Our New Family

Wally came to me one day and told me that we need to put up new pictures of our family, because now we have Walker. He even wanted to find a way to put him in snapshots of our family that are on the bulletin board. So we did manage to set up the tripod and get a quick shot. Nothing to shout about, but at least we have documentation that Walker is in our lives.

Oh, and thanks Mandy for the touch up help!

Sweet As Can Be

That's my baby!

Walker went to the pediatrician on Monday, and we learned he has gained 6oz. in one week. He will be a butter ball before we know it! Those skinny little legs will chunk up soon. He is such a blessing.

Even though I have almost no recollection of what has happened from one day to the next since he came, (no sleep, overwhelmed with having four kids now, ear infections, eye infections, postpartum fun stuff, kids needing extra love, more diapers than I could ever have believed, broken water heater...AGAIN!, and laundry, laundry, LAUNDRY!) we are so happy! Thanks so much for all the well wishes and Congrats! We hope he can meet everyone soon.

Walker Graham

Blessed X 4 = Me!

Walker finally came into our lives on Sunday November 22nd at 11:19 P.M. He weighed in at 6 Lbs. and was 18.5 inches long. Our fourth child is so healthy, and amazing and sweet. We truly do feel like we have had a small miracle in our lives.

Both our older boys had to have two week hospital stays after birth, and Walker came out screaming with fully developed lungs. I also came WAY to close to having a C-section because poor little guy had the cord wrapped so tight around his neck.

It was very tense for a while there, but my wonderful doctor saved me from surgery with skill and patience. Walker's heart rate was dipping dangerously low from the cord around his neck. Many prayers, and a little hard pushing, and my body took over and did it's job to get Walker here safely on the first pushing contraction.

It was a long weekend of pain before he came. I actually went to the hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning, only to be sent home devastated and in agony from labor pains. We were very disappointed with the hospital staff at that point, but I look at it as a mercy now. I think if they had kept me then, it would have ended in C-section because I wouldn't have had my own doctor, or worse, Walker would have been in serious jeopardy. Thankfully later that night my water broke at home while Skyping with my sister. First time that has happened, and I was able to deliver five hours later. Everything could not have worked out better!

Walker and his first sad face.


He got pretty bruised and swollen on his little face from such an eventful entrance into the world.


Me and my baby.


He is so handsome!


Dad is blessed with another little boy.


My Mom and Dad. They have no idea how much having them here helped with this process! It was so nice not to worry about the other kids while dealing with all of this!


Dr. Brown. If anyone needs a good doctor out there, Dr. Brown at Centegra has been nothing but good to me for almost six years, and three babies! Oh, and breast lumps and miscarriages also.


Sweet Walker

All...Most...There!

Yuck. I hate this picture, but, hopefully my belly's status changes soon. Hopefully the little bit of swelling in my face changes quickly also.

Yes, I am still pregnant. I am a little surprised because

1. I have pretty much been a labor for over a week. I mean miserable, up at night, shaking with pain.
2. My body is READY...or so the doctor tells me. Things are a-changin' if you know what I mean.
3. I have been early with all my babies. I did carry Georgia until a week and a half before my due date. And that would put me having this one sometime this weekend if I stay true to form. Kinda hoping so because there is NO MORE room for ya little pal! How can you get thumped down low and kicked in the ribs at the same time?

So anyway, this evening while Georgia sat with me on the couch she got to rubbing my belly and whispering, "Baby, come out!"

Cute.

Then I told her, "Mommy is excited for baby to come out. But I am a little scared to."

She said, " Don't be scared, he just a nice baby."

So funny. Of course I would only be scared that the baby would come out and be mean to me.

I asked her who would help me get baby out? She said "ME! I help you!"

Then she told me that she would change his diapers "by myself" and went into the kitchen to make him a bottle. She pointed to the cabinet that we used to keep her bottles in and asked me to get one.

Wally told Del that he wished there were two of Dad, because then he could go to the hospital to help Mom, AND stay home and take care of the kids at the same time. He double checked with me that I would indeed be coming home after all of this was over, right?

Will told his teacher that I was at the hospital having the baby, and when I got him off the bus he asked me, "Why are you here? You supposed to be at the hos-tible!"

I am such a disappointment!

His teacher called later to leave a message for me and when I answered, she was surprised and said that Will told her I was having the baby already.

So according to my kids, we need to get this show on the road! Oh, and according to my aching back, extreme waddle, Wizard of Oz Scarecrow impersonation when I stand up, and contractions every night, I would say they are about right!

I'll keep ya posted!

Room Switch-A-Roo

With baby boy about to make his appearance in our lives, we have been doing a lot of moving things around in the kids bedrooms lately.

We don't have huge bedrooms in our house, and so as much as I hate them, we put the boys together in a room, in bunkbeds. The kids are in LOVE with them however, and Will has gone from not being able to fall asleep until he has played in his room for hours, to not being able to fall asleep without knowing Wally is nearby.

Georgia has made the switch to the "Big Girl" bed. She is doing really well with it. We set it up in her room for about a month before we took her out of her crib so that she could get used to it. I am looking for something to do with the walls in her room to transition them from what they were for her nursery. So if you have any tips...

And finally, we are ready for our third little guy. He will take over Will's old room, and hopefully, will be nice and cozy.

So here are the pictures. I have been re-finishing, painting, and cleaning second hand items up for the past few months. But I am always open to design tips. So any good ideas out there, let me know!


The big boy room. I am still looking for some tan pillows for the boys room. Preferably burlap or linen. If you see any out there fill me in! I kind of want to make the blue bed spreads more of an accent, rather than use them as the main bedding.





The $5 garage sale leather chair, and the only store bought dresser we own. It is a place for Wally to keep his treasures, as you can see. Some Bakugon guys, a pumpkin, and a book with maps of Moab that Grandpa gave him. It is special to him.


Georgia's room. One night I went into her room to re-tuck her into bed, and she pointed to the three pictures of her as a baby on the wall and said,
"See those babies?"
Me "Yes."
Georgie" They talkin' a me."
Me trying not to laugh, "Oh yeah? What are they saying?"
Georgia " Dow know, they not talkin' no more."

She is hilarious!


I need to figure out what to do with this corner. I wish I could find a great doll house that doesn't cost the same as a real house, and maybe switch the frames to this wall after I find something to fill the big one. Hmmm....


I found this dresser at a garage sale for $10 about five years ago. Will used it when he was a baby, and I just keep re-painting it to make it work. It is old as the hills.


The Nursery. I am debating bringing in my white rocking chair. I have used it for all my kids, but it could be more comfortable.
At least it would be somewhere to sit with the baby.


The old window pane above the crib is from the super-duper little old white house Del and I lived in back in our collage days. My dad helped us take it from a storage unit covered in trees, to our cute little abode that we paid $350 in rent for each month. This was one of the windows from the back porch of the house that we replaced and I kept all these years. Kind of sentimental to us. We were happy there. We are happy now too... we just have kids, and aren't nearly as poor. It would be hard to be! More to love! The blessing outfit is the same one Del wore as a baby. Wally was also blessed in it.


Another second-hand dresser, and the frames just waiting to hold pictures of Baby! Everything is a work it progress, it always is around here! Del just loves it that my mind is always on to the next thing! ------Just kidding.

Shoo Flu!!

Yes indeed, we have taken our turn on the long, drawn out, ride that is the FLU! Wally brought it home from his school, which has had a sweeping epidemic hit. So many kids were out that one first grade class had seven kids in it last week! We have all had a bought of it, with the exception of Del, who has been our nurse, maid, medicine man, and all around good guy. I am so glad I have him! The panic started to set in when I woke up not feeling well after taking care of the sick kids for a week. My doctor put me right on Tamiflu (miracle drug) and Del came right home from work and took care of us. We had just better be immune now!!

Halloween was interesting this year. Not a lot of festivities for us. The boys were not contagious by Halloween day, so they got to go out Trick-or-Treating for a little bit. I ordered a Dinosaur costume off the internet which was supposed to be for Wally to wear in the Storybook Parade for his book report at school. Instead Will took a real liking to it, and wore it around the house for a week. He even wore it to the grocery store with Del. Wally was a good sport for me and wore a Spiderman costume that is in the toy box year round, to spare me having to find the Costume box in storage. He wasn't very excited to wear it, but knew how much it would help me. The boys only went to a handful of houses with Del, but they were thrilled with the little bit of candy they got. What good boys they were with the disappointing holiday full of sickness.


Wally was also very helpful to "keep an eye on the kids for me," while I rested. He would yell at Will and Georgia at the top of his lungs not to wake Mom up, then come in and give me the full run down on all he was doing to prevent them disturbing me. He is so funny. He made this sign and taped it to my nightstand. I asked him about it and he said that it is a "No Yelling" sign. That is why there is a line through it. That means not to do something. There is a picture of a person yelling, and me in bed. Unfortunately, that about sums up the past couple of weeks around here.

Oh, and I am 36 weeks pregnant now! We are in the home stretch. That is another factor in me being in bed a lot these days. But we are hanging in there to the end!



Wally being Vampire Spiderman.


The Dinosaur and the Spiderman. Will told me the costume is not on right unless your ears are OUT.


Georgia on the other hand can't help but act like she feels when she is sick: MEAN! And I am not kidding. She was mad that this cute Dorothy costume was even within a ten foot radius of her. So we decided to try to get pictures of her NEXT to it. So sad, it was so cute, and the tags never even came off. I did feel bad that she was so miserable. And we got a funny picture montage of it! A couple of hours later however, Georgia did come to me and say, " Happy Ween!" Cutie.
Mad...


Really Mad...


Not having any more of it.

Happy Ween!

Shiner

A word to the wise, courtesy of Georgia: Don't try to stand up and balance on the back of the couch. Unless you are a tight-rope walker.

A Place of Their Own

That would be here... under the stairs in the basement. A few days ago I wondered where these two had gone off to. I heard muffled little screeches, and found them in total darkness, with the door closed under the stairs. They have now added a child's slide projector to the mix, to add a little light. This little, most often forgotten, space does have a light on the ceiling, with a switch and everything. But where is the fun in that? Keep in mind that this is where I am stashing all the stuff for the new baby's room for the moment, so Georgia takes the baby swing, while Will opts for the heap of Del's sweaters not yet put to Winter use next to the deconstructed crib. The space is already limited, but then add a set of sciptures, a toy stroller, and a couple of stuffed animals, a Costco size bag of gummy bears snuck from the storage room, and it is quit the crowd.

The philosophy with these two is "play all day, fight all night." They can't resist each other. They play, play, play/fight, fight, fight.

And I love it.

Want Some?

Well if you find yourself throwing a party in California, you can have some too! My dear, sweet, obviously talented friend Mandy has a company in the Fresno area called Sugar&Company that specializes in the most fashionable tables you have ever seen! If you are dying for her services elsewhere, she may even help from a distance, worth a try for incredible layouts like the ones in the pictures right?

Find out more and contact Mandy at www.sugarandcompany.blogspot.com!

My life has had a serious shortage of creativity since this girl moved across the country from me! I miss it, and her!

Treat yourself!!!

Bend It Like Beckham

We are officially soccer parents around here. It has been kind of nice, because Del has pretty much taken over the responsibility of running the boys around to games and practice since the first games. For those I was on my own because he was out of town, and the fields the boys were on were about a mile apart, I swear, and I had to leave Will to take Wally down to his field. He started crying while I was gone. Luckily some friends that are in our ward were there and kept an eye on Georiga while she covered herself in mud for me, and brought Will to me after the tears started. After all the hiking around from field to field with about two tons of wet grass stuck to me, I thought I was about to go into labor. We made it through however, dirty and worn out. I think my story evoked all kinds of pity from Del, and he hauls them around.


Will is not very into the "group" mentality of this sport. He kind of hangs back, when he will play at all.


Look at that form.


Wally scored his first goal in the game on Saturday. He was beyond excited. Del said he kept jumping up and down and laughing. Del said he threw a big celebration of his own on the side line because Wally was just so enthused by the goal! He pulled one over on that pesky goalie!


Wally's kick has quit the wind-up.

Notes From The 1st Grade

Wally has been going to 1st grade for a few weeks now, and true to Wally form, it has not been uneventful. Here is a sampling of the notes that have been sent home so far from dear Mrs. Neumann...


-Dear Jessica,

Today I had to tell Wally not to pick up so many rocks from the ground while he is at recess. He has his pockets so loaded down with them that he can barley keep his pants up in class. Could you encourage him at home to leave things he finds outside, on the ground?

Thanks,
Mrs. Neumann




-Dear Jessica,
Today when I asked Wally if he would be having hot or cold lunch, he brought me a lunch box and told me he was eating cold lunch. Then during lunch time, I was called to the cafeteria because Wally did not have anything to eat. We figured out he was supposed to eat hot lunch today, and he had picked up another student's lunch box and showed that to me. Could you please include a note in his folder in the morning to let me know what he will be having at lunch, as he is still a bit confused by the choices?

Thanks,
Mrs. Neumann


-Dear Jessica,
Today a Birthday treat was passed out for a little girl in our class. Wally picked up the Birthday Girl's treat off her desk and ate it. He felt really bad and apologized for what he had done without me prompting him to do so. I praised him for that. I know that he feels really bad, but I did want to let you know that I had to move his name out of the stars today.

Thanks,
Mrs. Neumann



-Dear Jessica,
This was so cute! Today I passed out the spelling word work sheet and told the children to use their best handwriting on their work. When I came back around to check on Wally, he had traced the outline of his hand on the worksheet.

Mrs. Neumann


I have no doubt that there will be plenty more where those came from. I anticipate opening his backpack every day, anxious at what I will find. When I gasped about him eating the Birthday treat of the Birthday girl, Wally told me very quickly,
"It was an accident mom. And I felt all weird! I felt like this..." (he then folded his arms across his chest and put one foot over the other one, screwed up his face funny and bowed his head.)
Then he said,"And my eyes were like this..." ( he made circles with his fingers around his eyes and started tearing up.)

I told him that is what is feels like to feel embarrassed and feel sorry for what you have done. We decided that he could make a card for the girl and send a special treat to school to give her to say sorry. I think he felt a lot better after he was able to do that. I just hope that all the talk about how we have to think before we do things so that we don't hurt other people, and embarrass ourselves sink in. I hate having to watch my children learn those lessons, but they are also so important as they grow.

I think we are in for an interesting 1st grade ride!

Happy Birthday Del!

What Would I Do Without Del?

Well, I would...

-Have to take out the garbage. Hate it.
-Worse, I would have to bring the garbage can back up from the curb after pick-up. I don't know why I hate it.
-I would not meet my quota on Buffalo Wild Wings Boneless Wings consumption for the year. Del is obsessed.
-I would not eat at Cafe Rio almost every day when we visit Utah. I like it but...I think Del is the only one that can handle that much intake of the stuff.
-I would have to set the alarm every night. He is handy like that.
-I would not wake up with someone else's arm lying across my forehead in the morning.
-I would not know so much about random old folks personal lives, and personal hygiene. Del is so patient and good at his job!
-I would not have anyone to join me in the "Search For the Best Banana Shake In North America."
-I might not know many of the amazing friends I have. Del is my social network consultant. So grateful
-I would not know how important a front pocket is in dress shirts for work.
-I could have spent my life oblivious to how much Del likes my yoga pants. (probably a little more before I was seven months pregnant.)
-I would not be familiar with just how COOl McGyver was in the 80's.
- I would not know how annoying some people think TOO many pillows on the bed are. For me, the more the merrier!
-I would not have known the person that could probably set the record for falling asleep when their head hits the pillow.
-Hence, I would not know what it was like to tell a long, rambling story in the dark, and then after a long pause, end with, "Del, are you asleep." The answer is usually silence.
-I would have to mow the lawn.
-I would not have had the steady comfort of Del next to me during life's up's and down's.
-I would not have three great kids, and one on the way.
-I would probably not have a red head. Thanks for the genes babe!
-I might not have the example of a worthy priesthood holder like Del for my boys.
-I would not have put myself up for risk like we have, or reaped the rewards.
-I would not have such a great example of "early to bed, early to rise." Del keeps good habits.
-I would not be as content, happy, taken care of, and mentally sound without Del. (We are working on the mentally sound thing as a team.)
-I would have missed out on the love of my lifetime!

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH DEL. Happy Birthday! Oh, and you are not old yet. You have one more year, no matter what Wally says!