The Ranch...Such a great retreat!

We headed out to the ranch a little earlier than normal this year, given the fact that I'm not supposed to travel more than 1.5 hours away anymore.  JP and I headed out on Friday morning after my doctor's appointment, giving him Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning to hunt.

Unfortunately, I did not go and sit with him in the blind this year, as it is becoming more and more difficult to sit still for an extended period of time, much less finding a comfortable position at all.  So, I'm sure he enjoyed a bit of peace and quiet in the wilderness alone.

Saturday evening was his lucky day...sitting at Eldon's blind in the Old Man's Pasture.  Obviously for the fam that reads my blog, they will know exactly where I'm talking about...for the rest of you, it is JP's favorite (and lucky) spot to hunt!

So, here it is, his 9-point (almost 10-point) white tail.  I'm absolutely thrilled that we will have some venison in the freezer once again!

It was also my dad's lucky day at Ben's Blind in the Caliche Pit--bringing home this nice 8-pointer!

As usual, the ranch was a nice break to the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives.  You can't get much better than good food, good company and sitting in front of a hot fire all day, with absolutely no agenda except looking forward to the next great meal!  We also enjoyed visiting with my great great Aunt Cornelia who will celebrate her 105th birthday on January 18.  She is such an amazing lady and has given us this special place for hunting, relaxation and fellowship.  She told me she hopes IBP is a boy and that he is born on her birthday...we shall see!!

Rewind...Giving Thanks!

This year we get to add a big one to the list of all the wonderful things we are thankful for...the upcoming arrival of Itsy Bitsy Parker!  We are also so thankful that my pregnancy has been such a great one, and now we are on the home stretch (7 weeks to go)!

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, but was in usual Team Parker style, going here, there and everywhere.  We spent Thanksgiving day in Brenham at my parent's house joined by my brother, grandmother, the Parker's, and Aunt LaVerna.  Lunch was scrumptious as usual--duck breast accompanied by the Parker Italian tradition--homemade ravioli!

After lunch, JP and I headed to College Station for a little bit of tailgating and the big game between Texas and Texas A&M.  And, wow, was it an exciting one.  Leave it to the Ags to put up a good fight...heck, they killed us (Tech) earlier in the season, so I wasn't too surprised, given the fact that they pretty much always have a good showing on their home turf against the Longhorns.  I'm glad Texas pulled it out though, since now that I write this a bit late, we know they are now headed to the National Championship in Pasadena on January 7.

We headed back to Austin on Friday to prepare for Laci and Jefferey's Stock the Bar party on Saturday evening.  It was a great party and we sure enjoyed celebrating their upcoming wedding on January 2nd with everyone!

That left Sunday to rest up and begin decorating for Christmas...I love this time of year and am so thankful for all that we have. Boy will next year be different...

Bittersweet Week

This week has been somewhat of a tough one for me. I made my last trip to the corporate office in Atlanta. Since Graco has made the move from their offices in Exton, PA to Atlanta, I too was asked to make the move. JP and I have always felt like our life is in Texas and decided that while there is great opportunity with Graco there, it would truly be a major sacrifice for us to make that move, so needless to say, we are staying put in Austin.

With this decision comes the end of my employment with Newell Rubbermaid once IBP arrives, and specifically Graco. It has been a great ride for 5 1/2 years, but hopefully there is something bigger and better out there for me.

I'm now at the end of my 32nd week of pregnancy and was told by my doctor that I would have to suspend all travel more than an hour and a half away by December 13. So, I headed out Monday for my final trip to the ATL.

I have to say, it was a great one though. On Tuesday we had a mini-photoshoot for a new stroller coming out in January and it was so fun, as usual, to interact with the baby models and their moms. Then on Wednesday morning, I was invited to partake in breakfast being brought in for a meeting, and much to my surprise walked in to a nice little baby shower celebration hosted by many of my co-workers. It was so nice to have a chance to catch up with many of them before I head out and of course get some wonderful gifts! Melissa and Blair, thanks so much for organizing and I'm truly looking forward to shopping for some oh-so-adorable frocks with my Baby Gap giftcard.

As I was walking out of the building on Wednesday evening to the parking garage, a couple of tears streamed down my face. They were of course sad tears, since I feel like I've had such an amazing ride with this company since I graduated. I've had the privilege to work with some amazing people and make some wonderful friendships, too--so it's hard to say goodbye. But it will never be goodbye, because in the wonderful world of social media, it's very easy to stay in touch. And, I will be around until IBP arrives, so they aren't rid of me just yet.

While this is a very sad moment for me, it's also a very exciting and anxious one for me too. Of course the arrival of IBP is less than 2 months away, which will be life-changing and there will hopefully be a very exciting career endeavor come along for me within the next 6 months or so--fingers crossed.

So for all of my followers and readers, if you hear of any good marketing opportunities within the Austin area--holla at me, I'll be in the market!!

More Shower Pics...

Honey and Me (mi madre that is...she wants IBP to call her Honey, just like her grandmother)



Grammy and Finley (the other Parker cousins already established Ruth's name, and I love it because that's what we called my dad's mom and she was so special!)


A classic!


With all of the lovely hostesses and Honey at the shower in Brenham


with the lovely Leisha at Chez Zee in Austin

Friends, Family, Baby Goodies & Yum-O Chez Zee Brunch!

I had the pleasure of celebrating IBP's arrival at another WONDERFUL shower on Sunday morning. My Austin girls (Leisha, Shelley, Leslie, Erika, Katy, and Cyndi), a couple of Brenham girls (Jamie M. and Jamie R.), a couple of Dallas girls (Sara and Jen), a now Georgia girl (Amy), and a California girl (Laci) hosted a lovely brunch affair at one of my fave places--Chez Zee.



The Zee Migas were superb as usual, and it was so good to visit with everyone. IBP and I went home with some great things, and it just makes me more anxious to use all of these great goodies! I just can't wait til this little one gets here, and graces us with his/her presence...it's gonna be fun!











And to top it all off, the icing on the cake, if you will, was this phenomenal coco leches cake. These ladies kinda know me...tres leches is my favorite and this one definately has to be on my list of the top 3 I've ever had!!! Thanks again ladies!

For all you parent's out there...

I thought I would share this great post from the Graco blog yesterday pertaining to car seat safety. As most of you know, car seat safety has become very near and dear to me, as it's the least we can do to help keep our little ones safe when we are out on the road.

This post gives us some tips on what to do if your child figures out how to open the harness clip on their seat (or unbuckle it at all, for that matter). There are some great tips here on how to potentially solve the problem.

And, while you're at it, take a look at those awesome hands...they're mine!!!!

A Lovely Saturday Morning!

Yes, Saturday was such a lovely morning, complete with a baby shower for Itsy Bitsy Parker. Thanks so much to all of the wonderful hostesses (Melissa Guttenberger & Vicky Muegge, Linda Thaler & Lindsay Henry, Karla & Sue Krueger, Rosemary & Ginger Gaskamp) for helping us celebrate this next milestone in our lives.

Not only did I recieve some fab gifts for IBP's nursery and beyond, but the theme of the shower was "baby's library", so everyone brought a signed book to share. I am so excited about already having such an awesome selection of wonderful books to share with the little man or lady! Not to mention, these books will provide entertainment and teaching for years!

As most of you know, I also write for the Graco blog. During November and December, we are tying all of our posts to "celebrating", given that the holidays are upon us, so I thought this would be a great story to also include there, given it's celebratory status. Take a read.

Finley Foo Buckle Bee

I know, I know, you are probably wondering what the heck the title of this post is all about, but JP and I have a new nephew and his older sister has graciously nicknamed him Finley Foo Buckle Bee. I absolutely love this name and JP and I catch ourselves mimicking Emma sometimes singing..."finley foo buckle bee, finley foo buckle bee..." around the house.

We are so excited for Matt, Lauren, Emma and Beckett (and the rest of the family, of course) on the recent arrival of Finley Tate Parker born Wednesday, September 30. I absolutely love his "real" name too. I did start to get worried though, that perhaps Matt and Lauren might be like-minded with us on a boy name...glad we escaped with our #1 choice still intact.


Of course, meeting Finley for the first time was an absolute joy as was getting to see the rest of the fam, too. Here's a quick photo montag...






My "kid" niece and "kid" husband...


Emma wanted to wear my scarf and have it tied just like me.




Just some good 'ole Aunt Heidi and Uncle JP time!

Celebrating Matt & Shell

We kicked off Shelley and Matt's wedding festivities on October 3 with a New Orleans-style engagement party. The Ehlert's, Jasinski's, Nagy's, and soon-to-be Schultz's helped us host the affair. It has been so fun being with Matt and Shell on their journey to engagement and now to wedding. Shell and I were Theta's together at Tech and of course, Matt and JP go way back with their days together working for UT football. Needless to say, we are excited to have another couple in the Tech/UT House Divided fraternity!

Menu:

Swamp Thang (a really yummy adult beverage)!

Fried Crawfish tails

Spinach Artichoke dip

Seafood Gumbo

Green Salad

Garlic Bread

Bread Pudding

Of course, it's football season and this was the only date before January we could throw this shin-dig since Matt works for the UT football team. But, it was nice that we were able to celebrate during an off-week. Well, that doesn't mean football stops all together, right? So, we tied-in game entertainment to the party as well--I think the guys really enjoyed it.

The rain was a bit of a mess, though. We had nice table settings all set up outside and ended up having to take it all down and move inside with a few showers, but all-in-all it was a fun night!

Shelley and Matt, we are definitely looking forward to all of the upcoming festivities and the big day in May! Jonathan and I are both so thrilled to be a part of it and we look forward to introducing IBP to his/her first wedding in style!

The Beginnings of a Nest

This past weekend was a bit of a change for me. Texas was playing UTEP at 2:30 in the afternoon and I knew that it was going to be blazing hot, so I decided to skip the game and tailgating festivities all together and get the walls painted in IBP's nursery. See, I'm the painter in the house and quite particular about how it's done, so I figured I better get going on it before I get too big to balance on a ladder. That coupled with the fact that I've had the "nesting" bug ever since I returned from the ABC Kids Expo in Vegas--check out my post on the Graco blog for more deets on that one.

Before I could even begin prepping for my painting extravaganza, we had to empty out the room. For the past (almost) 2 years, IBP's now nursery has been our home gym, which we have truly come to love. JP and I both use it on a regular basis hoping for an outcome of burning calories and toning muscles. Well, it was time to make the move to the garage. The gym along with the TV now occupies half of our garage.

We haven't used it yet in it's new destination, but I do look forward to it very soon (now just to get the TV hooked up for some accompanying entertainment).

So, Saturday afternoon I was ready to go. JP was tailgating, then going to the game, so I had the house to myself. The fact that the room isn't enormous helped me conquer the complete project by Saturday evening.

(completely unaware the above pic was being taken until it was too late)

Of course, there were a few touch-ups to be made on Sunday, but nothing too time consuming. On Sunday, we disassembled the crib, then reassembled it in it's new destination. See, I ordered it online and I wanted to be sure I liked it before it was too late to return, so I assembled it to get my approval about 6 weeks ago in our bedroom.

The room is quite stark at this point in time, but I look forward bringing a bit more life to it in the coming months and then the finishing touches, of course as soon as IBP arrives and we know how masculine or feminine it really needs to be. Ta Ta for now!