A Fresh Take

I have tired of updating randomly on my mundane life to the few stragglers who are still members of our little blogging network. However, I don't really want to drop the blog altogether, so I am starting a new plan:

Fresh template
Fresh stories
Fresh pictures



The story:

After a particularly trying week, Walker, Sophie June, and I finally had a playgroup at our house last Friday. Yea! for everyone involved because we all needed a little time with someone our own age! 11 am came and went, and no one arrived. Finally, one of the 3 families arrived around 11:15 (which 15 minutes seem MUCH longer to a 2 year old and his mother than a regular person). The others never showed, but that was okay because at least we all had a friend. The older boys were playing outside after lunch, the babies were napping, and my friend and I were eating lunch inside, when suddenly Walker's friend came in and said, "Where's Walker?" I hate that. I went looking and found my little one halfway down the street on his tiny red tricycle! He had opened the door to the garage, climbed in the car, opened the big garage door using the opener in the car, climbed back out of the car, gotten his bike, and headed out. When caught, Walker was quick to explain that we was going "a Target . . . some more soap!"

The pictures:
I am trying to set up a slideshow from our pictures on flickr to run in the sidebar, but I can't figure out how to link the two. For now, here's a video of our little biker.

We went on a fun little romantic getaway to Wolf Creek, CO this weekend, and it was really wonderful! We had 13 hours in the car on the way there to finally talk without someone saying, "Look Mommy ...." Then the weather was perfect for a day of snowboarding, which I was actually able to completely enjoy for the first time in 3 years. I have been either pregnant or nursing for the last few ski trips! Then we went to Durango, where it snowed big, beautiful flakes while we shopped and ate. Then, on Monday, when we were supposed to leave at 6:00am, we woke up to over a foot of new snow. So, we spent the morning watching the snowplow and helping to shovel snow and finally left at noon for a harrowing drive down hwy84. We finally made it home Tuesday at 3:30pm. So, we had another long while to talk without anyone interrupting! It was really quite perfect.

The babies had a fun time with both sets of Grandparents while we were gone. They stayed with Mimi and Poppy the first half of the weekend and Grandmama and Pops the second half. Based on Walker's report, they ate donuts, rode tricycles, and watched cooking. I'm sure more occured than that, but that seems to be what stuck with him!

A word of encouragement to Lyndsay Walker -- the terrible twos seem to fade as 2 1/2 approaches, and, as the baby gets a little bigger, it is easier for the older one to love her without hurting her! I can actually leave them alone in a room together for a minute now! See, Walker is even taking care of some sort of ailment in this pic!

Happy New Year 2008

I've been reading blogs all evening, as well as checking out the deals at Old Navy with $5 shipping (girls with baby girls, you should check it out), and I am glad to hear everyone is doing well. We enjoyed a very nice Christmas, although there was some sorrow as we said goodbye to Aaron's grandmother who passed away December 20. We enjoyed spending time with Aaron's family from Arkansas and Missouri that we rarely see, and we celebrated the salvation that arrived in the incarnation with a little more of an eternal perspective this year. We did all the usual over-eating at Christmas, rang in the New Year with Lindsay and Justin, and promptly set about working on our New Year's Resolutions. It's a new record because we haven't given up on them yet! =)

Walker is getting taller, more fun, and more independent everyday! He loves to do everything just like Daddy from the way he dresses to using his toy screwdriver to the way you stand in the kitchen to wait for your waffle to cook. It's pretty sweet to watch.
Sophie June is the perfect baby. She sleeps, eats, and smiles. Walker gets bigger grins out of her than anyone else, which is pretty amazing since she hands them out freely. She loves to watch him entertain her with dancing, singing, and tickling! I'm loving having a little girl to dress and hang with while the boys go to Home Depot, Lowes, and the dump with leaves they raked in the yard.

Aaron and I are thankfully not growing taller and more independent everyday, although I dare say that we are probably becoming more fun. That is based on a random survey, and you are welcome to weigh in with your opinion.

Walker with his favorite new toy, his "sie-sy-cal"

Sophie June was not afraid of Santa!

Walker's shaving just like Daddy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody! From my perusal of blogs, it seems as if everyone enjoyed their thankfulness. We also had a nice time. We went to watch Lindsay run the Turkey trot, which she failed to mention. I'm not sure why since we made it there WAY after she already finished the race. Walker made a turkey with feathers and considered getting into a bounce house there. Then we went to the Morris' for the rest of the day and ate turkey, napped, and watched the Cowboys. We decorated our house for Christmas this weekend. Here are a few pictures to update. We discovered that Sophie June has been cold, so you will notice her seasonal attire in each photo.

Happy Birthday Walker!

We celebrated Walker's second birthday yesterday, and he had such a great time. I can't believe we have two children now, one of them being a two-year old! We were sitting at the breakfast table thinking that just two Halloweens ago, we were heading to the hospital and had no children. It's amazing how quickly your life can change! We had a fun party last night for Walker. Everyone wore costumes, we ate pizza, played in the backyard, and went trick-or-treating. Here are some pictures to document.

October

We have had an eventful October...

Sophie June took a bath.

Aunt Noelle came to visit.

Walker learned about headlamps while hanging shelves in his closet with Aaron.

Walker moved to his big boy bed . . . and his big boy pjs.

We carved a pumpkin, however we did it during the most humid weekend you can imagine. It molded, became very scary and disgusting, and we had to throw it away. Although it wasn't as intricate as Lindsay's pumpking, we were still sad to see him go.

Walker and Sophie June played together.

Fall finally arrived, and Sophie June woke up.

Walker discovered my old red ropers from high school.

Sophie June laughed!

Here are a few of our latest pics. We went to the Arboretum last Saturday with Lindsay and Justin, so we managed to get a few cute pumpkin pictures.

Sophie June

A happy, healthy little girl arrived this weekend, right on cue! She was born Saturday, September 15, 2007, at 11:23 am. She was 18 1/2 inches long and weighed exactly 6 lbs. We are all doing well and glad to be home!

Poor blogger

Well, I thought I would take a few moments to update everyone. I haven't been posting because our life is pretty humdrum with little of interest or entertainment to it, and because, somehow, in the humdrum life, I never have a free second!

Today, however, I am home from work, Walker is napping, on into his third hour for the afternoon, Sophie June is quiet inside me and not making me sleepy, and I decided to clean the house on Saturday instead of today. Convenient decision motivated by laziness, I think.

We have had a whirlwind of a summer, and now we are into another whirlwind getting ready for the arrival of our new little one while Ben and Mimi start school. The baby is pretty much cooked, and at my doctor's appointment on Monday, we got the word that it could be "any day now." I'm hoping "any day now" means at least "2 more weeks" because I still have a few tasks to check off my list before she arrives. One of them is, how to make Walker not a two-year old. Any suggestions?

We will keep the blog updated on Sophie June's arrival!

Summertime

Big news in the Morris household. . . Aaron posted. He also got pretty much our dream job. Check his blog out for details as well as some semi-hilarious wit.

Abraham and Walker are now best buddies . . . at least Walker thinks so.

We used graduation gift money to get Aaron and Walker this bike trailer. Walker loves it because it's fun to ride with Daddy, I love it because it means I get a nap, and Aaron loves it because it gives him exercise while he spends time with his boy. I think that's what you call a win, win, win.

We're going, to San Francisco

Well, we already went. Aaron's parents sent us for his graduation from DTS, and we had a wonderful time. I had never even seen the Pacific Ocean, and neither of us had ever been to San Francisco. We biked all over their three natural areas, Golden Gate Park, Lincoln Area, and The Presidio. We hiked all through Muir Woods and Mt. Talampais. We shopped in Sausalito, ate at Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach, and The Mission, visited all kinds of galleries in the city, and missed Walker just a little!

He stayed with Mimi and Poppy, and apparently
didn't miss us at all! They went to the zoo for his first time, and he loved the monkeys. He also learned all about lawns, flower beds, and the importance of watering from Poppy.


We returned from San Francisco on Tuesday, and Aaron graduated on Saturday. We had a great celebration, and now he's continuing his job hunt. Ben graduates Friday, so we're all gearing up for that now!







Out the window of the warden's house on Alcatraz.











Aaron biking the Golden Gate Promenade













Kara biking the Coastal Trail



















Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park














Romantic Interlude in Muir Woods



P.S. For anyone who is a dedicated reader/viewer of our blog, we found out a couple of weeks ago that we are having a little girl!