10 Months...

Parker you turned 10 months 10 days ago.  So I am a little behind but better late than never!  I am writing this post as I sit and watch you play with your millions of toys that you got for Christmas.  You truly are a blessed little boy and an even more blessing to your Mommy and Daddy.

You currently weigh around 21 pounds.  At your 9 month check up you were about 28 1/2 inches long.   You wear a size 4 diaper.  You wear 9 month, 12 month, and some 18 month (pants) clothing.

We still do not keep you on a set schedule which has worked out best for us.  It is funny because before you were born I thought I would be a "schedule" person and told myself I was going to be strict about it.  Somehow that all changed and it has worked just fine.  I think it would be a little difficult to keep you on a strict schedule because everyday is different for you.  Plus we like to sleep in on the weekend and so do you!  In general you are very predictable and nap around the same time each day.

Speaking of naps.... this is still very inconsistent.  You take GREAT naps at Mother's Day Out.  They some how get you to take a 2-3 hour nap EVERY time you go.  One time you napped pretty much they whole time you were there :) I have asked what their tricks are and if they will come get you to nap on the weekends.  But in general you take at least an hour nap otherwise.  You still take 2 to 3 naps a day, which is wonderful.

You still love to eat!  You only get table food now and are doing a great job at feeding yourself.  I cannot remember the last time you had baby food.  I try and make sure you eat healthy choices but you have had the occasional "bad" foods.  I love getting to be able to feed you real food!  You have your favorite foods (watermelon) but in general there has not been really anything you refuse to eat.  You still get about 4 bottles a day.  You are becoming very attached to your bottle and we refer to it as your "crack."  We are almost to the point of not having to buy any more formula, might throw a party on that day.  You also get juice/water during the day and you drink from your sippy cup like a pro.

You still go to bed around 8 every night without a fight.  As long as you are not battling teething or and ear infection you sleep great at night.  If it is a work day I wake you up around 6:30 and if it is not a work day you sleep till around 7.

You enjoy going to Mother's Day Out three days a week and your teachers are wonderful.  They say you are an angel while there and you love to play with all the toys.  You got to stay for Extended Hours three times and your teachers said you had a blast staying longer.  We are thinking about letting you stay extra every once in a while.  Mommy enjoyed letting you stay because I got to pick you up one day and it was a joy to see you smile real big when you saw me.

You of course love going to your G and Gar's house every morning.  You and your G love snuggling on the couch and napping together.  She says I spoil you but I would have to argue that she spoils you more.  You also love playing with your Gar in the afternoons when he gets home.  I still feel extremely blessed to have this option and do not know what I would do without it.

You currently have 8 teeth, 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom.  You got all 8 teeth in 2 months!  In general the only time your teeth seemed to bother you was at night, which caused some long nights :)

You got your 3rd and 4th ear infection.  The third one was rough because you face swelled up.  It stayed swollen for almost 3 days.  Your 4th infection was a doozy.  It did not phase you at all, just a snooty nose.  The first 3 infections were all in your right ear and the last one was in your left.  Dr. Crum said she is not ready to talk about tubes just yet and that is fine with us.

You crawl around GREAT and pull up GREAT.  Overall, you get around so well.  This of course causes you to find ways to get into quite a bit and at times in trouble.  You are very busy and do not sit still very long.  Every once in a while you will pause and lay down and it is so cute.  This only last about 10 seconds though :)  You just love to crawl around and explore the house.  You have mastered how to open cabinets and drawers.  You have found the toilet and enjoyed playing in the water a couple of times.  The fire place was also not off limits to your exploration!  Every once in a while you will let go of what you are holding on to and stand on your own for a little bit.  In general you don't seem too interested in walking and that is fine.  You don't pay to much attention to the TV (which Mommy is happy about) but you LOVE to watch Sesame Street videos on the iPad/iPhone.

You are a happy and fun loving baby and are so much fun to watch!  Your little mind just goes and goes.  I have a feeling you are going to be all boy :) When put into a new situation, it takes you a little while to warm up and feel comfortable.  So you are a little hesitant and that is fine.  You still love to cuddle to go to sleep and I LOVE that.  You LOVE your Daddy.  You still love Jasper but lately have been all about Dixie.  Dixie of course wishes you would forget about her :)  You love to be on the go and watching everything around you.  You "talk" all the time.  Of course you say the dada and mama sound all the time but I am pretty sure you do not know what they mean yet.  At times you even love to scream for fun!  I love to tickle you because you giggle and smile real big.  There is so much that I love about you.

Parker I cannot believe you are 10 months old and I am starting to plan your first birthday party.  You truly are a joy and such a wonderful baby.  You are laid back and easy going.  Mommy and Daddy love you more than anything!

8 Months

So I know every time I say I am going to be better about blogging.... I end up getting carried away in life and forget.  I really promise I am going to TRY and do a better job.

So here is an update on everything Parker!

Parker you are now a whopping 8 months old!!!  I cannot believe how quick it has gone by and there is only 4 more short months before your first birthday.  You weigh about 19 1/2 pounds and wearing 6-9 month clothing.  You are wearing size 3 diapers.

Overall, you are a fun loving, happy, easy going, sweet, shy baby.  You have changed drastically since the 4 month post (obviously) and change everyday.  You are officially crawling EVERY WHERE and love to be on the move.  You are happy and content to just crawl around the house and see what you can get into.  You also LOVE to pull up on anything to stand.  The first place you pulled up on was the bathtub one night, so Daddy immediately went and lowered your bed.  Thankfully he did because about two days later you were standing up in your bed one morning when Mommy went in there to get you!  You constantly have a bruise on you somewhere.  You like to think you are bigger than you really are, so you get hurt frequently.  This of course breaks my heart.  We also have to keep the dog's water bowl up now, because if it is down you go straight for it and love to splash around.  You LOVE Jasper and giggle at him all the time.  We love to tickle you because it always produces smiles and giggles!

You have a total of three teeth now.  You got the left,bottom, center tooth first around 7 months.  A little later you broke two teeth at one time.  One on your top and the other center bottom one.  Overall, teething has not been too terrible for you.  You were a little cranky right before you broke the two teeth at the same time.  Your poor G had to handle you that day and she was REALLY glad to see Mommy come get you right after she got off work!  I am pretty sure another one of your top teeth is working it's way out.

You LOVE to eat and luckily are not a picky eater (hopefully this continues).  We feed you breakfast, lunch, and dinner with bottles and snacks in between.  We do not follow a strict schedule with the times we feed you.  You are a go with the flow baby and this allows freedom (which Mommy loves).  You have had several table foods (thanks to your G) and get mad if we are eating around you without giving you some food too.  One night you even got to chew on a pizza crust and LOVED it.  I hope you continue to be a great eater and look forward to only feeding you real food.  I have been saying when you turn a year old, we are going cold turkey from the bottles!  I am OVER washing and worrying about bottles.  We will see how that goes :)

You still go to bed regularly around 8:00pm without a fight (hope this continues too).  We give you a bath and bottle around 7:30 and by 8:00ish you are done!  As far as night time goes, you are not consistent with your sleep patterns but it is not horrible.  You sometimes get up once a night and sometimes not at all.  Some nights you just need rocking back to sleep and other nights it requires a bottle.  Lately, some nights I have waited to see if you will put yourself back to sleep and you have!!!  Pretty much you are ready for a bottle around 5:00amish and will go back to sleep till it is time to leave around 6:20ish during the week and sleep till 7:00ish on the weekends.  Your naps are still very inconsistent in length but you do nap!  You typically take 2-3 naps a day.  We do not follow scheduled nap times either but you take them around the same time each day.

You have had two ear infections back to back around 6 months but luckily have been healthy since.  You do get a runny nose every once in a while but that is all.  Hopefully we can stay healthy for a while!

You enjoy going to Mother's Day Out three days a week and I have been extremely pleased with your teachers and school.  You go to Green Valley Baptist Weekday.  They seem to really love on the babies and take great care of you.  One day another baby bit you!!!  I of course freaked out for about 5 minutes but the teacher came out in me after that and I was okay.  You of course were not phased by it at all.  Your teachers say you are very calm and easy going.  They say you typically like to take it all in and watch.  I love that you get to play with other children and will learn how to interact socially.

You love going to your G's house every morning and smile when you see her!  I of course love having her take care of you.  I get tons of pictures during the day and we even FaceTime each other every once in a while.  You also got to come up to the school and meet Mommy's students one day.  G takes excellent care of you and Papa Gar plays with you in the afternoon.  I feel blessed to have this option.

Parker you are a true joy and I love you to pieces.  My favorite thing is to sit back and watch you think.  I can see your little mind at work and I love it.  I think you have a shy side and at times can be hesitant.  However, you can be very sociable and love to smile and talk to others.

My other favorite thing is that you know who I am!!!  You smile at me all the time and reach for me.  I can still remember the first time you reached for me while someone else was holding you.  Can I just say that will forever be one of my most fondest memories.  Now you will crawl towards me and I love that as well!  I of course think you reach and smile at me more than you do for anyone else, but I am sure your Daddy would disagree.

We love you more than anything and thank God everyday that he gave you to us!

Back To School

It has been a while since my last post and there is a good reason why...I went back to school work!  My six months of maternity leave ended on August 13th and it was bitter sweet.  I LOVED being able to stay at home with Parker for six months but honestly missed work.  I feel blessed to have a job that I honestly love and still enjoy.  Yes there are days I get frustrated with my job and days where I wish I was at home with little man.  But overall, I feel my passion is teaching and enjoy being in the classroom.  Teaching is a rewarding job and I cannot imagine doing anything else with my life.  Getting up, going to work, loving on my "school" babies, and feeling accomplished is something that makes me happy.  My Kindergarten students need my love and I need their love.  So for now being a Stay at Home Mom is not in my job description.  YES I LOVE being a mother and love spending whole days with Parker.  Right now though I still want to teach.  So that is my choice and I respect women who are Stay at Home Mommies.  I know some people will not understand that and that is okay.

I will say my choice to be a Working Mom was helped by the fact that my mommy, Parker's G, keeps him during the day.  I truly think that if I had to put him in childcare, I would have a harder time going back to work.  For that I know I am GREATLY BLESSED to have an amazing mother who will keep my son Monday-Friday 7:00-3:30.  I will be dedicate a whole post to her one day, she deserves it.  I could not do it without my mom.

So overall the transition has been extremely smooth.  Parker typically wakes up around 5:00am (although lately it is a little earlier!)  I feed him and then he goes back to sleep while I get ready.  I get ready and then we leave around 6:20am.  The great thing about the mornings is I do not have to get Parker ready in the mornings.  All I have to do is pick him up out of the bed and put him in the car, PJ's and all!  This helps greatly.  We then head to my parent's house and I drop him off with his G.  I try and leave work by 3:15 so that I can see his sweet face by 3:25.

Each week I pack a bag of his clothes that will last the whole week and leave them at with my mom.  That way I do not have to worry about outfits everyday.  My mom has bottles, formula, and baby food at her house.  So I do not have to worry about that either!  It really is great and once again I know that I am blessed for this situation.  I thank God all the time for allowing this to happen.

Another great aspect about having Grandmother Daycare is that I get pictures of Parker all day long!  We even Facetime each other during my breaks.  So I get to talk to him and see what he is up too.

Parker goes to Mother's Day Out three days a week for four hours.  This allows my mom to have a little bit of a break :)  It also allows him to socialize with other children, which I feel is important.  Overall, he seems to be adjusting to his new life great.

The only negative is me and time.  I am so used to be able to stay at school and get work done as long as I wanted.  I also would go up there many weekends and do some work.  Of course all of that is out of the question now because I want to spend time with Parker.  So I have been trying to be as productive during the day as possible.  I have been managing just fine with this but it is difficult some days.  I have a wonderful parent that helps me out every week with copies, so that helps greatly.

So overall going back to work has been great!  I think it allows me to really treasure all the moments I have with Parker.  I am counting down the days that he is ready for Kindergarten and can go to work with me and then I will get to see him all day long!

A HUGE thank you to my Mommy and Parker's G for offering to keep him.  You have no idea how much it means to me and him.  One day there will be a post dedicated just to you!  I love you mommy :)

To Smock... Or To Not Smock

Smocking+Little Boys= ?

When I found out I was having a little boy, one of my first thoughts were no hair bows and dresses.  To be honest I was a little sad!  I soon realized that you could find TONS of cute clothes for boys too.  But then came the question: Are smocked outfits okay for boys?  Well, I never doubted that smocked outfits were perfectly fine for baby boys, but my husband had another idea.  He of course was not so keen on the idea of smocked outfits.  As you can imagine he does not see them as very boyish.  I personally think ALL babies are precious in smocked outfits.  So started the debate between the two of us.  He of course mentioned that he was worried I was not going to dress our little boy manly enough!!!  

I grew up in the south and Vestavia..... smocking is seen on all little boys and girls.  Parker was only going to be a baby once and I felt comfortable putting a smocked outfit on him at least till two years of age.  Lyle finally gave in and now thinks the outfits are cute.  Of course he would rather see him in a football/baseball outfit everyday.  

I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion and some people are not keen on boys wearing smocked outfits.  I just think he looks so handsome and cute in them!

So I say Little Boys + Smocking = Pure Cuteness!

Four Months...

Four Months...

The BEST month so far!

Parker is such a happy baby this month!!!  He smiles and giggles all the time and is becoming a little bit of a mess.  I can already tell I am going to have my hands full when he gets older :)

He had his four month check-up this month.  He weighed 16 pounds (75th%) and was 26 inches long (90th%).  Looks like he is going to be a tall boy like his daddy!  He did great with the two shots he had to get.  He did not even cry until the second shot was over.  He only cried for a couple of seconds and then was fine.  He even did great afterwards while Mommy and G shopped.  Dr. Stone said he looked great!

Sleep: Parker is still doing great with the whole sleeping at night.  He goes to bed around 8pm.  Around 7:30 I give him a bath and then a bottle.  Right after he finishes the bottle I rock him for a little while and he goes right to sleep.  In general he does not fight going to bed.  I hope this is always true :)  I only have to get up once to feed him around 2:30-3.  He still goes RIGHT back to sleep after he eats.  This month he also slept through the night for the first time (8pm-5am).  It was great!  He is not consistent at it yet but I think he will be very soon.

Naps: Ha ha.... naps are still very inconsistent.  Sometimes he will nap for over an hour and other times only for 30 minutes.  The positive is he does nap!  During the day he can still only go about 2 hours and then is ready for a nap.  Sometimes it is less than 2 hours depending on how long his nap was!  I am really hoping one day we can be more "scheduled" about his nap times.

Food: He is still drinking a 6oz bottle about every 3 hours during the day.  He also gets some cereal around lunch time.  He LOVES to eat!  We are going to start baby food soon.

First: Parker took his very first trip this month to the beach!  He did great.  I will say not being able to put sunscreen on him does make things a little more challenging.  He enjoyed the beach but LOVED the pool.  He is a water baby!  Another first was sleeping through the night.

Likes: baths, being outside, his jumperoo, watching Jasper, his bottle, being rocked to sleep, his fingers!

Dislikes: being hungry, being tired

Overall, Parker is a wonderful baby and it is a joy to watch him change on a daily basis.  I am really going to miss spending my days with him when I go back to work.

Three Months....

Three Months...

Wow.... how things change!

Finally mommyhood started getting easy for me.  This was the month I really felt adjusted and confident in my new role/job.  I finally started enjoying myself again and felt excited about being a mommy.  I also started feeling confident that I could do it all over again and was ready to have another baby( when the time was right of course)!

Parker also adjusted to his new life outside the womb and was getting even more predictable.  He started sleeping more at night and really only getting up once to eat.  The best part about him getting up was that he went right back to sleep after the bottle.  All I had to do was feed him and put him on my shoulder and he was out!  So in all I only had to get up for about 20-30 minutes at night.  It was great!  During the day he would eat about every three hours.

Parker started enjoying his toys and could entertain himself more this month.  This made getting things done around the house more manageable.

He also started being able to stay awake for longer periods of time during the day.  In general he could stay up for about two hours and then he would need a nap.  The length of his naps were very random and inconsistent.  Sometimes he would nap for over an hour and then sometimes for only 30 minutes!  So you never knew what you were going to get.

He loves getting a bath and being on his belly.  He started smiling more and more and just seems to be a much happier baby.

In all this was a very low key month!

Two Months

I was ready to give up on the blogging world.... but my mom talked me back into it!  She informed me that I could use it as a form of "scrapbook" for Parker and that I would enjoy having it to look back on. So here we go....

Two Months....

The beginning of the the second month of Parker's existence was still a little rough.  I still had not completely adjusted to my new role/job and Parker was still adjusting too.  Towards the end of the second month is when things started getting "easier."  I started learning how to be a good mommy to Parker and started knowing what he needed.

I also adjusted to my new sleep schedule and this made things much better!  Everyone tells you to sleep when the baby is sleeping.  This is probably the BEST advice someone can give you.  Do not worry about your house, laundry, or anything else.  If you are not getting enough sleep everything will fall apart.

Parker had his two month check-up this month and his first round of shots.  He weighed 12 pounds and was 23 inches long!  Overall he did great with the THREE shots he had to get.  He of course cried but it was very short lived and he was smiling by the time we got to the car.  I thought it would be hard for me to watch but it was not as horrible as I thought it would be.  

Parker started sleeping better at night this month.  We still had some long nights but overall he started adjusting to sleeping at night better.

At the end of the month he rolled over from his belly to his back for the first time!!!  It was by far the cutest thing I had ever seen and I was so proud of him.  

The most memorable memory from this month though was my six week check-up with my OB, Dr. Heaton.  Lyle had to work on the day of my appointment and my mom had something planned.  I thought I could handle going on my own with Parker.  My mom did offer to cancel her appointment and come, but I told her I would be fine.  Hahahaha..... was I wrong.  Everything that morning started off great.  I got myself and him ready and to the doctor on time.  I was so proud of this accomplishment.     Of course my doctor was on call that day, which meant it was going to be a long wait.  About 15 minutes after we got there Parker got fussy.  I was able to subdue this fussiness and he seemed fine.  Then all of the sudden..... I was in BIG TROUBLE.  He decided to have a COMPLETE MELT DOWN.  Nothing worked... the paci, bottle, NOTHING.  I tried my best to subdue this meltdown.  I of course got very flustered and decided to just leave (after about ten minutes of him crying in the waiting room).  So I did!  I did not even tell them I was leaving.... but I think they figured it out.  Parker cried screamed ALL the way to the car.  Yes, even in the elevator!!!  The second I got to the car I lost it.  I called Lyle and my mom in tears.  Finally, Parker fell asleep and I met up with my mom :)  They called me and said "We take it you had to leave."  Um you think!!!  Luckily they let me come back later that afternoon (I think they felt bad for me!)  I OF COURSE took my mom with me this time around.  And of course Parker was an angel.  I joked with the nurses that I brought his twin brother this time.  Wow what a day!

Overall, I still LOVE being a mommy and feel blessed to be Parker's mommy!

First Month

Before my sweet, little boy turns FOUR months next week I am going to try and go back and post on the first three months! 

 I do not remember much from the first month of Parker's life.  I think this was due to sleep deprivation and trying to figure out how to be a good mommy.  All I can say is there is nothing that can prepare you for taking care of a newborn and becoming a mommy.  Becoming a mother was a HUGE adjustment for me and really took me about six weeks to feel as if I had the hang of it.  Below is a list of what I remember from the first month!

1. Crying....... both him and ME!  Not sure who cried more but I am pretty sure I gave him a run for his money.  Just want to say thank you to my wonderful husband and amazing mom for getting me through all my tears.
2. Sleeping...... I know he did but I do not remember sleeping myself!
3. Bottles and Feedings..... seemed as if I was feeding him all day.
4. Trying my best to find time to shower.
5. Calling my mom A LOT!
6. Trying to find time to pick up the house and do laundry.
7. Not having to cook thanks to all the wonderful people who brought us food.
8. Worrying about every little thing that pertained to making sure Parker was okay.
9. Loving on a sweet baby and thanking God for him everyday.


  I started this blog with the intention of being upfront and honest.  The first month was very difficult and trying for me.  There were many days I thought to myself I am not sure if I can do this.  There were times I felt as if I would only have one child and yes there was one day I told my mom I was ready to go back to work!   However, I know now that I am cut out for this, I am already looking forward to the day God will hopefully bless me with another child, and I LOVE spending my days with Parker.  Some people might say that being a first time mom was easy and wonderful but you will not hear that from me!  What you will hear me say is YES IT IS HARD but it WILL get easier.  I know God has blessed me with a wonderful and beautiful child and has given my the honor of being a mommy.  I treasure this honor and love Parker more than anything.

Parker Holt Northington's Birth In Pictures

Parker Holt Northington's Birth Story

      For some reason around 36 weeks I started to believe that Parker would come early and I would not make it to 40 weeks.  Maybe because at 36 weeks I was 1cm dilated.  Well Parker had a different idea!  My due date (February 15th) came and went and Parker had still not made his arrival.  Dr. Heaton and I had already arranged for me to be induced on Monday, February 20th if he was not here by then.  I had my 40 week appointment on Thursday, February 16th.  It was a routine appointment until Dr. Heaton went to check me.  I will never forget what she said...... "He is no longer head down!"  I started laughing and said "Are you sure?"  At first I thought she was just joking around with me (Dr. Heaton has a GREAT sense of humor.  One reason why I LOVE her).  She started laughing as well and said "I am pretty positive, but lets do an ultrasound just to make sure."  So off to the ultrasound room!!!  This made me happy because I got to see my little man one more time.  Well Dr. Heaton was right, he was indeed feet down and was measuring to have a BIG head.  Parker was already showing he had a mind of his own by deciding to turn around in the last week.  So Dr. Heaton and I decided to change my scheduled induction on Monday to a scheduled C-section.  At first I was a little bummed but was a little happy about having a C-section.  I know that sounds crazy but for some reason pushing a baby out scared me more than being cut open.  So I left knowing that he would be here Monday.  Lyle and I had one last weekend to ourselves.  I just knew he would stay put until Monday (or so I thought).  Lyle and I enjoyed the weekend and even went on one last date Saturday night.

   Well Sunday, February 19th rolled around.  Lyle had to be at work at 5:30am so I woke up to see him off.  I got back in the bed but was woken up by some pains around 6:00am.  I was a little worried at first because it was something I had not felt my whole pregnancy (my whole pregnancy I never experienced any type of contractions!).  I started to realize that I was having contractions!!!  They were not that bad so I tried to go back to sleep.  Around 6:30am I realized I was not going to fall asleep so I woke up and called my mom.  I told her the contractions were pretty consistent about being 5-7 minutes apart but only lasted around 30 seconds.  They also were not that intense.  We decided to go ahead and call the hospital and see if they wanted me to come in due to him being breech and me having a C-section.  I called up there and she told me to come on in.  I decided I would just wait.  In the meantime I had called Lyle and told him about my contractions but there was no need for him to leave work.  I got up and took a shower (thank goodness) and put some last minute things in my bag.  I put on some pajamas and hoped back in the bed :)  Well about this time Lyle had called and said he was coming home anyways (thank goodness) I said that was fine.  He got home and put his clothes in a bag.  We decided to go on up to St. Vincent's (Where Babies Come From!!)  I was lying in the bed and he said he was going to call his parents and tell them what was going on (they live 2 hours away).  I called my mom and told her we were going to go on up there.  Well at about that time MY WATER BROKE!!!!  I jumped out of the bed yelling to Lyle that my water had just broken.  I was standing there with my legs crossed and Lyle was frantically trying to get the bags in the car.  I was LAUGHING and Lyle was freaking out!!!!  It was quite funny :)  Finally I jumped in the bathtub because my water was still coming out.  I finally looked at Lyle and said I need a towel.  He got me one and then I sat there and debated about changing clothes before we left.  I decided that they would be soaking wet too, by the time we got there so what was the point?
I want to stop here for a minute and mention that NO ONE TELLS YOU WHAT IT IS LIKE TO HAVE YOUR WATER BREAK.  I was in complete shock at how much fluid comes out.  I soaked through 4 big towels before we even got there. 
Back to the story..... so we got in the car and called the hospital to tell them we were on our way.  I was on the phone with my mom the whole time there.  I was still having contractions and they were getting a little bit more intense.  We finally got to the hospital and they immediately allowed me to go into a room and change clothes.  I didn't even have to sign in.  It was very funny..... see when we got there, there was another couple signing in.  The nurse looked at me and said why don't you go on into that room and I will sign you in because I can see you are having issues!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yea I was leaking fluid like it was a flood :)  Another funny side comment: When I got to the nurses station I realized I had never put on a bra!!!!!  So I go into a room and change into a gown.  The nurses came in and checked just to make sure he was still breech.  They then asked me when I had eaten last.  Well due to the fact I had not eaten since 7pm the night before they said I would be taken back in 30 minutes to have my C-section.  WHAT 30 MINUTES!!!!!  I was freaking out.... my mom was not even there yet!  So Lyle and I got ready to go meet our son.  When they wheeled me back there Lyle and I were the only ones there.  My mom was still not there.... this caused me to almost cry.  I really wanted to see my mom before I had surgery.  Luckily she got there in time and they allowed her to come back in the surgery room and kiss me.  That was all I needed!
I of course cannot tell you much about the "delivery" due to I could not see anything.  All I know was Lyle was by myside and I could feel tugging on my belly.  After about 10 minutes Parker Holt Northington was born!  He started crying the moment they got him out.  I got to see him and then they got him all cleaned up and checked him out.  During this time the doctors were closing me up.  After what seemed like forever I finally got to hold my sweet little boy and really get a good look at him.  I was then rolled back to my room with Parker in my arms.  We got back to a regular room and everyone got to meet the cutest baby around!

   Overall, my delivery process lasted a total of 4 hours and 29 minutes from the first contraction to his birth.  It was a wonderful experience and a whirlwind.  I had a great stay in the hospital and loved the care I got at St. Vincents!

Pregnancy....

Overall I had a WONDERFUL pregnancy.  My whole pregnancy was by the book (my doctor even used that phrase several times).  In the beginning I was only sick, sick a couple of times.  It was a HORRIBLE feeling.  There was even one time I might of said that I would never get pregnant again :)  I am not very good at being a happy person while feeling sick to your stomach.  The good thing was that it was summer and I was not working.  So I could lay around!  I was also exhausted in the beginning and had BAD indigestion.  By the time school started back up I was in the second trimester and felt like a new person.  Second trimester flew by and I really did feel wonderful.  Two major things happened during the second trimester 1) We found out we were having a BOY!!!!  2) We had our first and only problem.  During our 4D ultrasound they discovered something abnormal.  They thought it was an amniotic band at first (which is very scary and can be dangerous to the baby) so they sent me to UAB to get a "fancy" ultrasound.  Off we went very scared.... however luckily it turned out to be something different.  It was actually a uterine septum.  I was born with it and really would present no problems to the baby.  (A side note.... my OB does want me to have it removed before I get pregnant again due to it can cause miscarriages.  She was surprised we had no problems with it in this pregnancy)  The third trimester went well too.  Towards the end I was VERY tired and got a little uncomfortable.  It was hard to get comfortable sitting on the couch and getting up.  My feet never swelled and I was able to work up till he was born.  I was also also able to wear most of my tops throughout my pregnancy!  I feel very blessed to have had a great and easy going pregnancy!  I will be honest and say that being pregnant was not that much fun (even though I had a great pregnancy).  You always hear people say how they LOVE being pregnant..... not me.  The only thing I loved was feeling him move around inside of me and that was all.

I just want to give huge thank you to my WONDERFUL and AMAZING doctor, Dr. Allison Heaton at Henderson and Walton.  I absolutely LOVE her and trust her.  She made the whole process fun and relaxing.  She has a great personality that matches mine and she is not afraid to tell you the truth.  I am really sad I will not get to see her on a monthly basis.  I almost want to get pregnant right away just so I get to see her.  It was really sad when I realized at my last appointment that I was not going to get to see her every month.  But on the bright side.... I will get to see her later this year when I have surgery to remove the septum.  Never thought I would look forward to having surgery!  THANK YOU DR. HEATON..... YOU ARE A SPECIAL PERSON!  

Scroll past the pictures for a fun Pregnancy Likes/Dislikes!

9 Weeks

13 Weeks

16 Weeks

20 Weeks

31 Weeks

38 Weeks

40 Weeks



 

Pregnancy Likes:
1. Shopping for baby stuff!!!
2. Feeling him move inside my belly!
3. Telling everyone
4. Having the best excuse to eat like you want and no one could say anything!
5. Having an excuse to not do things like clean the house
6. My sweet kindergarten students asking me sweet and funny questions about "Baby Parker" 

Pregnancy Dislikes:
1. Indigestion
2. Morning/Afternoon/Evening Sickness
3. Not fitting into your clothes.... and it was not fun shopping for clothes
4. Having to go through about 10 different outfits before you finally find something that looks decent
5. Having to use the bathroom
6. Feeling like a roly poly by the third trimester
7. Having to wait in the doctors office once a month (even though I loved my doctor)
8. Running out of room in your belly and your ribs start hurting
9. Just feeling fat ALL the time
10. Having to resort to wearing your husbands t-shirts because yours do not fit anymore :)
11. Stress of making sure the baby was okay at all times
12. Having to watch what you ate


This is just my list and all I can think of at the moment!

Family Time?

Lyle and I always knew we would start a family one day and were more than excited about becoming a mother and father.  Becoming a mother was always something I was very eager about becoming and could not wait till the time was right to start trying to have a baby.  Well Lyle and I knew that we wanted to make sure we were financially good before we started trying to start our family.  Lyle knew his job at Publix was secure and he was in the process of trying to get promoted.  I, being a teacher, knew that my job was not as "stable."  By the time Lyle and I had gotten married I was in my second year of teaching.  Well it takes teachers three years to be what they call tenured.  That basically means you have job security (as long as you keep doing what you are supposed too).  I of course being a control freak wanted to try and wait till I had tenured.  So that meant one more year before we could "start trying."  Well of course after my second year of teaching, the education world hit a snag and schools were starting to cut teachers and make class sizes bigger.  I luckily was hired back for my third year :)  So that meant I just had to survive one more year of being hired back.  Lyle of course wanted to start anyways, but I just wanted to wait to see if I did get tenured.  Normally it is the girl who has to beg the guy to agree, but that was not us!  Well, it was finally the time of the year when schools start planning how many teachers they will have for the next year.  I of course was FREAKING OUT..... I just needed to be hired back ONE MORE TIME (oh the life of a teacher)!!!  If you know me..... I started stressing about being hired back, probably around September.  The teachers I work with were tired of hearing my comments.  Well it was April and I knew my principal had, had "The Meeting."  See each year she has a staffing meeting with the Hoover Board and they tell her how many teachers she can have for the next year.  I knew I would find out soon.  It was a day I will never forget..... my principal came into my room (this was normal, so I did not think anything about it).  Well I was working with one of my students and she started walking towards me.  Normally she just steps in and watches, so I was a little thrown off when she started walking towards me.  I just figured she was checking up on what the student was doing.  Well she said "Abbey..... you get to come back next year!"  I literally started crying and hugging her.  I was going to be tenured...... two thoughts ran through my head: 1) I wanted a new car and 2) I wanted to "start trying"

So I immediately called Lyle the second I got the chance.  I at first made him think I had lost my job!  It was very funny and he was very sweet.  When I got home that day I informed him of wanting a new car (mine was 10 years old) and that I was ready to start growing our family.  He of course was already ready and was just waiting for me to jump on board. 

I will not go into too many details (if you want you can ask!)...... Lyle and I started officially "trying" for Baby Northington in April of 2011.  Well nothing happened that month.  I of course (being a person who thinks negatively) started worrying about if I could even get pregnant.  I even started looking at adoption blogs.  We tried again in May and................ BAM Baby Northington was created!!!!!!!

The day we found out.....
Once again I can remember this day like it happened yesterday!  Well that weekend before I found out, I was feeling a little quesy and my sense of smell was very intense.  I kinda thought maybe I was pregnant?  Well then I started cramping like I was about to get my monthly present.  So I thought I was not pregnant.  I even told Lyle I was cramping and about to start.  I told him I was sad that I was not pregnant.  That was June 6th 2011.  On June 7th I got my hair done.  I was getting my hair highlighted this time around.  My aunt is my hairdresser, and her and I started talking about how when your pregnant it takes longer for you hair to come up when you get it highlighted (due to the hormones).  Well my hair took FOREVER!  I did not think to much of it because I was cramping and just figured it took so long due to I had not had it highlighted in a while. 

June 8th 6:45 am
The dogs woke up and needed to go potty.  Well after my hair taking so long to color and my monthly present had still not come.... I thought maybe I should take a pregnancy test. I had one in the cabinet, so I followed the steps and left it on the counter.  I took the dogs out and went back to look at it.  By the way the whole time Lyle was sound asleep still in the bed.  I was shocked to see two pink lines..... I WAS PREGNANT!!!!!!  I of course started shouting and ran to tell Lyle.  I always imagined finding a cute way to tell him, but that all went out the window with my excitment.  Lyle of course was so happy and was smiling ear to ear.  I told him I had to go to the store and get more tests.  He told me to come back to bed and we would later.  He was crazy..... no way I could go back to bed.  So off to the store I went.  I bought $30 dollars of pregnancy tests.  They all came back positive too :)

We went to the doctor two weeks later and they confirmed it..... Baby Northington was due February 15, 2012!!!!!

All Because Two People Fell In Love....

Yes this blog is going to be about mommyhood.... but I would not be a mommy with out an amazing daddy standing next to me.  So we are going to go back into time to when it ALL started!

Our Love Story....

It was April of 2007 and I needed a date to a good friend's wedding.  See my previous boyfriend was going to be there and I wanted to make him jealous  an impact :)  So I asked one of my friends if she knew anyone that was cute and would be willing to be my date.  At the time she was dating this guy named Chandler and he had a single roommate named Lyle.  She told me she would see if he would be my date! Soooo we decided to all meet up at the Baron's Game that Thursday, since we were all already planning on going.  So Lyle went with Chandler and I went with my friend.  At some point in the game my friend introduced me to Lyle.  I thought he was cute and knew he would be perfect to take as my date to the wedding.  I will spare you of every detail of our first meeting and the following days.  But we started talking and hanging out before the wedding.  After a couple of weeks we were officially a couple and we have been together ever since!  And if you were wondering if he went to the wedding, the answer is........ NO!  He told me he could go but then decided to play baseball that day :)  Oh well.... 

Background On Lyle and I.....

Lyle is from a VERY small town called Detroit, Alabama (yes there is a Detroit, Alabama).  It is towards Mississippi.  He comes from a wonderful family and has two older sisters.  He graduated from Sulligent High School in 2002.  He made his way to UAB on a baseball scholarship and has made Birmingham his home.  He currently works for Publix as an Assistant Grocery Manager.  Lyle is very shy and quiet!

I (Abbey) am born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama.  I also come from a wonderful family and have an older brother, twin sister, and little brother.  I graduated from Vestavia Hills High School in 2002.  I also made my way to UAB.  I currently teach Kindergarten at Rocky Ridge Elementary School.  I and shy but can be a talker too!

Even though we both went to UAB we did not meet until after Lyle had graduated :)

Love Story Continuted....

Lyle proposed on December 25, 2008 abroad a Carnival cruise ship.  We cruising with my family for Christmas.  I of course said YES and we got married on July 11, 2009!

It Is Official....

It is official..... I am starting a blog!!!  I have two very sweet friends, Summer Watford and Kristen Ojard, who have blogs of their own.  I have enjoyed reading their blogs, especially in the middle of the night while feeding my sweet baby boy, so I was inspired by them to start my own blog.  Lately I have been getting some what bored while on maternity leave and feel I need something to do (so I will stop shopping online).  Today while eating lunch after church, Summer and Anna encouraged me to finally start my own blog.  So I have!!!  Starting a blog is scary and I am not really sure what I am going to blog about.  My life is pretty basic.  But I am sure I will enjoy sharing my tales of motherhood.  So here goes.....

I promise to blog more later but I need to go to bed, since I will be getting up very soon to feed my baby boy...... motherhood!