Mommy & Parker's Trip to Washington

Parker and I were lucky enough to get to take a trip to Washington to visit family for a week. It was amazing and took a while for us to get into the groove of having so many people around again! (We have been living in this bubble with just Daddy-Mommy-Parker...and the sudden large groups were a bit of a shock to the system!) Travis wasn't able to go with us this time...but "someone has to work" as he puts it! He was thrilled that we were able to go and get in some quality time with family and wished he was able to be right there with us.

Parker was such a trooper on the airplane this time. He is quite the airplane expert now after all our trips in the last year! We opted not to take the car seat on the plane this time...what a GREAT idea. There was so much less to haul and he is able to sit still in his seat (buckled up) without even making a fuss now! I was so proud of my little man.

{watching his movie}

We arrived in Spokane, WA on Saturday the 21st...late! It was about 9 p.m. but for Parker and I it still felt like 11 p.m.! We were both so excited to see my parents. He loves his Nonni & Papa so much. Seeing him with them makes me sad to have taken him away from the family that loves him so much! It breaks my heart a little. The next day was my cousin Ashley's WEDDING DAY! She was such a beautiful bride...congrats again to the new Mr. & Mrs. Kincaid!

{wish i had a better picture of the happy couple}
{me-my niece kearyn-my sister sara}
{isn't he just so handsome}

{nonni donna & parker}

{parker & my cousin maria...he dragged her all over the place}


{kearyn trying to escape}

{love that she only has 1 sandal on...so cute}

My dad and brother-in-law went home Sunday night after the wedding and the rest of us stayed behind to have some quality time with the kiddos. That night in the hotel was: Nonni Donna, me, Parker, Auntie Sara, Caleb, Drayson, & Kearyn...yikes! There was a lot of wrestling and Parker was just so happy to see his cousins again! The next day we decided to wrangle up the kiddos and head to Idaho to go to Raptor Reef (an indoor water park).

{the little kiddo area...please take a second to look at the giant orange bucket up above}

{parker is my water-loving, jump off the edge of the pool like a psycho child...and he was okay with the little kiddo area until we found out that the orange bucket does this...SEE PICTURE BELOW}

{the first time we discovered that the orange bucket periodically fills up and dumps all over the place was when he was in the splash zone of it and didn't know it was coming...needless to say, he was then traumatized and no longer wanted to play in the water after it knocked him down and made him scrape his knees!}

{we then spent the rest of the time on the chairs watching the others play in the water}


{cuddling with his sister}

{drayson}

{kearyn...eating the towel}

We were all pretty wiped out after the water park and headed back to the Tri-Cities! It was great to get back "home" and see my sister's new house! It is amazing! The rest of our trip was spent playing and relaxing with family. It was so great to see everyone and Parker was thrilled!








On our last night in Washington, we went out to dinner with Scott & Becky. They are family friends that are more like family. When I think back on my childhood I can't even remember a time with them not being there and part of our lives. I am so glad that they will be able to be a part of my kid's lives too!
{becky & parker}

{scott-parker-papa kevin}

{touching the crab leg}

{getting in papa's personal space}

{and scott's personal space was not off-limits to parker either as he tackled him in the booth}


While I was home my sister and mom threw me a baby shower for Delainey! It was so much fun. Here are some sneak-peak pictures from the shower...I'll have to get more from my sister!


The week seemed to fly by and before I knew it...it was time to come back home to Oklahoma! It was pretty bitter-sweet. Parker and I were missing Travis and ready to see him...but sad to say bye to family with no idea how long it will be before we see them again! (Except my mom...we know we will be seeing her toward the end of August for Delainey's birth!!!) I have missed my family so much. Sometimes you get caught up in all that you have going on in your life and forget how important all those people are. It was so nice to be able to have face-to-face conversations with the people I love...not just hear their voices through the phone! I have REALLY missed my sister. She is so amazing and we have so much fun together doing absolutely nothing at all. It was nice to be able to talk with her about anything and everything and it is always so effortless! The same goes for my mom! She is such an amazing mom and grandma! I know how blessed I am to have a great family and support system...it will be nice to move back home some day.

On Saturday, bright and early, Parker and I got on the plane and headed back to Oklahoma to see Daddy. Parks was really missing his Daddy by the end of the week and was super excited to head home to see him!

{makin' faces on the plane}




Once we were home, he did not want to leave Daddy's side. He even made Daddy put on a matching monster truck tattoo!!! Look at my tough guys!

what we've been up to

At the end of March my parents came to visit. It was so great to see them and we had a blast! Parker was so excited to see his Nonni and Papa!!! The first night they were here he was so sad to see them leave to go to the hotel and didn't quite understand that they would be back the next day. It broke my heart to see just how much he has missed them. While they were here we were able to just all spend some quality time together and show them around our new home. We even went to the base to show them where Travis works and the park that I always take Parker to...just so that now they can put a picture to what we are always talking about.

before dinner at Toby Keith's

I enjoyed having them here so much and I was sad to see them leave to go home and get back to the reality of being "without family" here in Oklahoma. Before they left we made sure to go to the zoo. The weekend they were here the weather was horrible! It had been so nice leading up to it that we had no idea that it would get so bad...WELCOME TO THE MIDWEST & UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER!

Up until a couple days ago the weather has been so great around here. It has really given us a chance to get out and go for walks.

one of our favorite trails on base

It was even nice enough one day for Parker and Travis to go swimming in our apartment complex pool. The water was freezing...but Travis being the amazing Daddy that he is, went in with our kiddo who was dying to go anyway!

Easter Sunday was a little different around here this year compared to last year. Last year we were at my parent's house surrounded by family and other kiddos for Parker to Easter Egg Hunt with! This year it was just the 3 of us...well...3 1/2 if you count Delainey! We filled some eggs and hid them around the apartment so that Parker wouldn't totally miss out on the fun!
We had a very lazy Sunday and spent most of the day relaxing inside because of the insane rain/thunder storm we were having. Parker had a blast jumping in the puddles outside and was sopping wet when we finally made him come in!

doesn't trav look thrilled to be stuck out in the rain with our little man???

Here are some more recent pregnancy pictures...things are going great with this pregnancy and I couldn't feel better!

Miss Delainey is doing great and moves around more and more every week.

16 1/2 weeks

20 weeks

21 weeks

22 weeks

Thanks all...

In my last post I asked that you all "think pink" and I am thrilled to let you all know it worked...we are having a girl! So thanks to everyone who was thinking pink right along with me! I am so excited to have a little girl to call my own. While being an auntie to one is also an amazing thrill...it is very different to know that you will have your own little princess.

Travis and I only really want two children...if my husband had a job in which he would never deploy or have to leave for months at a time, maybe we would consider one more...but now that we will have one of each our family feels complete. We said from the beginning of our marriage that we wanted a boy first (to be the big brother and protector) if we were going to have a girl and boy one day. We feel so blessed and excited for this next chapter of our lives and can't believe that God has entrusted us with not just one precious child but two!

We have decided on a name and don't plan on changing our minds. If you know Travis and I...we are not quick to flip-flop once we have made a decision on something. The name we have chosen is

Delainey Kae.

I have become addicted to watching TLC's A Baby Story (just like I was while pregnant with Parker) and saw an episode in which the couple named their little girl Delainey. I automatically fell in love with the name, and to my surprise Travis liked it too. I couldn't get it out of my head and Travis could see that there was no other choice in my mind...in my heart, I already knew she was Delainey. As for the middle name, we decided on Kae because it is Travis's mom Jammi's middle name. When she was having kids she hoped and prayed for a girl...and had 3 boys (not just boys...Guion boys...very energetic boys...head-strong boys...not to mention hard-working/loving/caring/family-oriented boys). Anyway, once she was done having children she hoped and prayed that one day she would have a granddaughter. I am thrilled that we were able to make this dream of her's come true. She waited 24 years for a girl and we thought after such a long wait it was only fair to pass her middle name down to our little princess. (and also because we love her!)

Waiting for August...

I know that I said the next post would be with pictures of our apartment...but we have something more exciting to share and I can't contain myself anymore!!!

In our little family we are anxiously awaiting August. More specifically, we are anxiously waiting for August 25th, 2011.

That is the due date for our next bundle of joy!!!

We found out that we were expecting another baby right before Travis came home from Tech. School and were able to celebrate the news with family at Christmas. It took a while for me to get in to see the doctor because of the move...and then all the snow/blizzard we were hit with here in Oklahoma. Waiting so long to be see by a doctor was kind of a blessing in disguise because it is making this pregnancy breeze by! At my first doctor appointment they did an ultrasound in the room. I went expecting to just hear the heartbeat...instead I got to see it. Instead of seeing a "bean" or "tadpole" on the screen I saw this:

It was so exciting to see the baby when it actually looked like a baby. This kiddo is VERY active and I started feeling him/her swimming around at just 12 weeks! Crazy how different things can be from one pregnancy to the next. Another difference is that with Parker I had no even hint of morning sickness...and baby #2 gave me quite a bit in the beginning. Of course we were moving/driving cross-country through the worst part of it. Pretty miserable for this Mommy stuck in a UHAUL feeling nauseous!!! All of that is gone now and I feel great!

For those of you who were around during my pregnancy with Parker...you know that I was huge! I let myself drink way too much juice and eat too many things that were horrible for me because I wanted them and they were delicious!!! This time around I am already at 15 weeks and feeling great. I have only gained about 2 pounds and am still all belly!!! I am so excited to know better this time around. Thank goodness for that!
Here I am at about 13 weeks (I started showing right away...like at just 4-5 weeks!!!)
15 1/2 weeks (sorry the picture quality is so terrible...taken with my iPhone)

My next doctor appointment is on March 22nd and we have an Ultrasound scheduled for March 29th to find out the sex of the baby!!!
We are praying for a little girl, but would be thrilled with another boy too!
I just wish Travis would be able to come to the Ultrasound with me...but he has meetings that week that he can't get out of...so I guess Parker and I will kill him with the suspense then (maybe we will make him wait until he gets home from work instead of texting him when we find out at 11...)

Think pink people...we will let you know what we find out in a couple weeks!!!