Taking cues from Ferris Bueller

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."  Ferris Bueller

This line has been rattling around in my head for a few days weeks months (?!?!).  Some how the following has happened:

• Braden is 8 months old
• We have lived in California for 5 years
• Doug and I are married almost 5 years
• Zachary is no longer a "baby" boy, barely a "little" boy, almost just boy.
• My hair is brown
• 2010 is almost gone (but thankfully we are entering some of the best months!)

I am not sure how most of this happened.  I still feel like I "just" had a baby ( I also feel like I should have a good excuse for carrying the baby weight).  Yet my baby is crawling, laughing, clapping, growing, getting teeth and being overall the best darn baby he can possibly be.  And he is 8 (EIGHT!!!) months old.  Just to prove how great he is, here are some pictures.

 He currently has 2 teeth and is working on possibly 4 more.  Yet he is pretty pleasant about the whole thing. 

And Zachary is keeping busy too.  He is attending pre-school 3 days a week, swim class 2 days a week and pretending he is Dino Dan, Pablo, a Blue Power Ranger or Spiderman every other minute of the day.  The imagination of a 3.5 year old is so much fun to witness.  We are often fending off dinosaurs (Spinosaurus', T-Rex, Tricerotops, Pteradactyl, Pterosaurs, Brachiasaurus' and a few others that he knows and I can't even remember right now), making "rad moves"on our surf boards, snowboarding the himalayas, riding horses on the range, "going to jail", or hiding from ghosts and monsters.  There is a lot of laughter in this house, as Zach likes to say, "We are funny!". 

Since we can't slow things down maybe we can at least take some time to appreciate how great everything is for this Walker Family and take some time to add it to this blog so we remember it all. 

Time flies when you are having fun and we are definately having a lot of fun.
Life is good.
 

Happy Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year.  It was just us Walker's this year.  We went to a festival at our favorite babysitter's church, then went door to door in the neighborhood and spent the remainder of the evening passing out candy. 

Some highlights were Zach playing games at the festival and passing out candy later on.  "Hey Kids, we have candy", "Come over here guys", "Hey, guys, come over here, we have candy"

This was how Zachary called the trick or treaters to our door as he ran up and down the sidewalk.

Here is a video of Zach "Boom-Tackling" on the jolly jump.

Silly Hat Parade

Zachary's pre-school held a "Silly Hat Parade" instead of Halloween Costume parade.  We went to the school, helped him design a hat, then cheered during the parade.  It is always fun to see Zach in his school environment.  I secretly wish it was a Halloween Costume parade but this was still fun to do with him.

Zachary's Big Debut

Here is Zachary's big debut!
Despite his practicing for weeks, he didn't sing a single word of the song.
But he looked cute and we are still very proud!

Bueller? Bueller?

Umm...hello...anyone out there?  I have lots of great things to share about Zach and Brady but I have not had the energy at the end of the day to share it all on the blog.  I keep thinking I only want to do the blog if I can do it perfectly, but that is not realistic for this time in my life.  So my perfect is now going to be measured on the perfectly acceptable scale.

So the answer to the eternal question are two kids more to handle than just one......YES, YES and YES.  I crash hard after they go to bed, (ahhh bedtime!).....for two or three minutes that I get back up and start doing housework.  I don't think I was fully prepared for the amount of work is involved when you have three other people in your life who you are taking care of.  And the Laundry: WHAT!  and then you have to put it all away!  That, my friend, is the worst part of laundry.  Sometimes it all just feels like Groundhogs day.  Do all the work, then wake up the next day and start it all over again the next day.  BUT I wouldn't have it any other way.  Just maybe add a few more closets....and a maid.  And Wha-Lah! 

But two is even more rewarding than I could have ever imagined.  These two boys make me laugh and smile everyday.  Even when I am not with them, I think about them, then laugh and smile.  They are wonderful.  I love so many things in my life, but I think one of the things that tops the list is being the mother of two little boys.

Giggllin' Fool

There are so many fun things I should be adding to this blog (and I hope I do), but for now, here is a short video of Braden (a Super Squeeler) laughing. Note: This is probably the 25th take, sorry we weren't able to get his even bigger belly laughs.

The little man has a lot to say.

Brady has been chatting/singing up a storm. This was only a minute of a thirty minute performance.

He is such a happy little guy. And has a great big brother who has been super helpful lately. Zach even shares momo and his Thomas blanket with Braden.

Life sure is sweet with these two around.

(Video was taken on my i-phone, for some reason it stretched goofy on one true media).

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A trip to the Farm

We recently discovered Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark, CA ( a mere 10 miles from our home).  I have heard about this place but just in general context, not once had the description done this place justice.  We met our good friends, Kim and Nicky, then started the exploring.

First the boys went on a cow ride (pulled by a tractor) around the farm.  This wasn't any small ride, the boys must have been riding for 10 minutes, traveling at least 2 miles.  Both Kim and I looked at each other at one point and asked, "Is it ok that our kids just left without us and are barely visible across the fields?".  Well, apparently, yes it is ok.  Because when Zach came back the first thing he asked was, "Again?".

We walked around to the different features on the grounds then finally headed out to the fields.  This was the coolest part of the day.  We were able to pick all of our produce.  We got Lettuce, Kale, Broccoli, herbs, celery (so hard to pull out of the ground), strawberries, beets, the list goes on and on.  And the best part

was these 10 bags of produce cost a mere $40. (split between us both).  And was DELICIOUS!  Even my veggie phobic husband said, "This is so good, if we lived on a farm I could be a vegetarian", I almost fainted.

We can't wait to go back again.  Blueberry picking season started last weekend!

Here are a few pictures of the little man.

I can hardly believe Braden is almost 11 weeks old.  These last few months (holy moly, MONTHS!), have flown by.  The end of February was a little tortorous, unsure if I would go into labor before our scheduled March 3 date, asking if each little issue was it?  what would we do with Zachary?  Thankfully Mary joined us and time moved a little quicker.  Then my mom came to town and in the blink of an eye we were in the hospital welcoming Braden to our lives.  Then we were home and the weeks started moving along.  I turned 30, Easter came (along with Zach's first Easter Egg Hunt), a few more busy weekends with visitors welcoming Braden to the family and now it is already the middle of may!

Braden has decided he now enjoys sleeping through the night (YAY!).  He is also ahead of schedule comfortabley wearing 3-6 month size clothing.  He and Zachary are obviously related as I think the big brother may be skipping 3T.  At the last appointment Braden weighed in at 12.9 pounds.  I am convinced he is almost 14 pounds now.

He has also been smiling for a few weeks, but I haven't been able to get it on camera yet.  This is a good reminder for me to do this tonight!

On to the show.........................

First week home

One week old

First trip to Waypoint

First bath

Zach's First trip to the Dentist

It is amazing to me how sometimes Zach can be so timid about things and other times her just jumps right up to be first in line.  I have been talking to our dentist for a while about when Zach should come in for a visit, and his suggestion was between 2 and 3 years old.  I was dreading it a little bit but he was excited to get in the chair.  He had his teeth counted, reviewed with a mirror and even cleaned! 

And Best of all, No CAVATIES!!!

Belated Easter Post!

Easter was wonderful this year.  Aunt Kelly came out to visit, we cooked a delicious dinner of chicken and steak kabobs on our brand new grill (hooray) and sat on our brand new patio furniture while it was cooking (YAY!), went to a mass (where someone from the moon was also in attendance), had Zachary's first Easter egg hunt (which he loved), and got to celebrate our family and faith. 

Some other highlight of the day:

Zach wore a faux-hawk.  I thought he looked pretty adorable.  When I asked Zach if he liked his hair, it reached up to touch it and said "I need a brush".  I will work on his sense of style. 

His hair looked much cuter than this picture showed!

Braden also wore an adorable Easter outfit!  Thank you Aunt Erin.

And of course, our adorable Easter Bunny!

The Vacuum

Zachary is not a fan of the Vacuum. In his own words, "that scares me". And as my husband likes to point out, I am a vacuum-a-holic! Well at least he thinks so, i personally think vacuuming once or twice a day when you have little ones is perfectly normal.

Today, I warned Zach I was going to vacuum. He helped me pick everything off the floor, then he immediately took his place on the couch and stayed away from my cleaning machine. When the room was complete he looked at me and said, "whew, that was a close one".

Too funny. This may top his last vacuum comment of warning his Mimi who was in the kitchen while I pulled out the vacuum a few months ago. As I turned the vacuum on Zach shouted, pleaded and warned his Mimi to "WATCH OUT Mimi, the vacuum is coming".

I think It is a facade that boys start early to protest cleaning.

Happy Birthday Braden!

BRADEN CAVANAUGH WALKER

March 3, 2010

12:38 pm

8 pounds 14 ounces

21.5 inches long

Today we were blessed with the arrival of our second son, Braden.

We are already madly in love with this little man.

Progression of a Baby Bump

Pregnancy can sometimes feel like it lasts forever, other times it flys right on by.  I have to say for the most part this pregnancy went by at record pace, with the exception being weeks 36, 37 and 38: Go Figure!

This pregnancy had it's ups and downs.  Thankfully most of my "bad" moments only lasted a few hours at a time and the good moments will of course last a lifetime.  Uncomfortable sleeping is par for the course and I highly recommend a body pillow for any pregnant woman you know.

Below is a photo journal of my growing baby bump.  We found out we were pregnant at the end of June and set to deliver on March 3, 2010 (due date March 6, 2010). 

September 2009

14 weeks

Everything still fits, it's just all getting a little tighter

Middle of October

20 weeks

Bump is starting to pop!

Halloween 2009

22 weeks

Thanksgiving 2009

26 weeks

Middle of January

32 weeks

Early February

36 weeks

Don't be fooled by the workout gear.

March 2, 2010

39 weeks 4 days

The night before.....

Olympic Viewing 2010

Zach is very much enjoying the Olympics this year.  He is a big fan of hockey, luge and bobsledding.  He also (like his father) is mesmerized by Curling.  Whenever it is on (and it seems like it is ALWAYS on), Zach lays in front of the TV and watches til the end.

Here is a video of Zach watching he bobsledding last night.

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Swimming January 2010

After months of talking about it we finally got Zachary signed up for swimming lessons.  It was a four week series during the month of January.  Since the thought of me wearing a bathing suit while 8 months pregnant during the month of January seemed less than appealing Doug graciously volunteered to take the water duty.

Zach loved being in the water.  He isn't necessarily a fan of jumping in the water (or jumping in general yet, very cautious litle guy), he was a champion at going under water, blowing bubbles, kicking and splashing.  Hopefully by the end of the summer we can get him using his arms more and getting excited about jumping into the pool.

Here is a video montage of Zachary's swim classes:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com