Baby Time

When we checked in at the hospital to have Holland the boys were so excited. We rang the buzzer and when the receptionist said, "yes",
I said, "checking in for Ally Walker",
Braden ran to the speaker and shouted, "we're having a Baby!".

These boys melt my heart everyday.

Later that afternoon once Holland was born the boys needed to be buzzed back onto the floor. This time Zachary rang the bell. When the receptionist answered, Zachary said in his most professional voice (completely unprompted), "we are here to see Ally, mother of Holland".

So proud of these boys.

First Day of School 2012

Today was Braden's 1st day of Pre-School ad Zachary's 1st day of Pre-Kindergarten. I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. I am mostly happy but also a little nostalgic. I am also glad we have another year with Zach before he starts Kindergarten and so happy Brady gets some more socialization with new friends, that he LOVES. I can't help but feel a little sad that time seems to fly by.

My goal this year is to live in the moment, make lists of what we want to do and experience as much as we can.

Love these boys so much.

Two is so much fun! (No sarcasm at all)

Braden likes to push the limits on a regular basis these days.  It took him one time out experience, where he stubbornly sat on his chair for 30 minutes refusing to apologize (for intentionally breaking a glass) before he finally said, he was sorry.  Once he said he was sorry, he was free to play and get back to life as normal: LIGHT BULB Moment.  Now on a regular basis he will intentionally push his limits, do something less than ideal (or blantantly WRONG), then quickly and sweetly say, "I'm sorry, Mommy" and that boy does not have one regret for what he did!  But I still think he is sweet and adorable.  He gets me almost every time.

Not my finest moment yesterday but after multiple issues, Braden began putting his shoe in his mouth (YUCK!).  He refused to stop.  I was driving and couldn't take it away but I could reach his beloved "Puppy".  (Here is where I blush with shame), I then told him if he didn't stop I would "throw puppy out the car window".  Then I proceeded to hold puppy out of the car and out of Braden's sight, then heard him start immediately sob in an all out panic.  He took the shoe and threw it into the front seat of the car in a plea to get back his dog.  I began to feel awful, and gave him back his puppy.  He was still sobbing but the panic subsided.  Through his heavy tears he told me "That's not funny, Mommy.  That's not funny at all, Mommy". 

Mr. Imagination

Everyday is a costume party at our house. These elaborate get ups range from super heroes to dinosaur doctors. Today's imagination filled adventure proves I'm not the only one excited for the Texans game this season.

Zachary started off yelling something from upstairs. I couldn't make out what he was saying til he came in my room and said, "Get your Fresh Hot Dogs here. Fresh Hot Dogs for sale at the football game".

"You have to write this down"

Because I hear the words "You have to write all of this down" at least 3 times a week (and I usually don't) and because I have a little bit of guilt about not keep up the ole blog (especially for poor little B who is not showcased nearly enough on this thing) and because I like having a venue to share our daily occurances I am setting a goal to bring back the blog.

Some entries will be witty and well thought out.  Others will be simple with a photo or a quote.

I am also helping a little Pinterest research will help me redecorate not only my house but the look of this thing.

So without further review here we go......

Yesterday, Zachary was telling me how many cards we need to make.

Zachary: "we don't need 18 Valentine's Day Cards for his class, we only need 17 because N (one of the boys in his class) isn't in my class anymore"
Mom "where did he go?"
Zachary "I think he went to another country"
Zachary: "Or maybe he is in a new class"
Zachary:  "Or maybe he was eaten by a bear."

Mom: (trying hard not to laugh) "Zachary!"

Zachary: "He probably wasn't eaten by a bear, he is probably just in another class"
Braden: "Zach-y be funny"

Both boys crack me up everyday.
#neverstoplaughing

Zachary's All Star Review

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Dancing with the Stars.....

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Waterbaby

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Happy New Year!

2011 is here.  While I thoroughly enjoyed 2010, I love the notion of a new year, a new start, looking at potential, setting goals, and evaluating past failures and celebrating the success.  It is all very refreshing for me.  And while sometimes I think my goals are unrealistic (i.e. how a new shelf or decision will change my whole life, like this is the one thing I have been missing), I do like to think any goal can be a catalyst for change, large or small.  Now I must figure out the path, plan the steps, prepare for obstacles and set forth.  Each year I strive to be a better person than I was the year before.  And although I may stumble at times (and yell at my husband for not putting his things away), I will get up and keep moving forward.

So 2011, you are going to be even better than 2010.  We are going to laugh more, love more, enjoy what we have more, be thankful for the people in our lives, smile often, sing loudly (when no one is listening), and help others. Every year forward is made to be as good or better than the last.  This is my goal (along with a few of the other less than altruistic ones).  Happy New Year!

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!