My favorite part of the day

I love my mornings with Addison. Every morning we hear her talking to herself and thumping her feet on the mattress. She is always so happy when she wakes up. The minute we walk in she give us a big smile, throws her arms and legs up, and just giggles away. I love it! She's gotten so good at turning around and moving. We always place her in the crib with her head on the left. This morning it was on the right. She did a complete 180 with the blanket still on her.

Thanksgiving 2010

Here's my favorite picture of my dad and Addi. We were laughing so hard at the funny faces my cousin was making to make Addison laugh.

Addi's first Thanksgiving was so much fun! First, we went to the Walker's and then to my parents' house. I can't believe how big she is getting! She's so much fun.

Addison's birth day

Our baby girl had a little bit of jaundice. Here she is tanning it out.

Here's the blurred red pic of my belly right before we headed out to the hospital.

Proud daddy!

Our first family picture

So our little Addi is almost 6 months and it has been so much fun. I've had his blog saved for months, but just haven't had the opportunity to post it with pictures. Here is how everything started... I had been timing my contractions for hours. Not knowing if they were false labor pains or not, I woke up Adam around 3AM. It was so cute to see his face when I told him I thought the baby was coming. He tried to be all serious and calm, but I could tell he was nervous and excited. We were so out of it, we couldn’t even take a picture. I wanted a picture of my belly for the last time and it kept coming out red and blurry. Come to find out, my camera was set on red tint, but we got a picture and that’s what matters. We got to the hospital and they began to check my contractions. At this time, all I could think about was, “What if this is nothing and I get sent home?” Fortunately, the baby was coming! I was only dilated to 1.5 centimeters, but my doctor predicted the baby would arrive sometime that evening around 4 or 5.

Throughout the day, Adam and I waited for Lil’Addi to come into our lives. It was the most enjoyable experience. The nurses and staff were amazing and they truly made us feel so comfortable. They kept telling me to try to sleep, but c’mon, really? How could I? I was having a BABY! I was on cloud nine the whole day and so anxious to meet this little human being who made me sleep on my side for months and kept me up for hours at night.

There were several visits from family and friend, phone calls, emails, and even Facebook messages. They were all reminders of how blessed we are. Around 11am I started having serious contractions and asked for the epidural. I was only dilated to 4 at this point, but it felt like I was at a 10. I love the epidural! I felt like a whole new woman. I was at 4 centimeters for a while. Around 3pm I was dilated to 6 and my doctor, Dr. Iyer, came in and decided to break my water. Instantly, I went from a 6 to an 8. Reality was starting to set in. So, the phone calls began and we called our family letting them know the baby was a couple hours away.

After that, everything happen so quickly! They never said, “Ok, it’s time to push,” like I imagined. Dr.Iyer was checking to see how the baby was, and all of the sudden she said “Ok, Adam, can you hold her legs back?” And then I was pushing. Just like that, I went from sitting back and relaxing to having my knees right against my face. Unfortunately, I couldn’t feel anything. I pushed for a good 40 minutes, and nothing. My eyes were swollen from pushing so hard. I had the worst headache and felt like I was doing something wrong. I thought I was going to need a cesarean. Dr. Iyer decided to give me a break and get me off the epidural. So, I hung out for 30 minutes while the epidural wore off. And then the pushing began again. This time I pushed for 20 minutes or so.

At 5:53pm, on Saturday, June 5th, Addison Ruth Walker came into this world weighing 7lbs 8oz and 19 inches long. I just remember hearing Adam scream, “Oh my God!” and there she was on my stomach. Adam cut the umbilical cord as they wiped her down. I was so overwhelmed with emotions. Emotions I never knew I could feel. Our little coned head child was here and she was beautiful!
Becoming a MOTHER...
Come to find out, Addison was sunny side up when I delivered her, in medical terms “posterior" position, which made the delivery longer and more difficult. I can’t imagine my life without her. Things have definitely changed in the Walker household. To say that motherhood transforms your life forever is somewhat of an understatement. The moment Addison was born, our life went through enormous changes; however things were before this tiny creature entered our lives are no longer that way. She has turned our life, our schedule, our perspective, and our relationships inside out. I feel a love that is different from anything I’ve ever felt before. What mattered before seems less significant as a whole new set of priorities arise, and I have experienced life in a totally new way. My world has not been the same from the day I took on the new role of a “mother” and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

Has it really been 40 weeks already?!?

I typed this blogged the day before I went into labor, I just never had the chance to post it because I wanted to add my 40 week belly pic. So, here it is...

Wow, I can’t believe Addison will be here any day now. What a journey this has been. It started out by taking two pregnancy tests, all because we couldn’t believe our eyes after taking the first one. From day one I began to feel this overwhelming love for this baby. It’s crazy to think how you can love so much, care, and worry for someone you’ve never even seen or met before.

Adam and I have been truly blessed with such an easy pregnancy. I have felt great most of the time and love being pregnant. I was never really nauseas, just some serious hunger pains, and extremely tired during the first and third trimester. There were a few scares here and there, but nothing too serious. At week 7, I was hit with the flu. I just remember having the worst headache in my life and a fever that would not go away. This was treated a little more serious than others because of the swine flu, but the doctors were mainly concerned in keeping the fever down. Then, around week 8 the doctors found a subchorionic hemorrhage in my sonogram and I was placed on moderate bed rest. It sounds a lot worse than it really is. I guess it happens to about 25% of pregnancy and it’s pretty much bleeding behind the placenta, often caused by a clot. In most cases, this clot dissolves away, which did in my case after a few months, fixing the problem and allowing my pregnancy to progress normally. Then there’s the dreaded glucose test. Which I didn’t think was bad at all. The night before, I had to fast for 12 hours, so I decided to splurge on dessert. BAD IDEA, but I love my sweets! So, Adam and I went to NYPD Pizza and had their apple pizza dessert. If you haven’t had it, you’re missing out. Anyway, we ate the WHOLE thing! It’s meant to be for 4-6 people. Well, they say what you have the night before does not effect your glucose test, but they are wrong. I failed it and had to take the long four hour test the following week, and that one was horrible! So of course, I started getting scared and thinking the worse. I fortunately passed the second time around, and I definitely learned my lesson. Finally, during week 29 they found a lot of iron in my urine. So, they made me carry this huge medical jug and I had to put my urine in it for 3 days straight! Yup, every time I went to the bathroom, day or night, I had to collect my pee and pour it into the jug. The embarrassing part was walking into the lab with this huge red jug of urine and waiting for them to call my name to turn it in, but in the end it was nothing. Again, just a little scare and everything turned out just fine in the end.

Now, with this last phase of our pregnancy I’m starting to worry and think about when Addison will be here. I’m truly not scared about going through labor. I just want to know when it will happen, hoping she’ll be healthy, and praying that everything will be fine. Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers. We are so excited for this new journey in our life. Little Addy will be here soon!

Coming soon... Pictures of Addison and an update on how we are doing.

Baby Shower

On Saturday, May 1st we had our baby shower. Julie, Jeanine, Jenna, and Jackie planned an amazing co-ed shower for Adam and I. The Walker family and close friends were all there to share this special day with us. Everything from the decorations, food, and games turned out perfect! Thanks girls! Adam and I had such a great time and loved seeing everyone there. We received so many thoughtful and much needed gifts. Addison is so loved already.

Maternity Pictures

Earlier this month we had our maternity sessions with Kristin Rogers. If you haven't checked out her blog, you're missing out! She's amazing. We met up in Fullerton and had our pictures taken on this beautiful trail. Kristin is so creative! I love the lighting and angles in every picture. These are just some of my favorites.

Easter Weekend

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was a busy one for us this year. Saturday was moving day! We finally got our own little place. We moved into a two bedroom apartment in Corona, some would say a little small, but it’s perfect for us. Toby Hoy came over early Saturday morning to help us move all the big stuff. I didn’t think we had that much stuff to move, but I guess we did. It was so much fun unpacking. We reopened all of our wedding gifts, but this time we actually get to use them. It felt like Christmas morning all over again!

Welcome to our new HOME



That evening we had Addison’s 4D sonogram. We invited all of our family to join us. Unfortunately, Uncle Scott had to work, Aunt Julie and Uncle Brandon were in Utah, and my grandma had the flu. We went to this place in Riverside called Baby’s First Photo. They have this awesome set-up with relaxing music, a couch, TV and a projector to watch the video. It was really emotional and exciting watching Lil’ Addison move, yawn, stick her tongue out, and cover her face with her little hands. It’s so crazy to think there’s a little human being inside of me. What a miracle!

Sunday morning, right before we headed out to church, there was an Easter basket from Adam on our dinner table. It was so cute! The basket had my favorite candies, some mommy stuff, little goodies that I was in need of, and the best part… a little dress for Addison. I just lost it. I was so surprised and filled with joy. Adam was so thoughtful with every item he picked out. I loved it. Thanks babe! We then went to church and watched the toddlers for the second service. Adam and I have been volunteering to teach Sunday school for the last year or so. The kids are just so cute and funny and we have definitely learned a lot about toddlers. We love it!

We then went to Gary and Jackie’s for Easter Brunch. There was an Easter egg hunt for the kids, a lot of good food, and some fun family time. It was great to see how the family has grown. It was a beautiful day!

Little Logan Grace... I think she's a little bit hungry.

Adam sporting his new daddy diaper bag

Isn't she adorable!