The Reveal!

We found out we are having a boy the week before Christmas!  Sean and I were traveling up to Arkansas to spend Christmas with my family, and his parents were staying here in Texas to be with his brother and Kristi's family.

We knew we wouldn't see them on Christmas, so we made plans the Saturday before we left town for Jack and Sheryl to come over for lunch and our gift exchange.  We made yummy turkey chili and salad.  Graham crackers with Nutella and marshmallow creme for dessert (don't judge - they are sort of amazing!).

When they arrived, I asked Sheryl to come back and see the nursery.  She has seen the room (obviously) but she hadn't seen the dresser in person yet.  So that's what I used as my excuse to lure her back there.  Sean said something humorous to his dad to get him to follow behind.  Jack is who helped us pick the dresser up from the antique store, so he had already seen in.  We walked in the room, then turned around where the dresser was.  She admired the dresser (soon to be changing table) and then reacted to this...it took her a second to see it!

You see, Sheryl has made it very well known that she was hoping for a little girl for us!  Sean's brother Kevin and wife Kristi, already have 2 little boys.  We had to throw some humor in the fact that we knew she was hoping for pink, but in turn...more blue :)  She was thrilled regardless, and so was Jack! Yay for more boys!

After lunch, with our very full bellies, we opened gifts and then enjoyed an afternoon full of name humor.  That's right, we had a pretty hilarious time thinking of names for our baby.  It didn't start out funny, but as the day went on, it just turned into a silly game.  Who could think of the craziest name!  I remember vividly doing this the last time my mom was in town as well.  She, SP and I sat around one evening laughing at all the names we could come up with!  Who knew something so important and possibly stressful could end up causing so many good laughs!

Monday morning, SP and I left for Arkansas.  When we arrived, we couldn't wait 5 minutes before giving my mom a special gift.  My brothers weren't even in town yet, but we just couldn't wait!  So Sean did a typical Sean Parks thing (funny man)...he snuck a gift on the fireplace and said to my mom, "What's this? How did that get there?"  My mom had no clue what he was talking about, it wasn't a present she had wrapped.  And I just rolled my eyes with a big smile and said, "It's for you, Mom." We told her we got her a thanks for hosting all of us gift.  Ha, yea right!  J/k :)  Inside the tiny gift bag was this...

A Cabela's onesie :)  Why camo attire you ask?  Well, you see...my mom from the moment we told her we were pregnant just knew my dad had a hand in this and picked out baby our special.  Well, I about fell off the table when I saw it was a boy!  I mean, of COURSE my dad would pick out a boy. OH no!  A mini Fred!  God help us!  I kid I kid.  My dad's favorite store was Cabela's.  So it just had to be the way we told my mom about this.  It was the absolute perfect gift and definitely Fred Traylor approved!  She was so excited and overjoyed!  We don't have a first name picked out yet, but because of all of this falling right into place with my old man, our son will hold his middle name, Loyd.

Let me just list why we are all so confident my dad's large hand is right in the middle of this baby:

1 - We found out 3 months after his passing we were pregnant.  This means, our baby will be born around June 10, 2014.  My dad passed June 18, 2013.  This is his way of giving us something beautiful to look forward to when he knows we will all be mourning him heavily during this time.

2 - IT's A BOY!!!

3 - His legs are long!  Everyone noticed it when we got our surprise 15 week sonogram.  We didn't really know any different because it was the first sono picture we had ever really studied.  

4 - The most recent discovery... HIS LEGS ARE LONG!  We just had our anatomy scan yesterday (19w1d) and my goodness!  He's already running out of room I think!  (ah! help!)  Apparently he is around 12 oz and weighing in a week ahead.  Oh lordy!  My dad was about 6'4.  Sean's dad is over 6'0, and SP is 6'0!  I have always wondered why God gave me such a large rib cage.  I think I now know why, eeek!!!

Check out this comparison...

DO YOU SEE THOSE LEGS!!!  O.M.G!!!  I am just waiting to feel those feet in my ribs!  They say any day now!  Just please baby, please be gentle :)

Finding Out Early!!

Sean and I went to our monthly doctor appointment on Wednesday, December 18.  We first met with the financial office and got all of our routine visits with Dr. Allen paid for (woohoo!).  Then, our friend Datril came strolling in (Allen's assistant) and started chit chatting with us for a while.  Nothing pregnancy or doctor related.  Just shootin' the shit type of talk.  We had gotten there early because SP had to be somewhere right after our appointment, so we were hoping to get in early if we got there early.  It worked!  Only, Dr. Allen was still across the street at the hospital!  After about 20 minutes of talking to Datril, so tells us to come on back to the exam room and maybe Dr. Allen would be back soon.  Her c-section was running late.

Dr. Allen wasn't around, still.  I told Datril all was fine with me, and asked her if she could just listen to the heartbeat for us and we could be on our way.  She said she would try, but that she wasn't good with finding it on smaller bellies like mine.  She warned us to not freak out if she couldn't find it.  I had faith in her, so I laid back...and nothing.  She tried and tried, and all she kept finding was my own heartbeat! She went to go find a nurse practitioner to help.  Datril returns, alone.  No nurse to be found.  She tells us to just come back to the Keller office (we were in Grapevine) the next morning to see Dr. Allen since she was still tied up at the hospital.  I was fine with that, but SP had another appointment that morning and wouldn't be able to go.  I really wasn't concerned, but he was a little nervous about the thought of not being there just in case something was wrong.  And he knows me, and knew by the time we went to bed for the evening I'd probably be freaking out.  So he did what any good husband would do...continued to find a solution right then and there.

Next thing we know Datril leaves the room, and pops back in a minute later and says, "Come on let's go! We're going to go get a sonogram!"  I hopped off that exam table as fast as I could get my shirt pulled back down and off we went down the hall!

SP and I had no idea what we were about to be in for!  All we were thinking about was hearing the heartbeat, not really realizing we were getting a full blown sonogram at 15 weeks!  That just doesn't happen unless you are high risk or have complications.

The sonographer put the wand on my belly and BAM....on the screen above was our baby BOY, spread eagle, for all to see!  But she moved the wand away quickly and no one said anything.  Our eyes were looking, but our minds and ears were focused on one thing...that heartbeat!

The heartbeat was there, strong and beating just fine.  Finally I couldn't hold it in and I said, "So is it a boy or a girl?"  Her response, "Do you want to know?"..."YES!", I said.  SP quickly followed with "BOY!", "Yep", she replied.  I literally thought Sean was going to bounce out of the room he was soooo excited! He had somehow convinced himself we were having a girl!  I on the other hand, knew God was aware of how much I wanted a boy, and that he was going to give me just that :)  And he did :)  The next 10 minutes were spent staring at our son.  The sonographer was on her lunch break, but she was so excited for us and enjoying herself, that she kept telling us not to worry about taking her lunch. Such a nice lady.   She took a bunch of pictures and I got my wish...to know the sex before Christmas!!

Datril took us back into Dr. Allen's room and told us we had to keep this as a secret because otherwise the office would make us pay for the sonogram.  Our lips were sealed! Well, within the office anyway :)  She still wanted me to see Dr. Allen the next morning.

After SP and I left the doctors office that afternoon in separate cars, we must have called each other 5 times within 30 minutes, just so excited!   We were having a son! WooHooooo!!!

I went the next morning at 8am to the Keller office.  I had to pretend I didn't know the sex!  It was so hard b/c she kept saying things like, "Your next appointment is the big anatomy scan!  Are you so excited?"  And at one point, I even referred to the baby as he when we were listening to the heartbeat! Whoops!

Here are the pictures from our Wednesday appointment.  She said he measured about 5 oz!  That is a big baby (by 15 weeks, the average is 3 oz, ha!)  My mom always said my dad had a hand in this baby. Well, it's proving even more true.  A boy, and a BIG boy, at that :)  Thanks, Dad :)

Look at those long legs!!

I think he has my pug nose :)

Surprise!  I'm a BOY!

This is him turned towards the camera and his arms are up blocking his face :)  Cutie!!

On January 15th, we get to have the real anatomy scan, and see baby all over again!  YAY!!!

Festive Monday!

On Monday, we went to Sean's office Christmas event.  It was for everyone's families and their clients, as it was a kid-friendly event!  His boss, Carolyn, INSISTED that we take a picture with Santa, as baby's first Santa pic would need to be documented!  And as a grandmother herself, she told me my mother would want this picture (ha!).  So here you go mom...Baby Parks' Santa picture debut!

Afterwards we went and met my cousins in Grapevine for their annual Christmas Light Float Parade!  It was fun to see the floats and all the kids dressed up in cute little costumes yelling out to all of us, "Merry Christmas!"  Boyd wasn't there b/c he was out of town, but SP kept calling him bah humbug regardless, ha!

By the time this ended, SP and I were starving!  So we went to Snuffer's to end the evening with some of their famous cheese fries.  Mmm, tasty!

It was nice to get out and be a little festive.  It's so hard to believe December has already, alllllmost, come and gone!  I remember as a little girl feeling like Christmas was never going to come.  Now, it comes too quickly!  Time needs to slow down.  Yea I know, not going to happen!  Alright, I'm off to wrap some presents.  I think I'll turn on some Christmas music to make it more festive!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

First Trimester

Week 5 
(Oct. 8 - 14, 2013)

Monday morning (Sept. 30). Holy....ummm, am I seeing things?  Wait...another pink line is popping up, right?  I stared at it instead of walking away!  I couldn't help myself. But bc I stared so intently at it, I really thought my vision was going blurry, causing me to see double. I walked away, brushed my teeth, went back and freaked (in a good way!). I paced back and forth, between the bedroom and bathroom, looking up a few times at myself in the mirror and saying "really??!!", while waiting for Sean to get off the phone!  I walked him into the bathroom and just pointed at the test laying on the counter.  We both started to cry! 
Symptoms: Feeling shocked and tired. And nauseous after breakfast.

Week 6 

(Oct. 15 - 21, 2013)

Fatigue. Yep, that's about it. Extremely tired.  Nauseous now after lunch. Wow, still hard to process!

Week 7 
(Oct. 22 - 28, 2013)

Finally our first doctor appointment!  Hearing the heart beat and seeing the little baby(ish) on the monitor was amaaaazing!! Everything checked out great!  There were several things throughout the morning that let Sean and I know my dad was not far from us.  The nurse reminded me of Ty (at MD Anderson), our doctor talked to us about him after asking about the JIT bracelet on SP's wrist, and then after the appointment, we were off to Waffle House!  If you know my dad, then you know why this reminds us of him!  After a yummy breakfast, I hurried home to my spot on the sofa for an afternoon nap :)  Still always tired and nauseous after lunch!

Week 8 
(Oct. 29 - Nov. 4 , 2013)

Sinking in a little more to both of us, but still an odd feeling. Sean still forgets and when we go out to eat, he offers me to get a drink if I want one (as if he had to offer me one before, ha).  Ok, so maybe it hasn't QUITE sunk in for him yet!  Only get nauseas when I eat heavy food. So trying to avoid said food!  Still no sickness!

Week 9 
(Nov. 5 - 11, 2013)
I am no longer able to "suck it in". And my stomach is hard (no not from my 'ahem' awesome abs).  Nausea has subsided and I seem to have slightly more energy. Which is an awesome feeling!  I've consistently gotten up between 4 & 4:30am every night for the last few weeks to use la toilette ://

Week 10 
(Nov. 12 - 18, 2013)
Definitely have more energy, but still am able to take an afternoon snooze on the couch if I let myself (which I normally do!).  We are ready for our 2nd appointment next week!  I sleep like a rock every night, and I love it (except for the double potty breaks, now around 1:30 and 3:30).  Oh, my mom was in town this weekend and we went antiquing and found the most perfect dresser/changing table!  We might have picked up a few paint swatches as well ;))

Week 11 

(Nov. 19 - 25, 2013)

Feeling pretty good!  Some indigestion, but nothing a glass of almond milk can't cure. Still occasional naps.  We had our second doctors appointment on Thursday morning (11/21/13)!  We got to hear the little heart beat again. Baby's heart rate was 169, which Dr. Allen said was very good!  I have noticed I am craving a lot of sweets. Great!  Oh, but I've lost 3 pounds. Hmm, sounds weird, but since I know the days of unstoppable weight gain are coming, I'll take the weight loss for now!  I finally broke down and bought some maternity clothes this week. I had already switched to maternity leggings (which I may never go back to regular ones now!), but I was running low on tops that were long enough to cover the tush!  I should be set for a little while now :) Sean and I can't believe that in just one more week we will be in our second trimester!  Time is flying by so far!  And then I will finally get to post this blog post!!!  Last but not least, I made a little inspiration board for the nursery. The dresser and crib are definites!

Week 12 

(Nov. 26 - Dec. 2, 2013)

Wow. Wow wow!!  This is the last week of my first trimester!  How exciting is that?  I have felt great!  We spent the week in Arkansas for Thanksgiving with my family, and everyone there seems to think we are having a girl...except my Mom, I'm not sure she's given her guess officially yet!  I haven't weighed myself since we got home, but after all that holiday food, I'm willing to bet I'm finally gaining some lbs.  My nephew, Yasha, was sick over the break, so I was a psycho about germs all week!  Still crossing my fingers that we all stay well!  Belly is definitely still growing :)

Christmas Card 2013

I am confident in saying that this is our most exciting Christmas card yet....

Wouldn't you agree?  :) :) :)
WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!

Now that the cat is out of the bag...prepare yourselves for lots of posts about baby!

We wish you the warmest of holidays, wherever you are, & hopefully with your loved ones!

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving was very different this year.  Even though his presence was all around, it just wasn't quite the same without him there.  I am sure nothing ever will be.  But, I think I can speak for my entire family when I say we all felt a greater sense of peace this year over last year, knowing my dad is no longer suffering.  I know nothing would make him more proud than to see all of us together, carrying on the way we always have.  There was no question or doubt in any of our hearts or minds that he was too far away.  He lives in each of us and we constantly remind ourselves of that.  It makes for a lot of good laughs, thinking of my dad and just how entertaining he always was!  We were so blessed to have been able to be all together, on the mountain, the place that he loved the most.  I know we did him proud!

We had a lot of time together!  The DC bunch flew in on Tuesday, and SP and I drove in on that same afternoon.  Viktor and Natasha (Anastasia's parent's) flew in on Wednesday, and Adam drove in late Wednesday evening.  Unfortunately, Christy wasn't able to join us this year because she needed to be with her family.  So by 9pm on Wednesday night, my family was together, under one roof!

The rundown of our week went something like this:

- Cook
- Eat
- Start organizing the barn
- BEAT ARKANSAS!
- Eat
- Cook
- Relax
- Cry
- Work a few puzzles
- Visit
- Eat
- Watch The Hobbit
- Laugh
- Eat some more

Here are some pictures from our week together!

On the road!!

Sean always wants to stop at some hole in the wall type of place when going through all the small towns in Oklahoma.  I usually never let him because I'm always in such a hurry to get there.  But, this time I wasn't in a huge hurry because we were scheduled to arrive at the same time my mom would be gone picking up Shawn, Anastasia, and Yasha at the airport.  So I caved, and I'm glad I did...this burger was really yummy!  We stopped at Wheeler's in Kiowa, OK.  We've eaten here one other time.  

I needed my mom there to help me eat my other half!  SP took care of it - shocker!

Adam, Shawn, Sean Parks

Papa and Yasha playing on the floor, being silly billies (Yasha'ism)

Gorgeous morning on the mountain

This was a hard puzzle!  SCT put the final touches on it.

Best friends :)

Grammy is loving this!

The men folk

GEAUX TIGERS!

There is no other Gumbo like my Mama's!

VICTORY!  We barley won, but we DID IT!

The whole crew after the win!
Adam, Viktor, Me
Natasha, Shawn, Mom & Louis
SP, Yasha, Anastasia

A boy, a mud puddle, and a puppy = a MESS!

One of the messes!  

Love this pic of the buddy!  Future snowboarder!

The best part about ending the week together, is knowing in just a few more weeks we will be back together again!  In the same spot!  More eating, barn cleaning, and togetherness!  I can't wait!

11-12-13 :)

My 32nd birthday was yesterday!  Kinda cool that the date was 11-12-13!

This birthday was perfect, and completely different from any other I can remember! You see, normally I put a tremendous amount of pressure on my birthday.  I love birthdays, and I love to celebrate!  But this year, I just didn't care what we did, and was down for a more "low-key" celebration.  And, I LOVED it!  It was so nice to not stress over who was going to make my party, or what I was going to wear to my party, or where we were going to have my party!  It just didn't matter!  So, let's get on with the day...

Before I could barely even get my eyes open, Sean informed me that I had a video message on my phone. So I rolled over and this is what was waiting...

Perfect way to wake up, if you ask me!  Too much cuteness to even handle with the little buddy!  

Then, Sean made me a yummy breakfast!

French Toast with Bananas & Walnuts, Scrambled Eggs, and leftover fruit salad from our Chik-fil-a lunch
the day before, ha!!

My afternoon was spent talking on the phone, texting, and watching some TV.  Low key, relaxing, and perfect!  So many birthday wishes.  I could really feel the love from my family and friends!  I got this adorable video from my friend Jenn!  It's her 2 year old daughter Elise singing me Happy Birthday :)

Later in the day, these lovelies were delivered....

Thanks, Mom!  They are so bright & cheery!  Best part is you will be here to see them in person tomorrow!!

For dinner, Sean took me to Ponder, TX to eat at Ranchman's Cafe - The Ponder Steakhouse.  This place has been around since 1948, but the actual building has been there since 1903.  WOW!  It was about a 30 minute drive for us, but well worth it, if nothing else, just the experience alone was cool.

The road to Ponder, TX at sunset.  So pretty!

The menu was in a newspaper

We ordered grilled and fried quail.  Of course it came with white gravy!

Not pictured were the delicious fried green tomatoes that we also got!  They were yummy good, and so was the real ranch dressing we had to dip them in!

My chicken fried steak!...Before

After.  I said I was done and then kept taking more bites, whoops!

Full bellies!

I have been craving an oreo blizzard from DQ.  After dinner, SP drove me north a few more miles to Denton to the nearest Dairy Queen for a birthday blizzard!  It was so cold outside, but I didn't care!  I was soooo happy to have my blizzard finally!

It was like heaven in my mouth :)  SO YUMMY!!!!!

We were home, back in our comfy pants, and on the couch before The Voice started at 8!  It was such an awesome birthday.  I wouldn't change one thing about it!

My gift from SP...

I am obsessed with the color!

One day about 2 weeks ago, I walked into our office.  Sean quickly asked me if I saw his computer screen because he had been looking up my birthday present.  I didn't see anything (really!  I didn't!).  A few minutes later, we were hovering over his computer looking at the weather radar.  For some reason, I noticed the advertisement bar across the right side of the screen.  It was KitchenAid mixers. I didn't think anything of it.  I go over back to my computer desk, and about 10 minutes later, I said, "hey babe, I think I know what you got me for my birthday." "WHAT?!"  he exclaimed!  He jerked his head back around to see if he accidentally left a screen up on his computer.  I know I probably shouldn't have said anything, but I seriously couldn't help myself!  I felt guilty that I figured it out!   So he made me tell him what I thought.  I was right.  Silly computer ads gave it away! Needless to say, I didn't care, and was very very very verrrrrrrrrry happy with the gift idea! And even better, now I was able to choose my own color since I already knew what I was getting!  HA!

Here's to another year to me :)  I have a feeling it's gonna be a great one ;)