Family Time!

My cousin, Rebecca, got married this past weekend to Wes down and Knoxville! Congratulations you two! It was great being there to celebrate, to see family, and to have some fun! My parents drove to Knoxville from Texas, we drove to Knoxville from North Carolina and we met at Greg and Allison's house. It was such a HUGE blessing to be able to stay at the Trevathans while we were in town. Sadly, they were not in town, but we enjoyed seeing their new house and having the extra space to spread out.

My parents with Adam and I

Me and Dad

The Wedding Party

Uncle Perry, Rebecca, Wes, my Aunt Goo-Goo, and David

After the wedding festivities, my parents followed us back to Raleigh where we got to show off the new house and they were are first overnight guests! I took a couple days off from work and we enjoyed shopping and eating lots of good food. Monday was Chinese New Year and Mom made us a feast and Kristen joined us too! It was so wonderful to have my parents in town and being to spend so much time with family. We love you all and miss you a ton!

Random Fact from Adam: "According to David Henderson of XPV Capital, it takes about 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to make one pair of jeans. Also, it can take up to 200 gallons just to stonewash a pair of jeans. To put these numbers in perspective, the UN estimates that humans need a minimum of 13 gallons of water per day to meet their most basic needs, such as drinking, cooking and maintaining proper sanitation. "

The new house with SNOW!

Last Saturday, Adam and I were blessed by our friends who helped us move into our first home. With an 18 foot truck, 2 cases of water, gloves and hats (it was 9 degrees the morning of our move!), we made it safely into our house. Over the past few days, we have been able to settle in and get the necessities set up. Thanks so our dear friends here, we have made more progress than we thought we could in such a short amount of time. Thank you Kristen, Chris, Ashley, Will, Janice, Rebecca, Chad, Becky, Tom, and Alicia! We could not have done it with each of you there!

North Carolina got snow today....not just flurries, but real snow that stuck to the ground. It started after midnight and came down for a good 12 hours. Adam and I enjoyed being home and working on unpacking in the new house while taking it easy too. We even got to go outside to play in the snow and make snow angels. Check out the pics and there are more here too!

The house when I attempted to go work this morning

Us on our deck with our backyard

Adam with the icicles

Our neighbor's snowman

Our snowangels

Enjoying the day off!

Random Fact from Adam: "More than 40 million butterflies migrate to Florida every year, according to University of Florida butterfly expert Thomas Walker. They fly from Canada to Florida on their annual voyage to Mexico."

"There's a Stem on That Apple"

Adam here with a guest post of sorts. The title quote came from our ultrasound technician, who cleverly informed us that we're having a baby boy! We'll spare you the grainy ultrasound images, but rest assured that we're positive.

We're excited for all sorts of reasons. I can impart fatherly wisdom, baseball skills and belching techniques. The Parken name will continue. Steph will have our son and his friends to feed for years, satisfying her baking needs and all guys' desires for lots of good food. We're off the hook for the first wedding. And I'll have free labor for yard and house work starting in a few years.

We had no parental intuition until a couple of days before the ultrasound when Steph dreamed that we'd have a boy.

It also makes the pregnancy a bit more personal -- it's not just "the baby" anymore, but now, our son or "him." A step up in the world.

From ultrasound pictures and reactions that Steph has felt, we've learned that he:

• Is sleepy. We've seen images on 2 different occasions of him rubbing his eyes.
• Likes either BBQ or country music (or both). The restaurant we ate at in Texas had both, and afterwards he was moving around a lot.
• Looks good. I bring nothing to the equation, but he has the mixed baby thing going for him.

We're still working on the name. Nothing has jumped out at us, but when we know it, we may have to tell everyone so we can call it and keep other pregnant friends from stealing our nomenclature greatness.

Random Fact from Steph: "A baby's ears begin to form at around eight weeks and become structurally complete at about 24 weeks. But as early as 18 weeks, the bones of the inner ear and the nerve endings from the brain have developed enough for our baby to hear sounds such as your heartbeat and blood moving through the umbilical cord. He may even be startled by loud noises! By week 25, our baby begins to hear our voices and may even recognize those voices as early as week 27. "

We're only at 19 weeks right now, but we already talk to our little guy...it's quite entertaining if you ask me. =) And, if you decide you would like to see our handsome boy, you can check out pictures here.

The holiday festivities continue....

Adam's company had a holiday party this evening and it was quite the event! We got to get all dressed up (see how good we look!) and have some fun. The party was in the ballroom of a hotel with food, drinks, door prizes, casino night, and a live band. Let's just say, I did better at black jack than Adam and actually won money. Well, winning money is true, but it was monopoly play money....which made it all easy to throw around. I got to meet Adam's co-workers and show off my cute belly in a pretty dress...haha! So, our weekend is off to a good start and there will be some sleeping in tomorrow. Goodnight!

Random Fact from Adam: "Not to say that today's economy is good, but for a little perspective, how about these facts (from a column in the News & Observer):

• Unemployment hit 10% from 1982-1983
• Interest rates were in the teens in the late 70s and early 80s
• The cost of living rose 45 percent in the 4 years that Jimmy Carter was president"

It's a New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you have all enjoyed your holidays with friends and family. Adam and I enjoyed our trip to Texas to see both sets of parents, our brothers, and other friends and family. We made it back from Texas on Sunday, Dec 27th in order to close on our NEW HOUSE that Monday. All of the paperwork went nice and smooth and we got the keys! Now, it's just some painting and hardwood floors to go in and we'll be ready to move in!

We've been packing more since being back in NC and getting everything organized. We're planning to move on January 17th and it looks like we will have a great moving crew. Thanks everyone in advance for the help! Between picking out paint, floors, carpet, and a new washer and dryer, we are about done making these big decisions. It'll be great to settle in and just enjoy the new place. Here are a few pictures from our Christmas festivities at home and the most recent pic of my growing belly!

All the presents moved from the tree to the den to be passed out and opened!

Adam got an entire case of special Pecan Beer all the way from Mississippi from my mom....what an awesome mom and mother-in-law she is!!

Me at 18 weeks....the baby keeps growing....

Random Fact from Adam: "Investors purchased 20% of homes sold last year -- and nearly 33% of homes when the market peaked in 2005 -- according to the National Association of Realtors."