November...Where did it go?

November was full of craziness in the Walker house. David was sick and went to the doctor almost once a week (colds, ear infections, thrush, a breathing machine). So between the doctor visits and not sleeping well, we did manage to get a few things done.

On November 11 David got a new cousin, Mallory Noelle Auttonberry. Isn't she a cute little girl?!? Hopefully we will get to meet her in person next month.

Right before Thanksgiving David started to push himself up to a sitting position when he was laying down. And then he started to crawl - well I don't think we could technically call it crawling, but he started flopping and scooting around. If you turned your head he wasn't there when you looked his way again!

Here are a few of our favorite seven month pictures.

We flew to New Orleans to spend Thanksgiving with all of Mindi's family. Aunt Jess and Uncle Rob flew in from Nashville and Aunt Kayla came from Atlanta. Too bad soon-to-be Uncle Scott had to work and couldn't come play.

David with Aunt Jess and Uncle Rob

We spent Thanksgiving Day at Aunt Joey and Uncle Lonnie's new and improved house. Everybody was there! We ate good food, played games, took naps, played with the dogs, and even had a surprise baby shower for Stacy and Steven (pretty sure it's a girl!). Here's Mum with all the grandkids, grandkids husbands/wives, and great grandkids.

Back row (L-R): Stacey, Kayla, Jess, David, Mindi, Ryan Front row (L-R): Rob, Jon, Mum, Steven, Stacy

The next day we had Christmas at Nana and Papaw's. David got lots of fun toys, but I think he liked the paper more than the presents!

He loves his tool bag. Look who got wrenches!

David really liked being outside at Nana and Papaw's. He got to swing, he played with bubbles for the first time, and he rode the four-wheeler!

David also got to see some of Mindi's friends.

Nancy and Dylan Michelli

David Bordes and David Walker

We had a great time in Louisiana and were so glad to see everybody. Can't wait for Aunt Kayla's wedding in June!

Happy Halloween

Before David was even born, we were given his first halloween costume. Although we didn't know if we were getting a boy or a girl at the time, we would have a precious little lamb to show off on Halloween (thanks Mrs. Susan). David looked so sweet in his costume. I told Ryan we could go for macho next year.


David's school had a "Parade of Costumes" to celebrate the day. This is the second parade David's been in since starting daycare. By the time Mardi Gras rolls around David will be a professional "krewe" member!

Luckily Ryan was working at home that day so he was able to go to the parade and take pictures. Ryan didn't think that David was too interested, but would you be excited to be in a toasty warm costume on a hot Texas day at the end of October!

These daycare parades just crack me up. Everybody lines up in their costumes and they circle the parking lot two or three times. The whole thing takes 10 minutes tops. Babies who can't sit up get put in bouncie seats inside of baby beds and they roll too. You've gotta see it! Maybe I'll get to go to the next one.



Where's David?

David and Caleb the Monkey

Six Months

Time has flown by and David turned six months old on 10/23/08. Ryan has taken over doctors visits and everything checked out at this one (shots and all). Although the doctor did say David wasn't eating enough solid foods. Obviously the doctor wasn't looking at "The Belly" when he made that comment. We've been working on playing peek-a-boo. See David play. Laugh David laugh. Good David!

We took this picture of David after dinner one night because he looked like our friend Jeremy. Jeremy's been growing a mustache and it looks something like this (luckily Jeremy's face isn't as messy).

Five Month Pictures

So we were a little late in taking (and posting) our five month pictures. David did so good sitting up for the pictures. I sat by him to "catch" in case he lost his balance on the hard floor. I only missed once (he fell backwards). Then Ryan took over and not two minutes after the first fall David decided to try a nose dive. Poor baby. No lumps, just tears (but they stopped pretty quickly). David took so many good pictures playing with fake pumpkins and apples and he just drooled the whole time. By the time we changed into our last outfit (the first two were wet) the photographer checked the other pictures and realized that something was wrong with the flash settings and the last 27 pictures she had taken turned out black. Big time sad face :( We tried to take a large amount in the last outfit, but by that time David was getting tired and those pictures didn't turn out so good. Oh well! We still managed to find a few pictures we really liked. Here are our favorites! (Personally, I love the last one.)

At Lifegroup

Kristin brought her camera to lifegroup on 10/1 and was so nice to take pictures of everybody. It was funny to watch Claire jump up and down trying to get a mid-air shot. Here's a great one of our family. Thanks Kristin!!

Baby Dedication

Sorry it has taken so long for me to post again. Between David, school, and the house my evenings are shot (really I'm just too tired to stay up the few minutes more to add pictures...sorry).

On September 28, 2008 we dedicated David to the Lord at 121 Community Church in Grapevine, TX. Dylan and Kristin Thompson graciously agreed to be Godly Influences for David and to come up on stage and pray over him during the dedication. It was a very special day because we had several people there to join in our celebration. Grammie, Grampa and Aunt Courtney were able to come and all of our Lifegroup friends were there. We were sad that not all of our family members could be there, but we know that they were there in spirit. David has so many people praying for and loving on him that he is one very blessed young man.

We were dorks and forgot to take a family picture or a group picture with Dylan and Kristin. Not really quite sure what we were thinking, but we did take this one of David and Mommy.

Afterwards, we went out to Zuroma's to continue the festivities.

It was a very special and fun day and we were glad to be able to share it with so many of our friends and family!

Let The Feeding Frenzy Begin

A few weeks ago David and I went over to visit with Grammie, Grampa, and Aunt Courtney. David showed off his new "roll over" skills and lots of pictures were taken. During dessert, David had a revelation, an epiphany, a yearning...I'm not sure what to call it, you just have to watch it for yourself.

It has become known as "The Cheesecake Video" and it is the main reason that we started eating something besides rice cereal. Even I couldn't miss the signals David was sending - Feed Me Something with Flavor (and color)!!! Although Aunt Courtney seems to play the role of the tormentor, it was all in the name of fun and good video! (And she promised to feed him cheesecake anytime he wants it when he gets older.)

As of today, David eats rice cereal, sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots. We'd have tried more things by now, but he had a slight allergic reaction to Mommy eating strawberries. It was just some red spots that went away after an hour or so...no big deal! Just to be on the safe side we backed off of everything and started over - this time in search of the elusive red spots, but we haven't found any more. Yeah!!! Next week we try squash!

David's "New Trick"

Thursday night, 9/4/08, we were at Life Group and David was on his blanket on the floor while everyone was visiting. Charlie (the leader) and his daughter Claire were playing and laughing and David was determined to see what was going on. David cocked his head back, but still couldn't see. That boy did not give up! He kept trying to look, ended up on his side, and before you know it he rolled over onto his tummy! I think Rebecca and I were the only ones that actually saw him do it and we were both just staring at him in disbelief. He's only 4 1/2 months old! (I gave up reading the baby books because I don't have time with school starting so I'm not sure David is early, on time, or "behind schedule" with this skill.) So of course I flipped him onto his back to see if he would do it again. By this time everybody else had heard and so they were all staring at David and cheering him on. It took him a minute, but he did it again and the house erupted in shouts of joy! What an exciting night! We tried to get him to do his "new trick" again since I finally pulled out the camera, but he was just to worn out....and then the battery died on the camera. Mommy has to do better in the "keeping the camera battery charged" department.

We shot some videos later on of David doing his new thing. Here's a good one. Enjoy!

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Labor Day at the Gaylord Texan

David, Ryan and I were invited to spend Labor Day weekend at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine with Grammie, Grampa, Aunt Courtney, Aunt Tamra and Uncle Jay. We even got to see Paul for a few minutes!

We checked in on Saturday and spent the entire weekend visiting, shopping, sharing meals, taking pictures, and searching for Frankie the Firefly. David loved all the attention he got from everybody. And we were rewarded with smiles and laughs galore. Whenever David got tired Aunt Tamra did a great job of helping him get to sleep. She sure did love holding that baby! It was such a fun, relaxed weekend. The hardest decision to make everyday was where to eat dinner.

Grampa, Aunt Courtney, David, Hank the Longhorn, Aunt Tamra, Mindi

David and Aunt Courtney at the Riverwalk Cafe

David and Grammie walking in the Canyon

On Sunday we went and had David's four month pictures taken. He was such a flirt for the camera. Most of the pictures had his fist in his mouth since that's one of his favorite things to do. It's always so hard to decide cause the kid is just so darn cute! Here are a few of our favorites.

Overall, I highly recommend the vacation in town. You get away from "life" but only have a 30 minute drive back when it's over!

David's First Cold

Last Tuesday I picked David up from daycare and he sounded a little hoarse. He already had a slight cough so we decided not to take a chance and I called the doctor on Tuesday. Since he is so young and had just started school they wanted him to come in for a throat culture. And since they close early on Wednesday it made for an even bigger adventure! Luckily Ryan was able to rearrange his day, get things lined out at work, drive to Keller to get my car, pick up the diaper bag from the house then David from school, go to the doctor in Grapevine, stop and visit me at school on the way to bring David back to his school, bring my car back and then go into work again. Whew.....It's exhausting just typing all that!!!

David was officially diagnosed with his first cold. No fever luckily and he never really acted like he felt bad. He just had a pitiful little cough (which is almost gone), lots of boogers, and he sounded so puny. But since he weighed in at 15 lbs 13 oz I know he's not puny! Our first sickness is almost over and I'm so glad it wasn't any worse. We're just building up his immune system one cold at a time.

David's First "Tasting"

At David's four month check up we got the green light for starting solid foods. So we finally decided to give it a try tonight. David got his first taste of rice cereal. I tried it to (don't remember if I've ever had it before), and I have to say it's pretty bland. Think really thin soup with flecks of something floating in it. Not that impressive for me, but David seemed fine with it.


We had to prepare before the tasting could begin, so naturally we got out the camera and took off all his clothes. (Today wasn't laundry day and I'm not sure about this stuff yet). Plus we were headed off to bathe shortly after dinner, so we figured clothes-less made for easy clean up.

I put just a little bit on his spoon and put the spoon on his bottom lip (like the nurse told me). Nothing came back at us, so we decided to keep going. He wasn't great at getting the cereal off the spoon, but he did figure out that if he lifted his chin that lifted the spoon and the cereal slid off into his mouth. The hardest part was getting the spoon past the fingers that always seemed to be in his mouth or on the way to his mouth. I think the fingers had more flavor than the cereal so I understand why they kept winning.

David even leaned towards the spoon a few times, so I kept shoveling until he got fussy and we called it quits. Overall I'd call the first spoon feeding a success. Hopefully tomorrow goes just as well.

First Day of School

On Monday we went to finalize paper work at David's school and were able to stay and play for about 1 1/2 hours. David really liked looking around and did great with the teachers in his class. I thought to myself "tomorrow will be no problem".

Today (Tuesday, 8/19/08) was his first official day of school. Everything went pretty smooth getting up, feeding, etc. We sort of practiced last week when I left him with Nana and Mum, but today was the first day I was leaving him with someone other than a family member. I started to get all choked up on the 2 minute drive to the school, but then I "convinced myself" that I could do this without crying.....boy was I wrong. Ryan was able to come with us and we got David all checked in and everything put away. David had no problems when we handed him to his teacher (Mrs. Rita I think - I can't remember her name, does that make me a horrible mommy to not know who I'm leaving my kiddo with). When I said goodbye and took his picture is when I "lost it". (At least it wasn't an all out ugly cry.) As I sniffled my way out the door the director, Mr. Brad, told me to call as often as I liked if that would help. After a few minutes in the parking lot and lots of reassurance from Ryan I had myself back together enough to head to school.

Everybody at school kept asking how I was doing this morning and I only cried about half the time the topic came up. Then at 11 AM when I'm being a human easel, Debbie from the front office comes up and tells me "it's not an emergency, but David's school is on the phone". Why on earth would they be calling if there's not an emergency ?!?!?! Of course my mind goes 18,0000 different directions before I get on the phone.

Ms. Candace was calling to ask what time David was supposed to eat because I didn't put feeding times on my schedule and David had been sleeping since 8:20 AM. Since it was his first day and they were just getting to know him they wanted to check and see if this was normal for him. Just so you know, I did give them a schedule. It said "sleep -> wake -> eat -> play -> sleep -> repeat". Does that not explain it well enough! Sometimes naps are 30 minutes, sometimes they are 3 hours. I guess you could say that we have a routine, just not a "schedule" as most people define the word. So I told her that he would wake up when he was ready and to feed him then. It did make me feel better that they called just to make sure, but you would think a daycare would know the 11th commandment (Thou shalt not wake a sleeping baby).

So during my lunch break I called to make sure that he had woken up. Sure enough, at 11:15 AM he was up and looking for the food. That's my boy!

When I walked in to pick him up David was sitting in an exersaucer looking at himself in a big mirror on the wall. I called to him and he looked over, saw me, and smiled. That made my day! They gave me a paper with his nap times, feeding times, and diaper changes. Six wet diapers - this kid's penchant to tinkle is going to cost as much as the daycare itself! He must have been good because there were no notes otherwise and they didn't say anything. He was a happy baby tonight, so I'm telling myself that he liked it and not to sweat it.

Hopefully Day Two will go as smoothly as today (without so much crying on my part).

Four Month Checkup

Monday Ryan went with us for David's four month checkup. He weighed in at 15 lbs 7 oz and was 25 1/4 inches long. (50-75% for weight and height). We got the green light for starting foods. Rice cereal here we come! And then the worst part, David had to get three shots. He handled them much better than his 2 month shots. Didn't cry nearly as long or turn quite as red. He was such a brave little man! We are so proud of our growing boy.

"Fashionable" David

Today when David was getting dressed for church (for the second time due to an unfortunate digestive event that got both of us) I decided to put a hat on him for the first time. It's bright outside and I wear sunglasses, so I figured the least I can do is shade David's eyes some too. He did pretty well. I'm not even sure he noticed that there was anything on his head.

Needless to say, the outfit was a hit! So many guys complimented David on his fashion choice today (I think they were a little jealous that they weren't wearing the same thing). He just looked so cute. Judge for yourself.

David with our friend Mr. Jeremy

We call this one "Tractor Mafia"

Fun with Friends

On Thursday (8/14) Nana, Mum, David and I rode out to Heath, TX to visit with our friends the Hunter's and to meet their newest addition - Daniel Todd Hunter. Steve and the twins (Julia and Jordan) weren't there, but we were able to hang out with the rest of the family and have a great afternoon. The kids gave us the grand tour when we got there (they moved about 2 months ago and Daniel is not quite a month old so it's been a busy time at their house). We saw everybody's new room (or where their room will be in Sarah's case) and we all fell in love with the master bathroom. (What woman doesn't love a fabulous closet!)


Daniel is such a handsome young man (he looks just like Josh's baby pictures). I know that Josh is so excited to finally have a brother! It was great to get to meet Daniel (and see everybody else).


Karen, Daniel, David and Mindi
Anna Joy, Josh, Karen, Daniel, David, Mindi, Abby (pink shorts), Sarah




Later that night, Logan (Mike & Sarah's little boy who is 2 weeks older than David) came over to spend a few hours with us. The boys played, laughed, drooled, and cried. It was fun seeing the two of them together and how they have such different personalities. Logan is so laid back compared to David (but we love David just the way he is). We had fun and took lots of pictures.