Mama to the Rescue!

Just one of the many dinners from Mom.


Daddy is feeling the effects of a new baby.


Nathan loves being cuddled by Mama.

My mom came Tuesday to stay with us for a week and help out. Boy are we loving it! Wayne has never eaten so good! Mom has been our nanny/cook/maid/ and more. All three of us are being completely spoiled! Mom and I have been cooking together every night so that I can learn her recipes and become a better cook (apparently I didn't pay attention when I was growing up). Tonight Wayne is going to come home to Chicken Spaghetti and Creme Brulee. I can't wait!

Nate's Photo Shoot

We had another outing this week. We took Nathan to a studio to have his picture taken, and he was so cute! He never cried, but he did get the hiccups. Every time the photographer propped him up, he'd hiccup and slump down. We had to keep repositioning him, but he was very cooperative. Here are just a few.

Bath Time

Getting ready for our bath!


I think he should be on a Johnson & Johnson commercial.


Daddy's in charge of keeping him warm.


But he can't stop kissing Nathan!


The final touch.

Nate got his first bath last night. He was so cute! He liked it as long as he stayed covered up and warm. He is the sweetest thing ever!

Busy Weekend

Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Dean


Nathan's cousins, Robert and Alexandra


Alexandra made a perfect cushion for Nathan


Uncle Chris holding his nephew for the first time.

We had a weekend full of visitors. My sister Jen and her family came to visit us from Houston. Alexandra and Robert LOVED holding Nathan, and Nathan loved being held! And Uncle Chris was very proud of his little nephew. Although he and Carrie have a bulldog, Otis, I think they need the real thing! Nate needs another cousin! Everyone has been such a huge help. Carrie spent the first week with us and has been our personal nanny. She cooked, cleaned, ran errands, and helped take care of Nate. Jen and Dean did the same thing for us. Today is the first day to be on our own. It is a little tough, but we're managing...at least Mom is coming back on Tuesday for a week!

Daddy's Present for Nate

Wayne is such a wonderful Daddy. He surprised me with a gift for Nathan. He ordered him a beautiful snowglobe with a silver rocking horse in the middle. Wayne even had it engraved for him. The only problem is that Wayne, being the planner he is, ordered it several weeks ago when we assumed Nathan would be born on the 16th not the 13th! The engraving says Nathan Allen Parnell, born August 16th, 2007. So funny!

First Doctor's Visit

Well, we went on our first outing Friday. We went to the pediatrician for our first checkup. Nathan was so good in the car. He just fell asleep and pretty much stayed asleep until we got to the doctor's office. He was really happy until we had to undress him to weigh him. We've found out that Nathan is a little modest and does not like to be undressed. From that point on, he pretty much cried until we were able to put his clothes back on. Poor thing. But he passed his checkup with flying colors. He's only lost 4 ounces, and I'm willing to bet he'll put those back on plus more very quickly. He's a Parnell...he loves to eat!!!! So our first outing was a success...except for what happened in the elevator afterwards. A couple got in the elevator with us, and they were looking at a sonogram picture. I was looking at Nate thinking how precious he looked when I heard the husband say, "Look honey, they decided to have their kids back to back too." WHAT?!?! I just calmly said, "I'm not pregnant, I just had him." Oh well, I'm sure his wife got on to him after they left the elevator.

More of Nathan

Coming Home

Our new family left the hospital Wednesday afternoon. Nathan really is a gift from God. We are so thankful for him, and we can't wait to share more of our upcoming adventures with you.

Nate's Family

Papa with his newest grandson.

Grandmother (Wayne's Mom) and Nate

Auntie Carrie is in heaven!

Mama seeing Nathan for the first time.

He's Here!

I couldn't believe he was really here.

Wayne cutting the cord.

The proud daddy admiring his son.


Nathan Allen Parnell was born at 3:33 pm, weighed 8lbs even, and was 20.5 inches long. Seeing him for the first time was the most beautiful experience I have ever had. He was absolutely perfect. I felt like I was in a dream. When he was laid on my chest, I just couldn't believe he was actually ours. He was the one we had been waiting on for so long. And now he's here!

Nathan's Coming!

We're going to see him soon!

Let's hurry it up with the epidural.

Since our family wasn't there yet, Jenn stayed with us.

Feeling good after the epidural.


Wayne and I...and pretty much everyone else in Labor and Delivery were in complete shock. How could I already be that far along and still be walking?! I was in shock, but so excited!!!! I was also a little nervous. We had planned on having a c-section, but since I was already so far along, we decided against it. So we got checked into our room, and Wayne spent the next hour calling everyone to let them know that Nathan was coming today. We had called our parents earlier that morning and told them that they MAY want to start driving up, but then Wayne called back and told them to DEFINITELY get here as soon as they could. It was so exciting! By this time, the contractions were a little unbearable, and I was ready for my epidural. I maybe could have gone longer, but since I completely misjudged being in labor, I sure didn't want to miss the window of opportunity for an epidural! My friend Jennifer and her little boy Jack came to the hospital to keep us company while we waited for the big event. It really was a surreal experience. I had always wished he would come early!

A Change In Plans

Well, I woke up Monday morning at 4:30 a.m. with mild contractions. They weren't bad at all, just cramps. But they were 6 minutes apart. I really didn't think I was in "real" labor, so I just laid in bed feeling them for a while. When they started to get a little stronger, I woke Wayne up. We started keeping track of them for 2 more hours. Some contractions were really close like 3 and 4 minutes. Others were a little further apart. Wayne told me, we better get our things together and start heading to the hospital, but I really was still second guessing myself. I thought that if it was real labor, the contractions would hurt worse, but they really weren't too terrible. And I kept telling Wayne I didn't want to be one of those women who gets to the hospital, all excited, and then is told to go home because it's false labor. But Wayne was very persuasive and pretty much told me to just get in the car because we were going. Of course, I had to take a quick shower first and try to look halfway decent just in case.

He kept asking me how was the pain on a scale of 1-10 and in the beginning, I was saying 3, then it got to 4. During the car ride, the contractions were getting more uncomfortable, but I was still in denial and sticking to my 3's and 4's. Once we got to the hospital, the contractions really were starting to hurt, and I started to give in to the excitement that I really might have Nathan that day, but I still didn't want to get my hopes up. The nurse led me to an examining room and there was my doctor. He just happened to be on call that day. He examined me, and then said, "Honey, you're already 7-8 centimeters. We're having a baby today!"

Party Time!

This is what our parties will consist of from now on.

Too much excitement for little Willow

Mad Gab got the party going... especially after the other game was a bust.


Wayne threw me a 30th Birthday/Last Hoorah Party Saturday night. We had 11 friends, 4 babies (one in the oven), and plenty of BBQ! I was going to do some home cooking, but Sonny Bryan's was calling my name. We did have plans of sitting outside and enjoying the grill and Tiki Torches, but the heat was just too much. After dinner, we attempted to play a new game called Scene It, Squabble. Guys play against the girls answering pop culture and movie questions. I was so excited about it because it looked like a lot of fun, but it was a disaster. There were too many complicated directions, and we just didn't feel like figuring it all out. So we went to our default game that is always fun...Mad Gab. It really was a great night. I can't believe it was our last weekend just the two of us. It's crazy how much life has changed in 1 year (as seen in picture #1). Just 4 more days until Nate is here!