Our Life, this past week

This weekend, we enjoyed a visit from Joel's mom, sister, her husband, and our niece. Uncle Eric and Aunt Jen met Parker for the first time, although Jonah pretty much occupied them with "playing zoo" and reading books. It was a great visit that involved Dunkin Donuts, playing Spades, and opening birthday presents. Thanks, y'all! Parker graced them with her fussy presence for a lot of the time...she's showed symptoms this past weekend that have led us to think she may have reflux. It's been hard to wait all weekend to call the doctor. It's on the list for first thing in the morning. In the meantime, I'm sad watching her struggle through feedings, feeling obviously uncomfortable during and after. She's been much more relaxed today, and I think it's due to God answering prayers to help her until we can get to the doctor.

Parker Jane enjoyed her first "real" bath earlier in the week, and she decided she liked it. All of it except the getting out of the tub and drying off part. But what a cutie!



Earlier in the week, my cousin Lacey ("Aunt Lacey" to my kids) came for a visit and to meet Parker. Here they are:

Lacey just got engaged a few weeks ago, and she spent a couple days in town doing wedding planning stuff. And as her very NON-MATRONLY, MAID of Honor, I joined her for wedding dress shopping, and she found the dress that's the one. It's gorgeous. I'm resisting posting a picture. Of course, Lacey would be a pretty bride if she wore dirt, so it doesn't really matter what it looks like. But for the record, it's absolutely beautiful. She's the last of my cousins to get married, so this is the last big wedding in the family until all of the little ones grow up. So I'm having lots of fun with that. As a little girl, I obsessed over all things wedding-related. Seriously, I collected brides magazines for years and years. Back then, I thought it was such a treat to go to JCPenney and get their brides-specific catalog, so my mom would take me whenever a new one would come out. And I would pour over them for hours and hours. As a little girl, attending a wedding was always the highlight of the year. I think I had caught three bouquets before the age of 14. So you know I'm not exagerrating when I say obsessed. And I was blessed to have a girl cousin that I could bring into my wedding world too. As children, Lacey and I spent who knows how many hours discussing our future weddings. (Actually, when I visited her last January, we talked weddings. Mostly about others' weddings. And a little about the wedding she would likely have one day. So we have never really grown out of it.) And here we are...she's really getting married. I loved planning my wedding, but when it's your own, you're pretty much just ready to get married! Some of the obsessing took a backseat, with my own wedding. So this is fun, experiencing this with her. I'm sure you'll get lots of wedding-related posts during the next year. The date is March 2009.

While we were at David's Bridal on Tuesday, for some reason I had this strong urge to try tiaras on my daughter's head. Don't ask me why. Needless to say, she wasn't in a very princess-y kind of mood:


I just said good-night to my son, and I'm a little sad that it's the last time I'll see his sweet two-year old face. Tomorrow, he's three! I'm sure I'll be an emotional basketcase this week!