Favorite time of day

This is my favorite part of the day...

Parker gets up at 5:30-6:00 AM, I feed him and then we snuggle on the couch and fall asleep until Travis goes to work at 8:00AM


Travis got these shots a few mornings ago when Parker and I were in deep dreamland together. This is one of the things I will miss most starting on Monday. He's so warm, and snuggly, and beautiful, and perfect, and, full of hope, and giggly, full of love and, and, and....

Vaccinations

Today we had our 2 month check up and you know what that brings.....SHOTS!
YIKES! I must say Parker has been through a lot in his first 2 months of life and come out on the right side of all the obstacles of constant blood draws, a trip to Peoria, and an IV in the head. However, today was rough for his mama!
We were told we'd have an oral vaccine that babies don't like because it tastes bad....Parker laughed, smiled and gurgled through that.
Then he had 2 shots in his left leg. We were told to prepare our selves and help "comfort" him. He took the first shot like a champ, barely moving. He's used to this needle stuff!
The second shot in the left leg brought the tears...the mad kind...the kind where you have to blow in his face to get him to inhale. But again, nothing we haven't seen/dealt with. Then we were told to hang on for the right leg shot because that was the one that "hurt". Parker was crying with eyes squeezed shut when the right leg shot went in. His eyes flew open, slammed shut and then the REAL screaming began. The poor baby! He made sure that we indeed knew it hurt! It took some time to console him, but we got through it!
In honor of Veteran's Day he received these band aids..


Once we got home Parker had some Tylenol and a good nap on dad....but when he woke up.....
WOWZERS!

Travis and I agree Parker has never been so upset, mad, hurt, etc. at home than he was today. We now know what he is like when he doesn't feel good! To say he was crying is an understatement. Wailing might be closer, but that doesn't even do it justice... Oh yeah, did I mention that when this happened there were still 2 hours before we could give him more Tylenol?
Travis was a champ and got Parker to finally settle down after 45 minutes of a VERY unhappy baby.
Don't move....he's finally quiet...

I had a rough day...and I have to do it all over again in January! YIKES!

In other office news: He weighs 13lbs. 10 oz. and is 23 1/4 in. long.

That is 90th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for length. His head is in the 50th percentile for the circumference.

Family Photos

Jodie finished editing all of our Parker photos and family photos! They are GREAT! I have no idea how we will choose! Check out the final product :)

www.jodiemcnally.com/photography/stecher

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Yesterday was my 29th birthday! We celebrated all weekend long doing all sorts of things that I wanted to do.

Saturday we went to the Quad Cities:

• We went on a walk at Sunset Marina with Gma and Gpa Stecher and Chloe.
• Travis and I went to Old Navy, and Bed, Bath and Beyond
• Travis and I met Josh and Sarah for dinner at Granite City and saw the movie "Couples Retreat" (cute!)
• We went through the Hardee's Drive through really late so I could get a Hi-C orange drink

Sunday we:

• Ate Cherry Doughnuts for Breakfast (YUM!)
• Went to the mall
• I napped on the way home to Galesburg
• We went to my moms for the afternoon/evening with the fam.
• Had dinner with mom, dad, Justin
• Ate Cheesecake (noon) and Cherry Chocolate Cake (after dinner)

For my birthday I got lots of great things:

My hair low lighted,tickets to Mark Shultz, a new necklace, tickets to Bob Zaney, a car detail, a magazine subscription, a reed diffuser, a family light up sign, bath and Body works gift card, a Karen Kingsbury book, a necklace, and a flat iron for my hair, a massage, and I got to hold and snuggle with my baby all day long!

Thanks to everyone who made my 29th birthday great! The gifts, calls, well wishes, and thoughts were much appreciated!

Daddy's Day off

Travis had the day off today. Originally there were Parent/Teacher conferences scheduled, but the teachers voted to do 2 nights instead of a night and a morning.
Parker was excited to have his dad home today!


Daddy and Parker played with toys all afternoon!



What?!? Playtime is OVER?????

Parker and Mommy were happy to have Daddy home all day long!

Look Alikes

We've been asked time and time again who Parker looks like. I can't see any resemblance to myself, however, I do see Travis' forehead. Many other people comment on how they don't see "either of us" but they do see a "Vancil".

The picture on the left is my brother Justin. The picture on the right is Parker....

Silver and Gold

...Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other gold...

I have had 2 extremely close friends for a long time....like grade school....Michele, Krista and I have been friends through many stages of life and had often dreamed of having families and children and living close enough to get together for "play dates".

This is us the summer after our Senior year of high school.

This is us today 10 years later....with kids...still friends after all these years and finally getting our play date!

Landon and Delaney (Krista's) watching Madagascar

June (Michele's) playing with wipes

Delaney teaching Parker how to play on his mat

Dealany and June watching some T.V. together.

I had a great time today and am thankful to have Old friends to hang out with and help Parker make some New friends to share his life with!

Let's do it again soon girls!

Long Day

Today is the longest day of school for teachers....it's parent teacher conference night. Travis left home today at 7:45 A.M. and will not return until about 7:30 P.M.! The day consists of teaching a full day then immediately following dismissal at 3:15 beginning 15 minute conferences at 3:30. Conferences are back to back and allow no time for even a bathroom break! The day is very exhausting and this year Travis gets to do it twice! Once tonight and once on Thursday night.

We felt bad for Daddy so we wore a hat (dad loves Parker in a hat) and a Daddy Bib today in honor of our hard working dad!

I'll take a nap for you dad!

I love you daddy!

Hang in there! We'll see you tonight!

Love You!

Halloween 2009

Whew! What a day Halloween was! This was a small Holiday...we better rest up for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Parker was a clown fish for his first Halloween. What a cute little "Nemo" he was!

Parker started the day with Grandma and Grandpa visiting him at his house around 10:45AM.


After Gma and Gpa Vancil left, we planned an undercover operation to surprise Gma and Gpa Stecher...
We loaded the fish in the car....

Dropped him on gma and gpa's porch......rang the door bell and RAN!

SURPRISE!

Grandma and Grandpa love their fishy!

Once we got home it was time for trick or treating fun!
Emily the butterfly thought it was pretty funny to trick-or-treat. She liked Parker's soft head.


Miss Candy Corn Kelsi and the world champion boxer Kannon were teaching Parker the best routes for the most candy.
Then we had a scary lion raid our candy dish...he knew just what he was looking for!

The Carter lion was thinking about eating Parker fish....

Parker fish thought that was funny!

Hey....where's my bottle???!!!!???

Our Halloween ended finally at 7:30PM.....a LONG day! Parker was pooped!

Happy Halloween

Everyone!