Happy New Year!

Happy Happy New Year (& Merry Christmas!),
Hope everyone had a safe & enjoyable holiday season.

First my standard apology for not posting more regularly....I'm sorry & I will really REALLY try to be better in 2013! I knew it was bad when my Mom asked me to post :) This one's for you, Mom!

We have had a very busy last couple of months....and a lot of fun as well. The 4th Quarter marks my busiest time of the year for my job, and this year was no exception. I am really enjoying my job with Baxter & continue to feel so blessed that I got this awesome opportunity in 2012.

Beyond work, obviously November & December are just busy in general with family commitments and travels...We hosted Eric's family for Thanksgiving again and had a blast being together....

Then my sister and Mike hosted our annual "ThanksMas" at their new lake house (Smith Mountain Lake, VA) with my Mom & Dave and our growing brood of children (my sister is due with baby #2 at the end of April but she doesn't look pregnant at all -- grrr!! :).....

We spent Christmas Eve with Katie & Garrett and their families - They were so nice to include us again and they spoiled Sutton rotten :)

And, then we went to Richmond to visit Pop & Patsy last Friday for a long weekend (but by long I mean "TOO SHORT"! :)


2013 is already off to a great start, with plenty of reminders of what a wonderful group of friends we have, what a wonderful daughter we have, and what a wonderful family (extended and close) we are a part of...We feel SO lucky!
Cheers to you all.
XOXO
Megan & Eric

Seasons are a-changing....

Happy Sunday! Yes, it's been over 2 months since I posted anything & I feel terrible. At the risk of sounding monotonous, life is flying by...and when we are all together on the weekends, the last thing I think of doing while Sutton takes a nap is to update the blog -- but I will get better (now I know you are laughing :)

Obviously the seasons aren't the only thing changing around here....Sutton went back to "school", Eric was in Vegas for training for a few weeks & is now officially "on the new job", and I miss having them around more at home but have been more productive with work. We are all settling into our new roles, and do a decent job of juggling everything for now :)

Other things changing....Sutton is WALKING. and is really good at it. She started just at 13 months & hasn't looked back!  I'm sure my next blog will be about her talking. She is trying to say a lot of words right now, but only discernible by Mom/Dad :)

We've had a great few months...including family visits, Katie's bachelorette party in wine country, CA (amazing), and some family fun. I'll attach some pics....I hope you all are enjoying fall as we are, and that this blog is finding you happy & healthy.
XOXO
Megan

one of our 1st stops in Healdsburg. Awfully close to my maiden name, Toepel :)

The rolling hills of the Bouchaine vineyards

The girls at Iron Horse winery

Me & Katie, the BRIDE to be in 3 weeks!

a warm October Saturday playing outside

Forward facing now - finally some leg room :)

Laughing with Grandma

Grandma & Hailey on the hayride!

Hanging out with my pumpkins!

Running around before school one morning!

our doll baby

Grocery store after school one day -- driving!

Broke out the clubs...I'm gonna be a pro!

A week to be grateful for :)

Happy Sunday everyone!

The Parker family has had an incredible week!!

First off, our little munchkin turned ONE on Monday, August 13th. I cannot believe she is one! We had a little party for her at home on Sunday while my mom was still in town. Tim, Eric's brother, joined us for the festivities as did several other friends & neighbors. Sutton thoroughly enjoyed herself!

Tuesday, my darling husband got a JOB offer!!! Eric will begin working for Bank of America as an Investment Consultant over a handful of branches in South Charlotte. He starts on August 27th (SOON!) and things have come together SO perfectly this week in preparing for the next adventure that it truly seems "meant to be" and an answer to our prayers. Thank you all for your support and help with Eric and his job hunt!

Wednesday, I was thoroughly convinced we were going to win the lottery :) Ha!! And so we bought some lottery tickets on the way home from a celebratory date-night dinner. Alas, we did not win, but we are still flying high at the Parker household.

Thursday, Sutton had her 1 year check-up where again, she topped the charts with her height. Her weight is slowly not keeping up with the same original pace :) but she is still a butterball. The doctor gave her 3 shots, which wasn't fun, and he pronounced her right on track developmentally as we'd hoped. We are so proud of our sweet girl.

Friday, Pop & Patsy came in town for the weekend! I had to work at a Spine conference in Charlotte on Friday night & the better part of Saturday but am enjoying their company now.. Sutton is happy to have more family around as she tires of seeing just Ma-Ma & Da-Da. Saturday, we also went to one of our friend's (Jen & TJ) daughter's (Elle) first birthday parties. It was quite the party and they have a wonderful entertaining house -- Sutton had a blast playing with her friends :)

Pictures & video are below. Thanks again everyone for the love & support you've shown us. We'll never be able to fully tell you how grateful we are.

XOXO
Megan

Last container of Formula!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

Party dress on her dinosaur!

Party decor

Balloons are Sutton's new favorite thing!

Kristin, Jenn, Blake, and Me

Ready for the Cupcake

First half of cake video

2nd half of cake video

YUMMY CAKE!

Playing with Sydney's hula hoops

Playing with Grandma :)

Big girl

She loves to Read :)

Summer is flying by....

Hard to believe that last year at this time we were eagerly counting down the days to my due date....and now Sutton has been here 11+ months. We can't imagine life without her, that's for sure! She continues to make us smile and teach us new things about this wonderful world every day.

Let's see...First off, we never made it to the Bahamas. Tropical Storm Debby (or thats what it became during our "trip") got in the way, so we bailed on the idea of sitting inside a hotel room for 5 days in the rain....and went to Charleston for 3 nights instead -- where the weather was PERFECT. We stayed downtown, hit the beach everyday, and ate a lot of great food....Really good trip!

Sutton enjoyed her time with Patty & Don...and spent her weekend crawling all over their house :)

Over the 4th of July week, we made the trek to Richmond to see Pop & Patsy. We had a great time visiting them and every time we leave, we wish we lived closer!!

Patriotic dress on the 4th, climbing stairs at home!

stopping at a winery in VA to break up the trip

Enjoying a trip to the Bank in VA since they had TOYS!

Taking a break from the pool in Pop's neighborhood!

This week Grandma is here!! We are having lots of fun, as usual....She will be here through Friday and Sutton is enjoying every minute. I'm attaching two videos of her giggling with Grandma :) 

testing out a recliner at Marshalls....big fan :)

That's all from CLT! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ERIC (DADDY) TOMORROW!!! 

xoxo,

M, E, SC

No time to sit down.....

Good Sunday afternoon, everyone! So sorry it's been over a month since my last post. Literally, we don't sit down anymore between my new job & Sutton crawling...
I've been out of town a fair amount and really have to hand it to Eric. He takes care of everything at home & doesn't miss a beat. And most importantly, I never stress or worry!! I just miss them terribly. This past week I was in Deerfield, Illinois for a whole week for training. Not a fan of being away so long, but the training was good & I'm ready to take on the world :)
Eric was smart & got our good friend, Kristen, to babysit one day this week so he could go play golf. Nice mid-week break, well planned if I do say so myself!!!

Not much else going on here. The days just fly by & Sutton continues to light up our world as she learns something new every day.
We had a wonderful visit over Memorial Day visiting Annie/Mike, Nicole, and Hailey....and
we are looking forward to seeing Pop & Nan in early July....and then my mom will come for a couple of days hopefully mid-July. Top on our list of things we are looking forward to is a Trip to the Bahamas, just the 2 of us!, late this June. Our friend, Amy's, parents (who live in town) are watching Sutton & we are thrilled with the idea of sleeping in and not having to plan the day around nap times :) YAY BAHAMAS :)

Few updated pics...It appears Sutton has inherited a bit of my "natural curl" in her hair...poor girl :) She looks cute with the "wings" above her ears! ha!

Cinco De Mayo!

On top of the laundry basket (you can see some of the curl above the ears here!)

New music table!

Sitting out back one nice afternoon

Snuggles with Daddy

At Annie/Mike's pool over memorial day. SC hijacked Hailey's float and diving sticks!

Up close

bottle time

Waving to the neighbors as they go by!

Having a great time (walk) with Kristen

Another beautiful day out back

That's all from here for now! Hope everyone is having a great week!

Megan

Crawling!!!

Hi All! Sorry for the quick post, but wanted to share this exciting milestone today (captured on camera thanks to my sorority sister, Ali Chappell) -- Sutton crawled forward. For weeks (months?) she's been wanting to crawl, but manages only to scoot/crawl backwards or barrel roll through the den to get what she wants (in this case, Jenn's dog Bailey!)
Daddy has been working with her & knew she was close...but as luck would have it -- He was out today for a much needed break, playing 18 holes with his buddies, and missed her big "debut"... Eric will see tomorrow, but as I keep watching the film again & again, I am smiling -- so proud of my baby (hardly) "big" girl now....

Love to you all from Charlotte,
Megan, Eric, Sutton (the crawler) & Maddie (the best dog ever for putting up with Sutton :)