Hooray!

In Macie's bean bag chair!

With Daddy on Father's Day

Eating REAL mashed potatoes at TJ Ribs


Drinking from a straw



And... Parker's new accomplishment...

Busy Week

Last Thursday was Parker's first haircut (see pictures in post below). What I did not mention was that also on Thursday, I received a phone call from Central High School asking me to come in and interview for an English opening. The interview was scheduled for this past Monday at 7:30. I was offered a job at the conclusion of the interview, and have accepted a position teaching English III, Journalism, and Yearbook at my own alma mater! The next big thing on Monday's agenda: Parker's follow up appointment with Dr. Hollman, the neurologist.

Dr. Hollman was very pleased with Parker's progress. She loved how vocal she is and how well she makes eye contact when you talk to her or interact with her. She was pleased to hear that she is sitting up all by herself and glad to know that she is attempting to put herself in the "crawl position" and rock on her knees. However, because she is a realist, she did give us a diagnosis. Dr. Hollman told us that even though she had a completely normal MRI, she still gives Parker a diagnosis of very mild cerebral palsy. She did tell us that she feels Parker could very well outgrow this diagnosis before she reaches school-age. We are going to continue with physical therapy and hope for continued great results.

When we went to physical therapy on Wednesday, I talked about this diagnosis with our PT, Susan. Basically, Susan explained Parker's delays using another term, one Dr. Hollman had used as well. She said that she would give Parker a diagnosis of "right hemiparesis," which, from what I understood, is a really fancy way to describe that Parker has some muscle weakness on the right side of her body. Susan was thrilled to see Parker's new skill of trying to crawl (and it's only getting better daily!), and we are also working on pulling up. Parker can pull herself up to her knees, but not to her feet. We know that in no time at all, we will be chasing her around the house! While I could let myself get very frustrated with the diagnosis, I choose to believe that our God is big enough to do whatever He wants in Parker's life- cerebral palsy, developmental delay, hemiparesis- these things don't matter in His eyes, because He has a great plan for Parker. We are just going to trust that He will continue to strengthen her body and give her the ability to "catch up" to other children her age.

On Friday, Parker took her first trip to Mississippi to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's house there, where she met her great-great aunts Judy and Pansy, and her cousins Katie, Maddie, and Jacob.


Saturday morning was our last infant massage class with Sue-Sue. Parker really seems to enjoy the massage, and it is definitely helping her become more aware of her arms, legs, etc. and how they function! We met some great people in the class, including my new coworker at Central (small world!!), Mrs. Kahne Seidel, and her miracle child, Sam, who nearly drowned last year. We are blessed to have met the Seidels, and we are thrilled at what God has done (and is continuing to do) in Sam's life.

Saturday night, Parker had a great time playing with Brooke and Brennan (and Belle, who is the largest, sweetest, most MASSIVE Great Dane I have ever seen!) while Mommy and Daddy played cards with Mr. Brian and Mrs. Amy. We are so blessed to have great families in our church!

This week has been full of exciting things- and not so exciting things like having to resign from Zachary, a place I have LOVED teaching at so much! We know that God is in perfect control, though, and that he has GREAT plans for our family! I will post pictures soon!

Haircut!

Before the haircut....






During the haircut- with Ms. Renee


After!!

Summertime!

Mommy is LOVING time at home with Parker Ann! We have had lots of fun! We have visited Mommy's work (because I left my flashdrive on my desk!), had lunch with lots of friends, hung out with Granny, Poppa, and CC, gone to watch CC play volleyball, had friends over, gone to the zoo.... We have been BUSY!!

We are continuing with physical therapy, and Parker is doing GREAT. She has recently learned how to sit HERSELF up.... which she does constantly in her crib instead of taking naps! We are working on strengthening her arms so she will be able to CRAWL! (Which I am both looking forward to and dreading all at the same time.) In GOOD therapy news- we had a consult with the Occupational Therapist this week, and she really does not feel that Parker needs OT right now. This is great because we know that she is getting stronger/learning on her own. It is also great, because even though we found out our insurance is increasing our coverage for therapy, it would not have been enough to cover PT AND OT once a week for an entire year. God is GOOD!

We go back to visit the neurologist, Dr. Hollman, on Monday (the 16th). I am extremely anxious about this appointment, just because I am not sure what she is going to tell us. Obviously, Parker has progressed TREMENDOUSLY since we saw her three months ago, but the reality of the situation is that she is not doing things most other 11 month olds are doing (crawling, pulling up, etc.) We know that God is in control, though, and we believe that Dr. Hollman is going to see GREAT progress in Parker and have a good report for us! We will keep you updated.


Here are a few pictures of the events of the last few weeks.

Here's Parker in her new pool at Granny and Poppa's.

She got a swing at their house too!

A.J., Mrs. Brandi, and Mr. Andy came over for dinner

We got a pool at our house too!

We went to the zoo with Ms. Becca, Jacob, Mrs. Stacie, Cassidie, Noah, and Max- here are the kiddos minus Cassidie.

Reading the Zoo map

Playing with Max on the playground

Petting a goat!

At CC's volleyball game