Roar!

Pappy and Andrew having some fun.

Retirement Surprise

My mom retired last Friday, July 1st after 37 years of working in Education. She started as a teacher and worked her way up to Assistant Principal, Principal and then finally for the last several years has been working in a position reporting directly to the Superintendent. She has had a wonderful career and had a hard time making the decision to hang up her hat and take a break. The road to retirement has been emotional for my mom and the send-off she was given by her colleagues was so touching to her and made such lasting memories.

In that same spirit, I decided that I wanted to surprise her on her very last day by showing up at her retirement dinner. Jeff and I moved things around and I worked with several people to ensure child care, a middle of the night hotel arrival and increased reservations at the restaurant. We managed to plan the entire thing without my mom ever getting wind of it.

As she arrived to the restaurant in Baton Rouge with my dad and my aunts and uncles, Jeff and I were sitting at their table. Her reaction to our surprise was priceless (not to mention my Dad's shock and awe as well). It went off without a hitch and we got to spend the entire weekend with them to kick off her new 'easy life'.

Congrats to my mom for such a huge accomplishment,  a great career and a chance to relax a little and enjoy a much needed break!

And then there were two

I made a decision today. Hands on hips.

No drum roll is necessary because it's rather boring. 

Basically, I've decided that I'm starting another blog.

My reason for starting this blog was to have something that Andrew could look back on and see our family and life as he was growing up. Pictures of him, updates on him and fun stories of our family and what life is like with us as the years go by. Kind of a 'baby book' for non-crafty people like myself.

I will continue this. I love writing this blog and posting pictures and updating friends and family on my favorite people in the whole world.

But, there is an entirely 'other' side of me that tends to want to ramble on and on about things that have nothing to do with our family. I have held off time and time again on putting these types of things on our family blog because it has nothing to do with us as a whole.

In true Sesame Street fashion, my new blog is called TwinkleThink.blogspot.com. For those of you who don't have the pleasure of watching Sesame Street 5 times a week, Twinkle Thinking is from a segment called Abby's Flying Fairy School. Each episode the group is called on to solve a problem and to do so they must put their heads together and Twinkle Think.

The SesameStreet website says: During each "twinkle think" moment the characters use logic, reasoning, and a helping hand as they think out loud and analyze information to find innovative solutions to their problems.

I can't promise logic or reasoning but maybe a few innovative solutions.

For those people (like my mom) who think I'm already entirely too open about my life, this new blog may be the very last thing you want to read. I will likely use 'creative language, self-deprecating humor, make fun of people and pick on my husband."

For those of you who are just here to look at the pictures...here is a cute picture of my kiddo using chopsticks. :-)

Cute Pic From Tonight

Andrew came home from school today in yellow bloomers due to "another" blow out of his diaper at school. So, by dinner time, we were in diaper only watching Yo Gabba Gabba. He was having a ball and I could not resist taking some candid photos. Just for a split second - he stopped all the jumping and dancing and posed for mommy. I think it's pretty darn good.

Where did the time go? 18 Months Later...

Day 1

 Andrew hit his 18 month mark on May 25th. It's amazing to me that it has only been a year and a half since we met this amazing baby boy. At the same time, I can say that it feels like time is flying by and just yesterday he was this tiny little baby. I remember his first smile, his first bath, his first time with solid foods like they were all just yesterday. I remember when I realized that I have an extremely happy baby that could spend his entire life laughing and never get tired of it. I also remember when I realized that my very happy baby was going to be extremely independent with a strong personality. We are so blessed to have the child that we do. He is a very good baby. He is lovable, playful, intelligent and has, by far, the cutest round belly that he sticks out when he walks.

6 Months Old

I've never loved anything the way that I love Andrew. It's so pure and unconditional. He is the light of my life. I can honestly say that the decisions I make for my life today revolve around whether I'd be proud for Andrew to know I made that decision and be proud if he made the same decision as an adult. That type of accountability is good to have and it keeps the message to him strong and consistent.
 

1 Year

As I watch him grow and evolve in to the boy and then man that he will be, I am so filled with excitement for the future. That being said, I want to freeze time to stop him from getting so big so fast. He is ready to take on the world and ready to do it on his terms. I am going to have to remain strong and consistent in my lessons and teachings to him because he is a sponge just taking it all in and waiting for his chance to experience it.

18 Months Old - Still Laughing!

I thank God every day for this boy. He changed my life at the core and I can't be more grateful for that. He is my love, my inspiration and the key to this family. He keeps us strong, keeps us working towards a better life and he keeps us focused on what matters most. We are a family.  A family that keeps laughing, keeps learning and keeps wanting to enjoy even the smallest and most sincere moments together. That is the priority.

Mommy and Daddy are very proud to be your parents and we can't wait to see what each new day brings with you in our lives.We love you Andrew Grayson Walker!

Our Anniversary

Jeff and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on May 11th. We had great plans for how we were going to spend our day together. It was going to be a wonderful day where we slowed down a bit and actually celebrated us. I was very much looking forward to our day and then our evening at Steve Fields for a good steak and wine. Andrew, on the other hand, had absolutely no intention of letting this day of love and fun occur. He was sent home on Tuesday from daycare due to being sick and managed to hold on to the funk through Wednesday, the big 5 year anniversary day. Our day of fun was actually spent taking care of him and trying to make him feel better. He slept a lot which tied us to the house, but we made the best of it. We napped, watched tv, relaxed and were still able to spend the day together. So, actually, it was perfect!

By the evening, Andrew was feeling better and Jennifer came over to babysit so that Jeff and I could go to enjoy our big dinner. We started our evening at RA Sushi for an "appetizer/lunch" sushi roll and a happy hour beer. We left there and went over to Steve Fields for our 7:30 reservation. We enjoyed a wonderful bottle of Italian wine, crab cakes, fish, a pork chop and dessert. We had the SAME waiter and table as we did the year before when we went to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. We thought that was pretty ironic.

At the end of our meal, our waitress informed us that our friends David and Sandi had called prior to us getting there and asked them to wish us a Happy Anniversary. They paid for our appetizers and dessert. It was so unexpected and we were so grateful to them for thinking of us on our special day. We are truly blessed to have such great friends in our lives!

All in all, it was the perfect day. Even though it did not go as originally planned, it was still great!

Jeff and I don't get to spend as much time alone together as we used to - whether it is his school demands, my work demands or the Drewster's demands, we are constantly on the go. Often, I get these great reminders of how much we have been through together, how much we love and support each other and how blessed we are as a couple. We have a connection that many couples don't get to experience and I look forward to where our lives are going. No matter what, we are going together.

I love you Jeff! Happy Anniversary!!

The Confetti King

Easter Sunday was fantastic and Andrew had so much fun playing with Granny, Pappy And Uncle Matt that he may not have even noticed the Easter Bunny's surprises without some set-up from us. While they went on a walk, Jeff and I set up his hunt for eggs and his basket from the Easter Bunny at the front door so that he could not miss it on his way back inside.

Granny and Andrew walking to the park.

Andrew attacking and taking down Uncle Matt

Back from the park to find that the Easter Bunny has left a surprise!

Realizing he is surrounded by eggs and has a lot to do.

Not wanting much to do with Mommy right now - he was way too busy.

Once we got back inside, Andrew wanted to open all the eggs and get all the candy out of them. He does not really eat the candy, but seems to enjoy throwing it around. It was then that I realized I made a huge mistake with some of the eggs. You see, Aunt Jennifer had brought Andrew an amazing personalized Easter Basket and Backpack full of goodies the day before. Part of those goodies included Confetti Eggs (the kind we used to make in elementary school that was an egg shell full of confetti with a piece of paper taped over the top). Well, in an effort to make the yard full of eggs, the 'Easter Bunny' used those eggs too and so they ended up in the "open-to-empty" pile. Here is what ended up happening...

This was early in the process - it is already in his hair.

He is having a great time.

It has started to spread all around him.

The emptying of the confetti - in action.

I'm still sweeping up confetti and found it in his hair hours later. But, I can say that he had a wonderful Easter weekend and has a new found love for Egg Hunts and Confetti.