I want to be just like Grandpa

One Saturday we were at my parents home

And Taylor decided he wanted to work out with grandpa

Ashley did a few exercises

Extreme, Extreme..........P90X

Ouch

Hogle Zoo

Last Friday Kristin, my mom and I packed up the kids and went to Hogle Zoo. Since it was supposed to be a nice day we thought this would be a fun activity for the kids. Taylor and Ashley were so excited. We've been talking about the zoo forever and we finally decided to go. The first thing we did was ride the train. Taylor was sooooo excited. I didn't get any other pictures than these two. I should have taken pictures of the buffalo but with Parker in arms I didn't make too much of an effort. Next time.....

We saw a lot of animals but not all. The kids especially loved the elephants. And, we got to see the new baby elephant

My son loves to pose for pictures. Its hard to see but there are elephants in these pictures.



We didn't get to see all the animals. It was a little difficult without dad's there to help with the kids. We only stayed a few hours unfortunately. The kids did get to ride the carousel and play at the playground.





It was a great day. We looked forward to going back and seeing all the other animals.

Happy Halloween

Our Halloween festivities began on Thursday with our ward Trunk or Treat. It was sooo cold! But that didn't dampen my kids spirit. They had so much fun walking from car to car. Taylor was a hunter and Ashley a cow girl.

Parker wasn't so happy to be out in the cold but I bundled him up good and eventually he fell asleep. It was a bit of a challenge giving candy out but we managed ok. My hands were frozen!

Our next Halloween party was Friday at Doug's work. Taylor and Ashley were dressed the same but this time we dressed Parker up as a baseball player. Isn't he cute?
The kids got so much candy. Ashley couldn't carry her bag after awhile it was so full of candy. It was fun seeing where Doug worked and meeting some of his co workers.


That night we had Katelyn and Matt over for dinner. Here's the newest addition to the McCuistion family, Brady Risenmay. We had to get a picture of the two newest boys of the fam. Both sleeping of course.



Last but not least is Halloween day. We carved our pumpkins that afternoon. The kids liked cleaning out the seeds. Ashley got a hold of the knife at one point and tried carving a pumpkin. Luckily Doug came downstairs and stopped her before anything bad happened. What was I doing, oh yeah, making dinner :)

Parker was our cute little baseball player again

Doug didn't like that Taylor was a hunter so we went looking for a new costume and came back with Spider man. Taylor loved his costume so much he wore it for a couple of days. Ashley loved being a cow girl because we put freckles on her face.

Happy Halloween!

EKG and Activity Monitor

Last week Parker had been kind of fussy at night and wasn't wanting to take his bottle. The next day I had the thought to look in his mouth. I saw a little white patch that looked cottage cheesy, so I called the doctor to inquire about it. She told me that it was probably thrush and that's why he was fussy and not wanting his bottle. We went to the doctors office to check it out and make sure that's what it was.

The doctor looked at his mouth and said that it was a cyst and not thrush. That its common for one of their ducts to get clogged and cyst but that it would go away and usually doesn't make them fussy. She checked him over and then asked if she could do some tests. She came back in with a heart monitor and watched his heart for a minute then said she needed to ask Dr. Cornish something. I was getting alittle nervous at this point. She came back in and said that I needed to go to the hospital and have an EKG done. That she was listening to his heart and it was clipping along pretty fast and that could be sign of SVT, an irregular or fast heart beat. She also said that we would need to have an activity monitor over the weekend and then, depending on the results, see a cardiologist. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Immediately I was sick to my stomach. I was trying to be strong and not let my anxiety get the better of me but it was impossible. I took him to Timp hospital where he was hooked up to all kinds of electrodes and the EKG was done. Parker did very well, he sat very still and it took literally 2 secs. The doctor who did the EKG said it was probably nothing and that the test was normal but still needed to be read by a doctor. As comforting as those words should have been they weren't for me. The next day Doug drove to Primary children's to pick up the activity monitor. Here is parker all hooked up.


He wasn't too fond of all the wires. He would often gets his hands caught and would even suck on the wires since they were near his face. He had to wear this for 24 hours. When we took the electrodes off it left little red circles on his chest. It was probably really uncomfortable. I hated seeing him wear this stuff.

This week was just terrible for me. As much as I tried to calm myself I just couldn't stop the worry and anxiety. I couldn't eat or sleep. I felt nauseous and light headed. My mother in law ended up taking me to insta care where the doctor said I was experiencing post partum depression. I had no idea post partum took such a toll on your body. I felt so sick. I couldn't even take care of my children. My inlaws were absolutely amazing. My mother in law took care of me and the kids as well as my sister in law. My mother was out of town visiting her sister who ended up dying of cancer on Monday. I was glad my mom was there to see her sister before she passed away but it was really hard to not have her there. My mother in law did a great job of stepping in and helping me out. I couldn't have done it without her.

We got the results back on Wednesday, was supposed to be Monday...I was so mad, and the tests were all normal. I was so relieved to finally hear those words. I did see my OB earlier that morning for my 6 week check up and told him the situation and he told me that Parker did not have SVT, that I would be able to tell if he did but that Parker looked healthy was growing and that I shouldn't' worry. He made me feel so much better about it but it was so nice to actually here the results were normal. Parker is just a colicky baby. We are now trying Levison drops to see if this helps with the stomach cramping. Poor kids been through a lot.

Parkers Blessing

We blessed Parker on October 18th. He wore the same blessing outfit as Taylor did. Look how much these two look alike, its crazy. Parker is definitely bigger than Taylor was at this age.

We attempted a family picture but Ashley really didn't want to cooperate and Taylor, he's just a goof. I just laughed when I saw how our picture turned out. Now that I look at Taylor's face in the one below, it reminds me of a family picture we took and my brother Jake was making that same face....it became our Christmas card that year.





Parker loves to do this with his mouth as most babies do.

Proud Parents

I love that he is smiling now. I captured this picture and when I looked back at it I couldn't believe how much he looked like his uncle Dave.

Then with this smile he looks just like his daddy.

It was a beautiful day. Parker was happy and he was given a beautiful blessing.

I can't believe that Parker is 1 month old. It has really gone fast and he is changing so quickly. At his two week appointment he weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 20 in long. I was quite proud because all that weight came from me nursing him with only a few supplemental bottles. I did give up nursing though the day before his two week appointment. It was just to hard for me. I tried pumping but that just took too long. 4 days later Parker was weighed again and he weighed 8 lbs 7 oz! I could not believe he put on 6 oz in 4 days. He loves to eat and sometimes can't wait for 3 hours.

Parker is a pretty good baby. He sleeps a lot which gets frustrating when we try to feed him. He falls asleep all the time and it takes 30 minutes to feed him. I thought that bottle feeding was going to help with the long feedings but with Parker it doesn't. I'm happy if I'm back in bed 20 minutes after I started feeding him. With Ashley I remember it only being like 10 minutes.

He's been a little colic but not horrible. His tummy does bother him and he is quite gassy. I've tried different formula and gripe water to help but nothing seemed to work. Now I'm taking him to the chiropractor. He was out right at his bowel. He actually seems to be a little better. He doesn't scream out in pain as much as he used to.

He smiled at me last week. I was totally shocked when I looked down at him and smiled and cooed and he smiled back. I ran downstairs to show Doug but he wouldn't do it again. He's not smiling all the time but every now and then he lets out this big grin. I love this stage where they start to respond to you.

We still aren't getting much sleep at night. Sometimes he only sleeps 2 hours and other times he will sleep 4- but only if he's asleep on my chest or right next to me. I hope this changes soon. I can't seem to get over my sickness and its probably due to the lack of sleep. He's starting to be awake more during the day so I hope at night he'll start sleeping more.


Isn't he a cutie!

We wanted to take this picture because of his little hands. He looks so content

Taylor and Ashley love to have Parker laying on the floor so they can lay next to him and talk to him. Parker loves to watch his brother and sister. It helps me because it keeps him entertained while I try to get something accomplished.



This is his favorite sleeping position. For the first few weeks he and I ended up on the couch and I would have him sleep on my chest. I actually love that he cuddles up like this. I love to look down and his cute, peaceful face and watch him sleep. He's a very active sleeper. He makes lots of noises and grunts a lot! He reminds us a lot of how Taylor was as a baby.