From Baby to Toddler

It's official. Our little Hannah is starting to toddle around the house. On several occasions over the last week, she's taken anywhere from one little step to three or four little steps. Today she decided to try to walk about four feet by herself - and succeeded! She loves to walk around the house while holding onto our hands and gets a good laugh out of falling down, which is a good thing, because there's probably going to be a lot of that going on in the next couple of months! :)

Hannah's language development is also coming along, although it's mostly in her ability to understand language rather than to communicating language. There are a few words she does say. Right now her favorite word is "Bapa," but she also says "Bup," which in Hannah language means "book." She loves to look at "bups," although it's almost impossible to actually READ them to her, because she's mostly interested in turning the pages! I think she's also starting to learn the sign for "milk," because I mentioned something about milk the other day and she started signing it. She understands the names of objects, as we can ask her where a specific toy or object is and she'll either point to it or get it. One of her newest developments is showing us where her head and nose are when we ask her. Now we just have to work on the rest of the body parts! It's definitely a ton of fun to watch how she learns and masters each task. Watching her development has also helped me understand just how much Christ had to humble Himself to become man. He also would have had to learn these things, as Hannah does. Truly amazing!

My parents were down last weekend and my wonderful husband and dad took the glass doors out of the shower and replaced our leaky drain plug in the bathtub, so Hannah can now take baths in the big bathtub! She absolutely loves it, especially the new bath toys with which mama spoiled her! I've also been trying to be better at remembering to brush her teeth every night (I know, I should've started doing that A LONG time ago, but I usually don't remember until after she goes to bed - oops!). Anyway, I bought her a new toothbrush and some Gum and Tooth Cleanser. She thinks brushing her teeth is just the funniest thing ever! I'll have to get a video of it sometime for you.

Last weekend we also turned her around in the car. She loves facing forward, because she can look out the windows and watch Mommy drive the car. She has started babbling a lot, too, and talks my ear off in the car, which I think is so cute. We'll see how I feel about that when she can actually talk! :)

Hannah is also a big social butterfly! She makes friends wherever we go, especially with other little kids and babies. She gets so excited when we see other kids and starts squealing and waving to them. It's so cute to watch!

We've also discovered the joy of a webcam! It's much better than having her talk to people on the phone, because she usually gets distracted by the phone and doesn't talk. With the webcam, however, she gets really excited to see someone and is more interactive. She even got to have a lunch date with her twin cousins in Northern CA, and was also able to talk to her Grandma in Oregon! We were laughing today, because James was watching a Mark Driscoll sermon online. Hannah walked up to the computer, stood in front of it, and got really excited and started talking and pointing to Mark. She thought it was someone on the webcam! :) She'd love to chat with any of you, whenever you have time. Just let us know and we'll schedule it. :) We're looking forward to seeing Papa and Grandma next month in person (we're working on how to say, "Papa."). :)

Paul's Trials are Still Producing Fruit

James and I received a great reminder yesterday at church. The sermon was about missions, but there was something (not about missions, per se) that really struck us. Our pastor was speaking out of Romans 1 and was discussing Paul's desire to go to Rome, but was prevented from doing so. However, because he was unable to visit the Romans, he had to resort to writing them a letter, resulting in the book of Romans. If he was able to visit Rome, the book of Romans would not exist! Think about the rich theology and doctrine that we get from this amazing and wonderful book of the Bible! If it weren't for Paul's imprisonment and other circumstances which prevented him from traveling at times, we probably wouldn't have ANY of the Pauline epistles! What a great reminder of how God takes our trials and uses them for HIS glory! Of course, we often don't understand why He's allowing us to go through trials while we're in the midst of them, but it's so encouraging to see His hand at work even in our darkest and most difficult hours. I'm sure Paul would have rather been able to give his messages to their recipients in person, but because he was unable to do so, everyone for all of time to come would have access to his God-inspired wisdom and teaching and would be able to learn and grow in the knowledge of Christ! While the fruit of my trials most likely won't ever have an impact of this magnitude, they can definitely be used for God's purpose and glory. This is something we can be reminded about every time we pick up His Word and read one of these letters!

As I write this, I am reminded not only of the great encouragement we have in trials (and God's sovereignty), but of what Paul's attitude and actions said about him and his faith while he was undergoing trials. Even during times of trial, he continued to have a Christ-ward mindset.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:18-30)

Paul was always thinking about Christ and the hope that we have through Him, and He was always reminding others about this hope. Can I say the same about myself?

Life With a One-Year Old is Anything But Boring!

It seems that everyday brings something new with little Hannah. She definitely keeps me on my toes! Today I caught her playing with some raw chicken pieces that I had thrown in the garbage. Thankfully I caught her right away, so she didn't have any time to eat any of it or stick her icky hands in her mouth. Nevertheless, I'm a bit of a foodborne pathogen freak, so this really grossed me out! You better believe that we scrubbed her hands well with soap and warm water!

On an unrelated note, I saw her munching away on something, so I stuck my fingers in her mouth to fish around for whatever she was chewing on. I didn't find anything, but I did discover that she has two little molars in her mouth! I knew she was getting some teeth in the front, but I had no idea she was working on some molars, too! That brings her tooth count to seven, which is pretty incredible, considering that a month ago, she only had two! She's been working hard to push out all of these teeth!

Also, Hannah has recently developed an utter fear of the vacuum. One day while vacuuming, I looked down to find Hannah screaming her little head off and shaking. Poor thing! I can't even pull the vacuum out of the closet without her losing it - it doesn't even have to be turned on for her to get scared. This is something we're going to have to work on. In the time being, however, I have resorted to vacuuming while Hannah's in her highchair, occupied with food. And even then, I have to look at her and smile at her when I turn it on, so that she knows it's okay. Hopefully she gets over this fear quickly. :)

James had the privilege of going to our church's men's retreat this past weekend. I'm glad he was able to go and have fun, but it sure is nice to have him back home! I am so proud of my husband for all the work he's putting into learning his new job. It hasn't been an easy path for him, but I'm so proud of his attitude through it and his diligence in learning. He's amazing and I thank God that He brought him into my life!

Last post I mentioned that I was doing a new running program. Well, I made it through the first two weeks and the first day of the third week before the treadmill decided to give up. So, I'm quite bummed that I've not been able to run for the past week. :( Tonight I told James that I start to eat more junk when I don't exercise, so it's a double whammy! I guess I'll just have to figure out something else in the meantime.

So, that's about it for now. Here are some pictures of the little cutie for your viewing enjoyment!

The cashiers like to give balloons to Hannah when we go to the grocery store now. Usually she just gets the regular latex balloons, but on this particular day, she got a mylar balloon that was bigger than her!

Check out my cool monkey bib!

Hannah often puts her face into this toy and talks/squeals/giggles/yells into it. She also does that with cups and basically anything that will sound funny when she talks into it.

What? You mean this isn't for me to climb on?

Hannah takes after her daddy. This is where he sits when he reads his books.

Just cute!

This is how Hannah crawled for about a week. We couldn't figure out what she was doing. Maybe she was trying to figure out how her legs worked - we really have no idea! Anyway, we would often hear a thud when she was crawling around and it would be her running into a wall, or a door, or furniture. I guess that's what happens when you're not watching where you're going! She has given up this silly habit of crawling while looking at her legs, only to be replaced by her rolling around the floor, giggling. Like I said, life with a one-year-old is anything but boring! I LOVE IT!

Parker Family Update

Since Hannah's decided to be a sleepy head today and I'm waiting for her to wake up so I can vacuum (I've already got the furniture moved out of the way and her lunch waiting in the fridge!), I figured I might as well use this time to give an update. I often write updates centered around our precious little girl, but I thought it was about time to update you on the whole family, as there has been some major changes in our life lately.

First, we'll start with the biggest change, which was James' change in employment. His last day with Chase was Saturday and he jumped right in at Bank of America Home Loans on Sunday (yes, he worked Sunday, because it was the only day someone would have the time to show him a few things). Actually, he had been going over to Bank of America on his days off from Chase for the last couple of weeks, so he's been working hard on this new job (and hasn't really had a day off in a few weeks, so we're excited about this weekend!). His official start date was the 16th, but because he lacks the mortgage experience that was needed for the job, he has a lot to learn and is getting a crash course in the loan process. He has been learning quickly (there's so much to learn!!), and I'm so proud of how hard he's working so he can provide for our family! :)

Our decision for James to switch jobs was not an easy one. Things were starting to come together for him at Chase and he was really doing well there. So when this mortgage opportunity came up, we had a lot of praying, seeking counsel, looking at finances, etc. to do. James has wanted to get into the mortgage industry for a while now, so we knew we had to look into it. Since it is a sales position, it is purely commission-based pay - there's no base salary. With the economy and housing markets the way they are, we had a lot to take into consideration, since at Chase, we at least had a consistent and guaranteed income. I am so thankful for James, who doesn't just jump into opportunities, but takes the time to think through them, pray, and seek counsel from other sources. After talking with our Realtor, a family friend who's been in the financial world for a long time, the loan officer at Chase, and some others, we decided we would trust the Lord and go for it! I had prayed that if this was not what God would have for us, that the door would be shut, but God left it wide open for us! Since we will no longer have a guaranteed income (or even know what our income will be, for that matter), we recently sat down to evaluate our budget and shave off as much as we could, which is hard, when there's not much wiggle room to begin with! We're just trusting the Lord that he'll provide an income adequate to support our family, as we know that everything comes from Him!

On another note, I have been trying to lose all of these pesky pounds that I have gained since we got married and since Hannah's been born, so I've been running. Running on a treadmill that is placed in the corner of the room, facing the corner of the room gets really boring really fast. So, I decided I needed to change things up a bit and started a new running program called "Couch to 5K." It's a program designed to get you running 3 miles in 2 months. I figured that since I've been running already, the first couple of weeks would be easy-peasy! Oh boy! So far, it's still been a good workout! I don't think I'll ever run an official 5K (or at least not in the near future), but it's still much better running with an actual plan and goal in mind. We'll see how it goes. :)


James wanted me to share this photo with you all. We took a trip to Albertsons because I had some coupons I wanted to use, and while I knew it was a great deal, I didn't realize how great of a deal it was until we checked out. All of this cost us -- get this -- 95 cents! When it rang up at 95 cents, I looked at James and said I didn't think it should be that low, so we asked the cashier, who brought the manager over. They looked over the coupons (I had store coupons plus manufacturer's coupons) and receipt and couldn't figure out what was wrong, so they just sent us home! Wow! Glad we decided to stop by!

So, that's what we're up to. We miss you all and can't wait until the family vacation next summer!!! :) We're so EXCITED!

Sweet Cousin Time!

As I mentioned earlier, I would post pictures/videos of Linnea's visit with us today. It really is precious to watch Hannah interact (or TRY to interact) with Linnea. Enjoy!

Hannah's 1-year check-up

Yesterday Hannah and I ventured out to Kaiser for her one-year check-up! This was a huge deal, because we were hoping that we would be able to put her forward-facing car seat in the car, so we can see her when we're in the car and so she could see where we're going. California's regulations for placing a baby in a forward-facing car seat are that the baby must be at least a year old and at least 20 lbs. She weighed 19 lbs., 4 oz. at her 9-month check-up, so she's definitely at the 20 lb mark now, right? Nope! Apparently, she only gained THREE OUNCES in the last 3 months, because she weighs 19 lbs., 7 oz - meaning, we still have over a half pound until she can turn around in the car! Bummer! This is a surprising statistic to anyone who's SEEN Hannah - she's adorably chubby! I can't figure out how she keeps her weight down with all her chub! She's only in the 20-something percentile for weight and seventy-something for height (sorry, I don't remember the exact numbers). All I can say is, there must be some really chubby babies out there! :) (Her length is 29.75 inches).

Anyway, Hannah had to get 5 shots yesterday, plus a blood draw. Poor baby had a band-aid on every limb. I think shots must be confusing to babies, especially once they get to this age and have a little more of an understanding of things. All she knows is that mommy's holding her while some lady repeatedly inflicts sharp pains into her legs and arms, and she didn't even do anything to deserve this kind of poor treatment. It was kind of cute, though, after she got the blood draw, the lady went to put a sticker on her shirt and as soon as Hannah saw her coming at her with something, she started screaming again! Such a traumatic experience for such a little girl! Thankfully, she doesn't remember any of it! Except, we have to go back next month for her flu shot. At least it's only one, though!

On a different note, I had the joy of babysitting Linnea for part of the day today. While it was a lot of fun and I definitely won't mind doing it again, it made me thankful that I don't have kids that are a year apart (Kristin, I don't know how you did it)!!! It is, however, so much fun to watch Hannah interact with her baby cousin. We're still working on what it means to be gentle and to be careful not to fall on the baby, etc. (which is one of the reasons having babies this close in age would be difficult to deal with full time, although I realize that God's grace is sufficient for even that!). I did manage to get some really cute pictures and videos of the two, so I will hopefully post those in the near future. Hannah absolutely adores Linnea (most of the time) and gets REALLY excited when she sees her! It melts my mommy heart!

Happy Birthday, Hannah!!!

Has it already been a year?! It's hard to believe that one year ago, our precious Hannah Grace entered the world! James and I can't imagine what our life would be like without her - she has brought so much joy to our family. Her smile and laughter are contagious (and she's smiling or laughing most of the time)! I'm not a morning person, so I don't necessarily enjoy getting out of bed in the morning, but once I walk into her room, and see her smiling face and squeals of joy, I wouldn't trade it for anything - not even an extra hour of sleep (but, thankfully, she's not too early of a riser!! :) ). James and I have learned and grown so much through this year - about marriage, about family, about ourselves, about each other, about God (and His grace, love, mercy, patience...) and, while they weren't always easy lessons, we are so thankful God walked us through those trials and times in which we learned these valuable lessons and truths.

Yesterday we had a little party for Hannah and were so blessed by our friends and family! It's so great to see how many people love our daughter and are praying for her and will be godly influences in her life as she grows up. The theme of her party was "Cheerios," because they are her absolute favorite things in the world!!! So, my sister and I set out to make a Cheerios box cake! We had fun making it and were pretty happy with the end result! We also made a small Cheerios box out of the scraps from the big cake that we used for Hannah's own, personal cake.

I was a bit disappointment in how Hannah went about eating the cake. I always love when babies just shove the whole thing in their mouth and make a HUGE mess all over themselves and everything around them. However, my baby is just too polite to do that. At first she just picked the Cheerios off the cake and ate them. Then I pulled the fondant off the cake to see if that would help, but she just stuck her finger in a little bit of the frosting and licked it off. Ok, well, let's try breaking the cake into smaller chunks, so she can just pick up a chunk and eat it. Nope! My little princess just picked up the little crumbs and ate them. Finally, I picked up a chunk and gave it to her, but she still didn't shove it in her mouth. What a disappointment, but it was still fun watching her eat it!

She had a blast with her presents, too! She was probably wondering why we kept giving her a toy and then taking it away from her. She didn't mind us taking them away, though. I think she realized that when we took one away, she got another one! Anyway, she's been busy today playing with all of her new toys! Daddy's had fun playing with them, too! :)

One of the highlights of her birthday was having family here to share it with her. My Grandparents flew in from Pennsylvania to be here (this was the first time they were able to meet her), my parents and my sister and her family came down from Northern California, and of course, her Uncle Aaron, Aunt Kim, and baby Linnea were there. We were also blessed by all of our friends that came to share this special occasion with her. Thanks to everyone who made this day so special!!!

For those of you who weren't able to be there, here are some pictures. We wish you all lived closer and could come!!!The big cake and Hanna's little cake (we obviously didn't spend much time on her cake)!

Top view of the cake.Eating the Cheerios off of the cake.Not too happy about having about 25 people standing around just staring at her... (and the fact that I didn't put a clip in her hair, so she looks like Donald Trump - I think I would be crying, too!). This is as messy as she got.Listening to the Pichura cousins sing "Happy Birthday!"

P.S. There are more birthday pictures on Facebook (sorry for those of you who don't use it, but Blogspot takes A LOT LONGER to upload photos).