First Photo Session

I took Andrew to meet with a photographer back in May and the pics came in today. This photo session was part of a "themed session" that she does each month. This session was called Grease Monkey and it was in a big shop and he was surrounded with tools and fake grease (chocolate syrup) and big tires. It was a long drive to get there and he was still sleepy for almost the entire shoot. There are some cute pics that she got - they are below.

Church and McDonald's

Jeff and I brought Andrew to church-daycare for the first time this morning. In the past, we have brought him in to the service with us or sat in the cry-room of the church instead of dropping him off at the daycare that is provided. It's been one of those areas of letting go that I'm finally totally comfortable with. Not to mention, the last time I brought him in to the service with me, he got so mad and screamed as loud as I've ever heard a child scream. I quickly exited the service holding him in my arms as he let out another scream as though I was pinching him. At that point, I was in the hallway of the church and knew that since I could still hear the sermon, they could definitely still hear my child. So, I took off running in high heels holding this kid and darting as fast as I could for the exits. I finally got him outside when Jeff came running out too saying how people were staring and laughing - it was traumatic for the entire family . We did not go to church for a few months after that.

After our very successful day of church and church day-care, we decided that a trip to McDonald's was exactly what we needed. Originally we decided that a trip to Breadwinner's was what we needed but a big crowd and a sleepy baby brought us to our senses. So, we hit the closest McDonald's and decided today was the day we would try out the indoor play area of MickeyDees. Not that Andrew could play on the toys, but we knew he would enjoy watching the other kids playing and running around. So, Jeff and I put in our pretend earplugs and enjoyed breakfast surrounded by kids running and screaming all around us. Andrew really did get mesmerized by the whole thing - so it was worth it. We even got a few pictures of our big guy playing with a few things designed for the younger children...

Today was a great day for the Walker family. McDonald's, church and family time - Yay for Sundays!

Crawling and Teeth

Andrew has his first two teeth coming in. For a while he would not let us see them. Anytime we tried to pull his lip down, he would stick his tongue out and maneuvering around it was not going to happen without a struggle. Here is what they look like today.

They don't seem to bother him anymore and we have not seen any new ones sprouting yet so things are great around here. No bad moods, no fussy-ness other than being spoiled rotten by all the grandparents and readjusting to life with mommy and daddy not giving in to every little thing he demands. Who are we kidding, this kid has all of us wrapped around his finger. Hard not to be with the constant smiles and giggles. 

He is almost crawling now. He can get around just fine, except it's all backwards. He will move his way around the room in a backwards motion but I'm thinking that will turn in to full blown forward crawling within the next few weeks. It's going to be a completely different life at that point. One that I'm not trying to rush in to. Everyone seems to want him to crawl and I am perfectly content with my baby boy still being snuggled in my arms and staying just the way he is. It's all happening so fast - I miss each stage as it goes away and love each stage that he enters. I think that's just part of life. 

 

Bad Things In Threes And Money On Trees

Sunday night while we were sleeping, I started to dream about walking through a desert and thinking I may not make it through. I was so hot and was shedding clothes and looking everywhere for water. When I woke up, I realized that our Air Conditioner had stopped working. After picturing dollar signs flying out my window at the thought of having to repair my AC in the middle of June, I tried to imagine sleeping multiple nights in our home as we waited for the repairs to be complete. Our neighbors just recently had to replace their entire system and with the age of our home, it was likely that we were going to have to do the same. Needless to say, the rest of my night was not very peaceful.

It's funny to me how the saying "when it rains, it pours" and "bad things happen in threes" is so true. A few years ago our Hot Water heater burst and flooded our downstairs floors, the day after that a spring popped on our Garage door and required a full replacement and three days later some furniture delivery men broke spindles on our staircase and rammed a dresser through my wall. Now that set of three was worse than my current set of three. Out of the blue the other day, our refrigerator quit providing drinking water, our guest bathroom sink took over the job of the fridge and started giving water freely to the entire cabinet and ruining everything that was in it and on Sunday, the AC got fed up and quit.

My only response to things like this is to nervously laugh and pray that I don't have a breakdown in front of lots of people and be carted off to the loony bin. When I think that it is not possible for my shoulders to tense up any higher than my ears, these kinds of things happen and I end up walking around with a crick in my neck from the anxiety of not knowing the trick to growing money on trees. But, things have a way of just working out for us. I have numerous examples in our lives where our faith and blind hopefulness manages to get us to the other side of bad situations without much wear and tear.

I write this blog in a home that is cool and a pocket book that did not lose too much weight from fixing the problem, so that is one down. I bought a Brita water filter system to get us through the time with no Fridge water and the leaking sink will be fixed this weekend without the need for a plumber. Not too bad! Not all fixed, but completely acceptable work-arounds while the Walker family pinches pennies during Jeff's going back to school efforts.

Other than that, all is well here and we are doing great. No crawling yet, so things have not changed too much. Whew!

Ma-Ma - Posting a little late.

Andrew has said his first word and it's Ma-Ma! On Wednesday, May 26th when he was 6 months and 1 day old, our little one started saying MaMa. It's the most wonderful sound I've ever heard! I'd love to say he came about this on his own, but for the last few weeks, I've been leaning over him in his bed and on the changing table saying Mamamamamamamamamamaaaa over and over again hoping that he would figure it out. And, he did! I knew he was a pretty quick learner and a great imitator, so I figured what the heck. And, it worked! Now, I'm on to Dadadadadadaaa. We'll see how long he takes to figure that one out.

Andrew's First Swim

Yesterday was the perfect day to introduce Andrew to the pool. Jeff turned the pool heater on yesterday morning to get it warmed up a little. I played tennis and when I got back Jeff and I watched the World Cup USA vs UK game and then it was time to go swimming! Lathered in 100 SPF, a "swimming diaper", a cool hat and a raft, we hit the door with a child who had no idea what was coming. But as usual, he was all smiles.

I was in charge of video and camera while Daddy and Andrew got in the pool. Turns out - Andrew is a huge fan of the pool. No tears, lots of splashing and even some laid back relaxing time on his new raft. We definitely have a water-baby on our hands. We are thrilled! Here are some pics of Andrew's first time in the pool.

Jeff putting Andrew in to the raft for the first time. 

A little look of uncertainty - but it passed pretty quickly. 

Yep - He likes it.

Laid back on the raft "just chillin"

All done!

We had a great time in the pool and the first time swimming was a huge success!

Growing Up So Fast

For the last few weeks, Andrew has been perfecting the "sit on your own" game. He has it figured out. Here are a few pictures of him at a BBQ that we attended last week.

I think the smirk is funny. 

He was pretty much done with picture time at that point.