To Those Who are Waiting

I have some really great friends. And some of these friends write with such beauty and eloquence that I could only dream of writing myself. They put my thoughts into words without even knowing it. One of these friends is Stefanie, and yesterday, she wrote to those who are waiting. I could start to explain feelings and what was shared, but I want you to read it if you have time.
http://carryingapearl.blogspot.com/2012/02/to-those-who-are-waiting.html

Have a happy Friday and a great weekend.

Growing

It started December 29th when I woke up and figured I would take yet another pregnancy test. It came out a little hazy, so I looked to see if I had one more test. While I was waiting on the result of test #2, I sat on our bed and did a short devotional. I felt an overwhelming peace from God and totally didn't go back into the bathroom with the expectation of a positive test. Well, I looked at it, and it was the kind where it just plainly said "pregnant", and I fell to the floor in tears. I cried out to God praising Him for giving us another life to care for and prayed for health and joy for this sweet baby, along with a longing for God to reveal His Will for us in how to parent our two children. Wes was already gone to a Bible study that morning, so I had all day to think about how I wanted to tell him. Yeah, lots of extremely creative ways came to me, but I didn't have the resources to make those happen. So, I took a couple of pictures, made them our home screen on our new iPad Wes had gotten us for Christmas, and when he got home, I told him I had been playing with our new toy and to take a look. 

This is what he saw...

He saw this one, too.

We had been ready for baby #2 but really just knew it was up to God when and if that would happen. I had to take several steps to get pregnant with Reese, and we were going to discuss some of those at the end of this month. Well, clearly, we don't have to now. I had some crazy weird symptoms during January that sent me to get lots of tests done. An EKG, an abdominal ultrasound, blood work to see if I had hyperthyroidism. All came back normal, and the symptoms ended up going away on their own. We were blessed to see a heart beat a few weeks ago, and then just this Tuesday we heard it. And oh, hearing that heart beat is pretty phenomenal. However, Wes was wrangling Reese out in the waiting room and beyond, so he didn't hear it. (Next appointment Reese will be playing with her cousins at their house.) Wes and I are beyond excited and grateful for this new life, and we pray daily for health and strength for all FOUR of us. 

If you were with me this time two years ago, you may recall how we announced our pregnancy with Reese. We went to Conway right before Valentine's Day and met both sets of parents at US Pizza. We gave them special Valentines that said "Be Mine" on the front and "this September!" on the back with a picture of the ultrasound. Well, the timing is VERY similar for B-Dub #2. He/she is due September 9th, and Reese was due September 17th. (Yeah, the first picture in this post shows 8/29, but that's wrong. I have an unusual system, and without going into details, baby is actually due a week and a half later.) Anyways, we went to Conway this past weekend for our 6th anniversary, and this time Reese gave her grandparents a very special Valentine. Here it is in pictures...

This is Valentine 2010.

 Valentine 2012.

Valentine 2012.

Our little family.

Mopsy, Popsy, Reese, and B-Dub #2. (I predict GIRL.) 

 Gran, O'Pa, Reese, and B-Dub #2.

I slowly got the word out to friends and the rest of our immediate families, and after telling my high school girls last night, I let Reese show everyone a Valentine she had for them.

She's already practicing her big sister skills, and clearly, she has more work to do.

But she's getting the hang of it. 

I definitely already have some aches and pains and a little bump that were not present at this time with Reese. Plus, my outie belly button is totally wanting to pop out EARLY. Yikes. However, praise the Lord that morning sickness has stayed away again, and the only real symptom I have is tiredness. I nap when Reese naps these days, so it's all good. 
We don't take this blessing lightly, and we want nothing more than to glorify God with how we raise our children. We want our children to never know a day apart from Jesus, and we are so thankful to have friends and family around us who are and will continue to help us in this desire. Thanks for celebrating with us in the growing of our family!

What. A. Day.

What a fun and BUSY day. I haven't had a day like this in a LONG time. I was away from Reese most of the day, and I drove from Bentonville to Lowell to Bella Vista to Rogers to Bella Vista to Bentonville to Rogers and back to Bentonville. That never happens during my stay-at-home days. We go places, but we don't put that many miles on the car each day. 

The day started with my Beth Moore Bible study at Fellowship. Reese played with friends and learned about god's love for her while I studied and listened to the life of David. I took Reese to one of my DEAREST friend's house for Reese to nap and play for the afternoon with Kari, Sarah, and Caroline. That deserves a post in itself. I got pictures while I was away of Reese playing and riding around in SJ's toy cars. Oh, and I watched a video once I picked her up of cheerios being dumped EVERYWHERE by my little sweetie. Sorry, Kari. Anyways, while Reese was there, I was off to RHS Color Day assembly to see two of my cell group girls on court. They were both STUNNING, and I am so proud of them. SO PROUD. I hustled over to my old school after that to help throw a baby shower for an old classmate and old co-worker. I loved getting to catch up with everyone and celebrating the upcoming arrival of Miss Audrey. Then it was back to pick up Reese, go by the house to let Emmett out of the crate (oops. He had been in there since 8:30), and then Reese and I headed to the basketball game. We stayed for almost an hour, and of course Reese started hamming it up when she saw her favorite girls (my cell group girls, her babysitters, and the cheerleaders who also happen to have really fun, sparkly poms), but it had been a long day, and it was time for home. And bed. 

Like I said, days like these don't happen, so I want to document them when they do. I loved the busy-ness, but it made me really appreciate and love the laid back time I have with Reese on a daily basis. 

Happy Tuesday night to everyone.

Sydney, Alex, Me, and Frankie. We love our girls. 

 Oh, Brenna. LOVE that girl.

Pretty baby shower. 

The mom-to-be brought her own board of her nursery in progress. LOVE it! 

 And back to RHS with this little one in tow.

She kept her eyes on the court. Go Mounties.

Ready to Par-Tay!

This afternoon is going to be one heck of a party. FOUR Walker birthdays have occurred in the last 21 days, and it's now time to celebrate. Cousin Ty turned ONE, Cousin Marion turned ONE, Cousin Molly turned EIGHT, and Aunt Jayme gained a year but doesn't look a day over 21. 

After Reese had her messy breakfast, I went to get her dressed for the day. O'Pa brought her this dress from one of his mission trips to Nicaragua, and I've been dying for her to have the chance to wear it. Today is the day, and of course we had a little photo shoot to document it. We are ready to Par-Tay! (After a nice, long afternoon nap)

Don't Forget

THINGS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET ABOUT MY 16 MONTH OLD:
1. Reese went 16 months without any teeth, and now she has gotten 8 within two weeks.
2. Forget the normal order of teething patterns...Reese is more interested in getting her top teeth than the bottom ones. Only the tips of the bottom two are poking through, but SIX have broken through on the top.
3. She LOVES books. All day she walks over to her book box, brings me one, asks to sit in my lap, and then we read. Repeat.
4. She has just started the leg grab. Holds on to my leg and pats it. I love it.
5. Morning nap is gone and in its place is now "rest" time. She gets all suited up like it's time for a nap, but I put a few books in her crib so she has something to do if she doesn't want to sleep. This morning, she has been horizontal for a good period of time, but then she sits up, reads, stares, talks, and then rolls around for a bit. It only lasts 30-45 minutes on a normal day, but it's great...and I hope to transition it to room time at some point.
6. Reese has decided she does not like her stroller or car seat right now, and I'm not sure why. Maybe she just wants to walk around or something, but strolls don't last long, and mega screams can be heard after about 5 minutes in the car.
7. She weighs 24 pounds 10 ounces.
8. Sweet Girl points to her ears or feet when I ask her where something on her body is. She will get it figured out soon. She knows animals and different objects and can point to them in books, but body parts are a bit more complicated.
9. Peek-A-Boo and Pat-A-Cake are her favorite games.
10. Oh, and she LOVES clapping for herself.
11. She totally likes church nursery and gym child care now. She walks right in and finds big kids to play with or toys to explore.
12. Reese has started helping pick up toys. It's definitely a long learning process, but we have begun it, and it's going well.

Needless to say, I'm more in love with my girl than ever. She's getting curls and personality to go right along with them. Oh, I just love her. I'm going to get her from "rest" time. Nope, I just looked at the monitor, and she fell asleep after being in there for 50 minutes. Hmmm...let her sleep or get her up so she will nap this afternoon? Let her sleep for just a little bit, right?

I Get It Now

So for many months I listened to friends talk about their kids and how they get when their teeth start to come on the scene. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I listened, and I was just fine that my daughter didn't have any of those crazy things. About two weeks ago, Reese's top two teeth began to show themselves, and they have made quite an entrance. Ever since then, she's been crying at night and pretty fussy during the day. Yeah, what I thought was going to happen is happening. My 16 month old is getting what seems like an entire mouthful of teeth at once. I guess she's making up for lost time. Well, really, I just see the bottom two and two more on top coming. Plus, Sweet Girl has a cold and what may be the beginning of an ear infection. I get the whole "teething" thing now, but what I just experienced made it all worth it.
Reese was totally thrown off today by going to see her pediatrician smack dab during the middle of normal naptime, so we adjusted. When we got home from getting my flu shot, I gave Reese some juice/water and read her a book. As soon as that cup came out of her mouth, I turned her towards me, and SHE FELL ASLEEP ON ME!!! I rocked and sat for a long time soaking it all in, and then I put her in bed for her to better sleep. That lasted 15 minutes...until JUST now. She's up and crying. I better go see if she wants to sleep on me again. Yeah right.

Better Moments

Remember my last post about my favorite moments of 2011? As I was reflecting on those, I thought to myself..."Kate, those really aren't your favorite moments. They are just the ones that stick out because you have pictures that documented them, and they were out of the ordinary. Oh, and Plus, those moments you listed really aren't moments...they are events." My real favorite moments are the ones that went undocumented and that were totally ordinary. Now, I loved every moment on my list, but the days that I LOVE love are the ones just like today. Here's how today went down...

8:00 Reese woke up, we all got out of bed, and we all ate breakfast while reading about Jesus' resurrection.
8:30 We all played together.
10:00 Reese took a nap. My "big news" from yesterday was that we are looking into putting our house on the market, so I did some decluttering and cleaning during naptime.
12:00 Lunch with the family
12:30 We went driving around looking at potential future homes followed by a quick stop downtown for a nutella and banana crepe.
1:45 Nap for Reese. Nap for Momma.
4:00 We talked with neighbors and went on a family walk around the neighborhood.
5:00 Family play time.
6:00 Reese ate dinner and then played a bit before taking a bath and going to sleep. Oh, and she got to face time with Popsy and Mopsy during bath time...definitely a highlight for her day.
7:00 Reese went to sleep, and Momma and Daddy ate dinner. Now we are just relaxing and enjoying a nice fire and football on TV.

These are better moments. In honor of these days, I'll post some definitely ordinary pictures...but I must admit these are my favorites.

 Reese and Mopsy loving on each other at Tusk & Trotter. Mom, Allen, and Lovemore came up to see the museum last week, and we loved hosting them. (We better get used to hosting lots of tourists now that Bentonville is one of twelve places in the world to see in 2012 by Travel & Leisure.)  Reese actually put her head in Mopsy's arms, but I didn't get that documented.

 Our morning routine. Reese drinks her milk while in my lap all cuddled up with the blanket. Best time of the day.

 Reese pacing the floor in the hours before the Cotton Bowl.

 My daughter and I celebrating Ty's 1st birthday and cheering on the Hogs.

 Playing with my "My Quiet Book" that I played with as a little one.

Post church play time. She learned to say "Doctor" after reading this book. 

Oh, and she totally is getting her top front two teeth. I even think one has broken through the gums. She doesn't like to do things in order I guess. These are her first teeth...at 15 1/2 months.