...Parker Dean...

Parker Parker Parker! WHAT A SWEET BOY!! Seriously, if everyone in this world could have a heart as big as Parker, the world would be such a better place. He loves everyone. He has the cutest little laugh, when it's genuine. He has quite the obnoxious laugh also. My brother in law Andrew says Parker has the ability to make you feel stupid with that fake laugh. He cracks me up. He is so smart. So smart. He is a sponge. I really didn't think I would need to watch what I say so early on! He copies everything I say. He can say the following...

airplane
mom
dad
apple
banana
juice
bottle
car
charlee (except it comes out archie)
puppy
baby
down
help me
please
thank you
help you
love you
bath
poopy
open
papa
mama (for grandma)
hudsy
josh
sierra
bobbi (for my sister brandy)
halley (but it comes out hehe)
blue
yellow
snow
yes
no
shoes
socks
couch
cheese
elmo
lion
moo
fishy
amen

There might be more, but I can't remember anymore. He just loves to talk. He is 21 months old now. It might be a little too early, but I'm slowly, and I mean slowly, starting to potty train. His poor little bum seems to be allergic to all diapers these days. And he is always telling me when he needs me to change his diaper. So I feel like it's getting to be time. He thinks it's a fun game to ask me to put him on the toilet and then he just sits there and laughs. Silly guy. He loves his sister Charlee. He loves her so much. He is always giving her kisses and hugging her and trying to help calm her down when she cries. He melts my heart. He likes to tickle my back all the time. And give kisses. He is obsessed with Elmo these days. His favorite movie is Rio. He loves the bright colors and all the singing. He LOVES his grandmas and grandpas. And he loves his uncle Josh. They are best friends. He is learning to pray right now, so he is constantly folding his arms and saying "thank you, papa, amen". He recently has started going to nursery and last sunday when I peaked in on him he was sitting at the snack table like such a good little boy!! I was so impressed! He is the worlds pickiest eater. I'm lucky if I can get him to eat one full meal. He likes mac and cheese, sometimes he like quesidillas, grilled cheese, turkey, string cheese, rice chex cereal, target pretzels, chicken, french fries, scrambled eggs, he will eat anything with ketchup, and he LOVES cake pops from starbucks.

He is just the sweetest, funniest, NAUGHTIEST, most handsome little boy in the whole world.

...Charlee Bryn...

Well well well. To say I haven't posted in awhile would be quite an understatement :] Last time I posted I didn't even mention that I was pregnant. With a GIRL!! Theee most beautiful little girl you will ever see. Let me tell you about her :]

Charlee Bryn Gaskins. Born September 17, 2012 at 5:31 am. 6 pounds 12 ounces 19.5 inches long. She is so perfect. I went into labor on September 16 (papa johns birthday). I was so hopeful she would be born that day. My dad would have loved sharing a birthday wait her. My water broke around 5pm that afternoon. It was theee strangest thing. All day that day the time 4:50 kept flashing in my head. Low and behold my water broke right around that time. I knew it was going to happen that day. So we hurried and packed a to go bag and got a few things ready for Parker and left him with his aunt Sierra, Uncle Josh, and Grandpa Paul. I was so excited. The word doesn't even give how I felt justice. I was way more than excited. With Parker's delivery, watching the delivery was the most special thing I had ever experienced in my life. I was beyond excited to experience it again with my sweet daughter. When I got to the hospital I was only dilated to a 4. Sadly I stayed that way until about 3:30 am. And then I swallowed some water wrong and started choking haha and it made my water break all the way. And when I say break, I mean explode. It was really gross and embarrassing. It just kept gushing. Ha the nurses all laughed at me. Anyway, after that my nurse checked me and I had progressed to about a 5. By 4:30 am, I started feeling super weird movement with each contraction, so I had Jeremy call the nurse in to check me again, I just knew something wasn't right. Sure enough, she checked me again and said my little Charlee was stickng her hand out. Crazy girl. At first they wanted me to just wait it out and see if she would pull her hand back up, but within about 20 minutes they noticed that with each contraction her heart rate would drop dramatically. By about 5 am I was being rushed to the OR to have an emergency c section. Let me tell you, once they decide they are doing a c section, they don't waste any time!! One minute I was texting my mom to tell her they were CONSIDERING doing a c section, the next minute I'm signing all the paper work to have it done. I didn't even get to tell my mom haha. So then I'm being wheeled to the OR, and by this time MY doctor is there and I'm feeling so much better to see his face, a familiar face. I am so very awkward in stressful situations, it's like I freeze up and make such silly mistakes ha ha. So I have the epidural in, so of course I can't walk or really move, yet when they tried to move me to the operating table I tried to help them move me. And then I may or may not have screamed because I may or may not have thought I was going to fall. Oh Amanda. Ha ha. I was totally numb when they started the surgery. Let me tell you, a c section is one of theeee weirdest things to feel. There was no pain involved but you can feel all the pulling and tugging. Craziest thing to feel. Jeremy watched the whole thing. He says it was a really neat thing to watch. They said it would take them 5 minutes to cut me open and just a few more to get her out. Seriously those were the longest few minutes of my life. I kept asking Jeremy if he could see her yet. FINALLY the moment came. 5:31 am. I hear the most beautiful scream I've ever heard. The doctor brings her over to show me her, and I'm such a bad mom, the only thing I was trying so hard to focus on was her hair color. Jeremy and I were disagreeing about the possibility she would have dark hair. I just knew she would and Jeremy thought I was crazy. So I was concentrating on her hair to see if it was dark. Plus I was beyond out of it with all the drugs in me ha ha. So I see that her head is dark, but I cant decide if her hair is dark or if it's the blood. And then I say "she's so small". I should've said "she's so perfect. she's so beautiful". Ah. And then the pain set in. I guess, with a c section they fill you with gas to sew you up. Well the gas went to my chest and caused seriously the worst pain I've ever felt. I really thought I was having a heart attack and I was going to die before I was able to hold my baby. I'm just slightly dramatic. The doctor told me the pain was normal, but he could see my immense discomfort and probably the fear in my eyes so he hurried and gave me some more pain meds, as if I needed anymore. But the pain did go away immediately. So now I am incredibly drugged up and I can't sit up to save my life. I didn't get to hold Charlee for what seemed like forever. I had to wait for the medicine to wear off. So I asked Jeremy probably every two minutes to show me her and let me see her pefect face. PERFECT FACE. She just was perfect. She still is.

Now she is 3 months old. Can we please agree that time goes by waaaaaaay too fast when you're a mom!! Ah time just needs to slow down!! I got Charlee's ears pierced on December 13. Her ears look so so pretty with these little diaond studs in :] What a special girl I have. She LOVES attention. She is the happiest little girl I've ever met. She smiles all the time and it seriously is the prettiest smile you will ever see. At her 2 month check up she weighed 11 pounds 12 ounces and was 23 inches long. 75% for both of those, and her head was in the 25%. But the doctor said overall, she's in the 25%. So she's on the small side. Cute little thing. She's perfect and we are in love with her!