Birthday and Family Photos

A few weeks before Parker's birthday, Auntie Mandy and Uncle Chris came over the Wesley Chapel for a visit!  While they were here, we went to an outdoor mall not too far from our house since it was a beautiful day.  Parker and Mommy took a train ride…

...Uncle Chris loaded Parker with sugar…

…and best of all…I won a photo session!!  There was a little market set up throughout the outdoor mall with various vendors and local businesses.  Kelly Smith from Real Life Photography of Tampa had a booth set up and stopped us to sign up to win a photo session.  I never win anything, EVER, but I put my email address down and sure enough, I won!!  Here are some of the photos what we got from the session:

What a great surprise, and such perfect timing!  Kelly captured this memorable time in our lives so wonderfully, and we are so grateful!

Happy Birthday, Parker!

People have told me throughout my entire life, "enjoy every minute because they will be 18 and out of the house before you know it!"  I hate to admit it, but that statement becomes my reality more and more every single day.

As we prepared for Parker's first birthday party, my first question to Michael: "What theme do you want?"  His response: "What theme?! You do realize he is turning one and won't care."  Yes, Michael, but it is no fun to plan a party without a theme.  Duh.  So he reluctantly chose race cars, and I went to town furiously browsing every pin on Pinterest to find the perfect decorations and party food…obviously.

As the planning began, Parker's Mimi and Papa (my parents) bought plane tickets and started making plans to join us for the party!  We also learned that Parker's Great Aunt Pam and Great Uncle Bob (my aunt and uncle) would be in Florida during the month of January, so they were going to be able to join us for the party as well!  The RSVP's started flying in and we were ready to party!

The food and decorations - Thank you, Pinterest!

Parker's Nana made his awesome smash cake (that he didn't really smash...) and it was yummy!

Parker was not a huge fan of cake being on his hands…

But we gave him a fork, and all was right with the birthday boy!

"Mom, I think I am done."

Parker's Great, Great Grandma (Nee Naw) joined us for the party.  For those of you that do not know, Nee Naw makes the most delicious banana nut bread on the planet, and she was kind enough to not only make some, but share her recipe with us!  She is the best :)

Visitors!  We had visitors from afar to celebrate this special day with us!  My two friends from high school made the 2 hour drive from Deland to make memories with us :)

Lindsey and Kayla!

Great Uncle Bob, Great Auntie Pam, and Pap Paw

"Uncle Chris, Mommy won't let me have any cake!"

Loong, Kristina, Uncle Chris, Jan, and Nee Naw during present time!

Parker getting acquainted with Makayla

We lost the birthday boy at one point for a brief attitude adjustment in his crib (lack of a nap will get the best of him!), but he returned shortly after to continue the party like nothing every happened!  Love this little monster!

Before leaving, everyone was asked to leave their thumbprint to create a balloon collage for Parker to always remember this special day.

It was an incredible day full of laughter, fun, and lifelong memories.  We are so thankful to everyone who was able to join us and for those that were not physically with us, but sent their warm wishes and generous gifts for Parker.  We love each and every one of you and cannot wait to share with you what the next year has in store for us!

All our love,
The Millers :)

Parker is ONE!

I have done a lot of thinking and reflecting over the past few weeks about our first year with Parker and so many memories come to mind and I think "Oh, that was my favorite day!" or "that was my favorite memory!" but in all actuality, this is where it all began...

This was our first picture as a family taken just moments after Parker was born.  This was the hardest I have worked for the sweetest reward in my entire life!  This 9 lb 8 oz little person changed our lives in one instant.  We thought we were prepared, but we honestly had no clue what we were getting into!

Michael's favorite story:  Parker was maybe 5 days old and we were up for feeding number who knows what of the night.  Parker was laying on our bed while I was changing him and as soon as I took his diaper off, BAM!  Projectile poop down the entire length of our bed and onto Cooper who was quietly laying next to the bassinet.  So we washed poor Cooper, stripped the bed, put on new sheets, started the washer, and went back to sleep.  Two hours later, up again for a feeding.  This time we had this little poop machine figured out!  New diaper under, carefully slip old diaper off, quickly place new diaper over, wrap up dirty diaper, BAM! Pee projectile out of the tiny opening in the top of the diaper, over the head, right onto the clean sheets!  This must be a joke, right?!  Nope!  Two sets of sheets later, we learned our lesson and have not had a repeat of this catastrophe since.  These are the things they forget to tell you about in the parenting blogs, books, and magazines.  Jerks.

I decided to do something a little different this month.  Instead of a list of Parker's first's for the month, I am going to put a memorable moment from each month along with his pictures so you can see how much he has grown!

1 MONTH

We visited Poland with Mimi and Nana

2 MONTHS

Auntie Barb and Auntie Meg came to visit in Germany!

3 MONTHS

First transatlantic flight to Florida!

4 MONTHS

First trip to Maine to meet the family!

5 MONTHS

Consistently sleeping through the night!

6 MONTHS 

First tooth!

7 MONTHS

First sleepover!

8 MONTHS

Two weddings, two states, back-to-back weekends :)

9 MONTHS

We have a walker!

10 MONTHS

First word: "Mama!" 

11 MONTHS

First Christmas :)

ONE YEAR!

We learned that Parker does not like cake on his hands.

We have shared lots of tears over the past 365 days - tears of pure joy and happiness, and tears of pure exhaustion and frustration!  I have learned that being a parent is an everyday struggle to find balance, but I am so grateful to be able to work from home and spend so much time with this amazing little person.  Some days I really cannot believe that he is all mine and that I am privileged enough to be his Mommy!  I have faced my share of challenges in life, but being a parent is by far the most difficult, yet most fulfilling accomplishment.  The saying is, "it takes a village to raise a child," and I am blessed to live in a village full of individuals who love this little boy so unconditionally.  Thank you.

All our love,

The Miller's :)

Merry Christmas, And A Happy 2014!

I know, I know…I am a little late…ok, a lot late!  But keeping up with this little crazy is a full time job!  Since we have moved, life has been a whirlwind and throwing Thanksgiving, a trip to Maine, and Christmas all in that mix makes me one tired Mommy!

Christmas began in November for the Miller's with our first celebration during out visit to Ann and Duane's for Thanksgiving.  Parker's Great Aunt Cindy and Great Uncle Richard were down for the holiday, so we decided to get a "2 for 1" and celebrate with them.  We had a delicious dinner and then onto presents!  Parker got a stuffed Mickey Mouse almost the size of him, and give him big kisses!  …Although I am pretty sure he was more fascinated with the boxes and wrapping paper as most little ones are :)

We had originally planned to go to Maine for Christmas and Papa's 60th birthday, buuuuut ticket prices were not exactly in our favor so we had to improvise a little.  Even though we were not there on the calendar date of Christmas, we celebrated just the same and it was perfect :)

Parker's Great Auntie Jeanne made him this "Parker size" stocking as a shower gift even before he was born!  Back story - I have one that she made for me when I was little too, so I was thrilled that she kept the tradition going and made one for Parker, very sweet :)  …and VERY stretchy! :)

Parker going completely spoiled by his Mimi and Papa (surprise, surprise…) and all of our wonderful family and friends in Maine.  He is one lucky little boy and we are so grateful for each and every single one of you.

Oh, you thought we were done?  Oh, no.  We headed to Nana and Pap Paw's (Michael's parents) to celebrate Christmas Eve with his family.  The night was full of delicious food, glowing smiles, creative gifts, and a little homemade moonshine ;)  Parker got some new Christmas jammies and a Christmas story before bedtime.

Even though this picture is misleading, I promise Parker did not have any of the moonshine ;)

Christmas morning we were up bright and early to see what Santa brought!  Parker and Pap Paw made a stepping stone with his handprint to put out by Pap Paw's fancy new garage!

By this time, Parker was a professional at presents and wasted no time ripping into them!

…and of course…no visit with Uncle Chris is complete without Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in just your diaper…classic.

As you can see, our holiday season was full of lots of love, laughter, and wonderful memories.  As we look back on our year as a family we cannot help but be thankful for everything we have been blessed with.

I had all intensions of taking a cute family photo for the New Year, but Parker was in bed at 7:00 and Michael and I followed shortly behind him at 8:30…I guess that is what happens when you have a baby and a full time job.  Maybe next year...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

The Miller's