Parker's 1st steps!

About 2 weeks ago while Jamie and I were doing some spring cleaning around the house, Parker surprised us by taking 2 steps!!!! I put him down and he just stood still for a few minutes, but then he took 2 wobbly steps toward Jamie and fell on his knees. We clapped and cheered really loud and showered him with huge kisses! Since then, he has been taking off from everything. He stands up in the middle of the room without any help and just starts taking steps, without us even coaxing him on. He has become so independent in the last month. He takes a few steps, falls on his knees, looks around to see who saw, and claps with a big grin on his face. Yesterday, he walked about 8 feet to get me! I can't believe he just turned 9 months...we took him to the doctor for his check-up and he weighs 19 lbs. 4 oz. and is 30 in. long. He's in the 90-95th percentile for height (go figure..he takes after Jamie) and the 25th percentile for weight. Lately he has been starting to put all that baby chatter into actual words too. He can now say "Dada", "I Dada" (hi dada), "aaaaaa, DaaaaDaaaaa" (hey dada...he shouts this down the stairs when Jamie's working on the basement), "Gog" (dog), "Yeah, Yeah" (this is when I tell him no, no) , but sadly he is determined not to say Mama!!! I try all day long to get him to say Mama, but he only laughs and says Dada. :) I'm so proud of my little man, but also a little sad. I don't think I'm ready for him to grow up so fast. Time is passing too quickly, but I love every minute with Parker. He is a true blessing from God!

Rest in Peace Envoy

This is a picture of Jamison's 2005 GMC Envoy after I got into an accident on February 27th. It started out as a great sunny day. Jamie had class for his Masters so Parker and I were going to go shopping for birthday gifts for friends that we were going to meet up with later that night. Do you ever have a feeling that God has a plan for you and even if you don't understand it or don't agree with it at the time, everything works out for you in the end? Looking back on this day, I now believe that He chose this to happen just as it did. First, as I was putting Parker into his car seat, I noticed his straps were a little loose because I didn't have his winter coat on him. This may seem bad, but occassionally Jamie and I have allowed the straps to be a tiny bit loose so it's easier to get his arms in and out (it's extremely difficult on his seat to tighten them). But, something in my head told me to take the extra time to tighten them anyway. When we got to the end of our street, my stomach growled and I realized I hadn't eaten yet today and knew I wouldn't have enough time when we got back (I was in a big time crunch), so instead of taking the usual way, I turned onto 20 to go through a drive-thru. Then, when I got to the first stop sign my normal way would be to turn, but I thought I might get stopped by a train (which rarely happens), so I kept going straight. My final turn was onto 33 and I turned into the left lane, but when I did that the 3 cars that were in front of me merged into the right lane. I don't know why but I got a feeling that something was off . Two stop lights later I had a green light and was about half-way through the intersection when out of nowhere a car turns directly in front of me. She was coming from the other direction, and I later learned that she wasn't paying attention and instead was staring at a guy on the corner who was holding a sign for Cash for Gold and dancing. She turned instead of yielding to me. Both cars spun in a complete circle and ended up facing the way we were coming from. My airbag did not deploy. Many cars stopped and people jumped out to see if we were all ok. I rushed to get Parker who was sleeping right before it happened but screamed on impact. He smiled when he saw me and appeared to be okay. I was shaky, terrifed for Parker, worried about the other driver, and even though everyone was crowded around me to help, I felt so incredibly lonely to not have a familiar face to rush to. I chose not to go to the hospital since a fireman looked Parker over and said he wasn't concerned. The following day, my Birthday (I know...what a way to celebrate, huh?) Parker spit up blood, so Jamie and I took him to the ER. I also decided to be check out because my back was really hurting me. The doctor believes Parker bit his tongue and that was the cause of the bleeding, so no more worrying there. I had a chest xray done and the doctor said he thinks I had a cracked rib or bad bruising on my muscle, but only time can heal it...however, he noticed a small spot on my lung that needed to be checked into by my family doctor (this had nothing to do with the accident). How often in life do we get a chest xray? I have never had one, so this may have never shown up until I had complications. My family doc says it looks normal for now, but we will have to keep a close eye on it within the next couple of years to see if it grows or changes.

On this day, I asked myself why did God choose me to have this horrible accident that totalled my husband's car, with my infant in the backseat, and the day before my Golden Birthday? It took me a few days to remember how I felt before the accident. All the weird signs reminded me that he works in mysterious ways....if I hadn't tightened Parker's straps he may have been hurt, if my stomach hadn't growled I may have never went this unusual way and gotten into the accident, if I hadn't had the accident would we have realized that the airbags in the car were defective and if we were to have gotten into a bigger accident or were going much faster would we have survived? Or, when would I have gotten a chest xray to see the spot on my lung? When it was too late or complications arose? I know this sounds strange, but I feel a little blessed that this happened when and how it did. Parker and I walked away with only a few bumps and bruises that will heal, the other lady walked away with bruises from her seat belt, but all 3 of us walked away with another sunny morning to wake up to, another day to cherish, and new cars to go shopping for! :) Yes, both cars were totalled. :(