Goodtimes with Kayleigh

We have been back into our Monday/Tuesady routine with Kayleigh. Parker LOVES having her around. I think more so because, he can pull these colorful things out of her hair, or take her paci out and wonder what it is in there for ? (Since he lost interest in it-he can't remember its purpose!)
So these two are inseperable when they are together!

I have loved getting to know Liz, Kayleigh's Mom. We have almost to much in common. Just that we are 3rd grade teachers says enough. We try to do lunch each month and are always finding fun adventures to take them too! I take them to MOPS everyother Tuesday, and the newest adventure is Story & Mucic time at a Gymnastics center.
Parker got a new wagon from Grammy & Big Poppy for his Birthday and Kayleigh loves it too! If the weather is decent, I try to take them each day for a ride in it! Kayleigh has grown to love it so much ~she cried on her way out, when she had to leave it ! I am happy to report that she is now an owner of one too!

This past Thursday we went to Story/Music time. (It is free in the month of Sept. so we are all about "freebies"!) Parker and Kayleigh both have the interest in music! The interesting thing is that Parker was not into the story so much. However, he occasionally got into a song but he was really into crawling through the "fort!" (Fort= a rolled up piece of foam) After Liz and I showed him how to get in, we could not keep him out. It was neat to see him explore this "new" place. Kayleigh was constantly looking to see that Parker was still in sight when she was getting into the class. We got a free CD and he LOVES the songs! We are looking forward to next Thursday.

FYI: (Yes, that would be a little red-head boy! Who would have ever guessed that Mike and Jenn would have a red head boy! Well the roots are on boths sides.)

We are looking forward to class this Thursday, Kayleigh!

Yeah!

Parker and Mommy :)

"Dice Divas"Getaway!

Many of you know that I play Bunko each month in the neighborhood. The name of our group is "Dice Diva's". (There is another group in the neighborhood as well-so we had to come up with a name. ) We actually play at each of our homes 1 x a year and with 12 members it works out perfectly. But we decided to do something different and bond a little more... For the first time, we decided to play Bunko on a Friday night up at one of the girl's cabins! We had a BLAST!

It was my first night away from Parker. Mike and Parker got to have some good bonding. Of course I was only gone about 18 hours. The time, laughter, adventure, and "no husbands or kids allowed" was great thearapy for all 10 of us!

We were only about 1 hour away and Jeane's cabin was more like a resort. We went 4 wheeling, ate pizza, had a bon-fire, made smores,talked-talked-talked, laughed a tone, stayed up late, laughed (did I mention that already?), had to much to eat & (we did find time to actually play Bunko, and I won the prize for having a Bunko!) And of course it was an adventure to sleep in rooms with each other. (Of Course me and Lorelei, got texted in the middle of the night- to "go to sleep" because of all of laughter!!) It was just like the days of girls sleepovers!

A note about the cross photo; At the top of the hill that we were 4-wheeling on, was this cross. The previous owner had placed it there so Jeane's family left it there. I got a breath-taking photo of it, just before sunset! It made me reflect on how good our God is and all that he has done for me!
Thanks Mike for letting me go and have such an awesome time with my "Dice-Diva's."

It was awesome!

Jenn :)
Here are some more photos that show(just a little) how much fun we had...!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Time with Gramma Riese

I finally had time to put a slide show together of Parker's time with Gramma Riese!
Happy Grandparents Day (by the way to all 4 of you wonderful grandparents)! This slideshow is especially for you, Gramma Riese! We loved having you here and I want to thank you publically for all the help you gave for Parker's party!
You are the best!
LOVE,
Parker

Make a Smilebox slideshow

"Houston, We have a problem!"

I am trying to find some humor out of our "problem" with our house! Our little A/C problem (2 mnts ago) has become a BIG problem! It is a LONG &hard to explain story over blogger...but I will try to explain it the best I can! Actually, complicated! Please pray for wisdom for Mike and I!

(This is our fake vent....) No Duct work in there!)
It all began in June of 2005 when we got the keys to our new house! The day we moved in there was NO A/C! I about died as we were moving in every box, piece of furniture and essential that we owned! We called the homeowners waranty and they covered the "so they thought repairs!" And at that time- "Ants had gotten in the A/C unit, clogged it and stopped it from running! Interresting ?But we had air again.
The problem continued on and off-but we didn't let it get to us to much, since we had & have a fully functioning upstairs A/C unit! *(Most homes that are 2 stories have 2 furnace/A/C units!)
Last summer we ignored it and this summer I had, had it! I called 1 company to come and see what was wrong! They discovered that our Air compressor was shot! The house is 13 yrs. old and (both Furnace/A/C units are the original) we needed to replace it! We called around 6 other companies for quotes. We naarrowed down the company to install a new Furnace/& A/C! We even purchased a Hepa filter (in hopes that Parker and Momm'y asthma would improve!) The engineer came out did a "thorough" check to make sure all was in the right place! Within 2 days we had a new unit! Life was great for 2 weeks! I was in tears and on the phone with them by then! When you live in GA-you have to have central air! They sent out a tech late at night and he said we had freeon leaking! To sum this all up, we called them 2 more times to fix our new A/C that was showing 80 degrees each time we had a "hot house again" and it is set for 72!
The engineer came out and said that most likely we had a broken duct and would need a simple repair!
THE DUCT WORK DOES NOT EXIST for the RETURN VENT DOWNSTAIRS! So 13 years this house has gone with a builder flaw and a fake vent! No proper airflow has ever existed....causing the duct work from the furnace/AC to be clogged ! There is a hole (which is just sheetrock/that was never drilled) that is blocking the duct work to come down to the return unit!
We had to have a certified inspector before we moved in...and it is not their responsibility to look at all the duct work! Of course I am saying what inspector is ever perfect?!
The engineer from our heating & cooling company has never seen our dilema in the 15 years he has worked for the company! He was shocked and felt HORRIBLE for us!!
So, we are in the midst of getting holes drilled so the duct work can be installed and FINALLY have air downstairs....and heat. (Here is the duct work being installed (in garage)/ the hole goes into the "fake vent (photo above) and up to our attic...connecting to the Furnace/AC! (They will be covering the ductwork and putting drywall around it!)
Looking back, I do recall some cold winter days and not thinking that the heat was working either!
So glad to finally get to the root of this! We are really unsure if the 2,500 will be given back to us from the builder! (This is a problem 13 years later!?) So we are "bitting the bullet" and covering it! Thankful to God for Mike's good job that allows us to pay for emergencies as this! And we have that wonderful Emergency fund set up too!
I will post some photos of the "before and after" for all you visual people!
Thanks for all the prayers!
SO all you future buyers out there....make sure there is PROPER airflow in any home you get!
Jenn (Mike, Parker and Abbey (she has even noticed the lack of air control and chooses to be up-stairs most days!)
PS -we are sorry to all our guests for the lack of good "air" control! We promise to have great control next time you arrive!

Parker's Party

What a fun first week it has been being 1!
We just took Gramma Riese back to the airport today (sigh)! We were so glad she got to be here for Parker's 1st birthday. But we hate goodbyes.

On (8/20) Parker's real birthday-we got an ice-cream cake from DQ ! We allowed Parker to devour it...but instead he cried...(why?) it involved the candle getting a little to close! However ,he finally got into the whipped topping (and there was no burn...it just scared him)and enjoyed his share of the ice-cream cake.
On Saturday, Aug.23rd we had 25 guests (mainly our friends...a few of Parker's) join us for Parker's first birthday party! When it was time for the cake... it was all to familiar. He started to cry when we had the cake in front of him! (We think he is tramatized by birthday cakes and candles now....( the past: he burnt his finger with my family, he did it on Wed. and the 3rd time around he remembered and didn't want anything to do with the cake!) Poor little guy!
So this will explain the photos a little more clearly.
It was wonderful to make so many memories and have so many of our friends come out and support us and Parker for his 1st birthday.
Highlights of his party:
Theme: All-Stars First Birthday (so we geared it all around sports...especially Baseball) (Hence the sports theme for the slideshow)
Food: We had NY chicken spedies, Hotdogs, cold salads, watermelon (Parker's latest favorite fruit),
Gifts for guests:goodie bags for all (related to baseball),
Decorations: balloons (18 to be exact-and Baseball ones too!)
Special surprise: we showed his Birthday video!
Thanks again to all who came out to celebrate!
(I will post another slide show of our visit with Gramma Riese.)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Blessings,
Jenn, Mike and Parker :)

Happy 1st Birthday, Parker!

How do we sum up the year with some words and memories?? I can't, so I decided to recapture Parker's first year by making a video! I am not a scrapbooker! Howe ver, I do love my blogging and videos! So, Mike & I decided that each year for Parker's birthday (and any other future kids we are blessed with, ) we will make a video for their birthday yearly! So here is how I sum up the highlights of the year with Parker as we celebrate his birth today!

We have been so blessed this first year!
We remember this day like it was yesterday, and some days it feels like it was months ago!
We love you Parker and wish you a happy first year!

Here is a look at what our first year was all about with Parker! (Get the Kleenex ready!)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Looking forward to his 2nd year!!
XO
Jenn & Mike

New Look & Parker's Photos...

I finally got around to giving my blog a makeover! After 2 1/2 years I was ready for a change! I loved SO many of the pretty pinks and browns! I just couldn't make that my new look, since we are "The Riese's" I had to stay loyal to our favorite "Orange!" (So fitting too, since we are SU fans!)

If anyone wants a free, new "look"/layout for your blog checkout this site: http://www.simplyfabulousbloggertemplates.com/

Thanks Christy (who has an awesome blog) for directing me to the website posted on your blog. I love your purple stripes blog! So fitting for you!





Last Saturday we took Parker for his 1 year old photos! It was fun!

Here are just a few of our all time favorites!

August Update

Trey 1 month old, Parker 3 1/2 months old)




(Look how much the boys have changed!


Parker 11 & 1/2 months-Trey 9 months)


Last Wed. Parker and I went to Knoxville (1 last time) to see Joy, David & Trey. They are moving tomorrow to Phoenix,AZ (sigh)! We will miss them! We have been spoiled being just under 3 hours from them. I am thrilled that God has opened this door for them. Joy will be back to her old job (working Labor & Delivery at Good Samaritan Hospital & David is going to school to become a pilot) I told Mike I would love a flight out to Phoenix for my birthday! It has been a great 2 years being so close to you Joy! We wish you , David & Trey God's deepest blessings as you embark upon this new journey as a family!
We got a cute video of the boys "Sharing" a straw...in the world of teethers they loved chewing on this straw. (See below)
We will miss you all dearly and pray that you have a safe trip out to AZ...they are driving 1600 miles....! (Been there-done that-Best of luck!)






Upcoming Adventures:






Next Monday Gramma Riese will be here for Parker's first birthday and a nice 10 day visit. Not sure what all we will venture off to each day...but we are excited to have her come!




Saturday, Aug. 23 is the Big Birthday Celebration...we are still deciding on the cake. Daddy really wants an Ice-cream one and I am leaning toward a regular Publix cake (along with a child's first cake!) Hmmm!


LaborDay weekend -we are still unsure of our plans!!



In September we are headed to Orlando for the annual PWC Softball tournament and my mom is coming with us! YEAH...(to be the sitter for Parker-so I can be the scorekeeper for the team) This is pretty much our vacation get-a-way (apart from our family visits).


Our biggest Vacation will be in Feb (7-14); We are headed on Disney Cruise with my whole family!!!! We are headed to the Bahama's to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary (just a few months early-(8/30/2009) ! We are not sure how often we will be able to get away on big family vacations, so we are doing this now since the grandkids are all young and out of school! We can not wait! Mike and I went on a Carnival Cruise for our honeymoon and we absolutely loved it!We have only heard the BEST about Disney cruises so we are anxious and excited for this upcoming adventure. The funniest part of this whole adventure is that my babysitting money is paying for our cruise and Mike is matching whatever I save toward it...so he is calling it the "401 Mike" fund!! LOL



Looking forward to these adventures but much to do between now & then.. (ieike celebrating a birthday soon!)


Blessings to all of you,
Jenn (Mike & Parker)

Uncle Brian & Aunt Courtney...

Came to visit last weekend from D.C!

This photo (top right) has a funny story...(both of their sunglasses broke while they were vacationing on the beach in FL. How ironic is it that it was the opposite eye on their shades!?)

(Dinner out to Los Reyos-Mike's favortie Mexican restaurant)



We had a great time; eating out, relaxing, playing in the pool, laughing at Parker, and going on a double date with them. The date ended up being a memorable night since we had a major power outage in much of Kennesaw, and hail during our dinner! We still enjoyed the night (despite the yucky weather)-We called the sitter to see if we needed to come home after dinner, but she was fine! So we ended up going bowling (which was plan "B"-Put-Putt was not an option any more!)


Parker's favorite part of the whole weekend, was getting his birthday gift from them! An SU zip up hooded sweatshirt, and his very own SU (soft Basketball) (Now he is the "SU Man!" )


He also LOVED uncle Brian making "smacking noises" with his lips (which is Parker's newest discovery that he can do) Enjoy the video of this funny moment.


Brian & Courtney-We are so glad the two of you came to spend the weekend with us. We had a blast and enjoyed the company. We look forward to spending time at Thanksgiving with you 2 again!





Blessings to all of you,


Jenn, Mike & Parker

"Climb, Climb as fast as I can!"

We are down to the last week, before the big birthday celebration for Parker(8/20)! In the meantime, the house is being "baby -proofed" more and more!
School started today here in GA and so we are sad to say that our summer is pretty much over. Last Monday, I started watching Kayleigh again! It is a joy to have a little one that is the same age as Parker, and well-behaved. She is a doll, and fun to dress up!
Last weekend we installed a "top of the stair" gate! It was the best thing! We lock the gate,shut all the rooms and just let Parker go up and down the hallway, crawling. If he is not being entertained by Abbey's cage, then he is trying to climb the stairs(when we let him!)

Last Thursday, I gave him an opportunity to explore the steps and he took full advantage! He climbed his way up to the top! The stairs is off limits (it is gated, and he is always so curious about it). He has great balance and has not fallen-yet. So today I captured his proud moment and his first time to climb the whole flight of stairs!
A special note of being a "Stay at home Mom"-" I try not to tell Mike to many "new" things that Parker is doing! I don't want Mike to be sad that he is missing the moments. So, I try to let Mike have his "firsts" to watch Parker doing his "first" time (so he thinks)!

(I appreciate the privledge to stay home, but I want Mike to see all of Parker's firsts in his times too!)
Friday night-( I had a 6:00 hair apt and Mike met me to get Parker) Mike took Parker home and played for a bit before his bedtime. I got a text from Mike while I was at the salon and it made me LAUGH! "Parker just climbed the whole flight of stairs in less then 1 min! He is crazy!"
I was so glad Mike got to experience "first-hand" and didn't hear about the moment from me!
Enjoy the video...
We just got Parker's 1 year photos done on Saturday-so I will post some of our favorites shortly.

Have a great week!
Blessings,
Jenn, Mike & Parker

Parker's Latest adventure

Here is Parker's latest fascination....He is enamored by Abbey's cage!

I think he is amazed that :

1. It opens and closes...and

2. He can go in and out

3.He can play Peek-a-boo with us

11 Months old (and 1 week...later)

His favorite place to look out!
(His latest thing is to bite the lip!)
Hanging with mommy

(Look who's 11 months old!)


Last Sunday Parker turned 11 months old! That was the day we were beginning our journey home and the journey was a tough one!


He got ill on the way back (vomited all over the car...45 minutes before we got to my friends in OH!) Friday, I found out the high fever (on and off) was due to STREP! The kid was fine on Monday and Tuesday and then started acting disinterested in food and spiked a fever by Friday again! So I knew it was time to head to the Dr. I knew there was a virus going around...but I am glad that I finally took him in!


He had strep last month and apparently picks it up easily. He has a high pain tolerance and only shows signs of "illness" by refusing to eat!


He currently weighs 20 lbs 10 oz...he has long legs and no waist! It is funny to get pants to fit the boy!


So here we are at 11 months:





His favorite food: Mac & Cheese /or Chicken nuggets


Favorite Toy: Daddy's mouse out of his computer bag


Favorite book:Good Morning., Good Night (another touch & feel book)
Favorite game: hiding under Blanket with Daddy (or playing....Peek-a-boo)


The crawling has become a daily ritual and you will see his favorite "hangout" on the video!


We are getting ready for his first birthday clebration (here in GA) and will have a Baseball theme!
Looking forward to his first birthday....but still wondering where the time all went!


Jenn, Mike and Parker

Parker's Birthday Celebration in MI

Here is the 2nd slideshow of our time in MI!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Vacation Slideshow (#1)

Here is the first slideshow of our time in NY and Michigan!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Miles, More Miles & Memories from NY & MI!

We are home sweet home! (To be exact we had a grand total of 1,836 miles from Atlanta to (Marathon, NY, ;Marathon, NY to Zeeland, MI; Zeeland, MI back to Atlanta!)
Parker is taking (hopefully his 2 hour nap) and hopefully I can get caught up, laundry done and relax too!
Not sure where to begin or how to sumarize the 10 days of time with family into 1 entry!?
New York:
We left Atlanta and went to Mom & Dad Riese's on July 10th! Parker was enamored by all the exciting nick-nacks in Grammy & Big Poppy's house! We enjoyed a picnic on Friday night with some of the family and just relaxed! (Of course-Mike and his dad found time to get in some "tee-time")
Parker spent most of Saturday with Aunt Jackie while we atteded the wedding! It was nice to have a Date away and bond with Mom & Dad Riese!
We made sure to fit in time to attend our old church in Liverpool, NY! It was special to see many old friends and show off Parker! We had lunch with Mom & Dad Riese and then we onto our next road trip....
Michigan
We got to stop in OH and visit Mike's Uncle Dan & Aunt Bonnie before we made it to MI! It was a good break for Parker and allowed some good fellowship with family.
We got to MI @ 3 AM. We really do not like driving through the night, but we do know that Parker sleeps well and we get there much quicker.
Monday we made it out on the Family boat and enjoyed seeing Lake Macatawa and parts of Lake Michigan! Parker was so good and just went with the flow, each day as it came!

Monday night my mom got a call that her mother was in her last few hours of life! Grandma Wilson passed away on Tuesday morning! She was my last grandparent alive! It was sad that Parker never got to meet her, but we are rejoicing that she is in a much better place! Due to distance and timing we were unable to attend the funeral out in CO. We hope to make it out later in the fall and visit her gravesite! Many of you sent cards, and notes (via texting) and it was so encouraging. Death is never easy to deal with -but much more uplifting when we know they are with the Lord. I was so thankful that the Lord had me with my mom during the week, so I could be there to support her! Grandma Wilson was so supportive and I will always cherish her handmade goods, recipes, visits to MI (especially my graduation & wedding in NY), and all her love and prayers!
Despite the damper of Grandma's passing, we still made time to enjoy with family, friends and even fit in Parker's first birthday party (1 month early!)

Saturday I went and picked up my friend Samantha and her daughter Marlee . They were in MI for a wedding and she willingly agreed to drive back to MI with Parker and I (since Mike had to fly back in the middle of week for work!)
We had an adventurous time home! Parker and Marlee traveled well -despite Parker pooping and throwing up *(everywhere) 45 minutes before we got to my friend Cari's house in Cinncinati! (We were staying for the night at her house and it was a great 1/2 way point!) Cari was very hospitable and handled the baby "chaos" well! Parker had a fever of 102.5 so I took him to a walk-in center.I wanted to make sure he didn't have strep! Luckily it was just a virus and he was in much better spirits Monday morning. The 6 hour drive home on Monday was a little longer (due to stops for stetches and eating)-but we made it home safe and were never more excited to see the GA sign!!!! I can not thank Samantha and Marlee enough!!!
We both agreed not to take Parker and Marlee anywhere Tuesday! A day at home and chilling is so great after 2 days of travelling!
I am so thankful for the time with each of the family, and glad that Parker was so good-(even though he was cutting teeth most of the 10 days!)
I will post 2 slide shows of our weekly adventures!
Glad to be back and chilling today,
Jenn (& Parker)

Traveling the midwest...

We left Thursday night to head to NY to see Gramma & Big Poppy Riese.
We stopped in Knoxville to see Joy,David & Trey on the way to NY! It was a short and sweet visit! Parker slept for 9 hours of the 14 hour trip , so we were very thankful! We just got him a new car-seat and he loves it!
We are here in NY (Mom & Dad Riese's) attending a wedding today! (The wedding is for a friend Mike went to HS with and he was in our wedding.) So we wanted to be here for the event. Parker gets to spend the day with Aunt Jackie while we are away at the wedding.
Sunday we are leaving (once we visit our old church) for MI to see Grammy & Papa Clark and traveling another 11 hours ! We are looking forward to finally getting out on the family boat and having Parker in MI for his first summer!
I will post photos and share some highlights of our adventures once we get home!
Do pray for the trip back to GA (on the 20-21st). Mike is flying home on Tuesday, July 15th! With his new job he couldn't get a whole week off, so I will be staying for the rest of the week to visit more with my family. My friend Samantha who lives in GA will be in MI on the 17th for a friends wedding and she and Marlee (her 3 month old)will meet up with us and drive back to GA with Parker and me! Thank goodness I won't have to do the 10 hour trip alone! We plan to stop in OH and visit a HS friend of mine (and this will break our trip up)!
So hence the title....traveling the midwest!!!
Blessings to all,
Jenn, Mike & Parker

Parker's First July 4th

Parker had a nice normal day and didn't even know it was his first 4th of July!

To young to go out and see Fireworks, but happy and content to just be himself.

Here are a couple photos of him meeting us for Lunch (after the Race)-Aunt Yvette brought him to the restaurant to meet us.

We had a nice resting day (and he took a nice long nap for us too) as we tried to recover from our race.

We chased Parker around (litterally) & ate sausages,chips and watermelon.

I have a video (that I have tried to load 3 times... but won't upload!) I posted it on Facebook for all my Facebook friends and there you can see Parker's latest crawiling adventures.

Fireworks were heard all night but we settled in bed by 10 PM.

We were content and happy to be home celebrating as a family.

We hope you all had a nice 4th of July!

Blessings,

Jenn, Mike & Parker

Peachtree Race....here we come!

Mike and I will be running/walking the Peachtree Race tomorrow, bright and early!
We wouldn't be able to do it together, if it were not for Aunt Yvette! She will be watching Parker while we run the race.
I have been training for 5 months and will be able to run a good 3 miles. Mike just pulled a hamstring in Softball this week, so he won't be running much! If you do not have running times from previous races-you automatically go into the walk/run cateogory or get in the groups 3-9!
We are doing the race with 6 other friends-so we will see who we end up with at the end!
I will post our experiece and photos after the event!
Looking forward to the experience and eating some yummy pasta tonight!
(A must before a 10k!)

We wish all of you a Happy 4th of July!
Jenn, Mike & Parker

UPDATE:

WE DID IT! It was an amazing experience, and I am so glad that I pursued this challenge and completeted it! There are no words to express the feeling when you look up and see the letters: FINISH! (Knowing all that we had just done and personally never doing it before was a moment I will always remember!)

I ran the race with my friend Samantha and we walked about 2 miles of it -broken up and ran the other 4.3! Mike walked the whole race and enjoyed his time with his IPOD! It would have been fun to run it with him (but injury wouldn't alllow) so he had me go on and aim for this goal that I wanted to reach!

Now that the race is behind me, that wonderful Mother's Day Spa Gift Certificate is calling for some needed attention!

I will make use of a SO needed massage today!

YEAH!

6 Year Anniversary

Today we celebrate 6 years of marriage!

What a joy it has been to be married to you, Mike! I love you and consider it a real honor, joy and privilege to be married to YOU! Thank you for being a godly, fun-loving, energetic, & most of all lovable man! You have been an incredible friend, husband and father! I have cherished the last 6 years of marriage and can't believe that we have been together almost 10 years!

Tonight we got out to dinner at Maggiano's Italian Restaurant! (One of my favorites)~The dinner was a real treat since it was just the 2 of us! We had a great time reminiscing over some of most memorable moments! Special thanks to Scott and Audrey ( some of our PWC friends )for watching Parker while we had a nice dinner ALONE!

Such a gift that we treasure....now that we are parents!

I look forward to 40 + more years with you!

XO

Jenn

10 months...

and crawling!
I posted a video of Parker crawling (below). He just got the hang of it this week! We thought that he wasn't going to take an interest. He sure loves to go for Daddy's Blackberry...and that has really got him movin
Parker's latest trends besides crawling and eating cords...
Favorite snack-white cheddar cheese puffs
Favorite meal-Mac & Cheese (and he must feed himself...see photo below)
Favorite Book-Any book we read & he can chew
Most quoted word-"DADA" (*sigh...only mama when he is upset!")
Favorite game: Patty-cake
Favorite toy: mini keyboard (HE LOVES MUSIC)

Happy Belated Father's Day to the 2 best dads! We feel so blessed to have each of you in our lives! You have been so supportive and encouraging to each one of us over the years! Thank you for being great role models for us! Mike's first father's day present is Atlanta Braves Tickets! Mike is not to keen on going all out for him...but we will be going Monday night to celebrate "Father's Day!"


We have been BUSY and hence the reason for no blog last Sunday! Mike was playing Softball and we went to watch in the HOTlanta weather.The house didn't feel cool when we returned from the hot day! I called a local AC/ & Heating company and we got the sad news that our AC is out (downstairs) the compressor died! (Obviously ,we knew it was almost time-it is the original unit! The good news is that we own a 2 story home and have 2 AC (central air/furnaces) so the upstairs is cool! After 4 quotes from different companies , and an exhausting week of praying and choosing-we finally will have a new furnace & AC unit next Tuesday! It is like shopping for a car...you don't just pick any one! We are Dave Ramsey fanatics and have the Emergency Fund in place for these BIG purchases, so we are grateful to the Lord that we can pay CASH for the Furnace & AC next week!
So you can see he is getting big and starting to look like a little boy! Uncle Phil and the NEW Aunt Miracle are in town this weekend for a wedding (she was in). So we have enjoyed the company! We hope that Summer is off to a great start for all of you! Off to bed ....and upstairs where it is Much cooler.
So glad Tuesday is just around the corner and we will have AC again -down here!

Blessings,
Jenn, Mike & Parker

Nebulizer Baby

YUP! We just bacame the owners of a nebulizer today! Parker has been coughing on and off for 2 weeks now. Of course, he had croupe in April~so I have been thinking "it never got better!"

So, I called his Pediatric office this morning (knowing his pediatrician was on vacation) and I took whoever we could see)! I was impressed with the Dr. we saw today. She was very thorough and walked all over the office with him to see if she could move him enough to hear the "Asthma/wheezing" sound! (She jumped to investigate him well because I told her that I have asthma!) ( I didn't realize it is so heriditary!) She heard the horrible cough and investigated his ears and then the throat......was beating red! My instant thoughts "Oh dear...Not Strep... 5 minutes later nurse says "YUP, STREP!"

Sure enough his visit today for what I thought was a "cold or upper respiratory infection" turned into Asthma and Strep! "Mommy wasn't ready for that shock ,since he is only 9 1/2 mths!" The Dr. diagnosed his Asthma and got us a Nebulizer-so today we began treatments(we hope he will be good 3 x a day for 2 weeks!) He got his first treatment in the office and was a gem! (5 nurses were standing around and in "awe" of his happy spirits,even though he looked like Darth Vadar and was confined to a face mask!) Tonight he wasn't so keen about the process!?!
So our happy baby has a very high pain tolerance! I had no clue about his sore throat, and fever!I felt so bad to get all the news today. He still has been sleeping 10-11 hours each night, but the coughing has progressed! I am thankful that I am a very detailed person and I pay attention to the littlest things! I think God has blessed me in this area, and of course given me that natural "mommy instinct" (it obviously helped me to protect Parker from getting worse). Thank you, Lord!

We will see how he is doing in 2 weeks! I am very thankful for great health insurance and that we didn't have to pay for the nebulizer!

Following the Dr. we were at the pharmacist to get all the medicine and antibiotics! And next thing I knew it was nap time....we missed a good time to go to the pool. He slept the afternoon away~(poor little guy)!

Looks like we will wait till next week for the pool!

Jenn ")

Sweet moments...

Here are 3 of my favorites thus far...
Here is the latest of him swimming at the pool. We got him this raft and he LOVES to float around in it! He giggles if we go under water and sneek up on him. Unfortunately, it has been TOO hot to be at the pool during the day! So, we have been going around 7 PM! Looks like we have a little "Nemo!"

I am sure he will be mad at me when he is older for posing him by "flowers!" (Notice the classic "Mike" smile!) Many of you know that I love Hydrangeas & I love this sweet boy of ours...so I had to pose 2 of my favorites together!

Here is a video of him & Mike in the pool!

Happy Summer to all,

Jenn, Mike & Parker

Anniversary Celebration on Broadway

( Good ol' NYC pizza)


(Notice the "RIESE" below the TGI Friday's-we were very proud to see our name there)

Mike and I will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary on the 29th! So we decided to take advantage of free babysitting by Gramma! We went to NewYork City (following the wedding)to celebrate ! We decided (after much convincing and searching for good tickets) to see the broadway musical "Mama Mia!" We were TIRED when we got back to the hotel, but it was the best date we'd had in awhile! We didn't waste anytime while we were there!

Mike's older Brother Brian, and his wife, Courtney also joined us! We had to take a bus to the city and then we walked about 5 blocks. Once we found the theater we devoured some good ol' NY style pizza! There is this thrill that you get when you are in the city! MaMa Mia was fabulous. We could not have picked a better show! (It was a fun perk being 8 rows from the stage too!) We highly recommend all to see it-if you are looking for a good broadway. It is full of humor, romance, and advanture.
Thanks Mom Riese for watching Parker for us! It was a wonderful celebration and we truely enjoyed the date-it would not have been possible with out your help!

Thanks Michael for going to see the show. I LOVE YOU! Can't believe it has almost been 6 years! I know it took some convincing and I am so glad we went.

Jenn :)