The Walker Clan

It has been awhile . . .

2016-09-25T22:21:00.004-07:00

Apparently there are a few people out there who read our blog to keep up with the current happenings of our growing abode. I was pretty certain this was mostly a journal for me and a place for the grandparents to read about the boys. Much to my surprise my husband said people were asking about why I hadn't written in awhile. The bottom line is, I hate posting pictures. To be honest I have about 20 saved posts that never made it on here because it takes too long to get the images up. Well, this go around I have decided that posting pictures is not going to serve as a prerequisite for getting my thoughts and our family memories on here. So here goes it. . . a new vision. . . fewer pictures. . . more words. I guess it really is for my boys to read when they are older and raising their own little munchkins anyway :)

So we are now a family of five: 4, 2 and brand new. Each of them is 27 months apart. Needless to say life is filled with joyous chaos. One minute my boys have me laughing on the floor the next minute I am taking deep breaths while counting in order to avoid a colossal meltdown. I am sure you can all relate right . . . if not just humor me and say yes.
Our four year old:
Oh my Owen, he is growing up so quickly. It seems like overnight he went from being my toddler to a little boy. He is starting to read, counting to 100, dabbling in addition and subtraction (with lots of help from us). . . in so many ways he is ready for kindergarten. . . to bad I am not. I don't know if I am ready to be apart from him for 6-7 hours a day. Right now there is no one else who has more time with him. No one knows him more intimately than I do. I am his mamma and he needs me, right. School feels like the beginning of that all changing. Pretty soon, friends, teachers, girls (yikes!) will all have increasing influence over him. It is the start of seeing our parenting in action . . . how it impacts his actions, thoughts, and choices. No pressure right! Anyway, I digress. . . he is one sweet, affectionate, rowdy, physical little boy. He still loves to cuddle up on my lap and give me monster bear hugs. The other day he told me he never wants to grow up so that he is always small enough for me to hold him. MELT MY HEART! He always knows how to get me. And then in the very next moment he hauls off and tackles his brother to the ground. I can't even count how many times a day I say use your words not your hands! When he does use his words, he is asking so many thoughtful questions now about life, marriage, growing up, working, friends. . . it is amazing watching him discover the grander world around him. I never anticipated my four year old inquiring about who he would marry, what kind of job he would have, and where they would live. It makes me chuckle when he get so interested in his "grown-up" life. However most of the time, he still loves his legos, puzzles, superheroes, and minions. He is always one step away from a make-believe world, and I love seeing how he creates story lines and ropes his younger brother into his adventures. He is the kind of kid that can turn anything into a toy - the couch is a firetruck, space ship, tent. . . a pillow is a shield, hot lava, firepit. . . the list goes on. This boy also loves his people. He is constently talking about his friends Avery and "the other" Owen, he treats Norah like a sister, and his grandmas are pretty much the most important people in his world. He constantly talks about San Diego, Aunt Bekah, and the beach. But his absolute favorite place on Earth is Packwood. He could live there all year, playing outdoors, swimming in the pool, and eating smores for dinner. What kid wouldn't love that right! It is amazing to me that in just a few months he turns five! In 13 more years he will be off to college. At least he wants his dad and I to move with him when he goes. . . at least he told us that the other day, we will see if it sticks. :)

Becket Boy. . . where do I start with you. . . you are ALL boy. I am constantly on your heals saying careful, gentle, no . . dangerous . . Beckett. I am pretty sure all the gray hairs on my head occurred after you starting walking. Oh, but, adrenaline is good for us right! I don't really need to go on any amusement park rides, I have you in my life to make my heart pound daily. Even when we are alert at all times, you still find ways to get into trouble. . . like the day you climbed on the table and pushed the lights around above the kitchen table, and then an hour later I found you in the co-sleeper with your four week old brother. I am still not sure how you climbed OVER him and squeezed your chubby little self in the remaining space on the other side. I grab you off the bookshelves at least a dozen times a day, and we are constantly reminding you to walk rather than jump off the stairs. Every piece of furniture is tested first as a trampoline and then as a launching pad. Needless to say we need new couches. You love sports . . . you want to play basketball with the big boys, you can swing a bat and hit a ball, and you love kicking around soccer balls. We have to remind you often that balls are for throwing toys are not. Grandpa learned that the hard way yesterday when you threw a hard toy and it hit him square in the nose. You aren't much for cuddling, but your mamma always find ways to get snuggles. I love how you take your chubby little hands, smash my cheeks together, and pummel my face with kisses. You don't really do anything softly. When you give someone a hug, you wrap your legs and arms around them and squeeze tight. You love fiercely and deeply. You are a guys, guy. Your grandpa's, uncles, and daddy are all pretty special people in your life. You often replicate what they do, fixing things with your tools, driving your truck, marching behind them whenever they are doing something around the house. It is pretty adorable. Your favorite little lady is still Addie May. You two have a pretty adorable relationship blooming. Although the minute that girl learned to stand on two feet she became fair game for rough housing and you pushed her down. Fortunately she is tough and she now dishes it back pretty well. Wrestling is your favorite past time and I often find you and Owen rolling around like tumble weeds. It typically ends in tears for someone, but you guys always come back for more. Although you were late to talk you are picking up words with great speed now. You get so excited about life and you often have one volume when playing, loud. You are often in character as spiderman, batman, or fireman sam. You have the best sound effects when you shoot webs and you run around the house fighting bad guys and saving people from monsters and danger. When you play fireman sam you love to yell "stay back", "go", "rescue" You squat down low and throw your hand out, then you start spraying things with make believe water. You always make sure I am safe and standing back a good distance from the danger zone. You have really joined in on all the make-believe fun your brother creates.
Since I am low on time and know I will be posting more about Grayson and his birth soon. That post is going to come next. Until then, here is a picture of life with our two older ones and of course a newborn is in the mix as well.

He is 1 years old!!!

2016-09-25T22:19:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that Beckett is ONE!!! Typing that is forcing me to allow it to sink in a little more. Every day he reminds me that he is quickly moving from his babyhood to toddlerhood with the continual disappearance of his adorable rolls and the increased pace of his mobility. Although my baby is growing up, and that idea makes me a little sad, I am still sooo in love with all this stage brings. His personality is really starting to shine through, and he is trying all sorts of new things with the confidence of all fearless toddlers. I am sure I will try to hold these moments as long as I can, but I will also revel in the new experiences I get to have with him every day. So here it is Beckett, the list of things that have captured our hearts and minds over the past month.

Beckett's growth has started to take a turn. Although he is still tall 31 and 3/4 inches (95%), his weight gain as slowed a little. He weighed in at 25 lbs this month as well. Now don't be too deceived, he is still my little chunker. He may be losing some of his rolls (which I LOVED), but this kid is still solid. Next to another one year old, you can tell he has some serious girth. Anyway, his weight leaves him handsomely in the 95th percentile as well.
Beckett thinks he can run with the big boys. Now that he has discovered the luxery of being on two feet he never crawls. If anything he is trying to learn how to pick up speed. Of course the fact that his 3 year old brother is racing around like a madman only encourages the need for faster feet. The two of them will "race" around our staircase several times a day. Owen typically laps Beckett several times on each trip. But, Beckett puts forth his best effort every time arms pumping with a huge grin and the occasional giggle. I can't deny that I have joined in on the action myself a few times!
Now that he is on two feet all day, he has discovered that climbing is a fun sport. Oh, how I had forgotten the heart attacks that come from this discovery. I am constantly finding Beckett on top of things he shouldn't be. . . standing on top of his ride toy holding onto NOTHING, standing on top of the little tikes table about to walk off the edge . . . Don't think this takes him more than a few seconds. Usually he goes for this during the time it takes me to walk out of one room pick up a dish and return. Fortunately, we haven't had any major falls yet, but I am considering going for foam flooring rather than the hardwoods we currently have.
Since this kid has some height, he can now reach the counters. Oh and he has seen his brother scoot random pieces of furniture and toys over to help himself to whatever it is he wants. (we are working on that). In the meantime, I am constantly trying to keep my eye on Beckett. No glass, plate, fork, food item is safe. If it is missing, check the chubby hands or cheeks in the kitchen before looking anywhere else.
This kid loves men, especially his grandpas and his daddy. When he wants them, they better respond or he gets the biggest, cutest sad face I have ever seen, and then he wails, LOUDLY until they come running over to get him. It is pretty stinking cute to see these grown burly men melt and respond to the cries of this one year old. He has them wrapped around his fingers :)
Outside of his grandpa's Beckett loves his brother. It is so cute to see how is face lights up when Owen comes into the room. He is often found playing near him and following him around the house. He thinks the coolest place to play is in Owen's room. And of course, he wants to play with all of Owen's cars. He is even starting to push them around and make car noises like his big brother. He has been taught well! :)
Beckett finally has a few words!!!! He says "mama", "ball", and "bye-bye". He technically add the last two just after he turned 12 months, but hey whats a few days really matter. Just like we were with Owen, it was sooo fun to hear him speak, and now we try to get him to talk ALL THE TIME! I think he has figured us out and is a little more particular about when he wants to "perform" now, but he still lights up every time we cheer and get all excited for his new attempts. Both our boys have some pretty big cheerleaders in their corners. Luke and I are known for making complete spectacles of ourselves to get reactions out of them. Hopefully, they realized people in the real world may not always be this crazy.
Our Beckett boy is a bit stubborn. When he wants something, the whole room knows it. He has even started to show us his disapproval by throwing himself on the ground and crying loudly while he is sprawled out on the floor. I think he has taken mimicking to a whole new level (thanks, Owen). It is really hard not to laugh when he does this, especially since this occurs most often when we take away the most ridiculous items, a scrap of a paper, a crumb that really should be in the garbage instead of his mouth. You would think we had taken away his most prized possession. Ahh children, how they never cease to entertain.
Beckett is fearless. I think this one scares me the most. Owen has always had a bit of a cautious side to him. Oh, not so Beckett. If he sees it, he thinks he can do it. For instance, he tries walking down the stairs without holding on, he will try to dive head first into water, off the couch, or down the stairs if that is fast than turning himself around and going backwards. He tries to leap out of our arms when he sees something on the ground he must have. Last week he tried to climb back down the climbing wall on the playset, why, oh beause Owen did. He goes down the big slide more often than his brother and laughs the entire way. I am hopeful we don't ever have an ER visit with this kid, but I am really start to doubt my luck.
Potty training Owen has made for interesting life with Beckett as well. This kid has a crazy fascination with the toilet. Stop reading now if you get easily grossed out. I cannot tell you how many times I have sprinted to get those chubby hands out of toilet water!!!! Sick!!! He is so fast, and Owen always leaves the lid up. I swear he is stealthy about it. Sneaks in their like a mouse and then I hear these little splashes and off I go running. Any ideas out there!!!! I have thought of a toilet lock, but Owen needs to be able to use it when he needs it. I keep trying to tell Owen to first close the lid, and always shut the door behind him. However, we are also simply working on making sure he has pulled up is underware and washed his hands. At least since I spend so much time running after the messes these boys make or running to try to prevent them, I have mostly lost the baby weight without actually hitting the gym. I guess this grossness does have some pluses. . . I guess :/

11 Months

2016-09-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

Part of me can't believe I am writing this post already. In just one month, my baby is going to be one years old!!! I am in some pretty serious denial. He tries to show me everyday how much is growing up, but I just pretend it isn't happening and that he is still my chubby not so small baby boy. I guess when he is shoving cake in his mouth in just a few short weeks my little façade will come to an end and I will have to admit that is growing up. On the other hand Beckett thinks he is 11 months going on 2. He has really turned a corner in this past month and has started to really show us he is moving quickly towards being a toddler. Oh my!

Beckett is still growing like a machine. He is now 25 lbs, just five less than his 3 year old brother, and he is solidly into 18 month clothes and could probably wear 24 months when needed. Luke jokeingly put him in Owen's 3T pjs the other day, and he was actually able to wear them! Seriously Beckett, I think you were only small for 2 seconds after birth.
This kid has become a serious kind of mobile. His walking has started to take off this past month and now he is into everything. It didn't take long before he started to realize that crawling was a thing of the past and he started to get up on his feet more. Now he into everything just a brand new height.
He loves to watch his brother and play near him. As a result, Beckett loves to play with cars, balls, the kitchen set (really any cabinet), and books. If Owen is on the move, Beckett is often waddling not to far behind. I also love the way Owen is starting to interact more with Beckett in a playful manner. He can really get him laughing and they occasionally like to play chase. One of their favorite things to do is have a sword fight (closely monitored of course). They each grab a foam sword and wave it at each other. Beckett will even be the one to instigate this play from time to time. Owen often calls Beckett his baby. It is so cute every time.
Just before Beckett turned 11 months he waved hi and my mom even thought he tried to say it. We haven't really been able to get him to do it again, but I am hopeful words are right around the corner. He says mama ALL the time. I am not sure if that is because he is a total mammas boy, I mean seriously so, or that it is just a pretty easy sound for him to make. I am just going to say he loves his mamma :). Other than that we still haven't gotten him to say anything beyond making tons of sounds. However, his mimicking has started to increase and he does seem pretty fascinated by what we are saying to him especially when Owen is talking.
This kiddo is determined. When he wants to do something or go somewhere, he will do whatever he can to accomplish his goal. So much so, that he has already started to throw mini tanturms when he doesn't get his way, oh my!. I guess he had a good example from his brother, but still he is only 11 months! When we pick him up and he is upset he quickly straightens out his body in hopes that he will slide out of our hands. Really Beckett, I am not going to drop you that easily.
This boy could be outside all day long. Whenever we head to the door or basement (where he also loves to play), he starts waving his little arms and legs like crazy. He also starts saying oh oh oh oh, and showing us all his super excited face. It is pretty cute and hard to not want to oblige whenever it is possible.
This boy has really started to climb. We have found him in all kinds of interesting spots lately. Needless to say we need to be pretty aware of him at all times. He showed us his skills when he proudly climbed on top of Owen's little tikes table, and it wasn't long after that that he climbed up the kids slide downstairs and stood on top like he was king of the mountain. Now he just needs to learn how to get down from this precarious heights preferably without injury.

10 Months

2016-09-25T22:18:00.004-07:00

It has been a big month for our Beckett boy. It has been exciting to see him discover the world around him and we are quickly discovering his determination. He has had several accomplishments along the way that of course will be noted here in the blog.

Surpisingly Beckett weighed in at 24 lbs again this month. Although he didn't gain any weight I am pretty certain he has grown in length. I just didn't get a chance to measure. However, his 12 month cloeths are starting to get short now.
The teething has continued with three new teeth breaking through this past month. It was a crazy finish to the month since all three teeth came through in one week. I can tell you now, I did not get much sleep that week!
Beckett took his first steps this month! I knew he was close because he has been able to stand for greater lenghts of time and slowly squat down to the floor. He has also increased his crusing speed and was starting to think about letting go to make longer distance transfers. He took his first step between the otoman and couch. My dad was there to see it, and of course I wasn't :) Oh this kid! However, I got to see him take his first 4-5 steps in a row. I was getting him to stand up and then he just walked into my arms. Needless to say, I got pretty excited.
In addition to walking, Beckett can now climb up and down stairs. Just like Owen we did a lot of praciticing and Grandma and Grandpa Walker's house on their long flights of stairs. After one weekend he acted like an old pro. It is crazy how fast he can get up and down those stairs now. We now have gates at both ends of the stairs!
Beckett has finally started making more sounds. He has said dadada, mamama, and bababa. We had been watching him kind of closely since he seemed to be on the late end for this milestone. After talking with the Dr., we think his delayed speech may be a result of his persistant ear infections. If we can't knock out the latest infection soon we are off to the ENT to discuss options and talk about his hearing.
Beckett likes to be right in the middle of the action and thinks he should get to do whatever his brother is doing. This had made life a little challenging now that he can quickly get wherever he wants to go. It has also made for some interesting moments since we are trying to potty train Owen. Oh my, I can't tell you how many times I have stopped that little boy just before his chubby little fingers found their way into the toliet bowl! I just hope this means he will be easy to potty train since he is obviously fascinated with the bathroom.

9 Month

2016-09-25T22:18:00.002-07:00

It is hard to imagine that in just three months our little guy is going to be a one year old! I don't even know how it happened. It feels like I blinked and he grew up. During this past month he has really lost his "baby" feel and he is becoming more independent. He is also learning how to express his opinnion and is not shy whatsoever about letting us know what he wants. It has certainly been fun and interesting at times watching his little personality emerge. Here are the latest milestones for our littlest man:

Beckett weighed in at 24 lbs and was 30 1/4 inches tall. Both in the 98th percentile! Needless to say he is big! He can still wear a few 12 month items, but he really fits into 18 month clothes better.
Before Beckett could even crawl, he pulled himself up to stand and started cruising around on the furniture. I think he has been watching his big brother running around on two legs for so long that he up and decided it was time for him to join in on the fun! I thought since he wasn't crawling, that he would probably be later to walk as well. Boy, was I wrong. This little guy is rather bold when it comes to walking and within a few days he was transfering between furiture, the wall, and anything else that was sturdy enough to hold onto. He has even taken a few spins around the basement behind a push toy. I can tell he has thought about taking steps on his own, but his balance just isn't there yet. Thank goodness!!! I am not ready for him to be THAT mobile yet.
Along with the aquired skill of cruising, Beckett is getting more comfortable with standing. Several times I have caught him just standing while he holds onto a toy and chews away at it. I think the longest I have seen him stand unassisted is about 20 seconds, but the frequency with which he is trying it out has really increased.
This month has really been about mobility for Beckett. At the beginning of the month, Beckett's scooting turned into a true army crawl. He became pretty quick at it and I didn't know if he would ever decide that crawling on all fours was really worth it especially since he could pull up to stand from a seated position. However, shortly after he started pulling up on things, he realized crawling was a pretty good vantage point for reaching his goal of being on two feet. It did take a little encouragement from us, but in the past couple weeks he has been choosing to up on all fours rather than army style on his belly. He still isn't super fast at crawling, but in a way that is nice for me since it gives me a few extra moments to get to him before he is into something he shouldn't be.
Apart from mobility, Beckett finally cut another tooth. The upper right tooth came through not too long ago. I felt like he had been teething forever. His teeth are certainly coming in at a much slower pace than Owen's, and it seems like they cause him more pain. Maybe that is just because it has been such a stretched our process.
This little guys LOVES to play, especially with all the big boy toys. His two favorite spots in the play room are the kitchen center and train table. We fianlly just cleared all the small objects from both, since Beckett seems to play at them more than Owen does. It is so cute to see him standing there like a big boy with a huge grin and so proud of himself.
On a really different note, we found out that Beckett is pretty farsighted in one eye. We had gone to the eye Dr. for a clogged tear duct, but while there Owen's farsightedness came up. The Dr. decided to take a quick look at Beckett's eyes just in case. We are glad he didn't because Beckett's eyes are imbalanced in their farsightedness and could possibly be at risk for a lazy eye. We are going to keep a close watch on him so that if his eyes do start crossing we can take care of it right away.
Beckett has really started to enjoy eating with his hands. He loves cherrios and baby puffs, however, that is all he can handle outside of pureed food right now. I can tell he is interested in eating our food, but every time we try he ends up gagging and has even thorwn up a few times. As a result, we are taking the food introduction pretty slow with him.

8 Months

2016-09-25T22:18:00.001-07:00

Our Beckett boy has taken on a whole new personality as of late. Gone are the laid back watching big brother play while chilling on mom's lap. Beckett wants to be on the move. He wants to be in the action. And, he wants to play! It is so fun to watch his personality starting to really emerge as of late. He has totally captured our hearts in these past 8 months and we can't wait to see what he decides to do next!

Here are the latest:

Our big man is 22 lbs 15 oz. Oh, how quickly he is growing! I keep thinking he will slim out as he gets more mobile, but instead he just coninutes on with his cute chubbiness. I don't mind one bit! I will just continue loving his little michilian man rolls!
Beckett is a rolling machine. He easily rolls both directions and uses it as his main mode of transportation. He is becoming really quick and can get across the room to a toy in no time at all.
He is also scooting in all kinds of circles and able to move backwards now. I don't think it will be long before he crawls, but he just hasn't realized that being on all fours means even greater mobility.
This little guy loves to sit and can even scoot himself around on his rear end. He especially likes to scoot himself up to the play kitchen so that he can chew on the edge while Owen pretends to cook.
Beckett desperately wants to stand and walk! He loves it when we prop him up to his little play table so that he can stand like a big boy. He can stand while holding on for quite awhile and a couple times he has even stood for a few seconds while not holding on to anything at all. Looks like I better get ready for his next stage of mobility soon!
Our little guy has taking a liking to clapping. At first I thought he wast trying to sign more, but then I quickly realized that it was a clap instead. He especially likes to clap while we feed him which makes meal times pretty interesting. Unlike Owen, Beckett doesn't mind being covered in baby food one bit! I think he even likes the way it feels on his hands. So every time we feed him he tries to clap the spoon as it is on its way to his mouth. Makes for an interesting obstacle course each time.
Now that Beckett is becoming more mobile, he is taking quite an interest in Owen's toys! Gone are the days when Beckett would just watch and observe from the sidelines. He despesratly wants to chew on everything, and he especially loves putting Owen's cars and trains in his mouth. If there is one left on the ground somewhere, Beckett will spot it in no time and roll his chubby little self right on over there! Owen has had to do a little bit of adjusting now that Beckett likes his toys just as much as he does. At least for now, mommy is on Owen's side and tries to keep them away from Beckett as much as possible!

7 Months

2016-09-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

Our Beckett boy is starting to grow up! This past month has been characterized by a slew of milestones, and he is really starting to show his personality. It has been so fun to watch him grow and become aware of the world around him. Here are his latest accomplishments:

He weighs 22 lbs 11 oz, and he feels like every bit of that when we hold him. I can't believe how big he is! He is all rolly-poly and looks much older than his actual 7 months.
He is now easily sitting on his own and is practicing a slight lean/fall when he wants to get to his toys. It is nice that he no longer has the hard crash back from time to time.
He is rolling both directions!!! I think he rolled for the first time from back to tummy at 6 and 1/2 months. It took him a couple days to figure out that rolling meant mobility, and now we can stop him. He is all over the place! He uses it as his main mode of transportation, and is getting to be pretty quick about it. He only gets frustrated when he works himself into a position that he can't seem to firgure out how to get back out of (a corner of the room, lodged under furniture, etc).
He is up to three meals a day and really loves eating solids. Every time I put him in his highchair and bring over the food he gets all happy and waves those little hands everywhere. He really likes to grab at the spoon and chew on it by himself, but we try to make sure he has eaten enough food first. His favorite food is Pears, and he seems to tolerate most other foods pretty well. Peas seem to be the only thing that makes him gag, but he will even eat those if we keep giving him bites.
He has two more top teeth to add to the count. It seemed like they took forever to come in, and now he it appears he may be working on more! He is still chewing on everything in sight and the drolling is incesent.
He is one determined little guy. He knows what he wants and he likes to go for it. He is reaching for everything, and usually wants the things he is not suppossed to have (mommy's phone, the computer, cords, platic bags). Now when we take something away, he also lets us know that he is unhappy about it. Fortunately, if we find something of equal enjoyment he is still quick to forgive and should I say become distracted.
Still no hard syllabal sounds from him, but I thought I heard him say ga, ga, ga the other day. Who knows, maybe it was just hopefull ears waiting for the first sign of a mamamama :)
He LOVES his brother. Every time Owen comes into the room Beckett is all smiles and watches his every move. Owen often returns the affection with more kisses than I can count, and of course a few rough and tumble hugs. Now that Beckett is just a mere 6 lbs less than Owen he can usually hold his own, but we are still working diligently to teach Owen that Beckett is just a baby and he needs to use gentle hands. Oh boys, before I know it they will be wrestling all over the place!
Beckett is still a momma's boy. He loves to nurse and when he is really upset he seems to want me and will stare at me until I take him from whoever is holding him. Oh baby, I just can't help myself and give into his cute demands usually every time.
Beckett has started to mimic us. It seems to have just begun with some of his hand movements and a few sounds here and there. One of his favorite sounds to mimic is when we click our tounge. He gets all excited and can't stop once we get him started.

6 Months, 1/2 a year, What!?!

2016-09-25T22:17:00.002-07:00

Wow, it is time to do some SERIOUS catch on the blog. My baby is 6 months old. How did that happen!?! It has been hard to start this blog post, because it is hard to imagine that he has been with us for half a year! I find myself just staring at him lately. Whether I sneak in his room while he is sleeping, or just watch him try so desperately to roll over, or even just stare at him while he stares at his brother. I just can't seem to stop looking at him. The newborn look is completely gone and he is starting to show glimpses of little boy in his features. Oh, how I wish I could pause time just for a little bit. These boys have a way of making me so nostalgic. I should dedicate a whole post to my thoughts on how quickly these boys are growing and changing! Until then, here are my little man's latest recordable moments.

Our boy is big! At his six month appointment he was 21 lbs 9 oz and ? long. He is only 8 lbs less that Owen right now! The Dr. told us we have a linebacker on our hands.
Of course since he is so big, he is now wearing 12 month clothes and occasionally 18 month clothes. I told Luke the other day, when Owen wore these clothes, he was walking! Our little Beckett hasn't even rolled both directions yet! That's okay though, because his pudgy rolls are pretty much the cutest.
Just two weeks before Beckett turned 6 months we introduced him to solids. It came to no surprise that he loved eating. He had been intently watching us while we ate for a week or so and we finally decided that it was time to give him something other than breast milk. Now he gets excited every time we put him in the high chair and he easily recognizes his bowl and spoon. So far his favorites include rice cereal, avocado, and sweet potatoes. He hasn't really enjoyed peas, green beans, or squash.
Beckett loves to sit now. He can now easily sit for long periods of time as he plays with his toys. I think he enjoys sitting because he can see everything going on around him easier. It also helps him watch his big brother as he literally runs circles around him. I still like to be there in case he takes a tumble, but he is even starting to do a good job of falling gracefully so that the landing isn't so hard.
Beckett's hand coordination has really improved. He can easily grab onto toys, switch them between hands, and of course put anything he wants into his mouth! He is also quick to grab onto your hair, face, shirt, jewelry. . . Needless to say, if you are holding him, watch out!
I am kind of surprised to report that Beckett STILL hasn't rolled the other direction! He is soooo close. I would say he is about 75% over, but his chubby little belly and arm just keep him from getting all the way there! I am sure it will be any day.
Even though he can't roll, the boy can really scoot/slither. I am always surprised how much he moves himself around, mostly in circles, but occasionally off his blanket or mat, and into Owen territory. He also loves to roam around his crib. He never stays in the spot I put him in and I am always surprised at how quickly he moves around after I lay him down.
Beckett is still our smiley happy boy most of the time. Poor guy, has battled a little more illness, and also seems to be SLOWLY teething (no new teeth yet), but usually he is pretty content. His biggest concern is that he NEVER be alone. If people walk away and he is in the room he immediately lets you know that you left him behind. It makes it difficult when both boys want me to carry them down the stairs at the same time. Of course they think it is most fun to lunge at each other and try to give each other kissess or in Beckett's case slobber all over Owen.
Beckett has become so much more curious about his surroundings. He watches us and Owen pretty closely and he likes to be right in on the action. He hasn't really started mimicking a ton yet, but he seems pretty close.
Beckett hasn't really started to make any hard syllable sounds yet, but he is mimicking Owen's car sound. It is like a low hummmm. He does have a variety of screeches that seem to indicate he has found his voice :) Oh, the sweet sounds of babies.

5 Months

2016-09-25T22:17:00.001-07:00

Beckett is making it fully evident that he is growing up! Between his crazy weight gain and his new skills he has really lost that new baby feel. I had forgotten how much I love this stage. Beckett is becoming more interactive with each day and on most days he showers us with smiles and giggles. Here are his latest accomplishments.

Our sweet Beckett weighed in at 20 lbs even just a few days after turning five months old! I can't believe how big he is. At this point, he is gaining about a half a pound a week. As a result he is starting to move into 12 month clothes!
Beckett is becoming really interested in what happens around him. He especially likes to watch Owen run around and play. He still loves his cuddles, but he also loves to sit up and see what everyone is up to. He also seems to want to be in the midst of the action, just like his brother. If we put him down and walk to the other room, he quickly lets us know that he does not want to be alone even if it is just for a few moments.
Beckett can sit for a little bit on his own now. He loves to sit and play with his, however he still needs us close by to help him stabilize. A few times he has been able to catch himself and sit back up. I imagine it will only be a few more weeks before he is sitting entirely on his own and playing away with the toys around him.
He is so close to rolling the other direction. When he is on his back, he often rolls to his side to play with his toys. A couple times he has almost rolled over onto his tummy, but he has always stopped himself just before he takes the final plunge. I keep thinking he could roll any day, but then again who knows.
He LOVES to play with his feet. Whenever he gets his diaper changed, the first thing he does is kick those pudgy feet up into the air and grab at them. He seems to prefer playing with his feet when he has no socks or pj's on, but we often find him tugging at them whenever he is on his back.
He is finally starting to warm up to tummy time. I think he now realizes that he is able to keep toys in his mouth easier if he is on his tummy. As long has he has a toy that he is really interested in, he will play for a quite awhile before he rolls over or starts crying out of frustration.
He seems to be getting increasingly frustrated by his lack of mobility. He can scoot himself in circles just a little bit, but he seems to want to move further and from side to side. I think once he realizes that rolling will offer him a form of mobility the days of an immobile child will be over for us.
Beckett cut his first bottom tooth at 4 months and 3 weeks. We knew it was coming in, because he was increasingly fussy and his bottom gum was swollen for several days. His second tooth came through just a day after he turned five months old. Needless to say, the sleeping saga has continued with this little guy. Between teething and getting sick, he is often up a couple times a night and he has not been napping well either. Oh, I can't wait for the nights when he decides to start sleeping for 10 hours again.

Owen: 2 and 1/2

2016-09-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

It is pretty obvious when you come over to our house that we have an energetic, fun loving, entertaining toddler running through the place. It is incredible to think about how much Owen has grown and learned in the past 6 months. Here are some of the things he is doing and enjoys since my last dedicated Owen post.

He is one lean kiddo. Last time we weighed him he was just 29 lbs and that was with his shoes on. I attribute his low weight to the fact that he is ALWAYS on the go. This kid can run circles around us, and he usually does. Due to the fact that our little man is so skinny, he is still mostly in his 2T clothes. He could use the lenght of some 3T but we have had zero luck finding 3T pants with a small enough waistband. Even the ones that are adjustable are still falling off my lean little dude.
Owen loves to talk! He is capable of full conversation now and is easily talking in more complex sentences. We have certainly entered into the time frame where we need to be careful about what he hears. He can and does repeat anything which has created some pretty comical moments. I need to start writing down his funny sayings now that he is speaking his mind so freely. Everyday he seems to be coming up with new and interesting thoughts on the world around him.
His imagination has exploded. He is often making up new stories and talking about his adventures. For a few weeks, he was certain a dragon was living behind his curtains. I think it was more of a ploy to skip nap time. But we had many dicussions about the dragon being friendly, and how Owen was very brave to share his room with this imaginary creature. Every once and while the dragon still pops up around the house. It has become a fun form of make-believe. In addition to hunting for his make-believe dragon, one of Owen's favorite games right now is "shadows". We turn out the lights, grab a flashlight, and make shapes on the wall. My friend Brittany even made him shadow puppets for Christmas so now we can really go crazy with the make-believe.
Owen also loves playing with cars, trucks, and trains. Several times we have found him lining all his cars up along the living room windowsill. He still likes to sleep with at least two to three hotwheels at night.
Owen was semi potty trained just before Thanksgiving. He really trained himself. Since we had just had Beckett a couple months prior, I wasn't really ready to start the training process. However, he started taking off his own diaper and using his little toilet in the bathroom. Needless to say, we figured it was time to start the training process. He trained rather quickly with hotwheels as an incentive. However, he got sick over Thanksgiving and in the midst of his illness he lost all interest in pottry training. Unfortunately, he is still asking for diapers over underwear, and we are simply waiting until he seems a little more ready once again to tackle the potty.
Owen has always enjoyed watching his "shows." We really try to limit how much we let him watch, but it is fun when he gets excited about a certain show. Some of his favorites include Calliou, Dora the Explorer, and Diego. He is pretty quick to pick things up and has a decent memory when it comes to music and he can sing along with the lyrics and many of the songs on the show. It is pretty cute to here him sing and get excited over certain episodes.
Owen sings songs almost as much as he talks. He has always enjoyed music and now regularly puts on shows for us in front of the fireplace. I am always surprised at which songs he has picked up and how quickly he learns them. He learned Jingle Bells from watching an episode of Caillou. It is fun to watch him perform and try out funny changes to the song.

18 Months

2014-03-17T22:46:00.001-07:00

I am a little late in getting this written, but I still wanted to get my thoughts down on our precious toddler before it escaped my memory. Wow, how Beckett has changed these past few months. We have fallen in love with his personality, his cuddles and loves, and his determination and strong will. I forgot how much I love this stage, when they are learning new things daily, pushing their boundaries, and trying out all kinds of crazy stunts. Here are some of the things that have our Beckett boy has been up too.

Size. . .
He has all his teeth but the last four molars. It has been nice that they came in when he is so young because we have gone a good long stretch without teething pain. He still seems to love to put things in his mouth though! We have been working pretty diligently to teach him that toys and other objects don't go in his mouth. In the past month, I have finally started to see some improvement.
Beckett is soooo active. His favorite activity of all time is climbing. He can climb to the top of our counter height table, onto every piece of furniture we own, and even onto uneven and unsteady objects like his kitchen set and tool bench. Yes, we have found him standing on them more than once. Yikes!!!
In addition to being an over-zealous climber, this boy is fearless!!!! Not only do we find him on heights that make me nervous, he will walk right up to the edge, then without even blinking, he will jump or free fall off and hope we catch him. Oh that child! He has even jumped a few times when I wasn't expecting him. As a result, I am nursing a sore shoulder.
He also thinks he can do anything his brother can do. Such as running down the small slide in the basement, riding Owen's Strider bike, and drinking out of a big boy cup. The list could go on and on. I it is hard to communicate with him that he just isn't quite big enough yet. Instead, we have tried to find ways to help him accomplish his goals.
He is talking!!!! When Beckett turned a year, his slower speech development was on our radar. He had a few words, but not really many. As a result, we were entertaining the idea of speech therapy. However, just around 14 - 15 months, Beckett's speech started to take off. He quickly went from a short list of four words to 40. He all of a sudden started mimicking and trying out new words almost daily. He even has a few two-word phrases now, "luv you", "go downstairs", "that's mine". It makes me smile hearing him talk, and I just love the way he says many of his words.
Beckett loves his cousin Addie May. Oh my goodness, it is adorable. He is constantly saying her name, and whenever she comes to visit, he goes absolutely crazy from the minute he sees her car. He screeches so loudly that it makes her cry every single time! Then he showers her with kisses and hugs and follows the person around that is holding her until he has had a turn. He will stay playing with her as long as she allows, and fortunately she is pretty tolerant of him. Oh how I hope these two stay the best of friends.
When Beckett desires to give you hugs and kisses, it is the most precious wonderful thing ever. He is not nearly as cuddly as Owen was, but when he wants to snuggle, oh my gosh, melt my heart. He will just grab hold and give you the biggest bear hug and then pat your back. So Cute! He also gives the sweetest kisses. He puckers up real big and makes an hmm sound.

4 Months

2013-01-15T22:21:00.001-08:00

Like always, I can't believe how quickly time goes by with a little one. This month has been inundated with illness and as a result it is hard to remember where the days went. Although our sweet Beckett was sick for the first and second time this past month, he is still growing and changing. Here are his latest stats.

Beckett is growing so quickly! He now weighs 18 lbs 2 oz (92%) and is 26 1/4 inches (85%).
Our sweet Beckett got his first cold right after he turned three months old. He ran a slight fever, which resulted in us taking him into the Dr. It turned out to be a virus, and it took a few days for our little guy to recover. The month then continued with a couple more colds. Poor little guy just couldn't seem to catch a break. As a result his great sleeping flew out the window, and we have since been getting up with him a few times a night again. Hopefully, he and I will start getting the sleep we desperately need again soon.
Beckett got to go trick-or-treating with his big brother, Owen, for the first time. He was dressed as a little pumpkin. He sure was a cutie and many of the neighbors loved seeing him all dressed up. He was even given a few pieces of candy, which mommy daddy consumed on his behalf.
Beckett can sit for just a couple seconds on his own now. I think his chubbiness helps to prop him up. He loves to be able to see his toys and us so easily. I know it will only be a matter of time before he is sitting on his own. Oh how they grow so quickly!
Beckett has rolled over for the first time! Just like his brother he rolled from tummy to back first. Our boys really don't like their tummy time! Luke got to see it for the first time, and I missed it because I turned my back to head into the kitchen. I had just told Luke that I thought he was close to rolling and we should get the camera. Luke thought it would take a little more time, and then all of a sudden I hear Luke yelling from the playroom, "he just rolled over!" I was bummed for myself, but also glad that Luke got to experience a "first" with our little guy. Since I am the one home with them, it is usually me calling him with the news while he is at work.
Beckett is really starting to babble. He loves it when we "talk" with him and mimic his sounds. It is almost like he is trying to have a conversation with us! He also makes sounds when he is frustrated that sound like he is protesting his situation. Even though he is usually mad when he makes them, it is still so cute. It is hard not to laugh or smile when he starts his squawking and yelling his protests!
Beckett loves to stand! He likes to stand on our laps and often showers us with smiles. My mom said that I used to love standing as well at that age. Maybe our little guy gets that from his momma.
Beckett is a quite the mamma's boy right now. It could be that he has been sick so much this past month, but he often wants me especially when he is tired or uncomfortable. In some ways it is so nice to have your little one want you the most. I will have to take advantage of this time now, since he will quickly want daddy more once he realizes how much rough and tumble fun he gets to have with big brother and daddy!
Beckett has really started to grab at toys and pull them towards him. As a result everything now goes straight into the mouth. It is so fun to see how he is starting to take small steps towards independence, but at the same time, I am in no rush for him to grow up very quickly!

3 Months

2012-11-05T21:36:00.002-08:00

Oh Beckett, how is it that you are already 3 months old!!! For some reason, Beckett turning three months really caught me by surprise. In my mind he stopped getting older at two months, and I just relished the fact that I still had this little newborn to hold and cuddle. Plus, since Beckett is a bit of a momma's boy, I do tend to get some of the best snuggles out of everyone! All the evidence though has pointed to the fact that Beckett is in fact getting older and of course bigger. Oh, how I wish I could freeze these moments when he just wants to snuggle in my arms all day. I guess writing about them and taking pictures of this cute guy is like a snapshot in time to help me remember. So for now, here are the latest details about our little/big dude.

Beckett is growing at lightening speed. He now weighs 16 lbs 5 oz. He is solidly in six month clothes as a result, and it seems that he will be moving into the next size soon. It is pretty fun having such a rolly-poly little man, but there are time I wish I could keep him small a little longer.
Beckett is a pretty social little guy. He does not like to be alone, and would much rather have someone doting on him with attention at all times. It is pretty worth it since the person who is playing with him often gets loads of smiles and giggles now. He loves it when someone gets right next to him and makes funny faces and sounds.
Beckett is starting to babble and loves to try out new sounds when you talk to him. It feels like he is actually trying to express his opinion and have a conversation with you. The little coos of a baby are pretty cute!
Becket has finally found his fingers! The little guy has been working to get his hand in his mouth all month. We thought he was after his thumb, but it turns out he wanted his pointer and middle finger. He likes to stick them in his mouth and suck or chew on them. He is still willing to take his binkie when he is tired, but when he is awake that hand is typically in the mouth.
Sleeping issues have been interesting this past month. I am pleased to report that Beckett is usually a champ at night. He consistently sleeps 8 hours and for the past two nights he has decided to stretch it out to 10 hours!!! However, it has been tough at nap time. His schedule has been a little inconsistent, and there are times when he only wants to sleep for 30-45 minutes at a time. He would prefer to be held through every nap, but unfortunately I just can't swing that all the time. Oh well, I am sure we will figure it out, and I wouldn't trade the long stretches at night for longer naps during the day!
He has discovered that he can grab onto things and play with toys now. It is fun to watch him try to grab the toys around him. They often end up in his mouth, but he also like to crinkle them if they make sounds. Owen is starting to "share" toys with Beckett now, although his choices in toys are sometimes questionable.
Beckett does not like his car seat at all! When Owen was a baby, he would pass out asleep every time we put him in the car. Not so with our little Beckett. If he is awake, he is usually crying and if it is near nap time he lets us know pretty quickly that his preference is not to fall asleep in the car. Luke actually mentioned the other day after a 20 minute stretch of screaming in the car that maybe we should just stay home from now on. Oh, if only that were a real option!

Prepare for some picture craziness, because he is just too cute!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

2012-10-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

This year we made our way to Trinity Tree Farm and Pumpkin Patch. Owen had been talking about going for weeks, and I was excited to see his reaction when we finally arrived. Unfortunately, he fell asleep in the car on the way there. We decided to go ahead and let both boys sleep for awhile in their car seats since Owen had been getting over a cold. Luke and his dad stayed in the car while Brittney, Bev and I took a walk around the tree farm portion. As a result I missed Owen's excitement when he woke up. Oh well, it was still a fun day watching him traipse around in his rain boots and exclaim that all the pumpkins were dirty. It took awhile for us to find pumpkins that were clean enough to pass his inspection. He can be such a silly boy. Anyway, here are the pictures from our outing.

Where are the pumpkins!?!

There they are

Found one

Too bad it is dirty

This one will work

Mommy, that one is dirty!

I guess this one will do

Beckett hanging out in the pumpkin patch

Not quite sure what the fuss is all about

Good day for rain boots!

Playing with his best friend, Avery

Playing in an old school fire truck

Going on a train ride

Mini pumpkins!

Checking out Christmas trees

A few more family pics

Our 2 Month Old

2012-10-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

On my 32nd birthday, our sweet Beckett turned two months old. Due to his size it is hard to imagine that he is only two months, plus it feels like he has always been here with us. This past month has been quite a joy since our big boy is becoming more interactive and staying awake for longer periods after each feeding. Here are some of the fun facts about his latest month.

Beckett weighs 14 lbs 6 oz (93%) and is 23.25 inches (60%).
It is no surprise by Beckett's weight gain that he is growing quickly. He moved from 3 month pjs into 6 months at just 6 weeks old. He has now mostly outgrown his 3 month clothes and we are starting to transition to 6 months for his outfits as well. And most surprising to us, he is now in size three diapers! WHAT!?! Sigh, he is growing up too fast! I was in total denial on the last one. You should have seen me trying to get size 1-2's on my little chubster. My sister started laughing when she saw me. It is no wonder that he has peed out of so many diapers this last week.
He loves to smile! After every feeding, we spend some time getting this little guy to flash huge grins. He loves it when people talk to him, play games, and make funny sounds. His smile is huge, and you can't help but grin back.
Not only does Beckett love to smile, but he is also starting to giggle. You should see us crazy parents trying to get even the slightest giggle out of him. There is no shame in this house, we will do anything for baby giggles! It is just the sweetest sound, and we feel such great success when we have worked so hard to get them.
He has stretched out his feedings at night which sure helps with the tiredness. He goes 6 to 7 hours between feedings almost every night, and has even slept 8 hours once. I hope the 8 hour stretches start taking place a little more often.
He is starting to bat at things and often likes to hold onto my hair or shirt when he is nursing or being cuddled. It sure is cute when he grabs a fist full of hair and nuzzles in close to snuggle.
He is really starting to pay attention to what is going on around him. We often catch him watching his super active brother as he romps around the room singing songs and playing with toys.
Our little guy is a total binkie boy right now. As a matter of fact, we gave him a binkie just three days after he was born, because he wanted to suck on something sooo badly. However, he is really working hard to get his thumb/fingers in his mouth. Luke and I think he might give up the binkie once his coordination improves just a bit, and he discovers that his hand it always available. I guess we will just have to wait and see.
Owen is doing a great job as big brother. He is still giving Beckett lots of kisses and often wants to do things with him. We still have to give him some reminders that Beckett is pretty small, and he needs to be gentle at all times, but for the most part Owen is pretty soft and kind with him. It is pretty precious when Beckett starts crying and Owen runs to go check on him to see if he needs his binkie.

Here are the pics of our cutie being serious

Playing with his tongue

And best of all, smiling

1 Month Old

2012-09-27T23:21:00.004-07:00

It is not really surprising that Beckett has quickly grabbed hold of our hearts, and we can no longer imagine life without in him in our little family! I am so thankful to have two little boys so close in age, and I am excited to watch them grow up and play together. Although this first month has had its challenges between sleepless nights, wishing I could be up and more active after surgery, and getting behind on most everything involving the house, it is pure joy to have Beckett finally here and healthy! That pile of laundry that really needs to be folded just doesn't seem to matter when I am snuggling with my two boys. They are only small for so long, and in Beckett's case I feel he is already growing at lightening speed. We sure are trying to cherish these special moments while they are small.
Here are Beckett's 1 Month Milestones:

He is already 11 lbs 6 oz. I can't believe how fast he is growing! He is the same size Owen was at two months. It makes me think we will have a big boy on our hands pretty soon.
This boy loves to eat! I guess that is why he so big already. Since the day he was born, he has been great at nursing which has been a huge blessing as we adjust to having two little boys. He is super efficient which means I don't have to sit for an hour trying to get him to eat. Usually he is fed, changed, and ready to play in 20-30 min.
He was only in newborn clothes for about a week, and moved quickly into his 3 month pjs and outfits. I have a feeling he is going to soar through the sizes during his first year.
He loves to be held! It is hard to put him down sometimes when he snuggles up close to you and wants to sleep on your chest.
He is starting to flash some pretty precious smiles. He started socially smiling around 2-3 weeks, and now when we make funny sounds or tickle his cheek, he will often give us a big gummy grin. It makes us laugh every single time! I also love the way it makes his face light up.
Owen sure does love his baby brother. He asks several times a day to hold him and often showers him with kisses. Whenever Beckett is crying, he gets a little distressed and wants to know why Beckett is so sad. I really love watching the bond between them develop, and I am excited for the day when they can run around together and play.
For the first month of Beckett's life we stayed pretty close to home since I was recovering from my C-section. Although we didn't get to go anywhere exciting, Beckett had tons of visitors! He met all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and his sweet cousin Annorah. He even even had some visits from great aunts, second cousins, and of course lots of friends. This boy sure is loved!

Here are some pictures from his first month.

Beckett William Walker

2012-09-08T16:20:00.002-07:00

Well, our little Beckett is already one month old, so I need to get his birth story down before I am behind by two posts! Here is a quick run through of the event.
During the two-three weeks leading up to my appointment on July 27th, I had been having false labor contractions at night or after periods of greater activity. They always seemed to stop within an hour or two and the contractions came at pretty irregular intervals. I kept getting my hopes up that labor was right around the corner, but with so many false starts it seemed like Beckett was content to just stay in there for awhile.
At my 39 week appointment, we had starting talking about sweeping my membranes since I was a VBAC attempt and it was a way to encourage things along before we had to discuss setting a date for a c-section. However at that appointment, I wasn't dilated enough so we went ahead and put it off until my 40 week appointment on the 27th. When I showed up to the appointment, I wasn't convinced the contractions I had been having were strong enough to do much of anything so I wasn't sure we would even get to do the procedure. However, much to my surprise I had dilated from a 1/2 centimeter to a 3 during the week. As a result, we decided to go ahead and see if sweeping the membranes would get things going. I had heard from several people that it didn't really work for them so I tried to be realistic that I would probably go past my due date which was the next day. Although the midwife was a little more optimistic than I was, we went ahead scheduled another appointment for the following Monday.
When I left the office, I asked Luke if he could work the rest of the day from home since it was already noon. I am so glad I did, because I started to experience some cramping and spotting around 1 pm. Since the midwife said this could happen, I didn't really think anything of it at that point in time. Later in the day the cramping seemed to stick around, but wasn't really what I would call consistent contractions at that point. However by the time evening rolled around, it was pretty evident that these contractions were sticking around, and by 10 pm I decided to go ahead and start watching to see how close they were together. By 11:00 the contractions were coming 5 minutes apart, but still pretty tolerable so I decided to go ahead and try to get some sleep. Once I laid down, I realized I probably wasn't going to be able to sleep through them. I continued to time them while I rested to see if they would get any closer. Although they didn't get closer, by midnight my pain level had increased and I decided to go ahead and take a shower since I figured we would be going into the hospital at some point that night. By 1:00 am I decided it was time to wake Luke and start loading the car with things for the hospital. He got up slowly a little surprised to discover I was actually in labor, since he had gone to bed early the night before and didn't know that my contractions had started moving closer together. He went about getting the last few things together and took a shower before we called the midwife. She suggested we go ahead and come in to check things out.
When we had gone to the hospital with Owen my water had broken before I was even in labor, but I wasn't actually in labor so driving while having contractions was new to me. The contractions were now coming every three minutes, and I was starting to really have to breathe through them. When we got to the hospital we made the slow walk to the Birth Center with several stops along the way for contractions. We spent about 30 minutes in triage before the midwife came in to see us. Unfortunately, I had only dilated to a four even though my pain level had definitely increased. I was disappointed, but the midwife reassured me that I was certainly in labor. She said I could be admitted or walk the halls for an hour. I was looking forward to getting out of triage and into a room with more laboring options so I went ahead and decided to have them admit me.
Shortly after I was admitted, I decided to try out my first dose of fentanyl. It made me really drowsy which then caused me to want to lay down. I don't labor really well while lying down so it was not the best option for my labor and I was ready to try something else when the medicine wore off. The midwife and nurse recommended I give the tub a try and I was pleased to find that it really did help me relax during and between contractions. I think I spent another hour in the tub before I was ready for my epidural. After being in labor for 7 hours and no sleep for 24 hours I was exhausted and wanted to rest. I had dilated to a six and we were hopeful that the epidural would not slow my labor all that much.
After I had about an hour of rest, Beckett had his first decel around 7 am. They had turned the monitor down fairly low so that I could get some sleep, however I noticed that when the midwife came in she spent more time looking at the monitor than I had expected and I knew that something wasn't quite right. When I asked how he was doing, she mentioned that he had a decel and we were going to watch it pretty carefully. It wasn't enough to issue an emergency c-section, but since decals can be a sign of uterine distress in a VBAC patient they tend to watch them closely. She left to talk to the OB on call and I tried to get a little more rest since Beckett's heart rate had returned to normal and he seemed to be doing well. We discovered in this process that Beckett seemed to be doing better when I laid on my right side so we decided to go ahead and move me back to that position.
Labor continued to progress and things seemed to go well for the next few hours and then around 10 am, Beckett had another decel. This time the nurse came in quickly and had trouble getting his heart rate restored by flipping me over so she paged the midwife to come in and help. The had to really shift me around and get me up on my hands and knees in order for his heart rate to respond this time. This decel also lasted much longer, 6-7 minutes from start to finish. After our birth experience with Owen, we knew a long talk with the OB was coming.
Once the midwife had Beckett stable she left to get the OB while Luke and I waited to hear about whether or not we needed to head back for a c-section. Dr. Jolly took the time to explain what she had seen on Beckett's tape. He had two pretty bad decels, but it appeared that with repositioning he was able to respond and his heart rate returned to normal. Both the midwife and Dr. were convinced that his decels were a result of an occult cord and not uterine rupture. We now had a decision to make. We could continue to labor and see how Beckett did (at that point his heart rate was the best we had seen throughout labor), or we could elect for a C-section right then. We spent a long time discussing the options and risks of both scenarios. We asked lots of questions most of which we knew the answers to since this discussion was very similar to our conversation with the OB during Owen's labor. Being in this place again, made it hard for me to keep my emotions under control and I spent a good deal of the conversation crying quietly while trying to talk. I was mostly concerned about Beckett's ability to tolerate labor and wanting the best delivery for him. Both the OB and midwife said that they felt it was a strong possibility we could make it through labor and delivery without a c-section since Beckett was doing so well and I was already dilated to a 9. However, if he had another bad decel it would be a mad-dash to the OR for an emergency c-section. The OB also reassured me that she would be able to get him out quickly and that if he had another decel he would be ok. I was also concerned about whether or not I would be able to stay awake during the c-section if it came to that point. She said that in most cases I would be able to stay awake during surgery, however if things were serious enough they would have to put me to sleep. She explained that in our situation she gives babies a chance at three strikes and Beckett was at strike number two at that point. With all the questions answered, we decided to go ahead and give him one more chance since a vaginal delivery is best for both baby and mom.
Since I was already dilated so far, we were hopeful that labor would continue quickly. For the next two hours, things went beautifully. Beckett's heart rate continued to do really well and labor was moving right along. Around noon it was time to check my cervix again to see how close we were. I had dilated to a 10, but my water was still in tact. We were just starting to talk about breaking my water since it was something we felt needed to be done before pushing to see how Beckett would handle the situation when Beckett's heart rate plummeted. Earlier his decels had been at the lowest 70 and highest 90. However, this time he dropped all the way to 40 and back up to 50. It was a horrible sound to hear his heartbeat so low, and I knew it was scary by the look on every one's faces. The midwife quickly tried to readjust me and get me up on my knees. She tried to move him around but it quickly became evident that this decel was really bad and it was time to run to the OR right then.
Before I knew it several more nurses were in the room and they were on the phone demanding an OR, Anesthesiologist, and that our OB be paged immediately. The stress in their voices was evident and all this time Beckett's heart rate did not change. Time seemed to be crawling, and what seemed like eternity, I found later was only 4 minutes. When we got to the OR, Beckett's heart rate was still low and I felt like I was frozen. I couldn't even cry I was so scared. All I could do was close my eyes and pray. I knew our baby was in God's hands, but it was still hard waiting to hear if he was okay. Since the situation was an emergency, they did the least amount of prep as possible and quickly tried to get my epidural strong enough so that I couldn't feel the incision. Just before they were about to cut the midwife leaned over to say that his heart rate had just gone up to 120. It was at that point that I cried, I just knew he would be okay and they would get to him in time. I finally felt like I could breathe.
Beckett was pretty lodged in there since I was essentially ready to push when we left for surgery, and I could tell they were having a little more difficulty getting him out than they'd had with Owen. However, after what felt like a long time (really only a few minutes), I heard the sweetest sound, his first cry. I remember just beaming when they popped his screaming red face above the blue curtain. It was the most precious sight! He looked perfect, not like a baby in distress at all, and we were so thrilled that he did not have to go the NICU. Luke was able to go over and get him and then we spent the next 20 minutes just enjoying some time the three of us while they finished my surgery. It was such a sweet time, one I had missed terribly when Owen was born when I had to return to my room alone and wait for him to come back with Luke.
Beckett was born at 12:22 pm right on his due date. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 19.3 inches long. With all of the fear and stress we endured at the end of our labor, we are so thankful and blessed to have our sweet little Beckett here.

Beckett William Walker is here!

Meeting our sweet baby boy for the first time!

Owen meeting Beckett for the first time

Our first family photo

Meeting the grandparents, aunts and uncles

Some pictures from the day we left

On our way home!

As if having a baby was not enough change . . .

2012-06-21T21:15:00.002-07:00

We have decided to go ahead and throw moving into the mix! I have joked with people that I have taken nesting to the extreme, but in reality we have been talking about this move for awhile now. We knew when Owen was born that we were quickly outgrowing our two-bedroom townhouse, but we loved our neighborhood, and we weren't really in a rush to relocate. We discussed simply buying a house down here, but the reality is that Luke's work is north and our ultimate desire was to shorten his commute. We checked out several locations and settled on Fairwood as the next place for us to buy. We started looking in March/April with a deadline of May 31st to find something or else we were going to put off purchasing until summer 2013. As time was starting to run out, a house we had been watching dropped its price, and we decided to jump on it. We put in an offer an offer on May 20th, and on the 21st we accepted the sellers counteroffer. That began 30 days of craziness for us!
Right after we put in an offer, Luke had to fly down to Oklahoma for a week of work. We spent quite a bit of time faxing paperwork back and forth and working on finding a time to get the inspection done. The inspection took place the following weekend and resulted in a week of negotiations over some of the items we wanted to see dealt with in the house. In addition to all of this, we had decided to keep our townhouse as a rental. Once we had the negotiations worked out on the new purchase, we decided it was time to list the townhouse on Craigslist. Within three days we had four appointments scheduled for people who wanted to see it, and by the end of that week we had a signed lease agreement with a tenant that was excited about moving in July 1st. Since then, we have been packing, cleaning, and preparing for our move. Needless to say we are tired and have learned a lot about rentals and purchasing a new home in just a mere 30 days! Thank you to everyone who has listened to our questions, offered advice, and helped us get this place ready! Tomorrow is our official close date on the new house and we should be getting our keys in the afternoon. This weekend we are moving, and we plan to finish up the final painting and projects on the townhouse over the next week before our tenant moves in the following weekend. Since I can't seem to write a post without a picture, here is one of the home we are saying goodbye to and the one that we are excited to be moving into!

Here is a picture of our townhouse. It is certainly bittersweet to leave it behind. I am glad we still get to claim it as ours even though we won't be the ones living there.

Here is a picture of our new house in Fairwood. We had wanted an older home that had been updated but still had room for us to add our own touches. This house really is the perfect fit. It has lots of room for us to grow, some great updates on the inside, and also lots of areas where we can get in there and change things to make it our own. Granted all these changes will take time and certainly happen after baby boy #2 arrives!

Our Big Two Year Old!

2012-06-21T15:01:00.001-07:00

It is hard to imagine that Owen is already two. I am pretty sure I say that every time I write a post about him, but the reality is I am never ready for him to grow older. I must say though I have enjoyed each stage of his growth and development, and although we have certainly entered into the stage of strong wills and tantrums, I am loving his toddler-hood. He makes me laugh daily and brings me such great joy even on the rough days! Owen, it has been a wonderful year and I am so excited to celebrate you and your big birthday.

Here are his accomplishments since 18 months:

Owen is talking up a storm. He mimics most of what we say and is starting to talk in 2-3 word sentences. My favorite sentence of his is, "I love you". It is music to my ears and we try to get him to say it at least a dozen times a day!
In addition to talking he loves to sing. Both grandma's have spent time teaching him their favorite songs, and we often find him singing to himself or to anyone who will listen throughout the day. Here are the songs he can sing most of/part of: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ABC's, 5 little Monkey's, Apples and Bananas, Happy Birthday, Zacchaeus, and Ba Ba Black Sheep. He has also started repeating any song on the radio that has an easy tune and repetitive lyrics. It cracks us up every time he breaks out in song with Selena Gomez or Justin Bieber.
Now that Owen is talking pretty well, he is also becoming more opinionated and vocalizing it. We are trying to teach him how to use nice and kind words, but it has been a challenge. His favorite phrase right now is "go away". He says it when he is mad or playing. He also really struggles with sharing and is starting to have "favorite things" (more on those later). The other day, while we were at a friends house, he broke out in tears probably ten times because he had to share a toy or someone else had something he wanted. He is not normally that possessive, but he does have his moments.
Like I just mentioned, Owen has a variety of favorite things. Here is the list of things he loves right now:

cars, trucks, planes, and trains
sports: specifically basketball, football, and baseball
Curious George and Winnie the Pooh
Reading books on any of the above subjects!

His imagination with these toys has recently exploded as well and we love watching him play pretend with his monkeys or race his cars around the house making noises. Owen also loves building forts, playing chase, and anything that involves being outdoors.
Owen is also looking forward to baby brother showing up! He loves to give my belly hugs and kisses, and as of late, he has started telling me "baby out". It is hard to communicate the fact that baby still a good month or so left before he is ready to arrive. Time is a concept that is rather beyond him at this point.

It amazes us how quickly he is developing at this age. It seems that weekly he is expanding his vocabulary, thinking/problem solving skills, and gross motor movement. He is certainly hard for this very pregnant momma to keep up with!

Here is our attempt to get a picture for his birthday invites. It gives a little glimpse into our active little boy.

He started out in the chair for only a few moments

Then he decided it was time to get up and run

We got him to sit down again by offering chocolate chips. Here he is asking for one more.

However, It didn't take long before he ran again. We had to take a break to nurse a skinned knee.

But eventually we got a few smiles and steady poses.

Baby on the Way: 1st and 2nd Trimester

2012-05-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

I was looking back at old blog posts and realized pretty quickly that I have not blogged much about this pregnancy! When I was pregnant with Owen, I had so much time to write and think about being pregnant. I guess that is normal when you have no other children you are chasing. This time around, I still spend a good amount of time thinking about this precious little boy that is growing so quickly, but I unfortunately do not have nearly as much time to write about it. Since I am on a mission to catch up on the blog before Owen turns 2, I thought now was a great time to sit down and share some of the memories from this pregnancy before it is over!
When we found out we were pregnant again, we were thrilled! We had been praying and hoping for this little one since before Owen turned one, and we were so excited that they would be just two years apart. Both Luke and I have siblings two years younger than us, and we do enjoy that age spread. Now that we are nearing the reality of having two little ones so close in age, I must admit that I am a little more nervous about having such small little ones to look after at the same time. Owen is so incredibly active right now, and as I watch my good friend balance her toddler and newborn, I am reminded that newborns require so much hands on attention between nursing, naps, and diaper changing, not to mention the lack of sleep. Regardless, we are still excited, even if my head is spinning a little at the start.
The first trimester of this pregnancy was a bit rough. I was extremely sick, just as I was with Owen, and by the time we went to my first midwife appointment (at 8 weeks), I was ready for some relief. When I was pregnant with Owen, I lost a good 10-15 lbs during my first trimester and my sickness lasted until I was 23 weeks. I decided during that pregnancy to forgo any medication to help with the throwing up and nausea, because I thought it would end around the 12 week mark. Little did I know, that I my morning sickness likes to continue at least 1/2 way through the second trimester as well. At just 8 weeks, I could already tell that this pregnancy was going to be quite similar, and I was struggling with the thought of being sick and throwing up several times a day for 5 solid months. The midwife remembered how sick I was last time and decided to go ahead and prescribe some medication even though I hadn't really lost weight yet. It was enough to take off the edge and reduce how often I threw up, but it didn't completely take away the morning sickness. Fortunately, it was just what I needed to help me keep up with my active toddler and feel a little bit more normal.
When the second trimester rolled around, I realized pretty quickly that the morning sickness was going to last. However, despite that difficulty, I was so excited to feel the little flutters and kicks of this precious baby at 14 weeks. It was the perfect distraction from how sick I felt. I also started showing pretty early with this pregnancy which everyone said is pretty normal the second time around. By the time I hit 14 weeks I was mostly wearing my maternity clothes. As I mentioned earlier, my morning sickness decided to stick around well into my 23rd week again, and I remember wondering around week 20 if it was ever going to end! Fortunately, I am feeling pretty well now, other than the fact that I feel like the size of a whale. The best part of this stage is that our little boy has become incredibly active! After the issues we had with Owen's reduced fetal movement and his complications at delivery, I am so thankful for his kicks and squirms, even if they keep me awake at night. It is a blessed reminder that our baby boy is growing and strong.
We found out we were expecting a boy during my 21st week. Leading up to the ultrasound I felt like it was going to be a girl, and most everyone we knew thought the same. Luke was the sole holdout for a boy. Since Luke had a congenital heart defect as a child (that has since been healed), we have an echo ultrasound with each pregnancy between 20-24 weeks. This time around we had our echo before our big gender reveal appointment. We were a little surprised when the tech told us at our echo that she could tell us the gender a little early if we wanted to find out. Of course we said yes, and within a few moments she revealed that we were indeed expecting a baby boy! When she first said the word boy, I was a little stunned. I had been picturing Owen with a baby sister that he could dote on and protect. However, it was only a few moments before I was imagining life with two little boys. Owen was going to have a brother, and I was quickly becoming excited. My house will definitely be filled with days of rough housing, wrestling, running, and sports, and I am going to love it. As we have been talking about this baby boy, I can't wait for Owen and him to meet and grow up together. Owen does talk about baby brother often, and has lately decided it is time for him to get out of mommy's tummy and play. We have since had the gender confirmed at two other appointments so we are quite sure this little one is no doubt a boy.

Here is our sweet boy at 21 weeks

Here is our boy at 27.5 weeks

San Diego: Our last day

2012-04-24T19:27:00.003-07:00

We had one objective for our last day in San Diego: keep Owen awake until we boarded the plane at 3:00 pm! After our crazy flight down, we were hoping to get him to sleep for the entire flight home. His usual nap starts around 2:00 and while we were in San Diego he often fell asleep by 12:30. We knew it would be tough keeping him awake, but we were determined.
After we were all packed up, we decided to load the car and head to Seaport Village with our remaining time. It was a great way to spend an hour or so. We strolled around, looked at the aircraft carrier, and statues, and then walked around near the shops before we bought a lemonade and left. We had just enough time to drop Bekah back at her house, get gas, and turn in the rental car. I got hungry before we dropped off the car and we decided to grab something quick for me to eat. While I was grabbing some food, I left Owen and Luke in the car with strict instructions to keep him awake. By the time I got back out, Luke was looking up directions to Alamo on my phone, and Owen was passed out in the backseat. We went ahead and woke him up, and then listened to him cry for the rest of the drive. We managed to keep him awake while we waited for the plane and then boarded without any trouble. Just as we were about to take off, Owen crashed in my arms. He slept the ENTIRE way to Seattle and woke up as we taxied to the gate. It was glorious! Here are the last few pictures we took with my phone from our trip. It was hard to say goodbye to Bekah, but we are definitely excited for when we get to take two little boys down for our next visit!

This is what we returned home to!

San Diego: La Jolla and Tommy's

2012-04-24T18:43:00.000-07:00

Since we had such a late night on Saturday, we decided to keep Sunday pretty low key. Luke and Bekah let me sleep in while they got up with Owen. Then I took a turn with Owen while Luke took a quick nap. Bekah is pretty hard core and didn't take a nap at all. I can only hope she caught up on sleep after we left.

We had left the ER the night before with a prescription in hand, and it was decided that Luke and I would venture out to run the errands (my phone was also out of commission), while Bekah hung out at home with Owen and got ready for a scholarship interview she had later that day. I dropped Luke at the Verizon store with my phone so he could figure out what was wrong with it (I am not a fan of technology), and I took his phone and left to find the pharmacy.
I tried Target first, because they were the closest, only to find out they didn't carry the medicine the Dr. had prescribed at all. They directed me towards a Walgreens. When I got there, the pharmacist said not only do they not carry it, he was pretty sure that prescription was discontinued for kids a little while back. He said the last time he had a customer looking for it he was able to find some at CVS. The pharmacist graciously called over to the CVS and the clerk said they did have some in stock. Yay! I drove over to CVS, told them I had just come from Walgreens, and handed over my prescription. To my surprise the pharmacist said they didn't carry that medicine any longer. The clerk who had answered the phone overhead us talking and apologized. She had the medicine confused with something else.
Fortunately all three pharmacies were within a mile of each other so I hadn't gone to far out of my way hunting down medicine that didn't exist, but I was still a little frustrated that I couldn't get what I needed to help my baby with his rash. The pharmacist said to keep up with the Benadryl and call my pediatrician when I got home to see if they wanted to prescribe something else. Since we were leaving the next day, it didn't make sense to try and special order anything. I went back to Verizon to pick up Luke, only to find out he was still dealing with my phone issue. What was supposed to be a quick 30-45 minutes of errands had turned into an hour and half. Bekah had to leave for her interview shortly, so I left Luke there to figure things out and went back to pick up Owen.

Needless to say, the running around ate up most of our day, and when Bekah got home, it was already after three. We decided to make a quick trip to La Jolla so we could see the seals resting on the rocks, and then we were going to head over to Tommy's for a yummy burrito. La Jolla was a perfect way to end our day. We took a nice walk along the coast, got some great pictures, and saw the beginning of the sunset. We then drove over to Tommy's picked up dinner and went back to Bekah's to eat. Overall, Sunday turned out to be a pretty quiet day, despite all the craziness with my phone and the prescription.

* For those who are wondering, we did touch base with our pediatrician when we got back home. Since it had been a couple days since our ER visit, and Owen appeared to be improving, he decided to just have us continue with Benadryl until the major symptoms were gone.

Here are the pictures from our trip to La Jolla.

ER Visit

2012-04-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

While in San Diego, we made our first trip to the ER with Owen. During our trip to Seaworld on Thursday, we noticed that the back of his neck had started to get a little pink since we forgot to apply sunscreen to that area. We loaded him up with some sunscreen on that spot, which seemed to prevent the burn from getting any worse. Then, while we were at the beach on Friday, I started to notice that he was getting some little bumps over the small sunburn. We kept reapplying sunscreen hoping to stay on top of it, which in turn caused the sand to really stick to that part of his skin. By the end of our time at the beach the bumps seemed to be spreading down his back a little, but still mostly staying near where he had been burned. After we got home and gave him a bath, we decided to take a closer look to see if there was something more to the redness and bumps. Since we had come from 30 degrees and snowing, the weather seemed quite warm at 75, and we decided that it was probably just heat rash.
On Saturday while we were at the zoo we loaded him back up with sunscreen and tried to keep an eye on the rash.   We noticed that the rash had spread to his arms, chest, and most of his back. We were a little surprised, but thought maybe we had dressed him too warmly for bed the night before. By the end of our time at the zoo, the rash and moved had to his legs and seemed to be getting worse. We decided to keep him dressed lightly for bed still thinking the warm sun had caused the rash to get worse. However, by 10:30 he was awake and screaming. After trying to get him to calm down for about 30 minutes, we started to realize that this was more than a bad dream (he has had night terrors in that past) and that his skin was really sensitive to the touch. When we got his pj's off, we noticed that the rash had spread to almost his entire body, minus his diaper area, and had even started spreading to his ears and face. It was at that point we decided a trip to the ER was in order.
Although, we had been somewhat calm while we were trying to figure out what was going on, I started to get a little bit overwhelmed at the thought that this was more than heat rash, and I didn't know what was wrong with my baby. Needless to say, I wanted to get loaded up in the car and on our way as fast as possible. Unfortunately in my haste to get out the door, I headed to ER with my pjs and loaded Owen into his carseat in just his diaper with a blanket draped over him and his pj's stashed in my purse.   Luke and Bekah and their wits about them to put on actual clothes.
When we were finally ready to leave, we realized that none of us knew where a hospital was. Rather than head back inside, and ask Bekah's roommate's boyfriend (who is a firefighter) where to go, we decided to go ahead and call 911. Bekah made it very clear we were able to drive him to the ER ourselves, and that we simply needed directions. Owen was still crying pretty hard and definitely uncomfortable so when it came time to making a decision about going to the Children's hospital (which we didn't quite know how to get to) or going to the closest ER right off the freeway, we chose the latter.
When we got to the ER and up to the front desk, I couldn't answer the receptionist's questions and suddenly felt a rush of tears and heat run to my face. I looked at Luke hoping he would see my inability to talk, and just explain everything for me. I remember muttering a few phrases and then after being unable to provide Owen's social security number (reminder that I need to memorize it), we went ahead and took a seat.
We discovered that an ER on a Saturday night is quite an interesting place to be. One man had been in a bar fight, and was still clearly unable to feel the cuts and bruises on his face since he was still numb from the alcohol he had consumed. His buddies ordered pizza to be delivered to the ER during the wait and while he was in the back triage area he continually wandered around and went back to the lobby to chat with his friends, eat, and flirt with girls.  The nurses tried to get him to stay in one place since they were hoping to take him back for a CAT scan.
Another huge family that had been at a fiesta were ALL there because Grandma had fallen and broken her hip while at the party. When we arrived, I thought we would be waiting till morning since the ER was packed with people. Fortunately, we realized that half of the people in the room were from this one group all waiting on Grandma. At one point while Bekah was waiting for us, she was completely surrounded by the family and didn't quite know what to do.
After two hours of waiting in the lobby, we were finally called back to triage. At this point Owen had fallen back asleep. We were asked a couple questions by the same person from intake and then we proceeded to wait for about another hour. Finally the Dr. and nurse came in to see us. The Dr. took one look at Owen, heard our story, and promptly told us it was not heat rash but rather an allergic reaction to something. After asking us a ton of questions about what we had done over the past three days, we decided it was probably the spray-on sunscreen we had been applying to help him with his "heat rash".
Talk about a MAJOR parenting fail! I felt terrible. We had been making his rash worse for two and half days. Owen was such a trooper through it all. We decided he must have a pretty decent pain tolerance since he didn't really get irritable or lose it until the rash was covering about 90% of his body.
The Dr. ordered a shot of prednisone and benadryl, which took another 30-40 minutes to get, and then we were finally on our way. It was quite the night! Oh, and I forgot to mention this all took place on daylight savings so we lost an additional hour of sleep on top of the ER visit. By the time we made it back home we were exhausted and desperately needing sleep. However, Owen had slept for a good portion of our time at the ER so at 8 am he was up and ready for the day.

Here is a picture from our time in triage.  It was taken after the first visit from the Dr. It is hard to actually see how bad his rash really was.

San Diego: Zoo and Hodad's

2012-03-30T10:04:00.020-07:00

We decided to spend our entire Saturday at the San Diego Zoo. We have a membership to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, and we go there fairly frequently. Since I knew very little about the San Diego Zoo, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend a day there when we could easily go to the zoo back home. Luke, however, had heard from several coworkers that the zoo is completely worth the visit, and he was right! The zoo was amazing, and I am so glad we took the time to go.
We started our trip at the zoo with a bus tour. The tour was a 40 min bus ride all over the zoo grounds, and we were able to get some great views of the animals that would have been difficult to see from the regular exhibit area. The line to get on the bus was a bit of a wait, and by the end Owen was very anxious for his turn on the "big bus". He cheered quite loudly when he saw we were actually boarding. Unfortunately, he was pretty tired and fell asleep 10 min into the bus ride and missed most of the sights.

After our bus tour, we wandered around some of the exhibits and quickly realized this zoo was huge! We decided we needed to make a priority list for that day and make plans to come back on another trip to San Diego. We started with the gorillas and monkeys because Owen had been talking about them all morning. Sadly though, he fell back asleep in the stroller and only saw a few monkeys at the end.
However, he did wake up in time to see the hippos which was one of our favorite exhibits of the day. Not only can you view the hippos while they are on land, but they also have an underwater viewing area. The tank included a mama and baby hippo, and we loved watching the mom push the baby around and help it get to where it wanted to go.
From here we moved over to the panda exhibit since this is something we can't see in Seattle. It was quite busy and we had to wait in a short line in order to walk on a small walkway in front of the panda. We saw a couple pandas and then it was over. I am glad we went through the exhibit, but we did feel a little rushed.
After the pandas, we went to see some elephants and lions. The lions were a little difficult to see because they were hiding near the back of the exhibit. However, Owen really enjoyed playing on the elephant statues. He certainly could have stayed there for awhile.
Our final stop of the day was to the Polar Bears. They also had an underwater viewing area, and the bears were spending a good portion of time swimming around and playing in the water. Owen's favorite part of this stop was actually not the Polar bears, but rather the helicopter they had for kids play in. He waited so patiently for his turn, and then loved getting to play with the controls and sit in the cockpit. He is really becoming a planes, trains, and trucks fan!
Since we had to climb uphill to get to the Polar Bears, we decided to finish off our day by riding the skytram back to the entrance. Owen had been eying this flying device above us all day, and was excited for the trip. However, being the nervous mommy I can be, I held on tight and really didn't want him to close to the edge. Overall, the day at the zoo was wonderful, and we will certainly go back on our next trip to SD.

After we got home from the zoo, we decided to head down to Hodad's for dinner in Ocean Beach. We had heard from Bekah and her parents about their monstrous burgers and amazing shakes. It is a tiny little place with a line out the door, but really fun experience. The burgers were great, but definitely unhealthy. The four of us shared a shake which was also amazing. It had a huge scoop of ice cream on top. It was a fun way to finish off a great day.

Zoo Pictures (a bit out of order)

Sunset at Ocean Beach

Dinner at Hodad's

San Diego: Cafe 222, Mission Beach, and Old Town

2012-03-27T19:58:00.020-07:00

Owen's sleeping schedule was just a bit off in San Diego. He decided to move his bedtime up to 7:30 pm and his wake up time to 5:30 am. Needless to say, we were all wide awake at a ridiculously early time on Friday morning. Bekah recommended we load into the car and head downtown to try out Cafe 222. Luke's Dad went to high school with the owner, and Bekah said the food was amazing. We heartily agree! I had some delicious french toast, Luke ordered banana bread french toast, and Bekah had an egg and spinach dish with potatoes on the side. Since Owen had already eaten breakfast at Bekah's house (he doesn't like to wait long after waking up to eat), we just ordered him a strawberry banana muffin. If you are planning a trip to San Diego, we would highly recommend a breakfast stop at Cafe 222. The prices were great and the food was wonderful. It might have to become tradition every time we visit Bekah.
After our filling breakfast, we got ready for the day, packed some lunch, beach toys, and chairs, and drove over to Mission Beach for the afternoon. The weather was just perfect for lounging around on the beach. Owen loved playing in the sand and building mini sand castles with Bekah. He also loved destroying said sandcastles over and over again. Next to us was a group of college guys who were throwing a football around. Owen was so incredibly jealous of their ball and desperately wanted to join in on the big boy fun. After we ate lunch, Luke took him up to the vendors to buy his very own football, which Owen loves and still plays with daily now that we are home. Despite all the fun in the sand, Owen was completely fearful of the water. The small waves that rolled in made him nervous and he really didn't like how cold it was. After a little coercing, we finally got him to touch his toes in the water for a brief moment. We wrapped up our day on the beach with a walk up the boardwalk and quick stop for ice cream.
That evening we met up with Bekah's friend Jen for dinner in old town. We tried out a Mexican restaurant we had found online online that bragged about their warm tortillas. The meal was good, but not really great. When we left we weren't completely convinced it was the best Mexican food around. Maybe next time we will have to try out a different spot in Old Town.

Owen playing in the sand

Owen has spotted the football!

Still jealous . . . Finally, success!

Owen's adventure into the water

He didn't want to be near it, but at the same time felt he needed to keep an eye on it just in case it crept up on him again.

So scared of the ocean

Time to head to higher ground

This was baby's first trip to Mission Beach as well (20 week bump)

The product of a fun day at the beach: one very sandy little boy!