Baby Update: 18 Weeks

Monica is 18 weeks pregnant! Actually it will be 19 weeks this Friday. So far so good! We haven't posted as many updates this time around. For that we apologize. We find ourselves a little more busy this time than last. There's two boys named Jace & Jeriah that steal our attention. :)

We find out next Wednesday, the 25th, what we're having! Obviously Monica wants to have a daughter. She doesn't get very far shopping with 3 males! Lol! She wants a daughter to dress up, take shopping, etc. We honestly won't be upset either way. We love our boys!! Boys are so easy and fun. And they looooove their momma!!! Monica wouldn't be disappointed at all if we have another boy. Of course I'd be ecstatic. We both would like to have a daughter though. As much as dating, and everything else with girls stresses me out and worries me, I would like to have a daddy's girl. So we shall see! Whatever God has planned for us is perfect! 

The boys have been great as well. They're cutting two year molars so they've been a little more whiney than usual and have stuffy noses and coughs. They've turned into little mockingbirds.  Especially Jace. He repeats almost everything we say. I've had fun with it, trying to get him to say harder words. It's so cute listening to him try and say it. Last night we were working on Dr. Pepper. He didn't really say the Dr. part and Pepper came out like "peppest" lol. It's absolutely mind-blowing how smart they are. I'm not just saying that because they're my kids either. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed and Monica went to a small private school, nuff said. Haha! JK, She's smart! They know how to work our phones and Kindle amazingly well. I'm not kidding either. They know how to turn them on, hand them to us and say "lock it", which means they want us to unlock it. They scroll through to find games, they'll open up our pictures and look through them. They watch videos on several different apps I have on my phone for making different kinds of videos. They're baby geniuses!! It's a bit scary. They're gonna know more about computers by the time they start kindergarten than I do. I must say I LOVE being a dad! Best thing that's ever happened to me!

More updates to come! Here's a pic of Monica 18 weeks with the boys on the left, and 18 weeks with this baby on the right. You'll also notice they huge difference in picture quality between an iPhone 4 and iPhone 6, lol. Oh and the little photo bomber. P.S. Mommy's still got it going on!! :)

Bonus Pic: 12 Weeks ultrasound of Baby Parks

Around and Around it Goes

Sickness seems to be making it's way around the Parks household lately. I was sick with a sinus cold a little over a month ago that moved into my chest (as it always does). I get this cold twice a year almost like clockwork. Our ridiculous weather here in Missouri is almost always to blame. Every year around fall and then spring, we have a week of warm weather (60's to 70's) followed by a week in the teens. It never fails. Every year. No matter what measures I take to prevent it, I get sick.

This year it happened as usual. The cold wasn't as bad as it usual is. I missed no work and only had to survive on cold meds for a few days. I was on cipro (again, as usual). It hung around in my chest for quite some time, a few weeks. I just rid myself of it about two weeks ago. Well, the boys are teething and when they teeth, they get runny noses and colds. Usually I'm unaffected by it. This time has been no different. Until today.

Jace has had a horrible cough. He sounds like a CFer. Coughing so hard his little face turns bright red and veins are sticking out in his neck. He's got so much mucus draining into his lungs he keeps having coughing fits and gagging like crazy. Monica said he sounds like me when I'm sick, lol. Both boys have had runny noses. Jeriah has been running a fever with his for a couple days now. It breaks our heart to see our boys so pitiful looking. The weekend before last, we had 70 degree weather. It was awesome!! Yesterday the temps hit the single digits (with the wind chill) and it snowed. And now I feel pretty rough. Swollen throat, sinus congestion, headache, and to top it off, stomach cramps, lol.

The boys are getting their 2 year molars. They always get sick with new teeth. We're hoping that's all it is. But they don't usually get this sick. I started taking sinus medicine, allergy medicine and doing sinus rinses to hopefully nip this thing in the bud. Any other suggestions from fellow CFers out there?