Put The Past Behind You...

The other day, I caught Turner holding both of Parker's arms behind his back. When I asked her what she was doing, she replied, "I am helping Parker put his past behind him." What??!!

Anyway, today I decided that maybe there was something to that, because we put a huge chapter of Parker's "past" behind us today...

Parker had his follow-up visit at Scottish Rite (nearly a full year after my 20 week ultrasound showed complications), complete with blood work, ultrasound and VCUG (dye x-ray). After the tests, we had a consult with his surgeon. She came into the room for our meeting and literally high fived us! She said she was truly surprised, but Parker appears to be doing great and will need no further surgeries!!! She said she had felt certain he was going to require more, but he will not!

God is so good and has answered our prayers! Thank you all for the prayers and support -- they brought peace during the crisis and ultimately, full healing for our son. We have come such a long way from what doctors said were "dead kidneys," kidneys that would be "non-functioning at birth," etc. Instead, we have a healthy, whole, energetic little boy!

AMEN.

7 Months Old!

Parker is 7 months old and has hit the "big time." He started crawling (all-out coordinated crawling) earlier this week, and then this morning, I found him standing in his crib waiting for me to get him! Two HUGE milestones, which mean that Thomas and I are going to spend some of this coming weekend childproofing the house! Cause this kid is gonna "paint the town."

Parker continues to grow and change. He's truly a happy, go-with-the-flow baby, as long as he's not hungry or hurting! Fortunately, the hurting part has diminished significantly since his first few months, and the hungry...well, that's an ongoing battle!

Parker is enamored with his big sister and thinks she's the funniest girl on the planet. He still has only two teeth but is starting to get the hang of gumming his teething biscuits. He doesn't discriminate: he's wild about toys and breakable objects :) He can hold his own bottle and can down a 7-ouncer faster than you can blink. The bath is --by far -- the highlight of his days, eliciting a huge cackle every night. He loves to swim in our neighborhood pool and LOVES being outside.

We love you little guy! Keep growing big and strong for us -- you're our precious, miracle boy!

Turner Tidbits...

Just a few random things I don't want to forget about Turner at this age...

- You love the "Magic Treehouse" chapter books -- it is so fun to hear you say things like, "I don't like ancient Greece, Daddy. Did you know the girls could not go to the Olympics?" Your vocabulary and capacity to learn amazes us daily.

- You know your right from your left! Seriously, this took me a lot of years to master (more than it probably should have!), but one day after gymnastics, you had it all figured out!

- Lately, all of your baby dolls have "high cholesterol." You overheard me talking about that, and now it's a typical diagnosis when you play doctor! What happened to good old-fashioned fevers and sore throats?!

- You talk about "hail damage" and putting a "new roof" on your dollhouse. Again, something you heard us talking about, but what three-year-old is worried about that???!

You continue to wow and delight us, little girl! Thanks for keeping us on our toes!

Happy 40th, Aunt Niki!

Who says that with two kids under 3-1/2, we can no longer be spontaneous? Not I! We decided -- at the VERY last minute -- on Friday, to head up to NC to help celebrate Aunt Niki's 40th birthday. 40 is such a big milestone!

I was very wary of taking the trip, after our tough times in Sumter, but the stars aligned and God was watching over us...and the drive and stay were good and uneventful. We definitely have some gypsy kids, who have traveled a few miles in their lifetimes!

It was a nice weekend, and we spent it enjoying nature. Thomas, Turner and I went on a hike Saturday morning and had fun spotting all different species of mushrooms and imagining the little dwarfs that must live under them. We made Turner walk all the way to the top of the mountain (a good little climb) before she could get in the backpack carrier. She was so proud to hike on her own, and we were glad to give Thomas' back a rest!

After naps (which we all took for the better part of two hours), Turner and I picked blackberries. They were not quite as plentiful this year as last, but nevertheless, we "filled up a bushel" (according to Turner) and were able to bring them back to Atlanta for blackberry cobbler tonight! Yum!

Turner had lots of fun playing with her OLD Aunt Niki, swinging, making wildflower crowns, telling stories and doing "Ring around the Rosy." And the highlight of the weekend, was Thomas showing off his credentials as he called and caught fireflies in a Mason jar to Turner's (and everyone's) delight. Guess his "Honors Biology of Fireflies" class at the University of Florida wasn't a joke after all! :)

God knew what he was doing when he created the mountains! What beautiful country and beautiful memories!

Special Friday

We had a special Friday morning with Mrs. Jean, Turner's beloved Bible teacher from school last year. What an amazing blessing she is to our family!

Mrs. Jean invited us to swim in her pool, and after quite a workout (for Turner!), we all had a nice lunch on her porch. I was telling Mrs. Jean about Turner's suggestion that we pray that time I was lost on the way to the zoo (see earlier post), and Turner piped up, "I did what you taught me to do, Mrs. Jean." Isn't that beautiful? Thank you for a wonderful morning, sweet Mrs. Jean!

You Say Tomato...

The other day, Turner said, "Rocks are not good for growing dragons, are they Mommy?" I could not figure out for the life of me what she was trying to say. I finally put it together: Dragons = Snapdragons (we have some by our mailbox, and our rocky soil is not ideal!)

Tonight, she asked if we could grow some of "the soap flower" in our yard. HUH??? After a few questions, I figured out that she meant "lavender." (Duh, Mom, the flowers that make smell-good soaps).

On Tuesday night, while Thomas was out of town traveling, our treadmill (which is in our room next to my side of the bed) spontaneously turned on at 12:30am. It scared me TO DEATH. I was telling Turner about it, and she said, "Oh, Mommy, I am so sorry about your mare." "My mare?" I asked. "Yes, Mommy, your scary mare." (That would be NIGHTmare!) :)

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be COWGIRLS...

Turner sporting her new pink cowgirl hat, a gift from her beloved Triplet Boys. They brought it all the way home from Colorado! The best part -- by far -- is that they have matching hats! Stick-'em-up!