What one year can do

So here are 2 pictures of my baby. This is exactly one year apart...of course as you can guess they are both Halloween pictures. It seems that everyone I know is having babies right now (THANK YOU GOD I already have mine!!!) I was looking through pictures of Parker when he was little and thinking how amazing he was, yet how scared sensless I was. I am becoming to believe this is a normal feeling and all new mother's feel this way. This did not stop me from thinking that I was not really made to be a mom however. Everyone that knows me knows that I do not always revert to the "Mommy thoughts" as quickly as most of my fellow mommy peers. But somehow this little guy (now big) has managed to survive, and pretty well I would like to add. So as I am going into my field soon and becoming a "real live teacher" it gives me great confidence that if I can raise this little guy than I can do anything! Of course I must say that I am very blessed because he is one of the best kiddos there is. Of course he is full of ENERGY but he is very compassionate, helpful and very smart. I hold whole length conversations with him, which I always have done for some reason. Now he actually responds to what I am saying, so it is really amazing to see how far he's come in one year! It's hard to believe that he was once as small as all of my friends kiddos are now. I know I say this with EVERY life stage that he is in, but I think this is my favorite stage thus far!! He is SO curious and bright. If he can't figure something out the first time he doens't throw it like most of his friends, he sits down with it and keeps trying. He actually put a puzzle together this morning with my Dad. My Dad said he did very little, he just watched Parker figure it all out! Of course it wasn't 1,000 pieces or anything, but it is still amazing. It's also funny to see how much like my Dad and my Grandpa he is. He has the same personality as both of them. If it stays that way he will make an amazing Father and husband himself. I can't think of three better men in the world than Gordy, my dad and my grandpa. I also want to add that even though Gordy is gone during the week Parker and I have not only bonded more (if that's possible) but we've started to learn to cherish the time that we do have. Last week in our small group Donna and Steve asked us to share what God has been showing us. I think that through this ordeal God has been showing me that we need to cherish everything we have. In this time of economic crisis, meltdown or whatever you want to call it, we need to realize exactly how blessed we are. Every moment I have with Gordy now is cherished and I realize EXACTLY what he means to me. Before when I saw him everyday it was easy to take him for granted. Now I thank God everynight that I have such a wonderful man in my life and that I get to spend the rest of my life with him and raise our amazing son. I also think Parker is learning this too. We count down the days until Daddy his home again but at the same time we have fun together during the week. When Gordy is home on the weekends Parker takes full advantage of his time with him, and I love that! We only have 2 more months until Gordy's job down there is finished and I am expecting God to show us so much more before that time! Love to all, sorry this is so long!