2nd try at posting more pictures of Parker

New Parker Pictures

Tim, Colleen and Parker were kind enough to invite me back to visit and cuddle with Parker.  Here are some new pictures!  He is SUCH a wonderful baby - he definitely has his mom and dad well trained already, and it has only been a week!  We have had many "Firsts" ~ tons of fun! 
First trip to Vagabond Blues (Great Palmer Coffee House), first diaper change outside of the house (at the laundry mat), first trip into Anchorage, first trip back to Colleen's work - he got LOTS of ohhhh's and ahhhh's!  First trip to Costco - and first trip to the store to buy more diapers!

Day 2 with Parker!

Everyone looked more rested today! Thank you to all, friends and family for all the love, support and good wishs everyone has expressed. What a great community Colleen and Tim live in and what wonderful people to welcome this new family of 3 into their hearts!
The plan is that Colleen, Tim and Parker will go home tomorrow (may even be afternoon by the time they get through everything). Jenelle, Blake and Josh drove back to Fairbanks today, and Nonnie (me, the author of this blog) flew back to Fairbanks this afternoon.
Nonu is staying another couple of days to help out in anyway he can, and to get extra snuggle time in with the new grandson.
Parker was wide awake this afternoon - and is already hard at work holding his head up! He has quite large hands and feet - and is the greatest snuggler!
Tim will likely return to work next Monday, and I hope to return to Palmer to help Colleen and Parker - Tim can I come back? :-)

Day 1 with Parker

Everyone has gotten some rest, Parker got his first bath, and Colleen is beginning the recovery!
Is a beautiful sunny winter day in Alaska, and baby Parker is definately a keeper - so sweet, and even though he has a great set of lungs, he snuggles right in and is content to have everyone watch him sleep!

Coach Powpow and mini Coach Popow!

This boy has a great set of lungs! But papa has the touch and Parker settled right down!

Baby Parker

WOW - that seemed like it was ALOT of work - complete with words of "Cheeks PUSH" from Coach Popow :-)

Parker O'Bryant Popowski was born at 6:08am on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2010, weighing in at 8 pounds even and 20-1/4" long!

Feb 14 4am

Last pregnant picture, while the "boys" slept, Colleen was hard at work. The doctor has been called, she is 10cm, and we are ready for Parker to come out and play! YIPPIE

Feb 14 Midnight

Progress - Colleen is at 4.5cm and 100% effaced - she actually fell asleep for a while (ok a few short minutes)
Baby Parker will very very likely have a Valentine's Day Birthday!
Still watching House Season 1 :-)

Feb 13 10:30pm

Colleen is supposed to sleep until about midnight - then they will develop a plan if Baby Parker and Colleen are not making substantial progress on their delivery plan.
Hurry up and wait - we are watching Season 1 of House, wonder how many seasons we will get through? Definitely not a Feb 13 birthday, at least that is my prediction

Feb 13 9:15pm

Progress ~ Colleen is at 3cm! Blake went home (to Colleen and Tim's) to bed with his parents and plans to come see his new cousin tomorrow!
Tim is working very very hard! Let the good times roll ~ please Parker come out and play~

Feb 13 9:00pm

Colleen continues to rest comfortable, Parker seems to be asleep and much more interested in a Feb 14 birthday than a Feb 13th birthday! They are super hydrating Colleen and trying a number of things to get things moving, the contractions are not regular anymore and farther apart.
Hmmm - one of the painful parts is the antibiotics they push in the IV in her hand every 30 minutes, that is reason enough for her to want to move things along.
We have family waiting in the hall, the "boys" with their Blackberries and iPhones, and the smiling mother to be!
The doctor wants the baby delivered withing 24 hours of 7am this morning - so stay tuned!

Feb 13 7:45pm

Colleen is resting more comfortably, with contractions still every 1-1/2 minutes and lasting about the same length of time.
Blake is busy watching the Ninja Turtles, and we are all just hanging out - enjoy the time together! Tim still has all his fingers! They have each "shushed" each other once :-)

Tim ran home and let the dogs out earlier this afternoon - so the dogs are covered!

Thanks to all for all their good wishes and concerns and good Karma!

Feb 13 6:00pm

The doctor stopped by, Colleen is moving to keep Parker moving, resting between contractions and intensity is starting to take her breath away. But what a trooper Colleen is!
Colleen is 90% effaced and about 2cm dilated.
I think we are going to have a baby today!

Feb 13 4:00pm

Tim has migrated to the couch - and is resting! Colleen's Petocin level is higher and the contractions are about every 5 minutes, but she is also eating Saltines and conversing!

We are all just hanging out - having fun, joking and chatting! The lady in the next room is deliverying, hoping this isn't scaring Colleen any - she is pretty loud ~ Oh well, onward and forward!

Keep the good Karma coming -

The wait - Saturday 2:30pm

Josh, Blake and Jeff on the road (Fairbanks to Palmer) - Jenelle and I are at the Hospital - Colleen and Tim have the "DELUXE" suite in the Birthing center - Petocin was started at about 1pm. Colleen is having contractions pretty regulary but not too strong yet. Am so glad that we are here! Colleen is dong Great! As is Mr. Tim(supportive, attentive, watching the Olympics!)

Sat Feb 13th

A Valentine's day baby? Colleen and Tim are at the hospital, Colleen's water broke this morning, the doctor says they are staying at the hospital until baby Parker is out playing!

Happy Day Happy Day~ Dad headed off to class but may turn around and come home, Josh and Blake are driving down, and Jenelle and I are on a noon flight. Mitchell and Kili are following all the news anxiously!

Will keep you posted!

JB Plans?

So what will Josh and Blake be doing this time of excitement with new Baby Parker on his way? The Josh guy is super super busy with work - so he will see what happens when, but Colleen, Tim and Parker have plans to be in Fairbanks in March, so he will definitely see the little guy very soon! He will also be the backup for dogs, houses, keep the fires burning!

Blake will do whatever his mama thinks he should do - he may stay home with his papa, or he may come to Palmer with his mama and me - he is great entertainment, and always up for a plane ride (especially since he has a new backpack!) - so we will see!

My bag is partly packed - progress :-) The camera is in there anyway!

Friday - 8 days

OK - So I can't count when under pressure! If today is Friday, Feb 12th then there are only 8 days until Colleen's due date on Feb 20th! It just FEELS like 12? Am preparing for her to be late? The doctor says she does not want to let Colleen go past Feb 26 - so count it any number of ways - tee hee
Last night Colleen spent sleeping in the recliner - can only imagine that she is quite uncomfortable and that Baby Parker is taking up most of the room that would usually be occupied "stuff" like one's stomach etc! But she was off to work again today -

Monday is a Holiday (President's Day maybe?) So a good time for a 3 day weekend.

Blake had a sleepover with us, and we are off to the pool for an hour of swimming! It looks to be a beautiful sunny crisp winter day in Alaska, the days are getting longer and I love the higher sun angle on all the white snow!

What is all the fuss?

BAM wants to know what all this "fuss" is about! OK OK a cousin is pretty darn cool, but what can he DO? Does he like horsey's? Wake me later ~

The proud parents to be!

Colleen and Tim - at Vagabond Blues enjoying a "coffee" - thanks brother Mitchell for the Christmas gift card! Note the sugar cookie ~ we shared :-)

Have to have a picture!

Colleen is ready! Would we expect anything less :-)

O'B Popow Watch

Colleen is now 12 days from her due date, which is Feb 20th. Her bag is packed, Tim's is not. Jenelle and I plan to fly down to Palmer whenever we know that Colleen is downright serious about not carrying baby Parker to work anymore!
Jeff plans to drive down, and Mitchell and Kili are watching their schedules (school and work for Mitchell, work for Kili) to see if they can make it down to Palmer.

It all brings back memories of our children being stubborn and being LATE (12/14/16 days) Good thing we didn't have a fourth child or who knows how many days late they may have been :-)

The last weeks are hard, but Colleen is such a trooper - treking off to work - and hockey and keeping up the busy schedule!

We will keep you posted ! Check back often!