron & herself up for NGage this Friday night and said she'll she us again next Sunday too. We can't wait to see what amazing things will happen in their lives over the next several weeks through The Refuge. Lord knows we definitely have developed our own testimony since starting to attend and becoming members. It's an amazing place......indescribable and life changing don't begin to describe The Refuge. I know we've said a thousand times before, but we are so thankful God lead us to this place and we know he has big place for us and The Refuge. From the minute we walked in the door the very first time, we knew we were meant to be there, an experience we've not had before. This week brings another busy week and FREEZING temperatures! BURRR it's been so cold here! Today's high last year was 70, but it's only 40 degrees today. It's been that way since Sunday and there is not change in site yet. Along with the regular weekly task, we're trying to get laundry done and start preparing for Thanksgiving. We also want to try and get some of our Christmas decorations up. We have NEVER put anything up before Thanksgiving, but with Thanksgiving being a week later this year, we feel like we should go ahead and start pulling everything out so we don't feel like in a few weeks we're packing it all back up again. This weekend is jam packed for us so there will be no time then either. We'll see what we get done. This weekend is a BIG weekend around our house! It's Daddy's 30th Birthday!!!!!!! The plans of a big party were changed due to the holidays and Daddy deciding he would just rather do the "family" thing. Saturday night Ms. Stacy is coming to babysit Demi so we can go to dinner. I made reservations at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, but canceled them when Wes said he would really rather not fight the traffic downtown and just go to Nakato. So Nakato it is! I should have known, it's his favorite place!! Sometime over Thanksgiving we'll do the big family trip to Karama, yes another trip to the Japanese steakhouse, but he loves it! To back up a little bit, Friday night we have NGage at church, which is to set up a community group for The Truth Project that we'll be starting in January. We're excited. It's pretty much a time to socialize with lots of yummy food. We're happy Ron & Sharon will be joining us! Saturday morning we plan on heading to the Christmas parade, but if it's still in the 30's we may have to pass. It's not worth getting sick over before the holidays. Demi is still a little young to really enjoy it. Sunday we'll head to church and then participate in the Thanksgiving outreach that afternoon. We will be taking Thanksgiving meals to people in our area who need them. Unfortunately, due to the economy the list is quite long, but we are glad we can help these family have a Happy Thanksgiving. We're really excited to take a meal to the family we've kinda adopted and spoken of before. After visiting them the firs time it is evident of the great need they have. We hope everyone has a great week and Happy Thanksgiving!
Created:	4:37pm

It's been quite a while since our last post so this is our "catch-up" post.

Last week was a busy week with work, meetings, doctors appointments, etc. We ended our week by having a Thanksgiving party at our house on Friday for the employees in Wes's area. We had a great time and the cajun fried turkey and home-made pumpkin pie was so YUMMY! Everything else was great too, but those two really stand out even almost 2 weeks later Smiling

Saturday we "winterized" the yard. We did our final cut of the grass and raked up all of the leaves. We cut down all of the perennials and coverd them with pinestraw to keep them warm this winter. Then we put the patio chairs and umbrella in the garage. It was almost 70 degrees so it was a great weekend to be outside.

On Sunday we headed to church and Ms. Sharon came along. We were so glad she joined us and hope she'll join The Refuge too! The services could not have been better and she loved it. She said she was hooked, just as we were after our first visit. She signed Ron & herself up for NGage this Friday night and said she'll she us again next Sunday too. We can't wait to see what amazing things will happen in their lives over the next several weeks through The Refuge. Lord knows we definitely have developed our own testimony since starting to attend and becoming members. It's an amazing place......indescribable and life changing don't begin to describe The Refuge. I know we've said a thousand times before, but we are so thankful God lead us to this place and we know he has big place for us and The Refuge. From the minute we walked in the door the very first time, we knew we were meant to be there, an experience we've not had before.

This week brings another busy week and FREEZING temperatures! BURRR it's been so cold here! Today's high last year was 70, but it's only 40 degrees today. It's been that way since Sunday and there is not change in site yet. Along with the regular weekly task, we're trying to get laundry done and start preparing for Thanksgiving. We also want to try and get some of our Christmas decorations up. We have NEVER put anything up before Thanksgiving, but with Thanksgiving being a week later this year, we feel like we should go ahead and start pulling everything out so we don't feel like in a few weeks we're packing it all back up again. This weekend is jam packed for us so there will be no time then either. We'll see what we get done.

This weekend is a BIG weekend around our house! It's Daddy's 30th Birthday!!!!!!! The plans of a big party were changed due to the holidays and Daddy deciding he would just rather do the "family" thing. Saturday night Ms. Stacy is coming to babysit Demi so we can go to dinner. I made reservations at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, but canceled them when Wes said he would really rather not fight the traffic downtown and just go to Nakato. So Nakato it is! I should have known, it's his favorite place!! Sometime over Thanksgiving we'll do the big family trip to Karama, yes another trip to the Japanese steakhouse, but he loves it!

To back up a little bit, Friday night we have NGage at church, which is to set up a community group for The Truth Project that we'll be starting in January. We're excited. It's pretty much a time to socialize with lots of yummy food. We're happy Ron & Sharon will be joining us!

Saturday morning we plan on heading to the Christmas parade, but if it's still in the 30's we may have to pass. It's not worth getting sick over before the holidays. Demi is still a little young to really enjoy it.

Sunday we'll head to church and then participate in the Thanksgiving outreach that afternoon. We will be taking Thanksgiving meals to people in our area who need them. Unfortunately, due to the economy the list is quite long, but we are glad we can help these family have a Happy Thanksgiving. We're really excited to take a meal to the family we've kinda adopted and spoken of before. After visiting them the firs time it is evident of the great need they have.

We hope everyone has a great week and Happy Thanksgiving!

Created:

4:37pm

Requesting Comments...

The Lord Spoke!

A few weeks ago, God spoke so clearly to my heart......

It was Friday November 7th and I had just picked Demi up from Rhonda's. Both of us were exhausted, which is normal for a Friday, but I wanted to run to Autobell and get my car washed. The previous week it had rained for 3-4 days and with the leaves falling at work, my car was a mess to say the least. So we headed down Weddington road toward the Concord Mills area (for those who live here).

A little previous info......

Wes and I had noticed a house on Weddington road one after noon a few weeks early that looked very run down. Sitting on the front porch was an elderly man and woman with thier dog. As we passed by I told him we should "adopt" them for Thanksgiving and take them a meal. So we agreed that this would be the family we fed this year.

Back to November 7th..... as I got closer to the run down home on this particular day I noticed a sign in the yard that said "Need Food, Please Help!!" My first thought was "Oh, I'm so glad we're taking them a meal for Thanksgiving" and I continued to head toward Autobell. Literally 1 stop light before turning into Autobell, the Lord said "Chasidy, it's great you are taking them a meal on Thanksgiving, but they are hungry now and Thanksgiving is more than 2 weeks away why not use the $10 you are about to spend washing your car, toward groceries for them!" When I say God spoke to me, I don't mean I heard a voice or anything strange, he just spoke so clearly to my heart, I knew exactly what I had to do.

As the light turned green I got into the turning lane and did a u-turn toward the grocery store. I called Wes to let him know what just happened and where I was headed. Demi and I spent our Friday afternoon shopping for this family. We even picked up a 22lb bag of dog food. I have to say it was the most joyous trip to the grocery store ever. Demi was on her best behavior and I felt such excitement buying for this family.

When we took the groceries to the family the man was so humbled. He told us that he was embarassed to even have the sign in his yard, but due to heath conditions he had to quit his job to take care of his wife. He said he didn't know if the sign would even work, but he didn't know what else to do. It broke my heart each time he asked me "How can I ever re-pay you" which he continuously asked. We continue to talk with him and told him we would be bringing them a Thanksgiving meal. He was so greatful and I told him that was all I needed for re-payment. We talked to him about God and church and they do attend a near by church they walk to on Sunday mornings. It was a great experience and we're looking forward to taking them their turkey and all of the trimmings this Holiday Season.

Why am I sharing this story? Well the major thing I learn was that God does speak to us, but we have to be willing to listen. We get so caught up in our busy lives that we feel like we are in control and know what to do and when to do it. I learned that by opening our hearts and slowing down a bit, he will tell us and show us what to do. This family did so much more for me than I could do for them. I just dropped off some groceries, but they opened my eyes in so many ways. So slow down, look around you and just like the song says " see through His eyes" so that you may know what your "appointment" (as Pastor Jay says) is for Him that day. My appointment was at this family's home at 5pm on Friday November 7th, and I'm waiting with my "appointment book" for my next one.

House News.....

It's been a LONG time since we've update on the house status so here it is...... We decided to take it off the market a few weeks ago. We've taken the for sale sign out of the yard, just need to call our agent to come and get the lock box off of the front door. After mixed feelings about moving, we decided to put the whole issue in God's hands and stop worrying about it. After several weeks of praying we both felt that we should stay put and have been given many signs that have also justified our decision. The more showings we had, the more we felt we didn't really want to sell our home. We love our home and have spent the last 3 years making it our own. Our neighborhood is awesome and a great place to raise a family. We feel such peace with where we are at this point in time and don't want to "start over" right now. Since Wes's area is in Concord now and we have plenty of space here (even with Baby P #2) we really couldn't come up with any pros about moving. Most of you know we love "home improvement" projects such as tile, paint etc. so we're looking forward to getting Demi's BIG girl room ready for her and decorating a new nursery for our little one on the way! As you can imagine, plans for both rooms and possibly a few others are already on the drawing board Wink

A GREAT Weekend!

What a great weekend we had!! Friday we headed to Casa Grande, our favorite, for some yummy mexican food! Then we decided to hit the "Redbox" for Sex in the City. Wes hasn't seen it and I didn't mind seeing it again. It was just as funny the 2nd time as it was the first.
Saturday morning we just took it easy and did some minor house cleaning, laundry etc. GK and Papa D arrived around 4pm. Demi was excited to see them and is now calling Papa D "Poppy" so I guess he's Poppy for now. After she showed them all of her babies, and had GK ready every book on her bookshelf, we headed to Nakato for dinner. It was really good! And since I've been craving nothing but steak, it hit the spot!

On Sunday, we headed to church for "Membership Sunday". We were of course blessed by another awesome service and are officially members of The Refuge. We're excited about what God has already done in our lives through The Refuge, and even more excited about what is to come. We've got quite a busy weekend coming up in a few weeks with Refuge activities. After church we headed to The Parkway House for lunch. Another yummy meal with GK and "Poppy". After lunch, Demi was asleep before we made it half way home so she went directly to bed when we got home. GK and Papa D packed up and headed back to Pittsboro. We were glad they could come down this weekend, even if it was for a very short visit. We had a great time. The rest of Sunday afternoon we just took it easy and relaxed. We hope Nana had a great time on her surprise Birthday trip to New York! We can't wait to talk to her today :)

Happy Birthday Lindsay & Nana!!

Happy Birthday to Lindsay today!! We hope you have a great 23rd birthday!!

Love,

Wes, Chasidy, Demi & Baby Parker

Happy Birthday Nana tomorrow (11/8)!! You left yesterday on your "surprise" trip to New York with Aunt Cheri!! We hope you are having a blast! We will talk to you on Sunday!

Love,

Wes, Chasidy, Demi & Baby Parker

Did you vote?

Did you vote today? We just finished up and are thankful to say it only took about 15 minutes. We hope everyone shares the same "short line" experience. With this election being so critical, we need everyone to get out and vote today!! Pray that God leads Americans to vote for the right candidate for our country today!

Demi's first Trick or Treat!....and busy weekend!

Friday Demi was exhausted from her Halloween party at Rhonda's, but on a definite cookie and candy high. We were just praying she'd hang in there for Trick or Treating! After dinner, we got her dressed. She wasn't excited about wearing the tights under her costume, but we knew once the sun went down it would be COLD! She fussed about them for a little while (we added some pics) and then was ready to go. Wes and I thought we would most likely only make it to a few houses then she'd be ready to come back home. So we left our lights off, and headed down the street. After the 2nd house, where Demi realized she was getting candy, she LOVED it! She was running from house to house and ringing the door bell. She would not let either of us carry her candy bucket even though it was SO HEAVY it was dragging the ground! Needless to say, we ended up Trick or Treating until 8pm and even then she didn't want to come inside. She was the perfect little fairy or Tinkerbell as she says. She was absolutely adorable. I have to say, she couldn't say Trick or Treat very clearly, but she DID tell everyone thank you after they gave her candy. We were very proud parents, since most parents were reminding their kids to say thank you. Our 17 month old did it all by herself!!

Saturday, Mommy headed to get her hair done and Daddy and Demi just hung out together. Saturday night we went to Mac's with Stacy and Jared! That place is SOOOOO good!! We love it. Everytime we go we definitely overeat and feel stuffed for days! Stacy and Jared had not been before and they loved it too. After dinner they hung out with us at the house for a while before going home.

Sunday was yet another reminder to us of how thankful we are to have found The Refuge. AMAZING is all that we could say after the service. It's a church like no other. The presence of God there is indescribable! How blessed we are to have found such an awesome church that is so on fire for God. We're super excited to "officially" become members next Sunday!!! and excited to bring all of our friends and family to The Refuge!!!!

After church we went to Casa Grande for lunch then on the dreaded Walmart trip. We HATE Walmart, but can't stop going since some of the stuff we get at Harris Teeter is $2-3 dollars less there. It's just SO unorganized....like most Walmarts are. It wasn't so bad though, we were in and out in about 1 hour.

Today(Monday) Demi and I are taking a mental health day from school/work. For some reason Demi didn't want to go to bed last night, so she ended up getting in bed with Mommy. She was up and down all night so we're both exhausted. Daddy ended up falling asleep on the couch so he was pretty rested and went on to work. So far this morning she's acting fine, so I don't think she's coming down with anything, just VERY restless last night. We're going to take it easy, take a long nap, and get ready for the rest of the week. We hope everyone had a great weekend and have a great week!

**New pictures added....finally tried to get caught up!**

Demi is 17 months old!

It's so hard to believe, but Demi is 17 months old tomorrow!! It's simply amazing how quickly she's grown. Wes and I were just saying a few days ago, how she acts like such a big girl now, especially since she's talking SO MUCH, and not a baby anymore :( Part of us is sad at how quickly time has passed, but it's also an amazing experience to watch her grow right before our eyes!

Race Weekend

Friday we headed to Atlanta for Daddy & Papa's RACE WEEKEND!! Daddy was able to get passes from NASCAR that allowed them to pretty much go where ever they wanted to at the track so they were SUPER excited!

Friday night we arrived about 9:30pm. Demi & Mommy were pretty much exhausted and headed to bed. Daddy, Nana & Papa followed shortly after.

Saturday we went to brunch and then took Demi out to the barn to see the horses again. She loves them....horsie horsie was all we heard. Saturday night we had lots of yummy stuff to snack on for dinner. It was a cold evening and Nana's chili hit the spot. She also made homemade pimento cheese, one of Mommy's favorites, and an apple crisp. We ate, ate and ate some more.

Sunday was the BIG DAY! Daddy & Papa got up early and headed to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the race. They had a blast!! They got some great pics....coming soon. Mommy, Nana, & Demi just took it easy which was GREAT!! Demi even took at 3 1/2 hour nap. Once they got back we headed out for Mexican! YUM again! (yep, we pretty much ate all weekend) Monday we got up and took our time getting ready to head back to Charlotte. It was nice to have Monday off so we didn't have to rush home. We had a great, relaxing weekend. We hope you did as well :)

PRAY FOR KRISTI!!

On Friday, we received some very upsetting news before heading to Atlanta..... Kristi Winters Walker, a classmate of Chasidy's from Apex High School has been diagnosed with stage IV cancer. While carrying her 3rd child Kristi begin to have terrible hip and leg pain. After putting her on bed rest, her condition continued to go down hill. An emergency C-section was performed and she delivered a healthy baby boy. Days after the birth Kristi continued to go down hill so numerous test were done to try and figure out what was going on. That is when doctors determined she had stage IV bone cancer. After several more test it was determined the cancer started as inflamatory breast cancer and over a period of about 6-8 weeks has totally taken over her body. Kristi is current at UNC Cancer Center still undergoing test and will start Chemo tomorrow. Please keep Kristi and her family in your prayers. This diagnosis came as a complete shock. Kristi and her husband are our age 29 & 30. They have 3 boys ages 4, 2, and a newborn. As parents we can't begin to imagine what they are going through as a family. Krisit's doctors are not very hopeful due to the extent the cancer has spread, but we know that God can and does perform miracles. I've attached a few of the updates we've been sent over the past few days and under our sites you will find a link to Kristi's carepage........

Email from Kristi's church group. Keep praying:

I spoke with Chuck at about 10:30 am and here is an update on Kristi and the family.
Yesterday was a good family time with the children and the rest of
the family. They were not able to begin the spinal tap or the heart
scan as we mentioned in class.
Kristi has a series of test in front of her. Please pray for her
strength as today is a busy day.
The spinal tap is a three day process, four vials each day. The
first will take place toward the end of today.
The beginning of today is for Kristi to receive two separate units
of red blood cells. They will then give Kristi calcium and then
sodium before the spinal tap. They also hope to complete the heart
scan today.
With the spinal tap, they are testing the central nervous system for
cancer cells. Please pray that this testing will produce negative
results.
They are hoping to start the chemotherapy tomorrow.
The tentative plan is that Kristi will go home at the end of the week.
Please pray that the chemotherapy has very little side effect.
Please pray that Kristi will be able to go home this week.
Thank you for your servants heart in ministering to this family.
Keep praying! Keep believing! Keep trusting!

**********************************************

Lord,

I thank you so much for putting Kristi on the hearts’ of all of these people. I am so excited to see what you are going to do not only in Kristi’s life, but in the lives of everyone that is taking a step of faith today and praying for her. I know that your Word says that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”. I know that you did not do this to Kristi, but you did allow it to happen. I pray that you allowed it because of the miracle that is going to happen and the witness that Kristi’s life is going to be. I pray that you give Kristi strength to fight this sickness and disease. Please give her and her family the faith of a mustard seed, because we know with that she can move mountains. I pray for Chuck. I pray that he is given peace that passes all understanding. I pray that you show him how to care for Kristi, how to pray for Kristi, and how to take care of his three young boys during this time. I pray that Chuck and Kristi’s family do not allow themselves to believe the doctors, but instead teach them through this process to “walk by faith and not by sight”. Give them the strength to stand on what your Word says, “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.” Thank you in advance for all that you are going to do in Kristi’s life. We know that your Word promises that if you honor your father and mother you will live a long life in the land the Lord has given us. I know that Kristi not only loves and adores her parents, but she does honor them. I know she is promised many long, healthy years on this earth. Lord, I ask that you remind Kristi of these promises and do not allow her to give in to the lies of the enemy. I just thank you so much for all that you are going to do today and I thank you in advance for the miracle of Kristi’s long, healthy life.

I love you Lord. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

***********************************************
October 25:

Hi guys,

I am passing information on Kristi Winters Walker from her church below. You can read yourself about her situation. When you read this, you may feel like you want to help. There really is nothing other than prayer that can be done.

Glenn and I recently have felt led to spend one day a week fasting and praying. We have only done it once so far, and we have already seen results in our life. It is an incredible thing. So, we have decided to take our day this week and dedicate it to Kristi. We are going to spend the day on Monday not eating and only drinking water. Every time our stomach aches for food, we will pray. Simple as that.

If anyone wants to join us, please do on Monday, October 27. Please only do this if you feel led to join. Do not do this out of obligation or manipulation. If you feel like the Lord wants you to fast for her health, then we would love for you to do this with us. Let me know that you are going to join so that I can be praying for you to complete the day and you can do the same for us. It is not easy to give up food, but God does see the effort.
So, here is the most up to date info I have about Kristi. I will let you know if/when I hear more. Oh, and please forward this to anyone else you feel would like to help:

Initially, while Kristi was pregnant with her third child, she was in pain and the doctors put her on bed rest. On October 17, she was having shortness of breath, turning yellow, in a severe pain and the doctors did an emergency C section. Her baby boy is fine and healthy. She was put in ICU because she continued to not be doing well after the birth. Within the past few days they have transferred her to UNC hospital.

Kristi initially was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in the bones, primarily
spine and hip, and the liver. She also has a hematoma between the
small and large intestine. She was moved to UNC Cancer Ward for more tests.

Below is an email from John Durham - the pastor in TX that married Chuck and Kristi, who is still a very close
friend of theirs. It is from early in the AM on Friday.

It was another tough day with some heavy news. The result of the bone marrow biopsy was not good; the
doctors have said the cancer is diffused throughout her entire body - around the brain, all bones, bone marrow,
liver and possibly the GI track and chest. The doctors said tonight that even with aggressive treatment, she
probably has less than a year to live. It seems the cancer is so aggressive that it is possible that it has been in
her body for just two months, and her type of cancer cell is highly resistant to treatment according to the doctor.
Kristi is aware of the medical prognoses and it ready to fight it every step of the way. Now, all the above is what
the doctors say and what their reports indicate. God's decisions and God's timetable supersede the voices and
opinions of men, even men with M.D. after their names. I ask you to continue to pray in two ways: Healing, which
is so possible through the hand of our God. Strength, specifically for Chuck, Kristi, Cade, Mason, Zane and Kristi's
family. Psalm 139:13 says that it was God who created Kristi and He knows her the best. And James 5:16 says
that the prayers of the righteous are very effective. Let's continue to pray with faith even in the midst of troubling news.

This is an email sent from their sunday school leaders to the prayer group this evening (Friday)

Betsy and I had the opportunity to visit with the Walkers this morning. When we arrived, they took Kristi for a mammogram. This took about an hour. When she returned, Kristi was needed to rest and when spent just a few moments with her. Her spirit and attitude is great. She is determined to fight. The plan when we left today was for her first chemotherapy treatment to take place late this afternoon or tonight. Beyond that, details will be forthcoming.
We did spend time with Chuck. Both Kristi and Chuck are most appreciative of your prayers, love, calls, emails and concern. Every time we talk or see them, they want you to know how much they love and appreciate you. Two important items of prayer. Chuck plans on spending tonight with the boys. Kristi's mom, Anne, will be staying at the hospital. Chuck will begin to share(not in full detail) with Cade ( the 4 year old) more about Mommy's sickness. Then Chuck and Kristi hope to talk more with Cade tomorrow. Pray for all of them.

This is an email sent this evening (Friday) to the prayer group at church...it has

Attachments:

kristi.jpg

BURRR It's COLD!

WOW! Fall has hit our area and fast!! We went from being in the 60's at night and low 80's during the day to being in the 30's at night and 50's-60's during the day overnight!! Of course, everyone now has a runny nose and cough. We literally switched from air conditioning to heat in the same day. We're definitely ready for cooler weather, just maybe not quite this cool. We're hoping that Halloween night isn't freezing, so that Demi will get to enjoy her first year trick-or-treating. Nothing like a quick, unexpected shopping trip to Target for a jacket and some pants for Demi to wear to Rhonda's! "BURRRRRRR" as Demi says!

Friday we'll be heading to Nana & Papa's. The weather has been a little warmer down there, but not much. Daddy and Papa are heading to the NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday. They are very excited. NASCAR is one of Daddy's accounts and he was able to get VIP passes that will allow them to head to the garages of each driver, pitts, etc. (pretty much anywhere they want to go, they will have access). Neither of them are big NASCAR fans, but they are ecstatic about going. Must be a guy thing....well it's definitely a guy thing.....fast cars, headphones to listen to the drivers, the smell of rubber and gas..... Demi, Mommy & Nana will more than likely just hang out and relax at the house while the boys have fun! We'll be heading back Monday afternoon. The rest of this week is CRAZY to say the least so this will be our last post. We hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Pastor Jay Honored!

Congratulations to our Pastor, Pastor Jay Stewart!! He was just named one of the 25 most influential people in Cabarrus County!!! What an amazing honor. How wonderful it is to have our Pastor right along side the millionaires of this town, but for a totally different type of success. He's no millionaire here on Earth, but definitely has treasures awaiting him in Heaven. You can read about him by clicking the link below

http://www.cabarrusmagazine.com/content/portals/27/backissues/cbm-2008-10.pdf

You will find Pastor Jay on page 17.

We are honored to be a part of The Refuge and the impact it is having on this community! Congrats again Pastor Jay!

A Busy Weekend!

Our relaxing weekend, turned into quite a busy one! We had planned on taking it easy and not doing too much, since we'll be heading to Atlanta next weekend, but things changed. Friday we headed to Casa Grande for dinner yum, yum! then decided to head over to walmart to take care of the non-grocery part of our shopping list. On the way home Christy called to see if I might want to head to Winston Salem Saturday morning to help her with her registry. If you know me, you know I can't say no to shopping, especially baby shopping, so I agreed to meet her.

Saturday morning I headed to Winston while Demi and Daddy headed to Daddy's office to drop off some boxes of contracts he got at his Area Manager's meeting Friday. Christy and I had a great time picking out all of her baby stuff. It's amazing what they have come out with since I had Demi! It was really different for me to be looking for boy stuff! After shopping/registering we headed to Christy's favorite K&W for lunch. That's when Christy remembered that Linens & Things is going out of business so we headed over to check it out. Everything was only 10-20% off which was disappointing. We decided they will have to mark everything down more than that at some point so we didn't buy anything. After that I headed back to Charlotte to meet Daddy & Demi for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings! (Can you believe it!!! I'm almost 9 weeks pregnant and eating BWW??!!) I'm so excited to just be eating!

Sunday we headed to church for another excellent service. Every Sunday we fall more in love with The Refuge! God has definitely lead us to an excellent church. It's more than we could ask for. So at today's service we were given cards to use to do random acts of kindness. On the cards it says "You've just received a random act of kindness from the love of Jesus Christ, there are no strings attached, just wanted to make your day" on the back is info about The Refuge. Wes was dying to use them so tonight as we headed through the McDonalds drive through we paid for the people behind us and gave the cashier one of the cards to give them when they pulled up to pay. I have to say it made us feel so good inside to do this for them. We also have a "Thanksgiving Project" in mind that we plan to do as a family....more on this later. Anyway....after church we decided to trim hedges, cut down the day lilies and put down one last layer of pine straw until spring. We also over-seeded the yard so we pretty much wrapped up yard work until March!

Now we're just sitting here on the couch watching the King family in Charlotte see their new home on Extreme Home Makeover. We love this show!! and it's really cool to see a family from our area get a new home and daycare. We hope everyone had a great weekend, we're heading to bed, yes at 9pm, we've got a busy week/weekend ahead:) Good night!

A Message from Kenya!

Yesterday, we were so excited to get our first letter from our Compassion child Peter! In his letter he told us about his family, their home, and his school. He also sent us some pictures he had drawn and a little of his school work! He told us that he will pray that God watches over us so that we can help his family. He asked us to pray that "I get God's protection all of the time". How amazing....a 5 year old little boy who has nothing is going to pray for us, the least we can do is as he ask, and pray that he always have God's protection in his country. So we're asking you to keep him in your prayers too. God please keep Peter and his family safe each and everyday and may we touch their hearts all the way from the US!

Pastor Jay has said many times, "People of nothing, live much more simple and happier lives, and often spend much more of their day worshiping God, than those with much, because they have to depend on the Lord for everything, even thier next meal." WOW, we saw this first hand today. Peter has none of the material items we have here, but is so happy with what he does have and loves the Lord with all his heart......and he's only 5!! Simply Amazed...

Congratulations Christy & Reed!!!

Christy and Reed found out today that Baby Blackburn is a BOY!!!! Congrats guys! We love you!

Wes, Chasidy, Demi & Baby Parker

Pumpkin Patch Weekend

We had a great time this past weekend at Patterson Farms!! Of course, they called to show the house at 10am so we hurried out, and went to eat an early lunch then we were off to the patch! Demi loved the petting "zoo" area and the hayride was also a highlight, as expected. We picked out the perfect pumpkin, which we will carve a few days before Halloween, then finished off the trip with some ice cream, yum yum!! We were all exhausted when we got home and everyone took a nap.

Sunday we headed to church. We've been out of town the past 2 Sundays so we were excited to be there! Pastor Jay had gone to Atlanta do perform a wedding for a family member, so Huntsville Masters Commission was there! They were awesome! We really enjoyed them! They are a group of "students" whose job is to spread the word of God. They do this through their own testimonies and skits. If you haven't seen them you should check to see if they are going to be in your area. After church we headed to lunch and then spent another afternoon just relaxing, which was GREAT!

We hope all of you had a nice weekend as well. Lots of pictures are being uploaded as we speak. Not sure if they will be posted tonight, but check back they will be up in the next few days.

Back from Nana & Papa's

We're back home from a great visit with Nana & Papa. We can't wait to see them again in a few weeks!

Friday Demi was an absolute angel the whole way down to Atlanta. She usually does ok in the car, but after a long day at Rhonda's she isn't usually up for a long ride. We stopped for dinner on the way and arrived at Nana & Papa's around 9pm. Nana had a new baby and bassinett for Demi. Demi played with her babies and that bassinett until 11pm. She absolutely loved it!!

Saturday we headed to the Scarecrow Festival in Alpharetta. Demi made her own pumpkin, we went on a hayride, and ate a yummy lunch! We had a blast. After the festival we headed home so Demi could take a nap and the boys could watch football. Carolina and Kentucky were both playing so they didn't mind Nana & Mommy leaving to go shopping. We searched for Demi's Halloween costume, which we found and it's adorable. Demi is going to be Tinkerbell. Of course, as soon as we got home we put it on her and took lots of pictures! We also actually bought crib bedding for Baby Parker #2. I know, I know, it's so early, but we found exactly what I was looking for, and it will work for a boy or a girl, so we got it!

Sunday we went to breakfast then took Demi out to Lindsay's barn to see the horses. She loved to pet them, but wasn't too sure at first about riding. After we all cheered for her she loved it. After lunch we loaded up and headed home. Thanks for a great weekend Nana & Papa. We'll see you again for a long weekend in a few weeks:)

Happy Birthday Auburn!!

Happy 4th Birthday Auburn!!!! I wish I was there to celebrate with you!! See you soon!

Love,

Demi

We're off to ATL

We're on the way to Nana & Papa's house as we speak. It's been quite a while since we've been to Atlanta so we decided several weeks ago to head down this weekend. We'll be going to the Alpharetta Fall Festival tomorrow. Demi is sure to love it! We'll be there in about 3 1/2 hours.....for now it's Finding Nemo for the 100th time and hopefully some much needed rest on the way down. Have a great weekend :)

16 months old!

It's so hard to believe that Demi is 16 months old today!! Time just seems to go by faster and faster. Our little baby is turning into such a Big Girl! She's talking as much as the 3 year olds at Rhonda's. It's amazing. She still loves to be outside and with the beautiful weather we've been having she's been out quite a bit. She is definitely keeping us busy, but we love it!

This past weekend we headed to Pittsboro for Robin's wedding at Farrington. Demi loved the band and most of our pictures are of her dancing. She did really well, especially since it was a 6:30pm wedding. Congrats Robin & Jim!

Congrats Jessica & Rick on Baby Parks too! We found out this weekend that along with Christy & myself Jessica is also expecting. She's due May 1st. Looks like Baby Parker is about to have 2 playmates. The beach trip next year will be filled with babies! So not only did Robin get married, but she also found out she's going to be a Grandma the same day:)

The House: Everyone is asking what is going on with the house. Well, we've actually had a lot of showings the past 3 weeks. We've had 2 alone this week. We already know of one coming up on Thursday and another Saturday. So it's showing. We'll see what happens. We've decided since we don't need to move anymore we aren't lowering our price. We've put a lot into our home and we're not willing to give it away, no matter what the market is doing. If it's in God's plan for us to move it will happen, if not we'll welcome home our new addition right here!

Updated

Baby Parker's page is pretty much up to date now. All pregnancy updates for the next 9 months will be posted on that page. Just click Baby Parker #2 at the top and it will take you there! Enjoy!!

BABY PARKER #2 IS ON THE WAY!!

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly. We're very excited to announce that we're expecting our second little one!!!!! Baby Parker #2 is due to arrive around May 25, 2009. Yep, that means we'll be the parents of 2 children under the age of 2, but only for a few days :)

Over the next several days we'll be working on adding a second page to this site just for the pregnancy and all of the updates that will come along over the next 9 months. More details coming soon......for now a very tired Mommy to be, needs to go to bed. Good night :)

Our newest family member

It's official!! We're the new Compassion parents to a precious child of God, named Peter. Peter is 5 years old and lives in Kenya. He is one of 6 children in is home. Peter is often responsible for carrying water to and from his home. Can you imagine a 5 year old responsible for the family's water? In a few weeks we will get more information on Peter and of course we'll share. For now, you can go to https://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/ChildBioPrint.asp?Child=KE7450254&DevAct=Null to see a picture of him and learn a little about him. We are so excited about this opportunity to make a difference in Peter's life. Over the next several months we will begin communicating with Peter and his family. We've been told we are about to enter the most special bond we've ever experienced. Chasidy's goal is to make the trip with Compassion to Kenya to actually meet Peter and his family sometime in the next 2 years. We know that God will show us what our "job" is and how we are to help Peter and his family. Compassion International still has thousands of children that need a "Compassion Family" be sure to visit them if you are interested. Please remember Peter in your prayers.

Happy Birthday GK!!!!

Happy Birthday GK! I wish I was there to celebrate with you! I can't wait to see you this weekend!

Love,

Demi

Happy Birthday Aunt Elaine!!!

We'd like to wish our favorite aunt, Aunt Elaine, a very Happy Birthday!!!!!! Wish we were there to celebrate with you!!! We love you!

GAS Prices, weekend plans, & an update

WOW! Hurricane Ike sure is causing gas prices in our area to climb, and we're assuming this is pretty much the case everywhere. This morning on the way to work gas was $3.64 a gallon and there was no line at the pump. Mommy's gas light actually came on, but she was running a little behind and decided she'd stop to get gas on her way home. BAD IDEA....at 2:30 this afternoon the same station was $4.60 and was lined up into the street. Mommy stopped and got 1/2 a tank after waiting in line for more than 30 minutes. GRRRR!! It's amazing to see the prices around here go up so quickly. Some stations are getting close to $6.00 a gallon while several others are totally out of gas already! We hope none of you shared this same experience today. It was frustrating to say the least, especially on a Friday.

We're excited about this weekend.....tomorrow we plan on relaxing, maybe taking Demi to the pool and then we are going to attend the 6pm church service at The Refuge. Sunday The Refuge is doing a Community Outreach so instead of attending our regular service we'll be out in the community doing all different types of "acts of kindness". We signed up to be at a local grocery store. We'll do things like help people to their car, load their groceries and push carts for the elderly or anyone for that matter. We're going to just show kindness and let them know that Jesus loves them. We're EXCITED!! It should be a great weekend for all:) After the outreach we're meeting our best friends Stacy & Jared for lunch!

Ok, to back up a little bit............We had our first house showing on Tuesday. According to our agent, the couple absolutely loved the house, but are trying to decide if our neighborhood is too far from their downtown Charlotte jobs. They are scheduled to come back for a second showing Tuesday. Are we excited?? Well, not really.....we've been telling you about "signs" we've been shown that we should not move to Hickory, and today we got the "final sign". Wes was offered an Area Manager position right here in Concord with 150 more cars than he has in Hickory!!! Of course, he accepted and starts Monday. We are so thankful that his drive to Hickory each day will come to an end today!!! God's blessings are so evident in our lives right now and it's an awesome feeling! So what if the house sells next week? We've decided that if the couple does indeed decided to buy our house, then it is God's will for us to move. We will most likely move into an apartment for a short period of time, and really look around before buying another home. We've even talked about just buying a larger home right here in Moss Creek. We love our neighborhood, but with so many others going up in this area we want to take time and look at all of our options. We may be getting a little ahead of ourselves and there are so many "what if's", so we've completely put this entire "moving issue" in God's hands. We will go where he leads us. We'll keep you up to date and we hope all of you have a great weekend:)

**Be sure to check out compassion.com in our favorite sites. Chasidy's heart has been touched by this ministry. Our newest family member coming soon.........

Attachments:

gas prices in Charlotte are on the rise!

A weekend of WINS!

What an exciting football weekend it was at the Parker house!! First ECU shut out West Virginia on Saturday and then on Sunday the Panthers pulled off a win in the last seconds of the game!!! WAY TO GO PIRATES & PANTHERS!!

We did decide to head over to the car show @ Lowes Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. The weather was beautiful! which was great since Hanna had been predicted to bring some wind and rain. We had a great time and saw lots of cool new & old cars. Demi had a blast. She was able to run all over the infield. She was completely exhausted, to say the least, when we got home. (check out the pic of her on the couch!)

On Sunday, we headed to church and then to Chili's for lunch. It was a great service. It's amazing what God is doing in our lives at The Refuge. We've only been attending for about a month, but it's so evident of his works upon us. We are starting a class called ETS on Thursday that will lead to membership. We're really excited! Neither of us have ever felt the way we do at The Refuge, at any other church. God's presence there is amazing! It's pretty much indescribable.

At this point, there is no change with the house status. We will keep it on the market through the contract, which ends in January, but we really no longer want to move. We've found such Peace with where we are in our lives and no longer think moving to Hickory is the right choice for our family. Amazing how God works isn't it...... Have a great week!

Not even a drop of rain

Well, it looks like Hanna has passed and we didn't see one drop of rain. We were projected to have 40-50 mile an hour winds and 3-5 inches of rain, but nothing. Just lots of clouds and maybe a little wind. While we could definitely use the rain, we didn't want the flooding and wind damage we saw last week all over Charlotte from Gustav. So it looks like our weekend plans of sitting inside and watching movies on a rainy weekend have changed :) YEAH!! We're thinking of heading over to the car show at Lowes Motor Speedway. (Daddy really wants to go!) We hope all of you also had a "better than expected" experience with Hanna. Have a great weekend!!

Congratulations Mrs. Rhonda!!!

Congratulations to Mrs. Rhonda!!! She became a Grandma this weekend to Claire Elizabeth Peters. Claire was born Saturday August 30th at 11pm. She weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 20 inches long. She is Mrs. Rhonda & Mr. Mike's very first grandchild, so she's sure to be as rotten as Demi!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Dennis!! I hope to see you this weekend.....we'll go to Nakato for your birthday!!! Love, Demi

Daddy & Mommy too

Back from the beach!

We're back from the beach and we had a great time!! It was adventurous to say the least.....Alicia & Kaylee flipped the golf cart, and thank goodness they were ok! ......and Demi decided to test out her swimming skills by jumping into the pool by herself without her lady bug on. She was ok as well. She actually knows how to swim under water from her lessons at 6 months so she was on the surface of the water, but she doesn't know how to come up for air. Mommy reached in, grabbed her, and pulled her out. Demi just looked at us and didn't know what all the commotion was for. She's so brave and definitely not afraid of the water. We're looking forward to her second set of lessons this winter, where she will learn to come up for air. She has absolutely no fear, which is great, but it's also proven to be a little scary at times.

Other than our 2 "events", the beach was very relaxing! It was great having Tracy and the girls in the condo next door. Auburn was instant entertainment for Demi. They played so well together. Now we're back home unpacking, getting some laundry done & heading the the grocery to get ready for this week. We have lots of pictures to share....they will be posted later this evening:) We hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! and....

WAY TO GO PIRATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday Aunt Charlene!!! We're thinking about you!

Love,

Wes, Chasidy, Demi, Tracy, Alicia, Johnna & Auburn

15 Months Old!

Demi is 15 months old today! WOW! time continues to fly by! Mommy & Daddy are wondering if or when it will ever slow down! She's growing up way too fast! You never understand how quickly time passes until you have a child of your own.

Demi is talking up a storm! The only time she stops is when she's sleeping. She's RUNNING faster than ever.....we both can't keep up:) There is never a dull moment at our house to say the least. She's got a whole mouth full of teeth at this point. She won't let us get a good look to actually she how many, but she LOVES to brush them. She's amazing, simply amazing.

All Packed Up!

We're almost all packed up and definitely ready for the beach tomorrow. We're heading to Myrtle Beach with Aunt Tracy, Alicia, Johnna & Auburn. Demi will be so excited to see Auburn!! Daddy is off tomorrow so he can run around and get some things done. Mommy and Demi will get home about 2:30 and we're off :) We hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day!

A BUSY week

It's been quite busy around the Parker house this week!! Chasidy returned to work and is actually pretty excited about her new position! Not only does she have amazing technology in her classroom, but also an assistant, which is GREAT! She spent all week getting her lab ready and preparing for the kids to come back Monday. It was exhausting to say the least! Getting up at 5:30 has been tough for both Demi & Mommy, but being home each day by 2:30 will be super! Ready or not, it's back to reality on Monday!

Today Wes had an area outing at Lake Lure from 4-10pm. After seeing the agenda, we decided it was best if Mommy & Demi didn't go. There were lots of kid friendly events planned, but they were aimed more for older kids. So while Daddy was gone.......Mommy and Mrs. Stacy hung out. After a trip to Babies R Us to look at some new baby items, we met up with Jared for dinner at Fatz, YUM!

Not much planned for tomorrow. We're heading to church at a new church, The Refuge, we've recently started to attend. We REALLY like it! It's everything we could ask for and we're thinking this may be where we're meant to be. It's only 5 minutes from home, which is great. We really like the church we were married at in downtown Charlotte (First Baptist), but it's not close to home, which makes it difficult with Demi. After church we're planning on relaxing before our next busy week begins! Friday we're off to the beach for Labor Day:)

As for the house.....still no showings.....and we're actually fine with it. That, along with a few other things (or what we call signs) is leading us to believe that we are where we should be. Several things have happened, such as finding The Refuge for one, that are making us feel like our lives are here and that we don't want to move. It's really strange, but we both had a complete change of heart about moving at the same time. We literally looked at each other one day and both said, "I'm not sure we should move" We're going to leave the house on the market for the contract term and see what happens, but at this point we're following our hearts and putting it in God's hands.

A few new pictures were added tonight. Still lots more to come, just no time to get them on. We'll add them soon! Have a good week & Labor Day Holiday:)

Mommy's back to work

So, today was Mommy's 1st day back to work since June. She was very hesitate to go back for many reasons. Starting a brand new position at a new school can be scary, but today went surprisingly well!! Mommy is the 21st Century Technology Teacher for Kannapolis Intermediate School, which was just awarded a 1.6 million dollar technology grant. Walking into a classroom that had the most up to date technology was quite refreshing:) It's amazing how "interactive" her classroom is. As you can imagine, 1.6 million dollars can do a lot for a school's technology advancement. Going in today, Mommy didn't know a whole lot about the position, (neither did the school for that matter.....it's a grant funded position that is brand new this year) but after learning some new information today she's pretty excited. Yep, excited.........for now anyway. The rest of the week will be spent decorating the classroom and preparing for the arrival of her students on Monday. Only time will tell if this was the best career move, but as of now it's looking pretty good!

As for the rest of the family, Demi went back to Mrs. Rhonda's full time today. She wasn't too excited about getting up this morning at 6am, but Rhonda said she had a great day. We expect her to be exhausted by about Wednesday from such a drastic schedule change, but she'll get back in the routine. Wes has been busy, busy, busy at work. He's loving his new position and was happy to have the whole family up with him this morning so he didn't have to get dressed in the dark. We have lots of new pictures to post, but it may be this weekend before that gets done so keeping checking back :)

Food for Thought.........Thought I'd Share

WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.'

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world. Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.

The angel then said to me, 'This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them. 'I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. 'This is the Acknowledgment Section,' my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed 'How is it that there is no work going on here?' I asked.

'So sad,' the angel sighed. 'After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments ..'

'How does one acknowledge God's blessings?' I asked.

'Simple,' the angel answered. Just say, 'Thank you, Lord.'

'What blessings should they acknowledge? ' I asked.

'If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.'
'And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity. '

'If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day .'

'If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... y ou are ahead of 700 million people in the world.'

'If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world .'

'If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare .'

'If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair.'
Ok, what now? How can I start?

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, remind everyone else how blessed we all are.......

Oh...one more thing

Over the past year we've made several photo books for different occasions. We found a link to add them to this site today, so we've added them. Many of you heard of these books, but never had the chance to see them. Now you can view them here! If you scroll down the home page they are closer to the bottom. Yeah!!.....this site change isn't so bad after all:)

Something New

We've added a few new pages to this site. They are still under construction, but we're working on them. At the top you will see a new link for About Us and Collage. Check them out and let us know what you think :)

She's EVERYWHERE!

Whew!! Demi is keeping us BUSY!! She's EVERYWHERE!! She has recently learned to climb up on the couch and thinks she is such a BIG GIRL! sitting up there watching TV. She's also climbing up in the chairs in the dining room and on the guest bed. Mommy has caught her trying to put her leg up on the side of the crib the past few mornings. We hope she's not going to try to climb out anytime soon!! Her newest trick is to try and open all of the closed bedroom/bathroom doors (that we obviously keep closed when she's running around). Once she masters this, I'm not sure what we'll do to keep her out of certain rooms. I guess we'll go buy the door knob covers we swore we wouldn't put in our house. Cabinet locks.....you can forget it, she already knows how to open them. We can't do anything but smile as we watch her. She's too smart for her own good! It's amazing! that such a little person is so BUSY!! Must be why she's been sleeping 12 hours a night and taking a 3 hour nap each afternoon.

Demi is also developing quite a vocabulary! NO is now a word she knows and uses often. She has learned to say and find her ears, hair, eyes, mouth, & nose. She's very quick to point these out on any person we may pass in the grocery. She loves to look at pictures of herself and says "Demi". "All done", "Yes", "Thank you", "Big Girl", "Please", "Cup", "GO", "Beach Ball", "Shoes", "Book", "Doggie, ruff ruff", "Kitty, meow", "Nap", "Pappy" (which is her paci), "Blankie", "Outside"........are many of the words we hear throughout the day, the list could go on and on.....it seems there are several new words each day!! We're expecting her to learn so many more once she's back at Rhonda's. She loves to copy everything Jackson & Olivia do, so they teach her quite a bit.

Chas's Interview

Mommy's interview with Novartis yesterday went great! After spending about an hour with the General Manager, he told her she is indeed a perfect candidate and he is very interested in bring her on board. Only one problem, the hiring freeze! Novartis is still under the freeze due to bringing a new CEO on board. The freeze is territorial and is still expected to be lifted early September. At this time, noone knows which territories will be lifted first or even exactly when. So right now it's pretty much a waiting game. The GM that Mommy met with yesterday is going to talk with another GM who may have a position he can hire for at this time. The territory would be north of Hickory, but borders the Hickory territory which she interviewd for. If that position is still available, Chas will be meeting with that GM hopefully this week or next regarding that position.

Chasidy is just really excited that she finally was asked to do an in-person interview and that things at least seem to be in the "works". The Pharmaceutical field is not an easy one to get into so this was a big accomplishment for her! The GM she met with yesterday told her not to get discouraged, as the hiring process takes quite a long time and the freeze just adds to that.

So Monday, Chasidy will start her new Technology position with Kannapolis Schools. She is excited to be trying something new this year, and to be in a new school system. If offered a position with Novartis she would obviously resign and take that job. Just wanted to update everyone on this process, as many of you called yesterday to see how things went. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers during this LONG process.......that doesn't look to be getting any shorter :)

UPDATE: The second position outside of Hickory the GM was checking on, has been filled. So at this point the wait is on the for hiring freeze to end. Lets hope it ends sooner rather than later. Chasidy is excited about this opportunity, but at the same time, this situation is frustrating. When the time is right, it will all fall into place :)

Oh, and we're having an Open House this weekend for the house............we shall see what that brings.

Quick Update

WHEW! We think everything is finally fixed back to normal with the site. We decided to keep www.duncanparkerwedding.shutterfly.com since it was our original address and so many of you requested it. We'll do our best to update here and hopefully no more surprising changes from Shutterfly!!

So tomorrow is Mommy's BIG interview!! She's extremely excited. No new news on the house at this point. We'll post more later. Just wanted to let everyone know of the site change:)