it's official!!!

It's official! Jack is going to be a linebacker! He is 25 lbs of mean. He has learned to tackle. Laiken is learning not to turn her back on "little" brother. Today when she was not looking he came up from behind and tackled her to the ground. He does it like a baby who has seen one too many UFC fight nights. He doesn't just push or grab at the waste, he scoops the arm around the neck in the middle of a charging run and pulls her to the ground. Vicious. She thinks it is funny. Ha! Wait just a little and he will be bigger than her and she will not think it is so funny then.... Jack has also learned to climb on the the dining room table. So scary. He loves it. I hate it. I called Mama tonight to get the blog addresses for Mrs. Baker's girls. I got to see Mrs. Baker and Jennifer a few months ago at Mama's house. I was so glad to have been fortunate to be in town when they came by. I know the last time I saw them was at Horseshoe Lake, but I cannot remember when that was. It brings back so many memories. Lisa and Lil and I reminisced awhile about what we could remember. Lil did not remember as much as we did, and I didn't as much as Lisa did. But we all remembered the swimming pool and playing Nintendo, and the big horse outside (although I think Lil did not remember the horse). And how the front of the house was shaped, it always reminded me of a castle. We did not keep in touch over the years, so it was really neat to see what everyone is up to. And to see Jody and Emily's babies. Porter and Graham are so so cute. I would like to say to Jody, if I can, at Jack's six month checkup the doctor's called him "busy" too, and laughed and told me I'm going to have my hands full. Jack is 16 months old now, and he is more than a hand full. Mama can barely talk about him without laughing. The boy is relentless to say the least. He is only interested in things he shouldn't have or things that make loud noises. Tonight, right before tucking my "little angel" into bed, I had to unassemble the fan and retrieve the 10 plastic play forks and knives he shoved into it. He is so "busy", you literally cannot take your eyes off of him for a second. "Busy", hmm that was a nice way to put it. :) Well, for anyone who doesn't know.... Laiken is officially potty trained! She has not had even one accident (aside from night time) in one week and two days. God Bless her cause I was not sure we were both gonna make it out of this one. Good for Lil and Hayden and their 3 day potty training. It only took me and Laiken one month! Shouldn't I get some kind of award or something???

"I'm not going home, I stay with Lisa"

This weekend was amazing! I had such a good time visiting with the family in Hernando. I know Laiken and Jack loved it. Laiken repeatedly said, "I'm not going home, I stay with Lisa." It was still a busy weekend, even though we tried not to plan too much. I am so glad Lisa and Lil thought to have an Easter Egg hunt, even if it was last minute. I think all the kids enjoyed it. The hit of the whole weekend was the blow up bouncer Lisa had in her backyard. It is a mini version of the big one's you rent for birthday parties. That's probably one reason the kids love Aunt Lisa so much. LOL Just kidding. It was so good to see everyone. I love that every time I see Brandon, I remember how hilariously funny he is. Friday night was definitely a good night. We met Mama, Leigh, and Aunt Terry at Cracker Barrel for supper. It was so much fun. The babies were well behaved, but cutting up as usual. Jack was dipping his chicken in any and everything that would sit still, from cocktail sauce to tarter sauce. So to help, we squirted ketchup on his plate, but he put down the chicken and just ate the ketchup plain. Gross. He sat in between Mama and Aunt Terry. Big mistake. Mama had to keep an arm between him and her plate to keep him from "sharing" . He tried to feed her some of his half chewed chicken. And by the time we were ready to leave, she was wearing ketchup, cocktail sauce and mostly vanilla ice cream. By the end of the meal we were out of baby wipes. Laiken has learned to eat without making a total mess, but Jack seems hopeless. I really enjoy when we are able to all get together. The kids are growing up so fast! One day we'll all turn around and they will all be grown. How sad! Trey went to Greene co. this weekend to see Ryan. Ryan has been in South Carolina for a few weeks working. They went fishing for white perch, and did fairly well, I think. I saw a few pictures of some pretty big fish. Aunt Jody said he was not allowed to come again without the babies. He won't, because we are all going in a few weeks. Dylan went to his mom's. He wanted to stay with her for spring break.

Geaux Tigers!!!!! Love ya Brian!

Too much fun!!

We had a great weekend! Friday Trey was off work and we had a few errands to run. We went to lunch at Sizzlin Wings. He ordered 10 boneless buffalo wings. If he finished all the chicken and a large order of fries and a large coke he would get his name on a board by the front register. I dared him to do it, so he did. It was alot of food. The "wings" weren't really wings, they were regular sized chicken strips, not wimpy ones, that were cooked in buffalo sauce. He struggled toward the end and was looking like he would burst but I cheered him on and he did it! funny thing to be proud of, but I was. The whole family eats there from time to time and Briana told Trey "good job, make the family proud". That also opened a challenge to some others in the family who attempted but failed to finish. lol Trey is the reigning Wing King! Friday night we were invited to Briana's to eat crawfish with the family. It was awesome. Normally when we are over there I have to walk around and follow Jack. They don't have any babies, the youngest is 3. So the house is not completely baby proofed and Jack is more curious than the average 1 yr old, so with that combination, I have to keep a close eye on him. The kids play in and out alot, so as they are coming and going from delaynie's room to the front yard Jack attempts to follow them but he is too slow and would end up wandering alone outside. But this time was different, we were all outside and I was able to enjoy hanging out with the grown ups and keep and eye on Jack all at the same time. It was alot more fun that way! lol Kip, Briana's husband, made the crawfish along with the usual potatoes, corn, garlic and mushrooms. It was so so so good. He cooked two huge bags and it did not take long at all for everyone to eat all of them. Everyone ate until they moaned with full bellies. Trey swears he fed Laiken about thirty crawfish, and I don't know how many I gave her. She loves them and spicy foods don't bother her. Jack did not eat any, he wasn't sure about the texture of them. I can't wait for Kip's birthday this month, they always have a crawfish boil for his birthday. Saturday Trey worked on an electrical problem for Mrs. Becky, she is a friend of the family and head nurse at our new pediatrician's office. I told Trey not to worry if she didn't pay him much, she will repay me with friend perks at the doctor's office, which I know all of you know the value of that! And Sunday we went to the zoo. (Of course! ) We love going, it never gets old. We got snowcones and Trey insisted we keep walking instead of sitting to enjoy them. Laiken ended up wearing more of hers than she ate. But luckily since she is potty training, I had a change of clothes. Thank goodness the only accident she had that day was the snowcone one or we would have been SOL. Right after the snowcones came the giraffes, this time they were eating hay far away from the people, and you may not believe me, but I swear it is the truth... Trey grabbed a small branch from a bush and called a giraffe over to him and fed it the branch! It was awesome. A few more people came over and started to feed the giraffe too, and a zookeeper saw them and stopped them. It was funny. I have seen people feeding the animals on SEVERAL occasions, so I was not entirely surprised the giraffe came to him. But it was still pretty cool. They were having a special event at the zoo, Zippity Zoo Days. There were alot of extra things to do like face painting, large inflatables to jump on or slide, several information booths giving free stuff away. It was really fun. I know the kids enjoyed it. It was a busy weekend, but it was alot of fun.

A new start

We have started a new chapter in the Walker Family, one that I never thought would happen. We have moved to Denham Springs, LA. And most importantly, we are with Trey every night. It sounds funny to say, but I am so glad to see him every day again, being apart was difficult. We just celebrated our 4th anniversary. It is hard to believe it has been 4 years. Life can pass by so fast. Everyone has adjusted really well to the move. Dylan has made a ton of friends, at school and at the apartments. He was at his mom's this weekend and 3 little boys knocked on our door all weekend wanting him to come out. Laiken and Jack had trouble sleeping the first week, but they seem fine now. We are just about in a routine. I babysit Trey's cousin's little girl, Delaynie. She is 3 years old. She comes on tues, wed and thurs. They are like peas in a pod. They both love to dress up and play with barbie dolls. They share many of the same interests. They even look alike a little. It is so much fun to watch them together. I really like it here. Trey says our move could be permanent. I don't think I would mind that. I like the convenience of being back in the city again. It is so nice to be able to "run" to walmart and not be gone all day. And I am so happy about high speed internet, only dial up was available in Sandhill. We have even been watching movies on our computer through netflix. I am so excited about the pool here too. I know the kids will be too when we get to start swimming. The apartments also have a nice sized fishing lake. Trey has already taken the kids several times and Laiken loves to fish! And as everyone knows, I have to mention the Zoo. Laiken and Jack love going to the zoo. We have already been twice. It is really nice, compared to the smaller zoo of Hattiesburg. The first time we went we were able to feed leaves to a giraffe and the second time we went, we saw people feeding peanuts to an elephant. Both times were really neat. I am sure that moving here is going to turn out to be the best decision we could ever have made for our family. It will open up an endless amount of opportunity for us and our children, not to mention daddy's new dream of Jack becoming a linebacker for LSU! Go Tigers!!

The Skittles Story

I bought Laiken some skittles the other day. She gets only a few at a time, and only for things she does good or after eating a good supper. A small, sporadic reward. She loves them so much. Well, tonight Trey and the babies were on the couch while I was vacuuming the rug. Trey walked into the kitchen and came back to the couch as I was finishing and wrapping the cord. Laiken jumped onto the couch next to him. She gets right in his face, her nose to his mouth and says, " What you smell daddy??!" She tried to open his mouth (he's laughing so hard) She says, "That's my candy!!" Daddy had sneaked a mouthful of her skittles, but she smelled them!!!! It was so funny. She is getting really good at sharing, but skittles do not fall under that category for her. Update on New Year's resolutions: The diet is only going fairly well. I am having a hard time finding a good work out schedule. 6:15 is when Dylan gets on the bus but Jack is usually up before seven. Not enough time and his morning naps are getting shorter, not enough time. And it would be hard to do after bedtime, and that would also require 2 showers a day. So, there is a stationary bike at walmart that comes with an mp3 player for 135.00. I am considering that because it seems it would be easier than a workout video. I am trying to keep my stress levels down. It may seem silly but this past week I have just tried to breath a little more. No really, it is working. When I feel a snap or loss of patience coming on, I take a deep breath. Then I am able to handle the situation more calmly. I don't know how much longer that will help, but its working for now. I feel less guilty when I am able to remain calm. Laiken seems to sometimes respond better to a calm request rather than a loud angry one. Sometimes she does not respond at all, that could be due to her confusion about who is the boss. In moments like this I allow her a minute or two to sit quietly in a designated spot, where she is not allowed to get up, to let her think about how she could have handled the situation differently. (yeah, I bet that's what she's thinking about in time out.) We have not handled potty training at all, I continue to ask, "do you want to sit on the potty?" She continues to say, "no." So no rush there, she'll do it in her own time.

It's 2009 already??

The month of December was so very hectic for us. But it was a wonderful time for our family. We enjoyed spending time with my family in Hernando, and also in Corinth. I am really glad we got the chance to see everyone and spend the holiday with them. The highlight of the day was definitely the scratch off lottery tickets. I loved it! The kids had a ball playing together, I think Dylan was sad to leave. I am sure Laiken was, she screamed, " I want to stay!" all the way to the car. It may be madness when all the kids are together, but it is so important to get them together like that. I want my kids to know and love my family as much as they do their family here. We're doing a good job, because both Dylan and Laiken know who I am talking about when I say everyone's names. (Maybe not Brian and his family, but they just moved closer so it will take a few more visits). Laiken used to see babies on tv and call them AnnaReece. Now she says Sabana. Somethimes she says Hayden. LOL. We also had a great Christmas here as well. Gran Gran (Trey's mom) stayed a few days with us over the holidays. We had Christmas dinner and Jack's birthday party at Jody and Ryan's. Our kids probably had the best Christmas ever. They got a swingset. Which may not sound like much, but my kids can swing for hours and hours. They love having one in the yard. (although it has rained almost everyday since Christmas). Jack had a great birthday. Thanks to Aunt Lisa, I made him a football cake that he enjoyed all to himself. He loved it. The new year is starting off good. Nikki, Donald's wife, had a beautiful baby girl on Sunday, Jan 4th. She was 5lb and 11oz. Her name is Kelsey Ann Elizabeth Walley. Trey is still in Baton Rouge but is only working 40 hours a week. He will get to come home every Thursday night and goes back every Sunday night. I am so glad to get to see him that much. Might even start to feel like he lives here again. I love my children more than anything else in this whole wide world but it is hard being a single parent of three. I need a little help sometimes. So for new year's resolutions.... I want to lose about 20lbs. I have already started a workout video. I am going to take the babies for a walk in the wagon as many times a week as I can. And I am going to watch what I eat. Maybe follow a diet plan or join weight watchers. I want to reduce stress in my life. I am losing patience and feeling tired too often. I will rest more, drink more water, choose my battles with the kids, simplify where I can. I want to make a flexible schedule to help me move through the day more smoothly. We function mostly on a natural schedule. Breakfast is always about 7:30 or 8. Jack's first nap around 10. Lunch by 11:30. Laiken and Jack nap around 2. Jack has a snack about 3:30 or 4. Supper about 5:30. Jack goes to bed at 7:30 and Laiken by 8:30. Dylan has no natural schedule. He eats when food is on the table, and goes to bed when we tell him to. Last but not least, I want to potty train Laiken. I don't know if she's ready, I think she is. Step one will be to make the potty her friend, she is not overly enthusiastic about sitting on the potty. She doesn't dislike it, just has to be bribed to sit. I am not going to pressure her, just test the waters and see if she might be more ready than I think. She is smart enough to use the potty, but stubborn enough not too, if you catch my drift. We'll just see how it goes.