The Rushing Family

Home Sweet Home

2011-02-09T12:11:00.001-08:00

This will be long so bear with me...Over a year ago Marcus and I started looking at houses. We LOVED our current home but we needed a little more room inside and out.
When we bought our home we "gutted" the backyard. We installed a fountain, tons of river rock and stone, added a pond, a ditch to help with drainage and built an outdoor kitchen.

A couple of months later we found out we would be welcoming a baby the next year. Our backyard was/is beautiful but it's NOT kid friendly. Walker has fallen so many times on the stone, the fountain, ditch and landscaping make it impossible for him to play in the backyard. He can only ride his toys in a circle and I'm terrified he is going to fall into the pond. The inside of our house is wonderful and I know that people live in much smaller homes than what we live in however we only have three bedrooms. If my parents lived ten minutes from here three bedrooms wouldn't be an issue but they live almost two hours away. When they come to visit us they have no where to sleep. My brother has stayed with us a couple of times but he has to sleep on an air mattress. He is almost 6 feet tall and weighs WELL over 200 pounds. It's not comfortable. I want my parents and brother to be able to come and spend the night and feel at home. With the toys, my elliptical and a closet full of hunting gear setting up a bed in the third bedroom isn't an option.
These plus many more reasons made us want an extra bedroom, a bigger kid friendly yard but we didn't want to be in the poor house. Marcus and I promised each other when we got married that we would NEVER be house poor. I want to enjoy my home and not be be scared every single month when the mortgage comes due. Don't get me wrong there have been months when that has happened but God has provided and never once has our house note gone unpaid. Still I don't want it to be a constant issue. I also want to continue to stay home with my kid(s). I never thought I would enjoy it but I do. I LOVE spending time with Walker. I know it's not for everyone and there are days when it isn't for me but the majority of time I can't imagine being somewhere else. I want to do this with any children we have in the future.
So we made a list of things we wanted in a new home:
-4 bedrooms or more(this would allow us to expand our family and allow my parents to stay overnight)
-a workshop in the back
-something we can afford even on the months when work is slow
and
-something that needed a little fixing up.
We considered building. After all Marcus owns a construction company and works with some of the BEST builders in the state but we knew if we lived to see our grandchildren our next home probably wouldn't be our last. We wanted to hold off on building until we were positive about the kind of home we wanted. So after some consideration we decided to do something similar to what my brother in law David did...buy a fixer upper, do all the work ourselves, live in it for a few years and then sell it. This would allow us to put a LARGE down payment on our "dream home". Marcus is very talented and because he is able to do so much himself, get materials at cost and has several other friends in the business who have offered their time to us we knew that buying a fixer upper would allow us to get more for our money.
We looked at probably fifty houses. Everything was either was out of our price range, had a terrible yard, was in the middle of nowhere or was in such bad shape that the resale on it wouldn't be worth fixing it up. We had pretty much accepted the fact that we wouldn't be able to find anything and had started trying to figure out other options such as converting the back porch to a playroom and renting a storage building for Marcus' tools.
About four weeks ago we went over to Marcus' parents house and his dad showed us a few things on MLS, he is our realtor after all :). We didn't see anything and ate dinner. After dinner we checked MLS one more time and there it was!!!! Our "dream home"! I tried not to get too excited. It had more bedrooms than we planned on, a HUGE yard perfect for Walker and a workshop. On top of all that it was a foreclosure, it was in our price range and it was in the same neighborhood as my in laws. It was nine o'clock at night and freezing cold but luckily our realtor can't tell me no and was happy to drive us over. We got out with flashlights and looked over the outside but there was no way to see the interior. Marcus, Walker and I headed home. Marcus and I didn't sleep a wink that night. We decided that we would start praying about this and praying about it daily. We had prayed in the past but not consistently. While we were so excited we could hardly stand it we knew a lot of things had to happen in order for us to one day call this house home. Our current house had to sell first and foremost, we had to make sure the house wasn't in horrible shape or beyond repair(that has happened so many times!) and we had to get approved for a mortgage. The next day my father in law got the code to get in. My in laws looked at it before we got there so when I walked in their back door I said,"Is it worth my time?". So many times it hasn't been. My father in law smiled from ear to ear and nodded. My mother in law came around the corner and said,"It's great! It's PERFECT!". Boy was she right. We walked through it and it had everything we wanted. We went in a bedroom upstairs and Walker, without even knowing that we were considering living in this house, Walker says,"This is my room. Where are my toys?". Cosmetically the house was awful. The tile was terrible, the paint was terrible, the light fixtures were the pits and the carpet looked like people had dumped a load of dirt on it. The wood floors were scratched beyond repair and there were other issues but they were all things that we could fix and fix at cost. Every repair Marcus could do himself. We left on cloud nine.
I went to Wal Mart a couple of days later and bought a for sale by owner sign for our yard. We stuck in the yard on a Thursday night with a few flyers and waited....Not a single phone call. I posted it on facebook and had two people interested but nothing definite. We prayed. I prayed a lot! Monday came and went and we prepared ourselves that it may take a while for the house to sell and by that time our "dream house" would be gone. Still we prayed. Tuesday morning I took Walker to MDO and headed to the grocery store. While I was there Marcus called and said someone wanted to look at it in THIRTY MINUTES!!!!! Luckily I had cleaned it because my father in law was going to try and show it that afternoon but I wasn't clean. No makeup, hair greasy and in a pony tail and my clothes looked like I slept in them. I raced home and then it hit me...I knew whoever I sold my house to would effect so many people. I love the people on my street. Some of them are my closest friends. I didn't want to be the person who sold their house to a drug dealer and upset all the neighbors, especially when these neighbors were my friends. When I saw the car pull up I prayed that who ever was driving it would be a decent person. A very attractive older lady and a man stepped out. She came in introduced herself and looked around. She said,"I love it! It's perfect!" my heart jumped for joy then her friend said,"You have said that about EVERY house you've seen!" my heart sank. She said she was going to look at another one but would call us back. I knew how that worked because I have said it twenty times at homes we have looked at and never once called back. I locked the door and set out to finish my grocery shopping. Even if she wanted it she would have to sell her home I assumed and by then the other house would be gone. I called Marcus told him she liked it but not to expect anything and went on about my business. I felt at peace about whatever happened. Forty five minutes later Marcus called! Now I know my husband and when he is excited about something he CAN NOT HIDE IT! It's almost like you can hear him smiling through the phone. So he said,"Babe, she wants it! She is offering us full price and she has CASH!!!!". I almost fainted. I knew God had done this at that very moment. Even if the house we wanted wasn't going to be ours God wanted us out of this one. Phone calls were made and we found out that her house was already sold, she was closing in two weeks and she wanted to be in ours ASAP. Still I tried not to get too excited. I prayed some more and only told some of my closest friends. We started making plans to move out.
We put an offer in on our dream home and waited. The realtor called back and said there was another offer already but they would consider our offer. We rushed to get the paper work in and then we waited and waited and waited. In the meantime the lady called back and said she wanted to purchase some of our furniture. The realtor gave me the list....EVERY single item she asked for were items that we had NO room for in the new house. It was like it was one more sign from God saying here you go, it's gonna work, just be patient.
Finally the other realtor called and said they had accepted our offer but needed to make some changes. We were thrilled but knew that it wasn't for sure. Three weeks we waited to find out if we would get the house. I know some people wait longer than that but when your moving out of your current home and don't know if your going to have another home to go to it makes for a VERY LONG three weeks.
Today we got the call we had been waiting on! They had signed the contract and we had a closing date. I cried tears of joy! I know it's just a house and home is anywhere you make it...that's not where the tears came from. I was crying because God made all of this so clear. We prayed, He answered and He made it evident. I have been so humbled by how He has worked in all of this. After I posted it on Facebook I received a message from a friend and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing this...She said she and her husband had looked at our "dream home" several times but never felt at peace about buying it. She said now she knew why...Because the house was meant for us and she was so happy for us. She can't imagine how that touched my heart.
I firmly believe that when you have a relationship with Jesus Christ and you turn everything over to him he will handle it but giving it completely to Him is easier said than done. I am very controlling and impatient. Sometimes I feel like God doesn't work fast enough for me. In the past I would have prayed, "God please give us this house!". This time I prayed "God I am handing this over to you. If it is your will that we have this home so be it if not I know it's because you have other things in store for us and I will accept that. Just show me what you want me to do for the best interest of my family and what glorifies you". I didn't want to buy this house because we wanted it. I wanted to buy this house if God wanted it for us. Proverbs 10:22 says "The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it". Stormie Omartian writes in Power of a Praying Wife that "God's desire is to bless those who have obedient, grateful, and giving hearts, whose treasure is in the Lord". I believe that. I don't want my treasure to be this home we have been blessed with...I want this home to be an example of the treasure I have in Jesus Christ. I am a sinner and I am so far from the person God wants me to be as a wife, mother, friend and follower of him but I know that without Him I will never be the person He desires me to be. Marcus and I have made some changes in our lives and they are changes that we believe will bring us a closer relationship with Christ. I believe when God works in your life you should tell others about it. I'm not saying that if you start praying for a million dollars God is going to give it to you. Only He knows if you can handle the responsibility that comes with that. I do believe that if you pray and turn it over to Him completely He will comfort you throughout the process and give you a peace that passes all understanding.
I rely on prayer so much. I don't have the prayer life with God I want yet but I am working on that. I know that prayer brings you closer to him and allows you to have intimacy with Him you wouldn't have without it. Our ladies Bible study group is reading A Praying Life right now and I'm so excited about it!
We don't close until second week of March and a million things could happen between now then. A tornado could come through and knock the house off it's foundation or everything could go off without a hitch. No matter what I know it is God's plan. After all, this is just our temporary home it can never compare with our eternal home!

I will never talk smack about Auburn again

2011-01-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

I spent most of Monday night watching the National Championship. I was hoping Oregon would pull it off because I am an Ole Miss fan. You can't be an Ole Miss fan and pull for Auburn. Blame Tommy Tuberville. After sending some of my in-laws a few text messages that read "It's true money can buy you anything including a BCS national championship", yada, yada, yada...I crawled into bed. I needed sleep desperately. Walker had the stomach virus Saturday night and had finally stopped puking around 3 am Sunday morning. I felt sure by Monday night I wasn't going to catch it and inhaled five double stuff oreos and a glass of milk before saying my prayers and drifting off into la la land. I was wrong. I can only assume that my in laws have voodoo dolls and they wanted me to pay for my remarks about Auburn because at 3 am I woke up on the brink of death. Oh my word...I was so sick. I managed to find a bottle of phenergan and began popping them like pretzel m&m's. I puked my guts up until seven last night. It was so bad Marcus came home from work to watch Walker because he knew I couldn't handle it. I am finally seeing the light of day and it's as if Walker wants to punish me for missing one day of "work". He is begging me to take him to my parents house, telling me he doesn't like me anymore..you get my drift. I can barely focus enough to type this much less drive him to my parents house two hours from here. I am so close to going all Joan Crawford on him...Please oh please let today end soon....

O Christmas Tree

2011-01-03T07:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010 was the best so far! We were so busy but I enjoyed every minute of it. We had NINE family functions to go to the week of Christmas. I won't hit them all because honestly it would exhaust me to relive the whole thing. Christmas Eve was tons of fun at Mimi and Papaw's. The boys(Walker, Jake and Baker) filled the room with squeals of laughter and pretend gunfire. Hey it ain't Christmas in Mississippi unless three boys are running around saying things like, "I saw a buck coming down that ridge and I shot him in his guts" or "I see bad guys, lets shoot 'em and skin 'em". Thanks Micheal Waddell and Real Tree! My child wouldn't know what guts were if it weren't for you and the quality entertainment you provide.

After we got home from Mimi and Papaw's there was the daunting task of getting Walker to sleep. I don't know who slipped the methamphetamine in Walker's juice but he was like a cat on crack. I'm talking climbing the walls! Finally he drifted off into dreamland and Santa made his stop. It was all gravy until one of Santa's elves hacked off a string on the batman cave because as he put it,"I thought it was part of the box!". Well it wasn't and tears filled my eyes as I mouthed,"Great! You have ruined Christmas!!!!!". After I retreated to the bathroom and pulled myself together I realized I was suffering from exhaustion and buyer's remorse because it seriously looked an eighteen wheeler hauling a load to Toys R Us crashed into our living room. We managed to rig the batman cave and all was right with the world. After everything was set up I attempted to go to sleep. My attempt was in vain. I NEVER closed my eyes Christmas Eve. I was WAY too excited. You see there had been a swing set in my backyard for five days and I had managed to keep it hidden from W. I laid there imagining what his reaction would be when he saw it. I COULD not wait for him wake up Christmas morning. So finally at 5 am I crawled out of bed and showered, started breakfast and waited on my parents and brother to arrive(they get up at 5 and drive down here every Christmas morning to see what Santa brought W). We got the cameras set up and W finally walked out of his room. It was so much fun. He kept saying, "What is this?" and "Did Hanna Claus get this for me?".

It meant so much to me that my parents and brother were here. After he saw everything Santa left inside we went outside to surprise him with the swing set. It was PERFECT! I have watched the video at least a hundred times. He ran up it and said "It's so pretty!". Unfortunately it forty three degrees below zero so he didn't get to play long.

After we ate breakfast and got everything picked up we all went to my Mawmaw and Pawpaw's. By this time I was a zombie and was calling everyone by the wrong name. I had started to drool and my eyes kept rolling back in my head so I don't remember much. We then went back home for a nap and to prepare dinner. Mimi and Papaw came over to see what all Santa brought. After we finished dinner I went into the laundry room to get something and discovered that Santa forgot to put a present out. This present has been taking up every inch of free space I had in my laundry room(which isn't much) and for the last two weeks I all I could say when I walked in there was, "I can't wait for Santa to come so he can get this STUPID present outta here!!!". Well Santa is an idiot! Thank goodness Santa was able to drop it off at our front door before heading back to the North Pole. After that we got much needed sleep and woke up the next morning bright and early so we could go to Nonnie and Poppy's. They gave Walker a four wheeler and even more toys!

Walker finally finished up his Christmas there. For Christmas is a huge reminder of just how blessed we are. Not because we have tons of gifts laying everywhere but because we have a family that loves one another unconditionally and most importantly we have a Heavenly Father who loves us more than any family member ever could. HE loves us despite the fact that we are flawed and fail each day. HE is always there and HE is the reason for the season. It's taken me over a week to recover! I can't believe we do this all over again in less than twelve months!

Dear Santa

2010-12-17T21:07:00.000-08:00

I am counting down the days until Christmas!!! This year is going to be so much fun with Walker. He literally squeals with excitement when we talk about Santa Claus coming. He makes me read "The Night Before Christmas" and requests that I tell him the "Jesus Story" every night. This is the first year he has been able to tell us exactly what he wants for Christmas. This is his list in his words:
-A Mickey Mouse Fishing Pole from Bass Shop
-Batman Stuff
-Woody and Jessie
-A Big Ole Swing Set
I hope Santa brings him everything on his list.
Now Santa all I want is for my baby to stop growing up so fast.

Parenthood

2010-12-09T06:47:00.000-08:00

It's full of fun exciting things like first steps, first words, sweet slobbery kisses and lots of "I lub do mommy!".
For instance I took Walker to Clinton's Christmas parade Saturday night with our friends and he had a blast! It was his first parade and the marching bands were his favorite! We had a great time until I tried to leave early. Unfortunately for me we were at the end of the parade so when I set out to the parking lot so did the other twelve hundred people who had already seen everything. I won't go there though. I have worked very hard erasing the forty five minutes I spent sitting still in traffic so that I will take him again next year.

Clapping with the band

Avery and Walker

Chaney and Walker

It's also full of not so fun things like, dirty diapers that require squirting your kiddo down with a water hose(yes I have done this. There is no shame in my game), discipline and sick babies. Yesterday I got the experience the not so fun part. Tuesday afternoon we were all three in Marc's truck and Walker asked his daddy if he could have a bullet. Yeah Marc has been known to let Walker play with ammunition cause as he says "It's not dangerous unless he knocks it up against something really hard and in just the right spot....then it might blow up in his hand". Yeah that makes me feel much better. Here son have an entire case of bullets and let's throw in a rifle cause it's only dangerous if you load it and pull the trigger. MEN!!! Any who Walker was begging for a bullet so I tried to satisfy him by giving him a penny. We do this a lot, We give him spare change to put in his piggy bank and then he deposits it in his savings account. We also do this because he is a Rushing and if you know his daddy you know he loves making money and he loves spending money even more...I haven't ever been known to turn down a dollar so he gets it honest. So I give him the penny and oh the excitement! About sixty seconds later I hear Walker make a gagging sound. I look back and the penny is MIA. This is what follows
Me-"Walker give me the penny!"
Walker-"Mommy I can't!"
Me-"Why?"
Walker-"Cause it's in my throat!"
GRRRREEEAAATTT! I was an xray tech before I took my position as Walker's slave so I have seen tons of kids come in because they swallowed something. The mother's are frantic, the kid is screaming. You strip them down, force them to lay on a cold hard table, five people try to hold the kicking screaming kid down, you get the xray and the doctor says "Just go on home. It will pass through in 24 to 48 hours". So you have scarred the kid for life and have to pay out the whazoo because medical insurance is so stinking expensive you have had to raise you deductible to an ob seen amount and it's almost pointless to have insurance...but that's another post for another time. So to spare Walker the pain of another ER visit I asked my friends on facebook what I should do.....because I'm that kind of mom....I also googled it if that makes you feel better...and I was told to just wait it out. So Wednesday morning W wakes up and acts fine until Marc pulls out of the driveway. It is then and only then that he begins to double over in pain, vomit and go limp. I appreciate his confidence in me that I can handle an emergency situation by myself but I really wish he would do this while his daddy is still here so I can at least brush my teeth before we head out to see the doctor. So I call Dr. Myers and her nurse tells me to go straight to the Radiological Group and they will xray him. This is where the fun begins. I load W up and head out. I look in the back seat and he is falling asleep so I say his name and NOTHING!!! I then start screaming his name, he barely opens his eyes then goes right back out. Now I am alone on the interstate, flashers on and I get behind EVERY geriatric patient in Mississippi all on their way to have their annual colonoscopy. While I'm not positive this was the case, they were all over 70, in no hurry to get wherever they were going and they all turned into the Baptist Colonnades so I that's the only conclusion I can come up with. So I call my mom who is 2 hours away. Let me remind you that W is her ONLY grandchild and she literally turns into butter when he enters the room. So I am crying into the phone that I can't keep him awake and she tells me to roll down the window. This works and we make it to the Radiological Group. My mother on the other hand hangs up the phone, begins to go into cardiac arrest because, oh my word her precious angel is sick and she is miles and miles away. They do the xray and the penny is already on it's way out. So I tell Dr. Myers how lethargic W is and she tells us to come in. She knows how hyper he is. It's rumored that she has already moved up her retirement date because she knows she will make a pretty penny off all the visits W will require in the future to treat his ADD. I think she may have even bought some stock in Ritalin or maybe Adderall...We head to her office and as we pull in W says, "Me not need to see Dr, Myers. I feel better!" with his eyes half open and in an almost comatose state. Thank goodness I married a wonderful blue collar hard working fellow who thinks W and I hung the moon because Marc dropped everything and met us there. I'm pretty sure the panic in my voice was a sure sign that if I had to handle anything else alone I could possibly spend the rest of my life at Whitfield wearing a straight jacket. After checking him out and running a few test which all came back negative she said she thought it was just a virus with bad timing. So off to Kroger I went to stock up on chicken noodle soup, crackers and some over priced plastic dinosaurs because there is healing power in a new toy. Mimi and Papaw came over for dinner and we all rode around and looked at Christmas lights. Walker slept with us last night because my mother threatened to call DHS if I didn't let him. You know because with the regular monitor, video monitor and whopping fifteen feet that separate us I may not hear him cry. Finally at eleven we all three crawl in the bed for apparently what Marc and Walker had decided would be the "Snore Off of 2010". As if being kicked in the back while hanging onto the the side of the bed weren't enough I proceeded to lay their and listen to what I thought were foghorns sounding off for the next six hours.
After looking back through my parade pictures I discovered the one below...I can't help but wonder if he caught whatever he has from this toothbrush. Yeah it's one of those that they threw from a float. While it was wrapped in thin plastic it may have not been the best idea to let him gnaw on it. Maybe my mom should call DHS.

Not A Lot of Words

2010-12-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

Just a picture!

That I took, which makes it extra special to me! I know at that very moment that he was laughing at his daddy and me. I hope he always finds us funny!

Mini Photo Shoot

2010-11-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

I just finished my second photography class and wanted to try out my new skills ;) so Sunday after church we raced home, changed and headed to the entrance of our neighborhood to snap pics for our Christmas card. It was fun to try out everything I have learned. I still have so much to figure out especially in the editing department. Maybe one of you can direct my husband to this blog(he doesn't even know the name of it and only reads a post if I make him) and he will see that for Christmas I have a couple of things on my wish list...
This lens or if he reallys loves me and wants to show me I would gladly accept this lens. Oh be still my heart! I certianly wouldn't turn down either one...of course then that would blow my previous post about things we don't need right out the window wouldn't it? Oh a girl can dream right? Anyway back to the pictures I snapped. I set up the tripod and was able to get a few of all three of us in addition to some pretty cute ones of Walker. I have learned one thing in the last few months and that's take as many pictures as you can then go back later and delete the ones you don't want. In a thirty minute time span I probably took over 100 pictures and twelve of them were decent. Walker was a good sport and smiled a few times. Here are some of my favorites. I won't share my most favorite one yet because it is on our Christmas card.

Walker is two going on fourteen. Yesterday we were playing outside when I accidentally knocked one his tractors off his table. He looked at me and said,"that was not cool mom!". He has also started using the word "awesome" to describe everything.

A Slap in the Face Courtesy of God

2010-11-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

I usually try to keep this blog strictly about Walker so that I can reflect back on all the things he says and does but today is different.
Some of the women from our Sunday school class, including myself, recently finished a Bible study on the book Crazy Love. At the last bible study we discussed ways to help those less fortunate. Not just by providing food and clothing but also witnessing to them. Ultimately, we decided to participate as a class in the Second Harvest Ministry founded by our church. Yesterday my friend Erin and I went to check it out and get a list of the things they need done in order to provide for more families. I must say that when I walked in I was amazed, humbled and ridden with guilt all at the same time. I walked in wearing brand new shoes, jeans and a shirt while carrying a hot chocolate from McDonald's and have never been so embarrassed in my entire life. There were people waiting in line for food because they were hungry...while I sipped on hot chocolate I had purchased because I was killing some time before Erin and met. I didn't need it. I should have taken the $3 I spent on that drink and handed it to someone less fortunate so they could buy food that they NEED in order to survive. The shoes I had on I had bought because they were a "good deal" I couldn't pass it up or so I thought at the time....I should have taken that $35 and bought someone else a pair of shoes because their shoes had holes in them. The shirt and jeans I bought I didn't need. I have more clothes now than I can ever wear. I should have taken that money and bought someone a winter coat so that they don't freeze to death while they are living on the streets. I realized yesterday just how selfish I am. My child has a closet so full I can hardly get things in and out and Monday I was online ordering him more. It's disgusting. I read a post this morning by Pete Wilson and I was reminded once again how ungrateful I am to our God. How I hardly remember to thank him for the fact that I have food in the fridge and my heat is on. Sure I do the whole "thank you God for my many blessings" but when was the last time I thanked him for these things one by one. I can't tell you when because I have so much it would take hours and maybe even days of constant prayer to name them all. I take for granted so much and fail to do for others who don't have food, clothing or water. We had supper club last night with great friends and we discussed the Second Harvest Ministry and the people that they provide food and clothing for. We talked about how you want to give but you hesitate to because in the back of your mind you think "They could get a job if they wanted to" or "how do I know they aren't abusing the system". I think society has made us think this way because we are aware that so many people do take advantage of others. It's reality but I have to remind myself if that were me in that position and my child was at home starving I pray to God that no one would judge me or question my needs. I pray that they would just give out of the goodness of their hearts no questions asked.
We all have too much. I sit in a playroom right now surrounded by more toys than than 20 two years old kids could play with yet I have baby in the next room napping and he woke up crying this morning because he wanted to go to the store and buy another toy. I know he is only two but it's evident that he has been given too much already and it has to stop. He has to know the importance of giving to others and being thankful to God for the things he has. Yes he will still receive presents at Christmas but he will also give someone a present who wouldn't have one Christmas morning. He will know that he is giving it because God wants him to. It's so important that Marc and I start teaching him now to pay it forward and to know while daddy goes to work all day so that we can buy him these things, it's God he blesses Marc with each and every job. I'm pretty positive God isn't blessing us so we can keep it to ourselves and buy the nicest house in town one day with more rooms than we could EVER use or buy the nicest car on the lot. God is doing this so that we can give to others in HIS name. So that we can be a witness of just how wonderful our Lord and savior is and how by accepting him we have a gift that money can't buy and it's the most wonderful and important gift we can ever receive and that's eternal life in heaven. I pray that anyone who reads this will do exactly what I have done and that's step back and reevaluate your life. I'm not saying that you or I should take Friday's pay check and give it to a bum on the street(Unless you pray and feel that is what God is calling you to do) but I should take a portion of it and buy someone a hot meal or donate a bay of groceries to a local food pantry. I should do what God tells me to do with the money that HE gave me. I pray that God will show me how to give willingly and do it not because it makes me feel good on the inside but because it is what he commands me to do. Pete Wilson asked at the end of the post for people to comment and list something they were thankful for...One of the comments on Pete Wilson's blog was from a lady named Melanie and she said:"Shoes. This morning, I spoke in chapel at a local Christian elementary school. As part of my object lesson, I went through our home and collected every pair of shoes that we own, lined them up in our hallway, and took a picture of them. I expected that our family of 6 would have somewhere around 40-50 pairs. We had 82. 82 pairs of shoes for a family of 6 – and one member of our family isn’t even walking yet. I then contrasted that with a picture of a Kenyan child wearing a pair of tire shoes cobbled together with some rusty nails. It’s a pair of shoes that will never fit well and will possibly kill him if even one of the rusty nails punctures his foot. It’s hard to tell if my elementary audience got the point, but I sure did. We’re going to put a cap on the shoe buying here at Chez Freshour for a while and practice thankfulness for the footwear we do have."
Boy did that hit home. I am not going to say that I will never buy another new shirt or a piece of jewelry because I know I will but I pray God will remind me constantly of those who's needs are greater than mine and that I will act on it and I will do it in HIS HOLY NAME. Yesterday God slapped me across the face so to speak and I'm glad he did. I needed it!

What Month Is It?

2010-10-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

This month has been CRAZY busy for us and it's not even over yet. We have had so much FUN stuff going on. We took Walker to the fair and met David, Megan and their kiddos there. Then more of our friends met up with us. We had a blast!!! Walker rode the motorcycle ride SEVEN times! Walker thought he was really driving the motorcycle! It was hysterical.

He and I also rode a roller coaster ride together that was not fun at all. I hate roller coasters and I have no idea why I thought I would enjoy this one but I went for it and I regretted it. The look on Walker's face says it all! Sad part is this is before the ride even began :(

Walker and Marc went down the "big yellow slide" and I am stilling trying to figure out who liked it more. Marc or Walker.
We have had several birthday parties this month which have been super fun and still have another one to go to this month.
We also carved pumpkins this year for the first time ever. Walker enjoyed playing with the tiny saw that came with the carving kit. The kid loves anything dangerous. It was a nightmare trying to keep it away from him.

Unfortunately Pawpaw fell and broke his hip so I have spent a lot of time at the hospital with him and my grandmother. He had surgery and is now doing MUCH better! Glory to God!!! I am realizing more and more just how much Walker pays attention to what we say....After all the talk about Pawpaw being in the hospital he came up to me and said,"Mommy I will be right back. I gotta go to the hospital". I asked why and his response was,"My girlfriend broke her arm and I gotta go see her"! LOL!!! Walker has been so precious about the whole thing. We have prayed for Pawpaw several times a day every day. Tuesday I was taking him to MDO and I asked him if there was anything he wanted me to tell Pawpaw when I saw him that day and my precious baby responded,"No, just pray for him. Now mommy!". It was so sweet! He also asked me what I was reading the other day and I said it was a book about God.....His response was "I love God!". It's so amazing...I can teach him his ABC's and how to count but nothing warms my heart more than to hear him sing Jesus Loves Me or tell me about David and Goliath. I get so excited and emotional when I realize he is comprehending just how amazing our Heavenly Father is and I see that he desires to learn more. My prayer isn't that he will be the smartest kid in his class or the best athlete on the football field it's that he will have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
On a lighter note ;)
Walker has figured out how to climb out of his crib even with the mattress sitting on the floor so I guess a big boy bed is in our near future :( I am a little sad about this. It's like as long as he is in the crib he is still a baby. Of course I know even when he is forty, married and has kids if his own he will still be my baby but I just love seeing him snuggled up in his crib at night.
This is totally random but I want to make sure I put this here so when I finally decide to finish his baby book I will write it down. Marc's grandmother came over to visit a couple of weeks ago and we were talking about Christmas. She always gives Walker money as his gift which we deposit into his savings account. She asked Walker what he was going to do with all of his money one day and he replied,"Pay taxes!". I almost fell out! He has no idea just how right he is! ;)

It's The Little Things That Matter

2010-09-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

to Walker anyway. I spent two hours yesterday searching every inch of my house for a chainsaw. Weird I know. You would think a chainsaw would be easy to find but you see it's not your usual chainsaw. It's a chainsaw that it approximately 2 inches long.

Walker got sick last Tuesday and was diagnosed with strep that Thursday. While he was sick he received numerous gifts from his Nonnie and his Daddy. They seem to think that gifts will magically cure whatever ailment one is suffering from. It's highly unlikely these new toys cured his strep but all the gift giving did insure that he will fake some type of illness every other day so that he gets more. Anyway, one of those gifts was a four wheeler set from Bass Pro Shop and it contained the chainsaw pictured above. He has played with the chainsaw since Sunday morning. Taking it EVERYWHERE he goes. Monday morning at 3 am I was awoken to the sound of him screaming. Fearing that his fever was back I darted across the house and into his room only to find that there was no fever. He had just lost his chainsaw during the night. As soon as I found the ridiculously small toy and returned it to him he fell right to sleep. The thing is Walker loves little toys like this. He has been known to snatch a barbie accessory or two from his friend Avery when she isn't looking. He also usually only plays with toys that are "realistic" in appearance. He isn't crazy about Fisher Price Little People but he loves the Outdoor Adventure Play sets from Bass Pro.

(This is "boy" he is part of these adventure sets. There is a little plastic man that also comes with them and W has named him "Manny")
He is also obsessed with bolts, washers and screws.

(Look at that dirty hand! LOL!)
Everyday he will ask Marc or I to pick him up so he can look on Marc's shelf in the closet. This is so he can grab any leftover bolts, drill bits, etc that Marc has taken out of his pocket the night before.
These last two pics have zero to do with this post but I thought they were cute. Last Saturday after we got home from taking Walker to the doctor again I stopped at the grocery store hoping to find something he would eat. Well I did! LOL!

The Things You Say and Do

2010-09-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to write this post for some time now so that I won't forget any of this...Walker you are now 28 months old and are talking like crazy! Everywhere we go someone comments on how much you have to say. You can carry on a conversation with any adult or child. You mannerisms are so funny!

Just like your mother you talk with your hands CONSTANTLY! You keep one hand on your hip and tap your foot when your in deep thought or have something important to tell me.

You love for us to tell you stories and to read you stories from your devotional book. Your favorite story is Goldilocks and the Three Bears and your favorite Bible story is David and Goliath. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's your favorite because it involves a slingshot and shooting it at something. You are obsessed with deer hunting, camflauge and guns(not in a bad way) ;) Now at bedtime you try to get out of going to bed by first asking saying, "Mommy I wanna watcha moobie in your bed which you!" because you know I will say ok. Then when your daddy comes in and says that's enough it's bedtime you respond with, "Daddy I wanna watch deer hunting which you. PLEASE!" and he usually gives in. It's amazing that at only two you know how to be so manipulative. LOL! You also love to tell us stories and they usually start off like this, "One time when I was a whittle boy named Walker. It was Sunday and I put on my camAflauge and went deer huntin....". It's hysterical! For some reason you say that everything happens on a Sunday and you also tell us that everything cost $60. We have no idea why. You also NEED everything, "Mommy I NEEED this tractor, Mommy I NEEEED this cookie". It reminds me so much of your Daddy! HA! He seems to NEED hunting stuff all the time. When your daddy takes you to feed deer, you dump out the feed then yell, "Here deer! Deer?!". You also tell us that you bought everything...for instance you will pick up a toy and say,"Mommy I bought dis for you!".
Some of my favorite words that you mispronounce are-
Fridge-agator-Refridgerator
Camper-Camera
which-with
Cavin-Cabin
Hanna Clause-Santa Clause
Clubs-Gloves
GoldiClocks-Goldilocks
Wizard-Lizard
Dr. Coke-I assume this is a mixture of Dr. Pepper and Diet Coke since that's what your daddy and I order when we go out to eat and now when the waiter ask what you want Dr. Coke is you answer.
Pockcorn-Popcorn
Bena-Instead of Itta Bena
Unka-Uncle
When asked what your going to be when you grow up you say,"Dr. Rushing"
You have recently started calling me "Mom" a lot and you often shorten Poppy to "Pop"
Nonnie and Poppy have chickens or birds(not sure what category they fall under) that are called Guineas but you call them Skinnies. Now everyone in our family refers to them as skinnies even when your not around.
You still call our dog Cotton by "Cottee" even though you know it's not correct. Anytime I ask you if I need to change your diaper, brush your messy hair or change your filthy shirt you say,"i just fine mom".
There are tons of other things you say that I adore. You are so funny. You have also started to repeat everything you see or hear. I almost hate to tell this cause it's a lil gross...HA! We went to Nonnie and Poppy's for opening day of dove season and when your daddy and Unka Boyd came back you "helped" them skin the birds(gross!) so they could cook them later and eat them(even more gross). Later that afternoon Poppy corrected you for doing something wrong. At the time you were playing with a plastic army knife and you marched over to him and started "cutting" his leg. He asked you what you thought you were doing and you responded,"I'm skinning you 'cause I hungry". As morbid as it was we all just had to laugh because we knew you had picked this up while listening to them talk about the doves. You still love tractors but are staring to get into Hot Wheels. You also have another girl in your life and her name is Kaitlyn Brooks. Kaitlyn is in your Sunday school class and also goes to MDO with you. You have a serious crush on Kaitlyn. You constantly ask when your going to see her. I was loading you in the car to go to MDO the other day and you said you needed to pick a flower. I gave you the go ahead assuming you were going to do what you always do, jerk a few flowers out of my flower bed and shred them but you didn't. You found a hot pink flower and picked it. You carefully brought it back to the car and got in. I asked you who it was for...assuming it was for me and you quickly said,"KaitWyn!". You held it the whole way to MDO and made sure it didn't get damaged. When we got in the building you announced to EVERYONE that you had a flower for Kaitwyn as you call her. By the time Kaitlyn arrived all that was left was a tiny piece but it was the thought that counted. And I will go on record saying you didn't learn that from your daddy. He never picks me flowers.
You constantly say,"I lub you Mom!" and hug my legs at the most random times and it melts my heart EVERY.SINGLE.TIME! When I ask you how much I love you you always say,"Toooo much!".
The potty training has come to a halt. As long as your not wearing clothes you use the potty but the minute we stick clothes on you it's over. You will occasionally tell me you have to go but not consistently so we are going to take a break and start back in November when you are two and a half.
You are truly a joy. You are into EVERYTHING and are going through the terrible two's. I wish I could tape a day in our lives so everyone could really see the crazy things you get into. It's not just one major thing a day...It's constant. For instance the other morning you had a plastic cup outside, you filled it with rocks and before I could say a word you marched into the house and dumped the cup of dirt and rocks all over the coffee table with me running in behind you yelling "STOP!". A little later you picked up what I thought was a twig but you called it a worm. I asked you to bring it closer to me because you did that last summer and it was a snake. Anyway you bring it to me and it a leg, that's right a skeleton of a leg from a dead bird. So in the house we run to sanitize your hands. Later you went into your room and were rocking in your chair, I was about to turn on the vacuum cleaner to vacuum the rocks up when I heard "CRASH" immediately followed by,"I sorry Mommy!" I went in and you had knocked over your bedside table and broken the leg off of it. All of this happened in the time span of about an hour and a half.

There are days such as those that I want to pull my hair out but I wouldn't trade you for all the stars in the sky. And even though you require or rather demand my undivided attention I am so grateful that I get to stay home with you and enjoy all that comes with being your mommy or excuse me, ahem, your MOM!

Operation Potty Training 2010

2010-08-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

It's midnight, I am exhausted after doing EIGHT loads of laundry, keeping up with Walker and saying "Do you have to potty" every fifteen minutes so this is gonna be short. I also watched The Bachelor Pad and I am feeling like a rebel so I may not even spell check. Yeah that's right I watch trashy reality tv. Sue me! Now back to the potty training cause it's way more interesting than the bachelor pad. ;) Saturday Walker did great! No accidents, woke up dry from his nap, yada, yada, yada. Sunday not so much. It was kind of touch and go. Today he did FANTASTIC! He even went to the potty without me having to ask. I told him when he woke up if he used the potty all day I would take him to get a surprise. This ALWAYS works with Walker. The last day of swimming lessons I offered him a surprise in exchange for no crying during the lesson and he looked like Micheal Phelps out there. So at six this afternoon I told him it was time to go pick out a toy. Marcus was working late so we were having dinner a lot later than usual and I basically wanted to get out of the house for a few seconds. I take him to Wal Mart and convince him to get a $6 fire truck. We are leaving the aisle and he spots a $25 monster truck that he had to have. So to avoid a total meltdown in Wal Mart during the first of the month I gave in and let him get it. As I am buckling him in his car seat I remind him once again why he was given this toy and I said "Are you going to keep using the potty?" and his answer was "NO!". We arrived home and three minutes later he wets his pants. I just had to laugh. Tomorrow he goes to MMO and I am hoping he does as good tomorrow as he did last week. If not the truck is going into the closet.

The Beginning of the End

2010-08-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

of diapers that is...or so I hope. Today we started potty training. My plan was to wait until Walker was two and a half before I even started but a couple of days ago things changed. Monday I was putting sheets on his bed and I turned around to find him standing in the hall holding a toy four-wheeler and the four wheeler had, ahem, "muddy" tires. Like REALLY "muddy" tires. His exact words were,"Mom my poor(four) wheeler got mud on it!". Thing is we had been inside all morning so the only way Walker could find mud was to make it himself. So that's precisely what he did. The boy is smart I tell ya. In the middle of the playroom floor stood(I say stood because it's possible it had legs, hair and a heart beat) a big pile of mud aka poop. Unfortunately for him I was not quite as excited about the "mud" as he was. It took me a good hour to clean him, the floor and the carpet. An hour that I will never have back. The four wheeler was thrown in the garbage and after I regained my composure I called Nonnie to tell her what had happened. Nonnie informed that it was time to start potty training him. Not what I wanted to hear! I was really hoping that one day he would wake up, look at me and say, "Mommy today is the day that I start wearing big boy underwear!" and that would be it. And that could have eventually happend. It may have been on his tenth birthday but I was willing to wait. So I have taken my mother's advice(shocker I know) and I went to Wal Mart yesterday and purchased everything necessary to convert our guest bathroom into potty training central and today I showed him the ropes.

If he potties when I ask him to he gets M&Ms.

If he comes to me and says, "I need to potty" he gets a toy.

If he does number 2 he gets a toy.
If you could have seen his eyes light up when I pulled out that basket of toys for the first time!!! It was the same look his daddy had on his face the first time he walked into Bass Pro Shop. Complete and utter amazement!

Now he has been using the potty before bath time for several months now and isn't afraid of the potty. He just hasn't started telling me he has to go. I am hoping this goes well. I am not going to stress out about. If it happens it happens, if it doesn't it doesn't. But for the sake of my sanity I hope it does because I don't think I can clean up anymore "mud"!

Twins

2010-07-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

Before you go any further...No I'm not pregnant! No we are NOT having twins..Ok! Proceed......
Is is just me or do they look alike?

Lord knows they act alike!
My husband watched Dennis the Menace for the first time last night. I was in shock he had never seen it! I am talking about the one made in the early 90's with Walter Matthau. I went on and on about how i watched it as a kid and it was one of my FAVORITE movies! I kept saying,"I can't believe you have never seen this!" and his response was.."I was out doing cool stuff!". Ummm how cool can you be at age 12? I have seen pictures of him at age 12 and the gold chain he was sporting was not cool. Any who we both agreed that Walker could give Dennis a run for his money!

Guitar Slinger

2010-07-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

My parents kept Walker a couple of weeks ago and my mom told me that Walker found an old guitar and had played it all night. My mom went on and on about how he was dancing and singing with it. So when we picked him up Sunday we took him to visit Mimi, Papaw, David and Megan. While we were at David and Megan's house Walker found a guitar in Jake and Baker's toy box. He would not put it down! Megan was quick to tell me that he could have it and that she would love for it to mysteriously disappear. I let Walker bring it home and the next day I slung him off at MDO and made a bee line to Wal Mart to find him a guitar of his own even though Meg said he could have it. I don't want Walker to think that he can prance into some one's house a high jack their toys. I found one and surprised him with it when I picked him up. He hasn't put it down since. Here is a video of my lil' guitar slinger. I would like to mention that he gets his gracefulness and rhythm from his father. BAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The Things We Do For A Good Picture

2010-07-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

I found a photographer back home and she is awesome! Her pictures are great and her prices are even better! Pictures can be so stressful! I look for months for the perfect outfits, schedule the date, watch him like a hawk for the next month praying he doesn't knock out a tooth, watch the weather channel religously praying it doesn't rain, wrap him in bubble wrap the week of pictures so he won't fall and end up with 8 bruises, curse the weather channel when I wake up to discover it's POURING on picture day, reschedule the date, re wrap him in bubble wrap and then after all this forget to take the kid to get a dadgum hair cut! Of course, I am a tad OCD and this probably doesn't apply to other mothers.
Walker recently had his two year pics taken and once again Mikki did an awesome job especially considering it was 147 degrees outside, the humidity was 218% and the location was crawling with bugs that would frighten even the national geographic folks.
In the end she had taken several great pictures but the following are my favorite and there is a reason why...I always make my mom tag along because she is a great distraction. She doesn't get stressed out. I on the other hand, start twitching and breaking out in hives every time his hair falls out of place. She is willing to watch him while I run back and forth to get his outfits but most of all because she is like me in that she WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO MAKE HIM S-M-I-L-E!!!! We have danced in the middle of downtown Greenwood to the Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow" and we have played peek a boo to get a grin but this time we topped it all! Even Mikki, the photographer, was laughing. If you know my child or have been around him for more than five minutes you know his world revolves around 3 things: Tractors, buddin buddins(atv's) and deer hunting. That's all he talks about and he shoots anything and everything in sight. He even shoots me when I make him mad. So to get Walker to smile for the following pictures my mother picked up a stick, got down on all fours in her white capri pants, held the stick over her head and crawled along the ground like Bambi while I proceeded to shoot her like I was Jackie Bushman and then she rolled onto the ground and pretended to be dead. Tongue hanging out and all. Walker thought it was HYSTERICAL!!!! and I'm sure anyone else watching thought it was funny or very disturbing. It could have gone either way. Now I don't ever remember my mom doing this for me or my brother. To tell the truth she wouldn't even jump up and down for fear it might mess up her hair but for Walker she will do anything. Even crawl on the ground like deer, sporting antlers made of wood, take a fake bullet to the heart, fall over and play dead. Thanks mom!

26 months

2010-07-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I since I have done a post about Walker and what he is doing. Since he turned two just a couple of months ago and I am too lazy to walk into his bedroom, pull out his baby book and jot it down I am just gonna type it here for future reference. This means that some of you will have no interest in this whatsoever...and I totally understand.
So Walker at 26 months you are:
-Still sleeping ALL NIGHT LONG. Can I get an "Amen"
-Still taking 3 hours naps. Can I get a "Hallelujah"
-Your vocabulary is out of this world. You can carry on a conversation with me, your daddy, strangers in Wal Mart and yourself. I often hide and listen to you playing in the playroom. It's so fun to listen to you pretend.
-You have a girlfriend. You told me this the other day in the car. I misunderstood and thought her name was Katherine. Ummm no, it's Kaitlyn. Your MDO teacher clarified this yesterday. Apparently you and Kaitlyn are all BFF during play time. Not sure how I feel about this. I know your just two but my mind flashes forward to you being sixteen and saving all your allowance to buy some chick a Christmas present. I'm not looking forward to the day you bring home the girl your going to marry and she has a belly button ring, is wearing too much makeup and has a fake tan in the middle of winter. However if you have the same taste in girls that your daddy does this is exactly what will happen ;)
-You are using the potty but not consistently. You have pooped in it twice. You will do number one if you aren't wearing a diaper or undies but if I cover your bottom and you forget a potty ever existed. Your MDO teacher told me that yesterday you used the potty and if I would bring pull ups she would work on this with you. I almost passed out. Really. It was as if all at once a halo appeared above her head and she had these beautiful billowing wings. I felt like I should tip her or something. If she can help get you potty trained then she will not be getting the usual Yankee Candle at the end of the summer...more like something expensive and shiny. Diamonds perhaps :)
-You are sleeping on a nap mat at MDO so we are thinking about moving you to a toddler bed at the end of the summer.
-You say the blessing before dinner and it usually goes like this-
"Thank you for da food. Thank you for Mommy, Daddy & Walker. Amen"
Two nights ago you did thank God specifically for your roll. This proves you are my child because you share my abundant love for carbohydrates.
-You are getting so tall and thin!
-You love broccoli, bananas, popcorn and dough nuts.
-You have been to the movies twice! First to see Shrek with all of your cousins, Mommy, Daddy, Uncle David, Aunt Meg and Aunt Alana. Then I took you to see Toy Story 3 with Jake, Baker and Aunt Meg. You did GREAT both times.
-You have awesome manners. You almost always say please, thank you and yes sir.
-When I ask you how much Mommy loves you, you reply TOO MUCH! It's adorable. And just for the record that's not possible! I could never in a million years love you too much!
-You are for sure going through the terrible two's and the spanking spoon was recently replaced with a paint stirrer. Those spoons aren't cheap especially when you lose them every other day! Paint stirrers are Fah-Ree when you know the right people. I recently read Don't Make Me Count To Three and it has helped tremendously!
-We are still working on identifying letters, numbers and shapes. You watch videos made by Preschool Prep Company when we are in the car and they are great! It amazes me how fast you learn.
-You love to tell me stories and are always asking me to tell you one. You aren't into reading books or rather having me read you a book. You get bored before I can turn the first page. I also would like to add that you often use this "Tory Please!" as a way to put off going to bed because you know I can't tell you no!
-You love playing with tractors, bulldozers and animals. You would play outside all day if I would let you!!!
-We recently finished your first set of swimming lessons and you did great! I will definitely sign you up again but it will be for private lessons. Not sure that I got my money's worth with you in a group with three other kids.
-You are not afraid of anything and full of energy. You run everywhere.you.go! This means you almost always have a boo-boo of some kind. Today it's your top lip. You fell while busting a move on the concrete last night.
-My favorite things to hear you say right now are "Mommy where AAARRREEE you?","Uh-Huh" and "ESSS". We are working on you saying "Yes mam" and "No mam" but it's so cute when we ask you something and you respond, "Essss!".I almost hesitate to correct you.
Everyday that passes you become more and more fun. I never thought I could love someone so much but I do and I'm so thankful that God blessed your daddy and I by placing you in our lives. Although there are times I want to hide in my closet, curl up in the fetal position and cry until your daddy gets home.
I love you baby boy! I treasure each moment I get with you and often I remind myself through out the day that you won't be little long. I wish I could stop time...you are growing up way too fast!

BFF's

2010-07-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

there is this boy
and he has a dog

he loves ~~to torture~~ this dog
this dog loves him

and they are best friends

i use to ~~not like this dog very much~~ just tolerate this dog but now i have a new found respect for her and i have been known to give her my left over steak for putting up with my boy. you see thanks to her i get 10 to 15 minutes of quiet time and for that i will forever be indebted to her.

Our First Family Vaca and Father's Day

2010-06-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

Marc and I got married and went on a cruise to Mexico for our honeymoon. It's was the worst experience of our lives. I mean worse than 2 in-grown toe nails on each foot, getting a letter from the IRS saying you owe them even more money than you have already paid or everybody in your family having the stomach virus at the same time. All of these have happened to me so I can firmly say our honeymoon was worse than all of them combined. It was so bad on the the 4th day I almost called my grandfather and asked him to charter a helicopter out and pick us up and trust me he would have done it because I am his favorite grandchild and my mother is his favorite child. It's a known fact in our family. The others have accepted it and are fine with it. He will go to the ends of the earth for both of us. So anyway we finally got back on American soil, kissed it and swore we would never travel again. Then 3 weeks later I got pregnant, Walker was born and I saw all of these families making memories.....their family beach pictures, you know where everybody wears white to accentuate their crisp, freshly sunburned skin, and I decided I wanted that so I started planning our trip about two months ago.

We left Thursday headed to Gulf Shores for 3 days and 3 nights. We had the best time! Three days was just long enough...any longer and I would have had my grandfather charter a helicopter and fly me home. No seriously I would have just rented a car and left Marc and Walker there but thank goodness it didn't come to that. There was NO OIL where we stayed, the water was clear, the sun was shining and there were six pools at our resort. Walker loved the ocean. All he wanted to do was frolic in the surf like a mini David Hasselhoff. It was bee-u-ti-full!!!

We went to Alligator Alley and if you haven't been there you need to go! When you drive in it kinda looks low budget and I am pretty sure I heard banjo's playing in the background. It's how do I say it, ahem, a little on the redneck side but once we got in there and the guide started showing us around it was really neat. I have never been that close to an alligator in my life!!! Walker was able to touch a baby alligator. We watched them feed the big ones and it was out of this world!!!! We spent most of time on vacation eating, hanging out on the beach or swimming in the pool. We ate at the hangout(our favorite) and had the best fried pickles I have ever tasted. These things were larrupin'(as my mawmaw would say). We also went to Lulu's. Ummm, yeah an hour and a half wait, tons of people and sand in every crevice of Walker's body did not make for the best time. We went just for the experience..well, we experienced it and I never want to experience it again. We also hit up the outlet malls in Foley! After the Polo store and the Coach store my husband looked at me with fear in his eyes and pleaded with me that we leave ASAP! He was well aware that if I was allowed to roam the tanger outlet mall (aka heaven) for any amount of time unsupervised then he would have to work until he was 375 years old. Seriously he was shaking and has had a tick ever since they rang us up at the Polo Store. After the outlet mall we went to Lambert's in hopes that food would cure the nauseau the purchases at the Coach store had caused him. Lambert's was PACKED. Luckily we got in pretty quick but when we left there were people EVERYWHERE. The food was ok and no one got smacked in the face with a roll while I was there so I'm not sure what all the fuss was about. We then made the journey home. We met up with the in-laws to celebrate father's day.
Speaking of Father's Day...I have mentioned my grandfather a couple of times in this post....He is such an important part of my life. My mom and biological father divorced when I was a tiny baby and we moved in with my grandparents until she married my step dad. My pawpaw is my favorite man on this planet second to Walker. Marc comes in a very close third. I am so thankful to have had him in my life for so many years and now Walker gets to experience the joy of knowing him. I also have to give a shout out to the most amazing dad I know...my hubs! My real dad is the pits so it's so important to me that Walker have a wonderful dad who loves him unconditionally and Marc does just that. They adore one another and for that I am eternally grateful to the man upstairs! He is also an AWESOME HUSBAND!

*probably on my most favorite pics ever of my boys!

Summer Fashion

2010-06-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

It's 100 million degrees outside so to stay cool Walker has decided that his summer attire will consist of nothing more than a diaper. My laundry has been cut in half!
He wears a diaper to dig in the dirt

Hunt birds in the backyard. It's safe to safe no animal in our neighborhood will be safe once he gets a BB gun. He shoots EVERYTHING! Seriously, he "shot" me the other day because I told him he couldn't spend another night with his Nonnie. We don't let him watch movies with violence so I can only guess that he is learning this behavior from watching the Outdoor Channel with his daddy.

I love that you can "see" him making the noises in this pic!

But sometimes, late in the afternoon....

He ditches the diaper because even it is too much in this heat. I'm sure the people living behind me think I'm running a nudist colony!

We're Baaaack!

2010-04-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

Well we actually never went anywhere but I am struggling to think of a clever title so there ya go. Since the last time I blogged Walker has started wearing deodorant, gotten his learner's permit, graduated from college and is now a successful somethinganother...Not really but he is saying things like, "My butt hurts, wash it!", "EXCUSE ME!", "Cotton poo poos and eats it"...and the list goes on...Seriously my butt hurts! Who is teaching him to say 'butt"?!!! He also corrected me this morning while watching Alvin and the Chipmunks and informed me that they are in fact Alvin and the Cookie Monsters. He doesn't even watch Sesame Street(because he chooses not to watch it. I'm not a horrible parent!). He is talking so much and he keeps me in stitches. He does say sweet things like "I lud do mommy" and "Bless you " EVERY TIME someone sneezes, coughs, burps, grunts or any other bodily function. He is obsessed with tractors and four wheelers. He goes outside every morning and plays with his tractors in his new play area.

It's so fun to watch him. I made the comment the other day that I didn't want him to grow up so fast because this age is so fun and a friend told me that her son is eight and every year she says that. I know it will just get better and better until he turns thirteen, his hormones start raging and some bratty girl with braces becomes the object of his affection. He will be two next week and I am an emotional basket case! I am not ready! He is getting so tall! He is almost as tall as Marcus! I'm kidding, not really. He is wearing 3T and 4T clothing and size 9 shoes! He sleeps like a champ! Three hour naps EVERY SINGLE DAY and TEN HOURS STRAIGHT at night. He can count to ten, say parts of the alphabet, distinguish the colors-red, blue, green, pink and yellow, he knows the following shapes-triangle, square, circle, heart, star and can draw a circle. He can tell you his entire name, mine and Marc's first names and always reminds us to say the blessing before we eat. When asked where Jesus lives he responds,"in my heart" and when asked who made him he says "daddy". He is kinda right. Speaking of daddy, he adores his!He will ask me two hundred times a day where his daddy is to which I reply,"He is at work" and then he says, "I wanna see him!". Then he goes into a twenty minute tale about shooting deer and turkey with his daddy. I took this picture while he was looking out the window waiting on his daddy to come home from work.

He loves broccoli, hot dogs, cakes(pancakes), nuts(doughnuts), sausage, turkey, goldfish or cheddar bunnies, apples, peaches, burgers and his favorite food right now is SHRIMP! It's too funny...Marcus and I get boiled shrimp and crawfish once a week and we always stop and get Walker fried shrimp. He "peels" his fried shrimp just like we peel our boiled shrimp! So when he finishes there are just pieces of the batter EVERYWHERE! He is still a lil' rough with others and doesn't understand what "easy" means. We are working on that. He is ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT A DOUBT ALL BOY! He isn't afraid of anything and he and Cotton have become bff's, which makes me have a whole new respect for dogs.

I absolutely adore him and love being home with him everyday! I can't wait to watch the rest of his life unfold. God has blessed us more than we deserve!

A Christmas We Will Never Forget

2009-12-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

Why will we never forget Christmas 2009? Is it because both sets of grandparents, two uncles and one of their girlfriends all came over to watch my baby open presents (talk about a baby who is loved), is it because my husband gave me a gift certificate to Aqua the Day Spa along with a letter that states how hard he knows I work taking care of Walker or because my child who has been walking since he was nine months old spent most of Christmas day crawling courtesy of the blisters on his feet thanks to the hand, foot and mouth virus? We will never forget this Christmas because of all of the above!
What a wonderful week minus two trips to the doctor, a diagnosis of strep, a shot of penicillin and finally discovering that Walker had hand, foot and mouth. I am sorry to complain but it took blaring Christmas music and a lot of praying to get me in the Christmas spirit this week. We did get to spend tons of time with our families and that to me is one of the best gifts of all. The look on my babies face when he saw all of his toys and almost the whole family in the den was priceless! I know that every year is going to get better and better. Walker finally got his "buddin, buddin" and a train table that he adored until I moved in the playroom. He played it with it non-stop while it was taking up the entire living room but once we moved into the playroom he has lost interest. He is now playing with the "buddin, buddin" that still resides in the den. He got a ton of other toys and I spent all day Saturday trying to decide if we should move old toys to the attic, buy a bigger house or just light a match a watch all this burn so we could start over fresh. After much deliberation it was decided that moving into a new home would be way too much trouble and setting it all on fire would result in a few years in prison while Walker lived with grandparents and acquired more toys than all 8,000 kids on the angel tree put together. So we opted for the attic and we are praying it doesn't cave in on us in the middle of the night.
I have all the decorations down and Walker is feeling so much better so life here is back to normal and couldn't be better. Hope your Christmas was merry and bright.

Joy To The World!

2009-12-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

Although with all this rain I am struggling to be joyful! Sun please come back and shine down on our sweet little state! Thankyouverymuch! From this point on I will not apologize for not blogging. Let's face it...it boils down to the fact that I am lazy and my computer doesn't always upload my pics...so to avoid over-working myself or saying four letter words that are frowned upon I have avoided the blog like the plague. Now that that's out of the way here is what we have been up to. I have been decorating for Christmas while Walker undecorates....I have been wrapping gifts while Walker unwraps gifts that don't belong to him.

We have attended three Christmas parties/family functions and have three more to go. Walker is loving all this attention he is getting. He is so full of himself and loves to be the center of attention. I can't imagine where he gets that from. Ahem!

We took Walker to see Santa at Bass Pro and after standing in line for forty five minutes and hearing Walker scream, "HO, HO!" he gets up there to meet Ol' Saint Nick and screams bloody murder. It was horrible and I am now forever grateful that he had a stomach bug and we had to miss our pictues with Santa at the Cupboard. That little bout with diarrhea saved me about thirty bucks and an ton of embarassment because there is no doubt he would have been just as petrified then. At least at Bass Pro the pics were free and we were able to haul booty out of there before anyone realized it was our kid that was screaming at the top of his lungs. Walker is determined that Santa is brining him a "budin, budin". I am not positive on how to spell it but basically he wants a battery operated John Deere Gator. That's all he wants. He wakes up from his nap asking for it, he goes to sleep asking for it, he asks for it when we are in the car, at the dinner table, he is ALWAYS asking for it! So to keep my sanity there is a good chance Santa is bringing it. I have almost taken the rest of his gifts back because I know that once he sees his "budin, budin" all will be right with the world, angels will sing and the other gifts will not matter. I will then spend the three days after Christmas outside while he rides in a circle and my sanity will be lost anyway. It's a lose-lose for me no matter what ;) We are looking forward to being with family and remembering the real reason for the season. I hope everyone will be doing the same. The greatest gift of all is the gift of everlasting life in heaven with our Father.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

I am so late posting this! Sorry grandparents! We had so much fun Halloween night! We went on a hayride with several of our friends and their children. Here are a few pics of our lil' stinker

I don't know why they are small! Sorry! I am too tired to try to figure it out or just reload them ;)

This was Walker and his friend Rachel last on Halloween!

This is a picture of them from this year!!!! They have grown so much!!!

What On Earth Did I Do To Deserve This?

2009-10-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Or this?

Or this?

I don't know why God blessed me with the most precious gift on earth but I am forever grateful. All I ever wanted to be was Walker's mom. I just didn't know until 18 months ago.
That's right a week from Saturday my sweet boy will be a year and a half old! Where did the time go? There are moments when I swear he hates me and there are days I threaten to send him to live with his grandparents for a few hours ;)But for the most part I never knew that 30 inches of pure absolute cuteness could bring me so much joy! Walker is learning so much and changing so fast. He can do too many animal sounds to name(my personal favorite being the rooster. It says, "cock a doo doo"), point and name almost all of his body parts(even the ones I wish he wouldn't name), he is starting to actually play with toys and thanks to many hours of the Outdoor Channel, he has learned how to aim a gun and yell, "POW, POW!!!" as loud as he can. I love watching his little imagination take off. Today he came home from MDO and told me, his daddy and the dog to, "Sit Down!" all while pointing his finger. I bet his sweet teachers have to tell him that at least 100,000 times a day. I look forward to every morning because I know the day with be filled with something new he has learned. For whatever reason God blessed me with Walker I am not worthy but I thank the dear Lord for him every day. I am Walker's mom and that is all I have ever wanted to be!

Who's Your Daddy?

2009-09-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure it's obvious who Walker's daddy is, not that we ever questioned it to begin with it!!! Uh-Oh let the rumors begin ;) This is a picture of Marc when he was six and a picture of Walker on his first birthday. I will make a small wager that on Walker's sixth birthday it will be almost impossible to tell them apart. I also learned tonight after watching a home video of Marc's sixth birthday that Walker also has Marc's attitude and temper. For the last few months I have been plagued with guilt because I thought Walker had mine. After watching Marc throw three different temper tantrums in less than fifteen minutes it's safe to say,"like father, like son".

What Day Is It?

2009-09-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged in almost a month! WHOOPS!!!! I should really do better. Especially since I haven't touched Walker's baby book since his first birthday and this may be the only documentation of the first few years of life. We have been traveling a ton!!! We have been driving back and forth to my parents house almost every weekend to watch

my little brother play a little bit of this.....

and hanging out with super cute cheerleaders! This is my brother's girlfiend and she is almost too cute for my brother! ;)

Walker also started Mother's Day Out!! YAY! I'm more excited than he is! I did keep him home today cause this H1N1 or swine flu, whatever you want to call it, is scaring the CRAP out of me!!!
Walker has also gotten his hands on a little of this

and I think he likes it! ;) Walker is cutting 3 molars! Yeah, shoot me please! He is also "talking" non stop. He knows what a cow, horse, chicken, dog, bird, monkey, car, tractor and lion say. He recognizes the numbers 1 and 2. My favorite word to hear him say is cookie! He draws it out and makes it like an eight syllable word. I love it. He is starting to speak in two and three words phrases or sentences. He wants to know if you see everything. He will point to something and say,"See?". His newest thing to say is,"Oh Wow!". I say that a lot so it more evident than ever that I have to be careful about what we say in front of him. Walker loves to dance and shake his booty. He has rhythm and I can honestly say he got that from his daddy. LOL! So that's a recap of what's been going on in our little world and like always it's mainly all about Walker with a little bit of football mixed in.

The Newest Addition To Our Family

2009-08-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

What is black and white? And has a blue and white polka dot ribbon tied around it's "neck"? It's small enough to fit in my diaper bag. I have already been informed that we can't bring it to Nonnie and Pappy's because they WILL NOT ALLOW it in their house. That's right! You guessed it!!!!!!!!!!

Our Spanking Spoon! Oh, you thought it was something else didn't you. Walker wishes. We are going to only use this when necessary and never in anger. I had to find something. Walker is getting out of control and if I pop him on the bottom he pops me in the face. He is also starting to hit others so it is time to intervene. Thanks Carly for the idea! I hope you don't mind that I copied yours! And just to keep my mom from calling and chewing me out for posting a picture of this "weapon" and not one of her sweet little angel that she believes does not need to be spanked, I have included a couple of pics of Walker from this week.

Don't you just love the socks with the spandex?

Yes, he is in the dog's water! Check out that diaper!

No the bruise on his forehead is not from the spanking spoon. He did that trying to climb onto the dining room table after I repeatedly told him to get down. Maybe if I would have had the spanking spoon then the injury could have been avoided.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

2009-08-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

Walker sure is!!! Walker and I made a trip to the delta this weekend. I had a dinner with several high school friends(we had the BEST time) Friday night, Saturday morning we had to take Walker to have his picture made with my brother for an add we bought to go in his teams football program, then we watched my brother and his team scrimmage and finally we went to a birthday party. I had tried to order Walker a jersey that had my brother's number on it but they were very expensive and I wasn't sure it would fit. So I called The Sweet Pea in Greenwood and she had one extra small left. If you are ever in Greenwood you HAVE to go by this store! She has the cutest kids clothing. Way better than anything I have found in this area and they are super friendly!! I picked the jersey up Friday and almost cried. This jersey is so CUTE and Walker is even cuter in it. Saturday morning I was almost bursting at the seams with pride just watching them both in their jerseys. I love these two so much! My family is made up of die hard football fanatics and my brother was born to play football. We knew this from day one and he is an outstanding player. My brother is a great kid all the way around and he adores Walker!!! They are so cute together. Ok my eyes are welling up with tears and I don't want to have to reapply my makeup so I gonna post a few more pics and grab a bite to eat while Walker naps.

Because I LOVE chaos and have a hankering to catch a communicable disease

2009-07-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

I look Walker to the new Chuck E. Cheese last week for a birthday party. I don't think I need to go any further.

I took this picture Sunday. This was after going to church, eating lunch with my fam and spending three hours in Bass Pro Shop. He was EXHAUSTED! Yes, three hours in Bass Pro and all we bought was Walker a pair of shoes, his first plastic gun and some chocolate covered raisins. Ahem, that's right we bought our fourteen month old a fake gun or Pow Pow as he calls it because that's what every fourteen month old needs. No I do not promote violence but I do get a charge out of it every time it falls out of my diaper bag, especially at the grocery store.

While You Were Sleeping

2009-07-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

We decided to convert our guest bedroom into a playroom after Christmas because of all the gifts good ole' Saint Nick left Walker. In the two years that we have lived in our home we have had company sleepover maybe six or seven times, since we converted into a playroom seven months ago we have needed an extra bed at least twenty times. That's usually how it goes. Anyway the playroom/office/exercise room has needed a major overhaul so I decided that it would happen this week. This is what Walker's playroom looked like before he went down for a nap yesterday.

I worked on it while he napped, Marc and I both worked on it after Walker went to sleep last night and tonight. When Walker wakes up in the morning this is what he will find.

SO SO SO much better! I still have a mirror to hang and I scored four 8x10 sports prints on Ebay for $25 to hang above the small bookcases. While this room is not exactly what I had in mind for a playroom it will do for now. At least now I'm not embarrassed for people to open the door. Unfortunately the rest of my house has been neglected due to my little project.

A Typical Summer Day

2009-07-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

Today I ate breakfast off the floor and the foot rest of the high chair like I always do. Cause eating while sitting in my chair is not cool.

Threw a fit when Mommy put me in my jogging stroller. Finally I got in but only after she promised to take me to watch the tractors doing dirt work across the street. She waited until after her walk to take me just like I knew she would. She always bribes me with big machinery because she knows how much I like it.

Then I went to the park. Tried to convince the guy doing the yard work there to let me ride on the lawn mower with him. I kept running after to him but Mom would just catch me and say, "No, No, No!". For some reason she doesn't want me talking to strangers or running after the exhaust of a lawn mower. She must have had a bad experience.

I threw another fit when Mommy made me come inside after being out there for three and a half hours. Once I am capable of turning the door knobs I plan on going out there as much as possible.

I ate lunch.

I watched a little TV in my favorite chair. I let Daddy sit in it when he gets home from work but during the day this is my house and my recliner!!!

Destroyed the playroom while Mommy read me three books and attempted to do flash cards with me. I paid her zero attention because I think education is overrated. I plan on getting through life just flashing my adorable smile. Whenever I smile at Mommy, Nonnie or Mimi, they melt and give me whatever I want. I see no reason as to why this won't work with the rest of the world.

Took a nap.

Woke up and destroyed Mommy's People magazine that she had just gotten in the mail. Thank goodness she had read it during my nap or I would have had to listen to her rant and rave about it. She did however get a little upset because I tore up a picture of some guy she kept calling JFK Jr.

Helped Daddy mow the grass and pointed out any spots that he missed so he wouldn't have to listen to Mommy rant and rave.

I ate some dirt, leaves, acorns, etc. to wash down the peices of Mommy's People magazine that I ate earlier.

Ate dinner and had a bath.

Went in Mommy's closet while she was cleaning up the kitchen and pulled out every pair of shoes she owns. Brought a couple of shoes into the kitchen and hid them in the cabinets next to the corningware. Mommy will find these after I go to bed and she is unloading the dishwasher.

I forced my parents to endure a solid hour of Blue's Clues. I know how much my Daddy loves it. He is a huge fan of Joe's. ;)

Finally I went to sleep.

Thinking Outside Er, Inside the Box

2009-07-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

Lately Walker has become obsessed with getting in boxes. Strange I know. He also doesn't like Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies. CRAZY! Don't worry I'm calling his doctor to address both of these issues ;)So tonight I managed to sneak a couple of pics of him in the oh so very strange places. The green thing is a mesh clothes hamper shaped like a frog that has now been converted into a toy box for the time being. He empties all the toys out of it and crawls into it and just lays there and thinks or whatever it is that one year olds do while cramped into a very small place. It is kind of funny when he tries to get out! I will be purchasing him a tent to sit and think in very soon because the mesh hamper/toy box is not kid friendly at all.

I have to brag about my little boy for a paragraph or two. Tonight after he finished his dinner he was sitting in his high chair and I started singing the ABC's. I sing it to him everyday. So tonight I'm singing and I sing, "A,B,C,D,E,F" and Walker out of no where says, "G"! Then I sing, "H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O" and Walker says, "P!" and then I sing, "Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y" and Walker says,"Z". I couldn't believe it. I very impressed. Everyday he says a new word. He still walks around jabbering like he's been working in one of those Korean nail salons for the last 14 months but he is starting say real words and this means we have to start watching what we say and do. Walker loves the map on the cartoon Dora the Explore or Dora the Mexican as Marcus calls it. If Marcus went to Wal Mart every once in awhile he would no better than to teach our son racial discrimination at such a young age. How am I supposed to explain to Juan why my child is calling his daughter Dora the Mexican. Tonight when I was getting him out of the tub he popped me on my arm and said,"No, No!". He only heard me say "No, No!" about 1,982,983,920 times today. Even with the nagatives of him repeating some of the things we say his new vocabulary is making life so much easier. It's so nice for him to be able to tell me when he wants a cack-ka(cracker) or nummy-nummy(real food).
I took this picture of Walker and my brother this weekend. I love it!!! They were looking at each other so sweet. Of course this was before Walker gave my brother and my mom the stomach virus. Not sure that my brother would be looking at him this sweet right now. HA!

A Long Post With No Pictures

2009-07-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

which means you probably won't even read it. I didn't post for awhile because there was nothing to post about then a lot of stuff happened and I didn't have time to post. So here it what's been going on. Since my last post Alana, Loni and Lucas came to visit for 3 1/2 weeks. We had so much fun while they were here! Walker had a blast with his cousins. Alana and I only had to break up a couple of fist fights between the boys. HE! HE! I am positive that Walker and Lucas will have so much fun when they get a little bit older but right now they have to constantly be refereed which makes visiting with my favorite sister in law hard. Loni is such a great big sister and helped with Walker constantly. I seriously thought about taking Alana and Wade to court to see if I could get joint custody so I could have her here at the house to help all the time. :) Then I realized that it would cost a lot of money in attorney fees and I didn't stand a snow ball's chance in you know where of having a judge rule in my favor. I don't think wanting a live in babysitter is reason enough for the justice system to grant me custody. HA! They are both precious kids and I couldn't ask for a more precious niece or nephew. We did get a chance to take the kids to the Museum of Natural Science and the zoo. The museum was SO.MUCH.FUN. It was the first time I had ever been. I just assumed because it was a museum that it would be boooooorrrriiinnggg but it was the complete opposite. Totally kid friendly which is all that matters to me these days. We were so sad to see them leave but I know they were ready to return to Colorado.

Last Thursday while visiting with Mimi and Papaw Walker got his first BIG boo-boo. He had gone to "help" Marc, David and Papaw move a deer stand into Mimi and Papaw's garage while Mimi and I stayed at Uncle David's. I went to check on dinner and found Marcus looking like Bambie in head lights and Walker screaming bloody murder. I asked what had happened and after a lot of stuttering from the three men, Marcus finally fessed up that he thought Walker might have burned his hand. Ok, so first of all, we all know he didn't "think" Walker had done anything because men don't think. Secondly, he either burned it or he didn't. There was nothing funny about the accident at the time but after praying to God and asking him to help me not strangle my husband for not watching our son like a hawk I can look back and find a couple of funny moments. Like the look on all three of their faces when I rounded the corner. They knew that the that my reaction was not going to be pleasant and that anyone within a 30 foot radius would probably be be taken by ambulance to the ER once I finished cause nobody "lets" my baby get hurt ;) and in the ER when Marcus looks at me after an hour silence and says, "Your never going to let me live this down are you?". He knows me too well because after all, this would have NEVER happened had I been there. ;) God is good like that.
Even though it was an accident and could have happened with me there, I was still furious with Marcus. I didn't say anything to him until I had a chance to pray to God and ask him to help me not be angry with Marcus for fear that I would say something that I would regret. When I finally did start talking to him I couldn't be mad. I tried to be mad, the good Lord knows I tried but I just couldn't do it. Mainly because at some point, while in my care, Walker will fall and need stitches and then well I don't want Marc to hold it over my head cause ya know it's a gonna happen and because my poor husband felt terrible about it. As for Walker's hand he received 2nd and 3rd degree burns but is healing quickly. He has to keep his left hand bandaged 24-7 and has only tried to remove the bandages once or twice. He has been such a trooper. He also came down with the stomach virus Sunday night. He has since passed the virus on to my mother. She wants to blame it on shrimp that she ate because she doesn't believe that her sweet little angel grandson could give her the stomach virus but I'm afraid he did.
Speaking of my mother. We gave her the name Nana when Walker was born. We all knew he would probably come up with something else but we wanted to call her something until he did. Well, this weekend he came up with something. She is now Nonnie or at least that is what Walker is calling her for the time being.
So there you have it the last few weeks. I would post a couple of pics but I am in the middle of cleaning out Walker's play room and haven't even showered today. So since I smell and Walker is half way through his nap I am going to opt to bathe instead of adding a few pics of my precious baby.

To Blog or Not To Blog?

2009-06-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

That is the question I ask myself every day! I sit down and start to blog then I remember to put the clothes in the dryer or get everything ready for our almost daily trip to the pool. I will try to do better Mama! Things around here are pretty boring. Walker now sleeps through the night and is down to one nap a day. His naps range from two hours to three and a half hours(those are my favorites). Here are a couple of recent pics. I was trying to vacuum the twelve pounds of Ritz crackers out of Walker's car seat yesterday and he wanted to help so to keep him entertained I let him "drive". He played with the radio, "turned" the wheel and added his own sound effects. This kept him entertained for at least 15 minutes!!! It amazes me, he has so many toys that it is a sin and pays zero attention to them. They light up, sing and even dance yet he wants nothing to do with any of them. He has more fun "driving" my truck. So I have decided that we are just going to have to break down and buy him a truck of his own so that I can at least go to the bathroom by myself! Just kidding! No really I'm not. If I thought DHS wouldn't come and take him away I would pay any amount of money for something that would keep his attention for fifteen minutes.

One more thing they say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Walker loves the Swiffer Vac we have and has since he was old enough to hold his head up. The good thing is that now he can push it around. So almost daily he "vacuums" the floor for me. A man after my own heart! Ya'll know I love a clean house!

Love Is In The Air!!!

2009-05-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in FOREVER!!!!! We have been so busy. I heart summer and am so glad that's it's here. I have taken Walker to the pool in our neighborhood three times and he seems to love it. Walker also seems to be loving something else this summer....My best friend Mallory's daughter, Avery. Yes I think he has his first crush. Avery is a three years older than he is but he doesn't seem to mind.

Today our Sunday school class had our annual fish fry and we had too much fun. I would post pics but I am exhausted and my computer is so slow tonight for some reason. I will try to post them Monday.

Can Anyone Tell Me What He Is Saying?

2009-05-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

I would pay good money to know what he is talking about! This is one of things I am going to miss the most as he gets older! Along with that waddle he has when he walks! I love this baby boy with all my heart and I hope he is not talking bad about me!

What a Weekend! WHEW!

2009-05-12T15:28:00.001-07:00

I am still trying to recover from this weekend! Saturday we had Walker's first birthday party. We had so much fun! Walker was an angel all day. He never got fussy, he entertained everybody and flirted with the older girls in attendance! He SMASHED his smash cake! Cake was EVERYWHERE!!! He had cake in his hair, all over his clothes and even rubbed it in his eyes! He didn't however, enjoy opening presents! I considered mentioning it to his doctor when we went in for his one year checkup on Monday. That just isn't normal! Everybody likes opening presents. I had so much fun planning Walker's party and can't wait to do it again next year. Only next year I wil hire someone to come in as soon as the guest leave to clean my house! It took me all night to get things back in order. I would like to take this time to thank my mother who stayed and entertained my child while I cleaned. Mom, thanks for all your help! I couldn't have done it without you!
Sunday was Mother's Day and it was wonderful! It was also Baby Dedication at our church. I was so excited! Walker was born the week of Mother's day last year so he wasn't able to be dedicated until this year. I had such high hopes for this day and this special ceremony. My parents, brother, grandparents and Marc's parents were all there which was so special but things didn't exactly go as I had planned. Walker pitched a fit the ENTIRE time we stood down front! So if you were there and were wondering who the terror tot was down front acting like a brat, it was my child. I apologize to anyone who tried to capture this ceremony on and camera because you probably can't hear anything for Walker screaming!!!I was mortified! After church we were all able to go and have lunch together which was GREAT! No one had to cook or clean which was a gift in it's self. Here are a few pics!

The Best Year of Our Lives

2009-05-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

I am blogging about this today because I plan to devote my entire day tomorrow to my precious baby boy. Tomorrow is Walker's first birthday so our day will be spent doing whatever Walker desires and believe me he has no desire to watch me type on the computer. A year ago today I was admitted to the hospital to be induced. After 14 hours of labor, 2 hours of pushing and a c-section I got to see the most precious face I have ever laid eyes on! Walker is the center of our world and we thank God everyday for giving us this amazing gift! I can't believe that Walker is a year old! This has been the most WONDERFUL year of our lives! I never imagined that having a family could be so rewarding! Walker is blessed with amazing great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins! I am so happy that my baby gets to grow up knowing that he loved by not just Marc and I but by each of them! I could go on and on but I won't I will end with a slideshow of our sweet boy! Turn your volume up, I added music to it. This is one of my FAVORITE songs!!!

My Tech Savvy Child

2009-05-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was trying to get the recipes together for the things I would be fixing for Walker's birthday party and Walker came up to me wanting me to pick him up so of course I did. He sat in my lap for .02 seconds and starting squirming so I reached for the first thing I saw and gave it to him. Well, it was my iPod! As soon as I handed it to him I knew I had made HUGE mistake! He now refuses to give it back! We have tried to take it away from him three times and he starts sobbing! Like whole body shaking and huge alligator tears kind of crying! He has been walking around "talking" on the iPod!I tried to video him with my camera so it's dark and by this time he wasn't talking as much as he had been but you can still see him putting the phone to his ear! Here is a video! It's too cute!

Sticks and Frogs and Mud! Oh My!

2009-04-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

I remember the day very distinctly...I was 14 weeks pregnant and a good friend of mine had arranged for me to get a free ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby I was carrying. My mom was with me because I didn't tell Marc I was having it done. I didn't tell him because I knew how bad he wanted a boy and I knew if I found out it was a girl this would give me a few weeks to butter him up about how wonderful a baby girl would be before we had the official ultrasound done. Horrible? Yes, but he wanted a boy that bad and I had a gut feeling it was going to be a girl.
All Marc had talked about since the day we found out we were pregnant was how he hoped it was a boy and with tears in his eyes he would talk about watching his son kill his first deer. Now I knew if it was a girl she would be a lot like me and it would be hard for Marc to live out this dream if he was sitting in a deer stand with a tiny princess wearing pink camo and a tiara. So with much anticipation I laid down on the table the tech placed the thing-a-ma-jiggy on my belly and there it was! There was no doubt that God was going to give my husband the son he had been dreaming about. Ah, the excitement! My mind flashed forward to tiny cowboy boots, fishing trips, t-ball games, camo and maybe a future football star. I had no idea that a having a boy would mean that the next eighteen years would be filled with MUD

or FROGS

or an obbession with finding the sharpest stick in the yard to carry around. I won't post pics in fear that someone from the Department of Human Services may see it and take my child from me.
Even though no one told me that this is what having a boy would entail I couldn't be happier! I am loving every minute of it. Except for the frog part. I loathe frogs. I don't care that help control the mosquito population, they are disgusting! I feel the same way about a frog that I do about snakes, roaches and brussel sprouts! Sends chills down my spine just thinking about them! Of course now that my husband has the son he always wanted all he can talk about is how he hopes the next baby is a GIRL!
I need some help from the four of you that read this blog! LOL! I am trying to decide on a picture for Walker's dedication at church. I wasn't there for dedication last year because we had just come home from the hospital from having Walker the day before, so I'm not sure if I should use a current picture or a baby(by baby I mean a month old) picture. Any help would be appreciated! Just leave a comment telling me which one you like. They will be numbered from left to right (1) (2) or (3) or if I should use a baby pic. Thanks!!!! Oh, the last pic(3) shows his entire face, it just cropped it on here. It's same pic used in my header.

Jesus, Bird and a Nosebleed

2009-04-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Life at the Rushing residence has been pretty quiet. I am in full party planning mode! Walker's first birthday is coming up and I am trying to make sure everything is in order. Is it horrible for me to say I am dreading his birthday? I just know that after May he won't be a baby anymore and that hurts my heart! :( He is talking up a storm now. He talks in baby language constantly! As much as I look forward to him being able to tell me what he wants or needs, I am going to miss the gibber jabber he runs around saying. His new favorite word is bird but it sounds more like "burr". He points to the sky and says, "burr, burr". This morning he was pointing to the sky and saying, "burr" when Marc asked him where Jesus lived and he looked up and said, "Dee-Zus"(Jesus)! I got all weepy eyed!

Tonight we were watching Idol and I'm not sure if Walker was jealous of all the attention we were giving Danny, Chris and Adam or if he just wanted Lil' Rounds to stop singing but out of the blue he just slams his face against the floor. He started crying so we all jump up, Mimi grabbed him and I see blood gushing out of his nose. OK so it wasn't gushing it was trickling but at the time I thought he was going to need a blood transfusion. If you could have only seen the hysteria that ensued after the nosebleed started! I snatched him up and almost started CPR, I was yelling for an ice pack(like Walker was really going to let me hold him down and apply an iceberg to his nose for 10 minutes!) I almost called the ambulance! I tend to be a lil' dramatic but for this performance i deserved an Oscar! Thank goodness we were at Marc's parents so his mom was able to assure me that he would be fine and that no immediate medical attention was needed. Mimi took Walker outside which ceased the crying and gave Marc and I a chance to regain our composure. I didn't calm down until I had googled his injury and read the protocol and treatment for such an injury. I knew this would happen because his one year pics are going to be taken this weekend and it just wouldn't be our style to have pics taken without some kind of injury to the face! I'm sure his nose will be normal tomorrow but right now I am picturing him waking up with a black eye and looking like Pinocchio's second cousin! It's proabably a good thing that Walker can't talk in sentences right now because after sustaining such a "serious" injury I would go out and buy whatever would make him feel better at this very moment be it some bubbles or a sports car! Here is a pic for Nana of Walker and his injury.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

2009-04-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

Can I say that I love Easter? I think it's my new favorite holiday! First and foremost for what it represents! I know with out a shadow of a doubt that God is my personal Lord and savior and to know that he endured unimaginable pain and suffering so that I can spend eternity in HEAVEN with him is so heartwrenchingly(is that a word? I don't think it is) wonderful! I also love Easter for many other reasons not as important as the first but I will list them anyway! The minimal decorating, getting together with my precious family, a basket filled with inexpensive gifts(way cheaper than Christmas), my little boy's fat legs sticking out of the bottom of a beautiful monogrammed jon-jon, spring and Cadbury eggs. Easter had never been one of my favorite holidays until this year. I always recognized it's importance but I didn't have the relationship with God that I have now and that has made all the difference.
Easter began with a trail of bunny prints and an Easter basket then it was off to church for a great church service, then a lunch at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's, grandparents galore at our house to watch Walker "hunt" eggs and ended with a delicious dinner at Mimi and Papaws. It was a perfect day, downpour and all. Here are few pics from our day.

Home In The Woods

2009-04-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to stay at my parents home in Itta Bena. Walker LOVES it there! Not just because my parents spoil him rotten but because he has his own petting zoo! My parents live on a few acres and on these few acres they have three goats, three dogs, chickens, pigeons and whatever wildlife that wanders up from the lake(this weekend it was a snapping turtle!). There is a line from Steel Magnolias, when Shelby is describing Jackson's family, "Their simply outdoorsy that's all" reminds me of my family as does the line that came directly before that one, "Jackson comes from a good ole southern family. You either shoot it, stuff it or marry it!". My brother and Marc went turkey hunting and killed a turkey(see previous sentence). Walker also got to try my mom's brown rice for the first time and he thought it was as good as the chicken pot pie! Her brown rice is divine! I can smell it right now and always know I'm home when I smell it in the oven! Saturday night I got to visit with a few girls I graduated from high school with. It was so great to see them again! It's crazy some of these girls I have known since I was 4 years old and saw them almost every day for nearly 12 years but as soon as we graduated we didn't lay eyes on one another again for nearly a decade! I enjoyed catching up and reminiscing about the good old days! I had forgotten about so many things that happened back in the day! LOL! We stayed up until midnight talking and it has taken me until today to recover!

Hurricane Chicken Pot Pie

2009-03-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

Lately, Walker has been refusing to let me feed him ANYTHING with a spoon so I have had to find things that he can feed himself. Thanks to some great moms I know I have been given tons of suggestions, the only problem is Walker hates all the suggestions! Cheese, can't stand it. This makes me question if this child has any of my DNA cause I could eat a flip flop as long as it smothered in cheese! Fruit, you name we tried it, he hated it! English peas, hates them! Carrots, REFUSED them. His lack of love for vegetables confirms that he is indeed my child. Pasta, puts it in his mouth then spits it out! Almost everything I try gets the same reaction....a head to toe shake. The cough syrup at 3 in the morning kind of shake! It is rather entertaining to watch! I am afraid if I keep offering him things he doesn't care for that he will start refusing to eat.Doubt that happens(have you seen those ham hocks he has for thighs?) but still I don't want him to fear food. So here a a few things he likes: Gerber graduate lil' crunchies, Ian's Fish Sticks, Tater Tots and Earth's Best waffles. That's it. Those four things are what he will eat. So I was at the grocery store and my mom suggested that I get him a chicken pot pie. I bought the healthiest one I could find, carried it home, stuck it in the freezer and ignored it. Every night my mom would call with the same question, "Have you fed him the chicken pot pie yet? He is going to love it!". "No mother not yet!", I responded every night for two weeks. I had not had the energy to feed him the chicken pot pie because I knew the clean up that a chicken pot pie would require. So last night I finally gave in a fixed it. We'' mom was right, Walker LOOOOOVED it!!! He ate for thirty minutes straight. When he finally finished I stared at him for ten minutes trying to decide how and where to stat cleaning him up. It was too cool outside to just squirt him down with the water hose so I put him in the sink and rinsed most of it off then handed him over to Marc so he could bathe him. I then began cleaning my kitchen. This process took almost an hour. There was chicken pot pie EVERYWHERE! I had to take his high chair completely apart and even had to mop. All the hard work was worth it. Walker finally ate something that he enjoyed! This weekend we are going to stay with my parents and I think I will pack Walker a chicken pot pie to eat while we are there since Nana is the one who is responsible for the hurricane that hit my kitchen last night! ;) Mom here are video and a few pictures just for you. Anyone else is more than welcome to watch but you may get a wee bit nauseated! It was even up his nose!

Walker's First Trip To The Zoo

2009-03-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this at the beginning of the week and forgot! So because I am too tired to edit it, I am leaving it just the way it is!
After a week of sadness and spending two days at the funeral home Marc and I desperately needed to get away and do something with Walker. Walker spent most of Thursday and Friday with my grandparents so that Marc and I could be with his family after the death of his Aunt Monette. The weather Saturday was beautiful so we headed off to the zoo around lunch. Marc nor I have been to the zoo since we were kids so I was anxious to see how much it had changed. The zoo is not as big as it used to be or maybe I'm not a small as I used to be! I remember it taking hours to see everything...it took us an hour and a half! We had a great time though. Walker loved the giraffes, chimpanzees, penguins and birds. He could have cared less about the elephants, alligators, rhinos or tigers. They have a penguin exhibit right now and it cost an extra $2 per person to see it so I was expecting a Sea World like setup. They advertised feeding times and made it out to be a huge deal! I couldn't wait to see it. Boy was I disappointed! You pay two bucks to stand in front of a 4x8 plexiglass aquarium and the 3 penguins swim around. I say stand in front of, you have to fight the five undisciplined children whose mother is on her cell phone and paying them zero attention to get close enough to see the penguins. Penguin exhibit=Total waste of $$$$$$. The bear was terrible to! She or he was so depressed! It just laid there like it was in pain! They are doing a lot of work at the zoo so I think in a couple of years it will be really good. We paid $25 and for the next year we get in free and don't have to wait in line which, is worth every penny! We will go back just because we love being outside and I love watching the animals.

I went and got creative!

2009-03-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

I needed to buy a couple of inexpensive baby gifts for some friends and then realized that there is no such thing as an inexpensive baby gift! I racked my brain for a couple of days trying to decide what to do. At first I thought I will just buy diapers but this is the first child for both of these girls so I wanted to give them something a lil' more special although after the baby gets here they will wish that I ad given them diapers! I can remember people giving me diapers and being kinda disappointed. That sounds horrible I know! I was very appreciative but I remember thinking, "diapers are NO fun!" then Walker arrived and I realized that diapers were better than GOLD!!! I remember telling Marc, "I wish everybody would have just given us diapers!" because at the time we were going through them like crazy!!!! So I searched website after website, then ebay and found nothing! I then looked on Etsy and saw some cute hair clips with flowers attached to them but they were six dollars or more a piece plus shipping! That meant I could only buy one or two per person! So I decided to make my own! Well, now I know why they were six dollars! It took me ALL day to make twelve! I did have fun doing it and I think they turned out pretty cute! I even used Walker as my model to see if they would stay in a baby's hair and they did! My husband would probably divorce me if he knew that I put a flower in Walker's hair so let's just keep that little tidbit between us! Here is how they turned out. After I took these pics I attached them to cardstock and tied a ribbon at the top. It was a fun project and I will probably do more of these in the future as baby gifts! Ya'll know how much I love hair and I think every little girl needs a cute accessory attached to her head!

This was my mess!!!

You get a line and I'll get a pole!

2009-03-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday we took Walker fishing for the first time! Ok, so we went fishing and took Walker along. He technically didn't fish. He did however have a blast playing in the grass and dirt! We caught ZERO fish! Yes, ZERO! Marc and I were really the only ones fishing. Papaw politic-ed all afternoon. I say politic-ed because that's what I say when someone spends 45 minutes or more talking to complete strangers. Being friendly would probably be a better way to describe what he did but whatever you want to call it, that's what he did...talk to complete strangers for about 2 hours! LOL! Mimi and Uncle David watched Walker so Marc and I could fish with both arms. It was pretty disappointing that we didn't catch anything but since supper didn't rely on that days catch we got over it. We fished at the lake at Mimi and Papaws. Here are a few pics. My computer still has a virus so I can't make a collage which I prefer to do. That is also the reason for me not posting as often. I like to include a picture with each post(really my mom likes for me to include a picture, preferably of Walker, with each post) and this Flinestone computer I am using erases pics off of my memory card randomly then I get UPSET because lets face it I just don'thave enough pictures of my child as it is ;)

A Shoe Shopping Adventure!

2009-03-16T18:37:00.001-07:00

Today Walker and I were determined to get out of the house, despite the nasty weather this morning, so around lunch we set out. We went by my office and visited with a few of my co-workers, then we went shoe shopping! Walker needed a pair sandals to wear this summer and a pair of white shoes for church and pictures. I had no idea that this would take almost FOUR hours! We went to three different shoe stores and it was at the first one that I realized my son has the WIDEST foot I have ever seen on a baby! He has been wearing Pediped brand shoes since he was born but has outgrown the Pediped Originals so I just assumed that he was going to have to move up to the Pediped Flex. WRONG! They aren't wide enough!!! So after trying on at least 20 pairs of shoes I finally found a pair that would fit. You would know that they would be the most expensive shoe the store carries! When the sales lady told me the price I almost told her to forget it. I thought about just buying a couple of shoe boxes and putting some straps on them and letting him wear thoes but for the sake of my child's self esteem I sucked it up and purchased the shoes. I ended up getting him a pair of Jumping Jacks Perfection shoes.

I have to admit that he looks pretty cute with them on and seems to be able to walk in them just fine. After dinner he modeled his shoes for his daddy. I have posted a few pics of him in his new kicks. I realized after we got home how much easier some things are getting. Walker and I were gone for almost five hours today and he never fussed, not once! He was such a little trooper. Two months ago I would have never attempted to stay gone that long. While I fixed dinner tonight he sat in his highchair and muched on crackers never once getting upset! I realized that my baby is growing up! Walker is so much fun now! Don't get me wrong there are still days that I threaten to put him on "Wednesday's Child" but not nearly as often as I used to ;) This was the best shopping trip I have had in a long time and I didn't purchase a single thing for myself.

Having to Say Goodbye To Nik Nik!

2009-03-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

Today we had to put my precious Nik Nik to sleep. I am DEVESTATED!!! I know it's only a cat but he was my cat and I can cry if I want to. Nikki was a stray that I found about 4 years ago and was my "baby" before Walker came along. Two years ago I ran over Nikki, on accident of course, and he almost died. We rushed him to the vet where he remained for 4 weeks, had 3 surgeries and ran up a $2400 vet bill. So not only did I love this cat but I had invested a lot of money in this cat! I have cried all afternoon and night so pray for my husband! Marc can't comprehend why I'm crying because he has never lost a pet. He never had a dog or even a hampster growing up which is so weird to me! My dad was always bringing a puppy home. The only pet Marc has ever had is our dog, Cotton, and she will probably out live me. I have said, "You just don't understand!" around a thousand times tonight and I have sworn that I will never have another pet as long as I live. I hope by tomorrow I will be over this but for the rest of the night I am in mourning!

He's got legs, he knows how to use them

2009-03-04T19:56:00.000-08:00

I have been singing this all day because my nine month old baby boy is WALKING! It's just a few steps here and there but steps are steps and it's steps he's taking! I can't believe how fast he is growing up! Here is a video! Sorry it's a little dark we were at Mimi and Papaw's(marc's parents) when I was finally able to get a few steps on camera and I took this with my digital camera so it's not the best quality! Papaw was using a remote to lure him!

Blah, Blah, Blah

2009-03-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

I decided on this title because after reading this your going to say to yourself blah, blah, blah! I haven't posted in awhile because quite honestly I have been having myself a week long pity party. Yep, for almost a week now I have felt sorry for myself! Terrible, I know!!! I will tell a lil' bit of what's going on so you to can maybe have a pity party in honor of me or you can do the right thing and remind me of how fortunate I am to be alive and well and that my husband a baby a alive and kinda well(they both have the crud) and tell me that I am being selfish and acting like a brat! So here is how this week long "woe is me" has gone- It started with Walker's nine month check up...I took him in thinking that he was healthy and it would be short and sweet. Well, it wasn't! I won't go into great detail but I will say that I am contacting every pediatrician in the state and making sure that when the doctor sees a male baby for their first visit after leaving the hospital the mother is given an instruction manual for little boy babies and their little boy parts! If Walker ever sees this post he will kill me or at least have my parental rights terminated so I will leave it at that. Everything is fine now and he is COMPLETELY NORMAL!!! But Ileft the doctor's office feeling like I had failed as a mother, which was ridiculous because how should I know know how to take proper care of a part that I don't even have. Then business has been VERY SLOOOOOWWWW which means money has been very tight. Of course tight meaning that there wasn't room in our budget for me to purchase three cute dresses from Target that I HAD to have. Don't worry my grandmother was gracious enough to make sure I was able to purchase these because they were after all, a necessity!;) No really things have to pick up soon or we are going to have to make some changes. Next, Walker got sick. Then my new computer got a virus that is almost impossible to get rid of. So I have just been wallowing in my sorrows for almost seven straight days! I have prayed and asked God to forgive me for being such a spoiled brat and to help realize just how blessed I am but sometimes you just need to cry and stay in your pajamas all day. So that's what I did! I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now and know that it doesn't make a hill of beans what happens that as long as I trust in HIM it will all work out. So this morning I saw this on a blog, Stretch Marks(I love this blog!!!!! It's my favorite), and thought it was sooo funny! It reminded me of myself! I have a nine month screaming at me so I don't have time to figure out how to put the actual video on here just click on the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

A Priceless Piece of Art by an Artist on the Move

2009-02-20T14:37:00.000-08:00

I have to blog about the new artwork I received today for our home! It is absolutely one of the most beautiful pieces I have ever seen! If our house were to catch on fire I would be sure to grab this along with my pictures of Walker on my way out! Today when I saw this piece for the first time I cried then called my mom and cried some more! It's that great!!! This is the FIRST piece of artwork ever created by this particular artist and I have the honor and privilege of displaying it in my home! Here is a picture!!!!!!!

This is the first piece of artwork that Walker has ever brought home! I was so proud and even prouder of the marker spots on his shirt! The spots just proved that he really did do it! I'm sure with lots of help from his teachers ;) I never thought I would hang things on my fridge but I know that this is just the first of many that will land a special spot on the refrigerator door! I wonder if I will ever get tired of the artwork that he will bring home in the future. I'm sure I won't....my Mom never got tired of ours!!! I really did cry when I saw this!

And here is a picture of the talented artist that is responsible for creating the magnificent piece after I picked him up from Mother's Day Out! Below is a video of my sweet boy taking his first steps with some assistance from his lion push toy!!!!!

One of a Kind Friendship

2009-02-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

Today I got a wonderful surprise! One of my dearest friends in all the world sent me text message asking if it would be ok for she and daughter to come by and spend the day. I immediately responded, "YES!!!". So my dear friend Shelley and her daughter, Chamblee, came over. We had a wonderful time. Chamblee is 17 months old and Walker is twice her size! She is the cutest, most petite thing! Shelley and I hope that we will be in-laws one day ;) which is crazy because Shelley and my husband dated! Yeah, I know!!! She was Marcus' first "true love"! I know what your thinking! How in the world could I be best friends with someone my husband dated and loved(well as much as you can love someone at 16). Well believe me I tried to hate her! Yes, I tried really hard to dislike her for a couple of years but then I got to know her and see once you get to know her well that's it your hooked! She is so amazing! She lights up a room when she walks in it! She has the sweetest voice(which I made fun of when I was trying so hard to dislike her) and such a great smile! I won't go into detail but this girl has been through the unimaginable and still manages to get out bed in the morning. Shelley and I don't get to see each other often and we don't talk often but it's because we don't have to! I love that about her! I have lost a lot of friends because the friendship required too much work! There aren't enough hours in the day for me to give Walker, Marc, our house, our pets, our laundry, a bunch of friends and most importantly our good Lord the attention they all deserve. So it's nice to have a wonderful, one of a kind friendship that requires very little "work". Don't get me wrong I have friends that I talk to often and I treasure those friendships just as much but to a friendship like this is so great! And saying that I treasure a friendship that doesn't require constant contact may make me sound selfish or lazy but that's not the case! I am here for Shelley when she needs me and she knows that. Sometimes that is enough! Of course if she and her family ever decide to move closer I would be estatic!

Two Great Days in One Post

2009-02-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

Walker is still trying to kick this virus or whatever it is in the butt so I haven't had a ton of free time lately. He is starting to get better so I decided to hold off on going to the doctor, which is sooooo unlike me, for another day or two. Thanks to those of you who left a comments or emailed me with great advice. It's so nice to hear from other mothers!!! We had a great Valentine's Day!!! Walker and I stayed with my parents Friday night because Saturday was also my brother's birthday and I wanted to be there to wish him a Happy Birthday and I wanted someone else to change diapers for a day or so. Thanks Mom! So Walker and I returned home early Saturday morning so we could spend the day with Marc. I walked in to find a dozen white roses, one of favorites, and my gifts! Marc got me two of the Southern Living Wisteria Planters that I have been drooling over for months now! Thanks Mimi! This was Walker's first Valentine's Day so he got lots of "Elmo" themed goodies, which included an Elmo Live! I love the Elmo Live more than he does!!! Walker and I have actually fought over it a couple of times :) We baked cookies and decorated them and then my in-laws volunteered to keep Walker so that Marc and I could eat dinner and watch Fireproof. Dinner was great! I fixed Chicken Delight served over rice, green bean bundles(per Marc's request), and rolls. It was delicious if I do say so myself! We had a great time but went and picked Walker up as soon as the movie was over!!! I just can't stand to be away from him!!!
Sunday was my sweet Pawpaw's 71st birthday!!! Walker and I went and spent the day with him and my grandmother and threw together a party in about 45 minutes! My six year old cousin Hanna insisted that he have a cake, candles, balloons and streamers so off to Party City I went! We had so much fun!!! Hanna was in charge of decorations and she did pretty good job of telling me what to do. My grandfather is so special to and to have him here for another year is such a blessing!!! I can't talk about him without crying!!! Let's just say that I am his favorite grandchild and all the other grandchildren know this! He and I have a very special relationship and it's hard for me to imagine life without him! He is like a cat with nine lives! He is only living male out of nine children. He has survived too many heart attacks to count, two heart bypasses, diabetes, a massive stroke that left him paralyzed on his right side and two blocked carotid arteries(one is still blocked 100% the other was blocked 90% but was opened by surgery. His mother gave birth to him at home in 1938 and she was rushed to a hospital(or a doctor's office) and they put him in a shoe box because they thought he was dead and left him at the house. His sisters came home and discovered him crying. Or at least that's story I'm told. No matter what the circumstances he was never expected to live this long! I believe that he is a multi-millionaire and doesn't want us to find out so he refuses to go be with the Lord! LOL! Seriously he is one in a million. Well, two in a million because my grandmother has been there through everything and still manages to remain sane! I will add that he can sometimes be little difficult to get along with, a lot like myself! Here are a few pics from V-Day and Pawpaw's birthday!

Mom, you can click on the pic and it will make it bigger ;)

Is it Friday yet?

2009-02-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

This has been a horrible week!!! Walker has been sick since Monday and for three days the sweet nurse at the doctor's office has been trying to reassure me that he will get better and if I bring him in there in nothing they can give him. I won't go into detail about his ailment...let's just say that he's NOT constipated!!! Anyway every morning this week I have had to dunk him in the tub and clean my rug because his diaper isn't holding it all in! Walker has been sooooooooooo ill! Unbearably ill!!! The most frustrating part is not knowing what is causing this! I am taking him to the doctor in the morning if he has not improved! I am exhausted and so is my husband so I am keeping this short so I can get some rest! I know it could always be worse! Hope everyone else is having a better week than we are!

Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys!

2009-02-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

I love the rodeo! I know it's little redneck but I'm a little redneck! I have been going since I was a little girl and I always look forward to it coming to town every year. Marc and I decided that we were going to take Walker to the livestock barn and let him see a few bulls, horses, etc... So Saturday we dressed up in our rodeo attire and headed to the coliseum. Once we got there we decided to take a $50 chance(that's how much our tickets were) and take Walker to the actual rodeo. I have taken Walker to several football games and a basketball game and he didn't love it! Loud noises and crowds just don't seem to be his thing so I was a wee bit nervous about how he would react to fireworks, loud buzzers, a concert and enormous animals all over the place. Well he LOVED it! He watched every minute of it except for the nap he took during the concert. He never cried or got scared! Marc and I were both in shock! We left after the concert and met my parents, my brother and his girlfriend who were in town for a basketball tournament. Nana and Pappy(my parents) took Walker through the livestock barn for a second time and bought him a cowboy hat(that he wore all night and today). We had so much fun!!! Here are a few pics of my lil' cowboy! My only fear is that if Walker realizes how cute he looks in that cowboy hat he may just want to be a cowboy when he grows up and I don't know if I could handle that!

The Best Super Bowl I Never Watched

2009-02-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

Last night our Sunday school class had a super bowl party and I never watched a single minute of the game! I also never laid eyes on the chicken wings that were brought! MEN!!! UGH! We had great food and even better conversation! It was so great to sit and talk to other women about kids, kids and more kids! I have been to a lot of super bowl parties and this was by far my favorite and we left at halftime! I laughed until my cheeks were hurting! I left with a ton of advice from other moms, that have been there and done that, and a warm heart! We had to leave early so I could drop off a very late birthday present and get Walker to bed. We dropped off the b-day gift and stopped to talk with a few friends and their parents. We were talking about the sunday school party we had just left and it was then that I was informed that our class has a reputation! This came from someone who does not attend our church. She said our class has a reputation of being one of the BEST classes for young married couples in Clinton! Now that is reputation we can be proud of! Of course we already knew this ;) We invited another couple to come one sunday and get in on all the fun. I hope they show! I am very happy to be part of a class filled with such wonderful people! Real people! People that always make you feel welcome! I am looking forward to next Sunday so we can do it all again at Sarah's shower! I love each and everyone of you and am so thankful to God for brining you into my life! And to anyone who tried the dip I brought I apologize! I was a recipe I got from my mother and somewhere I went wrong, way wrong! It was the first time I had ever made it and the last! I will post the few pics I took later. I will warn you they are mostly of Walker and Murphy so Pamela and I maybe the only two that find them interesting :) I also missed those of you who couldn't be there!

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I'll love ya tomorrow! Your only a day away!

2009-01-30T12:45:00.001-08:00

Does anybody know what tomorrow is? Yes,it is Saturday and it is the last day of the month, which means Wal Mart will be a nightmare for the next week and it's also the day before Super Bowl Sunday. Most importantly tomorrow January 31st is the LAST day of DEER SEASON!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!! Thank you Lord Jesus! I mean that with all my heart! I am ecstatic! My husband however will be in mourning for the next few days. He will sigh and shed a few tears as he cleans his guns for the last time, gives his camo one final wash in the detergent that smells like dirt and cleans out all the hunting crap that is piled in the back seat of his truck! I will be his shoulder to cry on and will fix him a big bowl of ice cream to help mend his broken heart but then I will hand him his to do list! This isn't just any list! This is the list of things that have been put off since October! It isn't a small list or an easy list but it is a list that he will complete or risk losing all of his hunting attire in a mysterious fire! Some of you women(my mother) are sad because this means no more sending the men to deer camp for the weekend while you have the house all to yourself. Well, I'm sorry but all "good" things must come to an end! I having been counting down the days for weeks! No more feeling guilty when I ask him to stay home and help with the baby because he works hard and deserves time to himself, no more waiting by the phone just to hear "I killed one but we can't find it so I will be a lil' while", no more skinning dear until nine o'clock at night, no more hearing my mother say" Cari, he could be doing a lot worse just be glad he's hunting". No more Outdoor Channel! No more Michael Waddell or Lee and Tiffany. No more Drury Outdoors or Primos. No more grunt calls or camo! No more tripping over muddy boots at the back door! More of getting things done and spending good quality time together as a family at least for a few months! Tomorrow I will celebrate while Marc cries but luckily for him I have a few things for him to do that will take his mind off of the end of deer season. Like cleaning out the garage, picking up sticks in the back yard, repairing the missing shingle on the roof, bathing HIS smelly dog(who also has been neglected since October), bleaching the eaves around the house, blowing off the front porch, trimming back the bushes, draining the fountain, refilling the fountain, etc..... Tomorrow, Tomorrow! Your only a day away!

Much Obliged

2009-01-28T14:37:00.000-08:00

Thank you Tyanne for guiding me through that! Carly thanks for being there for moral support! LOL! Thanks to both of you for responding so quickly!

Help!

2009-01-28T09:05:00.000-08:00

Will someone please tell me how to set my blog so that people update their blogs it shows up on my page. I am wearing Tyanne's blog out! LOL! Thanks!

Little Red Corvette

2009-01-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

This weekend Marc, Walker and I headed to my parents house. I really wanted to go to bible study but, because we were lacking a baby sitter and the thought of spending 6 hours on the road so that my mom could keep Walker made me nauseated, we decided to go visit my family. I have heard the bible study before and I am married to the Sunday school teacher's son so I can hear it anytime I want(that's just one of the many perks!) but I was looking forward to the fellowship! Hopefully we will have another one soon! We had a great time with my fam! My mom waits on Marc hand and foot! It's ridiculous! I always tell him not to go home expecting that kind of service cause it ain't gonna happen! Know what I mean? My dad and brother took Marc squirrel hunting and taught him a new way to skin a squirrel! I'm not sure why he would want to skin one. Surely he wouldn't consider eating one. Would he!? I was able to get sleep and I needed it! Walker had the best time of all! He always does! My mother all but breathes for him while we are there! My mom wanted to get Walker a wagon of some sort the last we visited. My parents live on a few acres so my mom and dad wanted something they could pull him around in since he weighs 24 pounds!!! Mom and I had looked at Wal Mart the last time I visited and found a Radio Flyer car that has a handle so you can push him and a foot rest that slides back so he can steer it himself when he gets a little older but it was around $85 so we decided to wait. I went to Wal Mart in Clinton Thursday and found it for $64 so I called my Mom and she said, "BUY IT!!!!". I put it together Friday night and we put Walker in it and let me just say it is his absolute favorite thing EVER!!! The steering wheel turns so the first thing he did was grab the wheel with one hand just like he was driving then he propped his other arm on the door! It was so cute! He was PIMPIN'! Unfortunately it was too cold to take him outside so we cruised him around inside all weekend! The car was super easy to put together and has lots of cool extras! It has a "radio", blinkers that light up and a horn. Here are a couple of pics!
So it's not really a corvette. More like a old Chevy of some sort but Walker thought it was a corvette and I dare anyone to tell him any different! ;)

A Wonderful Day!

2009-01-22T16:54:00.000-08:00

I love to be outdoors and like most babies, Walker does to. Walker was born in May so by the time he was old enough to enjoy being outside it was just too cool to take him out and let him play. I had been watching the weather and saw that today was going to be warm. I got so excited and had been looking forward to it all week long. I couldn't wait to let Walker play outside all afternoon. We had so much fun today!!! We went for a walk around the neighborhood, I pushed him in his swing, pulled him around the yard in his wagon, let him eat dirt and play with the animals. Today gave me a sneak peak at the fun Walker and I are going to have this spring and summer! Here are few pics from our fun day!

A Trendy Stitch

2009-01-18T19:26:00.001-08:00

I am going to do some advertising for Pamela. I hope she doesn't mind!!! I ordered an outfit and a shirt for Walker from A Trendy Stitch and everything is adorable! Walker wore his outfit on his first day at Mother's Day Out not just because he looked cute in it but it also has his named monogrammed across the front and I thought what better way to be sure that they don't forget his name! Everyone had a fit over the outfit! Check out www.atrendystitch.com to see some of the super cute things you can order! Here are a few pics of Walker in his outfit.

Walker can feed himself!!!!

2009-01-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

This post is mainly for my mom. She hasn't been able to see him do this yet! Now I just need to find things that I feel comfortable letting him feed himself. I am scared to death that he is going to choke.

Money down the drain!!!

2009-01-16T14:21:00.001-08:00

I will probably get a letter from the City of Clinton about this post but oh well. I recieved my water bill in the mail a couple of weeks ago just like always and put it in my bill sorter without even checking the amount. I rarely look at it until the day it is due. Yeah I know that's a horrible habit. So last night I got ready to pay bills and realized that my sewage charge was almost triple what the water charge was! They are usually within a couple of dollars of one another. I pulled out my previous bills and saw that for the last 3 months my bill has been this way! Yes, I keep all of my bills because my father in law is a realtor and he says it's important to keep that kind of info handy so when you get ready to sell your home you can tell the buyer what your bills usualy run each month. Just a free tip for anyone who didn't know that. Anyway, I head up to the water department and bring this to their attention. They were so nice and helpful! Turns out they had been overcharging me and they can't figure out why. They credited me back for what I had overpaid which left me owing $6.14 for my water bill this month! Way better than the 70 something dollars I had been billed for. So if you live in the city limits of Clinton check your bill! The sweet lady that helped me made the comment, "I wonder who else has been overcharged and didn't catch it!"

One of the Proudest Moments of My Life

2009-01-16T14:04:00.000-08:00

This morning was so exciting! It was Walker's first day at Mother's Day Out! I was determined to be on time and we were!!! I had met his teachers the week before and they were super nice so I felt confident that he was in great hands! It was just the leaving part that was so hard! He was having a blast when I got ready to leave so he hardly noticed that I was walking towards the door! I was a wreck! It broke my heart to tell him bye! I don't know how mother's leave their children at daycare every day. I am so fortunate to stay home with him and to have a husband that works so hard to allow me to do this. Thank goodness I ran into a lady outside so I was forced to hold myself together and not start crying like a crazy woman. I got in the car and it occurred to me that I could pick him up at anytime so there was no need to be upset and to just enjoy the next few hours of freedom! So I did what any mother who has spent more time worrying about how their child would spend their day than what they would do with their free time. I headed to Wal Mart! It was the only place I could think of! I got there realized that I was punishing myself so I grabbed a few necessities and went to my FAVORITE store, The Olive Branch. I had a gift certificate that I wanted to use so I bought a few Christmas ornaments that were on sale and a ceramic rabbit to match one I already have and then wandered around for forty five minutes just because I could! I met Marc, my in-laws and David for lunch and enjoyed an entire meal without interruption. After eating I darted across town to pick Walker up EARLY! I just couldn't take it anymore! I had to see my lil' man. They said that he did great and that they were moving him up because they think he is so advanced. ADVANCED!!! Well, that was one of the proudest moments of my life thus far! Granted they are probably moving him up because he is giant compared to the other babies and they prefer to place him in a room that has been baby proofed for legal purposes nonetheless they told me it was because he was advanced!!! I am somewhat apprehensive about him moving up because all the babies in his new class are walking and bigger than him. I also worry about one of them being mean to him(see my post: Bye, Bye, Bye)but I'm sure he will be fine. I plan to tell everyone about our very own baby Einstein and write in his baby book how on his first day at MDO he was moved up because he was so "advanced". I am signing off now so I can start filling out Walker's college applications! I'm kidding!

Thank God for Mothers!!!!

2009-01-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

After reading Erin's post Thursday I was thinking about what she had written and that I really hadn't experienced "that" yet. "That" meaning up all night with a sick baby, who can only find comfort in your arms and the adrenaline that suddenly kicks in and allows you to go without sleep for hours. Walker still doesn't sleep all night but it's never been because he was really sick..it's because he wants a bottle or to practice whatever new skill he is trying to master. Well, low and behold he caught his first cold and I spent Thursday night rocking and holding Walker so he could breathe through his lil' stopped up nose. It was then that I knew exactly what Erin meant! I have spent the last two days wiping his snot all over MY sleeve and doing it like it's second nature. Something 8 months ago I would have NEVER done. I HATE snot. Most people hate blood or vomit well I work in the medical field so those don't phase me but snot, that's a different story! Enough on snot. I am feeling nauseated! Anyway, Erin was right! Being a mother brings out selflessness and the ability to do whatever it takes to meet your child's needs. I immediately called the doctor Friday morning, canceled Walker's first day of Mother's Day Out and headed north to get help from Nana. I realized today that even though I am a twenty seven year old grown woman, married and a mother myself my mom displays this same kind of selflessness towards me! She stayed up with Walker last night so that I could rest and because she adores Walker and would rather have one on one time with him but it's makes me feel special to say she did it just for me;) Thanks Mama! I love you! Thank you Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful mother!

Bye, Bye, Bye

2009-01-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

Walker has figured out how to wave bye, bye! Well sort of, he does it backwards sometimes but it's so cute! He now waves at everybody and everything! He waves to me, the cat, the dog, Marc, the lady at the grocery store! It's precious!!!!
This week has been very exciting and it's only Tuesday! I got a phone call yesterday that I have been waiting for....Walker will start Mother's Day Out Friday!!! I am very excited! He will only be going one day a week for now, which will be plenty! I really want Walker to be around other children and since we aren't planning on having another baby anytime soon this was our only option. This comes at a perfect time...I was informed Sunday when I picked him up from the nursery, that he doesn't like for other children to get into his personal space!:) I must admit, at first I was a little offended,! I mean he is 7 months old for crying out loud, how do they know what he likes! I can't understand baby language, maybe the other kid threatened to steal his bottle or something! Then I realized it was an innocent remark and I came to the conclusion that most people don't like for others to get in their personal space so Walker is completely normal! Hopefully being around other babies at MDO will help Walker with his people skills ;) I also realized Sunday that there is an area of motherhood that I am struggling with...the random comments from people, some complete strangers, about my child. I am VERY sensitive and get my feelings hurt very easily!!!! That is probably one of the main reasons I didn't enjoy pregnancy! Anywho, it dawned on me Sunday that I need to figure out a way to grin and bear it when someone says something about Walker that I don't agree with because over the next say fifty or sixty years, if I live that long, it will happen a lot!!! In my eyes Walker is flawless but not everyone else will see him this way! I also am beginning to understand why mothers of terror tots(as I call them) think their children are well behaved little angels. In a mother's eyes her child can do no wrong and when they do it is the parents responsibility to point it out and not anyone else's! Unless of course, the child's behavior is harmful to another child or adult. I also realized that other children are going to be mean to my baby one day and there won't be a lot that I can do about it! I don't know what kept my mother from marching out on the playground and jacking a few jaws when I would come home from school crying! I guess keeping your cool and having thick skin is just part of being a mom! A part that will take a lot of getting used to because after all in my eyes, Walker IS perfect, well most of the time;)
Here is a picture of my "PERFECT" baby waving bye, bye backwards!

Birthday on the Brain!

2009-01-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

Walker will not turn one until May 7 but for the last couple of weeks all I can think about is his first birthday party. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that I tend to be a lil' OCD when it comes to my child or maybe it's because I know that this party more is for our family and friends to get together and look back at his first year. Anyway, I have saved countless pictures and kept a file full of websites to return to. I have even picked out party favors and for the last few days I have even spent his nap time on the Internet googling party ideas when I should have been doing laundry. Let me just say....the majority of this stuff is so TACKY!!! I have also been trying to decide if I want a theme or not. I know after this year Walker will decide on the theme and I won't be able to do anything about it. I will have to suck it up and hang the batman pinata or pay someone to bake a cake in the shape of spider man. This led to my decision to go theme less:) I am sure by Monday I will be over it but for now I am in party planning mode!

New Year's Eve

2009-01-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

I apologize for my lack of creativity! I haven't been able to come up with any catchy titles. Writer's block I guess! HA! HA! This is the second year in a row that we have had a very low key new year's eve. Last year I was pregnant and this year we wanted to be with Walker, so two of our best friends came over(they are expecting their first child in May) and we ate dinner. We spent the entire evening talking about babies and how much life changes after you become a parent. We had a wonderful time! Walker woke up around 11 so instead of putting him back to bed we chose to let him ring in the new year with us! He fell asleep at 11:57! Party pooper! After Blake and Mary left we all 3 got in the bed and I laid there thanking God for every breath Walker took for about 5 minutes then thanked him for an extraordinary year! This year has had way more ups than downs! Although some of my family members and friends have had to cope with illness, tragic accidents, death, financial downs and ups Marc and I have been very fortunate. All of these things hit home and affected me but not directly and for that I am eternally grateful! My heart breaks for those who have suffered and I pray for them everyday!
My new year's resolution(I hate making these) is to try to be more positive about everything! It will be hard especially this month...the inauguration, our country's financial situation, etc.....but I am going to pray really hard and put it in God's hands.
On a lighter note....I can't wait to see what 2009 has in store! I don't know if it can be better than 2008! We celebrated our first wedding anniversary, welcomed a precious baby boy into the world, I was able to have my precious grandfather around for another year and so much more! Life in '08 has been GREAT!!!! We have spent New Years day watching the Tournament of Roses parade and eating grilled cheese sandwiches. We also took a 2 hour nap! Here a few pics from last night and today.

Walker in his Hugh Hefner pj's

Walker's First Christmas

2009-01-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

Christmas was WONDERFUL! We spent Christmas eve day with my family and Christmas eve night with Marc's. Walker was perfect all day even though he had a runny nose and cough! Marc & I had SOOOOO much fun Christmas eve night "helping" Santa. Santa went WAY overboard and is now on a budget because of her, I mean his excesive spending ;) Marc's parents and brother, David, came over Christmas morning to see what Santa brought and to eat breakfast. Walker didn't know what to think at first but when he realized that all of those toys were his he went crazy!!! That is until he found his favorite toy and then paid zero attention to anything else! This was the best Christmas I have ever had! However, I am glad to have the tree and the decorations down and my house back to normal! Here are a few of my favorite pictures!

Walker with his favorite toy!!!

Everything that Santa brought!

Riding in his wagon that Mimi & Papaw gave him

Smiling for his Nana on Christmas Eve

Walker and my sweet Pawpaw!!! I love this picture!

A mini vaca, a very valuable Christmas card lesson and my overactive child

2008-12-16T19:41:00.000-08:00

The last few days have flown by! Walker and I went to my parents for the weekend so my mom and I could do some Christmas shopping and so I could get some much needed relief!!!!!!!! Growing up I always wanted to be one of those "soccer moms" and now that I am one, well I guess it's more like a diaper mom or bottle mom, I have a whole new respect for them! I just thought they spent their days getting manicures, playing a little tennis, making daily drive thrus at Starbucks, picking up the dry cleaning, etc.... Boy, I was WRONG! I'm sure their are those that do this but they are either married to very wealthy men or they neck deep in credit card debt! I have never worked so hard in my life trying to keep one person happy! At the clinic where I worked I was the only x-ray tech taking & running x-rays, I helped run tests in the lab, performed nursing duties, helped out in the front office, catered to 4 unappreciative physicians and performed numerous other duties that were not in my job description for 40 plus hours a week and that job was nothing compared to working for Walker Banks Rushing! Now don't get me wrong I LOVE staying home with my sweet baby but just like with any job you need a vacation every once in awhile! So Walker and I go to my parents! It is there that I get uninteruppted sleep, diaper changes are limited, rarely do I have to fix a bottle and the I only way I know he has been bathed is because his hair is wet ,all thanks to my wonderful mother! She does everything and loves every minute she spends with, as she calls him, "her precious little angel". We then came home to finish Christmas shopping and get as much done as possible before this weekend gets here! It was a much needed break but at the same time it was also wonderful to come back home and have Walker all to myself and to see Marc!
This is my first year to send out Christmas cards so I ordered 40 only to run out before I could send them to all of our relatives! I saved 7 and have been sending them to friends as I recieve their cards. This may be tacky but it's the only way I knew to do it without hurting anyones feelings. I now have 1 left!!! So to anyone who didn't recieve a Christmas card from us please do not be offened! We love all of our freinds and family! I posted a pic of our card in hopes that it will cut down on the mean looks and cold shoulders I am destined to encounter over the next few weeks!! I hope I don't go to jail for posting it with all the copyright laws now! LOL! It was done by Callie Buckley! She is great photographer with unbelievable prices! Next year I will know to order more!
Anyone who has ever spent more than 10 minutes with my child knows that he is VERY active to say the least! Walker never stops moving, NEVER! I know what your thinking, 'Oh my child is or was the same way'. No you don't understand he is go, go, go twenty four hours a day! He was rolling over at 5 1/2 weeks old and army crawling by the time he was 5 1/2 months old. Walker has not even mastered sitting up without supporting himself with one arm because he won't be still long enough to try! So Walker has decided that 7 months of age he wants to see the world from a different view, a much higher view! Two days ago Walker started pulling up on everything! He now wants to stand! I woke up this morning to find him trying to stand up and crawl over me! I guess he was growing impatient and was just going to go fix his bottle himself! The only problem is that our hearth on the fireplace is the only thing in the house that is just the right height for him to pull up on! I knew he was going to start this and that he would begin to walk and I was looking forward to all of these things but I never thought it would happen this soon! He amazes me each and everyday! To watch this precious baby grow and change is more fun and more rewarding than anything I have ever experienced. I always have known that we have an amazing God but it wasn't until Walker was born that I realized just how incredible God is! As Christmas draws closer I am reminding myself that He truly is the reason for the season!

Counting the days until Santa arrives

2008-12-09T19:27:00.000-08:00

I always look forward to Christmas but this year is different! This will be Walker's first Christmas! I have been so busy picking out his gifts that I almost forgot to buy gifts for everyone else. I have also hidden all of his gifts so that he can't see them! HA! Actually, Marcus caught me letting Walker play with some of his Christmas presents so he decided that the gifts should be hidden from me not Walker. I started decorating before Thanksgiving because I couldn't wait to see how he would react to the tree, especially since he loved all the trees at Fads and Frames, well he paid zero attention to it for a couple of days and then he found it! He tried to eat every branch and light bulb he could get his hands on! I decided that I should put presents under the tree to cut down on the risk of electrocution...bad idea! He now goes for every present under the tree and at lightening speed! I am loving every minute of it! I posted a few pics of him, the tree and him performing a sneak attack on the presents.

Thank you Lauren!

2008-12-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

I knew someone would come to my rescue! Thanks to Lauren I now have a fancy background! Now if I can just remember how to move the pics around when I put up a new post and I really want to change my header. I will work that more today and update later tonight. I just might get the hang of this!

Blogging or the lack thereof

2008-12-08T18:15:00.000-08:00

OK I have not posted a blog since July and I apologize! My wonderful sister-in-law set this blog up for me and I have not maintained it like I should have! I am sorry Alana! Please forgive me! I guess now that our Sunday school class is going to be using a blog I need to put a little more effort into my own.
Walker is 7 months old! I can't believe it! It seems like over night he went from this tiny helpless baby to an independent little boy! Alot has happened since my last blog so I'm not going to try to fill in every detail of the last few months but here are a few that are worth mentioning!
By 4 months of age Walker was rolling over, laughing, holding his own bottle, eating solid food and had gotten his first haircut! He was NOT sleeping through the night!
By 6 months of age Walker was saying Da-Da and good! He was crawling, using a sippy cup, sitting up by himself and had two teeth! He was NOT sleeping through the night!
Now here we are at 7 months! Walker is clapping and has almost figured out how to wave bye-bye! He is all over the place! He has discovered things in our home that I did not know existed!Walker loves to flirt! He also enjoys showing off in front of a crowd! He loves Moose A Moose on Noggin! He will stop whatever he is doing and just laugh when he hears Moose's voice. However, he is still NOT sleeping through the night!
I have tried everything! I even tried letting him cry it out! After one night of crying it out he was doing great and then he got an ear infection. It was all downhill after that. I just can't bring myself to let him cry now. I have just accepted the fact that I will not get eight straight hours of sleep until he is four or five years old and I am okay with that.
As I look back over the last seven months I laugh! Everything I said I would never do I have done...wasn't going to let him watch TV, never let him get off his "schedule"(what is a schedule anyway?), didn't want him to suck a pacifier and last but not least he was NOT going to sleep in the bed with us. Now, without Noggin or Baby Einstein I would never be able to shower, we have a routine which we often get out of, I would pay him to take a pacifier at 4 am(he refuses to take one unless it's been dipped in sweet tea) and just about every night you will find Walker right in the middle of OUR bed! I know I won't be up for the Mother of the Year award any time soon but I do know that I have a precious baby boy, who loves me unconditionally and has no idea that I am breaking every one of the Babywise rules! Our family is far from perfect but we couldn't be happier!
I guess my new years resolution will be to be a better blogger! I have no idea how to change the layout of my blog so if anyone can help me with I would appreciate it! I found the layouts on here but I want a cute background and don't know where to get it. I am computer illiterate!!!! I hope I can do better with my blog especially now that I know other "bloggers"!

Walker found his feet

2008-07-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

Walker and I were playing last night and he kept looking at my shirt or so I thought. He actually had found his FEET! He played with them for several minutes. It was too cute!

My New Occupation

2008-07-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Beginning August 1, 2008 I will take on a new career! My new career will be extremely challenging, but by far the most rewarding career ever. My new career will require a ton of patience and force me to slow down and enjoy every single moment of everyday. After alot of praying Marcus and I truly believe that this is the job God has chosen for me. My new boss is WALKER!!! That's right I will be a stay at home mom! My amazing husband is going to work harder than he ever has to allow me to do this. I can't imagine doing anything else! I am so in love with our precious gift from God and don't want to miss one minute of his childhood. Wish me luck as I embark on this new adventure!

Pics of Walker

2008-07-20T15:56:00.000-07:00