Yes, we are alive

Ok, I'm gonna be honest. I cannot guarantee that I will post again for the next 6 months, I'm just bad about it what can I say. Since I haven't posted for about 5...this is probably not a surprise or a disappointment for anyone reading this. However, I would like to say that I have switched our account over to the new blogger or whatever you call it and so I can leave comments on the blogs that I have been reading. Yes, I have been reading...congrats on the baby girl Aaron and Kara. Love the new house Lindsay. Lauri and Caleb we can't wait to see you in Ouray (along with everyone else). Katie, I'm bummed you guys aren't going...we still haven't met! And Brenda, Emily is adorable. Anyway, a lot of things have changed for us since I last posted so I thought I should do a quick update.

Bella is getting so big. She is almost 15 months now and she is getting smarter every day. She is saying so many words, it seems like she says something new every day and is getting very good at imitating whatever we say. She is, of course, walking...well, I shouldn't say walking...more running than walking. I swear I never could have imagined she would be this much fun! We took her to Sea World with Nana and Pops and Aunt Ali this weekend and she had a blast! She loved the shows and the dolphins and especially the beach. She's really into animals and animal sounds lately so Sea World was good for her. The only thing was that she thought all the seals were dogs and kept barking at them and thought all the seagulls were ducks and kept quacking at them. At least she is getting the general idea...

I guess my last piece of real news that is pretty noteworthy is that we are expecting another baby! I am due December 19th. We are very excited and are looking forward to having a playmate for Bella. Well, I guess that's about it for now...see you in 6 months. Just kidding, I will try to post more regularly and if all else fails...we will see most of you in Ouray!

Life in the Sticks

I was trying to set a record for longest run without a post...how did I do? Well, Caleb left me a comment saying it was time to post, so here it is. It's been so long that I don't even know where I left off...oh yes, I remember...our unfinished house. Well, our unfinished house is now our finished house. We moved in about 2 months ago and we love it! It's finally decorated and all our own. We have room to move around and then some. The only drawback is living out in the middle of nowhere which results in endless commutes to pretty much everywhere, including the grocery store...I'm not even kidding! We can't complain though because...We have a house! We are thoroughly enjoying entertaining family and friends in our new domain.

In other news, Bella is growing like a weed. I'm a bad parent with no pictures to show because of my silly camera but Randy is a good Pops so you can check out some pictures over there. She's talking like crazy, her favorite phrase is shouting "Right there" while pointing to pretty much whatever is in her sight. It's lots of fun. Most of what she says is intelligible but we like to think she knows exactly what she's saying. Also, she's a giant...no, really, it's true. She's in the 110th percentile for her height and just keeps getting taller. I think it's the pickles we have been feeding her. It's hard to believe she is almost one. On St. Patty's Day Baby Bella will be one! We will be celebrating with her old pals...Nana, Pops, Grammy, Uncle Casey, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Ali and some friends. Can't wait, any excuse to go to Disneyland, right?

Oh yeah, Kyle and I are alive and kicking too in case anyone was interested. I will try to post some pictures later, let me work on it for a couple more months.

Weird Looking Old World Lizards and other things

It's been a month so I guess I have a lot to say. First off, it was really great to see Uncle Keith, Aunt Kim, Caleb and Lauri and of course everyone else that lives here. Bella had a great time seeing everyone too as she seems to get bored with just her mom and dad.

In other news, our house is almost finished...we think. We took Randy and Kathie to see it on Saturday and we have tile and paint on the outside and countertops...now if we could just get a closing date we would be all set. Regardless, we are very excited and can't wait to get out of the apartment.

It's official, Bella is terrified by pumpkins. She doesn't want to touch them or look at them so I guess pumpkin carving will be out for this year. Oh well, there's always next year. She may be afraid of pumpkins but she is definitely not afraid of Disney characters. We recently took her to Disneyland for her second time for our annual trip with my dad's family. She had a blast. Kyle and I were amazed at how much fun she had. It would seem that a 6 month old would't be all that aware of where she was but we have never seen her that happy or excited. It must be in her blood, it's just genetic for her to love Disney as much as her parents. She will definitely be an annual passholder for life!

I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day. We certainly did. We took a break from the heat again and spent the weekend at the cabin in Flagstaff. It was Bella's first time so we decided to make it a first time for a few things. Bella got to ride a 4 wheeler and a Ranger (not by herself of course) and was able to enjoy her first trip to the park. She got to spend the whole weekend outside so she was in heaven and we had a pretty good time too.

Also, Bella got her first Halloween costume tonight...we passed up Minnie Mouse and the princesses this year for a big fat duck...see the pics below...I promise they will make you giggle at least a little.

What's happenin'

Wow, it's been awhile since my last post! I guess quite a bit has been going on. Kyle and I spent last weekend at my dad's cabin with some friends. It was a nice getaway with cool weather, quad riding, laughing a lot and hot tubbing. We had a really nice time just hanging out with our friends and enjoying ourselves. Bella had a good time too, she spent the weekend with her Grammy (that's my mom). Of course, she got to do a little shopping and be completely spoiled. She loved every minute of it.

In other Bella news, she has recently started eating food and has taken on wrestling as a hobby. As Randy has mentioned before, she loves to eat pretty much whatever we give her but I have to say that since she has started the cereal and baby food, she has developed somewhat of a picky pallette. She no longer cares for her bottle as she now knows there is something better out there. She will only take it willingly when she is extremely tired and can't put up much of a fight. Her new favorite thing is her Eeyore. They have a love/hate relationship. She thoroughly enjoys growling at him and rolling around on the ground with him but when its bedtime, its all cuddles.

Ok, last but certainly not least....we got the news today...we got our house!!! Our loan app went through and it is officially ours which is a really good thing because we were already completely attached. It will be finished in late October to early November. So that's pretty exciting!


She does love to eat!

She likes to help with the blog...actually she just likes to pound on the keys.

Sleeping with her buddy...

There's no place like home...

I guess we have some super exciting news for this week and the next several weeks! We are oficially buying a house!! That's right, no more apartment living for us! We put money down on our very first house and will be moving in November. Here's the details...it's a new build spec home and all of the options that were picked are things Kyle and I love. The price was exactly what we were looking to pay and for a lot more home than we were thinking we would get. When all the construction is finished it will be a beatiful 2,000 sq ft home with 3 bedrooms and a game room and a huge pantry (my personal favorite!). Here are some pics of the early stage of construction and the model of what our home will look like minus all of the beautiful furniture.

Happy Hunting

Let's see, what's new? Not a whole lot here...I guess we're just trying to beat the heat because it is HOT!!! I have one piece of exciting news for the week, tomorrow Kyle and I will begin hunting for our first house!!! We have decided that we have more than outgrown our current living situation (our scorpion infested apartment). We are meeting with a realtor to find us a new house before we can even think about expanding our family any further. We both refuse to lug another infant carrier up stairs everyday. So tomorrow should be exciting, hopefully we will find the perfect little house for our family.

And now, I will leave you all with some pictures...

I will Always Love You

It turns out our daughter has taken a liking to Whitney Houston. What started this you may ask...Nana introduced it to her today when it came on TV and Bella began to sing along to "I Will Always Love You". Nana showed me this trick when I got home from work and we are all very excited that Bella is singing at such a young age, she's a true Walker already. Her latest trick is to pull her foot to her mouth and sing into it (I think she's actually trying to eat her foot but that doesn't make her sound nearly as advanced).

In other news, well I guess there is no other news. Kyle is working and I'm working and we are thoroughly enjoying our baby. Life is good.

Kyle has recently discovered that he has no hips and is therefore very jealous that he cannot hold Bella like Nana or Mommy. He is trying here but see below for the proper form.

Bella got her first ear hat and this pic was too funny to pass up.

Yo Ho Yo Ho...A Pirate's Life for Me

Before I say anything, all of you can breathe easier knowing that Kyle and I gave Randy his Bella fix as soon as we saw his post. Okay, I can move on...

Happy 5th of July everyone...since I missed the fourth I bring glad tidings on the 5th. It's never too late. We spent this holiday weekend in California. Kyle and I enjoyed seeing the Counting Crows on Friday night. Unfortunately, they played with the Goo Goo Dolls and they tried to steal the show...but other than that we had a really good time. The rest of the weekend was spent at the happiest place on earth, that's right folks, Disneyland. Bella has officially been introduced to all of the wonders of that magical place. For being only three months old I think she really enjoyed herself. We took her on a few rides and she got really excited and was very observant on them. I don't think she enjoyed the heat very much, but then again, none of us did. We did, however, enjoy the new additions to the Pirates of the Caribbean. The parts with Jack Sparrow look amazing and the special effects edition of Davy Jones is a nice touch. We had a very good time as we always do but it was nice to come back to the dry Arizona heat instead of the sticky California heat.

Oh yes and the highlight of today's entry....pictures! I ordered a cable off ebay so I can share pics...woo hoo!

Bella with Grammy and Grandpa Bob
Bella in her pirate's outfit after a long day at the Dis
Relaxing with her Aunt Grace
4 crazy kids at the happiest place on earth
One cool hipster on the fourth

All You Need is Love

So the Vegas trip is complete and we did make it through the whole night...sort of. At around 3 in the morning fatigue set in completely and Kyle and I could walk the strip no more. By that time it was too late to get a hotel so we got ourselves a cab and spent the rest of the wee hours of the morning attempting to sleep on the floor of the Las Vegas airport...which I must say could use a revamping.

However, the sleep deprivation was worth it because we got to see LOVE, the new Beatles Cirque du Soleil show. It was amazing!!! Kyle and I have both been to Cirque shows before and this by far tops them all. It was not the typical cirque show because there was Beatles music instead of the usual weird Cirque-y music which added humor and lightheartedness to the show. For the first 30 minutes of the show we had no idea what to watch because there was so much going on. Kyle decided his favorite part was the Mr. Kite part and I liked Lucy in the Sky. We both agreed that Strawberry Fields and the Eggman parts were great too. The whole show was amazing though! If any of you get a chance to go, do!

Just a little sidenote, the show ended just after midnight and the last song was "All You Need is Love" which started playing at exactly midnight which is officially when our anniversary began. It was exciting that the first song we walked down the aisle to as a married couple was also the first song we heard on the first minute of our anniversary. Kind of sappy...but kind of cool too.

That's the Vegas trip. Happy Father's Day to all the dads.

Happy Flag Day...I mean happy birthday!

Happy Birthday to Kyle! Today Kyle is the big 2-3! I think he had a pretty good birthday. We went out for his bday with Randy and Kathie on Saturday and last night we celebrated his birthday and my dad's birthday so that was fun too. He got lots of donuts and Tabasco at work today so I think that made him pretty happy. Thsis weekend we are going to Vegas to check out the new Cirque du Soleil show, Love. It's all Beatles music so we should enjoy it. We leave Saturday around 6 and fly back early Sunday morning so we can be home for our first anniversary and Kyle's first father's day. We plan on staying out all night so we can make the most of our extremely short trip. We will see how it goes...I don't think we have stayed out all night since we were 16. So I guess wish us luck...I'll let you know how it goes.

Family Ties

Let's see...its been so long since I last posted that I don't even know what all has happened since then. Well, we had our first Mother's Day. That was exciting. We spent time with my dad's family on Saturday and split Sunday with my mom and Kathie. Oh yeah and since I have such a wonderful mother-in-law I got a nice little Mother's Day shopping spree (this took place during Randy's trip to the Depot with Isabella...what a nice father-in-law).

Kyle finished up the semester only to start back up again. He is taking a summer school class right now so he can graduate in December. His class will only last a month and he gets to celebrate finishing it by going to a Counting Crows concert in California AND going to Disneyland for 3 days so don't feel too sorry for him.

Alison and James came to Phoenix for the holiday weekend so we were able to spend some time with them. We had a surprise birthday party for Kathie on Saturday. I think it was the first time I have actually been able to surprise someone...I always end up spoiling it. We had a good time and ate way too much. Then on Sunday we ate way too much again and topped all of that excitement off by watching the Suns lose. Now I realize that some of you may be Dallas fans but I just have to say that I am getting really tired of Dirk. He's always mad about something isn't he? However, if the Mavs do beat our Suns I will be pulling for Dallas in the end...don't ask me how that logic works.

Last but not least, the Bella update. She's growing like a weed, a very beautiful weed, but a weed nonetheless. She smiles and coos more everyday and Kyle and I couldn't be more thrilled with our precious baby girl. I have misplaced the cord for my camera so I can't add any pics until I find it but for now I know that Randy has posted some on Flickr so go ahead and take a look.

Back in the saddle again

My husband informed me that it was time for another post so here it is. It has been a pretty busy week in this Walker household. Kyle is getting ready for the end of the semester. He is preparing to close out his second to last semester of college and to say that he can't wait would be an understatement. He is pretty much up until 1 or 2 every night working on his final papers. I know he will be relieved when it is all over. As for Isabella, she is growing like a weed and developing more of her sweet little personality every day. She is smiling here and there and beginning to coo a bit, Kyle and I freak out every time she does one or the other...it never gets old I swear. She had the privalege of spending the entire day today with Nana Walker and she loved every minute of it...she told me this herself. As for me, I started my new job on Monday. I definitely think I'm going to love it and I know it's going to be rewarding so that's fantastic. But for now, I'm just trying to process all of the intricacies of a state funded job and trying to process what goes where and when. Right now I just can't wait to get out there and meet my kids. As of right now they have me assigned to 14 families and are hoping to have me up to 20 by next week...ahh!!! So...if I'm still standing by this time next week you may hear from me again and if I'm not, well it was nice knowing all of you.

I hate Kobe Bryant.............thats all

Not so Disney Magic

So I was convinced by my friends to go to Disneyland this weekend. Yes, I actually left Bella...She was in good hands with my mom though. We were very sad when we left her but we were very excited to go to Disneyland. Some might say it is our favorite place on earth. We renewed our annual passes and even upgraded to the passes with no blockout dates, this way we can go to Disneyland any day of the year. Well, it turns out that this was the busiest weekend Disney has ever seen. Both parks sold out!!!! On Saturday we spent 10 hours in the park and were only able to get on 4 rides because of long lines and every line that we managed to get in shut down as we were about to get on the ride. Anyway, Saturday was bad but Sunday redeemed itself. We had a good time and I guess there's always next time. We decided we are definitely going to take Isabella for the next trip, we need to make her a Disneyland fan as soon as possible.

On a high note though, when we brought the baby home yesterday she started to smile at us. I asked my mom if she had done that all weekend and she said that she hadn't. I am convinced that she was just saving her newest trick for her mom and dad. I would love to say that I have a nice pic of the smile to show you but I don't but I am going to make myself hook my camera up to the computer and figure it out this week. As for now, I will leave you with no pictures.

This is not Chile

Hey Walker (and not Walker) family. It's Lyndsay. I have decided that since my husband is the slacker of the Walker family I will take the reins on this blog so my father in law doesn't have to keep pretending to be his son. Kyle has had a little input too so his stamp of approval is on this, apparently it's just the typing he doesn't like...sounds about right. I pledge from here on out that I will try to post a blog at least every month and if I don't Randy can take over again. As for pictures, I can't make any promises yet...oh yes, we have plenty of them, I'm just not sure how to get them on here but I will start working on that. Besides, I think Pops has that more than covered. So...for those of you I have met, "Hello again" and for those of you I haven't met, "It's a pleasure to meet you".

New Job, New Post

Isabella is growing like a weed. No, I mean the good kind of weed. She is changing every day and is more special than I could ever have imagined.

Lyndsay has found a new job! She is so excited. She did not like the fireplace job before Bella, and going back was too sad to imagine. So, she posted her resume on monster.com, and has already accepted a new position. You can check out the company at ohanahoa.com. It uses her background in Psychology perfectly, and they can work around her schedule with Isabella. Some of her work can even be done from home.

Flickr's Newest Star

Dad posted some photos on Flickr. You can link to them on his blog.

I am taking Monday off from work to stay home with my family. I think the grandmothers will be trying to help out Tues-Fri as much as they can. Thanks, Grammy Phyl and Nana Kathie.

The Pics Say It All!

Blog info about my new daughter can be found over in Dad's blog. In fact, he wrote this for me.






Waiting...




First meal...


Have you ever seen prouder parents?

the pic says it all

Yes, it is most definately a girl. Now before you ask, Lyndsay already placed a veto on my name of Theophilus. Instead we're going to use the name Isabella. Also, everything seems to be healthy, so we are definately thanking God for that.

As for other news, my leg that was hit is just bruised and will require no medical attention. As for the right ankle, the specialist could not quite tell me what was wrong, but made sure to tell me it was very bad. Next stop-MRI! Woohoo!

-------------

Since finding out the sex of the baby is such exciting news, today's blog requires two albums of the day, you can all thank me later.

Albums of the Day: Various Artists - The I-10 Chronicles, Vol. 2: One More for the Road (2001)/Dj Shadow - The Private Press [Japan Bonus Tracks] (2002)