A visit to see Pop & Patsy!

Hello everyone! I hope this finds you all staying warm with this bout of winter chill....Looks like the groundhog was correct after all....but we're not letting it slow us down!

We made a road trip in January to see Pop & Patsy (Nan) & their new home in Richmond...It was a very quick trip :( but we all had a wonderful time...Sutton was wonderful in the car for the 5 hr drive, but didn't sleep too well in the pack n play...Princess is clearly used to a much thicker mattress :) spoiled already!

Sutton's 6 month birthday is tomorrow -- I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. I also cannot believe there was ever a time where she wasn't in our lives. Kind of strange :) Tim, Eric's brother, is here this weekend to help us celebrate with Sutton. She loves having her uncle here. I will post pics of his visit & the bday later this week.

We are off to the mountains next weekend with a large group of my sorority sisters, their husbands/boyfriends & a few other babies...Let's hope Miss Sutton does a little better in the pack n play there or it could be a long weekend. We're looking forward to the fun & we'll also get to see Meg, our niece, for lunch! 

That's all for now. Enjoy the pics & check back soon!!

xoxo

Megan

ready for the unc/state game :)

Sutton showing Pop her belly & feeding herself!

Snuggling & Eating with Nan!

Sutton LOVES Lulu, Patsy's dog....lots of giggles

Snoozy in her carseat

Sitting up now!

Getting so big

Sutton's New Headband

What a week it's been at the Parker Household!!!

Mom has been in town since Sunday (she split time with Anne/Mike/Hailey this week as well) and she'll fly out tomorrow :(. AND Sutton got her baby helmet "Headband" :) on Monday afternoon...

After some sleepless naps & nights on both of our parts (ours & Suttons) in getting used to the headband & subsequently, having the doctor adjust it so it wasn't putting so much pressure on 2 little spots, we have survived! Sutton is back to sleeping through the night & sleeping during her naps. We have painted & decorated her band so it isn't so stark/white anymore :) and she looks ADORABLE in it.

She is much warmer with something on her head all the time, and now sleeps without anything on her legs besides socks. I am very grateful its winter!

I am proud of how she has handled this transition & cannot wait to see the changes in the next few months!

Sutton is now 5 months old!! She has almost mastered sitting up & has such a fun happy personality.....As of 2 weeks ago, she can hold her own bottle & feeds herself (with our supervision) at daycare and at home sometimes! So smart :)

In other news, Eric has now had 4 phone interviews (!!!) with PNC (who is in the process of merging with RBC Centura). The merger is slowing the hiring process but they are very interested in him & are assembling a group to come down in the next month or so to interview/meet him in person. Please keep him in your thoughts & prayers. I know he is EAGER to get back to work & really feels that this would be an excellent fit for him!

What else? Everyone better cheer for the 49ers tomorrow night as they take on the Giants....There will be some intense watching at our house...and the 49ers flag will be flying high! :)

Hope everyone is having a great start to 2012 so far! We feel so blessed to have you all in our lives. Thanks for all your love & support.....Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

feeding herself!

Getting the headband...

decoration complete!

Had to put Maddie in here :) She is enjoying what used to be Colby's dog bed! ha!

Maddie is Sutton's FAVORITE thing right now....not sure the feeling is terribly mutual :)

Sutton's Baby Announcement

First, my apologies in getting the annoucements out so late....I couldn't find time or a picture :)
Secondly, I am going to attach a picture of the annoucement & do a little "plug" for my fabulous girlfriend Jessie...

Jessie is a dear friend from high school who lives in DC now & has started her own business. She has incredible talent & this venture was a long time coming. I am so pleased she was able to create Sutton's annoucements for us! I hope you'll consider using her for your stationary, annoucements, invitations, any types of stickers (she did adorable address labels too!), or whatever (she is really creative!). I know we'll use her again & again & again!!!!

It's http://www.shopseesters.com/ or facebook.com/seesters.

Thanks again Jes for all your help.

xoxo from us to you!

Christmas at the Parkers

She'd rather play with the paper!

Daddy is so fun to play with!

such a big girl!

Merry Christmas Everyone! We had a wonderful holiday, albeit a little strange not being with any of our other family members. Katie & Garrett invited us to Xmas Eve dinner with their families at their house -- so that was a fun event! We put Sutton to bed there but she was up by 10pm, confused I think by her surroundings. She's such a good girl & went right back down as soon as we got home. K & G made a feast that Eric & I are still raving about....Wow.
Christmas Day we got up and opened presents with Sutton. Eric made a big breakfast & the 3 of us bummed around all day! It was a nice treat :) We did FaceTime with Pop, Annie and talked to Mom -- so at least we got to sorta see some family!
I made Christmas Dinner for us, but it paled in comparison to the feast at Katie & Garrett's the night before. HA!
Sutton has been fighting a respiratory virus for over a month now....She has never really acted sick, just lots of coughing -- which I keep saying is getting better...but she started eating less this weekend. Perhaps she doesn't need as much as her growth is slowing? Either way, I pray she's on the FULL mend very soon!

Which leads me to the next tidbit of info & our visit with Cranial Tech on Friday. What a wonderful consultant we had!!! BUT it's just about confirmed that Sutton will need the helmet (band)...If we are quick about it & get it done soon (before her 5 month birthday) she'll probably only need to wear it for 5-10 weeks!!! YAY!!!! So we are hustling along -- next appt is with Carolina Neurosurery on Jan 6th & most likely, they'll confirm what Cranial Tech said..and we'll go get sized for the band that day or early the following week. Eric & I feel great about the consultation and are ready to start the band treatment with Sutton....it was quite obvious in all the photos and measurements they took that she needs one. Poor sweet pea. They did made me feel better (I've been thinking it's my fault) by saying she was probably predisposed to this while I carried her. She was so tightly packed in me & probably was resting up against my pelvis on that left side...so tightly packed in that she had to be vacuumed out.  SO that's that!

Hope you enjoyed the pics from Xmas!
M, E & SC

Ho Ho Ho!!

Wow, so much to report here -- As always, I'm sorry for the delay between posts. We have been busy, busy, busy with the holidays!! We hosted Eric's family for Thanksgiving.....then the following weekend we had my cousin Erin & her husband Isaac with us from Wisconsin.....and then the next weekend we hosted my family for "ThanksMas" (our new holiday, the combination between thanksgiving and xmas -- now always the 2nd weekend in December :)...Add the duties of hosting to a full time job and a 4 month old & hopefully my excuse is accepted! Ha!

Sutton is growing by leaps & bounds. She is officially 4 months old & huge! We had her 4 month appt last Thursday & she is....drum roll please.....1 oz shy of 17 lbs! 95th percentile in weight & 95th percentile in length....and her head is now 85% percentile. The doc was very complimentary about her growth, her skin, her motor skills, strength, etc BUT he is sending us for a consultation to Cranial Technologies to have her looked at regarding a possible helmet. It seems her flat spot -- which despite our efforts, she still overwhelmingly favors that side -- might be shifting 1 ear forward (and will possibly change the plane of her face if not corrected). SO, we are still saying prayers that it won't have to come to that, but we will go see the specialists this Friday. Additionally, we are meeting with one of the pediatric neurosurgeons I work with the 1st week of January to get their opinion too (I figured the helmet company would obviously say she NEEDED the helmet so I want another opinion - ha!)
Sutton is smiling all the time now & she has started "talking" over the last few weeks. Her school (daycare) teachers are now commenting all the time that she has so much to say :) hahaha! I just love listening to her squeal & babble.
We tested out rice cereal this weekend & are easing (SLOWLY) into that. Sutton isn't too sure about it yet :)
We took her to see Santa at the shopping center near the house on Saturday evening. She behaved beautifully but wasn't sure what to make of Santa & the million other kids all around her :)

Our new little family is going to be staying home for the Christmas holiday. Things have been so hectic that we need a little downtime, but it will be strange not celebrating, as we normally do, with Eric's family at Tim/Michele's house.

That's all from here for now. Stay tuned for pictures of Xmas.
OH -- And we didn't do xmas cards this year...We finally got our announcement out in lieu of Xmas cards. Perhaps I'll get my act together & maybe you'll get a Valentine's card or something instead :) hahah. No promises!!!

From our family to yours -- Merry Christmas!! We love you all.
Megan, Eric, Sutton & Maddie

Meg, Michele & Sutton on Thanksgiving

Pop & Eric carving the turkey in the laundry room! hahahaha

Sarah + Will (patsy's daughter & boyfriend), Patsy & Pop

Getting our Xmas tree!

Let the decorating begin

Hailey & Sutton

Grandma & her girls at ThanksMas

Sutton got Grandma's lap during present opening! lucky girl

Eric & I were cooking elves on Friday night with 4 batches of Xmas cookies! We got into the holiday spirit with some wine & Xmas carols after Sutton went to bed :)

A little unsure of Santa's lap :)

Testing out rice cereal. She wants to hold the spoon!

5 Year Anniversary in the Mountains!!

Hello All.....We spent 2 nights in a beautiful cabin for our anniversary. Also invited for our trip was Sutton Claire:) who seemed to enjoy the views and her spacious accomodations. Pictures are included below.

We also had a great Thanksgiving with my family here from VA. Lots of football and soccer in the backyard and tons of great food!

We have Megan's cousin and husband coming in this week/weekend and then Linda/Dave/Annie/Mike/Nicole/Hailey coming in the following weekend for a early Xmas celebration.

Hope everyone is enjoying the start of the holiday season and more to come soon...

E,M,SC

Happy Halloween & Uncle Tim's visit!

No time for a lengthy post but things are still good here!

Tim came to visit & meet Sutton a week & a half ago. She sure took to him right away!
Pics are below...

Sutton has started "school" now & is a model student according to her teachers...We are easing into it slowly :) but so far so good!

We didn't go trick-or-treating with her, but still got in the spirit last night!
She was a good sport with dress-up :)

Hope all is well!
xoxo

SC chillin with Uncle Tim

Totally relaxed with him :)

Happy Halloween!!!

Sutton in her spider onesie & halloween pants

in her panthers cheerleader outfit for Halloween!

Check out the pumpkin :)