"The Girly Bumpo is Back"

The ole' Popeye!

This picture trips me out!...
...and it kind of reminds me of this picture of Jake, too!
And here is Jake in the same outfit!

While Jake was at school this morning, I decided to get out the bumbo seat and let Walker sit in it for the first time. He was so cute and smiling from ear to ear, so I couldn't resist taking some pictures. I sent Tyson a picture from my phone, and his response was, "the girly 'bumpo' is back." Ha! He hates the purple bumbo! That's what he gets for letting me register by myself! :) Anyways, back to my sweet Walker...like I said, he was grinning ear to ear when I first put him in it. I'm sure it is pretty cool for him to be able to sit up and have a new little view on life.

I couldn't help but pull up the pictures from Jake's first go at the bumbo seat, and I was so shocked at their similarities/differences. They are starting to look more alike to me, but Jake was definitely chunkier and had a ton more hair. (I believe Jake is about 3 weeks older than Walker is in these pictures, though). One thing's for sure, though, they definitely look like brothers!

Walker's Baptism

Dr. Simmons and Walker

Our family

(L to R Uncle Bobby, Dad, Mom, Jake, me, Walker, Tyson, Mary Ann, MaMa, and Granddaddy)

My parents

Tyson, the boys, and Grandmama

Jake loves my Granddaddy!

MaMa, Granddaddy, and the boys

Dad, Uncle Bobby, and the boys

Dad and Walker

MaMa and Walker

Walker was baptized yesterday at First Presbyterian Church (my parents' church) in Thomaston, Georgia. Jake was also baptized there two years ago, so we knew that is where we wanted Walker baptized as well. It is such a great little church; we are so fortunate that they have allowed us to baptize our boys there. We are also very fortunate to have had Dr. Simmons perform the baptism. Dr. Simmons also baptized Jake and was the officiant at our wedding; he has been an integral part of our lives and in our family's Christian walk. It was such a special time, and yes, I teared up as I held Jake in my arms and as Dr. Simmons walked around the church with Walker in his arms to introduce him to the church. We are so very blessed!

We were able to share this special day with my parents, Tyson's mom, my grandparents, and my Uncle Bobby. Walker and Jake are some lucky boys to have so many people care about them!

Walker the Talker

I know I'm not the best at posting videos of my boys, but I just had to post this video of Walker "talking." He is at such a sweet stage right now with lots of smiling and cooing. I'm sure he'll be talking back and throwing tantrums before long! ;)

I may be biased, but he is absolutely the sweetest baby ever. I am absolutely smitten with this little boy!

Enjoy! Oh, and please ignore my obnoxious voice in the background.

Beach!

It was so windy, Walker couldn't even open his eyes!

Yum! Salt water!

Such a stud!

Gotta love the sand/sweat/sunblock mixture in Jake's hair!

I love my Pa Pa!

We just got back from our first vacation as a family of four, but it was anything but a vacation. Tyson ended up getting REALLY sick before we left Birmingham; we thought it was just a 24 hour bug, however, it stuck around for the entire trip. Poor Tyson only left the condo twice the entire 5 days we were there, and he never even got to go on the beach. :( Needless to say, it was pretty miserable for us all. Luckily, though, we had invited my mom along for a little break and as a thank-you for all of her help after Walker's birth...some break for her! I know I always say this, but I don't know what we would have done without her. She was a huge help as usual! Thanks, Mom!

Even though Tyson was sick, the show had to go on, so we (Mom, the boys, and I) packed up and went to the beach anyway. I'm so glad we went ahead because Jake LOVED the beach! He wasn't too fond of it last year, but he was a completely different kid this year. He was fearless! He ran in and out of the water, played in the waves, and just kept trying to go deeper and deeper, which made me a nervous wreck! I much preferred him for him to play in the sand, which he also loved, too! So much fun!

Walker went with us to the beach the first day, but even in the shaded tent with a fan on him, it was HOT! I felt so guilty having hin out there in the heat, so after that, we left him at the condo with Tyson while we went to the beach. After all, he still sleeps a lot right now, so I would just run home and feed him and run back to the beach.

I'm so sad that our vacation to St. Simons worked out how it did, but at least Tyson is slowly getting better now. He really had me worried for a while there! Oh well, the beach will always be there, right?

Walker loves his Pa Pa, too!

Jake is so ready for Walker to be able to play with him!

Summertime!

Guess who isn't
afraid of the big pool?


JAKE!!!

Love those dimples!

Sweet Walker chilling poolside!

And here he is sporting his new bathing suit!

Summertime is in full swing at the Summers' house! This is Tyson's first week of his 4 weeks of vacation, and we have been having so much fun having Daddy at home! We've been taking it easy this week and spending most of our time at the pool...well, everyday in fact!

Jake has overcome the fear of the big pool; he still doesn't like to get too far away from us, but he is jumping off the side like a maniac and is no longer afraid to get his face wet. He has come such a long way in just a week! We are so proud of him!

Walker is enjoying being at the pool, too. He mainly just hangs out in his stroller (under a fan of course) and chills; we are so glad he is a laid back little fellow and just goes with the flow. I did buy him a bathing suit for our beach trip, but I doubt we'll actually get him in the water...it was just too cute to pass up. :)

So what else is going on? I had my first 12 hour shift this week at work since being on maternity leave, and it went so much better than I expected. Tyson and I were panicking because Walker has just started to refuse to take a bottle in the last week or so, and we didn't know what we were going to do. Luckily, Walker got hungry enough and took the bottles that night, but I was one stressed Mama! Tyson handled both boys with ease and had a great night...thank goodness! And it was kind of nice to be back, believe it or not. I missed my work friends and the ability to use my brain! :) Plus, I missed my patients. I knew when I left there was a chance I might not see some of them again, and one did pass away while I was on maternity leave. :( On a lighter note, I got to take care of one of my cancer patients that I've gotten to know well and he finished his last round of chemo last week and looks amazing! It made my night to see him doing so well...and getting his hair back! God is good!

So to my loyal blog readers, I don't know how frequently I'll be updating the blog over the next few weeks. We've got a lot of exciting things planned, but I'm just going to concentrate on spending some time with my boys...all 3 of them. Football season is right around the corner, so I've got to take advantage of this time. I'll try hard, though, because these boys are growing up so fast and change so quickly!

And I couldn't forget this picture of my sweet friend, Jill. Jill came to visit us last weekend, and Walker loved all over her. Thanks for coming over, Jill! We miss you already! Love you!

Pizza Party at the Pool!

Mr. Bigtime swimming in the 1 ft deep pool!

"Hey, Mrs. Ginger and Brantley!"

Ginger is going to be welcoming baby boy #2 this week!

Walker and Kaitlyn's first date! I think this is Mike's worst nightmare!

The Madden Family

Our family (minus Walker)

Last night, we had a little pizza party at our neighborhood pool with the Turners and the Maddens. We got there earlier than the others, so I got to snap lots of pictures of my

big boy while we waited.

Jake loves the idea of the big pool, but as soon as he gets in deeper than his knees, he starts to freak out. We got him some puddle jumpers (which he calls "football pads") in hopes that it would calm his fears, but no such luck...he just clings to us for life. Oh well...I'm sure he'll warm up to the big pool over time.

Jake definitely doesn't have any fears in the baby pool...especially when his buddies Ryan and Brantley are around. Those boys are such a mess when they're together! I know I say this all the time, but we are so lucky to have such good friends!