Up close

This little girl is amazing. She is sweet beyond all sweetness. Feeding is going really well, she hardly cries and she brings us more joy than we could have anticipated. We head home from the hospital tomorrow. The c-section has taken a bit of a toll on my body, but I'm doing alright. The Lord really has been so kind and gracious to us.

Ada

This little girl is amazing. She is sweet beyond all sweetness. Feeding is going really well, she hardly cries and she brings us more joy than we could have anticipated. We head home from the hospital tomorrow. The c-section has taken a bit of a toll on my body, but I'm doing alright. The Lord really has been so kind and gracious to us.

Occupying our Children at the Hospital

The kids have come to the hospital with Maz and Papa everyday. They have been really sweet and love Ada so much already. Will is always saying, "Me hold baby Ada now?" He is also very concerned that Ada always has her pacifier and is curious about what everything in the hospital room does, "what dis doos?" Lucy came to the hospital with her baby doll and didn't put her down the whole time and was very concerned that her baby gets enough food. When I had a baby, she had a baby too I guess. Introducing the two of them to their new sister has been such a delight. When they start getting antsy we have found a couple things to entertain them. Papa and Nate take the kids to have wheelchair races, need I say, they love them (Maz went to document)! I'm surprised they haven't gotten kicked out of the hospital yet. Lucy and Will also play in the cupboard in our room, "where'd Lucy go?" and such.

Our sweet girl

Here's more...

with many more to come..

SHE's here!

We are thrilled to announce our little girl
Ada Jackson Walker
7 lbs. 11 oz., 21 1/2 inches
Ada is a significant name for us. My mom's mom died when my mom was 1, and her name was Ada. From what we've heard, she was an amazing woman and we can see the evidence of that in my mom. We also wanted to honor Nate's mom by giving Ada the same middle name as her. Whenever we say her name it will remind us of these two beautiful women.

She is an amazing, healthy, beautiful little girl. We are so thankful. Thank you for your prayers!

I think Boy

I purposely didn't post what I think because I didn't want to influence. It looks like from the previous post, the majority says boy. It might help to give some history to know why I say boy.

Little Lucy was supposed to be little Charlie, or so the ultra-sounds said. We literally didn't know until she was born that she was a girl, and she's been full of unexpecteds ever since. The reason why this is pertinent is because, well, there was this man. This man who had good information at the wrong time. I had been at a wedding and was about 45 weeks pregnant (not really, but it felt that way). Actually, I think the wedding was on my due date. The normal questions were coming up over and over again- at least a thousand times (really). (When's the due date? Boy or girl? How are you feeling?....) Best intentions from everybody, but too too much by the end. By the time we were leaving I had lost all tact. A man was getting on his motorcycle next to us and he said, "so, you're having a girl huh?" Usually I would say, "actually it's a boy", or something of the sort, but I just shout out at this poor man, "WRONG" and get in the car. If you know me this is not really in my personality. Well, it ends up I was the wrong one and now I've developed somewhat of a trust for random men predicting the sex of babies.

So, all that said, I have had two men tell me I'm having a boy. The first was the airport security guard. He was quite confident and told me I was having a son without even asking if I knew what I was having. The second was a man in the elevator. He too told me I was having a boy, no doubt. Now, if they were women, I don't know that I would have the same trust, but because I ate my words with Lucy I feel I owe it to those 2 men to believe them (that doesn't really make sense does it?) That's ok, I'm 39 wks prego, I don't need to make sense anymore (:

There's my very scientific reasoning, we'll see in T - 2 days!

One last project

One last project... and I'm so pleased with it. This is a high chair I bought for $3 at a garage sale a while ago and have been wanting to paint. I found this color and it's just what I wanted. I still want to make a cushion for the back, but it will do for now. Now we have 3 high chairs... totally necessary right? The other 2 are plastic though and this is one I can hopefully hand down to the grandchildren.

Despite their begging and pleading I couldn't quite bring myself to let them paint, so we ended up doing the sanding together.

And, the after!

Boy or Girl?

If you feel so inclined, leave a guess. Boy or girl? I'd be curious to compare the predictions to what we actually end up having. One week from tomorrow! Went to the doc today and nothing to report. Baby's still breech and still just dilated to 2. This little baby is going to be here before we know it, off to pack the bag just in case ...

Well, oh well

The baby was not feeling very acrobatic today or it just prefers to me right side up. Either way, c-section as planned. I'm alright with it though ... I really am. Thanks for all you who said (and didn't say) you were praying for me, I trust that whatever happens is best.

37 weeks

Almost there. Gosh, less than 2 weeks until C-section day. Tomorrow I'm going in for a version. If you don't know what it is, two doctors pretty much try to flip the baby manually (sounds comfortable doesn't it?) I'm thankful I can at least give it a try, my fluids are doing well so they said we can give it a whirl. At any rate, if you think of it you can pray that the baby flips. I'd love it if the baby flips, but am really at peace with whatever happens. Thanks for checking in and I'll let ya know what happens.

The sound of silence

Silence makes me nervous. It used to be one of my favorite things, and it still is when I'm home alone, however, now when I hear silence it means I have to get up from the couch (which is a lot of effort these days), or stop what I'm doing to go see what is stirring about the house. I have walked into many interesting scenes and plots brewing. I've seen shampoo dumped in the shower, stickers decorating the whole living room/dining room, the massive dumping of toys (the rest have been selectively blocked out of my memory for sanity purposes). I must say that the silence is usually broken by my children's displeasure with the consequence.

So, the other morning I was lying in bed as the kids were saying, "mama", "can we get out of bed?" I looked at the clock and thought, just a few more minutes. "I'll be there in a few minutes." A few minutes went by and the request came again, this time I offered no reply. To my surprise it got quiet again. I was too tired to be concerned with the silence, I stayed in bed and convinced myself that they must have just fallen back asleep. A good amount of time passed and I decided I should go check on the little rascals. The below picture is what I walked in on. Lucy had climbed in with Will and brought blankets to stay cozy and books to entertain. What joy brought to a mother's heart. I quietly sneaked away without being seen and drank my cup of coffee quietly while the the kids and myself enjoyed the sound of silence.

Christ Church Bellingham

In case you're curious, the church's website is near completion. Check it out if you'd like...

http://www.christchurchbellingham.org/

Utilizing Fall

Notice my handsome, clean cut son. He got called a girl, my cue that it's time for a cut.

Cocoa to warm the insides

Falling out of Fall

I'm definitely a season girl. I love the four seasons and am always in great anticipation of the next. Fall. The changing trees, apple spice, candles, squash, burnt leaves, the brisk breeze, bundling up in sun, scarves ...the list goes on. Then comes the anticipation for winter. Decorating for Christmas, peppermint mochas, shopping, blankets, tea, Christmas morning, sweaters ... the list goes on. Spring. Restless legs running outside, sandals, walks, iced lattes, playgrounds, adventures, blooming flowers ... the list goes on. And then summer. Swimming, lemonade, BBQ's, skirts, gardening, Margaritas and guacamole .. oh yes! Each season has so much to offer.

Isn't it funny though, often after just a month or so of one season, I start having such great anticipation of the next that I stop thinking about the season I'm in. In fact, I feel like I've skipped over Thanksgiving in my mind. Already I've started thinking of what crafts I will do for Christmas with the kids, where the tree will go, I've snuck in a couple Christmas CD's, and started thinking about where I can find a good peppermint candle. (I might add I do think think Christmas is a bit different and there is room for some extra anticipation, don't get me wrong). However, I have noticed that I'm forgetting the very things I love about fall. So, to prevent this premature planning, some action steps have been put into place. This week I'm going to be making a butternut squash soup and Creamy butternut squash pasta with Gorgonzola and apples. I will for sure post the soup as it's really great and really easy. As far as the pasta, well it will be an experiment so if it's a success I'll pop that one up here too. Also, I've been debating about whether to get another mulled apple cider candle for the rest of the season, and after having my friend Alyssa over yesterday and noticing my temptation to skip over half of fall, I'll be purchasing one soon. And finally, here are some more fall pics. So enjoy fall, soak it in, light some candles, have some cider!

In case you're interested....

Here are some of my favorite, inspiring photo blogs. They are professional in a major way and I really appreciate their style.

Bobbi and Mike

Pioneer Woman

Susan Stripling

Me Ra Koh

Baby Lucy

Always observing, always trying to keep up with the big kids, and always cute!

Botanical with Friends

Will's usually a few steps behind, just trying to keep up with the busy blondies.

The color of the leaves are amazing and with the winds picking up they will soon be on the ground. It was a perfect day to take a trip to the gardens. I feel so spoiled that it's November and still in the 70's- soaking in every moment. We went to the gardens with Sarah, Huntleigh and baby Lucy. Look at them holding hands- so sweet!

Happy birthday Hunts

Happy Birthday Hunts! This girl has got zing and personality- I love her! We got to go to a little celebration (superbly done) to enjoy this amazing 3 year old.

Each kid got a canvas and paint- quite a successful craft.

Here are the finished products below. Lucy's is the one smack in the middle and Will's is on the far left.

Will caught in the act of blowing out the candles with Huntleigh.