Robert Walker - 8 months old

My little baby boy is now 8 months old.  I haven't done any birth announcements, didn't send out Christmas cards, and I haven't even finished my thank you notes for my baby shower (which happened when he was already a few months old, so they aren't as overdue as the birth announcements).  But I want to start getting back to all the things I put on the back burner in the past year.  So, this seems as good a place as any.  These are pictures that my friend Kristen Moss took of Robert a few weeks ago.

 Robert has his two front bottom teeth, and is teething his two front top teeth.  As a result, he likes to go around sucking his lip like this.

 He also likes to chew on socks.  It is not uncommon for him to crawl around with a sock in his mouth!

 He is a baldy, but he does have a little bit of red hair at the very back.

He likes to chew on his finger - or any finger that is placed in his mouth!

He has the cutest little feet and hands.

He has blue eyes, just like the rest of our kids.

He can crawl forwards and backwards now, but is still meticulous and slow when he moves his hands and legs.

He loves to play peek-a-boo.

He is a happy kid, and brings smiles to our faces every day.  My sister, Kim, says I act like this is my first baby all over again.  I think she is right.  There is a 6 1/2 year gap between Robert and Benjamin, and I wasn't sure I would be able to have any more babies.  When I got pregnant with Robert, the whole family was excited, and each month of pregnancy the kids were excited to see how much the baby had grown and what it could do.  They are just as excited with each milestone he reaches now.  Nobody is jealous.  Nobody treats him poorly.  He just brings happiness to each of us on a daily basis.  He is such a blessing to out lives, and we are grateful for him everyday!

Since it was Robert's 1st Easter, I had Kristen take some shots with Easter eggs too.

He wouldn't smile for us, but he was intently studying everything.  I realized that it was the first time he had been outside in the grass.  It was a little wet and muddy, but he didn't seem to mind.  The pictures turned out great, and I am glad Kristen was able to capture this part of his babyhood for us to remember.

I can't believe that it has almost been a year since I have written on this blog.  Time to repent I guess!  My computer was having a hard time with pictures and the internet (it was 10 years old), so it was getting tortuous (is that a word?) to do any blogging.  But, I just got a new computer, and loading pictures and surfing the net is a breeze now!  So, it is time to get back to our family record.

I don't know if I will get caught up on everything that happened in the last year, we will have to see what happens, but I will mention that we added another child to our family last summer.  Surprise!  I know a lot of people thought we were done.  We had Robert Jack Walker in July 2012.  I haven't sent baby announcements yet, but I will.  :)  We are very thankful to have him!

Welcome Spring! - Our First Snow Day

We celebrated the second day of spring with a big snowfall - the biggest one we have had all winter. The official measurement was 7 1/2" at the airport. I never measured our yard, but I think we got at least 4" if not more. Alan is usually our official measurer, but he was on a business trip to Louisiana and missed all the fun. The kids were out of school for two days, and there was still snow left to have a snowball fight with Dad when he got home two days later.
It rained all day, but it didn't really melt the snow that much at first. I didn't take pictures until around noon, but there was still a lot of snow - especially for March 22.

Benjamin was pretty excited. He had just been complaining a day or two before that he never even got to make a snowman this year, or play in the snow or anything. Then he was in heaven for two days.

Leilani immediately started building a snow fort. She spent a lot of time building the walls block by block.

The daffodills, blossoms and other spring flowers seem to have survived the snowfall, but it was funny to see them covered up.

We lost a couple of branches off our trees, but our damage wasn't bad compared to other parts of town. Chris and Tricia were without power for a few days, but ours didn't even go out. It was a shame after the snow melted, though, to see all the branches with beautiful blossoms on them through out the area that were lost to the storm.
Emily spent her time trying to build a snow fort that was bigger than Leilani's fort.

The kids had plenty of snow to build with, but they got pretty wet in the rain, so they gave up after a while and came in to dry off and drink hot chocolate.
The second day was sunny and dry (although not warm), so they finished their snow forts and had a snowball fight. Leilani's got knocked over a few times, so it was not a big as Emily's fort.
Emily's fort was pretty solid, and lasted a few days. Benjamin started out as her partner, but cousin Isabella ended up finishing the job with her while Benjamin built a snowman.
He was pretty proud of his snowman, and he can't wait until next year to build another one!
Elisabeth built a mini snowman, but then she decided to join Leilani's side for the snowball fight.
The kids had a good time, and it was a fun way to spend a few days before spring break. They ended up going to school Friday, and then starting spring break officially on Monday.

Hidden Mickeys

If you aren't already convinced that we are a Disney family, check out this stain the kids found on the living room carpet. Does it remind you of a certain mouse? :) Alan and I were laughing when they showed it to us.

We also noticed that the plug and the power pack on my lap top resemble Mickey Mouse.


My kids are now hunting through the house with my camera to see what else they can find. They are legitimately doing school work, since this was an assignment from their Disney homeschool that they had to turn in today (Yes, my kids are enrolled in an online school called the Magical Mouse Schoolhouse...I told you we were a Disney family! This month's focus was how the Disney Imagineers work hidden Mickeys into the architecture and decor of the rides, restaurants and other areas of the theme parks. In the past they have studied science (fog and dew point on the Rivers of America area for instance), history (the Sailing Ship Columbia for instance) and literature using Disney themes too.), but it is still funny to see them go around and find these things in my house.
Does anyone see the hidden mickey they came up with in my drying dishes? Look around your house. Who knows what you may find!

Three Little Ballerinas

I had all three of my girls in ballet for the first half of this year. They were not in the same class - at least most of the time - but they were in the same recital. Emilyanne started ballet a couple of years ago, and Elisabeth had been wanting to try ballet. Leilani needed some help with her grace and dance moves in her gymnastics, so we put them all into dance. It was probably a one time thing, because Leilani and Elisabeth were both promoted at gymnastics this summer, and the time and money involved is preventing them from doing dance any more. But it was fun while it lasted. I was able to get some portraits done while they were all dancing, and I love them!

Thistledown Pumpkin Patch 2011

We went to Thistledown Farm for our annual family pumpkin patch visit. The kids are getting bigger, but they are still willing to sit on the pumpkins for our traditional picture.
We were supposed to meet Grandma and Grandpa Bevans to ride the wagon out to the pumpkin patch, but they were a bit late, so the kids played in the hay maze while we waited.
This pose of Leilani's just looked funny to me with her feet up like that.
The kids had a good time playing while we waited. They liked being "eaten" by the monster as the went down the slide.
We rode on an open wagon this year instead of the covered wagon we have ridden in years past.
Grandma and Grandpa made it in time to ride with us...
They brought Jeff's kids with them too. The boys had a good time together. Although, I have decided that if you get a group of boys together, you are just asking for all sorts of things that girls wouldn't do. For instance, what girl has ever wanted to go to the bathroom in a field of pumpkins?! I guess boys want to mark their territory? :)

The kids picked bigger pumpkins this year.
Benjamin couldn't even carry his own pumpkin, and Leilani was having a hard time too!
While the pumpkins were being weighed and paid for, I took the kids to the corn maze. They did it pretty fast this year, runnning through it in under 10 minutes I would guess.


We had a good time as always. It was nice weather this year too! It is getting harder and harder to fit this trip into our schedule each year, but we are always glad we do it!