5 Years

We had our 5th wedding anniversary on St. Patty's Day! I cannot believe that 5 years have already passed it has gone by so fast. We have created so many memories, traditions and a beautiful family. I am so glad I married my best friend he is a great person that I love and respect so much! We went to dinner kid free (Thanks Grandma Spike) at Captain Jacks and enjoyed some yummy food and great conversation. I LOVE YOU BABE!

March 17, 2006
March 17, 2011


Happy St. Patrick's Day!

While at dinner we talked about our top 5 memories/events and here were mine of course the top being the birth of Kaylee and Parker...

1. Our Honeymoon

2. Cabo for Ryan & Katie's wedding

3. Hawaii

4. Our sweet Kaylee's Birth

5. And most recently Parker's arrival

Looking forward to MANY more years together!

~Happy Anniversary Honey~

Weeks 2 & 3

2 weeks old
3 weeks old

1st bath together

Kaylee has to have him by her to watch morning cartoons

Sweet Face

Palm Springs

Grumpy Buns

The past 3 weeks have been a big adjustment for me. I am getting use to it finally! But with a very needy baby and whining 3 year old it has been hard I'm not gonna lie. Kaylee is such a sweet big sister and wants to help with everything but I also know she is having a hard time adjusting to sharing my time. She is doing great and gets better at it everyday. Parker is still waking up every 2-3 hours at night and has been much more alert during the day. So far Parker has been a much harder baby than Kaylee was. This little boy can go from zero to ten in seconds. When he is mad he is MAD! He is a sweet little cuddle bug and I love that. I am learning how to juggle the two kids, being a good wife, homemaker and while trying to keep my house peaceful. I feel very blessed to have our family of 4!

Do they look alike???

Parker
Kaylee

Yesterday I put Parker in his crib for the first time for a nap and when I looked at him it reminded me of a picture of Kaylee when she was a week or so old. So what do you think? I think they look A LOT alike... Kaylee just had more hair!

1st weeks

Love them

1st Bath at home 4 days old

3 days old

6 days old

Grandma Spike

Auntie Nellie

Harley is excited and wants to meet his new little brother too

Papa

Uncle Kurty

1st walk 8 days old

Parker's 1st time at the beach (8 days old)

The first couple weeks have gone really well. Jeremy stayed home for 1 week. My mom stayed with me for a couple days and then Spike took Kaylee for me on Friday. Kaylee has done great with her little brother although she has been VERY whinny toward Jeremy and I. I am happy she is being nice to Parker but I really look forward to having my sweet little girl back. Parker is eating every 2-3 hours during the day and night. He already seems so much bigger to me. We are having fun adjusting and being a family of 4.

Kaylee meets Parker

Kaylee was not able to meet Parker in the hospital because he was in the NICU... SO when she finally got to meet him she was more that excited.

The 1st time she saw him

Helping Daddy bring him in the house

Kissing him for the 1st time

Kaylee is the best big sister. I don't think she could possibly love Parker any more. She has been a great little helper and SO sweet.

I cannot begin to express how thankful I am to be these special kids mom. Life does not get much better!!!

NICU

Ready to go home

Parker's 1st car ride

Shortly after Parker was born he started breathing strangely. I called the nurse into our room to ask if it was normal and she said no and had a pediatrician come to check him out. Once she listened to his lungs she asked to take him to the NICU for a chest xray and some other testing. Little did we know he would be staying there for 3 days. This was SO hard for Jeremy and I. Never did we think we would go home without our baby when he was born full term and seem completely healthy at birth. I was devastated that I could not breastfeed right away and that we could not hold and love him as much as we wanted. I have not cried that much in a VERY long time. After running all the tests we found out Parker had TTN (Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn).

TTN, also called "wet lungs" or type II respiratory distress syndrome, usually can be diagnosed in the hours after birth. About 1% of all newborns develop TTN, which usually eases after a few days with treatment. Babies born with TTN need special monitoring and treatment while in the hospital, but afterwards most make a full recovery, with no lasting effect on growth and development.
In infants with TTN, extra fluid in the lungs remains or the fluid is cleared too slowly. So it is more difficult for the baby to inhale oxygen properly, and the baby breathes faster and harder to get enough oxygen into the lungs.

The NICU staff was amazing and we were more than thrilled to bring Parker home on Friday. He is now doing well you would never know it happened.

He's HERE!!!

Parker James Ritter

Born: 02.23.2011@ 3:51am

6 lbs 8 oz

19 inches long

The final belly shot (37 weeks 2 Days)

Parker's 1st picture with Mommy and Daddy


My amazing support team

Daddy.Grandma Kathy.Grandma Spike




Not so sure about this...



Grandma Kathy

Grandma Spike

Proud Daddy

Minutes after birth and he already loves his Mama!

We are SO excited that Parker is here and a healthy beautiful boy. The birth was a good experience over all and so much different than the 1st time. I went to the Dr on Tuesday morning 2/22 and was dilated to 3cm and 60% effaced. My mom and I had planned to spend the day together so after my appointment I met up with her we did a little shopping and then had lunch. I was contracting as I normally do but started have some stronger contractions that were 4 minutes apart and never stopped no matter what I did. At about 3pm I started noticing that with every contraction I thought I was peeing my pants (sorry TMI) and then my mom mentioned that maybe was water had a leak. So eventually I called L&D and the wanted me to come in to check it out. I waited as long as I could before calling Jeremy to come home but the contractions started getting even stronger and 2-3 minutes apart. Jeremy came home we got the hospital at 7pm and I did end up having a high leak in my bag but had also progressed to 4cm and 100% effaced. We were having BABY!!! After a long night of laboring and NO sleep Parker James arrived at 3:51AM...

He is sweet TINY and perfect!

I could not feel more blessed to have 2 beautiful and healthy children.