Parker: The inspiration for my first blog

Well, as you may know, I have a bunch of blog posts on MySpace, but I rarely visit my page there so I thought it only fitting to share here some of my past postings.  My first ever blog was written shortly after Parker turned a year old.

 

Going through changes,

Day in and day out.

First you sat, then you crawled,

Now you toddle about.

From bottles and binkies, 

To sippies and spoons.

You've gone through these changes, 

They've happened too soon.

Now here it is, 

The first year is over.

No more Baby Einstein, 

Now its Elmo and Grover!

I love you so much,

And there's more I could say, 

But I will leave it at this, 

Happy First Birthday.

Since Parker was the inspiration for that poem and first ever blog post, I find it only fitting to introduce Parker and share a few of my favorite pictures from his first year of life.  Parker was born on March 26, 2006 while we were stationed at Yokota Air Base Japan, and Jake was deployed.  It was the most difficult thing I have ever gone through.

 

My mom had flown to Japan to be with me when he was born, and she made it in the nick of time.  Mom had only been with me about 28 hours before I went into labor, talk about timing!!

Long story *really* short...I went into back labor at about 2:00 am, emailed Jake telling him that whoever was on the phone needed to get off so he could call me.  The power went out around 3:00 am, and it was terrifying!  Jake ended up having to call and get the ambulance on standby for me!

At about 5:30 am I had had enough and told Jake to get the ambulance to the house...so they show up and we still don't have power.  They're telling me I either have to walk down 9 flights of stairs or they can carry me in a stair chair.  Well, at first I was NOT walking under any circumstances, but at the thought of having to be carried down the stairs, um yea, I quickly changed my mind.  So, down the stairs we go...8 firemen, 2 medics, my mom and I...what a trek!  Stopped on the 4th floor for a contraction and about 15 mins after I left my house, I was finally on my way to the hospital.  (SIDE NOTE:  If you're having back labor, in my experience, it was easier to walk going down stairs than to walk on a flat surface).

 

Finally at 5:00 pm the nurse tells me I can start practice pushing.  Thanks to the help of my mom and Jane coaching me, I was able to focus more on staying calm while the nurses got everything ready.   Jake was on the phone for the long haul, it was almost time!!  So I started pusing, working him down, get him crowning and they finally let the doc in at about 7:00 pm.  Parker entered the world at 7:16 pm, and Jake got to hear his first cries over the phone.  Shortly after, Jane left to immediately run home and email Jake pictures of his new born son!  It was the best day ever!

Today, Parker is an extremely bright, energetic, sometimes mouthy, stubborn and cranky 3.5 year old.  He is big brother *Bubba* to Jackson and he's very helpful when the mood strikes him.