PopPop and Nana Visit

May 2 - May 12

Nana and PopPop met Eleanor Anne for the first time on May 3rd!
They came in from New York (Nana) and Utah(PopPoP) for Eleanor's blessing. It was so nice to have them there for it.  Then they were able to stay for some days after!
PopPop had to head back on the 7th and Nana got to stay until the 12th!
We quite a good time while they were here!

Saturday afternoon after the blessing...the girls headed to a jewelry party.
Kate actually won the raffle and came home with some earrings.
That night the Garner's headed back to Denton-(Kate had a girl's night)!
Mom and I went shopping for different things and picked up Boston Market for dinner that night! Yum!  Love us some Boston Market.

Sunday the Garner's came down for the day and we had dinner and hung out!
Sammy actually got really sick on Saturday! He just had a fever all day and into the night and then all day Sunday.  It was so sad! I hate it when my kids are sick.  I was so happy that it was just a fever.  Oh and did I mention our fridge BROKE on Sunday and it didn't get fixed until Tuesday!  Yeah, that was AWESOME! We were suppose to go to the beach on Monday, but it looked like that was not going to happen!

Especially since Monday morning, Jackson woke up with a fever!

SOOOO we changed things around a little bit!
Monday Nana, Kate, Eleanor, and I went for a girl's afternoon while PopPop stayed home with the kids. Sammy didnt have a fever anymore, but like I said, Jackson did!
Luckily, he was in a great mood...especially for PopPop!
Us girls went to lunch at the Korner Cafe,....would NOT reccommend that restaurant!
We still had a great time and loved just being with the girls.
Then we went shopping for Kate's shower we were having on Saturday and of course we had to make a stop at Janie and Jack!  Our favorite children's clothing store...where we just go in and ooh and aah over everything and then walk out...because it is outrageously expensive!!
(Except that one time when Nana bought Eleanor a beautiful red dress that I am so excited to put her in this Christmas!)
When we came home, Pop Pop said...you are home already!  What? We could have stayed out LONGER?!  It was good for us to be home. Little Jackson needed his mom!!
Thanks PopPop for watching the kids!

That night we ate at Rosa's!
It was Cinco de Mayo!
We had to eat TexMex!
Yummy!

Jackson will get anyone he can to play legos with him!

Tuesday we still weren't up to going to the Lake, so we decided to go to Bahama Bucks and have a water day in our backyard!  I was pretty sure PopPop would LOVE Bahama Bucks and I. Was. Right!  He loved it!  Eleanor got a cool package because it was her first time there. It came with a spoon and a coupon for a free Baby Snow Cone!  Awesome!

We all hung out on the patio and had a great time!

They also had a tetherball court!
I LOVE TETHERBALL!
 It was pretty fun to play with everyone.
They also have this hook a ring game at the patio area that we played and played and played!
(We actually ended up putting that game on our back patio to play!)

That night we all went to Sushi Yaa!!  Ooooo yum!
We love Sushi Yaa so much.
All you can eat Sushi!

Wednesday morning Pop Pop left bright and early!
It was way sad to see him go so early, but we felt really lucky that he was able to come and play for the time he was able to be here.  We haven't seen him for over a year, so it was about time we all hung out!  Can't wait to see him in August!

That day we lounged around the house.
The Garner's came down that afternoon.
Nana and I even were able to take NAPS!
It was a much needed relaxful day.
Nana went to Denton that night to stay with the Garner's.

Thursday was spent in Denton.
We took Andrew to work and then headed to Denton.
We went up there so the kids could play while Kate, Mom and I did some packing.
Kate had quite a lot to do.
And we were able to help out a little.
Chichk-Fil-A for lunch.
Our favorite fast food restaurant.

Friday we went up to Denton for Branson's graduation.
The whole reason the Garner's have been here in Texas...for Branson to get his Master's!
And it has come to past!
It was great to be able to see him accomplish such a huge thing.

Jackson had a great time getting Sammy to go where he was suppose to go.

The kids were not able to make it through the whole ceremony, so we spent the time OUT in the concourse playing games and keeping them entertained.
We all ran inside when they were about to call Branson's name!
We made it in there JUST IN TIME!

Congrats Branson on such a HUGE accomplishment!

That night the Garner's had a family night and Nana and us headed back to Lewisville. Nana stayed with us so that we could get eveything ready for Kate's shower in the morning. And Andrew went on a campout with his Scouts.

Saturday morning we headed to Denton for Kate's shower.
Mom made all of the food and it was delicious!
Just looking at this food makes me REALLY hungry!
We had Banana bread with Reeses Peanut Butter cups in iT!
Orange Rolls, Fruit Salad, and Breakfast CAsserole that was AWESOME! and Avacados stuffed with Pico de Gallo and Corn and Bean salsa!
Such a beautiful spread.
Mom knows how to throw a party!!!!

Kate is all about purple for this baby, so we made sure to have that as the color scheme.

We played some great games!
The first one was they took a picture of Kate and a picture of Branson and cut out features of them and put them on a blank baby face.They turned out PRETTY scary!
We also did the candy bar game where different things about child birth match a name of a candy bar.
The first one to grab the candy bar won that candy bar!
It was really fun.
And then we also had an ongoing game where you could steal people's bows if they said baby.
And then there was a baby pool.
That one we have to wait until the baby comes to see who wins.

It was a great shower and Kate got lots of diapers for that little baby!
She also got some cute outfits, moby wraps and blankets!

I made her this quilt!
I was pretty proud of that quilt!

After the shower we went to ride a train!!
Whoa did the kids LOVE it!

At first we were in the very first seat...right behind the engine! Yeah--that wasn't really the BEST seat. It was loud and you could smell all of the exhaust.
Luckily, there is a pit stop, so we were able to move to the back of the train. Such a better experience.
It was great to ride the train.
That night we ate at Rudy's!
Yes! We were all in Heaven!
Thanks Nana for such a fun day!

Sunday was Mother's Day!

Our ward did the best thing any ward has ever done! They had a little refreshment brunch for all of the sister's in the ward! IT was awesome...fruit, chocolate, treats!

So, fun! So Perfect!

That night, Mom, Kate, and I were able to play some games while the boys made dinner.

That was perfecT!  Just what we were looking for!

Hamburgers and hot dogs!

A great meal for Mother's Day.

We felt really special.

That night we said our good-byes to Nana! She was leaving bright and early the next morning. So Sad! It is always hard to see her go back to New York.We LOVE it when Nana comes!  WE are excited to see her in August when we go up for Grammy's 90th!

Thanks for the visit you guys!

See you soon!

Bluebonnets, Egg Hunt, and Easter Dinner

 One of my most favorite times of the year in Texas is SPRINGTIME!

Not only because the weather is nice enough to be outside and not get heat exhaustion, but also because the BLUEBONNETS come out in full force!  They line the highways and pretty much every open field around.  I love to see them.  

Last year we found a church up in Denton that has them all over and it make for some pretty good picture taking....and SAFE picture taking...you aren't on the side of a highway with your kids!

Andrew got the PICTURE shot...up above!

I did not...Down below!

We tried to have Jackson hold Eleanor. 

AS you can see that DID NOT go over very well.

Some more fun shots!

I love this one...it is like the boys are saying.."Hey world, Look we have a baby sister!"

They sure do love her!

I also TRIED to get some good shots of the boys...

Jackson was too afraid of the bees...and the tall grass brushing up on his legs was really bothering him...

 Sammy is such a goof!

 

Don't you LOVE Sammy's armband.

His Uncle David gave that to him, and he pretty much wore it everyday for a week!

The Garner Family met us at the Bluebonnets and I took some pictures for them.

Then we all headed to Denton's Easter Egg Hunt.

We had to wait for quite a while..it isn't easy keeping these kids entertained when they see eggs in the grass right in front of them!  Andrew took them down to the canal to see the water.

Then they RAN back, so they wouldn't miss the egg hunt!

I LOVE the way Jackson runs! 

He puts his whole BODY into it!!!

Ah, my sweet son. I love him!

Sammy was freaking out trying to get down from here. We kept telling him to just let go, but he didn't want to hear that at all.  I am pretty sure he thought the ground was millions of  feet below.  Eventually he did let go and was quite proud of himself that he survived such a big drop. I love it!

 Sammy waiting for the Egg Hunt to begin.

Just checking out how many eggs will be able to fit in his bag.

 Jackson scoping out the field...planning out his strategy!

 Sammy getting ready...

 All the kids getting ready.

 And they were off!  

Parents weren't aloud to help, so for the first couple minutes it was going at a really nice pace.  Then all of a sudden all of the parents fled into the field.  We figured we had gotten enough and headed out of there before getting trampled. It was insane.  I am glad my boys were able to get some eggs. 

 Checking out the candy inside.

They didn't know there was going to be anything INSIDE of the eggs.

This made them even HAPPIER!

Eleanor slept the entire time!

Sunday was a great day at church.

It was actually Eleanor's first day to church!

She did great and slept most of the time we were there.

I loved being back at church, too!

It was great to be there on such a wonderful Sunday.

I sure am happy that I know that my Redeemer LIVES!

 That afternoon the Garners and Harvey came over for Easter Dinner.

It was so great to get out our nice dishes and celebrate with family.

We had some yummy food too!

Ham, Deviled Eggs, Cole Slaw, fruit, potatoes.....

 and this yummy bread that Kate made!  

This bread was the reason we had the dinner in the first place...well that and because it was Easter!

But Kate really wanted to try to make this bread and knew ham and all the fixings would be great to go with it, but didn't want to go to all that trouble for just her family...so it became dinner at our house and I am so glad it did!  It really was nice to sit down as a family and have a great meal together!

 The kids were happy about all the food too!

For dessert I made a Carrot cake from scratch.

It was pretty good!

Overall we had such a GREAT Easter weekend!

Andrew had Friday off...which I loved having him home one extra day and then all the fun and festivities of the egg hunt and Easter dinner was really awesome.

I am glad we live so close to family and are able to get together so frequently.

Eleanor Anne Walker

March 17, 2014

Today is the day Eleanor Anne joined our family!

It has been a pretty easy pregnancy.

Every time I went to the doctor he would ask me if I had any questions or concerns...

NOPE!  All is well!

Eleanor didn't really KICK or make HUGE movements inside of me, but she would press up against me to let me know she was there.  Didn't really get the hiccups, or anything like that, but I always knew she was there waiting to come out and enter the world.

Now that she is here, I can totally see her "WOMB" personality in her "EARTHLY" personality.

I can tell already that she is just so gentle and loving.

I am so glad she is with us!

Eleanor was born at 11:31, Monday, March 17, 2014

We went into the hospital at about 8:30.

She was a planned C-section.

The boys were both C-sections, so she HAD to be one.

But this time, it was planned.

A completely different experience.

We knew a month ahead of time the time and date of her birth.

We chose St. Patty's Day, so that she could share a special day with her Aunts Kati, Elizabeth, and Ariana.

We were able to get everything ready before that day.

Going to bed Sunday night was a bit strange.

I knew I was going to have a baby the next day.

I just wanted EVERYTHING to go ok.

On the way to the hospital we stopped at the Post Office so I could mail packages for ETSY!  =)

Then we were there.

At the Hospital.

I got all hooked up!

Not too bad, but my least favorite thing to do in the world.

Andrew even was able to get some work done while we waited.

But before we knew it, it was time to go to the OR!

I wasn't even able to watch any shows while we waited.

It was so quick.

I got pushed into the OR around 10:45.

I got the meds...gosh I really don't like that part.

Not because of the needle and all that jazz, but because my legs feel like they weigh a ton and all I want to do is MOVE them, but of course I can't! But believe me, I would much rather feel that way, then feel them cut into me!  

The OR nurses and doctors were very nice.

At one point, I said, "Can you just lay my legs together."

They all said they were!

Andrew got to come in and then it was time to get started.

Everything went really well!

It seemed to take a bit longer than with the boys, but I am pretty sure it was because this one wasn't an Emergency. They were able to take their time. They didn't have to rush to get her out.

At 11:31 I heard her CRY!

I could see her for a brief second before they put her in the bassinet to weigh her and everything.

Her little head got knicked, so they had to work on that for a bit.

The whole time a nurse stood at the end of the bassinet, so I wasn't able to see her.

But Andrew was!  He said she was BEAUTIFUL!

I have a baby girl!

She is healthy!

And she is MINE!

A couple minutes later, Andrew got to bring her over to me.

I guess this is the hardest part of a C-Section.

Seeing your baby, but not being able to hold your baby!

She was already looking for FOOD!

She wanted to eat.

They took her and Andrew away.

Andrew got to carry her to the room and hang out with her until I came back!

Once I was there they handed her to me and she started to burse RIGHT AWAY!

She was a natural, and I'd like to think, by now...so am I!

Gosh!  The rest of the day is such a blur!

(Maybe I should not have waited a month to write about it)

But I am pretty sure had I written about it that day, it still would have been a blur!

I do remember ITCHING like CRAZY!

The pain meds they gave me made me ITCH!

But I would much rather be itching than feeling lots of pain!

The boys came and met their little sister!

AND LOVED her right away!

It was so fun to see them with their little sister.

Can't wait for them all to grow up together and her older brothers protect her!

They didn't bathe her for a while, because of her cut!

They knicked her just a bit, while cutting into me!

All is well though, and she is fine. Most likely won't even have a scar.

Andrew, the boys and the Garners, stayed for maybe an hour.

Then it was time for them to go home.

They couldn't handle being in that hospital room for very long.

The rest of the night was just My little Eleanor and I!

(And a visit from Uncle Harvey)

(And some FACETIME with Gramma)

She is just so precious!

I love every bit of her and am so happy and blessed that every thing went so well!

I am just use to these crazy birth stories, with my boys, it feels so weird to not have one with her.

Everything went so smoothly!

So, there you have it!

My precious Eleanor is here!