Walker's 1st Birthday Party!

The birthday boy! Walker loves his Pa Pa! Ok...maybe I should reconsider getting his hair cut! ;)

The Target cake

The smash cake. I think it's supposed to be a snail.

Sweet Ellie.

They were "fishing."

Then, they decided to go "fishing" in the baby pool.

We love Ginger!

Tanner and Kesha

Bricen with his pretty blue eyes.

The 3 Amigos

Someone decided to go skinny-dipping. :)

"Dr. Ryan" and Brant-Brant

Walker wasn't quite so sure what to do at first...

...so Daddy crammed it in his face.

And then Mama showed him how to dig right in.

I think he likes it. :)

This is more of Daddy's work.

The good thing about a pool party is that the birthday boy got to rinse off in the pool after the cake debauchery!

Opening presents!

The Publix cake. We ended up eating it...after everyone made fun of me for being so crazy about it. Ha!

Will we ever get a family photo with everyone smiling or even looking at the camera?

Today, we celebrated Walker's 1st birthday with a party at our neighborhood's pool pavilion. When choosing a location, I had no idea what the weather would be like, but I figured if it wasn't warm enough to get in the pool, we could always go play at the park right behind the pavilion. Once the kids spotted the pool, though, nothing or no one was going to pull them away- not even hardly pizza or birthday cake! It was definitely the perfect place for a party!

We celebrated Walker's birthday with our "Birmingham family" (our best friends-the Bowers, the Bowens, the Turners, and the Maddens) since our family couldn't be here. (We're planning another birthday party with our family when we go home for Easter, though). I tried to get pictures of everyone, but somehow I ended up with a lot of pictures of my children, Tanner, and Bricen. Isn't that the way it always goes?

Walker had a blast at his party, and he really enjoyed his cake. It took him a little while to warm up to the sugary stuff, but it wasn't long before he was licking his fingers and scavenging for crumbs. :)

Speaking of cake, what a dilemma that ended up being! Jeez! You see, I had ordered Walker a t-shirt with this blue dot pattern that matched the plates, the napkins, the invitations, etc. Well, I wanted a cake that also matched so I ordered a cake at Edgar's Bakery, which is my favorite bakery ever; however, I got to thinking about it, "why would I spend that much money for a blue polka dot cake? It can't be that hard to make, right? I'll just go to Publix." Biggest mistake ever! I gave them the invitation to match and emphasized that the main colors were turquoise blue and lime green; long story short, when I went to pick up the cake, it was royal blue and army green!! It probably sounds pretty catty of me, but the cake is one of my favorite things about a birthday party. ;) Anyways, I spent much of the party day running around trying to find a replacement cake since I didn't want to get all confrontational with the lady at Publix and hurt her feelings. Crazy, I know. Luckily, I found a pretty decent polka dot cake at Target, and it ended up being delicious! I even found Walker a little smash cake that sorta matched the colors. :) Looking back, it was all a little crazy of me....ok, a lot crazy, but you only turn 1 once, right?

Cake dilemma and all, the party couldn't have been more perfect. I definitely missed our families, but I'm so glad my mom and our best friends could be here to celebrate our sweet Walker's 1st birthday!

Oh, and sorry for the picture overload...I had a hard time deciding which ones to pick, so I just included them all! ;)

To Cut, or Not to Cut?

This is "puppy," by the way. Walker LOVES his puppy!

To cut, or not to cut: that is the question.

Tyson and I have been debating on whether Walker should have his hair cut after he turns 1. I, of course, love the curls and don't want them to be cut. Tyson, on the other hand, thinks Walker's hair makes him look like a girl. What do you think? Please help us end this debate and vote in the poll. I'm pretty sure I'm going to win this one (because I usually get my way...ha!), but it will have to be cut eventually because it definitely looks shaggy at times.

These pictures aren't a fair representation of how long his hair really is; I took these pictures right after bathtime, and his curls were pretty...well, curly and his hair was tucked behind his ears. Y'all get the point, though. ;)

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Please pray for pretty weather this weekend...we have lots planned for my baby boy's birthday! Woo hoo!

It's Almost Been a Year!

When I woke up Saturday morning, the first thing I thought was, "today feels exactly like it did almost a year ago when I went into labor with Walker." Of course, I am about 50 pounds lighter now and not nearly as uncomfortable as I was that day, but otherwise, this past Saturday was just like that Saturday that I gave birth to my baby boy.

Saturday April 10, 2010- It was a beautiful day; we were going to go to Tyson's football practice, then Sydney's (our neighbor and friend) birthday party, and then I was going to work. And this past Saturday, we had the exact same plans- football practice, Sydney's birthday party, and then work. Of course last year, though, my plans didn't quite go as expected because my water broke bright and early that morning, and I ended up at the hospital giving birth to my Walker. I don't think I ever told the story about the day I gave birth to Walker, so I'm going to try to do my best to remember what I can.

Like I said, I woke up bright and early that glorious Saturday morning in preparation for my long day ahead. I remember not wanting to get up and shower because I was so big and miserable and just wanted to sleep in, but I had promised Tyson I would bring Jake to his football scrimmage. So, I got on up and showered (thank goodness), and then Jake woke up; I fixed our normal breakfast (eggs and toast) and then continued getting ready. It was about 8:15 that morning, when I kept having the urge to pee. Sorry if that's TMI, but it's important to the story. Anyways, I kept feeling the need to go to the bathroom, but very little would come out each time. I remember thinking it was the weirdest thing, and then all of a sudden when I stood up, I felt something dripping down my leg. Now with Jake, my water broke when I was in the shower, and I never really got the "gush" that they say that you get so I wasn't sure if that what was happening. I called Tyson anyway to get his opinion.

Tyson had left for work that morning way before I woke up. He isn't supposed to have his phone on him at practice, but Coach Callaway had given him approval just in case. I swore to Tyson that I would only call him in emergency, so he knew when that phone rang that it was serious. Here's kinda how our conversation went down:

Me- (calling Tyson's phone to tell him about the "drippage")

Tyson- "Are you in labor?"

Me- "I don't know..."

Tyson- "What do you mean you don't know? Did your water break?"

Me- "I can't tell...I think it did or either I just peed on myself..." Long pause as I walk down the hallway....and then SPLAT! "ummm, yeah...my water just broke...all down the hallway!"

Tyson- "So, you're telling me that your water just broke?" And then cheers erupt from his players in the background. :) "I'll be right there!"

Hahaha. I think I'll always remember that conversation; Tyson said that when his phone rang his players were all hooting and hollering and were so excited.

After Tyson and I got off the phone, I called my mom and told her that she needed to hit the road. Next, I started calling my friend, Casey Rae. Casey Rae was supposed to be on call to keep Jake when I went into labor; unfortunately, Casey Rae was asleep and missed the call. :( So I called my neighbor and best friend, Ginger and she said she would watch Jake. I can't tell you what a relief it is to know that your child is in good hands....thanks, Ginger!

After I got all the phone calls made, I rushed around the house trying to finish getting me and Jake ready, getting us packed, and picking up the house while waiting on Tyson. Now, I never really got to experience contractions with Jake, so I had really wanted to at least have some with Walker so I could say I knew what they were like. Be careful what you wish for, Beth! As soon as my water broke, the pain began!!

Tyson got home pretty quickly and we shuffled Jake off to Ginger's. I remember being sad leaving Jake, but I was hurting and uncomfortable at that point and just wanted to get to the hospital. Tyson, like he did when I was in labor with Jake, felt the need to race to the hospital and run every red light on the way. By the grace of God, we made it safely in one piece. ;)

We got to the floor around 9:30ish and they put me in a room and we started the admission process. I was super sad to learn that my doctor wasn't on call...I LOVE Dr. McKee. Anyway, the on-call doctor, Dr. Heath, came and saw me and said since I had eaten a "big breakfast" that my c-section wouldn't be until later that day around 2 pm. She told me that I could have pain medicine or get an epidural, but I decided to tough it out. Bad idea.

The contractions weren't that long or that frequent, but they were not fun at all. I did get to blog, play on the computer, and talk to my hubby (which is a treat these days!), but I was pretty miserable. Around noon, I had had all I could take; I called the nurse and asked for pain medicince, and it was too late to get it. :( By that point, my mom had arrived and things started moving pretty quickly. Before I knew it, I was being wheeled to the OR.

For some reason, the c-section is somewhat of a blur to me. I can still remember Jake's c-section pretty vividly, but not so much with Walker's. Everything went really smoothly with the c-section (other than some blood pressure issues as evidenced by the 3rd photo), and as they pulled Walker out, I heard laughter erupt in the room. Apparently when they pulled Walker out, he grabbed ahold of my uterus (TMI again) and wouldn't let go. The other doctor literally had to grab Walker's hands to make him release the uterus. Ha! I should have known right then that he'd be attached to my hip and never want to let go of his mommy!

The other thing that I remember from the c-section is my first glance of Walker- I thought "he looks tiny...I bet he only weighs 7 or 8 lbs." He was 9 lbs 4 oz, which is only 4 oz less than Jake was, but he looked so much skinnier; I guess maybe the extra 0.5 inch that he had on Jake spread his fat out a little more evenly. My other thought was, "he looks nothing like Jake."

After they got Walker cleaned up, he and Tyson and the nurse went back to the room while they finished sewing me up. If I remember correctly, by the time I got back to the room, my dad, my grandparents, and Mary Ann had arrived and already began oohing and ahhing over my sweet boy.

After that, the rest of the day was a blur. The Morphine PCA made me so sick, and I just felt terrible. The nurse finally turned off the Morphine late that night, and I woke up at 6 am the next morning ready to shower and love on my baby.

I spent much of the hospital stay just holding Walker because I wasn't sure how much I would be able to once I got home. Here it is almost a year later and I just can't get enough of holding my sweet boy. Yes, he is still attached to my hip and wants to be held constantly, but that is perfectly fine with me...most of the time. ;)

At the Car Wash

This is the look Jake gives me whenever I pull out the camera.

Jake took off his shirt trying to look like his Daddy.

We had a super busy weekend this past weekend. Yesterday, the boys and I went to Tyson's football scrimmage, then we went to a birthday party, and then I went to work once Tyson got home from football. Tyson took the boys to church and his office today while I slept, and then we enjoyed some time together washing the cars, eating snowcones, and playing with our neighbors. What a beautiful weekend it was! Here are the only pictures I managed to snap all weekend! I hope you all had a great weekend, too!