Happy birthday, Daddy!!!!

On December 12, 1950, in Davenport, Iowa, my beloved father, Forrest Graham Walker, was born. Throughout the past 26 years of my life, he has been there for me whenever I have needed him, in good times and bad. I think because he has taught high schoolers for the past 30 years, he always knew how to relate to me when many of my friends' fathers seemed totally clueless, especially during the awkward teenage years. I have always felt as if I could tell my dad anything, and I think that is pretty rare for a daughter to feel towards her father. My dad is such a compassionate, loving, understanding, generous man, and as I have become an adult and especially a parent, I have realized how much he sacrificed for me growing up. It was his and my mom's goal to put my sister and me through college without us ever having to pay a dime ourselves. We both graduated completely debt-free because they were such savers with their money, and for that, I will eternally be grateful. My father has been the best teacher I have ever had, and I have always looked up to him with great admiration and pride. Daddy, I love you so much, and I am blessed to be your daughter. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for everything you have done for me. You have been and will continue to be my hero! I hope your birthday is as special and wonderful as you are.

Here is a poem that conveys so well how I feel about you, Dad.

You may have thought I didn't see

Or that I hadn't heard

All the life lessons that you've taught me

But I remember every word
Perhaps you thought I missed it all

And that we'd grow apart

But Dad, I picked up everything

It's written on my heart.
Without you, Dad, I wouldn't be the woman I am today

You built a strong foundation that no one can take away
I've grown up with your values

And I'm very glad I did

So here's to you, dear father

From your forever grateful kid.

Happy 1st birthday, Alexia!!!!

Today, our niece, Alexia, turns one!! Yay! Happy birthday, Alexia! Tom and Megan hosted her party at their house this past Sunday from 4-6pm, and a good time was had by all. I can't believe my niece is already one. It has been so wonderful having her and Whit only a month apart in age. Megan and I have been able to go through the first year of motherhood together, which has been very special. At one, Alexia is already a master walker. She started walking at 9 months, and she has become so fast! She and Whit really seem to enjoy each other's company when they are together, which is so cute. I have loved watching you grow this past year, Alexia! We love you so much, and we hope you have a great day! Here are some pictures from her first birthday party.

One Month to Go?!?

Today is December 11, 2008, which means that in exactly one month, my baby boy will turn 1!! How did eleven months fly by so quickly? It just doesn't seem possible that Whit is about to be...gulp...a toddler! Every time I look at him, I marvel at how much he has changed and how he is turning into a little boy instead of a baby, but still...one year old sounds so grown up. I'm not sure if I am ready for it. I guess I have another month to prepare! The plans for Whit's first birthday party are in full swing, and that is one thing I am getting very excited about. It is going to be a Sesame Street theme, and we will have an Elmo shaped cake, Cookie Monster cookies, and all sorts of other S.S. themed goodies. I really need to get out my invitations ASAP. That is on the agenda for today, actually.

So, in this month before you turn one, Whit, here is what you are up to these days:

1. You are the fastest crawler ever!

2. You only walk when you are holding onto furniture, and you take a couple of steps with me when I hold your hand, but you do not seem at all eager to take steps on your own. That is fine with me; I will not rush you.

3. You are a babbling machine. You say mama and dada to Scott and me, but you also say a lot of lalala and babababa, too.

4. You love clapping when people enter a room or when you see someone else clapping. You get a huge smile on your face when you clap.

5. You give "high 5's" and "low 5's" all the time.

6. You love "reading" your books, but when I try to pull you into my lap to read to you, you usually only want to stay for a few minutes before crawling off to your next adventure.

7. Your favorite toy is still your Fisher-Price Learning Home. You love to turn on and off the lights, open and shut the window, ring the doorbell, and check the mailbox for mail in your little house.

8. You love going grocery shopping and looking at all of the lights and people around. You also love receiving samples of cheese!

9. You love "big person" food exclusively; there is no jarred baby food for you anymore. You especially love chicken nuggets, goldfish, dried strawberries and bananas, (he likes dried ones over fresh for some reason) yogurt, any kind of cheese, blueberry muffins, NutraGrain bars, meat sauce, ravioli, and waffles

10. You almost always fall asleep very easily at 7pm on the dot and wake up between 6:15am-7am. I wish you slept in, but you are always ready for your day to begin early!

11. You still enjoy "my milk" about 4 times a day. This will be very hard for both of us to give up, I think.

12. You enjoy playing with your friends at our two playgroups and at our Gymboree classes, but sometimes you pull the babies' hair, poke them, and make them cry. Then you smile a huge smile. We are working on that.

I could continue, but I guess the list is long enough for now. Happy 11 month birthday, Whitster! I love you more than words can express!

O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree...

Scott and I finally decorated our Christmas tree on Sunday evening after we put Whit to bed. I just love unwrapping ornaments and remembering their special meaning! For example, one year when I was in college, my mom gave me an ornament that had a fireplace, a mantle, and stockings with all of our names on it, even Molly, our old dog! When we got married, Scott's parents got us this beautiful hand painted suitcase that says "Just Married" on one side and has Hawaiian flowers on the other side because we went to Kauai, Hawaii for our honeymoon. I could go on and on describing my favorite ornaments and why, but that would bore everyone to tears, so I won't. Anyway, we had a great time decorating our tree and the rest of our house. We made sure to put the unbreakable ornaments on the bottom in case Whit wandered over and tried to put them in his mouth, but surprisingly, he hasn't been very interested in the tree for the most part. We also put up our Dickens Village houses in the living room and in the den, and they look so pretty when they are all plugged in and lit up. I also set our kitchen table with our beloved Spode Christmas Tree china and placemats, so I am totally in the Christmas frame of mind! I still have a few more presents to buy and a ton more to wrap, as is very evident when you look at the picture of our tree...yes, there are only 2 presents wrapped thus far. While Scott is tutoring in the evenings this week, I vow to wrap gifts!

Picking Out Whit's 1st Christmas Tree!

Yesterday afternoon, we drove over to Home Depot to select Whit's very first Christmas tree. Last year, we made the mistake of purchasing our tree at Big John's Christmas Trees, but we later found out that they charge twice as much as Home Depot does for the same quality of trees! So, we walked into the Christmas tree lot area, and of course Scott fell in love with the first tree he saw. He would have been happy just buying that one and not even looking around at the other ones! Crazy guy! I, of course, wanted to look at every tree before deciding on "the one," especially since it was Whit's very first tree. We took turns holding Whit up to the trees, and he really seemed to enjoy tugging on the branches and sniffing at the evergreen smell. It was so cute! We went right after lunch, so he was in a very happy, silly mood. Tomorrow I will post pictures of our tree all decorated (we plan to put the ornaments on our tree this evening), but for now, here are some pics of us at the tree lot.

Pictures with Santa!!

Yesterday, we took Whit to sit on Santa's lap at Pam and Wes's clubhouse in their neighborhood. Every year, they hire a Santa to come and take pictures with the kids or grandkids of the people who live in Oxford Mill. The beauty of this Santa experience is that everyone has an appointment time, so there is no waiting in line! Our appointment was at 5:09pm, which turned out to be perfect because Whit had a nap from 3-4:15pm, so he was in a great mood. I wasn't sure how he was going to react to Santa because I have seen tons of screaming babies sit on Santa's lap in the past, but Whit just LOVED Santa! He loved stroking his beard, and he loved the little red light that Santa had on his fingertip. This Santa was so realistic looking (he had a real beard and everything!) and was super nice. He reminded me of the great Santa my sister and I always went to see at Phipps Plaza when we were growing up. It was a terrific experience, and we got some pretty decent pictures, so here are a few of my favorites.

Whit's belated 9 month pics!

We had Whit's 9 month pictures made back in the middle of October, but I kept forgetting to post a few of my favorites, so here they are, finally! Unfortunately, when we had these pictures taken, Whit was extremely tired, so we did not get tons of smiles like we usually do. Oh, well.

Today, my mom's club is going to ride the Pink Pig at Macy's, and then we are having lunch together at Lenox Mall. I have only been to one other event with my new mom's club, but it was lots of fun, so I'm sure this one will be, too. So far, this mom's club is really neat. We have an under 2 play group that meets every Wednesday at 10am at someone's house, and there are many other events hosted during the week, too, like mom's nights out, lunches at various eateries, going fun places like Chuck E. Cheese, the Children's Museum, and to ride the Pink Pig, like we are doing today, and they have holiday parties, too. I love getting a chance to meet new moms who live in the Alpharetta area, and Whit loves playing with new friends as well.