Some photos of Parks

Brandon and I are not photo taking people.  We have been told we need more photos of Parker, so we are learning to take more photos.  Here are some of our Cutie.  Enjoy.

 

I love this photo of Parker....

And is from his first day of church. 

Sunny Sunday

Today we blessed Parker.  I will have to get photos from Grandpa Hignite and post later.  But, we also took Parker to the ocean for the first time.  It was just gorgeous outside.  You wouldn't believe it was a winter day on the Oregon Coast.  Here is a photo of Parks at the beach, with his grandmas on the beach behind him. 

 I am sure this is the first of MANY trips to the beach.  

Total Cuteness

Parker doesn't really know how to smile yet - it comes randomly.  I think he's done it on purpose maybe twice.  Yesterday Parker had quite the sad pout on his face.  It was really cute - bottom lip sticking out and everything.  In a low funny voice I started singing "If you chance to meet a frown..."  That kid - he's been holding out on us because when I got to "turn that smile upside down and smile that frown away" he starts smiling!  Now I have a funny story to share at his wedding.

If you don't know the Smiles song - here's a link to the music.  For some reason the vocals aren't there, but there are lyrics.  Smiles

That's How He Rolls

Brandon is known for saying, "That's how I roll."  Well, Parker is now rolling from his tummy to his back.  This was taken November 26th - when Parker was 4 weeks old.  We are in trouble if he's already rolling over...

Too bad Parker wasn't wearing this shirt when he rolled over for the first time.  (Kinda hard to see but is says This is how I roll)

Oh - he's so cute!

Baby Parker is here!!

We keep getting asked for more photos of Parker.  I thought I would share Parker's birth story along with some photos.

Brandon looking sexy in his scrubs

Parker showed up 2 weeks early.  It wasn't planned and I didn't go into labor.  It started around 1am October 28th.  I woke up thinking I was maybe peeing a little, or that my water broke.  I ran to the bathroom and found that I was actually bleeding.  We hurried to the hospital to find out what was happening.  The baby was not in distress, but I was having regular contractions every 2 minutes.  I couldn't feel the contractions, though.  After a while the bleeding stopped, but they still weren't 100% sure what caused it.  An ultrasound confirmed a small separation of the placenta from the uterus.  I was told they wanted me to stay until the morning of October 29th to make sure things were ok. 

The morning of October 29th I was getting ready to head home.  Brandon went to work and would come pick me up when I knew when they would release me.  I just had my breakfast delivered and I was getting ready to take my first bite when the dr come in with a bunch of other people.  The nurse took away my breakfast, and I knew something was up.  The dr explained that after talking with other drs and doing some research, he felt it was best to deliver the baby.  Apparently only 50% of babies are born alive after having a placenta separation and waiting to deliver.  I thought those odds made it important to make sure the baby stayed healthy and alive.  The dr went on to explain that since I wasn't dilated, inducing labor could mean up to 2 days of hard labor.  Or, we could have a c-section.  I knew right away I needed to have a c-section, even though I didn't want one.  Because the hospital here in Newport is small, it will mean I have to have a c-section on future pregnancies, and I can't have a tone of kids because they only like to give around 4 c-sections.  There went my plans for 6 kids (actually, getting married at 28 and having my first at 32 blew those plans!)

You can tell Brandon is smiling under the mask!

Things went really fast from there.  I called Brandon and told him what was going on.  He finished up some work and headed over.  I was so nervous.  We weren't ready for a baby - I had plans to finish up all the last minute shopping and sewing, and everything else, that week.  I didn't want surgery, or the spinal that goes along with it.  Plus, I still don't know what to do with a baby.  Anyway, drs, nurses, the surgery team, and anesthetists came in and out of the room.  It only made things worse.  The good thing was that Brandon would be there, and the anesthetist was a member of our ward who I work with in my calling.  I knew I was in good hands - and if anything went wrong, there where 2 worthy priesthood holders there to give me a blessing.  I was shaking as I walked into the delivery room.  I really didn't want to go through this but obviously had to.
  
Things went well and baby Parker arrive at 1pm on October 29th.  He didn't want to come out.  The dr had to use the vacuum because Parker was so big the dr couldn't fit his hands around him to pull him out.  That's right - 7lbs 14oz is apparently big.  And Parker's first thing right out of the womb?  He peed in his own face.  Ha! 

I found out later that the separation was much larger than they thought.  I probably would have had major complications if I had induced labor.  The dr said it was possible we would have lost the baby, and possibly me too.  Plus, he thought the baby would have been too big and we would have ended up with a c-section anyway.  Thank goodness I was inspired to have a c-section!!  I feel like everything that happened - from me waking up at the right time on the 28th to deciding to have the c-section - was all inspired.  I know someone was watching out for me and Parker.  It still hits me from time to time that things could have been really, really bad.  I don't know what I would have done if we lost Parker - and I can't think of what Brandon would do if he lost me too.  I feel completely blessed.  And my recovery has gone very well - I'm walking around in no pain after a week. 

Ahhh....  Parker is so cute!

I ended up at the hospital thru November 1st because Parker was jaundice.  It was bad - the first week we had to make daily hospital visits to check his levels.  He is doing fine now - still a little yellow but levels are ok.  Because Parker was a little early, he has had some troubles eating.  That didn't help his jaundice.  I have to wake up Parker to eat. Yes, my newborn would sleep through the night if I didn't wake him to eat.  Jealous??  Parker surprises us.  He is very strong.  He is already lifting up his head and rolls over to his side.  I think we are in trouble if this keeps up!  I joke that instead of 2 weeks early, Parker was really 2 weeks late.

Brandon said we needed a family photo - with the cat. *sigh*

Baby's Room

Jamie wanted to see the nursery, so here it is.

I wanted a neutral nursery in case we have a girl later on - didn't want to redo the room.  I planned on having soft lime green as the accent color, but I found other colors that went the the green and used them too (like the circle stickers).  I painted one wall a darker color.  I found the circle wall stickers at JoAnn's.  They just happened to match the nursery colors.  The mobile is one my grandma made for me when I was a baby.  My mom made the wall hanging.  I made the football blanket (hoping to get a cute photo of Brandon holding Parker in the blanket while they are watching football).  I made the crib sheets and dust ruffle, and painted the table.

 The bed will be replaced with my great grandma's rocking chair, once it is reupholstered.  Right now the bed is perfect since Parker has to be woken to eat during the night, due to his jaundice making him too sleepy to wake up himself.  I painted the changing table and made the changing pad covers.  I made the I'm a Child of God wall hanging while we were in Tahoe.  The photo collage I stole from Pinterest.  I printed off photos of Brandon and me as babies, and after painting wood plaques to match the nursery colors, I Mod Podge'd (I LOVE this stuff) the photos onto the plaques.  I find I look at them trying to figure out who Parker looks like.  I will add his photos to the collage later.

I decided to organize the closet.  I didn't want to hang up the onesies and pants.  I had some boxes from my old job that fit perfect into the cloth shelf thingy.  I covered and Mod Podge'd the front with fabric that matched the room colors, then Cricut'd onesies and pants for each month.  I used a paperclip to attach so I can change out the months when Parker grows out of the smaller sizes.  I even have a box for socks and shoes.





I washed and organized some of the baby clothes.  I made dividers by repurposing some old cds.  I cut a slit to the middle and cut out the middle.  Then, I covered and Mod Podge'd fabric on both sides and added a month.  I need to cut a little off the top of the cds, as they don't move well because they hit the shelf.  But, for free, they work great.  Hopefully you can see the cd dividers in the photo.

Annual Fall Hood River Trip

The year before Brandon and I got married, I invited Brandon to join my family on a drive up to Hood River to get apples.  We have driven up the Hood River every year since.  This year almost didn't happen since I was 34 weeks pregnant.  But we did go and have the photos to prove it.

Look! She's pregnant.

Pumpkin people are sooo weird.

Don't lick my hand, Goat.

Tahoe

At Tahoe City

July brought the first Hignite Tahoe Camping Trip for me.  Brandon has shared all his Tahoe memories and I have been anxious to visit.  The whole Hignite clan was able to go - so it was a mini Hignite reunion.  I was 6 months pregnant - camping wasn't the easiest.  I made sure I had plenty of pillows and a comfy air mattress.  It was a different experience camping Hignite style than camping Hines/Hunt style.  Someday we will need to go camping at East Eagle for Hunt camping.... 

Brandon cooling off in Lake Tahoe

The weather was crazy.  We had rain the 2nd night, then a huge thunderstorm the next night.  I seriously thought we were going to get struck by lightening in our tent.  Plus, the thunder echoed off the mountains.  The campsite was near the hospital which caused more problems sleeping when the helicopter decided to come and go.  Top it off with the small planes from the airport flying over the campsite and I thought several times we were going to be a news story of campers dying in an accident.  Oh - and one night we woke up to the police serving a warrant at a house close to the campsite.  It brought me back to when the fire department woke us up to the tsunami warning - so I thought  maybe the police were warning the campsite of a forest fire from the thunderstorm.  Needless to say, we had some excitement.

Me and Bran traveling to Virginia City

Let's see if I can remember what all we did.  We spent a day at Stateline visiting the bazaars and shops.  We slipped back into Ol' Time ways in Virginia City.  I was fascinated with the town and how things came about and how things were back when the town was booming.  We spent a day visiting the old homes on the lake.  I can't believe people would come for just for the summer.  But it made me wish we had a summer home on the lake.  Brandon even took me to the arcade where he spent hours playing games as a kid.  Brandon says the arcade is the only thing that seems to have stayed the same since he was a kid.  Now Tahoe is too touristy for Brandon.  It was a blast seeing and hanging out with the family.  Since we won't see them at Christmas, we don't know the next time we will get to see them all. 

On the way home Brandon and I stayed the night in Sacramento.  We walked Old Town Sacramento and ate at Fat City Bar & Cafe.  Now, whenever I see the bridge on The Mentalist, I yell "I've been there!"  It annoys Brandon.

What's Up Dock?

I almost forgot - Brandon and I went to see the Japanese Dock that 'landed' in Newport this June.  So crazy this thing floated across the ocean!

You mean it's been a year?!

Ah, man.  We sure haven't been keeping this up.  I think there was a bit of confusion about who would be the one in charge of the blog.  Looks like I'm the chosen one now.  Let's catch up.

Keeping me company thru morning sickness

Tera at the Animal Shelter

We made a big step and adopted a cat.  We didn't rescue - because she didn't need rescuing.  We paid $5 and took her home - that's adoption.  Our cat has a history.  She was brought to the shelter with 4 kittens after a door fall on them - one kitten died.  Her kittens were all adopted out, and finally she was adopted.  The home had other cats who picked on her causing the family to bring our cat back to the animal shelter.  That's when we found her.  The shelter (or family) called our cat Hera.  Because she had it rough, we decided to keep her name similar to Hera - naming her Tera.  Tera was quite shy to start with.  She hid behind our washer.  She finally made her way out of the laundry room and now has the run of the house.  Tera is a social cat - always meows and rubs her face against you.  She loves to play with pens and strings, and protects us from birds and bugs.  She's a good guard cat - she'll love you to death.  Cats are better than dogs.  Just saying.

Baby Hignite at 34 weeks

In February Brandon and I decided I would quit work in April.  Things were bad and I just couldn't handle the stress anymore.  Shortly after making that decision, we found out we were expecting a baby in November.  It was a bit scary to think we were supposed to be responsible enough for another human.  Because I was leaving work due to issues at work, I didn't want anyone to know we were expecting and think that was why I was quitting. Thankfully I didn't have morning sickness my last few months of work.  In fact, I started getting morning sickness the first week I wasn't working.  I tried to find employment throughout my pregnancy, but no luck on interviews until I was 6 months along.  Then, when they found out I was pregnant, they didn't want to hire me.  But it allowed me to focus on getting things ready for baby.  I stayed busy sewing, painting and preparing for baby.

Sorry - Tillamook Ice Cream is better...

We made a Brandon Mission Memory Tour trip to Houston in April.  We had fun with a huge rain storm and a tornado warning.  I started feeling sick on this trip.  Brandon couldn't understand why I couldn't stand the smell of BBQ, let alone, why I didn't want to eat BBQ, when it is one of my favorite foods.  We were able to spend a few days with Matt and Laurie in Dallas.  It was fun to visit them and to see their kids.  While Brandon and Matt went to Six Flags, I visited with a friend from my Orem and our Portland single days - Angela.  Brandon hasn't stopped trying to get a job in Houston since we returned home.  I pray we don't move to Texas.  No offense, Texas.

Bran, Leo, & Matt playing Old Maid

And Brandon will be upset if I don't mention his fishing trip.  Brandon was able to go deep sea fishing thru a work group.  He caught his limit of Ling Cod, Sea Bass, and Rockfish.  We are set until next year.