Beautiful Creation

Saturday we had the privilege of going to the Poppy Preserve in Lancaster. The park covers almost 1,800 acres and the state doesn't water or stimulate the flowers, so everything is natural. It was absolutely gorgeous and we marveled at God's AMAZING creation!! Uncle Aaron, Aunt Kimmy, and Linnea came with us, and we borrowed a van so that we could all ride together. It was a great day! Here are (more than) a few pictures:





Ok, I'm tired of trying to walk through all these flowers. Can you please pick me up now?




And now, the pictures everyone's been looking and waiting for:

Is Hannah already trying to blame her baby cousin for things? It looks like she's saying, "She did it!" :)

Kisses...
...and hugs! They love each other!

The girls seemed to enjoy sitting next to each other in the van. They held hands and shared toys - it was precious!!!

Hannahisms

Hannah has a couple of fetishes/habits. These include, but are not limited to:

• Closing anything that is open (cabinets, doors, drawers, the fridge when we're trying to get something out. James said we should get her a Papelbon jersey, since she's our "closer" - haha... yeah, it's Parker humor.)
• *Trying* to play with fruit (when she sees oranges or grapefruits, she yells, "Ball" and tries to get it, so she can throw it around the house). I say "trying" because we don't let her.
  
• Brushing her teeth
• Purses
• Shoes (and the sound they make on hard floors)
  
• Plants (we took her to the zoo, and she was more interested in touching all the plants than looking at the animals. Same on our walks - she loves to touch all the plants.)
• Other kids (she LOVED the time she spent with her cousins at Easter, and I can't wait for her to get to play with her Pichura cousins!)
• Having clean hands (if there is even the smallest piece of fuzz on her hands, she comes up to me, whining to get it off.)
• Knocking on doors (I've had to stop her from knocking on our neighbor's door)
• Reading books aloud (and upside down)
• Being outside (I've learned to be careful about using the word "walk" around our house. When she hears it, her face lights up, and she runs to get her shoes. This word is now only to be used when we're actually going to go for a walk.)
• The blanket from Papa and Grandma
• Her stuffed mouse, followed by any stuffed animal
• Mirrors
  

And just to even things out a big, here are some things she loathes:

• The vacuum cleaner
• Getting water in her face (you should have seen her reaction when we put all four of the Fujita grandkids in the bathtub and one of the boys thought it would be fun to dump a cup of water over Hannah's head. Yeah. Let's just say I've never seen her so anxious to get out of the tub.)
• That's pretty much it. Can't think of anything else. This girl is a pretty happy girl.
  

Here's a video we took of Hannah, which includes a couple of her fetishes.


Since most of you probably don't speak Hannahese, here's a translation:
"Knock, knock. Something even Mommy can't understand. Door. Something Mommy can't understand."

Then comes the stomping of the foot. These shoes are WAY to big for her, but she found them (or, one of the them) and put it on herself (on the wrong foot, of course) and proceeded to walk around, stomping on the hard floors, because she likes the sound. I can't blame her, because I remember liking the sound of my shoes clicking on the ground when I was a little girl, too. Am I the only one, or is that a "normal" little girl thing?

How Many Lines Do YOU Have?

Last Friday, Hannah added a neurologist to her list of medical specialists she has seen. For only being 18-months-old and healthy, this girl's seen a lot of specialists! She's been to an ophthalmologist, a pediatric ophthalmologist, a geneticist, and now a neurologist. As I mentioned in a previous post, she was referred to the neurologist since her soft spot hasn't closed yet. The neurologist didn't seem too concerned, since Hannah appears to be a healthy little girl and is developing right on schedule. The doctor mentioned that sometimes a Vitamin D deficiency or thyroid problem could lead to the soft spot staying open, but as she watched Hannah walk play in the exam room during her appointment, she kept saying that she looked to be very healthy and didn't think these were factors. She ordered a blood test anyway, just to make sure. She also ordered an ultrasound of her soft spot to make sure there was no fluid in there. The neurologist really doesn't suspect that anything's wrong and told us that many babies' soft spots don't close until 2-years of age. Regardless, I'm thankful they're being proactive, as Kaiser isn't always known to do so.

One other thing she noticed were Hannah's hands. She only has one line/crease that goes all the way across her hands. Most people have two lines going across their hands, but neither line goes all the way across. She said having one line go all the way across is common among people with Down's Syndrome (which we know she doesn't have, by the way). She said it may be linked to the chromosomal translocation that she (and James) has, and was going to check with the geneticist. It's not anything to be concerned about, just interesting. Anyway, once she pointed this out, we were curious as to whether anyone else in the family had only one line going across their hands, so we called James on our way home from the doctor. Sure enough, on both of his hands, he only has one line going across. My parents, my sister, and I all have two lines on both hands. So now we're wondering - all you Parkers (including Pichura kids) need to check your hands and see how many lines you have! :) We checked Kim and she has two. So, how many do you have?My hand is on the left. You can see two overlapping lines going across my hand. James's hand on the right only has one line going all the way across.

Hello Toddler; Goodbye Clean House!

This is how I like my house to look. It's clean,
neat, organized, relaxing, and enjoyable:

This is how my house looks between the hours of 8:30 am
and 8:00 pm.It's messy, unorganized, and anything but relaxing:

This is why my house looks the way it does:

And I wouldn't want it any other way!


Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Psalm 127:3

A Birthday and My Husband's Winnings!

On Friday, I turned another year older. I am officially a quarter of a century old. James and I had a fun day. Unfortunately, he had to work, but we were able to meet for lunch at Egg Plantation, where you get a free meal on your birthday. I enjoyed my usual #74 - an omelet filled with Jack cheese, bacon, avocado, green onions, and tomato (minus the tomato for me). It was delicious, and if you ever make omelets at home, I highly recommend using these ingredients! For dinner, we headed to Benihana, where I had a coupon for a free meal on my birthday. That, too, was excellent and a very special treat, since places like Benihana aren't really in our food budget. :) It's always a fun experience to eat there, as they prepare your meal right in front of you. And James and I learned some very, um, interesting things as we had dinner, as there were five other ladies at our table, all of whom were either lawyers or currently in law school.

We were blessed to have one of the elders from church babysit Hannah while we were at dinner. His wife was sick, so it was just him and Hannah. Hannah likes just about everyone she meets (almost...), but there are some people with whom she has a natural attachment. This man is one of those people. There have been a couple times she has seen him at church (she didn't really know him very well at the time), where she walked right up to him and put her arms up for him to pick her up. :) From what we heard, they had a lot of fun, and we are so thankful for his servant's heart in giving up a Friday night to come play with our little girl!

Let me just say that my husband cracks me up. I had let him know all week that I could get the wrapping paper for him to wrap my presents (I knew he had gotten me presents, because he had been asking me to update my Amazon wish list and make sure everything was properly prioritized :) and I was there when he ordered it and when the package came). Anyway, he never asked for the wrapping paper, but still managed to "wrap" my present. If I tried to explain it to you, you might not believe me, so I'll let you see for yourself:

And what was inside, er, underneath the wrapping paper:Ok, so everyone knows that it's taboo to buy this sort of thing for your wife on her birthday, or any holiday for that matter. Well, I guess I'm not like most women, because these types of gifts absolutely THRILL me!! Seriously, I'm not joking! I've been wanting a cast iron skillet, and I can't wait to use it!!!

Now for the second part of the title: My Husband's Winnings. Last night, some friends of ours hosted a Tripoley tournament. There were 24 people in the tournament, and the buy-in for the tournament was a $5 gift card. Well, my amazing, card-playing husband ended up getting first place and got to take home 12 of those gift cards!! That was very exciting, and now we have some date "money" for a while! :) I think some sort of tournament of this nature might be necessary for the Parker family vacation this summer!

I'm so proud of him!!

And now for the part of the post that can be expected in just about any post I write: the Hannah part. She keeps us on our toes as to what she is going to do or say next. She now refers to her baby cousin, Linnea, as "Nay-nay" and it is absolutely adorable! Especially when she saw her at church this morning and ran up to her and said, "Nay-nay!!" unprompted. She's a polite little girl, saying "Teas" (please) when she wants something and "Tank you" (thank you) when you give her something. She is not polite on the phone when talking to Aunt Kristin, however. She definitely takes control of the conversation and doesn't let Aunt Kristin get a word in - at all! :) Hehe...

She has such an excitement for life that is contagious. Almost every morning is just as exciting as Christmas morning in her eyes. She gets so excited when she sees her toys in the morning and excitedly exclaims, "Oh wow! Wow!" It's as if she's never seen a toy in her life. Of course, her favorite toys are still not actually toys. For example:She's been carrying around this Benihana bag all weekend.

...and...The possibilities with a pack of diapers are endless: seat, platform on which to stand, a push toy, something on which to pile all your other toys, etc. There were a couple of times, I was about to go put it away, but then decided not to just yet, since she was having so much fun with it.

Here she is running to get the camera. That's one of her new favorite games: Let's see if I can get the camera from Mommy when she's trying to take my picture. Oh, and her awesome t-shirt is from her Pichura cousins - thank you!

Hannah just recently figured out how to crawl under the coffee table. You may think 18 months is a big late for that, but she actually avoided attempting this feat for a very good reason. Our coffee table is has wooden ledges that hang down, making it quite easy to bonk one's head. She knew that she had to army crawl in order to get from one side to another, and successfully made it without hitting her precious little head! And she's very proud of herself, too!

We apparently need to find her a little chair to sit on. In the meantime, however, she's found something that is the perfect height to sit on and read books.

Hannah's just a big ham. I don't know what the expression on her face is for, but you can see how she likes to eat her breakfast: pile it all on top of her cup. Why? I have no clue, you'll have to ask her.

One-and-a-Half Years

Yesterday our "little baby" turned 18-months-old. Where the last year and a half went, I don't know. The one thing I do know is that I'm trying to cherish every single, second I have with her - even the fussy, cranky, and trying ones. I've found that having a child makes me realize how fleeting and precious time is and is causing me to learn more and more to make the most of it. I will never get these days back!

Hannah had her 18-month well-baby check-up this morning, and we were so excited that Daddy got to go with us this time! I'll let Hannah tell you all about her appointment:

Mommy woke me up early this morning (8:30-ish!) to take me to the doctor. After we got dressed and had breakfast, Mommy put me in the car and off we went! I got to sit in a big person chair in the waiting room, and while we were waiting, Daddy showed up! I didn't know he was coming, so I was really happy to see him! The nurse came to get us, and I walked back to the room. Mommy took all my clothes off (except for my diaper) and I got to go stand on the big girl scale! Last time I was there, I just sat in the baby scale, so this was a new experience for me. I stood really still on the scale and Mommy and Daddy said I did a good job. I love being nakey, so I was pretty happy, too! The nurse had me lay down on the table and put a line under my foot and above my head. She also wrapped some weird ribbon around my head - I don't really know what that was for. The nurse left, and I got to sit on the table and read some books. It was a lot of fun! Then my doctor came in. We talked for a little bit, then she looked in my ears and listened to my heart and lungs. She even listened to my mouses's heart, too! He's a very healthy mouse! Oh, I think I forgot to tell you that Mommy had me take my mouse with me for moral support, since she knew I was going to get some shots (she didn't tell me that part). I had fun with the doctor and blew her kisses when she left. Then the nurse came back in and put some funny-looking gloves on her hands. Mommy held/hugged me tight on her lap and the nurse poked me on my leg. I didn't like it at all! It hurt and I cried. Thankfully, I only had to get two shots today, so it wasn't that bad. After the shots were done, I got two band-aids. I only cried for a little bit, then the nurse gave me a book about farm animals, so I started to look through it and forgot about the shots. I even blew the nurse kisses when she left, too. People seem to like it when I do that, so I do it a lot!

So there you have it from a 1 1/2 year old's perspective. Now the stats: She measured 2' 8.75" tall and 24 lbs. She is officially more than 1/2 of my height! For the canucks in the family, let me convert that: Hannah is .832 m tall and weights 10.886 kg. Sorry, just couldn't resist. :P Hannah still has a significant amount of chub, as you can see in the picture, but somehow, she comes in in the 40-somethingith (I think I just made up a word. Sorry, I can't remember the exact number) percentile for weight and - get this - 81st percentile for height!! Don't know where she got those genes! Her development is coming along just fine and the doctor said she's a "very happy baby!" There is one thing, however, that hasn't developed as it should. By 18 months, most babies' soft spots have closed, but Hannah's is still there and is still big. Per protocol, she is referring us to a neurologist, but advised us that she's never had any patients in which this has been a major problem. I'm thankful that they're looking into it, though. I must say that it still weirds me out a little to see her head pulsating where her soft spot is. :)

This afternoon, Hannah and I took a walk around our complex. We stopped by Uncle Aaron and Aunt Kimmy's house to say hi. Hannah apparently feels very comfortable there, because Aaron opened the door, and Hannah immediately squeezed right past him and let herself in. Guess we need to work on her manners. :) It has been fun to watch her personality develop and begin to manifest itself. She is such a ham (just ask Aunt Kimmy)!

Well, I better go get some chores done since Hannah's napping!

My Wonderful Hubby!

"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make a helper fit for him." Genesis 2:18

According to the creation account in Genesis, I was MADE to be a HELPER to my husband. This is my main responsibility as James's wife, according to God's great design. While I am to help him in many areas of life, the Lord has really been teaching me one particular aspect of this responsibility over the last couple of months - encouragement. I have realized that it's really easy to encourage James when things are going well; however, it takes on a whole new meaning when times get tough.

My husband is an amazing man. There are many things which make him wonderful, but one thing is that he understands his responsibility to provide for our family. I know that it is a huge burden at times, particularly now, with a fully commission-based job and a slow economy. It is very easy for him to get discouraged, which is understandable, considering he has a wife and daughter at home for whom to provide. I can understand why he feels so pressured, but I can't fully empathize with him, as I don't carry that burden myself.

This is where encouragement comes in. I've learned that what he needs the most from me during these times is encouragement and support. I don't always know the right things to say and when to say them; I don't always know when I should just keep my mouth shut and lend a caring and loving ear; I don't know when all he needs is a hug. But thankfully, the Lord has been teaching me these things. Don't get me wrong, I still often feel inadequate for such a huge task as encouraging my husband, but I know the Holy Spirit will guide me. It's just a matter of relying solely on Him and making sure I'm in His Word daily. If I'm not Gospel-focused it is impossible for me to truly encourage my husband, for hope can only be found in Him, not in our own talents, abilities, desires, etc. I just ask you all to pray for me (and him!) during this time in our lives. Pray that we will focus on Christ and that our greatest desire would be for Him and to grow closer to Him. Pray that I will be able to continue to lovingly support and encourage James and that I will be diligent at home, so that he can come home to his "En Geddi," and not to a stressful home. Also, please pray for James that he will get some leads at work, if it's the Lord's will. If not, pray that we'll find joy in our trial and in learning to lean fully on Him.

Ok, now I'm going to shift gears a little bit and brag about my husband! :) I can't even begin to tell you what a joy it is to see my husband interact with his little girl! I just love to watch the two of them play and interact. Hannah absolutely loves her Daddy, which is easy to see whenever she says, "Da-ee," because it's always exclaimed with much enthusiasm and accompanied by a smile. When she hears him coming up the stairs and putting his keys in the lock after work, she drops whatever she's doing and runs to the door (hopefully someday she'll learn not to stand right behind the door, as that can be dangerous :) ). I thought you would enjoy some pictures and a video (which was taken tonight) of James with his little girl!

This is how Hannah prefers to get her teeth brushed.

You can ask James about this one. :)

Bible story time!! Thanks for the Bible story book,
Uncle David and Aunt Michelle! We're really enjoying it!
A video of James and Hannah jumping. Well, of James jumping and Hannah trying to jump and laughing at Daddy jumping.

I hope all of that made sense. I had a lot I wanted to say, but wasn't quite sure how to word or condense it.