Lost Valley

My parents came up for Memorial weekend so we decided to take them on a hike. Patrick and I love the Buffalo River area and do not make it there near enough. Dan and Carol advised us on going to Lost Valley. It was beautiful! There were caves and very small traces of waterfalls. It was Parker's first time to go hiking. He really enjoyed the backpack. This is definitely the first of many more hiking trips to come.

PDK 7 Months

Even though this picture is almost one month old, I had to share it. I think that it captures Parker's personality. He will be 8 months old on Sunday. Some of his favs: food, of course, laughing, making people laugh, and scooting on his bottom. He has not mastered crawling yet. He's thinking about it, so we will see how long it takes if it happens at all. He is 23.3 lbs. He's HUGE. Everyone keeps telling me that his growing will slow down...well it hasn't. I'm looking forward to when it does. I'm not sure how much more weight my arms can take!

Florida

We had an early vacation this year and went to New Smyrna Beach, Florida. It's a perfect little town about 45 minutes from Orlando. Patrick's grandparents live there, so we went to visit them. We enjoyed time at the beach, pool, and lots of yogurt! His grandparents own the California Yogurt shop there (they're originally from California). Parker loved swimming in the pool, but was a bit confused about the ocean. He did enjoy lots of sand! I'm still finding it everywhere.

This Is Our God

My new favorite song..."This is Our God" by Chris Tomlin
The words say it all. We're so blessed.

Artist: Chris Tomlin
Song: This Is Our God
Album: The Noise We Make


A refuge for the poor, a shelter from the storm
This is our God
He will wipe away your tears and return your
wasted years
This is our God
Oh... this is our God
A father to the orphan, a healer to the broken
This is our God
And he brings peace to our madness and comfort
in our sadness
This is our God
Oh... this is our God
this is the one we have waited for
Oh... this is our God
A fountain for the thirsty, a lover for the lonely
This is our God
He brings glory to the humble and crowns for the
faithful
This is our God


Philippians 3:20
"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ "

Jason & Cindy's Wedding

Parker & Nonna
Parker & Dad
Mom & Parker
Parker is rockin' a tie

This weekend we went to Little Rock for Jason & Cindy's wedding. It was beautifully perfect. Parker is so excited to finally have an aunt. We had a busy weekend of eating, celebrating, and spending time with family. It was so nice to be able to see everyone. I praise God for Cindy & Jason. I am so blessed to have them in my life! I am very excited to see how God will use them to glorify HIM. Congrations Dr. & Mrs. Lofton!

 

Parker Pics

To those of you who are patient enough to read my blog every once in while, you know that I like to post multiple updates at the same time. Here are some recent pictures of Parker. His hair is more blonde now and he has just cut his first tooth. He is five months in this picture, but will soon be six months. He absolutely loves to take a bath....who doesn't?

We Did It!

Last Sunday, March 5th, Renee Morris, Patrick and I went to Little Rock to run the Little Rock Half Marathon. We had been training very hard since December. We ran 13.1 miles in 1:58. It was my first half marathon and I really enjoyed it. There were lots of people there cheering us on. Since it was on a Sunday morning, there were lots of church congegrations there. At about mile 3, there was a choir singing "Everything that has breath praise the Lord." It was really cool. Even though I've been exhausted for a week and I had a few blisters, we're considering doing another one in the fall.

 

Rice Cereal....Mmmmm

Evidently rice cereal tastes like it sounds. Surprisingly, it wasn't a big hit with Parker. You would think that it would be, considering that he weighs 17 lbs. 15 oz. and is 27 1/2 inches long. Did I mention that he is only 4 months old? Yea, we've got a big boy on our hands. I was hopeful that this would help fill him up, but I guess we will have to keep trying.

 

Our 3 Month Old Boy

It's crazy but true, Parker is officially 3 months old! He has new tricks every day. His favorites now include laughing, sticking out his tongue, and smiling. He officially weighs 15 lbs. 11 oz. He's gained almost 8 pounds in 3 months. He can be a bit choosey with his smiles. Maybe the next time you see him he will flash you his toothless smile.

Christmas 2005

This year we had multiple Christmas celebrations which began on Thursday, December 23. We went to DeQueen to spend the weekend with my parents, grandparents, and cousins. We had such an amazing time! Jason and Cindy were there as well. Parker and Cindy got to spend their first Christmas at the Lofton house together! On Sunday night we all headed back up to Springdale and then proceeded to Branson on Monday. We especially enjoyed our time with our cousins Clay and Esma who live in NC and we don't get to see them very often. We so enjoyed spending time with family and eating way too much! This is a picture of us on Christmas day.

 

Merry Christmas!

We took Parker to see the square in Fayetteville for his first time. You can tell from the picture that he was really excited about it!

I love Christmas so much! We have so much to be thankful for. I am reminded of that daily. I praise God for all the blessings he has given us. I pray that you would glorify God this Christmas and give Him the praise that he so deserves. God is good. We are so thankful for our friends and family. May God bless you and yours! Merry Christmas!

 

Bring on the cold!

It's supposed to be a cold week in NWA and Parker is ready!

 

Bad Hair Day

For those of you who have seen Parker, you know that he has been blessed with a head full of hair since day one. He has multiple cow licks as well. This makes for some sweet hairdos. For the most part it is somewhat contained.

 

Parker the Duck

Parker had an exciting Halloween as you can see. He slept through most of the trick-o-treaters but he looked really cute!

 

Parker is one month old

Our friends Rich & Renee got Parker this "Lil PK" onesie. So here are the PK's posing for a picture.

 

Parker's First "Bath"

This is a picture of Parker's first "bath." It wasn't much of a bath, it's more like a bird bath.

Parker Davis Kelley Has Arrived!

Precious!
This is our first picture as a family. Parker is about 45 minutes old.

Well...thanks to all who prayed for us during this joyous occasion. We are so excited to finally have Parker home with us. This week has been such a blessing and we praise God for him. To give you a quick update, Parker was born at 5:54 pm on September 28, 2005. He weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. and was 20 inches long. Delivery was great-thanks to the epidural. We arrived home on Saturday. Parker had a few breathing problems, so we had to stay 2 extra days. He is doing fine and we think everything is OK. We will be posting more pictures very soon. Thanks to all of our friends and family who have blessed us abundantly during this exciting week.

Labor Day

Soooo....it looks like this mother hen's egg is about to hatch. I went to the doctor today (Dr. Partridge, my fav) and I am now 3 1/2 centimeters dialated, my cervix has thinned more, and Parker has dropped more. Dr. Partridge was confused as to why I have not had him yet. So, she asked how I felt about being induced since I am so close. After talking about the pros with her (there weren't really any cons that she mentioned since I am having an epidural), I decided to go for it. I am scheduled to be induced at Willow Creek Women's Hospital on Wednesday morning at 6:30 (September 28th). I am very excited to see his little face. I am also excited to get the space back for my bladder. It feels as though he has been using it as his pillow. I feel very blessed to have Dr. Partridge deliver him; that is an answered prayer. Please pray for us on Wednesday if you think about it. We definitely need God's strength and endurance!

Mother Hen

I feel like a mother hen who is sitting on her eggs (in my case egg) waiting for it to hatch. Even though our due date is not until October 8th, we went to the doctor this week and found out that I have dialated to 3 and I am 70% efface. For those of you who don't know what that means, it means I am close. I am not sure if this has been good news or bad news. Good news because I'm progressing, bad news because it has been the longest week of my life! The last thing Dr. Partridge said to me as I was leaving her office was "I don't expect to see you in my office next week" (because she expected me to have the baby this week). Well, this week is almost over. It looks like I will be seeing her on Monday morning. I'm trying to mentally prepare for two more weeks of nesting, discomfort, and emotions. I don't think I am brave enough to try the caster oil Carrie.

When God Toots?

On our recent trip to DeQueen to visit my parents, we passed by this church sign. It was so funny to us that we had to turn around and take a picture. It says, "When God toots, we are gonna scoot." Sorry for the quality, it was late and we were in a hurry. Patrick and I love to read church signs such as these. They are especially good in southern small towns. We would love to assemble some of the better ones we've seen into a book someday. I think that would make for humerous reading. Don't get me wrong, I can definitely be encouraged by some church signs. Some of them (like this one) are too funny not to share.