Rundown.

December 23rd.
James worked while the boys and I finished wrapping gifts. Went to the Bell's and had our traditional Mexican feast with my parents, Lance and Kristen and Margaret and Eric. Opened presents one person at a time. Lots of toys and clothes. Then we came home and put out cookies and milk for Santa and wrote him a note. Boys went down about 9 and then "Santa" and I were up until 1am putting together the train table while we watched "Deck the Halls". Well, "Santa" did the work, I supervised and made muffins:)
December 24th.
Woke up at 6:30, well actually had already been up at 4:09 with the dog... at 6:30 made sure the house was nice and festive, started a fire but before made ash footprints from the fireplace to the Christmas tree.
7:00- Jojo and Grandpa arrive and we get the boys up to see what Santa had brought and they loved it all. Ate kolaches and coffee cake, James read from Luke 2,we did advent and then opened our presents from each other. Played with toys, Graham napped, Keller went home with Jojo for a while, James and I tried to nap, packed, cleaned up, packed the van, took Ruby to Jojo's, went to the bank, ate lunch at McAlister's, returned a few things at the mall, relished that it was snowing in Waco on Christmas eve, drove in the snow and wind to Houston.
Arrived to Houston about 4:30. Played with the cousins, ate Chili, got in the back of Pawpaw's truck with blankets, gloves, hot chocolate and went around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights.
Went to bed around 8:30 because did not get much sleep the night before.
December 25th.
7:30- Christmas with the Walker's. Pawpaw read the Christmas story, opened presents, mommy was a little out of it because of the Benadryl I had taken the night before. Played played played. I took a nap while the playing was happening and the big guys were putting together the gun case and new trampoline. Ate Ham and all the fixings. Went to see Alvin and the Chimpunk's with everyone minus Mimi, Pawpaw and Graham. Jumped on the trampoline, napped, played Monopoly with the teenage boys. Ate off and on all day long. Went to bed around 9:)
December 26th.
8-got a wonderful night's sleep! Ate breakfast, played, went to the mall with everyone:) Ate Mr. Ghatti's- which is probably one of my highlights. Napped, played, trampolined. Went to see Avatar with bro and sis in law- loved it which surprises me.
10 bed.
December 27th.
Went to church, packed up and left the munchkins with the in laws. Ate La Madeline at the Galleria, walked around a bit and decided that we needed a nap. Checked into our hotel, napped, showered and went shopping some more. Went to a fabulous wine bar, The Tasting Room-highly recommend. Shopped some more, ate dinner at PF Changs. Walked around and had a wonderful and romantic night out with the love of my life. Cheesecake Factory for dessert and in bed by 945.
December 28th.
Happy 30th birtday to me, slept til 830! Got up and went to breakfast at Panera with James. Spent time with Jesus and looked back on my 29th year and dreamed about my thirties.
Went back to the in laws and played with the boys. Had Sonic for lunch. Packed up. Picked up Charlie. Drove back to Waco. Unpacked. Picked up Ruby. Opened birthday presents. Ninfa's with parents, hubby and boys. Home on the couch with a fire, dog and husband. Finished off the night with some good ol' Gilmore Girls, in bed at 10.
If you are still reading this, thank you!

Got one.

Merry Christmas! Thank you God for the greatest gift ever!

Attempts.

Maybe this post will actually happen. Lots going on in the Walker house. Lots of birthdays, pine needles, poop! Yes that is what I said. From my 9 month old who is eating table food now and would eat all day if I let him, lots of poop from him. From my 3 year old who is "potty training" and I say training in the most loose term, sometimes it ends up in the elmo potty, sometimes in the undies, sometimes on the wall.... yesterday we were playing hide and go seek, well actually I would let him hide while I tried to fold a few items of clothes or wipe off the counters while he "hid" I mean you got to take advantage of those times. So when I finally went into his room to "find" him, his undies, pants and socks were laying on the floor, wet and he was covered up in his bed. "Hey Keller, did you have an accident?" "No mommy, I was waiting for you to find me in the closet and I had to tee tee but I was hiding and then I got tired." Whoops, guess I took it a little too far. Back to the poop, we got a dog and she poops outside! Ruby Noel joined our family last week and she is the sweetest dog there ever was. We rescued her from a kennel out in the country. She is Lab/Blue Heeler mix and is the prettiest and greatest gift. She is supposed to be the boys Christmas present but she has been mine too.
Pictures are of our attempt at a Christmas pic.

This character is almost 3.

I cannot believe my baby boy will be 3 years old this weekend. Wow. I hope to write a post on his actual birthday, but with my current blogging track record, not so sure that will happen. So I will write today. Keller Cade Walker, what a guy you are. You have the greatest personality in the world! You are fun loving, caring, tough, witty, precocious, tender, and just a complete joy to my life. Daddy and I come in to kiss you every night before we go to bed and still we both just smile and laugh at what a gift you are. My precious firstborn, I could already write a book about all that you are and all that I know you will become. I look forward to the next year with you. You amaze me and I love you my precious angel boy.

Plenty of excuses.

Not that I think anyone is crying that I have not blogged in 2 months but of course I feel guilty- why is that? Anywho, here is what has kept me from it.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

The first picture is of Keller's first day of Mother's Day Out last year and the second one was taken this morning. Wow, how my baby boy is growing! He is going twice a week this year and I think it is going to be great. He has awesome teachers and Keller thrives in social settings and needs some structure. I am looking forward to getting alone time with G baby who as you can see is eating solids-ish:) I am making my own baby food this time around something I did not do with Keller. I am enjoying it and have a nifty babycook contraption that steams and blends the food all in one. We are looking forward to the fall which is the busiest time of year for us.Here is what we are looking forward to-
* James has season tickets to the BU games with Brad so I will get to see my bestie Robyn for sure 6 times this fall since they will all come into town.
*It is also the birthday season in the Walker family so lot's of partying including my 30th birthday coming up in December, wowsas!
* We are going to see Thomas the Train in October who happens to be one of Keller's faves!
* The HOT fair, I am sure we will be going at least once!
* Lastly, I am so jazzed about a knitting class I am going to take! I have been wanting to learn for years so I finally signed up. I think it will be a nice outlet for me to do something by myself and learn a craft!
I just love the fall, it is my favorite time of year. I am excited to drink pumpkin spice latte's or at least Cafe Americano's with a shot of pumpkin spice, cook in the crockpot, watch Gilmore Girl's fall episodes, dress in warmer clothes, go for walks outside and get a little break from the gym, parades, football, fires, and on and on! Come on sweet fall, I am waiting....

kid #1.

Oh Keller, all I can say is that it is always extreme with Keller,always has been. We are either totally in sync, having a blast, the best of buds, or totally at odds-yikes. Maybe it is because we are both SO strong willed? He is in the throws of figuring out what he has control over and what he can get away with. I never want to say terrible two's because I don't want to speak that over my children, but we are fo' sho' having some terrible moments:)The picture of him eating is the little bite of salmon that he refused to eat and sat in his chair for 45 minutes bawling. Finally I told him that I would take a picture of him if he ate it- voila. What can I say, he loves the camera. He just melts my heart with that big grin and charm. I am so in love with this kid and he amazes me every day. We were driving by this scary looking carnival that was just thrown together in the middle of a field, a place that I would never take my children and I said, " look Keller, that is a yucky looking carnival," to that he responded, " no mommy, that is beautiful." HA!
He is still potty training:) we have got the tee tee down to an art, the poo poo is another story but we are taking it day by day. I did find poo all over his walls yesterday morning when I went to get him up, but I won't bore you....
The things Keller loves right now- Backyardigans, hearing made up stories by mommy and daddy, counting to 30, singing his ABC's and fighthing:) He wants to fight all day and with anything- swords, bats, balls, balloons, you name it, it is a weapon. He is such a boy. Smart as a whip and just too cute!

kid #2.

Keller put G's paci in upside down, but at least it's in!
There are too many things to say about my precious kids, I have to do 2 posts. Graham, oh Graham, he is such a delight. This baby is so darn cute, his little cheeks are probably imprinted with marks from my lips! He is doing so good, still trying to figure out sleep stuff but he is making strides. He is also teething which throws off the sleep thing but other than that, he is such an easy baby. His favorite things are- me:), watching his brother do anything, his pacifier and his fingers. He is rolling over like a mad man and is just growing. I love everything about Graham but one of my favorite things is his eyes- if you notice in the pics, they are always WIDE open. He is like that at all waking hours, like a deer in headlights and I love it. He has been such a sweet blessing to our family and I love that he is my son!

New's.

Pictures to come very soon.
1. Haircut. I did it, I got my haircut by someone new, first time in over 10 years and I love it. Tyler at Salon Evidence did a fabulous yet on the pricier side job of a cut and I can even style it myself!
2. Vehicle. We did, made the plunge we are officially in the club of owning a minivan and I could not be more happy! I love it! It is a green 2001 Honda Odyssey that we bought from my in laws who take amazing care of their cars. It feels like I added another room to the house it is so big a spacious. The only thing that was stopping us was my pride but since I am on a journey to get rid of pride in my life, I am happier and have a lot more room- ha take that pride!
3.clothes. I was desperate for clothes that fit me in my in between body so mom and I went on a spree. Instead of being miserable and wearing clothes that either are too tight or too big, I needed to spend a little money to have clothes that fit where I am at today. Even though it is not my ideal place, part of loving myself is being okay with the journey to the goal and I need clothes to fit for the journey:)
4. Potty training. Day 2 of being confined to the house while setting the timer on the oven every 30 minutes is in full swing. I kind of decided to do it on a whim, very like me by the way, and got the boys up from a nap on Tuesday and made a trip to Toys R Us. We have been testing the waters with Keller asking him leading questions ,bribing him etc. and none of it has seemed to work. Shout out to my dear Margaret, who called me and told me to turn on Dr. Phil on Tuesday because he was doing a special on potty training in a day. So I watched 10 minutes of it and made up my mind, we were going to give it a try. I am not shooting to have Keller trained in a day, I don't think that sounds realistic for us, but I am using some of ol' Philly's tips like- 1. going and buying Keller his own potty that he picks out as well as his own big boy underwear- came home with Elmo underwear and an Elmo potty that is bilingual. 2. Throwing a party for him when he goes in the potty-more on this a few sentences down. 3. letting him call one of his favorite characters from a show he loves... So the report is as follows- all of the Elmo undies have been washed at least once due to accidents. Elmo, who I used to think was kind of cute, now is on my must destroy list because Keller is obsessed with hearing Elmo tell him how proud he is of Keller and how to go potty in English and Spanish about 100 times a day. All of the balloons that I blew up for the party have already been destroyed because my 2 year old BOY decided it was more fun to play "fight" with the balloons then go potty and would not even sit on it while their balloons were around.All of it worth it though because we have had 1 poppy and 3 tee-tee's in the potty! Which means we have also been on the phone with Pablo, Uni qua, Tyrone, Tasha and Thomas quite a bit the last 48 hours IE- James and in a bind my mom to report that we have tee teed or poo-pooed in the potty. We took him to McDonald's for happy meal and ice cream last night to celebrate( I know yuck for adults). So we will see, I am not pressuring either one of us just seeing how it goes.
5. Roll over. Last but not least, my 4 month old bundle is officially rolling over and it the most delightful baby on the block.

Well...the time has come.

I have decided to make our blog private. By nature I am a trusting person but I decided with this that I would like to be in control of who is reading my thoughts and seeing pictures of my kids. So, if you are an avid reader, let me know and I will extend you and invitation. I guess the best way to do it is my emailing abellwalker@gmail.com. I will probably start doing the privacy thing by the end of the week so please let me know!

to be honest, I like to shake it with the other stay at home mom's.

double dose of a blog, first I was tagged to tell 10 honest things and an update on my new favorite thing to do.
first things first

1. about once a month I have to take a break from facebook because I can get ADDICTED! I use the excuse that as a stay at mom of two, it is my connection to the outside world.
2. I am watching the silly ol' bachelorette once again this season even though I told my husband that would not:) I just can't help my self- it's like a bad car wreck on the highway, you don't really want to look but you cannot help yourself.
3. I LOVE my two boys with all of my heart, and am so thankful daily for the privelege of being their mommy but I do hope we have a daughter one day.
4. I love hip hop music but because of the content of the material, usually can only listen to it in the car by myself, yeah right when does that happen. Maybe that is why I love Zumba.
5. I do a pretty good job of keeping my house clean but deep down, I would LOVE to have someone clean my house once a week so I could do other things like learn how to have a pretty yard, learn to sew and give myself to other places outside my home.
6. Up until my last month of pregnancy, my son rarely watched more than 30 minutes of tv a day, and honestly I prided myself on that-hmmm... not so much anymore. I find myself saying, oh he has only watched a hour and a half today, that is improvement:)
7. I eat chikfila number one without pickles, fries, chikfila sauce and coke zero almost once a week- and I wonder why I can't get those 15 pounds off?
8. I LOVE living in Waco. I don't care what anyone says, it is where I hope I live most of my life.
9. I cry almost every time I worship at church. I can be all over the place-dropping the kids off at nursery, chatting with friends, and one or two songs in, I am centered and full of thankfulness.
10. and I will start my second rant with the end of this- I LOVE ZUMBA!

The past month I have been able to get back into somewhat of a normal routine at the gym again. well a new craze has entered our little Waco Family Y. My first time I was a bit nervous, I mean I have rhythm but after my stint at working at a inner city camp back in college I realize how much I really cannot dance. So I stood in the back where I could not even see myself in the mirror. After an hour of moving my body in all sorts of ways I thought I could only do at Midnight Rodeo:), I was hooked. It is fun, the music is awesome, there are all types of people doing it and loving it. I even talked my awesome husband to come with me twice. I love that about him, he is so secure and fun! So I found a new way to listen to "Low", " You think your gangsta cause you did time..."etc. So for an hour a few times a week, I feel like 19 again, dancing at at Kappa Sig party- except that my big ol' nursing boobs are hitting me in the face!

cutie pies.

an honest post.

Can I be real for a moment? This is a hard stage in a young mother's life. Every day I say to myself, my body is not my own. From pregnancy, to nursing, to horsie rides and airplane and even nowadays my precious son purposely pulls my hair, pushes on me and hits me with some object everyday. I have bruises, scratches, stretch marks, varicose veins, cellulite(told you I was going to be real), and I look at myself in the mirror sometimes and think, what happened to the old me? To be honest, I struggled with being totally happy with "me" then. I mean, the normal insecurities- oh I wish my butt was smaller, I wish my arms were more tone, I wish I did not get that latin gene from my mother's side of the family that gave me good birthing hips etc. What I would give to have that old girl now. To wear those clothes and be in that skin but then I will probably be saying the same thing when I am 50 and going through menopause. So I try to be happy with the work in progress that I am in now but some days are harder than others. I want to have attainable goals and realistic ideals about health,weight and fitness. So there, I said it. I think. I am on a journey to the place I want to be. I will get there and it will be great and then I will get pregnant again and start all over.

I will get better at this...

maybe in a year! It has just been hard for me to sit down and blog, although I want to all of the time because life is anything but boring around here. Graham is 3 months old today and I can barely believe it. James and I went to visit our friends Lesley and Brett at the hospital last night to see their new baby Jane and we both walked out saying, phew glad that we are us and not them at this moment:) I think we are coming out of the fog now and really starting to settle into life with two kids. Graham is sleeping better and has become such a smiley and happy little guy. I kiss his face about a million times and day he is so darn cute. Keller is getting bigger also, really starting to look like a preschooler. Here are some recent pics of my treasures!

Where do I begin?

It has been forever since my last blog and I have good excuses-1. two kids keeping me very busy, 2. our computer has been down but we got it fixed this weekend.
So I will start with the latest. This weekend James and I took a 26 hour vacay to Dallas without the boys. My brave and fantastic parents kept both of my children- saints I know. Keeping up with a 2 1/2 year old will wear anyone out, but add to that a 9 week old who LOVES being held every single moment of the day and is still waking up at 3am for room service, that is alot of work for anyone. So my parents are such champs and are such a big reason that James and I have a great marriage- we get weekends away and dates! It was such a refreshing time. We left town after breakfast and headed to Dallas. We shopped a bit, went to the Mac store- that is a crazy place if you have never been. There is like a bazillion employees and they are all real eccentric, I was a bit out of my element but James loved it. Then we went and ate at Grimaldi's- this awesome pizza place in uptown that we found last year and loved. Then we shopped some more, then went to Sangria Tappa's bar for a little snack and some sangria- yum! Next we drove to Las Colinas to check into our awesome hotel that we pricelined and got a steal- The Omni in Las Colinas. Our room was on the 23rd floor overlooking this gorgeous lake and in the distance we could see the Dallas skyline. We napped and read and went and soaked in the hot tub outside while it was nice and cool. Got ready and went and ate at PF Changs for dinner and ended at the corner bakery for coffee and dessert. Are you seeing a trend? Lots of eating! We were asleep by 10 and besides having to get up once to pump (sorry guys) I got an awesome nights sleep. We woke up this morning and James went and got us breakfast and we ate in bed and then sat for a while journaling, reading and sipping our coffee in our robes. Packed up and headed back to town. It was just long enough too because I was ready to see my boys.

Mother's Day weekend was also wonderful. Saturday we bought a little pool for the backyard and spent most of the day outside. Then Sunday was baby dedication at church and it was so special since it was Mother's Day. Keller was dedicated to God on Mother's Day as well, so special. Then we went with my parents and had brunch. Came home and napped and then Mom and I went and saw a movie and ended the day with dinner at the folks house and the finale of the Amazing Race. I love being a mom and I love celebrating my mom, so it was such a fun day!

Kid updates- Keller amazes me with the things he says, he really is such a character. His daddy built him a fort for his bedroom- gulp, I am sure all of the mom's seeing these pics are thinking whoa, that looks a little dangerous, that is what I thought but it has not be so bad and Keller LOVES it. he wants to sleep in it most nights.
Graham is doing better. We found out he has heartburn/reflux and so he is taking zantac and that is making a world of difference. He is sleeping enough:) but we are trying to help him to stretch it out a bit.

We are slowly but surely figuring out life with two kids. It can be overwhelming at times and at other times my heart feels so full I think it will burst.

Today

1. I am so glad God's mercies are new every morning.
2. went on my first walk with Graham and felt so refreshed- I have missed exercise these past 6 weeks.
3. My baby is 6 weeks old today.
4. I am addicted to roasted garlic hummus from HEB.
5. I am sleepy but not exhausted.
6. I finally got a new mop and my kitchen floor looks amazing!
7. I love Thursday- one day closer to the weekend and Keller has Mother's Day Out.
8. I am dreading trying to find a bathing suit after being pregnant and nursing a baby- oh how the body changes.
9. I went to lunch with Mom today and sat by a pretty obnoxious little boy - throwing major fits. After about 10 minutes of his crying my mom and I were having a convo about Keller and I said, " blah blah blah, and he was so good." Mom replied, " Yeah, Keller is so good, unlike this little brat we are sitting next to." definitely loud enough for the mother to hear. Oh Mom, I love you.
10. I am looking forward to a weekend away with James in May- eating and sleeping is all that we have on the docket at this point. Happy Thursday!

From the foggy land of no sleep...

Wow life with two is non stop. I always think to myself during the day, "oh this would be a great blog story" and then I get here and I am just staring at the computer. The land of no sleep leaves me with about an 80 iq so bare with me during these weeks. Graham will be five weeks tomorrow and I can barely believe it. What a doll baby he is. He is having some sleep strugs so we are hoping to resolve them at least in a moderate way soon. I don't want to say that he has full blown colic but some definite signs of it. So I will take any advice from readers. He is starting to smile and it his heart melting. He loves to be held and will just snuggle into you- I think he may be a little more of a mamma's boy then my Keller who hardly ever snuggled but has actually become more of a snuggler as he gets older. Speaking of Keller, he gets cuter and cuter every day. Monday, he pinched his hand in my closet door and it drew blood, he was pretty painful looking. Of course I am nursing Graham as this happens and so I am trying to nurse baby, and comfort my toddler at the same time- a multitasking mom indeed! So yesterday I was asking him how his hand was and he told me, " I got punched." I said, " no baby you got pinched." SO now as soon as he sees someone,anyone, daddy, friends, the checkout lady at Target he says, " I got peeeeenched." Too cute.
Easter was super fun at my parents house. Lots of amazing food and a gorgeous turn out of a day for an Easter Egg hunt that we re did about 10 times. I love Easter 1. because it was such a big deal in my family growing up. We had a huge get together at my Aunt Ester's house with probably 15 cousins my age with the greatest back yard for a hunt. Horshoes, bar b que, so much fun. I wish we had that tradition still but every one kind of does there own thing now. And I love Easter more than ever because what a precious gift we have recieved in Jesus. I was struck by the Hebrews scripture then other morning- " for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of God." The joy of reconciliation and the joy of getting to be near his Father once again for eternity. Jesus is the greatest!

My guys.