[2/20/12] Monday Memories: Parker

Eighteen years ago on Thursday I became a mother of three when this little guy joined our family:

Dr. Sachs and Parker

Parker was born on February 23, 1994, at 8:19 pm, weighed 8 lbs 2 oz, and was 18 1/2 inches long. He was my second smallest baby, and oh, so very cute!

It took awhile to get him here. I think he changed his mind and decided to not come for a few many hours. We arrived at the hospital at midnight on February 23, and when my labor slowed down, they had us walking the halls for hours and hours and hours. Many, many hours. Since I was already a week overdue, at 1 pm  they finally decided to help things along a bit. But it still took some time.

An interesting thing about Parker's birth is that it took place during the infamous/famous Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding face-off at the Olympics. Remember? Tonya wanted to take out her main competition, so she had a friend hit Nancy in the leg during the Olympic trials. Nancy came back and it was while they were skating against each other for the first time that Parker was born. Everyone - doctors, nurses, John (me, not so much) - was watching the skating while we were pushing to get Parker to finally get here. They'd all be watching the TV and I'd say, "Another contraction coming!" and they'd all hurry over and we'd do the contraction thing and then they'd all go back to watching the Olympics. John did stay right by my side though. Smart man. Then I'd say, "Another contraction coming!" and they'd all hurry back to take care of the contraction. This went on for some time. It was funny. Well, it is funny now, not so funny at the time. But it made for a memorable birth. :o)

Here's Parker at 5 days old. He had some jaundice issues for the first little while, so he looks a bit yellow. But such a cute baby! And pretty low maintenance too.

Easter Sunday, 2004. Parker is not happy!

Blessing day, April 10, 1994. Such a handsome boy!

On the Manti Temple grounds on May 26, 1994, at Janine & Byron's wedding.

Parker has brought so many blessings to our family. He has always had an seemingly endless amount of energy, and we often told ourselves it would be really nice to be able to bottle some of that energy up so he could share it with us. He has always loved sports, he is a good brother, he used to let Kam dress him up for "dress up time," and he was always a willing student for her "school." Well, at least when he was little. He is a good student, a good friend, and he has quite the sense of humor. His teachers have always said he is a joy to have in class.

I can't believe he's a few days shy of turning 18. The years have flown by way too quickly, and in a few short months he will start a new chapter in his life as he leaves to attend BYU-Idaho (Hmmm...I wonder if there's a family discount for 5 attending from the same family at one time?) and then shortly thereafter on his mission.

We love him and are so proud of the young man he's become and for the good choices he makes.

He's an awesome son!