Just a Teensy Post

It's been a busy couple of months. Mikey and I went to California to visit my family, my sister-in-law Hannah got married in Atlanta, we vacationed in North Carolina, and now we're back in Miami. Whew! I have so many pictures to share. It's a bit overwhelming, so I'll just upload a few to tide you over for a little while.

Here's boy with his papa at the beach in California.

And with his daddy in North Carolina. I love his little face!

On a blanket made by one of Nathan's cousins...

With me!

With his auntie and cousins.

The Babe

So, I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus. The internet was down for a few days, but that leaves me about four and half weeks without an alibi for the five weeks it's been since my last post. I post on Instagram every so often, and I text a few family and friends pictures of Mikey almost every day. Maybe that's why it feels like I haven't been completely out of the social media world. 

Anyway, here are some pictures of the boy, which are already weeks old. Yesterday he discovered his right foot, and today he had his first bites of rice cereal. Time flies... 

Here he is in his dad's office, surrounded by a jungle of books.

A few weeks ago he started doing this fake cough thing. I think he likes the way it sounds and the attention he gets when he does it a lot. I got a shot of him doing it on a walk the other day.

Lub this chub. Lub, lub, lub. I want to eat his thighs sometimes.

Here we are on a rope swing. He loves being outside with the breeze on his face.

And here's the "reality check" picture. As in, he's not happy all the time. We took a road trip to Atlanta for my brother-in-law's wedding. As you may remember, Mikey h-a-t-e-s the car. Hates. After only a few minutes of crying he gets a horrible blotchy rash on his head and his eyes have bright red rings around them. 

I was very, very nervous about the drive, but overall he did amazingly well, especially on the way back. I sat in the back with him and played the court jester for many, many hours. He even managed to sleep a few winks. Sweet relief! Thank you to all the praying saints out there.

Nathan got this shot of Mikey at about 4:30 in the morning. He's so sweet.

Here are all of the Parker siblings. What a beautiful family.

Here's Uncle Andrew in his new Facebook profile pic, hoping that the tuxedo and Mikey's belly will attract a lady friend.

The wedding is about to begin!

Congratulations Sarah and Philip! Y'all are the greatest.

And upon our return, Mikey started blowing raspberries.

And all of a sudden he was in a big boy stroller.

And enjoying some mint moose tracks from Publix. I die.

Here's to hoping for more frequent posting... Comments always motivate me (wink wink).

Big Weekend

These pictures of the ordination/installation/baptism weekend are all jumbled up, and I'm far to lazy this morning to order them. So, let's begin.

We went to a famous South Florida fruit stand called Robert Is Here. Check out the link! It's a great story about a kid starting a business at his bus stop. Here is Mikey pictured with the famous Robert himself.

Here's a picture of Nathan being prayed over during his ordination and installation ceremony.

Here's Mikey and Papa enjoying the Florida sun.

Our dear friend, Pete, came to preach at the service, and he managed to fit in some snorkeling with Nathan in Key Largo.

Mikey was in this swim suit and rash guard for about five minutes. It was too small, he was too hot, and it probably wasn't even worth it for this not-so-good picture.

We had a lovely dinner at Sundowners when the sun was setting. How apropos. 

Guess who surprised us! Wilbur came out from California and just walked up to us in Key Largo. So sneaky! It was such a joy to have him there for the service.

Nathan's sister, Hannah, and her then-boyfriend-now-fiance came too! It was so special to us that they got engaged in Miami.

Here's Mikey giving me the stink eye for dressing him in a sweater vest for his baptism. Nathan is praying

Papa Mike Bear and Mikey

After church that Sunday, Mikey started reaching out for toys for the first time. My dad couldn't help but buy him this Curious George when he tried to grab it. Mikey now sleeps with it, and when I put him down for a nap, I tell him that he's going to enjoy some Georgie time.

Mikey was very intolerant during the baptism part, so Nathan stuck his pinky finger in the baby's mouth.

Here we are listening to the vows.

Mikey's about to get sprinkled!

And there it is.

There they are! Reverend Doctor Nathan Parker and his son, Michael Harrison Parker. It was so special to have both of our dads (after whom the baby is named) there to witness it.

And it was so special to share the morning with our new Pinelands family.

A Blast from the Not-So-Distant Past

Now that I have my fancy pants phone, I never take pictures with my regular camera. It is a little beat up, after all, and it's just so much more convenient to take pictures with my phone. I finally whipped out the old one today to reminisce about times with family and friends before we came to Miami, and I realized that I never posted any of these pictures!

Coming home from a walk in Cali. June took this picture.

With Aunt Deanie

Olive Garden lunch with Mrs. Grueber and Amy

Meeting Uncle Matthew for the first time

At the sip and see with Mary Lou

Coach and Dee come down to Atlanta from Big Canoe.

Katie and Jenn

Anwhitney and Sally still think he's cute despite his receding hair line.

Natalie didn't mind Mikey spitting up on the Auburn sweatshirt she borrowed from Bev. Nat went to Alabama.

In the Georgia mountains with Mr. and Mrs. Bramblett

Down to Miami with Pappy Parker

I know I'm super behind with blogging and posting pictures. I hope to get some more updates soon about our new life here in Miami, including Nathan's ordination and installation, as well as Mikey's baptism this past Sunday.

Mikey and Family

These pictures are from our time in Atlanta and the past week here in Miami. I got a new phone from Nathan for Christmas - a smart phone! I know... Welcome to modern times, Nicole. I've been texting my family and Nathan's family pictures of Mikey almost every day since we've been apart, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites lately.

Gosh, I could just eat him up, as Southerners would say.

I love the soft lighting on him and my sister-in-law, Joy.

Here he is in my favorite polar bear PJs taking a morning snooze before church. I guess it's fitting that he's too big for them now that we live in the tropics.

My sister-in-law, Hannah, and I went to the mall. We only went in one store (Anthropologie, of course) and were there for two and a half hours. Life truly slows down when you have a newborn. We didn't even buy anything. So, this isn't the most gorgeous backdrop ever, but Mikey's face is priceless and Hannah's hair looks bomb, so it made the blog cut.

Then we started our road trip to Miami. This is at a rest stop somewhere in southern Georgia. Mikey was sooo pumped to be stuck in his car seat for two days. 

I went to Target for an hour or two, and when I came home Mikey had a very irritated look on his face. Nathan narrated the baby's thoughts. "Where the #$%@ have you been? I thought you were leaving us forever!"

Even though it's blurry, I love this picture of Mikey's face. We unpacked Nathan's 80 boxes of books in his new office at church. The wall-to-wall-floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are full. That is not a joke. Nathan said he is going to get rid of some of them, but I'll believe it when I see it.

This is Mikey asleep in the car on the way to Key Biscayne. The dish towel is behind his head because he was incredibly sweaty and therefore grumpy on the drive. This kid is the sweatiest baby who ever lived, and it's only January. I can't imagine how annoyed he will be in South Florida in August.

I saw this onesie on Etsy almost five years ago, and I pinned it on a Pinterest board. My friend Julie bought it for Mikey soon after we announced that I was pregnant. This is the first time he's worn it, and I may have shed a tear or two while dressing him.

There will be more to come in due course about our new life here in Miami. We're still getting settled but we're excited!