Checking In

There has been a lot of buzz lately on the blogs about those not posting so I was feeling guilty and thought I had better check in. So here I am... This will probably be a rather boring post because there doesn't seem to be much to tell and I can't put any pictures up. I lost the charger for my camera so it is dead until I order a new one. This seems to happen to me a lot...I think there is a theif lurking around in my house.

Kiddie update...Bella is going to be 2 next month!!! I can't believe it. We are having a birthday party on March 8th and then going to Disneyland the next weekend, of course. She is so pumped because her best friend seems to be Mickey these days...just ask anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes with her. I made the mistake of telling her that we were going so everyday when she wakes up, she seems to think she will be going to Disneyland to ride the teacups. Word of warning to those with small children...never tell them about something this far in advance. I have learned my lesson! Other than that, she is doing really well. Talking non stop about everything. She informed me just yesterday that she wants to be famous and her favorite thing to say lately seems to be "That is so cute" and "Oh my gosh!" I am thinking she must hear that a lot. She is still completely obsessed with her sister and can't wait for her to be big enough to play with her...she also tells me this on a regular basis.

Speaking of Kendall, she is getting so big...and cute! She will be 2 months old on the 10th. I can't believe it has been 2 months already! She is starting to smile and coo which is always a lot of fun. Her personality is starting to develop and she is such a sweetie. She has become our little cuddler. On a not so happy note, she is having a lot of digestive problems as Grandmom mentioned. Since she was born she was having problems feeding and always seemed to be in pain when she was eating. She would throw up her entire bottle before it was digested. We talked to her doctor about it and he put her on a special (expensive!) formula called Alimentum and that seemed to be helping for a couple of days. Her doctor also scheduled an upper GI and that seemed to be normal. Since she was still having a lot of problems we also switched her bottle and added cereal to her bottle to weight down her feedings and that didn't work either. Last week, he put her on a medicine to treat possible reflux. That is also not working, she actually seems to be worse. We are sort of running out of options and the next step is to send her to a specialist so please be in prayer for her. The poor baby has been miserable all of her life...the whole 2 months! Now that she is smiling, it is very obvious that she really wants to be happy and enjoy life but she just can't because of this. Please pray that they can find out what is going and what treatment would be best so Kendall can be a happy baby!

I think that is it for us...once I get a new charger I will post a few new pictures!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! So far 2008 has been a good year! I don't really have much to report other than we are all doing well. Life is good! Kendall will be a month old tomorrow. I can't believe it has been a whole month already! Time goes so fast. Kyle is back at work so it is just me and the girls. So far, so good. We are having a good time. Bella has become my little helper. Sometimes this is a blessing and sometimes a curse. It's great when she wants to get diapers for me or help make a bottle but it is not so great when Bella thinks she can take care of Kendall on her own. She's the little mother! She just wants to hold her and kiss her pretty much all the time. I'm just glad she isn't jealous.

Kendall is getting bigger every day and is very alert. She is such a sweet little girl! Bella is officially in her terrible 2's...that name is just so appropriate. But seriously, she is still a good kid, I can't complain, I just have to keep reminding myself that every kid goes through it. Despite the sporadic tantrums, she amazes me every day. She is speaking in full sentences now and can count to 11 and has a personality that cracks me up. She is always doing something new. It's so strange when your daughter wakes up one day and she's not a baby anymore, she's a little girl! Well, before I start crying or something, here are some pictures.

Best Christmas present ever!

She's here!!!! If any of you have been reading Randy's blog then you already know that Kendall Noel Walker is here. In case you didn't hear, here are the stats. She was born on December 10th at 10:01 pm. She weighed in at 6 lbs., 14 oz. and was 20 inches long. She is so tiny!!!! She's just beautiful!!! Everyone is doing very well. Bella is enjoying her new little sister and seems to be adjusting to the change well. She loves to kiss and hug her and pretty much always wants to give Kendall her pacifier. Right now, we are enjoying having Kyle home for awhile since he is able to be on vacation until the new year. We are definitely looking forward to our first Christmas with our 2 little girls!

Thanksgiving weekend fun

I have been checking everyone's blogs and am glad to see that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We also had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. We spent Thanksgiving Day going from house to house as we do every year. We started off at Grandmom and Grandad's celebrating with the Walkers. We then headed to my grandma's to spend some time with my dad's family and then to my mom's house to end the day. It was a busy day but we enjoyed ourselves.

The rest of the weekend was spent spending time with family and decorating the house for Christmas. I included a picture of 2 of our trees...yes, that's right, 2 of our trees. We have 3 this year, one main tree and each of the girls has their own for their ornaments. I think having kids is just a really good reason to have more trees...I love Christmas. Call me crazy...

On Saturday, we had a girls afternoon and Kathie, Alison, my mom, Bella and I went to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes. Bella loved it! I was a little nervous about taking her and her having to sit through the whole thing but she did really, really well. She loved all the lights and the dancing and music. The only time she felt like she needed to talk was to tell us when Santa was on stage.

Last but not least a baby update and some pictures. I went for my 36 week appointment last Wednesday and I was already 3 cm dilated so we were on baby watch all weekend. I have been having pretty strong contractions since Sunday but no baby yet. We will be sure to tell everyone when she arrives! A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Another Disney trip

Well, we got back from Bella's 4th trip to Disneyland yesterday. We had a great time as usual. This time was especially fun because it was the first time that Bella was really crazy about all things Disney. She is in this phase right now where the greatest thing in the world is Mickey Mouse and all of his friends so she had a blast. She had a great time meeting all of the characters and riding all of the rides. We were able to do 2 character breakfasts and 1 character dinner. It was nice because she got to see all of the characters up close and personal. She also enjoyed lots of rides. The teacups and It's a Small World were her favorites. She is just 2 inches shy of being able to ride some of the more grown up rides so we will save those for next time.

Other than that, not a whole lot else going on. Two more months until Kendall's arrival! That's exciting. I think that's about it for now. Here are some pictures...

It's time...

So I figured it was time to post and comment a little. I have been reading everyone's blogs and I am glad to hear everyone is doing well. I am glad that Randy is starting to feel better and that Kathie will be home from Texas tomorrow...yea!

Let's see...what is going on in our little world in Queen Creek? Not a whole lot. We have been spending time with family and trying to get our house ready for the arrival of the next little one. We found out that we are having another girl so we will be adding to the growing brood of Walker family girls. We are pretty excited about that! Kendall Noel Walker is set to arrive on December 19th but I am hoping she will show up before that. I am already starting to go through that whole nesting thing and have way too many projects that I want to get done. I think Kyle is losing his mind with all the projects I keep starting for us. The nursury is nearning completion though so I am happy about that. Bella is officially in her big girl bed (that's what she calls it, it's just a little toddler bed). She loves it and the transition was very easy so we were grateful for that.

Other than that, not a whole lot of news. I will leave you with a few pictures of our little chatterbox.

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