Xmas

Snackin

Parker T

Funny stuff

PTL with Vernita

I'm not sick, I just have congestion and a cough

Camping in the Shenandoah

L'll Mummy

Susannaween!

PTL on the View

Talking back

Meeting The Jewetts

Ahh goo

Fun in the Rainforest...

She loves her baths

You talking to me?

Waxing poetic at baja fresh

Just another day in the life

in the jungle

PTL loving her new Cirque Du Soleil Mobile

Sorry for the delays on Blog updates. Parker is doing great. She had her 1 month Dr appt. and all is well. She is up to a whopping 7lbs14Oz!!!... almost as big as a lot of your newborns :)

She is eating well and sleeping for good stretches in the night.

We are loving every second of her and dreading going back to work full time.

Nona and Big Poppa

Audrey and Parker in a brief moment of coinciding cooperation :)

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

On the Boardwalk...

Parker rocked ocean city. She didn't see the sun, but her first trip to the beach has to be considered a success.

Dr, Dr, Gimme the news

Parker rocked it at the doc, weighing in at 6lbs 10oz! Her reflexes were all good and everything checked out... Off to Ocean City for a long weekend Thurs night.

It ain't easy being 12

Life sure is tough when you are 12 days old. PTL is doing pretty well, she seems to have a tough time in the evenings for a bit, usually right around when we are trying to eat dinner (she is crafty). Other than that her days are pretty regular, lots of sleep and as much snuggling as she can get. We go see the Dr. on Wed, so hopefully everything will check out.

I love visitors

PTL met her Aunt Kt and got to see Grie again. True to form, she slept thru most of it, but was so glad to see them. She said, "Wow, they were so nice to come all the way up here for me, sorry they got stuck in traffic. 95 in the summer is the pits!"

Open Door Policy

Parker (a.k.a."ferocious beasty") is getting super excited to meet everyone. She really enjoyed QT with Nona, AuntT, and cuz Audrey yesterday, but there are still lots of you folks to meet. She says, "just come on over, I may be asleep, but I am cuter then anyway". Grie and Aunt KT are on there way on Friday, but PTL says, " the more the merrier, I may be small but there is plenty of me to go around.... So get off your duffs and come see me, that goes for everyone!!! :)"

Snack time

Little PTL seems to be getting used to this whole "outside world" gig. She is eating more, sleeping tons and only crying from time to time... for now :)

She went to the Dr. yesterday and got high marks all around. She is "healthy" and her head is shaping up just fine. She is still little (5lbs 15.8 oz)but has gained a whopping 0.4 ounces back since leaving the hospital. She has basically mastered the art of peeing and pooping and has an innate sense of just the right time time to show off her skills (like twice at the Dr). She took her first bath in the tub this morning and clearly is not fond of cold water, but otherwise seemed ok with it.

We are loving every second with her and dreading the thought of going back to work.

Getting the hang of things

Well after a rough night on Sunday, PTL bounced back with a gold medal performance on Monday night/Tues Morning. She slept longer and ate better, lets hope that will be the norm.

She has her first Dr.'s appt todat at 3pm... Maybe she'll wake up for that???

Road Trip

We'll we decided to brave the world with Parker in tow. Of course, she was fussy all night and was a sleep machine all day. We went to Babies R Us, to get some "smaller" clothes, and even hit the grocery store (since we had been previously relying on the generosity of the Morgans for nearly every meal). :)
Smooth sailing all around. I think we'll try to keep her up a bit this evening in hopes of all of us sleeping more tonight

Day two

Guess who is getting feisty? Lil Parker is doing great, but not too psyched if she is hungry or carrying a deuce. She ate pretty regularly through the night...sleep is overrated.

Melissa is kicking butt at pumping and being a mom plus holding back the random hormonal tears :)

Parker is home and living large

We brought Parker home from the hospital today, 8/16, around noon. She slept in the car and then went straight to the crib where she is still sleeping. So far, so good??? Melissa is doing well and we are just trying to figure out how to jugge all the fun commitments of pumping, feeding, etc.

Sneak Peak

Parker Tulip Lowden born 8/14/08 at 10:22pm. 5lbs 15 oz, 20 inches. Mom and baby are healthy!!!

The waiting is the hardest part... well maybe not

The contractions are starting to stop Melissa in her tracks. If they come regularly(3-5 minutes apart) we might be on our way. Though having been sent home once, I think we'll wait as long as we can... or maybe this too will pass. Regardless it is good to see some progress. Melissa is relishing the challenge and even doing some work to "protect the homeland".

Thurs 8AM
Well another night of glorious sleep only interrupted by contractions every 15 minutes or so. :)
They are intensifying, but still not "frequent" or "regular" enough to warrant action.

Stay Tuned

Not yet

Well, we thought we were on our way to a meet the little lady, but after a long day, she has not graced us with her presence...yet. Melissa started having contractions Mon night around 4am, but they were mild and irregular. By about 10am the next morning they were pretty consistent. Lasting for 30-60 seconds and coming every 4-8 minutes. So we called the Dr and they had us come into the office. They checked things out and eventually recommended that we head to the hospital. So we headed over there and to make a long story short the Dr ultimately said the contractions were not strong enough or consistent enough (apparently the baby has a stop watch) so we had to choose between induction options and heading home to see if things would progress naturally. We chose the latter and headed home, got some spicy food and watched the Olympics. It is now 9Am on Wed and Melissa's contractions are somewhat more intense, but not yet regular or taking her breath away, so we'll be waiting for those stars to align... TIme for a long walk and maybe some pancakes.

Come on out Parker

Hard to tell for sure, but the wheels seem to be turning!

hmmmmm?

Good Visit with the Dr.
Melissa & PTL are doing great. We got to feel her little melon through Melissa's stomach/pelvis. She is in a good position and the cervix is thinning/shortening or whatever it is supposed to do. Not yet 1 cm dilated though, but the Dr fiddled around to try and get things moving and I half expect something to change shortly. The Dr seemed confident that things might come along naturally b4 our induction date (8/18). So while nothing is happening right yet, there is still hope that the l'il munchkin will visit us sooner than later. Of course the Dr. jinxed us saying that since Melissa was in good shape and that when the time comes, she should not have to push for too long, lets hope he was right about that.
If necessary we will be going to the hospital around 7:30pm on Sunday and hopefully having the baby on Monday!
That is about it. I'll try to get some baby room pics and maybe even a profile pic or two up soon.

Any News?

Gno Gnews is Good Gnews and I'm Gary Gnu.

That's right, nothing yet, but all is well and to be expected. Melissa and I were both late comers, so we expect Parker to follow in our tardiness. Melissa is still feeling good, we hit the gym on Sat and took a long walk around the Mall (Smithsonian/Monuments, not Tysons) on Sunday. We have an appt w/ Dr Hill today at 1:15pm and are hoping for some more info, but little PTL may not be ready to join us. She is still kickin and squirming, but we are as anxious as you all are to meet her. We'll let everyone gnow as soon as we gnow.

Custom Closets

Spoiled already with Custom Closets???

I really hope the Drs. were right about it being a girl, b/c the room is pretty girly!!

Due Date 8/8/08 - Changing table

Here is a sneak peak at PTL's changing table. The room is pretty darned pink!!!

Melissa has done a great job decorating and all of you have made sure we have everything we need, and more. Now we just need the little squirt to show up for her own b-day party!

"Come on out Parker!"

Here's a look at that little monkey kicking herself in the face

Still Working Hard! Melissa is still feeling good. Most everything is done in the baby room, now it is just sit and wait... hopefully not too long

8/5 Update

8/5 Melissa is still feeling good, sporting high heels and hitting the gym.
PTL is moving around in there like a maniac and typically resting on Melissa's right side.
She kicks back when we put her musical giraffe on Melissa's stomach at night. We are supposed to be conditioning her for nighttime/sleep, but it seems to fire her up... she might be a handful.

Our induction is scheduled for 8/18 if necessary. Given our genetics (melissa and I were both late) we may last until 8/18, but we are hopefull of the process kicking off naturally. Unfortunately we doubt we can try traditional kickstarter methods like a long walk or strenuous activity, since Melissa is regularly cranking out miles at the gym, but who knows.

That's all for now

Parker update 8/5

This was the first look we got at our little lady at about 9 weeks. Pretty exciting.