One of those moments....

This morning we had one of those moments....the kind that make you stop and thank God for the life he has given you....the kind that fill your heart with more joy than you can imagine.

For nine months (really 10), I carried this sweet baby as he grew and developed from nothing to a little person. I worried and worried as I laid in bed those last few weeks (drinking gallons of water). I wanted this baby to be healthy.

Thomas Kirby Walker arrived on June 10, 2011 at 9:59 am and my world changed forever. Changed in such a wonderful way. Changed for the better. I was a mom, and my baby was HEALTHY!

Those first few weeks were a blur...just trying to adjust to our new life and to make it through one sleepless day at a time. I was learning what it meant to be a mom...to care for someone 24 hours a day....to think of someone before yourself....to forego eating, showering and sleeping because he needed me.

Then he started to grow up. He was learning how to do something new every week. He began to recognize me as someone more than just a passing person. I thought this moment above was so special, and it was.

There were many more special times. Times when my heart melted, times when I couldn't believe that God had given him to me, times when I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Oh and there were hard times too....times when I wondered if I could keep up this pace....times when I thought I was simply doing a mediocre job at everything and that Thomas and Patrick deserved more...times when I wondered if it would ever get easier.



Then there was this morning....I had just handed Thomas off to Patrick so I could go make his bottle. As I turned around to walk off, Thomas said "Mama" and was reaching out towards me. My earth stopped spinning...I froze in the moment. I looked at Patrick and my eyes said, "did he just say what I think he said?" Patrick said, "I think we might have just said our first meaningful word - Mama." He has been babbling "nanananana" and "dadadadada" for a while now, but you could tell it was just babbling. I have been a Mama for 8 months and 12 days and for the first time this morning, I heard my little one say my name. This was one of those moments I will never forget.

Whew....What a Week!

This has been quite the week for the Walkers....It started with some plumbing troubles last weekend which led to a call to the plumber....3 trips from 2 different plumbers later, and we still don't have the problem resolved, but at least we know what's wrong. As Patrick jokingly said this weekend, "for the bargain price of $150 (just for a visit) we are the proud owners of a video WITH commentary of our sewer line." I know you are jealous! Our sewer line has tree roots growing through it and has cracked in one place. Fun - just what I wanted to spend some money on this spring. Anyway, that was a quick way to kill a couple of unavaible hours this week.

Now on to the little man....he has had quite a week too. He pulled up in his crib on Tuesday night, so we knew it was time to drop his mattress. This is how I found him when I went to get him Wednesday morning:

He just started crawling...I can't belieive he is already pulling up. We had a rough night the first time he slept in the lower crib. Poor kiddo - I don't think he knew where he was when he woke up in the middle of the night. I put the bumpers back in the crib when we lowered the mattress because he kept banging his head on the railings.

Speaking of banging heads....Thomas likes to bonk his head a lot now that he is crawling. He must be in a hurry when he is scurrying around because he ran into the french doors at Julia's on Monday and had this HUGE bruise on his forehead. Then the next day, he ran into something else and had a bruise on the other side of his head. I've told myself that I need to get used to this...I am the mother of a little boy, afterall. I don't know if I will ever get used to all of these bumps and bruises. You can kinda see the remnants of the forehead injuries below:

This picture brings us to another "new" this week...Thomas can now feed himself his bottle all by himself. He has been partially doing his for weeks, but now he is in full control! Little man has started the "I want to do it ALL BY MYSELF" phase. Not sure this phase ever really ends, but it has begun at our house. He wants to do everything himself and gets a little attitude sometimes when he can't.

As if there wasn't enough new, we also changed out Thomas's carseat. Big boy needed some extra room...he had definitely outgrown the old one. Just because he has more room, however, doesn't mean he likes the carseat now. Oh no....we still fuss, cry and scream when we get strapped in. Don't really blame him...I don't like to be confined either.

And finally to end the list of new, Thomas got his second tooth yesterday. This one was a much bigger struggle...a low fever and a fussy, fussy baby. I thought he might be sick because he was acting so awful, but the doctor just thinks it is teething. We did get a update on stats when we went to the doctor - 20lbs 7 ounces (70%) and 27.5 inches long (40%). Continuing the trend of short and fat, but gradually shrinking the gap in percentile differences.

To end this post, I have some fun pictures....The first is of Thomas playing in the kitchen. He has a million toys and loves the mixing bowl....

Last weekend Thomas and Lollie played together for the first time. Lollie wasn't so sure about Thomas...she warmed up but had to be in the middle of things!

Lulu is relieved that these two can be friends. Thomas likes dogs already, so I have a feeling these two will have a strong bond over the years to come.

A Little of This and A Little of That....

What a busy weekend we had of doing nothing really at all! It's that time of the year, so I worked on Saturday until lunchtime. Thomas doesn't mind me being at work because he gets some good quality play time with his Daddy. Those two can play and play for hours. Thomas is now fully mobile....he is into EVERYTHING! I caught a few moments from the weekend that made me laugh.

 Already playing in the kitchen cabinets. We need to babyproof the kitchen ASAP!

 The pantry was like a toy chest for Thomas!

 These two pictures are the best. I was folding the laundry and Thomas was crawling around. I looked over and he had climbed up on this piece of furniture and was laughing at himself in the mirror. We got it on video. He played like this for a good 10 minutes. What a cutie!

 I don't think Thomas enjoys crawling. He would much rather walk.

Thomas got some new shoes this weekend. We had to get the hard-soled white hightops that every baby has to have. I got a few pictures before church this morning.

  Sweet face looking at his Daddy!

My most favorite part of this weekend happened tonight when I was putting the little man to bed. We read our books and were rocking and singing some songs. He had his head on my shoulder just listening when he sat up, put his hands on my head and gave me a great ol' big kiss on the cheek. He leaned back and had a huge smile on his face....does life get any better than that? He doesn't have any words right now, but he didn't need to say "I love you" for me to know he means it. How could I be so lucky to be this sweet baby's mommy? It is the moments like these that make having a child priceless.

Moving Around.....

Thomas and I had a little photo shoot this afternoon. He is so active now and is interested in everything. He is moving all of the time, so I had to get some snapshots. Little man is going to be hard to keep up with....

Nana and Papa Came to Visit

This has been a big week for us. Last Friday, Thomas got his first tooth. I didn't even know he had cut one until I happen to put my finger in his mouth when we were at lunch with my mom. That bite hurt more than normal. Poor little guy has been such a trooper...a little fussy but overall, he has been so good about it. I know it hurts!

Patrick's parents came to visit us this past weekend. We had a great time, but it wasn't long enough! Little man showed off his crawling or at least tried to crawl. He actually crawled for the first time on Wednesday. He still doesn't really have the hang of it...I think he just really wanted a toy, but he gets more sure of himself every day.

I love this picture because it describes the stage we are in perfectly! Everything goes straight into his mouth. I mean EVERYTHING....my hair, keys, spoons, bowls, fingers, toes, socks....you name it!

Nana bought Thomas a ball when they were here before Christmas. Every little boy needs a ball....well, this little boy was terrified of the ball. I don't think he could understand why it moved on its own. Anyway, we tried the ball a few days before they came back, and he was okay with it. We played with the ball a lot this weekend.

Grandmother sent Thomas a singing stuffed dog. The dog sings "If you're happy and your know it, clap your hands." His ears and hands clap while he is singing. Thomas laughed at this dog....what a hit this toy has been.

Laughing at the dog!