First few (3) weeks...

Leaving the hospital was so much fun!  It felt like the official start to our family!  Neither one of us was nervous; we were both just so excited to be on our own at our house!  We got shown a final example of how to bathe Parker and then we were off!  Joel had two days off from school so we truly enjoyed settling in and loving on Parker 24 hours a day together!  Joel was devastated when he had to leave us to go back to school!  He now calls home every day to see how we are doing and the minute it is possible for him to leave school he is home and loving on Parker...this lasts the whole night...I only get to hold him to feed him...baby hog!

Anyone who says breast feeding is a "natural" thing has obviously never breast fed a baby!  You would think since God designed for women to be able to feed their children it would be easy and require little work...neither was the case!  It took a good 3 days once we came home from the hospital for my milk to come in.  Parker was no little baby when he was born and he had little patience with the colostrum that my body was producing...he needed more food to be satisfied!  He lost some weight the 1st few days dropping to 8lbs 6oz...poor guy was so hungry!  Needless to say he didn't sleep very great the 1st few nights and had a bit of a fussy time!   With the help of Cami (our lactation hero!) we were able to get my milk to come in and we then had a much happier Parker.  Once my milk came in Parker gained 4 oz in a 24 hour time period!  He then began to sleep much better and be a more content baby.

The first 3 weeks have been truly amazing!  Joel and I probably say 100 times a day how adorable and perfect we think Parker is and how we can't believe he was inside of me and that he is a product of both of us!  We love to study every inch of his body and soak up this stage of his life.  He is a super cuddly little fella and has the cutest little cry ever (luckily it isn't too loud yet!).  He has pretty much been on a 3 hour schedule (eat, stay awake for a few minutes and sleep).  We have been blessed with him sleeping some stretches as long as 6 hours through the night!  On those occasions we wake up in a panic because we realize how long he has been sleeping.  Once one of us check on him and verify that he is still alive we quietly sneak away and head back to sleep!

Twins!

Daddy already has Parker practicing basketball

Joel likes to pretend that he is on Lion King and that Parker is Simba!  No lie!  This pose is not a coincidence!

Baby acne...not cute!

 
Every day we have visitors come to meet Parker.  He has loved meeting his family and new friends.  It has been nice for me to have company to pass the days while Joel is at school.

Bath time didn't start out as Parker's favorite activity (he screamed through the 1st two bathes), but with each bath he becomes more calm and seems to enjoy the warm water being poured on him by daddy with the red plastic cup...this has become Joel's favorite thing to do!  Diaper and clothes changing was not a favorite activity either probably due to Parker not liking to be naked...I am sure this will change some day in the near future.  In order to retaliate for being naked he frequently pees on us during bath time and diaper changes...once he even pooped!  We both crack up because there Parker sits in a pool of pee with his clothes all wet and he stops crying!  It's as if he is saying "Ha!  If you want to change my diaper then I will pee and make it be more work for you!".

Does this picture say "All boy!"?

Parker has already taken a lot of outings around town...

Tulip Time...One day was so hot we had to strip him down because he was sweating so much.  We went to see Joel's students play in the band and he was doing really well until the drums and symbol players went to town right in front of us...at first we didn't even know he was crying because it was so loud!

Joel spending the afternoon with the girls and the babies!

Target...We showed him where his journey into the world started...the Home Decor isle!

Wolfie's...Parker's 1st out to eat experience with mommy and grandma!  He slept through the entire lunch!

Engedi church...Parker's feeding schedule worked out perfectly for us to go to church on Mother's Day!  It was so nice to be back at church after missing a couple of weeks and it was fun to introduce him to everyone.

Outlet mall shopping...Luckily our outlet mall doesn't have very many stores.  Parker made it through Carters and Gap...those are the only 2 stores in the whole outlet mall so I guess he did well!

Hobby Lobby...I swear Joel gave Parker a pep talk and convinced him to not like Hobby Lobby (Joel despises this store!) because he screamed bloody murder the whole time!