Cocktails and Canvas

Today my very awesome cousin Sarah visited Atlanta to celebrate Abigail's birth. Several months ago I bought a coupon from Groupon.com for an art class. It's a really interesting concept, a social environment where an instructor leads the entire class in drawing the same picture. Today's picture was that of chili peppers as you can clearly tell. They broke it down step by step, so that we come out with something we are relatively proud of.

My favorite sister, so glad she's here in Atlanta to share things like this. :)

Our final product, look who's hanging on her mommy....it's Abigail!!! She was such a good baby, didn't make a peep the entire time we where there. Hindsight I should have gone with a lighter background, but hey you live and learn. Can't wait to do this agian!!!

A Fathers Rite of Passage

As my parents gift to us for Abigail's birth, we decided to use the money to purchase a play yard for the girls. Granted it will be a while before Abigail will use the play set, but it makes my life easier being able to entertain Isabella without leaving the house.

Isabella loves this slide!!! It's a bit fast and actually shoots her out about 5 inches at the bottom, but she just laughs it off.

We had just woken from our nap; hence, the bad hair day. :)

Here is a picture of Isabella helping her Daddy build her play set. The final verdict: A HUGE SUCCESS!!!! The only way I could get her to come inside was letting her watch TV (a rare treat which usually coincides with me having to get things done in the house).

We've had the play yard sitting in the garage for about five weeks, and this weekend we decided to take the project on. Tim rented a Bobcat, and spend a few hours on Saturday leveling out the yard preparing the space. After a lot of back and forth, we decided to put it on the upper portion of our yard near the driveway. Isabella and Abigail's hardworking father worked about 13 hours in the hot summer heat putting this up for us, and we couldn't be happier. Granted the landscaping has a lot to be desired, but all in good time. Besides, getting dirty is all part of the fun!!!!

Abigail's first two weeks

Abigail's first two weeks flew by here at the Walker residence. I'll try to recap the best I can. Although, I am gauranteed to leave a good bit out with my mommy brain.

From Life with Abigail First Two Weeks

We came home on Friday July 16th and really just tried to settle into our new lives. Abigail had a bit of jaundice, so the next three days were followed by trips to either the pediatrician or Children's. Thankfully we didn't have to take any action, as it seemed to have worked itself out.

From Life with Abigail First Two Weeks

Auntie Aimee, Lita (what Isabella will call my mom), and Grandpa Chendo we're a tremendous help the past few weeks. My mother didn't let us let us lift a finger in the kitchen, Aimee made countless errands for us, and my father spent 10 days working in the dead of summer making our yard something we could be proud of. I recently read that in some cultures, mom's are isolated from domestic responsibilities for 40 days so that they can bond with their babies. These cultures have very low incidences of baby blues, and I now know why. Their support allowed me to feel more confident in my mothering, and helped me to recover physically . I can only pray for the opportunity to care for my girls as my mother cared for us.

Isabella has taken well to Abigail, hugging and kissing her every chance she gets. A couple of times a day she will pat the couch next to her asking me to place Abigail into her lap. She is however, getting a bit stir crazy not having a busy social calender. With the heat, we've had to stay indoors and have been advised by our pediatrician to keep Abigail home as much as possible. So we're trying our best to keep her entertained, although it's easier said than done.

Sleep has not been an issue, Abigail gives us about 5-6 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. It could change at any moment, but we'll take what we can get. I think it's largely due to the fact that I am much more relaxed as a second time mother. My parents said that I was a nervous wreck with Isabella, not letting people talk or help with her. They really do feed off your nervous energy.

We have not been anywhere exciting, and I am ok with that. It's allowed me to take it easy, bond with my baby, and to minimize my stress level. Here is a slide show of the Walker's first two weeks with Abigail.

Can You Guess Who's Who?

My intention had been to fill you in on several details of my pregnancy, birth story, and first few days of our new lives together; however, I could not resist this as my first Abigail post.

I was just commenting to my cousins Gabe and Katie that Isabella and Abigail looked so different, when I saw this pictures Katie took of Abigail. I instantly remembered that I had an exact picture of Isabella. Can you guess which one is which?

All is well here at the Walker home, largely due to my mother and sister's help...they've been God sends! Thank you everyone for your congratulations and warm wishes.

A Day Worth Blogging About

Things have been rather insane around the Walker house. Getting ready for our newest edition has not been easy. Nevertheless, I am so thankful to Tim for putting up with my obsessive nesting and for all that we've gotten done so far.

As you can tell from my last entry, I've hardly taken a step back to blog. In an effort to convince Tim that I did rest a little, I thought I should share with you our Fourth of July festivities. We spent the day working in and out of the house. After Isabella woke up from her nap at 5:45pm, we set out for dinner at Sonic. Awful choice (we know that now) health wise, but it just didn't live up to our expectations. Not making that mistake again. Moving on.....

We joined my friend Nina and her husband Dave at the Fourth of July Celebration in Downtown Norcross. It's such a treat to be hear that area and they had all sorts of neat thing for kids of all ages.

While Tim and Isabella waited in the train line, Isabella spotted the pony ride and instantly began to make horse noises. So we changed strategy and paid for the pony ride. She kept insisting that she wanted to ride the pony, but once I put her on it she began to stress out. For a second there Tim thought we had wasted five dollars, but I began singing Twinkle Twinkle and that's all it took for her to enjoy the ride. If you look at the picture we're both singing as we go round and round.

We walked around a bit, and then settled in with our bag of popcorn and cotton candy to watch the show. Isabella was high on chocolate milk as she was running around the lawn flirting/laughing at anyone giving her the time of day. She's definitely my child in that respect.

Once the show started, Isabella was in awe. We thought she might be a little scared, but she welcomed the lights with great delight. Eventually she got bored and again started to harass my friend's teenage step children which didn't mind. She stayed up and in a good mood till 10:30 that night, thanks to the late nap.

Although we take our Freedom for granted on a daily basis, I am grateful for all those who have sacrificed so much. I am however, disappointed that today is the 5th and I have no baby in my arms. It would have been nice to have had an Independence Day baby. Oh well there is always next time. :)

Isabella and Mia BFF's

Today Amy Sewell and I meet up at the park with our girls. We have both been wanting to try Roswell Park, and it looked like today was the most promising from a weather perspective. It was a rough start for Isabella with a shoe and swing to the face, but ended with a little sugar from her buddy Mia.

Just an ordinary Friday

This morning it seemed like any other Friday. We had a breakfast of eggs & pears. Then, we got dressed, and played with our Mother's helper Lily. Afgter that, Isabella and I set off to the Forum (an outdoor shopping mall) to exchange some earrings and for groceries at Trader Joes.

This Trader Joes has little grocery carts. Nine months ago, it seemed like forever before Isabella would be pushing one. There are not many of these carts, but we got lucky and had a great time.

Uncle Ben came for a quick visit, and read Isabella a few books while he waited for Tim. Good practice as his little girl is due in the next three weeks!!!