The Walkers

The Walkers

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Big News at the Walker Home!


We're trading our SILENT NIGHTS 
for a BUNDLE OF JOY!!

We are THRILLED to announce that Walker Baby #3 is due to arrive June 22nd of 2015!!!

We are SO excited for this new addition to join our family!  It's been a long time coming so this news was so exciting for us.  I actually took the test the day before my 30th birthday, which was the best gift EVER!!


I took about three different brands of tests just to be sure.....we had been trying for over a year and had even met with a doctor to start discussing fertility options when we got the news.  Naturally it took a lot of convincing for me to believe it!  The first test I took resulted in a faint line so to be sure I decided to use the digital one since the answer is more black and white...we were so thrilled with the result!  I took the purple one a couple of days later just to be 100% sure and the line was definitely pronounced!






We had been trying for so long and been disappointed so many times that when I decided to take the test that morning I did NOT expect to see a line.  I took the test and sat there watching it for a second and suddenly the line started to show up....I almost didn't believe it and kind of second guessed myself as I sat there and watched it.  I didn't want to get my hopes up but after the 2 minutes there was definitely a line (although faint).  Keith was asleep at the time so I woke him up and showed it to him.  He agreed that it looked like there was a line but I decided to take the digital one just to double-check.  After I took the digital one we finally started to believe it!



Gotta love our faces....we're pretending to be freaked out but really we are just over the moon!







Morning sickness kicked in at 6 weeks on the dot.  It's as unpleasant as ever! :P  But a good sign nonetheless.  I feel sick off and on pretty much all day.  But I do feel the worst in the morning and especially when I am hungry so I have to try and eat snacks in between meals so that I don't get that icky pit in my stomach. But nothing sounds good so its hard to eat. I got a Rx for Zofran from my doctor which really helped with the nausea. I was actually kind of relieved when I started feeling sick.  I am just so much more nervous and paranoid this time around, I think because it took so long to get here. I also feel winded/light-headed quite a bit, which I remember feeling with both kids.  I get out of breath just going up stairs or walking around the grocery store.  I've also been way more tired with this one than my other two, I think because I have two other busy kids to take care of and I'm working part-time so life is just busier.  It's not too bad though because the kids are old enough now to do quite a bit for themselves so they let me rest on the couch a lot.

So early on I started having some mild cramps/stretching pains that had me a little bit worried.  I remembered feeling them with my other two but not until later on.  I noticed I was getting more pain on my right side which really made me start to worry that it could be an ectopic pregnancy or something.  I had set my first appointment with the doctor for when I was 8 weeks along but I decided to call and see if I could get in sooner.  They saw me for an ultrasound when I was about 6 weeks just to check things out. Turned out that everything was fine and baby was just implanted on the right side so that was why I felt more cramping on that side. We got to see the little nugget and we even got to hear the heartbeat! At 6 weeks! It was amazing. Here's his/her first picture:



(That tiny thing at the bottom of the black circle is the baby! Babycenter says that at 6 weeks your baby is about the size of a lentil bean!)

   It seems like a lot of things have been different with this one, I wonder if that's going to be the case the whole time!!

We were dying to tell the kids but we knew that once we did they would have a hard time keeping it a secret.  I was also worried that if something happened like a miscarriage or something that it would be really hard/sad to tell them that they weren't actually getting a baby brother or sister.  So we waited until I was about 8 weeks before we told them, which was still a little early but we wanted them to understand why mommy was sick all the time and to have them help out a little more.  I got them each a big sister/big brother book to open.  Malea has been saying for a long time how much she wanted a sibling so we were so excited to tell them.  Cute little side story:  I was working on some little onesies for the baby (see below) but just told the kids they were "gifts for friends"....well Isaac got to talking about when he's a "big brudder" how he will protect his little sister and if anyone tries to hurt her he will say "Hey! Stay away from my little sister!"  It was so cute!  He is going to be a great big brother :) (And I hope he does get a little sister ;))





I wrapped up the books and we had the kids open them, they were so excited and had no idea what was going on.  It was actually kind of funny because before they opened the books Isaac said he thought it was a coloring book.  So when they opened the books and we explained that mommy was going to have a baby, Isaac started pouting.  We go, "what's wrong buddy?" and he goes "I'm mad."  We were like "Why?" and he goes "I wanted a coloring book."  LOL!  We got it on video so if I can figure out how to upload it I will.  It was pretty funny.  We told him we would get him a coloring book and then he started getting more excited.  I don't think he quite gets it yet but Malea was way excited and wouldn't stop talking about the baby for the rest of the night.  She said she wanted to sit by the baby at dinner and that night she said "goodnight baby" to my stomach and then said goodnight to me separately.  It was so sweet :)




Showing the kids a picture of the baby in the ultrasound....we explained to them how the baby is really tiny right now but he or she will grow bigger and bigger.


The kids reading their new books :)



Cravings so far: Mexican food, especially avocados/guacamole, cold cereal, Fruit Punch Powerade, pebble/crushed ice (I have had that craving with all 3 pregnancies so far!)....If I take a big swig of something I end up feeling sick so crunching on ice has been good to help keep me hydrated but doesn't make me feel nauseous.

After we found out I was dying to do something crafty to get ready for the baby.  I know that's kind of silly since we still don't know what we're having but I don't care because I'm just excited!  I decided to make some cute onesies....I made a couple of girl ones and a couple of boy ones and I figured whichever one we don't have I can give away as gifts :)


With matching bows.....I secretly hope it's a girl next!  But of course we will love it either way :)




Can't wait for this little one to arrive!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year!  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays so I like to go all out.  We have quite a few Halloween traditions we like to do.  Here's a compilation of pictures to show our month's worth of activities:

The kids in their Halloween jammies :)
(These are actually the same ones as last year, Malea's still fit pretty well but Isaac's were getting snug.  I did buy him new ones this year but I don't know if I got a picture)



Painting pumpkins!




I was really impressed by Malea's!  She painted a spider, a bat, a frankenstein, a ghost, etc.










Isaac's pumpkin :)




Decorating cookies!  Yum!










The kids in their Halloween outfits.  I like to get them each a new shirt/outfit to wear throughout the month to school.  Funny story....I took about 20 pictures of Isaac and got maybe one or two where he was actually smiling and not pulling a face.  He reminds me so much of Keith! (Little stinker!).  I did a little collage below of some of my favorites.










My mom likes to do a Halloween party each year for the grand kids.  This year we had lunch (yummy sloppy joes and spooky snacks/appetizers) and then they took all the kids to Jaker's pumpkin patch.  It was really fun!

The kids costumes this year: Elsa from Frozen and Batman!




Some of the yummy treats!  My mom is so creative!




I dressed like a rocker chick for the party!  Complete with fake tattoos and pink hair!  It was awesome!



Walker family photo....Keith was dressed as one of the guys from Duck Dynasty, lol!



Grandma & Grandpa with all the grandkids....they dressed as Morticia & Gomez Addams from the Addams Family!  They looked great!




We decorated cupcakes for the neighbors




The kids also brought home lots of fun Halloween crafts from school that we hung up on our front door



Isaac at his pre-k Halloween party....they take the kids on a hayride every year, so cute!




Isaac didn't get to dress up at his other pre-k but they did make spooky hats and had a "Mrs. Spider Tea Party"


The night before Halloween we took the kids to see Grandpa Dave & Grandma Judy so they could see the kids' costumes




Halloween morning.....donuts for breakfast!
(We couldn't change her in to her costume until lunch time, lame-o)




I went at lunch time to help her get in her costume and to spray her hair white/glittery.  Then we watched her school Halloween parade :)



Malea's class getting ready to have their class Halloween party!



Little side note, on Halloween Malea found out she won the Happy Dragon Award at school....teachers nominate students each month who exhibit qualities of the school theme and they get their picture taken for the school facebook page.  She was nominated for being "fired up to learn" and for "being kind".  I'm so proud of my girl! 



After school we carved pumpkins!






Keith's was the top left, mine was the top right, Malea's was the bottom left and Isaac's was the bottom right



We also have a tradition of having hamburger soup in pumpkin bread bowls for dinner....so yummy!





Trick-or-treating fun!  
Isaac made it around the block once and then got tired so I took him home and we handed out candy.  Malea made it around the other side of the block with her friend Sarah :)









HAPPY HALLOWEEN!