Santa Express

We took the kids and went with the Floyd's on the Santa express last weekend. Santa was....well... He was nice and the kids loved it.  Jack asked for a cheetah???

This guy was excited!!

Then we made a gingerbread house.

Messy memories :)

I Finally Did It!

I finally did it..... I bought my first Razorback accessory from Riffraff. It's hard to not buy Volunteer gear for Tennessee or Cardinals' artifacts from Louisville. We are trying to embrace the culture.... "Woo Pig Sooie".... Goodness, still sounds so funny!

Fall Y'all

So we have had a very busy fall so far.  It's been a lot of fun and we look forward to the next few months. I'm just going to share some of the highlights in one massive blog post:

Jack started playing soccer again!

KDO first day for Jack and AK

My baby stared laughing

 Ronnie turned 31

We went to a pumpkin patch and loved it!

Ronnie was employee of the quarter so we celebrated with a trip to Branson! Despite speculation there will be no Parrott #5 at this time (Unless God has an incredibly massive sense of humor).

All of this happened on top of the everyday tasks of being in ministry and raising four kids, four and under. So fun and crazy busy, but so worth it!!

Hudson's Newest Trick

Hudson is a BITER!! Yikes. I'm just telling myself this is a phase and praying it passes quickly. Unfortunately, a little boy at church was the recent recipient of his newest trick. We apologized to his mom. Hudson gets disciplined, but he doesn't seem to catch on too quickly in this area. I think he mostly does it in self-defense because he's so little for his age. He's definitely going to have to play football when he's older to get rid of this pent up aggression. Here's Anna Kate's eye- a victim to Hudson :) How could you be mad at this guy for long?

Silas' birth

So the whole pregnancy with Silas was a roller coaster ride. Goods and bads. I suppose that's why the delivery went the same. I had been having blood pressure issues the entire pregnancy and I was more than ready for Silas to be born. I was HUGE. My sweet friend, Jennifer, made me some lemon cupcakes from scratch. Supposedly they can send people into labor. Well, turns out I went from a 2cm-4cm- I'm convinced that the cupcakes played a crucial role. So given the changes and my elevated blood pressure I was induced the day I was 37 weeks. My doctor said my blood pressure needed to come down or I wold have to a have Magnesium, which makes you feel yucky. I decided to get the epidural since that had brought it down in the past. At 5 pm everything was smooth sailing....my parents had made it in town and now had the kids, I was feeling good, and the Pitocin was flowing. Unfortunately, Silas didn't like the Pitocin at first so we had to go VERY slow to get me into a regular labor pattern. I think around 10- 10:30 my friend Jill came up to help keep us company.  Happy was I....until out of no where I started feeling very strong contractions. Since I thought this was just a "minor mishap" I didn't say too much. So my friend Sara and Jennifer came up too. About that time I was in major pain and we quickly realized my epidural fell out.. say what?? The anesthesiologist came in and checked and sure enough not good for Marci. He then said he had to go do an emergency case before he could fix it. So the nurse brought me some "happy medicine" to take the edge off. Really it just made me talk like a fool. What happens in room 1308 stays in room 1308 :). By the time the anesthesiologist came back I felt the need to push. So he did his thing... did I mention he failed to get in back in the 2nd time, so on the 3rd attempt we were ready to roll. The girls helped me get my makeup fixed, fanned me, and made me laugh, while Ronnie announced the winner of the game. Oh yeah- to pass the time we took guesses on who would get Silas' birth time right because it was taking forever. Ronnie's dad won! So long and behold at 2:08 am Silas Elliot Parrott made his debut at 7 pounds 4 ounces and 19.25 inches long! Overall it was a memorable experience and a reminder that God is in control.

Change is a coming

Hud is 21 lb and 28 inches long, but healthy!

Jack is 33.5lb and almost 40 inches tall

Anna Kate hit a growth spurt finally....and is 24lb and 34 inches tall

Change is coming soon. I am so ready for it and a little intimidated by it. Silas will be here in less than a month, but I am hoping it is less than 2 weeks :). Hudson won't be the baby anymore and it's kid of sad. He only got to be the little guy for a short period of time. Jack is really excited about having another brother to wrestle. Anna Kate is presh and has become such a lil momma with her brothers. I know ( for the most part) she will take sweet care of Silas. Change, change will do you good!

And the madness begins...

April has brought about lots of fun for our family so far. On April 2 we started our day going to Jack's first soccer game. It was basically just getting them used to the ball and dribbling- but still very cute. We went to the Farmer's market and experienced the madness of opening day. That evening we celebrated Anna Kate turning 2 by going to the Catfish Hole and eating birthday cake at our home. It was a pretty low key party, but the whole day had been so busy. Anna Kate is 2 going on 12. She is sassy, spunky, stubborn, sweet, and soulful. She's a GIRL!! 

The third one is lucky...

I was/am a very by the book kind of parent. However, the more kids we have the more I heed some advice of a woman who invested in me and that advice was, "Do what's best for your family". Someone is always going to disagree with some parenting choice you've made and talk about what they did way back when (not in the helpful sense either). I've definitely chilled in the area of following nutrition by the book and following recommendations at the appropriate stages. Hudson, our youngest, has benefitted greatly by this newfound revelation. He will be one year old on April 29 and has far surpassed his siblings in trying new things. He has completely abandoned the notion of baby food. He instead has chosen chicken nuggets, fries, graham crackers, pizza, ravioli, basically any carb you can imagine. I know- not the healthiest, but we will work the fruits and veggies in as we go. Jack and Anna Kate both LOVE fruit, Anna Kate asks for salad, they take their vitamins....Yadi yadi, I think we are going to make it. All this to say if your child/children decide to follow Hudson's diet be encouraged that we don't stink at parenting. Nutrition is important, but so are other things. Just look how happy he is!

Gross but fun

Ignore the mess in the background

Arr..... Treasure

Jack has been on a treasure map kick lately. He likes looking at maps, drawing maps, following maps, etc. Ronnie had the idea to send Jack on a treasure hunt at our house. So on our Friday Night Out we went to Hobby Lobby and bought a treasure chest and Target to get the loot; which was a few cheap toys and some candy. Ronnie buried the treasure in our side yard and we got the kids and went to bed. My contribution was the map, don't be jealous of my artistic skills. The next morning Jack stumbled across the hidden treasure map. He followed the map to find the buried treasure at the "X". It lasted about 8 minutes, but he was super excited and it was fun for us too. Here are some pics for ya'll to see.

Some Changes...

It's been awhile since I have posted something.... I need to get better at this. So here are a few updates of our family. We are about 2 weeks away from the Fayetteville campus of Cross Church launching!! Ronnie is going to be super busy, but we are pumped. Jack is really into the Wii and loves playing golf like his Daddy.  He has been such a help to me lately and I am so excited to see the boy/man God is shaping him to be. Anna Kate is still sassy! Her vocabulary has tripled it seems in the last week alone. She loves trying to take care of Hudson. I think she wants to be a little mommy to her baby dolls. Hudson is sitting up on his own and army crawling all over the place. He is saying "dada". He blows bubbles to let you know he does not like something, it's super cute and he's a doll. He has started to thin out...kind of sad about this, but I know it will help him to crawl better. We are expecting our 4th child in July. I am 12 weeks and all is looking good with the baby, the heartbeat was 159. I kind of have a feeling about the gender, but I will keep it to myself for now. Jack and Anna Kate both know we are having another baby and they both seem to be excited about the new sibling. Sometimes, I think we are absolutely crazy and I have no idea how we are going to do this next chapter of our life. I think honestly, it is God saying, " Girl, I've got this, trust me and lean on me". Not easy for me, but I'm trying to not yank the control back. So anyway.. that's all for now.

          ~ Marci 

The Kiddos

The Family at the Fayetteville Square

Anna Kate 21 months

Hudson 8 months

Jack 3 3/4 Years