Parker's First Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas here in Arizona. We were lucky enough to have my Dad arrive on Christmas Eve, Matt's Mom arrived on Christmas Day, and now we are waiting for Matt's Dad who will arrive on New Years Eve. We have so much to be thankful for this year, and it just keeps getting better. We have our beautiful baby boy, we have our family near and far, and Matt's promotion was finalized on Christmas Eve. He is now officially the IT Manager for Hunter Contracting. Things just keep getting better for us. Here are a few pictures from the last few days.

Parker's New Play Gym

Parker's first time at the Bar with Auntie Kiara

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas! Pajama Party at Kiara's house on Christmas Morning

Parker and Taylor (4 mos)

Avery loves her little Brother

Parker's Christmas outfit

Grandpa Doug

Grandma Sandy

Grandma Becki trying to teach Parker to find his tounge

I cannot imagine a better Christmas. I hope that everyone is as happy and blessed as we are.

The Littlest Packer Fan

TOUCHDOWN!!! Yes, he is watching the game and they had just scored.

Parker loves to watch TV just like his Daddy

Last night Parker watched his first Packer game, and he really did watch it. Parker loves to watch TV. Even on his first day he would lay in his isolette at the hospital staring at the TV. I know that newborns can't see that far so I don't know what it is, but he really likes it.

My Boys

Last night we spent the 2nd half of the Packer game at Kiara & Jaimes house. Brody, Jake, and of course Kiara love having Parker around. Kiara kept taking the baby when the boys wanted to hold him so they told her she was a baby hog. Parker was awake the whole time and of course was cute as a button. Jake is convinced that Paker is going to be "awesome just like me" and that he will get all the girls. Jake was so sweet yesterday, he decided he had to many webkinz toys and wanted to give one to Parker. We had him wrap it up so that Parker can open it on Christmas morning. Brody is just in love with his new cousin and very intruiged with the whole baby thing, his umbilical cord, how he eats, what he eats, if he is a brother or cousin. It's so sweet to have them so involved with Parker.

Cameron and Austin are also very into the baby, at least until he went potty while on Cameron's lap. After that they would talk to him while I held him and would play with his hands, but they decided that was close enough. Cameron was at the birth center when Parker was born and although he didn't see him be born, he did see the room after I was taken out and he describes it as WWIII. Cameron and Austin both ask a lot of questions and can understand a lot more than the little boys. Austin was pretty grossed out by the umbilical cord so I offered to save it for him when it fell off, he declined.

Our Little Man is getting so big!!

Parker had his well baby check-up yesterday and not so surprisingly, he is growing like a weed! At 4 days old Parker was 7lbs 12 oz and 20 3/4 inches long. Yesterday, at 10 days old (only 6 more days), he was 8lbs 12 oz and 21 1/4 inches long. That is 1 lb and 1/2 inch in 6 days!!!! I am so glad that he is healthy and growing, and even happier that he waited until he exited my womb before he made this growth spurt.

One Big Happy Family

I didn't get a picture, but wanted to share anyway. I was a bad Mom this morning and started dozing during our 6am feeding so I kept Parker in bed with me. I had him snuggled up on my left arm which is where Avery likes to cuddle. So when I woke up this morning, Parker was snuggled up in my arm and Avery was cuddled below him next to my leg and was using Parker's legs as a pillow. It was really cute.

Tales of a New Dad

Matt loves being a Dad, but is having a hard time adjusting. Here are a few stories of his first week of Daddyhood.

While we were pregnant Matt kept laughing at the thought of me having to get up with a baby during the night. I LOVE my sleep, and don't wake easily. Matt on the otherhand is a night person. We have said this whole time that Matt would be up with the baby at night to bring him to me to feed so that I can get my sleep. This hasn't worked out so well.

We spent Parker's first night in the hospital so Matt slept on a pull our sofa in the hospital room. During the night Parker had a fussy period. He woke up at 11pm to eat and couldn't go back to sleep. By 2 am I was ready to call it a night, but had tried all the tricks I knew and decided to get a pacifier from the hospital to see if that would help. I woke Matt to have him get a pacifier from a nurse. Matt sat up, put his shoes and hat on, and then laid back down and fell asleep. I woke him up again and he sat up, and fell asleep sitting up. The third time I woke him up he did make it to the hallway, but didn't see a nurse so he came back in and went to sleep. I eventually pushed the nurse call button and had them bring one in, but Parker was asleep before they arrived.

Our first night home Parker slept in his bassinet by my side of the bed. That made it hard for Matt to be part of the nighttime routine, so the second night we moved the bassinet to the foot of the bed so that Matt would be able to wake to Parker's cries and bring him to me, and then change him and put him back to bed when he was done eating. Matt knew that he would have a hard time hearing the baby so he actually slept with his head at the foot of the bed, but that still didn't work. I would wake up to Parker's cries and then have to wake Matt up. After that, we decided that it may be best if I am in charge of the nightime duty.

Now, keep in mind the next stories are after I had taken over nighttimes :)

We were supposed to go to my Grandma's house to pick up a roast, but I wasn't feeling up to it so Matt took Parker while I stayed home. Matt got to Grandma's, handed her the baby, and then fell asleep on her couch.

Now this is the funniest story of all. Yesterday was Matt's first day back to work, and he had to work at the Gilbert office which is more formal than the Tucson office. Matt called me at 3:30 pm to tell me he had just realized that he had worn his shirt inside out the whole day. And if that wasn't funny enough, when he got home his shirt was still inside out!! If you click on the picture above you will see the seams on the outside. He said that the day as almost over so he didn't feel like changing it.

Our first few days home

Our first few days home have been very exciting. Parker is growing and changing every day. He is such a sweet and beautiful little boy, I can't imagine what our life was like even last week before he arrived. He has really made us happy (and very tired)!

Parker had his first pediatric appointment on Tuesday, and the Dr. confirmed what we all knew, Parker is perfect. He had gained back all but 1oz of his birth weight by 4 days old, the Dr. was pretty impressed.

Parker is a very healthy little guy, he eats well and has met the milestones that he should for his first few days. He has been trying to hold his head up since he was born, and he is able to hold it up longer and longer each day. He also has very active legs that I try to let him test a bit by pushing against my hands or letting him stand a little.

He is very interested in the things around him. Last night he found the ceiling fan in the bedroom and was amazed by it. He also likes to look out the front window when we are in the recliner. Matt has wanted to buy this play gym for him (before we even knew he was a him), I had told him that Parker wouldn't need it for a while but I may have been wrong. This little man may really like having a play gym right now.

Lastly, I don't want to forget our girls. Avery and Isabella are doing well with the baby. Isabella has really calmed down since Parker arrived. She spends most of her time on the bed, not phased at all by Parker or his cries. Avery is a little more nervous. She is a little jealous of Parker, but we make sure she gets her loves. She also gets nervous when Parker cries. We make sure that both girls get as many sniffs of Parker as they want, and an occasional kiss or two. Overall, they are fine with having Parker around.

Parker James Gilbertson made his debut !!!

Sorry it took so long, here are some pics of our little man Parker James Gilbertson. He was born on 12/12/08 at 2:24am. He weighed 7lbs 13 oz and was 21inches long. He is the most content baby ever, and Matt and I are in love. Kiara got some good pictures of him right after he was born so make sure to check out her blog for those pics http://www.ragoboys.blogspot.com/.

Our New House

Well not really a new house, but the new tile and furniture makes it look like a new house. I love the way everything has turned out. Even Matt is impressed :)

The funny part is that Kiara and I have the same furniture!! Kiara bought the sectional set and we bought the 3 piece set. Mom was also looking for furniture last week and almost bought a set that was really similar, just a different color of suede on the top.

Maternity Pics by Mom

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday. We sure did!!! I've decided Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. This is the 2nd year that we've hosted Thanksgiving at our house and I love it. We've had small dinners both years, but it really nice. Last year we ended up with a party afterwards, so this year we planned one. It ended up raining, but we brought the chiminea up to the patio and everyone sat under the patio with drinks and desert.

I think our afterparty is going ot be an annual thing now, too bad we are getting so old. How do I know that we are getting old????

Matt bought an 18 pack of beer to have for Thanksgiving. Our fridge was full of food, so there was no room for beer. We put it in a cooler with ice on Thursday.... On Sunday there was 14 beers still in the cooler, and still too much food to put any in the fridge. To add a little salt to that wound, we even had company this weekend and still couldn't get rid of the beer. Of course, it would be different if I were able to drink them :)

Our company this weekend was Matt's sister Rachel and her husband Max. They flew in on Thanksgiving for their first visit to Arizona, and we had a very fun, very busy weekend. We took a page from Sandy's book and packed as much as we could into a very short time. Friday morning we took off and made our first stop at San Xavier Mission, we then continued to Green Valley and toured the Titan Missle Museum. Our last stop of the day was at Colossal Cave. We even packed our Thanksgiving left-overs and had a truck picnic at Colossal Cave. The weather was perfect and we met a really interesting old man who had so many stories to tell us.

We continued our marathon on Saturday by heading to the Desert Museum. The Desert Museum is a great place that you could spend hours visiting. We were lucky enough to arrive in time for a raptor free flight show. They had a raven, a couple of hawks, and my favorite was the Great Horned Owl. The owl was the most beautiful bird I have ever seen. The birds were all trained and would fly from tree to tree, right over our heads. Matt had to duck once to keep from getting hit. It was pretty cool. After a few hours at the Desert Museum we headed to Sabino Canyon. We took the tram to the top and walked the 4 miles down. It is such a beautiful place, and was nice to be walking outside. We got there so late in the afternoon it was dark by the time we reached the truck. It was a beautiful place to watch the sunset and the city lights come on.

After a busy 2 days, we spent Sunday the way it was meant to be. At the bar watching football, and then at home watching more football. Both of our teams lost, that sucked, but it was a good day.

Rachel and Max left today, and we will miss them. It was great to have them visit us, and see our life down here. Rachel was hoping the little one would arrive while she was here, and even with all our walking, the kid is staying put for now. But, he/she could be here at any time. Who knows... maybe my next post will be a birth annoucement. Watch now that I've said that I will be pregnant till Christmas. Let's hope not!!!

Nesting to the nth degree

Week 37 Stats

My weight: Still 179 (yay!)

Baby Weight: 6 1/2 to 7lbs per midwife

We had a very productive midwife appointment yesterday. The midwife thinks the baby is around 6 1/2 to 7lbs right now. Not a huge baby, he will be about 8 to 8 1/2 lbs if we go to 40 weeks. Since the midwives use December 18th as my 40 weeks they will let me go until Christmas which may even mean a 9 to 9 1/2lb baby. I would prefer the baby be here between December 8th to 18th. I brought up the option of inducing prior to the 25th last night and she didn't say no :) Our next appointment is on December 8th, and if I am dialated at that appointment we are going to talk about different options to help labor come early. The baby is still "Way down" so I am hoping we don't need help with an early labor and he will do it all on his own.

On the homefront, we got a lot done this weekend. I say "we" meaning Matt. I did what I could, but ripping up carpet, tearing up baseboards, moving furniture, and then crawling around painting baseboards really wasn't up my alley. I helped by doing the sweeping and cleaning when he was done. We also picked out the tile and will have the tiler here next Monday. We are going to leave our current furniture in the house for the holiday weekend and then next week it will be out in the trash! It was amazing how much dust and dirt was underneath the carpet. I am so glad we took it out before the little one gets here. It will much healthier for us all.

Only a couple of days until Rachel and Max are here. We will be spending the weekend sightseeing, even going to a rodeo at the White Stallion Ranch on Saturday. It's supposed to be chilly here this weekend, at least chill for us. It will be nice to be able to cuddle in a sweatshirt and have a fire in our chimenea.

Can you believe we are down to 18 days!!!

We are ready

Week 36 Stats:

My Weight: 179

Weight Gain: 32 lbs.

Baby Weight: 6 lbs ( Holy cow!!!)

Baby length: 20 3/4 inches

Can you believe that we are going to have a baby in the next month??? I am so excited, I would even like it to be like 3 weeks, that would be perfect. December 6th would be a great birthday; if not, December 12th is going to be a full moon. Either way, I am so ready to have this baby here. I am huge, and getting bigger by the hour. I feel bad just posting pictures of me on here, but Matt won't take a picture with me. I've tried for weeks to get some pictures of us together, but he is just not into it. I wanted to get some professional maternity pictures but I'm running out of time for that too. Well, we are planning to have pictures of the baby for our Christmas cards, so we will have family pictures taken when the baby is still very little. Just don't hold your breath for the cards to arrive, they will most likely be sent after Christmas.

As you can see from the pictures above, we have the nursery ready. I still need to get some stuff on the walls, but the neccessities are there. My Mom's friend is going to pain a mural on the wall behind the rocking chair. It's going to be an oak tree from the Pooh books that goes from floor all the way onto the ceiling and branches on both walls. There will also be leaves blowing off the tree above the window. I also have some stick on decals to put along the walls and want to get some picture frames or something. I am not good at decorating so this is the best I can do for now. We also set the bassinet up in our room last week. It took some practice, but I can turn on the vibrate button, the music, light and rock the bassinet all with my feet. I know I will have to get out of bed for feedings, but being able to soothe the baby a little while still in bed will be nice. We had it in our room for a few days, but then I stubbed my toe so bad one morning I thought I broke it. After that the bassinet was moved into the nursery until the baby actually needs it.

We had two appointments with the midwives last week, our regular appt on Monday and our birth plan appointment yesterday. Both times we had a belly check the midwife would check for the position of the baby's head and both said, "Wow, it's way down there". I hoped that may mean I would deliver early, but she said it didn't mean early but that I would probably push less. That would be nice too!

Besides that our lives aren't too exciting. Matt works a lot and the dogs and I sleep a lot. We do have a busy weekend planned. The adoption for my cousin Logan was finalized today so I went to the ceremony and will be heading to Swensons for the traditional family party (Swenson's has an 8 scoop sundae that we used to share when we were kids). After that, we will head to Marana for Tyson's girlfriends daughter's birthday party. I haven't seen Tyson since his girlfriends son's birthday party in September, so that will be nice. We also have a party to go to tonight with Matt's softball team. I will just say poor Matt right now. The party is to watch the fight which starts at 8pm. Matt want's me to go, but I get tired really early which means I will be REALLY crabby. With no caffiene or booze to keep me awake, he may not like me very much by the end of the night :)

Well, time is flying by right now. 2 weeks until Thanksgiving when Matt's sister, Rachel, and her husband visit. 2 weeks or so after that and we should have a baby. Add another couple of weeks and it will be Christmas with both my Dad and Matt's parents here. I cannot believe how quickly time is going.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!