Three Months and Counting

Lately, It seems as though with every day that passes, Parker grows more and more. We recently hit the 3 month mark and already, I can see so many changes beginning to take place. We are starting to slowly make our way through his shots, which means we make quite a few trips to the doctor. As of the last visit, Parker was up to a whopping 16 pounds! Lately, we have been doing a lot of this...

And talking (yes, he is talking) a lot more as well. We spend much of our day in conversations just like this one...

I'm sure he is telling me to please stop trying to make him laugh by doing this annoying thing we call tickling.

I have started settling into my new job. It is still very hectic and I still am learning so much, but at least it's becoming a bit more familiar. I feel as though I work harder than I ever have before, but it is such a different type of feeling and work. I think the hardest part about a new job is feeling new again. After working at the same place for 4 years, I became comfortable. I had my routine. I knew the policies and procedures. I knew how to do things. Now, I'm not only new and trying to learn a new place, but it is a place that is so different from any traditional school I have been a part of or even attended. However, I'm so thankful for that. I'm thankful for the change - a new experience. I'm thankful for the challenge. I'm thankful to work for a place that makes students their top priority.  More than anything, I'm thankful to be able to do every part of my job while staying home and watching my baby grow and experience so many milestones in life. There is not a day that goes by that Ryan and I do not mention to one another how blessed we feel and how thankful we are. It is so amazing and truly humbling how God answers prayers at just the right times in our lives.

In other news, my cousin Heather and her family spent the week with us. Thanks to my job, I was able to spend a lot of quality time with them while they hung out, visited Disney, and spent some time shopping. I don't know who was sadder when they left - me or Parker. This was the first member of my family Parker was able to meet (other than Morfar and Aunt Rachel). They spent so much time loving on him, playing with him, and simply being  a huge help when it came to every day baby tasks. Besides all the help, it was great to be able to spend time together and simply enjoy one another's company. My mom and Heather's mom are first cousins who were blessed to be friends as well. I spent much of my childhood with Heather. I didn't have an older sibling, but I often viewed Heather as the person in that role because of all the time our families spent together. It was nice to get to spend time together, both of us now grown with our own families, realizing how much we really have in common and how we ourselves have grown from family members into friends, just like our mothers were. With Parker in our lives, I am even more thankful now for the family members he has and the heritage he is a part of.

Morfar is in town for the week and we kicked off his visit with a dinner at one of our absolute favorite restaurants in all of Walt Disney, Wilderness Lodge's Whispering Canyon Cafe. This happens to be my favorite WDW hotel and we were able to spend some time enjoying the grounds. Unfortunately, it was raining, as it had been for the entire day, and we didn't get to walk around outside, but the inside is just as beautiful in my opinion.

                                    

We have a lot of exciting things planned for the upcoming weekends in October. I'm sure Parker will have much to say about those events in this blog soon enough. Until then, I will leave you with simple pictures of my baby and just how much he is growing day by day (I know you're excited).