A few cute ones....

Santa came to our house early this year!

My precious precious girls!

Christmas Pics

So, we tried to get a family picture last night, but
it got dark too quickly, so we'll try again later. We did
get a few of the kids but it was a little too dark as well.

They are getting too big too fast!

My sweet girls loving on little brother!

Troy vs. LSU

If you are winning 31-3 with less than 4 minutes to go in the third
quarter, and you manage to lose somehow...then you deserve to lose.
It was unbelievable! It made for a great game though. Maybe next
time Trojans!

We were sitting way up high, which made for some great pictures,
but it was FREEZING!

Scott and I got to go to this game, which was his birthday surprise.

We had a blast! We ate good, stayed up WAY too late driving back,

snuggled up to keep warm, and we would do it all again tomorrow if

we could!

Pumkin Patch!

This is the reality of taking pictures with 3 kids.
Trying to get everyone to look at the camera and smile--
Almost Impossible!!!

Close! Good Enough for me!

My little punkin among pumpkins!

Big sister Paige is also proud of little punkin!

Annalee (aka Miss Personality) finally deciding to

smile at the camera.

Sweet babies of mine!

Annalee still not looking at camera!

Not too bad!!!!!!!!





We went to the pumpkin patch the other day to take a few pics. Of course, the day we chose was FREEZING, and the wind was blowing like crazy! Also, we got there and the kids were all excited and the pumkin patch had a sign up that said it was CLOSED due to a bad shipment of pumpkins! This is the Parks luck by the way! We found some pumkins that were still a little decent to take pictures with. We never actually purchase pumpkins there anyway, but the kids like to play and pick them up. That was absolutely out of the question because almost all of them were rotten! We had fun anyway and several friends came out there too. The highlight for the kids, however, was going to McDonald's after the fact! Go figure!

Sundays...

I had to get a quick picture of my little ones this Sunday morning. Don't they look thrilled?

First Friend

On Friday, We picked up Paige's friend from school and she went home with us, and we all went to Scott's high school football game. As you can see from the pictures, Paige was as giddy as ever! She loved having a friend come home with her. Annalee didn't think it was too shabby either! I hope Annalee doesn't turn into that sister that Paige's friends want to hang out with instead, when they are over. Annalee's pretty cool you know! Anyway...I digress. On our way to the game, Scott looked at me and said "Paige has a friend in the car"! Is she already this grown? Where has the time gone? Some of you may be laughing, thinking "She's only four!", but this is my baby girl and she's almost 5! She is getting so big so fast and starting to speak with such conviction, that I would swear she's almost a teenager! Yet, she's still got such a sweet innocence about her and her sensitivity is so heightened that it brings her right back to where she should be. Anyhow, I'll end with a few overheard conversations in the van:
Story 1:
Friend: This looks like a baby cup (sippy cup-only thing allowed in the van!) Is this a baby cup
Paige?
long pause

Paige: (looks at friend very matter of factly) It's a cup.


Story 2:
Friend: Paige, your van is so cool! (when did I ever think I would hear those words uttered?)

Paige: (looking sheepish) Awww, thanks! (giggling)

What's new...

Teething. Enough said! This picture captures exactly what he's been doing lately! Hand in mouth, ALL the time! He now has 2 bottom teeth that have broken through. He's sitting up pretty good and he's getting on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. He's growing so fast. I can't stand it!

Paint and Pals

So this is my attempted artwork! My sweet friend Robyn took me to Paint and Pals on Saturday, and we really had a good time. I am in no way artistic. The instructor helping us was pretty good, but I could've used a little more help maybe. I like my painting, but I am not quite sure what I want to do with it yet. I would love to go back with a group! You can do group parties and I'm sure it would be quite enjoyable!!! I definitely want to go back!

3 Little Gators....

My sweet, sweet babies! They really are so much fun. We have our fair share of challenging days, but they are truly precious gifts from the Lord, that I thank Him daily for.

As far as an update on the Parks:

SCOTT- he is working hard in his various jobs. Things are going pretty well. He has some very challenging times at school sometimes, but this is where the Lord has Him at the moment, so He is continuously seeking Him, when days get rough! He has actually enjoyed his time off from Gustav and Labor Day! He's had lots of good time with the kids, and me!
ANNIE- I'm still training for my marathon in January. Things are going well, and a friend is gonna let me borrow her double jogger, so that is a huge blessing! I'm still working a couple of nights a week at the hospital, and that's going well. It's a short shift and I'm pretty busy , so the time flies and the money made is well worth it! Being a mother of three equals a busy life, but God has lavished His grace upon me as I try to parent them in a way that is pleasing to Him!

PAIGE- she is loving school. We've already had a lice outbreak in the school and the first cold with a fever, so...you can imagine how fun that is! We have another appointment to check on her JRA in December. We'll have more x-rays done in November to take to that appointment, to measure her bone length, and make sure there is no further discrepancy in leg length. We're very hopeful that she's growing out of it.

ANNALEE- she's a laugh a minute! Really, she's hysterical! She's growing up so fast and is so smart. She's picked up on so much, thanks to big sister. We're teaching her to read a little with a book designed to walk parents through easy lessons. She's loving Davis, but I have to watch her like a hawk, because she likes to get generous and give him various items that he shouldn't have..i.e...animal crackers, polly pockets, her juice cup...you get the idea!

DAVIS- he's learning to sit up, though still a bit wobbly! He babbles and squeals and makes my heart happy! He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth, but no teeth yet. He tries to scoot forward in an army crawl sort of way, but hasn't figured out how to get up on his hands and knees yet. I'm not in too much of a hurry for him to be mobile yet though! He is the most snuggly baby ever! I love it!

That's a small update on the fam! I'll try to get some more pictures up here soon. We're trying to get a new family picture in here at some point. We'll see!!

Game Day!

Davis has officially experienced his first weekend of college football. Daddy was a proud papa with Davis decked out in his Gator attire. We LOVE college football in our house! There's nothing like it! His hat is technically toddler-size, but we had to pose him in some pics with it on. He looks so much older with it though! Fortunately, the Gators won, so all was well in the Parks' home!

Random Pics...

Our sweet boy laughing!

Beautiful brown eyes!

He's a little wiggle worm and thinks that it's funny!

Silly girls.

Paige in all her excitement!

Annalee kept telling me to "Take a Pitcture...",
she needed me to get just her!

This is how every day goes... Paige is looking for the toy that she set
down on the table. Lo and behold, who has it...Annalee does as she
sneaks past Paige! Then Annalee antagonizes Paige with it for a few
minutes, they have to say their sorry and ask for forgiveness.


These are just a few new pictures that I enjoy and thought I'd share!

Marathon #2!

I wasn't sure if I'd do another marathon or not, but lo and behold, I find myself in the throws of training for yet another one. Scott thinks that something must be wrong with me because no one in their right mind would want to do that to themselves AGAIN! I am a little crazy, but I need structure and goals to get things done. I ran the first one, because it was one of my life goals and I figured I should go ahead and do it while I'm young. I'm not entirely sure why I want to run this one. I guess growing up, I was always involved in some sort of organized sports whether it was softball, tennis, or volleyball. Then, in college, I played intramurals, but that doesn't keep anybody in shape, so I started running. I actually liked it after I had built up some endurance! I started running in a few road races here and there and that was about the extent of it. Then, I got married and now have not one, not two, but three children!!! I love them from the bottom of my heart, but they sure have left some lasting reminders of them on my body!! So...that's where the next marathon comes in. I have a running schedule weekly with long runs on Saturdays. Running is such a stress reliever for me as well. This is a committment, so it's planned into my day and is non-negotiable, because if I don't run, I can't finish. This serves as a great way to get and stay in shape, which is something I gladly welcome into my life! I also found a friend (thanks Rachel!) who agreed to train and run with me, which is such a blessing, because I had to run the first one by myself, and it was no fun. Especially when you hit those hard points in the race where you question your sanity about the reason you ever thought you could run and finish a marathon! So, here I go again! Please pray that I would be healthy and finish strong. Also, pray that I would really take care of myself as I train because I'm still nursing Davis and I want to make sure that I'm getting enough calories and staying hydrated so he can do well, especially with his latest weigh-in.

Davis' 6 mos. Check-up

Davis had his 6 mos. check-up yesterday. He weighed in at 13lbs and 10oz. He was 25 3/4 in. long. Yes, he's little! He only gained 7 oz. in 2 months. I was a little concerned at first, but my pediatrician seems to think that he's just fine. He's sleeping fine, "eliminating" fine, and eating well. Annalee did the same weight gain trend and she's caught up now. It looks like he might pattern the same way. Scott's trying to bulk him up on the side I think! Otherwise everything was good. He got his shots and tolerated them well. My pediatrician said that we could come back in 6 weeks if we wanted to do a weight check if I was overly concerned, so we'll keep that in mind.

First Day of School!!!!

School started today, and what is the first day of school without the classic picture in front of the door with your backpack on! Don't be deceived...Annalee is NOT in school yet! Paige got a new backpack and gave her previous one to Annalee. So, it was out of the question to take this picture without her because she had a "pak-pak" on according to Annalee! Paige was super excited and absolutely loves going to school. Her class this year will function pretty much like kindergarten even though it's 4K. The class she is in has several children with autism who are being held back one more year to prepare for kindergarten, so they moved Paige and a few other neuro-typical children up to that class because they thought they were more than ready. She should be a great deal ahead when kindergarten rolls around next year! Paige was very excited about the new things she had gotten in preparation for the school year. She got a new backpack and lunchbox, several jeans, a few hoodies, and shirts to take her into the Fall. Thanks Mimi for your generosity! I'm having to switch back into school mode and am excited to spend some more time engaging with Annalee as she is learning so quickly. Davis is getting big so fast as well. He is 6 mos. old today and we have his 6 mos. checkup this morning. More shots:( Hopefully he'll do well. I'll post updates on his stats soon!

New Look!

So, as you can see, we've spiced up the background of our blog a little. It was of course FREE, so Yay!! I preface this with "we" did this because it did entail quite an ordeal and required Scott to have to come and clean up my mess. I tried to do it all by myself. I was gonna surprise Scott with how well I can follow directions on the computer. For those of you who don't know, I am the definition of the computer illiterate wife of a computer savvy husband. You'd think that I would be smart enough to figure these things out, but I guess with each child, I just gradually get dumber, so as the computer age advances, I just get slower it seems! There are step by step instructions on how to change the template of the blog. I followed each one carefully. It actually took me several days to attempt it, because I had this fear of deleting the whole blog. Well....that's EXACTLY what I did! I couldn't understand how I followed each and every step and it didn't work. I called Scott at work and actually started to cry. He was all caught off guard, and was wondering why I was so upset about it. I think it was just that this blog has been sort of a journal for me for almost 2 years, and even though we had all the pictures still, all the stories that went with them couldn't be recreated necessarily. I was genuinely sad! Well, my hero rescued me yet once again! He came home and somehow retrieved it nad helped me get the new template set up. I then got a little angry, because he didn't do anything different than what I had done! Oh well! All is finally right with the blog so I'll just chalk it up to my lack of computer skills!

Fleeting Summer...

Say What?!?!?!

My sweet little angel sleeping!

Sleeping on his back after rolling over!

Annalee saying "ta-da!" as she was making Davis do a trick!

Their little polkadot bikinis and sunglasses!

Well, Davis has successfully learned to fall asleep on his back after rolling over. The options when my children get to that stage are (1) learn to fall asleep on your back if you roll over, or (2) learn to roll back over and fall asleep. Davis chose the first of the two. He can roll both ways, but in his crib he chooses not to for some reason! We have had a relatively busy few weeks. Scott had to photograph a wedding in Florence, AL last weekend so we missed him dearly as it was my first time with all 3 children by myself for the entire weekend! We made it thru just fine and even spent one night in Mississippi and attended two birthday parties. I must admit though, that after the second party, mommy had almost reached a breaking point, so we had to leave in a timely manner, so that everyone could nap! Our refridgerator has broken for the second time in a month and a half, our car is back in the shop this week after getting new brakes put on last week, and Scott starts school next week. Summer is officially over and school is promptly being back in session! Paige, however, doesn't start until the following week. We've had a pretty good summer, it has just gone by WAY too fast!

Addictions

I have recently become addicted to two things: 1. facebook and 2. the Office. I think

both are taking a great deal of my time so please pray for me. However, I love being able to see what people are doing all over he place and the Office is hilariously full of one liners. I even think Davis wants a Dwight Shrute bobble head. Last week I was telling Davis how cute and sweet he was and I swear he looked at me as if to say, "That's what she said"

Cow Appreciation Day

As most of you know my wife is addicted to Chick fil a and has gotten our girls hooked as well. So today I was meeting with someone around 2:00 and found that today was Cow Appreciation Day. If you dressed up as a cow, you received a free entree. If you dressed from head to toe..you received a free meal. So the Parks family loaded all 5 decorated "cows" and headed to our dinning location. Upon arrival we expected to receive a few entrees and buy fries and drinks but NO!!! They gave us 4 free combo meals (2 kids meals) for FREE FOC NADA!! It was great. We hung out with other cows played in the Fun Zone and even ate Ice Dream! It was awesome. Here are a few picks from the day.