Sandy

Hurricane Sandy hit last week....and destroyed much of my most favorite place in the world...Long Beach Island, and damaged much of New Jersey and New York.  We are thinking of everyone there...and wish we could help more.  We plan on taking baby Parker there the first chance we get!

Celebrations X2

We have been so luck to have two beautiful showers thrown by both of our moms.  Parker is going to be the best dressed little boy around!  It was so great to spend time with family and friends and celebrate this little life that will be the biggest thing to happen to us!  

THANK YOU to everyone....we can't show our appreciation for your generosity enough.  

Friends

We celebrated Joey and Rachel's wedding this weekend, and loved spending time with friends, as always.  I love being pregnant and baby Parker is so worth it, but I do miss celebrating with friends!  I can't wait to introduce Parker to everyone over the holidays this year.  You can't beat this group of people....

Nursery time!

We are desperately trying to jigsaw all of our baby items into our apartment :) it is a work in progress but here are the first pictures of baby Parker's crib!!!

Health & Family

Thinking of my dad this weekend...who has been spending some time in the hospital to figure out an intestinal abscess.  Whenever health problems arise - big or small, I become pretty reflective on how fortunate I have been with my family members, and how desperately I want Parker to be just as fortunate.  

I am 26 and still have three of my four grandparents with me...and many lessons I was old enough to learn from all four of them.  Making them great-grandparents is something I have been looking forward to for years!  

My own parents and Matt's parents are so special to me as well...I can't wait to see the lessons and love they pass on to Parker. 

For now, we are just praying for everyone to be healthy. 

Baby Laundry...

Here's to the first round of baby laundry...many more years and loads to come :) good thing it is all so cute...it makes laundry so much better!

Movies!

We went and saw "Looper" tonight at the **amazing** iPic theater...recliners, pillows, blankets, free popcorn...ahhh--a pregnant girl's dream place!  Matt and I were talking in the car about how this may have been the last trip to the movies for a while -which made us a little sad.  We are SO excited to meet our son and to experience all of the amazing things that come with parenthood, but are a little anxious about the change in freedom -at least for the foreseeable future :)  We will be lucky to have trusted babysitters (aunties and friends close by!), but we are saying "see ya" to going out or traveling without the extra planning!  

So for now, we will take our last several weeks before becoming "mommy and daddy" as a chance to do lots of date nights and things that we might not get to do again for a few months/years! That being said, I know Parker will end up loving movies, family nights out, and traveling to see loved ones as much as we do!

Chase!

I have to admit, I am a little bit nervous about how Chase Puppy will react to the baby coming.  We have a little less than 8 weeks to go (max!), and he is starting to sense that things are changing! He has become extra clingy and needy...and really doesn't like to have us out of site.  

Scooter couldn't care less...she is just happy for all of the boxes and bags that are all around for her to play in.  

We know they will be loyal to Parker just like they are to us in time, but hope that the process isn't too painful!

How the family celebrates...

Only in the Manoni home do people celebrate a baby by starting off with tequila shots....good thing baby Parker is my excuse to opt out :)  

We had such great goodies and crafts from Nona and Aunt Renee --diaper cake! and Grandma Preis --no one beats her cookies!  

Shower Time!

It was SO amazing to go home and see everyone this past weekend.  We are so thankful for all of the amazing friends and family that came to celebrate with us, and for the generous gifts we received from them.  Parker will be a well-dressed, much loved little boy.  Our only complaint is that the hours seem to go by so quickly when surrounded by so many people we care about.  THANK YOU to everyone-- we would be lost without you all.  More details to come...