Gulf Shores 2012

This summer we took an AWESOME vacation with The Martins to Gulf Shores, AL.  The have a little girl who was a little over 4 months when we went.  Katie and I were pretty nervous about traveling 9 hours in a car with a toddler and a baby.  Much to our surprise the kids and parents did great.  The trip included lots of beach, drinks and relaxing.  We were also able to go to the zoo.  Katie did an awesome job on her blog with our every day activities so go check it out.  Here are some highlights from our trip.

Summer Time

I can't believe I am about to have less than a month till I go back to work.  This summer is going by so fast.  I still haven't completed everything that I wanted to around the house but I am working on it.  It has been so nice to be at home with my little man.  He is growing so much.  I feel like everyday he does something new.  He also is a very active little guy and wants all of my attention so I don't get much done when he is awake.  Here are some things that have been going on since the last post.

Jeff and I celebrated 3 years of marriage on June 13th.  It is crazy that it has been 3 years.  We celebrated the weekend before by going out to dinner and then to listen to Texas Country.  I love that Jeff and I can go out just us and have so much fun.  On our actual anniversary Nick and Em watched little man for us so we could go to dinner.  Walker absolutely loves Nick.  Walker has also grown to have a crazy obsession with Mickey Mouse.  All we do is talk about Mickey Mouse and watch Mickey Mouse.  A good friend gave us two big stuffed Mickey and Minnie and they go everywhere with us.  I thought that this obsession wouldn't last but I was way wrong.  I think we have our theme for our 2nd birthday  party.  For Father's Day this year I had a good friend, Buddie, take photos to give to Jeff.  She did an awesome job!  Here are a few:

The last two weeks in June Walker and I took mommy and me swim lessons.  Walker did great! He has absolutely no fear of the water.  He loved just putting his head in the water and going.  We struggled on kicking and moving our arms but if I let go of him he would swim under water.  However, at home in the bathtub he had no problem kicking =)  I can't wait to see how he does next summer.  My mom, brother and his girlfriend came down for a weekend.  We were able to go out and hang with them.

  I turned 28 on June 21! It is crazy that in two years I will be 30!!! I know that 30 is by no means old but 30!!! We were able to go out and celebrate my birthday with friends and I had way too much fun.  I am so thankful for family to watch Walker, so Jeff and I are able to have that time with our friends. 

 

For the 4th of July we celebrated with Jacob and Erin at a friend's house.  Walker had so much fun in the pool and just hanging out with everyone.  The fireworks didn't bother him at all.  He wanted to stay in the truck and hit all the buttons.  

So far our biggest thing this summer has been that Walker is no longer in a crib.  He decided one night to climb out and he wasn't going back in.  We tried the pack n play and he climbed out of that too.  It was quite an eventful first couple of nights.  Walker is now successfully sleeping on his crib mattress on the floor or a palette on the floor.  We decided to start with a toddler bed before moving to a big twin bed.  We ordered him a Mickey Mouse bed so hopefully he will sleep in it.  I still can't believe that my 21 month old is not sleeping in a crib!!!  I was planning on keeping him in the crib until he was at least 3 but he had other plans. 

 Our next big adventure is to Gulf Shores, AL.  We leave on July 21st!!!  We are going with good friends and their little girl.  I can't wait!!  The next post will be all about the vacation.  Wish us luck, a toddler and 4 month old in a 10 hour car ride!!!

Walker's new things:

not sleeping in a crib

the word No is now part of our vocabulary

saying all the fun words from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

helps feed the dogs

learning to say our friends' names

calls the dogs

likes to help me cook

Big Boy!

It is amazing how fast time goes by and how much my little man is growing.  I wanted to do a post about all of our new things.
This March we learned to go up the steps and down the slide all by ourselves.  I had a blast over spring break just hanging out with this little boy.

This April we were able to look for our own Easter eggs!!!  Walker had to open each egg and eat the candy before moving on to the next egg.  Our new words for this month was "WuWu" that is how Walker says Lucy our dog.  We also started saying "more" which means he wants a drink.

Easter 2012

This May we took Walker to his first concert, The Fresh Beat Band".  We were a little nervous about taking him just because his behavior in public has become questionable.  We never know if he is going to behave or be a disaster.  We got there and Walker saw the signs and was so excited and kept saying "beats" which is what he calls them.  About 5 minutes before the show starts Walker falls through the chair and spills the lady's drink behind us.  Walker was fine but Jeff had to go buy her another drink.  That should of been our first sign that it was going to be an interesting time.  Once the concert started Walker was super excited but wouldn't let Daddy hold him so that made for one tired Mommy.  They then had intermission, which we were shocked about for a kids show.  Walker became very restless and not happy.  We decided that we had seen enough and were leaving.  So for the most part it was a success but we won't be going to anymore concerts for awhile.  This month our new words were "outside", "shoes", "doggy", "puppy", "gross" (for the trash can).  He is learning so much.  It is amazing how much their little brains take in by watching you.  I feel like he is learning something new each week.  He also is really talking a lot.  This month we also found out that Walker is going to have a little girl for a cousin in November.  We couldn't be more excited for Jacob and Erin.  I can't wait for them to grow up together.  The poor girl doesn't stand a chance with our monster of a boy =)

Mother's Day 2012

  

Catch Up!

So it has been a long while since I last posted.  I am going to try and make more of an effort to post.  I started thinking that this would be a great way to keep a journal of my little man.  To catch up I am going to hit the high points of each month since we last posted.  Looking back it has almost been a year!
April 2011
This was a great month!  Walker had a wonderful Easter.  He also took his first dip in the pool.  He loved it!!  I can't wait for this summer.

Also, this month my best friend from college became my sister-in-law.  Jeff's brother Jacob married my best friend Erin.  Even though it has almost been a year, I still can't believe that they are married and I didn't do anything.  They got together completely on their own.  It was a beautiful wedding and was so happy to be a part of their special day.

May 2011
This was my first Mother's Day!  We went to Arlington for the weekend to go to the Ranger vs. Yankee game with my mom and brother.  It was a lot of fun.  When we got home on Sunday Walker started crawling!!!!!  It was the best mother's day gift ever.

June 2011
We always have a lot of celebrating this month.  Jeff and I celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary, Father's Day and MY birthday.  My mom came down and watched Walker so we could have a night away for our anniversary.  It was really nice to have dinner and drinks and sleep in.  Father's day we just relaxed and spent time with Jeff's family.  This year I turned 27. Last year I was pregnant and couldn't do much so I wanted to go out this year.  We had dinner and then went to a piano bar.  I had lots of fun!!!

July 2011
Colorado!!!!  We were so lucky and happy to celebrate with the Sabo's.  Brooke and Michael's wedding was beautiful.  Jeff's mom came with us so we were able to bring Walker.  He had his first airplane ride!!  He slept both ways.  I was such a happy Mommy.  We came back on the 4th and were exhausted so we didn't see any fireworks.  This year will be Walker's first time for fireworks.  I can't wait to see what he thinks.  Another celebration is that baby Drake was born.  I was so happy to be there!!! 

August 2011
Back to work I go!!!  It was so much hard leaving Walker.  I also moved down to first grade.  It was an adjustment.  I love it though.  The kids are great.  Walker also got his first hair cut.  He didn't like it at all.  

September 2011

Happy Birthday to Jeff and Walker and Walker is walking!!!! Jeff turned 27 on the 5th and Walker turned 1 on the 17th.  Jeff wanted to sleep and relax for his birthday so Walker and I ran errands all day.  We had a big birthday party for Walker.  It was a Candyland theme!!  He had so much fun!!  It was so AWESOME to have him walking around.  He also did great with his last bottle.  This month was also a hard month.  My Dad was in a very serious car accident driving back from Walker's birthday.  He rolled his truck and suffered serve head trauma.  He was in ICU and then moved to a rehabilitation center.  

October 2011
Such a fun month!!! In the first week I had 4 wonderful friends have babies!! 2 boys and 2 girls!  
It is so awesome to see my friends now being parents.  A beautiful thing.  Walker had to get adjusted to all the babies.  He really didn't like me holding them.  This Halloween was great!  Walker was a hamburger.  We took him around the neighbor hood.  By the third house he knew what to do.  He would knock on the door and then reach for candy and put it in his bag.  It is so amazing to watch him grow.

November 2011
This was the start of a hard ending 2011.  My Nana had been sick since July.  She had complications following a colonoscopy.  She was in ICU for a long time and then able to be moved to a nursing home.  We thought we were going to lose her around August but she pulled through.  It was so hard to watch my Granddad without her.  She was doing really well but then took a turn for the worse right before Thanksgiving.  We decided that if it got bad we were just going to leave it to God.  She went peacefully in her sleep.  It was very hard to lose her but so happy that she wasn't suffering anymore.  I am so thankful that she was able to meet Walker and I have pictures of them together.  She was an amazing women and I am so lucky that she was my Nana.

December 2011
Through out the time my mom was dealing with my Nana my Dad was still in a home.  We had a couple scares but he pulled through.  He had one towards the end of November and we decided that we were not going to let him suffer.  It was now in God's hands.  December 6 he started having complications from the accident and his diabetes.  His blood pressure was dropping.  I made the decision not to rush home because we had gone through this before.  My brother was able to be there with my mom.  Things didn't get better and he passed away early in the morning on December 7.  This was very ironic because December 7 was my Nana's birthday.  My Dad had a rough last couple of years.  He was having complications with  his diabetes and kidneys.  Sometimes it was hard for him to do anything because he just was in a lot of pain.  I am so lucky to have had him as my Dad.  I know that he loved me more than anything.  He didn't always make the right choices but I knew he loved me.  I am so grateful to of had him give me a way on my wedding day and for him to be a part of his first grandchild's life.  We had a military burial and a celebration of his life.  It was very fitting for my Dad.  I miss him very much everyday but I thank God that he is now at peace.  I think the hardest part was the last time I saw him he didn't know who I was.  I do know that I will see him again.  Christmas was hard but we kept on. We were able to celebrate with our friends.  It was so amazing to have everyone over with their babies. I hosted Christmas again for the family and it was great to have everyone with us.  Walker had a blast!!

January 2012
Happy New Year!!!!  We celebrated in Dallas with Jeff's friends from college.  Walker was able to spend time with DeeDee.  We know that 2012 is going to be a great year for us and we can't wait to see what it has in store.